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Quotes From President Obama

February 09, 2009 By: Phred Category: Uncategorized

I have some interesting quotes from President Obama which he said this week at a Democratic Party retreat:


“If you’re headed for a cliff, you’ve got to change direction.”

This is true, but the problem is that Mr. Obama has misidentified the direction of the cliff that we are headed for.  A year ago, we were about to enter what would have been a somewhat minor recession.  Mr. Bush and Congress flipped out and spent hundreds of billions of dollars on a stimulus that completely failed.  Then, rather than allowing failing business to fail, Mr. Bush and Congress bailed them out one by one and then bought a bunch more.  I am not going to fully detail this now, but in a free market system prices are important not just because they tell us the value of something, but they also contain a lot of information within any given price.  Mr. Bush and Congress should have allowed the banks and insurance companies to fail and for the debt to be repriced, rather than subsidizing bad banks and investments and keeping debt priced at the same level.  But Mr. Obama is continuing the exact same policies that got us into this mess. If you disagree, then read about how Japan’s economy stagnated for 15 years when their government shored up bad private sector bank loans.

Our economy is racing toward a cliff and Mr. Obama is hitting the accelerator, rather than slowing down or changing directions.

“When you start hearing arguments, on the cable chatter, just understand a couple of things.  Number 1, when they say, ‘Well, why are we spending $800 billion [when] we’ve got this huge deficit?’  First of all, I found this deficit when I showed up, number 1.”

Um… yeah you did.  But how is that an excuse for spending $800 billion.  Remember the cliff that he mentioned above?  Didnt he also mention changing directions?

“I found this national debt, doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office.”

The above quote from President Obama is almost true (the debt increased by about 85% during President Bush’s two terms).  But Mr. Obama has already requested about $1.2 trillion ($350 billion from TARP and over $800 billion from this “stimulus” bill) since he became President a few weeks ago.  That is an increase in the size of the National debt of about 10% in about 3 weeks!  Change, Mr. Obama?  Or just more of the same?

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

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More “Stimulus” Stuff

February 07, 2009 By: Phred Category: Uncategorized

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been sick most of the week and am just now starting to feel better…

The big news is the “stimulus” package that is about to be passed whether or not the American people want it to.

My friend Art sent me this article from the Wall Street Journal which talks about what all is included in the “stimulus.”  It is pretty ridiculous.

But on top of this, there are are some truly outrageous things in the bill.  Under the terms of the bill, illegal immigrants who have been working in this country illegally will be able to get a tax rebate check of $500 per person.  Seriously.

This bill also gives money to dairy farmers to take their dairy cows out of production in order to raise the price of milk and create a greater profit for the dairy industry.  This type of government intervention is not only wrong, it is very dangerous.  Remember that less that a year ago, there was a global “food crisis” going on in which hundreds of millions (if not billions) of people were on the verge of starving.  By paying farmers to not produce food and drink, our government is playing a very dangerous game.  But this is not a game.  This is real life.  If government intervention causes the price of food to go up, people could actually die.

Here is an interesting article from CNN that was sent to me by two of my friends, Squeak and Hawk (yes, I have a friend named Squeak and a friend named Hawk).  This talks about solutions that Libertarians have come up with to address the current [government manufactured] crisis.  I dont support all of them and there are at least two that I completely disagree with, but they are all better than what we are going to end up spending the money on.

I want to write more, but this is getting to be too long.  Ill have an article for yall tomorrow.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

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Liberate Your Bank Account

January 23, 2009 By: Phred Category: Uncategorized

By effectively nationalizing the banking industry, our government has made a giant leap away from Capitalism and towards socialism.  Our government now owns large stakes in most of the Nation’s largest banks.  The government has already invested $271 billion of the $700 billion that it budgeted for “stimulating” private banks.  The have committed to funding another $30 billion.  The rest of the $700 billion will follow soon.  Additionally, some members of Congress are already saying that because the first half of the $700 billion isnt being spent “correctly,” more money may be “needed.”

Here is a really cool chart that lists how much each bank has received from the TARP program.  It is updated daily.

I absolutely refuse to put my money in a government owned bank.  I will not allow the government to take the profits it earns off of my deposits to fund any further bailouts.  By banking at a government run bank, you are encouraging these bailouts.  If you are against further (or existing) government bailouts, then it is your duty to remove your money from this bank and place it in an independent bank.  I used to bank at Washington Mutual which is now owned by JPMorgan Chase (which has received $25 billion from the government in exchange for ownership rights).  I removed my money from this bank as soon as I was able to identify a local bank that had not sold part of itself to our government.

I now bank at United America’s Bank in Chamblee.  This is a small bank with only a few locations in Atlanta, Chamblee, and Roswell, but it is a bank that is independent from government ownership.  Plus, it has the added convenience of being the closest bank to my house.  Whether you live in my area or somewhere else, if you oppose government bailouts and government ownership of businesses, you should consider putting your money in a small bank that is not owned by the government.  I would be glad to help you find a non-government owned bank in your area.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

Lobbyists and Freedom of Information

January 22, 2009 By: Phred Category: Uncategorized

I have been pretty critical of President Obama so far, and I will continue to do so for as long as he continues to push for policies which are bad for the economy and restrict economic liberty.  However, when he does something that I consider to be a good thing for this Nation, I will be one of the first to praise him.

Let me first start with the bad so that I can end with the good.

Yesterday, President Obama’s first public act was to limit the power of lobbyists in his administration.  He did this by creating a rule that prevents members of his administration from working as lobbyists and trying to influence the administration if they do leave his administration.  He also created a rule that prevents former lobbyists hired by the administration from working in their areas of expertise.

