March 06, 2009

Obama’s Stated Goals Are Nothing More than a Deception

Last October I observed that Obama's actual policies were opposed to his stated goals:

...leaders who announce their support for an innovative and popular goal are often trusted to provide means that can reasonably be expected to achieve that goal. A popular and innovative goal, provides the leader with a glamor, that blinds many people to any consideration of whether the means provided are in fact suitable to achieving the goal.

...It is therefore essential in all cases to examine the means provided by a leader to see if they in fact are suitable to the purpose of achieving the stated goal.

We can call this approach the Matrushka Doll analysis, following the nesting Russian "Matrushka" doll shown on the poster for the Museum of Communism, since what matters in this analysis is not what's on the outside, i.e. the stated goal, but what's on the inside, i.e. the actions to be actually taken, hopefully in pursuit of that goal.

Which brings us to Obama. His stated goal is "hope and change." The goal is innovative and popular and has in part earned him the nomination of his party. It is therefore essential to examine the means he has provided for achieving this goal, to see if the means are suitable to the purpose of achieving the goal.

Here is a Matrushka Doll Analysis for Obama - a review of a number of the programs Obama supports on two of the issues that are of the most importance to American voters: the economy, and national security.

[...]

...The policies of Barack Obama reviewed here are not suitable for achieving his stated goal of "hope and change." They would bring about changes, but the changes would reduce, rather than increase, the hope of Americans for a more successful future. Instead of increasing Americans' hope for a more successful future, Obama's policies would have harmful consequences:

• His opposition to oil drilling would continue to strangle our economy with high oil prices.
• His support for the so-called"Global Poverty Act" would transfer close to a trillion dollars over 15 years away from U.S. taxpayers and into the hands of the corrupt U.N.
• His plans for vastly increasing U.S. government control over the decision-making of U.S. companies would paralyze U.S. business decision-making.
• His proposed near-trillion-dollar increase in U.S. government spending would lead to higher taxes and increase the power of the government over U.S. citizens.
• His insistence on reducing U.S. military power would reduce our ability to defend our nation.
• His proposed "civilian national security force" would reduce money available for our military to use for defense of our nation, and would vastly increase government control over U.S. citizens.
• His insistence on ending the war in Iraq without victory would turn our soldiers' achievements into defeat.

Obama is in the tradition of leaders who benefit from the glamor of an innovative and popular goal, which blinds many people to the nature of the policies they propose. As the above examination shows, Obama's policies are not suitable to achieving his stated goal of "hope and change." Instead, his policies would have harmful effects on the nation.

Today, with the horrifying, market-killing experience of Obama's first six weeks in office as established history, Charles Krauthammer makes the nearly identical observation:

Deception at Core of Obama Plans

...The markets' recent precipitous decline is a reaction not just to the absence of any plausible bank rescue plan, but also to the suspicion that Obama sees the continuing financial crisis as usefully creating the psychological conditions -- the sense of crisis bordering on fear-itself panic -- for enacting his "Big Bang" agenda to federalize and/or socialize health care, education and energy, the commanding heights of post-industrial society.

Clever politics, but intellectually dishonest to the core. Health, education and energy -- worthy and weighty as they may be -- are not the cause of our financial collapse. And they are not the cure. The fraudulent claim that they are both cause and cure is the rhetorical device by which an ambitious president intends to enact the most radical agenda of social transformation seen in our lifetime.

Obama's stated goals are nothing more than a deception. His policies pursue an agenda which is unrelated to his stated goals. The result so far is massive damage to our economy and markets.

Update 3-10-09:

From Newsweek:

Presidential Double-Talk

Uncertainty (too much) and confidence (too little) define this crisis. Investors have surely noted the gap between Obama's rhetoric and his actions.

From Bloomberg:

‘Manchurian Candidate’ Starts War on Business

Update 3-11-09:

From McClatchy Newspapers via Yahoo News:

Obama decries earmarks, signs law with 9,000 of them