It remains a mystery to me that our government can point out the excess profits that they believe the oil companies are making and yet produce an annual budget request of $3.1 Trillion for 2008.

Americans are totally incensed by the oil company’s profits, yet seem oblivious to government spending. Why is that? Apparently only the Shadow knows. The Shadow, and me that is, and I’m going to tell you that secret.

Everyone in the U.S. is on, or will be on, the government dole. Yes, me to. Even though we paid in to it, Social Security and Medicare are doled back out by our fine managers in government. We drive on the highways and who hands out highway funds? We are threatened by foreign nations and who protects us? Who doles out money for education?

So when government is asked to cut back…what do they say? “Cutting taxes will affect your Social Security, National Security, Healthcare and Education. Cutting back oil company profits will make your life better.”

The above example is similar to asking a beef rancher if red meat is bad for you or a real estate agent if he recommends selling your own home. It’s called a conflict of interest.

Government could cut back by hundreds of billions in areas that we would never notice, but those aren’t the areas that are used as examples because they wouldn’t directly negatively influence the general public. They would however negatively influence the company that financed your Congresspersons last campaign.

Tax collection is what keeps this well oiled machine that we call government running smoothly. An interruption in tax collection is not a good thing for our fearless leaders and isn’t included in the grand scheme of things. In other words, there is no plan “B.”

Similar to the Titanic, the U.S. can’t sink so why provide life boats? And similar to the Titanic, the designers of America’s economic underpinnings got it all wrong. They planned on exponential growth (ever expanding), for…well, forever. Never mind that it was impossible. Don’t muddy our mission up with facts.

Continual growth in tax collection is without a doubt necessary to fund all of the debt that our government has seen fit to put on the cuff. But is infinite growth in tax collection possible?

This is a great time for a Mikeronomics quiz. Late next month, May of 2008, some 3.1 million students will graduate from High School and at the same time, 1.37 million will graduate from college. Also at the same time, 899,000 students will have dropped out of high school during 2008. What do these 5,369,000 people have in common?

Absolutely; they all want a new car. And, you all got it right; they also want a job.

I just reported last week that in the previous 90 days, 772,000 people were either laid off or failed to find work. Jobs, it seems, are on permanent backorder.

So here is the burning question: What do you think the chances are of 5.3 million people going to work in the near term? Wait! Before you answer that, did I tell you that on average 125,000 immigrants enter the U.S. looking for work each and every month?

So what’s your answer to the quiz? “Sweet Mother of Jesus,” is not an acceptable answer.

Wake up Middle America, our leaders lost their compass some time back.