Finally- Optimism...sort of

In his speech to congress last night, President Obama finally showed a little optimism about this 'crisis'. Maybe because his bill got passed? Anyway- apparently, the Congress just loved it, standing and applauding him several times.

Personally, I really don't see what was so great about it. More rhetoric, more 'take from the rich and give to the government so we can say we're giving to the poor', more 'give the government everything so we can...take care of you." Like this quote:

"Now is the time to act boldly and wisely - to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity. Now is the time to jump-start job creation, re-start lending and invest in areas like energy, healthcare and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down."

I've made my position on these points clear before, but I'll do it again.
Prosperity is not the government's job.
Creating jobs is not the government's job.
Investing in energy is not the government's job.
Investing in healthcare and education is not

All those things are more efficiently handled, handled with less cost, and also just work better overall when put in the hands of the private sector. When the free market is allowed to be free, prosperity will happen on it's own. It happened for over 100 years here in America. People were allowed to do what they wanted with their land, didn't have to have government permission to build a building. People were prosperous, all their needs were met- without the government's interference.

Same with jobs. If the government would just get their noses out of the people's business, we wouldn't have a problem. If employers didn't have to pay exorbitant taxes for things like Medicare, unemployment, and the like, they could afford to hire more people. Unemployment problem solved.

Energy, healthcare, and education are always better when handled by the private sector. History shows it- even recent history. All energy breakthroughs have been done by private companies, without government involvement. Healthcare the same. It always works better when the government doesn't get their paws on it. If education is really handled better by the government, why did we see a decline in literacy rates after universal public schooling became the norm?

My point is that the government can't do it all. Even if they can, they shouldn't. This Big Brother mentality, that the government should take care of all of us is wrong. We don't need- and I don't want- the government controlling our lives.

"As soon as I took office, I asked this Congress to send me a recovery plan by President's Day that would put people back to work and put money in their pockets. Not because I believe in bigger government - I don't."

Oh gosh. There is no nice way to say this- President Obama is not being very truthful. Oh yeah- "I'm trying to create jobs, make you utterly dependent on the government, and control every little facet of your lives, but hey- I still don't believe in big government!" President Obama may not believe in larger government. That might be because he believes in a government consisting of one person!! (aka.- a dictatorship.)

"Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5m jobs. More than 90% of these jobs will be in the private sector - jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges; constructing wind turbines and solar panels; laying broadband and expanding mass transit."

First of all- 3 and a half million jobs? That isn't very much (considering the 500 million that are losing their jobs monthly!), and thinking of how frantic Obama was about how many Americans were losing their jobs daily. Sure a lot more than 3 million. Come to think of it, how do you 'create' jobs?

Oh! I know! Hire some people to dig holes, then more to fill them in! Yay! The government takes care of us! Hail the Leader!

"Because of this plan, there are teachers who can now keep their jobs and educate our kids. Healthcare professionals can continue caring for our sick. There are 57 police officers who are still on the streets of Minneapolis tonight because this plan prevented the layoffs their department was about to make."

Okay...so we're forcing businesses to keep employees that are unneedful, and are simply draining resources. Wow. I like it. It's so...Communism-y. And that's what we want, right?!

"Because of this plan, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of college."

Things like this make me want to work my way through college just so I can prove that I can do it. So I can prove that I don't need the government's help. To prove that even though I'm 'struggling', I don't need money that, ultimately, is coming out of some other person's pocket in the form of taxpayer dollars. Or, my own, if I pay taxes.

Now just a few fun little quotes that I won't comment on:

"And when we learn that a major bank has serious problems, we will hold accountable those responsible, force the necessary adjustments, provide the support to clean up their balance sheets and assure the continuity of a strong, viable institution that can serve our people and our economy."

"So I ask this Congress to join me in doing whatever proves necessary. Because we cannot consign our nation to an open-ended recession. And to ensure that a crisis of this magnitude never happens again, I ask Congress to move quickly on legislation that will finally reform our outdated regulatory system. It is time to put in place tough, new common-sense rules of the road so that our financial market rewards drive and innovation, and punishes short-cuts and abuse."

"I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves; that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity."

"In each case, government didn't supplant private enterprise; it catalysed private enterprise. It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive."

Short and sweet- a Communism-laced speech. Read the entire transcript here- if you can stomach it.