Growing Weary of the Obama Bull

I know that it is not great PC to inveigh against the Prez.. After all he's only been in office a short 6 months. I submit the latest poll which shows the approval rating of 57% of Obama is down a whopping 11% since April. Of course I know that polls don't mean much, save for the fact that such a sinking in popularity, suggests the public is slowly developing a collective hum of disapproval. Perhaps the 80% figure in the latest Washington Post-ABC poll says it all: that Americans are truly worried about huge costs showing up in the new health-costs reform bill.

The nonpartisan Director of the Congressional Budget Office gives them a concern for such a worry when he warned that the proposal "significantly expands the federal responsibility for health-care costs." It's bad enough that the health-care industry just keeps slapping on more and more increases and greater denials in medical care, but now we can expect the feds to tack on even more.

Let's add to the mix a few other issues: Obama repudiated the Bush policies while on the campaign trail, but has managed to stay the course of indefinite detention of alleged terrorists, gays in the military, and huge corporate bailouts to the Wall Street elite. He pledged to bring about "net spending cuts" by budgeting wasteful spending, then went on to rubber-stamp more than 9,000 earmarks and asked the federal agencies to trim a tiny 0.003 percent from the federal budget.

Inveighing further, one could point to the fact that he didn't want a federal take-over of General Motors on the day he took it over. He promised transparency in government when, in fact, very few of the bills he promised to post on the Internet for five days before he signed them ever showed up on our screens.

The fresh air stemming from his melodic voice has turned to hot, and growing hotter, air.

Huge False Alarm: Was it Done on Purpose?

Yesterday, for no worthy reason, the respected Washington Post editorial staff sent out the ominous alarm that we would see a "light-switch tax" in Prez Obama's budget. So, right now let's get it clear before the heated discussions at the water dispensers and the local pubs heat up. It's not in the bill. It's not even vaguely mentioned in the bill.



I have a great respect for the fourth estate. We sorely need them to serve as a check and balance on the three branches of the federal govt. We should expect them to report the facts and we should also understand that they can surmise all the want in their op-ed sections, but to stoop to a legerdemain-like trick as the Post did yesterday is below the standards of good journalism. Was this done in a manner to get the concept out into the marketplace of ideas to see if it would fly? Doubtful.
Was it done as a way to create an even greater uproar from members of Congress (who probably haven't read the bill and are not likely to do so) to stifle its passage? Maybe.

Was it an oversight? Not in a million years.

Who knows? Just know that it isn't true .

Joseph Goebbels said something to the effect that if we tell a big enough lie long enough the will people tend to believe it. I am pretty sure this false alarm will be repeated as the truth for weeks/months to come by millions.