Thoughts

This is truly a quiet season for politics in the United States. Congress is not is session. Other than primaries, elections are seven months away. Obama is doing nothing but making public appearances and stalling on important international decisions. Unfortunately the many negative
situations impacting our nation remain unaddressed.

The economy remains in a state of recession. Washington is quick to give publicity to statistics pointing towards a recovery but cannot avoid that even their unemployment figure, as manipulated as it is, remains at 9.7%. American government debt continues to increase with over a 100 billion dollars in new Treasury obligations being sold during the third week of April. A most recent article pointed out that even with the low interest rates currently attached to the Treasury bonds/notes, these items alone cost American taxpayers about $38 Billion annually. The real estate market, both commercial and residential, remains bad. There has been some marginal improvement in residential sales but foreclosures continue at a record pace and a huge number of adjustable mortgage interest rates are scheduled to impact home owners with large increases in their monthly installments. The is no good news on the topic of commercial real estate.

The foreign wars continue with little in the way of real success. Iraq is in turmoil over the results of their recent election and almost daily scores of their citizens are killed in terrorist attacks. The death rate of our military in Afghanistan, as well as that of Afghan civilians, goes up as the newly arrived American forces engage the enemy. The question that continues to haunt many Americans, other than why are we in these countries, has to do with the need to rely on ground forces when air strikes from secure locations could well serve the intended purpose.

Tax increases on Americans continue to loom. There has been talk of a federal sales tax; a federal tax on retirement funds such as 401Ks and IRAs; the tax-like impact of the Cap-and-Trade program; and the tax-like impact of the implementation by businesses of the terms and expenses of the now required healthcare insurance.

As depressing as all these items are there still exists, in strength, the ability of the American public to grasp these situations and resolve them.

That is the American way!