How Many Fights Will Obama Pick With America?

Politics is a game of addition – successful politics anyway.  Great leaders, when faced with a divided electorate, not to mention difficult economic times, use a limited agenda to forge consensus out of broken paradigms.  Once they achieve an initial success, they seek a broader consensus.  In the 1980’s Reagan faced a divided Republican Party and a fractured and dispirited nation.  Concentrating on the prosperity issue and our national prestige, Reagan first brought Republicans together and then independents and even many Democrats.  Indeed, so successful was Reagan at bringing people together, that in time he could rely on a group of Reagan Democrats.  Few other Presidents have had such success at building consensus let alone are able to claim a voting block from the other party in their name.

There is little doubt that Obama faced a divided electorate when he first took office and a difficult economic climate.  Rather than start with a limited agenda designed to build consensus, Obama did the opposite.  Obama chased too many rabbits at once and preferred ideological fights over practical solutions.  As a result, the Country is more divided than ever – not less.

The most recent manifestation of that divisive M.O. is the White House’s amazing decision to insist on a terror trial in New York.   Of course, it remains a jarring ideological decision to treat KSM as a “criminal” versus the warring “terrorist” that he is.  As I wrote, in my article Internment, CSI and Eric Holder’s Disarming of America, that decision will have profound negative consequences for decades to come.  To the point of this article, Obama is compounding his initial divisive decision (treating him as a criminal) by fighting with New York over the place of the trial.  It is a political fight which he cannot win regardless of the outcome of the trial.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, cap-and-trade, economic recession, government health care
Posted Feb 3rd 2010 at 5:44 am in Congress, Environment, Featured Story, Healthcare, Obama, Politics | 67970174 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tdelbeccaro/2010/02/03/how-many-fights-will-obama-pick-with-america/How+Many+Fights+Will+Obama+Pick+With+America%3F2010-02-03+13%3A44%3A49Thomas+Del+Beccaro

The Marxist Roots of Obama’s Economic ‘Pivot’

President Obama’s advisers assure us that he will use his State of the Union address tonight to deal with our nation’s ailing economy. Americans have already begun to hear talk of a “hard pivot” at the White House, away from health care and towards jobs.

Yet in economic terms, the president’s shift thus far has been more of the same: more government control and less individual freedom.

His attacks on banks—including a new tax that will invariably be passed on to consumers—caused stocks to plummet last week. He has targeted some banks for being “too big,” but without ending the costly policy of “too big to fail,” which removes the discipline of risk and reward. He crowed, “We want our money back,” but wants to use “our” money for his own spending programs, not for tax relief.

The central idea of the President’s new plan appears to be shaping up as a jobs program, in imitation of FDR’s public employment programs during the Great Depression, and funded by new taxes on Wall Street.

The plan is not about job creation—more jobs could be created by the private sector—nor is it about recouping the bailout. It is primarily about redistribution—and is based on old, bad ideas.
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Tags: Abe Foxman, Anti-Defamation League, bank tax, Barack Obama, economic recession
Posted Jan 27th 2010 at 7:17 am in Congress, News, Obama, Politics | 65738106 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/jpollak/2010/01/27/the-marxist-roots-of-obamas-economic-pivot/The+Marxist+Roots+of+Obama%27s+Economic+%27Pivot%272010-01-27+15%3A17%3A16Joel+B.+Pollak

Obama Dithered as Economic War Raged

Now President Obama tells us he’s going to take the economy seriously.  God help us.

As the war on the economic recession grew bleak and the unemployed body count grew, Obama and the Democratic Congress were bogged down in the quagmires of health care reform and cap-and-trade – wars of choice but not of necessity.

Obama and Congressional leaders dithered on the economy to satisfy their liberal base and deliver on campaign promises of a government takeover of health care, a cap-and-trade system and a scheme to eliminate the secret ballot in union elections.

Fortunately for America, Obama and his Congressional allies have been unsuccessful so far.

In a recent interview with ABC News, the president said he lost touch with the American people because he was so focused on crafting policy.  And the result was the special election in Massachusetts that ended in disaster for Democrats.

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Tags: Barack Obama, cap-and-trade, congressional democrats, congressional leaders, economic recession
Posted Jan 26th 2010 at 5:15 pm in Congress, Obama, Politics | 6555484 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2010/01/26/obama-dithered-as-economic-war-raged/Obama+Dithered+as+Economic+War+Raged2010-01-27+01%3A15%3A32Kyle+Olson

Hey, Speaker Pelosi, Where Are the Jobs?

