I am a successful small businessman and a patriot who loves America and always sees its greatness. I am also an optimistic, positive thinker who always sees the glass as half full.

But not this time.

I predicted doom if Obama was elected. Sadly, the results of his election have been far worse than I ever imagined. The economy is in shambles. America is staring at economic disaster, and even me, the eternal optimist, is scared at what the future holds. We are the Titanic, and we’re heading straight for the iceberg.

America has always been a land of boom and bust. But Obama and his administration have channeled Hoover and FDR, who turned an ordinary bust into the Great Depression with a toxic strategy of more government, more spending, more debt, more rules and regulations strangling business, higher minimum wages, more power to unions, more entitlements, higher taxes, more printing of money by the Fed, and trade tariffs. This is the Obama blueprint squared.

This time the results are going to be dramatically worse than 1929. This time we are facing the greatest depression ever.

Why? Because the Great Depression had NONE of the problems and obligations we are now facing:

In 1929, America was not $100 trillion in debt (including unfunded liabilities).

In 1929, most of our states were not bankrupt, insolvent and dependent on the federal government to survive.

In 1929, we had far fewer government employees living off taxpayers. Today one out of five federal employees earns over $100,000. California lifeguards and Las Vegas firemen earn $200,000. About 77,000 federal employees earn more than the governors of their states. Government employees retire at age 50 with $100,000 annual pensions for life. The postal service — without competition — loses $8 billion annually. Protected by their unions and the politicians they elect, government employees are bankrupting America. Even FDR said he could not imagine allowing public employees to unionize.

In 1929, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid didn’t exist. The federal government had no such obligations threatening to consume the entire federal budget within a few years.

In 1929, there was no such thing as welfare, food stamps, aid to dependent children, or English-as-a-second-language programs. Americans didn’t consider it the responsibility of government to pay for breakfast and lunch for students — let alone illegal immigrants.

In 1929, we didn’t have millions of illegal immigrants and their children collecting billions of dollars in entitlements from U.S. taxpayers.

In 1929, legal immigrants wanted only to work. My grandparents from Russia and Germany received no government benefits. They worked day and night to provide for their family and become American citizens. It was sink or swim.

In 1929, we had 150 million citizens with a strong work ethic — all motivated to make the American Dream a reality for their children and grandchildren. Americans were hungry in 1929. Today the hungry, motivated citizens and entrepreneurs are in China and India.

In 1929, we had an education system that was the envy of the world. Today our public schools are terrible. We spend the most in the world and get among the worst results. The difference today? Teachers’ unions are in charge instead of parents.

Our students are taught socialism and the great benefits of big government. They graduate with few skills, qualified only for low-paying manufacturing jobs that no longer exist — they’ve been shipped to China and India. What will these workers do for the rest of their lives? Live off the government dole? Who will pay for it?

In 1929, children had hope for the future. Today they are hopeless, helpless, and clueless — an entire generation that only knows drugs, gangs, rappers, government handouts, teen pregnancy — and it goes downhill from there.

In 1929, taxes were much lower. Forget the tax rates — they were meaningless. In those days, we had a cash economy, so most businesses paid little or no taxes. Sales and FICA taxes didn’t exist. Today the combined tax burden from local, state, property, gas, sales, FICA and federal taxes is the highest it has ever been. These taxes stifle entrepreneurship and hinder the financial risk-taking necessary to create jobs and get out of a great depression.

Do you get the picture? Disaster looms. We are staring at the greatest depression ever.

There is no easy way out. The noose is tightening. The economy is crumbling. The situation is turning more hopeless by the hour. The more government gets involved, the worse it gets. Coincidence?

The solution is simple — cut government, cut spending, cut entitlements, cut taxes, stop the wars, end the Fed, term limit politicians, and back the dollar with a gold standard. If we don’t do those things, America, like so many other great empires of history, may never recover from this Greatest of All Depressions that Obama is driving us toward.

Wayne Allyn Root is a former Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee. He now serves as Chairman of the Libertarian National Congressional Committee. He is the best-selling author of “The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts.” His web site: www.ROOTforAmerica.com.