2009-2010 will see a turning point in American politics analogous to the public repudiation of the Viet Nam War. It will cross political lines and generational lines and racial lines. It's coming.
It's coming because people all over the United States know from their own personal experience that the economic news out of Washington has no correspondence to the truth, as they can see it every day of their lives. Moreover, their state and local governments confirm their own experience and deny the statements of the federal government.
The economic policies put in place by Barack Obama have not been focused on improving the living conditions of his constituents.
Obama's policies have been narrowly focused on improving the economic indicators.
The map is not the territory. That's how this situation has come to be.Why has this situation come to be?
It doesn't matter why. Whether the Obama Whitehouse has done this cynically, thinking that people can be convinced to deny what they see with their own lying eyes . . .or naively, thinking that conditions will be improved if only the indices can be brought back up . . .there's no denying that this has been done expertly.
Cash-for-Clunkers: Gross National Product is designed to be a measure of over-all wealth creation - new goods and services. New Car Sales are an increase to GNP and national wealth; used-car sales are a transfer of an old toy to a new owner and do not count. The destruction of several million working automobiles does not affect GNP. Increased prices of used cars and used car parts, due to the destruction of several million cars, are weighted by the volume of sales - so the rising prices are washed out by the destroyed cars taken off the market.
What's Wrong With This Picture? Millions of real people are affected by the higher price of used cars and used-car repair. Everyone is affected by the debt and interest payments on $3 billion in subsidies for new car purchases.
Stimulus/Porkulus Package: The money provided in this bill has been poorly accounted for and disbursements have been timed and focused to manipulate various economic indices and to reward political allies of President Obama.
What's Wrong With This Picture? The management of publicly-held stock companies have a duty to their shareholders to maximize shareholder value. After seeing how these appropriations are being disbursed and how GM/Chrysler dealerships with Republican affiliations were closed as part of the bankruptcies of these companies, no further lessons are necessary. No commercial interests will oppose Barack Obama.
When Obama stands before the cameras has says x, he believes it . . .while virtually all of his viewers know that what he says is the not the truth.Soon, this is what you will see:
- politicians becoming frantic, desperate tap-dancing-magicians - attempting to be all things to all people until they can figure out what will keep them in office
- the public, as voters, becoming angry and nihilistic
- the public, as consumers, continuing to be too scared to support an economic recovery.
UPDATE: A few days after this posting, the Washington Post picked up on it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/11/AR2009081100988.html?hpid=topnews
