Obama Gets One Right - Kudos an Order

So, as I am sure you all know, I am no fan of the policies our current president is pursuing. For the most part, I believe they are inherently damaging to the economy, the country, and, most importantly, to human dignity and spirit. All those details on my many criticisms can be found in previous and forthcoming blogs. But, as opposed to fundamentalists on either side, I am more than willing to say when he does something that I view as correct. This is a small thing, on its face, but I still believe that it deserves mention, because it means there may be some truth to his advertising himself as a moderate. For me, most of his positions have fallen significantly left of center - if you like that, fine, but I have philosophical oppositions to that (ask theAcupuncturist, I am sure he could detail many of my oppositions, as well as having persuasive counterarguments - not persuasive enough to change my opinion, but cogent and coherent).

So, as I said before, and far be it from me to be a nattering nabob of nascent narcissistic negativism (take that Spiro Agnew, you ain't the only one who can use alliteration!), I would like to say that I have a glimmer of hope when I hear the president talk about another stimulus package. It is no surprise that I felt the initial stimulus was wasteful and near criminal in its lack of addressing economic issues - it was more a Democratic wish list that they had been waiting 8 years to pass. So imagine my surprise when I heard the president's response to the congress's expressed desire to pass another stimulus package. In brief, his response was hold on, wait a minute, let's see how the first one works - let's give it some time to kick in.

Honestly, I don't believe the first one will ever "kick in" (I don't believe Obama ever used any of the words above, I am just paraphrasing while keeping the intent of his statement). Keynesian economics has not ever and will not ever work - details, again, in a forthcoming blog. Let's just say we've tried it, many European nations have tried it, Japan tried it 9 times in it's "lost decade" of the 90s, and it never worked. It didn't work in the Great Depression, and it will not work now. But I still hold cautious optimism that Obama might see that this is not actually the path to economic success. The government cannot make economic success, because it only takes money from the private sector and gives it back in a less efficient manner (using up some in bureaucratic nonsense) - no wealth is generated this way, the government produces nothing. This is not to say that government has no role - it just cannot actual run or create a successful economy. One only need look as far as the socialist democracies of Europe, communism in China and Russia, and the trade protections that the US and Japan has engaged in to see that it is not a long-term recipe for success. In the short run, it can seem to have positive effects, but it is not a long-term strategy. hopefully, Obama will begin to realize this and pull back from his more drastic programs that inhibit success and become more of the moderate that he claimed to be in the campaign.