In his inaugural speech, President Obama, before thousands on the National Mall and many more on their televisions, said:
"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."
Watching him give his speech, I remember wincing at the "hope over fear" reference-- feeling that in some way it was a dig at the Bush Administration-- they were mercilessly criticized for fear mongering the American people into war. But another part of me thought, "Give him a chance, hope is good."
But for the past two days, this is the new strategy of the President:
In order to push the stimulus package, which most agree won't actually stimulate anything except egos, the President has resorted to the fear that he only a couple weeks ago proclaimed hope had triumphed over.
The DC-Metro area is largely insulated from the realities impacting so many other American communities. But even then, I could name at least 10 people that I know have lost their jobs or their parents have lots their job-- in turn, this has made me think:
What would I do if I lost me job? Would I panic? Would I have enough saved up to get by? How would I make my bills?
But what I think about the most, "Where is the Lord calling me if I lost me job?"
God uses situations to speak loudly and clearly to us-- I know because I've experienced it in my own life. When it seems that everything is a mess, I know the Lord is just working harder to mold me because,
God is our Perfect Love-- putting our trust and hope in Him drives out ALL our fears. Look to Him for your security.
And when I feel myself wavering, I am comforted by this verse (yellow post-it on my computer! gotta love post-its!) :
"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14)
I appreciate your positive spin relative to other political bloggers who just speak negatively regarding current situations they disagree with, it's refreshing.
ReplyDeleteCharles Krauthammer has an excellent column in today's Washington Post about this very issue: President Obama's newfound use of fear to force Congress to pass his $1-trillion so-called stimulus bill.
ReplyDelete(And yes, when all's said and done this so-called stimulus bill will amount to more than $1 trillion.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020502766.html?sub=AR
Krauthammer begins by quoting our new president: "A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe," President Obama recently said.
Krauthammer continues: "Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared 'we have chosen hope over fear.' Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.”
This is not change we can believe in. This is change we ought to be cynical about, because it reeks of such blatant political opportunism and hypocrisy.
We're going back to the government's spendthrift ways of the late 1960s and 1970s. This at a time when America urgently needs a more efficient and effective government.
Throwing vast sums of money to stultified and sclerotic government bureaucracies won't solve anything. It will, however, serve to pay off key political constituencies like dinosaur industrial-age union bosses and state-sponsored government employees unions.
Anon:
ReplyDeleteNot all union "bosses" are dinosaur age-- especially within the defense industry. If you would like an education on this, I'd be happy to let you treat me to coffee so I can enlighten your mind.
-K
Wait is the hope I can believe in, or change I can fear? I'd also like to point out that Kim coming up with the same idea as Krauthammer makes her a genius. I'm pretty sure that's on the far right side of the bell curve right after my name.
ReplyDeleteHEY! I wrote this post like 2 days ago-- way ahead of Krauthammer. AND I ran it past a friend, so he should vouch for me.
ReplyDeleteI think Krauthammer is tapping into my thoughts.
You kind of hinted at this in your post, and I just need to elaborate on it, because it's something that's been tickling the back of my mind. I see the beginnings of the arrogance I had already worried was there...Obama pushing this stimulus package like it's all or nothing. The only way to save America is THIS BILL and it better go through. Seriously? There are enough people to object to it, so maybe it in fact is NOT the only way to go. And on top of that he mentioned that Republicans should stop listening to Limbaugh if we want to be able to get anything done in this new administration. Um, kay. I am not a hardcore Limbaugh follower, but what his message says to me is "It's my way or no way. You're with me or you're against me." Whatttt? How is that being warm & fuzzy bipartisan-lovin', I'd like to know?
ReplyDeleteBut yes. God is good. :)
The stimulus is really a bi-partisan idea that comes from the last administration and both sides seem to agree on it. The GOP has sadly turned this into an ideological battle that doesn't really have any basis in reality. You have the hard-core fiscal conservatives who don't want to do anything- we'll call them the Hooverites. They have some good points and from an ideological perspective, I can at least respect them.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the moderates in the GOP who want to cut the pork and try to allay some of their colleagues concerns. These are the people you learn to respect- Specter, Snow, Collins, etc.
Then there's the politicos. These jackasses are the my way or the highway group and have demonstrated a sickening partisan bent that will not help anyone.
Here's the Moderate plan: targeted tax cuts to stimulate consumer spending and Government spending to generate jobs. This will NOT fix the economy, nor is it meant to. It's meant to shore things up until we can figure out a way to unfreeze credit markets. A lot of the so-called "pork" are key infrastructure projects meant to do one thing- generate jobs. A number of the programs are meant as investments. For instance, increasing the energy efficiency of federal buildings will put thousand of contractors to work, lower the government's carbon foot print, and lower their energy usage,which, in turn, lowers long-term costs for tax payers.
The thing is with bills like this, there are going to be parts the people don't like, but since the purpose is to get people to spend money in order to get people working. It's pump priming, and it works.
The issue with the heavy tax cut GOP strategy is that businesses aren't cutting jobs because taxes are too high, but because demand and access to credit are shrinking. The package will stimulate businesses by giving them work and hopefully stimulate consumers by increasing their disposable income.
It seems like everyone agrees something needs to pass, I just hope the Republicans put country before politics and work with Democrats to pass this as soon as possible.
Thanks for your comment, Michael. I am sure the Republicans would be more open to passing something and "putting aside politics" if the Democrats (especially on the House side) would work with Republicans more to cut out nonsense projects that won't actually stimulate jobs.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I can't speak 100% to this, since there are a number of contradicting reports, but it sounds like the Dems (at least on the Senate side), have been open to Republican input that doesn't undermine the fundamental bill.
ReplyDeleteEverything I've seen from the GOP side- at least the ultra-partisan factions, has been "we want to work with you to make this the GOP bill and that's the only acceptable outcome". At that point, especially in the House, you can take your ball and go home.