I recently had a person wave a chart with a bunch of numbers on it in my face.  The numbers were referred to by the author as pesky facts.  The chart displayed a number of statistics intended to show that our economy had made tremendous progress while our country has been under the leadership of the community organizer and chief, Obama.

I looked at the numbers and asked my self what the average person that walks the street in Alabama would think of them.  We may not be aware of the fluctuations of the DOW but, we know how much it costs to fill the gas tank, how much groceries cost, what we are spending on heating and cooling, and we are beginning to understand the new cost of healthcare.

Just how has the Obama administration done managing the economy, the government, protecting our country, and governing? The energy and groceries are easy because their pricing is related.  We don’t view our food as barrels of oil, but maybe we should.  Growing a crop, whether for our own consumption or to be used as animal feed, requires fuel.  Fuel is also required for tractors to plant crops, move fertilizer, and harvest and transport crops.  Processing requires energy to operate the processing and packaging equipment and to transport finished, packaged food to be sold.

Some of our foods have a direct connection to corn, corn that is now being directed, by the government, into the production of ethanol to be burned as fuel for car and trucks.  The addition of ethanol to gasoline has produced a number of problems from reduced milage to poor engine performance and maintenance problems.  

Every effort has been made by the EPA to restrict the availability of low cost energy.  Crude oil and gas production on government-controlled land has been restricted by a variety of regulatory mechanisms.  The ability to refine and distribute crude oil or finished products has been impeded.  This limits the availability of conventional energy supplies while forcing prices up.  All of these tactics are designed to discourage the use of conventional fuels and encourage the use of alternate energy sources.

Obama has declared war on coal, coal miners, and the use of coal to generate electricity, forcing up the price of electricity.  By forcing up the cost of electricity, solar and wind generated electricity is made to appear attractive as an alternate electricity source.  Little matter that these sources don’t work when the wind doesn’t blow and sun doesn’t shine.   The entire green energy area is rife with suspected fraud.  The term Snake oil comes to mind.

The justification of these actions has been Climate Change.  The effect has been to raise the cost of food, energy and consumer products.  Some of these increases have allowed what appear to be a positive economic change but a change with no real benefit to the public.

Obama Care has a list of known or suspected adverse effects on healthcare that are too long to list in any one article, but a partial list would include higher insurance rates, higher pharmacy costs, closed or closing hospitals, doctors leaving the profession, higher copays, reductions in Medicare and Medicaid benefits and reduced healthcare for the majority of the American public.  

Obama Care encourages individual businesses to reduce staff.  The rising costs force many to drop their healthcare programs, paying the fines rather than incur the additional cost.   Everyone that is insured will pay for services they cannot use.  Retired individuals will pay for prenatal care; religious institutions are being forced to pay for birth control and abortions.  Everyone will pay for every offering that healthcare has regardless of need.  Healthcare needed by the elderly will be restricted.  These restrictions may even prevent needed tests and treatments from being mentioned to elderly patients.  After age 70 or 75 their healthcare will be limited to “comfort care.”

Our military. Soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen, active and retired, will find their pay and benefits reduced.  Our military is being reduced to pre WWII levels.  The high Tech resources used by our military systems, which are referred to as force multipliers, will be reduced or delayed.  We have a weaker, less effective military, a less effective defense.  Our country is more vulnerable to attack.

Many of our financial institutions are corrupt or suspect not to be trusted.  There is a looming scandal on Wall Street that is connected to the White House.  We are in hock to the world.  Obama has not done this by himself; liberals in the senate and house have actively assisted.   Republicans have stood by and rung their hands while posing for the cameras, whining about Obama and hoping to get re-elected.  Obama has done a miserable job but he has had help.