Is America waking up?

Possibly. A string or recent polling data suggests that most Americans are becoming increasingly alarmed by Washington's hard turn to the left.

The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that independent voters are those who appear most alarmed at present. In April, 46% of independents identified President Obama as a liberal. This month, 68% of independents view Obama as a lib. Given the avalanche of far left legislation being proposed by Obama, passed by his overwhelmingly liberal Congress, and praised by Obama's stenographers in the press corps, it's little wonder the independents are finally beginning to understand what their votes bought last November.

Later this week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the "cap-and-trade" legislation that is effectively a huge energy tax that will be passed along and paid by you and me. And it will be paid for with much higher prices on everything along with many of our jobs. The strain on our already abysmal economy will push it down even further.

Next up, ObamaCare. Many are speculating that Obama's dream of a "government plan" is now considered just too toxic and won't become law. I'm not as confident of that. It would come as little surprise that enough liberals on Capitol Hill will cram this legislation through. The impact on the economy and your own health won't be felt immediately but it will be felt soon enough. It'll be introduced as simply another option from which to choose along with other non-public plans. But many employers will find irresistable the thought of dumping their current health care plans thereby forcing their employees to choose the government "option." And no doubt the tax-payer subsidized government plan will be cheaper than those in the private sector making them seem very attractive. Before you know it, private sector health care insurance will no longer exist and Washington's coverage will be your only choice. And just like state laws on auto insurance, expect the Feds to make having health insurance mandatory for everyone.

Then, in about a year or so - likely December 2010 after the mid-term elections - expect a huge push for the Value Added Tax (VAT). Many in the know expect Obama and his comrades in the Congress to pass a 10 to 15% VAT that will apply to everything and at every stage of its production (from raw materials to the finished product). This would be a huge revenue generator - at first. The impact such a tax would have on our economy would be enormously destructive.

One year ago when we were paying in excess of $4 per gallon of gas, I thought then that such high fuel prices would lead to a serious economic recession. For most, $4 per gallon meant they had much less or no extra cash to spend on other consumables. Fewer trips to the mall, to the restaurant, vacations canceled, etc. Money that could've been spent elsewhere in the economy was instead being poured into our gas tanks just to get us to and from work every day.

It was like a perfect storm: Extremely high gas prices depressing economic activity. Then the crash of the financial market hit in early fall. We went from economic slow down to economic melt down within a few months.

So what's in our future? With the proposals being offered by Obama and his Congress, there is no realistic, sustainable upturn on the horizon. Michigan's 14.1% unemployment rate will continue to rise even higher. There are no legislative proposals on the table either in Washington or in Lansing that will do a thing to improve the economy. To the contrary. Every liberal fantasy is being fulfilled and you and your kids and your grandkids will have the honor of paying for it for a very long time and in many different ways.

Let's hope the trend in current polling showing the independents are finally waking up is a good sign that Americans will put the adults back in charge come November 2010.

DCuz