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Where are our true leaders?
Community Voices
| Thursday, Aug 14 2008 6:35 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Aug 15 2008 9:02 AM
I have read a number of books about our Founding Fathers the risks they took, the sacrifices they made and the suffering many of their families went through. What a commitment they made trying to do what was right for the country they were creating.
What do we have now? A group of elected individuals who are always thinking about the next election and getting re-elected. This is why they do such poor long-term planning and seem to mainly react to crisis.
Take the state water system. It is broken and the Delta desperately needs to be fixed. We need to build a canal to bring water south from the Delta, but state legislators cannot get together and make a decision. They will probably wait until the Delta fails and the water supply for millions is threatened before they act.
Each day I faithfully read The Californian, Wall Street Journal, a number of magazines plus industry newsletters. In the evening, I watch at least two news programs. I ask myself: Why can't the state's elected officials quit spending money we don't have, quit adding expensive new programs, stop burdening business with new regulations and reporting demands, and agree on a real balanced budget? Why can't they stop playing games and using smoke and mirrors to cover up their ineptitude? It seems their only solution is to increase taxes. The state debt is out of control. I'm begging them to stop!
At the federal level, a weak dollar policy has been pushed. That has been a major factor in giving us $140 per barrel oil. Since oil is priced in U.S. dollars, the price has more than doubled in the past year or so. We are now in the middle of the largest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind.
Most of us average citizens agree on the need to increase the use of alternative sources of energy. But in the meantime, we need to increase our domestic oil production by drilling offshore, in ANWAR and mining the oil shale. Our national security is at stake.
We also need to push nuclear energy. Many European countries provide a large percentage of their energy through nuclear generation.
We haven't built new refineries in over 25 years. Most power grids are at capacity and even if we installed a lot of wind turbines, we can't transport the power to where it is needed.
Politicians seem to forget that companies that can will relocate when they get tired of all of the financial burdens placed on them by government. Whether it is increased taxes, fees or regulations, they will say adios. That is part of the reason so many of our manufacturing jobs have gone overseas.
We have lost millions of many good high-paying jobs to India, Taiwan, China, etc. We are sliding into a service economy with low wages. Just last week, the news media reported that Toyota had overtaken General Motors as the number one car maker in the world.
Wake up Washington, Sacramento, etc. You are killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
Arnold Johansen of Bakersfield is the president and chief executive officer of H.M. Holloway Inc. Community Voices is an expanded commentary that may contain up to 500 words. The Californian reserves the right to reprint commentaries in all formats, including on its Web page.