The Arrogance of Obama

Published September 9, 2011 in the Lynchburg Ledger. 

By the time this edition hits the streets, President Barack Obama will have made his much publicized speech on jobs and the U.S economy.  I don’t have to hear the speech, indeed I will not be watching it, to know what he says.  There will be nothing new offered, just the repackaged old liberal Democrat line of blame Bush and tax the rich.

Exactly a year ago, Obama vacationed on Martha's Vineyard and promised to unveil his jobs plan when he returned.  His jobs plan then as it will be now, was no jobs plan at all.  It was nothing more than more stimulus, more government spending and more debt.

On Labor Day a year ago, Obama addressed a crowd of union members in Milwaukee and called for $50 billion more in infrastructure spending for roads, bridges, railways and runways.  I expect he will do the exact same thing again this year.

He proposed making the Bush tax cuts permanent for middle class taxpayers, but allowing them to expire for those making over $250,000 per year. 

Obama also proposed a one-year, $33 billion tax credit for small businesses and a tax credit of up to $5,000 for each new hire and to reimburse them for Social Security taxes if they expand their payrolls.

Obama and his economic advisors, who have never formed a company, made a payroll, or competed in the private sector, have no concept of how the economy works, yet they have the arrogance to tell business how to operate.  It is the households making over $250,000, the small business owners, who provide the jobs needed in this economy.

Small business is not interested in short-term tax credits; it is the long-term tax situation that concerns them.  Likewise, a $5,000 credit for a new hire is a non-starter.  If an employer needs an employee, they will hire one.  No business person is going to hire an unneeded employee for $30,000 or $50,000 to get a $5,000 tax credit.

In 2010, the voters had their say and soundly rejected Obama and his socialist agenda.  But, Obama is still in denial, and his poll numbers reflect that.

This year, Obama again vacationed at Martha’s Vineyard at a cost to the taxpayers of millions of dollars.  In fact, the Obamas have run up more in vacation spending and travel in three years than his predecessors did in eight years.  During a recession where the real unemployment rate is nearly one in five, it is arrogant of the Obamas to demand such an extravagant lifestyle at taxpayers’ expense.

And once again, Obama said he would propose his plan to cut unemployment when he returned from vacation.  However, this year he demanded to present his proposal before a joint session of Congress without first checking with House Speaker Boehner.  He arrogantly demanded Wednesday, September 7^th, the first day Congress was back in session and the night of the long-scheduled Republican presidential candidate debate from the Reagan Library. 

Speaker Boehner politely told Obama that date was not available and the White House backed down scheduling the address the next night, which happens to be the opening of the NFL season.

Obama’s jobs speech is actually a re-election speech where he can blame Bush, Republicans, the rich, banks, big business, small business, oil companies, the Japanese tsunami, Hurricane Irene, the Virginia earthquake, global warming and anything and everything except his own policies.

He is sure to arrogantly deceive the American people as the real cause of our economic woes - the collapsed housing market. He will never admit that it was liberal Democrat policies begun in the Carter administration and expanded in the Clinton administration that collapsed the housing market, bringing down the world-wide economy with it.

The Republican House had already passed some 30 pieces of legislation designed to repeal much of the burdensome regulations the Obama administration has place of American business.  Every one of them has been ignored by the Democrat-controlled Senate.

I suspect Obama’s jobs proposals will be so outrageous that Republicans will have to oppose them, setting up a public relations battle for the next election cycle.

Meantime, Obama continues to do everything he can do to kill jobs.  One such was the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile, which is now opposed by the Obama Justice Department.  AT&T has promised to bring 5,000 jobs now overseas back to the U.S. 

In blocking the merger, two friends of the Obama administration stand to benefit financially.  R. Gerard Salemme and Craig McCaw are associated with a company named Clearwire and ICO Global Communications.  The merger would create more competition for Clearwire’s 4G network and that is the bottom line reason for the Department of Justice action.

Obama’s over burdensome regulations on businesses and the current tax code are perhaps two of the biggest impediments to a healthy, job-creating economy.  I don’t expect Obama to address either.

Our economy will not improve, and our unemployment situation will not improve until Obama is a former president.  From now to 2013, I don’t expect to see any long-term improvement.