If President Obama carries on like this, he will be a lame duck

Democracy and Power 105:  The Politician Seeks Power

The desire to rule is the mother of heresies.  – St. John Chrysostom

If President Obama carries on like this, he will turn into a lame duck

The president hasn’t grown into the job – all that’s needed to beat him is a serious Republican, says Simon Heffer in New York.

Simon Heffer of the Daily Telegraph of England finds President Obama and his administration interested in their philosophical agenda at the expense of good governance.  He writes:

This immediate proof of mismanagement adds to the cumulative feeling on so many other fronts that Mr. Obama and his team simply don’t understand governance.  Last month Ben Benanke, the chairman of the Fed, warned America that without more care being taken it could have a Greece-style debt problem.   The president seemed to regard this warning as so self-evidently absurd that he quickly asked Congress for another $50 billion for various social projects.   Last week, benefits for the long-term unemployed were extended for another six months at a cost of $34 billion.  The health care programme is forecast to cost at least $863 billion.   The total deficit this year is to be $1.47 trillion.  America’s debt is likely to be $18.5 trillion by 2020, though it will be so low as that only if growth is maintained at 4 per cent: it is certainly 3 per cent, and rocky. 

Ignoring the need for economic stability on which investors, business and all Americans can make predictable decisions, Obama gave favors to unions, local governments and political cronies.  Again, Heffer says:

…the $787 billion stimulus programme last year, much of which was sucked inot America’s corrupt and inefficient local government system, or did favours fo congressment and senators, or provided wonderful pay days for trade unionists, or in some cases all three at once.  The President sought the stimulus on the ground that it would stop unemployment rising above 8 per cent; so that has been an expensive failure.   All Mr. Obama appears to have done is wave the money goodbye.  Last week, trying not to sound provoked, Mr. Bernanke announced that there was “unusual uncertainty” about economic recovery.  The dollar fell against strerling and event the euro. 

The Democracy and Power lesson 105:

In America, a politician intentionally selects to enter politics.  He or she seeks power in the name of the public good, but predominately they seek power.   When a person enters Congress or the Presidency, the seek to use the coercive power of government. 

President Obama sought and became President with an agenda: universal healthcare, increased enironmental regulations, alternative energy production and probably a value added tax (VAT).  He has used the enormous power of the Presidency to achieve some of his agenda.  Unfortunately, good governance, providing a stable and predictable legal order on which citizens can make reasonable decisions on investing their time, energy and money is ignored, at the  detriment of the American economy and personal freedom.