by Eric Gurr
But I can’t help wondering if the left were right all along. Hell, the population over the, with what we keep sending and the people still going on their own, I hear it’s pushing seventy million people. So it makes me wonder if we did the right thing.”
“It won’t last. That’s one of the things I wanted to put on the agenda today. The president and I have been talking about it quite a bit. Matt Davis is working on the issue as well.” Van-Driessen said.
“What is it?”
“The reason they are doing so well is they have no debt. They just walked away from it. All the initial money they made to support their own currency was U.S. dollars. From the port tariffs. Now they are trading with much of Asia. China is helping them out quite a bit.
On the other hand. We are saddled with nearly thirty-trillion in debt. The fine people of The Free State of California are responsible for a good portion of that.”
“So what are you suggesting we do?” Hartwick asked.
“We have another big problem as well.”
“I think we have a bunch of them Vic.” Hartwick said.
“Not like this one. I got a call from the president this morning. He got an interesting call last night. Two calls actually. One from the prime minister of France, the other from Germany.
I wanted to wait until we met with the committee tonight, but it can’t wait.”
“What is it?”
“France and Germany have formed an alliance. They ask the president if we were still in NATO.
Tomorrow morning they are going to declare war on Austria, Poland, Hungary and most of the rest of Eastern Europe. France and Germany are also forming an alliance with Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and a few other Middle Eastern countries. They are looking for support from the Saudis and Egypt as well. It looks like we have another world war on our hands.”
Hartwick dropped his head and sighed.
After a few minutes, he looked up to the vice-president and said.
“The world keeps turning.”
Hartwick nodded.
“And the world keeps burning.” He looked at Van-Driessen and finally realized the dilemma.
“So if we try to go after California to get them to pay the debt, it could lead to another war.”
Van-Driessen nodded. “Yes. And then if it falls apart in Europe we may not be in a position to help there.”
“So what do you and the president suggest?” Hartwick said.
“It’s going to be up to the committee. If we can hold out a few more months, we can leave it up to the new Congress.
But our suggestion, and the military leadership is largely in agreement on this one, is that we might want to sit out this world war and focus on rebuilding the nation.”
“I suppose that makes the most sense. I’m no historian Vic, but I have learned one thing. Things change.”
Victor Van-Driessen nodded again. “Yes, they do John. Things change.”