Posted on 10/22/2009 12:20:56 PM PDT by JohnRLott
The Obama administration claims that it was their passage of massive government spending that saved the United States from another Great Depression. Last week, Larry Summers, Obama's top economic adviser, claimed that because of the stimulus:
"We have walked a substantial distance back from the economic abyss and are on the path toward economic recovery. Most importantly, we have seen a substantial change in the trend of job loss."
And Vice President Biden declared at the end of September:
"In my wildest dreams, I never thought it [the stimulus] would work this well."
As President Obama and other Democrats have correctly pointed out many times, this has been a worldwide recession. But if Summers and Biden are right in their assessment of the stimulus measures, one would think that the U.S. economy should be recovering better the many other countries, countries not wise enough to follow Obama's lead of an extraordinary $787 billion increase in government spending. It is also particularly timely to evaluate the spending since Christina Romer, the chairwoman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, told Congress today that the stimulus had already had most of its impact on the economy.
Take Canada. Their stimulus package was nowhere as extensive as ours. Their $22.7 billion in stimulus spending this year, and $17.2 billion next year, amounts to about 7.5 percent of their federal spending for their 2009 and 2010 budgets -- not much more than a third of the per-capita stimulus spending in the United States.
Has Canadian unemployment climbed higher than than ours because of their relative inaction? Hardly. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
This is proof that zero’s economic policies are failing. China, Brazil and other countries which were also on the brink a year ago have rebounded. Obama is keeping us down.
It is hard to have an economic recovery when the Federal Government is targetting the sources of the recovery for destruction.
WELCOME TO:
OBAMAVILLE
Gett’n a head fake,
watchin’ msn’s take;
All of their pundits oozing foul oil.
Clean’n my six gun on my front porch swing.
Felling my blood—
It’s beginnin’ to boil.
Wasted away again in Obamaville,
Searchin’ for a job so I can earn my salt.
Some people claim that Bush is to blame,
But I know it’s Obama’s fault.
There’s no rhyme or reason,
They are all commitin’ treason
With nothing to show but a brand new tax or two.
But they are real beauties,
Despotic duties, how they got passed
I haven’t a clue.
Wasted away again in Obamaville,
Searchin’ for a job so I can earn my salt.
Some people claim that it’s Bush we should blame,
Now I think,— hell with them it’s Obama’s fault.
I blew out my flip flop,
Stepped on a pop top;
Cut my heel, but I just cruise on back home.
Because no medical care will the doctors render
They say there’s little service I can tender
And there’s no need for me to hang on.
Wasted away again in Obamaville
Searchin’ for a job so I can earn my salt.
Some people claim that Bush is to blame,
But I know, it’s my own damn fault.
Yes, and some people claim that Bush is to blame, And I
know because of my vote it’s my own damn fault.
Say Joe, you must have some pretty wild dreams.
Is it any wonder? Any company with any sense at all is moving overseas before the good old USA goes whole hog socialist/communist and they’re taxed into bankruptcy. Its not rocket science.
I bet the "other networks" will not be "following" this.
This is perfect. If you want news about our nation, I guess you have to go to Fox to get it.
Barry’s fault for utilizing libtard economic policies, most of which have proven to be failures now and in the past. Being an alleged Constitutional law professor does not teach you that, but hey....
Confirms psychosis.
Sort of makes you wonder if Fox were go on a blitz and cover everything what would the other networks cover?
Even Russia has stabilized and will grow next year.
See. America still leads the way. No. 1 in unemployment, No. 1 in foreclosures, No. 1 in currency devaluation, and No. 1 in terminally stupid leadership.
This country won’t go socialist without a monumental collapse.
This is what ignorant Democrats don’t get. Then again, maybe they do and things are going exactly as planned.
Thanks again to The Messiah for this one.
Obama and Companys fault. They are destroying this country on purpose.
Hope and change Baby!
Come on. It is Bush’s fault. Obama just hasn’t had time to get around to fixing unemployment. I am sure he will in 3 or 4 years, but until, yeah, Bush did it.
I know people who are still out of work and have maxed out on unemployment extensions, with no hope of a job in sight.
Obama's nitwit leftist economics will delay or stall recovery until he's out of office. I know there's plenty of people in America who work hard to overcome any governmental roadblocks placed in their way, so I'm not totally pessimistic. But the tragedy is that the market would fix things if let alone. That won't happen under King Barack. Or should I say Commissar Barack?
Obamao could care less about America’s unemployed. As long as he can get away with the mop routine, cleaning up Bush’s mess, and all his cowardly hype, Obamao can continue to destroy our economy without pressure to initiate sensible pro-growth policies that conflict with his dictatorial goals.
wow, where’s this chart from?
Please do me a favor and tell me what I am looking at in your chart. I don’t want to think I understand it, I want to fully understand it. Thanks in advance.
What JOhn Lott’s chart is showing is that huge increase in government spending (AKA stimulus money) DO NOT necessarilly correlate to decreased or smaller increase in unemployment.
So how’s that “hope and change” working out for you?
