Posted by
travis christensen on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 6:41:13 PM
I have begun to think that sometimes our government is trying to ruin the country. It is of that belief that conspiracy theories are made, and while it is ridiculous to believe that any official would intentionally drag down America, the results of past actions are painfully written upon our present state.
Let us take as an example our long-term policy towards China. It is not any one of our decisions that is self-destructive, nor any one Presidential or Congressional term that is culpable, but it is our long-term stance that is self-destructive.
Consider that as the Cold-War drew to a close China was our rival, a brooding Red Menace that we had fought through proxies in South-East Asia, a nation whose three- to-one population advantage over America was countered by our economic and technological advantage.
So, how did our leaders handle China?
We gave them a huge amount of advanced technology and allowed to them to steal more, effectively giving away our nuclear advantage. We helped China joint the World Trade Organization and employed the Chinese in manufacturing virtually every single article purchased by Americans. The result is that today China is the World's fastest growing economy, America has no manufacturing base, and we are dependent upon Chinese companies for most of our manufactured goods. So much for our economic advantage. A large portion of America's foreign debt is also owned by China, making us their debtor, a state of afairs that some feel is detrimental to American independence.
We couldn't have screwed this up any more. It is almost like we have been setting ourselves up to be dominated by China; probably not in a war, but if we ever had a serious dispute with the Chinese I feel like they would have a serious advantage over us as we are both their debtor and their number one customer. I bet the Chinese can stand not selling longer than we can stand not buying.
China was just the example, the real subject is oil.
We had an energy crisis way back in the 70's. We have had plenty of time to get our house in order and become energy independent, but we didn't.
While our oil needs have grown, we have not drilled new domestic wells, we have not built new refineries, and increased demand for oil in combination with the decreasing value of the dollar had created a market where gasoline is approaching $4 a gallon.
Not only is the price of gas a huge drain on our economy, it places America at an extreme disadvantage in dealing with foreign oil interests. If we were to get into a serious dispute with a coalition of oil producing countries there is not telling how high gasoline would rise. I think if the pump price went up to $6 a gallon that America would fold up like a house of cards.
Consider this as a chain of events designed to make America increasingly more vulnerable to foreign manipulation. The next logical step would be to degrade the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; this way, when the crap hits the fan we can sink all the faster.
Of course, no one in their right mind would do such a thing, no one in our government would plan to reduce a reserve that is supposed to be for strategic, emergency purposes.
Yeah, right.
Today on fox news we see:
And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement saying Bush has taken too long to come up with economic solutions.
"The President can take three actions today to help our economy: lower gas prices by halting deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; save 116,000 green jobs and create hundreds of thousands more by dropping his veto threat from House legislation creating tax credits for renewable energy; and come to the table to help pass major reforms to our home lending industry which allow Americans at risk of foreclosure to affordably refinance, and to stabilize neighborhoods in foreclosure crisis," Pelosi said.
Pelosi isn't the first person to suggest lowering gas prices by messing with the SPR; I don't remember the date, but Hillary Clinton made the much the same suggestion as a cure for lowering pump prices.
Weakness, vulnerability, short-term solutions that lead to greater long-term problems.
It's not entirely a Republican or Democrat problem, it is just that it seems that over time the government wants America to be weak and vulnerable to foreign influence. It grows year after year, and you wonder where exactly the breaking point will fall.
Suppose a Democrat wins the Presidency, will they let the Strategic Reserve go down to nothing so they can bring gas down by fifty cents? I can see that happening, considering that such a plan has been suggested by the Democratic Speaker of the House and a Democratic Presidential Candidate. Consider also that China is our top rival as an oil consumber, and that a number of oil producing nations have leaders who are hostile to America.
It is virtually inevitable that there will come a day when push will come to shove and gasoline will be the stick that beats us to death.
Oh well. The people get the leaders they deserve, and we elected the leaders that put us here.