Obama is lighting the candles on the government altar, in preparation for his reign as the statist Pope of America.
Earlier today, he spoke at George Mason University, and preached the gospel of government power.
The president-elect cast blame on "an era of profound irresponsibility that stretched from corporate boardrooms to the halls of power in Washington." But he added, "The very fact that this crisis is largely of our own making means that it is not beyond our ability to solve."
This is interesting logic: Since government created the problem, government can solve the problem. What if a contractor built a deck on your house, and the steps were uneven, the railings shaky, and the planks rotten? But not to worry, he assures you, since he created the problems, he can fix them.
That's Obama's logic.
His commitment to the power of the state can not be disputed. "At this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe," he said.
The economy does not need a "short-term boost." It needs permanent solutions, none of which the government can provide. Like an animal caught in a trap, his instinct tells him he must do something (something!) to get out. But the more the animal struggles, the tighter the trap gets.
If the animal had the capacity to reason, he would understand that doing nothing is superior to flailing about. But animals have no capacity to reason.
People do. Unfortunately, the native instinct to do something (something!) is hard to overcome.
Statist's plans to get out of the trap are merely flailing about, but at least it is something (something!). Unfortunately, that something tightens the trap.
Sometimes, if you eat something bad and it makes you sick, the best course of action is to just let it pass. The best course of action is not to subvert the natural process. Those that insist on doing something (something!) might argue for a stomach pump or for surgery. Those people are wrong.
Let it pass naturally.
The government can do something (something!). The government can take money out of the private sector and spend it. The government can spend money on make work that does not produce value. The government can spend it on bureaucracy, waste and pork. None of these things produce value. None of these things help the economy. But it is something (something!).
The absurdity of the statist is summed up by the last paragraph in the AP article:
Obama also promised action to address the economy's ills beyond the package, such as tackling a potential wave of home foreclosures, preventing the failure of financial institutions, rewriting financial regulations and keeping accountable the "Wall Street wrongdoers" who engage in risky investing.
Wall Street wrongdoers who engage in risky investing are accountable when they LOSE money. Except, of course, when the state bails them out because of that wrongdoing. The statist rewards the wrongdoers. But at least it is something (something!).
Obama and members of the Cult of Statism can keep lighting those candles on the government altar. Yet they can't create enough light to find their way out of the darkness.
