Thursday, February 28, 2008

• REBOUNDING THE U.S. ECONOMY

The solution is infinitely complex and infinitely simple. STEP 1: Get out of Iraq. Now, not next year.

Some estimates place the cost of the Bush misadventure into Iraq at over $3 trillion dollars. The full cost will take years to fully conceive and appreciate. By any perception and judgment this is aberrant. Endless analysis and debate over democracy in the Middle East or whether there will be a complete breakdown between all factions in Iraq or even whether Iran and the Saudis will more directly get involved, is extraneous to America’s priority – stop the hemorrhaging. The U.S. treasury needs some respite. U.S. taxpayers, their children and grandchildren are going to bear an already oppressive burden.

You cannot help your neighbor if your home base is unstable. Retrench, recoup, take a year or two off from foreign battles requiring more than 10,000 troops. Reestablish international confidence in the U.S. as the world leader with some vision tempered with occasional wisdom.

Other countries will be forced to enter the frey in the Middle East in a more serious way to fill the void. Even Russia isn’t so sure anymore that it wants its neighbor Iran sitting on nuclear arms.

Paying attention to the home front will also rebuild any deterioration of foreign confidence that might have eroded the dollar’s strength. Return to confidence and ignore the machinations of multiple heads of state clamoring to denigrate the image of America and deface its currency. There is ample reason for Europe to be concerned with the rapid rise of the Euro and the resulting impact on its exports. Russia which has shifted away from its momentary pretence at democracy, is now taking aim at the dollar through the Euro. Could we suspect that the Rubble is the world’s reserve currency of choice in Putin’s fanciful long term dreams. Dream on. Nor is any other country likely to become a safe haven for the world’s cash.

Since WWII the U.S. has been the safest and most stable place to store capital. The world acceded for 3 generations. The U.S. hasn’t just been a military power, it has been respected and admired for its form of government and its technological prowess. Some of that respect has only been temporarily tarnished by a misguided administration, driven with a dogmatic determination that debt was its right.

OK, so STEP 2: Tighten the belt. No, really, really tighten the belt and promote more tightening. Forget about spending that tax rebate as Bush suggested. Do without where possible.

STEP 3: Save. Reverse the trend of the past decade and put away those nickels and dimes. They add up to dollars, eventually. They’ll ultimately accumulate to a return of Confidence. We’re dealing with a change in general attitude here. Let’s energize a broad reversal of disposition, and a reversal of “fortunes”.

3 comments:

  1. It's strange how estimates of the Cost of the Iraq War have gone from 600 Billion 6 Months ago, to 1.5 Trillion one month ago, and now this...3 Trillion Dollars! At this rate, the cost of the Iraq War will be 50 Trillion Dollars in 5 Days! Let's keep the exaggerations to a minimum. I get the idea you want us to leave Iraq. What is you answer to the evolving Civil War? Do you want to sit back in your state of retreat and dismiss the ugliness of 27 Million People in peril? Are you a democrat or a demagogue? What is wrong with the Democratic Party? Have you no conscience? I was never in favor of the Iraq War. Nor should it drain us of unnecessary capital. I want the US to assist the Iraqis in modernizing their Oil resources. We then could benefit from the Billions we have "invested" in this region. A Pullout will take a minimum of 2 Years. By that time, we will be looking for any source of Oil, let alone the only source we would be leaving behind, if we retreated!

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  2. Cool Rock Party:

    Here's the math.

    We borrowed the money to fight the
    war in Iraq. China loaned us some
    and so did others. The interest comes due every month. Big chunk of change..

    We dont know the terms of the many no-bid contracts because they were not debated in Congress. Every round of cash to fight this war was gained through an Emergency Bill - no discussion.

    As for the oil - that was the theory - Iraq's oil would pay for it. Remember? Well, Iraq isn't sharing their oil with the likes of us. Halliburton ( one of our no bid contractors)can't seem to get any services in place in Iraq. We
    can't even figure out where the money we paid Halliburton disappeared to. When Bush was calling Iran the axis of evil, Halliburton (or one of its companies) was in Iran trying to help them develop their oil fields.

    Our medical system is going to be
    in a big mess when the veterans
    return. Although more injured veterans are alive compared to other wars, they suffer horrific
    injuries and have mental health needs. Remember all the flap about
    Medicare and Medicaid. Well, wait
    until the drain from disabilities
    continues to multiply. This isn't even figured into the costs.

    Total up the number of contractors
    in Iraq. (More contractors than
    troops.) How much energy are we wasting every single day? Visit the General Accounting Office. Maybe you will get an idea of what it costs us to fight this war.

    We do want a democracy where there
    is a bit more transparency in government and an accounting system other than Enron accounting.

    Just a benefit cost analysis of
    staying the course would help.
    Was this an investment for our country - or an investment for some global multinational corporations that went sour?

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  3. Cool Rock Party: how DARE a Republican say something like " have you no conscience?" -- after the debacle of the last 3 Republican presidents' spending us into crushing debt so they could enrich their friends while suborning the constitution you have NOTHING to say with regard to Democratic policies. This is, has always been, and will continue to be an unjust, wasteful war that your boys manipulated us into. How's that on your conscience?

    This is ALL at the Republicans doorstep. History will look on you with a very dark glass indeed.

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