Posted on 01/23/2009 9:18:25 PM PST by Natty Bumppo@frontier.net
Now that the Inaugural is finished, it would be nice if some of my fellow inhabitants of the Capitol region removed their “End of an Error” bumper stickers, but I guess some of them would have to scrape off their “Kerry-Edwards” stickers first. But the party is now over, and it’s time to get to work. Of course, for many, getting to work will not be quite so simple any more.
Despite the exhortations of our President for “a new era of responsibility”, it appears that every one of the nearly two million witnesses on the National Mall couldn’t be responsible enough to take their trash with them, so the roads this week are clogged with over-stuffed trucks hauling away the debris which will now choke the local area landfills. One pales to think what the carbon footprint of this Inaugural will be.
Obama’s inaugural address was notable as much for its lack of substance as for the somewhat trite and tepid oratory. As several commentators put it, there were no signature moments, just clichés, albeit spoken muscularly. No one doubts that America will “outlast” her adversaries, but how will this President ensure it? No one doubts that effective governance is a laudable goal, but is effective the only measure of a government? (China’s government is effective – one hopes we retain some allegiance to the idea that our Constitution is more about limiting the impulses of government than limiting the rights of citizens.)
It was tacky (enough that even Keith Olbermann thought so) that some in the crowd jeered at President Bush as he departed, only minutes after our new President proclaimed an end “to petty grievances” and recriminations – but no more tacky than Democrats threatening criminal inquests into the prior administration, or the new president using economic woes to stoke up rhetorical fear in the same manner he has suggested his predecessor used terrorism. Not quite the change I’d like to believe in.
Like many locals, I avoided the Mall on Tuesday, mostly because going had been turned into such a logistical tangle as to be impractical – bridges and highways closed, massive parts of the city fenced off, and security restrictions multiplying daily. The only surprise was that the state of Virginia, after being essentially treated as a hostile foreign nation, didn’t simply secede from the Union once again. (Perhaps there is still some profit to be made on landfill fees.)
But President Obama may also find it tough getting to work, even if transportation is not the issue. The leaders of both the House and Senate have already fired defiant warning shots across his bow, with Harry Reid noting two weeks ago that he “does not work for Barrack Obama”, and Nancy Pelosi this week staking out tax proposals that directly contradict those of the new president. Clearly, the legislative branch is spoiling for a turf fight with the new chief executive. In the meantime, the Congressional Budget Office just tore the proverbial lid off the President’s much-touted stimulus package, reporting that as little as 7% of the billions of dollars lifted from the pockets of taxpayers will actually make it back into the economy this year. In fact, they report, much of the monies will not be stimulating the economy until 2012.
As UCLA researchers Cole and Ohanian noted in 2004, it was precisely this kind of legislation that “gummed up” the American economic recovery in the 20’s and 30’s. They concluded that the misguided policies of the New Deal stalled the recovery of the markets 75 years ago and prolonged the Great Depression. The CBO may as well have been quoting the UCLA study in analyzing how well the new New Deal will gum up the American economy.
But the time for celebratory oration is finished, and the time for getting down to work has arrived. President Obama must deliver on his health care promises without further bankrupting the nation, or turning America into the kind of managed-purgatory that plagues Canada. President Obama must deliver on keeping terrorism offshore, and avoid re-casting the American image abroad as one of naiveté. President Obama needs to deliver on energy promises without becoming T. Boone Pickens. He needs to deliver on the promises that got him his new office suite.
Well, big things often start small. If this is a new era, then let’s make it so. Start by scraping off the stickers, haul out the debris, open the roads, and get past the glib assurances of “hope” and “change.” Only hard work is going to save us from beginning a new error.
In honor of our new President, the "Miss Congeniality Award" (given to the "best" loser) has been renamed the "Miss Hope Changey Award."
He's going to rue the day he tattooed "hope" and "change" onto his forehead.
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