Abandon ship.

AuthorEmord, Jonathan W.
PositionPOLITICAL LANDSCAPE - Column

ONE OF THE REASONS why Barack Obama will go down in American history as one of the worst presidents is his utter failure to lead. Whether it is because he is paralyzed with indecision, is ambivalent, or is dedicated to the destruction of free enterprise, Pres. Obama has proven that he cannot ascend beyond the competent reading of a teleprompter to courageous leadership of the U.S. ship of state. As the nation assumes the posture of the Titanic, Obama, the putative captain, has chosen to float alongside in a dingy as he watches the ship sink.

It requires little courage to be a demagogue, to recite lines from a political campaign as if they were suitable substitutes for a detailed plan for the resuscitation of an America on the brink of collapse. Confronted with business so petrified about political indecision that it dare not expand, invest, or employ; a national debt rising past 16 trillion dollars; commitments to entitlements that exceed 62 trillion dollars without prospects for revenue to cover obligations; a gross domestic product that barely shows economic growth; and more than 23,000,000 citizens out of work, the President does nothing more than bang his political dram. He bangs out the promise that, no matter what happens to the country, taxes will rise for all of those earning $250,000 per year; that there will be $80,000,000,000 more in stimulus spending; Social Security and Medicare will not be reformed; ObamaCare will not be rolled back; and the regulatory state will stay in place, as is.

With astonishing hubris, he redirects criticism for his failure to lead to Congress. He asks why it has not offered a detailed plan to rescue the nation, a plan that the President can accept. Why have congressmen not led? He behaves childishly, intimating that if taxes are not raised, he is going into the private quarters of the White House, slamming the door, turning on the sports channel, and remaining out of touch come what may.

Rather than convene serious meetings at the White House with top congressional leaders, economists, and businessmen to come up with a bipartisan plan to rescue the nation, Obama goes out on the campaign trail, reads more from the teleprompter, and continues with his same old demagogic calls for soaking the rich and keeping the welfare state in place. Obama is a pol who achieved reelection without a mandate. While the nation faces certain insolvency--unless specific and significant cuts are made in spending and...

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