Post Scripts: Rough times as we go to the polls

I view the approaching election with a lack of confidence in either candidate. I am truly sorry I have to put such words on paper. Never in my adult life have a dreaded a presidential election to this extent.

First, we have had four years of George Bush with the federal budget deficit projected at $5 trillion. That’s trillion as in 5,000,000,000,000 over the next 10 years. The federal government’s liability, mainly for retirement and healthcare, stands at $72 trillion. This will all become apparent as the baby-boomers age. Our trade deficit with thousands of more jobs going overseas every day was $46 billion in May, (the latest I could find). That’s $552 billion dollars a year, reflecting the measure of our obligations to foreign nations incurred by our government.

Doing something to correct this has been ignored in Washington, hoping the situation will improve or go away until somebody else is in charge. The trade deficit is serious because it means the U.S. is buying more abroad than it sells to other nations. It has become cheaper for U.S. manufacturers to make or assemble their products in foreign lands. Labor costs not only are less but employers do not have to be bothered with fringe benefits such as health care and retirement.

Look at India. I’ve read that about one million Indians, with college degrees, are manning databases in the computers of large American corporations – at a fraction of the cost of doing it in the US. Recently the University of California suggests that as many as 14 million jobs may be involved within a few years.

That isn’t all. Many x-rays taken in the U.S. are being sent to India where radiologists interpret them. Patients’ insurance claims and questions about Medicare eligibility are sent to India as well. Even some U.S. tax returns are now being processed in India. Anything that can be done on a computer in the U.S. can be as quickly – and much cheaper – in India. You can bet this practice will spread.

Unfortunately, when you are in a hole you should stop digging. This administration cannot refrain from making the deficit worse by reducing governments’ income by cutting taxes. If you decide to fight a war, don’t try to handle it as sloppily as President Bush has done. I’ve seen several wars during my lifetime and I’ve never seen one with poorer planning than the one in Iraq, with insufficient numbers of troops, inferior intelligence, shortages of essential equipment and legitimate goals.

I don’t care too much for either of this year’s presidential candidates. Millions apparently won’t mind tolerating Bush’s arrogance and smirky smiles staring at them in the news through 2008. The Democratic candidate, Senator Kerry, has jumped around all over the place on nearly every issue. His campaign has been directed as poorly as any other in my memory. Neither candidate deserves the presidency.

America has nearly destroyed its good image around the world the past four years. We have lost allies, we have gone out of our way to irritate our friends, and the problems we have created far out-number the pluses. God had better bless America in this era when statesmanship disappeared and arrogance became our national policy.