Change? "No we cannot". Pres. Obama's dismal performance and dreadful disappointments

As I write (19:30 hrs USA Eastern Time, 1st August 2011) the “Debt Ceiling Deal” has yet to reach a vote in the House or in the Senate.  I hope that either the House or the Senate will nix it.

It’s a ghastly fudge which fails to address the deepening chasm between the “haves” and the “have-nots” in the U.S.A.

It’s a ghastly fudge which postpones the deeper budgetary issues to “another day”.

It’s a ghastly fudge in which President Obama has abandoned his electoral promises of “Change – Yes we can” in favour of the voodoo economics of the Tea Party.

It’s a ghastly fudge designed to satisfy the International Monetary Fund and the ratings agencies (“Moodys” and “Standard and Poor’s”). (They are the masters now).

It’s a ghastly fudge which will do not one thing to:  

1. expand the U.S.A economy;
2. “create jobs”;
3. reduce the power of the international mega-corporations;
4. bring essential relief to the poorest of poor Americans.

I very much hope that either the House, or the Senate, or both will reject this fudge (even by means of a coalition of Tea Party Republicans and Progressive Democrats).

I am so greatly disappointed that President Barack Obama is betraying those of us who were naive enough to belief that he would work to bring about economic change for we, the “ordinary people”.

Comments

  1. Anonymous1 August 2011 at 21:43

    You're right. The Herbert Hoover/Andrew Mellon approach didn't work for the Great Depression and it certainly won't work now. You don't fix a liquidity trap and depressed aggregate demand with fiscal contraction. They're just creating more misery, mostly for those who are already hurting.
    I'm not sure how Obama expects to get re-elected now that he's helped the tea partiers put a poor economy back into the dumpster.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pat2 August 2011 at 11:24

    I was mugged in a dark parking lot by 2 men with a gun. I gave them my money. I gave them my money to prevent their shooting me. It's easier to feel bad about getting mugged than to feel grateful I survived--the poorer for it--but something like that has just occurred in D.C.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more