A Hollywood Republican

This blog is for an open discussion on politics. My views will be to the right as will be most of the posters. But, we are willing to post alternative viewpoints as lons as they are well thought out. I started this in response to the Obama election and will continue it as long as it feeds a need.

Aug 20, 2009

Big Government, Big Mistake

The biggest success of the Spending Bill”, oops “Stimulus Bill,” is ending. Yup, that is right; “Cash for Clunkers” is going away on Monday. Why? Because it was such a big success, the government ran out of money for the program not once, but twice. This time President Obama is shutting it down. No more money. It is finished. The official spin is that is brought the automobile industry back from destruction. Or, did it?

In my opinion, it is just another example of a government program that did not work contrary to what I said in a prior column. To begin with, the government mistook the popularity of the program and only allocated one billion dollars of stimulus money to the bill. That money ran out in less than two weeks. Then, Congress immediately allocated another two billion dollars. That money is running out in less than four weeks. Another Big Government miscalculation!

But, the problem with “Cash for Clunkers” is even deeper than that. Automobile dealers started threatening this week to stop utilizing the program because they were not getting the government money. They were selling cars under the program and waiting for the check to show up. Some dealers have not gotten any money at all yet. So, they threatened to stop using the program. Fearing another publicity debacle, a few days later, the President ended the program. Smells fishy right? Maybe, the dealers will be waiting a long time for the money, and the government wants to stop the bleeding because it cannot handle the demand and does not want the situation to worsen.

Further, I have been told that there are people in Southern California that are buying crappy cars for $500.00, taking them to a dealer and leaving with a new car. The only problem is that the new car is sometimes heading south of the border. No payments to be ever made. And, no repossession, because the cars are gone. Really smart; right? Another carefully thought out government plan! The taxpayers are now paying for cars that may not get paid for or kept in America. Big Government, Big Mistake!

“Cash for Clunkers” is just another example of a long list of government failures. It seems that every time the government gets involved in anything domestic, it fails. The first example shall be Social Security. To most people this is the most successful of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Well, it is bankrupt and many people in my age group believe they will never see a dime from any money they have contributed to the program.

From its conception, Social Security has been problem filled. Congress has tried to save it countless times and it still goes broke every few years. I remember during the Reagan administration, we were promised that Social Security was fundamentally sound after another tax hike to keep it funded. How many times have we heard this same story since then? And, again Social Security is broke. Big Government, Big Mistake!

Do we even need to talk about the great success of Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society?” Or, should I just say that most of the programs are no longer in existence and those that are, well, they are broke. Let us start with Medicaid and Medicare. Both parts of the Johnson plan and both are broken and broke.

The welfare programs of the Great Society have pretty much been eliminated. And, who eliminated or fixed them? A Democratic President that admitted they needed fixing. But, did he do it with a Democratic Congress? No, he did it with a Republican Congress. In summary, the Great Society is just another example of: Big Government, Big Mistake!

How about a few words now about the biggest government failure ever: the United States Postal Service. If there was ever an entity that needed to be privatized, this is it. Take it away from the government and it will immediately become a profitable and lean organization, instead of the nearly bankrupt mess that it is. Who can be proud about an organization that’s claim to fame in the last twenty years is coining the phrase, “Going Postal!” Big Government, Big Mistake!

So, why do we insist on creating more programs? Obamacare is the latest program on the table. I and my blogging partner Ira Schwartz have written ad nauseam about this pending social disaster. The people are openly rebelling against it. And yet, Congress does not get it. The Democratic Congress has stated within the last 24 hours that this bill is going to be rammed through even if it does not get one Republican vote; even if the Blue Dog Democrats oppose it; even if they must invoke Reconciliation in the Senate; and most of all, even if the majority of the country opposes it.

Barney Frank told his constituents at a town hall meeting this week that he did not even care what he was being asked about the health care bill. Obamacare was good for the country and it was going to happen. He did not even answer questions asked because he did not have respect for the people asking them. Nancy Pelosi does not care. Barbara Boxer does not care. Harry Reid does not care. President Obama does not care. It is going to happen. And, when it does, what will be the result: Big Government, Big Mistake!

