What goes down, must go back up, right?

Whatever is ailing us right now and slowly eroding the basic foundations of our econmy will surely pass right? Isn't that the way it always happens? America is great because we are so resilient and we always find a new and better way to do things, to become more productive, to refocus coming out of periods like the one we are currently experiencing and that is what gives us eternal optimism. But what if things are different this time? What if our debt levels are simply to high, our dollar simply unable to handle all of the trade imbalances that we've allowed to exist for too long, our moral standards bankrupt, our governments unable to effectively govern and provide basic services due to huge deficits? Thomas Jefferson said a few things back in his day which are red flags for the way we are being governed right now that point to a very tough road ahead. He said "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world." Boy is our generation failing miserably at this tenant and we setting our next generation up for many more wars just to get us out of the mess that we've created in the last 10 years or so. He also said " My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." Well here we are with government now sticking their nose in almost every major industry in America trying to find a way to nationalize or at least socialize all of the losses that we have recently incurred due to bad management. Rather than letting the natural cycles of capitalism take their course, and realizing that some cycles are much more painful than others, where excesses need to be cleaned out of the system, the government has decided that we are to be capitalists on the way up when things are going well and socialists on the way down, when we must bail out every company or industry who has ever made bad decisions that have lead to their demise.

Read this modern parable and tell me that you are not really scared that this time we have gone too far and really put ourselves in a position from which we may not be able to recapture what made our economy and country great.

A MODERN PARABLE ....A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford) decided to havea canoe race on the Missouri River.Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering,while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent anotherloss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents, and1 assistant superintendent steering manager.They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'RowingTeam Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners, and free pens for therower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes, and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.The next year the Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled allcapital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India. Sadly, The End. Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages. TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results: TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses. Ford folks are demanding we give them our hard-earned money to keep the company going until they figure it out. IF THIS WEREN'T TRUE, IT MIGHT BE FUNNY. But now everything is going to be ok with the Auto industry because the government is going to come riding in on their white horse and save everything with another government bailout. But keep in mind that...

Back in 1990, the U.S. Government seized the Mustang Ranch Brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it.

They failed and it closed.

Now, you are trusting the economy of your country and 700 Billion Dollars to a pack of nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling booze.

Now if that doesn't make you nervous, I’m not sure what does ? For Thomas Jefferson also said, "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." He went on to say that "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." We need to take a hard look at how we are being governed before it is too late. For the fate of our democracy rests in our hands and we are called to act to take it back before it is too late. We need to insist that our politicians start enacting laws that take the power out of their hands and put it back into the hands of the people. We need to elect officials who share this belief. We need to fire those who don't. We have many elected officials in Washington today who have become intoxicated with power and forgotten who they serve. We have seen what happens when the government gets out of control in size and spending and the results aren't pretty. I say it is time to start a reformation to change the democracy back into what it was supposed to be. To have it return to what great Americans such as Thomas Jefferson intended it to be. To what it used to be. Not socialism, but true capitalism, without government interference. Before it is too late.