Mr. Obama signed the economic stimulus package Tuesday in Denver, and that means one of two things: either the recession will be blunted, or he will be a one-term president.
Spending this kind of money is a huge gamble. The president looked confident though as he explained that the government must help Americans in these dark economic days:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, what makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years, including 60,000 plus here in Colorado, it's that we're putting Americans to work, doing the work that America needs done in critical areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
So that's the president's general theme: that the massive government spending will improve the economy on almost every level.
Now conservative Americans tend to disagree with the vision. Republicans believe private industry should lead us out of the bad economic times and the government should step out of the way. That's the conflict here, private vs. government. And President Obama is convinced he's right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Thanks to the actions we've taken, seven million Americans who have lost their health care along the way will continue to get the coverage they need. And roughly 20 million more Americans can breathe a little easier knowing that their health care won't be cut due to a state budget shortfall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
By concentrating on the health care of Americans, the president is buying goodwill. Many of us fear disease will wipe us out, and we want to be reassured that will not happen. So the president is trying to calm fears and get the folks behind him.
Now, the third part of his speech Tuesday was Obama's belief that the massive spending package is what is needed to make America stronger in the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Just as President Kennedy sparked an explosion of innovation when he set America's sights on the moon, I hope this investment will ignite our imagination once more, spurring new discoveries and breakthroughs in science, in medicine, in energy, to make our economy stronger and our nation more secure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Again, another attempt to calm fears to gain support by saying things will get better.
The question, of course, is will they get better because of this big government spending? And no one — no one — knows the answer to that question.
"Talking Points" believes nitpicking the stimulus bill is a complete waste of time. It'll either work out or it won't, and now we just have to wait and see. But we should all prepare ourselves for a big downside. If the American economy does not improve, the massive debt the country is running up is going to have to be confronted, and that could get very ugly.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
As you may know, more than 200 Australians have been killed in the terrible fire that's ravaged the southern part of the country. Now actress Nicole Kidman says she will donate a half million dollars to the Red Cross to help her fellow Australians who have been left homeless. For this, Ms. Kidman is a patriot.
On the pinhead front, just about everybody knows we do not have any use for Al Franken, and now he's going around calling himself Senator Franken. As you know, the senatorial race in Minnesota is being contested. There are approximately 3,500 votes left to count. So Al may be a little premature. But whatever happens, he remains a pinhead.
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