A little perspective, please...

Exaggeration is a commonly used tool here at the Bund, I know... but Ryan may have taken it a bit far.

No one on this venue of intellectual release is going to argue that the policies of the current administration are not the best that this country could hope for. The spending that is going on is purely "spending for spending's sake" and can't possibly fix all that is wrong with this nation. It will cost the country in the long run, I have no doubt... based only on the amount of money we will be forced to pay back over the course of the next decade or more.

However, to suggest that this is the "end" of the American movie... that we are witnessing the "End Times" in America and that Obama is the apocalyptic "Angel of Death" blowing trumpets and breaking seals to release plagues and disasters on the country is a bit much.

Surely, you must think that someone wanted Jefferson's head on a platter when he simply "bought" 800,000 square miles for a price that surpassed the established Federal budget by more than 1,100%... without Congressional approval, and with only enough support to ratify by a vote of 59-57. Are we conceited enough to imagine that the same concerns we have now weren't felt by "conservative" voters in New England as Mr. Madison "flip-flopped" through all of the promises he made to get into office during the War of 1812, when the "Father of the Constitution" reversed his position on Federal power and authority versus State's rights?

These are two of the most rabid "constructionalist" Presidents ever... yet they both changed their minds and followed a less-then-conservative path, to the benefit of the Nation, I might add. I'm not putting Obama in the same box as these two... but please, hyperbole aside, the "change" that Obama has promised will be exactly what runs him out of the White House, and the likes of Pelosi and Reid out of Congress.

Furthermore, as James said earlier, there are upsides that conservatives should be using to their advantage. For example, the Cash for Clunkers program that you so despise differs only in an up-front rebate on the price of a new car from many conservative plans that called for as much as a 35% deduction incentive of the price of a new car. Now, Ryan doesn't want to have to pay back the $4500 for each sale (neither do I, of course) and I am always in favor of leaving the money in the consumer's pocket... but one can't argue that new car sales are UP dramatically, and it is now looking like the Big Three will be able to repay the TARP money, on schedule at the very least. Why isn't the current CARS plan being contrasted with more conservative plans that would have made tax allowances rather than cash advances? Where is the "compare and contrast" discussion on the part of the conservatives? Why is this being left to the likes of US to discuss, rather than Michael Steele or Senator DeMint?

NOW is when we need to see the alternative plans to what Obama and the liberals are selling... but all I hear is railing against anything Obama or the rest might suggest. I call that "opposition politics" and it almost never works for very long.