Another email in my box. A very interesting, and unnerving read...
One of Bob Oster's CEO friends wrote this.
Bob was CFO of Oracle when itwent public, also CFO of Syntex, and holds a Ph. D. in economics from Berkeley . Since 1987, he has been an angel investor and private VC. He is on the Board of Overseers at the Hoover Institution.
________________________________
My 6 Month Evaluation of the Obama Presidency
In November 2008 I wrote out my evaluation of the Obama candidacy and what
it might mean to America . I filed this away, but sent it to family members
and a few close friends and associates just so I'd be accountable for my
real time observations. It's now been 6 months since Obama's inauguration.
(In the business world, this is typically when a first job review would
occur; so, I made a note to myself to revisit his performance on the 6-month
anniversary.) Thus, I now commit to filing my mid-year evaluation of our new
President. As well, I've put in the file (but not forwarded to anyone) a
separate "background check" - the one the press should've done on the Obama
candidacy prior to presenting him to the American public - in case this is
ever of relevance as things unfold.
As concerned as I was by Obama's candidacy when I wrote out my November
pre-election reservations, truth be known, I didn't much like McCain/Palin
either. At the time, I still had hopes that Obama might "govern from the
center." Six months into it, however, I can say that he's been considerably
worse than my worst fears. Thus, I'm updating my evaluation - this time with
the fervent hope that by the year-end I can be genuinely more optimistic.
I've concluded that not only was Barack Obama too inexperienced to be
President, but he also appears to be incompetent as an executive,
more-than-just-politician-level-dishonest and a bit of a narcissist (if not
a fascist).
He seems to have little understanding of American history, her dreams, or
her tremendous potential for risk-taking, self-correction and innovation. He
and Michelle have turned out to be quintessential Ivy League " Oppression
Studies majors" with (carefully concealed) "attitudes."
Obama seems, above all, to be a Community Organizer with shakedown
credentials and extraordinary speaking ability.
All of this should have been clear -- had we simply done serious background
checks. The following 4 items, at least, should have been clear to voters:
1. His surrogate father figure was Frank Marshall Davis, an avowed
Communist.
2. Barack served as a committed trainer for Community Activist and Marxist
Saul Alinsky.
3. He sat for nearly 2 decades at the feet of Jeremiah Wright, an angry,
anti-American "Black Liberation Theologist".
4. His first autobiography, Dreams from My Father, was almost certainly
ghost-written by William Ayers, a Vietnam-era domestic terrorist. [This last
assertion has now been supported by careful analysis of syntax, spelling and
common errors].
If these unusual threads (standing alone) are discounted to the point of not
being disqualifiers, those evaluating Barack Obama might have considered
that he'd NEVER...
i) held a job in the private sector,
ii) managed a payroll,
iii) led a turnaround or
iv) held any sort of executive position.
But, none of this mattered in the fall of 2008. After 6 months, I'm left
wondering if power brokers on the Far Left of American politics aren't
pinching themselves at their success in creating a fictitious character the
press ushered to market in a Bush-weary and "politically correct" America.
In his second autobiography, The Audacity of Hope, Obama recognizes the
advantage of his tabula rasa "creation" when he writes, "I serve as a blank
screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their
own views."
And, project we did! Thus, the former Barry Soetoro of Honolulu , Jakarta ,
Mombasa , Occidental, Columbia , Harvard and the mean streets of Chicago
moved at light speed from being the first-term senator nobody had ever heard
of to President of the United States . In the process, despite numerous
efforts, no one has yet seen his birth certificate, his college transcripts,
his application to Occidental (likely as a "foreign student"?), or the
passport he used to travel in 1981 to Pakistan with buddy Wahid Hamid
(likely an Indonesian one?). For some reason, the Obama campaign has, so
far, spent $3/4 million keeping these records out of public view. So, it's
easy to wonder -- if they supported Obama's putative CV -- why not make them
available and put to rest all suspicions about provenance, training and
politics?
My growing hunch is that there's virtually no paper trail because the Obama
biography has been created largely out of whole cloth. There -- I've said
what increasing numbers of people must be thinking, but are afraid to voice.
But, whether or not Obama is more than a cleverly-marketed fiction, and
whatever one thinks of his history, one thing is clear. He finally does have
a record to evaluate. And, it's not a confidence-inspiring one from my
standpoint.
