"We The Government"
That chilling headline is the apt way the WSJ refers to Obama's inaugural speech, which it calls "inaugural address of striking liberal ambition and partisanship":
Mr. Obama was laying down a marker that he has no intention of letting debt or deficits or lagging economic growth slow his plans for activist, expansive government.Inaugurals usually include calls for national unity and appeals to our founding principles, which is part of their charm. With the election long over, swearing in a President is a moment for celebrating larger national purposes. But Mr. Obama's speech was notable for invoking the founding principles less to unify than to justify what he called "collective action." The President borrowed the Constitution's opening words of "we the people" numerous times, but his main theme was that the people are fundamentally defined through government action, and his government is here to help you.
On that theme, the speech was especially striking for including a specific defense of the federal entitlement programs that everyone knows must be reformed. Mr. Obama cited "Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security" by name as "the commitments we make to each other."
A citizen commenter, "William Jones," dashing off a thought in the WSJ's comment's section fact-checks the president's big talk:
Did he explain how Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid, " free us to take the risks that make this country great"? Medicare you get for turning 65; no effect on risk taking. Social Security actually rewards risk aversion since benefits are based on years worked and accruals are capped above a certain income level; so better to stay the course in a middling job rather than try to strike it rich. As for Medicaid, I highly doubt there is significant overlap between failed entrepreneurs and Medicaid beneficiaries.
"the commitments we make to each other..."
Read: "the commitments we signed you up for before you were born."
Cousin Dave at January 22, 2013 6:30 AM
Obama's got his head in the (authoritarian) clouds.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at January 22, 2013 7:10 AM
The scariest sentence in the English language? "We're from the government and we're here to help."
Assholio at January 22, 2013 7:12 AM
I'd say it's close to being over. 240 years was a good run. There are articles like this:
Why Do We Allow Inheritance at All?
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/why-do-we-allow-inheritance-at-all/240004/
To wit: the living person was entitled to dispose of their assets, but they are no longer living, and are not entitled to anything except an undisturbed grave. Since they are out of the picture, we must look to the heirs.
Do they deserve to inherit? By virtue of what? Being born? Having parents?
Unbelievable!!! It's time to go to Canada or the EU or Australia
Stinky the Clown at January 22, 2013 9:07 AM
...or this
West Point center cites dangers of ‘far right’ in U.S.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/17/west-point-center-cites-dangers-far-right-us/
A West Point think tank has issued a paper warning America about “far right” groups such as the “anti-federalist” movement, which supports “civil activism, individual freedoms and self-government.”
This is coming from West Point. God help us.
Stinky the Clown at January 22, 2013 9:09 AM
All of us that are not the 2% are now subject to debt peonage. His prior idea was to fuck the rich. That the fucking of the top 2% will give him only eight days of income doesn't matter to him.
I watched the Sunday shows. White House representatives talked about looking at revenues, budgets, the debt and deficit.
Jim P. at January 22, 2013 8:42 PM
A further point there is that the tax well is just about dry, and further taxes are unlikely to produce revenue growth. For about the past six years, nearly all economic growth in the U.S. has been in the public sector; private-sector jobs are just now getting back to the level they were at in 2003, and real growth in household income has been flat since 1999.
We are likely already on the back side of the Laffer curve, which means that tax increases might very well lead to declining rather than increasing government revenues, due to the negative economic impacts. The Left doesn't care because (1) they regard higher taxes as a moral imperative, and (2) they themselves don't pay taxes, as we've seen with many of Obama's cabinet appointments and cronies.
Cousin Dave at January 23, 2013 7:55 AM
"240 years was a good run. "
Oh, I don't know. There's lots of fun still to be had in the final years as the union breaks up into a Balkanized version of itself.
The Southwest will struggle with a near-open war as Mexico tries to take it back.
The Southeast will become an open pipeline for drugs and Florida will become a mecca for all things self-indulgent and weird.
The northwest will turn into itself, navel-gazing in the fog and rain.
The northeast will decay into a crumbling hell of half-deserted cities, with citizens fighting to live against the highest odds.
Zombies will roam the land, eating everyone who lets their guard down for even a moment.
Wait, that's already happening.
Except the zombies, thank god. Hate those guys.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at January 23, 2013 12:14 PM
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