Recently the writer of a local newspaper letter asked me to explain what it is I think Barack Obama and the Administration have done that is so bad – after I made the comment that Obama is destroying our freedom and liberty and we are watching it erode before our very eyes. This, mind you after he had posted that Americas issues were all the result of the previous administration, placing the blame for the country’s woes strictly and fully on former POTUS George Bush.

Since this seems to be a recurring theme of the ultra-far-left, and because it would seem a cop-out not to respond, I will attempt in my “never to be humble” style to address at least a few of the issues that I have with our current president and his administration. Hopefully, even though I have no illusion of persuading the afore mentioned writer, someone with lingering questions may come away with at least some new perspective.

First, let’s begin with a few of the more obvious problems. It is my belief that the current administration has demonstrated a clear penchant for extreme Socialist policy perhaps bordering on Marxism. This can be seen in the ideologies/policies of the President and the people Mr. Obama has chosen to surround himself with by placing them in seats of great power and influence throughout government. One example is the president’s choice in March 2009 of Van Jones who was appointed by President Barack Obama to the [newly created] position of Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, (budget unknown, but believed to be significant) where he worked with various “agencies and departments to advance the administration’s climate and energy initiatives, with a special focus on improving vulnerable communities”. The term “vulnerable communities” has yet to be adequately defined by anyone in the administration but, I take it to mean any community with a high rate of poverty and ignorance but see no connection to environmental issues. Mr. Jones’ direct ties to Marxists and his own statements that he [is a communist] make him unfit for service in government in the minds of most people. Mr. Jones is an ardent champion of the ultra-far left and dangerously radical environmental movement and has started at least 4 activist organizations to both enrich himself and advance his cause. No matter what you believe about the state of our environment (the science is far from settled) the position of individuals like Jones is that America is the chief polluter in the world and therefore must be made to suffer at the hands of the likes of the United Nations via “Agenda 21”, the very far reaching plan to create “One World Government”, relinquishing American sovereignty and control over every aspect of human activity including environment, private land use, economy and even personal behavior such as gun ownership. Mr. Jones anti-American stance unfortunately is no aberration when it comes to the far-left leanings of the individuals that President Obama has chosen and placed in powerful positions. These people, like it or not are changing the country through executive order and fiat without oversight and in many cases even without names. They push plans and policies that are both harmful to American interests and counter to the beliefs and desires of the citizenry. People such as Cass Sunstein the President’s “Regulatory Czar” who wants to (gently if possible) but ultimately by any means necessary “nudge” us into compliance with [his] view of the perfect America. Environmental regulations are merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the changing regulatory landscape that determines directly and indirectly what life will be like in the United States for her citizens years, perhaps decades to come. You may say, “I’ve never even heard of ‘Agenda 21’” or “what difference does one individual like Jones make?” The answers are the keys to whether you believe the administration is or is not changing or (eroding) the American way of life. It is undeniable whether one chooses to believe or not that America is changing rapidly and deliberately. Remember, it was Barack Obama who campaigned on the idea of “fundamentally changing” America. He just never defined (and was never asked) what he meant by fundamental change; but now that he’s been gifted the office and time we can clearly see the result of his intention, which is to move America hard left into Socialism. The shift in his second term is likely to be much more dramatic than that seen in the first.
The list of radicals in and around the White House is astounding in breadth and shocking in its consistency. At no other time in American history have so many leftist radicals had so much power and influence and done so much damage so quickly. From Arne Duncan, Obama’s Secretary of Education, to Rahm Emanuel, now Mayor of the worst run city in America (and worse, his brother Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, White House health care policy czar and architect of Obama Care and in particular the “End of Life” or “Death Panels” portion, to Eric Holder of “fast n’ Furious” fame, to the ethically challenged tax-cheat Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, to the secretive Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and on and on and on the list goes until your head virtually explodes trying to remember all of the scandals, lies, miss-directions, obfuscations and changes in American policy and cultural direction.

