Barack Obama infamously observed that "the private sector is doing fine" almost a week ago, but like a piece of roadkill ripening in the sun, the statement is emitting more of a stench with each passing day.
For starters, let's make it very clear that Obama's words were not "taken out of context" as the Libs would have people believe. In Obama's so-called "economic statement," he cited anemic job growth in the private sector (which he magically took credit for) as the reason "the private sector is doing fine" before declaring that what this country really needs is another hiring binge of government bureaucrats who produce nothing but red tape and grief.
But it's the unending stream of bad economic news which really shows the callousness - if not downright insanity - of Obama's declaration.
Jobs in the private sector are down - way down. In fact, there are currently 4.6 million fewer people working than when Obama started "helping" the economy. Although happily for those people who are paid (and very well paid) with our tax dollars, Federal employment has skyrocketed up 11.4% since 2008.
Then the Federal Reserve issued a report saying that since Obama's election, the median net worth of families has dropped by nearly 40%. Hey, the president promised "change" - right?
But to Barack Obama, all of this really is "fine." Because each devastating blow to the private sector represents more people who are forced to put their hand out for government goodies. More people who will start to believe the propaganda that America's problems come from the oppression of the evil rich rather than the intervention of the determined Marxists.
And more people who are willing to trade away their votes and their freedom in return for promises which will evaporate - again - if Obama is granted a second, nightmarish term.
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Sweet, Stilt, just totally SCHWEEEEET the way you bring up the $38.500 number. What a effing tool. The utterly sad thing is, that like the former Mayor of Detroit (Kwame Kilpatrick - google it for yukks, then Google his Mom, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (I am NOT making this up) and Coleman Young. Young was the Kleptocrat Extraordinaire that drive Detroit into the sewer. Cheeks was part of his machine (one that made Mayor Daley blush - he only WISHED his were that solid). Kwame "could" have been a "golden boy" - healing the divide, unifying the region, all that stuff...
ReplyDeleteBUT NOOOOOOO!
/SMartin
He just HAD to be a big shot, the head cheese (no offense Emm, colby, Stilton) the MFIC (as in MoFoInCharge - an actual desktop 'name card' from Young's day) Now he's up on Federal charges of racketeering, bribery, larceny, Grand Larceny, etc, etc.
ANYWAY - Like Kwame, Obama had the chance to really do some good, and utterly pissed it away like wizzing over the rail on a ferry. (yeah, probably Staten Island, but that's a cheap shot)
We can ONLY hope that the Bamster has the same fate (federal corruption charges) in store.
The private sector is doing fine. It's still breathing, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, poor old gub'mint just isn't growing fast enough to get the economy back on track.
Welcome to the new economy.
Pete,
ReplyDeleteAh, we can sure dream about him getting hit with some corruption charges, but I don't think it will ever happen. I'll still settle for having an American living in the White House next year!
Stilton,
Great choice of animals to represent our "leaders." Friggin' vultures! I have been wondering when BO would realize he has no ammo and start just making shit up. It would appear the complete fabrications have started with a vengence!
What worries me is what Stilton said in the penultimate paragraph: "More people who will start to believe the propaganda that America's problems come from the oppression of the evil rich rather than the intervention of the determined Marxists."
ReplyDeleteSomewhere around half of the voters in this country will pull the 'obama' lever come this Nov. Why?
Haven't they been paying attention? Are they blind? Stupid? Greedy? All of the above?
I just don't get it...
@Pete(Detroit)- Part of the wave that swept Obama into office was a desire in voters to see a greater sense of bipartisanship, a rejection of the "dirty politics" of the past, and a new emphasis on a bright future which would transcend old enmities and grievances. And those voters were, of course, suckers of the all-day variety.
ReplyDeleteMy point being that Obama actually was elected in hopes that he would do good, and he had the public support and political capital to accomplish a lot. But he not only threw out those goals in favor of his own agenda, he amped up all of the frictions in the public and private sectors for his own benefit.
He is a destroyer.
@BS Footprint- Ah yes, the new economy. But when the public sector has grown enough to absorb everyone from the private sector (or force them out of work), how - exactly - will anything get paid for? (Oh sure, for awhile Obama can use "fiscal fracking" to extract the last money from tortured "millionaires and billionaires" - but they're a very limited resource.)
@Colby- I have many fantasies, detailed fantasies, about this president being brought to justice (legally, and from within the system, if Big Sis happens to be reading this). But as you say, the absolute priority is just getting him voted out of the job, and then sponging the Oval Office with a lot of Lysol.
And speaking of entering the "just making shit up" campaign phase, did you hear Joe Biden's commencement speech to some young mush-minds recently? He wants to hang onto his job, of course, and so was telling the kiddos what incredible technological miracles are within reach if the Obama administration stays in office. Among his examples (and I'm not making this up), solar shingles that cost no more than any other shingles, but will generate all of the electricity to heat, cool, and power your house for free. But wait, there's more! Because Joe says "just around the corner" we'll also be growing enough crops to feed the entire world - and those crops won't need soil, water, or fertilizers!
