The trivial president

By Tom Quiner

What did you think of the president’s plan for the next four years as presented in last night’s debate?

You may be asking, “what plan?”

His “plan” pretty much comes down to this:

1. Increase taxes on our most productive Americans, aka “the rich,” even though they already pay a disproportionate share of our tax load.

2. Borrow money from China so he can hire 100,000 more teachers (even though the teacher-to-student ratio is already at an all-time low with 15.1 students per student today vs. 27.4 in 1955).

3. Take tax payer money to “invest” in solar energy companies, even though these companies keep going bankrupt, even though forty percent of the “investment” will have to come from borrowed money from China.

4. Pass immigration reform, even though he said the same four years ago and didn’t lift a finger to accomplish any sort of bi-partisan legislation, even when he had super-majorities in Congress. So he can’t blame Republicans, Bush, or Martians for not getting it done.

Does anyone think this 4-point plan will boost our economic fortunes?

Blogger Juwannadoright asks the same question. She has forthrightly engaged her friends who support Barack Obama with a simple request:

“I am undecided on who deserves my vote. I am the final vote to be counted in a swing state which is exactly tied and my vote will decide who will next occupy the Oval Office. So give me one compelling reason, based on what President Obama has accomplished, which will convince me that I should cast my vote for him.”

I’m still waiting for an answer which doesn’t contain phrases such as, “It’s all Bush’s fault” or “Romney doesn’t care about the little people since he’s so rich.”

My experience is somewhat similar. Mr. Obama’s plan for the next four years is “more of the same.” Why should things get any better with more of the same?

To his credit, a Quiner’s Diner reader, who goes by the moniker “BJ,” made the case on how his life has been positively affected by Obama policies as follows:

1) I can now stay on my parents insurance until I’m 26, assuring that I’m covered while I look for a job that has insurance.

2) Friends of mine have returned from being shot at in the Middle East.

3) My wife-to-be has more access to affordable contraception so we can plan our family in a responsible way.

4) 3 of my closest friends now have jobs in renewable energy, because companies are hiring based on the tax breaks renewables have been given.

5) I can better afford college with the interest rate drop created by federalizing the student loan program.

Shall I continue?

I do appreciate BJ’s specific defense of the president’s record, even though I see these results in a different light. Here is my response:

1. Obama promised to cut average health insurance costs by $2500 per persona a year. He failed. They have increased by $2500 per person a year, partially because of forcing insurers to keep kids on their parent’s dole longer.

2. Obama is continuing the policy put in place by the previous administration.

3. This comes at the cost of our religious liberties and higher health insurance premiums (see #1).

4. Solyndra. Abound Solar. Beacon Power. Ener1. Energy Conversion Devices. Evergreen Solar, Inc. Mountain Plaza, Inc.Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsens Mills Acquisition Co. Range Fuels. Raser Technologies. Spectrawatt. Thompson River Power LLC. These are all “green energy” companies that took taxpayer money and filed for bankruptcy. It’s called crony capitalism. Tell your friends to enjoy their jobs while they can. They may not be around very long.

5. Average in-state tuition has increased by $1700 per year on Obama’s watch.

To simplify the difference between the Romney approach and Obama’s, it pretty much comes down to this: Obama increases the price and risk of hiring people; Romney decreases it.

Barack Obama presents no serious plan to fix the mess he has exacerbated. Rather, the essence of his campaign is to demonize Mitt Romney’s success.

The American people deserve better than this trivial man.