The imaginary and real Obama Administration

Written by Michael Vass

Well I’m still looking for the jobs that the Obama Administration claimed to have “saved or created” since the Democrat-led Congress passed the $787 billion Economic Stimulus Plan early this year. You do recall that plan right?

“On May 27th, President Obama stated that his $787 billion stimulus plan “saved or created” 150,000 jobs. On that same day, the expectations of a GM bankruptcy ensured that at least 20,000 jobs would be lost imminently. Which said nothing of the at least 50,000 jobs that were lost immediately due to the Chrylser bankruptcy. Since February over 1.6 million jobs have been conservatively lost, over $50 billion dollars of borrowed public money has been spent only to be lost in bankruptcy, and the economy has failed to improve.”

Yes, President Obama was on a bandwagon then. Telling the nation how well his economic policies have been helping the average American. A soapbox that he jumped off of just in time to switch to trying to pass his healthcare plan. You might wonder why he has switched gears. The answer is the following data just out.

“Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent…14.7 million people were unemployed in June…If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included, the unemployment rate would have been 16.5 percent in June, the highest on records dating to 1994…The average work week in June fell to 33 hours, the lowest on records dating to 1964.”

Does that sound like a plan that is working? Does it in any way sound like the average worker is more secure now or less so? Are you willing to spend more money in this economic environment or less?

In fact, these numbers place my observation about how the Obama Stimulus money is hurting some families right now as severely under-estimated.

“That’s $38 million being lost or prevented from helping people feed their families in this nation right now. And that figure is monthly.”

Keep in mind that IF you are RECEIVING a paycheck you are getting the stimulus money right now. No check from the Government, but an extra $25 off of your taxes. So the stimulus is in effect right now. And you can see how this is improving the nation. With forecasts from even the most lenient economists stating that the unemployment levels will hit at least 10%, perhaps as high as 11%, going into 2010. So it will only get worse for many people across the nation, not better.

But President Obama PROMISED that his plans for the economy and budget would save jobs – some 3 million of them. He also promised that immediate action upon passing the Stimulus package – which won’t mostly go into effect until the 2nd quarter or so of 2010. Lightning fast.

I bring all this up because President Obama has hustled the nation from one economic crisis to another, with Congress cheerleading the whole way. There was the $410 billion to keep the Government funded, and the $3.5 trillion for his budget - all separate and not including the $787 billion stimulus package. These included over 9,000 earmarks – something President Obama PROMISED to remove if elected. This included the situation that PREVENTS families from getting food stamps to feed their families. This includes social changes like the Government now owning 2 auto companies (costing over $50 billion dollars and losing around 100,000 jobs conservatively), and the desire for the Government to dictate employee pay and hiring. Not to mention the ability of the Government to violate contract law, invalidate bondholder rights, and potentially to take over any private business it wishes.

But now the President has moved on to healthcare. Again we are being told that this is an immediate need. That this is our sole option. That this will help the nation. At a cost conservatively around $1.5 trillion, an amount greater than all the taxes collected by the Government (around $1.3 trillion a year). None of this counts the interest we must pay on all the borrowed money.

Plus there is the promise that President Obama seems to be on track for.

“Let’s start with the budget President Obama is pushing hard to get passed. He is asking for $3.6 trillion dollars. Overall his plan will reduce the deficit to about $500 – 700 billion dollars. And then, no matter who does the math, everyone agrees the deficit will double and grow for every year until 2019 – at around $9 trillion dollars.”

But wait, there is more. Don’t forget that there is also the Cap and Trade idea of the Obama Administration floating around. A plan that promises to increase the cost of gas and energy. A plan that will FORCE the public to conserve energy because of the higher prices. And by the way, some in Congress (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for one) will benefit hugely and directly because of this.

And this says nothing of Representative Barney Frank’s attempt to create another housing crisis in the future by lowering the requirements for mortgages again – this time in the Condo market. A brilliant move by the person directly responsible for telling the nation, on national television, that anyone warning the public about problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was lying for political gain – 2 weeks before they failed under his direct oversight.

So to sum up, looking at the Obama Presidency to date, where are the benefits? For all the calls of change and improvement, where are they? What is better now than before? I bet they are with those jobs that have been “saved or created” that no one can find.

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