Obama Is a Paper Tiger

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." — Ronald Reagan

President Obama is still struggling to get his legs and many who had hoped that a brigade of experienced, reasonable advisers would mitigate our young leader’s lacks have been disappointed.

Leadership is critical in matters of world affairs. Symbolism and bully pulpit posturing is also significant. It is remarkable that mere hours after he apologized to a Europeans, and said America has been "arrogant" and "dismissive," President Obama paid fealty to the Saudi King Abdullah by bowing to him in London.

Obama's bow that wasn’t really (but really was/no not really/yes it was/no/oh yeah for sure) a bow to the Saudi king kinda highlights his naiveté (way worse than puking in a foreign leaders lap). Yeah, it was a bow, protestations to the contrary notwithstanding. Who are you gonna believe: the spin machine or your own eyes?

The mainstream media has been derelict in its role of allowing you to even see the event to judge for yourself (apparently hoping by ignoring it, the mega-‘whoops’ will fade away) but their silence on the gaffe has been deafening.

Maybe 142 days of Senate experience is not sufficient a foundation to prepare a form-over-substance paper tiger to be leader of the free world?

As Kenneth Walsh noted in U.S. News & World Report: “Now that he has been in office for two months, reality is overtaking charisma. Obama's positive aura is dissipating under the relentless pressure to get results and make compromises.” The Obama challenge is exacerbated by a mantle of arrogance and myopia that threatens everything.

The trillions of tax-and-spend dollars are unfortunately the tip of a humongous iceberg. The administration seems mired in a “don’t confuse me with facts that contradict our preconceived opinions and prejudices” mentality. The Pelosi Palace, acting in frothy frenzy over bonuses paid at AIG, came back with a 90 percent retroactive tax on those bonuses. The ‘do-over’ fizzled (despite a 328-93 vote) and the White House and the Senate backed away from it.

William Black, a deputy director at the former Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. during the thrift crisis of the 1980s, told Barrons that the financial crisis will destroy the Obama presidency both economically and in terms of integrity. “We have failed bankers giving advice to failed regulators on how to deal with failed assets. How can it result in anything but failure?"

If they are going to get any truthful investigation, the Democrats picked the wrong financial team. Tim Geithner, the current Secretary of the Treasury, and Larry Summers, chairman of the National Economic Council, were important architects of the problems. Geithner especially represents a failed regulator, having presided over the bailouts of major New York banks.

Messing around with global climates is a radical (dangerously dumb) idea that used to be blown off as an especially bad idea by "grown-ups." However, that reportedly is just what the new science adviser is suggesting. As much as I love Clive Cussler, perhaps his books shouldn’t be used for policy making?

Obama’s often-repeated "Jones" to engage with Iran has already resulted in them having installed some 7,000 centrifuges at its Natanz uranium enrichment facility.

North Korea flipped off the world (and specifically the U.S.) with its recent missile launch, and the White House response has been an underwhelming passing of the buck to the United Nothing.

Despite all the "get out of Iraq" stroke that fueled the campaign, the President intends to ask for new funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. He is asking for another $75.5 billion, notwithstanding the cries of protestation from his once faithful.

In addition to the traditional geopolitical threats from Russia and China, recent (albeit tardy) attention on assorted cyber attacks is a for-real threat. Concerns about the potential for cyber attacks on critical infrastructure have now moved to the American electrical power grid.

U.S. Homeland Security poobah Janet Napolitano says the power grid is vulnerable to potentially “disabling computer attacks” — although she declines to admit such an event has happened (and the mainstream poobahs either don’t know or don’t care).

While begrudgingly acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Barack Obama plans to begin addressing America's immigration system this year (despite obfuscating labels, what they intend to pursue is amnesty — the glaring epic failure of Saint Ronald).

Obama will frame the new effort — inevitably set to rouse heated passions on all sides of the divisiveness — as "policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system." Bullfeathers! Ain’t anything orderly about immunizing criminals from negative consequences; it will be a "goat rope."

Giving good speeches might get someone elected, but substance and policy acumen makes history.