Drinking at the Mirage

The Jimmy Carter Jobs Credit - Recycling of an old, failed idea from Jimmy Carter's administration is evidence just how bankrupt the Obama Administration and the Democrat controlled Congress are. I am reminded of a quote from Evelyn Waugh's novel, "Brideshead, Revisited" when the narrator intones, "When the waterholes were dry, they sought to drink at the mirage." The Liberals (or are they the Progressives?) continue to believe in the "free lunch" paid for by an ever-increasing tax burden on the ever-shrinking number of "the Rich." This is the mirage. Or is it the Road to Serfdom - A Hayek?

The Obama Administrations gives the impression that they are simply flailing about. The President and his advisors have no clear plan how to actually bring an end to the Great Recession and instead pursue policies that create headwinds to economic expansion that is beginning to take hold in spite of the failed stimulus programs. The business cycle, as evidenced by the increase in inventories in Q4 2009, is the clear path to prosperity. If President Obama and his advisors would simply stand aside, and not pursue policies that are contrary to free market principles, the American economy will recover in due course. It just won't recover sufficiently in time for the Democrats to survive the blood bath of the mid-term elections in November 2010. And therein lies the problem - Obama and his advisors are seeking a political solution to an economic problem. The jobs credit is designed to give the appearance of taking action, with the possibility of a boost in hiring over the next two quarters, in order to save the Democrats' majority in Congress. That is the political solution, and it just might work. But it is not a good economic solution.