Do everything to stop it for the reasons cited in prior columns and because it is bad for the country. Force the Democrats to come up with a bipartisan health care bill that the whole country can be happy with! We cannot afford one more, Big Government, Big Mistake!

© 2009 Frank T. DeMartini. Permission to copy will be freely granted upon request.

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8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Frank, you sound like the little boy who keeps crying wolf. After a while no one will listen. I just read an article yesterday stating that the majority of the people are for competition (oops, I meant the public option) rather than collusion of the insurance companies. Good for them!!!!

As for Barney Frank.....I applaud him for standing up to the idiots.

As for going it alone.....I applaud it!!!!! It's about time the dems showed some backbone. You can't force consensus.

August 21, 2009 at 2:45 AM  
Blogger Frank T. DeMartini said...

George: I don't know what article you read, but every major poll shows that more than 50% of the country are against the public option and a new major poll this morning came out saying that only 49% of the country feel that the President is doing the right thing on health care. It's the first time he's been below 50%. Plus, he's is beginning to even lose the left wing of his own party.

Further, the President's approval rating is way below 50% in Virginia, Indiana and North Carolina which were the three major Red stats he won. In fact, if the election were held today, he may not have won the election and that is after only six months.

Foreclosure rates are still at an all time high. And, six out of ten of people in foreclosure now are prime borrowers. It is not just the sub-primes. And, foreclosures are higher than they were 12 months ago. Obama's foreclosure aid is a complete disaster. I didn't even bother to write about that in the article. I had enough evidence without it.

Lastly, new unemployment claims in the last two weeks are back up over 550,000 per week after that one week drop to the 250,000 range which allowed the Administration to claim that the recession was over. What have you heard in the last two weeks? Nothing from the administration. They have been eerily quiet.

Based on the latest economic data, the Spending Bill is a complete failure.

So, I am not the boy crying wolf. I am just stating facts. Read HR 656. It is a lot shorter than HR3200 and tell me what you think after that.

August 21, 2009 at 6:13 AM  
Blogger Chris Volpe said...

Frank,

I think what you say about Healthcare bill is the way I feel and I think right. The way it is now it is going to bankrupt us. I think we need reform, just not that radical.

However, on the Clunkers side, I have said it before, I think it was a good plan. If for nothing else, it put money into the hands of people (Dealers, Salespeople) and helped sell cars (some non-Americans yes, but GM, Ford and Chrysler have all said it jumpstarted their sales as well).

Also, the Southern Cal story seems like an urban legend. You had to own the car for the past 12 months and it had to be continuously insured. I'm sure there are ways around it (like paying a guy with with a clunker $1,000 to bring his in) but that likely means the Dealer has to be in on it. A lot of downside for him, and not much up.

The government being slow to pay? That had to be expected as they are slow at everything (imagine being a Dr. waiting to get your monthly government check). I'm not sure what was expected on that front.

August 21, 2009 at 10:48 AM  
Anonymous Steve said...

George, I think you're misguided in applauding Barney Frank for anything. The guy is a raging idiot - it's very easy to find the footage from the Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac investigation hearings where Barney Frank is vigorously arguing that there is nothing wrong with Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, their lending principles are sound, and that there's no danger looming in the housing market. And that was in the prime danger years of 2003-2006. The man obviously doesn't have even the most basic understanding of finance or economics (most reputable economists had been sounding the alarm for years by the time those hearings were held). People like Barney Frank helped destroy our country's economy, and now he wants to dismiss everyone who disagrees with him because he assumes that he's so much smarter and wiser than an average U.S. Citizen. The fact is, he has a long proven record of being horribly wrong on important issues, and the so-called "idiots" that he "stood up to" are simply being smart democratic citizens by not blindly trusting leaders who have proven that they have no discernable ability to make intelligent, informed decisions.

August 21, 2009 at 2:43 PM  
Blogger AskMieke said...

