Well, we survived the apocalypse supposedly predicted by the Mayans. But I don’t think we’re out the woods. The next cataclysm to strike, so we’re told, is the infamous ‘fiscal cliff.’ I’m guessing that whatever happens it won’t be the monumental crash that driving off a cliff suggests. Instead, I suspect it’ll be long, slow, painful grind as we descend into financial ruin. The poor of course will be hurt the most, despite Obama’s platitudes. I believe Dinesh D’Souza is right: the impoverishment of America is Obama’s goal. Everything is going according to plan. According to D’Souza, Obama sees America as the heir to the British empire whose legacy is nothing but oppression and violence. In order for the rest of the world to be safe and prosper, according to this view, America must be downsized economically and militarily. Of course, Obama’s opponents believe that weakening America is not only bad for Americans but bad for the rest of the world. They believe that a weakened America will only embolden the bad guys. We’ve already gotten a foretaste of that in Libya with the Bengazi disaster, and in Egypt with success of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Things like the Mayan apocalypse and other such bizarre scenarios only serve to distract us the real dangers that lie ahead. As the economy gets weaker and the federal government gets bigger and more powerful, life get worse for everyone, especially the poor. Well, worse for everyone except those who work for the government, for now we learn that despite a trillion dollar deficit, federal employees and Congress will receive a nice little pay raise, thank you very much. The average salary for a federal employee is $81, 258, compared to $50,462 for a private sector worker. Granted, a higher proportion of federal workers are college educated than those in the private sector, but the raw numbers do rub one the wrong way, especially in light of the deficit and huge debt. A pay raise for federal workers just rubs salt in the wound.
It’ll be interesting to see what’ll happen in 2013. I’m not very optimistic, but then I’m not employed by the federal government.
