Class Warfare won't stimulate spending or hiring

President Obama continues to prove that hope and change won't come from him any time soon. As he tours the country selling his pork spending plan, he seems more intent on scaring poor and middle class citizens than anything else. He has told us that if we don't enact this legislation we may never recover. He has told us that any plans Republicans have are moot because the election decided everything. Using that belief we should have had a dividend tax rate of zero after the Bush tax cuts of 2003. Yes that was his preferred rate. Didn't happen did it? The Democrats didn't believe that his election settled the matter. They shouldn't have, we need competition of ideas, even when they are tired old failed ideas like government spending stimulating an economy as Democrats believe.

President Obama in my opinion is showing his inexperience. He is in permanent campaign mode. That makes sense since the only real governing he did was in the Illinois state Senate where when tricky issue came up he voted 'Present'. He needs to understand that he is the President and what he says has an effect. When he consistently tells us we can't be trusted with our own money people simply will not take risk. When there is reduced chance of recouping risk in investing they will act on safe investments only. People consistently putting money in government bonds cannot stimulate the economy. It has never worked. Like it or not we need a vital and expanding private sector. If the leader of our nation tells us we cannot succeed without the nanny state saying so, we will not choose risky ventures. This is done through actions and not through words.

Demonizing the rich and business will also not cause the economy to expand. Whether we like it or not the rich create the majority of jobs. This is not arguable. I have written it so many times, but rich people are not harmed by higher incremental tax rates. They simply find safer but less profitable places to invest. What the end game of this is amounts to less poor and middle class people finding jobs in new enterprises.

A couple of recent examples, he has chastised TARP recipients for having meetings in Las Vegas and purchasing private jets. While I don't think these expenses were the smartest in trying times, these events do stimulate the economy. Union workers build these airplanes. Rich people don't work fueling airplanes. Middle class people do. Rich people don't staff Vegas hotels. Middle class people do. Rich people don't serve as flight attendants on airplanes. Middle class people do. I cannot begin to make a judgement as to whether the plane is a good investment, but without reviewing a cost benefit analysis neither can President Obama. He can sure use it to make you think someone powerful is ripping you off. That way he can continue to sell his liberal group payoff plan and convince you he is the knight in shining honor to the dragons of the business world. It is a cheap stunt and beneath the President of the United States. To a President who has never had to lead, it is business as usual. President Obama has capped corporate bonuses at $500,000 for TARP recipients. On the surface I have no problem with these caps since they are belly of the bar of the government trough. I think we can expand this policy though. University president feel no shame about accepting mult-million dollar salaries despite receiving government money. CEO's of government contractors are not forced into the Obama price control scam, despite accepting government money. Naturally this example is a bit of tongue in cheek. The President should not have anything to say about what anyone makes. This is a prescription for disaster. Government should never be in the business of choosing winners and losers. President Obama needs to learn this, but judging by his first three weeks in office, will not. Hope and change will have to wait while he solidifies his rule over his subjects, whether loyal or not.