3 strikes you’re… re-elected?
Since the Obama Administration is in charge, the buck stops with it. Along with it goes the fate of the Democrat Party in Novemeber. Thus the question is how has the Administration done so far?
The major actions of the Obama Administration start with the Obama Stimulus. Passed in what is lightspeed for politics, the Stimulus was first envisioned as a $50 billion package by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in October 2008. Once President Obama was elected the proposal swelled literally overnight, ultimately growing to $787 billion. In the first year of effect the cost overrun was $75 billion leading to a net $862 billion cost.
The Obama Stimulus failed to keep unemployment in check. It failed to stimulate the economy. According to most estimates it has created predominantly government and temporary jobs at a cost of approximately $200,000 per job (that pays an average of around $30,000 a year). The jobs it has created is vastly different than what was proposed before passage, as well as the 600,000 jobs reported at recovery.org been far short of projected goals.
All of that does not account for the problems with the Stimulus. Earmarks in the thousands were attached to the Stimulus. Which lead to one of the first campaign promises to be broken. In addition tens of thousands of Americans lost food stamps and Government aid due to the Stimulus bumping their income over regulated threasholds. Millions of dollars, perhaps hundreds of millions, have gone to the ether as waste, fraud, and mismanagement (like imaginary districts in States) go unaccounted for.
Strike one.
The Health Care Reform was the next major push that the nation paid attention to. While enacted in a timetable far more normal for Congress, the process was anything but positive. It required over a half dozen re-writes, often occuring just prior to votes in the respective Houses, that swelled it’s size to over 2200 pages. Often in the process all but a handful of politicians were aware of even the majority of items in the Bill. It’s cost fluctuated from $700 billion to $1.2 trillion, depending on who was counting and the exact rules involved with the count.
It was passed via legal techniques that were both arcane and unpleasant. The Health Care Reform, or Obamacare, was disliked by the majority of the public for the 8 months prior to its passage, and continues to be so. It’s final costs are still being evaluated with recent estimates stating that it will cost more than promised. Proposed cuts to Medicare are estimated to place 15 percent of hospitals into the red, the long-term care insurance have been deemed a serious risk of insolvency. Many of the ultimate effects of the Obamacare are still unknown, as are many of the requirements.
Strike 2.
In the State of the Union Address, jobs and the economy were the emphasis. A rededicated focus was promised. With Obamacare passed, Congress and the Administration are moving forward on the Financial Reform and Immigration Reform, and Cap & Trade. None are issues that create jobs or improve the economy.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid is proposing to move forward on the Financial Reform without bipartisan input. Again. Even as debate and dialogue are underway. As currently proposed the Bill will increase the size and power of the Government, again. It will impose new taxes on banks and institutions of large size – which are said to protect consumers and not increase costs. But it has been named the “Wall Street reform” with Goldman Sachs as the image of a bad guy, a PR move that lends credibility and support.
Cap & Trade has been slowly moving through Congress. It faces tough challenges as even the former supermajority of Democrats was unable to pass the Bill. It is estimated to force consumers to use less energy via new taxes, and increased costs that range from 150% – 300% higher than currently. It too has been labeled with PR in mind as a “green” Bill (the present disputes about the facts of global warming notwithstanding).
Immigration Reform has been the boomerang of politics for decades. It faces massive hurdles. While supported by Hispanics, unions, and many Liberals, most other demographics are opposed. The concept of creating a path to citizenship for illegal aliens that have broken U.S. law is hotly debated. Public support has never been in favor of this issue each time it has been proposed.
Has the Obama Administration reached strike 3? If so will this ensure the mid-term elections for anyone but Democrats? Will the Tea Party movement create enough of a split vote that Democrats will survive via attrition?
There are many more minor issues that have been enacted in the past 15 months. But jobs are neither better nor improving. The economy is still felt as far from the recovery promoted by the White House. Iran continues to move torward becoming a nuclear power. Iraq is still unstable, and Afghanistan looks to be no better while the timetable for withdrawl edges closer. The Administration continues to blame the prior Bush Administration for current woes. The Democrat Party seeks to re-use the slogan of ‘change’ for November. Are all these foul balls?
Politics is not baseball, and while entertaining on one level it surely is not a jest.
