Wednesday
04Nov2009
What did the people say yesterday?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 08:24AM - Team Obama’s socialism and accompanying massive government spending is not what people want
- Democrats must work with Republicans to improve healthcare. As Edmund Burke said, "All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter”.
- Not everyone is for gay marriage
- “It’s the economy stupid…”.
- Incumbents of all political persuasions beware of the voters in 2010
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Reader Comments (12)
This time he thinks it's "the American people".
Platy
1. Devalued dollar
2. High inflation
3. Growing percentage of Federal budget going to pay interest on national debt
My friend, Nancy and Obama are not helping the common man.
Platy
How about closing the donut hole in Medicare part B?
That helps the common man.
And how about extending unemployment benefits here in NH. That helps the common man.
And how about a thousand other facts I could list.
Typo of the day
All of Obama's programs have to be paid for at some point in the future. Do feel it is OK to spend at the level that we have leaving future American's over a $1T deficit?
Do you feel it is OK that the Fed continues to print money in order to fund Obama's bailouts of Wall Street?
No, Chaz, I stand by my statement that Team Obama is not helping the common man, especially those who come after us.
Platy
I get it- you don't like Obama. But think a little harder about the situation we are in. When Obama became president,the economy was shrinking more than 6% per year. This is unprecendeted since World War II. Doing nothing would allow the situation to escalate.
We are running a extraordinary deficit because we are living in extraordinary times. The economy has been in the worst freefall in my lifetime and probably that of 90% of the country. At a time when business, individuals, and financial markets are panicked and cuttting spending and demand, government is the economic driver of last resort. In the absence of the deficit spending, the problems would be compounded- We would likely enter into a vicious circle: more unemployment, more foreclosures, less consumer demand leading to more business bankruptcies in turn causing more unemployment. At the same time, smaller tax revenues will cause a larger deficit..
Of course huge deficits are a long term problem. And they will be dealt with. But worrying about debt right now is kind of like worrying that the fireman who is trying to put out the fire in your house may cause water strains on your rugs.
I hope this explains the situation in a way you are able to comprehend. My sense is you are generally concerned, just don't understand how the world works.
More recently, we can look to Japan and see how after their bubble burst, massive intervention did not work.
Face, all team Obama is doing is pumping up the deficit for questionable results.
Platy
You are a little confused, both about when FDR became president and started his stimulus and by the difference between current $$ and inflation adjusted $$. Here are the historical facts:
In 1929, the US economy was about $100 billion in current $$ (and $975B in inflation-adjusted $$). For 4 years, Hoover sat on his hands and watched the economy fall apart. In 1933, the year FDR became President, the economy had collapsed to $56 billion in current $$. FDR's stimulus program amounted to about 3 to 4 % of total GDP through 1940. By 1936, the economy was back to its 1929 high measured by inflation-adjusted $$. By 1940, the economy was back to $100 billion in current $$, and was about 20% larger in inflation-adjusted $$ terms.
Here are the sources for my facts: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/federal_deficit_chart.html#copypaste
http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp
As for unemployment, it went from 23.6% in 1932, the year before FDR started his modest stimulus to 14.6% in 1940. When the super-stimulus of war-time spending in 1942 kicked in, unemployment dropped to 4.7%, and by 1944 it was 1.2%.
I hope you are able to comprehend this. The FDR presidency showed that stimulus works.
I think your confusion over the actual facts of the Great Depression is because you don't know that during the first 3 1/2 years, as the economy decreased in size about 40% and 1 out of 4 people lost their jobs, FDR was not president. The economic collapse happened in the fall of 1929. Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and became president in the spring of 1933. Hoover did essentially nothing for the 3 1/2 years of the depression- he actually pushed through an anti-stimulative budget with a surplus in 1930 and 1931. His 1932 budget also was supposed to be a surplus but the economy had collapsed so fast that tax revenues fell further than he expected so the government ran at a deficit. His policies- similar to what the GOP says they are pushing for- exacerbated the economic problems.
" For 4 years, Hoover sat on his hands and watched the economy fall apart."
I will repute completely and unequivocally regarding your statements about Hoover. First, I would like to understand your background without knowing your identity. Did you go to the public schools? Are you a union member? Did you vote for team Obama?
1. From 1929 to 1933, under President Hoover's administration, real per capita federal expenditures increased by 88 percent. Under President Roosevelt's administration from 1933 to 1940, just before World War II, they increased by only 74 percent.
There are several sources for this but you should read this article as it summarizes my point well.
http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj16n2-2.html
Shall I go destroying your lack of academic prowess? I will but I do not want to hurt your feelings.
Platy