Obama has finally done it; he has been promoted from the make-believe Office of the President Elect to the make-believe Office of the Let’s-Play-God. I watched Obama’s speech before congress. Oh how he laughed and smiled and laughed and smiled and said “thank you” over and over. I also watched his speech last week detailing (or rather, generalizing) his plans for the housing market. You know, how he’s going to involve himself in the private contract business and re-write the rules how he sees fit. Anyway, at that meeting he laughed and smiled and laughed and said “thank you” a million times as well.
Not that I have anything against being in good humor, but I have noticed with Mr. Obama that he doesn’t seem to recognize that he is a president yet. His demeanor is increasingly disterbing. The man thinks he is a rock star.
At the address of the nation or state of the union or whatever it was, he was still in the “I’m going to lower the oceans” state of mind. Apparantly he is going to “cure cancer in our time” or some such nonsense. He is also going to pay for “universal college education” and “universal healthcare.” Why not?
And how is he going to pay for this? By not raising taxes on people earning below $250, 000 “one dime….one dime…not one dime” as he said. The latest plan is to tax the top 2% of income tax earners. As this Wall Street Journal editorial details, he can take 100% of the top income earner’s income and he won’ t touch the amount needed to pay for his budget requests.
In other words, Obama is lying, again. But, like, whatever, as an Obama supporter might say. Or as Obama would say, “While the cost of action would be great…the cost of inaction would be far greater.” Riiiggghhhhttttt. I see, and the sky is carolina green.
The latest estimates for the stimulus package are about $787 billion, a number so mind-numbing large it’s hard to even imagine a number of that size.
Yesterday’s “The Gartman Letter” puts it in perspective for us:
$787 billion would buy 4.6 million homes here in the US at the most recent median price of $170,300 for January 2008.
$787 billion would send a check for $2,623 to every man, woman and child in the US.
$787 billion would fund 7.7 million four year scholarships to the average private university in the US at current tuition rates.
$787 billion would fund 30 million full four year scholarships to the nation’s public universities.
$787 billion would buy 27.7 million cars at the average price of an automobile sold last year in the US.
$787 billion would fund four full months of a tax holiday in the US.
http://www.wimp.com/peterschiff/
It’s great to read something that’s both enjoyable and provides prsdamtiagc solutions.