Great expectations

Now that Barack Obama is firmly ensconced as POTUS to be the inevitable collision with the reality of delivering on his promises is imminent. How can he deliver on his promise of “hope and change”, given the near insurmountable problems he has claimed he will solve. Think about it; he’s a politicians with no experience in any of the areas with which he will be dealing, having spent less than two years in the US Senate, during which time his main occupation was running for the Presidency. So now that he’s achieved his goal, an admirable achievement, to say the least, what are the chances that he will reduce the levels of the oceans and heal the world?

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What’s more, the almost universal adulation heaped upon Mr. Obama will all but guarantee that there will likely be a very short honeymoon. His first order of business will have to be the economy in that the mainstay of his campaign was the promise to massively redistribute America’s wealth. During the campaign, Obama kept referring to his “Plan” for fixing the economy, making it sound as if it had been drawn up and ready to go. During his press conference of last Friday he disclosed that this plan has yet to be developed and won’t be revealed until after the inauguration. If his promise to “give 95% of Americans” a tax cut, then close to 50% of Americans that currently pay no taxes at all, will be getting their “tax cut” in the form of a refundable tax credit, meaning that sometime in April or May of 2010 they will receive a check from the government as a “refund” on their unpaid taxes. Given that we live in the age of instant gratification some of the recipients of this largesse will feel that waiting for over a year is too long. Then there’s relationship between increased taxes and reduced economic activity, as those taxpayers in the $250,000+ tax bracket will find ways to reduce their income to circumvent the promised tax increases on the “rich” that got Obama elected. This is the 10% of taxpayers who currently account for 71% of all personal taxes the government collects. With the increased taxes these individuals are less likely to invest capital in new ventures because of the high risk coupled with high taxes. The result will then be a further slowing of the economy, which will leave more people jobless and dependant on government handouts for their livelihood. Another key platform of the Obama campaign was to heal the world, specifically to stop global warming in its tracks by imposing a cap-and-trade regimen on American industry and to impose a windfall profit tax on oil companies. This will greatly exacerbate America’s economic woes. In imposing such a scheme the price of everything from durable goods to consumer products to food will increase at a much greater rate than the current rate of inflation, which now is at less than the 3% per annum range. The end result will be a dual effect, wiping out any gains lower income families might make through their refundable tax credits and increasing unemployment, as many businesses will close their doors as a result of Mr. Obama’s carbon taxes. Then there is the issue of national security. Like all liberals, Barack Obama believes that all conflict can and should be resolved through peaceful negotiations. While this may be a noble and laudable belief, it isn’t one adhered to by everyone. In 1939, after hearing of Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Republican Senator William E. Borah is reputed to have said, “Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler-- all this might have been averted.” As if. Obama’s willingness to meet at the negotiating table sans preconditions with individuals such as Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmedinejad who has repeatedly vowed to “wipe Israel off the map” is silly, considering that negotiations have been ongoing between the UN, Europe, the IAEA and American diplomats for the past five years with no progress. One can imagine Barack Obama sipping green tea with Ahmedinejad while Iranian nukes turn Tel Aviv into a pile of radioactive cinders. Ditto for declaring peace in Iraq. Obama has promised that one of his strongest priorities during his first hundred days in office will be to withdraw all American troops from Iraq. That sure isn’t going to play well with the over 4,000 American families who lost loved ones for nothing, while that country reverts to a brutal dictatorship as bad or worse than that of Saddam Hussein. It will also signal that all things Islamic extremists have believed about America being weak and uncommitted are true, which will likely result in renewed attacks on US soil. President Obama will have a free pass for failing to deliver on campaign promises, blaming the mess left by the Bush Administration for his failure. But given the level of expectations his election has engendered, that free pass is likely to be shorter than it would ordinarily be. After all, he is the Messiah.