Tales of two Politicians

I recently read two books, one written by the former Republican Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, the other by Democrat Jennifer Grandholm, the former Governor of Michigan. I chose these authors since I thought they would contrast the right and the left, the conservatives and the liberals. I hoped that this would enhance my understanding of these conflicting views.

I will start with Daniels' book.

The Republican

I learned that he both hates and loves different groups of people. I will discuss them in the order of vitriol or love he expresses.

First there are the government employees, civil servants or as he likes to call them, with a sneer, bureaucrats. These are the lowest of the low., worthless, good for nothings who are overpaid and under worked.

He got rid of 18% of those employed by Indiana and since they weren’t doing anything nobody missed them. He says he accomplished this without inflicting pain, but I am sure some of those unemployed civil servants missed their pay check. I am also sure a few banks missed receiving those mortgage payments and the local merchants missed the periodic visits to their stores.

While he doesn’t like civil servants as individuals he really hates them when they gang up on their employer. With the stroke of a pen he ended collective bargaining and transported Indiana back to the 60’s when civil servants served at the whim of the political party in power. Now he and his cohorts could reorganize departments, promoting and giving to those they liked, while firing anybody who complains. I’ve known a lot of teachers, policemen, firemen public works employees, Government office workers and they all treated me well and provided the service that I expected and was paying for. I must not know those lazy bums in Indiana that the governor describes.

As much as he hates bureaucrats... he loves the rich. They are the job creators he says we need to reduce their taxes. Stop regulating them and sit back while they grow the economy! Sounds good to me! (especially the sitting back part, something I’ve gotten really good at since I retired)

The next group he hates is Democrats. He really dislikes the Democrat in chief, Barack Obama. He believes that they have cornered the market on attack ads. He accuses them not only of misrepresentation but of outright lies.

Hmm...

Perhaps it is because of the people I know but I receive one or two e-mails every week attacking democrats and so far about 99% of them are based on lies and misrepresentations. Type Obama into Snopes or Fact Check and see how long the list of untrue e-mails is.

While he hates Democrats, he loves Republicans, who never lie and are always sweet, warm and fuzzy. He particularly loves the Gipper, Ronald Reagan, and includes his down to earth quotes through out the book. He doesn’t mention the fact that Reagan cut taxes, increased expenditures and tripled our nation’s debt. He also loves G W Bush who did the same thing. In fact Daniels was the director of the Office of Management and the Budget during Bush’s first three years when he cut taxes and launched two wars, ultimately increasing our debt by 5 trillion dollars. When Bush did it: GOOD! When Obama does it: BAD!

Reagan’s Director of the Budget David Stockman at least realized what he had done and wrote a book, Triumph of Politics, apologizing to the American people. Too bad Daniels didn’t fess up to the mess he made before telling us how to fix it.

The part I enjoyed the most was when he suggested a truce between people who are discussing social issues like abortion or same sex marriage. The truce would prevent gays from advancing same sex marriage, leaving the status quo, which he loves, in place.

And then, he spends the rest of the chapter talking about all the laws he had passed making it more difficult to get an abortion and that was before he refused to give money to Planned Parenthood unless they quit providing abortions. A new definition of “truce”! - I can do whatever I want to advance my position but you can’t do anything to advance yours. That certainly would avoid arguments.

In another chapter he attacks the health care act. Of course he refers to it as Obamacare. At the end of that chapter he summarizes why he hates Obamacare and every other program suggested by democrats. He says” these programs demean and diminishes the rights of the free people Americans were intended to be” He doesn’t mention that it will provide health care for 40 million Americans who don’t have it now.

He attacks Obama for bailing out AIG. He doesn’t mention what would have happened to the world economy if AIG had been unable to meet its obligations to the worlds banks to whom it had sold billion of dollars in Default Credit Swaps. (Insurance on mortgage backed securities)

He also doesn’t mention that the bailout worked. AIG(or at least its parts) will survive and the taxpayer will not lose a nickel.

He criticizes the bailout of the automobile industry. He was upset because an Indiana pension fund with out standing loans wasn’t going to get paid, while retired UAW members were going to receive their pensions. When you weigh 100,000 jobs, 100’s of thousands of retired auto workers pensions and three major American industrial manufacturers against the companies general creditors even most Republicans would arrive at the correct answer. Once again this rescue is going to be accomplished without costing the taxpayer anything.

