Brushfire of Freedom
Ram Rants
I don’t want to create concerns or discontent by attacking our current, sitting President. He was duly elected by a majority of people in this great land and, as has been the policy in the past, he has the mandate of the people to enact his policies. Where I would like to bring some attention is to the impact of this President’s policies to date. I would question whether a majority of the people, had they known the initial outcome of said policies, would be as likely to vote for this President today. It might be a good idea then to review some of the basic facts as they stand now as compared to just a few months ago.
The first reality rests in the unemployment numbers. During the Bush administration, the highest unemployment rate, even after the attacks of 9/11, was 6.3%, with an average over his entire term of approximately 5.4%. As recently as June, 2008, one year ago, the unemployment rate was at 5.5%, nearly statistical full employment. This means that just one year ago, a large percentage of the population was employed, and the percentage of unemployment almost fell within the boundaries of statistical error. Since this president took office, unemployment has climbed steadily, from 7.6% in January, 2009 to the recently reported 9.4%. That is nearly a 20% increase in unemployment in just the past five months, or a 4% increase on average each month. Since the Obama administration officially took control of the government the unemployment has nearly doubled since this same time just one year ago.
To verify that this increase is associated with Obama policies, one need only look at the auto industry. The closing of dealerships is causing job loss. Whether it is closing factories or closing dealerships the decisions made by the Obama “Car Czars” are directly impacting the unemployment rate. These policies will continue to have an impact as more plants close, more dealerships close, and more people lose their jobs. There are ripple effects that will reach in to other industries, such as shipping (parts), advertising, and other businesses that support these dealerships and factories. It is estimated that unemployment will be in the double digits before the end of 2009. It has already reached that ignoble peak, and continues to climb, in states like Michigan, where the auto industry is key to the economy. Would those who voted for “hope and change” been so eager to vote for a doubling of unemployment?
Unemployment is not the only number that seems to be headed in the wrong direction. Since the Obama administration has taken charge of the government purse strings, we’ve seen the US deficit rise from $162 billion in 2007, a five-year low, to a estimated record $1.845 trillion dollars in fiscal 2009. That means that at current spending levels, the US budget deficit will be 11 times higher in September 2009 that it was just two years ago. Your children and grand children will be over half a million dollars in debt the day they are born. I’m not certain that those who yelled “yes we can” would have agreed that we should spend ourselves so heavily into debt.
Ok, let’s step away from the numbers for a moment. After all, statistics can lie, right? Let’s look at policy in practice in the Obama administration. First we have the “Parade of Czars” that seem to be the key to this administration’s methodology. There is a Car Czar, a Census Czar, an Energy Czar, a Drug Czar, and now even a Pay Czar is being proposed. It would be a good idea to understand the term “Czar”. A “Czar” or “Tsar” is a person of great authority or power. The Czars were emperors. They had full authority over their empires. So, we can derive from that definition that a “Drug” Czar is an emperor over the drug policies of the Obama administration.
Here is the issue. Our government was never designed to have emperors. There are three branches, each designed to balance the other’s power. Thus by establishing “absolute rule” over specific policy aspects, the President is in fact encroaching on the powers of the legislative branch or other aspects of government. The Pay Czar is a perfect example of this over-reaching authority. The stated purpose is to control the pay levels at companies that take government monies in the form of stimulus, bailout, etc. This is stepping into the private sector, as pay levels at a private company have traditionally been the prerogative of those companies. It is also stealing power set aside for Congress and the Secretary of Treasury. The TARP bill as well as the Stimulus package did not place the responsibility for oversight of these companies in the hands of the President, but in the hands of Congress and the Dept. of Treasury. The Pay Czar, a person who will have absolute power over some individual’s paychecks (a scary proposition in itself) exceeds the authority of the President.
If you are keeping score, so far in this President’s term we have seen a 20% or more climb in unemployment, a soaring budget deficit, and a parade of Czars that may well be a breech of the Constitutional checks and balances. Even Sen. Robert Byrd (D) W. VA. has raised concerns about the apparent over-reaching of the administration. But one of the more concerning issues is the fact that this administration seems intent on owning a large part of the US Economy. Our economy was built on the concept of equal opportunity (see last week’s blog) and a capitalist infrastructure. The idea of government-run religion or business was an anathema to the Founders. They opposed government intervention into various aspects of life, viewing it instead as a set of basic boundaries with a few key responsibilities. The rest lay with the people. Since this president has taken office, the federal government has taken majority control (or nearly majority control) of banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, and auto manufacturers, and is seeking control in the energy industry and health care. This means we will have government run (and thus controlled) hospitals, gas stations, power plants, banks, mortgage companies, and a host of associated business. Pravda, the state run media in Russia, noted our rapid progress toward Marxism. Newsweek Magazine (a US state-run media outlet) has declared that the US is becoming a Socialist nation. Communist leaders like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez have praised Obama’s slide toward Communism. All of this bodes rather poorly for those who see the US as a free nation, governed of, by, and for the people. This leaves only one question left to all those who voted for Obama. Would you have voted for a Socialist? A Marxist? A Communist? Is that the “Hope and Change” you had in mind when you pulled the lever for B. Hussein Obama? Would you pull the same lever, knowing what you know now, or would you think as I do; no hope, wrong change?
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