You probably don't want to hear this but.... [View All]

[whosinpower]

I still have faith in you guys,
I still have faith in the US,
I still have faith in the US ability to service its debt.
You see - finally, I begin to understand the difference between belief and faith.
I finally begin to see the power and strength of faith, in spite of overwhelming odds.

This debt ceiling fiasco was a real get down dirty all out manure eating mess - wasn't it?
There is no question - it was ugly. The Teaparty deliberately and quite maliciously questioned the very foundation of the US economy - "The faith of the US to service its debt shall not be questioned."

Without confidence, or faith, your dollar is worth less than the paper it is written on, or the keystrokes to put a number in a bank account.

And I am going to be somewhat critical of President Obama here for not forcefully defending that faith. For not simply demanding a clean debt ceiling bill with a caveat to deal with restructuring tax reform and cuts in spending seperately. I am sure it got more ugly and messy than he anticipated and this will have consequences down the road. It has consequences right now.

Double dip recession is far more likely now - inevitable given the timeline of when the new debt talks will have to take place - Christmas. That is bad news indeed for any merchant or retailer, or small business owner - especially those who count on Christmas to get them through the year.

Once the seeds of doubt are planted, the weed grows voraciously and is very hard to uproot.

And yet, in spite of high unemployment, is spite of low productivity, which is the fertilizer that this weed thrives on - I tell you this....I maintain faith in your ability to overcome. I maintain faith that the US will shake off this noxious weed of doomsdayers and naysayers.

You are still the largest economy in the world - by a fairly large margin. You have great wealth, innovation, technology, creativity.

President Obama is just a man. He is a good man in a horrible position.

You know, I think back to the months following 911. You had just been forced to absorb a huge terrorist hit - the stock market crashed - fear and uncertainty was so thick in the air, you could taste it......except for one thing. I visited the US about six months after. I remember going to a mall and just sat and watched the people. What literally amazed me was the steely determination to carry on, in spite of what had happened. I was amazed by the overwhelming patriotism. You had faith then.

Yours is a great nation. It isn't perfect, but it is still great.

Now.....time to kill a few weeds - eh?