Global or national?

One problem with the United States government’s response to the “global economic crisis” is their focus on the word “global”.

In an episode of the TV show West Wing, one of the characters asked the president “Why is an American solder’s life worth more than a ...” and inserted the name of the fictional country they were talking about. By the end of the episode the president answered, “It’s not”.

While that may appeal to our sense of honor, it misses the point. The President of the United States was not elected to preserve and protect the lives of what ever country is under discussion, he was elected to preserve and protect the lives of Americans!

We did not elect our President, our Senators, or our Representatives to support the global economy. We did elect them to take care of the citizens of the United States of America.

Events have proven that they worried so much about the impact of their decisions on “global” markets that the forgot the impact of their decisions on their own citizens.