(Note: there will be vague pop culture references through this blog post in order to help dumber people understand the subject)
I remember the Simpson's episode, a show I have long since stopped watching, where Homer had his name changed to Max Power and started living like he thought Max Power should live. He even said to his slightly more sensible daughter Lisa that there is the right way, the wrong way, and the Max Power way. Lisa responded by asking, "Isn't that just the wrong way?" to which Homer replied, "Yes, but faster."
That about sums up how I feel about Obama's economic policies so far. While President Bush did things the wrong way, and John McCain would probably have continued to do it the wrong way, President Obama is "fixing" the economy the Max Power way.
The President's "stimulus" bill is nothing more than injecting adrenaline into a patient that really needed to go through detox. It is overkill and will hurt us all badly in the long term. Even Wall Street, which has depended on the government to keep the competition out, is opposing the President's plans. This is probably ironic since most of these folks were looking to the government to "restore" credit in America.
The fault of the recession lies solely in individuals who took out or gave out bad loans. Period. There is NOTHING, (you hear me?) NOTHING the government can do to fix bad lending to stupid people.
In reality, part of these "fixes" the government is engaging in are nothing more than power grabs, which is pretty foolish to begin with considering Obama will be out of a job in about eight years at most. But Congress won't be. And Congress is the true power behind government right now, like it or not. The President may be able to set the agenda and push legislation through, but Congress is the group that votes on it and "manages" the various agencies.
Another huge aspect of these "fixes" that no one seems to be able to comprehend is that every politician has to pay their dues to the people who get them elected. When Obama got elected, he had to pay his dues to the very folks who worked to get him elected. Since he can't hire them all to be on his staff, he can do the next best thing and take confiscated money from individuals and give it to these people. ACORN, for example, receives a huge chunk of change in the "stimulus" bill.
But more importantly, I have no idea why the government insists on "fixing" the economy. People do things; it's a fact (ATHF). But the government would be better at doing nothing. Instead, they choose to do something (because they've got to do something) that involves spending money they don't have on programs that have no real oversight and are thus doomed to failure or, at best, mediocrity.
Think about it. When was the last time you spent money you didn't have? Did that make you richer or better your life? The last time I did something like that, it cost me 300+ dollars a mouth for the next five years. Fortunately, I refused to accept those terms and got rid of it in two years.
This is the reality of the economic policies of the Obama Administration. It will fail. But you and I can not accept the terms of the economic polices put before us and do our budgeting, saving, spending, and giving. If done right, we will be much better by our own hands and not by the government's. I'd rather be a king by my own hand than a slave of another.