Would it hurt him to say, just once, good job Obama!!

There is never another side to his arguments.

He admires a fictional character in the book “The Time It Never Rained” by Elmer Kelton. This man, Charlie Flagg, lived in west Texas during the worst drought in American history. (1947 to 1957) Although government help was available he refused to accept it. Thousands of people, despite government assistance, lost everything during this difficult time as ranch’s and farms failed.

It is a lot easier to admire the fictional Mr. Flagg from the comfort of your office in Indiana rather than a stubborn old coot watching his fields dry up and his livestock die,,,,, when he could do something to prevent it.

Government was invented to provide help in times of trouble. I thought that was the agreement. The government can use my money to help you because next time I may be the one who needs help.

I might also mention Moses who saw drought in Egypt’s future and built warehouses to store food for that emergency. Good thing the Pharaoh had hired Moses and not Charlie Flagg! Or for that matter Mr. Daniels! They would have told the people to build their own damn warehouse. “You can’t expect the government to waste the rich taxpayer’s money looking out for you”. If that had happened the Jews would still be in Egypt, the Red Sea would never have parted and Cecil B DeMille would still be looking for stories to turn into movies.

The Democrat

Mrs. Grandholm doesn’t hate anyone. She was elected Governor of Michigan before the recession but not before the automobile industry began to fail. She immediately reorganized the various agencies of government needed to attract business’ to invest in Michigan. She traveled to Asia and Europe and attracted a number of foreign investments to her state. She also had to lay off state employees and get give backs from others to balance her state's budget. She did this by working with the unions rather than by destroying them. She worked with the Obama administration to gain investments under the stimulus act and to create “green” business’ including a number of companies that will build batteries for electric cars. She estimates that those businesses will ultimately provide Michigan with 60,000 jobs. She also was supportive of education reform championed by President Obama and put in place by his “race to the top’. She also worked with the Federal Government to take advantage of educating and retraining displaced workers and to try to place those people in new jobs. She says that everything she accomplished was with the consent of state employees, their union and the Republicans who were in the majority in both houses of the legislature during both her terms in office.

Mrs. Grandholm believes that both federal and state Government must target specific industries, help them with research and development and help them bring production to scale if we are going to compete with China and the rest of the world. China and India already do this... and as Mr. Daniels points out they are buying us.

In contrast to Mr. Daniels she seems to respect the opinions of others and was willing to listen to them and happy to work with them to help the people of her state.

Not crossing the chasm

I started by saying that I hoped reading these books would help me understand the chasm that exists between Republicans and Democrats. The chasm exists because Republicans are convinced they are right and it is impossible to reason with them.

Democrats, however, also believe just as strongly that they are right.

There are many areas where Mr. Daniels and I agree and many more where we disagree. Daniels says he wants to protect the safety net. He does not tell us what he would eliminate and what he would preserve. He is proud of his reorganization of the child welfare department in Indiana which changed it (he says) from failing to one of the best in the country.

While he has no answer for the millions of Americans who don’t qualify for Medicare or Medicaid and are not insured through their employers he does want to preserve the government help that is now provided. He also seems to support Social Security although all these programs need to be “reformed”.

I would like to see his idea of a federal budget, what he would keep and what he would throw away. He wants to eliminate much of the IRS by "reforming" our tax code I could accept that although I am sure we would disagree over how the code should be changed.

He thinks privatization results in better service for less money He privatized meal preparation for inmates which did reduce the cost. While my research did not reveal the answer I strongly suspect the employees of the private vendor need food stamps and Medicaid to make ends meet. I also suspect that it's employees have little or no health insurance and no pension If you add the savings I believe they will equal the ampunt costs were reduced and the companies profit. The cost of privatizing is always born by the working man.

He recognizes that some regulation is necessary but believes it should meet a cost/benefit analysis. I agree in principle but believe we would have a big fight over the details. He believes the processing of applications should be streamlined as there is no reason why one agency cannot provide all the approvals necessary. I experienced instances where I was trying to get approval from three different agencies only to find out later the people I was dealing with in numerous separate phone calls were in adjoining offices.

The area where we will never agree is on his social agenda. I believe that people should be free to choose there sexual identity, to decide whether to have a child and preventing scientist from using embryos, which are going to be discarded, is ridiculous.

