Obama increased the military budget by $40 billion, he increased the amount of our tax revenue that the government gives to churches, he is against equal rights for gays/lesbians, he has increased our covert agenda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he appointed the former head of Goldman Sachs to manage the economic nightmare that they themselves created, etc.

That's true, at some point inflation will kick in, though if you don't overshoot spending in reaching maximum employment it's not likely that inflation will rise dangerously.

However, since gauging maximum employment typically has lag, there's a high likelihood one would overshoot and spend too much, exacerbating the inflationary pressure. The upside is that is a very easy problem to solve. You raise interest rates, induce a monetary recession to squeeze out inflation, lower the rates to meet inflation targets, and move along on your merry way.

A recovery, an overshoot, a controlled recession, and a minor rebound before returning to normalcy ought to be massively preferable to the unhinged reinforcing chaos that ensues in a depression where you have both a recession and deflation (like we are seeing now).

I'm with you here. Obama is only liberal compared to what we just went through for 8 years.

And to others here who are charting a path toward 'normalcy' - America has no 'normalcy' if defined as sustainable from either an economic or environmental point of view. What people consider 'normal' now is merely return to another bubble.

I'm 63, was told a ton of lies growing up, the typical myths of American uniqueness and exceptionalism, and for my whole life I've been waiting for this government to get on the average Joe's side. If it takes Euro-style socialism to make that happen, then in the inimitable words of W, bring it on. But I'm not operating under any illusions - this country runs on the rules of the rich and powerful, and I fear that will be our sad legacy.

Uberbah, for what it's worth, I've read Shock Doctrine. I've also read No Logo. I've also met Naomi Klein. I admire her a lot and what she stands for, but that doesn't mean I think she knows how to get the job done.

I think of Klein like I think of Nietzsche -- excellent at putting a finger on the problem, but not that great at finding a productive solution to it. Socialism is great, and I'm all for Scandinavian style socialism -- I would love to live there & work in Sweden, except that I'm a creature that craves the sun, and I don't think I could survive more than 1 winter there. But the reality is, that is not something would work for the American people.

It's dangerous to be blind to the fact that society and modernity have changed, and we're not in 1935 any more, and we can't expect the same solutions to work now that worked then. I'm hardly an Obama apologist, as I'm deeply critical of some of Obama's policies and actions around Rick Warren, FISA, etc. But I have no qualms about calling him a champion of the progressive cause, and someone who I can believe that is dedicated to pragmatic liberalism, rather than any ideologically stubborn adherence to a means of action.

But I think Anarcissie said it the best (comments page 5), when he/she pointed out the difference between the nation/world that FDR inherited and the nation/world that Obama inherited.

I worry about those of us on the left that think we know everything - and I would encourage you all to think long and hard about the distinction between progressive goals and the means to get there. I would rather get the noble goal accomplished than fail that goal with noble means. If I've at least convinced one of us "lefties" to think this way, I would be a happy camper and feel justified in having written this!

Liberals everywhere, stop apologizing for being a liberal! If anyone thought that there was ever a chance of the so-called "culture wars" ending then watching any or all of the CPAC Convention last week should have sobered them to the reality that it ain't gonna happen, not ever! From Joe the Plumber, to Ann Coulter, and concluding with Rush Limbaugh, their audience cheered lustily as Dems & liberals were called every sort of scurrilous names, including "our enemies". So the truth is out and the right does not care who knows it, its total war, no quarter given, none asked for. Those of us on the other side have no choice but to fasten on our armour, grab our weapons, and hunker down for the duration. I for one welcome the clarity, bring it on, righties!

in six weeks barack insane obama has turned our Republic into a totalitarian, socialistic, repressive, fear-mongering, and disintergrating society. his latest move is to promulgate socialized medicine, which will fail miserably as it has in every country that it has been tried.

his is attacking free speech, by trying to silence his critics. what next, is he going to order hits on his critics?

on his agenda is the confiscation of guns; that one will definitely lose.

soon after he took his oath of office, his staff posted his agendas concerning homosexuality and abortion on the White House website. with regard to support of sexual perversion, the obama's policy goals are spelled out as follows on his website and they include.

1) Defeat all state and federal constitutional efforts to defend the definition of biblical marriage as being a union between one man and one woman.

2) Repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) signed by Bill Clinton.

3) Repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

4) Pass "hate crimes" legislation granting homosexuals and cross dressers special rights denied to other Americans.

5) Pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which would force business owners (religious and otherwise) to abandon traditional values relative to sexual morality under penalty of law.

6) Create intentionally motherless and fatherless homes by expanding "gay adoption."

to see these go to www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/civil_rights/ and scroll down the page to "Support for the LGBT Community."

with regard to abortion his agenda includes:

1) opposition to any constitutional amendment to overturn the supreme court's abortion decision in roe v wade.

2) support of the prevention first act which would provide access to contraception and "preventive services to help reduce unintended pregnancies"

these proposals on the white house website at: www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/women.

although it is not mentioned on his website, obama has made it clear that he will support the freedom of choice act (FOCA). he promised planned parenthood that signing the FOCA would be "the first thing i'd do as president."

according to the radical left pro-choice advocates FOCA would overturn the ban on the barbaric procedure called "partial-birth abortion." it would invalidate scores of pro-life laws passed by dozens of states. it would eliminate existing laws against taxpayer-funded abortions.

his economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged." the more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. that's the justification for the $3.5 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, wall street investment houses, and auto companies.

with each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies, as victims; while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

And you try to tell me that obama is a timid liberal. that may be true, but he is a very aggressive and accomplished socialist, marxist, and totalitarian. with his agenda and his desire to unleash immorality, we are on the road to anarchy.