Postby Chase Ricks » Wed Sep 29, 2010 6:27 pm
Chase Ricks
English 090
September 13. 2004
Writing Assignment #1
The problems of having a corrupt ruler for a leader
When I was first given this topic for my first writing assignment in English 090, I had a few decisions to make concerning the subject and type of audience that this essay is best suited to interest. I had quite a few things I could have chosen to write about, but they seemed like mere trivialities when compared to the major issues in our world today. In addition, I have done a lot of reading on this subject too. Therefore, I just hope that I have done a good job on this. If I could ban anything in the world today, I would ban corrupt government rulers because of the problems they can cause. Judge me dear reader and see for yourself if I have succeeded or failed at this task.
Throughout the ages, seemingly minor decisions have sometimes led to major events. For example, King George the Third of England wrote in his journal that nothing of major importance happened on July 4, 1776. Nevertheless, we all know that date in history was indeed of major importance, because that was when the Declaration of Independence was created and the United States began its march into the history books of the countries of the world. Back then, there was no corruption in our first national government. There were just a whole lot of humble and upright people wanting to live a better life without having to be ruled by an autocratic ruler who lived across the ocean from them. Most of them were farmers and merchants. Only a few of them were even rich according to the standards of the world back then.
Now in the year 2004, all this has changed to a corrupt government. President George Bush has not done much to better our lives in his first term of running our dear country. Instead, he has increased our nation?s national deficit, courted many political lobbyists in Washington D.C., and gambled on the idea that Iraq had secretly built Weapons of Mass Destruction. This is why he declared war on that country and sent many thousands of our soldiers, both young and old, there to depose the wicked dictator who ran this poor Middle Eastern country, Saddam Hussein. However, so far our soldiers have not discovered any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Already hundreds of America?s beloved recruits in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the National Guard have either been killed or badly wounded in combat over there.
Why should we have to have a leader who gives our country a bad name in the global community? Now I am not saying that King George the Third of England from 1776 and President George Bush of the United States of America today are the best people to compare. The centuries between their rules over our lives have greatly changed the way governments treat those who live under them. However, a few ways have not changed at all. They both had advisors who gave them poor advice that led to trouble for us then and now. They both did what they thought was best for themselves instead of what was good for their subjects. Eventually this caused England to lose the thirteen colonies when we fought for our freedom.
Christmas in Congress / Special interests clean up in pending legislation
Here, in the words of one member of Congress, are a few of the benefactors of a tax cut bill now creeping through Congress: "cruise ship operators, foreign dog-race gamblers, NASCAR track owners, whaling tribes, bow and arrow makers, Chinese ceiling fan manufacturers, Oldsmobile dealers, and beer and liquor wholesalers. "Not to mention tobacco farmers and possibly the most needy, deprived and underprivileged of all American entrepreneurs, the millionaires who own professional sports franchises.
THE BUSH administration announced last week its revised figure for this year's budget deficit: $445 billion. This, or so the spin goes, is good news, because the original forecast was even higher -- $521 billion. However, outside budget experts had warned that the forecast was inflated, which tarnishes any celebration of the new number. Not that the administration was deterred. "This improved budget outlook is the direct result of the strong economic growth the president's tax relief has fueled," crowed Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua B. Bolten.
Mr. Bolten's argument makes little sense: Economic growth has been no faster than the administration anticipated when it predicted the higher deficit. In any event, $445 billion marks the highest deficit ever (though the administration seems to be setting the stage for a new round of better-than-expected numbers just before Election Day). Only in the administration's upside-down, economic world could a deficit $70 billion higher than last year's be hailed as progress.
Bad economic news presses from all sides. The recovery is faltering. The stock market is in a funk. Consumers are being squeezed between stagnant incomes, rising costs of buying credit, and maxed-out credit cards.
Deficits of all kinds are growing. The federal budget deficit is projected at $5 trillion (that is trillion, as in 5,000,000,000,000) over the next 10 years. The federal government's unfunded liabilities, mainly for retirement and healthcare, are $72 trillion. This will show up later in budget deficits as the baby-boomer generation ages. The trade deficit - the difference between what the US exports and what it imports - was $46 billion in May, the latest month for which figures are available. That is a rate of $552 billion a year, the measure of the obligations to foreigners incurred by the US.
Doing something about the budget deficit and its cousin, the unfunded liabilities, is simply being put off in the hope that they will go away until somebody else is in charge. Deficit deception
PRESIDENT BUSH is using White House budget projections to disguise the reality of dismal fiscal news. This year's deficit will be the largest ever, and his tax cuts are responsible for much of the red ink.
In releasing the figures last week, the Office of Management and Budget said the $445 billion deficit expected for this year is $100 billion less than the projection in February. Nevertheless, many budget watchers at the time said the figure was too high. Even at $445 billion, the figure is $70 billion worse than last year's and represents 3.8 percent of the economy, a huge amount during a time of expansion.
Today, the Office of Management and Budget released new projections stating that the budget deficit will grow to $445 billion in fiscal year 2004. This is $70 billion larger than the 2003 deficit, which stood at $375 billion. Despite the recovery, the deficit has continued to rise significantly.
The $445 billion projected deficit also is more than $700 billion worse than what the Administration projected for fiscal year 2004 in its first budget, submitted in February 2001. At that time, the Administration forecast a $262 billion surplus for 2004.In the face of this dramatic fiscal deterioration, the Administration is now attempting to downplay the deficits and is citing the new figures as evidence it is making progress on the fiscal front. In spinning the new deficit numbers, the Administration and others have made several dubious claims.
In closing, I just hope that the citizens of the United States of America never have to fight like that again in order to have a democratic government to watch over us. It is never a good thing to have a corrupt leader in power.
They can do many other things besides the main problems I have described here. Take this time to think of what our president has done to our country so far instead of for it. Then think about what he can do for America and the millions of people who call it home. Finally decide for yourself if this is the type of leader we want to have running our country for the next four years. This is why I would ban bad politics if I could prohibit anything in the world today.
From whence I came and whence I went heaven said I was too evil and sent me to hell. Demons and devils succeeded in breaking my soul.
