Barack Obama -- March 30, 2009

March 30, 2009

Custom Search

From $1 trillion in debt
to $4 trillion in debt
in six weeks

event	description
Obama Fires GM CEO	The Obama administration asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to step down and he agreed, a White House official said. The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government's behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason. General Motors issued a vague statement Sunday night that did not officially confirm Wagoner's departure. "We are anticipating an announcement soon from the Administration regarding the restructuring of the U.S. auto industry. We continue to work closely with members of the Task Force and it would not be appropriate for us to speculate on the content of any announcement," the company said. The surprise announcement about the classically iconic American corporation is perhaps the most vivid sign yet of the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government in this era of subsidies and bailouts. I love the "soft" language -- "Obama administration asked" -- "at the government's behest." White House officials say that this action is "not extraordinary."
Obama's 500	For the last two weeks, we have watched as politician after politician has pilloried American business executives for using their "corporate" jets. This week, Obama will fly into London to take part in the G20 summit in the capital's Docklands area. He will not be travelling light. Accompanying Obama will be an entourage of 500 staff, an armor-plated limousine. a fleet of decoy helicopters, 200 US secret service staff, a six-doctor medical team and his kitchen staff. More than 500 officials and staff will accompany the president on his tour this week -- along with a mass of high-tech security equipment, including the $300,000 presidential limousine, known as "The Beast." Fitted with night-vision camera, reinforced steel plating, tear-gas cannon and oxygen tanks, the vehicle is the ultimate in heavy armored transport. US security teams have already carried out three visits to prepare for Obama's first official visit to Britain. The first was a "site survey", the second a "pre-advance visit" which was carried out to pick sites that the president would visit. Finally there was the "advance trip", which took place last week. Its purpose was to set up equipment, sweep venues for electronic bugs, test food for poison and measure air quality for bacteria. More Obama excess here. . .
Obama’s False Choice	Writing in the Chicago Tribune last week, President Obama fell back on one of his favorite rhetorical tics: "But I also know," he wrote, "that we need not choose between a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism and an oppressive government-run economy. That is a false choice that will not serve our people or any people." Really? For the moment, it’s a "false choice" mainly in the sense that he’s not offering it: "a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism" is not on the menu, which leaves "an oppressive government-run economy" as pretty much the only game in town. How oppressive is yet to be determined: To be sure, the official position remains that only "the richest five percent" will have taxes increased. But you’ll be surprised at the percentage of Americans who wind up in the richest five percent. This year federal government spending will rise to 28.5 per cent of GDP, the highest level ever, with the exception of the peak of the Second World War. The 44th president is proposing to add more to the national debt than the first 43 presidents combined, doubling it in the next six years, and tripling it within the decade. But to talk about it in percentages of this and trillions of that misses the point. It’s not about bookkeeping, it’s about government annexation of the economy, and thus of life: government supervision, government regulation, government control. No matter how small your small business is -- plumbing, hairdressing, maple sugaring -- the state will be burdening you with more permits, more paperwork, more bureaucracy. And don’t plan on moving. Ahead of this week’s G20 summit in London, Timothy Geithner, America’s beloved Toxic Asset, called for "global regulation." "Our hope," said Toxic Tim, "is that we can work with Europe on a global framework, a global infrastructure which has appropriate global oversight . . . " "Global oversight:" Hmm. There’s a phrase to savor. More from "The Great One" here . . .
In The Name Of Fairness	Obama has no intention of helping to grow the United States economy. On the contrary, he is doing everything he can do to weaken it. I know that sounds harsh. Maybe it seems outrageously "partisan." Maybe it just seems outrageous. But after roughly ten weeks, Obama has consistently proposed ideas and plans (and in one case signing legislation) that will weaken the U.S. economy, not strengthen it. To attempt to view this man through the lenses of American prosperity, and to evaluate him with the same assumptions with which the behavior of other modern-day presidents has been evaluated - - that growing the U.S. economy is a good and noble and necessary thing -- simply makes no sense. Yet to assess Obama with a very different set of assumptions in mind -- that American prosperity itself is a problem to be remedied, or that the U.S. has become an economic superpower at the expense of other nations -- only then does his economic behavior appear rational. And it is now clear that Obama’s objective is to weaken the U.S. More here . . .
Tea Party Canceled	A tea party to protest government spending and taxing is canceled by the local government. Why? They believe too many people could show-up. That’s right, folks, the God-given, long-held American right to assemble and protest the actions of our government has been canceled due to too much popularity of the protest. Remember this quaint notion? "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." It is evident to me that the Constitution of the United States is null and void. A usurper sits in the Oval Office and the People are forbidden BY THE GOVERNMENT to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances -- nothing to see here -- just move on. I don’t know how long this will last, but I edited the Wikipedia page for the 1st Amendment to read: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances -- as long as you have insurance." Update: Cape Coral, FL officials finally relented and the Tea Party was held on April 1. It brought out hundreds.
Liberal Coalition Takes Shape	A broad coalition of 100 left-leaning groups is quietly closing ranks into a new coalition, "Unity '09," aimed at helping Obama push his agenda through Congress. The group, a low-profile but powerful element of the cohesive new progressive infrastructure, is operating as the Campaign to Rebuild and Renew America Now and has now put together a public presence and a formidable roster of more than 100 members, ranging from both labor federations to environmental, religious, and women's groups, most of whom have chipped in $25,000 to buy in. Though they launched at the beginning of March with a press release, the group has kept a low profile on the national scene, focusing its attention on state campaigns. Though some groups, like the ACLU and Human Rights Campaign, have opted out, the people involved -- it's been spearheaded by MoveOn.org and others -- see the coalition as a success, I'm told, and plan to keep it in place long past this budget battle. "It's long term, and very well organized" a person involved said. Another source says longtime activist Heather Booth is running the coalition from the offices of the group USAction. Former Obama campaign aide Aaron Pickrell, who's close to the president's political operation, is also staffing the new coalition.