I voted for the guy but I’m having a hard time finding the patience that his other supporter’s have got.  A lot of people are saying to wait and take it easy before tossing around judgments or pronouncing cynical complaints, some are even cheering the odd continuity between Bush’s policies and Obama’s first choices.

There has been quite a bit of public furor about social program spending, tax revolts, tea parties, and executive bonuses, but I try to stay focused on:

• Who is getting appointed?
• Who gets the government spending?
• Who benefits from regulations?

From my perspective, the answer to all three of those questions is:  The banks.

Sure, there was $770 billion for roads, schools, trains, and pork, but this is a small drop in the big bucket of financial bailouts, bad bank plans, asset guarantees, and other forms of debt thrown to the Wall Street Elite.

The fact of the matter is that all of these banks are effectively bankrupt, and they’re only being kept on life support because they provide a public good of producing credit.  This credit isn’t based on the bank’s assets (there are none), it is based on the faith of the market in the U.S. government.

So why not make credit a public good?  Well, there’s a long and twisted history of conspiracies, class warfare, and legislation designed to ensure a select group of people could benefit just a little bit from every economic act going on in the country.  Heck, we’re not even supposed to talk about it!

Nationalizing credit and the central banking system may sound radical, but it is hardly more radical than anything Jefferson, Jackson, Washington, or Lincoln did.  Banks with capital would still be allowed to operate and make loans in a free market – they just wouldn’t be propped up at taxpayer expense!

On the military front, the Pentagon will be glad to know it is getting a nice raise.  This will probably come in handy as we escalate activities in Pakistan and start looking around in Darfur.

So, some of Obama’s supporters take the sort of neo-con line that our primary goal at the moment is to save the bank owners and invade every country that can remotely be perceived as a potential threat.  Some others are optimistic that Obama will pull away sharply from the Bush legacy when he’s more established, or has earned more political capital, or he doesn’t have to worry about re-election…