The Lounge

After 40 days of the Obama Administration, Americans have seen one of the most radical post election shifts in history. Over the course of the last month or so, Obama has managed to frustrate almost every facet of his new found following one way or the other, yet most of the media has yet to catch on. Some pundits do disagree, though.

Barry and his new left-wing socialist people’s party meanwhile  have slammed down all opposition, regardless of their importance to his very own Democratic Party . That can only be a major disaster in the making on a local political level. Time will certianly tell. Below are a couple speeches Barry has made recently. These speeches, combined with his actions so far, give us a true understanding of how far The One plans on pushing us closer and closer to a modern Mixed Economy . I don’t really know how much the average Joe can understand this shift to the left, but he only has to look at the markets to see they have lost over 15% of value in February alone, which can only be contributed to Barry’s actions thus far.

Inaugural Address (January 20, 2009):

“Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.”

Many people who voted for Barry are strictly anti-war. They voted for a man who from all indications planned to stop all aggression as soon as he got into office. Not only is an Iraq pull out going to be at least 1 1/2 years from now, he is building up Afganastan. To many, he is acting much like Johnson and Nixon did on Viet Nam. Not a good start for the doves in the party.

On Clinton, Importance Of Diplomacy (January 22, 2009):

“Part of what we want to do is to make sure that everybody understands that the State Department is going to be absolutely critical to our success in the years to come, and you individually are going to be critical to our success in the years to come.”

Speaking of Sec State Clinton, Barry actually made no sense whatsoever in this speech. I knew from this minute on, the Clinton’s were screwed. Another body slam to the Jews and Eastern Democrats who backed that shiksa bitch last year. Doesn’t the average American know it’s all about NUKES , and Israel is the target?

On Energy And Environment (January 26, 2009):

“These urgent dangers to our national and economic security are compounded by the long-term threat of climate change, which, if left unchecked, could result in violent conflict, terrible storms, shrinking coastlines, and irreversible catastrophe… These are the facts, and they are well-known to the American people. After all, there is nothing new about these warnings. Presidents have been sounding the alarm about energy dependence for decades.”

Obviously, Barry is still having trouble with environmental policy. He continues to confuse energy dependence and conservation, with the scientific realities of a carbon based earth atmosphere. He is continuing to shove this radical approach to the environment down our collective throats while the average American thinks global warming is a crock of shit. Not an auspicious start. A message to the scientific community and middle-class people that a radical approach to the environment will prevail, including sin-taxes for cars and homes that don’t meet green standards scares everyone.

On Exe cutive Compensation (February 4, 2009):

“But in order to restore our financial system, we’ve got to restore trust. And in order to restore trust, we’ve got to make certain that taxpayer funds are not subsidizing excessive compensation packages on Wall Street. We all need to take responsibility. And this includes executives at major financial firms who turned to the American people, hat in hand, when they were in trouble, even as they paid themselves their customary lavish bonuses. As I said last week, that’s the height of irresponsibility. That’s shameful.”

B Obama 2009

To establish a socialist system, there will be a period where the needs of the working-class, not of capital, will be the common deciding factor, and  must be created on a temporary basis to carry out the revolution.

A Liberal

On The Economy (January 28, 2009):

‘That’s why I called for a new era of responsibility in my Inaugural Address last week – an era where each of us chips in so that we can climb our way out of this crisis – executives and factory floor workers, educators and engineers, health care professionals and elected officials.”

B Obama 2009

“So we have come together on this day to prove symbolically that we are more than a collection of individuals striving one against another, that none of us is too proud, none of us too high, none is too rich, and none too poor, to stand together before the face of the world in this indissoluble, sworn community.”

A Conservative

Signs Stimulus Bill (February 17, 2009):

“Today does not mark the end of our economic troubles. Nor does it constitute all of what we must do to turn our economy around. But it does mark the beginning of the end – the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs; to provide relief for families worried they won’t be able to pay next month’s bills; and to set our economy on a firmer foundation, paving the way to long-term growth and prosperity.”

