Which Obama is right?

Those in the know say that the big jobs plan Obama will unveil after his Martha's Vinyard vacation will include tens of billions of dollars in stimulus money. You know -- that's the kind of program he promised would keep unemployment (currently at 9.2%) below 8%. It worked so well before that we're going to do it even bigger this time. Heck -- if this one is even more successful than the last one, unemployment just might hit 11.5%!

Anyway, the estimate is that for each $1 billion spent, 10,000 jobs will be created. That's $100,000 a job, folks. And remember, these will be temporary. When the construction projects are finished, so are the jobs.

Obama admits that these jobs cost money, but he says we'll make up for it with deficit reduction. Okay, let me try to put this in terms that mean something to you and me. Say Mr. Essie May and I are in debt up to our eyeballs. We owe $15,000 on one credit card, $30,000 on another, and $25,000 on another and we're barely making the interest payments, let alone applying anything to the principal. But we're still buying big screen TV's, computers, furniture, and the latest fashions. So Mr. Essie May says he knows how we'll get out of this mess. We'll spend another $150,000 we don't have. And we'll pay for that by reducing what we are continuing to charge on our credit cards. Makes perfect sense -- only if you've been smoking some wildwood weed.

When Obama was in Illinois last week, he said "Washington is not the answer to the nation's economic troubles." But in an interview with CBS News the same week, he said the nation was in danger of not having a fast enough recovery and "that's why we need to be doing more." So which Obama is right? The Washington can't fix it Obama, or the Washington has to spend us out of this mess Obama? Would you like to know which Obama I think is right? The former President Obama.

"Obama: Recovery ahead, but it won't come quickly." The Dallas Morning News; August 18, 2011; p. 4A.
"Obama could spend big on jobs." The Dallas Morning News; August 18, 2011; p. 1A.