Big Frick Dot Com

It really is getting harder and harder to maintain at least a modicum of decorum in these essays.

 

Just how long this White House thinks they can continue to blame the Bush administration and get away with it remains to be seen. It has become apparent that passing the buck is in fact the only thing the Obama administration has been successful at through its first year in power.

 

In a letter to Congress that was designed far more for the national media than for his minions on Capitol Hill, the president said of his economic agenda “I can report that over the past year, this work has begun. In the coming year this work continues.” The president then went on to say “But to understand where we must go in the next year and beyond, it is important to remember where we began one year ago.”

 

The latter quote was a none-too subtle attempt to snipe at the previous administration, but if you take the words at their face value, I actually agree. It is indeed important to remember where we were one year ago.

 

 One year ago our national debt was 300% less than it is today. Our unemployment was 35% less and well under today’s 10% mark, a mark that candidate Obama ominously warned would be the ruin of the country and only occur if John McCain was elected.   A year ago it was all about his plan and how wrong the Bush administration was, a year and nothing but negative results later, it’s still about his plan and how wrong the Bush administration was.

 

Speaking personally, I have far less money than I did a year ago. The manufacturing sector, which has supported me and my family for over 30 years, is far more depleted than it was a year ago. And I feel far less secure than I did a year ago both financially and physically.

 

A year ago the Obama administration dropped the use of the term “War on Terror”, but the terrorists never really cared what we called it anyway and have continued their mission of death and destruction. We changed the way we referred to them, but “Death to America” is still the phrase they use to refer to us.

 

A year ago consumers weren’t spending out of fear. Today consumers aren’t spending out of increased fear. American consumers are saving their money at a consistently higher rate than they were a year ago. Estimates are that American’s are now saving at between 5 and 7 percent. That’s not a prudent savings for a rainy day, that’s a panicked savings for a coming tsunami.

 

A year ago bank credit was tight. Today bank credit is even tighter and getting to the point of strangling the economy. And what is the plan to help ease this massive retraction in lending? Charging unconstitutional federal fees to a handpicked group of 15 banks. This will only cause these 15 banks to pull back their lending even further to insure proper capital reserves and cause the others to do the same out of fear of who’s next on the presidential hit list.

 

A year ago the Big Three Automakers were in shambles. A year later only one of the fabled three has been able to pull itself out of the death spiral and actually make money. Which one was able to do this seemingly impossible feat? Ford Motor Company. The one that thanks to the leadership of CEO Alan Mulally decided not to sell its soul to the devil and took no federal bailout money. Mulally saw firsthand from his time as executive vice-president of Boeing just what a bad business partner the federal government can be. Ford won by passing on the Obama plan, the other two were not as insightful and are still paying the price.

 

A year ago Obama was just making up imaginary numbers to support his plan.

 

A year later…well…I guess some things will never change.