The biggest problem I have with Mr. Daniels is his strong dislike of Democrats or of anyone that holds an opinion different than his. I was amazed by the depth of his dislike (hatred may not be too strong a word) of the President that permeates his book. If we cannot discuss our differences rationally we will fail as a country not because of the “red menace” (which refers to red ink) but because of gridlock.

Unless we respect each other and are able to rationally discuss our different opinions, ideas and vision we will never be able to move forward.

MY FAVORITE DREAM

I am sound asleep.  The year is 2000. The Supreme Court has just decided that former Vice President Gore is now the President of the United States.  George Bush has returned to work on his ranch in Texas.  Cheney has gone hunting with Justice Scalia, where they wonder what happened, and Doug Feith and Paul Wolfowitz  are back at their think tanks planning for their next chance to attack Iraq, overthrow Saddam Hussein and establish Democracy in the Middle East.

 President Gore and his cabinet are thinking about the best way to use the surplus left them by President Clinton. There are some in Congress, where both houses are still controlled by Republicans, who want to cut taxes. They do not have a majority, let alone enough votes to overcome a Presidential veto. The administration wants to use these funds to strengthen the safety net, repair our infrastructure and invest in research necessary to establish 21^st century industries and create 21^st century jobs.

President Gore has long recognized the threat from global warming and begins working with the countries of the world to develop plans and programs to both defend against and ameliorate the problems that will come with rising sea levels and climate change.

9/11 happens! While President Gore is well aware of Al Qaeda and Bin Laden there is nothing he can do to prevent the attack.

 He is in his office working, quickly identifies the source of the attack and dispatches his Vice President to NY to assure the city and the families of the victims that they have the support of the federal government.

 He convenes the Security Council and, after reviewing his options, orders the Navy to fire cruise missiles from the Persian Gulf at every target they can find in Afghanistan.  He sends the CIA to assure the Northern Alliance, who has been battling the Taliban for years, that they have our support.  He also asks them to help us find and kill/capture Bin Laden and his lieutenants.

He directs the military to insert a force, as soon as possible, to catch and/or kill every member of Al Qaeda including Bin Laden, who has fled to his hideout in Tora Bora. Twenty thousand marines and special forces surround Tora Bora and after slowly closing in, capture Bin Laden and his top lieutenants. They are returned to NY charged with the murder of over 3000 people, convicted and after an expedited appeals process, are executed.

The World Trade Center is rebuilt in three years. On 9/11/04 it is dedicated, with a suitable memorial for those who died,  demonstrating Americas strength and resiliency.  

The president and his administration return to governing the country. When the recession strikes in 2007 our debt has been reduced to 4 trillion dollars. We are able to respond by providing a massive bailout for the financial system as well as spend billions of dollars to help the states balance their budgets without layoffs and to stimulate the economy.

 The recession is brought under control and our investments in new industries and to bail out the auto industry results in those companies being able to quickly absorb the unemployed. As soon as the economy recovers in 2010 we return to balanced budgets and reducing our debt.

All of this has been accomplished with broad bipartisan support. Republicans and Democrats praise each other for their rapid and affective response to the crisis. Congress receives an 85% approval rating. The Tea Party does not exist.

Then I wake up, read the morning paper, and think about what  actually happened while Bush had been  President.

The national debt in 2000: $5.6 Trillion

The national debt in 2008: $10.699 Trillion

The surplus in 2000: $230 Billion

The deficit in 2008: $455 Billion, a record                                                                                                                 

 Debt reduction 1998 to 2000: $360 Billion

Spending US Government in 2000: $1.789 Billion

Spending in 2008: $2.982 Billion

Thanks Bush and Cheney.

Thanks Supreme Court.

Thanks a lot you Republican voters.  

                  GREAT JOB, REPUBLICANS

        Now they want to fix the problems they created

                          

                            INCREDIBLE

In an earlier blog I said that the Tea Party wants to return the country to an earlier time, the beginning or middle of the 20th century. I would be happy to return to the year 2000. Let's abolish the Bush tax cuts and have the government spend the same amount and for the same things as it did that year.  Let's end our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Real Estate values have already returned to 2000 levels and as we work through the foreclosures and bankruptcy the amount of debt secured by real estate will go down as well. Hopefully as we regain our economic footing, unemployment levels will return to 5% its level in 2000.  Still dreaming!!!

Then we can purge our history books of any mention of the words George W Bush and live happily ever after.

The republicans admit to being half wrong... but wrong on the wrong half!

