Why Americans are Skeptical of Obama-Nomics

The Associated Press can't figure out why people are so skeptical of President Obama's Pork-a-Palooza stimulus efforts.

WASHINGTON (AP) - In sheer size, the economic measures announced by President Barack Obama to address "a crisis unlike we've ever known" are remarkable, rivaling and in many cases dwarfing the New Deal programs that Franklin D. Roosevelt famously created to battle the Great Depression.

Winning approval was a political tour-de-force for the new administration.

Yet gloom and uncertainty persist about the plan's ability to deliver a cure for the economy's severe ailments.

Stocks plunged to six-year lows after the burst of bill signings, bailout announcements and presidential pledges.

And polls show Americans are increasingly worried about losing jobs and not having enough money to pay their bills.

AP writer Tom Raum tries to spin the negative mood of the public as the result of just too much bad news coming too quickly. Sorry, Tom, but the American people aren't completely stupid. Some of us actually have read a little history and understand economics and the historical strength of the American economic system a lot better than apparently you do.

Maybe the mood is sour because the Dow Jones Industrials have dropped more since The One's election than they did during the September-October when Democrats used the bad economic news to bash John McCain and the Republicans.

On Election Day 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9,625.

On Inauguration Day 2009, the DJIA closed at 7,949.09.

The Dow was down just over 100 points today to close at 7,365.67. Total losses since Election Day: 2,260, or 23%. Seven percent of that in the 28 days since Obama was sworn in.

Truly an achievement of FDR proportions, if you understand how Roosevelt put the word "Great" in front of the Depression of the '30s.

There is little investor confidence in the markets because there is great uncertainty. In recent years a majority of Americans became investors, some directly and others indirectly through retirement plans. These people who now find their 401(k) has turned into a 201(k) -- yes, it's a stolen joke -- are not happy about it, but they no exactly why it has happened.

The idea that we have to "do something" even if it means reversing course every few weeks, no matter which stock gets rocked, is anathema to sound economic growth.

Today bank stocks were rocked (again) when U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the same Chris Dodd of the favorite son Countrywide sweetheart loan scandal, gave a TV interview and said it might be necessary to "temporarily" nationalize a few big banks. Citigroup and Bank of America promptly dropped to new lows, and there is speculation that neither bank will now live to see May. Thanks for being responsible, Sen. Dodd. Let's not even begin to examine the non sequitor of temporary nationalization.

The Associated Press, being the shills that they are for a happy Obama presidency, want us to believe that all we have to fear is fear itself, when the truth is that the American people are waking up to the truth that we should fear progressive lawmakers and executives who want to expand government at the expense of the free market system.

On a related note, our East Texas comrade George Ure (UrbanSurvival.com) points out that if you factor in for inflation, we have just crossed the threshold of a 50 percent drop of the DJIA since its peak of 14,066.01 on October 1, 2007.

Happy roller coaster ride! Oh, and Happy Birthday, George!