At best, Obama is an attractive symbol for America and a compelling
communicator; but he's...
1. Not an executive. He's shown an utter inability to focus, to set
priorities and to consider 2nd and 3rd order or long-term consequences to
his actions. Lack of focus on priorities is fatal as a CEO; (but, maybe less
so for a political leader?) (Can only speak eloquently with the aid of a
teleprompter!)
2. Not a steward or fiduciary for America . Obama clearly does not see his
primary job as one of overseeing the security and well-being of America
during his tenure as its chief executive. He's not only unwilling to stand
up for America , but he also regularly seems to go out of his way to
apologize for her history. This makes it apparent that he believes his most
important job is to change America into what he and Michelle thinks it
should have been, had we not suffered the Founders' flawed vision.
At worst, Obama's aims seem truly radical; his methods pure Alinsky; and his
success derivative of obfuscating the truth, creating crises, and rushing
changes into law that no one can possibly absorb under artificial deadlines
- all aimed at limiting private property rights, changing the Constitution
and forever altering our free market system?
(Read who Saul Alinsky was, what he taught, and compare to who Obama is and
what he's doing!)
For those who consider Obama's training and background irrelevant, they can
now evaluate him as a Commander-in-Chief and CEO from what he's done over
his first 6 months.
Among many other things, these evidences have come in the form of:
1. A $787B "stimulus" package (sold as preventing a "crisis from becoming
catastrophe")
2. The failure to focus on addressing the banking crisis as "Job One"
3. The migration of TARP funds to non-banking concerns, viz., auto industry
4. Announcing tax increases in the middle of a recession
5. Failure to identify projects to fund job creation (Thus, 10% of stimulus
yet spent)
6. Announcing that there would be "no pork" or "earmarks" in the " stimulus"
package in order to get it passed without review when there were nearly
10,000 buried in the unread bill (including a $9B high-speed rail line to
Las Vegas for Harry Reid)
7. Bailouts of the banking and auto industries
8. The appointment of a 31-year-old to manage the recreation of the auto
companies
9. The exalting of union claims above those of bondholders (violating a 200+
year history of contract law/property rights)
10. The appointment of 34 unvetted "czars" -- creating more than in the
House of Romanov between 1762 and 1917!
11. The failure to appoint a Cabinet of tax-paying, competent Americans
(reason for the move to the Czar system of administration?)
12. The appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court despite an
apparent lack of qualifications and judicial temperament.
13. The dark-of-night passage of "Cap and Trade" legislation.
(300-page-long addendum inserted at 3AM the morning of the vote in the
House)
14. The high pressure tactics to rush through a budget-busting $1.6T
takeover of healthcare.
15. Phony "townhall" meetings with a fake cross-section of Americans selling
Obamacare on ABC.
16. "Lying" about budget deficits - projecting 4% GDP growth by year-end.
17. "Lying" about job losses - projecting that if Congress would just ram
through the "stimulus" that job losses could be halted at 8% (currently on
their way to 10% and rising).
18. "Lying" about the costs of nationalized healthcare - (just as in 1965
when politicians projected Medicare's cost in 1990 to be $3 billion, its
actual cost turned out in 1990 to $98 billion - 30 times as much).
19. Pretending that new entitlement programs will provide lower costs,
better care, no significant tax increases, more competition (as government
joins the fray!?) and keeping current private options. Claiming "free"
healthcare will make America more competitive is baffling. Everyone knows
the above are lies; but no one seems ready to call them out.
20. Forcing the "stimulus" package on states to impinge on "States Rights".
21. Failing to support the freedom-loving citizens in Honduras and Iran (and
instead, giving comfort to their dictators) to say nothing of his
ineffectiveness with North Korea and anti-Israeli pronouncements.
22. Allocating $4B of "stimulus" funds to ACORN, the voter fraud thugs.
23. Seeking to push through Union Card Check, the so-called "Fairness
Doctrine," and threats to take away 2nd amendment rights (see Eric Holder),
etc.
24. Moving the heretofore non-partisan census into the Whitehouse under the
direction of Rahm Emanuel.
Whatever one thinks of the results, the process of getting to them should
bother all Americans. In the Obama (Mayor Daley?) style of governing, it's
not clear that Congress - who can't possibly process thoughtfully the
blizzard of legislation - really serves any useful purpose other than to
provide Politburo-style cover. Not only does Congress no longer debate
legislation, but Obama has effectively circumvented its oversight of the
executive branch by his appointment of czars.
