Trap

From the late, lamented Cox and Forkum:

From The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights: Obama’s Backward Economics by Yaron Brook:

“Barack Obama claims that Americans can only stave off economic disaster by trillions in government spending--which means trillions of dollars taxed or borrowed to finance government make-work programs,” said Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. “Obama-nomics couldn’t be more wrong. “Prosperity requires that the government drastically cut government spending. That way, as much real capital as possible will remain in private hands, and be put to productive use by entrepreneurs to create valuable goods and services to sell at home and abroad. By taxing and inflating our wealth away, Obama will simply be creating more of the crushing debt that brought about the current crisis.”

From RealClearPolitics: The "Can-Do" Economy-Killer by Robert Tracinski.

Obama is offering the basic Roosevelt method or formula: buoyant American "can-do" optimism--in the service of the economy-killing agenda of a high-taxing, high-spending welfare and regulatory state. Get the people to love you for giving them a pep talk that lifts their spirits--even as you impose policies that dash their hopes.

If Obama is identical to FDR in his basic method, all we can hope that he does not achieve the same result: another ten years of economic collapse.

From Capitalism Magazine: Obama's Plans Will 'Work' -- To Breed Servile Dependence by Richard Salsman.

Oddly, these [conservative] “critics” [of Obama's economic policies] bestow undeserved compliments on their political opponents – and thus provide them with crucial political cover. By implicitly praising their enemy’s underlying motives, these critics effectively shield them from justified criticism. The critics who argue this way – including Rush Limbaugh – unwittingly carry water for President Obama. By insisting the schemes “won’t work,” the “critics” mean they won’t work to grow the economy – won’t revive the stock market – won’t fix the banks – won’t attract capitalists on strike – won’t bolster job creation – and won’t lift the poor out of poverty. Well, all that’s true, but it’s false to assume the Obama administration actually wants to achieve these things.

In fact, it wants no such thing.

It has other ideas -- a wholly opposite aim.

Besides a desire for re-election, shared by all politicians, at root the Obama Administration wants individuals and firms to become more dependent on government. That requires not merely a more intensive redistribution of wealth to the needy (whether needy people or needy firms), but also programs and plans that might proliferate the ranks of the needy, even if that requires turning otherwise healthy people and firms into unhealthy, needy ones.

Alea iacta est.

The die is cast.