The Political Court Jester

Carrot Top and Ron White called in sick today, so instead you're stuck with me. And that's the beauty of politics; it is serious subject matter that makes for fantastic comic fodder.

John Stewart realizes this and provides something that no other major television news media does today; truth. And that's the real joke of it all; CNN, MSNBC, and other news stations rarely ask the hard-hitting questions and hold politicians accountable for speaking from both sides of their mouth.

So it's a comedian that does a better job of holding politicians (of all parties) accountable for their actions and statements, with a dash of humor mixed in to make the "news" bearable to the viewers. What does it matter so long as the source of the comic fodder is the horse's mouth?

It shouldn't matter. We live in an new age of "information osmosis" in which we get "news" from any and every possible media source.

I attempt to inject some humor in my opinion of our current events, but realize sometimes I fail. I can get pretty energized and worked up and forget about the humor that can be found in the story.

But that's just my nature; sometimes I can be all business, but at other times I can use some whit to bring the humor of a bad situation to the top.

For instance, President Obama has said that he inherited a large deficit from former President Bush. This is true for the most part. Former President Bush did increase the national debt during his administration. However, comparing the spending patterns of the past to Obama's current spending plan is hilarious considering Obama's plan in one month spends what it took Bush 5 years to achieve. If there is a supplemental appropriations measure this year and revenue continue to decline, Obama's deficit spending will equal all 8 years under Bush. It shouldn't matter if Obama inherited the deficit or not, Bush inherited one as well. Obama could try to promote real "change" by spending less than his predecessor, but instead he suprised us all by spending more; but it's "change" nonetheless. Consequently we have less and less change in our pockets. (Joke 1) Maybe that's what he meant by "change"; the government actually needs "change" to pay it's bills?

(Joke 2) A "C" student at Yale so far has managed to do a better job balancing his checkbook than a Harvard Magna Cum Laude graduate.

Something else to think about is that the Treasury Department, under Obama, has made $3 Trillion (with a T) in tax-free Treasury Bonds available to cover our nation's debt. This will only crowd out private business borrowing by decreasing the amount of money available to lend to businesses that want to expand. When Treasury Bonds are tax-free, this means that any interest earnings on these Bonds are exempt from taxes (something the well-off would like to do right now under the current administration). The government policy during this recession is to unthaw the frozen credit markets, which cannot happen if those with money are locking that money into these bonds.

Additionally, Obama plans on increasing taxes on small businesses and individuals with more than $250,000 of income. These people are the only people right now (given the recession) that actually have the money to invest! So the government wants to take more money away from those people who can actually afford to keep money in the bank that can be used to make loans necessary to unfreeze the credit market?

(Joke 3) If the federal government has policies that restrict credit and access to capital, borrows trillions of dollars with tax free incentives that compete in attracting capital, and on top of that adds large tax increases on the individuals that actually have capital, how does the administration hope to fix the recession? The actions of the administration seem counterproductive to the point of hilarity.

I hope you're laughing like I am at all of this mess. If not, I'd like to close with a couple of quotes that best fit the American situation today:

"In our desire to have government become our benefactor and sustainer, we have allowed it to become our taskmaster and overlord. As a result, we have become little more than well-fed, well-entertained slaves to the state. Freedom, as envisioned by our forefathers, is gone." – Chuck Baldwin.

"The difference between death and taxes is, death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets." – Will Rogers.