Economics
Amazing Greed, How Sick the Sound!
Amazing Greed, How Sick the Sound!
That Destroyed a Great Nation Like We
We Once Were Free, But Now We’re Bound
Were Wise, But Now We Bleed
;)
You can mark February 10, 2009 as another infamous date on our national calendar. It ranks with December 7, 1941, “a day that will live in infamy” when the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor. It will live in our memory like September 11, 2001 when Muslim Jihadists sent three thousand Americans to their deaths.
February 10, 2009 could be remembered as the day America died–socially and economically. It was the day that three hundred foolish American politicians sold the heart and soul of our great nation for a pot of greed. It is a day to weep for our families, children and heritage that has been lost.
On February 10, the American Congress signed into law the “American Recovery and Re-Investment Act of 2009.” We were told that this bill was “absolutely necessary,” that “something needed to be done,” that it would be a “catastrophe” if we don’t move quickly, and that to delay would be “inexcusable and irresponsible.” With fear tactics reaching all-time highs on Capitol Hill and in the White House, our normally deliberate Senate gave us the worst piece of legislation in American history. The cost of this boondoggle is staggering both in the short term and long run. Could it be the tipping point in America becoming a second class nation?
So many things amaze me about the passage of this bill.
I’m amazed at the brazen greed that is at its core. Let’s be honest: This is not a stimulus bill. Even liberal senator Diane Feinstein admitted that the bill was only 15% stimulus. What it really creates is the Biggest Pork Barrel Project in the history of the world. It’s twenty years of earmarks in one piece of legislation. Basically, our politically ravenous leaders decided to bribe their states and constituencies with goodies–millions for this and billions for that.
I won’t even bother you with the wish list–63% if Americans are already disgusted with it. Every liberal politician pulled out his or her pet project list, bundled the numbers together, and voila!–nearly a trillion dollars was thrown to the special interests. Pure greed serving “pork sirloins” to secure power. Governments don’t make profits because they can’t create wealth. What they seek is power over people by creating dependence under the illusion of compassion and “leadership.” It’s Big Brother buying votes from his little, unthinking siblings. It’s a crock–fundamentally motivated by a greedy desire for power.
I’m amazed that we are throwing a trillion dollars of debt at solving a problem that is all about debt. It was too much debt that got us into this mess. The US Government was the biggest culprit piling up ten trillion dollars worth of IOUs (before the bailout money)–and that irresponsible behavior led corporate America and individual citizens to follow suit. We said, “If Uncle Sam can live on credit, why can’t we?” Then the house of cards crashed.
What we really need is to work through the debt crunch by all of us paying down our obligations. When your boat is sinking you don’t fire hose the engine room. You bail like mad to get the water out of the stern. If the federal government, state governments, businesses and individuals got serious about foolish deficit spending this ship could be righted in months, not years. Instead, we could actually sink to the bottom of the economic ocean.
I’m amazed that the housing crisis–the government encouraging bad loans via Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae–which drew many banks and consumers into poor business decisions–is nowhere addressed in this pork barrel fiasco. If the housing collapse is at the center of the current economic recession, you’d think our leaders would be smart enough to aim their legislative powers at the heart of problem. But smart doesn’t seem to be a part of DC politics these days. They’d rather give 400 million dollars to fighting STD’s, 45 million to ATV trails, and 40 million to the National Endowment for the Arts. Maybe they think their “Thousands Points of Earmarks” will trickle down to the hard-working, struggling homeowner.
I’m amazed that this bill bails out the careless spending habits of many state governments. This is nearly 20% of the bill. California has a 16 billion dollar deficit due to reckless politicians. New York’s liberal leaders have overspent by 15 billion dollars. My home state of Washington, due to out-of-control spending, is facing a 6 billion dollar deficit. Other states are in trouble–but the fiscally responsible ones are not. Only 19 governors favor this bill, and guess which ones they are? They are the governors of the poorly managed states. Instead of forcing the “bad businesses” (states) to change, we’re rewarding them with loot. This is economic marketplace insanity that will not force the bad states to change their ways. Two hallmarks of freedom are the importance of correction and the freedom to fail. If those consequence are removed–you never learn.
