Even a fiscal conservative must concede that President Obama is a gifted orator. With a strong yet gentle serious yet reassuring tone Obama commands respect. A skilled rhetorician and a skilled policymaker however are very different. Despite his impeccable rhetorical delivery and ability to instill hope in his followers Obama’s economic policies will not ameliorate the United States’ economic crisis.
On Thursday March 19 Obama appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno becoming the first sitting president to appear on a late-night talk show with a studio audience. He talked about the economic crisis, explaining the importance of the AIG bailout to our economic system. Obama does not stray away from the political hot seat. He is looking to speak to as many Americans as possible.
Obama’s rhetoric mirrors that of our 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Like Obama, FDR inherited the presidency in the midst of an economic depression and intended to communicate the rhetoric of hope. FDR consistently lands near the top of the charts in top president” polls C-Span ranked him third mainly because he is credited with pulling the United States out of the Great Depression.
Also akin to Obama’s appearance on the “Tonight Show FDR gave fireside chats (radio-broadcast speeches) in an effort to communicate important issues to as many Americans as possible.
What many people do not realize, however, is that FDR’s New Deal” drove the nation further into debt. It was the industrial mobilization necessary for World War II not FDR’s economic policies aimed at spending the nation out of debt that stimulated the economy. This allowed the United States to overcome the Depression.
Unfortunately this reality has been replaced by the heroic myth of FDR as the savior of the masses. He is depicted as the man who by creating a slew of new government programs both employed those who would have been out of work and raised taxes on the “privileged.” He is the man who Obama is trying to imitate.
Obama showcased his rhetorical skills in Jan. on CBS in describing his stimulus bill. FDR would certainly have applauded the style of Obama’s delivery as well as the substance of his plan.
Obama described those Americans affected by job cuts as “not just numbers on a page” but rather “working men and women whose families have been disrupted and whose dreams have been put on hold.”
He explained how his “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan which the Senate passed on February 10, would employ 460,000 Americans and save taxpayers $2 million.
He did not mention, however, that his plan would cost more than $800 billion, money that the United States government does not have to spend. He did not explain that, while some Americans will receive tax cuts, others will have to foot the astronomical bill. On CBS he chanted majestically that his goal is to help America’s automakers prepare for the future.”
His policies however will impede the capitalist economic system by straying into the private sector and lending corporations that cannot create decent products government money that does not exist.
Although excessive recession spending is senseless Obama’s rhetoric makes the concept seem feasible. On CBS Obama declared that “we can create new industries and revive old ones open new factories empower new farms lower costs and revive our economy.”
When critical observers look past the encouraging words however they recognize that Obama expects the taxpayer to fund these projects at an extremely high cost.
Obama plays on emotions attempting to gain acceptance of his plan by calling to mind all of the Americans who are suffering from job loss. While these losses have been a horrible result of the economic downturn it is not the government’s responsibility to tread so deeply into the private sector.
The reality of the Obama administration’s plan is akin to that of Robin Hood – stealing from the rich and giving to the poor and to the not-so-rich. Obama is well-versed in the rhetoric of equality but so was Mao and look where that got China.
Obama ended his speech at the end of January reminding the American public that “these are extraordinary times [that] call for swift and extraordinary actions.”
Since then Congress has indeed taken an extraordinary action in passing such a massive stimulus bill. It seems unlikely however that the results will be as grand as the rhetoric.