From a May 16th speech by California state senator Tom McClintock (republican, but one who was quite critical of W): "Here, in the winter of our despair, I want to pause to take stock of the state of our nation on this date of May 16th. "Voters have swept our party from office after a failed Republican administration that abandoned conservative principles. The most left-wing president in our nation's history has taken office with a 66% approval rating and strong majorities in both houses. His agenda includes radical intervention into energy markets, highly inflationary monetary policy, a determination to dramatically reduce our military spending while dramatically increasing overall domestic spending with deficits as far as the eye can see. "That was the state of our nation on May 16th...1977. "You remember those years. Jimmy Carter's policies brought us double digit unemployment AND double digit inflation; interest rates at 21%, mile-long lines around gas stations, embassies seized with impunity and a military so weak it couldn't even project a simple rescue mission. "But then, just a few years later, it was morning again in America. Four years of Jimmy Carter produced eight years of Ronald Reagan, and looking back on it, that wasn't such a bad trade, was it?" http://blog.tommcclintock.com/2009/05/19/the-eve-of-the-american-reawakening/
Hmm...let's set up another scenario while we're at it. Charismatic Democrat president replaces an incompetent Republican president who is lambasted for not being able to cope with a recent stock market crash. Other downfalls of this Republican president include "lack of charisma in relating to voters, and his poor skills in working with politicians" and a tendency to enact unpopular restrictive acts based on "morality". This particular Republican will go down as one of the worst rated presidents of all time. This Democrat reversed the previous restrictive acts on "morality", which proved to be immensely popular. This Democrat succeeded in cutting federal salaries and the military and naval budgets and also tried to include a 40% cut to veterans' benefits. This Democrat had a talent for speeches. This Democrat spent more then anyone else before him in American history and was attacked by the business community, who equated him with "Marx and Lenin." This Democrat completely revolutionized American relations with Latin America. hmm
The 'pubbies are so fractured they can't even agree whether Obama is the next Dukakis or Carter! I think they need to have a meeting to deliberate this issue and eventually come to some consensus.
It's virtually impossible to argue (in an educated manner) that Obama's energy and fiscal policies are NOT going to lead to higher energy prices, inflation, and higher interest rates. Take that to the bank.
Actually, if Obama's budget predictions are correct, we will run soaring deficits, thus causing the dollar to weaken horribly. This will lead to inflation. A more immediate impact is the talk of lower the U.S. government's bond ratings. This is getting bad for us on the global market.
In a very roundabout, not entirely direct way. I just decided to boil it down. Also, I don't think I saw anybody discuss the frightening proposition of the US bond rating being rated downward.
Nice substantive response to the fact that it appears that the US bond rating may soon be downgraded. Since you have no pithy quip about how that is not accurate or does not matter, I'll assume that point ceded by you.
Soon? According to who? S&P? Moody's? Let's ask them: "We put out a credit opinion on May 6 and it (the United States' rating) remains triple-A and stable," Moody's spokesman John Cline said. http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN2130998020090521 Bill Gross mentioned something, which was mentioned by a dumb news anchor, which you overheard while flipping channels, and now are trying to act like an authority on the subject by speaking in somber dire tones about "global markets" - puhleeze. Do you want to take a bet on this? I bet it will not happen within six months. You said "soon" - that's soon, right? I'll bet you $1000 that it won't happen. Think of it as me selling a credit default swap against the US. If you believe in what you say you can hedge against this disaster to the tune of a cool $1000. You up for it?
We aren't exactly a banana republic here. We've weathered a financial meltdown of historic proportions pretty well so far. The stock markets have stabalized, and retail is slowly recovering. In bad economic times, you run deficits. We are in the mess because instead of running surpluses and paying off the deficit, Mr. Bush squandered it on tax cuts for the rich. I mean, what can you really do but run a deficit? Cutting spending will only make a bad economy worse, and you can't raise taxes on the masses which is what localities and states are doing. Bush was allowed the run the biggest deficit in history during a boom and set-us up for a massive mess. Do people think we can get out of this mess with more of those types of policies???
On the economy Bush was wrong but Obama is more wrong. Listening to the Obama supporters you'd think they wouldn't care that the economy is going to go down the craphole as long as Obama keeps giving good speeches. And I happen to think the government policies will "work," as intended--that is buy us 6 to 8 more years of borrowed time until things really hit the fan.
First, the comparison to Carter is just silly... Obama is many things, but he is not naive. Second, there ain't no Reagan to rescue you this time. Demographics are destiny and they are not on the side of Republicans. Competence is important and Repubs have none. Image is crucial and the W administration and your own excesses wrecked the Repubs image for decades. And... the Repubs have no bench... I see Gingrich and Cheney on TV all the time. Where are the new people with new ideas and new connections? There are none. The Southern Regional Party continues to boil in their own juices.
