The election is now over. The people have spoken. The plurality has dictated that the status quo should continue for at least the next two years. The divisiveness goes on, yet the media screams of a mandate. Barack Obama has been re-elected President of the United States. The House is under Republican control and the Senate remains under Democratic control.Now, however, is the time to take stock of the condition of the country.
Two days after the election, the stock market has reacted in a downward motion. Of course, the stock market can’t be used as a good indicator; few experts have been able to explain the ups and downs of the last couple of years. They seem to get excited with the prospect of quantitative easing (the printing of money, thus devaluing the dollar) then decrying the very effects of that easing. I think there’s some manipulating of the stock market by the Federal Reserve, but that’s just my opinion.
More and more companies are announcing layoffs now, with more on the way. Some of this is due to the defense cuts from sequestration. Others are in response to the realization that Obamacare is here to stay, at least for a couple of years. Either way, the business community is preparing for a very hostile environment. The result, of course, will be fewer jobs and more people unemployed. But fear not, Obama’s solution is to hire more teachers to prepare more people for employment, which isn’t there. Consumer confidence in October climbed, but, with Thanksgiving and Christmas (yes, I said it) coming up in the next month and a half, consumers will get over their confidence quick enough. We have yet to hear of the layoffs that will hit after the first of the year, without warning, sanctioned by the Re-elct Obama forces. On the bright side, think of all those single young females that have their free birth control. The down side is they won’t be able to find a job.
The fiscal cliff is just around the corner. Taxmageddon, which is going to take about $3800 from the paychecks of the middle class, will remove more job opportunities. The resulting tax increases on small companies will be too heavy for their survival. Surely, the House, Senate and the President will solve the problem between now and 1 January, 2013. Oh, wait; Obama’s going on his Asia Celebratory Tour and we have those holidays coming up. I doubt that Christmas will be too tough for those in Washington DC. After all, they have a job!
Obamacare, the President’s signature piece of legislation, also takes a deeper bite of the economy. Everyone will be required to have insurance, even those 26 year olds who no longer will be qualified under their parents insurance plans. Those that have good insurance plans, the so-called Cadillac plans, will find that they not only pay the premiums, but also a tax on the value of the plan to the IRS. Those with no insurance, face fines paid to the IRS. Those on Medicare and Medicaid will be hard hit once their doctor decides he will no longer accept those forms of insurance due to the low rates of reimbursement. That $716 million that the administration told seniors they weren’t removing from Medicare, even though they did, won’t be they to pay the doctors. Please don’t forget the role of AARP in this mess; they were paid $1 billion to back Obamacare, misleading the very seniors that expected the group to advocate for them!
We don’t have to look very far to see the results of the path down which we are heading next year. We don’t really have to look at Greece or Spain to see what is ahead of us. All we need do is look to our west to California. It is a state under very difficult economic troubles. Cities there are declaring bankruptcy. Companies are forced to pay one of the most restrictive tax structures in the country. many of the wealthiest in the state reap great benefits from the state, although they claim citizenship and pay taxes in a different state with a much lower tax rate. This is the state which this past Tuesday voted to increase taxes on the rich retroactively. They could not have destroyed the economy more effectively or more quickly if they had tried. Business owners, those “rich” people singled out for taxation, will beat a path out of the state at an extreme rate, thus draining already depleted coffers.
The future will be tough to be sure. Elections DO have consequences! The upcoming recession, if not a depression, will give many of those who voted for this path cause to question. Is big government and a complete abandonment of morality, indeed, better? What was wrong with limited government as laid out by the United States Constitution, where We the People had the power and the government worked for us? Our task is to show those who question Obama’s path the way to get back on the path to prosperity!
marjarhead1 