A Radical Presidency

As Americans absorb President Obama's speech the other day, some ask if we can afford his expansive vision for government. The Tribune headlines, "Is it a fiscal fantasy?" and consumer confidence is at an all time low. I was at the low end of pundits asked by the Tribune to rate the president's speech, but I don't think I'm alone.

The WSJ makes this frightening point, which illustrates the enormity of the debt we are facing and the fragility of the economy. When you crush success you crush job creation, "Obama's 2% Illusion":

But let's not stop at a 42% top rate; as a thought experiment, let's go all the way. A tax policy that confiscated 100% of the taxable income of everyone in America earning over $500,000 in 2006 would only have given Congress an extra $1.3 trillion in revenue. That's less than half the 2006 federal budget of $2.7 trillion and looks tiny compared to the more than $4 trillion Congress will spend in fiscal 2010. Even taking every taxable "dime" of everyone earning more than $75,000 in 2006 would have barely yielded enough to cover that $4 trillion.

Fast forward to this year (and 2010) when the Wall Street meltdown and recession are going to mean far few taxpayers earning more than $500,000. Profits are plunging, businesses are cutting or eliminating dividends, hedge funds are rolling up, and, most of all, capital nationwide is on strike. Raising taxes now will thus yield far less revenue than it would have in 2006.

Then there is the president's talk of a cap and trade regimen. This is a huge tax on energy production in this country which will be added on to nearly every product we consume and shock us all with higher utility bills. The costs would force some companies out of business, killing yet more jobs (counteracting the few we get from the porkulus package), and despite the president's confident promise that Americans who make less than $250,ooo will not pay a dime more in taxes this year--cap and trade is a punishing tax on everyone and hits low income consumers the hardest. And it hasn't worked when it's been tried.

But all this does not deter our president, who speechified with the zeal of a prophet. Daniel Henninger, "A Radical Presidency":

In fact, people would probably coronate Mr. Obama if he merely revived the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow's fall since the Sept. 14 collapse of Lehman Brothers and sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America has eviscerated the net wealth of Americans across all incomes. Many are in the most dispirited state in their lifetimes.

Yesterday, the post-Obama Dow lost another percentage point. No matter. In his worldview, "short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity." His speech did include a plan to address the market crisis. It consists of a program to support consumer and small-business loans; a mortgage refinancing mechanism; and the "full force of the government" to restart bank lending. Mr. Obama delivered that last element with a rather crude pistol-whipping of the nation's bankers and CEOs, thousands of whom have been operating their companies in a responsible, productive way.

This was just the prelude.

This is change. But is this the change America voted for? Is this the change we believe will lead to a better future for us and our children?

Chicago Tea Party tomorrow. Start at Daley Plaza at 11, march to the Michigan Ave. bridge for a rally. Bring signs, wear black. National Tea Party info here, simultaneous protests across the nation.

P.S. Tribune sampling of opinions, including mine on our Sen. there's always Paris Burris.

More: Veteran Washington Post's David Broder is unnerved, "Obama Rolls the Dice":

The size of the gamble that President Obama is taking every day is simply staggering. What came through in his speech to a joint session of Congress and a national television audience Tuesday night was a dramatic reminder of the unbelievable stakes he has placed on the table in his first month in office, putting at risk the future well-being of the country and the Democratic Party's control of Washington.

Broder says the country didn't know what a gambler they were getting. Really? And why is that Mr. MSM? There was his voting record. There were his radical friends, unprecedented for any national politician. And there were his own pronouncements.