Americans have been subjected to the Obama blame game since his inauguration in January, 2009. No president has milked bad news for so long than Barack Obama has from his predecessor George W. Bush.
Those still actually listening must wonder what he the “blamemeister” will leave as his inheritance to the American people?
Better yet, what will he leave to his successor?
Building Blocks For A Stable Future
The president’s assertion is he is putting the building blocks in place for a stable future. After three-and-a-half years as commander-in-chief, Americans are beginning to wonder what the principles are that govern the building blocks?
Here are the building blocks we have seen so far: The economy is close to a second recession, official unemployment is well over 8 percent, but if we include the millions who have given up looking, no longer counted in official figures, it is up over 12%. The debt up by $4 trillion, a small-looking number until you write the number in full – $4,000,000,000,000.
Poverty is up, more people are surviving on food stamps, commodity prices are up, home ownership is down, foreclosures continue and many people are saying it is almost impossible to get the banks to restructure loans. Fewer Americans are covered by health insurance, despite a flood of administration press releases, and education scores are slightly down or dead flat.
A Resounding Success
What has been a resounding success for the Obama administration, which they frequently talk publicly about, with great pride, is the federal government. Federal employment has grown by 77,000 workers – all of whom are supported by a shrinking tax base in a dismal economy and high unemployment. They also added 1,719 pages of new regulations to the federal register since January 20, 2009. These are the benefits of more government!
Obama recently assured us “The private sector is doing fine.” Unfortunately, it isn’t doing fine, and that statement served to show how out-of-touch Obama and his minders are. It may rate as Obama’s Worst Week as President
There has been enormous added debt from this administration, over the past three years, and taxpayers are saddled with it. Much of it has been wasted. Politicians only know how to dole out money, especially in large chunks. The larger the amount, the more good they believe they are doing.
Do we have any new energy sources out of the billions already wasted? No, and Solyndra is a $500 million dollar example of stupid waste. Did we receive any new health benefits from the “good” Obamacare that was released before the entire law goes into effect in 2014? Not much, other than a few minor press releases from the administration. The massive costs of Obamacare have yet to take hold. What educational improvements have we seen with the massive federal spending in Obama’s tenure? Not much.
So what did we really get after trillions have been wasted in these “investments.” The answer is a massive debt and kicking the can further down the road, but with the added burden of triple the additional debt from 2008.
Obama’s campaign slogan for re-election is to move “forward.” If “forward” is what we call the last four years, Americans should shudder in their boots, contemplating another Obama win and four more years. The saddest part of this whole presidency is what a second term would really mean, judging by what we have seen in the first one.
The Bush years were an example of economic success compared where Obama has taken us so far and he has plans to take us into much darker places.
The Reagan Question
During their 1980 debates, Ronald Reagan asked America if they were better off after four years of Jimmy Carter. Compare November, 2008 to the present.
Unemployment rate – 6.8 percent then – 8.2 percent now
Labor participation rate – 65.8 percent then – 63.8 percent now
Federal Debt – $10.57 trillion then – $15.69 trillion now
Medium household income – $50, 203 then – $49.445 now
Poverty rate – 13.2 percent then – 15.1 percent now
Food stamp recipients – 30.9 million then – 44.7 million now
Gasoline price per gallon – $2.40 then – $3.60 now
Gold price per ounce – $754 then – $1,636 now
Corn price per bushel – $4.37 then – $5.80 now
Home ownership rate – 67.8 percent then – 65.4 percent now
SAT scores reading / (math) – 502/516 then – 497/514 now
Federal civilian employees – 2,672,000 then – 2,749,000 now
Sadly, it doesn’t look good. The numbers are depressing. If this is moving “forward,” just think where we could be in four more years of the same.
Not shown in these figures is the number of illegal immigrants in the country. With deportations stopped, those are some numbers we can expect to start growing.
