Calling an Audible
By: BillOReilly.com Staff Thursday, August 11, 2011
As a former quarterback, I know that when a game plan is not working, you change strategy. Fast. If you don't, you will likely lose the contest and have to endure the ignominy of failure.

If President Obama were calling signals for the Washington Redskins, he would have been relieved a long time ago. His economic blueprint of spending a large amount of federal tax dollars in order to stimulate consumer spending and create government-suggested jobs has obviously not worked, and it's run up a huge debt in the process.

Remember "cash for clunkers," whereby the feds gave you money to upgrade your car? Well, Mr. Obama's entire economic vision might be classified as a clunker, if the truth be told.

Everybody makes mistakes, but the president's economic team is leading the league. Only Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner remains from the original money gang, and he can't even leave his house after saying the U.S. economy would not be downgraded. So it is obvious that a new economic game plan is needed. Wait—maybe it's not so obvious. The president is not sold.

After seeing the Dow drop about 400 points in a few hours earlier this week, Mr. Obama gave a short speech saying America would essentially stay the course. What course? Almost immediately, the Dow dropped another 200 points.

A few days earlier, Mr. Obama called for federal construction "loans" so that companies could hire folks and "rebuild America." What loans? The country doesn't have any money. We owe 14 and a half trillion dollars. Under Mr. Obama, the USA runs up more then four billion dollars in debt every single day. What loans?

The president's Hail Mary pass seems to be the notion that somehow taxing the rich will lead to economic prosperity. Well, after the market decline, there are now far fewer rich than there used to be. Actually, enhancing revenue would be a good thing, and we could do that by instituting a flat tax and cutting loopholes that allow American corporations to stash trillions of untaxed dollars overseas. The president's big pal, General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt, is doing just that. But Mr. Obama seems reluctant to tackle tax reform.

He's also hesitant about easing up on regulations and mandates that are strangling corporate profits. Obama-care and all the new business rules are running up overhead big time. Memo to the president: If private health insurance companies have to pay for stuff like birth control and breast-feeding supplies, they will pass the cost along to their customers in the form of higher premiums. So, companies will cut back personnel to avoid paying those higher premiums. This is called "doing the math."

It is perplexing that the president does not seem to smell the panic. You don't have to be an economic genius like Barney Frank to know that government mandated economic stimulus has been a disaster. It is time for new solutions.

Blaming the Tea Party is not a solution. Blaming W. is not advancing the ball. Let America be America. Unleash the private sector, Mr. President.