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At U.N., Obama faces problems on larger stage

By Laura MacInnis WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, grappling with a poor economy and slumping approval ratings, faces problems on a larger stage this week at the United Nations, with challenges to his …

Publish Date: 09/19/2011 8:35

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/19/at-un-obama-faces-prob_n_969141.html

RealClearPolitics – Obama: Failing the Lincoln Test

Obama: Failing the Lincoln Test. By Michael Gerson. WASHINGTON — During his recent speech to Congress, President Obama gave Republicans this ideological glove to the face: "We all remember Abraham Lincoln as the …

Publish Date: 09/13/2011 3:00

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/09/13/obama_failing_the_lincoln_test_111312.html

What President Obama Inherited

Obama inherited a deep recession and financial crisis resulting from problems that had been building for years and those responsible include:

Borrowers and lenders on Wall Street and Main Street.
The Federal Reserve.
Regulatory agencies.
Ratings agencies.
Different presidents and Congress.

What Obama Will Bequeath?

Huge deficits.
Massive interest payments which could ultimately destroy the Republic.
Higher inflation.
A weaker dollar.
Pressure for higher taxes.

What Exactly Did Obama Enact?

An $825 billion stimulus package.
The Public-Private Investment Partnership to buy toxic assets from the banks.
Cash for clunkers.
The home-buyers credit.
The auto bailouts.
Five versions of foreclosure relief.
Numerous lifelines to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Financial regulation and health-care reform.
Energy subsidies.

Which Succeeded?

The auto bailouts?!

Even though a rapid private bankruptcy was preferable and GM and Chrysler are not yet de-nationalized successes, we can I believe, mark this up as a success.

Which Failed?

The stimulus bill cost an astounding $280,000 per job which is over five times median pay, as reckoned by the administration’s inflated estimates of jobs "created or saved", and much more using more realistic estimates.
Cash for clunkers cost $3 billion, just to shift car sales forward a few months.
The Public-Private Investment Partnership, despite cheap federal loans, generated 3% of the $1 trillion claimed, and toxic assets are still hindering some financial institutions.
The Dodd-Frank financial reform law institutionalized "too big to fail" amid greater concentration of banking assets and mortgages in Fannie and Freddie.
The foreclosure relief program permanently modified only a small percentage of the four million mortgages the president promised.

The economic records set on Mr. Obama’s watch are historic and no corporate CEO could survive such a clear history of failure.

Under The Obama Administration Watch:

The US experienced the first downgrade of sovereign U.S. debt in American history.
Relative to GDP, it now has the highest federal spending in U.S. history with the exception of the peak years of World War II
The highest federal debt since just after World War II.
The fraction of the population working is the lowest since 1983 and long-term unemployment is by far the highest since the Great Depression.
Job growth during the first two years of recovery after a severe recession is the slowest in postwar history.
Home-ownership rate is the lowest since 1965 and foreclosures are at a post-Depression high.
The share of Americans paying income taxes is the lowest in the modern era, while dependency on government is the highest in U.S. history.

Can Or Will Obama Recover From The Catastrophes?

Based on his present ratings in the polls and the fact that the economy has little or no chance of improving before the elections, one would have to say, "No he will not recover!".

And to make a comeback even less likely is the likelihood that the Obama administration will try to deliver more of the same things that failed.

Just fourteen years ago Obama was an active member of the New Party (read Communist) and he didn’t quit; it got shut down by the courts. Meaning that there is no reasonable chance that he will switch to anything like a free market economy, soon or ever!

But Most Americans Now Wish That He Would!

Obama To Push The Same Failed Agendas

Perhaps the he most revelatory words from President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address were the ones that he uttered near to the end of his speech, "I don’t quit’, and what became clear was that he intends to pursue his favored agendas that caused the loss of Massachusetts and most likely Virginia and New Jersey as well.

And many pundits are now considering that his rejection of the public’s will, might well cause Pelosi to lose control of the house.

What Does Obama Still Want?

He Implied That He Would Continue To Push For:

a) A government takeover of health care.
b) An already rejected cap-and-trade legislation that would raise taxes and power costs.
c) Another stimulus bill, even though only 30% of the first $700 billion has so far made its way into the system and the real jobless rate is now at 17.3%

It’s presently far too common for journalists to avoid mentioning the 17.3% figure which is the true one.

* Aren’t people that gave up looking for a job "unemployed"?

The Inconsistent Messages

After seeming to agree that private businesses create jobs, Obama then proposed some business tax breaks but then segued into promoting his big government ideas by suggesting that more subsidies for green jobs and mass transit projects like high-speed rail would be needed.

He then recommended a spending freeze on a small portion of the 2011 budget which the liberals are strongly against, but went on to add that it would not happen until after he had increased spending this year.

*  A ‘spending freeze’ means that past spending increases will still be locked into the budget.

Obama Will Effectively Raise Taxes

Obama then boasted that he hadn’t raised taxes, but he failed to mention that he will let income tax increases go into effect – by letting the Bush tax cuts lapse at the end of this year.

An Attempt At Bi-Partisanship?

Obama seemingly reached out to Republicans by suggesting that he was in favor of more nuclear power plants and an increased exploration of offshore oil, but what he didn’t mention was that his failed cap-and-trade bill didn’t mention nuclear power or the expansion of domestic oil production.

A Call For Greater Unity?

Under the banner of bringing about unity, Obama went on to attack bankers, corporate executives and lobbyists and even verbally assaulted the U.S. Supreme Court for upholding the speech rights of companies in last week’s ruling on corporate campaign contributions, and we even saw Supreme Court Justice Alito mouthing the words, "Not true"!

Bill Clinton Saw The Light

Bill Clinton was quick to see that the only chance of survival was by moving to the political center after suffering stunning election losses in 1994, but Obama for all his supposed brilliance has not yet grasped the nettle, and his message still favored a big government approach with a possible smattering of tax breaks and other sleights of hand in an attempt to provide his extreme left wing policies with a different veneer.