The Private Sector's Doing Just Fine

Yesterday on national television President Obama announced that "The private sector is doing fine." This wonderful news has come as a great relief to the millions of middle and lower class families facing unemployment, collapsing home values, increased taxes, a stagnant stock market, and crushing national debt. Later in the day, President Obama offered a clarification of his statement in the form of a this stirring ballad, just in time for the annual Country Music Television Music Awards:

-Barry O and the Good News Band-

The private sector's doing just fine.
It was ruined by George Bush but it's much better since '09.
The middle class is feasting on caviar and wine,
'cuz the private sector's doing just fine.

The private sector's strong, as you know,
even if investor confidence is low.
Those bankers are the problem and they really need to go.
I'd love to get my hands on their dough.

Some claim that unemployment's too high.
That's only 'cuz we're lacking jobs and now I'll tell you why.
Republicans would rather that those jobless folk just die,
so I sit here in the White House and cry.

I've got re-election on my mind,
but the economic indicators indicate a bind.
So I'll simply say that things are getting better all the time, that's why
the private sector's doin' fine.

Yes, that Mormon fellow's causing my pearly whites to grind,
but the private sector's doing just fine.
We could use more public spending, let's increase my credit line,
but the private sector's doing just fine.


(All rights reserved.)

Americans Are Like ‘Teenage Kids’

Steven Chu: Americans Are Like ‘Teenage Kids’ When It Comes to Energy - Environmental Capital - WSJ

When it comes to greenhouse-gas emissions, Energy Secretary Steven Chu sees Americans as unruly teenagers and the Administration as the parent that will have to teach them a few lessons. Speaking on the sidelines of a smart grid conference in Washington, Dr. Chu said he didn’t think average folks had the know-how or will to to change their behavior enough to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

"The American public... just like your teenage kids, aren’t acting in a way that they should act," Dr. Chu said. "The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is."

The administration aims to teach them -literally. The Environmental Protection Agency is focusing on real children. Partnering with the Parent Teacher Organization, the agency earlier this month launched a cross-country tour of 6,000 schools to teach students about climate change and energy efficiency.

An update: Energy Department spokesman Dan Leistikow added: "Secretary Chu was not comparing the public to teenagers. He was saying that we need to educate teenagers about ways to save energy. He also recognized the need to educate the broader public about how important clean energy industries are to our competitive position in the global economy. He believes public officials do have an obligation to make their case to the American people on major legislation, and that’s what he’s doing."

-Wall Street Journal, 2009.09.21

Dr. Chu's words are plain enough, despite the subsequent clarification, which unconvincingly attempts to explain away Dr. Chu's condescension.

Your government speaks: Republicans are "a**holes"

RealClearPolitics - Video - Obama's Green Jobs Czar Van Jones: Republicans Are "A**holes"



Question from audience: "How are the Republicans able to push things through, when they had less than sixty senators, but somehow we can't?"

Answer from Green Jobs Czar Van Jones: "Well, the answer to that is, they're a$$holes."

-From a lecture Van Jones gave at the 2nd Annual Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative (BERC) event, February 11, 2009, Berkeley, CA.