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What he is proposing stands a good danger of being highly inflationary. I don't see any other way out at this point, but the danger of the dollar becoming monopoly money is real, if not imminent. It will require some extremely deft fine tuning on the part of Treasury, and a good deal of cooperation from at least a few Republicans in Congress.
On the other hand, if we don't want the country to look like 1934, we do have to try something new and bold. Leaving things as they are, and the people who lose jobs and livelihoods to beg on the streets would be the classicly conservative Republican solution, and it would suck for all but the minority with the wherewithal to survive any tempest. I, for one, do not desire to reside in a gated community with armed guards to stave off the angry, hungry masses (a jail is a jail, no matter how elegantly appointed). Nor do I wish to be part of the hungry, angry masses, driven to violence because I have reached the point where I have nothing left to lose.
I feel Obama has stated the best case scenario, and it's exactly what he should have done at this point. It will be rough going, and future speeches will have to admit it. Prosperity is NOT "just around the corner." Damage control will be a painful, long process. Just the fact that the man in the Oval Office realizes that we have to get started is grounds for some (long-term) optimism, though, and thus the reason I applaud his words and his tone for now. There has to be some kind of incentive to embark on a lengthy journey whose rewards won't be realized for a long time. I feel he has provided the impression that the incentive is there. Time to get started.
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