A Failed President And Economy

Tick….tick…tick as the unemployment continues to tick upwards which the dismal administration continues to rely on the usual suspects: “I’m from Harvard and I’m here to help you.” The administration tried bailouts, a massive jobs program, tinkering with taxes and a multitude of other attempts to gets the pumps going to bail out a sinking ship. So far the end result is a pile of debt, high unemployment, stagnant job growth and a deer in the headlights look from the woebegone Obama.

I will still see the occasional - their numbers are shrinking - defenders of the faith tossing out the Bush card. OK….he was wretched in his years in office. He certainly contributed mightily to the mess including some questionable tax cuts from the “I’m from the Hoover Institute and I’m here to help you” crowd. Personally I like the idea of lower taxes funded by lower spending - a concept that seems to have escaped our “leaders” in D.C.

From what little I have seen of Bush II my assumption is he’s in the witness protection program but his ownership of this mess dissipates with every month’s job report. Now it is firmly in the lap of “The Magic Negro.” But with magicians it is not real but an illusion and I see the illusion presented daily by the likes of the NY Times or MSNBC or the administration when the reality is things ain’t any better. As Obama said recently “The sky is not falling.” Huh?

Now I have no real solutions and if I really felt I did I’d forge some documents and claim I’m a Harvard bred economist and I can join the parade of pointed headed liberals from the ivy covered walls who have fed the Prez all that wonderful information - say, how is that 8% unemployment working out?

What really irritates me besides NY ( AKA - Noo Yawk) Yankee fans is the way Congress and the administration have no apparent spending constraints. Debt? What debt? If I ran my personal finances like they manage a “budget” I’d have been in bankruptcy court a year or so ago. At the core of the budget is entitlements and those seem to have taken on the political line in the sand. Fiscally responsible legislators want talks on it. Note the word talks….lines of discussion. What can we do? So far the Democrats have been stationary and intransient on the issue with a few who have drifted over to “The dark side.” Ignoring a problem will not work. Obstructionism will not work. Blatant class warfare will not work. Time to actually come up with some options. Get together boys and girls or you will most certainly be gonzo.

The one thing that totally confuses me - well, actually one of many things - is the Federal Reserve and monetary policy. All I seem to garner from various financial sites is our dollar sucks. I think that is an economist term? Maybe some day one of those pointed headed liberal economist from Harvard could explain monetary policy for me - providing they are not under the microscope for not paying various taxes for having an undocumented illegal alien cleaning their house or watching their kids. Maybe I should drag out one of my dusty history books and hone up on those various gold versus silver arguments from the 19th century?

Now one thing I have seen surface in various articles is how states, cities and towns, and just about anyone else getting money from the government is having their budget crunched since stimulus money was used to fund programs, jump start programs or create a new layer of programs. They use the fancy term “revenue shortfall” which you and I call “being broke.” The money was a carrot. Some or most fell for the siren song warbled by the Feds. I do not see any Orpheus to save us from crashing upon the fiscal rocks.

Now that stimulus money should be a clear warning for our humble little community when it comes to grants. What happens when the grant disappears? As with the Feds the stimulus was just short term infusion with an accompanying long term debt but funding by the various entities’ would be simple since we’d be in full recovery. Not! So the trap has been set and the only way to solve the problem is the way government has traditionally solved said problem - revenue enhancement or to you and me more taxes and fees. In many localities a visible front line casualty is summer jobs programs otherwise know as a bribe to keep kids from just hanging around causing mischief. But it certainly does not stop there as some lower echelon heads will roll in the public sector thanks to a “shortfall,” unless, of course, you are a manager in the state of Massachusetts getting a nice 3% kiss. Nice job, Deval!

Now when the Feds cut bucks that means states cut bucks and that means cities and towns get screwed. Then just toss in the “M” word - mandates - and the problems just multiply. And that, of course, brings us right back to revenue enhancement and the fact folks have reached the melting point with confiscatory tax/fee policies.

So I might not know much on all this mess and I believe this post has clearly demonstrated that but I do know what is being done isn’t working and I also know that the government is being run contrary to my own personal process of running my own finances. And I do know that government policy directly impacts what I do and limits my own fiscal security and growth. So Congress and the President are directly screwing around with me.

I love Victorian houses. I’d have one if visions of the movie “Money Pit” didn’t dash through my skull every time I see one of the hulking behemoths enter the market. Now I’ve seen a few and the term the real estate hustlers use is “It has potential.” In real estate speak that means you better have some serious cash flow because this baby is going to need some serious work.

Now it is time to go all Chauncey Gardner on you. So right now we all live in a Victorian and it was once quite stately - a gem of vigor, strength, glory and a pleasure to view. Envy to all those sheltered in a basic cape or six room ranch but the upkeep was ignored. It is now a shell with a rotting interior that is occasionally addressed with quick fix repairs that temporarily mask the problems but do not solve them. This President and his administration have failed. Miserably failed. That was clearly demonstrated in the elections of 2010. Now have I seen any dramatic change since the infusion of Republicans? To quote Spencer Triby (Charlton Heston) “I have seen nothing to make me lift my skirt.”