Stone Pigs

Posted By Alan Partis on June 9, 2009

Having to say, “This time I mean it” about something tends to reduce your credibility. As a parent, if you find yourself saying this, you’ve probably already lost significant parental authority that is nearly impossible to regain. When you’re the President of the United States, you can make yourself irrelevant in a hurry.  Were it not for the massive expansion of executive power that Obama has orchestrated, he might be well on the way to being a lame duck early in his first term.

Just a few months ago, President Obama stood before the American people and screeched like a baby that our situation was so dire that failing to pass his $787 billion “stimulus” plan immediately would bring on a complete collapse of our economy and peaceful society as we know it.  The need was so great that only massive government spending could possibly save us from certain doom.  Some of the money would be spent on public works projects that were “shovel ready” while a majority of it would go to long-term projects such as a comprehensive new health care computer system, alternative energy research, etc.

Now here we are, more than four months later, and we learn that only a tiny fraction of the money from that package has been spent (not that any of the money ever really existed in the first place since the Federal Government is expecting a $2 TRILLION shortfall this year alone).  The Congressional Budget Office reports that just 3% of the money has been spent.

Obama’s response to this is to call a meeting of his Cabinet and urge them to go spend the money faster.  Were these folks not on board with him to start?  Did they not get the urgency required by the dire state of the economy?  Is the road to economic ruin truly paved with good government intentions?

There are conclusions we can draw from all this.

Clearly we were not on the verge of complete economic collapse as Obama forewarned.  He either lied to the American people, or he (or his economic advisers) didn’t know what he was talking about.

To the extent that the economic downturn is slowing, it’s due to mostly market forces and, to a lesser extent, banking intervention programs.  Obama should not be taking any credit for improvements because he’s been irrelevant (in the case of his “stimulus” plan) or a hindrance (in the case of auto industry intervention).

Government spending is overrated as an economic recovery tool.

And the final, but most important conclusion?  President Obama has no credibility.  He’s proved, on many occasions, that he’s willing to lie to the public and exaggerate his claims so as to manipulate an outcome that he desires.  When my child does that, she gets grounded.

The voters should ground President Obama.

Category: Economics, Observations
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