In contrast to the direction Obama is taking us all, the Economist recently
pointed out that 53% of all of the jobs created in the U. S. were created in
one state last year: Texas (the most free market of all State economies and
the "last best hope" [ha!] for secession?).
Meanwhile, in California , -- as a perfect preview to "Obama's America " --
job losses are already well into double digits, the state faces a $25B
budget deficit and is closing down services and considering bankruptcy. I
cannot predict what will happen to Obama's popularity, as people wake up to
the size and intractability of the deficits he's promoting, the
unavailability of credit for small businesses, or the increased tax rates on
energy and payrolls provoking a continuing loss of jobs as small businesses
shed employees due to skyrocketing costs.
But, is bad economic news bad for Obama? Sadly, the answer, if one studies
the Alinsky formula for bloodless revolution, is "Heck no!" Indeed, high
unemployment is necessary for the Obama Redistribution Plan. According to
Alinsky, only with high unemployment will people look to the government for
help (and then become dependent), allowing government to gain control over
the factors of productions. If one considers that the Alinsky manual might
be Obama's "playbook," one can't help but want to evaluate how closely it's
being followed.
Thus, in evaluating Obama's performance, it's probably worth noting (for the
6-month record) the key elements of the Alinsky formula. Written in 1971 by
Chicago Organizer, Saul Alinsky, under the title of Rules for Radicals, this
manual for effective change became Young Barack Obama's "bible." David
Alinsky, son of the author said of our new President: "Barack Obama
patterned himself after the Saul Alinsky model in everything he has done
since arriving in South Chicago ."
Alinsky clearly stated its purpose: "Any revolutionary change must be
preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change
among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so
lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go
of the past and change the future. This acceptance is the reformation
essential to any revolution."
Note how closely Obama is following the rules for internal revolution, based
on Alinsky's specific instructions:
1. Pursue an "Ideology of Change" (Alinsky's phrase for the most effective
way to market revolution)
2. Target the banks that serve the steel, auto, and other industries.
3. Start class warfare -- Fuel the anger of what Alinsky calls the "
Have-Nots," and the "Have-some-but-want-mores" against the "Haves."
4. Use crises to create fear.
5. Use pollution as a foil to grab power.
6. Set up "jobs programs" to make workers dependent on government.
7. Show supreme self-confidence.
8. Make communication skills your key weapon.
9. Use simple catch phrases and vague slogans ('Of the Common Welfare, [Nazi
takeover of Germany], 'Bread and Peace,' [Bolshevik Revolution]) In this
context, it's not hard to imagine that "Change" & "The Audacity of Hope"
will one day be seen as the battle cry for the Obama revolution.
10. Use deception --"in war the end justifies almost any means."
11. Remain calm, appealing, likeable while inciting fear, conflict, defeat.
As these steps are being pursued, the press continues to refer to "the
Republican recession," so Obama's popularity remains high. Any who saw tapes
of President Bush warning Congress (on two separate occasions) that the
market was headed for disaster unless it instituted the very reforms Barney
Frank and Chris Dodd pooh-poohed, may be surprised to see the level of
"cover " the press is providing this revolution.
As bleak as things look for free markets, I have hope. Why? Just as Bernie
Madoff learned that ponzi schemes eventually come to light - Barack Obama
may soon learn that "you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
It's unclear to me how much and how long America will have to pay for its
experiment with Obamunism - his fantasy "green jobs," his new taxes, his
junk science, his czars, his meddling in the auto and banking industries,
his sure-to-be-disastrous Obamacare and the encouragement he's giving to
union bosses, dictators and tyrants the globe over, to say nothing of his
"Peace-through-Weakness" foreign policy. But, at some point, reality will
take over, as it always does. I just hope America will have its Winston
Churchill or Ronald Reagan ready to step into the breach when the time
comes.
So far, the nervousness of Blue Dog Democrats and their ability to resist
some of the wackier directives has been the only thing that has kept Obama
from an outright failing grade, in my view. Perhaps, just as the Gingrich
Congress rescued Bill Clinton, it may be these so-called Blue Dogs that
rescue Obama. If not, it may be important for the survival of the union for
government to be forever split between the parties!
login to post comments |
previous forum topic |
next forum topic
