As we wait with the usual overhyped media anticipation and no great expectations for President Obama’s latest pronouncement on how his government will address the crisis in economic growth, here is what not to look for: Don’t look for anything resembling a detailed “plan” with prescriptive steps, don’t look for new commissions and “bipartisan” legislative task forces, and don’t even look for any new ideas from his administration’s economic “think tank”. Let’s face it—this administration is out of ideas that fit its ideological parameters and it is almost completely devoid of credibility on the issues at hand. More importantly, don’t look for these things primarily because prescriptive measures from government are not now and seldom are what we need at all. It’s not about a detailed plan; it’s about a philosophy of governance. The governing philosophy of this regime is bankrupt and has been totally rejected by opinion leaders and the nation’s productive class. This administration and the electorate that hired them in 2008 made a very bad bet that this country was ready for the ideology of progressivism in all its manifestations. Worse, the man they elected President doesn’t really know this country and the people he is supposed to be leading. And now, simply put, we need a major paradigm shift. If ours was a parliamentary system, we would have already had a recall election. November 2012 can’t get here soon enough.
