I write this without knowing the results of Tuesday’s
general election, so I am something at a disadvantage when it comes to figuring
out what we need to do next as a country.
I’m convinced, however, that the average American is fairly
uninformed when it comes to knowing basic facts about our country. So, as we
try to figure out how to solve some of the problems, we have to have at least a
foundation of knowledge:
–We have been involved in Afghanistan – in war – since 2001.
That’s 12 years. And this substantial exercise in nation-building is on credit.
Cost: $1.2 trillion. More than 2,000 of our soldiers have been killed and
thousands more wounded. The war in Afghanistan has been a major
contributor to our growing money problems.
–According to the Daily Beast, a conservative online news
site, “49 percent of Americans live in a household that receives a government
entitlement for ‘health care’ through Medicaid or Medicare, ‘food’ through
stamps, disability, Social Security, or a ‘housing’ assistance program.” The
Daily Beast says the gap between “promises and anticipated funds for Social
Security is $8.6 trillion for the next 75 years. For Medicare, it’s $27
trillion.”
–According to the Associated Press, nearly one in two
Americans is considered either “low income” or “poor.” Still, Robert Rector, a
senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told the AP he
questioned whether some of those people are actually suffering. “There’s no
doubt the recession has thrown a lot of people out of work and incomes have
fallen,” Rector said. “As we come out of recession, it will be important that
these (entitlement) programs promote self-sufficiency rather than dependence
and encourage people to look for work.”
–A USA Today story reports, meanwhile, that one in eight
Americans visited a food bank in 2010, while the Feeding America website
reports that more than six million households utilized a food bank one or more
times in 2011.
–Romney was right when he said repeatedly on the stump that
46 million Americans are receiving food stamps. That number includes college
students, many of whom will be poor after graduation as well. Two-thirds of
American college graduates carry an average debt of $26,000 for the cost of
their education.
–According to the Center for Responsive Politics, $6 billion
will have been spent on this year’s elections. That includes nearly $1 billion
attributed to Super PACs, which are not directly connected to any particular
campaign or political party. They just get to throw money around without having
to answer to anyone.
–U.S.
federal aid to the world totaled more than $52 billion in 2010. World aid
provided by the U.S.
private sector totaled $71 billion. (To put those numbers in perspective, the
cost of a new high school in Dover
has been estimated to be between $30 million and $40 million, including the
land.)
–Changes to the nation’s health care laws threaten local
control of small community hospitals, along with the care given to senior
citizens by physicians, who lose money on every Medicare/Medicaid patient they
treat.
–Nearly 8 percent of the work force is unemployed. Thousands
of people have dropped out of the work force simply because they cannot find a
job to suit their skills. Many manufacturing jobs have disappeared and will
never return. Buy an Apple product? It will ship from China.
So, the attack ads have stopped, the robocalls have ended
and the political signs have been removed. Thank goodness it’s over.
I hope our country finds some peace in the next four years. I
hope the president and Congress find some middle ground.
Read more from Dick Farrell at TuscBargainHunter.com.
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