I've got to tell you that I was sure that your fellow democrat waste of skin, Jimmy Carter, would hold that particular honor in perpetuity. But as bad as Carter was (and he was indescribably bad) your incompetence has easily surpassed him by a country mile.
Here's what your meddling with the free market has accomplished in the short time your presence has tarnished our history:
Since then, the market hasn't just gotten worse — it's turned in its worst performance ever for a new president.The.
Worst.
Performance.
Ever.
I'm pretty sure that this is NOT the "Change" we're supposed to believe in.
Mr. President, I've always thought of you as a bright guy. You're in WAY over your head, of course, but that doesn't make you a total dolt.
Now.... now the vote is in, and your efforts have been a complete and utter failure.
The breadth and depth of the damage you've caused this country in such a short time is breathtaking. You, personally, are responsible for the loss of uncounted billions of dollars in retirement funds, 401K's and major investments.
I GET that you're doing everything you can to increase reliance on government programs. That's certainly part of the income redistribution and socialism program you're implementing. Kind of a modern-day Robin Hood... except, you're also the Sheriff of Nottingham.
To be successful, Mr. President, you can be one... or the other... but not both.
The problem is that we're caught in the middle of those two identities. And we're bleeding all over because of it.
Stockholders have lost $1.4 trillion during the young administration.$1.4.
TRILLION.
So, in addition to burying us in trillions of dollars of debt, your fine administration of our economy has cost us additional hundreds of billions of dollars.
You're in charge, Mr. President. Your incessant whining that you "inherited" this mess is not what we need... and it's unbecoming. It shows weakness, and the almost genetic leftist trait of an inability to accept responsibility. The problem is that I know your dirty little secret:
If your actions had actually made something positive happen... if you had managed to end the arterial bleeding you've caused and turn this slow-motion train wreck you started around... you WOULD be taking ALL of the credit for it... and making a ton of political capital because of it.
Instead, you give us a clueless, planless, tax-dodging Treasury Secretary that no one seems to want to work for.
You're making ME assume responsibility for those dumb enough to take out mortgages there was no way they could pay, or in the alternative, responsibility for the actions of predatory lenders.
You WANT us to spend money, but you're vacuuming it out of the economy as fast as you can; causing government printing presses to burn out at a record rate; denuding entire forests to print money that we don't have.
As a small-businessman, you've eliminated any security I may have... you've destroyed any realistic long range planning. Your ineptitude FORCES us to become totally conservative in our expenditures... and because you've hammered the economy, my clients have been forced to cut back... and consultants are rightfully on the chopping block.
You see, Mr. President... no consultant can overcome your plan or your actions. You've torn the wing off the plane that is our economy... and at this point, all we can do is to prepare for the inevitable crash.
Several years ago, we here in Washington State had a battle over an Initiative, 695, that if passed, would have shut off a huge revenue source by applying a flat fee to yearly car tabs while requiring a vote for any tax or fee increase.
The sponsor of the Initiative turned in hundreds of thousands of signatures, shattering the previous record by something on the order of 200,000. It was clear to a blind man that this Initiative would pass.
Our governor (Who is now, come to think of it, YOUR Commerce Secretary designate) had the option of holding a special session to provide an alternative option to vote on... or do nothing at all.
It was one of the sponsors who put it best: "The Governor has the choice of landing the plane with the wheels up, or flying it directly into the ground."
Like you, he flew the plane directly into the ground... and he did nothing. So, instead of a gradual phase in of this massive revenue cut, government had to quit cold-turkey. Programs were slashed... taxes were increased in other areas... remarkably similar to what our state, facing an $8 billion plus deficit is trying to do now.
So you see, Mr. President, I am not going to spend any money because I'm afraid you'll put me out of business. And nothing you've done has convinced me... the market... our economy that you have a plan besides burying us in debt (Losses in the stock market equate, so far, to roughly $4400 for each man, woman and child in the country... not bad for a 7 week tenure.)
Your number one duty is to do no harm. Stop it, Mr. President. Get somebody in there that has a clue.
We've bled enough.
Originally published March 10, 2009 at 12:00 AM Page modified March 10, 2009 at 8:52 AM
Veteran financial journalist Jon Talton blogs daily on the most important economic news, trends and issues involving Seattle and the Northwest.
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The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen 21 percent during President Obama's first seven weeks in office. Count back to Election Day and the results are even bleaker: a loss of 32 percent.
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The election of Barack Obama offered the promise of a new set of fixes for the financial crisis and the economy, a do-over that might help nurse the stock market back to health.
Since then, the market hasn't just gotten worse — it's turned in its worst performance ever for a new president.
The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen 21 percent during Obama's first seven weeks in office. Count back to Election Day and the results are even bleaker: That afternoon, the Dow closed at 9,625. Now it stands at 6,547, a loss of 32 percent.
Is this the Obama bear market? Or hangover from the Bush administration?
Some investors blame the slow-motion crash on Wall Street's disappointment with the government's $787 billion stimulus plan, its seemingly endless bailouts and the lack of specifics on how to rid banks of toxic assets.
Others say Obama inherited a recession destined to become the worst since World War II. And they note the market was already in awful shape at the tail end of the Bush administration, down 44 percent from the market's 2007 peak to Inauguration Day.
Either way, Wall Street has not exactly rolled out the welcome mat for Obama. Stockholders have lost $1.4 trillion during the young administration.
"There's not much evidence that anything is working," said Hugh Johnson, chairman of Johnson Illington Advisors. "Investors are waiting to see some results from these grand plans, and they don't see them yet."
Obama still has the nation's support — a 67 percent job-approval rating, according to a recent Associated Press-GfK poll. But Americans are racing nevertheless to pull money out of stocks. In the week ended March 4, nearly $30 billion was removed from stock mutual funds, according to TrimTabs Investment Research.
It is far from the only time investors have refused to grant a new president a honeymoon.
Before Obama, the worst Dow performance for the first seven weeks of a new administration was an 18 percent plunge in 1974 after Gerald Ford was sworn in, during a severe bear market triggered by the Arab oil crisis.
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