Just Where Is President Obama Leading Us?
by James Glaser
April 6, 2009

Going from the sublime to the completely ridiculous, in a speech at the just-concluded G20 summit in London, President Obama urged Americans not to let their fears crimp their spending. It would be unwise, he argued, for Americans to let the fear of job loss, lack of savings, unpaid bills, credit card debt or student loans deter them from making major purchases. According to the president, "we must spend now as an investment for the future." So in this land of imagination (where subprime mortgages are valued at par), instead of saving for the future, we must spend for the future.

That opening paragraph was from Peter Schiff, the man who predicted our fiscal mess a couple of years before we realized what was happening. Back then, Wall Street and the so called "experts" on television were laughing at Mr. Schiff, and they nicknamed him, Doctor Doom. Today, almost everything he predicted has come true, but still the "experts" in Washington and on our media programs believe they have the answers to our problems. Those answers are print more money and spend, spend, spend.

Schiff and those who agree with him (the Austrian School of Economics, and Libertarians like Ron Paul) believe what we have to do is let failed banks fail, and let failed corporations fail. They want us to pay the price of our high living in the short term with a severe down turn in the economy, where people can get back on the right track by spending only what they have, and saving what they can. Schiff and those who believe his warnings know this plan will be painful, but is the fastest way back to prosperity.

On the other side we have Washington and Wall street telling us we don't have to suffer at all, if we only print enough money, and the American people start borrowing and spending again. If we do that, they believe that we can again have two chickens for every pot and happy days will be here again.

President Obama is on the side of the money printers and the spenders. You and I have to decide which side we think is right. Common sense would seem to tell us that printing more money out of thin air would devalue the money already in circulation. Somehow, the President does not believe that. Tell me that you do believe that.

Yes, it would be nice if we could continue our spending ways forever, but it seems to me that everyone has to someday pay the piper, and it looks like it is our turn to do that right now.

George Bush tried really hard to keep the economy afloat until he left office and he only missed that goal by a few months. Now Obama is going to try the same thing. Spend his way out of a failed economy. The difference between Bush and Obama is that Bush started his term in office with a huge pile of money left by Bill Clinton. George Bush was able to spend that and float huge sums of money with America's good credit. Obama is coming into office wanting to do the same, only he was left no money by Bush. In fact George Bush handed Barack Obama a huge debt, and he ruined our nation's credit rating.

Obama, is blowing off reality. He talked about change, but wants to do the same thing George Bush did—spend. That's not change. He, like so many Americans, has not figured out that we are broke, and we have to do things the old fashioned way for a while. We have to watch our money and pay off our debts, Then if we want, we start George Bush's cycle all over again.

Unfortunately for Barack Obama, we probably won't get to the spending position until after he is out of office. Obama is smart, and he knows that. But it is fun to spend isn't it! So it looks like Obama is going to dig our hole deeper, and is willing to spend until we are forced to quit.

The choice is ours, we can spend and spend along with our President, or we can hunker down and try and save for what is coming. You and I know where Barack Obama is leading us. You and I will get by, but I'm not so sure the United States will.

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