Put Away the China

I heard an interview with a politician the other day. It was shortly after the China visit. The politician was dragging China over hot coals because of its dismal record on human rights. Now, China may not be forthcoming with aid to its poor, and they may be stuck on this one-child thing. They may jail their disidents, and burn negative publicity, but:
In 2009, American owed China around $750,000,000,000 in long-term debt. That's seven hundred and fifty BILLION dollars.
So, looked at from that perspective, Chinese money is giving American students financial aid. It is reaching out to victims of natural disaster all over the globe.
It permeates every level of what should be our national budget.

Okay. I am not bashing the USA. America is a great and proud country. BUT consider:
I left a generous tip for a waitress the other day. I knew her, and her struggle to make ends meet. I gave her money I had earned, not borrowed. If I was mortgaged up to my eyebrows and borrowing more just to live, I could not have given the woman a tip. I could not have eaten out. I WOULD NOT have eaten out. I would have spent that money making sure my family had the essentials.
But our politicians don't understand that concept. They vote to borrow money from other countries, then go wild spending it on earmarked projects and congressional benefits. They send it overseas to help the starving in third world countries, and ignore our own poor. And then they have the guts to ask Americans to tighten their belts so they can go on doing it.

AND the guts to tell China off.

We throw billions at the world community ( billions we have to borrow) trying to make them like us. Trying to live up to the image we once had. AND THEY DON'T LIKE US NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE SPEND.
If Americans have to live within their means, why doesn't America?
That's all I'm saying.