An Article on the First 100 Days, Dangerous Days

An article by author Stephen Studdert

A Dangerous First 100 Days By Stephen M. Studdert
This week President Barrack Obama marks his first 100 days in office. Never in my experience as a White House advisor or since have I witnessed such a torrid pace of monumental policy change. Cloaked in economic stimulus language, the astonishing breadth and depth of policy transformation and government intervention into the private economy is nothing short of staggering.
The corresponding velocity and mounting magnitude of federal spending is astounding, already 33% higher than the year-ago period. Federal budget deficits exceed anything in our national history. The budget deficit increased by $192.3 billion in just the month of March, over $40 billion more than projected, and is nearly $1 trillion just halfway through the budget year.
For the first six months of the federal budget year, the deficit totals $957 billion. The Obama administration projects the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.75 trillion – nearly four times the previous whopping annual record of $454.8 billion set last year.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office now estimates President Obama's budget proposals will result in $9.3 trillion in deficits over the next decade, a figure already $2.3 trillion higher than estimates made in February.
These federal budget deficits will take our national debt to about 80 percent of our gross domestic product. Even spendthrift Europe denies membership in the European Union if a nation's debt is 60 percent of GDP.
In the last 18 months, our unrestrained federal government has spent or loaned or guaranteed a stunning $14 trillion — more than our gross domestic product and more than the national debt of our entire national history. U.S. government debt has almost doubled since November.
Dangerous federal intrusion into what have historically been community or private programs notwithstanding, the most important issue for now remains the economy. While Wall Street economists and some pundits in Washington are saying “the economy is showing signs of recovery”, we each must listen carefully to the true story. This week Lawrence Summers, President Obama's key economic advisor, has admitted the U.S. economy “will continue to decline,” with “sharp declines in employment for quite some time this year.”
Dr. Summers is not alone. Vikram Nehru, the World Bank's chief economist for East Asia , makes similar predictions: "We are still in the middle of a perfect storm. Over the last four months things have gone from bad to worse in many of the advanced economies."
In 1981, Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve gave an address which he entitled “Parable of the Unwise Builder.”
“A certain man inherited a choice piece of ground whereon to build an house to shelter his loved ones from storms of the day and the cold of the night. He began his work with zeal and skill using good materials for the need was urgent. But in his haste and because he gave no heed to the principles of proper construction, he laid no foundation; but commencing immediately, he built the floor and raised the walls and began to cover them with a roof. Then to his sorrow, because his house had no foundation, it fell and became a heap of rubble and those whom he loved had no shelter. Verily, verily, I say unto you, ‘A wise builder, when he buildeth an house, first layeth the foundation and then buildeth thereon.'”
As a nation, with zeal and haste we are building just such a house – one of unwise and unrestrained federal debt – a house with no foundation that ultimately cannot stand.
With our national house being built on sand, more than ever each of us has a duty, to ourselves and to our families, to be informed. We need this economic information – no matter how serious and troubling it may be. And serious and troubling it is!
The grinding daily news unceasingly bombards our senses with gloomy information, and for most of us we end up with feelings of distress, worry, and even fear. It makes me not want to read or watch any news reports.
Yet the Lord commanded us to “seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:188)
Safety is found in being informed and then following the Brethren. Elder Russell M. Nelson has said, “Once you stop putting question marks behind the prophet's statements and put exclamation points instead, and do it, the blessings just pour.”
In these troubled times, the welcome calming messages of General Conference just completed were especially inspiring and filled with hope. The Easter just celebrated renews in each of us a sense of everlasting gratitude for the King of Kings whose Resurrection made salvation and eternal life available to all. These are things of unspeakable joy, peace, comfort, and true happiness.
As we follow the Brethren and listen carefully and heed their inspired counsel, we like the Apostle Paul can say “ We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair .” (2 Corinthians 4:8).
In what is sure to be an increasingly bumpy ride, individual and family peace and safety come only – but surely – when we are inseparably connected to the Prophets and Apostles, in word and in deed.