Mr. Obama´s Magical Oratorical Stimulus

A couple of days ago, Mr. Obama addressed his fellow Democrats. He gave a speech which some in the media characterized as partisan and derisive to the Republicans who have opposed his stimulus plan all along. I have to admit, Mr. Obama is a good public speaker. Most politicians are. It´s tough to obtain high office as an elected official if you´re not. I listened to some of Mr. Obama´s speech and I must say that he said a number of things that I agree with him about. There is a problem, however. Like most politicians, Mr. Obama has become very adept at the art of doublespeak. He says one thing while meaning the complete opposite. Since those in the mainstream media who sleep with the politicos and depend on them for their jobs are loathe to point this out, it becomes necessary for an outsider to state what should be obvious and challenge conventional wisdom.

In his speech the president claimed that Americans are not looking for Democratic or Republican solutions, they are looking for American solutions. While I do not claim to speak for all Americans, I agree wholeheartedly with the spirit of that statement. It was eloquently stated and sounds very patriotic and politically correct. Its purpose, in my humble opinion, was to try to make it sound like Republicans who are against the stimulus package that is being proposed are somehow un-American. But perhaps we should take a closer look at this statement and try to convince our president that he should follow through on it and propose some new policies and strategies to make it so.

A legitimate question would be "What exactly is an American solution?" Well, the nation of The United States of America was predicated in part on the premise that free individuals know best how to conduct their own business. Hence the Bill of Rights was included in the Constitution as an attempt, some would say a failed attempt, to limit the size and scope of our federal government and keep them out of our relationships be they private or business. So, in my humble opinion, an American solution would be one that honors those principles by allowing American citizens to exercise their inherent rights and their innovativeness without fear that these rights will be violated by government agents because they´ve failed to follow some draconian restriction or regulation. An American solution would be one that allows Americans to take personal responsibility for their own wealth creation and financial success.

On the other hand, one might ask "What is not an American solution?" Well, I certainly do not believe that wealth redistribution schemes are. I don´t believe for a moment that giving money to people who didn´t earn it is in any way uniquely American. In fact, it sounds to me like it is decidedly European. Worse still, when coupled with the fact that our government has already in effect nationalized the banks and some of the largest businesses operating in our country, it sounds like something right out of the old Soviet Union. While these programs may have good intentions and may be charitable, and while being charitable is a quality a great many Americans possess, forcing one to be charitable by stealing their money through taxation is not truly charity at all. In fact I´ve heard that Americans have historically been one of the most generous and charitable of people of all time. Perhaps President Obama and the Democrats don´t believe this to be true.

Mr. Obama went on in his speech to claim that the American people voted for him and the Democrat majority in congress because they wanted change, they were tired of the status quo. I agree, to an extent. I believe the American people do want change, but not the kind of change Mr. Obama proposes. I don´t believe the American people want their country more socialized. I don´t believe the American people want to be told by the government how they should and shouldn´t behave, how they should and shouldn´t go about their business. I don´t believe the American people want to be brainwashed by government propaganda and politicians who offer nothing but empty rhetoric and tired, old socialistic programs that have failed so miserably in other countries. That is not the change Americans seek. Unfortunately, most Americans were only exposed to Mr. Obama´s or Mr. McCain´s point of view during last year´s presidential campaign and felt those were the only choices they had. Unfortunately, because of media bias and the complete societal saturation of the political duopoly, most Americans didn´t realize that both former candidates were nothing more than different facets of the same status quo.

I, for one, didn´t vote for you, Mr. Obama. I voted for no Democrat. I voted for no Republican, with the exception of Ron Paul, and I voted for him not because of his party, but because he has consistently demonstrated that he is a man of principle who votes in accordance to those principles and honors his oath to the constitution. I can make that claim about very few politicians, if any, besides him. Otherwise, when it comes to congress, I voted for third party candidates because I am sick and tired of the corruption and the nepotism and the flowery rhetoric spewing out of Washington DC that never translates into the changes I want to see. Where is my representation, Mr. Obama? I don´t know about everyone else, but I am tired of constantly being ignored. In my opinion, Mr. Obama, you are the status quo.

So, Mr. Obama, did it ever occur to you that maybe these Republicans, and some of the Democrats who voted with them, voted against your "stimulus" bill because they were pressured to do so by their constituents and not because they were being partisan? Did it ever occur to you that maybe they were trying to represent the wishes of the majority of the people in their districts or their state? I doubt it. I doubt it because you never once listened to my pleas or my opinions when you were my senator from my state supposedly representing me. You ignored me and anyone else who may have agreed with me and consistently voted contrary to my principles. I ask again, where is my representation? Perhaps I wasn´t in the majority at times, and perhaps I was at other times. It´s difficult to say. But don´t I deserve some form of representation? Don´t all those who agree with my point of view? Don´t these shared opinions merit some consideration? I don´t believe you think they do.

Mr. Obama then went on in his speech to claim that the old ideas instituted by the Republicans haven´t worked. He claimed that tax cuts alone have not worked. He claimed that it is time for new ideas to be tried. I agree. Let´s try some new ideas, Mr. Obama. Tax cuts alone will not work. Tax cuts coupled with slashing government spending just might. Or how about totally eliminating at least the income tax and ridding this nation of the blight upon it known as the IRS. This might not be a new idea, but it certainly is one that has not been tried, at least since the creation of the IRS.

Bringing our occupation forces home from wherever they are stationed and stopping the administration of an empire we can no longer afford combined with tax cuts is another idea that might work. Again, this is perhaps not the newest idea, but one that was never implemented. How about eliminating some of the unnecessary departments of the federal government, departments the federal government was never supposed to have jurisdiction over anyway? Remember, the Republicans were put into power because they promised smaller, more efficient government and instead grew it. They also did not listen to their constituents and you have not even promised smaller government. Let´s give these ideas a shot and see if they work, or are your words just empty rhetoric and you´re really not willing to give new ideas (ideas which have never been tried) a chance?

Hey, here´s another idea that´s never been tried, let´s try abolishing the Fed. It´s been around since 1913 and has proved itself to be a dreadful failure. It was supposedly created to prevent the current financial mess and to stabilize the boom and bust cycles, which some claim are only created because of government interference in the free market, a school of thought I happen to agree with. In any case, the Federal Reserve certainly has not done what it claimed to be able to do upon its conception. In the ninety six years since it was created we´ve had the boom of the twenties, the great depression, the war years, the boom of the fifties and sixties, the stagnation of the seventies, the market crash of ´87, the boom of the nineties and the current looming depression. That´s not a very good track record. I´d say the Federal Reserve had its chances and failed. It´s time to give something else a try.

Mr. Obama´s oratory re-initiated not only the debate about the stimulus package, but the debate about congressional bipartisanship. He has magically bullied the Republicans with his well crafted words in a speech designed to frighten them into ignoring the people they´re supposed to represent. It´s like the bail out package all over again, the one that is already so questionable and has already cost us too much of our future earnings. These politicians have ignored people who share similar opinions to mine time and again, and they continue to ignore us. Mr. Obama is no different than the rest of them, and though he claims he is about change, so far he seems able to only present ideas that will lead to bigger, more controlling and intrusive government. Perhaps he should try the opposite of what he´s been doing, decentralize, and allow the people of this great nation to prove they can provide for their selves.