General Motor’s long-expected, government-induced filing for bankruptcy dominated much of this week’s news. The horrendous additional costs for American taxpayers and the more-than-doubtful success of the measure has many critics in arms. The German press in particular blasted Mr. Obama for his ill-advised and “alarming” action and pointed at America’s “weakened industrial clout,” which “poses considerable risks for the entire US economy and for international competitors.”
German papers overwhelmingly agreed that “America’s economy is losing power and influence in the world,” and if Mr. Obama’s restructuring of GM fails (as many commentators fear that it will), “his economic policy will lie in ruins.”
The U.S. economy is indeed in shambles, mirroring the fact that California is already “bankrupt.” As USA Today reported, the government took on $6.8 trillion in new obligations in 2008, pushing the total owed to a record $63.8 trillion. When US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said at Beijing University that “Chinese financial assets are very safe” in the USA, the audience laughed him to scorn.
On the political front, President Obama gave his highly anticipated speech in Cairo, but what did it accomplish? So far, as a Financial Times’ article points out, Mr. Obama’s approach on the world scene has been unsuccessful. However, it is interesting that the White House has begun to emphasize more and more President Obama’s Muslim roots. And while Israel is preparing for war and European elections for the EU Parliament are under way, Germany and France are pleading for a “strong Europe,” stating that it must have “strong institutions” to “play a leading role in the world.”
President Obama’s America and Chancellor Merkel’s Germany do not see eye to eye at all. Even though Germans are still today less than enthusiastic about German military advancements in other countries, the Bible prophesied thousands of years ago that a European army, under German leadership, will invade the Middle East, and, even more surprisingly, perhaps, that an all-encompassing war will ensue between continental Europe and Great Britain and the USA. For more information, please read our free booklets, “Europe in Prophecy,” “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord,” and “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.” Further information on this topic can also be found in our free booklet, “Is That in the Bible? The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation.”
