Dear Diary

President Obama is going to sign his Stimulus Bill tomorrow, the economy of the United States has not yet reached bottom but the good news is that it is raining in L.A. The word “socialism” is the “hot potato” these days and is tossed around from FOX to CNN, over to Comedy Central then to the Republicans, over to the Democrats and so on. The public could decide that the Republicans are not working with the president and are simply playing the role of spoilsport during a time of crisis. This means that if the Stimulus bill works or at least begins to show signs that it is starting to work the Republican Party will suffer a loss of public confidence. As a strategy, Republican leadership insists that they have effected some change in the bill but that they had a limited role hoping to mitigate the loss of public confidence that might occur.

On the other side, if the Stimulus Bill does not work by 2011 nor show any vital signs then as President Obama has already said “you’ll have another president.” What it also means is that the Democratic Party will lose public confidence as well. This is a high stakes game of politics these two parties are playing. An economic crisis does not strike the same kind of fear in the hearts of leadership like war with a formidable opponent. The Nazi and the Communist struck fear in the hearts of leadership and so when the public demanded that all sides work together, they did just that: work together. An economic crisis only means, for leadership, that if they cannot fix the problems our economy faces then they have their wealth to fall back on after leaving office.

Democrats point out members on the right side of politics as wanting "Obama to fail” and view that attitude as “un-American,” "childish,” “dangerous,” “uncooperative,” “divisive” and so on. What is interesting is that when former president Bush was in office the same accusations were directed at the left.
Each time one party wins the White House or a majority in the Senate, House or both these accusations shift course

For the sake of the country, both parties could have left out pork from the stimulus bill but they did not. In addition, for the sake of the country, both parties could have made the process appear friendlier, cooperative and caring but they did not and will claim they both tried. Third parties, left or right, emerge during times of crisis, economic, political or both. So the warning to both parties is to trek safely. Nobody wants the socialist hot potato because no one wants to be seen interfering with market forces during a depression or recession. Remember, the essence of a market economy is motivation. If people with money are not motivated to invest, money does not circulate. People are not motivated to invest if there is little return on there investment.

The economic Stimulus Bill should be accepted with open arms and excitement because if it fails a lot of people will suffer for a long time. If the economy fails to even show vital signs of a recovery then the Obama presidency should be held accountable but it is too early in the process to criticize. The biggest issue will be how to fix things considering that almost one trillion did not do the trick: what then? I, unlike President Obama, do feel that there exists a “silver bullet” but before firing off my round of ammunition lets see if Obama and his staff hit their mark first and wish them “God speed.” In the meantime I am very grateful that it is raining in L.A.