11

This is Spinal Tap:

Examiner Sunday Reflections by Glenn Harlan Reynolds: Obama presidency turns government up to 11 | Washington Examiner: "President Obama's term so far has been compared to many fictional and non-fictional characters: Chauncey Gardener of 'Being There' is frequently invoked, along with the self-invented charmer Don Draper from 'Mad Men,' and of course there are the usual tiresome comparisons with Hitler that most presidents face these days.
But I have a different character in mind. The more I watch this administration at work, the more I think we're seeing the first Nigel Tufnel presidency.

Nigel Tufnel, many will remember, was the fictitious heavy metal guitarist in the fictional "rockumentary" "This Is Spinal Tap." In a classic scene, he displays his guitar collection and his special amplifier that -- unlike all other amplifiers in existence -- has knobs that go all the way up to 11, instead of just 10.

And that's what Obama has done: In his first two years as president, he's taken us to 11 in so many ways.

Under Bush and the Republican Congress from 2000-2006 federal spending was bad, and many people groused. But Obama has turned it up to 11, running up trillion-dollar-plus deficits that dwarf the worst we saw under Bush and the congressional Republicans, and producing open revolt from Tea Partiers and others.

...

But here's where the analogy fails. In the movie, Tufnel's career was ultimately, saved by a surge of popularity in Japan. Obama, on the other hand, has pursued policies that seem to make America likely to suffer Japan's fate, a decade or more of economic stagnation coupled with massive growth in government debt.

For Spinal Tap, luck produced a happy ending to a humorous story of ineptitude and decline. Can Obama expect similar luck? Sadly, such happy endings are far easier for Hollywood than for Washington."