The Quickest and broadest tax cut ever.

The Quickest and broadest tax cut ever.
Posted 2/23/2009 9:41 PM PST on The Sacramento Bee
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/20/The-quickest-and-broadest-tax-cut-ever/

Above is a link to the President’s last weekly address. Read it or not in any manner you like, but do me a favor and take a look at the last two paragraphs. After all of the “Yes, we can!” talk, it was a little surprising to read a series of “No, we can’t” statements.

In italics are a few comments of my own.

No single piece of this broad economic recovery can, by itself, meet the demands that have been placed on us.

If that means we can’t solve our problems by passing stimulus bills, I agree and am glad he sees the error of his ways. But, I think it just means “You ain’t seen nuthin yet folks.”

We can't help people find work or pay their bills unless we unlock credit for families and businesses.

I would submit that unlocked credit, or more specifically debt, is one of the main factors in the average person’s ruination right now. That said, “The Government” has never been particularly helpful in finding people employment. Anyone who has visited the unemployment office knows that.

As to unlocking credit for businesses, I can agree with that but it is not as tight as you may believe. Banks are still lending to businesses that are in good shape. It is just that right now there are many employers that are struggling and wise lending guidelines demand that banks recognize that cold-hearted reality when making business lending decisions. Don’t forget that unwise lending practices are a big part of the reason we are all in this mess.

We can't solve our housing crisis unless we help people find work so that they can make payments on their homes.

Certainly unemployment is a factor, but most of the defaulting borrowers have jobs. They should never have been approved for the loan in the first place. That was one of those unwise lending practices I mentioned earlier. And I’ve already stated my opinion regarding how well The Government finds jobs.

We can't produce shared prosperity without firm rules of the road, and we can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control.

We have firm rules. We just need to enforce them. And while deficits will not in and of themselves prevent sustained growth, in this case I agree. The question is, how will we get the deficit under control? Presidential Plan Number One right out of the gate has just increased it.

In short, we cannot successfully address any of our problems without addressing them all. And that is exactly what the strategy we are pursuing is designed to do.

Sorry, not true and it is in fact a weasel statement designed and included as an escape hatch when this plan fails. It is in fact the first time our new President, who I like very much and agree with about almost nothing, has said something that actually angered me.

Mark my words, when the failure is “non-acknowledged”, it will be spun in a way to blame the opposition for holding him back and not being allowed to do enough.

None of this will be easy. The road ahead will be long and full of hazards. But I am confident that we, as a people, have the strength and wisdom to carry out this strategy and overcome this crisis. And if we do, our economy -- and our country -- will be better and stronger for it.

Life is never easy and big government types won’t accept that government can’t change that. The long road full of hazards is another weasel statement and the biggest hazard we face economically is political types applying political solutions to real problems. They make decisions that look good but don’t deliver. Rather than accepting responsibility when that happens they deny the failure until they can blame someone else for it. Both “R’s” and “D’s” do this.

Then the statement of confidence followed by…”If we do…” "If", why not "when"? I read this as “If we fail, it really is your, the public’s fault. And you know what? Since the public put him in the big chair, I happen to agree.