OBAMA IN THE LION'S DEN

President Obama leaves soon to confront his counterparts among the G 20 countries. I say confront because in the main they have complained about Obama spending too much money to cure the economic crisis. We have the remarkable situation where leaders of such countries as Germany are calling the US too “socialist.”

I have stated several times that I support all of the President’s efforts to revive the economy except for the one to improve the personal balance sheets of property investors. I have also pointed out that all of these programs, except for the actual Budget for 2010, are being funded out of borrowed money, not current tax revenues. I also detailed the Feds’ borrowing potential and set it at up to $28 trillion, while the current national debt stands at about $11 trillion. To complete the basic equation I said the Feds are paying about 1% interest to borrow these funds. I do not view this as having borrowed and spent too much nor do I see this changing.

Yes, we will have to repay the borrowing and will do so most likely with new borrowing. But as I also said, the US has been in debt since 1791 and we will be so for the duration of the Republic. I also noted that the Feds have acquired some valuable assets with these borrowed funds and in all likelihood the future earnings from these will repay the borrowing, or at least a substantial part.

So I say to the Europeans who complain about Obama spending too much, why not do the same? Your economies are even more distressed than is ours. Do you plan to wait until your economy rises in the wake of a revived US economy as in the past, or will you work with us to improve the lot of all?

As for the natterings of the present EU President, the President of Czechoslovakia, thank God he is in a rotating position and will soon rotate out.

Leo Cecchini
March 2009