Richard Cohen is a fairly liberal columnist for The Washington Post . So consider that context when he writes:
"There is almost nothing the Obama administration does regarding terrorism that makes me feel safer."
Amazing. Even the country's left flank feels exposed.
Citing the administration's nutty plan to try 9-11 conspirators in a federal courtroom in Manhattan, Cohen writes that, "It is amazing that no one thought this through." Noting the administration's decision to give the Christmas Day bomber Miranda warnings and an American lawyer, Cohen writes that the terror suspect's subsequent silence "is a scream that something is wrong."
He's right. We used to try to get terrorists to talk -- which this editorial page maintains is still a good idea. Now, we're going out of our way to clam them up, which could be disastrous.
Is the Obama administration truly that incompetent?
Likewise, Mr. Obama's domestic policies almost seem intended to hurt the country. At a time of a tender recovery from the Great Recession, the administration wants to levy more and more taxes on those people and entities that create jobs and which will be key to growth and progress.
Worse still, Obama's budget unveiled this week will continue the suicidal spending and catastrophic debt that is seriously endangering the future viability of this country.
Making matters worse is the fact that most observers find the president's revenue projections -- predictions of how much money the federal government will be taking in over the next 10 years -- to be the work of science fiction.
In a New York Times article headlined "Deficits may alter U.S. politics and global power," David Sanger doesn't say it directly, but hints that American pre-eminence is about to end on Mr. Obama's watch. Sanger says the deficit numbers in Obama's budget are "stunning, for the way they may change American politics and American power.
"Unless miraculous growth, or miraculous political compromises, creates some unforeseen change over the next decade, there is virtually no room for new domestic initiatives for Mr. Obama or his successors. Beyond that lies the possibility that the United States could begin to suffer the same disease that has afflicted Japan over the past decade. As debt grew more rapidly than income, that country's influence around the world eroded.
"Or, as Mr. Obama's chief economic adviser, Lawrence H. Summers, used to ask before he entered government a year ago, 'How long can the world's biggest borrower remain the world's biggest power?'"
"In effect," says another writer at Tufts (University) Roundtable, "Obama's budget team is predicting a decade-long winning streak in which economic growth exceeds historical norms for 10 years in a row without a slowdown.
"If one assumes a more realistic projection for GDP growth, tax revenue projections fall far short of Obama's projections and deficits explode."
In other words, the country's economic outlook is even worse than the president's deficit-riddled budget indicates.
Even if the president's unrealistic revenue projections were to magically pour in to the national Treasury -- and assuming that his proposed tax increases don't cool the economy -- his spending plan will add another $8.5 trillion to the national debt in the next decade -- taking it to the $20 trillion mark.
If you actually wanted to destroy this country, you couldn't do much better than that.
Mr. Obama said in his State of the Union speech that, "I do not accept second place for the United States of America."
Nope. We'll be looking up at second place if he gets his way.
Even the GAO states that we are on a spending course that is unsustainable over time. In govspeak, that means that if we continue as we are, we are heading off the cliff into uncharted areas that we never thought we would ever venture. Nobody really knows all the consequences. IE: What would we do as a nation, if the world's confidence in the dollar gets low enough that they panic and want their investments paid off in full? IE: What would be do as a nation, if everyone stopped lending us the money to support our out of control economy? These and other questions are looming, and the outcome, while not clear, is absolutely dismal. The "S" word of course, is one that nobody will even whisper about, but it may come sooner than expected. Sacrifice. Only then we will see the true color of our nation's resolve.
We're going to have to give aid to American capitalism before long. Capitalism drives our economic engine, but we tax and control it in ways that do nothing but decrease its output and our wealth.
Obama has stated that he's a Marxist, a believer in one world government, a supporter of the U.N. mission and a believer in using the federal government to achieve these apparent goals. While he hasn't actually come out and endorsed the Clowart/Piven stratagy, he sure acts as though he does. His congress has just about recovered from the stunning "accident" in Massachusetts and are about to start increasing the deficit some more. I'm thinking, quack, waddle, feathers, bill, Clowart/Piven.
President Obama inherited a massive debt, two ongoing wars, the deepest recession since The Great Depression, and a financial crisis that threatened to turn The Great Recession into another Great Depression. It would have taken the wisdom of Solomon to solve these problems, and even Solomon may not have been able to do it in two presidential terms.
Barack Obama is no Solomon. He is an Establishment politician beholden to the interests of Wall Street who got mesmerized by the "experts" around him. Obama bailed out the banks but not the little guy. Obama caved to the national security hawks and escalated the war in Afghanistan and expanded the U.S. air war in Pakistan.
We now have an AfPak war in addition to the U.S. war in Iraq and the misguided war on terror. Today 3 U.S. soldiers were killed in Pakistan. Check out history. Foreign military misadventures have repeatedly doomed empires throughout the ages. Yes, American pre-eminence is ending. United States is in decline because of greed and corruption and because of militarism masquerading as defense.
Cain, you are suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome and need to readjust your meds. I think you will be writing to support the Dems in 2012...or 2020...or 3000 trying to blame everything on W, who was a fine president.
Cain, no one, ever, inherited the presidency of the United States. To gain the position, one must enter into at least two hard fought campaigns and spend millions of dollars. After your totally false first sentence, you post falls apart. I must concur with Dixieman, you seem to need to adjust your meds.
