Posted on 06/20/2011 4:52:23 PM PDT by Kaslin
t has become a common refrain at the White House and among administration supporters that President Obama's aggressive efforts to stimulate growth prevented an economic catastrophe.
"We had to hit the ground running and do everything we could to prevent a second Great Depression," Obama told supporters last week.
Politically, the claim makes sense. Casting the challenge Obama faced as immense can help explain the economy's lackluster performance in the two years since the recession officially ended.
But is it an accurate portrayal of what really happened?
IBD reviewed records of economic forecasts made just before Obama signed the stimulus bill into law, as well as economic data and monthly stimulus spending data from around that time, and reviews of the stimulus bill itself.
The conclusion is that in claiming to have staved off a Depression, the White House and its supporters seem to be engaging in a bit of historical revisionism.
Economists weren't predicting a Depression.
White House economists forecast in January 2009 that, even without a stimulus, unemployment would top out at just 8.8% — well below the 10.8% peak during the 1981-82 recession, and nowhere near Depression-era unemployment levels.
The same month, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that, absent any stimulus, the recession would end in "the second half of 2009." The recession officially ended in June 2009, suggesting that the stimulus did not have anything to do with it.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Is the Pope Jewish?
No, the Depression he gave us is anything but Great.
He dug the ditch that we drove the bus into! Oh wait was that a bump in the road?
No.
How many guesses do I get?
He “saved us” from a second Great Depression, and if you are still employed after January 2009, he “saved” your job, too. So bend the knee to the one who bows to Kings and Potentates.
The correct question to ask is:
Is 0bama in the process of intentionally destroying the economy AND society.... Or is he doing it through mere ignorance?
It would have been better for us all to just bottom out in 2009. Instead, we have inflation looming over all of us within the next year or two.
Obviously without a control experiment the question regarding Obama’s policies can never be answered with absolute 100% certainty, but an honest assesment of the known facts, market trends, economic and business indicators, and facts yet unknown, will no doubt stronly support the notion that Obama monumentally blew it, perhaps even deliberately.
The only thing that Obama has accomplished is to make the Jimmy Carter administration look like the good old days.
Reagan turned a worse economy around in 2 years.
No, he has prevented a second Great Depression from being generally recognized. For now...
He’s made me greatly depressed. Does that count?
I have believed this since day 1.
couple of things....first the Dubya economy was roaring for almost his entire presidency.
So Obama gets elected and suddenly the country’s going to hell in an economic handbasket?
And he needed, of course, lots of money to fix the problem. He came off with such dire predictions that I got scared.
First, the economic downturn was likely a part of a normal turn of events. I remember the dot.com bust...some other economic downturns, some worse than others. The economy always comes back, sometimes fast, sometimes slower.
Also there was that little scheme by the Democrats involving giving houses to everyone who wants one, including Crystal the stripper and her bankrupt pimp.
This downtown was part of that housing bust. It was a creation of the Democrats to hide their crimes with that mess.
It sure would be nice if our opposition party would take this up and teach the public the truth. I mean it’s not like we don’t have an Internet or anything.
Now that I think it about, could ALL of the Republicans not known nothing about the Fannie and Freddie Mae nonsense?
You’d think they’d have known something, huh?
Those who assert that Obama averted a 2nd great depression mmust also readily stipulate that George W. Bush prevented an Iraqi nuclear holocaust. But they would never do that
And did you hear how he single-handedly repelled a Chinese invasion? And have you heard about the massive bird flu epidemic that wiped out 1/2 of the US population? Of course you didn't--thanks to SuperZero!!
Of course not
You are correct. Things turned around for the worse, when Pelosi took over in January 2007 as Speaker of the House. Remember the recession started in December of 2007. Also the unemployment rate rose after she became Speaker and dingy Harry became Majority leader.
Like Debbie said the other day. The Democrats own the economy. They made it worse and they also drove the unemployment rate up
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