In August 2003, then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a press statement demanding to know from President Bush, “Where Are the Jobs?” The statement was released in response to the monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, which, at that time showed that over 400,000 Americans had given up looking for work and had left the labor force. It should be noted that today, every job measurement she cited is worse now than it was in 2003. We must have overlooked her similar question for President Obama.

From Pelosi’s statement:

Washington, D.C. — House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ announcement that 470,000 people abandoned their job searches in July and that 3.2 million private sector jobs have been lost since President Bush took office:

Of course, in December 2009, almost twice as many (929,000) had “abandoned their job searches” on Speaker Pelosi’s watch and with a Democrat in the White House.

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Tags: Barack Obama, black unemployment, economic recession, George Bush, hispanic unemployment
Posted Jan 13th 2010 at 12:47 pm in Congress, Economics, News, Obama, Politics | 58986153 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2010/01/13/hey-speaker-pelosi-where-are-the-jobs/Hey%2C+Speaker+Pelosi%2C+Where+Are+the+Jobs%3F+2010-01-13+20%3A47%3A16Capitol++Confidential

Lessons of ‘66 and ‘94 Loom Over Democrats: Part I

Midterm elections can present a considerable risk for a new President.  Often viewed as a referendum on a President’s policies, the last 45 years featured such huge party losses as 54 House seats under Clinton, 48 seats under Ford, and 47 seats under Johnson.  While Ford’s fate was not entirely his own, the fates of Johnson and Clinton present foreboding scenarios for Democrats in 2010.

Johnson and Clinton: Unpopular Policies Lead to Midterm Losses.

In 1964, the Democrats were sitting atop the political world.  They held 68 Senate seats and gained 36 House seats for an overwhelming margin of 295 to 140 – not to mention winning the White House.  Just two years later, however, they lost 48 seats.  Why? A series of policies that were unpopular including a “credibility gap” on the Vietnam War and what one Democrat Governor said was “Frustration over Vietnam; too much federal spending and… taxation; no great public support for your Great Society programs; and … public disenchantment with the civil rights programs.”  Despite the economy growing 6% because of the Kennedy/Johnson tax cuts, the divide between Johnson’s policies and public opinion produced a 49% approval rating for Johnson and resulted in historic losses for the President and his party in 1966.

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Tags: 66 elections, 94 elections, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, economic recession
Posted Jan 12th 2010 at 5:42 am in Congress, Economics, Featured Story, Obama, Politics | 58658122 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tdelbeccaro/2010/01/12/lessons-of-66-and-94-loom-over-democrats-part-i/Lessons+of+%2766+and+%2794+Loom+Over+Democrats%3A+Part+I2010-01-12+13%3A42%3A56Thomas+Del+Beccaro

Be Happy!: Why This Is the Best Holiday Season Ever.

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We’re going through some tough economic times right now, but this holiday season, take a moment to appreciate how good we really have it.

Need proof? Just think about how much Christmas presents sucked in the 1970s compared to today.

Thanks to our market-based system, we’re wealthier, we have more choices, and we enjoy more leisure time than ever before.

From all of us at Reason.tv, happy holidays!

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Tags: christmas, consumer goods, economic growth, economic recession, Free Markets
Posted Dec 18th 2009 at 2:53 pm in Culture, Economics, History | 4922623 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ngillespie/2009/12/18/be-happy-why-this-is-the-best-holiday-season-ever/Be+Happy%21%3A+Why+This+Is+the+Best+Holiday+Season+Ever.2009-12-18+22%3A53%3A36Nick+Gillespie

Obama and Democrat Leadership: Out of Touch and Desperate

President Obama’s meetings at the Senate on Sunday, much like his visit to Copenhagen this week, are not indicators of inevitability; they are portents of panic.  The reports coming out of the closed door, Democrats-only, meeting of internal divisions that are still irreconcilable, despite the high rhetoric of historic moment, only make the point more vividly: can you say “desperation”?

The sensible Democrats know they are in trouble.  They know the American people have lost confidence that the Administration and Congress share their priorities.

While polls consistently show that Americans are increasingly concerned about jobs, reviving the economy, and managing our deficits, the Democrats fixate on health care, a relatively low priority for most Americans and anathema for many in this form.  The reforms the Democrats push are themselves unpopular, and for good reason.  Americans know that a government takeover of health care will diminish the quality of care, reduce our ability to control our treatment options, and drive up the premium costs for many Americans.  It’s not just the health care system that will suffer, but proposed reforms will also cripple one of the few sectors that have been creating jobs during the recession, create multiple new taxes and penalties, and further hamper the economy by creating massive new debt and entitlements.

