Though the 2012 presidential race has come and gone, I am still mulling over the results. It’s true – I bleed red. And when the donkey manages to crawl out from underneath the elephant’s left foot, I’m not exactly a happy camper. In fact, I’m flat out salty about the president’s four year extension to his stay in the white house. 
I believe Romney, if he were to assume the presidency come January, would do a better job of bolstering American business. Maybe I’m crazy, but Obama’s stimulus bills in the last four years seem to be hurting, not helping, the private sector. According to Forbes magazine, Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 cost $825 billion, and was succeeded by several smaller stimulus bills that cost more than an additional $100 billion. Fast forward to 2012, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 100% increase in long-term unemployment across Obama’s term, from 2.6 million unemployed in January 2012 to 5.3 million in June 2012.
Obama’s economic advisers, in July’s “Seventh Quarterly Report,” claim that Obama’s stimulus efforts added nearly 2.4 million jobs…at a cost of $666 billion, or $278,000 per job. In Economist columnist Jeffrey H. Anderson’s words, “The government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the ‘stimulus,’ and taxpayers would have come out $427 billion ahead.”
So we were left with increased unemployment, and additional jobs that cost more to produce, per tax payer, than most of us will ever come close to making. Compile this with our national debt, and it’s scary to think of what ownership we have anymore over our economy. According to Texan congressman Kevin Brady, the national debt increased by $5.4 trillion during Obama’s first four years in office. Conservative political commentator Mark Steyn reports that, to pay off that debt, America currently borrows roughly one hundred fifty three billion dollars a month!! And guess who made it into our top 10 favorite foreign piggy banks? Asia’s power houses – Japan, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
With no foreseeable end to our borrowing from China et al Asian republics in sight, I predict we will soon be overrun and booted out. In which case, the first establishments to be de-Americanized will be the ones which are most literally so. Permit me to elaborate:
I’m thinking ten years down the road, American Eagle will be Japanese Crane. Expect a fantastic array of patterned tights and schoolgirl sweaters. Wigs will become an accessory table staple. And let’s not forget the “Dress like an Anime character” rack that will dwarf the clearance one.
Bank of America stands no chance. But as Bank of China, at least the name will be accurate!!
Great American Cookie Company will stop making cookies, fast. After all, they can’t be stir-fried. I’m personally looking forward to trays of dumplings decorated with droplets of soy sauce, and rice balls sprinkled with seaweed. Yum!
Ok, ok. Time to recover from my bitterness, by adding some sweet to my salty? I went on a popcorn kick several weeks ago, and discovered how delicious it tastes with chocolate, two ways:
Start with 1 individual-sized bag of popcorn (100 calories). Then…
Combine with 30 M&Ms
Calories: 200
Melt 40 white chocolate chips and drizzle over popcorn
Calories: 210
Either way, you get a delectable combo of sweet and salty. Tweak it up – I’m sure there are many other forms of chocolate that could be piled on top of popcorn, no?
On food and life 