Change is Coming (Again)

As the Spring draws near, the dust settles on Capitol Hill, and Obamanomics takes hold on our economy, something obvious is becoming more clear. A change has arrived. The pendulum has swung.

It will inevitably swing back.

Already, as economists come out against the president's agenda, and red flags are raised across the political spectrum, it's hard not to wonder whether America got it right when we decided to take a chance on Barack Obama last Fall.

Widely considered one of the most popular presidents, Barack Obama's approval rating sits at 62% - below George Bush and GW Bush's 63% at the same point in their presidencies, and well below Carter's 70% according to Gallup. On top of that, political pundits largely report that Obama's policies underpoll the personality of the man himself. Read the signs on the wall; the honeymoon will come to an end. Tick tock, tick tock.



Within the first 50 days of his presidency, Obama has staked his legacy on the success of the so-called economic stimulus with his name on it that he signed last week. But already, even as rumors of Stimulus Part II are still just far-off whispers, talk has heated up over the concept of Obamanomics. Will the massive spending that the president has outlined be good for our economy in the long-run, or will the debt that it saddles us with come home to roost, forever an albatross around the neck of our prosperity? Scratch that - make it the prosperity of future generations.

Already, the only signs of bipartisanship that we have seen rise from the ashes of the Obama ascendancy have been the voices that have come together in opposition of the president's policies. Jim Cramer and Rush Limbaugh, longtime foes, are in complete agreement over the danger of the Obama economic proposals. Obama's stimulus not only didn't get any House Republican support, he lost 11 of his own people. The only 3 Senate Republicans to ultimately come over are all considered RINOs, and all from the Northeast, an area perilous to Republican ideologies. Even Maureen Dowd has had a tough time coming up with shining reviews of the president as of late. And economic experts, among whom Obama has asserted "there is no disagreement that (government injection of massive sums of money to fill the void left by the market) is necessary". The CATO Institute published full-page ads in the New York Times and Washington Post with 200 signatures from economists across the ideological spectrum which sign on to say "With all due respect, Mr. President, that is not true."

Powerful post-partisanship, indeed.

Not since 1980 have conservative principles stood such a good chance at being advanced as they will have in 2012. These four years we will be saddled by Obamanomics, the frustrating inclination to allow rogue nations to the adults' table regardless of their actions, and domestic policies which represent the worst kind of well-sounding, well-intended, and completely misguided decisions leading to awful consequences.

If the GOP can take this time to find its soul, gather around a message, open back up the "big tent", and reintroduce themselves to the American people as the party of financial responsibility, individual freedom/responsibility, and smaller, more effective government, then their leader stands a great chance of success at the ballot box the next go-around. That's the ballgame now.

And so the great irony of the Obama presidency may well turn out to be that he does bring people together in the romantic and whimsical way that he often idealized on the campaign trail. After four long years of a nation in crisis, reaction without results, and the worst kind of Washington elbow-throwing, we will likely grow tired of being sold on one idea while delivered another reality. Americans just might bridge the divide and unite behind the eviction of Obama from Pennsylvania Avenue.

That will be a change we can all believe in.

Posted by Nick Stone on 1:29 AM. Filed under 100 Days . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0