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Showing posts with label redistributionist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label redistributionist. Show all posts
Another Limo Liberal Out of the Ether
Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press -aside from being an authority in the sports world and accomplished author, screenwriter, playwrite, and musician- is about as left-of-center as one can be politically... or at least he was. For Mr Albom is yet another celebrity Obot who seems to have received a bit of a wake-up call upon the dawning realization that Obama's plan to spread-the-wealth does indeed include his money.
Judging by his column this week, Mitch is rethinking that November presidential vote, as yet another Pollyanna liberal realizes that Barack Obama misled the electorate as to the radical nature of his agenda... as well as to precisely who he and his Alinskyite class-warfare soldiers consider to be "rich".
All you other influential liberals and MSM "elites", you had your fun- and probably almost broke your arm patting yourself on the back when you got the Dear Leader elected by helping to convince the plebes he was some super-human-being that could help the country... rather than the arrogant, inexperienced Bolshevik thug that he actually is.
Now you are getting the taxes you deserve, as Barack Obama is going to bleed you dry. And you can forget writing off those local taxes on your overpriced eastcoast/leftcoast home mortgage... you'll be paying more on that, too. Plus here's the kicker: you'll be sending a lot of that money to people in red states... to people whom you can't stand.
New Yorkers, Californians, residents of the Northeast and the D.C. Corridor, politically fashionable media types- you elected Obama- so step-up and pay those absurd taxes without complaining. You wanted bigger government- try this on for size.
Those who live in places with more rational state tax structures will welcome you when you want to move there... well no, not really- LOL.
Not much to do now except head-out in the morning, jump in your Prius with the Hope-n-Change bumper-sticker on the back, and get to work... Barack Obama needs your money.
Not much to do now except head-out in the morning, jump in your Prius with the Hope-n-Change bumper-
Barack Obama Facing His Waterloo?
Military defeat at Waterloo put an end to Napoleon's rule as the French emperor for good in 1815... and lent us all a useful metaphor in the process.
It's now beginning to appear that Obamacare might turn out to be a crushing defeat for our emperor, too... as observed by Jim DeMint (R-SC) on the Senate floor yesterday. Bonaparte had his political ups-and-downs to be sure, even returning from exile... but at least he got 17 years out of it. Obama's polls are tanking after just five months, an incredible waste of political capital and public goodwill... and he now looks to be facing potentially humiliating defeats on two pillars of his far-left agenda.
Team Obama and congressional Democrats might as-well be operating under the banner "Hope and Change...and do it Yesterday!" as they keep the pedal-to-the-metal, attempting to ram-through both Cap-n-Trade climate change and Obamacare semi-nationalized health-care legislation in rapid succession. They are now employing the same anti-democratic M.O. as with the previous $800B "stimulus" and subsequent $400B omnibus spending bill... voting largely along party lines with no real debate, various shenanigans like 300-page "amendments" dropped in the hopper at 3am, always an extra helping of pork served-up for all at the (think Roman banquet) table... and of course lawmakers have not read much of these 1000+ page bills. Perhaps the reason there's been no plans for debate from the Democratic leadership is that these big-government programs are disingenuous at the core- and have a lot more to do with monstrous tax-and-power grabs than the supposed public-good they exploit as a facade.
Now, with Barack feeling the pressure as poll numbers slip, he brings-on one of his familiar strawmen: "There are those in Washington who say that we should do nothing"- this time on health care. According to Obama, the only viable alternative anyone's considered to his proposal -a radical trillion-dollar-program, including the basis for fully-socialized medicine- is to do nothing. The GOP -nor really anyone else- has ever said anything like that, of course.
And Barack Obama will never say to your face what he actually plans to do -or achieve- with these huge new government programs. The truth is that this administration is out to completely nationalize healthcare... they'll be no private health insurance industry left after five years of Obamacare... but as has become standard practice, the President is lying about it. We are all expected to admire and praise the beauty of the socialist Trojan horses Obama keeps rolling-out, but you're forbidden to look inside or ask any questions that he doesn't feel like answering.
