Guest Post: The End Did Not Happen

The End Did Not Happen

Colonel Donald J. Myers USMC (Ret)
 

During the previous few weeks we were told how the world as we know it would come to an end if sequestration was allowed to occur. Guess what? That did not happen. The planes did not fall out of the sky, lines at airline terminals did not increase, banks did not fail, etc, etc.

Unfortunately, for those who are visiting Washington, D. C. the White House has canceled tours for the foreseeable future because of the sequester. Boo Hoo!!

The military has announced reductions in several areas. The Navy has canceled the deployment of the USS Truman aircraft carrier to the Middle East and several of the navy air wings have been grounded. Military training and maintenance will be limited for all units except those involved with deployments overseas. I wonder how such a small decrease in spending can cause these actions. During my time in the Marines, we went through several stages where money was tight, but we used our imagination and continued to train without wearing out equipment.

The stock market hit an all time high during this week and many are reporting that that indicated the economy is really recovering. The treasury department continues to print $80 billion dollars a month to keep interest rates low, but what will this do to the value of the dollar? Inflation will eventually kick in and then it will be Katie bar the door.

The poll numbers for the president took a nose dive since last week and that must be because of all the hype about how bad the nation would suffer because of the sequestration and that did not happen. Polls also show that the majority of Americans do not think that the country is on the right path. ObamaCare continues to be a negative for the majority of the population. The size of government and excessive federal spending also are considered too much by the majority. What is fascinating is that none of that is attributed to the policies of the president. He has been president for over four years and far too many do not hold him accountable for any of this. We have had unemployment at almost 8% for the entire time and there is no outcry.

We are a dynamic people and have been through some difficult times throughout our history, but this is the longest and slowest recovery in that history. Unfortunately, the government is doing nothing but placing roadblocks in the way of preventing a strong recovery. New restrictive regulations continue to be published by various agencies. The government continues to demand higher taxes and additional spending on new programs continue to be proposed. The day will come when our borrowing forty three cents for every dollar spent will come to an end.