RANDOM RANTS

Responding to John McCain's call for more domestic oil drilling, Barack Obama countered with a plan of his own to help ease the pain at the gas pump. Rather than drill for more oil, Obama said we could obtain the equivalent amount of oil if Americans would simply check their tire pressure and get engine tuneups, as if American drivers are too stupid to think of this on their own. He touts himself as the candidate of change and a man of vision. But is this the extent of his vision regarding gas prices? Tuneups and tire pressure? What is his solution for rising unmemployment? Everyone go into business for themselves by selling apples on the sidewalk? His statement reeks of condescension and reveals himself as a man who truly believes he is smarter than the average citizen, and that we are a nation of dunces.Besides his sage advice to drivers about checking the air in their tires, he recently gave a speech in which he ridiculed Americans for not being bi-linqual. His words betray him as an elitist who looks down on middle America. I, for one, will never cast a vote for someone who looks down their nose at me.

Did you know that China exports more goods in a single day than they did in the entire year of 1978? And for those of you who fear that trade with China is a one-way street, with all our money going in their direction, it may interest you to know that China also imports annually 300 billion dollars worth of goods from us. In addition, they have to date sent a trillion dollars back to the United States in the form of Treasury bond purchases.

We keep hearing and reading about China's dynamic economy and how it will surpass the US economy within a few decades. Fear not. China is still an authoritarian Marxist state that controls every aspect of their booming economy, which means that at some point in the near future, their progress will come to a screeching halt. Statist economies directed by faceless bureaucrats have severe limitations when compared to a free market like our own. At some point their stringent policies and controls will be self-defeating and halt their progress. Think of it as a dog tied to a long leash. For a period the dog will be able to frolick freely, but at some point that leash will halt his progress and bring him to an abrupt stop. No statist economy has ever run as efficiently and prosperously as a free market economy.