How's That "Hope and Change" Thingy Working Out for You?

As we ride into the third year of a misguided Presidency, lets take a brief look back at the last two years. Remember how people were so giddy back in 2008 about the possibility that here was a man who promised us a "chicken in every pot" and a new era in American politics where transparency would be the watch word and government would be in the sunshine under the blue skies that we all yearned for? Now my next question should be obvious. What the heck really happened? We wanted blue skies and got what instead? My view is we got the same old, same old only it was compounded by a novice who didn't, and still doesn't, know anything about leadership. It's hard to be a leader because a true leader "leads from the front" and not from a distance where the rubber is meeting the proverbial road.

Lets take a look at a memorable video for a minute during a campaign swing where these thoughts were captured on tape. There was a whole lot of sizzle selling going on and some people bit the hook and bit it hard. In her eyes the freebies were about to flow and she was ecstatic, as the video plainly shows. The trouble with freebies is that they aren't really free, someone is paying the tab.

Some people were euphoric but not this writer. I was skeptical having been involved in voting and analyzing politicians for around four decades. Most of them appear to be career criminals who somewhere along the line decided to make a career of perpetrating political crimes as their vocation in life. In his case, Obama had no discernible record that I could research which didn't exactly evoke giddiness in this writer.

This is a look at life as it has transpired since his actual inauguration. The reality of the situation sinks in faster with some people and not at all with the naive I am coming to believe. One thing I have learned over the years is that we can't just go to the polls then dis-involve ourselves with what these elected officials are doing. You have to admit that way too many of them, once they are there, think they know what is best for the American people more than we ourselves know. We're just the ignorant masses after an election. Yep. We are sometimes ignorant enough to elect Bozo's to lead the circus.

There is no free chicken in every pot. Were you expecting one? Have the basic staples in life become more, or less, affordable during the past two years? What was the price of gasolne when The Smirkster took office in January of 2009? Don't remember? It was $1.81 a gallon and we thought that was high. As of mid-March, the average price has soared to $3,57 a gallon and it goes up a lot faster than it comes down. Food prices have been escalating though the claim is that inflation is flat. I reckon it may be if you live in a bubble where you don't have to do the grocery shopping. Back to the energy issue.

I lived through the gas crisis in the 70's when the Arab nations turned off the spigot and it wasn't a pretty picture. There has been nothing but lip service paid to our energy dependence other than the creation of the tits on the bull that I fondly call The Department Of Energy - a creation of another progressive named Jimmie Carter. So, in the ensuing two years since his anointment, what has Obama done to limit the rise of oil and gasoline prices (scratches head)? Not much huh? The gulf oil spill was unfortunate but his moratorium on drilling in our own waters is even more unfortunate. He has failed to support oil production in ANWR and this further diminishes our ability to pump home grown gasoline and other products that are petroleum based. Don't lose sight of the fact, my fellow Americans, that the guy is a closet tree hugger himself and that is one of his special interest groups.

Touch now on the unemployment issue that is niggling the nation. When lonesome George left office the rate was 7.3% which is too high I have to admit. From that point it has gotten worse even with Smirky having the "benefit (?)" of both houses of Congress being under his control. It has risen to as high as 10.1% and remained above 9.5% from July 2009 through November of 2010. I'm being factual here and not pulling numbers out of the hat if you've been following the trend. What was his answer to this crisis? Something I now refer to as The Stimupork Bill, which was a disaster of an idea from an economic perspective. It's called spending money we don't really have in the first place.

The government isn't in the private enterprise business folks, nor should it be. When the government tries to stimulate the economy it seems to have an inverse effect. I learned that in many an economics class in college. Did you see how the economy surged forward? If you did, please explain where. What we have really seen is a tremendous surge in the deficit to the tune of another 3 trillion dollars in a very short amount of time. We can't keep doing this folks. Run your household on this type of theory and see where you end up - a bankruptcy court. I happen to be a small business owner and what I have been experiencing since he took office isn't exactly a surge in consumer confidence where they aren't counting every penny they have.

Yikes! Next up are foreclosures Remember how old Peggy thought Smirksalot was going to pay her mortgage for her? I really can't believe that someone can be that stupid, but they're out here among us. I wonder if she has become a foreclosure statistic since that video hit the airwaves? In 2009, we hit a record of 2,827,674 foreclosures and it hit a new all time high of 2,872,892 in 2010. In short, 5.7 million Americans have lost their homes so far during his tenure. A stark reality but reality none-the-less. As one astute writer put it, "At least they're not up late at night anymore worrying about how to pay their mortgage payment."

My last issue in this rant is my being promised "transparency" and not seeing anything close to it. The Smirkster made this promise and I quote, "When there's a bill that ends up on my desk, as President, you the public, will have five days to look on line to find out what's in it before I sign it." Has that been the truth? Is that a reality? Fast forward to former Speaker Pelosi's outrageous statement concerning the health care bill "We have to pass the bill so we can find out what's in it." Holy friggin smokes! Is that any way to run the federal government? How transparent is that? What we experienced, and probably will continue to experience, is another promise reneged on by Obama.

So back to my original question. How's that "hope and change" thingy going for you? I don't care if you don't want to be honest with me. What is important is that you be honest with yourself as you answer that question. Are you better off than you were prior to his ascendancy to the highest office in the land? Is the deficit under control after all the runaway spending we have witnessed? Is there an end in sight or just more rhethoric about mirages in the coming blue sky?

There should be a lesson in all of this for everyone. It is a lesson my mother used to emphasize to me bless her heart and rest her soul. Maybe Obama's mother was on a different sheet of music. The lesson you ask? "Don't make promises you can't keep" is what she told me. They have a tendency to come back and bite you in your froggy, little behind.

As Always,

The Frog Prince