Its about confidence

I have heard the statistic that 58% of Americans are not happy with the so called stimulus package. I listen to my fair share of talk radio, which until it is hamstrung by the Fairness Doctrine, continues to lambaste Obama for his inability to do what he says. My tweeps that I follow are amongst the Right Wing pundits. What I am hearing is that this bill sucks, but I am not hearing a lot about what should be in it.

For instance, Michael Medved today had said that its not that the government shouldn't do something, it is just that what Obama is leading is the wrong thing. Also, I have heard over and over, that it was not the New Deal that ended the Great Depression, it was World War II, which to me is a great talking point until I start thinking about it a bit more. If World War II was the thing that ended the recession, what was it that did it? Didn't the government just spend tons of money on industry to buy tanks, ships, subs, etc? In the Great Depression, supposedly everyone was beaten down, out of work, and the economy tanking. Then all of a sudden, we aren't putting people to work digging ditches, but building tanks, and sending them off to fight. Medved told me the difference was that 16 million people were drafted, and that the government was buying stuff. I then said, well aren't these bail outs going to the same companies, like Ford who were paid to build tanks? He said yes, but that in WWII the Government was buying goods, not just providing loans. He cut me off as I was about to ask about Obama's plan to buy a new green car for every government employee, and why drafting 16 million people was better than hiring them to do jobs like in the New Deal. I can see how the liberals would think that all it will take to get the economy back on track is to hire more civil servants and buy a bunch of stuff from industry. Unfortunately, there is no demand for the stuff that industry is making in the government, China has commoditized most manufacturing, and the green stuff is too expensive to be commercially viable. Maybe these subsidies for Green industry will make that start to work, but is it really cheaper than coal, gas, and oil?

Unfortunately for Obama, he thought that his divine coronation would allow him to lead Congress, but he didn't realize that they are controlled by various special interests which will kill his attempts as bipartisanship, and will prevent him from keeping the pork out of any stimulus package he wants to put through. He just needs to accept that if he wants to move out on his agenda in DC, he is going to have to pay off Congress to get stuff done, just like any other President, unfortunately, he seems to willing to pay, just to show movement, and of course I will end up having to pay for it in the near term, and my kids and grandkids in the long term.

I think the real thing that turned the economy around was that the Greatest Generation went to war, and united together, then came home with a "can-do!" attitude. I don't really think the money spent was as important as the threat of destruction of the American way of life, and the ability of Americans to step up and smack down that threat in a consolidated and unified effort. After that, their confidence returned, and they felt that they were world beaters. That is the kind of leadership I would like to see out of Obama, or any other person in Washington. Unite us for a common goal, and restore our confidence. You aren't going to do it by spending my son's money today. I think we need to start with industry, and start doing things that are pro-business and not pro-entitlement. Unfortunately, with all this entitlement spending and big government programs, we continue the inevitable slide to socialism.

Barack, draw a line in the sand, listen to the people who really run this country's economy, and move us back to Capitalism, before it is too late.