Dear reader,
Now that we’ve all finally gotten 2007 dead and buried in the ground, many of us are now looking to 2008 with great anticipation in the hope that the new year will transform our lives and make all things new again. The ever- shrinking American attention span (it is sometimes suggested) will enable us to forget all the struggle to survive amidst rocketing food prices, insane energy prices, and the global warming peril (which would have come in very handy 30 years ago when we were then facing an impending ice age). The manipulative behavior of our so-called political leaders will soon be erased by new manipulations and new lies.

The presidential political race of 2008 is in full swing, and the candidates are throwing words around left and right as if they had no real meaning whatsoever, each one of them promising to be my champion if only given the opportunity. But isn’t this the same line of baloney the American people have been getting from both parties for 50 years? Are we going to buy into this same line of garbage for the umpteenth time? Or do our politicians finally believe that the American intellect has finally been reduced to that of a simple garden pest?

Politicians on both sides of the aisle, for as far back as I can remember, have sworn on a stack of Bibles to reduce or eliminate government waste, although not one of them has ever done so (I remember hearing news reports from back when I was a kid telling us how the government was paying $400 for hammers, and $600 for toilet seats). I remember hearing LBJ talk about his ‘Great Society’, and how his program would eliminate poverty throughout our great country. In the meantime, our government has spent many trillions of dollars on these projects since 1968, and amazingly, we have more poverty in our country today than we did 40 years ago! Surprised? Stunned might be a better word.

Since the early 1970s our government leaders have been spouting a fountain of malarkey in regard to the importance of our achieving energy independence, yet we have not built a new oil refinery in this country in over 35 years. And, although everyone seems to agree that it is one of the most important threats to our national security, very few of our well- to- do fellow citizens find it agreeable to sprinkle their awesome view of the horizon with oil rigs (even though we probably have more oil in the Gulf of Mexico than in the rest of the world combined ) In the meantime, we are sacrificing our energy future and our national security on the altar of environmentalism (it IS more like a religion than a public policy). And just to make sure that we never do get our ducks in a row, the Communist Chinese are currently making arrangements with Mexico to sprinkle their oil rigs throughout our Gulf, pretty much guaranteeing our energy dependence upon them and others for many many moons to come. Now, if that’s not leadership, then I don’t know what is.

Now, the average reader may see these problems as insurmountable, but have no fear– the great political minds in this country will still find time to review and regulate the type of light bulbs we use (can’t have any effective, useful, and inexpensive light bulbs anymore). They’ll also make sure that our children (bless their little hearts) will lead lives of perfect security and safety, protected from all chance and risk, as they ride their bicycles to school decked out in protective headgear, elbow pads, kneepads, shin protectors, mouthpieces and safety goggles. And, if there’s any money left over, (and there never is), maybe the Department of Education will even find something useful to teach our children for a change. Oh yes, don’t you worry–your politicians are on the job!

I’m sure that our illustrious leadership have plenty of good things planned for us in the coming year, and I have no doubt that it will be money well spent. I mean, we wouldn’t go $12 trillion into the hole for something that wasn’t worth the money, would we? After all, $12 trillion is enough to give every person in America almost 40 grand (and that includes God- only- knows how many illegals, too). What a great country! The most deceptive part of the deal though, is the snails’ pace at which we are repaying this supposed ‘debt’, which, in a best case scenario, will cost the American people nearly $60 trillion dollars (bringing your share of this debt to approximately $200,000, even if you were in the process of being born as I wrote this). Now you have something to look forward to in 2008. That is, as long as you’re the type of person who looks forward to working your butt off for nothing.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Gotta go check on today’s results in the presidential horse race. Stay informed, and be well. I’ll have plenty more to say on this topic and others throughout the year. Have a great day, ’cause I know I’m gonna.

Val