Rather than admit that this is was the goal from the get-go, you get some specious oratory with styrofoam props to wow the plebes and keep them in the ether, like with the tacky greek columns in Denver. To him, the revolutionary ends justify the Alinskyite means- so the Dear Leader tells you whatever he needs to... he knows what's best for you anyway.
In White House and DNC propaganda, it's "Oh yeah, you can keep your old health insurance if you like it". What they don't tell you is that's only until Obama bankrupts the private-sector providers with his Federal soon-to-be monopoly... one with access to almost-free capital and everything stacked in it's favor. As with Cap-n-Tax, this is just another Obamas power-grab with a healthy dose of soak-the-evil-rich. It's all done under the cover of public benefit, of course... just like he used to do it with Rezko and his housing projects back in Chi-town. And as with most scams, most of us don't quite figure it out until it's too late.
As for the American public, the reality that he's both habitually dishonest and not up to the job seems to finally be setting-in; Obama's poll numbers are now headed steadily south. At six months in office, Obama’s 55% approval rating puts him just 10th among the 12 post-World War II presidents at this point in their tenure. When #44 first took office... he ranked seventh.
As noted at Scared Monkeys the USA/Gallup poll finds that more and more Americans have great concerns with Obama's handling of the economy, health care and the federal deficit. For all of the free passes Obama has been provided and MSM support touting him as the savior of the economy and the most liked President ever... just 6 mos later his poll numbers hardly reflect that:
•By 49%-47%, those surveyed disapprove of how he is handling the economy, a turnaround from his 55%-42% approval in May. The steepest drop came from conservative and moderate Democrats.
•By 50%-44%, they disapprove of how he is handling health care policy.
•A 59% majority say his proposals call for too much government spending and 52% say they call for too much expansion of government power.
Instead of the moderation and bipartisanship we should expect from such otherwise humbling poll results -and which was promised during the campaign last year- we still get the Dear Leader's diktats shoved down our throats as fast as we can swallow. Obama's actions betray almost no concern whatsoever for the (lack of) popularity of his outlandish programs... why is that? His reaction when asked why the polls are turning against him is often that he needs to do a "better job" educating us lesser beings... that should show you just what this arrogant Bolshevik thinks of your opinion.
There was also evidence Obama is losing the image war. In March, just 32% said Obama was "an old-style, tax-and-spend Democrat" while 62% said he was "a new-style Democrat who will be careful with the public's money." But the public is starting to catch on to him, and 43% say he's a tax-and-spend Democrat, and now 52% see him as a "new brand" of Dem.
Yesterday, after Senator DeMint had stated that defeat on Obamacare could prove to be the president's Waterloo, Obama -visibly troubled- even mentioned DeMint by name, going-on to to state that "this isn't about me". While Obama is technically correct on that, DeMint's comment was just an off-the-cuff remark... what's worth listening to is his comprehensive rebuke of the Obamacare proposal, where the man made a whole lot of sense:
On Wednesday night, Obama is to employ a prime-time televised news conference (8 pm EDT) to regain lost momentum on this vital element of his planned big-goverment makeover of the United States. But didn't he already try just this on his day-long ABC News infomercial? Perhaps the President has some reason to expect this one will find a more receptive audience... his bit on ABC trailed sitcom re-runs in the Nielsens, rating dead-last amongst network shows that night.
An increasing number of Americans have simply become immune to Obama's soaring rhetoric as the failures mount and broken promises accumulate. Trouble for Obama is, sweet-talking an uncritical electorate is his only real talent, he's a one-trick pony... and in desperation, he'll have to play to strength.
Time for The One to get on TV yet again and lay it on thick, then...
