[Rhodes22-list] Obama's Magic

[MichaelT]

While we're at it...I thought I'd add to the mix from today's WSJ coped below 

Michael
s/v Silversides

Obama's Magic
By Kimberley Strassel

And now, America, we introduce the Great Obama! The world's most gifted
political magician! A thing of wonder. A thing of awe. Just watch him defy
politics, economics, even gravity! (And hold your applause until the end,
please.)

To kick off our show tonight, Mr. Obama will give 95% of American working
families a tax cut, even though 40% of Americans today don't pay income
taxes! How can our star enact such mathemagic? How can he "cut" zero?
Abracadabra! It's called a "refundable tax credit." It involves the federal
government taking money from those who do pay taxes, and writing checks to
those who don't. Yes, yes, in the real world this is known as "welfare," but
please try not to ruin the show.

For his next trick, the Great Obama will jumpstart the economy, and he'll do
it by raising taxes on the very businesses that are today adrift in a
financial tsunami! That will include all those among the top 1% of taxpayers
who are in fact small-business owners, and the nation's biggest employers
who currently pay some of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed
world. Mr. Obama will, with a flick of his fingers, show them how to create
more jobs with less money. It's simple, really. He has a wand.

 Next up, Mr. Obama will re-regulate the economy, with no ill effects
whatsoever! You may have heard that for the past 40 years most politicians
believed deregulation was good for the U.S. economy. You might have even
heard that much of today's financial mess tracks to loose money policy, or
Fannie and Freddie excesses. Our magician will show the fault was instead
with our failure to clamp down on innovation and risk-taking, and will fix
this with new, all-encompassing rules. Presto!

Did someone in the audience just shout "Sarbanes Oxley?" Usher, can you
remove that man? Thank you. Mr. Obama will now demonstrate how he gives
Americans the "choice" of a "voluntary" government health plan, designed in
such a way as to crowd out the private market and eliminate all other
choice! Don't worry people: You won't have to join, until you do. Mr. Obama
will follow this with a demonstration of how his plan will differ from our
failing Medicare program. Oops, sorry, folks. The Great Obama just reminded
me it is time for an intermission. Maybe we'll get to that marvel later.

We're back now. And just watch the Great Obama perform a feat never yet
managed in all history. He will create that enormous new government health
program, spend billions to transform our energy economy, provide financial
assistance to former Soviet satellites, invest in infrastructure, increase
education spending, provide job training assistance, and give 95% of
Americans a tax (ahem) cut -- all without raising the deficit a single
penny! And he'll do it in the middle of a financial crisis. And with falling
tax revenues! Voila!

Moving along to a little ventriloquism. Study his mouth carefully, folks: It
looks like he's saying "I'll stop the special interests," when in fact the
words coming out are "Welcome to Washington, friends!" Wind and solar
companies, ethanol makers, tort lawyers, unions, community organizers -- all
are welcome to feed at the public trough and to request special favors. From
now on "special interests" will only refer to universally despised, if
utterly crucial, economic players. Say, oil companies. Hocus Pocus!

And for tonight's finale, the Great Obama will uphold America's "moral"
obligation to "stop genocide" by abandoning Iraq! While teleported to the
region, he will simultaneously convince Iranian leaders to peacefully
abandon their nuclear pursuits (even as he does not sit down with them), fix
Afghanistan with a strategy that does not resemble the Iraqi surge, and
(drumroll!) pull Osama bin Laden out of his hat!

Tada!

You can clap now. (Applause. Cheers.) We'd like to thank a few people in the
audience. Namely, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who has so
admirably restrained himself from running up on stage to debunk any of these
illusions and spoil everyone's fun.

We know he's in a bit of a box, having initially blamed today's financial
crisis on corporate "greed," and thus made it that much harder to call for a
corporate tax cut, or warn against excessive regulation. Still, there were
some pretty big openings up here this evening, and he let them alone! We'd
also like to thank Mr. McCain for keeping all the focus on himself these
past weeks. It has helped the Great Obama to just get on with the show.

As for that show, we'd love to invite you all back for next week's
performance, when the Great Obama will thrill with new, amazing exploits. He
will respect your Second Amendment rights even as he regulates firearms! He
will renegotiate Nafta, even as he supports free trade! He will.

Ms. Strassel is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. 
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