The Action Americans Need

In response to President Obama's piece in today's Washington Post, Bruce Fein:

President Obama's False Touting

President Barak Obama imitated the extravagant excesses of Wall Street in The Washington Post today. (And as Oscar Wilde observed, imitation is the highest form of flattery). Writing on the op-ed pages, President Obama forecast that his economic stimulus plan pending before Congress would yield an argosy of riches: "With it, we will create or save more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, provide immediate tax relief to 95% of American workers, ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike, and take steps to strengthen our country for years to come."

The President would be guilty of false touting if he were selling stock instead of legislation!

An SEC regulation provides: "The Commission believes that management must have the option to present in Commission filings its good faith assessment of a registrant's future performance. Management, however, must have a reasonable basis for such assessment. Although a history of operations or experience in projecting may be among the factors providing a basis for management's assessment, the Commission does not believe that a registrant always must have had such a history or experience in order to formulate projections with a reasonable basis."

Mr. Obama has no reasonable basis for believing that his more than $800 billion "stimulus" legislation will net 3 million jobs in two years. Indeed, all history and logic signal that Obama's spending saturnalia will net a loss in millions of jobs by closing credit to private businesses (from a need to finance unprecedented budget deficits), and by artificially elevating prices. That is the teaching of the New Deal. Mr. Obama has no reasonable basis for believing that his Gargantuan spending and deficits will ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike. Every current economic indicator points to the opposite as jobs become more precarious by the day and businesses and consumers save more to hedge against adversity. (That is why banks have saved bailout out money in lieu of loans). Mr. Obama also has no reasonable basis for believing that staggering deficits and bloated government spending will be "steps to strengthen our country for years to come." That is like projecting that the obese will be made healthier with a diet of chocolate sundaes. If Obama's Pollyanish projections commanded a crumb of plausibility, the stock market would be rocketing, not tumbling. Honesty is the coin of the realm. Obama is debasing the currency at a rapid rate.

Bruce Fein

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