The Daily Plunge

“This is not so much a stimulus, as a massive transfer of wealth from the politically unconnected to the politically connected.”
Glenn Reynolds
Once again the republic is under attack from America’s power-grabbing, money-grubbing left wing and its standard bearer, Nancy Pelosi. Not content with the current size of government, which is already exponentially larger than anything the Constitution actually allows, Pelosi & Co. have decided to shovel literally trillions of dollars of debt onto who knows how many future generations of Americans.
Under the guise of “economic stimulus” these economic retards we call Democrats are basically consolidating all of America’s money into one small geographic area known as the Beltway. Now, instead of our money being generally spread out amongst 300 million plus citizens, it is being funneled to a politically-elite minority who will spend it as they see fit.
And I can guarantee you that when they spend that money they will not have the average American’s best interests at heart. Nancy Pelosi is all about Nancy Pelosi, and that fact extends to Pelosi’s cronies who will benefit from this pork-laden worthless monstrosity cleverly (or not so cleverly) disguised as “stimulus”.
In other words, we have taken one giant step toward socialism. And, for anyone who has bothered to study economic systems of the past, socialism is a failed experiment that leads to exactly what Glenn Reynolds, in the quote above, said it would: the transfer of wealth from the politically unconnected to the politically connected.
When will people learn that all this nonsense President Obama spouted when he was candidate Obama was just that… nonsense? Change has come to America, and that change is basically turning America from a free republic into Tammany Freaking Hall on a massive national scale.
The only thing a socialist system has ever accomplished is to concentrate political power and wealth in the hands of a few. And, as it unquestioningly unfolds before our eyes in living color, the Fourth Estate slumbers under the spell of the Chosen One. Mesmerizing indeed are his powers on those who have decided to forgo any rational analysis of his past, policies, and politics.
This agent of change who was to discard the politics of the past in favor or a new and unified America has been basically silent and seemingly unconcerned about what amounts to a bill that exemplifies everything that’s wrong with the politics on Capitol Hill. So, though we heard a lot of pretty words about “change” and the dawn of a new era, we’re being treated to a disgusting and rather undisguised attempt to seize even more power and money.
Every day that goes by with a Democrat-controlled executive and legislative branch is another day that chips away at our liberties. But I suppose it’s “change” when the free citizenry of a republic are turned into wards of the state.

44% of Democrat voters actually believe the Bush administration is guilty of war crimes. This isn’t just some crackpot poll; it’s from Rasmussen. How did these Democrats become so deceived? Are they so full of hate toward Bush that they were able to convince themselves to believe anything else? Maybe it’s mental illness. Maybe all this change and goodwill now that Obama is president will ease the derangement… Or is it once deranged always deranged?

What happens when a nation elects someone who is unproven? Well, anything can happen. The United States took a risk when it elected Obama. Obama’s rise started as an unsuccessful city planner, and in just a few years he’s the president. 188 members of Congress voted against the stimulus package on a bipartisan basis. The bill is so bad that not one single Republican voted for it, and even 11 Democrats couldn’t support the bill. How has the nation gotten to this point? Four years ago Democrats ran on a platform of transparency, anti-corruption, and fiscal discipline. Four years later things are worse on all three fronts.
Why are so many Americans still in love with centralized planning? Have these people seen the central planning disasters in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit? These are just a few examples. Thousands of blocks of urban decay, Democrat control, and no new ideas. These cities have been run by Democrats for decades. Democrats who thought that by “spending more” central planning would finally work. All they’ve done is bankrupt their cities and made them unlivable. Instead of facing facts these planners think they need more money and, unfortunately, too many Americans agree.

A monument of centralized planning
My main problem with president Bush was the lack of fiscal restraint he showed in office. It’s for this reason Bush could never be considered conservative. Now that Obama has been elected it appears the new president is going to use the Ron Emanuel school of governance. The Democrats intend on using the economic downturn to unleash federal spending unseen since World War II. It’s sad that our education system is so bad that people still think “spending more money” is the solution to a problem. Spending more than you take in is not the solution in personal finance, city finance, or federal finance. Alexander Hamilton said we shouldn’t frown on a manageable public debt, but for bureaucrats in Washington and liberals throughout the country when is enough enough? What will it take to realize centralized planning doesn’t work? What’s worse? The Christian that doesn’t believe Dinosaurs existed or the Liberal who wants to believe wealth redistribution and centralized planning are the answer to life’s problems? At least if someone doesn’t believe in Dinosaurs it won’t end up bankrupting the nation in search of a Utopian society.

As a followup to the Wall Street Journal’s wonderful insight into the Democrat Pork Fiesta bill, here’s an op-ed from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that chides Republicans for opposing the bill. What is the Post-Gazette’s logic?

Mr. Obama is fully aware of the gravity of the situation. That’s why the administration, supported by Democratic members of Congress, is pushing for rapid action on an $875 billion economic stimulus bill — the aim of the president’s meetings yesterday on Capitol Hill with House and Senate members.

Given the dire state of affairs, it should be easy for Republicans to accept Mr. Obama’s invitation to support the package and share credit for the impact it will have in combating the recession. Instead, the Republican leadership, most visibly in the form of House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio, is sniping at the bill and maintaining that the GOP will work to change it.

