What is the difference between George W. Bush and Barack Obama? The former gave us wars in two countries when he promised the American people a “humble” foreign policy and no nation building when he was the GOP presidential nominee in 2000, while the latter positioned himself as the “peace” candidate in 2008—and won overwhelmingly but is escalating military intervention in other Middle Eastern nations. In short, the only major difference between Bush and Obama is that one is a white neoconservative and the other is a black neoconservative.
Historically, “peace” candidates tend to win the presidency easily; the most notable example prior to 2008 was LBJ’s landslide over “pro-war” GOP presidential nominee Barry Goldwater in 1964. After the election, LBJ escalated U.S. involvement in Vietnam; the “joke” was that if people voted for Goldwater, there would be war in Vietnam.
LBJ was able to escalate U.S. intervention in Vietnam because the military draft provided the manpower that eventually led to more than 500,000 troops serving in southeast Asia by 1968, the height of the Vietnam War. That year also saw LBJ dropping out of the presidential race, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and riots in urban America. In short, 1968 was the year that changed America.
Despite the American people’s growing opposition to the Vietnam War, the welfare-warfare state was cemented on America in 1968. Medicare and Medicaid were passed in 1965, and even though the American people want a strong military, both Democratic and Republican administrations have been intervening overseas since LBJ left the White House in 1969–all of which had nothing to do with defending America.
In 1971, the federal government’s finances were so unbalanced because of LBJ’s guns and butter policies, President Nixon defaulted on the U.S. dollar on August 15th. Foreign central banks could no longer redeem their dollars for gold. In other words, President Nixon declared the U.S. government bankrupt, because the world was flooded with dollars and there was not enough gold in reserve for the U.S. Treasury to redeem the greenback at $35 per ounce.
With no “brake” on money printing and borrowing, the cost of the federal welfare-warfare state has escalated to nearly $4 trillion annually today. Future generations will live in “serfdom” in order to pay for the Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid promises of the federal government, which are nothing more than Ponzi schemes. To end the “road to serfdom,” the welfare-warfare state must be phased out ASAP.
Fast forward to 2011. For the past 40 years, the federal government has expanded the welfare-warfare state and paid for it by borrowing nearly $14 trillion and printing trillions of dollars. In short, the reckless spending, irresponsible borrowing and creating money out of thin air are reaching their limits. The welfare-warfare state is undermining our nation’s prosperity and social cohesion. A financial debacle greater than we just went through (2007-2010) is on the horizon if we do not address one of the major causes of our plight, the warfare state.
We can immediately end the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War, and short circuit the escalation of U.S. intervention in Libya, Pakistan and other lands.
If America goes to war the spouses, children, grandchildren, in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins and long time friends of the President, Vice President, members of the Cabinet, Joint Chiefs of Staff, CIA, National Security Agency, members of Congress, radio and cable talk show hosts, journalists, and others who support the war(s) etc., etc., would be drafted to serve in the armed services either at home or abroad. No exceptions, no deferments, no excuses. Therefore, if President Obama continues the failed foreign policies of the Bush-Cheney regime, then the military draft should kick in immediately as outlined above.
If war is necessary to “fight terrorism over there so they do not come here,” then the relatives of the policymakers and their civilian supporters should be the first ones to fight to “defend” the homeland. Those of us who will not be drafted to fight “over there” will have the right to carry a concealed firearm at home to protect the homeland just in case a terrorist slips through the TSA agents at our airports.
In addition, taxpayers would have to pay for the costs of war now. To pay for the current wars in the Middle East and any future interventions, an income tax surcharge of at least 50% would bring in approximately $500 billion per year. Let us see if the American people would support a 50% increase in their income taxes to fight the global war on terror—or any war for that matter–on a pay as you go basis.