Department of Government Expansion
obama 7:34 PM
Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. Now, President-Elect Obama promises 4 more years.
Since the creation of the Dept of Energy, our reckless imports of foreign oil have risen from 5 million barrels a day to almost 11 million. Domestic production has plummeted every year, making us increasingly dependent on foreign oil supplies as our thirst grows. No new, clean nuclear power plants have been authorized - only coal and gas-belching plants. Ask anyone in the midwest and northeast that's been through a brownout just how strong our power grid is. Ask anyone who's been through a hurricane. Ask anyone who's filled their tank in the past year how stable our gas prices are. Ask anyone who has paid their electric bill in the past 5 years how well the power monopolies are doing at keeping down costs. Oh, and how are those 'alternative energy' (read Ethanol) subsidies working out?
Since the creation of the Department of Education, America has sunk to 29th out of 30 industrialized nations, despite spending the second highest per pupil in the classroom. Students are less financially able to go to college than ever, and graduate an average of $22,000 in debt. Yet, because of our federalized graduation standards, teachers are spending so much time teaching tests that there's no time to teach basic math and English skills, let alone critical thinking. Art classes have disappeared. Music classes are nearing extinction. Bad teachers can't be fired because the teachers' union is too power-hungry to accept changes. And they're too big and powerful to force them. How is government expansion working so far, Mr President-Elect?
In a stunningly unsurprising turn, Mister Obama announced the other day that as part of his genius plan to govern, he will raise our deficit to 1 Trillion Dollars. As part of his overall Economic Recovery Plan, at a cost estimated $775 Billion, with a B, Obama's bright idea fits right in line with so many failed Democratic ideas of decades past.
It's a simple plan, first outlined by FDR:
Step 1: Expand government. Losing jobs in the private sector? Create more in the public sector! Voila!
Step 2: Spend like a drunken sailor. We're already in the red, right? What's another $775B?! Our great great great great grandkids can pay for it!
To best explain why this idea warrants question, let me flash you back to the 1996 State of the Union Address. President Bill Clinton explains that creating a smaller, more efficient and less intrusive government is good for the economy:
Let me say here and now - not all of Obama's plan is bad. I strongly support and applaud the Obama Administration's idea of spending massive sums of money on infrastructure. The unfortunate truth is that we desperately need the work to be done anyway. America's infrastructure is not in decline - it's in blatant and dangerous disrepair. The work must be done anyway, it must be done as quickly as possible, and it may as well be done now. The opportunity to create jobs and strengthen America economically and physically at the same time is one we must not pass up. I only hope that the administration fights pork barrel spending on unnecessary sweetheart projects designed to benefit politicians rather than taxpayers.
However - and this is a massive however - we must be mindful moving forward of two critical truths.
1) The American Government has spent more money than it has taken in since 2002, and excess spending cannot go on forever.
2) Obama's massive expansion of the government is the greatest in decades, and it comes on the back of 7 years of government expansion already created by the Bush Administration.
So, as Obama lays his plans and prepares to take the reigns as our government's CEO, we have to ask ourselves: Is this the type of Washington belt-tightening we were promised? Is this the streamlining and reform that he campaigned on? Is this Washington working for the people again? Are these the kind of 'new, bold ideas' that we were promised in his 30 minute pre-election acceptance speech on television? I sure hope not, or it's going to be one hell of a rough four years.
This is bureaucracy run amok, and it isn't the kind of change you can believe in. Wake up, America. It's 1977, and Carter II is about to take the oath of office. 1981 can't come fast enough! With a Democratic White House and Congress, there is some good news - when the wheels fly off the wagon, there will be positively no doubt where to point the finger when we go to the polls in 2010. or 2012.
The story that set me off:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/the_federal_department_of_econ.html
Since the creation of the Dept of Energy, our reckless imports of foreign oil have risen from 5 million barrels a day to almost 11 million. Domestic production has plummeted every year, making us increasingly dependent on foreign oil supplies as our thirst grows. No new, clean nuclear power plants have been authorized - only coal and gas-belching plants. Ask anyone in the midwest and northeast that's been through a brownout just how strong our power grid is. Ask anyone who's been through a hurricane. Ask anyone who's filled their tank in the past year how stable our gas prices are. Ask anyone who has paid their electric bill in the past 5 years how well the power monopolies are doing at keeping down costs. Oh, and how are those 'alternative energy' (read Ethanol) subsidies working out?
