Posted on 05/01/2014 7:59:39 PM PDT by NaturalBornConservative
By: Larry Walker, Jr.
Back on January 14, 2014, POTUS 44 announced, “We’re not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we’re providing Americans the kind of help they need. I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone.” Well, great!
Then on April 30, 2014, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced that real gross domestic product (GDP) had increased at an annual rate of just 0.1 percent in the first quarter (that is, from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014). Well, so much for going it alone. Please stop with the help already, it’s not working.
Did anyone seriously believe that this guy was some kind of economic prodigy, capable of singlehandedly leading the U.S. economy to the Promised Land? Oh, please! My first impression was “What a moron.” Isn’t this the same guy who hired a 35 year old fiction writer as his Deputy National Security Advisor? And, isn’t this the same guy who (ad infinitum)… And I think I was right.
According to Zerohedge.com, and I’m paraphrasing, “...if it wasn't for the (government-mandated) spending surge resulting from Obamacare, which resulted in the biggest jump in Healthcare Services spending in U.S. history, GDP growth would be negative.” Huh? I guess Tyler considers GDP growth of 0.1% a positive.
It seems that if all the cash sucked out of discretionary consumer spending during the first quarter, by way of artificially high (government-subsidized) health insurance premiums, and neatly tucked away into insurance company reserve funds (savings accounts), had instead been unleashed into the economy, GDP surely would have been positive.
Where I come from, growth of 0.1% isn't growth at all, but rather a trailing indicator that someone or something’s about to get the ax. Let’s just pray it’s this ridiculous pen and phone strategy, and while we’re at it, how about losing that idiot fiction writer. Whose bright idea was that anyway?
Hope and change everyone.
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