That would make a great rap song.
cant become the Socialist States of America with people getting jobs in the private sector. Destroy everything so the government gets it all, then we can get green jobs and community service jobs. However if your white your screwed, the oppressed get all those jobs first or at least thats what Van Jones told us.
Let’s see, if you own a business right now, with all of the uncertaintly regarding health care reform, potential increases in taxes to support health care reform, potential costs associated with cap & trade, would YOU hire anyone?
Of course not, it would be stupid. Obama knows this but doesn’t give a damn. This is his one chance to “fundamentally change America”. To hell with the economy and unemployement.
The biggest disgrace is that the media doesn’t report that that is what is happening.
That is because other countries do not have Barack Obama as their President.
Yes I understood what the graph was depicting. What I wanted to confirm was what the vertical and horizontal numbers were saying. The chart you posted confirmed that I was interpreting the graph axes numbers correctly. Thanks.
Obama and his Democrat congress are bad news, but the employment picture is more complicated than this article states. The closer a nation is to true capitalism, the faster it will lose jobs in a downturn (Try to fire or lay somebody off in France).
We are fast becoming a banana republic that is for sure...
1 million Obama dollars for a loaf of bread soon...
But all that said not one single Democrat is talking about doing anything serious to get this spending under control. They are intentially bankrupting the country.
The only question will be how long will the republic hold together after the fall of the dollar?
As I sit here at 5:18 AM in the morning in Shenzhen, China (I live half my life in China), waiting for a telecon with a US client in a few minutes, I thought I'd reflect on your statement vis-a-vis "Communist China" and "capitalist America":
- In "Communist China", unemployment insurance is unheard of. You lose your job? Tough - no money for you at all, go get a job. In "capitalist America", we're considering extending unemployment benefits to two YEARS.
- In "Communist China", there isn't socialized medicine. If you don't have cash-up-front, you don't get help. Broken arm, no money? The hospital will give you a phone to call a friend or family member to come down and pay before your bone is set. In "capitalist America" you get service whether you can pay or not, and we're going to extend that to routine checkups.
- In "Communist China", there aren't food stamps. No money, no job? You starve. In "capitalist America" we give food away without proof-of-need.
- In "Communist China", no money for a house? You live on the street or find a friend or relative to take you in. Government will not give you a house or a place to live. In "capitalist America" we give massive subsidies not only for apartments but for purchase of houses, without proof-of-need required.
- In "Communist China" there aren't any jobs guaranteed. The entire country is "at will" employment, no unions, no Government "make work" programs. In "capitalist America" we allow unions to protect the dimmest and the worst from losing their job, and will hire more-and-more into Government payrolls.
- In "Communist China", the Government will give you fair market value for any property condemned via eminent domain. You get to have real estate agents offer the value, and the Government pays that value. In "capitalist America" the Government will set its own value and you either accept or lose everything.
- In "Communist China", you can pass on every last cent you had when you died. No estate tax. In "capitalist America" we not only take 55% of everything beyond $1 million, we're looking to take 55% of EVERYTHING once you die.
- In "Communist China", the Government does not tax a single dollar that is earned outside of China. You make your money overseas? No taxes. In "capitalist America" the IRS wants "its fair share" of every dollar you make regardless of locale or even if you paid taxes in a foreign country.
Seems to me that - on the face of it - "capitalist China" is a lot less socialist than "Communist America", and the trend is NOT getting better...
“If you want news about our nation, I guess you have to go to Fox to get it.”
Actually, news from Asia, Australia or the UK pretty much cover what’s REALLY going on around here...FNC does an OK job, but still not the best. ;)
Not only that, the fed goobermint is swelling its ranks and spending....lots of pork fat needs to be eliminated from the 150,000+ goobermint agencies, departments and spending programs.
Increase the cost of hiring employees by increasing taxes, mandating that business pay higher benefits packages for unemployment, workers comp and health care.
Support unions so that they can force employers to pay wages above the market rate.
Increase income taxes on corporations and individuals to kill incentives to start or expand business.
Place restrictions on domestic energy production which both increases energy costs and stagnates job growth in energy related businesses.
Have massive increases in deficit spending that sucks capital from the private sector and kills the currency (thus squelching investment in your country).
Nationalize industries which results in businesses run on political as opposed to economic principles.Erect punitive trade barriers which kill your exports, while making goods more expensive for your own people,
What is written above (and more) describes the goals and policies of one Barack Hussein Obama.
And no one else has the guts or integrity to ask the WH.
And Vice President Biden declared at the end of September: “In my wildest dreams, I never thought it [the stimulus] would work this well.”
You forgot another one:
In “Communist China” there are NO capital Gains taxes.
The stock market and oil are up. All is well!
My guess is that most other countries don’t have a dedicated cadre of Marxist socialists who think progress is completely destroying the country in order to rebuild it in their own image.
One, ideology is paramount.
Two, he does not give a rat's ass about you, me or even the people who voted for him.
Three, he has no idea what makes an economy work.
“...You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers...”
How is that Hope and Change treating you now?
That is because Russia is Capitalist now. They have a flat tax rate as well.
Wow. That deserves to be passed on as a chain email.
Obama, always claiming his policies are working, says everything will level right out when unemployment reaches 100%.........
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.