Victor Davis Hanson - After Obama, the Deluge

Town Hall ^ | Feb 23, 2011 | VDH

[Islander7]

President Obama established a bipartisan debt-reduction commission -- and then ignored its findings, which called for unpopular reductions in entitlements and across-the-board spending cuts. His first two budgets led to the largest deficits in U.S. history. The ensuing $3 trillion dollars in red ink prompted the Tea Party movement and led to the largest midterm defeat of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives since 1938.

No matter. The president has proposed a new budget with an even larger, $1.6 trillion deficit. That record federal borrowing prompted columnist Charles Krauthammer to describe it as Louis XV indulgence, an allusion to the wild royal spending that brought about the French Revolution.

[Islander7]

But in "let them eat cake" style, the first family seems tone-deaf to the potential symbolism of postponing its own exclusive vacations. Michele Obama just returned from skiing at an elite Vail, Colo., resort. Last summer in Marie Antoinette fashion, she jetted to Costa del Sol in Spain for a costly Mediterranean vacation. The rich playground at Martha's Vineyard, not Camp David, seems now to be the favorite presidential recession-era getaway spot.

Shortly after Barack Obama leaves office, we are all going to have to eat cake. Then a less eloquent president will have to balance budgets, pay off trillions in new debt, develop more energy, come up with a sane health-care policy, and in symbolic fashion have the first family share the sacrifice of a more mundane lifestyle.

[Blind Eye Jones]

I think Obama should be cutting sugarcane in Cuba while cultivating his ideology.

[Carley]

O set the rules of the game for the commission, ensuring that their recommendations would NEVER be accepted.

Once he appointed the head of SEIU it was clear this was nothing more than a farce.

[jospehm20]

Obama=America hating, queer loafer

[BobP]

Obama's first two years are a complete disaster.

We still get two more wonderful years of 'the recovery.'

The Socialists know what they are doing. And many of us know what the Left is about. Liberalism and its thug tactics are on full display for the entire world to see. Obama's police state will pretty much destroy our American way of life, the economy, and liberty before the 2012 election. His goal is to control every aspect of life, food, credit, and the pursuit of happiness.

Our Republic will never survive the fools who made him their President. They run a no-nothing, no-experience commie against a tired old political hack/closet Democrat, named McLame and say pick one.

Now we have 8 years of projected $1 trillion annual budget deficits.

Zer0: Making Rat Policy Work By Hijacking the Democratic Process

[stripes1776]

Hanson makes more sense than all the politicians in Washington, D.C. put together.

[Islander7]

How you doing Bob? Haven’t seen you around in a while.

[mazda77]

"Now we have 8 years of projected $1 trillion annual budget deficits."

Any new leader, key emphasis on the word "leader", can simply do five things to right the ship in less than a year.

1. Institute the FairTax. Over 14 Trillion comes back on shore. The economic impact of this alone will be mind boggling.

2. Stop all discretionary spending. This means elimination of all the alphabet soup agencies, especially the EPA.

3. No holds barred on domestic energy production.

4. Clean the slate of all active executive orders.

5. Use FDR's own words to end public sector unions.

Immediately make Allen West Defense Secretary to clean up the Pentagon, get the lawyers out and put real leaders back in charge and commence to kick ass in any conflict we are a part of at the time, hand the keys over to whoever is left and leave with this simple warning. You don't want to have us come back! This includes ending the crap that has been going on in Iran since 1979.

[DugwayDuke]

If your plan were to be adopted there would be no need to ‘clearn up the pentagon’ since by stopping all discretionary spending you would have completely closed the pentagon. (Defense is included in discretionary spending.)

[taildragger]

Shortly after Barack Obama leaves office, we are all going to have to eat cake. Then a less eloquent president will have to balance budgets, pay off trillions in new debt, develop more energy, come up with a sane health-care policy, and in symbolic fashion have the first family share the sacrifice of a more mundane lifestyle.

Yes the problem will be this clown will be on the stage still pontificating and maybe working at the UN trying to create even more mischief. Maybe just maybe the Dems will get their asses handed to them so badly that even Bubba and her Thighness will finally slither away and shutup.

Carter? still babbling but drooling into a cup by that time....

[mazda77]

But “defense” is among the enumerated powers. Can’t eliminate it all if we adhere to the Consitution. Cleaning it up does not mean getting rid of it.

In the history of Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, the fort was originally an outpost but grew with importance with the containment of Geronimo and his band of Apache. It was also responsible for the security of the border with Mexico and played the key role of General Pershings pursuit of a cross border raider known as Poncho Villa. My point is this does not violate posse comitatus in that the military is providing for the common defense in its actions to defend our border from foreign invaders.

[ClearCase_guy]

I like the list of ideas.

I think the solution to our problems is to basically install a benevolent dictator who will ram through some smart, though drastic, policies. The idea makes me quite nervous -- but the politicking between the two parties, and the endless jabbering within congress convinces me that business-as-usual just isn't going to get us anywhere.

I hate it when the "smart solution" seems to sound a whole lot like the wet dream of a Leftist Do-Gooder: "Make me dictator and I'll fix everything". Sigh.

[mazda77]

Why do people think to be a leader one needs to be a dictator? Please, someone answer that for me!

A leader does not need to do a thing by fiat. Instead he provides the vision for others to follow based on critical and logical thinking. One cannot be a dictator and lead. Anyone who is a vet understands this basic truth, or maybe most who were not have no idea what fragging was all about.

[maica]

...we are all going to have to eat cake.

Marie Antoinette was not talking about the peasants eating dessert. She was referring to the sooty residue that caked on the sides of ovens. Keep that image in mind to understand what she really thought of the "people." Just about the same way that Michelle looks down on us.

[Leisler]

Well, how hard it that, really?

[Jimmy Valentine]

"we are all going to have to eat cake"

If we do not get hold of our government we are going to be eating something all right but it won't be "cake".

[ClearCase_guy]

I think you and I are on the same page. It's the implementation which is difficult in a political environment. One of your suggestions was that we have a flat tax. I agree. Of course, that would involve moving through Congress and going through the whole legislative process. That's the right way to do it.

If we elect the right people to Congress, we could get there. So far, electing the right people has been "difficult".
A leader with vision might convince the people who are already in Congress that a flat tax is the right solution. I'm not optimistic that anyone can "lead" quite that well.

Frankly, I think that without a dictator, I'm not sure we can get a flat tax. I'm not really saying I want a dictator! I'm just saying that our political process seems to work against some of the very best ideas actually ever getting adopted.

Honestly -- A good leader with vision (I like Sarah Palin, you may not) who governed hard and was focused on one term, and made full use of all available political capital, might be able to achieve a lot. But other people within the political arena would have to swallow hard and say "Let's go with it and see what happens. This doesn't look like a perfect solution to me, but we need to make bold moves, so let's follow the vision which is laid before us and try to make it work."

I just worry that some folks will say "This might hurt my political ambitions. I think it would be smarter for me, personally, to try to block this effort."

[Servant of the Cross]

after Barack Obama leaves office ....

Music to my ears. Imagine there's no 0bama. The Hallelujah Chorus will sing mightily on that great day. You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one ....

[ClearCase_guy]

My apologies!!

You clearly said FairTax, and I like the FairTax. When I typed my previous reply I typed "flat tax" by accident and indicated that you support that. You didn't say that at all. Sorry! Didn't mean to misrepresent!

[liberalh8ter]

I think he should be wearing horizontal stripes and pounding rocks while cultivating his failed ideology.