Since the creation of the Department of Education, America has sunk to 29th out of 30 industrialized nations, despite spending the second highest per pupil in the classroom. Students are less financially able to go to college than ever, and graduate an average of $22,000 in debt. Yet, because of our federalized graduation standards, teachers are spending so much time teaching tests that there's no time to teach basic math and English skills, let alone critical thinking. Art classes have disappeared. Music classes are nearing extinction. Bad teachers can't be fired because the teachers' union is too power-hungry to accept changes. And they're too big and powerful to force them. How is government expansion working so far, Mr President-Elect?
In a stunningly unsurprising turn, Mister Obama announced the other day that as part of his genius plan to govern, he will raise our deficit to 1 Trillion Dollars. As part of his overall Economic Recovery Plan, at a cost estimated $775 Billion, with a B, Obama's bright idea fits right in line with so many failed Democratic ideas of decades past.
It's a simple plan, first outlined by FDR:
Step 1: Expand government. Losing jobs in the private sector? Create more in the public sector! Voila!
Step 2: Spend like a drunken sailor. We're already in the red, right? What's another $775B?! Our great great great great grandkids can pay for it!
To best explain why this idea warrants question, let me flash you back to the 1996 State of the Union Address. President Bill Clinton explains that creating a smaller, more efficient and less intrusive government is good for the economy:
Again, that's not from a member of the vast, right-wing conspiracy. It was Bill Clinton, and he was right.We know big government does not have all the answers. We know there's not a program for every problem. We have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in Washington. And we have to give the American people one that lives within its means.
The era of big government is over.
Since 1993, we have all begun to see the benefits of deficit reduction. Lower interest rates have made it easier for businesses to borrow and to invest and to create new jobs. Lower interest rates have brought down the cost of home mortgages, car payments and credit card rates to ordinary citizens. Now, it is time to finish the job and balance the budget.
Our administration is working hard to give the American people a government that works better and costs less. Thanks to the work of Vice President Gore, we are eliminating 16,000 pages of unnecessary rules and regulations, shifting more decision-making out of Washington, back to states and local communities.As we move into the era of balanced budgets and smaller government, we must work in new ways to enable people to make the most of their own lives. We are helping America's communities, not with more bureaucracy, but with more opportunities. Through our successful Empowerment Zones and Community Development Banks, we are helping people to find jobs, to start businesses. And with tax incentives for companies that clean up abandoned industrial property, we can bring jobs back to places that desperately, desperately need them.
Let me say here and now - not all of Obama's plan is bad. I strongly support and applaud the Obama Administration's idea of spending massive sums of money on infrastructure. The unfortunate truth is that we desperately need the work to be done anyway. America's infrastructure is not in decline - it's in blatant and dangerous disrepair. The work must be done anyway, it must be done as quickly as possible, and it may as well be done now. The opportunity to create jobs and strengthen America economically and physically at the same time is one we must not pass up. I only hope that the administration fights pork barrel spending on unnecessary sweetheart projects designed to benefit politicians rather than taxpayers.
However - and this is a massive however - we must be mindful moving forward of two critical truths.
1) The American Government has spent more money than it has taken in since 2002, and excess spending cannot go on forever.
2) Obama's massive expansion of the government is the greatest in decades, and it comes on the back of 7 years of government expansion already created by the Bush Administration.
So, as Obama lays his plans and prepares to take the reigns as our government's CEO, we have to ask ourselves: Is this the type of Washington belt-tightening we were promised? Is this the streamlining and reform that he campaigned on? Is this Washington working for the people again? Are these the kind of 'new, bold ideas' that we were promised in his 30 minute pre-election acceptance speech on television? I sure hope not, or it's going to be one hell of a rough four years.
This is bureaucracy run amok, and it isn't the kind of change you can believe in. Wake up, America. It's 1977, and Carter II is about to take the oath of office. 1981 can't come fast enough! With a Democratic White House and Congress, there is some good news - when the wheels fly off the wagon, there will be positively no doubt where to point the finger when we go to the polls in 2010. or 2012.
The story that set me off:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/the_federal_department_of_econ.html
Posted by Nick Stone
on 7:34 PM.
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