President Obama’s most recent domestic policy actions do not bode well for the nation.  The stimulus package, a 3.6 trillion dollar budget wish list, an omnibus spending bill; all are bloated pork fests that will explode our national debt to unprecedented levels.

   These first moves are the ultimate Hail Mary by President Obama and Democrats looking for a backdoor way to enact an agenda that’s long been waiting in the wings.  Reversal of successful welfare reform rules, billions for a push towards nationalized health care, new entitlements for higher education, a game changing CO2 tax, increased subsidies for Head Start programs, food stamps and child care are all part of their vision for America.

   The list goes on with items that aren't supposed to be called pork, but serve the same purpose of increased funding for favored projects.  Let's call it bacon then for all the salivating going on by Democrats eager to sharply increase the role of government in our lives.  Whether any of this will grow the economy, no one knows.  What is not unclear, at least to me, is that this hard left turn on domestic policy is anything other than what Barack Obama intended all along.  The surprising thing here is not that our new president is governing as a radical, it’s that anyone is shocked by it.

   Let’s face it; our new president is a liberal who ran from the label while campaigning but never really claimed to be anything but. Instead of acting dumbfounded by his decidedly left-wing agenda, we should be asking how a man who was ranked the most liberal senator by the National Journal in 2007, could be elected in a country whose political values remain solidly in the middle? In fact, according to a November Pew poll, only one in five people (21%) actually consider themselves liberal, while 36% consider themselves conservative and 38%, moderate.

   The diehard liberals were always going to vote for Obama of course, but he also won over folks who he differed greatly with on major issues like taxes and government spending.  Why? The Anyone But Bush factor and voter apathy played large roles, but most of the blame lies with the near criminal performance the media played in getting Obama elected.   Outside of The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, it was hard to find anyone in the MSM asking hard questions about candidate Obama.

   Minus his community service work plus two and half years in the senate, Barack Obama had almost no record of achievement to dissect. This, plus striking associations with angry leftist radicals (Wright, Flagler, Ayers), a sweet housing deal from convicted felon Tony Rezco, and his bizarre statements on redistributing wealth, “it’s good for everybody”, and you have a candidate screaming to be investigated.  And yet what did the media do? They flew to Alaska to find out what Sarah Palin said at a school board meeting, or talked about her clothes and hair or seeing Russia from her house.

   Or, they openly fawned all over Barack Obama like when MSNBC’s Chris Matthews stated he “gets a tingly feeling running up and down his leg” whenever he listens to him speak.  Or when ABC’s Bill Weir commented during the inauguration on how “even the seagulls must have been awed by the blanket of humanity.”   And who can forget Brian Williams, Katy Couric and Charlie Gibson traveling with Obama to Iraq?  Poor John McCain’s numerous trips to the Middle East were lucky to get any mention at all let alone an escort by three TV anchors.

   The media let us down during the campaign and thus many people voted for a man they knew almost nothing about, pinning their hopes and dreams on a vague slate of change.  The slate has now transformed in to a reality of massive spending, more government dependency and a sweeping “reform” agenda that will be the largest transfer of power from the private sector to the government ever to occur in this country.  This is change we can believe in?

   Conservative and liberal philosophies differ greatly on the role of government. Since most of the media seems incapable of fairly explaining these differences, voters need to learn them on their own. We all lead hectic lives with little free time, but this opening act of the Obama Administration is a solid down payment towards a vast expansion of government in our lives.  Is this really what’s best for the country? The time to find out is now, before it’s too late.