Temporary Permanence

Today's vocabulary lesson for Liberals is the word "temporary".  Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "temporary" as an adjective meaning lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent.  Knowing the definition of temporary myself, I wonder why we have this sudden outrage over the termination of a temporary increase in Food Stamps benefits that went into effect this month.

For those who likely forgot--since it was buried deep inside the Second Stimulus Package way back in 2009--the Food Stamps increase was to be a way to help low income families for just a "short time" until the economic recovery kicked in and then the program would return to its former levels.  Of course, Republicans are being portrayed as bullies because they are holding the Obama Administration to its word that the benefits boost was temporary--and that now that the original time period has expired, benefits--as was written in the Stimulus Bill--are back to their original levels.

If Democrats wanted the increased Food Stamps benefits to be permanent, then they should have passed a bill that made them permanent.  Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid should have stood before their respective houses of Congress and told the American people that "We know that our policies will never lead to an economic recovery, or an improvement in the standing of low income families--so these increases in Food Stamps benefits must be permanent to deal with the long-range damage that we are hellbent on achieving!"

Of course, Food Stamps increases aren't the only example of "temporary permanence" that we are seeing from the Obama Administration.  Quantitative Easing--the purchase of financial assets previously held by private financial institutions by the Federal Reserve instead--was supposed to be just a "couple of months" practice meant to stabilize banks and trading houses following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.  Well, we are now into our fourth year of QE--and the Fed shows no signs of ending the trillion dollar practice.  To do so, would force the Obama Economy to stand on its own--which the underlying numbers show it is nowhere ready to do.  If he wasn't leaving his position soon, Ben Bernanke should be made to go before the House Finance Committee and tell the American people that "We know that our policies will never lead to an economic recovery, so we need to continue this backdoor method forever to make it look to the voters and other nations that we are doing better than we really are.  Or at least until we go completely broke--by which time I'll likely be dead so it won't be my problem."

So when politicians tell you something is going to be "temporary", don't buy into their outrage when whatever they proposed eventually comes to an end--like it is supposed to.  Unless of course, you like being a permanent fool.