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Tags: cap-and-trade, carbon emissions, Copenhagen conference, deficits, economic recession
Posted Dec 8th 2009 at 7:23 am in Congress, Healthcare, News, Obama, Politics, Tea Party | 42678130 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/hhiggins/2009/12/08/obama-and-democrat-leadership-out-of-touch-and-desperate/Obama+and+Democrat+Leadership%3A+Out+of+Touch+and+Desperate2009-12-08+14%3A23%3A43Heather++Higgins

NY Times’ Paul Krugman Calls for ‘Government Jobs’ Jobs Plan; Cites Union-Funded Study

Undeterred by stubbornly high unemployment rates, and a stimulus plan that has fallen flat, talk of a second stimulus package is growing louder.  But to shed the unsuccessful “stimulus” moniker, Democrats and government labor unions have adopted a “jobs plan.”

Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist who’s never seen a government expenditure he didn’t like, Sunday  pointed to a “study” by the Economic Policy Institute, which alleges spending $40 billion over 3 years could create about a million “public-service” jobs.

In other words, Krugman and EPI would see fit to simply create government jobs, instead of trying to help the private sector.  That makes sense, given who supports EPI.

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Tags: Andy Stern, economic growth, Economic Policy Institute, economic recession, EcPI
Posted Dec 7th 2009 at 7:33 am in Big Labor, Economics, News, Politics | 4181466 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2009/12/07/ny-times-paul-krugman-calls-for-government-jobs-jobs-plan-cites-union-funded-study/NY+Times%27+Paul+Krugman+Calls+for+%27Government+Jobs%27+Jobs+Plan%3B+Cites+Union-Funded+Study2009-12-07+14%3A33%3A27Kyle+Olson

A Tale of Two Presidents: How Media Treated Bush’s Unemployment #’s Compared to Obama’s

It never ceases to amaze me how differently the Old Media treats Republican presidents compared to how they treat Democrat Presidents during times of unemployment reporting. Today, in the vaunted era of Obama, the unemployment numbers for November 2009 have come out and it shows some of the highest unemployment numbers since the Great Depression. Despite that the Old Media seems to be playing this as a sign of optimism. Such optimism was decidedly not in the cards when that same Old Media was reporting rates during Bush’s years, however.

Let’s take two reports from The New York Times for example. One from September 7, 2002 in Bush’s first term and one from December 4, 2009, early in the Obama presidency.

In 2002, The New York Times reported Bush’s 5.7 percent unemployment rate, noting that it was a drop from 5.9 percent, with the following headline: Unemployment Fell in August, But Drop Is Called Insignificant.

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Tags: Bush presidency, David Leonhardt, drop in unemployment, economic recession, job decline
Posted Dec 4th 2009 at 4:34 pm in Big Labor, Economics, Media Criticism, Obama | 4133878 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/wthuston/2009/12/04/a-tale-of-two-presidents-how-media-treated-bushs-unemployment-s-compared-to-obamas/A+Tale+of+Two+Presidents%3A+How+Media+Treated+Bush%27s+Unemployment+%23%27s+Compared+to+Obama%27s2009-12-04+23%3A34%3A42Warner+Todd++Huston

Government Force or Market Forces? – What’s Better for the Job Market . . .

By all accounts, future job growth is going to be sluggish at best and we can expect double digit unemployment at least through next year.  The Democrats’ response is a $300 billion jobs program.  Many Republicans would rather rely on the private sector to fuel the recovery and job growth.  So what’s better, Government Force or Market Forces?

The use of the phrase Government Force is based on the nature of government programs.  The vast majority of the people would prefer to pay little or no taxes.  They are literally forced by government to pay those taxes.  As it relates to a jobs bill, the Democrats will tax one set of people or businesses (taxpayers) and/or borrow money (a delayed tax) and then transfer a portion of those collected/borrowed funds to other people or businesses.  In that manner, the Democrats believe they have created a job – or in today’s vernacular, saved a job.  But have they?

In the process of taxing some and transferring to others, the government force has taken money away from a business/taxpayer in California and perhaps given it to someone in Alabama.  That means the business in California cannot hire someone (or save a job) with the money transferred to Alabama – a type of zero sum game.  Actually, it is worse than a zero sum game because government always manages to waste money in the transfer and so Alabama is never helped so much as California is hurt.