Lobbyists have been getting a very bad rap for the last decade, and while some of the criticism is needed, the truth is that lobbyists are essential to the proper functioning of American Democracy.  Lobbyists are experts in their fields who know pretty everything about their issue that can possibly be known.  They spend their careers specializing in studying one area of policy and make it their business to know everything about that subject that is possible. Now, because policy advisors in the administration cannot be experts on all fields, they often need to consult with lobbyists from all sides of an issue in order to get vital information.  An environmental lobbyists will know all of the effects of allowing a certain chemical into the water supply, and would be able to supply administration officials with needed data.  Administration officials meet with lobbyists on both sides of the issue in order to get a full perspective on the issue before crafting their policy–in the case of a new environmental regulation, administration officials will meet with a lobbyist who is lobbying on behalf of an environmental group, as well as a lobbyist who is lobbying on behalf of corporations.  As I said above, this is done because it is impossible for an administration to become an expert in all fields, so he outsources this part of his job.  Bringing in lobbyists with different opinions allows the official and the administration to be exposed to an array of differing opinions.

Mr. Obama is banning former lobbysts that he has hired from working on the same policy areas.  This does not make sense.  These people are experts in their fields and probably know more about the issues they previously represented than almost anyone else in the world.  Rather than excluding them from working in their fields, Mr. Obama should welcome these experts to put their knowledge of their areas of study into good use.  I think that this is a well intentioned rule that cause problems for the administration down the road.

Now, the good.  So far, Mr. Obama seems to be keeping his pledge for a more open and transparent government.  Yesterday, he announced that he was going to support a more loose interpretation of the Freedom of Information Act which would allow citizens to more easily obtain access to government files.  An open and transparent government is important in any highly functioning democracy, and I am glad that Mr. Obama has taken this step towards opening secret documents and records to the public.  Maybe soon we can find out about Area 51.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

Inaugural Speech

January 21, 2009 By: Phred Category: Uncategorized

I worked all day long on this blog yesterday, stopping only to watch President Obama’s inauguration, and to eat some Chicken Wings. Thank you to Chris Cassimus for helping me with all of my WordPress problems.

I thought the speech was pretty good—say what you want about President Obama, but he is a great speaker. I thought that he had some nice, positive things to say about our Nation, and I especially liked the point he made about how great it is that a man whose father would not have been allowed to eat at a local restaurant 60 years ago has now become President. The American Dream is not dead!

I did, however, have problems with some of the things that Mr. Obama said. I have copied parts of the text of his speech and placed the in italics with my criticism of them below.

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

I thought these sentences were completely inappropriate. For one, the way Mr. Obama described putting “hope over fear” makes his sound like a sore winner. I voted for Senator McCain, but I did not vote for “fear.” That was a ridiculous statement by President Obama which serves no purpose other then to reopen old wounds. I didnt vote for fear, I voted for free trade, free markets, economic freedom, experience, strength, and leadership. Obama did not need to say that.

On a side note, I have a friend (who will remain nameless here) who has an awful habit of changing his views to agree with whatever the candidate he supports says, even going so far as to copy the rhetoric of those who he supports. I have seen him do so for years and he did this quite a bit during the election. Well, he has already reminded me (in all seriousness on his part) that I “voted for candidates who preach fear.”

The final sentence of the above paragraph is troubling to me. Does Mr. Obama really believe that his election has put an end to politics? Does he think that there will be no political resistance to his lofty, overly expensive, and intrusive plans? He had better think again.

As far as false promises go, you can track these for yourself throughout Mr. Obama’s presidency. Here is a link to an Excel spreadsheet of the nearly 900 promises that Mr. Obama made during his campaign. Here is a webpage that tracks statements made by elected officials—kind of like Snopes.com for politics. They have created a user friendly table of nearly 500 of Obama’s campaign promises and his progress towards achieving them.  He is off to a great start so far.

“Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.”

The above statement is mostly true, but to me it provides another example of President Obama talking out of both sides of his mouth. He derides those who prefer leisure over work, yet he is calling for an extension of unemployment benefits so that unemployed workers can receive taxpayer money for doing nothing—probably the worst way to encourage hard work and employment. Bush already made a mistake by signing a bill extending unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 39 weeks, but Mr. Obama wants even this to be extended. If you disagree with my assertion that this is bad policy, think about Europe’s extended unemployment benefits and their constant double digit unemployment rates. President Obama celebrates “the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things,” yet he has plans to raise taxes on those very people. Raising taxes on risk takers (entrapreneurs) will not help our society create new innovations, and will surely not lead to the creation of the 4 plus million jobs that Mr. Obama has promised to create.

“What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.”

Again, how can Mr. Obama believe that the day of political arguments and disagreements have ended. This is just not how things work in a Democracy. Sure, President Obama will enjoy a large majority for at least 2 years, this does not mean that we have reached the end of political arguments.

Our government is too big. This is clear, as is the fact that it is not working correctly. The proper role of the government is to protect its citizens from foreign invaders, to protect its citizens from violence brought on by other citizens, and to protect the citizens from fraud and abuse through the creation of an objective and fair legal system. These are the only duties and responsibilities of government. The government should not be providing, owning banks, making cars, placing priority on any one type of scientific innovation over another, “creating jobs,” or deciding what children should learn.

“Those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”

Did those words really come from the mouth of a man whose inauguration cost 4 times more than what was previously the most expensive inauguration in the history of this Nation and who has promised trillions of dollars in new spending and programs when the Nation is broke?  My trust will be restored when the budget is balanced.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet