My administration has a job to do as well. That job is to get this economy back on its feet. That’s my job, and it’s a job I gladly accept. I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, “Well this is Obama’s economy.” That’s fine. GIVE IT TO ME. My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and carp and gripe. So, I welcome the job. I want the responsibility. — 2009

My Take – I think I can see the fundamental place where the President and I diverge.  You see, he, and I’ll lump the previous administration in with him on this one, think it’s the government’s place to ‘fix’ the economy.  Maybe it’s by bailing out trade unions to keep those dues paying political donors on the payroll.  Maybe it’s by picking and choosing which mega-banks get to live to see another day when the bad policies that have distorted markets for decades all come crashing down.

Either way, to me, they’re wrong.  Socializing the risks of business but privatizing the reward is just as wrong as safeguarding union jobs at the expense of bond and stock holders.

The goal of the government should be to set some broad laws about what will not be allowed to happen, then get the heck out of the way.  Good companies should be allowed to thrive, companies that aren’t well run should be allowed to either fail or find a way to adapt and survive.  Prolonging the suffering of weak companies does nothing but expand the reach of government and force all of us to suffer for the bad judgement of others.