I remember in the late sixties and early seventies how I and many of my friends worried about going and dying in Vietnam. Nuclear war was ever present in our minds. We all remembered the Cuban Missile crisis and LBJ's Daisy ad. See below.
We all had done duck and cover in elementary school. So the question was asked how would prefer to die, slow or quick, the immediate answer was quick as in ground zero of a nuclear explosion.
The economy is slowly dying. Unemployment is once again rising. Countries the world over are fruitlessly trying to reduce their deficits through spending cuts. Mitt Romney is running an advertisement showing President Obama is weak on jobs. Of course the fact that the President is weak on jobs doesn't help.
And then there is the economy held hostage. Last December the tax cuts for the middle class were held hostage. Then this year the 2011 budget was held hostage. And now the debt ceiling is held hostage. Soon as in September 30, the 2012 budget will be held hostage or the continuing resolution to keep the government operating will be held hostage.
There is little question that republicans with President Obama through compromises are slowly killing the economy. The deficit will grow and unemployment will grow. There is also no question that both sides will point the finger at each other. The solution is actually quite simple. President Obama and Vice President Biden should resign and allow speaker John Boehner become president. Obama and Biden should explain that they will not preside over the slow death of economy, but instead allow a republican to run the nation and see if the nation will do any better. Of course they will run again in 2012 because they expect the policies to fail and in 2012 to be given a mandate to fix the economy.
The economy will be sucked into a black hole. Corporations will die. The lower class, the middle class, the lower upper class will all suffer with only the top reaches of the upper class avoiding any harm. Conditions will be so bad that even Fox news will change its tone.
With the 2012 election the US and the world will enter a renaissance that will change everything. Corporations will either be severely regulated or be tiny. Jobs will blossom. Security for all will emerge. But we must stop killing the economy slowly.