Although I may not sound like it, I was a Republican into my 50’s and a fiscal conservative my entire life.

I was raised with sayings such as “a penny saved is a penny earned”, “neither a borrower nor a lender be” and “God helps those who help themselves”. My parents were products of the Great Depression and tried to pass the lessons they learned on to their children. Thrift, hard work and a good education would allow us to live the American dream. They had three sons. Two became engineers, one with an Ivy League master’s degree, and the third, a lawyer (their only disappointment).

A fiscal conservative is one who believes that, like an individual, the government’s income and expenditures should be in balance. Borrowing for capital improvements that would serve at least as long as it took to satisfy the debt was acceptable, like buying a house or car is for an individual.

As long as we could afford it I also supported programs that would help people who were struggling to survive. These people had previously been supported through charity. Why shouldn’t all of us come together to provide them with help?

I thought that the Republicans agreed with me, but then Ronald Reagan was elected. He believed that he could reduce taxes and that would increase the governments income. This theory has come to be known as ”trickle down”, “supply side” and “Reaganomics”. I prefer the name given it by President George H W Bush, “VooDoo Economics”.

I was an economics major in undergraduate school and the idea that, by reducing income you could increase income, flew in the face of common sense and was contrary to everything I had learned about economics.

Let’s see how this “theory” worked in practice. When Reagan was sworn in a little over 30 years ago, our national debt was $994 billion. When he left office it had tripled to $2,867 billion. The national debt increased over his first term by 49% and by 40% during his second term.

While cutting taxes he also increased spending from $678 billion to $1,144 billion, almost double. Needless to say, Reagan had lost my vote long before the end of his first term.

During the middle of his second term I read “Triumph of Politics” by David Stockman who had served as Director of the Office of Management and the Budget during Reagan’s first term. He explained, rather patiently, that if you cut taxes you must also reduce expenditures or you’re going to end up with a tremendous increase in the amount you need to borrow.

In Reagan’s case he almost tripled America’s debt and doubled the government’s expenditures. Despite this he remains the darling of the Tea Party who say they want to make government smaller. I would appreciate it if someone, perhaps a member of the Tea Party, could explain this to me.

After that George H W Bush and Clinton vetoed bills that required expenditures that weren’t paid for, raised taxes, and by 2000 not only brought the budget into balance but created a surplus. Needless to say, this fiscal conservative was convinced and I have been a Democrat ever since.

George W Bush reinforced my decision. He practiced Reganomics, cutting taxes and increasing expenditures turning Clinton’s surplus into ever increasing deficits. In his eight years in office Bush increased spending from $1,821 billion to $3,107 billion He also managed to double the national debt increasing it from 5 trillion, 769 billion to 10 trillion 413 billion dollars.

During Clinton’s last term the debt decreased, for the first time since the 20’s, by 2%. During Bush’s first term the debt increased by 22% and in the second by18%.

I suspect that neither Reagan nor Bush really believed in supply side economics. What they did believe was that the best way to get reelected in greedy and irresponsible America was to cut taxes, while continuing to fund the Federal programs we love.

The Republicans now admit they were half wrong. They still want to cut taxes but now say they will reduce expenditures by eliminating all the programs that have been created to help the middle and lower class. The Tea Party which consists of middle class Americans thinks this is wonderful.

Have they lost their minds?

We can not hold Obama responsible for this economic mess. He took office in the middle of the deepest recession since the 30’s. Like Roosevelt he responded by saving the financial system and some of Americas biggest corporations ( Tarp) and by reducing taxes and pumping billions of dollars into the economy (the stimulus bill). These measures brought the recession to an end but have not solved the unemployment problem. Now he wants to continue tax decreases for the middle, class continue to pay unemployment insurance and invest money in America’s infrastructure. This time he wants to pay for these things by increasing taxes on people who make $1 million dollars or more.

The Republicans say they can support some of this.

Since they love cutting taxes they will support that part of it.

Since they are sworn to protect the fortunes of the rich they will oppose any tax increase on them.

Since they want any program to be paid for, they will take the money from the poor, the elderly or our children.

Incredible !!

Compassionate Conservative is an Oxymoron

The Republicans and their Tea Party supporters want to turn back the hands of time.

They must remember a different past than I do.

