United Liberty

Before you write a lengthy response to the title of this blog and accuse me of supporting ‘greed’ and the ‘ultra-rich,’ allow me to explain myself.

Big government has led us into a situation that I can’t see ending well. Public outcry against excessive executive salary has been going on for years. “Why should they make $1,000,000 and the worker only make $20,000?” “They don’t do more than the average worker!” The comments go on and on and on. I think people need to look at this from a totally different perspective instead of believing they are getting jipped or ripped off.

Barron’s has an article by Alan Abelson that expresses my sentiments better than I could today. Here’s the crux:

House prices, in our bloodshot view, have another 20% or so to fall before hitting bottom and, at the earliest, we’re talking sometime next year. And, possibly more important, a meaningful brightening of the current, profoundly bleak jobs picture, isn’t in the cards for certainly as long, if not longer.

A sad assessment of affairs, with which I agree.

In The Atlantic, Andrew Sullivan sums up neoconservatives as essentially advocates for an Israel-centered American foreign policy:

I have recently discovered the awesomeness that is Google Reader and through this have subscribed to the “Introduced Legislation” feed from GovTrack.  So, practically every other day I’m treated to at least 50+ new pieces of legislation that our intrepid government representatives have introduced in the House of Senate.  Here are a few that have popped up in the last week or so (yes, there is little that our federal government has not stuck its nose into)—

H.R. 1117: Medically Fragile Children’s Act of 2009- introduced by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

If you click on this link, you’ll find “The Corporation for Public Broadcasting: Federal Funding Facts and Status.”

There you will find that in 2007, Congress allotted $400 million for public broadcasting. While $400 million is not alot in the face of $1 trillion stimulus packages or $700 billion bailouts, it is a healthy sum of money. Think of how many students could get aid for their college tuition from that money or how many MRI machines could be bought for hospitals. If you don’t like that, imagine how much could be returned directly to taxpayers.

Instead, it’s going to be pay for Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me! Wow, what a critical spending priority.

Obama’s address Tuesday evening contained a fascinating lesson in economics and monetary policy for the American public. Let’s review:

So the recovery plan we passed is the first step in getting our economy back on track. But it is just the first step. Because even if we manage this plan flawlessly, there will be no real recovery unless we clean up the credit crisis that has severely weakened our financial system.

I want to speak plainly and candidly about this issue tonight, because every American should know that it directly affects you and your family’s well-being. You should also know that the money you’ve deposited in banks across the country is safe; your insurance is secure; and you can rely on the continued operation of our financial system. That is not the source of concern.

Tonight as I write this, given that I don’t possess a television and find live-streaming an often frustrating experience on my lap-top computer, I chose to read a prepared text of President Obama’s first State of the Union address rather than listen to it live. Reading such a text can reveal more in some ways, as one isn’t influenced by the mellifluous tones of a well-polished politician’s voice.

As the WSJ recently pointed out, the Federal Government has essentially created a new reality television show that could well be named “Survior: Manhattan”. Unfortunately the drama is denominated in the billions, if not trillions of dollars, and the question of who is going to get booted off the island of private ownership (Manhattan) to the relm of the collective (DC) is one that is significantly exacerbating the crisis.

Big extravagant events like presidential speeches to Congress are something I find unappealing. As a writer and a bigger fan of radio than television, I tend to gravitate towards smaller, one on one human reactions. It would be preferable to me if presidents addressed the people in less ceremonial fashion, in front of a camera, where they would be less likely to get caught up in the desire for adoration, more likely to be candid and less likely to say just what will get cheers.

President Obama, like other presidents, probably has a far different disposition than myself on such matters. I imagine that someone who would run for president has a massive sense of ego and wants to be liked. Nevertheless, these massive coronations that every president takes part in seem much more like something that would occur in the Ottoman Empire or Victorian England than the Land of the Free. All the “pomp and circumstance,” as a friend called it, is mildly disgusting.

Not because I believe in bigger government, I don’t. -Obama

 

Many of you watched Obama make his first address to Congress tonight. His speech was concentrated nearly entirely on the economy. He started out by talking about the pitiful state of our economy, and how it is affecting everyone either directly or indirectly. He reiterated the point that America will prevail and recover. I don’t doubt that we will prevail and recover, but not because of Keynesian economic policies that the Democratic Party and Neocons are implementing. Not because of the spending, bailing out, and intervention of the Federal Government.