Publisher's Note: My friend, Rusty Walker, has accepted my invitation to write a guest essay. It is my honor to publish it here.
*****
At the G20 conference, President Barack Obama was elegant, thoughtful, and charming. He wasn’t as charming and prepared as, say, President Reagan, or, even President Bill Clinton, both of whom had been governors, the best preparation for a United States president. That said, he struck a sincere chord. This is what he does best. The culture of personality that abides in our time suits him. But, as an American president one should retain the patriotic stance of never making apologetic statements about our alleged past actions in opaque references to the prior administration. We are the most powerful nation on the planet and of course we are a world leader. President Obama barely managed to choke out that we have American exceptionalism! If Russia were in our position, the world would be speaking an East Slavic dialect, not to mention the Fundamentalist, Neo-fascist Islamics.
At home, Democrats want the government to look after us, save us, apply rules to everything in our lives, forgetting that freedom, liberty, enterprise and American innovation is what made this country great. I remember reading Lincoln (R) cautioning that the people should be careful of the government you give power to, as the same government can take your rights away, and, Reagan, rightfully, in my opinion stating, "the government IS the problem!"
I don’t disagree with some of Obama’s goals, just how to get there. We elected a very junior senator with no foreign relations experience and who never budgeted within the restraints necessary of, say, a mayor or governor. He is an Educator, and he is bringing his idealistic, academic theories to government - he never ran a business. He is reminding me of Woodrow Wilson’s naïveté combined with the socialist mindset of some of those who surrounded FDR.
On the budget, Obama and his Democratic Congress define "spend" as "Invest," and "deficit spending" on health care, energy, and education, as "infrastructure." In my view, while these are necessary over time, in the proper congressional process, all of this is rammed-through reconciliation. Such initiatives will not have the immediate effect as Obama thinks. Based on my readings about the Great Depression, and the panics on Wall Street, and listening to both sides of the congressional debates, you cannot just write huge checks address to energy, education and health care and expect to reap immediate benefits in employment, consumer spending and business.
The economists tend to agree that the stimulus package was and is necessary to boost the economy. Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve is highly qualified and holds credibility; I have less confidence in Treasury Secretary Geithner – but, both say the huge sums are necessary. Japan missed its opportunity and it cost them. But the stimulus package that was passed by the Democratic Congress contained long-lusted-for Democratic earmarks unnecessary to the economic growth. And, the line-by-line editing Obama said he would commit to is a no-show. This is as disappointing as when Clinton was elected, with votes for health care reform, and he and Hillary failed to deliver on this lofty goal. Remember this in politics and life: No one is coming to save you.
I believe Obama and his advisors put too much on the promise of “hope” and “change” as a strategy; on the economy, green jobs and enormous education funding, while quick fixes, will penalize those making over $250,000, which includes small businesses - as if we want to regress to 1907 when the government taxed the rich at 75%! We got rid of that because it clearly discouraged honest business dealings and suppressed the economy.
Also, the Democrats have an almost pathological fixation on Bush – to justify all this spending! The Bush legacy of high-deficits they keep referring to peaked in 2008 when the crisis hit and the stimulus package was proposed – written by Democrats, and agreed to by all! And up until 2007 Bush’s deficit was actually only 1% of the GDP (Obama’s will take us to dangerous 13% in 2010, and even with their most optimistic projections, an unsustainable 5% of GDP). You can’t have it both ways, complain about Bush and then pile on more deficit. Also, the Democrats in 2007-2008 were the majority - the $787 Billion stimulus and $410 Billion Omnibus Stimulus Bill, is a spending bill that is all Democratic, full of pork. According to my research, the public debt (which is a different way of looking at it, from deficit) was historically around 10%-20%, but will reach depression era 80% of GDP under Obama’s proposals.
This is the change we were promised? President Obama, with his Democratic Congress, is growing the government in our lives. I “hope,” to use his term, he knows what he is doing. I believe he thinks he is FDR (who actually ran a huge state as Governor of New York). Obama, just this last week, called for resignation of the CEO of GM & Chrysler (stocks plummeted). This isn't the Soviet Union ... yet!
President Obama is a good man, but, he is, as part of the Chicago machine, aligned with the unions who have destroyed the profit margins in the auto industry. The smaller non-union U.S. car manufacturers didn't need stimulus package and were showing a profit – in some cases actually made more than the union wages. Why? Because of what the country runs on – free enterprise. And, Obama is also forcing the production of green-energy efficient cars be produced with NO thought to consumer market demand!
Yes, Obama’s proposed doubling of the debt in five years, tripling in ten years, is causing concern abroad; China, our great creditor, is rightfully concerned. I don't think a new currency would prevail though, because the U.S. dollar, which is still strong, has more than Obama's flailing policies going for it - the US has a strong economic history, and we are still way out in front with number one in GDP (followed by Japan - also in trouble). Still, many countries with problems, including France, Great Britain, Spain, Indonesia, Iceland (bankrupt due to their own government speculative idiocy), etc, etc. etc.), would favor the U.S. dollar. Obama is NOT following bi-partisanship as he campaigned!
Obama is still riding the crest of the popularity with the "hopeful" liberals who wanted "change" and didn't care what change meant ... and so he is still predictably using his Messiah-walk-on-water according to the major-network-channels, that, along with a Democratic-majority-Congress affords him the voting power. Still, he appears to be over extending his Constitutional Executive powers in my humble opinion.
Here is a relevant quote from the book I am reading: "It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion. They are always surrounded by worshipers. They are constantly and for the most part sincerely assured of their greatness" - Calvin Coolidge, 1927 p.46., The Forgotten Man, by Amity Shlaes.
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