The world that existed from the beginning of the industrial revolution until the great depression had no child labor laws and no minimum wage. Employers could force you to work seven days a week with long hours and with no additional compensation. Forgotten, now, are the days of company towns where employees were little more than indentured servants. Employees who protested against their working conditions had to battle the scabs the strike breakers as well as the local police.

Back then the elderly and disabled were dependent on children or family and the charity extended by doctors and hospitals if they were to survive.

All of these problems and many more were overcome by our government. But perhaps even the Tea Party appreciates Social Security, Medicare, child labor laws, minimum wage and hour laws, collective bargaining and workplace safety. They may only want to go back to the 50’s and 60’s, a time I can remember...

I lived in New Jersey then.

On most days you weren’t able to see across the Delaware River because of the smog. When you drove across the Walt Whitman Bridge you had to roll up your windows and hold your breath because of the smoke and fumes being generated by the businesses below. You couldn’t swim in the bays behind the resort islands along the Jersey shore because of pollution. A good way to commit suicide was by eating a clam or an oyster.

During tourist season you closed your windows to reduce the smell from a nearby sewage plant and to prevent smoke and soot generated by a nearby electric power plant.

Many of you out there must remember the cancers caused by living near Love Canal. We still see the deformed people which resulted from the use of thalidomide.

All of these problems were created by private enterprise and were fixed or reduced by the government: by the Clean Air and Water acts, the Super Fund Act, and increased efforts to make sure medicine doesn’t do more harm than good.

Again... I have to believe that members of the Tea Party appreciate clean air and water and might want to make sure it stays that way. Perhaps the Tea Partiers want to reduce the size of the FBI, the DEA, Customs, the TSA and all the other federal agencies that do their best to make us safe. Or perhaps they want to reduce the budget for the Energy Department which is responsible for overseeing our nuclear material both for military and private use and oversees almost all basic research done in this country?

It is hard to believe they might want to reduce our investment in education at a time when we are trying to catch up to the education provided by other countries.

While I believe we could reduce spending on our military, the Tea Partiers don’t seem to be the type of people who would agree to that.

Perhaps we could stop maintaining our highways and bridges or our national parks? (Some people say we already have)

Tea Partiers would like to cut foreign aid and our contribution to the UN, although this would greatly affect our status in the world and the savings would be minimal.

Maybe they would like to cut funds available to fix the damage caused by hurricanes earthquakes and tornadoes. (They just tried that). Perhaps they could cut funds for the National Institute of Health! People can just do without those studies of the next drug to combat cancer and other diseases or to fight the next flu virus, right?

All of these expenditures benefit both conservatives and liberals and therefore I doubt if they want to seriously reduce or abolish them.

I am afraid that they are aiming at our safety net which exists to help and protect the poor, programs like food stamps, unemployment insurance or Medicaid. I also believe that these programs are what make this a benevolent, caring and civilized society. Apparently that belief is not shared by conservatives.

I was shocked when a question addressed to Governor Perry during the recent debate which noted that during his tenure over 200 prison inmates had been executed, received a loud ovation from his audience. I was even more shocked when Congressman Paul's reluctant admission that the man in the hospital who couldn’t afford medical care would be left to die also received loud and enthusiastic applause.

Congressman Boehner said when he ended the discussions which were an attempt to reduce the deficit, that there is a large philosophical difference between him and the President. I am proud to say that there is a large philosophical divide between me and the conservatives attending that debate.

Perhaps we could find a better way to bring our budget deficit under control. Perhaps increasing taxes and eliminating tax breaks for special interests combined with thoughtful cuts to spending would work. I hope that most Americans recognize that this is the only way forward.

Save Democracy! Elect new Congressmen!

I have been making fun of our congressmen, particularly the Republicans. They (both the Republicans and Democrats) seem hopelessly deadlocked and unable to govern.

We need to remember that Democracy is fragile.

Giving power to the people means that the people must be able to do the job.

Man’s first experiments with democracy were shortlived. Ancient Athens and other lesser Greek city states were able to sustain theirs for less than 200 years. Athens produced one of democracies most famous critics. Plato said “that the most aggravated form of tyranny arises out of the most extreme liberty”. His answer was a benevolent philosopher king. I don’t think there are too many of them available these days.

Rome attempted to establish a very limited democracy (only aristocrats could vote or serve in the senate) until Caesar decided to cross the Rubicon in 49 BC, and Augustus declared himself Roman Emperor in 29 BC. After Rome, democracy died until it was resurrected and finally put into practice in the U.S. in the eighteenth century.

