Re-manufacture The United States

We, the USA, are in an economic mess. The rich are getting richer. The middle class is getting poorer. The poor are trapped at the bottom of an economic well that is turning into a cesspool. Full time jobs are disappearing while most new jobs are part time. The poor seem to be destined to stoop labor on farms, janitorial work, or fast food.

There is no longer a path for the poor to get into the middle class or for the middle class to excel unless they take chances that most people aren't equipped for. Times are getting desperate. American people deserve better.

The fact is, I believe that the answer is out there. First, we must look at and understand history. Second, there are political changes that must be made to open the path to a successful future.

The changes must come first. We must remove the blocks to success before we try to achieve it. There are three things that the government must do. They must stop the insane spending that is draining the life's blood from the economy. Obamacare must be repealed. It overwhelms employers and forces them to forego full time employees and live with part timers. It also puts up huge obstacles to those that would expand their business. We must stabilize the tax code to realistic levels so businesses can form a long term growth plan. Since this is an article and not a book I cannot go into all the details and ramifications. Others have written well and soundly on these subjects. I would add nothing that hasn't already been said.

I came into this world as the depression was ending and World War Two was on the horizon. I saw an economy that was based on agriculture and textiles move on into heavy industry. I saw people brought into manufacturing jobs with little or no formal education. Many were not even high school graduates. But they were trainable and they were trained because they were needed. The learned to be welders and plumbers and electricians. These uneducated people built the ships and tanks and cannons that won a war. And they earned. They started out poor but the got training and good jobs and became the middle class. Their progeny did even better.

But for some inconceivable reason, back in the fifties politicians decided that all Americans should be college educated and never get their hands dirty while working. So manufacturing went away. We gave those jobs to Asia thinking we were so smart we didn't need them. I clearly remember thinking at the time, "this is nuts". I know that those Asian slave labor prices were attractive. We could have equaled them with technology if we desired. We didn't. So now we pay the piper. That piper is named Barack.

First we must achieve energy independence. Drill, baby, drill! Keep our wealth at home. We must stop fighting expeditionary wars. Keep our young people at home. Then we must start building up a solid, hi-tech, manufacturing economy. Some people work best with their brains. Some people work best with their hands. Train those that prefer to work with their hands. Bring back the old apprentice programs but scaled for today's business. Give people of all economic levels an opportunity to work their way up. Let them grow so that they may pass to their children even more opportunity. Let's re-manufacture the United States.