Our New America

I awoke today to the buzz of my blackberry and as opened the email that was sent, I had to rub my eyes for a minute after seeing the subject line. Then I laid in bed and chuckled that my friend was yanking my chain so early in the morning and on such a serious topic to myself and all of you...executive compensation. The title of his email was "Obama may call for oversight of exec pay at all financial firms."

How could this NOT be a joke? How could the Federal Government step into the private sector in such a way as to limit compensation? Can you say squashing capitalism? Can you say the end of free market economics and a sharp turn to socialism?

It is funny actually. I took my family into Manhattan yesterday to celebrate my oldest son's 11th Birthday. We went to see Shrek the Musical and then to Susanna Foo's for an early dinner. We put the whole thing together Thursday evening. That is right, I was able to get tickets to a hot new Broadway show, 2 nights before the performance. I also got 8th row center orchestra seats. Imagine that. Welcome to our New America.

In our New America, things will always be available because pretty much no one will be able to afford them. We will all generally make about the same, pay about the same in taxes and muddle about our lives much the same way as the lazy ass French and upside down Germans.

How long will this go on? How long will it take for our society to recognize that the New America is a shell of the old America.

I am not defending the business practices of the Wall Street firms that helped bring this financial tsunami to our shores, homes and lives. Far from it. I have called for the heads of these firms to be thrown in jail...and I have called for a full investigation of Congress and their role in a broad sense and specific Congressmen's roles in same.

I am defending the American way...the way of working hard, being creative and believing in yourself and your ideas and succeeding. If that means making a lot of money so be it. This used to be called the "land of plenty", the "land of opportunity"....the New America should be called the land of opportunity to make enough to get by.

I speak to many liberals and they seem to be pretty much on board with how the New America will be. It shocks me. These are the same people now complaining about how the economy is scaring them, how they are reluctant to fix up their homes, to spend any money at all. But on the other hand, they are the same people to tell me, "we all have to do our part to get us out of this." So what up with that dichotomy of statement and sentiment? Do you not realize you will have LESS going forward??

But I digress. Thomas Jefferson said it best, "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. " He also said, "It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own. "