Posted by
Patrick Henry on Thursday, February 05, 2009 9:19:51 PM
Equating his recent electoral plurality with a mandate for big government that would
have made his Democratic predecessors blush, Barack Obama has already begun a
headlong retreat from many of his high-sounding campaign promises. At this rate
he'll make George W. Bush look like "Honest Abe" Lincoln, or George Washington
who could not "tell a lie."
No more Washington insiders he promised, just months before nominating a cabinet
chock full of them. No more pet spending projects, he said. Yet in a speech earlier
today he said, "Of course we're going to have pet projects." Transparency, accountability
and integrity, he trumpeted. But that was before his plum nominees turned out to be
tax cheats or under grand jury investigation. "We'll create jobs," he said. And yet his
pork-riddled "stimulus pacakage" devotes billions to pet projects that create no jobs at
all. How many new jobs will the honey bee insurance provision create, or the $88 billion
for state Medicaid, or building new ATV trails, or funding the conversion of analog TVs
to digital? And how can anyone justify the provision that will create 388 new jobs at the
State Department at a cost of $1.38 million per job.
Obama seems to have confused his personal popularity with the profligacy of his
party, believing that the electoral endorsement of one signals blanket consent for the
other. But while his own popularity remains high, recent polls show that a majority
of Americans oppose the gigantic stimulus being proposed, and many oppose any
stimulus at all. A politician can win an election -- even do so by a convincing margin --
but that does not imply that either he or his party have a right to spend the nation into
bankruptcy in wanton disregard of the more adult concerns of citizens.
He can even tell lies -- and early performance suggests that Obama has concocted
some whoppers. But in the end it will be difficult for him to escape the truth that
very little has changed in Washington, the so-called stimulus package will create
few jobs, the country will never be able to afford universal healthcare, and he and
his spendthrift party will have mortgaged the futures not only of our children, but also
our grandchildren. He talked a good game, for sure. But he's not delivering the
goods. Who would ever have thought that a legacy of unpaid taxes would QUALIFY
one for a cabinet position? Give America a break, Mr. Presodent.