I've been thinking about the
whole issue of ideology v. economics, and thinking about how much I hated the knee-jerk-Bush-bashing that went on ad
nauseum.
I honestly don't know how to separate dislike of Obama's policies from his political/ideological
foundation. I guess Doc is right.
I'd be willing to cut this guy a break if he piddled around like most
new Presidents with this and that aspect of the same old scene. Unfortunately its not so simple right now. The
economy is pretty much a mess, with plenty of blame to go around, in the public as well as private sector.
I'm as much frustrated with the Congress as I am with Obama, perhaps more so. They were directly involved
with the crash of Freddie and Fannie and did nothing but cover their asses when the bubble popped. As well, they
freakin voted for a bill that allowed AIG bonuses (see Dodd amendment) then showed themselves as very poor actors
when the public became outraged, and they had to follow suit. Some leadership.
And that brings me to part of
the problem with Obama; he's no leader. He's following a formula that's been devised and refined over decades.
Confiscatory taxation and public spending is much more than the transfer of wealth. Its the transfer of power.
We're seeing it in spades now. The gov't has assumed ownership of private enterprise and intends to exert every
bit of control over those assets it can. Just look at the outrageous proposal to tax the AIG bonuses after the
fact. Not only is it blatantly unconstitutional, but its downright frightening to any believer in private
ownership.
The shift from a Republican (in the larger sense) form of gov't to a Liberal "caretaker" gov't
has, up to this point, been mostly gradual. FDR rocked the whole system and started it all, and LBJ pumped it up
quite a bit, and there have been those who checked this trend, like Eisenhower and Reagan. What Obama is proposing
to do is complete the shift in one radical move.
His massive spending, the massive printing of new money, the
massive transfer of wealth to the Federal gov't, the massive increase in debt, all amount to transfer of power.
Our economy is resilient, but who knows how it can bear up under such libertine recklessness.
Part of the
scary scenario is the US economy, and the dollar, on the world stage. Obama is rapidly in danger of becoming a
laughing-stock. The EU is complaining vehemently, China is offering unsolicited economic advice and Americans are
slowly waking up to this reality.
Have you heard about the TEA parties that are springing up? TEA = Taxed
Enough Already. One group has organized 250 of these, and some are drawing as many as 4,000 people. Of course
taxation is only a scratch on the surface
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