Hello Third World

Move over United States of America; you are no longer the world’s bastion of growth, wealth, and financial stability you once were only a decade ago.

The U.S. Dollar is trading against other world currencies near its lowest level in history. The value of our money has collapsed. The Nasdaq Composite of growth and technology stocks is trading at less than half its value as of April of 2000. Growth in the once vibrant financial and technology markets is stagnant. The U.S. is no longer the best place in the world to do big business.

America, since the eight year failed presidency of George W. Bush, is a nation in rapid decline. President Obama has only hastened the fall. Congress and the president are in a deer in the headlights state of denial while the markets crash and the debt and deficit pits deepen. Government spending and borrowing is increasing at untenable rates.

Unemployment levels remain constantly high, and the housing market collapse, starting in 2006, is no where near to recovery. Government mortgage monster, Fannie Mae, for example, after reporting a $5.2 billion second quarter 2011 loss, is asking for $5.1 billion more from taxpayers as it continues to try making up for bad loans before 2009 during the housing bubble. That brings the total to $104 billion in government taxpayer bailouts since the U.S. Treasury Department seized control of it in 2008.

And now, for the first time ever, the nation’s former AAA rating for financial creditworthiness has been downgraded. Our once sterling world credit score has dropped. Singapore today has a better credit rating than the U.S.A. Canada, our neighbor to the North, has cleaned up its financial act nicely, and now also boasts a higher rating for debt creditworthiness than we do. So does Sweden, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, and Germany.

What do all these nations share in common aside from demonstrating better financial responsibility policy on behalf of their citizens than the United States? None of them have been over-feeding an out of control morbidly obese federal government and its bloated military industrial complex child since the end of WWII. Their citizens enjoy a high standard of living and just as much security as U.S. citizens.

United States military spending since George W. Bush took office now totals almost as much as the total military spending by the rest of the world’s nations combined. This is in spite of the fact that the cold war has long ended, the nuclear arms race subsided, and we face no substantial national security threats from any other nations.

Military spending rose substantially during every year of the Bush presidency, from just over $400 billion annually in 2001 to $700 in 2009, a leap of 70% in less than a decade. The U.S. spends hundreds of billions more for “defense” now than at any time during the cold war with Russia, China, and communist Eastern Europe.

If military spending were cut in half starting right now, the U.S. would still be spending about the same amount annually as it did during the last year of Bill Clinton’s presidency. This could be accomplished without compromising our national security. We would still be spending about two thirds of what all other countries combined spend on defense.

Grossly disproportionate military spending is the hallmark of a third world nation. Uncontrollable debt and deficits are indicative of a third world nation. Stagnant markets, rampant unemployment, under performing currencies, and second rate credit ratings are the norm of a third world nation.  

United States of America – if you don’t get your act together: say hello to the third world.