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DEL.ICIO.USPresident (Bush’s Fault) Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
President Barack Obama, determined not to be thought responsible for anything having to do with the economy, has attracted the two-fer advice of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill, who urges the President to ease-up on the gloom. Be positive, Clinton urged. Not happy-talk, but positive.
It’s true that Obama and his pals can make you want to stuff the butter-and-egg profits in the mattress. Bill Clinton is convinced that it’s all George Bush’s fault for not moving earlier to bail out those who weren’t paying their mortgages. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) sends the value of bank stocks to the toilet with speculation about the need to nationalize several of the larger banks.
Obama’s first speech to Congress as President comes up Tuesday night. It’ll be another occasion to remind the country that nothing’s his fault and that he and the Democrats who brought us the $787 spend-a-thon are the country’s economic saviors. Typical of that stimulus is an $8 billion allocation for high-speed rail. While the “stimulus” didn’t include earmarks, per se, the $8 billion is greater than either the House or Senate recommended.
Among the projects that are thought likely to get funded is an Anaheim, Calif. to Las Vegas line strongly supported by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid or another project to connect Chicago and 11 metro areas within 400 miles of hometown of President Obama, his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and the home state of Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood. In any event, there’s little immediate “stimulus” to come out of it.
On Tuesday night, Obama is expected to remind Americans that he inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit and expects to reduce that in half by the end of his term, largely by reducing expenditures for the war in Iraq and by raising taxes on “the rich” while making government more efficient. Count on the first two.
In Tuesday’s address, he’ll explain how the stimulus works to put the economy back on sound footing.
Here’s the two-part game of the day. What can he say that will help you to believe that this administration and this Congress is doing anything more than advancing yesterday’s agenda? And is your prediction that the stock market rises or sinks on Wednesday?
Man the mattresses.
Comments
By Reginald Keezer
February 25, 2009 8:17 AM | Link to this
Mr. Wooten, instead of stashing your profits into the mattress, I suggest you invest in the stock market. As Warren Buffett says, “be afraid when others are greedy and be greedy when others are afraid.” There are great buys out there. It makes perfect sense, because you are highly patriotic and you want the economy to recover, and you feel that we should not listen to gloomy predictions such as those of Christopher Dodd. I agree with you that the prospect of higher taxes for people like you and me, who are worrying about what to do with our profits while most people are tightening their belts, is unpleasant. On the other hand, to settle an argument between Biden and Palin during the debates, I contend that paying one’s fair share of tax is a patriotic and honorable act. Unless one believes that not paying what one owes to the the government is patriotic. But I see in today’s news that Palin is paying the $7000 that she owes to the state of Alaska. I’m glad she sees things my way.