The State of Me...

President Obama delivers great oratory. When I am being told the economy is in the toilet, it is nice that the words are being spoken eloquently. When I am told to brace for harder times ahead, it is refreshing that the words are pronounced correctly. But when President Obama tells me of the tax cuts headed my way, I note that he doesn't mention they amount to only $8 per week. I suppose I should look on the bright side: With the extra $8, I can afford to buy a six pack of Guinness to drown my financial sorrows.

The economic stimulus provides aid to homeowners. I rent. It offers tax breaks for married couples. I'm single. It gives relief to parents. I have no children. It frees up funds for student loans. I already have a useless degree. It gives aid and comfort to the banks. Despite the fact I haven't charged anything in a year, the banks are presently asking $400 more per month from me than they were a year ago.

Perhaps my favorite American president was FDR. In the midst of what was possibly the worst financial crisis in US history, his "New Deal" spelled out a plan that created an infrastructure, put Americans to work building roads, and outlined a long term strategy for success. That was 80-years-ago. Your know what we have now in this country that didn't exist 80-years-ago? Damn near everything. The whole world has changed (a few times) since the days of FDR. And yet our government's current economic strategy is to mimic what FDR did.

Four score and a few days ago, a great leader brought forth to this nation a new deal... and in all the time that has passed, nobody has come up with anything newer? I find fault with that concept. We can fit the entire Library of Congress onto an iPod with enough room left over for lesbian porn, but our collective intelligence can't conceive of a bold, innovative approach to tackling financial meltdowns?

Infrastructure exists. The roads are built. A new rail system doesn't gel with modern American culture... a culture based on cars... a culture based on cars because of the road system built under FDR. How is that for irony? FDR's plan worked because he saw what the nation needed and went to work fulfilling those national needs. Cut to the present day, and we've skipped that step. We finance banks... why? We bail out failed industries... why? We've skipped over the answers to those questions, because there are no answers to those questions that wouldn't lead to a revolution. We skipped over the part where the government forget to figure out what Americans need.

That is the state we're in. The current plan is a pale shadow of what was once a brilliant and insightful plan. And the former plan casts a long shadow over a crippled economy and a mentally impaired government that couldn't solve the riddle of who is buried in Grant's tomb.

To those of you who bought homes you couldn't afford to own, congratulations. Help is on the way. To those of you who got married for the tax incentives, congratulations. Help is on the way. To those of you who had children you couldn't afford to feed, congratulations. Help is on the way. To those of you about to pursue a useless college degree, congratulations. Help is on the way. To those of you who own banks and other lending institutions, congratulations. Help is on the way.

The Republican Party can bite me. The Democratic Party can get bent. Both parties are as useless as my college degree.

And what state are you in?