We are suffering through a terrible economy (tell you something you don't know, right?), and have been for more than a little while. Small businesses are closing because they don't have the traffic and customers to keep the doors open.
Now, many people chose to delude themselves into thinking that a new president with lofty ideals and more progressive ideas would miraculously restore a robust economy to America overnight. That would have been an exceptional and welcome turn of events, and I'm sure that President Obama would have been more than pleased to claim the honor of Man of the Hour; but as someone facetiously said, (I'm paraphrasing) Barack Obama is not Jesus Christ and there will be no turning of water into wine.
The individual who made that statement meant it as an insult, but he spoke truth. Of course the President had never purported to be the Messiah, so he wasn't expecting to perform miracles nor did he promise to do so; and if he had promised such, anyone who believed it should seriously question their grasp on reality.
Our economy is in the toilet, yes. These are very trying and uncertain times, yes. We do seem to be inching toward the positive side, but oh, so slowly. Unemployment is still at an all time high and those who do have jobs are holding their wallets shut against the day when they, too, might join the unemployment ranks because there is still so much uncertainty in the private sector. I pray that we have seen the worst and a true bounce is on the way very soon.
Currently, our politicians are the problem rather than the solution because they really don't seem to be concerned about us -- only about their particular ideologies. Ideology can't pay for a cart full of groceries, or pay the gas company to keep the heat and the hot water on. Our representatives act like little children who would choose not to play the basketball game at all rather than share the ball. This partisanship needs to be renamed crapship because it smells to high heaven. I do believe that the men and women in the House of Representatives are elected to serve the PEOPLE of the United States of America. That means that they are to do their utmost to serve the needs of the country, does it not? If you don't like what is put forth that will help the American people, what have you proposed, Mr. or Ms. Congressperson? Get it done! The person who needs a job to put food on the table for his family doesn't care whether a Democrat or Republican is responsible for that job being there. He's just glad for his children to go to sleep with full bellies.
Now let's get beyond the politicians: Manufacturers of products. Do you remember when most of the items we used and owned were made in America? These days, on the rare occasion when I come across such an item, I want to buy it just for that reason. If American companies would stop shipping jobs overseas, there would not be a job crisis of the current magnitude that we are experiencing today. Let's support "Made in the USA," and communicate your dissatisfaction to those companies who outsource jobs to other countries.
It will be challenging, but when you stop buying items that are imported, you will send a message straight to the bottom line, and believe me, the CEOs will sit up and take notice when their cash flow is in play. We will have gotten their attention, and jobs that rightfully belong to Americans will flow back across the border, forcing the American Nightmare into darkness, as the American Dream re-emerges in the light.
