Bailing Out: Obama is Doing It and the Democrats/States Want It

In rural America, especially the south, there is a derogatory term that we use quite often.  It is a term that implies that a certain person is unreliable, untruthful, irresponsible, full of themselves, and pretty much useless for any meaningful purpose.  Like a man who won’t support his family; or a man that won’t carry his share of the load; or a man who you just can’t trust to be there when you need him.  That term is “sorry”.  With absolutely no doubt in my mind or heart, Barack Hussein Obama is the sorriest president this nation has known in my lifetime of 67 years.

I’ve been doing this blog for about 8 years now and have spent a whole lot of time expounding on exactly why I detest Obama.  When he defeated Mitt Romney to gain re-election to the Presidency, it was truly one of the darkest days of my life.  And when his second term expired, I did not cry out for him to be pilloried for his non-existent ethics or put in prison for his corruption; I just wanted him to go away.  To this day, I come very close to being physically ill when he comes on the television in a clip or speaking appearance.  I get to the remote very quickly in those situations. 

Since Trump beat Clinton in 2016 to succeed Obama, I have quite often wondered how someone so arrogant, so purely narcissistic, could disappear from the bright lights as quickly as Obama did.  I was convinced that he would linger around the media bubble that he so comfortably inhabited while in office; rubbing shoulders with those like him and emotionally massaging each other with their liberal and hypocritical self assurances.  This did not happen. 

He pretty much dropped off the radar and occasionally a reporter might spot him on the golf course or he would make a below-the-radar speech (still with his trusty teleprompter) at some obscure location for some left-wing organization.   I supposed he had gotten his fill of the pressure cooker environment that must exist in the White House.  But in the back of my mind, I still marveled at how out of character this was for someone who was so obviously in love with himself.

At some point in these musings, a theory began to form in my mind.  I always suspected that Obama’s role in his Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) corruption was much more prominent that anyone suspected.  I always figured that most everything that took place with Comey, Clapper, Brennan, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Yates, Rosenstein, Yates, Rice, Rhodes, and Mueller occurred with either his wink or his nod.  I was pretty certain that he had constructed sufficient deniability firewalls to protect his sorry arse from any tangible culpability.  But what if his involvement was more nod than wink?  What if his firewalls were a bit more flimsy and shorter than intended?  What if instead of being a passenger on this train of corruption; he was one of the primary engineers?  Might this be the reason he was keeping his head low, his presence out of the limelight, and his mouth mainly shut?  Was he possibly concerned about the possibility that the entire episode might come unwound and his role in the despicable scheme might become apparent?  Heaven forbid the bloom fall from the rose.

Obama recently released some statements regarding the DOJ dropping charges against Lt. General Michael Flynn.  Why now?  Why on this particular incident which is obviously important but certainly not the largest bomb to drop in this whole deal?  Do you suppose it had something to do with the recent revelations about his January 5, 2017 White House meeting?  Please remember that this is the meeting that Susan Rice wrote about in her infamous self-addressed note composed during Trump’s inauguration; read about it here: https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/375384-susan-rice-attorney-denies-message-she-sent-herself-on-trumps . 

This White House meeting was significantly after the November 2016 election during which our nation selected Donald Trump, not Hillary Clinton, to be our next President.  Read more about this particular meeting here: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/05/january_5_2017_a_day_that_should_live_in_infamy.html .  What kind of a man, much less a President, lays land mines for his successor rather than co-ordinate for a smooth transition?  This little weasel not only succumbed to his basest instincts of spite and malice; but knowingly placed our nation’s welfare in jeopardy to satisfy his own selfish agenda and his burning hatred for Flynn and Trump.  Is it disrespectful for me to speak of an ex-President in this fashion?  It is…and I am; but he so richly deserves it.

The audacity and arrogance of Obama and his ilk is nothing short of breath-taking.  Read about some of his prior legal exploits while roosting in the White House: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/obama-laments-flynn-dismissal-after-granting-clemency-to-faln-terrorist/ .  This little White House fraternity of power player wannabes that were in way over their weight class had no compunction whatsoever to bending, breaking, and ignoring the rules of ethics and law when it came to shaping the world in their vision.  The idiotic mainstream media permitted themselves to be played as fools while Obama and his merry band of immature infantiles took them for granted and treated our government as if it were their own private social laboratory.  Here is some additional perspective on this pathetic bunch: https://thefederalist.com/2020/05/11/why-did-obama-tell-the-fbi-to-hide-its-activities-from-the-trump-administration/ .

