Copyright by John T. Reed

At his first inaugural in 1933, President Frankiln D. Roosevelt famously said,

We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

Actually, here are his exact words,

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

Obama claims to have taken office in a similar time. In fact, we are not yet in a depression. Roosevelt was in one.

Obama also seems to think he is the second coming of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Indeed, he seems to think he is a new and improved version of FDR.

But Obama sets an entirely different tone. He talks incessantly of “crisis” and “another Great Depression.” He warns that crisis may turn into “catastrophe” if Congress does not pass his “stimulus” bill so fast that literally not a single congressman or senator read it before they voted on it. (The 1,071-page document was printed at midnight on 2/12/09 and voted on 2/13/09—too soon for anyone to have read so many pages.)

In fact, current economic statistics indicate that we are in a similar situation to the recession of 1981-2, not a Great Depression.

Obama has even warned that Congress does not pass his “stimulus” bill right now, the country may fall into a permanent recession.

There has never been a “permanent recession” in the history of the country. The only way to get a permanent recession is to switch from capitalism to socialism—like they did in the Soviet Union or Cuba. Come to think of it, Obama seems to be trying to do just that, in which case passing his “stimulus” bill will be the cause of the permanent recession, not failing to pass it.

His talk of a “permanent recession” reminds me of the conversation between the tourist and the farmer. It was pouring rain and had been for days. The tourist asked the whittling farmer,

Think it’ll ever stop?

“It always has,” answered the farmer.

Where FDR told America,

We have nothing to fear but fear itself,

Obama says, in effect,

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

In private meetings with his chief of staff Rahm “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste” Emanuel, he may be saying,

The only thing we in the White House have to fear is that we can’t scare the public enough to force Congress to give us everything we want immediately.

This is the same Barack Obama who, while campaiging, repeatedly condemned “the politics of fear.” He condemns a lot of thinsg, until he does them himself: raising record amounts of money, using lobbyiss, selecting unethical cabinet members, keeping the contens of bills secret until after they are voted on, earmarks, pork, etc..

Obama is trying to talk the country into a depression so he can get more power and be the hero. He will more likely be the villain, but he’s too young and inexperienced and ignorant of economics and governing to recognize it.

FDR knew how horrible a depression was because he had lived through the first couple of years of it. To Obama, it’s just an abstraction that he can use to get what he wants.

The confidence of the American people and the people of the world will be an important factor in ending the recession. Obama is doing the exact opposite of what he should be doing when he tries to scare hell out of everyone.

University of Nevada, Reno economics professor Bradley R. Schiller said in the 2/14/09 Wall Street Journal that,

President Barack Obama has turned fearmongering into an art form.

Obama’s attempts to convince Americans that we are in or headed for a depression may well be a self-fulfilling prophecy. His similarly dangerous talk about “Buying American” and renegotiating NAFTA seems to be contributing to an already underway international trade war. If we do have an international trade war, it will be very hard to avoid a depression. The “stimulus” bill had nothing about preventing a trade war and indeed includes “Buy American” provisions that other countries have cited as possibly forcing them to relatiate against our exports—the definition of an international trade war.

Historians may call such an economic catastrophe “The Obama Depression” because of the huge role his fearmongering and protectionist union pandering played in bringing it about.

I appreciate informed, well-thought-out constructive criticism and suggestions. If there are any errors or omissions in my facts or logic, please tell me about them. If you are correct, I will fix the item in question. If you wish, I will give you credit. Where appropriate, I will apologize for the error. To date, I have been surprised at how few such corrections I have had to make.