Remember the “Got Milk?” Ads? Advertising that works, is so great. Remember the old gal who said, “Where’s the Beef” for Wendy’s? And the first duck commercial for the insurance company? Quack quack ads since, have been getting worse and worse. The Volkswagen ads of a couple of decades ago sold hundreds of thousands of Volkswagens. I remember the one with the flat tire, and the copy read, “No one’s prefect.” Coke used “The Pause That Refreshes,” for a long time, and I am sure we all remember it. Obama’s “Change” (we certainly did get change, now didn’t we?) got he and his teleprompters elected.
Speaking of the “Change” which the Obama administration has wrought, check out the following figures of various consumer prices on January 1, 2009, and currently.
Gasoline- $1.83 vs. $3.44, a 84% increase
Crude Oil – $43.48 vs. $95.78, a 12% increase.
Gold – $853.25 vs. $1600, a 187% increase
Corn – $3.56 vs. $6.33, a 78% increase
Soybeans – $9.66 vs. $13.75, a 42% increase.
Sugar, 13.37 vs. $35.39, a 164% increase.
Unemployment, 7.6% vs. 9.2%, a 22% increase, except the true unemployment figures are more than likely 15% or higher.
Median household income $50,112 vs. $49,777 a decrease of .7%, but consider the standard of living when everything consumers use has gone way up, and income down.
The money supply has gone up (M 1) by 18% and the national debt from $10.627 trillion, to $14.5 trillion, which is a 35.5% increase, but please consider that we have commitments over the years for $175 TRILLION, and there is no way to pay for it, other than with Monopoly type scrip, known as paper dollars. I have a 500,000,000,000 dinhara note from Jugoslavije. It is undated, but just imagine the plight of those poor citizens who had saved in them. They lost everything by trusting in that government and its politicians.
Americans are being further fooled and the rug pulled out from under them, by the government figured inflation rate, WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE FOOD OR FUEL. China has a 5% monthly inflation rate, and the euro is practically toast, thanks to the politicians in Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Greece. Switching currencies is no protection. See, it isn’t the people who spend, it is the governments, run by politicians, who spend to garner the votes of the lower classes who benefit from the spending.
Libertarians have a marvelous expression called TANSTAFL, which simply means “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.” The problem is, that after all the free lunches have been given, and the recipients of the billions of free lunches love them so much, how can you expect them to vote to have them taken away? It won’t probably happen, but there is the hope of the Tea Party. Look back in Presidential election history for a minute, and remember that little pip squeak of a candidate, named Ross Perot? He would have won if he hadn’t quit and came back. Why did he quit? I am certain it was because of life threats, although he gave a really lame excuse about his daughter’s wedding. I remember George Wallace, who also was going to win, except he was shot and crippled for life. Kennedy was assassinated because he was going to stop the Vietnam war, get rid of the Federal Reserve and CIA.
Does this mean that anyone who can win or really change America, will be assassinated? John McCain was no threat, but when he took on Sarah, he became a threat to the establishment. It’s kinda scary, isn’t it?
No one has a crystal ball, but the expression “Got Gold?” is very pertinent. If I had a crystal ball, I am sure it would tell me that in years to come, consumer prices, and the price of gold and silver as well, will go through the roof, as the buck goes down and down. If Moody and S&P lower America’s credit rating, which seems to me to be a done thing, prices will soar even more than the above, not to mention interest rate increases. Remember $600 Fords, Chevys and Plymouths? I do. My parents bought a 1940 Plymouth for $660. Remember $150 gold? I do. A couple of years from now, people will be saying, “Damn! I should have bought gold at $1600.”
P.S. Want to balance the budget? How about eliminating foreign aid for $25 billion? How about closing the 702 U.S. bases in foreign nations, with half million employees? How about bringing all the troops home from Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and stationing them on the Mexican border? “Why is thinking never even tried?” as I quoted in the last column.