Whatever it takes? Really?
Because that’s good news if it’s true. Lower taxes, cut spending, eliminate transfer payments, reduce government regulations… Oh wait, you didn’t mean that did you Mr. President-Elect?
President-elect Barack Obama said the government needs to provide help to U.S. automakers on condition that management, labor and lenders come up with a plan to make the industry “sustainable.”
Oh, I see, all it takes is a plan. To bad the Soviets didn’t know that.
Wait they did? Hmmm..
The government will do “whatever it takes” to revive the economy, Obama said. That means “we shouldn’t worry about the deficit next year or even the year after,” he said, adding that in the short term, “the most important thing is that we avoid a deepening recession.”
Hold onto you’re wallets folks, it’s gonna get nasty. When a politician says “whatever it takes,” the taking he’s talking about is your money.
So our President-Elect, by doing “whatever it takes” to avoid a recession will wind up making it worse. (See: Great Depression, causes of)
On energy, Obama said that, with oil prices dropping in recent weeks, “it may be a little harder politically” to enact measures to lessen U.S. dependence on foreign energy. “But it’s more important,” he said, noting that the country has gone through earlier cycles of energy shocks only to return to its heavy reliance on foreign oil.
Great news! Drill for oil in Alaska and Offshore! Reduce regulations on oil companies and stop regional gasoline formulation requirements. Increase domestic production.
Oh wait, you meant higher gas taxes didn’t you . Damn.
Obama said his job as president will be to bolster confidence in the economy.
“Part of the way to think about it is things could be worse,” he said. “We could have seen a lot more bank failures over the last several months. We could have seen an even more rapid deterioration of the economy — even a bigger drop in the stock market.”
Doom and gloom. Way to bolster consumer confidence there Mr. President-Elect. At least Carter waited until he was in office to give his malaise speech. Just for future reference, “It could have been worse” does not make people feel better.
In excerpts from the same interview that CBS released yesterday, Obama said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson may be disappointed with some aspects of the federal government’s $700 billion bailout of the banking industry.
Just some aspects? I’m disappointed with the whole thing. That much money, that fast with no oversight? What could have gone wrong?
Hint: The market will have its way regardless of what you want. All governments can do is make things worse by interfering. No government program, bailout, subsidy or any other intervention in the market ever made things better, except for the few that are enriched at the public’s expense.
