In the movie "Moonstruck," the old, Italian grandfather buried his head in his hands and sobbed "I'm so confused". It was in response to his daughter's complicated love life.
I think that old man's words sum up what many thinking people feel about the daily news coming out of Washington concerning the nation’s financial health. Consider the following:
The White House called current deficit spending 'unsustainable' and warned of skyrocketing interest rates if the US continues to finance its government by borrowing from other countries. “We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in New Mexico. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”
However, no sooner are those words spoken, the Obama administration revised upward its projected deficit bringing this year's shortfall to $1.84 trillion. The revised 2010 fiscal year shows the deficit at $1.26 trillion. Add in the White House Office of Management and Budget projected 2010 budget of $3.59 trillion.
Knowing that this isn’t what you want people to be focusing upon, the President proposed $17 billion in budget cuts, with plans to eliminate or reduce 121 federal programs. This was nothing more than a shell game as the cuts represented one-half of 1 percent of the entire budget, while at the same time Obama is seeking an $81 billion increase in other spending. If this seems crazy, hold on to your wallet because it gets crazier.
Recently in New Mexico, the president pledged to work with Congress to fix entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. He told the listeners, "Most of what is driving us into debt is health care, so we have to drive down costs."
This is where I have to say, “I’m so confused!” Why? He just said our debt load was unsustainable and that interest rates will soon skyrocket. He didn't say it might…he said that it will. Yet, in the face of rising interest rates and skyrocketing national debt, he declared "the stars are aligned" in reference to his national health insurance effort.
America doesn't have national health care now because it can't afford to pay the estimated $1.6 trillion plus price tag. Not withstanding, the President with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi standing beside him, urged Congress to pass legislation by the end of July that would cover the 46 million Americans who have no coverage.
So, let's untangle it all one more time. The banking system is teetering and the deficit is unsustainable. It will result in skyrocketing interest rates. We can't keep borrowing. Most of what is driving us into debt is health care. So, the solution is to pass legislation giving Congress more oversight into the banking system, raise the deficit, and enact a national health insurance program that will create the conditions he just said would cause interest rates to skyrocket, driving many of us out of our homes.
That kind of brings me to another movie quote that expresses the average person’s frustration with the current financial crisis. When left to only one choice in saving the world from an asteroid, General Kimsey in “Armageddon” says, “The fate of the planet is in the hands of a bunch of retards I wouldn't trust with a potato gun.” [I'm not calling the President a retard, but the quote gets the idea across what is meant].
I’m so glad for the words of that old song that really puts it in perspective for those that are followers of Jesus Christ: “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness… On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
No confusion there!
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