Understanding the Obama Process: Beyond the Frustration

Obama is on a roll, like watching an avalanche roll towards you and having no ability to avoid it, the American people can watch Congressmen congratulate one another on capitol hill, or they can watch conservatives rail against the newest laws, or they can listen to state governments talk about how they will spend their billions in handouts or they can listen to states talk about how they will still have to make cutbacks, but one thing is certain...Americans are again starting to feel the reality of being left out of the process.

We knew it going in, after all, the affinity we felt with Obama as he spoke during his campaign didn't change the fact that we never get to speak directly with our own local representatives let alone our national representatives.

We knew it but it doesn't make it any easier.

Obama has now cast aside the "opinions" of those who voted him in and he's huddled in the game of politics that is shoving the next series of nonsensical justifications down our throats....for Obama, the answer is you wanted change, I'm bringing change.

Ah, but how easily he forgets the KIND of change we wanted. The new myths that for me are the most roiling...the constant reference to the wild spending programs as ACTION, warranted by our economic crisis as opposed to INACTION which was not an option.
What? Immediate steps to stop the millions if not billions spent and to be spent on citizen subsidized health benefit plans for federal employees whose ranks are going to expand under Obama would have been an action. Instead, we see Obama sidestepping these costs of the federal government with the grace of the politician he is while he tells all Americans how we're in it together and he throws billions out for technology to help medical providers and insurance companies with some vague promises of some future savings that should become evident sometime in his SECOND term.

President Obama, you are taking us for fools. ACTION would have included you making good on your campaign promises for health care NOW and short of that, continuing the citizen financed benefits packages for members of Congress and every other federal employee is a betrayal of those who voted you in.

The next myth that's being shoved down our throats: Every time people object to the misery to come from this new wild spending, Obama, the man who won't look backwards for any lessons of conduct and solution nor will he look backwards to recoup the losses from money piled on inappropriate receivers, nor will he look backwards and indict anyone from the Bush Administration nor will he look backwards and let us know whatever happened to that subpoena defying Karl Rove...suddenly, he's all about backwards, he and every one of his staff when facing a valid shortcoming, or misstep in the mass of new legislation reminds us that they "inherited" the problem.

President Obam, inheriting a problem does not give you an EasyPass to make it worse, that is ridiculous.

Myth three: Transparency: Giving us what we already have. We're listening to the transparency transparency that will allow us to track the expenditure of money being passed out to everyone but everyday citizens. Much of this information was already legally available to citizens under freedom of information, the breaking of those rules through secret memos and such does not mean that following those rules is a change unless we prosecute those who broke the rules to begin with.

We can now watch the money drain out of Federal handouts that will never reach us. Like a People Magazine report of how stars spend their money, we get to see how Obama spends ours...this is more insulting than showing shame in spending in ways that will not benefit those who are footing the bill.

Myth four: Obama will be able to admit his errors and correct them. There was a great question asked yesterday during the meeting of Congressmen with Geithner(and of course we've asked it here as well): With such a long horizon for let's try it and see (five to ten years) HOW WILL WE KNOW WHETHER THESE HANDOUTS ARE WORKING?
Geithner threw out the transparency myth (you'll see what's being spent), then he said when you see more people working you'll know it worked....

Such a long horizon for rating success or failure is absurd, it leaves the money as the newest tool of government to establish grounds for reelection and promises to bog us down with "modifications" of programs that fail, fail, fail, taking up more Congressional time to try to soften the blow of failures. Obama must put in hard tests for his billions and trillions. The first part of the TARP failed let's throw out more money? NO. Stop it until a reasonable program can be developed that provides for release from contractual obligations for enormous millions in pay UNTIL amounts borrowed are repaid. Infrastructure programs? And how will we ensure that illegals aren't the ones getting those dollars? This requires immediate and ongoing oversight.

Myth five: Act fast to save the country. So the old adage haste makes waste which is proving itself thus far in new handouts does not apply to Obama?

Ill thought legislation creates problems that are more difficult because they now require more legislation to undo. Trying to check things off a list of see, I did this, is a ridiculous exercise in isolated egoism which might make Obama feel like a success but worsens conditions for our country.

This is the process Obama has put before us. We are left with one option, speaking up, and noting fiascoes in the making and those which are already in the works and hopefully, our local representatives will respond.