Logos of the Bogus

The End of Inspiration

Posted by Bernard Hall on Feb. 1, 2010 | 1 comment

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Last week, President Barack Obama gave his first State of the Union address. After two years of having the media, political pundits, and citizens in general fall all over themselves toting what a great speaker but president is and how provoking he is motivating the country to unite and make the United States a better place, this particular speech seemed less than inspiring.

Is Barack Obama losing his touch? Is his trademark talent beginning to wane? The past year brought Obama has gotten in front of just about every TV camera he could, TelePrompTer alongside, ready to rally the American people to action in support of his policies and agenda. According to several polls, he did get a bump in popularity as a result of the state of the union, but how long will it last? For the president to maintain an approval rating above 50%, he has to convince the American people that he will go in the right direction -- a direction that is best for both the country and the citizens.

Lately, Obama has been all over the board with the direction of his presidency. One day, he comes out with a plan and a commitment to rein in federal spending. The next day, he proposes a new stimulus bill. Only now, he's not calling it a stimulus bill, it's a jobs bill. In 2010, the focus of the Obama administration is jobs. Except of course Cap and Trade. This year being called a climate bill.

Let's not forget the emphasis on passing the health care reform bill. After a year of trying to shove them through Congress, a few more pushes is all that's needed to make it law. Obama has said that its failure into passage, is due to the fact that he did not explain it well. Well, land sakes, Pa, all us dummy Americans just didn't know or were able to understand what we were being told by Congress. In team the treasury to buy the votes needed to get it through the Senate is just something that the masses are too stupid to comprehend. If a health-care reform bill was to ensure all Americans, bring down cost, and provide better coverage, it would have no trouble being passed on its merits. It would even be better if it had cross state portability and tort reform. Neither version that went through Congress did these.

The budget process is also a joke. After spending an extra trillion dollars in 2009, President Obama is increasing his spending for fiscal year 2011. Again, Obama is placing the blame on the past 10 years. Well, he only means to blame the eight years of the Bush administration. Every time Obama blames Bush, he is de facto admitting that he is in over his head. The TARP money was supposed to be a loan to the banks to save the financial structure of the country from collapsing. It was supposed to be a loan and paid back to the taxpayer with interest. Lo and behold, it was. Except for the bailout of the auto industry. Now, Obama wants to tax the banks in order to get the money back. I'm sure none of this incidence will be passed on to the consumers. Obama is trying to gain popularity by exploiting the greed of capitalists, mainly bankers. Will it work? That remains to be seen.

The American people may be gullible, but they still have to be sold. One of Obama's latest catch phrases is that he is never been so optimistic about America as he is today. I'd like to be optimistic about America today also. But I am being held back by this concept called reality.