I’m amazed that President Obama and other liberal leaders can look us in the eye and say that this bill is about stimulating the economy. It’s equally stunning that the so-called “best financial minds” in the country advising our president are parroting this nonsense. What are all these guys smoking? The evidence of the past is clear: Government spending does not stimulate growth because it is not focused on the wealth creating sectors of the economy–the entrepreneurs, the small business owners, and the large corporations who actually produce goods & services. The only jobs this bill produces are government jobs and labor union jobs who will be the prime recipients of the government contracts. No wealth is created–it’s transferred to the Government Bureaucracy and its primary cheerleaders, the Democratic Party.
This power grab didn’t help America under FDR or LBJ and won’t help now. We need tax cuts on capital gains, payroll taxes, small business, and corporate rates–and decreasing government spending–to stop the recession and spur economic growth. Democrat JFK applied that remedy and the economy soared in the sixties. Republican Ronald Reagan cut tax rates further and launched a 25 year boom in economic growth (1982 to 2007). Supply side economics work–Keynesian remedies don’t. How can our leaders be so blind?
I’m amazed at the claim that “44% of the bill is about tax cuts.” This is a lie that Barack Obama repeated for nine months on the campaign trail. He said he would give a “tax cut” to 95% of Americans–the so-called middle class. But he wasn’t telling the truth. 45% of all Americans pay no income taxes. This means that half of the “tax cuts” are simply welfare handouts. Obama is simply buying votes from the lower classes by giving them money. This bill is the Mother of All Welfare State Bills. This type of stimulus sounds good on the surface, but it never translates into private sector-producing jobs.
I stand amazed at the type of leaders we’ve elected to run the United States. Instead of an Alexander Hamilton guiding wise banking policy, we have Barney Frank, an egotistical congressman who ran a gay brothel out of his DC apartment and Timothy Geithner who cheated on four years of taxes; Instead a Sam Rayburn or Henry Clay leading Congress, we have San Francisco madame Nancy Pelosi; Instead of national statesmen like Daniel Webster and John Quincy Adams we have Jim McDermitt and Larry Murtha; And for president, instead of choosing a wise businessman like Mitt Romney or a trusted war hero like John McCain, we elected an inexperienced two year senator who speaks well. When are we going to start electing wise and experienced leaders again?
I’m amazed that 53% of Americans believed that Barack Obama would bring change and bi-partisanship to Washington, D.C. Why would he do so as president when he’s never been bi-partisan in the past? His record was clear. He’s a far left politician who wants to do radical things–and that’s exactly what he’s racing to do in a un leader-like partisan manner. Barack Obama’s definition of bi-partisan means “you change and accept my far left policies.” That’s how he led this first significant policy fight.
Republicans were locked out of the House bill. The twenty US senators who fought for balance and compromise on the Senate bill were told to shut up (”we won”) and sent home. That’s why this bill was supported by only three Republicans out of 535 Congressional leaders (three liberal Rs). There is one silver lining to this disgraceful partisanship: This bill is Obama’s Abomination and the Ds and 3 Rs will be held accountable for it. Mercifully, the next two years cannot be blamed on George W. Bush.
I’m amazed that we’re abandoning our incredible free enterprise system and its accompanying freedoms and blessings for the failed policies of socialism. Socialism, or its political form–communism–have never out-performed free men and woman who dream, create, and work hard to improve life around them. America’s greatness was never found in government power and financial redistribution. It came from free people acting with faith, hard work, strong morals, independence, limited government and unquenchable hope that we the people, not an Omnipotent State, could create a better world for our children and grandchildren. This was the essence of the American Dream. In 2009, President Obama and other liberal politicians are leading us into an American Nightmare where
- faith is replaced by fear and angst
- hard work is discouraged by welfare and government controls
- strong morals give way to immorality and a culture of death
- independence yields to dependency and victim-hood
- limited government is replaced with monstrous government intervention
- and hope is a hollow slogan, not the result of our faith and trust in God
And as Bloomberg Press pointed out yesterday, this is only one trillion of a total of 9.7 trillion in lending programs and guarantees that our government has rolled out over the past nine months. That’s two-thirds the total value of our 2008 gross domestic product. It’s enough money to give $1430 to every man woman and child in the world. It’s almost enough to pay off every mortgage in America. When does the concept of trillions mean something? When our kids and grand kids have to pay it back?