Maybe Obama was smart enough to pull off this ish without getting caught.  Maybe he has thrown enough people under the bus to save himself from getting run over.  Maybe he is sitting back in his golf cart and laughing at all of his critics about their accusations.  On the other hand…he might sometimes lie awake at night wondering if the bodies are buried deep enough.  He might be somewhat concerned about how the dots are connecting and the blanks are being filled in.  He might be reconsidering exactly how faithful his acolytes will be if the heat becomes truly scorching.  He might even consider throwing out some misdirection that his friends and allies in the media can use to help distract the public from the sheet being pulled back on one of the most corrupt Presidential Administrations in our nation’s history.  Is that maybe what is actually going on here?

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In an earlier post, I speculated about how the Democrats in Congress would be pressing for state pension bail outs under the guise of cornonavirus emergency legislation:  http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-pension-time-bomb-is-closer-to-boom.html .  This effort is apparently gaining strength and preparing to be debuted.    

I have often advocated for a smaller federal government featuring a reduction in federal programs and spending.  But notwithstanding my inclination towards that fiscal restraint, it is pretty clear to me that our state governments need some federal support to help repair the damage this pandemic is wreaking.  Most states must, by law, balance their budgets.  That does not prevent them from playing accounting games and being utterly irresponsible with their state tax revenues; they simply don’t have the option to print more money like our WDC representatives are so inclined to do.  It is entirely proper that based on the severe economic damage this virus has inflicted on state treasuries; the federal government should step in to help them out in a measured and thoughtful fashion.  The question is….what exactly is measured and thoughtful?

It is my hope that two principles will guide the legislation that will imminently be passed by our Congress and President to help out the states with their budget woes.  The first one is that the aid should be clearly targeted to cover the loss of state revenues directly attributable to the coronavirus pandemic.  It should not take into account any prior budget actions that contributed to their shaky budget standings and it should not broaden out into areas that are totally unrelated to the impact of the virus.  It needs to be a rifle shot; not a shotgun blast.  This can be done.  It will not be easy and it will not be pretty…but it can be done. 

And if the federal government is going to be saddling American taxpayers with the burden of financing this gift to some sorry state governors and irresponsible state legislatures, then it has every right to demand that a condition of receiving the funds should be the institution of significant revisions that will address existing budgetary problems.  I am talking about the poor decisions and promises that led them to the desperate financial straits in which they find their states; things such as overly-generous pension systems that are clearly unsustainable.  Without micro-managing state business (we elect state governments to do just that), Congress and the President should demand that if states are going to accept federal money to bail out their budgets, they will agree to move their budgets towards a more stable and sustainable footing for the future.  The choice should be clear.  Here is a hand up if you are ready to help me begin filling in the hole you have dug.  Or…keep digging the hole and I will take my dirt and go home.  Read here about how public and private pension rules differ and have allowed certain states to run their plans into ruin: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/11/16/public-pensions-are-woefully-underfunded .

Secondly, these funds should be prorated per a formula that reflects the actual damage attributable to the coronavirus economic carnage.  This too will be difficult; but not impossible.  It will require a greater sacrifice from some states that were less impacted by the virus to disproportionately help out those states that were greatly impacted by the virus.  A fair proration formula will help to mitigate this inequity; but it cannot eliminate it.  This is where we as nation come together and share the burden; we will survive as a nation and not a collection of separate states.  The essential elements to this legislation are the reasonableness of the funding amount and the objectivity of the proration formula.  A sober, deliberate, and transparent process is critical if this is to be embraced and accepted by the people who are footing the bill for this effort…the American taxpayers.  We are presently having trouble keeping our national ship afloat considering the profligate federal spending that has become so common.  We can take on a bit of water for our state neighbors who are in worse shape; but let’s not put them in yachts while our boat continues to sink.