Who Wins?

A chain-email proclaiming that Obama has created a program to give welfare recipients free cell phones and up to 70 free minutes per month hit my inbox this evening. Whenever something which arrives by email seems unbelievable, it's best to check it out at snopes.com [http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/cellphone.asp].

Whereas there is some truth to the free phone claim, the email deliberately paints a distorted and incomplete picture of the program for the sole purpose of fomenting vitriol and riling up partisan, knee-jerk reactions. The legislation which established the decried phone assistance was passed long before Obama took office, and it's not specifically for welfare recipients. For example, Medicaid recipients also qualify.

Government largess and profligacy, whether at the hands of the liberals or conservatives (yes, each side tries to reward their constituency), fails the sniff test on its own and doesn't need half-truths and embellishments to reveal it as half-baked pork. It proclaims itself as such quite well without any help.

Distortions only play into the hands of the political opponents, as they can rightly point out the game-playing by the other side in an attempt to garner political capital. Those ploys never work - for either side. They only cause polarization and an unwillingness to have candid discussions or pursue bi-partisan solutions. Such shenanigans as seen in this disingenuous email guarantee that political dialog will degenerate into name-calling and he-said-she-said bickering.

When you can answer the question, "Who benefits by polarizing the right and the left so that they will never come together to work out real solutions?" then you will know who really is behind such ploys as this email. It wasn't written on behalf of conservatives or republicans. Nor was it written by a liberal or a democrat. The public is being manipulated to ensure that those in power behind the scenes stay in power, and that those with mega-wealth will always control the politics (and the wealth) of the republic. There is only one way to beat them at their game, and that is, don't play the game.

"The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics." -Thomas Sowell

Are You Feeling Disenfranchised?

The economy continues to get worse. The headlines give little cause for optimism, let alone hope. Didn't President Obama get elected because his platform was one of reform and hope? Why, then, am I not able to conjure up any enthusiasm for his pledges and programs?

There is a rumbling in grass-root America and it is growing ever louder. Many American are feeling disenchanted, dispirited, and disenfranchised. In the early days of this economic crisis, there were a predictable few malcontents who blogged about an approaching Armageddon. but in the last couple of weeks, this has been echoed in the main-stream media. Reputable TV journalists have recently started talking about class warfare and insurrection with no hint of hyperbole and no wink of irony.

I did not vote for President Obama, but neither did I despair when he was elected. In fact, in the first few days of his presidency, I started to feel hopeful and optimistic. These feelings, however, are now starting to fade and appear to have been misplaced. Instead of bold new programs we are getting bigger doses of the same old ones. Instead of an inspired bi-partisan stimulus package which would turn the economy around and engender a new optimism, we have been treated to ill-conceived programs and uni-partisan pork.

Obama has squandered his hard-won mandate and surrendered his political capital to an out-of-control democratic congress and the Queen of Pork, Nancy Pelosi. It's very clear who really has the power in Washington, and it is not Obama!

A financial analyst whom I greatly respect and admire, Mitch "Mish" Shedlock, had a wonderful post on his blog this morning which perfectly captured the betrayal I have been feeling. He says everything that I could hope to say on the subject. Read, Dear Mr. President, With All Due Respect... for some critical insights.

"Oft expectation fails, and most oft there

Where most it promises; and oft it hits

Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits."

--William Shakespeare