One Trillion A Year?

Change we can believe in?

Where?

This is Obama's idea of "change":

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama says the nation probably faces huge deficits for years to come, but heavy spending is needed now to spur the economy. Obama said Tuesday the deficit appears on track to hit $1 trillion soon. Speaking to reporters after meeting with top economic aides, Obama said: "Potentially we've got trillion-dollar deficits for years to come, even with the economic recovery that we are working on."

Well, at least when people talk about Democrats being huge deficit spenders they're not kidding.

I don't know where Obama thinks he's going to get the money from.  Bloomberg had this to say:

"Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi he favors a price tag of about $775 billion for the U.S. economic stimulus plan, a Democratic aide said.

....

“We have to act now to address this crisis and break the momentum of the recession, or the next few years could be dramatically worse,” Obama told reporters after a separate meeting with top economic advisers. He plans to deliver a speech on the economy on Jan. 8.

The plan would aim to boost consumer demand by providing tax breaks worth $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples. The change would come by altering tax-withholding rules so workers would see an immediate increase in their take-home pay."

Break the momentum of the recession?

Mr. Obama, with all due respect, would you please stop lying?

See, I know full well that you're not one of the 99% of America that is too stupid (or simply uneducated) to understand exponents.  And I certainly hope Michelle isn't, seeing as she has an advanced degree.

See, government caused this mess.  That's right.  It enabled people like Madoff, it conspired with the lenders, including Fannie and Freddie (the revolving door in DC with those two was not only incestuous it was outrageous and feckless besides) to pump asset values in a puerile attempt to prevent the recession in 2000 from working off credit excess and then to put a nice cherry on top of it government put in American's heads that they should just "go out and shop" after a terrorist attack - whether we had any money or not.

As a consequence what was a fairly serious recession that had to be suffered in 2000 was "kicked down the road" and due to the power of exponents has now turned into something far worse.

The "far worse" isn't an accident, it isn't a coincidence, and it isn't a part of the "natural business cycle."  It was caused by the direct actions of government, including yours as a Senator.

I expected more from you, even though knowing you're a politician, my expectations were somewhat tempered.  After all, we know that politicians are the easiest to read in terms of honesty any time their lips are moving: they're lying.

You have two daughters sir. 

Exactly what sort of nation are you going to leave for them in four years?

Will it be one that has taken the necessary pain but is on the way to recovery, or are you willing to risk the implosion of not only our economy but our political system as well?

"Kick the can" isn't going to work any more; the can is full of cement and you don't have any steel-toed boots.  Oh I know, you think it will be fine - so say your "advisers" and "cabinet members", all of whom were personally involved in creating the mess.  There's no particular reason to believe that someone who's been wrong for the last ten years in every single instance would be wrong today, is there?  Naw, they must have it right this time.  Whether its Geithner, Summers or Bernanke they all have just hit the nail on the head about this mess, right?  They saw it coming in 2005, 2006 and 2007, just like people such as myself, yes?  They told the American People that housing was in an unsustainable bubble that they created, yes? They urged prosecution of crooked lenders, Realtors and appraisers?  They acted on the multiple written warnings about the Madoff Ponzi Scheme, calling for Special Prosecutors?  They looked into Goldman's knowledge and Paulson's potential complicity - after all, Goldman Sachs is reported to have effectively blackballed Madoff's firm - and once Paulson came to Washington he directed Treasury and other regulators to do a full investigation on Madoff, right?  Treasury didn't give any TARP money to banks that were in raw violation of FDIC and other regulatory standards with regards to exposure to commercial real estate loans either - they'd never do something like that, covering up the malfeasance of other regulatory agencies, right?

These people all have absolutely clean hands and are GREAT prognosticators of the future of our economy, with a proven track record of accurate forecasts and effective intervention, yes?

Or wait - that's in an alternative universe.  Meanwhile back here on Earth....

We've already promised to spend $7 trillion we don't have - that's a 70% increase in our national debt, and there's no way to know how much The Federal Reserve is adding to that "off balance sheet" through their sham transactions.  You've said exactly nothing about the culture of fraud and theft in Washington DC, say much less on Wall Street.  You've not promised to lock up one banker or mortgage broker. 

I understand entirely - as a former Senator your hands aren't exactly clean in this regard, Mr. President-elect, are they?  Certainly not - you supported the EESA, and in fact today Barney Fife, er, Frank was out saying "you supported his views" on the release of the second half of that money, which just like the first will get sucked into a black hole.

Yet another millstone around your daughter's necks.  What's their share of the debt up to now Mr. Obama?  Its hard to know with all the game-playing the government has done with it's balance sheet, but I bet its broken six figures.

You may think the American people are stupid, and you're probably right.  

Most of America in fact is, although I am doing my level damnedest to fix that.

But I'm very sure the Chinese aren't, and neither are the Japanese.  See, they teach math in their schools, and you have to actually be awake in class to get a diploma in either of those nations, unlike here in the United States.

You know, all those folks who you absolutely must have in your pocket in order to pull something like this off?

If we're lucky you will get an ugly lesson via the bond market, just as Bill Clinton did when he had Hillary meeting in secret to blow hundreds of billions of dollars socializing the Health Care system, and a full stop will be put to this insanity before even more damage is done.

Perhaps then you'll quit listening to Moe, Larry and Curly in your new Cabinet and on The Hill who got us into this mess in the first place, all believing they could cheat the laws of mathematics.  Drill a hole in the bottom of the boat and let the water out.  Works great I hear.

No, I don't believe you'll do the right thing Mr. Obama.  In fact, I'm quite sure you mean what you said about blowing trillions of dollars and hosing your own kids (after all, you are a politician), which means that I will be looking very much forward to the bond market's reaction.

If the bond market fails to stop you, I will do the next best thing - pray for our nation.  God knows our ship (we need to rename our nation "Titanic") is gonna need all the help The Good Lord is willing to provide with the fools we have in the wheelhouse.  Light those last two boilers Captain Smith, er, Obama, full steam ahead.

PS: If The Fed is "quantitatively easing" out the curve why is the 10 year up nearly a full half a percent in yield in the last three days?  That's a nearly twenty-five percent move.  Are you really sure Ben Bernanke has all this stuff under control?  While you're chatting with him you might ask him about that $500 billion he claimed he's going to buy of agencies, or whether he is "dissembling" about what is really going on.  Mebbe there's this little birdie that figured out that Fan/Fred needs to stop playing hedge fund, and that the real action isn't $500 billion, but rather a slight-of-hand game that really only prints a bill or two?  Naw, Ben would never lie to anyone, and especially not the public markets, right?

Just in case you forgot, you're playing "I bet my government" listening to these Stooges.

Bonne chance my friend; my wager goes with the mathematics and against the liars.  I've never had a losing bet on the math.