I’m sorry, did I say logic? There’s none to see here. Basically the Post-Gazette thinks the Republicans should just support the bill because “Obama is fully aware of the gravity of the situation.” Just because he’s aware of the gravity of the situation doesn’t mean he has any clue about what to do. Why does anyone care what the Republicans are doing? The Democrats have the votes. That’s why the bill is so terrible in the first place. Speaker Pelosi created a bill without a thought of the Republicans. Why should the Republicans vote for something that’s the greatest Democrat spending bill since FDR? The key line from the Post-Gazette is that Republicans should “support the package and share credit for the impact it will have in combating the recession.” This is the real reason why liberals want the Repubicans to vote for the bill. Should this bill pass as written (Obama hasn’t given any indication he’s going to stop the House leadership’s magnum opus) it could leave a mark on the Democrat party that lasts a few elections.
In one single bill the argument that Republicans are the “pork party” goes out the window. For the next two years all Republicans are going to talk about is how Democrats spent $400 million for global-warming research in a stimulus package during the coldest winter in years. It is the epitome of an out of touch government.

After two year of campaigning about change the real test of the new Obama administration has arrived. Will he stand up to his party on this stimulus package? So far it doesn’t look very promising.

America’s new leader?

Democrats are using the economic stimulus package as an excuse to ram countless billions of dollars of pork down the throat of taxpayers. Wasn’t this kind of wasteful spending exactly what the election was about? The Wall Street Journal has all the gory details.

We’ve looked it over, and even we can’t quite believe it. There’s $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn’t turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There’s even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons.
……..
Add the roughly $20 billion for business tax cuts, and by our estimate only $90 billion out of $825 billion, or about 12 cents of every $1, is for something that can plausibly be considered a growth stimulus. And even many of these projects aren’t likely to help the economy immediately. As Peter Orszag, the President’s new budget director, told Congress a year ago, “even those [public works] that are ‘on the shelf’ generally cannot be undertaken quickly enough to provide timely stimulus to the economy.”

It would be shocking if it just wasn’t so predictable. If this bill passes it will make Bush look like a budget deficit hawk (thata’s saying something) and Obama appear to be an empty suit devoid of any real substance.

More stupidity from the Left….

Barack Obama is the most famous living person in the history of the world. I’m not trying to induce an acid flashback to John Lennon’s infamous 1966 comment, “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus.” But whether you measure fame in terms of saturation or sheer numbers, it seems indisputable to me that more people know at least something about the new American president than anyone alive, at this point–or any–in the planet’s existence.

Only a crazy person would write this, right? It can’t be someone from the political establishment! Oh wait, it’s Dee Dee Myers, Clinton’s former White House Press Secretary. These people are losing their minds.

I haven’t learned much about our new leader the past week. Obama’s biggest decision was the executive order on Guantanamo Bay; however, if you look at the fine print he didn’t make a decision. The executive order only delayed the decision for a year. It’s a wise executive order because he threw a bone to his base. The Left obviously didn’t bother with the details. After the Supreme Court ruling a few months ago the Bush administration has been looking into options on what to do with the prisoners held at the facility.
President Obama also reversed the Bush policy on international abortion. Fans of infanticide everywhere applauded the move. It’s a telling sign that the new president of change did the same thing Clinton did in his first three days in office. Obama’s first television interview as president appeared on al Arabiyah. Check out this question and answer…

Q Will the United States ever live with a nuclear Iran? And if not, how far are you going in the direction of preventing it?

The President: You know, I said during the campaign that it is very important for us to make sure that we are using all the tools of U.S. power, including diplomacy, in our relationship with Iran. Now, the Iranian people are a great people, and Persian civilization is a great civilization. Iran has acted in ways that’s not conducive to peace and prosperity in the region: their threats against Israel; their pursuit of a nuclear weapon which could potentially set off an arms race in the region that would make everybody less safe; their support of terrorist organizations in the past — none of these things have (sic) been helpful. But I do think that it is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress. And we will over the next several months be laying out our general framework and approach. And as I said during my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us.

If you’re looking for an answer to the question it will not be found in that rambling masterpiece. Here’s my question: How long will it be before people catch on that the president doesn’t say anything substantive? The only principled stand the president has taken so far has been on abortion which by the way is one of the most divisive issues in the United States. We’re only a week into the new administration and so far I don’t see anything new from this center-left president. This might as well be Clinton II.
Meanwhile the president and the press are beating up Republicans for not showing support for the Democrat stimulus package. The bill is so laden with pork and money for government programs, it’s a joke. It’s becoming obvious that Obama isn’t going to stand up to Pelosi and would rather hold meaningless chats with Republicans who have been shut out of the process anyway. If that’s the majority’s prerogative, that’s fine, they have the votes. However, Obama ran on a spirit of bipartisanship and he can’t even keep his party in check.

Carpe Diem has a nice synopsis on how the mild recession in the early 90′s was covered by the press. Some of the language used back then might be familiar.

“In 1991 the average American expressed more pessimism about the future than at any time since the Great Depression.”

“There is no question but this is the worst economic time since the Great Depression.”

“Sluggish economic growth this year will cap the worst three-year period centered on a recession since the Great Depression.”

“Forecasts for a weak recovery in 1992 suggest the period since 1990 will be the worst for the economy since the Great Depression.”

“…..the worst plunge since the Great Depression.”

“The banking industry has plunged to its lowest point since the Great Depression.”

Lawmakers in Washington should be wise about the type of stimulus they’re proposing for the president to sign. The government can only make things worse.