Who Pays

Our nation had its first State of the Union address that wasn’t an official State of the Union address this week by our current 30’ish day President. Mr. Obama has used his star power as if he were a touring American Idol by glad handing the masses and placing his face on every news channel on a daily basis. Do we really need to be reminded that Obama is our President? Do we really need 24 hour news coverage of him and Michelle as if we are watching Survivor: White House edition? Personally, I thought that after the election, the media hype would die down a bit and we could go about our business as usual without having to listen to the campaign rhetoric on a daily basis… boy, was I wrong.

Anyway, now that I’m done venting about how my news time is wasted by the incessant coverage of the second coming of MLK or Abraham Lincoln, I’ll get on with my topic… Who is going to pay for the “stimulus” bill and the associated tag along spending programs designated to end our recession? During the end of the Bush term, the first stimulus bill came to pass and we allocated over $700 billion tax payer dollars to solve the financial crisis. There were several other “smaller” bills throughout the last few months that brought the actual number to well over a trillion. Now, we have another $800 billion set to be spent to further solve the crisis. Oh but wait, there’s more. In the current Obama government budget, there’s another $750 billion being set aside for more failing banks and institutions. Add that up… Yes, it does come up to nearly $3 trillion American tax payer dollars.

This is not to mention the emergency funds released by the Federal Reserve and International Monetary Fund to help ease the lending markets in our country and worldwide. Billions here, near trillions there, and yet we are still falling deeper into recession. Last I checked the yearly GDP of the United States stood at nearly $14 trillion for 2007. I would imagine 2008 will be similar if not less given the state of our economy during the second half of last year. In the last 3 or so months, we have mortgaged nearly a quarter of an entire year’s worth of American GDP. It doesn’t sound so bad, but it’s not like we were working on a budget in the first place.

One of the major campaign points during the last election cycle focused on how the Democrats were going to balance the budget and reign in our growing deficit. Yes, even though America created nearly $14 trillion in GDP, we spent more! Now that things are getting even worse, you would think we would tighten the belt across the board… especially at the governmental level. It’s only common sense right? Nope… according to the Obama budget, we will be running a deficit of $1.75 trillion in 2009… and if you’re like me, you know that’s used car salesman speak for over $2 trillion.

Bush never even came close to such numbers, and yet the Democrats are going to shatter the numbers they complained about for 8 years. Oh sure, I’ve heard it all… Obama inherited the problems and now he has to spend the money to bring us out of the terrible economy Bush saddled him with. Last I checked, Bush didn’t force the banks to run their risks to the ceiling and he didn’t force home owners to take loans with no down payment on houses that were priced 3 or 4 times what they could afford. Oh, and don’t forget to throw in that $4 per gallon gasoline we experienced.

So, where exactly does all this money come from? It has to come from somewhere… that somewhere is our pockets. Democrats plan to make the “wealthy” pay the majority of the difference since everyone who makes under $250k are supposedly going to see tax breaks and more federal assistance in the form of health care and other subsidized worker laziness. Do you really think the wealthy individuals are going to simply turn over their bank accounts to pay for all of this? I highly doubt it. In the end, EVERYONE is going to be paying for these horrendous spending decisions. Maybe not on your paycheck under the federal tax line, but you’ll be paying higher state taxes, higher local taxes, and you’ll be paying to support a myriad of programs you have no willingness to do. Your money will be confiscated in many ways, but not by the word tax… yeah right.

Obama runs his mouth like he’s the savior of our world and his photogenic face and vocal skills can actually make you feel like he means what he continually says to you (while reading the teleprompter). But, when the pen hits the paper, his policy support relays a much different reality. Obama speaks the right way, but acts as all hard line Liberal Democrats do. Pelosi and Obama have much in common, but I would guarantee you, even if you’re a hardcore Democrat, you wouldn’t vote for her to be our President… check the voting records, Pelosi and Obama are hand in hand.

In the future, when your check and earning power has decreased because of these insane amounts of money being spent, remember where the initial money went. The initial money did not go to you and I, it went to corporate executives and failing businesses that played the risk game and lost. We will be paying for this, our children will be paying for this, and their grandchildren will be paying… assuming the United States is even a viable country at that point in time.