econarchy

Michael Goodwin writes in the NY Daily News that Obama has a serious problem - a competence problem. And its not just him, but the entire Administration.

Not long ago, after a string of especially bad days for the Obama administration, a veteran Democratic pol approached me with a pained look on his face and asked, “Do you think they know what they’re doing?”

The question caught me off guard because the man is a well-known Obama supporter. As we talked, I quickly realized his asking suggested his own considerable doubts.

Yes, it’s early, but an eerily familiar feeling is spreading across party lines and seeping into the national conversation. It’s a nagging doubt about the competency of the White House.

I am sorry, but this is simple common sense to me. How can someone with no work experience be expected to be competent at the hardest job in the world? Why anyone is surprised about Obama’s incompetence to run this country is simply beyond understanding. I highly doubt that any Board of Directors of any Fortune 500 company would hire Obama to be their CEO, yet we elected him to run the nation?

Obama is incompetent; both in the objective meaning of the word as measured by his experience (or lack thereof) and the subjective meaning of the word as demonstrated by his absolute and abject failure to lead in a time of crisis.

The hypocrisy and downright stupidity coming out of Washington is deafening. After the story broke about AIG paying $165 Million in bonuses to various Managers, all hell broke lose among the general public. And when the general public gets upset, frothing Washington bureaucrats cannot be far behind. Now the Obama Administration is seething with rage over the audacity of a business paying bonuses which a) they are legally obligated to pay, and which b) may incent top talent to actually stay at the dying company.

Here is a funny thought - maybe if the politicians that were so anxious to give our taxpayer dollars to these suffering companies would have actually, oh I don’t know, put some stipulations on the money before giving it out, they would have room to talk. But when you just give out free money with no strings attached to a company obligated to pay bonuses, you have no room for complaint.

Here is a brief overview of what is going on.

• AIG received $173 Billion in Federal bailout money.
• AIG is struggling to keep their good people from leaving the company.
• AIG has a legal commitment to pay $160 Million in bonuses promised to certain Managers long before ever receiving any bailout money.
• Washington wants them to ignore this commitment to their people, and not pay the bonuses. Apparently the politicians think that people work for free. Gee, I wonder why….

Here is my analysis on this issue. If Washington doesn’t want these private companies acting like private companies, they should stop giving them money and let them fail. But now that all taxpayers are invested (heavily) in the bailed out companies like AIG, we should want them to succeed. Washington should want them to succeed. If they don’t succeed, we lose the $173 Billion that we gave. Now here is what liberals never, ever, ever understand - no company will succeed without good people, and good people are expensive.

So when the liberals froth at the mouth and go into convulsions over these companies paying bonuses, then insist that bonuses be cut back or cut out altogether, they are essentially signing the company’s death certificate. If AIG cannot pay to keep their top talent, the top talent will leave. The top people can ALWAYS find jobs, even in this economy. This goes not just for AIG, but for Bank of America, Citi, and all the others. Every week there is a news story about Washington’s anger over a bailed-out company giving bonuses, or going on a business trip, or advertising, or all of the other basic needs of any company hoping to succeed in a competitive and challenging market. No advertising? No bonuses? No corporate meetings? This is beginning to sound like a government office rather than a private business! Oh, wait….. maybe thats the point? To turn the US into Venezuela?

Kill the bonuses, lose the good people. Lose the good people, kill the company. Perhaps if Obama had any actual work experience in the business world he would understand this. Or maybe he understands and doesn’t care. When you appeal to the bottom rung of society, you are going to do what appeals to the bottom rung of society - and class warfare/hating the rich is the hot ticket right now.

Uhhhhhhhhh…… I seem to remember Bush saying that last year. Isn’t that what Obama mocked Bush and McCain for repeatedly during his campaign? I tell you what, Obama is a disgrace. He cannot think for himself. He is a mouthpiece for his advisers, which seem to be changing every day. Now I know why he needs his teleprompter with him 24×7. This guy doesn’t know what color the sky is unless someone tells him.

Obama starts off with “Hope”, then spreads fear and panic, and now is telling us to calm down. This is all within 4 months. What a douche.

Maybe Buffet and some of his other rich, elitist buddies told him he needs to start changing his tone so the stock market improves.

 WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is fundamentally sound despite the temporary “mess” it’s in, the White House said Sunday in the kind of upbeat assessment that Barack Obama had mocked as a presidential candidate.

Obama’s Democratic allies pleaded for patience with an administration hitting the two-month mark this week, while Republicans said the White House’s plans ignore small business and the immediate need to fix what ails the economy. After weeks projecting a dismal outlook on the economy, administration officials — led by the president himself in recent days — swung their rhetoric toward optimism in what became Wall Street’s best stretch since November.

During the fall campaign, Obama relentlessly criticized his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, for declaring, “The fundamentals of our economy are strong.” Obama’s team painted the veteran senator as out of touch and failing to grasp the challenges facing the country.

But on Sunday, that optimistic message came from economic adviser Christina Romer. When asked during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if the fundamentals of the economy were sound, she replied: “Of course they are sound.”

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