by Bill O'Connell on June 25, 2010
The news on the economy this morning is not encouraging. The GDP numbers have been revised downward to an anemic 2.7%. When asked to identify the Obama administration’s greatest accomplishments so far, one of his ardent supporters identified: 1) ObamaCare and 2) Afghanistan. Yikes! 60% of the country remains opposed to ObamaCare with 55% supporting its repeal and Afghanistan is in need of a complete overhaul, especially on the civilian side meaning the Ambassador and special envoy Holbrooke.
President Obama now travels to the G8 and G20 meetings this weekend to try to get the rest of the major economies in the world to follow Obama’s leadership into recreating the Great Depression. The good news is that the other heads of state are not members of the Democratic Party or beholding to Obama. They are responsible to the citizens of their own countries. For the European countries, they cannot go on a similar spending binge that Team Obama has embarked upon, if for no other reason than their declining birth rates will not create a new generation of people to hand the bill to. They see the flashing warning lights that emanated from Greece and are rapidly changing course.
Either President Obama will use his silver tongue to convince the others to open the spending spigot or he will come home with his tail between his legs, his policies discredited worldwide. Either way it will not be positive for the United States of America.
by Bill O'Connell on May 16, 2009
Paying the Bill
Elected by the drumbeat of bashing Bush, President Obama now faces reality, and the American people see example after example of Obama’s lack of experience. He campaigned on how he was going to change the Bush Policies, and where are we?
- One of his first acts in office was an Executive Order to close Guantanamo. Now, he doesn’t have a plan to make it happen and is saying exactly what Bush said, that there is not clear alternative. Going further, he is turning Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan into his own version of Guantanamo
- He was going exit Iraq within 16 months. Now, not so fast. It’s not that easy, when you actually have responsibility, to follow through on shooting from the hip or lip.
- Military Tribunals were the wrong way to go. Now, the military tribunals will continue
- The release of pictures demanded by the ACLU. Obama was in favor. Now? Not so much.
- Obama now supports covert action in Pakistan
Bush’s Legacy
If Obama’s not careful he’s going to make Bush look like a genius. But with every flip-flop, he puts America at risk. Our allies such as Australia, wonder if we are the same strong world leader that we were before.
“President Barack Obama’s administration has continued this trend {against fighting a conventional war}, and risks unsettling America’s longstanding democratic allies in Asia by skimping on defense” — Australia Bulks Up, WSJ, May 6, 2009
Our enemies see this as signs of weakness and look for ways to exploit it. Think Jimmy Carter and the Soviets in Afghanistan, Khomeini in Iran, Sandinistas in Nicaragua…
Joe Biden said we would have a crisis withing six months. I don’t know about the timing, but the pieces seem to be falling into place.
