THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 24, January 20, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
ORATORY VERSUS REALITY: THE OBAMA YEARS BEGIN
By Alan Caruba
CAN WORDS ALONE SOLVE AMERICA'S PROBLEMS? WHAT DOES THE U.S.A. REALLY NEED: PRESIDENT
BARACK OBAMA'S ORATORY, OR A SERIOUS REALITY CHECK? WHAT THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN NATIONAL
POLITICS & PUBLIC POLICYMAKING INDICATES -- WHAT THE HISTORY OF GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION INTO THE
ECONOMY INDICATES -- WHY MANY AMERICANS QUESTION THE SCALE OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S AMBITIONS
-- WHAT CONGRESS CAN DO TO ENSURE ECONOMIC RECOVERY IN THE U.S.A.
FULL STORY:
Not since Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John Fitzgerald Kennedy has this nation had a President so blessed with the
gift of oratory.
There is no doubt that, if words alone could lift this nation out of its current financial crisis, its wars and its other problems,
President Barack Hussein Obama could make that happen.
We need, therefore, to cast our eyes backwards to those earlier Presidents to remind us that, for all his eloquence, his
power to encourage and inspire Americans, Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not resolve the Great Depression and,
indeed, prolonged it with a misguided New Deal. Inaugurated in 1933, he was still struggling with the economy when
World War II began for the United States in 1941.
As John Fitzgerald Kennedy urged us to ask not what the country could do for us, but what we could do for our country,
it was mere months before the die was cast for growing U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Other than the space program, his
administration was a series of stumbles. His assassination eliminated any further opportunity to judge his brief term in
office.
So oratory is a fine thing and our new President delivered a fine speech. But! If Americans discover that we are in for a
“first 100 days” that involves a great flurry of ill-conceived, ill-considered, and utterly political legislation, we will rue the
day we gave power to Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama and to the Democrats on Capitol Hill.
“There are some who question the scale of our ambitions,” said President Obama. He’s right! Why? Because the
greatest failures always follow an excess of ambition. It happens to individuals and it happens to nations.
The proposed economic stimulus bill reeks of all the errors and ills of FDR’s New Deal programs that wasted millions
paying farmers not to plant crops, fixing prices within industries to kill competition and drive up the cost of goods, and
initially handing out money without requiring that people work to earn it.
The proposed $825 billion “stimulus package” is pure pork. It has no more relationship to economic recovery than
previous governmental efforts to "fix" the economy. The real change America needs is for government to stop interfering
with the marketplace of goods and services.
When Congress gets out of the way of business and industry, you will have recovery.
When it stops paying farmers not to plant crops, as it continues to do, you will have recovery.
When it puts a stop to the lawsuits and laws that stop or slow every form of economic development in favor of some
unknown species of insect or reptile, you will see recovery.
When it permits our vast natural resources of coal, natural gas, and oil to be extracted and sold as energy for America,
you will see recovery.
The proposed stimulus bill, called the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill,” includes $650 million to help
Americans upgrade to digital cable after the transition on February 17th. In what possible way does this help the
economy? It is pork.
While surely there are structures in cities and towns in America that could use an upgrade, $44 million will be spent to
repair and improve the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. All manner of taxpayer
money will be lavished on a panoply of government agencies, all standing in line with their tin cups.
As Ronald Wilson Reagan said, “Government isn’t the answer to our problems. Government is the problem.”
There will be $1.2 billion to provide day care services to 300,000 additional low-income children, since clearly both
parents will have to work in order to put food on the table. It is pork.
$1.2 billion to create an estimated one million Summer jobs for young people. It is pork.
And $6.2 billion to weatherize the homes of low-income people to make them “more energy efficient.” It is pork.
It probably passed unnoticed, but the President’s promise to “roll back the specter of a warming planet” is quite
possibly the worst indicator of what his new administration plans to do, to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars and
countless new regulations.
The Earth is dramatically cooling. There is no global warming. Why is the new President talking about “a warming
planet”?
As just one more example of the endless list of items for which taxpayer money is to be wasted, the most egregious is
$2.4 billion for “projects demonstrating carbon-capture technology.” There is no need to “capture” carbon dioxide, a
gas that plays virtually no role whatever in climate change. The oceans of the world have been doing that for more
than five billion years.
After the oratory comes the reality. If, as a nation, our elected representatives take action, based on the failed politics
and policies of the past, economic reality will swiftly become painfully apparent and all the speeches in the world will
not put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Government & the U.S. Presidency:
Presidential Politics & National Leadership
American Government & the U.S. Congress:
Congressional Legislative Politics & National Public Policy
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Alan Caruba is a veteran business, science and political writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National
Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary,
"Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Caruba has a daily blog at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.
Caruba’s most recent book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press. Books
previously authored by Caruba include A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam, The United Nations Versus the United States: The
UN's Plan to Control Planet Earth, and America: A Nation Without Borders -- A Pocket Guide to Immigration Issues.
© Alan Caruba 2009
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XI, 2009
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity