CEO is not in Obama’s DNA

August 29, 2010
By Herman Cain 
 
While House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) urged President Obama last Tuesday to fire his economic team, a real CEO would have made that move months ago.

A real CEO would have also developed and implemented a new strategy to stimulate the economy as soon as it became apparent that the old one was not working.

Even worse, the administration is in denial about the fact that its economic policies are not working. This is evidenced by Vice President Joe Biden’s spin tour trying to convince people that their policies are working using concocted measurements such as “jobs saved”, and the latest addition to their spin vocabulary – “lives touched”.

I am one of many writers who warned that we could not spend our way to prosperity, but the administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress passed the $862 billion non-stimulus bill anyway. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on members of Congress back during the August congressional recess to spend another $26 billion to help save some more union jobs.

President Obama is now floating the idea of spending another $30 billion to stimulate community bank lending to small businesses. Add this idea to the growing list of poorly executed and ineffective pop-tart programs such as cash for clunkers, cash for caulkers, cash for air (air conditioning system upgrade), and the Home Affordable Modification Program, and it’s no wonder the administration is making up new words to avoid talking about their failed programs and policies.
Even though a majority of the voters did not want the health care legislation to pass, the president forced it through anyway. And instead of people liking it more and more as we find out what’s in the bill, Nancy, more and more people are disliking the bill. Even though the job-killing Cap and Trade legislation was not read by anyone voting for it, the House passed it anyway.

Thankfully, because of a huge outcry from the voters to their senators, the Cap and Trade legislation is in full retreat in the Senate. It’s never dead with the current leadership in Washington, so we will take retreat for now.

Starting with President Obama’s unmanageable management structure, with dozens of czars plus traditional Cabinet secretaries, and now a parade of failed programs and policies, he is either too out of touch with reality, has no idea of which changes need to be made or truly believes in the incompetent people he has surrounded himself with. Or maybe the president can blame it all on an equally incompetent Democrat-controlled Congress.

Unfortunately, it’s all of the above.

We have a president incapable of making the right management moves, developing a new workable economic strategy, or worse yet, not even knowing that these changes are necessary. It’s not in his DNA.

So if the president is not listening to the voters, he is certainly not going to listen to the Minority Leader.

That makes November that much more critical. We will remember.

Dems scramble for a new message since the nation still hates ObamaCare

August 22, 2010
By Herman Cain


Three cheers for Politico.com! The liberals tried to keep it secret, but thanks to Politico, they are busted! The Health Care Deform legislation has bombed with even their liberal constituency. And now they are trying to spin - as in distract, deceive and lie – their way to public acceptance of bad legislation.

As expected, the mainstream media is providing plenty of distractions so people will not focus on this critical story, and cause Democrats to get “beat up” again during the August recess as they did in 2009. If they have the nerve to even face their constituency, they may as well get ready for another whupping.

Distractions such as the president’s vacations, the proposed mosque in New York City, slow processing of damage claims from the BP oil disaster, a special session of Congress to spend more money we do not have, a research project paid for by taxpayers to determine the effects of cocaine on monkeys, speculation that Hillary Clinton might be Obama’s running mate in 2012, the president’s low approval ratings and many more stories might be interesting. But not critical.

National security, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, our stalled economy, tax increases on January 1, 2011, Social Security and Medicare, an exploding national debt and the impact of the health care legislation are critical stories we ought to hear about in the news every day. But we don’t.

We should hear stories everyday telling us that:

• There is no such thing as a “jobless economic recovery” as the administration is claiming. Just ask the nearly 15 million people who cannot find jobs! The administration’s economic policies are not working.
• Raising taxes on any group in any way is going to make our economic situation worse! Just look at history.
• The Social Security system, Medicare and Medicaid are economic disasters and getting worse. The new health care legislation is another disaster.
• The national debt is unsustainable according to the Congressional Budget Office and a lot of other smart people in this country, but none of them appear to be in the Obama Administration or congressional leadership.

The Politico.com article reports (emphasis mine):

“The confidential presentation (prepared by Senate Democrats, senior staff and an official with the White House) provided to POLITICO by a source on the call, suggests that Democrats are acknowledging the failure of their predictions that the health care legislation would grow more popular after its passage, as its benefits became clear and rhetoric cooled. Instead, the presentation is designed to win over a skeptical public and to defend the legislation — in particular, the individual mandate — from a push for repeal.”

The health care legislation has not grown more popular because a growing number of people are not as stupid as the president and the Democrats think we are. In fact, it was clear that a majority of voters did not agree with the legislation before it was passed, but the president and the Democrats forced passage anyway. And now, they are trying to put lipstick on that pig!

Repealing the health care legislation is more than just a push. A majority of voters polled firmly believe the health care legislation should be repealed. Representative Michelle Bachman (R-Minnesota) has already introduced repeal legislation, even though it will go nowhere with this Congress and this president.

Thus, we have one more big reason to remember in November.
The last page of the secret presentation encourages Democrats to barrage voters with a long list of benefits, use complex language or insider jargon, and say the law will reduce costs and deficit.

In other words, distract, deceive and lie.

There’s a lot to remember in November

August 15, 2010
By Herman Cain

As primary elections are settled around the country, it is not too early to start remembering what people should remember in November. With all of the distractions coming out of Washington through the filter of the media, it is easy for people to forget come Election Day.

This writer will not forget. Here are some of the things this administration and Congress have done to deceive, mislead and insult the American people:

TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program): $750 billion

When the financial institutions started paying the taxpayers back with interest, the Democrats, led by Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), wanted to use the interest for other purposes instead of paying down debt as specified in the legislation. This is just dishonest – to tell the public one thing and then change the law later to be able to add to the national debt instead of reducing it.

Stimulus spending bill: $862 billion

This was a deceptive bill. It was supposed to keep unemployment below 8 percent and create jobs. It did not. Instead, the administration concocted a “saved jobs” concept to help disguise the deception. Gross Domestic Product growth is still sluggish, and unemployment has remained high at 9.5 percent. Businesses are in a state of “survive” rather than a growth mode because of all the uncertainties created by the administration and Congress. Even though the stimulus bill has not worked, the administration and Congress keep spending and plan on raising taxes.

Health Care Deform legislation: $1 trillion

The president and the Democrat-controlled Congress passed this legislation against the will of the majority of the American people. Currently, an even larger majority of Americans want this legislation repealed and the president and Congress continue to ignore their wishes. And more insulting, Democrats voting for the legislation did not read it. Speaker Pelosi even said “We must pass it so we can then tell you what’s in it”.

Cap & Trade & Tax & Kill bill

No members of Congress read this bill either as it sailed through the House with only Democrats and one freshman Republican voting for it. Fortunately, the outcry by the people caused it to not go through the Senate as fast and it is still on the back burner, where it should die a quiet death. This legislation is a tax on our economy and businesses, and is based on faulty science which has been exposed. The Democrats and the president want to pass it anyway.

Annual Deficits

The largest annual deficit for President George Bush was during his last year in office ($455 billion in FY 2008).  The annual deficits under President Obama’s first two years of FY 2009 and FY 2010 were $1.7 trillion and $1.6 trillion, respectively. This is why the national debt is growing so fast. President Obama said in December 2008: “Deficits don’t matter”. They do matter to the American people and the future of this country.

National Debt is nearly $14 trillion

Nearly $4 trillion has been added to the national debt since President Obama took office less than two years ago with a Democrat-controlled Congress. This is in contrast to the $4 trillion added to the national debt during eight years of the Bush administration. The Congressional Budget Office and others have warned that this is unsustainable, but the president and the Democrats continue to ignore these warnings.

Financial Deform legislation

This legislation is another unnecessary new bureaucracy created by the same two Members of Congress (Senator Dodd and Rep. Frank) who chaired Congressional Committees that allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to fail. Their failure was the catalyst for the financial meltdown of 2008 and 2009. Get this! The new legislation excludes Fannie and Freddie from oversight by the newly created bureaucracy. Fannie Mae is now seeking a second bailout of $1.5 billion after 12 straight quarters of loses, and Freddie Mac is asking for $1.8 billion of additional bailout money.

Another $26.1 billion

Speaker Pelosi called Members of Congress back from August recess to pass this “emergency” jobs bill. Sixteen billion dollars went to the states that had done the worst job of managing their Medicaid program, and $10 billion were targeted to save teacher jobs. Right! One caller last week appropriately called it a “snow jobs” bill.

The political arrogance, waste of taxpayers’ money and abuse of power by this administration and Congress has been unprecedented. If people remember in November, we can make an unprecedented change of control in Congress.

It’s November or never.

New four-letter word for you liberals: SIIN

August 8, 2010
By Herman Cain

In a previous commentary I revealed three of the most often-used tactics of liberals. They shift the subject, ignore the facts, and resort to name calling.

Recently, a caller to my nightly radio show invoked a new tactic, which most people know exists, but it is not often used so openly and brazenly. It’s attempted intimidation.

After explaining to listeners how the policies of President Obama and the Democrats in Congress had failed to stimulate the economy, with stalled growth and systemic high unemployment, caller G suggested that since I had lost my bid for United States Senate in 2004, and since John McCain had lost to President Obama in 2008, that I should just “sit down and shut up”.

I assured her that there was no way in my lifetime that that was going to happen.

Although it probably did not register with her, I also told her that when we reach a point where we cannot disagree with or criticize our elected so-called leaders, then our constitutional republic will have become a nation of tyranny. That’s also not going to happen.

Liberals are so desperate to deflect attention away from the failed policies of this administration and this Congress that people such as caller G are now openly using attempted intimidation, since name-calling is not working like it used to.

The name-calling campaign started with Speaker Pelosi calling Tea Party people ‘Astroturf’ in early 2009. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called us ‘un-American’, and so-called actress JaneaneGarofalo called us “tea baggin racists”. The latest attempt by the racially focused NAACP to label Tea Party people as racists backfired. And now the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has launched a campaign to try and label Tea Party people as Republicans, while other Democrats in Congress just call us crazy.

We are crazy! We are crazy about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the free market system, and the United States of America.

So the latest tactic by caller G was an attempt to intimidate me and other voices who dare criticize President Obama, ineffective policies and bad legislation.

Ironically, the next caller (caller A) directed her comments to caller G and the other listeners, and stated that “Mr. Cain cannot shut up because that’s how I know what’s really happening. I am tired of this administration pouring warm water on my leg and telling me it’s raining.” (You can substitute any phrase in your imagination for the pouring warm water phrase. POML comes to mind for me.)

After I got my uncontrollable laughter back under control, I thanked caller A for her encouragement, and hoped that caller G was still listening.

President Obama has called this time leading up to the November elections “silly season” in politics. No, the desperate liberals are making it stupid season, because people are tired of the SIIN tactics.

If intimidation is the latest tactic in the liberal’s playbook, then that’s good for conservatives if they get up, get out and vote in the upcoming mid-term elections.

Conservatives who favor less government and lower taxes are winning the public discourse with facts, logic and common sense. Because liberals can’t handle the facts, logic is non-existent, and they have an allergic reaction to common sense.

SIIN is the liberal’s new four letter word, but the conservatives and Tea Party people have a new ‘N’ word.

November is coming!

Sudden death economics

August 1, 2010
By Herman Cain

“Our economy is on a government-induced lose-lose trajectory of financial destruction between federal spending and tax revenue. It’s a Mathematically Assured Depression (MAD). The only unanswered question is when.”


- Herman Cain, March 9, 2009 commentary

I do not enjoy bad news predictions. But the president, his administration, Congress and the major mainstream broadcast media are focused on everything except the coming financial disaster we face. It’s not that the other issues are not critical. The financial crisis could be catastrophic.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued another warning last week that the growing federal debt is unsustainable! It is a real crisis! As stated in the CBO report, “A growing level of federal debt would increase the probability of a sudden fiscal collapse”.

This did not just start under the Obama Administration, but it has clearly accelerated during this administration. Consider the following statistics:

When President Obama took office in January 2009, the national debt was $9.5 trillion, which is nearly $32,000 for every man, woman and child living in this country. The national debt as of this writing is nearly $14 trillion, which is $45,000 for every man, woman and child living in this country. That’s a historic increase in a historic short period of time!

That debt does not die when we die. Our children and grandchildren will have to pay our foreign creditors back, if we can avoid a total financial collapse.

As the president and Congress continue to spend like crazy, they continue to pay lip service to wanting to get spending under control. Their words do not match their actions.

For example, Senate Democrats tried to pass a $30 billion “drop in the bucket” package to help stimulate lending to small businesses. Over $600 billion of the stimulus bill has not worked, so the Democrats wanted to throw another $30 billion on top of the $846 billion stimulus spending. The majority of Republicans voted against it because it was new spending, when the money could have been taken out of unspent stimulus funding.
Of course, the president blamed the Republicans for being partisan obstructionists.

The anticipated December 2010 report by the Debt Commission appointed by the president will be nothing more than so-called justification to raise taxes even more than they will automatically increase on January 1, 2011 if Congress does absolutely nothing. Whether or not only the “rich” gets hit remains to be seen.

The CBO report and analyses by other organizations, such as The Heritage Foundation, indicate that the administration and Congress are playing “sudden death” with our economy, which has huge national security implications.

The notion that raising taxes will solve the problem is misguided and factually false based on sound historical analysis. And the belief that this economy will not slow down even further with tax increases is equally misguided.

Admittedly, this is not an inspiring or entertaining topic. In fact, it is downright scary. It is even scarier that a large number of voters are equally oblivious and blind to this clear and present financial danger. What happened in Greece and other European countries can happen here.
The big difference is that Uncle Sam does not have a “sugar daddy” to bail us out.

The 2010 congressional elections are sudden death for control of the House of Representatives. If real Republicans take control, there is some real hope of slowing down the destruction of our economy.

This is a serious crisis, and the elected so-called leaders are not listening. I believe the voters are listening. They will remember in November.