100 Days: Where Do We Stand?

The talking heads and President Obama's adoring press have been making a lot of noise about the fact that today is the President's 100th day in office. (100 days is an asinine benchmark derived from FDR's first term, but we'll leave that discussion for another time). Hundredth day or not, I think the U.S. has reached a very interesting place in its history. And it seems to be suffering from a bout of self-hatred, which I believe the new President exemplifies.

I believe that ours is a nation that is an example to the world. We have achieved prosperity, success, and power that is unprecedented in the history of the world. Our nation was founded on the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We sought, to paraphrase John Adams, to build a nation of laws, and not merely of men. We fostered free enterprise, and honored the self-made man. We gave hope to the immigrant, and lit a beacon for the rest of the world to see; one to which all could aspire. We used to call all of this "American Exceptionalism." This was the idea that America was unique, and offered a singular example to the world. But just lately, we seem to be suffering a crisis of confidence.

President Obama does not seem to regard America as exceptional. Responding to a question from the press during a recent trip to Europe, Obama said, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” That is to say, he does not believe in any such thing. In fact, he has had very little good to say about the nation he was elected to govern. Instead, he seems interested in actually diminishing the prestige of the United States. America is, at least to his way of thinking, a negative force in the world.

At home, he has set a very ambitious agenda. I think he has made clear that he intends to transform the United States. The notions of free enterprise and limited government seem not to his liking. Instead, he is setting out to drastically expand the role of government in the lives of his fellow Americans. I think that this is a very dangerous direction for this country. He has already dramatically increased the federal budget. And this increase will almost certainly be permanent. Though the "stimulus" spending has been characterized as necessary to deal with the current economic situation, the spending will far outlive the current recession. It has been decades since federal spending has actually decreased from one year to the next. The increase in spending, therefore, and the accompanying ballooning of the federal debt must, therefore, be regarded as permanent. Even if he did nothing more, he will have dramatically inflated the federal budget and federal power. And though he has made promised to lower taxes for most Americans, this is a promise that he will not, cannot, and probably has no intention to keep. This debt will have to be paid for sooner or later, and will necessitate significant tax increases in the future.

He has also shown a marked tendency to try to directly control the economy. He is using federal bailout money to strongarm banks and financial services companies, and is on his way to all but nationalizing the automobile industry.

I don't know if this was what the American people had in mind when they elected President Obama. But it is what they got. The question is, is it what they want?