Obama’s Inauguration A Disaster - Literally…

I wish I could have left town this week to some place quiet until this inauguration is finally over so that everyone here can have their collective political # and life can get back to normal." - D.C. Area Resident & Reader Jonathan (Last Name withheld)

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Although the mainstream media characterizes the passing of the torch from the unsteady hands of George W. Bush to Barack Obama's Kung-Fu Grip as a smooth, seamless, inclusive affair, not everyone is included nor happy about it. Despite the "collective political #" as my friend Jonathan so aptly called it, this inauguration is a complete train wreck. As a matter of fact, the only things running smoothly in Washington are the government's spin campaign, Harry Reid's mouth and the printing presses over at Treasury. In his final abuse of power a full week ahead of Obama's inauguration, outgoing president George W. Bush declared that Washington D.C. was a federal disaster area, giving Obama the parting gift of federal disaster aid. This, despite the fact that Bush spent us into oblivion and we're now borrowing every penny from future generations. Good Riddance! Bush's declaration is completely contrary to federal law. Disaster aid, which Presidents have been abusing for decades has very stringent pre-conditions that must be met. By law, these conditions can only be waived if the disaster itself destroys a state's capabilities to meet them. For instance, disaster declarations must be made by the governor of the affected state. DC has a mayor, but no governor, since it is the constitutionally recognized seat of government. Bush's action was clearly illegal. Even putting that aside, Barack Obama raised hundreds of millions of dollars during his campaign and spent only a small fraction of that. This inauguration is his party. Considering the state of our economy, you'd think that he would bear a larger portion of the costs, or at least tone it down a bit. Obama will fork over private donations from Hollywood to the tune of $45 million, but taxpayers will end up footing three fourths of his asinine bill, not exactly a paltry sum. Approaching $160 million, American taxpayers will pay four times Bush's 2005 bill, the most expensive inauguration ever. And while people will arrive from all over the country for the festivities, one segment of the DC population is unwelcome. Just before sunrise on Thursday, January 15th, a sweep got underway to round up all of the city's homeless so they can be kept off of the streets, lest Americans catch a whiff of homelessness. Out of sight, out of mind... Finally, Obama's inaugural committee saw this as the perfect opportunity to top off the DNC campaign coffers. Although inaugural events are supposed to be open to the public, exclusive rights to many of the pre-inaugural concerts were sold for millions of dollars, excluding all but HBO subscribers in many cases. So much for accessible. I hope Mr. Obama enjoys his party, because once the last drunk has been pulled from the gutter and he awakes on January 21st, he faces a daunting task. On January 4th, I wrote of the emerging view of some that government was the only solution to our problems. It only took Barack Obama four days to speak to that truth and voice the very same sentiment. For the sake of my country, I hope that I am also correct that at some point Obama acknowledges a few other truths:

That, as a candidate, trash-talking the American economy may have gotten him results, but as President, it will send the stock market plummeting - along with his approval ratings and political capital.

That his vision of incentivizing the encryption, storage, and transmission of electronic medical records is nonsense. Several providers have already done this and the rest will follow if they wish to remain competitive, not because of government incentives.

That human-induced global warming is no longer the immediate threat that Al Gore and his disciples preached and hundreds of scientists now question the underlying science.

That he's mortgaging his own children's future. That he's really just moving around debt; that eventually, someone must pay for all of the money he intends to spend.

That his stimulus is not really constructed to aid in economic recovery, which necessitates fixing the credit, housing and job markets.Instead, his stimulus is geared towards his pet priorities; throwing more cash at the education abyss, entitlement spending and green jobs, which are highly specialized.

Like all Americans, I want my country to succeed and prosper, but history shows us that the New Deal did not result in a net gain of available jobs. Neither did the previous stimulus do much to aid our economy. In fact, it's worse. Obama's over-reliance on Clinton appointees and New New Deals does little to inspire confidence.