B Obama 2009

Announces Housing Plan (February 18, 2009):

“In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to deepen – a crisis which is unraveling home ownership, the middle class, and the American Dream itself. But if we act boldly and swiftly to arrest this downward spiral, every American will benefit.”

B Obama 2009

All’s this did was start a monster Keynesianism debate that still make’s me very nervous. I just remember how very bad things were in the early 70′s for cities and towns alike.

And from American Magazine

Finally, I have a concern about the “public choice” aspects of the stimulus, meaning the political distortions that make it an ineffective stimulus. If the only goal of the bill were to stimulate the economy, then the focus would be on trying to get the largest possible improvement in employment for a given increase in the deficit. A traditional stimulus proposal, going back to the 1960s, is a temporary investment tax credit. With such a credit, the government in effect provides matching funds for firms that undertake investment while the tax credit is in effect (say, through March of 2010). This would lead to spending increases that are a multiple of what the government contributes.

Another proposal, which George Mason University’s Bryan Caplan has suggested, is a cut in the employer portion of the payroll tax. The extra kicker here is that it reduces the employer’s cost of labor, thereby stimulating hiring. I think an additional kicker is that this would restore profitability in the non financial sector, helping to boost investment.

Instead, the stimulus bill is directed largely at state and local governments. There is a lot of rhetoric about making sure that we do not lay off cops or teachers. But the fact is that millions of private sector workers are being laid off, while public sector layoffs so far have been fewer than one hundred thousand. The need for stimulus is in the private sector, but the political focus of the bill is on enlarging the public sector.

Many economists are willing to overlook the flaws in the legislation and to sanctify Pelosi’s bill as a stimulus bill. Other economists reject Keynesian economics altogether. The economists that you hear less about are those of us who oppose the bill because of our reading of Keynes.

READ MORE HERE

Unveils Budget (February 26, 2009):

“Just as a family has to make hard choices about where to spend and where to save, so do we, as a government. You know, there are times where you can afford to redecorate your house and there are times where you need to focus on rebuilding its foundation. Today, we have to focus on foundations.”

That’s Still Full of Pork

• $2.1 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in New York.

• $1.7 million for a honey bee factory in Weslaco, Tex.

• $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa.

• $1 million for Mormon cricket control in Utah.

• $819,000 for catfish genetics research in Alabama.

• $650,000 for beaver management in North Carolina and Mississippi.

• $951,500 for Sustainable Las Vegas.

• $2 million “for the promotion of astronomy” in Hawaii.

• $167,000 for the Autry National Center for the American West in Los Angeles.

• $238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii.

• $200,000 for a tattoo removal violence outreach program to help gang members or others shed visible signs of their past.

• $209,000 to improve blueberry production and efficiency in Georgia.

PS I stole this list from Dowd . I wonder if she had Rahm proof read it first?

Either way, there are a lot of Rants and Raves around town, and Senator McConnel just can’t hold back.

‘Pushing back these efforts to basically Europeanize America will not be easy,’ Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, told the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Obama on Thursday released the outline of his 2010 budget and priorities over the next 10 years. It includes a more than 600- billion-dollar downpayment on health care reform and 15 billion dollars per year for renewable energy investments.

Obama’s budget would increase the federal deficit in 2009 to 1.75 trillion dollars in 2009 – 12.6 per cent of gross domestic product – and 1.2 trillion dollars in 2010.

The administration believes it can trim the deficit back to 533 billion dollars by 2013, once the US economy pulls itself out of a deep recession. The 2010 budget faces a bruising battle over the coming months in Congress.

‘Americans have gotten a glimpse of the big government plans of Obama and the Democrats and millions are ready to stand up, speak out, and yes, even take to the streets to stop America’s slide into socialism,’ South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint told the gathering of conservative activists from around the country.

Socialism has long held negative connotations in the United States as a representation of leftist ideals that go against the US free- market tradition.

Senator Mitch McConnell 2009

So after the first 40, it looks like a vast Americans are about to be hoodwinked by this clever and popular President. I just wanted to be the first to let you know.