And as Napoleon's Foreign Minister Tallyrand once said:
"Speech was given to man to disguise this thoughts"
Palin Rocks on Fox
If you caught Hannity's interview with Governor Sarah Palin last night, it's not too hard to see why the left have put so much effort into trying to destroy her. Not only does Palin make a world of sense, but -like Dick Cheney- she clearly believes that now is the time to stand-up unabashedly for bedrock Republican principles. Judging by her chipper self-confidence and charming demeanor, if the leftist MSM and DNC did any damage to Palin's morale over the last 12 mos-- it's surely not showing.
Sarah Palin foresees conservative Reaganite policies as being the nation's desired antidote in 2012 to Obama's socialist re-make of the United States- as the country will soon be painfully aware of how The One's radical agenda has taken America to the edge of the abyss.
Palin's unshakable belief in what made this country great in the first place -coupled with common-sense arguments against the agenda of today's White House- are precisely what Obama and the DNC don't want you to hear. They'd prefer to lull you into complacency with specious and vacuous Obama rhetoric that is the political equivalent of the Muzak that they pipe into your dentist's office- and for the same reason, to take your mind off of what's going-on.
HANNITY: What do you make of – look at the state of the economy now...
PALIN: Well, when you consider that the federal government is about eleven trillion dollars in debt, and we’re borrowing more to spend more.. it defies any sensible economic policy that any of us ever learned through college. It defies economy practices and principles that tell ya ‘you gotta quit digging that hole when you are in that financial hole’
Palin continues:
"America is digging a deeper hole and how are we paying for this government largesse. We’re borrowing. We’re borrowing from China and we consider that now we own sixty percent of GENERAL MOTORS – or the U.S. government does… But who is the U.S. government becoming more indebted to? It’s China. So that leads you to have to ask who is really going to own our car industry than in America."
HANNITY: You know but it goes back - It does go back a little to the campaign. I mean, ‘spread the wealth, patriotic duty…’
PALIN: Kind of a ‘we told ya so’.
HANNITY: Well, is that how you feel?
PALIN: That’s how I feel! I feel like… and I think that more and more constituents are going to open their eyes now and open their ears to hear what is really going on and realize ok… Maybe we didn’t have a good way of expressing that, or articulating that message of ‘here is what America could potentially become if we grow government to such a degree that we cannot pay for it and we have to borrow money from other countries, some countries that don’t necessarily like America.
And this many months into the new administration, quite disappointed, quite frustrated with not seeing those actions to rein in spending, slow down the growth of government. Instead Sean it is the complete opposite. It’s expanding at such a large degree that if Americans aren’t paying attention, unfortunately our country could evolve into something that we do not even recognize.
HANNITY: Socialism?
PALIN: Well, that is where we are headed. That is where we have to be blunt enough and candid enough and honest enough with Americans to let them know that if we keep going down these roads… nationalizing many of our services, our projects, our businesses, yes that is where we would head. And that is why Americans have to be paying attention. And we have to have our voices heard. And ultimately it need to be our will, the American people’s will imposed on Washington, instead of the other way around.
(Transcript- Drudge Report)
Obama's TEA Party Counter-Strategy: Lie, Deny, and Falsify
On April 15th, 2600 TEA party events were held nationwide... in over 800 cities... and with an estimated quarter-million protesters. Inexplicably, President Obama stated he "wasn't aware" of the TEA parties ... a condescending, far-fetched claim devoid of any credibility whatsoever.
Isn't it an amazing coincidence that the President delivered an uncharacteristically upbeat economic assessment the very day before the protests (that he never heard of)? And on that same day had his subservient, politicized Department of Homeland Security release a report laden with unsubstantiated assumptions warning of "right-wing radicals" and their alleged propensity towards violence? Now it comes out that Napolitano hurriedly forced the report out over protests of her own staff experts on civil rights- Why did she ignore their professional, legitimate concerns... and rush publication prior to completion of the standard review? Some time pressure/deadline from above, perhaps?
