Some Perspectives

 

The most relevant performance question of our era is how well do the voters feel that Obama has done in his first and perhaps last term.  

 

Kim Strassel summarizes the current administration in a manner that is very worthy of reflection.  

I suppose one could summarize this “I am right, dam the process” portrayal as the plight of the social engineer.   Recent history has too many instances where the democratic process guided by a constitution was challenged or criticized.   For one I am still unable to comprehend the no-sales tax of the Supreme Court’s decision on ObamaCare.  

 

If one wants to exert one’s will over the masses, then social engineering plus power accumulation can work, evidence is the current administration.   It seems to be occurring in most sectors of the economy, so who is concerned about this movement toward centralized control?   This and other real questions that finally come up this year in the form of one overriding question is:  do the masses want more supervision or do they want to run their own lives?

 

There was so much hope for change.  Has that been met, or are the many claims of blame of others open to giving some leeway?  One of the many delighted supporters of Obama has some words to say about this.  Immediately this article from Newsweek was met by criticism from the left, namely Paul Krugman. 

 

Niall Ferguson: "Obama’s Gotta Go"           Newsweek    Aug 19, 2012 1:00 AM EDT

 

Why does Paul Ryan scare the president so much? Because Obama has broken his promises, and it’s clear that the GOP ticket’s path to prosperity is our only hope.

 

In his inaugural address, Obama promised “not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.” He promised to “build the roads and bridges, the electric grids, and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.” He promised to “restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost.” And he promised to “transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.” Unfortunately the president’s scorecard on every single one of those bold pledges is pitiful.

 

In an unguarded moment earlier this year, the president commented that the private sector of the economy was “doing fine.” Certainly, the stock market is well up (by 74 percent) relative to the close on Inauguration Day 2009. But the total number of private-sector jobs is still 4.3 million below the January 2008 peak. Meanwhile, since 2008, a staggering 3.6 million Americans have been added to Social Security’s disability insurance program. This is one of many ways unemployment is being concealed.

 

In his fiscal year 2010 budget—the first he presented—the president envisaged growth of 3.2 percent in 2010, 4.0 percent in 2011, 4.6 percent in 2012. The actual numbers were 2.4 percent in 2010 and 1.8 percent in 2011; few forecasters now expect it to be much above 2.3 percent this year.

 

Unemployment was supposed to be 6 percent by now. It has averaged 8.2 percent this year so far. Meanwhile real median annual household income has dropped more than 5 percent since June 2009. Nearly 110 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011, mostly Medicaid or food stamps.

 

Welcome to Obama’s America: nearly half the population is not represented on a taxable return—almost exactly the same proportion that lives in a household where at least one member receives some type of government benefit. We are becoming the 50–50 nation—half of us paying the taxes, the other half receiving the benefits.

 

As fascinating as the above is also the reaction to Ferguson's thesis.   link

 

  And what might he do in the second term:  Pretty scaring stuff and most likely true:    Link

Just as Obama concealed the true plans for his initial term behind rhetoric of ending partisan differences and cutting the Federal deficit, Obama's re-election theme of creating jobs conceals more than it reveals about his real agenda for a second term - the "progressive" program to complete the fundamental transformation of America during the next four years.

 

This book is filled with stunning revelations, including second-term plans for a "New Deal"-style overhaul of the economy replete with the creation of a National Infrastructure Development Bank to oversee government control of the financial system; a massive, government-run jobs program to coincide with "paycheck fairness"; full amnesty for illegal aliens; de-funding of the U.S. military while channeling Pentagon money to "clean" energy initiatives; a new, multi-billion dollar "green" stimulus; and implementing ObamaCare in measures nearly impossible to reverse.

 

Amazing transformation we would not have assumed possible a few years ago, but now it is most likely.

 

Comments

What do you make of these assessments?