Obama Unleashes Some Howlers at Townhall Meeting

President Obama hosted a townhall meeting yesterday, in order to shore up support for his economic agenda and to remind Americans how his administration's policies have supposedly helped them.

"President Obama said Monday that his economic policies helped prevent a depression, although he acknowledged that many Americans are still struggling.

In a town hall meeting sponsored by the CNBC cable network, Obama responded to questions from unemployed workers, recent college graduates, small business owners and one prominent hedge fund manager. He sought to reassure middle class families that the American dream is still attainable, while at the same time rebutting criticism that he is anti-business."

Of course, claiming that a trillion dollar "stimulus" package which involved printing money out of thin air and distributing it to recipients to use on projects that in general were not necessary is not a textbook way of avoiding a depression. In fact, that method was tried during the 1930's by FDR and actually resulted in the Great Depression lasting the 12 to 15 years that it did.

Even more laughable was President Obama's assertion that his policies are making the American Dream more achievable for the middle class.

"He said he understands that Americans are frustrated with the slow pace of the recovery and lack of jobs. But he stressed that his policies are designed to help middle-class families climb the economic ladder by making education more affordable, reducing the cost of health care and supporting home ownership."

Let's see if we can address his policies in these three areas one by one:

1. Education: the federal government's policy for higher education (which, to be fair, did not originate with President Obama) involves gigantic subsidies through low-cost student loans, which encourage colleges to continue raising prices (tuition) well beyond where it would be without the federal subsidies. All in all, involvement of the federal government ends up making wage slaves out of the college students who graduate (or leave without graduating) with enormous student debt enabled by the federal government.
2. Health Care: another sector that's rife with government involvement and much higher prices than necessary. Recent reports on the impact of ObamaCare suggest that insurance companies are raising prices to cover the higher anticipated costs of ObamaCare.
3. Home Ownership: the federal government's policies (namely, using Fannie and Freddie Mac to acquire outstanding mortgages, encouraging home loans to lower-income families, and having the Federal Reserve keep interest rates at foolishly low levels for extended periods of time which encouraging excessive borrowing by consumers) are actually directly and indirectly responsible for the current housing bubble.

Given the impact his policies have had on the economy (which can be measured, most notably, by the incredibly high unemployment rate), it's simply not credible for President Obama to claim that he has staved off a Depression and is helping ordinary Americans achieve economic independence.

Hopefully Americans are paying attention and are ready to send a clear message to incumbents in November's elections.