Entrance Question

At what point does this cease being Bush’s economy and start becoming Obama’s economy?

No doubt, the Bush administration’s spending in his 2nd term and his fateful decision to pursue Bailout Nation in the fall of last year will continue to have far reaching effects but the fact remains that the Obama recovery plan and recent budget proposal has overwhelmed already the reckless spending of the Bush administration.

Since Obama unveiled his budget last week the stock market has not plunged wildly only to rebound in a similar fashion in a groping attempt to predict the effects of the budget but it has embarked on an steady and uninterrupted downhill grind. This grind indicates the market knows exactly what is in store for the future and remains wholly unenthusiastic about its prospects.

Then again, what would one expect when the “stimulus” plan is devoted to social programs rather than infrastructure upgrades and expansion and when his budgetary vision is centered around income redistribution rather than incentives to expand the economy and improve the economic quality of life for the American worker? Witness the illusory promise of a middle class tax cut that will be given right back to the government and then some because of other fees and taxes such as incoming state and federal carbon taxes and emissions regulations that will be both direct (at the pump or in your car) and indirect (passed-along costs from the energy and auto industry).

We are at the 15 month mark of this current recession (about the average in terms of length and job loss of the last 3 big post-war recessions) and there has been some good news with respect to falling home prices and increased home purchases as well as a steep fall-off of the price of oil and other commodities that has remained fairly stable for a while now. There has been no external bad news for the economy to absorb and process for months now – the reacting the market has done of late has been to internally-generated actions: continued haphazard handling of the financial crisis and an economic vision that is class-warfare driven and top-down and statist in nature.

There are signs that a recovery is imminent. Will this recovery be allowed to blossom? Its up to Obama but we’re not holding our breath.