OBAMA DO NOTHING AWARDS

There are so many issues that the majority of American voters have with the Obama led national government that the liberal/socialist political realists in Washington are starting programs to lessen the harm they expect in November of 2010. Some of these efforts are obvious such as this week's pending trip by our President to receive his Noble Prize. Others efforts are thinly veiled political acts set as routine functions by a concerned Federal government. The most recent announcement by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner falls into this second category.

Declaring that "the recovery of our financial system remains incomplete", Geithner has directed that the Troubled Asset Relief Program [TARP] passed in October of 2008 is extended until October 3, 2010. He has that authority and has exercised it. The real question is, why.

According to Geithner he has three new goals. Number One is to "step up efforts to curb home foreclosures" but this "step up" is not defined. Further, the commercial mortgage industry, unaddressed, remains in bad shape and in the early months of 2010 is expected to get worse with a sizeable increase in declared defaults, foreclosures and repossessions. Number Two is to "provide capital to small banks for job creation". This must mean Federal loans to our "small banks" with the banks to then reloan the funds to a federal-defined class of business for expansion. The only thing at real risk in this situation is the Independence of the "small banks" for when these loans default, Washington will move in to secure its advances by taking control of these banks. Number Three is to "boost its commitment to a program aimed at sparking lending to consumers and small businesses". There is only one response to this Geithner statement and that is, "What in the world do you mean?"

In reality, the Obama Administration is doing nothing economically of any significance. Trying through Geithner to lessen what has been determined to be a probable anti-Obama Administration vote in November of 2010, a great degree of self-proclaimed success will be published by the White House as election day approaches with declarations of how well Geithner's three goals have been achieved. It will be urged that more of the same can be guaranteed if the Democrats are reelected.

All-in-all, it seems appropriate that President Obama is receiving a Noble Medal for doing nothing and at the same time his close advisor, Geithner, is proposing to redirecting TARP money for a new do-nothing Federal economic program.