Update: "And now, America, we introduce the Great Obama! from 10-10-2008,

Today's Wall Street Journal is a must read- Paul Volcker and John
Steele Gordan have terrific articles, but the column, "Potomac Watch" by Kim Strassel,p.A15, was dead on:

"And now, America, we introduce the Great Obama! The world's most
gifted political magician!... To kick off our show tonight, Mr. Obama will give 95%
of American working families a tax cut, even though 40% of Americans today don't pay
income taxes!
How can our star enact such mathemagic?. .. It's called a 'refundable tax
credit.' It involves taking money from those who do pay taxes, and writing checks to those who don't. Yes, yes, in the real world this is known as ' welfare,' but please try not to ruin the show.

For his next trick, the Great Obama will jumpstart the economy, and he'll do it by raising taxes on the very businesses that are today adrift in a financial tsunami!...the nation's biggest employers who currently pay some of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world. Mr. Obama will, with a flick of his fingers, show them how to create more jobs with less money...

Next up, Mr. Obama will reregulate the economy, with no ill effects whatsoever!. ..Our magician will show the fault was with our failure to clamp down on innovation and risktaking, and will fix this with new, all-encompassing rules.Presto!

Did someone in the audience just shout 'Sarbanes-Oxley? ' Usher, can you
remove that man?
Thank you.

Mr. Obama will now demonstrate how he gives Americans the 'choice' of a 'voluntary' government health plan....Don' t worry people: You won't have to join, until you
do....his plan will be different from our failing Medicare program.
Oops, sorry, folks. The Great Obama just reminded me it is time for an intermission. ...all without raising the deficit a single penny!...in the middle of a financial crisis. And with falling tax revenues! Voila! ...

And for tonight's finale, the Great Obama will uphold America's 'moral' obligation to 'stop genocide' by abandoning Iraq!... he will fix Afghanistan with a strategy that does not resemble the Iraqi surge, and (drumroll) pull Osama Bin Laden out of his hat! Tada!...We'd like to thank a few people in the audience. Namely, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who has so admirably restrained himself from running up on stage to debunk any of these illusions and spoil everyone's fun....