Questions for Obama...that in spite of his Ivy league Education He Can't Answer

Exactly how does one build an economy "from the bottom up"? Remember? This was Obama's claim on the campaign trail and has been repeated by talking heads in the media and the administration (although those lines are blurry at best) but what does it mean? In a functioning economy, albeit in recession, it is still functioning and allocating the resources that have not been usurped by the federal government. So, what does one do to build it from the ground up? Does it mean empowering the individual to do as they please with their time and their talents? Does it mean that individuals can invest, take risks, and reap the rewards or suffer the losses? We have this already. I think what Obama and his left leaning friends mean we build up the bottom (give money to the bottom earners) by taking it from the folks who in Obama's estimation can afford to give up much of what the earn. Based on what I have seen from our new president this is the only conclusion a fair minded individual could draw because no one ever bothered to explain what he meant...assuming he ever knew. I suspect it was really just a good sound bite that made middle and low income people think they would get something from the government. I bet those middle class folks are going to be surprised when all they get is a higher tax bill in a few years and hyper inflation.

My investments are no longer worth what I paid for them. They are "under water" This is no fault of mine, I could afford the investments when I bought them. Maybe that is the problem, maybe I should have bought them on margin. Then I bet Obama would come bail me out like the folks who bought houses they could not afford with loans they could not pay back. Those people can have my investments soon because if Obama and his Treasury secretary who was too talented to reject because he is a tax cheat keep running their yaps, my investments will be worthless and anyone who wants them can have them. Why don't I get a bailout? My investments are worth much less than I paid for them through no fault of mine.

Does anyone in the Obama camp ever stop to wonder what will happen if the world buyers for our debt decide that they need a better return to invest in the shaky economy of the United States? Does Obama understand that the goal of a corporation is to maximize the wealth of the shareholders, not to create jobs? Companies create jobs because they have a need for a particular skill or resource as part of their efforts to maximize their returns. Jobs are a consequence of working to make profits. If Obama had ever held a job he might understand this, but since he hasn't, he doesn't.

Post-Election America, Is this really Change We Can Believe In?

If I could unilaterally make a single change to the constitution, it would be that the president of the United States must have held a real job in the private sector for at least seven years. University professor doesn't count, community organizer doesn't count, life time politician definitely doesn't count. If this were that case, we would never again have a president who knows so little about business, economics, and how the real world works. If the president held a real, private sector job for at least seven years, he or she would understand how value is created, how revenues are driven, and what motivates regular people. A president, born of the business world would not view simply businesses as an endless source of funds that magically appear in the federal coffers. He or she would understand that companies hire employees because they have a specific need and the value of that employee's work is greater than the value of the salary and benefits they earn. I think if Barack Obama had ever held a real job, he wouldn't be making some of the uninformed, capricious, and contradictory moves he is making today. He might understand that the bane of capital markets is uncertainty and that student body left, student body right, and retroactive changes to the rules of the game are a recipe for financial disaster. He clearly has no idea. His performance the past month has demonstrated why the starting pitcher in the little league world series doesn't make his next start as the opening day pitcher for the New York Yankees.

So here we go, Obama, the person who can be all things to all people, is going to spend massively to fulfil the leftist dreams of every democratic lawmaker through the largest government money grab ever and at the same time is committing to cut the federal deficit in half. Which deficit is he going to cut, the deficit before or after he doubled it? If you believe Obama will be true to his word, then I think after he spends a trillion dollars, while cutting the deficit in half, that bats are going to fly out of his butt singing "Everything is Coming Up Roses".

The real problem we have is that Obama has no clue what he is doing. He is making this up as he goes along. In his heart of hearts he wants not only fairness of opportunity but "fairness" of outcomes. So given that he has never held a real job, he has no clue how the business world works or what it does, and that at his core he wants to take from those who have and give to those who have not....this is what we get...collapsing financial markets, capital fearfully sitting in the sidelines, and a little league caliber pitcher trying to strike out Vladimir Guerrero.