Never Mind the Darkness, Obama Says It's Morning in America!

Never Mind the Darkness, Obama Says It's Morning in America!
Dan Kennedy
7-31-10

The president, Tiny Tim Geithner and much of the complicit media like using phrases like “we have turned the corner,” talking about some sort of economic recovery underway. Joe Biden went so far as to dub this “The Summer of Recovery.”

It’s tripe. The almost entirely unreported fact is that personal income, excluding government transfer payments, has been declining and continues to decline, something never before seen in a recovery out the back end of a recession. The need to extend the unemployment welfare again, this time to the not-coincidental election month of November (when you can count on it being extended again) should tell all that needs known about the mythical recovery. But in case you missed this, the FHA, the VA, even the Dept. of Agriculture plus Fannie and Freddie are making and backing no-down payment, 3 percent-down payment and low-down payment mortgage loans at furious pace, by their own spokespersons’ admission to keep the housing market from falling off a cliff. Last week, the administration and media gleefully reported a jump in new home sales from May to June, ignoring the fact of a year to year 17 percent slump.

The Summer of Recovery is imaginary.

There can be no recovery in consumer spending without real, private sector job recovery and creation. Beyond getting the already unemployed back to work, only real jobs creation can relieve the anxiety of those who are employed but fear being next for the cost-cutting axe.

And there can be no significant jobs recovery and creation while the president is taking his own big, bloody axe to one entire industry after another, threatening small business owners with massive income tax hikes, uncertain health care mandates and costs, possible certainly higher energy-related costs from cap ‘n trade (freight, on goods shipped, for example), postage hikes, etc., etc., etc. And every time he demonizes the teeny-tiny, evil, rich minority that are under-taxed, and are not “working people,” he causes more uncertainty among the very people who have the capital to create real jobs.

There are some businesses hiring, but many more frozen, and more still hurrying at all possible speed to reduce workforces wholesale, by any means. For example, an automated self-checkout technology of the kind that has gradually been replacing clerks in supermarkets, Wal-Marts and other large chains has been built and perfected for convenience stores and will soon be sweeping the nation, eliminating at least one job per shift per store.

We are in for chronic high unemployment exacerbated by Obama-pressure on businesses and the fear, angst, disgust and paralysis of their owners. And let’s not forget that his financial reform bill will impose a whole new load of burdensome, costly regulations on healthy, well-managed community banks, thus retarding lending.

In his progress report on the economy delivered as lunch-time speech last week, the president spoke of expanding their successful small business programs. If he can show me a single successful small business program he and his gang have created so as to call it theirs, I’ll donate $50,000.00 to any charity of his choice. Except ACORN or any controlled by George Soros.

Layered atop this mess is the ever-rising national debt measured in trillions that is talked about plus trillions more concealed in special time bombs. Forty cents of every dollar now doled out by the federal government is borrowed. Every citizen owes nearly $50,000.00 as share of the debt, and few can pay up – although every person ought be invoiced, and charged interest, as wake-up call. We are a bankrupt nation run by wild spenders who deny their drunkeness and continue with irrational, irresponsible spending. The extreme level of their irresponsibility borders on treason. When Kruschev banged his shoe and said “We will bury you” he assumed more work than needed. We are burying ourselves. Deep. Fast.

In November 2009, North Korea declared its currency worthless, wiping out whatever savings any citizen had, and issued each person a small starter supply of new money according to need. It attempted price controls so people could at least buy rice to eat, but – surprise – farmers and merchants refused to sell below their costs, so the black market took over instantly.

A comparable dark scenario in the United States is unimaginable to most, yet the unprecedented irresponsibility by our government and utter destruction of our business community and of private wealth by that government portends of exactly that.