Obama: A Financial Times exclusive interview
ft.com
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It's impossible to hold a reasoned discussion with someone who is hasty to judgement, and cherry-picking his facts.
"He has very, very little time to set a new course -- and so far he seems incapable of doing so."
He has as much time as foreign inflows will give him. When and if they stop, he will (and must) change direction.
The statement that "he seems incapable" of change reflects your limited perceptions - not the facts. The statement is wrong: factually incorrect, and if you don't know it, you should. But then, you're not interested in a rational discussion - you prefer an online hatchet job.
You say "I could hardly wait to see the backside of Bush."
Whether or not you like George Bush is irrelevant. Who cares? What's important is that you acknowledge the facts: when the US began the steepest portion of its downhill slide and put itself on a ruinous debt-laden course, Obama was not in office.
You say it's Obama's job to abandon his promises and programs in order to resolve problems he didn't create. You say his spending can't be supported - without acknowledging that trillions of that spending was already invoked by the previous administration.
Finally, you either don't understand or intentionally ignore the fact that Obama's spending is not the biggest part of the debt.
By far the largest part of future debt is entitlement programs.
The US was already headed for a brick wall long before Obama was elected. Obama's spending hasn't changed a thing.
I'll post the charts AGAIN:
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The ONLY hope is that Obama can change the costs of entitlement programs, and increase the efficiency of the US economy. If that isn't done NOW, it will be too late.
That means massive investments in infrastructure, and changing the face of the US economy.
But his predecessors left him with nothing but trillions in debt, and at the same time, he's handcuffed by:
- a country in a nosedive
- an economy badly in need of stimulus
- millions on unemployment
- a big drop in government revenues
- a demographic time bomb in an aging population...
... and much more.
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Nobody's saying his gamble will pay off - but it's the ONLY chance for the US economy. The extra indebtedness won't make a bit of difference.
If it fails, then the US will face the same problem it faced since federal funding for programs was gutted by the last administration - it will run into a brick wall.
You say Obama shouldn't spend.
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I say that if he doesn't, the US is doomed. Whether or not you can understand that makes no difference - other people do.
Regards,
Jim |
