By now it seems fairly certain that the one word associated with Barack Obama’s “historic” campaign most likely to be forever engraved upon the walls of history is “change”.  Change.  It’s the word that helped transform millions of disenchanted, politically apathetic Americans into avid, re-energized supporters (read worshipers) of a man who, in reality, is not only incapable of delivering the myriad of promised changes, but seemingly unwillingly to take the steps necessary to try.

Today the most obvious dilemma facing Americans is our ever rapidly crumbling economy.  Yet as we see by a continued display of irresponsibility in Washington, most memorably by the string of bailouts granted to over-zealous corporations throughout this last year, but more recently by the millions graciously given in support of this years over-bloated presidential inauguration and connected various celebrations, our plight doesn’t seem to be being addressed.  Economic change?  More like more of the same, if not MORE government spending than ever before.

In his piece: Inauguration Day, 2009: A Day of Mourning, Justin Raimondo, of Antiwar.com states, “Obama’s economic program can be summed up in one word: reflation. Massive government spending, preceded by an orgy of bailouts.”

Raimondo reminds us that, “Obama, after all, ran on a platform of increasing an obscenely bloated military budget – misnamed the “defense” budget, but in reality a sum devoted to interfering in the affairs of other nations and peoples on a scale unprecedented by any previous empire. A sum, mind you, more than equal to the military budgets of all other nations on earth combined.”  Not only does this help to negate any promise of economic change in our country; it also reveals the attitude of our new president toward warfare in general.  So much for the so-called “peace candidate”.

Raimondo concludes, “In the age of Obama, what the late, great libertarian theorist Murray Rothbard dubbed the welfare-warfare state will take on gargantuan proportions, just as it did under LBJ, both at home and abroad. This is bad news on every front. An inaugural celebration? Not for me, thank you. I’m going into inaugural mourning: all black to mourn the victims of Obama’s wars, and the death of our old republic.”