I think you're right on the mark and I'm just thrilled that the American populace is waking up. I have no idea what George is drinking (kool-aid), but I would love to see BHO try to ram this through with a full public health care option.

If you thought Americans were angry now, wait til congress rolls over on something like this.

August 21, 2009 at 10:18 PM  
Anonymous Deborah said...

Once again an interesting and thought-provoking article. Bravo!! If you will forgive me I'd like to offer my slant on what you say which does contain one or two counterpoints. Overall I agree with most of what you say. One place I differ is: the cash for clunkers program was obviously a success and the only reason it was stopped one week before it was intended to end is simply because they ran out of money. Were there some who tried to benefit by going around the system? Tell me one time when there isn't. Show me a good beneficial program, government or otherwise and I'll show you hundreds of people in basements somewhere feverishly trying to devise a way to capitalize on it. That's not new, for some IT'S THE AMERICAN WAY!!
To your point of the recovery plan or the Health Care Reform initiative, those are a horse of a different color. To some degree I feel the recovery plan was necessary if not poorly executed and perhaps flawed in it's execution or distribution of funds. There are already millions of those dollars being paid back by the recipients in the financial world and I believe we will continue to see that trend. Regarding the "stimulus" portion which was directed towards job growth and infrastructure repairs, we were told from the starting gate those programs would be implemented over time. None of what has happened to date regarding that initiative is much of a departure from initial predictions except I am surprised some of the loans are being paid back so quickly.
Now, on the Health Care Reform option. I am of the opinion that this one issue has caused so much division and anger amongst the populace that it is not worth the effort that is being wasted on it. We already know that the Insurance and Hospital industry have spread so much misinformation and rhetoric that seniors actually think they are going to have the plug pulled on them someday! How preposterous is that??? By the same token those same people don't believe our President is an actual citizen either which speaks to the vulnerability and naiveté' of them as a whole. I believe this administration took on something too large and is working too fast. I remain doubtful that anything which ends up coming out of committee will hold any kind of real benefit or effectiveness.
I don't buy your whole "this administration is out to destroy this country" theory. If it didn't happen over the last eight years, there's slim to none chance it will now. I do believe this man holds no malicious or otherwise self-serving designs towards our country and it's governing body. Nor do I believe he is headed towards dismantling or giving it all away. I believe that he is a good decent man who is enormously talented and really does hold all our best interests at heart. I know you probably disagree with me on this but hey! Look how much of a following George Bush had and look how well that turned out!! Sometimes not everything in DC has that diabolical, under-handed, behind closed doors slant to it. If we could eliminate half of the representatives who sold their souls long ago to special interests we might not be so skeptical of our leaders in the future. Unfortunately the American people aren't smart enough to make such bold changes so we will continue down the road we've always traveled being lied to and hoodwinked the whole way.
So, you see things your way and I'll continue to hold out hope for us all.

Deborah

August 22, 2009 at 9:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Randomly: Damn good blog Franky D. As noted by others, you're a bit off on the clunkers going south, though.

BARNEY FRANKS!! I'm not an east-coaster that loves to hate certain people or things, but this moron drives me postal. If the donkey-Dems had a brain they would shelf this guy.... in the freezer. He's not like the evil Hannibal character that we love to hate. I'm a relatively civil guy that would love to see someone punch this putz in the chops.

MR. PRESIDENT: my cars are fine, thank you. What I really need is a replacement for my clunker computer. I even promise to buy American. And after that... well, OK, first-things-first. Love your smoke-screen tactics of throwing $$$ to the unclean masses while you twist the very essence of the society that allows you to have a voice at all. Go live in a socialist country for awhile before trying your great experiment here. Walk that mile in those social-consciousness designed shoes before prescribing them to us. You are very much the adherent of the socialist motto: "Don't you ever think you're better than me," even if they are.

GEORGE: There really are wolves in the world, fairy tales are not their only domain. Wise up or learn to howl.

August 22, 2009 at 9:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HAHAHA!!!! Republican cry baby! Democrats run the country now, we'll take your retarded opinions under advisement.

September 3, 2009 at 3:03 PM  

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