Posted on 02/26/2009 11:26:25 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Not a great speech, but extremely consequential. If Barack Obama succeeds, his joint address to Congress will be seen as historic — indeed as the foundational document of Obamaism. As it stands, it constitutes the boldest social democratic manifesto ever issued by a U.S. president.
The first part of the speech, justifying his economic stabilization efforts, was mere housekeeping. The economic crisis is to Obama a technocratic puzzle that needs to be solved because otherwise he loses all popular support.
Unlike most presidents, however, he doesn't covet popular support for its own sake. Some men become president to be someone, others to do something. This is what separates, say, a Ronald Reagan from a
Bill Clinton. Obama, who once noted that Reagan altered the trajectory of America as Clinton had not, sees himself a Reagan. Reagan came to office to do something: shrink government, lower taxes, rebuild American defenses. Obama made clear Tuesday night that he intends to be equally transformative. His three goals: universal health care, universal education, and a new green energy economy highly funded and regulated by government.
(1) Obama wants to be to universal health care what Lyndon Johnson was to Medicare. Obama has publicly abandoned his once-stated preference for a single-payer system as in Canada and Britain. But that is for practical reasons. In America, you can't get there from here directly.
Instead, Obama will create the middle step that will lead ultimately and inevitably to single-payer. The way to do it is to establish a reformed system that retains a private health-insurance sector but offers a new government-run plan (based on benefits open to members of Congress) so relatively attractive that people voluntarily move out of the private sector, thereby starving it.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
“Where’s the money coming from? “
Hope and change. You didn’t get the memo, comrade?
And they think the unemployment rates are up now! Wait until Obamanomics kick in!
Comrade Obama will give us peace, land and bread..
Baloney!
Obummunist Manifesto
I have no concern that his policies will work. We all know socialism fail esp in this current economic climate. Price fixing never works, it leads to fewer services/goods
What I am concerned about is how the media try to report things. It could be the worst economy ever but the media will obsolve Obama of blame and paint at as improving
Why am I reminded of a book I read a while ago?
He is insane, drunk with power. God help us all.
What’s the over/under on unemployment in a year?
Wished I were joking. . . . :^(
I disagree. The business cycle will naturally move upward, and obama socialism will be credited with saving the nation. The real consequences of the destruction of the capitalist system will manifest themselves later. Probably during a Republican administration. Which will lead to total communism.
I agree with you. Also Mr. Krauthamer on one hand talks about the things Obama wants and almost paints it as a bad thing which it is but then he goes on to almost praise him
because he is eloquent. I think the media including Fox
are deluded and it unverves me the way they talk about him. Just because O may have some style that should not give someone the right to destroy our country.
Sounds like a plan, doesn't it? Beginning with what more and more seems an artificial economic collapse just before the election, to get "hope and change" elected in the first place.
He's not smart enough to have a clue. This bonehead makes Bush look like a steely-eyed missile man.
Only, I believe President Bush is a decent man. Obama's just a moron.
I have a serious answer to your question, actually: He is a liberal, and he thinks the money will be there.
It sounds like I’m being glib, but I’m really not. A prominent liberal was on Bill Maher many moons ago talking about universal health care, and when asked where the money would come from, his entire argument collapsed when he said, “They’ve got the money!” He pointed to the size of the budget, and said rich people could be taxed at a higher rate, defense could be cut, and they could “cut the waste” from the budget, and there it is, a big pile of money.
Obama thinks that the money will just COME if he goes after it. No matter how the economy shrinks, he thinks there will always be money to take from the rich. Always. They’re rich, they “make” money like plants make oxygen. It just “comes” like the gravy from meatloaf in THE ODD COUPLE.
If they’re honest, a liberal will tell you that you can’t expect them to be so “inside” and know the ins and outs. Rich people hide their cash, but we “all know” it’s THERE. If you squeeze hard enough, they’ll give it to you. It’s not like they’re going to be out on the street. That money’s SOMEWHERE, and if the government looks hard enough, they will find it.
I know this may sound goofy to you, but I’ve known many, many liberals. This is how they think, when they’re being serious.
As we’ve seen, Obama delegates like crazy, because he doesn’t know how government works. He sees his job as providing the Big Picture, the Vision Thing, and everyone else’s jobs as paying for it and making it happen. He is obviously bored with the hard part of government. He isn’t a wonk, he’s a Leader, the guy who gets out of college and instantly wants to run the company when he’s hired to the mail room.
He believes that if they get a bill SAYING the money is there, the money will BE there.
He has thought of where the money will come from for this, and decided it’ll come from wherever any government money comes from, and there’s ALWAYS gonna be more of it from that place...wherever it is.
This is not your normal business cycle.
US economy is like a giant ponzi scheme with loan sharks continously giving US money that they could never pay back. US as a whole is being crushed by increasing amount of debt
I agree that President Bush was a decent man, but to be honest he’s incompetant. He doesn’t understand macro economics and he’s a failure when it comes to defending himself and capitalism
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