Wheels coming off Obama Express ~ By Roger Hedgecock

By Roger Hedgecock Posted: August 17, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 Last week was the week that the Obama honeymoon was really over. The irrelevant Republicans in the House were over Obama when they all voted "no" on the stimulus bill back in February. But for independents and even some Democrats last week, the growing sentiment was "slow down – Obama does not have all the answers." Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Rep John Murtha, D-Pa., are only the latest Democrats to scuttle crab-like away from the president on the health care bill. Four Democrat senators last week said cap and trade was dead in the Senate. The wheels are coming off the Obama Express. The campaign promises of hope and change reminded me of the euphoria generated for candidate Jimmy Carter in 1976 when Americans searched desperately for a fresh face after the painful disappointments of the self-inflicted defeat in Vietnam and Richard Nixon. Carter squandered his victory, using his office to lecture Americans on "limits." The economy tanked, and so did hapless Jimmy. Now, Obama's approval ratings are trending down with the current sinking economy. The stimulus bill, with all its pork, corruption and "stimulus" of free-spending Democrat-controlled states and cities did not, and will not, produce a new American prosperity. Obama's public sector debt driven "bubble" will collapse – and soon. Americans are hurting, and the hurting is getting worse, not better. Consumer confidence is down – to record lows. Manufacturing is down – to record lows. Jobs evaporate, wages stagnate, more homes than ever before face foreclosure. Buyers in Cash for Clunkers looked like they were from a scene in "Night of the Living Dead" barging into dealerships to trade-in American cars for foreign cars with the "cash" provided by foreign creditors. Zombie banks report "profits" by ignoring trillions of dollars of non-performing loans. Stocks in some companies rise on news that they have not lost as much this week (month) as last week (month). The deficit has reached unimaginable (and the CBO says unsustainable) numbers, and the president still tells us with a straight face that making all health care like financially doomed Medicare will save money. [READ COMPLETE COLUMN]