And just like that, we've now officially added another $1 Trillion (with a "T") to the national debt. It's all happening so fast it's difficult to keep up with. Actually, it's not happening as fast as it could have, had Obama not waited the four additional days from its final passage in the Congress to when he signed it into law on Tuesday (as some of you already pointed out on a previous post).
Interestingly, Obama's frantic push to pass the stimulus at all costs doesn't seem to have received the kind of enthusiastic response across the country that one would expect of such a lifesaving measure. Perhaps the American people know something that Obama & Co. don't? Here's just a sampling of the readers' comments in today's "Let It Out" column in our Indianapolis Star:
"It's getting so bad around my house that the tooth fairy left us an IOU."
"Over the past few weeks, it's become very obvious why Congress has such a low approval rating."
"If charter schools are so great, can we have a charter government and pick who to give our taxes to?"
And in the comic section, Mallard Fillmore shows a smartly dressed lawyer testifying before the judge. He says,
"Your Honor, my client merely took the victim's wallet, gave some of the money away, gave some back to the victim...and kept some for administrative expenses... That's not 'robbery'...it's 'stimulus'!"
But with his usual rapier wit, Resident Atheist's imagery captures the situation in which we find ourselves:
I was thinking about the timing, too, Eric. Obama is screaming about the need for action, but waits four days for the photo op?
If he really wanted to make a statement, he should have gotten a picture of himself signing it in his pj's the night it was passed. [Better yet], he could have had Pelosi and Reed there in their robes for a big Democratic slumber party. They could have had humus on flat bread then a pillow fight with big sacks of our money.
All humor aside, this quote from Abraham Lincoln (who, ironically, is being referenced regularly by the Obama administration) captures the insidious forces at work in our nation these days: "America will never be destroyed from outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." This insight from 'Ole Abe has never been more honest. 
UPDATE: One of the other overlooked realities of Obama's trip to Denver was referenced yesterday by one radio commentator. He noted the irony that Obama used more gas than the average American uses over 30 years to travel specifically to Denver in order to highlight the supposed environmental crisis we face and the need to pursue alternative energy sources. I wonder if the radical environmentalists noted the irony?
i have two things to say:
a) the people who comment at the indianapolis star are, regularly, embarrasing to us as a species, let alone as a state.
b) who considers 68% a low approval rating?
Posted by: chris corwin | February 19, 2009 at 09:30 AM
john, technically it's not debt. we're printing the money instead of borrowing it. that's responsible right? i mean, it keeps the printing people employed, and it's home grown instead of from the chinese. (!)
great for inflation. anyone have a wheelbarrow to help me carry my money? I need to get some toilet paper.
Posted by: andy | February 19, 2009 at 09:56 AM
Perhaps I ought to reconsider my upcoming post regarding the comments I submitted to the Indianapolis Star recently?
No one can argue that a 68% approval rating is a desirable number. But there's much more to the equation than simply extrapolating a president's approval rating and implying conclusions. After all, there was a time when President Bush's approval rating hovered in the 70s-80s (and eventually peaked in the upper 80s). Same guy, same basic leadership style throughout his presidency (in fact, it was his "stubbornness"--or his "convictions-based determination" depending on your perspective--which precipitated his declining popularity), yet different circumstances. Which is why he was just ranked 36th out of 42 presidents in terms of leadership.
The fact is, the passage of the stimulus package hasn't generated the rousing national ovations that Obama & Co. were assuming it would. In fact, the latest polls show that support is actually declining for the stimulus package: http://news.aol.com/article/economy-poll/349461
Andy, I think you've hit on something there. It's kind of like when I know I can write a check because there are checks in my checkbook (or I can use my credit card, because I have available credit). Be American, spend American, right? :)
Posted by: John | February 19, 2009 at 12:36 PM
Chris, I think you answered your b) with your a). :D The problem is that I'm guessing you're talking about Obama's approval rating. The embarrassing homo sapien/Hoosier mentioned Congress' approval rating...which just hit a two-year high of 31%: http://www.gallup.com/poll/114670/Congress-Approval-Rating-Jumps.aspx
Unless you play baseball, that's not a good number.
Posted by: Eric Page | February 20, 2009 at 05:13 AM