The Patriot Post Brief 9-13-2010

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The Patriot Post Brief 9-13-2010
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Foundation

"The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse." --James Madison

Government

"Congress' deity syndrome didn't happen overnight, and the media has certainly played a part in bolstering Washington's narcissism. Newsweek editor Evan Thomas even said Obama is 'sort of God.' But many American citizens have also contributed to the creation of the Washington god complex, by asking government for too much. When this country was founded, citizens largely looked to God, their families, or themselves for help or comfort. Now, many Americans have stopped looking towards the traditional resources, and instead look more and more to government. Thereby, in a mutually dysfunctional relationship, government becomes their god. When they are without money, they cry out to the government to take care of them. If there is a problem in areas like the public school system or health care, they look to the government for the answer. They expect the government to fix all areas of life that pose some discomfort. No matter what ails them, government is the cure. When citizens endlessly extend their hands to the government to bestow blessings and riches upon them, a government god complex is inevitable. If citizens continually look to our representatives for salvation, representatives start believing they are our saviors. For our messianic leaders, the sense of entitlement and lack of accountability that go along with omnipotence is endless. ... With their all-knowing divinity, they think they know what's good for us when we don't." --columnist Sarah Durand1

Liberty

"What would probably get the economy recovering fastest and most completely would be for the President of the United States and Congressional leaders to shut up and stop meddling with the economy. But it is virtually impossible that they will do that. ... If the stimulus isn't working, the true believers have to believe that it is only because it hasn't been tried long enough, or with enough money being spent. There are always calls for the government to 'do something' when things are going bad. Those who make such calls have almost never bothered to check out what actually happens when the government does something, as compared to what happens when the government does nothing. It is not just free market economists who think the government can make a mess bigger with its interventions. ... The history of the United States is full of evidence on the negative effects of government intervention. For the first 150 years of this country's existence, the federal government did not think it was its business to intervene when the economy turned down. All of those downturns ended faster than the first downturn where the federal government intervened big time -- the Great Depression of the 1930s. ... There is another set of facts: The record that was set in 1929 for the biggest stock market decline in one day was broken in 1987. But Ronald Reagan did nothing -- and the media clobbered him for it. Then the economy rebounded and there were 20 years of sustained economic growth with low inflation and low unemployment. Can you imagine Barack Obama doing another Ronald Reagan? I certainly wouldn't predict that." --economist Thomas Sowell2

The Gipper

"The ... inescapable truth is government does not have all the answers. In too many instances, government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them." --Ronald Reagan3

Opinion in Brief

"When I arrived here in 1981, Chicago looked as though it was following in the path of Cleveland and Detroit: old industrial cities irreparably battered by the decline of manufacturing and the rise of the Sun Belt. ... [Mayor Richard Daley's] tangible achievements owed much to his ability to ride the rising economic tide of the 1990s, making Chicago an appealing place to live, shop, play and do business. But they also owed a lot to his willingness to mortgage the future in pursuit of his vision. He kept the Bears here with a deal to renovate Soldier Field at a cost of more than $400 million in tax dollars, producing an expensive eyesore. He created a major downtown attraction in Millennium Park -- which cost three times what it was supposed to. In his effort to get the 2016 Summer Olympics, he was willing to put local taxpayers on the hook for $500 million. But his habits have caught up with Chicago. City pensions are grossly underfunded, leaving taxpayers with billions in obligations. Spending has risen far faster than inflation, which Daley accomplished by piling up debt. ... The pleasure of living beyond your means can only go on so long before the party comes to a bitter end." --Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Chapman4

Re: The Left

"President Obama certainly has it ruff these days. With his approval ratings plummeting and both the House and the Senate trending Republican, he must feel like he's been put in the doghouse. Even members of his own party are attacking him; Chris Matthews, his designated chew toy, has even come out against the beloved teleprompter. In short, nobody seems willing to throw Obama a bone. Which is why [last] week, President Obama, while pumping his rehashed and tiresome economic agenda -- an agenda that apparently consists of yelling 'stimulus!' repeatedly, then throwing cash in the air and smiling -- he intoned, 'Some powerful interests who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time and they're not always happy with me. They talk about me like a dog. That's not in my prepared remarks, but it's true.' Actually, it's not true. The only person who has ever likened President Obama to a dog is President Obama, who once declared that he was a 'mutt' and a member of a 'mongrel people.' Obama's language brings to mind uncomfortable comparisons with Old Yeller, who was 'an ugly, lop-eared mongrel, fancy free without a family tree.' The comparison is uncomfortable because Obama is not, in fact, the best doggone dog in the West. He is the worst doggone dog in the East, accepting the mantle from the late Marley. In reality, there's a reason nobody has compared Obama to a dog: dogs are likeable." --columnist Ben Shapiro5

Political Futures

"Under pressure from a barrage of bad midterm-election polls, President Obama has gone on the campaign trail to blame Pres. George W. Bush for all our economic problems and to bash House Republican leader John Boehner as nothing more than a Bush retread. ... Obama is barking up the wrong tree with his assaults on Bush and Boehner. It's the Obama agenda, especially on the economy, that has voters agitated. It's a couple trillion dollars worth of big-government spending stimulus. It's add-ons like cash for clunkers, cash for caulkers and homebuyer tax credits. It's the never-ending mortgage-default assistance. It's two years of unemployment benefits. It's more government-union bailouts for the states. It's GM, Fannie and Freddie. And, of course, it's Obamacare, which remains hugely unpopular. Folks simply don't think they got much for their money. And now they want to get their money back. They even want strict constitutional limits on the size, scope, spending and taxing of the federal government, which has just made the biggest power grab they've ever seen." --economist Larry Kudlow6