Put another way, in an effort to fill Alabama’s bucket, the government forces the emptying of California’s bucket through tax and spend transfers.  Perhaps that is why Churchill famously said “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

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Tags: bush tax cuts, california economy, cap-and-trade, consumer demand, economic growth
Posted Dec 4th 2009 at 12:43 pm in Congress, Economics, News, Politics | 4061416 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tdelbeccaro/2009/12/04/government-force-or-market-forces-whats-better-for-the-job-market/Government+Force+or+Market+Forces%3F+-+What%E2%80%99s+Better+for+the+Job+Market+.+.+.2009-12-04+19%3A43%3A44Thomas+Del+Beccaro

Biden Recycles Speeches With a Twist

Vice President Biden keeps recycling his unemployment speeches – except he keeps confusing suburbs of his hometown of Scranton:

1.  On October 19, he used Minooka:

My pop — my grandpop used to say — there was a suburb of Scranton called Minooka. He said, “When the guy in Minooka’s out of work, it’s an economic slowdown. When your brother- in-law’s out of work, it’s a recession. When you’re out of work, it’s a depression.”  Well, it’s a depression — it’s a depression for millions of Americans, through no fault of their own.

2.  On October 30, 2009, he used Dickson City (the correct spelling):

My grandpop used to have an expression. We’re from Scranton. He’d say — and I mean this literally. It wasn’t viewed as a joke. He said, “Joey, when the guy in Dixon City,” a small town above Scranton, “is out of work, it’s an economic slowdown. When you’re brother-in-law is out of work, it’s a recession. When you’re out of work, it’s a depression.” And it’s a depression for millions of American people.

3.  On December 3, 2009, at the White House jobs summit, he used Throop:

There used to be an expression, and I’m not joking, my grandfather always used it. He was from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He said, “When the guy from Throop is out of work, it’s an economic slowdown. When your brother-in-law is out of work, it’s a recession. When you’re out of work, it’s a depression.” And it is a depression for over 10 million Americans…

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Tags: depression, Dickson City, economic recession, economic slowdown, Harry Truman
Posted Dec 4th 2009 at 9:22 am in Economics, News, Politics | 4117056 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2009/12/04/biden-recycles-speeches-with-a-twist/Biden+Recycles+Speeches+With+a+Twist2009-12-04+16%3A22%3A17Capitol++Confidential

Conservative Principles Will Defeat Harry Reid

Ronald Reagan once quipped that when you start referring to government as “we” instead of “they,” you have been in office too long. Not only is Senator Harry Reid referring to his liberal majority in Washington as “we,” he complains to reporters about the “smell” of American taxpayers when they visit our nation’s Capitol. Harry Reid has been in Washington far too long.

While families struggle in the face of rising unemployment, the housing crisis, and falling income, Harry Reid has chosen to carry out the bidding of Washington’s special interests and his party’s extreme liberal base. He has proven to be completely out-of-touch with overburdened taxpayers in my home state of Nevada. Currently, Nevada leads the nation in home foreclosures and we are second in the nation in unemployment. And despite Harry’s promises, Nevadans continue to lose their jobs and homes.

In 2004, voters held another out-of-touch Senate Democrat Leader accountable for failing the American people and his constituents. It took the right leadership, conservative principles and the support of conservatives from across the nation to defeat Tom Daschle.  Now we have the chance to do it again.

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Tags: ATR Taxpayer Pledge, charter schools, economic recession, Harry Reid, Nevada. Tom Daschle
Posted Nov 12th 2009 at 6:23 am in Congress, Exclusives, Featured Story, News, Politics, State Politics | 29234111 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/slowden/2009/11/12/conservative-principles-will-defeat-harry-reid/Conservative+Principles+Will+Defeat+Harry+Reid2009-11-12+13%3A23%3A34Sue+Lowden

The New Voodoo Economics: Jobs ‘Saved’ by Federal Stimulus Dollars

The federal website that tracks the final destination of the $787 billion “stimulus” package reported more than 640,000 jobs were created or saved by the funds as of October 30. A closer look at one state’s reporting, however, should cast serious doubt on that number’s veracity.

Washington state is listed as the third-highest job-generating state, according to www.recovery.gov, which records the number of jobs created or saved as 34,517.13. The problem is that at least 24,000 of those jobs were not really in jeopardy.

You read that correctly.

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Tags: economic recession, federal stimulus, job loss, jobs saved, recovery.org
Posted Nov 10th 2009 at 12:13 pm in Congress, Economics, News, Politics, State Politics | 2838227 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/agunn/2009/11/10/the-new-voodoo-economics-jobs-saved-by-federal-stimulus-dollars/The+New+Voodoo+Economics%3A+Jobs+%27Saved%27+by+Federal+Stimulus+Dollars2009-11-10+19%3A13%3A57Amber+Gunn