Democrats Did Not Win 2008 Presidential Election

I wrote this article sometime in October 2008. In the spirit of "celebrating" Obama's first 100 days in office, I have re-posted it. Here is my salute to you, Mr. President!

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The Republicrats will win the next U.S. election

The Republicrats are not an officially recognized party, yet for all intents and purposes, they might as well be. They represent, I believe, the symbiotic relationship between the Republicans and Democrats. In between the rhetorical maneuvers of “change” and displays of “patriotism”, lies a commonality that is evident to any impartial observer. This interaction would be quite comical if it were not for the fact that its consequence will prove grave for the entire nation. Sifting through the glib headlines and MSNBC/Fox News sound bites that have come to encompass the “issues”, the fact of the matter is that neither party proposes alternatives to treat the root causes of the problems that bedevil our nation. Hence the term Republicrats. I will take two issues to make my point.

The U.S. currently finds itself with a public debt of about $9.6 trillion; this does not even count the $5.4 trillion liability resulting from the de facto nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or the tens of trillions in other unfounded government liabilities. Since the Reagan administration, Republicans have become intoxicated with spending. Hinging on their interpretation of supply-side economics, they believed that lowering taxes would increase government receipts (this is the famous Laffer Curve), thus giving them the ability to spend without little constraint. They have “reasoned correctly from this erroneous premise.” Democrats, on the other hand, have had an equally nefarious record. They will quickly point out and say, "hey, at least Bill Clinton reduce the budget deficit." Unfortunately, however, that's not entirely true. In fact, public debt increased during Clinton’s Presidency. According to Treasury Direct, an agency of the U.S. Bureau of Public Debt, Mr. Clinton’s administration added about $1.5 trillion public debt. Currently, our nation needs to borrow $2.5 billion dollars, primarily from foreign sources, on a daily basis to meet its bills. Making matters worst is the fact that the dollars backing the debt have been printed out of thin air—thanks to the U.S. Treasury Dept. and the Federal Reserve System. The excessive supply of dollars has not translated into higher prices in the U.S. because foreign governments have had an insatiable appetite to acquire them. If one assumes that the foreigners will always crave dollars, then the U.S. will continue to get a free ride. If one assumes the contrary, more unpalatable consequences are surely to come. Despite this ominous forecast, neither party has candidly addressed this issue. Instead they talk about more spending, giving more money away to other nations, and continuing to use government credit to bail out corporations.

On the foreign policy front, the theme repeats itself. Neither party has relinquished its imperial ambitions to embrace peaceful multilateral relations—an absolute must in order to foster international trade. Democrats offer “no imperialism without representation”; that is, a continued belligerent foreign policy, as long as there is world consensus. Republicans, well, it goes without saying that they are the party of “perpetual war for perpetual peace”. The U.S. Constitution gives authority to declare war only to Congress. Yet, hearing presumptive presidential and vice-presidential candidates these days one wouldn’t think that. In fact, rarely anyone mentions that Congress never declared war on Iraq; a resolution was passed but never a declaration. I can only come to the conclusion that continued breach of U.S. law will prevail. So as a net result, one party wants to take the U.S. citizen out to McDonalds while the other one proposes Berger King.

The solution to these problems begins with individuals once again attaching importance to an aphorism from prior generations: never believe anyone who says, “I’m from the government and am here to help you.”