Are we Broke?

When countries are in serious financial trouble, they will agree to about anything to get out debt. Enter the island country of Cyprus. They hammered out a deal to have the European Union bail them out – but in order for the deal to go through, the Government of Cyprus considered raiding the bank accounts of its citizens, taking 10% of everything they have in the bank. The reaction of the people of Cyprus was to empty their bank accounts – basically an old fashioned run on banks. This past Saturday, people stood in line to withdrawal their money from what they thought was a safe place to store their savings. The backlash was so bad, that the government closed the banks and is re-considering their plan to rob the hard earned savings of their citizens. Even though Cyprus is a small country, the thought of a country taking such a desperate action sent shock waves around the globe. The Dow dropped 62 point today – and depending on what Cyprus does, the decline could continue. The lesson here is what a government, when it becomes too big and bloated, borrows too much, and finally can’t pay its bills, will do to access money. Could this happen in America under Barack Obama? No, you say? What if someone asked you 10 years ago that the American government would be forcing you to buy health insurance or they would punish you with fines? What our President should have done today was demonstrate some leadership and guarantee the American public nothing like what is happening in Cyprus will ever happen here. But then again, would anyone believe him?