'We Can’t Wait!' Obama Harnesses More
Control Over Private Businesses
Townhall.com
^ | March 11, 2012 | Austin Hill
Posted
on March 11, 2012 9:54:23 AM
CDT by Kaslin
“We Can’t
Wait!”
Barack
Obama often seems annoyed by the limitations of his office
these days, especially with a Congress that occasionally
disagrees with him.
So rather
than let something silly like the co-equal branches of
government get in the way, the President has chosen
instead to harness the mantra “We Can’t Wait!” (do an
online search with the mantra and his name), and then
impose his controls over our economy by executive
mandates.
With an
unending supply of programs to stimulate everything from
domestic tourism to farm production, President Obama has
huge chunks of the American economy firmly within his
grasp. 4 years ago this kind of government control seemed
like a good idea to some, but who still thinks that way
now?
I
remember back in the fall of 2008 when I attended an Obama
campaign “meet up” at a bar. It was in Phoenix, Arizona –
the home of Mr. Obama’s opponent at that time, John
McCain, and home to a brutal real estate crash - and a
mortgage lender friend told me “you gotta come meet these
people. They’re young, hip, smart, lots of MBA’s and
lawyers, and they’re all supporting Obama.”
What I
observed as I mingled with the young, hip, smart people
was that they liked to talk about how young and hip and
smart they believed Barack Obama to be. They’re confidence
in this one man was unending, while specific details about
economic and public policy concerns weren’t discussed
much.
“Why did
so many banks and borrowers agree to ARM loans in the
first place?” I asked one of the hipsters, trying to
engage a discussion about how bad government policy can
incentivize bad consumer behavior. “Obama will implement a
program to stop the foreclosures” was all the answer I
could get.
“Why do
healthcare insurers continue to raise their rates?” I
asked another hipster, hoping we could talk about the ways
in which government policy prevents competition among
insurance companies. “Obama has a plan to expand coverage
and reduce premiums” I was told. End of discussion.
That was
in 2008. Now, after nearly three and a half years of
President Obama’s all-seeing and all-knowing wisdom
forcing private companies and individuals to do what he
wants them to do, we should pause and ask ourselves: does
more government control over our economy produce more
prosperity for us all?”
The
President and his supporters like to pretend that anything
short of Obama’s controls over the economy is tantamount
to no government regulation at all. “We can’t go back” the
President has said, suggesting that before he became our
ruler, banks and insurance companies and oil corporations
were completely unregulated.
This,
of course, is false. Our economy is heavily regulated, and
while some regulations are necessary and helpful, others
are not. Federal law, for example, forbids health
insurance providers from competing with each other across
state lines; it forbids oil corporations from developing
petroleum energy throughout much of the U.S.; and federal
banking policy – much of which emanated from Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac – incentivized reckless borrowing and
lending during the last decade.
But one
of the most costly and destructive realities of the Obama
economy is the incalculable amount of taxpayer money that
is being spent, and ultimately wasted, on things that
benefit only the President and his supporters. Take for
example, the President’s signature healthcare reform law
(“Obamacare” if you will).
Early
in his term, President Obama sold his plan with glowing
promises. “If you like your Doctor, you can keep your
Doctor,” the President told us, and “this will bend the
healthcare cost curve downward.”
Yet
just last week, President Obama’s Secretary of Health and
Human Services Kathleen Sebelius reluctantly admitted in a
Senate hearing that the funding mechanisms for government
provide healthcare are collapsing, the costs of
administering Obamacare are spiraling out of control, and
since the law came in to existence the price of private
insurance has skyrocketed, causing a few million Americans
to lose their coverage. Obamacare has been horrible for
everyday Americans, yet Mr. Obama enjoys the status of
being the President to finally “reform” healthcare, and
some 1600 other people enjoy the new government employment
positions that the programs have necessitated.
A
similar scenario has unfolded with the President’s “green
energy” efforts. Consider that since taking office in
January of 2009, President Obama provided General Motors
with more bailout funds (beyond the amounts that President
Bush had handed-over to them in 2008); forced the
resignation of former General Motors C.E.O. Rick Wagoner
and handpicked his successor; mandated that G.M. step up
production of the hybrid electric Chevy Volt; then offered
government-funded subsidies to get people to buy the cars.
Despite
all this, the Volt has sold so poorly that G.M. has called
a five week production hiatus to allow “excess
inventories” to get bought. Once again, everyday Americans
suffer the consequences of government control and
planning, yet President Obama wears the “green” badge with
pride.
The
President’s mandates and controls are still hampering
private businesses, while future generations of tax
revenue are being spent on his selfish pleasures. We
desperately need of relief from his stranglehold – and we
can only wait so long.