Clinton Calls For Federal Pullback Once Recession Ends

President Bill Clinton asked Democrats to do something history tells us will not happen when he spoke to the Democrat's Jefferson Jackson Day fundraiser at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Indianapolis last night. "[Clinton] called on Democrats to support a pullback of such aggressive federal involvement in the private economy once the recession ends," the Star's Bill McCleery writes. "First we had to build this bridge over troubled waters," Clinton said. "But then we will have to have substantial reduction in the deficit."

I don't recall Democrats calling for a rollback of federal power after the Great Depression from which the U.S. economy only recovered because of World War II, not because of FDR's New Deal and the expansive role of the federal government over our daily lives he brought about. Someone passed along a summary of comments political commentator Dr. Charles Krauthammer made to the Center for the American Experiment recently that suggests Clinton is proposing a path for Obama and the Democrats that at least Obama has no intention of following:

Obama has a ruthless quest for power. He did not come to Washington to make something out of himself, but rather to change everything, including dismantling capitalism. He can't be straightforward on his ambitions, as the public would not go along. He has a heavy hand, and wants to 'level the playing field' with income redistribution and punishment of the achievers of society. He would like to model the USA to Great Britain or Canada.

His three main goals are federal control of energy, public education, and national healthcare. He doesn't care about the auto or financial services industries, but got them as an early bonus. The cap and trade will add costs to everything and stifle growth. Paying for free college education is his goal. Most scary is healthcare program, because if you make it free and add 48,000,000 people to a Medicare-type single-payer system, the costs will go thru the roof. The only way to control costs is with massive rationing of services, like in Canada. God forbid.

Krauthammer added that he believes Obama is a "narcissist" with a huge ego who cannot take criticism well. He views himself not as President of the United States but as ruler of the world Krauthammer opines. Krauthammer warned that the U.S. faces hyper inflation from spending trillions that we don't have, noting that no country has ever spent itself into prosperity.

Hopefully, the country will take the direction suggested by former President Clinton, but I don't see that happening. Krauthammer's assessment of Obama is very chilling to say the least. I also suspect the Clintons will part company with Obama when it becomes politically expedient to do so.