Obama press conference, magic of a salesman

All the hype today was centered around Obama’s first press conference and whether or not he will be able to sell the need for a stimulus package. Unfortunately for Obama the level of ingenuity apparently tapered off as his campaign concluded. Recycling the same rhetoric over and over capitalizing on America’s willingness to give him the benefit of the doubt is starting to wear a bit thin.

Bush may be gone, but the constant reminder of his “failed policies” continues to ring on and begs the question, what is the statute of limitations on blaming the previous administration? Ironically of course, Obama is trying to sell America on the New Deal Part 2. It matters not that the first New Deal has now proven to be a disaster and may be largely responsible for prolonging the Great Depression. It matters not that FDR used Herbert Hoover (an interventionist much like Bush) as a scapegoat for years and years, and certainly it matters not that virtually every economist of that time got it all wrong. Consequently historians got it all wrong too and the pervasive misunderstanding of what both caused the Great Depression and FDR’s abilities have been greatly over hyped. Unfortunately for the president and many liberals the knowledge is still lurking in some dark corner of extremist thought. For those curious, Milton Friedman and many others since then have explained precisely how the Great Depression started and why the New Deal was a nagging malaise.

Instead, in 2009 we are treated to a press conference by the zealous Obama who insists that a failure to act would result in a catastrophe. Yet at the very same time a government agency called the Congressional Budget Office determined that our recession will be over by the end of this year! Furthermore Obama insists that this economy is the worst it’s been since the Great Depression, yet this is also a grandiose exaggeration. In fact both the recessions in the early 1970s and 1980s were deeper and more damaging.

Worse still, Obama pounds the theme of tired old policies and their demonstrable failures. What exactly is he referring to? It matters not once again, because the American public feels the hardship and naturally blame the Republicans as those last in control. Americans ignore the fact that Bush acquired a recession from Clinton and proceeded to pull us out of it by deep tax cuts across virtually all brackets. Sadly Bush in his infinite Keynesian wisdom spent like a drunken sailor, but the question remains; what failed policies? If Obama is referring to Bush spending as a malady to our current situation, then he is absolutely correct, but why is he proposing spending even more? If he believes that Bush’s rebate checks were a failed policy, then why is the main attraction of the stimulus bill’s rebate checks? If he believes that deregulation caused a surge in home buying why are there tax credits and give aways for new home buyers?

Obama’s press conference is a demonstration of an orator who is lost in a fog, constantly driving home the message that the previous administration is the bane of our existence – yet ironically, proposing agendas with no discernible difference. His campaign speeches were amusing only because they were effective and harmless, but he is now purposely misleading the American public. Scarier yet, there remains one other aspect about FDR and his cunning genius. Much of the New Deal was focused on areas that at that time were considered Republican strongholds. He cleverly funneled federal aid into areas where it was advantageous from a political standpoint in order to garner more support in upcoming elections. FDR was a man obsessed with power and since Obama’s only experience consists of rising for higher office, the analogies are unmistakable and hard to ignore. The stimulus bill is a litany of liberal spending agendas that traditionally and historically pass through appropriations, but as long as Obama continues to trumpet the alarms, he will get his way and then some.

Thankfully in this age of transparency and instant communication, Obama’s magic tricks may fizzle out and in 2010 America will respond, putting this magic show out of business.

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