February 22, 2009

Did you know that we were in a crisis? If not, President Obama will sure let you know. Really, is there anyone that isn't aware of the financial and housing meltdowns? It would seem that good leadership would lead. Where is it? President Obama used the word crisis a total of twenty four times in one speech this past Friday. "I'm here today to talk about a crisis unlike any we've ever known", he began in a speech at Phoenix, Arizona, on the home mortgage crisis. Mentioning it as the topic is fine, but beating the drum so hard will not encourage a single soul. Where is the positive spin to encourage consumer confidence? Politicians are widely known for spin, so where is it when we actually need a little. In our sound-bite society, positive spin may encourage the so-called main street to loosen the purse strings a bit, the real key to ending a recession. All that was heard in the campaign was "hope and change, "yes we can", and "eight years of failed Bush policy." What we get is doom and gloom, only the government can, and more of the same. The same Democrat controlled Congress that spent money, gave bail outs, and promoted the bad lending practices in the Community Reinvestment Act, is the same Congress that President Obama handed the reigns of leadership to so they could pass the biggest spending bill in history. And we haven't seen the budget yet. Where is the leadership in giving the farthest left politicians, Reed and Pelosi, the freedom to spend on every pet project they've been seeking to finance over the past years?

In the same speech, President Obama states, "Our housing crisis was born of eroding home values, but also of the erosion of our common values. It was brought about by big banks that traded in risky mortgages in return for profits that were literally too good to be true; by lenders who knowingly took advantage of homebuyers; by homebuyers who knowingly borrowed too much from lenders; by speculators who gambled on rising prices; and by leaders in our nation's capital who failed to act amidst a deepening crisis." I guess Barney Frank and Chris Dodd had nothing to do with failure of oversight and promoting poor policies. There were leaders who attempted to reign in the problems over the past couple years, including the Bush White House, but Barney Frank did well to block that failing to see a problem in regulation. And President Obama, then Senator Obama, never lifted a finger to act against the rising problem. He is not above it all as he was part of the majority party in Congress. Where was the leadership then? Where is the leadership now?

Hope and change is really the same old, same old. Liberal spending after campaigning against the evils of President Bush's deficit spending. $785 billion dollars, borrowed dollars even before the budget cash to be spent, is definitely deficit spending. And remember, the Democrats, President Obama's party, was in control of the purse strings, not President Bush. My point isn't to defend President Bush. My point is that we are seeing the same old spending. Spending to fix a problem that was caused by spending. Where is the change? And about the hope, does it really exist when we are told that the government is the only party that can get us out of this recession? The same people that want to spend us out of it are the people that made the policies that helped us get into the big downturn. Good leadership would be attempting to pump up the nation's producers and labor force, encouraging people to produce goods and loosen the purse strings to help the economy. With every speech President Obama makes, he causes people to wonder how much worse things will get and to hang onto whatever cash they have. It is depressing for people to think our only hopes hang on the government solving the problem.

And how does it help those with money to invest to loosen their hold on the cash when President Obama talks about raising taxes on them? The Washington Post reports that he plans to reduce the deficit by the end of his first term.
"Obama proposes to dramatically reduce those numbers, said White House budget director Peter Orszag: "We will cut the deficit in half by the end of the president's first term." The plan would keep the deficit hovering near $1 trillion in 2010 and 2011, but shows it dropping to $533 billion by 2013, he said -- still high but a more manageable 3 percent of the economy.

To get there, Obama proposes to cut spending and raise taxes. The savings would come primarily from "winding down the war" in Iraq, a senior administration official said. The budget assumes continued spending on "overseas military contingency operations" throughout Obama's presidency, the official said, but that number is lower than the nearly $190 billion budgeted for Iraq and Afghanistan last year."

He talks about raising taxes on the people that have the money while trying to work out of a recession. I fail to see how this type of a message will make any entrepreneur feel comfortable about risking funds and then having more of the profits, if there are any, pilfered by the tax collector so the politicians can give it to those in society who didn't risk anything to earn the profits. The entitlement attitude of today is being fed by the government. Spread the wealth as he told Joe the plumber.

Hope and change, where for art thou?

For more encouragement, read the comments of Soros. Maybe this is where President Obama gets his material.
Soros sees no bottom for world financial "collapse".



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Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:6 That doesn't leave much wiggle room. Yet, we continue to try to get right with God on our own terms rather than submit to Jesus Christ.