The Obama Watch
Rationing Both Jobs and Basketballs
Could this be the next great economic idea from the Obama White House?
Now that Obamacare has slipped into the ocean trench that lies just off the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, the president will turn his full attention to the issue of jobs. This can mean only one thing.
Now nobody’s job is safe.
Soon we will all be out on the street — in bread lines or moving into makeshifts shelters that our government, out of the kindness of its heart, has built for us. To add just a bit to the line in the old Willy & Waylon song about Luckenbach, Texas, it’s time to get back to the basics of life on the dole.
FDR liked to visit the boys living in Civil Conservation Corps barracks. He had good time eating, joking, and making little speeches. Maybe Barack will do the same for us. Visit us in our shanty-towns, shoot some hoops, and flash that toothy grin.
FDR appreciated the propaganda value of these visits. Everyone looks so happy and content in their government-created work camps. That was one of the things the CCC did — it created endless footage for the sole purpose of singing its own praises and paying homage to FDR. If you could look inside the mind of the typical progressive, you would find those old news reels playing an endless loop.
Only a couple of months ago, the president vowed that we would “spend our way out of this recession.” Now he is singing a new tune — calling for “austerity.” How is one to reconcile the two sides of Mr. Obama’s newly adopted public persona — Mr. Spendthrift and Mr. Austerity? Actually, there is no difficulty here, because, either way, the president will decide what needs to be done, with little or no input from the private sector.
We may go ahead, for instance, with a multi-billion dollar light rail system not because it makes economic or business sense, but, far more importantly, because it has been “the Number One issue back on the Obama Citizen Suggestion Site.”
Let me relate a story that I believe sheds some light on the other side of Mr. Obama: the hard, flinty, austere side. It concerns the friend of a friend, who left Wall Street to become a key member of the General Motors rescue team put together by Steve Rattner last spring.
When this man went into the Oval Office for the first time, he tried to engage the president in some friendly chit-chat, saying that he had a basketball court in his backyard and a bunch of athletic children who loved to play the game. “We have nine basketballs at our house,” he boasted. Big mistake! Mr. Obama fixed the investment banker with an icy stare, and said, “No one should have more than one basketball.”
That’s it. That is Obamanomic austerity. The same president who wants to ration health care — things like stents and hip replacements — also wants to ration basketballs. There should be no more than one basketball per household — and perhaps no more than one hip replacement for every 1,000 people between the ages of 60 and 69. And fewer for those between the less ages of 70 and 79, who are that much closer to the end. Let the government decide.
That’s austerity, all right. You don’t have to be a proponent of small government to favor austerity. Communists and socialists have been doing it for years. So, too, have the mullahs. They are excellent practitioners of the same kind of austerity that sneers at free choice and reliably produces shoddy products and grinding poverty.
Price controls, shortages, queuing and rationing — all those are key elements in the socialist tool kit. Since this administration was already prepared to ration health care , CO2 emissions and incomes (with severe tax penalties for anyone making more than $200,000 or $250,000 a year), why not ration jobs as well.
FDR did so. He called it “work sharing.” He set out to stop people from working a full week by forcing employers to reduce the number of hours per worker. Thus, he deliberately sought to limit jobs to less than one per person.
In his book How Capitalism Saved America, the economist Tom DiLorenzo provides a vivid description of how FDR’s government went out of its way to discourage and penalize work. The government created a bureaucratic monstrosity called the National Recovery Administration (NRA) which required every business owner to observe a minimum wage, a maximum work week, and to take other nonproductive steps to spread work around. DiLorenzo quotes another writer (John T. Flynn) on the effect of such rules and regulations:
(Code enforcement police) roamed through the garment district like storm troopers. They would enter a man’s factory, send him out, line up his employees, subject them to minute interrogation, take over his books on the instant. Night work was forbidden. Flying squadrons of these private coat-and-suit police went through the district at night, battering down doors with axes looking for men who were committing the sin of sewing together a pair of pants at night.
About the Author
Andrew B. Wilson, a frequent contributor to The American Spectator, writes from St. Louis.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (52) | Leave a comment
Related Articles
More Articles by Andrew B. Wilson
More Articles From The Obama Watch
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/02/02/rationing-both-jobs-and-basket
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- Way Beyond the Lemonade Stand
- How Not To Buy a Fighter
- The Mole in Don Draper
The Spectacle Blog
Democrat Dan Maffei Blames Budget Cuts for Girl’s Rape, Mother’s Murder
Robert Stacy McCain | 6.18.13
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Melvin| 2.2.10 @ 7:35AM
"Ahh yes Comrade, we will have much to talk about why we stand in line waiting for government run toilet paper." "Yes, the happy days of Communism are back again."
Appleby| 2.2.10 @ 10:27AM
I had friends in Latvia when the Iron Curtain was still up. The first prize in their local lottery? Toilet Paper.
Oh, and you could buy the whole country for a carton of Marlboros.
Jim O'Brien| 2.2.10 @ 7:39AM
Obama wants to penalize work with $1 trillion in new taxes. He he so ignorant of economics and history that he doesn't realize unemployment will increase with higher taxes? Or is he deliberately and treacherously trying to create an even greater economic crisis? Skyrocketing national debt, devaluation of our currency, hyper-inflation, 25% unemployment ----- these would lead to new presidential / dictatorial powers, he thinks.
Jim O'Brien| 2.2.10 @ 7:40AM
Typo: Should read, "Is he so ignorant ..."
SpiralArchitect| 2.2.10 @ 1:31PM
Ignorant to economics...? No. Not in the least. He is well on his way to success in his campaign against Capitalism and the Free Market.
This, in my opinion, is his tool with with he shall use to usurp power from this once great country.
