A foreign policy strategy which has gained favor in recent decades among America’s political elites has been handily summarized by the words: “Declare victory and go home.” Now Mr. Obama and his apologists are applying this policy to the realm of economics. The American economy remains bruised and battered, and millions of citizens are among the burgeoning ranks of the chronically unemployed and underemployed, but the solution which is being offered to the people is: “Suck it up and deal with it.” An article from the Associated Press (“Higher jobless rates could be new normal”) nicely sums up the mentality:

Even with an economic revival, many U.S. jobs lost during the recession may be gone forever and a weak employment market could linger for years.

That could add up to a "new normal" of higher joblessness and lower standards of living for many Americans, some economists are suggesting.

The words "it's different this time" are always suspect. But economists and policy makers say the job-creating dynamics of previous recoveries can't be counted on now.
Here's why:

_ The auto and construction industries helped lead the nation out of past recessions. But the carnage among Detroit's automakers and the surplus of new and foreclosed homes and empty commercial properties make it unlikely these two industries will be engines of growth anytime soon.

_ The job market is caught in a vicious circle: Without more jobs, U.S. consumers will have a hard time increasing their spending; but without that spending, businesses might see little reason to start hiring.

_ Many small and midsize businesses are still struggling to obtain bank loans, impeding their expansion plans and constraining overall economic growth.

_ Higher-income households are spending less because of big losses on their homes, retirement plans and other investments. Lower-income households are cutting back because they can't borrow like they once did.

Yes, it is true that by all appearances no real recovery is in sight. What is appalling is the signaling that the candidate of “Hope and Change” can simply surrender to the on-going destruction of the economy: “Let’s just all declare this to be normal and move on.” Readers are thus spoon-fed four ‘causes’ for the economic blight which are, in fact, effects, not causes of our present woes. If the situation is “different this time” it’s because the lunatics are running the asylum—that is, even more than they have in the past.

The economic impediment which is studiously ignored in such analyses is the actual cause of the problem: endless federal fiddling with the economy. Inconceivable expenditures have been authorized in the name of “economic recovery” and such stratagems appear to be targeted more toward political interests than any genuine economic relief. But the economic disaster which has overtaken this nation has been decades in coming, and has included seemingly endless attempts to manipulate the economy, whether through such failed domestic policies as agricultural subsidies and foreign policy follies such as granting “most favored nation” status to totalitarian regimes such as China. Of course, millions of illegal aliens taking up jobs and shipping their ill-gotten gains out of the country are not exactly helping things, either.

We have sown the wind and reaped the whirlwind.

Blaming the on-going crisis on (a) the prudence of panicked citizens who are less inclined to be tempted by consumerism, or (b) the plight of small businesses who would like to expand, but are victimized by the very banking system which has been responsible for much of the crisis in the first place, is yet another fine example of the fourth estate blaming the victims.

If ever there was a need for the government to stop meddling and put down the checkbook, it is now. The growing sense of outrage among the people is based on a simple realization: no one can spend their way out of debt; therefore, the actions being taken in Washington are either insane and/or intended to serve an end other than fixing the economy. The people are used to a great deal of apparent corruption in federal expenditures (the so-called “earmarks” are offensive on a case by case basis, but generally ignored in the main), but in their bones, citizens know that the trillions being spent right now are a debt which will be essentially impossible to pay. The nation is being bankrupted, the currency debased, and the elites are acting with an arrogant dismissal of public opinion which is even greater than normal.

The collectivists in Washington are blaming the victims, and then trying to conscript their allegiance with seemingly-endless unemployment benefits. But let there be no confusion: The day will come when those benefits can no longer be paid. What will happen then?

There is nothing normal about ten percent (or, in truth, far more) of the American workforce being out of work. There is nothing normal about a federal deficit which is growing at an almost exponential rate. There is nothing normal about a federal government marching in lockstep toward national insolvency.

It is abnormal. It is perverse. And it will only come to an end when the people at the ballot box send the men and women who have devastated our economy to the back of the unemployment line.

Rt. Rev. James Heiser has served as Pastor of Salem Lutheran Church in Malone, Texas, while maintaining his responsibilities as publisher of Repristination Press, which he established in 1993 to publish academic and popular theological books to serve the Lutheran Church.  Heiser has also served since 2005 as the Dean of Missions for The Augustana Ministerium and in 2006 was called to serve as Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (ELDoNA). An advocate of manned space exploration, Heiser serves on the Steering Committee of the Mars Society. His publications include two books; The Office of the Ministry in N. Hunnius' Epitome Credendorum (1996) and A Shining City on a Higher Hill: Christianity and the Next New World (2006), as well as dozens of journal articles and book reviews.

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DDW said:

People, make no mistake about it This is all deliberate. Those who would rule would like nothing better than the complete and total bankruptcy of these United States. That is exactly what they want and Obama is nothing more than a shill; a puppet dancing to their tune just as fast as he can dance. If I had the power and the authority, I would seize all the assets of every single insider and politician, including Obama, and tell THEM to suck it up and deal with it. Now wouldn't that be justice? I'm also willing to bet that if the people decide they've had enough and rise up in anger to crush those who would rule (which they have every single right to do) that puppet/shill Obama would immediately call in foreign UN troops.

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October 22, 2009
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Jack Morrow said:

	What Happened ???? What politician in his or her right mind would vote for treaties that would dismantle the economy? What politician in his or her right mind erodes their tax base wiping out revenue? I guess one bent on the destruction of The Republic. I know it seems horrible doesn’t it? What person said in the 1960 said he was going to dismantle our industry? And to what end was his intent?
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October 23, 2009
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