Then there is the economy. A little perspective is required for the “Blame Bush” crowd. The constantly lauded argument that today’s economic woes were inherited and are the result of over-spending for wars is a fallacy. I make no excuses for the fiscal excesses of the Bush administration and Congress in the last decade. But at some point, a president has to take ownership of his own actions. Obama certainly inherited an economic mess, and that accounts for a large part of the deficit. But Obama pushed for spending increases that also have contributed in important ways to the nation’s fiscal deterioration. Clearly, a huge part of the deficit problem, about half stems from the recession and forecasting errors. But Obama’s policies represent a big chunk as well. He certainly could argue that these were necessary and important steps to take, but he can’t blithely suggest that 90 percent of the current deficit “is as a consequence” of his predecessor’s policies, and not his own. It is astonishing to see the president and his sycophants repeat this faulty claim over and over again, as if it were an established fact. Moreover, an important part of Obama’s legacy — the health-care law — has not even taken full effect yet. The CBO calculated virtually no impact on the deficit in the first 10 years after enactment, but all bets are off after that. Obama claims that “we have actually seen the federal government grow at a slower pace than at any time since Dwight Eisenhower.” The Washington Post, FactCheck.org and the Associated Press have all said the claim is bunk. One common way to measure federal spending is to compare it to the size of the overall U.S. economy. That at least puts the level into context, helping account for population growth, inflation and other factors that affect spending. Here’s what the White House’s own budget documents show about spending as a percentage of the U.S. economy (gross domestic product):
2008: 20.8 percent
2009: 25.2 percent (Bush and Congress get some credit, but only about half)
2010: 24.1 percent
2011: 24.1 percent
2012: 24.3 percent
2013: 23.3 percent
In the post-war era, federal spending as a percentage of the U.S. economy has hovered around 20 percent. Under Obama, it has hit highs not seen since the end of World War II. The seriousness of this fact cannot be overestimated. When debt-to-GDP ratios rise, the cost of everything, including government rises. When the cost of government rises, inflation follows, increasing the cost of everything. The rising cost of everything on individuals erodes the American way of life. Worse, far worse, is the fact that a large percentage of this money is being printed by Obama’s Federal Reserve or borrowed from outside the US, making all of the aforementioned still worse by causing every dollar in your wallet to have less actual buying power. Some folks may not have begun to feel the pinch of these economic facts but the day of reckoning is at hand like it or not. The results of “TARPs I, II and (maybe III) are simply that the taxpayers have been fleeced by a government hell-bent on picking and choosing marketplace winners and losers such as Solyndra $535M, Abound Solar $400M, LG Chem/Compact Power $151M, Ener1 $118.5M etc. to date about 33 losers and NO winners as this administration attempts to play venture capitalist with taxpayer money. Contrary to administration claims, the government has not been “paid back in full” for the bailout gifted GM.

This administration is unquestionably attempting to lower America’s standing in the world. First there was the apology tour by our President. Trotting throughout the Middle-East genuflecting and commenting about the arrogance and dismissiveness of America undermines our ability to deal with arguably already difficult nations. Praising the likes of “Occupy” lowers public discourse as the participants defecate on police cars while law enforcement are ordered to stand down. Watching the Muslim Brotherhood take over country after country post “Arab Spring” and calling them a legitimate duly elected entity is a farce to which the administration is complicit. Calling the “Fort Hood” shooting “work place violence” rather than identifying one of the most insidious cancers on society by this government is tantamount to acceptance. Many more examples of government malfeasance exist but it makes me too depressed to go on…
If one were to pick a single thing the administration or President has done, it might not mean much, but taken together, the fact is clear; this President and this administration do not like the America they see. In their minds, the injustice and hubris of America must rectified. I have no doubt that before the second term ends, all of this will be far worse than it is today.

The contents of this column are the opinions of the author based upon research and observation and are open to modification if convinced of error.