As Barack Obama spreads his mantra of class-warfare across our great land, he is neglecting to mention the one group that has benefited from his Presidency: the 1/10th of 1 percent. This is a group made up of bureaucrats, office holders, unelected politicians, lobbyists, union leaders and other general beneficiaries of Federal largesse. They see themselves as the elite political class.
And what largesse it has been? No sooner did he take office, then Obama began to plan how he would expand government at all levels. He outsourced the stimulus proposals to Nancy Pelosi and Harry. His only provisos seemed to be: take care of our supporters and spend plenty of money. They did both.
Unions were rewarded with juicy infrastructure contracts, municipalities were awarded money to hire unionized police and firemen. Government employment at all levels grew by leaps and bounds. Seniors received lump-sum payments because there was no cost of living allowance from Social Security (A lack of inflation was the reason).
Lobbyists, who Obama promised never to allow into his administration, flooded the corridors of power in Washington. Campaign contributors, many unqualified for their positions, were appointed to key jobs in the administration. Are you surprised that a man who had little or no experience would appoint like-minded individuals?
Then came the flood of money that went to shaky start-up operations in the energy sector. It seemed that you only needed two qualifications. 
Either you needed to be an Obama bundler or you needed to be working on one of Obama’s favored technologies. Of course, having both distinctions doubled your chances of receiving boatloads of cash. They even referred to the White House as the ‘Bank of Washington’ in one email.
To expedite matters at the Department of Energy, an Obama bundler who happened to be a green energy investor was put in charge of the application process. His wife was a lawyer at the firm that represented many of these supplicants. Didn’t anyone ever hear of ‘conflict of interest’? I guess that’s only for Republicans.
The 1/10th of 1 Percent has latched on to the Federal teat like a new-born pig. They came to Washington with the false mantra of ‘Hope and Change’ but stayed for the endless stream of government money. Who cares if $.40 of every dollar is borrowed, we want ours, seems to be their battle cry. After almost 4 years, this group of 1/10th of 1 percenters has exhausted the Federal treasury without adding one whit to the national life.
Where does America stand today? Let’s see. Our national prestige has been severely damaged by the current occupant of the White House. The administration has fostered and tolerated a culture of political corruption. No department or agency seems immune. (You can check it out here, here, here and numerous posts on the GSA scandal) Our national defense is in danger of being compromised. And the United States Senate has not passed a budget in over three years.
Meanwhile, the economy is worse now than it was when Obama was inaugurated. Today, unemployment is at 8.3% while underemployment is at least that or more. In an effort to spin this to their benefit, Team Obama has attempted to talk up the slightly higher job growth number. Of course, all of this is done without the dreaded words “seasonally adjusted”. Expect today’s number to be revised downward as the past several months’ numbers have been.
As far as Obama is concerned, the most important thing is that he has trumpeted his mantra that the government is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-giving. As long as citizens believe in his entitlement society, he thinks that he can win. Once they realize the trade-offs in terms of freedom, higher taxes and lowered expectations, expect him to be given the bum’s rush.
Let me leave you with two quotes from that famous American philosopher, Yogi Berra:
“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going because you might not get there.”
“We made too many wrong mistakes.”
As you ponder the meaning of these two quotes of twisted logic, decide if you want to live in a different American than the one you lived in ten years ago.