Napolitano's use of Oklahoma City in 1995 certainly is an intriguing example of how US military veterans are supposedly some sort of threat to us all. That bombing was a single event, staged almost 14 years ago- hasn't Al Qaida staged hundreds of attacks on US interests since then? Why so little mention of them since she was appointed three months ago- isn't keeping a lid on those medieval savages 80% of her job description? Isn't that why the Department of Homeland Security created in the first-place?
Apparently there is no bounds to what government assets Obama will prostitute for his own purposes... while neglecting daunting, actual threats in the meantime. All who wondered why Obama chose this obedient toady to head Homeland Security now have their answer: a serious choice who would have been focused upon real terrorist threats -not imaginary, partisan ones- like, say, a Rudolph Giuliani, wouldn't have been a willing participant is such a sham report. And anyone who expected Obama to place the nation's interests above those of his own hasn't really done their homework on how he got this far in the first place.
The DHS report also claimed inaccurately that former Army gunner Timothy McVeigh used his "military training" as preparation for the attack he perpetrated- when in-fact, he learned to make bombs after his time in the military- by his own admission. In the Oklahoma City attack, no guns were employed whatsoever- but if Napolitano and Obama are willing to slander our brave vets to serve their far-left agenda and own political security, mangling facts into what they need them to be likely won't trouble them a bit. That's the kind of "values" one obtains coming-up in the corrupt Chicago Machine- where nothing is sacred, not principle, ethics, heroes, religion, the Constitution... nothing, except obtaining, gaining, and retaining power.
Now, seven GOP Senators have signed a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano asking for the proof upon which her department based its accusatory report on so-called right-wing extremism in the United States. The seven take Napolitano to task for nakedly-partisan generalizations that imply half the electorate is prone to employing terrorism merely because they hold right-of-center political views. In the eyes of today's White House, it is now a threat to the country to sincerely care about the nation's future and demand proven solutions rather than a socialist fantasy-world, or even adherence to the Constitution upon which this country was founded.
And while Team Obama was surely disappointed that there were no useful displays of racism, violence, or vandalism resulting from the TEA parties for them exploit in discrediting their opponents, that didn't stop Democrats and their sycophants in the MSM from misrepresenting and slandering these good faith protesters none-the-less. Some Democrats in congress, such as Chicago's own Jan Schakowsky (a member of the House Democratic leadership), blasted the tea parties as a "despicable" and "shameful political stunt" that was the product of "groups of right-wing activists and fueled by Fox News". CNN and NBC mocked the participants with puerile sex jokes and bizarre allegations that "white power" was the true agenda. Network interviews with the protesters were soaking with partisan contempt and condescension.
Obama and the DNC are surely well-organized and disciplined when it comes to message control, but that just makes it all the easier for us to see what they're up-to... since they and their drones all then have the exact, same take on events. With cloned mockery and "revulsion" towards the TEA parties -and with indentical attacks upon them- anyone reading political message boards such as Politico or Topix -or lefty-blogs like HuffPo and the Daily Kos- couldn't help but notice Obama allies sticking tightly to the talking points employed by Rep. Schakowsky, MSNBC, and CNN: paint the TEA party protesters as "kooks", "racists", and/or "crazy" far-right anti-progressives with a tendency towards violence, tools of the business establishment or "rich" who "don't want to pay their fair share of taxes", who are being "used" by Fox News and/or the RNC... all the while mocking them with unfunny "tea-bagging" jokes- per Alinsky's Rule #5:
Above all, the primary defensive talking point of "Obama cut your taxes, what are you protesting?" was employed by the President, his staff, Democrats in Congress, as well as both new and old MSM-media in a constant refrain- a textbook example of lying by omission. In contrast, Governor Haley Barbour (R-Miss) has called Obama's cap-n-trade carbon taxes the "largest tax increase in American history"- as they are likely to increase the cost of almost everything, including a 30% layer of Obamamania-dues on top of your current electric bill.
