I can't answer for why the Australians elected Kevin Rudd, but it is most likely due to one leader being in power for a long time. Even a good leader can eventually fall victim to being around too long.

This guy Rudd also portrayed himself to the public as a somewhat conservative leader similar to Howard on some issues and the Australians erroneously bought into it. They will be sorry.

Let's not forget that the Australian media is just as, if not probably more left wing than the American media. They have been constantly attacking Howard for years.

The Australian public has bought into the whole "environmental" fraud lock, stock, and barrel. That was also what pushed Rudd into office. Blaming a drought on global warming and somehow thinking that signing onto the Kyoto Treaty will help them in any way is just insane.

In a couple of years when Australians are paying triple their electric bills, they may realize they made a huge mistake. They may also be sorry for electing a leader who will let labor unions control policy decisions. They will also be sorry that the ex enviro-radical rocker from the group Midnight Oil will be a cabinet minister and will decide much of their energy policy and the stagnation of the growth of the country and much of it's wealth.

I won't even bother to get into what the reversal of Howard's policies regarding terrorism and the insane "multicultural" policies that will return to the Australian government exasperating their already large Muslim problems.

I'm not sure how much you know regarding some of the issues you have mentioned above.

This country has always had foreign debt. Do you even know what and where the debt is derived? The debt is the money owed on US Treasuries such as bonds, T-Bills, etc. Foreign governments investing in US Treasuries is not a bad thing as portrayed by some media organizations. Foreign governments have always invested in US Treasuries. That means faith in the United States.

The debt is a wide topic and cannot be discussed in mere "soundbites" like what happens in the media for purely political reasons. It has to be looked at in larger terms such as it's relation to the overall GDP of the nation and things like overall government revenues. Increasing debt is not a good thing if it can be avoided, but it is not necessarily an extremely bad thing when the overall picture and growth are taken into consideration.

What is going on in the housing market is also not as bad as the media is portraying it. You have to remember the media portrays many private sector things as being political things. That is not the case.

What is the current rate of foreclosures? It is not even 2% of the entire outstanding mortgage debt load.

You want to talk about bubbles? In the year 2000 the equities market crumbled from a stock market bubble and many trillions of dollars of wealth completely disappeared. The problems in the housing market isn't even a fraction of that amount of money.

Regarding the price of oil, there is a direct correlation in the price of a barrel of oil to the devaluation of the dollar. A devalued dollar is also not as bad as is being portrayed by some. I'm not saying it is great, but it is not the end of the world.

A devalued dollar also makes foreign investment in the US more attractive. If there was a shortage of money in the capital markets, I would say it would be time to worry, but that is not the case. There is plenty of capital out there.

Geopolitics is playing a lot in the price of a barrel of oil. Australians and other countries are paying the same price for a barrel of oil as the US. With our dollar being devalued in the foreign currency markets, who is hurting more paying those prices? Foreigners or Americans?

Far more countries in the world are showing signs of recession and are actively fighting against recession than the US.

If the Australians are willing to sign the Kyoto Treaty with oil prices at their current levels, they deserve whatever happens to them. If they are stupid enough to limit their options and their economic growth and prosperity to the international enviro-socialist movement, they deserve whatever happens to them.

The same goes for us with some of the morons we currently have running for president.