Posted by
Philip Mella on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 2:22:17 PM
Yesterday marked six months that the Obama Administration has been at the helm of America's ship of state. At this moment, one is hard-pressed to find many signs that his solutions to our profoundly serious problems have made a measurable difference. We could be generous and attribute that to his administration's misguided forecast of our economic woes, and on the foreign front, to the studied tenacity and refractory nature of such foes as North Korea, Iran, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda.
But since it's unfair to airbrush the many foibles and shortcomings of the Bush Administration, it's no less an indulgence unworthy of those seeking candor not to hold this team of neophytes responsible for their remarkably inept performance to date. Summing up the sorry state of affairs with respect to Obama's efforts domestically is Peter Ferrara, writing in The American Spectator.
Since his analysis is as lucid as it is trenchant, we'll let it speak for itself. But what strikes me as I step back from this surrealist civic canvass is that Obama's judgment is as ingeniously misinformed as it is anachronistic. You don't have to be a doctoral candidate in economics to understand that as flawed as free markets are, they're the most reliable method of increasing the wealth of people, across the income spectrum, bar none. Likewise, when government's footprint, measured as the percent of spending relative to Gross Domestic Product, is kept in check--which means about 18 percent, its average in the past few decades--the economy hums along rather smartly.
In time, as Mr. Ferrara notes, the American economy will begin improving. However, given its structural resiliency, most economists believe it would have regardless of Obama's hegemonic goal of controlling as much of the economy has possible. Indeed, although he's kinder than is warranted, Ferrara argues that Obama's efforts have effectively protracted our recovery. That will come as no surprise to those who understand that small business and consumer spending comprise the lion share of economic strength, and that when you hobble the former with onerous regulations and new taxes you increase unemployment and inhibit the latter.
Moreover, when the government spends money by printing more--euphemistically called investment, but we all know it's deficit spending--it leads to inflation (defined as too much money chasing too few goods) and higher long-term interest rates. The combination of those two loathsome forces conspires to cripple investment while consuming a greater percent of disposable income for consumers.
The stunning irony, completely lost on Obama and his liberal pals in Congress, is that his agenda has been tried numerous times and, to put it charitably, was found wanting. Indeed, Western Europe is finally doffing its top-heavy, benefit-rich, high-tax approach to public policy, just as Obama is ratcheting up America's. Why, you might wonder? It comes down to political power, which is a despicable goal of the left's that's as firmly imprinted in their genetic make-up as meat-eating is for the lions on the Sarengeti plain.
It wasn't always this way for the modern Democrat. Indeed, for those who recall--or have studied modern history--Truman and Kennedy understood market economics and, in contrast to our current crop of Dems, understood and endorsed American exceptionalism, which begins by safeguarding economic freedom, not harnessing it for political gain.