"Street Fight!"

When I was a freshman in high school, I used to walk to school with a friend who lived down the block from me. His name was Frankie "T". Frankie was almost two years older than I, and Frankie weighed about 250 pounds. Every day we would walk to a local coffee shop and have coffee before we walked to school; it wasn't "cool" to take the bus. There was another guy in school named "Big Joe", he was a body builder and had a reputation for being pretty tough. "Big Joe" was a gym leader, and led our class with calisthenics. "Big Joe" was also a bully; he would pick on anybody who was smaller or weaker than he. Frankie was big, but he wasn't muscular; he got the nickname "Rhino" and it was quite appropriate. Frankie was as strong as an ox, yet he was never a bully. "Big Joe" would walk the halls like a "tyrant king", intimidating underclassmen at every opportunity. One day, he decided to try to intimidate Frankie. There was some name calling in the halls, but nothing would be resolved until 3:10 that afternoon, in the parking lot. "Big Joe" thought his reputation would be enough of an edge to win any conflict. All afternoon, the school was abuzz with talk of the upcoming conflict, and who would emerge victorious. Back then, T-shirts and combat boots were in vogue; it was almost a uniform for "tough guys". Well, 3:10 finally showed up and the battle was ready to start. "Big Joe" started out with a verbal assault of "fat jokes". This turned out to be a strategic error; Frankie came to fight, and fight he did! He lit into "Big Joe" with the fury of a bull elephant, bowling him over and mercilessly pummeling him until four guys finally pulled him off the hapless bully. "Big Joe's" reputation couldn't save him; it had no influence over Frankie.

Last week, President Barack Obama went to the Far East on an economic tour to gain support from some Asian nations. His economic policies have already been discounted by several major European nations and some South American nations. Mr. Obama's policy of continued pursuit of higher spending by the government is rapidly losing credibility around the world. We are now monetizing our debt which will lead to runaway inflation if it is not put in check. Even the Red Chinese are telling the President to revise his economics. Mr. Obama seems to be sticking to his guns of higher spending and a new stimulus. He is still fighting extending tax cuts for all Americans, which will put further pressure on our ailing economic situation. It seems Mr. Obama is depending on his reputation as the "Great Communicator" to sell his programs to the rest of the world. The rest of the world is seeing the results of mass spending and entitlements in Greece. They are seeing the results of runaway inflation already, and know a change must be made. The President of the United States usually wields great influence in world politics and economics, yet this time, the President's "rep" isn't enough to win this "street fight".

It will take more than a "REP" to save this economic disaster; your opponent isn't buying your "rep" anymore. Mr. Obama can't back it up when it comes to the economy, here or in the rest of the world. He'd be better off backing away from this fight; or he may meet a "BAD END"!