Can anyone say with a straight-face that the monstrous inflation that will result from Obama's print-money spending-spree isn't a stealth tax increase, as well? If not, it's one hell of a cut in spending power- what's the difference?
And the Democrats know as well as anyone that when their trillion-dollar deficits pressure the dollar, the only thing left to do will be crank-up taxes on the job-creating "rich" that Obama's Marxist-professor mentors taught him to see as class-enemies. With China now dumping dollars in favor of copper-reserves, UK debt action failures, and calls for a world-currency to replace the greenback, does planning on borrowing a trillions from Beijing over the next decade seem like a good idea... or even a viable possibility?
The diversionary tactic of "I already cut your taxes" -while sneaking-in every back-door increase imaginable- is only pretending to not know what the protesters are saying. And what they are saying is that the Obama-Pelosi-Reid triumvirate need to get their damn mitts out of the cookie-jar... and now. We also all know that the deficits aren't going away by themselves- so quit insulting our intelligence by pretending that nobody will have to pay for this reckless spending and crushing debt... plus interest.
President Obama presenting himself as some sort of deficit and spending hawk just three days after signing the "stimulus" bill -the largest spending bill in US history- was an insulting charade. The spending of trillions that we don't have obviously will lead to far higher taxes in the future, be it two, five, or seven years from now- and Obama's acting like such deficits will have no effect on future tax policy is as dishonest as it is nonsensical.
This spending, resultant stratospheric debt, and subsequent day of reckoning is precisely what the TEA parties were protesting, and the answer to their concerns is not some short-term policy utilized to send a check to millions of Obama supporters who have never paid taxes in their life.
As their reward for honestly facing the glaring, unsettling reality that Obama purposely obsfucates, and taking time-off from their busy lives to make a statement in a peaceful and sincere manner, these new American patriots were called terrorists, radicals, nuts, and worse. And President Obama has made it abundantly clear that he's doesn't give a rat's ass what they think.
Since when did anyone start accepting such Machiavellian maneuvering and prevarication as desirable qualities in a US president? Barack Obama is way, way out-of-line... and needs to be called on his misrepresentations and hidden agenda. The more this hubristic, ultra-liberal megalomaniac can be embarrassed as he was on Wednesday, the better. And momentum will now be building towards the next protests, this time not on a scheduled work-day... July 4th, 2009.
Seems like the TEA parties are already starting to have some desirable effects... and there's plenty more where that came from. Good job everyone, thanks for your efforts- and
God Bless America.
Note- included above are some photos of the sort of far-right extremists with a propensity towards violence that attended the TEA parties... just so you know what to look-out for, and can hide your daughters when you see them coming. Thanks for the heads-up, Ms. Napolitano-
America, Enjoy Your New Edsel
Americans that voted to bring us "Hope" and "Change" last November have now received the first shiny, new product from Obama-Pelosi-Reid & company... the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a so-called "economic stimulus" package consisting of approximately $800B in profligate spending. This amount represents a full 6% of US GDP, and is due to rise to well over $1.2 trillion with interest expense... because we're borrowing every cent of it.
It was rushed through the House, bypassing most standard procedural steps, and with all previous promises of public disclosure abandonded. A Rasmussen poll last week showed only 37% public support for the legislation in it's final form. Not one House Republican supported it, and even a dozen Democrats chose not to have their fate chained to this lemon. The Senate then passed their version of the package with a shameful display of expediency by three GOP Benedict Arnolds- Senators Snow, Collins, and Specter. The final version was thus signed into law by Obama on Tuesday.
There are no effective economic multipliers for most of this untargeted spending... meaning little leveraged financial growth can be expected. The Wall Street Journal stated that only 12% of this spendthrift binge could even remotely be considered an economic stimulus. And while Obama promoted it as necessary to address an urgent financial crisis, much of it will take years to work, if ever. This bill is plainly an opportunistic move by Obama to cash-in on our economic concerns, as well as his own political capital... to trigger an huge increase in the size and scope of government in this country.
