Judge Him By the Future

"Common sense is what tells us the Earth is flat and the Sun goes around it." -unknown

Addressing supporters at a rally in Columbus Ohio on Saturday, President Obama told listeners that he would urge Congress next week to implement "common sense ideas" to accelerate job growth. He sought to deflect blame for the languishing economy by chastising Republican lawmakers for not doing enough to bring down unemployment. Obama made his remarks after government data showed that hiring has slowed and the economy continues to struggle three and a half years into his administration.

"That is why next week I am going to urge Congress, as they start getting back to work, to take some actions on some common sense ideas right now that can accelerate even more job growth," he said at a school in northern Virginia: a key battleground in the upcoming presidential election. The economy will be a dominant factor as voters weigh whether to give Obama a second term, and he took the opportunity to tell Americans that he was not to blame. It is GOP intransigence that is hampering progress.

Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will be returning to Washington next week and begin negotiations on legislating a long-term highway transportation bill, which Obama and Democrats have framed as a job-creating measure. The legislation is intended to fund yet more major construction projects, such as roads, bridges, and mass transit systems. Fortunately there are always roads to be paved and bridges to refurbish. Immigrant laborers will be happy to learn that their jobs are not in jeopardy.

Government data showed U.S. businesses slowed their pace of hiring in April to115,000 new jobs, compared with forecasts for 170,000. Unemployment edged down a tenth of a percentage point to 8.1 percent, but this was partly because of the number of discouraged workers who dropped out the labor force last month. "There are still a lot of folks out of work, which means we've got to do more," Obama said. The question is more what?  More spending and more government according to the administration.

Not only are Obama's solutions not very good, they are not very new. Obama has been "stimulating" the economy for over three year yet the economy is still not stimulated.  That is because government sponsored jobs almost always cost more than they produce. What is the point in spending $100,000,000 to stimulate the economy if it only results in $75,000,000 in economic activity? Other than obtaining the gratitude of those who were hired, nothing is gained. Why not give that $100,000,000 to the public and let them spend it? Because the government has no control over how people spend their money. Progressives do not trust people to spend money in ways that benefit the government or advance their agenda. Indeed, most Americans have no agenda. They have families, homes, and their own priorities. Unless it can be demonstrated that buying a new television or taking a trip to Disney World advances the progressive cause, liberals are not interested. Government jobs create workers who are dependent on the government for their paychecks. Government grants create communities and organizations that are dependent on government to balance their budgets. Government spending creates people who are dependent on government for their well being. The more people that are dependent upon government, the more indispensable government becomes. The more indispensable government becomes, the more immune to reform it becomes.

Obama cautioned the public. "They'll (Republicans) tell you who to blame, and ask you if you're better off than before the worst crisis in our life time. The real question  - the question that will actually make a difference in your life and in their lives of your children - is not just about how we're doing today. It's about how we will be doing tomorrow." Against the economic policies of his his opponents, Obama is once again holding out the promise of a better future. That is really all he has to offer. After three and a half years under his leadership, the present is discouraging. He is asking the public not to judge him by the way things are now, but by the way things will be four years from now if he gets another chance. Obama ran on hope in 2008. He is running on hope again in 2012.