Tim Geithner wasted a little more taxpayer money -- why not? -- going to Europe this week to have an important meeting with Germany's Angela Merkel to "convince" her how important it is that the Greek situation be contained. You really have to wonder about Tim Geithner. Does he really believe Greece is not going to default? How disconnected is this guy from reality? He still thinks his stimulus plan worked?
The lack of understanding of Economics in this White House is without parallel in American history. This White House not only doesn't know what to do, it doesn't even look like they care about whether the economy recovers or not. The so-called "Jobs Plan" is little more than transfer payments to Obama allies paid for, he says, by taxing "millionaires and billionaires," which apparently includes everyone who makes over $ 200,000 per year.
The sad fact is the folks below the median income are hit hardest by this White House. Those with protected jobs -- public school teachers, public employees, government bureaucrats of all stripes -- they're pretty happy. Their income hasn't fallen a bit. In fact their income has risen, while folks in the bottom half of the income spectrum have been savaged. Obama's war on lower middle incomes is bearing fruit -- massive long term unemployment, massive short term unemployment, and massive under-employment.
Maybe we should increase some of the old standards to get this economy going: 1) Raise the minimum wage to $ 100 per hour...that should raise living standards; 2) Why not let folks get six months a year paid sick leave...they might need it; 3) How about 100 days a year mandated family leave with pay; etc. etc. Heck if $ 7.25 is a good minimum, think how great $ 100 an hour would be. I can just imagine these kind of discussions going in the Obama White House.
Why not outlaw all pollution starting today? Why not mandate that all cars have to get 200 mpg starting next week? These are merely extensions in degree of the current Obama EPA actions. Heck, why not go for it, since we don't care one way or another about American jobs or the economy?
What about raising tax rates to 80 percent for all those rich people who make more than $ 75,000. That should bring in a lot of money. Lets eliminate corporate tax loopholes and raise corporate rates to 70 percent. That will solve our deficit problem.
All of these discussions are the kind that I suspect go on regularly in the Obama White House. They may seem extreme now, but we have gotten use to a lot of Obama stuff that would have seemed extreme ten years ago. Now we have nine percent unemployment; maybe we can double that number in two or three years. Why should people work anyway?
As goofy as all this sounds, it doesn't sound any goofier than what Obama and Geithner say regularly on the stump. No wonder the economy is moribund.
