What little respect I had left for Obama is gone with Milwaukee speech

Obama turned on his stilted, automatic union-populist-speech and regurgitated all the talking points one more time, then promised to take this worn-out speech on the road, once again. Praise the unions, blame the Republicans, make the claim that government intervention will turn around the economy, rinse, and repeat. Even his enthusiam as inauthentic, generated in planned waves with the conviction of a con man softening up a mark. But he didn't have to bother with this crowd of dedicated followers looking for handouts and protection. 

This progressive ideology is worn thin, and Obama is not even going to the trouble to add fresh rhetoric -- he tells the same jokes and uses the same metaphors, which convinces me he has no ideas, just slogans and snarky disdain for a free market. He associated free market principles with government/corporate unmeshment and cronyism while being guilty of perpetuating these unholy alliances with his favorite industries which will no doubt receive billions as new energy schemes are foisted on the taxpayers.

Obama's faux-populism and faux-patriotism came across as phony and calculating, talking to the adoring crowd as if they were teenagers at a pep rally. If Obama wins a second term, my faith in the wisdom of the public will be terribly shaken.

Underestimation of dishonesty

When I wrote this, I believed the administration was backing off the idea of stimulus because of political pressure, but it appears I underestimated the dishonesty of the administration -- they haven't backed off the idea of stimulus to turn around the economy, they're simply going to break the second stimulus up into smaller pieces and call it infrastructure investment. I've written about the Orwellian tactic of shifting stimulus to "jobs/investmentl", but I didn't think Obama would go through with it on a large scale, just some tax tweaking here and there, but it appears now his plan is to push through several smaller stimulus packages to disguise the size of the total amount.

Putting people to work on highway and railroad projects will put some people to work and will be a boanaza for connected contractors who will inflate the costs, but it will do very little to create the kind of good-paying permanent jobs that will spur economic growth. This is a political ploy to help with the midterm elections for Democrats. If the administratio and congress had created a free market environment earlier on, these people put to work by the new stimulus would have already had better jobs. Plus, unless unemployment is allowed to expire, the new jobs will go unfilled, because it's hard work and the pay will likely not be attractive enough. If they raise the pay, then the cost of this construction will be exorbitant, pushing us further into debt, or creating higher taxes for the people who can generate permanent jobs, thereby cauisng these producers to not hire.

Besides, the first stimulus was supposed to contain funds for this type of job creation. This is all political manipulation with tax-payer money -- FDR-style interventions which will delay real recovery. This constant intervention in the economy and misdirection of capital is what has frozen economic growth in the first place - now they are going to intervene more.

Why not a second stimulus?

Reuters reports that Obama is sticking wth his claim that the stimulus stopped the bleeding and spurred an economic recovery, although a slow recovery. If Obama believes what he's saying, then he should be using his influence to push a second stimulus that will get the recovery moving faster. If it's true that the first stimulus had the economic power to get the economy moving in the right direction, then it stands to reason that another stimulus will be effective and that the economic growth will have the multiplier effect to pay for itself and then some. Why is Obama not making this case? There are at least two possibilties for Obama's failure to make the case for a second stimulus: that the stimulus misdirected capital and was a payoff to his supporters, and Obama knows this; that he thinks it's politically damaging to push for another stimulus.

Politics in America has degenerated into an acceptance of dishonesty and manipulation from the occupants of the highest office in the nation. If Obama knows the first stimulus was a pork-barrel bonanza and had little effect on the economy, except a negative effect of scaring businesses, then he is a liar. If Obama truly believes the first stimulus was effective and that further government spending such as the first stimulus will move the economy into real growth and will lower the unemployment rate, but he is not pushing the idea because of political reasons, then he lacks the integrity to be president.

The president and the Democrats in congress who have stated that the stimulus worked, who claim that government spending can generate economic growth, need to be called on their reluctance to push for another stimulus. They can't say automatically, before trying, that the Republicans are blocking them -- if they believe it's true, they should make the case to the public, and a few are, but most are morphing into fiscal conservatives as the elections draw near. When will the media confront this dishonesty?

Obama will now concentrate on the economy

And he wants our help. Okay, here's my contribution. Mr. President, concentrate on golf, on your next vacation, on basketball, on cycling, on your image, on keeping Biden fom saying something stupid, but, please, don't concentrate on the economy and jobs. Let us here in the private sector concentrate on economic growth and jobs, you just concenrate on leaving businesses and the economy alone alone

Obama's plan will be to divert resources into green jobs, and this is exactly what he shouldn't do. It will make modern liberals feel good, but it won't do anything good for the economy or jobs or the environment -- it will be just more misdirection of resources when resources need to be used by business people who know business.

Please, Mr. President, don't concentrate on the economy -- please.

Liberals backed in corner

If modern liberals aren't careful, they are going to back themselves in a progressive corner from which they can't escape. It appeared when Obama became president and Democrats took over congress that the world had changed in the modern liberal's favor. The seductive idea that enlightened, intelligent technocrats can reform government and make statism work for the benefit of all carried many liberals to a place of jubilation and cockiness. The liberal critique of conservativism was finally vindicated and Bush and Cheny were getting what they deserved.

When conservatives started fighting back, many liberals couldn't believe the arrogance, so they unloaded both barrells on the Tea Partiers and representatives of No. Conservative were blocking legislation which was supposed to go through with no problem, so the battle heated up and liberals put their all into healthcare reform, then financial reform, but in the meantime something was happening -- independents were fighting against the progressive agenda and shining a light on the failing, stagnant economy. This was not supposed to happen. The stimulus was supposed to kick-start the economy, and Obama was suposed to be the savior of America -- this would give them enough momentum to pass cap and trade and anything else they wanted to push through.

As the economy has worsened, and as more economists are predicting dire results if spending is not moderated, liberals are caught between a national movement to limit the power of government and institute some free market practices and the progressive call for more Hope and Change. Many liberal politicians have elections coming up and many are running against the progressive agenda, but the liberal writers and pundits have gone too far to the left, and they've ridiculed and lambasted the conservatives to an extent that psychologically they are stuck with the progressives.

If they start criticizing the progressive agenda, they will look foolish, as if they're beginning to agree with the conservatives. If they continue defending the progressives they're going to look foolish, as if they are blind to serious national problems which could collapse the nation.

There's a lot to be said for being objective, because if you maintain integrity and try to look for and speak the truth in all situations, you don't have to worry about looking foolish later, defending the indefensible.