Timothy Lawton

     Are the Democrats and President Obama hell bent on destroying our economy? The actions that they have taken over the last five months demand that we ask this question. The list of bills already passed and ones that have been proposed that will wreak havoc on our economy is long and costly. From the “Stimulus” to the Cap and Trade Bill currently winding its way through Congress it is hard to believe that Obama and the Democrats aren’t purposely trying to destroy the United States of America. Along with Mr. Obama’s title, Commander in Chief, he should take a new one, Bankrupter in Chief.

     The same Democrats who railed against the irresponsible spending of the Bush administration are now willing to at least triple his worst debt. Including the war spending, which was not included in the ordinary accounting (which it SHOULD have been) Bush’s worst year was 560 billion dollars in federal debt. This year will probably top 2 TRILLION due to decreasing tax revenues. How can we sustain such profligate spending? No less when much of this debt is being paid for by printing money.  For those who are not familiar with economics this will lead to inflation. The Bush administration started this madness and Obama has taken it to another level. As a percent of Gross Domestic Product our federal deficit is now matching what we had during WWII. I know we are at war and in a financial crisis, but we are not even close to facing the challenges that we were facing in the largest war ever fought in the history of mankind.

     The seven hundred billion dollar spending bill, otherwise known as the stimulus package, is one of the greatest wastes of money the world has ever seen. Most of it goes to pork projects and theoretical plans to alter the basis of our economy. A lot of this is targeted at so called “green” energy. Yet, these technologies are extremely elusive and in most cases years from producing significant amounts of energy. Yes, we should be investing in these concepts, but we must maintain the current energy production we have until we can bridge over toward alternative sources. Solar energy only produces 1% of our current consumption. Add to that the fact that we import nearly 70% of our oil and the reality of replacing coal and oil today becomes absurd without destroying our economy. The Democrats either do not recognize this or don’t care. Obama seems to be a true believer in socialism and eco-fascism and this governs all his policies. This can be the only reason he supports Cap and Trade, or as I like to call it Cap and Slave.

     Cap and Slave is based on the concept that mankind is causing global climate change. This is unproven and the costs of trying to remedy a theoretical problem will be the collapse of the American economy. The cost of all fossil fuel produced energies will dramatically increase. This will in turn raise the prices of all goods. The lower and middle class will be hurt the most by this due to the percentage that energy costs comprise of the average person’s budget. Our country’s ability to compete with foreign competition is already hindered by a number of factors. Adding this monstrosity of a tax to our businesses will be the straw that breaks the back of this nation economically. Companies will look overseas to conduct operations in lands that do not have these self-imposed burdens placed on their corporate citizens. This will drive out the little that remains of our manufacturing base. And little is as dangerous as depending on an unfriendly world for means of production.

     On top of these cumbersome impediments to economic growth we also have the proposals for socializing medicine, a gargantuan highway bill, and the raising of taxes. This would be a prescription for a disaster in a healthy economy it is suicide in the global downturn in which we now find ourselves. How can these ideas be seen as anything other than a deliberate attack on the United States? This is an attempt to reduce America from the world’s leading power into just one of many nations. Nationalized health care is bankrupting the countries in which it is practiced. We need to make changes to our system, but government control will only increase costs and diminish treatment. 

     In addition to this the government meddling in the economy is creating a climate that is hostile toward investment and private enterprise. The Bush administration’s take over of large sectors of the financial system have permitted for an unprecedented power grab by Washington. Obama has only increased this disturbing trend. The takeover of GM and Chysler are another example of this insanity. We wasted billions of dollars in order to hold off their inevitable bankruptcies by about six months. The government has involved itself in day to day operations and also ignored the law when it came to investors. When people who are supposed to be first in line as creditors are ignored in favor of pacifying unions who will be willing to risk capital in American based companies. This arbitrary power of government is the same thing that chills investment in communist and socialist nations.

     So, I feel the title Bankrupter in Chief is most appropriate for President Obama. He and his Democratic cronies are doing everything possible to ensure that this nation will spiral into an economic depression. We may see a temporary improvement in the economy that will be followed by a sharp economic downturn. This is practically a certainty if these policies are not reversed as soon as possible. The printing of copious amounts of money will cause inflation and the massive deficits will drive up the cost of debt financed by government issued bonds. That in turn will drive up the cost of mortgage rates. We can not continue to spend like drunken sailors, though that is an insult to drunken sailors. Eventually the willingness of investors to finance our debt will cease to exist. Obama and the Democrats are pursuing policies that will destroy this nation. It is imperative, if the America we know is to survive, that this madness be stopped.