"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste" said Rahm Emanuel in an unguarded moment- and "We're going to spread the wealth around" said Barack in Ohio last fall. Indeed-
Besides the lack of proven, effective stimulative spending in the legislation, when it comes to the kind of morale-boosting leadership that could help show us the way out of this crisis, Obama has already made it obvious that he's no Vince Lombardi. For a guy who was basking in the triumph of "Hope Over Fear" just three weeks ago, his recent calculated and specious fear-mongering is irresponsible, unhelpful, and appalling. The president employed this technique in scaring legislators and the public into supporting his spending package, proposing vast liberal programs in the name of "saving us all", and heaping as much blame as possible on the Bush Administration... while simultaneously dampening expectations for his own results.
With Obama giving us doomsday forecasts on a daily basis, what little hope any of us had for the economy has been extinguished. His analogies to The Great Depression are not only meant to deceive, they're also inherently reckless. Political brinkmanship consisting of incessant warnings about a pending economic implosion aren't likely to raise consumer or investor expectations any time soon. This ill-advised tactic has almost certainly hurt consumer confidence, delaying any turnaround in spending habits. And instead of the MSM calling Obama on his inaccuracies and/or ulterior motives, they continue to kiss his posterior.
Thus, due to the resulting lack of confidence in our near-term economic prospects, Americans will simply sit on any cash that comes their way from this spending program, either saving or paying off debt... regardless of the amount of money thrown at the problem. Note the almost total lack of economic impact from the Bush "stimulus" passed last year.... while the personal savings rate in the last quarter of 2008 was the highest in six years.
One of the keys to Reagan's economic recovery in the 1980's -when he created 20M jobs and grew the Real GDP by more than 30%- was the sunny optimism he brought to the country with his confident leadership and upbeat, reassuring belief in America. A most vital factor in our overall economic mood is what the president is saying- so if he badmouths the economy, it tanks. And if he is bullish and confident, the markets listen... and are more willing to invest in the future. While Obama is riding a high-tide of support, a little optimism might have done us all a great service... especially in an economic crisis that's rooted in lack of confidence and stability.
Instead, Obama's remarks accentuated the negative, and for political purposes. Everytime dissappointing data was released, to Team Obama it was a sign of impending doom. According to their disingenuous narrative, this economy is the worst since The Great Depression. And without Obama's massive spending bill, we may fall into an abyss from which we will "never recover". This alarmist propaganda may have been useful to Obama politically, but it's inaccurate historically... and betrays very poor leadership qualities.
Back in reality, our current economic challenges don't even come close to those of the 1930's. Even a comparison to the 1981-82 recession is inappropriate at this point. Ronald Reagan was handed by the incompetent Carter Administration almost 11% unemployment, plus double-digit inflation and interest rates. The most recent statistics put the US jobless rate at 7.6%... with low inflation and interest rates approximating zero. And in The Great Depression, jobs were being lost at double or triple the rate of 2008-2009... hitting a peak unemployment figure of 25.2% in 1932.
Auto production in 2008 was dismal, to be sure... declining by 25%. But how does that justify Obama's comparisons to 1932, when US production collapsed by 90%? The failure of a couple dozen banks last year isn't anywhere near the 10,000+ failures of 1933... but you'd never know it from listening to President Obama, out there spreading gloom-and-doom daily to force the passage of his misguided socialist spending spree. Anyone who expected him to act in the best interests of the country -rather than for his own political security and leftist agenda- must not have paid much attention to how he got this far in the first place.
In bad times, banks also hang-on to their money for fear of making bad loans, no matter how many bailouts come their way. With consumers also paying-down debt and saving money, the country will be awash with dollars once the economy gets back on it's feet, stoking vicious inflation sure to bring another recession... as the Fed will have no choice but to hike interest rates dramatically to check it. So Obama's "stimulus" package isn't likely to stimulate much except inflation, and that only once the economy is already improving in the course of the natural economic cycle.