Picture a future where a wonderful Knight in Shinning Armor shows up to save the post (economic) apocolyptic nation and lead them ... too, well, where ever he wants at that point.
Ret. Marine| 2.2.10 @ 7:53AM
"Happy days will be here again" when this pretender-n-thief is gone, gone, gone. Is there anything more anti-American than obummer beating his sunken poll numbered chest to the tune of FDR or maybe Wilson? I think not.
Just as in the days of FDR, we today should demand he do his job, rather than taking on the responsibilities of the working man the managers of thier own affairs. I see many similarities between Wilson and obummer but, the one glaring example is Wilson was a racist, so too is obummer. The presidents job is to secure the laws required for a society to maintain it's liberties not the interference with the private sectors and the means of which it does maintain those liberties. This man-child rode his horse onto the scene hoping for the change needed to turn this Nation of ours to a demented curse while taking on responsibilities never mentioned in his duties as the Pres, at the same time seems to enjoy talking down to us mere mortals with his tall tale stories of everything of which he is incapable of understanding. At the rate he's moving, I see impeachment as the answer to the futherence of these United States if we are to remain free as a society, short of civil war, which by the way he seems hell-bent to initiate. Semper Fi.
Ben in Idaho| 2.2.10 @ 5:11PM
I agree, if Obama's political heros are FDR and Wilson then we are in deep trouble. I see a flaw in Obama's quest for economic eagaltarianism. He believes that if everyone has equal access to economic resources then they should be willing to contribute just as equally. Marx, Engles, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao never figuered this out they resorted to re-educateding you , if you were lucky, on your civic duties.
Louis Jenkins| 2.2.10 @ 8:53AM
While the stats are out of reach at the moment, didn't the Depression last until the military build up of the late 30s? If so, FDRs depression ending efforts really didn't amount to much. Obama's "throw money at the problem and regulate" theory won't work either. Soon, courtesy of the Economics n Chief, we'll have one basketball, a chicken in every pot, and a part-time job in every home. Whatever happened to 300 acres and a mule?
Appleby| 2.2.10 @ 10:28AM
It was 40 acres and a mule, and that was reparations to be paid to Blacks.
With the way these clowns do things, what we'll probably end up with is a basketball in every pot.
Anthony| 2.2.10 @ 10:18AM
Hey Obama, why not bring back Clinton's midnight basketball program. It'll take people's minds off of not having jobs. You can make Algore commissioner of the league, since global warming has the cities warm and cozy for outdoor games. Think of all those high paying jobs as refs and time keepers.
For an encore, you can put 100,000 new cops on the job, paid for with the stimulus/slush fund. If things keep going the way they're going, Mr.Obama, you're gonna need more than 100,000 new cops to keep the peace.
SpiralArchitect| 2.2.10 @ 1:34PM
I believe the brown shirt theory was thrown around already by Team B.O.
Maybe they will revive the notion to maintain the populus. After all, someone needs to look after our interests, right?
Oldefarte| 2.2.10 @ 2:30PM
If anyone can take pleasure from this pathetic economic/financial condition that this country is now faced with due to THE CHOSEN ONE, it should be with the fact that the younger generation's unemployment numbers are far higher than other catagories of workers. HOPE--FULLY, they have now learned their lesson in not trusting the brainwashing that was performed upon them from the MSM [in relaying Barry's message of HOPE and CHANGE]!!!!!!
Louis Jenkins| 2.2.10 @ 3:39PM
Let's not forget the headlines today on Obama's backdoor tax increases, or his rescending of the breaks that were instituted by GW, disallowance of previous deductions, and after this year, reinstatement of the death tax. For the Hope and Change crowd, THANKS A LOT. Your antics has capsized the boat, and now we're all drowning.
Folks, this is just the beginning. I pity those who have gold teeth.
Tony in Central PA| 2.2.10 @ 3:51PM
I'm just waiting for this Administration to introduce the brand new idea of government - run collective farms as a " green jobs " initiative. It helps when the people you are trying to rule don't know history.
Jack Kinch (1uncle)| 2.2.10 @ 4:01PM
The Kenyan does sound very sincere when lying. You have to give him that even when it doesn't agree with what he said in the past. He is as transparent as asphalt, unqualified,wasting money, surrounded by crooks.
mickeymat| 2.2.10 @ 4:02PM
Don't forget Obama's comments about not eating as much as you want, srive your SUV's and keep your thermostat at 72 degrees. Of course he keeps his at 85. But he will have a five year plant to deal with all these goals. Ya think he hasn't heard of the Soviets?
Pingback| 2.2.10 @ 5:16PM
Can you Work as a Sports Instructor ? One of the More Prestigious Sports Jobs Around? links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
DaveS| 2.2.10 @ 7:59PM
You could have stopped at the second paragraph. Even Jimmy Carter, in his heyday, had fewer gaffes and crackpot ideas than this guy - who seems to have sneaked in through the back door.
Cisco | 2.2.10 @ 9:07PM
Obama wants to penalize work with $1 trillion in new taxes. He he so ignorant of economics and history that he doesn't realize unemployment will increase with higher taxes?
I think so.
Hydraulic Tools | 2.3.10 @ 10:39AM
Manufacture Hydraulic Tools, offer from hydraulic crimping tool, cable cutter, pipe bender, gear puller, hole digger and hand pumps.
Marc Jeric| 2.3.10 @ 7:07PM
I was a refugee from a communist hell; spent 5 years working in France while waiting for US immigrant visa. Started working as engineer for a California A/C company. Everybody there was a Democrat, in thrall to FDR. Roosevelt, I said? The guy who sold us to Stalin? They were all flabbergasted.
explosion proof light | 11.15.10 @ 9:12AM
Actually, Abraham Lincoln was just as radical but in a different way. Ditto FDR.
Converse | 8.12.11 @ 4:07AM
is good