What should Obama do?

While Obama has talked a good game about universal health care and spreading the wealth and a number of other things, none of that is really possible right now. With what money is he going to expand Medicare? The economy is in shambles and the government is totally insolvent. There is a halfway decent chance that we will default on Social Security, and there's a halfway decent chance that states around the country may default on their pension programs. So how, exactly, will we also be able to afford all this "change" when that's pretty much all we have left: spare change.


So, my advice to Obama is to forget all this socialist nonsense he learned on the South Side and focus on the following:

1) Cut spending. By drastically reducing the size of the Federal Government we will be freeing up all sorts of capital that will then be available to private enterprises that provide goods and services that people want.

2) Cut taxes. While a complete overall of the tax system is in order (I would probably favor an income/sales tax split). A good start would be to get rid of those taxes that discourage savings (which we are in desperate need of): capital gains tax, corporate taxes, and estate taxes.

3) Reduce government regulation and interference in the economy. It costs money to abide by legislation, getting rid of unproductive legislation and regulations are a great way to streamline the economy.

4) Sign more free trade agreements. We import more than we export, and that includes raw materials to be used in the production of finished goods in the U.S. Tariff's benefit labor unions with established contracts at the expense of employment and the standard of living of the rest of the country.

Will President Elect Obama follow any of this advice? I'm not sure. While it seems unlikely that a Democratic President, Senate, and House of Representatives would entertain cutting spending and cutting taxes, it's not out of the realm of possibility. For all the hot rhetoric coming from the Democratic Party these past 8 years, how much of it was really honest, and how much of it was stalling so that they could pass the same measure with a different name once they took control so that they could take credit for it? That's the reality of the two-party system. They call a free trade agreement a travesty against the American work force when "W" presents it, then they call it genius when Obama presents it. They say that Social Security is bankrupt, then they say it's fine. They say we don't have enough troops, then they say more troops is an escalation. It's not as much about the policy as it is who is in charge.

So, who knows what will happen? I can only say this: those that intentionally run the country into the ground just so they can take credit for passing the same measures to fix the country they once opposed deserve a special place in hell. That being said, I will make every effort to put aside my general disgust for the Democratic Party and get behind Obama & Co if they propose any legislation that I think will promote greater freedom and prosperity in this nation or the world.