I shouldn’t ignore England. In the eleventh century the people were given some rights but remained subject to the will of the sovereign and the aristocrats.

Our Democracy has lasted 200 years but I am afraid it may be reaching its end. Democracy requires that its citizens curb their appetites, postponing gratification for the sake of the long term and be willing to sacrifice self interest for the common good. Americans no longer seem able to do this.

Congressmen’s insistence on getting their own way reflects the will of the people who elect them. Until a short time ago I could have a serious thoughtful discussion about economic or political issues with most of my friends. I still can, but the number of people I can do that with is quickly shrinking and the numbers who become rabid at the mention of a political issue (in particular something positive about our President) is rapidly growing.

The controversies seem not to be limited to Democrats and Republicans but exist between Republicans and Republicans as well. While it is painful - I have been watching the Republican presidential debates. Each candidate has his own jobs plan, his own plan for dealing with the deficit, his own solution for Social Security and Medicare his own way of changing taxes and his own way to solve every other problem facing America. They do agree, however, that everything President Obama has done or will do was or will be wrong.

They also all agree that the job killing National Health Act must be repealed. They don’t even apologize to the 50 million Americans who will continue to be without health care insurance. Any attempt at rational discussion of health care cause these people to go ballistic. What’s amazing is any mention of Medicare reform has the same affect on the same people.

What is the answer?

During my lifetime we have had extremists on the right and on the left. America has succeeded because the vast majority of us are in the middle. These are the thoughtful, intelligent and educated, the ones I can still have a meaningful conversation with.

We need to select candidates who recognize that they are fallible like the rest of us. We need to vote for the candidate that does not have extreme views, whether that candidate is Republican or Democrat. We need to elect the candidate who can and will compromise in order to move the country forward. We must elect candidates who consider doing the right thing more important than winning the next election. It means that we must reject tea party candidates as well as candidates from the extreme left.

THEY ARE FIGHTING AGAIN

The children (sometimes called congressmen and women) are at it again. Last time they held our entire economy hostage refusing to raise the debt limit while they bickered over which of our governments programs should be demolished.

 This time they have decided to stamp their feet and roll on the floor while refusing to provide funds to help the victims of tornadoes, floods and wild fires unless 1.5 billion dollars is taken out of the budget.

They even chose the program they want to destroy. They want to take the money away from an energy department program which loans to companies who make advanced engines, batteries, and alternative fuels for cars.

The Department says it won’t be able to fund 18 pending applications. The Center for American Progress says that will prevent us from creating at least 43,500 new jobs. Of course it will also slow the development of more fuel efficient vehicles.

 All this, as the “Super Committee” appointed after the last go around (the debt limit compromise) is trying to agree on a way to reduce our deficit by 1.5 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. You would think 1.5 trillion would be enough to satisfy the children for a few months, but it isn’t.

 Some one needs to explain to the children that there is a budget process. When they begin work to develop the budget(s) they can change programs and/or abolish programs to their little hearts content. The problem is that they won’t stop bickering long enough to develop a budget.

 Regardless holding the victims of disasters hostage is the wrong way to do it.

 We the people need to send these kids home and hire adults who realize that they don’t always get there way. Some times you have to divide the toys up so everyone gets a chance to play.

I received this list of changes that have occurred since January 2009, the month President Obama took office. Unlike most e-mails of this type the list was basically accurate. It then says the President was responsible for these changes.. Of course he wasn’t. Usually the facts are wrong but the conclusion inevitable.  In this one the facts are right and the conclusion ridiculous.

The first seven changes referred to is the price of commodities such as corn, sugar, wheat, gold and oil. These items are sold in a competitive market worldwide and price depends on many factors, the most important of which are supply and demand. The price is in dollars and is the same in China, Europe, America or any place else in the world. Only in a socialist economy does government have control over these prices. Although some people would disagree with me we do not live in a socialist country.

 The next four items dealt with unemployment. It points out that unemployment was at 7.2% when Obama took office and it is now 9.1%. The author doesn’t tell us that in January 2008, when Bush was president, unemployment stood at 5%, soared during the next year of his term in office to 7.2%, and continued to climb to 10.1. And then as the recession was brought under control, (while Obama was President) fell to 9.1% where, sadly, it remains today.

