And when the Euro dies, there will be pain here in the United States.

Brace for it; it will be happening quicker than you can imagine.

International businesses are already planning for the “end” of the Euro as a 17-country denomination. From the FinancialTimes.com:

International companies are preparing contingency plans for a possible break-up of the eurozone, according to interviews with dozens of multinational executives.

Concerned that Europe’s political leaders are failing to control the spreading sovereign debt crisis, business executives say they feel compelled to protect their companies against a crash that can no longer be wished away. When German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy raised the prospect of a Greek exit from the eurozone earlier this month, it marked the first time that senior European officials had dared to question the permanence of their 13-year-old experiment with monetary union.

And yet — if you will allow me — I’d like to point out that the EU has roughly an $11 trillion dollar debt. Whilst, simultaneously, the US (pointedly, under Mr Obama) holds a $17 trillion dollar debt.

And the EU wants to turn to the IMF.

Which means the United States of America. Which means the American Taxpayer. Which means YOU and ME.

Euro ministers have already approved $11 billion dollars for Greece. Greece, some think, can be “bailed out” due to its size. Italy, however, is simply too large to bail. It alone will, for example, kill the Euro.

The countries in trouble? Think PIIGS: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain.

Further, our Mr Obama has already committed the United States to the Fall of the Euro.

He stated:

I’m confident that Germany’s leadership, along with other key actors in Europe, will help us arrive at a path for Greece to return to growth, for this debt to become more manageable,” Obama said.

“But it’s going to require some patience and some time. And we have pledged to cooperate fully in working through these issues, both on a bilateral basis but also through international and financial institutions like the IMF.”

Again, let me make this clear: YOUR dollars and MY dollars, as American Taxpayers, committed to bailing out Europe.

But again, if I might, let me take this one or two steps further:

One could make an argument that American dollars could be committed in order to prop up Euro-Zone entities. Because these countries are our trading partners. And they need to be assisted in order to help our domestic bottom line.

I might, however, suggest: let’s just cut out the Middle Man.

If we propose to prop-up the Euro in order to help US businesses, our purchases, our trade — then why can’t we just kick Europe to the curb and do what we need to do at home?

Prop up our OWN businesses, locally, nationally, with tax breaks, cash infusions — just as we would have done internationally?

Why?

Because that is not in keeping with Mr Obama’s personal philosophy. And that does not include any amount of business-favoring deals.

Simple as that.

Clear as mud.

Mr Obama holds our future in his hand right now.

And, trust me, he will NOT act to save US national businesses.

BZ

With every other bit of baggage.

Add this.

Done.

Stick a fork in him.

BZ

And now she eases gently from her Austin to her Bentley:

From the Michael Curl op-ed piece on Sunday (11-27):

Over the last decade, we became a country that relied too much on what we bought and consumed.”

– President Obama, Nov. 19, 2011

“Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.”

– President Carter, July 15, 1979

For the past 36 months, Americans have hoped for the best. But it hasn’t turned out that way. In fact, some argue that Mr. Obama actually made the economy worse – the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last week that his 2009 stimulus package may have sustained as few as 700,000 jobs at its peak and that over the long run it will be a net drag on the economy.

But then, this. The president, traveling the country purportedly to look for votes in 2012, decided to lecture the American people on their shortcomings: fat, lazy, stupid. And now, he’s channeling – of all people – Jimmy Carter.

Don’t doubt the premise here. Democrats must spend – spend and spend and spend. It’s in their DNA. Mr. Obama offered a $3.8 trillion budget this year, to be paid for by – $2.1 trillion in revenue (read: your money). He knows that over the next four years, with automatic budget cuts set to take effect and the American people’s rising ire over the profligate spending in Washington, he’s going to have no money to redistribute to the masses.

Curl finally asks Obama: “why not just bail?”

I concur: Mr Obama, if you’re on the fence, if you’re uninterested in communicating, if you’re disengaged, if you don’t much care for the office or for the people around you —

Just bail.

BZ

P.S.
And as Europe begins to burn, ObaNero keeps fiddling, learning nothing from the history unfolding before his very eyes.

From their 10-year anniversary tour, in 2008:

LTE’s personnel lineup:
John Petrucci – Guitar
Jordan Rudess – Keyboards
Mike Portnoy – Drums
Tony Levin – Bass, Chapman Stick
John Petrucci sources from the bands