But first, let's finish up the politics thread. First off, I slogged through the Republican's Better Solutions pamphlet that all the creepy palsied old farts that look like they smell like bowling shoes handed over to President Obama, so you don't have to.
And I gotta say, what the hell is it with politicians? Why can't they just come straight to the point, instead of blathering and bloviating for the first four pages before they finally get to substantive issues? It's not just Republicans, Democrats do it too. But... geez.
Okay, finally! The solutions are... same old stinky old stale ideas. What are these guys?
Defective robots? Animatronic Refugees from Disneyworld?
"Cut taxes. It'll create jobs and increase government revenue".
Uh, bullshit to that last part. Look it up. I'll get back to that first part.
"Deregulate".
Yeah, that's... that's worked so well past couple years, huh?
"Let the Free Market do it".
So, Boehner, what's the mortgage like on that Sugarplum House that you live in , over there on Gumdrop Lane in Candy Corn Village? Oh, it's Free! Goodie for you! Canfields for everyone!
"Drill, baby, drill".
Okay, let me get this straight. Price of oil will inevitably go up. Oil, that is under our land up in the Arctic and offshore, is worth more the longer we leave it in the ground. Oil we suck out of the Middle East, at today's comparatively cheap prices, is oil we burn cheap now, as opposed to paying dearly for that oil in the future, at which time we can extract our own oil that we own under our own property at cheaper extraction costs. ... Okay. Got it, O Party of Savvy Business-types!
"Government is too big".
You always say that, but then you help make it bigger, while not being willing to pay for it, and thus sticking our "children and grandchildren with crushing debt", which you (*cough*Reagan*cough*Bush the Elder*cough*Bush the Younger*cough*) created... Okay. Got it!
Okay, back to the first part about tax cuts above.
Hey, here's a laugh. The Republican Smart Solution TM is for everyone to agree not to raise taxes until the unemployment rate hits 5%.
Their rather disingenuous statement is, "Surely you wouldn't want to increase the tax burden during a period of high unemployment? Surely and truly you could not possibly be so mean and cold-hearted"?
Hmm. Let's see. The time is September, 1982. Ronald Reagan, in the depths of a crippling recession, with unemployment at 10.8%, and GDP growth at -1.5%, signs TEFRA (Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act) into law. Most provisions take effect on Jan 1, 1983.
Newt Gingrich (R, Ga) with his usual eloquence, comments "I think it will make the economy sicker".
The Wall Street Journal states "Any school child knows you don't raise taxes in a recession".
So, what happened? Not much. There's no evidence it made any difference. The economy jumped to 5.0% growth in 1st quarter '83 (sound familiar? 4th quarter '09 5.7%), and jumped to 9.3% 2nd quarter of '83.
The unemployment rate slowly dropped to 8.3% by '83 year's end. It didn't reach 5% until 1989.
Can Reagan be blamed for his recession? Probably. Can he be lauded for the recovery. Nope.
What about Obama? Pretty much the same, I wager. The government is big, but the economy is bigger.
I've often thought that a little toy plastic Fisher-Price steering wheel with a nice cute sounding horn be installed on the President's desk, just to remind him how much control he has over the economy.
Yeah, that's the ticket.
Mr. Obama wanted so much for the country. I think what's going on now just proves that no matter what you want, politicians will make it impossible...
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