Rodney Dangerfield in Toronto

There are no easy ways. No free lunches. No genies ready to pop out of a lamp and grant three wishes. And, no easy way to economic growth and job creation other than constant, dependable support for wealth creation and competition. The enemies of economic growth and job creation are the bureaucrats and protected classes and special interests that burden wealth creation and economic growth. That is our message. The research we do and the essays we write are to document and educate as many voters as possible about these simple truths.

Frequently we find that political leaders do not realize that when they say one thing one day and another thing another day that they are contradicting themselves. Others pick up on these inconsistencies. This is a fundamental failing that seems to be genetically embedded in many politicians. It is indicative of neither having any foundation in basic principles and beliefs nor of understanding the connectivity, the cause and effect, between certain actions and certain results.

Mr. Obama was quite the critic of GWBush and picked up on others in his party who claimed that his predecessor lacked the respect of world leaders. They said Bush II was viewed as a cowboy. Too much with the mouth; not enough with the strategy. Obama may be discovering that it may be better to be viewed as a cowboy than a Rodney Dangerfield imitator.

Obama recently sent a letter (June 16, 2010) to the heads of the so called G-20 nations – the top 20 economic powers in the world. This group meets from time to time, is scheduled to meet this weekend in Toronto, and tries to agree on some financial principles; some fundamentals. Obama’s letter is available for your reading at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/president_obama_letter_to_g-20_061610.pdf  There is not much new in the letter but it does reiterate Obama’s gospel to use public monies to keep the claimed recovery going. Bizarre preaching as an increasing number of larger countries are bumping up against their debt servicing levels. Bizarre preaching as debt builds at home and no real recovery is in sight. These times call for sacrifice and frugality. Instead we are getting the advice and strategies of a community organizer. A man who preaches how to work the system; how to get the system to meet your needs. Not how to fix the system. You see, to get respect you must lead; not jack the system.

As you read on in his letter you will also read where he takes to task those countries “with heavy reliance on exports….with already large external surpluses.” Now this is classic Obama getting caught up in his underwear. This statement is going to be viewed as immature and naïve by any export generating power house such as Germany. But it also is completely contradictory with Obama’s own “double US exports in the next five years” commission. Did he forget about that commission and its objectives? Or, as is more likely, did he just create the commission, as TheFundamentals suggested in its essay on March 16, 2010, as pablum nonsense in case someone, someday asks him what he is REALLY doing to support economic growth and jobs creation. Because, if he is asked, there is only one real answer – NOTHING. He has not done one substantive thing; not taken one substantive action to reduce government burden; ease bureaucratic involvement in the wealth creation process; restrict the power and cost of unions in private and public commerce and activities; and reduce taxes, borrowing, debt and their burdens.

His 19 buddies at the G -20 know it. TheFundamentals knows it. Now you know it. Tough to respect someone at this level of silly preaching and inconsistent messaging.

Rodney Dangerfield (1921 – 2004) was good at what he did. We mean no disrespect to him in this essay.