Friday, January 9, 2009

The Era of Big Government Was Never Over

Pres.-elect Obama, in a statement mirroring the recent report that Mr. Geithner is working day and night for us, raised eyebrows with the following, as reported by the Associated Press at Breitbart.com:

"In the speech at George Mason University outside Washington, Obama asked Congress to work with him "day and night, on weekends if necessary" to pass a revival plan within the next few weeks so that it can be ready for his signature shortly after he takes office on Jan. 20."

DoctoRx here: It's good to know that at least some people have overtime work available!

More problematic from a free-market perspective was the following:

"Obama made broader arguments, too, saying that the private sector cannot do what is needed now.
"At this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe," he said."

"Throughout his remarks, Obama painted a stark picture, including double-digit unemployment and $1 trillion in lost economic activity—that recalled the days of the Great Depression in the 1930s."

DoctoRx again: This is NOT the Great Depression (see our recent post, On Unemployment). This is the first consumer recession in about 17 years and only the second in about 26 years. Many excesses need working off. But the new administration appears perhaps a bit over-anxious. Perhaps we have nothing to fear but fear itself: and Big Gov.

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