 I do not blame President Bush for the recession and since Obama didn’t become President until a year after the economy collapsed I would think that it is ridiculous to blame him. I believe that the banks, real-estate speculators, Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, congress, the president and the Federal Reserve and many others all share responsibility for either causing it or failing to prevent it from happening.

 I also do not give all the credit to Obama for bringing it under control, although his was a major contribution. The steps to accomplish that began with President Bush and Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson (Tarp1) and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. Their effort was continued under President Obama (Tarp 2, the stimulus bills which included 300 billion in tax cuts( a sop to Republicans) and the continuation of the tax cuts in December 2010). The bailouts of AIG and the automobile companies helped as did the bailouts of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae which began under Bush and continues to this day. While the Republicans say cutting taxes will reduce unemployment they say this 300 billion dollar tax cut did not produce 1 additional job Tax cuts by Republicans apparently are the only ones that work
.  

The author then goes on to point out that household income declined and the number of people receiving unemployment benefits, food stamps and people in poverty have increased. Duh!! What does he think happens during a recession? He doesn’t tell us that these things began under President Bush and continued to increase until stopped by programs instituted under President Obama

He also points out that money supply increased during the recession. That is of course one tool that can be used to battle economic decline and, surprise, they used it.

 He also points to the declining value of the dollar against world currencies. I don’t know to what degree governments can influence this but the President has welcomed this change since it makes it easier for us to increase our exports.

 Last he points to our exploding deficit, a subject close to my heart. The deficit had increased by five trillion dollars under Bush as a result of the Bush tax cuts, spending for No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D and two wars. The deficit under Bush increased on average by over 400 billion dollars a year. This clown says the deficit increased 27 times as fast since President Obama was elected in the middle of a recession, 27 times as fast as any time in our history. Can anyone multiply 27 times 400 billion? 

The author is an asshole but still someone sends his nonsense to me and to many others. In this country too many of the “others” accept it as if it were gospel. 

   

After writing this I think that reciting accurate facts and then arriving at a stupid conclusion is worse than making up your facts to support a conclusion you like. Actually both of these are working to devestate our democracy.

The following is the e-mail I have been discussing After two years of Obama, here's your change! January 2009 TODAY % chg Source Avg.. Retail price/gallon gas in U.S. $1.83 $3.44 84% 1 Crude oil, European Brent (barrel) $43..48 $99..02 127.7% 2 Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel) $38..74 $91..38 135.9% 2 Gold: London (per troy oz.) $853.25 $1,369.50 60.5% 2 Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL $3.56 $6.33 78.1% 2 Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL $9.66 $13..75 42.3% 2 Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. Fob $13..37 $35..39 164.7% 2 Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall 7.6% 9.4% 23.7% 3 Unemployment rate, blacks 12.6% 15.8% 25.4% 3 Number of unemployed 11,616,000 14,485,000 24.7% 3 Number of fed. Employees 2,779,000 2,840,000 2.2% 3 Real median household income $50,112 $49,777 -0.7% 4 Number of food stamp recipients 31,983,716 43,200,878 35.1% 5 Number of unemployment benefit recipients 7,526,598 9,193,838 22.2% 6 Number of long-term unemployed 2,600,000 6,400,000 146.2% 3 Poverty rate, individuals 13.2% 14.3% 8.3% 4 People in poverty in U.S. 39,800,000 43,600,000 9.5% 4 U.S.. Rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings 5 9 n/a 10 Present Situation Index 29.9 23.5 -21.4% 11 Failed banks 140 164 17.1% 12 U.S.. Dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate 89.76 82.03 -8.6% 2 U.S.. Money supply, M1, in billions 1,575.1 1,865.7 18.4% 13 U.S.. Money supply, M2, in billions 8,310.9 8,852.3 6.5% 13 National debt, in trillions $10..627 $14..052 32.2% 14 Just take this last item: In the last two years, we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history. That's over 27 times as fast! Metaphorically speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH, and a car rockets past you in the left lane 27 times faster, it would be doing 1,755 MPH! Sources: (1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He's done all this in 29 months -- so you'll have one year and five months to come up with an answer. Every statement in this e-mail message is factual and directly attributable to Barrack Hussein Obama. Every bumble is a matter of record and completely verifiable. EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS! I WONDER HOW MANY WILL FORWARD IT? THE ANSWER TO THE LAST QUESTION IS- ONE IS TOO MANY!!!

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