Let’s call this bill what it is: The American Anti-Recovery and Redistribution Act of 2009. Amazing Greed, How Sick the Sound!
So where do we now turn to right this incredible wrong?
More then ever we need amazing grace from God to save us. It will come when we admit we’ve done wrong, turn from our foolish actions, put our faith in Him and not men, return to his principles in every area of life including economics, and build our individual, family, and national life on the time tested ideals of our magnificent history. Maybe the painful road down will lead us to the upward road of hope and renewal.
God, forgive us for what we’ve done. Lead us to your Amazing Grace.
Dick Morris’ Political Prophecy
Dick Morris served in the Clinton administration and was the political strategist behind Clinton’s widely successful “triangulation” strategy. I do not always agree with him, but in terms of political instincts I value his wisdom and perspective. This recent article is a sobering look at the coming four years in American political and economic history. It’s quite troublesome and appears almost prophetic to me–not in a literal sense, but a thoughtful prediction. I share it with you because I agree with many of Morris’ concerns and want all of us to rise up in prayer and action. Most “prophecies” are conditional. Let’s shape this one by our own courageous acts.
By DICK MORRIS
Published on TheHill.com on January 20, 2009
2009-2010 will rank with 1913-14, 1933-36, 1964-65 and 1981-82 as years that will permanently change our government, politics and lives. Just as the stars were aligned for Wilson, Roosevelt, Johnson and Reagan, they are aligned for Obama. Simply put, we enter his administration as free-enterprise, market-dominated, laissez-faire America. We will shortly become like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, or Sweden — a socialist democracy in which the government dominates the economy, determines private-sector priorities and offers a vastly expanded range of services to many more people at much higher taxes.
Obama will accomplish his agenda of “reform” under the rubric of “recovery.” Using the electoral mandate bestowed on a Democratic Congress by restless voters and the economic power given his administration by terrified Americans, he will change our country fundamentally in the name of lifting the depression. His stimulus packages won’t do much to shorten the downturn — although they will make it less painful — but they will do a great deal to change our nation.
In implementing his agenda, Barack Obama will emulate the example of Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Not the liberal mythology of the New Deal, but the actuality of what it accomplished.) When FDR took office, he was enormously successful in averting a total collapse of the banking system and the economy. But his New Deal measures only succeeded in lowering the unemployment rate from 23 percent in 1933, when he took office, to 13 percent in the summer of 1937. It never went lower. And his policies of over-regulation generated such business uncertainty that they triggered a second-term recession. Unemployment in 1938 rose to 17 percent and, in 1940, on the verge of the war-driven recovery, stood at 15 percent. (These data and the real story of Hoover’s and Roosevelt’s missteps, uncolored by ideology, are available in The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes, copyright 2007.)
But in the name of a largely unsuccessful effort to end the Depression, Roosevelt passed crucial and permanent reforms that have dominated our lives ever since, including Social Security, the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, unionization under the Wagner Act, the federal minimum wage and a host of other fundamental changes.
Obama’s record will be similar, although less wise and more destructive. He will begin by passing every program for which liberals have lusted for decades, from alternative-energy sources to school renovations, infrastructure repairs and technology enhancements. These are all good programs, but they normally would be stretched out for years. But freed of any constraint on the deficit — indeed, empowered by a mandate to raise it as high as possible — Obama will do them all rather quickly.