Had I been making a cartoon out of Joe's speech, that's when he would have been hit with the tranquilizer dart and dragged offstage. Making shit up is onething, but a psychotic disconnect from reality really deserves immediate clinical care.
@CenTexTim- It IS worrisome that there's such a consistent narrative in the media (and certainly from the politicians) that there's some nasty 1% who is keeping the 99% down. But not only is it a complete myth, it's also extremely damaging because it sells the notion that the wealth in this nation is a fixed amount, and the more one person gets, the less is left for anyone else.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, it's encouraging people to be vultures (like in today's cartoon) - living only to feed off of others.
And I think so many people believe this awful message because they hear it on the news, they see it on their favorite television shows and films, they read it in their local newspapers, and are otherwise being drowned in lies.
I have yet to meet a well-informed liberal.
"I have yet to meet a well-informed liberal."
ReplyDeleteOh, they're "informed" all right. But everything they "know" is complete absolute utter bullshit.
@rickn8or- That's a good and important distinction. Libs tend to be filled to the brim with misinformation.
ReplyDelete@Pete: None taken.
ReplyDelete@CenTexTim: Why will half pull the Øbama lever? Kinda for the same reason you go to work everyday. To bring home the bacon...
There is a longstanding tradition in tyrannical governments to vilify the prior leader. For this reason, it has not been the practice in the US to seek legal retribution of the president once out of office - remember when the current crop of assholes wanted to go after Bush and Cheney for "war crimes"? That effort quietly died because it is taboo (that it was also not based in rationality is beside the point). No US President has ever been prosecuted for any "crime" committed while within office once out of office in US history. Therefor, I expect that Øbama will see no legal action unless, by some miracle, he is impeached before the end of his miserable, failed presidency. Holder and his shenanigans could, though, help that along. If he is, it will be another first, aside from being the first communist in office, the first non-citizen in office, and the first white black president in office - Oh, wait. Clinton claimed that last one...
@CenTexTim,
ReplyDeleteIn regards to half (or more) of the people voting for Obama and his ilk, I have recently started reading Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series. While I'm sure we've all thought or said variants on this, I thought one of the characters in the first book gave a good answer to why people will choose in such a way.
"...many people must be ruled to thrive. In their selfishness and greed, they see free people as their oppressors. They wish to have a leader who will cut the taller plants so the sun will reach them. They think no plant should be allowed to grow taller than the shortest, and in that way give light to all. They would rather be provided a guiding light, regardless of the fuel, than light a candle themselves."
BTW - if any of you like "epic fantasy" books (esp. long ones) I'd recommend this series to you. If you don't see parallels to our world today when the "Imperial Order" shows up in the series, I'd be stunned. Also - the first two books were loosely adapted into a short-lived TV series called "Legend of the Seeker."
The BO lever pullers pay attention alright. They watch Madcow, Shultz, Maher, ABC, NBC, CNN, CBS, PMSNBC. For every Rush Limbaugh, there seems to be 100 Chris Matthews.
ReplyDeleteStilton,
I heard Biden's "prophesy to the youth" speech and dang near laughed my butt off. It reminded me of when I was young and people said by the year 2000, we would all be driving hover cars and eating nutrient pills instead of food.
I heard some other guy (can't remember who or where) giving a commencement speech, and he told the graduates not to go out thinking they were something special because they weren't. He told them nobody was going to hand them high paying jobs on a platter and they had to work hard and EARN what they got. It was freaking awesome; I wish I could remember who it was.
@Colby: It was David McCullough Jr. (son of the historian) A video of the entire speech is here. That he had to "defend" his speech disgusts me. You can see a that here. Of course, equally disgusting is that his "defense" does not track well with his speech. Like an octopus, did he "inked up" to diffuse the beating he would otherwise have taken at the hands of the MSM? His defense sounds diametrically opposed to his speech. At least to my ears.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's the public sector that suffering, awright. There's few things I find more infuriating than watching some government employees with base salaries far beyond mine (or most Americans for that matter) who also get free health care and defined pension plans that promise 50% or more of their final salary for 20 years or more take to the airways whining about how much they're being made to suffer because they might be forced to pay 14% or so of their own health care expenses.
ReplyDeleteBoooo freakin hooooo!
How awful it must be. The fact that they stand up and spew this nonsense not realizing that most Americans today don't have such a cushy existence just illustrates how out of touch they are.
Again, it's the "two Americas"...
White House Staffers Got a Raise Last Year, And You Did Not
ReplyDeletehttp://gawker.com/5818310
Yeah, the public sector is doing just fine.
