President Obama: Are You Listening?

Until about a week ago, many Americans probably never heard of Rick Santelli. Almost everyone knows him now! Mr Santelli, a Squawk Box  crew member, based in Chicago, was simply echoing the feelings of an ever growing number of Americans as our new President has sent shock waves throughout both our Country and the world with his, now fully displayed, far left agenda. If, somehow, you haven’t yet seen nor heard Mr Santelli’s very targeted, and entertaining rant, click below:

Mr Santelli has certainly struck a nerve . He offered to lead a Tea Party in revolt of the President’s stimulus package and mortgage bailout plan (and this was before the President unveiled his earmark-laced budget proposal). Well, last Friday (Feb 27, 2009), quickly organized Tea Parties sprung up across the Country. A link to the Washington, DC, gathering is below:

So, what should we make of all this? Is the Obama love fest beginning to fade? Is it possible that even many Obama voters are second guessing their choice? Or, is this just a minor blip because any change has a way of being painful, in its early stages? Time, of course, will tell the whole story. History will make its own judgements long after this time has passed. However, we are living this chapter now! As both citizens and taxpayers, we must have a hand in how all this plays out. We must all ask ourselves, individually, what it is we seek for our lives and for those of our children and grandchildren. So, whether you are an Obama supporter or not, as these monumental economic changes occur, I hope, as fellow Americans, you have questions and concerns.

For conservatives, who believe in small Government, less Government regulation, lower taxes, strong defense, and the free market system (re: Capitalism), the actions of this President are downright frightening. For liberals, who believe in big Government, more Government regulation, higher taxes, weaker defense, and Socialism, the actions of this President have you feeling as though you’re on your way to utopia, through so-called social justice and so-called shared sacrifices (Both are code phrases for Socialism).

Most observers predicted that Obama would govern as a Centrist, under the guise that campaign rhetoric is totally different from the realities of governing. Surprise, surprise! Clearly, leaning far to the left, Obama appears willing to risk being a one term President in an all out effort to attain his leftist agenda, by forcing our economy to completely shift away from capitalism in short order. He also appears to realize that he must strike quickly, while he his still in the honeymoon stage of his Presidency, so that no one can stop him. Look at how quickly he has slammed through trillions of taxpayer spending (That’s trillions with a ‘T’, folks). He claims to be doing all this to save the economy, but the spending is so spread out, the number of long term jobs created has to be in question. We now know of all the pork spending. In addition, from the banks to the auto makers to health care, and beyond, Government power and control are growing quickly.

Just days after the inauguration, the man who promised tax cuts for 95% of middle class Americans, signed into law a dramatic tax increase on smokers, in the name of children’s health care. Now, I don’t know the exact number of smokers, however, when cigar smokers are added to cigarette smokers (and, studies show most cigarette smokers are in the middle class), the numbers are huge, I’m quite sure. This act was followed up with a Pelosi/Reid tandem slam of the $787 billion dollar stimulus package, that was passed in spite of the fact that no one had time to read it! Amazing! Shortly after that, Obama outlined his mortgage bailout plan (which, at the time, was the added straw that caused Santelli’s verbal ourburst and then the subsequent tea parties). Now, less than 2 month’s into his Presidency, he unveils a $410 billion dollar budget plan, loaded with more pork and Government growth. In summary, in less than 6 weeks, Mr Obama is spending more money than ever in our Country’s history! This is not only unprecedented, it’s unbelievable!

Obama’s very ambitious economic predictions show our economy, thanks, of course, to him, moving forward in 2010 at a rate, in the range of 3%, then growing to closer to a5% rate of growth in 2011. For those of us who don’t understand economics, those seemingly low projections are, actually, not so small. They are, in fact, huge numbers, economically speaking. A 1% positive economic move would be very dramatic. The numbers Obama is projecting are probably unattainable. Why is this relevant? Because, if we don’t show 3% to 5% positive moves over the next 2 years, our deficit will be 2 to 3 times higher than Obama’s budget projects.  Again, I say, whether you are an Obama supporter or not, these numbers and projections should be cause for concern.

So, what is the real answer to the question of, are we on the correct economic path?

All Americans, political parties aside, wish for happiness and prosperity, both for ourselves and for our future generations. In the 200+ years of this great nation, Obama’s approach has been tried twice before (FDR and Johnson). Carter’s Presidency was a complete disaster, so it’s not included. The point is, this plan of big spending and large Government failed both times. Now, we are not only trying this approach again, we’re seeing it happen in record time. My goodness, President Obama has not been in office for 50 days! He’s spending money we don’t have. Millions are losing their retirement funds in a free falling stock market (that has fallen farther and faster than it did following 9/11), in response to both his spending and his plans. Worse, he displays the arrogance of a dictator, throwing weekly parties at the White House, dancing and singing along with the likes of Earth, Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder, while the rest of us worry about staying financially afloat for just another month. Forgive me, but watching this type of behavior at the White House, while we all struggle, is quite insulting to me, and I can only describe it as arrogance.

The bottom line is this: As the Government grows and spending grows with it, taxes WILL go up, for everone. Yes there is a small tax cut for the middle class, for now. But, when energy prices go up (sooner rather than later), and the so-called rich aren’t paying enough extra taxes to fund all the spending (and they won’t be), taxes and expenses will go up for all of us. Remember, income tax is only one way to garner more money from us. Taxes on businesses that create electriciy and gas for our cars, equal higher costs for every consumer. That, my friends, is an inescapable fact. Either way, costs of living are going up soon. Then, when costs go up, so will inflation, interest rates and unemployment. So, and I’ll leave you with this, each and every one of us must ask ourselves this one question, and we must ask it now:

Do I prefer to keep more money in my wallet, to spend as I see fit, or do I wish to give more money to the Government to spend for me?