As I write this morning, gold is pushing higher and the U.S. dollar is hitting lows. It seems odd since most all indicators are pointing to a strengthening economic recovery both in the U.S. and globally. Then again, childish, nay infantile, behavior on the part of some elected officials is creating news that is driving money into gold and out of the dollar. Yes, we all know the news – the U.S. government just might shut down if certain folks don’t get their way.
By the time you read this, the government will be open for business or it will not. Either way, I would like to say, any good parent would not tolerate the petulant and irresponsible behavior of some in Washington D.C. If any good parent had a child behaving the way some in our government are behaving, that parent would look that child in the eye and say, “Knock it off or you are going to your room to think about your behavior.” Well, no matter how this turns out today, we, as the parents of our government, should look those who are behaving petulantly and irresponsibly in the eye, and tell them to “knock it off” or we will vote them back to their districts to think about their behavior. Yes, the only way to change the behavior of these ideological brats is to vote them out of office.
Like it or not, government has been an integral part of the U.S. economy since the inception of the U.S.A. back in 1776. Today, it is so interwoven in the economy that closing it for business means an enormous interruption in the economic flow. Some would argue that whatever happens from a government shutdown is, simply, the price we have to pay to get our government budget issues under control. I am sorry, but that simplistic viewpoint is not only naïve, ignorant, and without merit; it is dangerous to our economic health.
It appears to me that those who advocate for a government shutdown simply have no grip on economic reality, and worse, do not care if we continue to recover economically. It appears to me that “getting their way” ideologically is more important than continuing to nurse the U.S. economy back to health. This, my friends, is not the time to hold the U.S. economy hostage to any idea, no matter how important one thinks that idea is. No, this is not the time to throw a wrench into the cogs beginning to spin again.
Yes, we need to get our fiscal house in order, no doubt about it, and, yes, part of that process is large cuts in spending, but let’s do it responsibly and objectively. Let’s not act in the same manner that our ally and friend across the pond did. The British are now suffering even more economically because they acted irresponsibly in the face of their budget issues. Do we really want to see a reversal in our economic flow?
Think about this – if reducing our deficits and debt is the goal in all of this, then how does putting more people out of work, thus reducing tax revenues, help solve the problem? No, something other than fixing the budget problem is at work here, and, in my eyes, this bad behavior works against the immediate best interests of America. The misbehavers need to “knock it off,” to stop the petulant and irresponsible behavior, and, for once, start acting for the greater good, which is doing whatever we can to keep the economic recovery going.
Trade in the day – Invest in your life …