The Democrats have initiated this monstrous spending they know the country cannot afford- so eye-watering taxation will surely be on the way... once the trillion-dollar deficits roll-in, inflation is stoked to double-digits, and the dollar is in the toilet. Thus, forced-upon America will be the liberals' dream of sticking-it to "the rich", deploying a redistributionist agenda through the back door. This legislation is clearly nothing but a socialist Trojan Horse- while presented as a bill to help the economy, it's really just a Democratic Party wish-list of liberal social programs, with an extra-helping of pork for all at the table. Never mind that the millions of Americans making over $150K/yr. that will be soaked to pay for Obama's Marxist-professor-mentors' dreams (plus interest) are largely the job-creating entrepreneurs and small business owners that Reagan famously said are "responsible for almost all the economic growth" in this country.
This legislation will do far more damage than good- and it will hurt recovery by crowding-out private borrowers and consumers as government borrows massive sums to cover the deficit. It will effect a permanent expansion of government, while forcing the country to employ massive tax hikes that no sane candidate would ever admit to planning.
Then there's the socialism-by-stealth scheme that was snuck into the bill, to avoid public outrage... if anyone was still wondering why it was not debated in committee, why legislators only had a day to read it prior to the vote, or why it was not published first online....as Obama had promised repeatedly.
In an under-the-radar move towards nationalized health care, the "stimulus" package includes $19B to modernize health-care information systems, leading to computerization of all medical records by 2014. While that's a worthwhile endeavor, and will create quite a few jobs eventually, this centralization of records appears to be laying the groundwork for the establishment of socialized medicine in this country. The bill also includes another $1.1B for "comparative effectiveness research"- basically studying which treatments work better than others. This looks disturbingly like a first-step towards prioritizing and rationing treatments in a future one-payer system. None of these provisions were subject to any kind of congressional consideration... no committee mark up, no debate on the floor... and of course no public acknowledgement whatsoever. Both were just buried into the bill, like an earmark.
For all the talk of Obama's first legislative "victory", it showed him lacking the political stature to control Pelosi and Reid... who hit the trough hard, while bickering like siblings. And the paucity of GOP co-conspirators exposed the president politically... this legislation now looks to be a huge gamble. When all this pork and welfare fails to generate real economic gains, the Democrats could face a bloodbath in 2010. This is likely to be his first and last chance to get the economy back on-track before the mid-term elections. Team Obama has bet the farm that this legislation will bear fruit, and quickly- while historical precedent suggests there's little chance that it will.
"Now, look, I won't lie to you," Obama told a crowd in Florida last week. "If it turns-out that a few years from now people don't feel like the economy's turned-around, that we're still having problems, that folks are still unemployed, that our health-care system's not more efficient, then, you know, you guys won't applaud me the next time I come down here." And Obama never avoided calling the "stimulus" package "my bill" while promoting it around the country. With almost no GOP support for the measure, there is little political cover for Obama if it doesn't work.
The Democrats now seem nervous as their fiscal Frankenstein comes to life... moving in-haste to dampen expectations, while they cover their backsides. Note how the White House initially said the bill would create 3M jobs... then it was 3.5M... as the debate went on, and public support sagged, it was bumped to 4M jobs. Now that the legislation has passed, it's already dailed-back to 3.5M new and "saved" jobs (whatever those are)... and "patience" was urged before Obama had even signed it.
Barack's shmoozing of the GOP was supposed to bring "bipartisan" support on the Democrats' terms... but with the strict party-line voting, that part didn't go-to-plan. Unfortunately for Obama, he now owns this clunker. This legislation likely presages the death-knell of the mindless Obamamania phenomenon... and it won't take us much more than a year or so to find out.
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