This is worth your time reading!
History does repeat itself!!!!! Or... cry for me America!???
In the early 20th century, Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world.
While Great Britain's maritime power and its far-flung empire
had propelled it to a dominant position among the world's industrialized nations,
only the United States challenged Argentina for the position
of the world's second-most powerful economy.
It was blessed with abundant agriculture, vast swaths of rich farmland
laced with navigable rivers and an accessible port system.
Its level of industrialization was higher than many European countries:
railroads, automobiles and telephones were commonplace.
In 1916, a new president was elected.
Hipólito Irigoyen, formed a party called 'The Radicals'
under the banner of "fundamental change"
with an appeal to the middle class.
"Fundamental change,"
Hmmmm!
NOW WHERE DID I HEAR THAT?
Among Irigoyen's changes: mandatory pension insurance,
mandatory health insurance, and support for low-income housing
construction to stimulate the economy. Put simply, the state assumed
economic control of a vast swath of the country's operations
and began assessing new payroll taxes to fund its efforts.
(SOUND FAMILIAR?)
With an increasing flow of funds into these entitlement programs,
the government's payouts soon became overly generous.
Before long its outlays surpassed the value of the taxpayers' contributions.
Put simply, it quickly became under-funded, much like our Social Security
and Medicare programs.
The death knell for the Argentine economy, however,
came with the election of Juan Perón.
Perón had a fascist and corporatist upbringing;
he and his charismatic wife aimed their populist rhetoric at the nation's rich.
This targeted group "swiftly expanded to cover most of the propertied
middle classes, who became an enemy to be defeated and humiliated."
Under Perón, the size of government bureaucracies exploded
through massive programs of social spending and
by encouraging the growth of labor unions.
High taxes and economic mismanagement took their inevitable toll
even after Perón had been driven from office.
But his populist rhetoric and "contempt for economic realities" lived on.
Argentina's federal government continued to spend far beyond its means.
(WE KNOW THAT CAN'T HAPPEN IN OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT?)
Hyperinflation exploded in 1989, the final stage of a process characterized by
"industrial protectionism, redistribution of income based on increased wages,
and growing state intervention in the economy..."
The Argentinean government's practice of printing money
to pay off its public debts, crushed the economy.
Inflation hit 3000%, reminiscent of the Weimar Republic.
Food riots were rampant; stores were looted;
the country descended into chaos.
And by 1994, Argentina 's public pensions -
- the equivalent of Social Security - had imploded.
The payroll tax had increased from 5% to 26%,
but it wasn't enough. In addition, Argentina had implemented a value-added
tax (VAT), new income taxes, a personal tax on wealth, and additional
revenues based upon the sale of public enterprises. These crushed the
private sector, further damaging the economy.
(ONLY HAPPENS IN OTHER COUNTRIES, NOT OURS!)
A government-controlled "privatization" effort to rescue seniors' pensions
as attempted.
INSTEAD, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government,
the monies replaced by Argentina's defaulted government bonds.
( Hmmmmm! )
By 2002, "...government fiscal irresponsibility..
induced a national economic crisis as severe as America 's Great Depression."
(Nah, that won't happen here, would it?)
We've seen this movie before.
The politician's populist plans NEVER work, because power corrupts and
government bankrupts everything it touches.
For those that will listen, history shouts over and over that we cannot
sustain the wild spending and government takeover of business, banking,
health care, and continue to inflate unfunded entitlement programs!
Like history tells us, it will be an utter and complete disaster!!!
Today's politicians are guilty of more than arrogant stupidity;
they are enslaving future generations to poverty and misery.
And they will be long gone when it all implodes.
They will be as cold and dead as Juan Perón when your children and grand
children must ultimately pay for the blind arrogance of politicians!
The author, Vytautas ,is a 60 year old dad of six small children.
He is interested in theology, home based businesses, self-sufficiency,
and personal freedom.
THINK AMERICA!
WE ARE ALLOWING POLITICIANS
TO REPEAT THE FAILURES OF HISTORY!
PS... while working America cuts back...
Congress just increased government expenditures by 12%
in the "Omnibus" spending bill of nearly half a TRILLION!
Last year there was ONE person in the Dept. of Transportation
making over $170,000!
This year that Dept. has 1690 people making over $170,000!
Is your company, or ANY company, doing that well?
AND, this bill has 5224 earmarks totaling $4,000,000,000!
The U.S. unfunded mandates including Social Security, Medicare,
Medicaid and the National Debt -Now exceed 59 TRILLION DOLLARS.
"We have been warned!"
NOW WE MUST TAKE ACTION
We must vote informed in 2010 and 2012.
America as you know it depends on your informed vote.
