Earthquake
Posted on July 16, 2010
“I felt the earth shake under my feet...” That’s how the song goes, and that is how many people in Washington felt this morning, when the nation’s capitol shook during a rare earthquake.Was it caused by President Obama’s crashing ratings?
According to the latest Rasmussen poll, 54% of the American people fully disapprove of the President’s job performance. In a CBS poll, only 13% of the American people feel that the President’s economic program has helped them. And according to a Washington Post poll from earlier this week, nearly 60% of the American people don’t have confidence that the President will make the right decisions for our country.
The President and Congressional Democrats believe that their legislative agenda will help them climb out of this political mess. So, they exchange hi-fives when they pass a banking reform bill that puts government firmly in control of the financial markets.
They also exchanged hi-fives when they passed the health care reform bill, which did to the doctor’s office what the banking bill did to the bank. And they exchanged hi-fives when they passed the stimulus bill, which did the same thing to the economy that the banking bill and the health care bill did—put the government in the driver’s seat.
Obama is trying to channel his inner Franklin Roosevelt. He has bought the Paul Krugman line that the government needs to prime the pump just like FDR did to get the economy going.
But this isn’t the Depression. What is going on in the country does not compare to what happened in the 1930’s, which was largely a delayed reaction to the terrible impact of World War I.
We are not recovering from the Great War here. We are recovering from a couple of financial bubbles and a revolution in information technology, which has made many manufacturing jobs obsolete. We aren’t worried about hunger here in America; we are worried about obesity. Most voters aren’t worried about getting indoor plumbing and electricity to more Americans; they are worried about getting the air conditioner fixed and the big screen television paid for.
These are different problems that don’t require big government solutions. What they require are private sector initiatives, consumer confidence, perhaps some continuing education and training funding, but certainly not bigger government.
The American people in the best of times hate politicians. In the worst of times, they want to string them up. Creating more government at the local, state and federal levels drives the taxpayers completely bonkers.
And yet, that is exactly what Obama is doing.
The more legislation he passes, the deeper a political hole he digs.
That is why with every piece of legislation he signs, the worse his ratings get.
Yes, the earth shook in Washington today. It will shake even more in November.