Some thoughts on Obama's programs

In murder mysteries, the detective always gets around to asking the obvious motive question - who benefited from this murder? Amidst all the pre-midterm political hype from both parties, it occurs to me to ask of this administration's first two years in office - who benefited?

The administration claims to have "saved" the nation from a major depression by bailing out the banks when they were in trouble. But who seems to have really benefited? Well, the people in the banks who caused the problem in the first place all got to keep their jobs, and most got to keep their outrageous bonuses as well. But those banks still aren't lending to small businesses much, so the rest of us haven't seen much gain from this action.

The administration claims to have "saved" the big auto companies with the bailout of GM and Chrysler. But who, in the end, really got to keep their jobs ? The UAW union members, not incidentally big supporters of Democratic politicians.

The administration claims to have "saved" the jobs of lots of teachers and policemen and fireman across the country. Translation - they saved the jobs of lots of politically powerful public sector union members.

The administration is trying its best to claim that the health care bill is good for all of us. That may or may not end up being true, but it certainly was good for the insurance companies, now that all of us HAVE to buy insurance, with the government paying the bills for those who can't afford it. And it certainly was good for the bureaucracy in Washington, who get to add a huge number of new jobs and agencies. Go here to see an amazing flowchart of the new agencies added by the bill.

The rhetoric is nice, but when I look at who really seems to have been helped thus far, it seems to be mostly Washington bureaucrats and key members of the Democratic base, which may be why the rest of the country is still suffering massive unemployment and home foreclosures.