Wrong again, Chronicle. The underwear bomber is talking without torture. Terrorists have been successfully tried and convicted in the federal courts and had we not invaded Iraq, deregulated the banking industry and started the bailouts (all begun under a Republican) perhaps we wouldn't be in this mess.
We begin our 4th year of dems controlled congress. enough of the inherited stuff
Note to Michael Ryan (on an earlier response to me): Today's cartoon leaves no doubt as to The Chronicle's position on global warming...
Yeh ,, We are losing it..While we are too pc our schools are going in the tank. We treat the BinLaden followers with kid gloves,(while they continue to find ways to KILL us) according to all of our intelligence folks. This am on tv I saw all of them say they believed we would be attacked again in the next 3-6 months ..AIG will give millions in bonuses & it seems our hands are tied to stop it..We send most of our good paying jobs away & then scratch our heads & wonder WHY so many people are out of work.. What has happenend to common sense,,, it certainly doesn't lurk around here anymore..
grouse the only reason the underwear bomber is talking is because his family came here to visit him and begged him to cooperate for a chance at a lighter sentence. Remember, they are the ones who turned him in to begin with. They disagreed with his actions. Most terrorists do not fall into this category. I doubt Osama bin Laden's Mom & Dad would show up to ask him to tell us everything.
Hey Grouse, this from USA TODAY, May, 2006, and the reason you seem to be the only one in favor of civil trials for terrorists. Lest we forget......
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A federal court jury spared the life of confessed al-Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui on Wednesday, rejecting the U.S. government's effort to execute him for the Sept. 11 attacks.
The panel of nine men and three women deliberated for 41 hours over a week before concluding that the 37-year-old French citizen was only a minor player in the most deadly assault ever on U.S. soil, and that he deserved life in prison rather than death.
Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty to six terrorism conspiracy charges related to the attacks, gave a slight smirk as the verdict was read aloud by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in a packed courtroom here.
"America, you lost!" the husky terrorist called out later as he was led from the courtroom. "I won."...
Lot of people still complain about the French, ( some of it is justified, some not) but you gotta hand it to 'em on this one. Mexico wants all their criminals treated with kid gloves, no death penalty regardless of the offense. At least France said ' Go ahead and off this fool" I'm done with freedom fries, I want my french fries back.
Can someone please answer this for me. If you were to illegally cross the border into China, you would go to jail, and probably never be seen again. If you go illegally into Iran - prison. Iraq - prison. In fact, cross the border illegally into most countries and you receive prison time. What do illegals receive when they cross into our country? Welfare checks, free medical help, food, a place to live, social security, drivers license, and the right to vote. I don't understand this. We can't keep taxing and spending to support the world.
Is the Obama administration truly that incompetent?....in one word-YES! Holder needs to go!
Nov 2010 is only a few months away. The time is ripe for the Repubs to take both the House and the Senate amd [ut us back on a sound fiscal track. The American people (at least the non koolaid drinking ones) have awakened. I hope IL is the next Repub victory.
The next al Queda attack ion the US is within the next six months. Better hold your breath each time a family member goes to a mall or other places where numerous people are found. We'll see houw Grouse feels then.
The U.S. has led the world into the financial abyss. Every Congress and president has passed on the troubles as they left office. Now we have countries about to default on their loans. When President Obama started to talk about reducing the deficit to the boos of other Democrats, you better believe trouble is on the way.
WELFARE... Did someone claim that immigrants and other people are collecting welfare ??? Huh ??? If memory serve me right, Newt Gingrich anf Trent Lott ended welfare way back in 1996, when they threaten to use it as a campaign issue against president Bill Clinton. President Clinton was forced to sign the legislation into law. Ignorance is arrogance that has aged and matured over a long period of time. Ignorance becomes codified in the minds of the arrogant as demostrable erroneous facts. We Americans are greedy and cheap. We give less than 10 billion dollars a year in aid to charities and other institution that help poor people
A moment of silence please......as I lament the approval today by congress to once again raise the ceiling of our national debt. They just raised it last in December. Now, they have raised it to the unbelievable abount of 14.3 Trillion dollars. OMG...is there any sanity left in washington? Is there even 1 ounce of financial responsibility left in our elected leaders? Nobody knows how this will effect our future, because nobody in their wildest dreams ever thought our nation would be here...and yet, here we are. Is American pre-eminence ending? Absolutely, because nobody in washington has any common sense.
These crocodile tears being shedded by the non rich Republicans are nothing more than a political red herring. Much to do about nothing. None of these clowns who're having the hissy fits now complained about the Bush/Cheney Admin. prosecuting terrorists in civilian courts. Hundreds of them have been tried there. Its just another phony political ploy.
Horsefeathers JoeWillie! Your post may be your opinion, but it is far from the truth. If your are going to spout your racist bilge, at least get your facts right. Your race card rhetoric has no basis in reality. Here is the truth. (June 10, 2009)—Charitable giving in the United States exceeded $300 billion for the second year in a row in 2008, according to Giving USA 2009. Donations to charitable causes in the United States reached an estimated $307.65 billion in 2008, a 2 percent drop in current dollars over 2007. The 2008 number is the first decline in giving in current dollars since 1987 and the second since Giving USA began publishing annual reports in 1956, says the annual report on philanthropy, released today for the 54th year by Giving USA FoundationTM. (www.givingusa.org) Revised estimated giving for 2007 was a record $314.07 billion.
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