President Obama says flat out that his stimulus bill is going to create 3.5 million jobs – is that a fact or a political fiction? Can President Obama (or, for that matter, a team of Nobel Prize-winning economists) actually predict precisely that spending two trillion dollars is going to reignite prosperity – or will he be undone by the law of unintended consequences?

For instance, last Sunday the newspaper reported to “loosen credit” either President Obama or Bush (it wasn’t clear which) decided to give SunTrust Bank $4.9 billion; but, the paper also reports – despite the $4.9 billion – SunTrust, unfortunately, finds itself calling notes on customers here in the Triangle. One thing was intended. Another happened.

Did the economy flop because free markets went bust? Or because of unbridled greed? Or because China doesn’t want to loan us any more money? And whatever the reason will bailing out Citibank and GM and AIG cure the disease – or lead us to more unintended consequences?

What does seem obvious is that when the smoke clears we are going to have a whole new kind of government – not just bigger government but government permeating the nooks and crannies of American life; Barack, Nancy and Harry may see that as a step toward the promised land – but it sounds more like a political agenda that could have a lot of unintended consequences.

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