But it is not his spending that will transform our political system, it is his tax and welfare policies. In the name of short-term stimulus, he will give every American family (who makes less than $200,000) a welfare check of $1,000 euphemistically called a refundable tax credit. And he will so sharply cut taxes on the middle class and the poor that the number of Americans who pay no federal income tax will rise from the current one-third of all households to more than half. In the process, he will create a permanent electoral majority that does not pay taxes, but counts on ever-expanding welfare checks from the government. The dependency on the dole, formerly limited in pre-Clinton days to 14 million women and children on Aid to Families with Dependent Children, will now grow to a clear majority of the American population.
Will he raise taxes? Why should he? With a congressional mandate to run the deficit up as high as need be, there is no reason to raise taxes now and risk aggravating the depression. Instead, Obama will follow the opposite of the Reagan strategy. Reagan cut taxes and increased the deficit so that liberals could not increase spending. Obama will raise spending and increase the deficit so that conservatives cannot cut taxes. And, when the economy is restored, he will raise taxes with impunity, since the only people who will have to pay them would be rich Republicans.
In the name of stabilizing the banking system, Obama will nationalize it. Using Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to write generous checks to needy financial institutions, his administration will demand preferred stock in exchange. Preferred stock gets dividends before common stockholders do. With the massive debt these companies will owe to the government, they will only be able to afford dividends for preferred stockholders — the government, not private investors. So who will buy common stock? And the government will demand that its bills be paid before any profits that might materialize are reinvested in the financial institution, so how will the value of the stocks ever grow? Devoid of private investors, these institutions will fall ever more under government control.
Obama will begin the process by limiting executive compensation. Then he will urge restructuring and lowering of home mortgages in danger of default (as the feds have already done with Citibank).
Then will come guidance on the loans to make and government instructions on the types of enterprises to favor. God grant that some Blagojevich type is not in charge of the program, using his power to line his pockets. The United States will find itself with an economic system comparable to that of Japan, where the all-powerful bureaucracy at MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) manages the economy, often making mistakes like giving mainframe computers priority over the development of laptops.
But it is the health care system that will experience the most dramatic and traumatic of changes. The current debate between erecting a Medicare-like governmental single payer or channeling coverage through private insurance misses the essential point. Without a lot more doctors, nurses, clinics, equipment and hospital beds, health resources will be strained to the breaking point. The people and equipment that now serve 250 million Americans and largely neglect all but the emergency needs of the other 50 million will now have to serve everyone. And, as government imposes ever more Draconian price controls and income limits on doctors, the supply of practitioners and equipment will decline as the demand escalates. Price increases will be out of the question, so the government will impose health care rationing, denying the older and sicker among us the care they need and even barring them from paying for it themselves. (Rationing based on income and price will be seen as immoral.)
And Obama will move to change permanently the partisan balance in America. He will move quickly to legalize all those who have been in America for five years, albeit illegally, and to smooth their paths to citizenship and voting. He will weaken border controls in an attempt to hike the Latino vote as high as he can in order to make red states like Texas into blue states like California. By the time he is finished, Latinos and African-Americans will cast a combined 30 percent of the vote. If they go by top-heavy margins for the Democrats, as they did in 2008, it will assure Democratic domination (until they move up the economic ladder and become good Republicans).
And he will enact the check-off card system for determining labor union representation, repealing the secret ballot in union elections. The result will be to raise the proportion of the labor force in unions up to the high teens from the current level of about 12 percent.
Finally, he will use the expansive powers of the Federal Communications Commission to impose “local” control and ownership of radio stations and to impose the “fairness doctrine” on talk radio. The effect will be to drive talk radio to the Internet, fundamentally change its economics, and retard its growth for years hence.
But none of these changes will cure the depression. It will end when the private sector works through the high debt levels that triggered the collapse in the first place. And, then, the large stimulus package deficits will likely lead to rapid inflation, probably necessitating a second recession to cure it.
So Obama’s name will be mud by 2012 and probably by 2010 as well. And the Republican Party will make big gains and regain much of its lost power.
But it will be too late to reverse the socialism of much of the economy, the demographic change in the electorate, the rationing of health care by the government, the surge of unionization and the crippling of talk radio.
Go to DickMorris.com to read all of Dick’s columns!