@Colby. I can't remember his first name, but his father is the highly regarded Pulitzer prize winning historian/biograper David McCullough. I have two of his books sitting on a bookshelf waiting to be read. And I agree, the commencement address was really good.
ReplyDelete@txGreg- I just may add that book to my (too long) reading list...that was a wonderful quote.
ReplyDelete@Colby- The wonderful "You Are Not Special" commencement speech can be seen right here. Talk about a message that is long, long overdue.
@Emmentaler- D'oh!!! I go to the trouble of creating a link to the speech, and then see you beat me to it. But I haven't followed the link which has McCullough defending his speech because I don't want to hear any backtracking. Damnit, he should have doubled down!
@John the Econ- Why is it when it comes to sharing the economic pain, it's "fair" to rape the job creators and "unfair" to touch gummint employees? Regarding "two Americas," I don't think there can be such a condition; it's like matter and anti-matter trying to coexist. You either have one America or no America. Guess which I think we've got under Obama?
Oops- I posted at the same time as John the Econ and Earl...
ReplyDelete@John the Econ- Well of COURSE they got raises! They're doing such a great job! (Wraps pillow around head to muffle screams)
@Earl- Unlike the Nobel Prize, I believe people actually have to be pretty good to get a Pulitzer. I'll add McCullough to that reading list I mentioned.
txGreg, I read several of them a year or so ago, had to stop. Not sure if it was just overload / OD on them, but they started to make my head hurt. They started to take on a "John Carter" feel (if you've read those) - Up against the Big Bad, and manages to win because he's the biggest, baddest (w/ the smartest, hottest wife) EVER. They also started to get depressing as it became more and more apparent that a happy ending just wasn't in the cards. The last one I tried, the evil prestesses had kidnapped his mind wiped wife and he was chasing them across the wasteland... I just couldn't take it any more. Yes, brilliant writing w/ awesome sets and rich characters, but whn it gets dark and dreary, it's VERY dark and dreary... But agreed, the first several were awesome!
ReplyDeleteI've read David McCollough's books about Harry Truman and John Adams and I recommend them to anyone interested in either of those excellent Americans. Harry Truman might have been a Democrat but at least he wasn't a Demo_Rat!
ReplyDelete@ Stilton:
ReplyDeleteHow about the "journalist" Walter Duranty who got the Pulitzer for his series of stories in the NYT of how great life was in the Soviet Union. I guess "good" has nothing to do with truthful.
To my fellow cheesers, thanks for the links and info on David McCullough. Yes, it's disheartening that he sort of backed off, but in his defense, that's the best way to make morons go away. If you try to defend your position, it just makes them more aggressive. Sometimes I think it best to cut your losses and move on knowing that you are still in the majority.
ReplyDelete@Colby: The Octopus strategy: ink up, and swim away why they try to find where you really are :o)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, that describes the strategy of most of our "conservatives" in government, and, even more unfortunate: they demonstrate this lack of steel in their voting...
Emmantaler,
ReplyDeleteSad but so true... But, Luger's defeat and Scott Walker's win give me rays of hope that an awakening might be occurring! Methinks taxpayers are getting the itch to fight for what's right and trim the fat. Let's pray we are only seeing the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
Colby - AMEN!
ReplyDeleteAnother example of why Michigan and the education system needs to revamped and usher in a "Right to Work State". Seems Unions, even though they always tell everyone that "it is about the kids, and it is about their education"..............this is what Unions bring to the kids in California. Kids come in last place and tenure, wages and benefits trump everything else. Sad but true and here is proof!
ReplyDelete................................... http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/15/teacher-of-the-year-fired-in-california
The private sector needs to put Obama in a big sac, hang it from a tree and beat it with a cricket bat until it is sopping wet.
ReplyDeleteNot because Obama is a Negro, but because he is a Marxist revolutionary, and a Muslim ... He may also be an illegal alien, but we won't know that until after the wet sac is not longer in office.
The private sector is hanging on by a thread, hoping for change in government in November. if not, a hell of lot of private business are going to close up and stay home or move to another country.
May I suggest Canada .... it's close, similar, more business friendly and our government health care system is vanishing all on it's own.
@John Henry- I had to nuke your post, but am putting up a slightly cleansed version. Your original had suggestions (purely metaphorical, I'm sure) which might be misconstrued as a call for physical discomfort for Dear Leader. Please watch out for that in the future, m'kay?
ReplyDeleteJohn Henry said...
The private sector might well be having fantasies about putting Obama in a big sack, hanging it from a tree and beating it with a cricket bat.
They might enjoy this fantasy not because Obama is black, but because he is a Marxist revolutionary, and a Muslim ... He may also be an illegal alien, but we won't know that until after the wet sac is not longer in office.
The private sector is hanging on by a thread, hoping for change in government in November. If not, a hell of lot of private business are going to close up and stay home or move to another country.
May I suggest Canada .... it's close, similar, more business friendly and our government health care system is vanishing all on it's own.