Good Morning All – Thanks for the invite to join you as a comment writing poster. This is my debut.

The next president will have his hands full, as the global economic picture shows no sign of brightening in a hurry.  Yet to hear the Obama campaign calling for change, it would seem as if they intend to solve the current economic problems with a return to the good times of FDR.  Yes, to hear Barney Frank tell it, ‘Happy Days Are Here Again.”  All that the country – and the world – needs is a good dose of the economic policies of John Maynard Keynes.  Never mind that pure Keynesian economics has been shown to be ultimately unsuccessful.  Frank has promised the Republicans that if they won’t agree to his massive deficit spending package right now, they will simply be ignored and cut out of the process in the future.

This should concern thoughtful voters.  Because if Senator Obama becomes President Obama, the financial and legislative agenda of Mr. Frank will get a green light, and there won’t be anyone working to moderate the policies.  The failings of unbridled free market economics have become clear over the past eight years, and the American people are unhappy with the Republican congress and Republican President who have increased the national debt while engaging in an unpopular war overseas.  But before trading in the Republican big spenders for the Democratic team, perhaps a moment of reflection is in order.  If the national debt is huge now, what will Mr. Frank’s policies do to improve matters?  The Democratic Congress has not shown much leadership for the past two years.  The Democratic leadership have squandered that time trying to heap opprobrium on the lame duck Republican President, rather than trying to work with him to reduce the debt, end the foreign military campaign on successful terms, and deal with the financial problems facing the nation and the world.  In short, they have failed to exercise leadership and to govern responsibly.

The next administration is going to have a very serious challenge to address.  Optimism may spring eternal, but I do not think an Obama administration would be able to bring about a change in the world economic picture any faster or more effectively than a McCain administration.  Democrats should reflect on the Hoover and FDR years again – the depression did not bottom out in 1929, it was actually after FDR had been in office for nearly a term.  Recovery was a long, slow process, and really only moved rapidly with the coming of World War II.  It is probable that this economic recession will take five or six years to bottom out as well.  The idea of handing the national check-book to Mr. Frank and his associates for the next four years does not inspire confidence in me.  Not when you add the dubious leadership of Congresswoman Pelosi and Senator Reid into the equation.

If the last two years were bad, imagine how an Obama administration with all three branches of government in the hands of the Democratic party may turn out.  Given the lack of accomplishments of either Pelosi or Reid, and the lack of administrative experience of Senator Obama, I am not confident that they would present a sound economic plan.  Much as I resent the Republican party’s stubborn refusal to work more closely with the Democratic minority during the first six years of the Bush administration, the past two years of congressional fumbling convinced me that a complete Democratic majority would be an economic and managerial mistake.

Orson Buggeigh