Taking the risk to oppose President Obama

With the bailout ushered in by former President Bush and the proposal of nearly a trillion dollars in so called economic stimulus from President Obama, one thing is for sure, big government is alive and well.

Gone are the days of risk and the acheivements and failure that went with risk. As former President Bush's bailout showed, and now President Obama's proposed bailout shows, the rich guys who for so long lived the risk and reward life no longer have risk as two Presidents of two different parties stand ready to make them whole for their losses.

Let it be clear. While average working folks in America and in South Carolina suffer through this economic downturn, big business executives are using bailout money through both Presidents to pay themselves bonuses for failure. There is little if any accountability of how taxpayer money is spent and certainly no strings attached. It is big government welfare at its worst.

If we must, and I stress, if we must, give hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to the big financial institutions to keep them afloat it should come with some strict requirements. Things like earmarking the money for loans to consumers and small businesses should be at the top of the list. Fat cat bonuses and so called golden parachute retirements should be banned.

I realize that there are some that contend that a business should do whatever it wants. I agree, as long as taxpayer money is not supporting the decisions of said businesses. If taxpayer money is in play, then there should be clear public policy objectives and strict accountability.

President Obama and his team talk about such, but when one takes even a cursory glance at their 815 billion dollar stimulus package, it is hard to believe the President or his handlers when it comes to accountability,. Does $18 million really need to be spent in the next year to maintain the capitol grounds? Do the hundreds of millions to be spent on sex education really spur the economy? Does the multimillion dollar statue and park project in Miami do such? Does subsidizing union jobs mean more than working to keep non union jobs?

In this new era of politics, daring to question President Obama and his handlers is all but considered treason. However, the policies of President Obama are leading the United States down the road of socialism. From what the polls say, the vast majority of Americans embrace that. That just shows marked ignorance of American history.

What made the United States of America great on the world stage was the accomplishments by those who flourished under its freedom. That freedom allowed for people to take risks and fail. That's right, fail. The freedom to fail spurred giants like Henry Ford and Sam Walton (Wal-Mart for those of you in Belton), to achieve in the midst of their failure and spur achievement for those around them. Even a great innovator like Thomas Edison failed hundreds of time with his simple light bulb until he got it right.

Imagine Edison today. Upon his first failure, Edison would appeal to President Obama and Congress for relief from the bailout funds. Edison could argue that his project was one of national importance and deserved a bailout. Of course, with that bailout, Edison would have to hire people to work for him of certain distinction and also hire someone who made sure he was diverse. Edison would not have to produce a working light bulb, but only produce the proper government documentation to show he was working on such. The longer Edison and his people could show that they were working on the project, the more money they could get year in year out. The government funds would go away if the Edison folks accomplished their goal.

Thus, if the Obama approach to government had been in place at the turn of the Twentieth Century, we would be likely reading by oil lamps. There are some basic safety nets government can provide to the most vulnerable among us. However, the American public is living in delusion if it believes that President Obama and his cohorts in Congress can create a big government system that can achieve what nearly two hundred years of freedom to achieve and fail accomplished.

It is a risk stating this, in that President Obama is so popular. But, it is arrogance on the part of the President and his handlers to think that they know better than two hundred years of economic freedom that made America the most powerful nation on the planet. It is freedom, not big government action, that spurred the United States to greatness. Let's hope the Republicans in Congress remember that notion of freedom an do not succumb to an Obamagasm.