George W.: Genius?

-Guest Contributor J. William-

I’m not a political scientist. I identify as a conservative in that I enjoy killing criminals and not babies, but I am not polarized to the right so far that I feel guilty telling you I, like about 70% of America, think George Bush is a moron. But recently, it has occurred to me that he may in fact be the most brilliant president in recent history.

Before I get into what he may be, I want to insist upon what Bush is not. George Bush is not the second Abe Lincoln. During the Civil War, Lincoln’s approval sank to tremendous lows, fueled by his unpopular policies which supported a war the country wanted to end. Lincoln used his speech at the Gettysburg dedication to invigorate a weary nation and is now regarded as one of the greatest presidents. This will not happen to you George. Sorry buddy. In the public’s eye, this war just isn’t accomplishing very much; except contributing to the decline of the American Dollar.

Jackpot.

As a native of Detroit, I’ve been able to watch the local economy slowly dwindle as more and more people lose their auto industry based job to foreign workers. Foreign workers are simply cheaper to employ. As time has gone on, other industries go the way of cars, and close production plants in America because we are just too damn expensive. Without even getting into a debate over socialism and the American sense of entitlement, it is sufficient to say that something needs to change. Over several years, the market has been in decline, commodity prices have been dropping and most dramatic, our currency has been significantly devalued.
Even the Euro is more valuable than the dollar.

According to news reports, the Federal Reserve Board has been doing something, but as an average American, I haven’t felt relief from their ivory tower. In the last few months I haven’t heard a peep from them. The government gave contributing Americans several hundred dollars to stimulate spending and jumpstart the economy. I don’t think that really made a difference. Not only is this money a transfer payment, but many people just used it to pay off existing debt, which wouldn’t contribute to new growth.

And that really seems like about all the government has done. In my, and a lot of people I know (including some very educated individuals), opinion the powers that be are just letting the economy slide. But this may not be a bad thing, as many Americans believe.
This country lost hundreds of thousands of jobs to cheaper foreign labor. However, countries like China and India are experiencing fast growth in their standards of living. Soon, workers there will demand higher wages. With the American dollar on the decline, it will become cheaper to produce goods back in America. Globalization is cyclical and given enough time, we will see foreign money pour into the American economy.

This is almost a certainty. In the Detroit area, foreign competitor Mazda has opened a production plant south of the city, and other large foreign companies have started to set up shop across the country. The biggest question to me though is if this was intentional? Is the future prospects of the American economy the result of careful crafting by the Bush administration. Surely they wouldn’t be able to tell us a plan as radical as purposely devaluing out currency. Is the rising foreign debt the best financial instrument for getting our economy back on track? Is George Bush, a Harvard MBA, a true genius? I don’t care if he is or isn’t, I will just be happy when I feel more confident in our financial stability as a nation.

-J. William