By Robert Amoroso

With an approval rating of almost 70%, and a majority in both houses, President Obama begins his presidency with an almost unprecedented mandate.  He enjoys an overwhelming media bias, and little opposition from a fractured and shell shocked   Republican Party, success or failure is literally within his own hands, and though the honeymoon will last considerably longer then most, he must still at some point begin to “govern”.

The mainstream media for its part, has all but abandoned its traditional adversarial roll, and at times reminds me more of what one sees coming out of the Kremlin. Sadly the media has been a willing accomplice, in promoting the Obama myth, and I suspect they’ll give him the benefit-of-doubt, on all most any controversial issue coming out of this administration. The danger of course, is that ideology, may once again trump unbiased reporting.

How else can one explain why the media hasn’t vigorously investigated or confronted President Obama’s questionable selection of Tim Geithner for Treasury secretary, or for that matter the $825 billion dollar “stimulus package”, that is now before congress?  For those unfamiliar with Mr. Geithner, he was the president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and in that capacity he was responsible for overseeing investment banks called “primary dealers”, yet both Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns failed.

The question again needs to be asked, why did he allow six months to elapse between Bear Sterns failure and Lehman’s September 15^th Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, and why there was no oversight?

Astoundingly, Mr. Geithner has just been confirmed as Treasury Secretary, irregardless of the fact that he failed to pay almost $35,000 in federal income tax, for almost 4-years. Obama’s team quickly dismissed the tax problem, as nothing more then a “common mistake”. I suspect (to coin a phrase) this is the “change” we can now believe in.

Incredibly, he will now oversee the IRS, and will once again, be one of the key players, responsible for bailing us out of this economic crisis. However, before Secretary Geithner and President Obama begin to once again strong-arm the American tax payer for that $825 billion dollars, it would be nice if they would explain or account for what happened to the fist $350 billion dollars. Apparently no-one seems to know where the money went.

One needs to ask themselves what’s the difference between a Bernie Madoff’s defrauding investors out of 50 billion dollars and what is currently taking place on Capital Hill? Madoff took from “Peter” to pay “Paul”, with moneys that didn’t belong to him; under the gauze of benefiting the investor…sounds familiar?

Allow me to explain. Bernie Madoff was a trusted and respected financial advisor, with a high approval rating among his investors, similar to the current administration, he took moneys under false pretence, similar to what the current administration is now doing.

Some on the left, may argue, that this is a false analogy, in that Madoff was motivated out of greed, and perhaps that’s true . However, greed need not be the only motivating force.   

This administration has earmarked almost a trillion dollars in massive government spending and entitlements the likes of which has never been seen in the history of this Republic, under the cover of a financial crises, and a much needed emergency “stimulus package”.

What is the motivating force for President Obama? Obviously, it’s not greed but rather a core Ideology that believes in big government programs and entitlements and in the redistribution of wealth.

And to that end, he’s prepared to spend hundreds of billions of dollars, leaving future generations to come,   with an astounding insurmountable debt, and if that’s not a “Ponzi scheme”, I don’t know what is.      

There seems to be no accountably, and even less responsibility, the same players responsible for overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and failed in their responsibility, are still there now, overseeing those very same institutions.

Sadly, the mainstream media has done little in ferreting out the truth, and it seems that President Obama and company have little interest in finding out why those safeguards were not enacted, and why they failed.

What is even more distressing is that this so called “stimulus package” is nothing more then big government spending gone “amuck” and does little to actually stimulate the economy, there’s simply not enough tax cuts or incentives, and much to much spending on all types of massive government programs, none of which will immediately stimulate the economy, and wasn’t that the reason…to infuse money into the economy quickly, to stimulate job growth and investments?  

There are hundreds of billions of dollars earmarked for environmental, healthcare, infrastructure, and the most troubling of all, the redistribution of federal funds to financially troubled states, whose governors have been either unable or unwilling to responsibly balance their budgets and manage their finances.

Astoundingly, almost 40% of this “stimulus package” does not take effect for at least

16-18 months…so why the rush?  

Obviously, with an approval rating of almost 70%, this would be the perfect time for President Obama, to push through those massive government programs and entitlements, and what better way then to incorporate it into a “stimulus package”?  There’s no debate, no media scrutiny (as if there would be), and no outcry from a once again, duped populace.

There’s no question that we should invest in our infrastructure, and get a responsible handle on the issues of healthcare and the environment. Those programs and issues should be debated and discussed in open committees and hearings and not under the cover of a “stimulus package”.

I’m not an economist however; it seems to me if you want to quickly “stimulate” the economy, there’s a more efficient, direct and less costly way of doing it, then throwing more then a trillion dollars into an economic black hole. We’ve bailed out corrupt business, and incompetence, both in and out of government, why not bail out the backbone of this great country, the American worker?

We have approximately 300 million people this country; simply have our efficient government write a check to each documented American citizen and “wage earner” for say a hundred thousand dollars, and perhaps suspend for 6-months or so, the federal withholding tax (income tax) on every wage earner making less then $60,000 a year, and while he’s at it perhaps our new president might consider reducing corporate tax rates, from the current 30+%, to say 10%, and tie it directly to incentives, perhaps hiring more workers, or expending their business, whatever.

Sounds crazy?

Not anymore then spending a trillion dollars, in a “stimulus package” that no one, I repeat NO ONE will go on record and guarantee its success.