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The Nation's Pulse
Land of the Mostly Free
A final reminder of who won in 2008.
For the past 16 years, the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal have co-published an annual Index of Economic Freedom, which awards every nation an “economic freedom” score based on 10 measurements of economic openness: Business Freedom, Trade Freedom, Fiscal Freedom, Government Spending, Monetary Freedom, Investment Freedom, Financial Freedom, Property Rights, Freedom from Corruption, and Labor Freedom. The big news about the recently published 2010 Index of Economic Freedom is that, for the first time, the United States’ ranking has slipped from “Free” to “Mostly Free.”
As the Index notes: “The U.S. government’s interventionist responses to the financial and economic crisis that began in 2008 have significantly undermined economic freedom and long-term prospects for economic growth. Economic freedom has declined in seven of the 10 categories measured in the Index.”
While the Index acknowledges that Bush administration policies played a role in lowering the U.S. ranking, it places most of the blame on the Obama administration:
The national government’s role in the economy, expanding under President George W. Bush, has grown sharply under the administration of President Barack Obama, who took office in January 2009. Economic growth, which collapsed in 2008, had resumed by the second half of 2009, but legislative proposals for large and expensive new government programs on health care and energy use (climate change) have increased prospects for significant economic disruptions and raised concerns about the long-term health of the economy.
The key question, of course, is why a center-right country like the United States elected a left-wing enemy of economic freedom like Barack Obama in the first place. Part of the answer, I think, is that Obama conducted a brilliantly deceptive election campaign, pretending to be a moderate when he was anything but. Obama’s disinformation campaign was abetted by the mainstream liberal media, which might easily have exposed Obama’s true political colors, but chose not to.
In a larger sense, however, the Obama Presidency is an unintended consequence of the war in Iraq. Rightly or (in my opinion) wrongly, many Americans had come to believe that the war was a terrible mistake, and in 2008 they acted on that belief by electing one of the war’s outspoken critics to the highest office in the land.
The irony could hardly be greater: The U.S. fought (and is still fighting) a costly and unpopular war to transform Iraq into a stable democracy, yet it is America itself that has been transformed by the conflict — and not for the better.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (65) | Leave a comment
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Chalkdust| 3.16.10 @ 8:17AM
Nonsense! The Iraq war had little or no influence on the election of Barrack Obama. Let's keep in mind Obama received only 53% of the popular vote, not the landslide he would want you to believe. The election results was the result of a perfect storm:
* $4/gallon gasoline.
* A very bad Republican (RINO) candidate courtesy of the same idiots who gave us candidate Bob Dole.
* The meltdown of the financial markets.
* A sitting Republican administration staffed with "compassionate" conservatives, gutless and tinged with socialism.
Tom| 3.16.10 @ 9:05AM
Obama probably is not the nominee if not for the Iraq War.
Alan Brooks| 3.16.10 @ 8:18PM
"A very bad Republican (RINO) candidate courtesy of the same idiots who gave us candidate Bob "
He only got the nom because he was tortured in 'Nam.
Margie| 3.16.10 @ 10:45PM
John McCain got the nomination because of open primaries and the Democrats ability to vote in them. THAT needs to be changed.
basur | 10.27.10 @ 6:16AM
McCain in office is a disaster for Arizona, not to mention the US. He was OK as a sailor, but he has been worthless as a politician (hopefully that isn't too redundant).
Brian Mc| 3.16.10 @ 8:30AM
If one were to check the voting record of every individual receiving a pay check from any level of government would we be shocked to find that the only department voting 'conservatively' would be the department of defense...?
The monster has too many tentacles and it is time for a bit of scalpeling. Outside of its core responsibilities as prescribed for in the Constitution, the other 'tentacles' produce nothing but misery and despair...albeit, socialism disguising as compassion.
BA Cyclone| 3.16.10 @ 9:40AM
I can agree with that, if the tool used for your "scalpeling" more closely resembles a chainsaw rather than an actual scalpel.
There's a lot of fat in them-thar buildings.
Alan Brooks| 3.16.10 @ 8:22PM
"A very bad Republican (RINO) candidate courtesy of the same idiots who gave us candidate Bob "
Dole was even worse, he is far better at hawking Viagra than running for POTUS.
Ross| 3.16.10 @ 9:15AM
"Rightly or (in my opinion) wrongly, many Americans"
I'm so glad you threw that in there because reading the whole thing, the one question that just kept coming up in the back of my mind was "I wonder how the author feels about the Iraq war." I'm just so relieved you took to the time to let all your readers know. Thank you for injecting your opinion into your journalism.
John Navratil| 3.16.10 @ 11:19AM
Is this not an opinion journal? I suppose with the NYT claiming objectivity people can be confused.
Ticked Off Too| 3.16.10 @ 9:42AM
BS! The war in Iraq had nothing to do with the usurper's coronation. Repeating the Rat's mantra of the "unpopular" war does nothing to lend you credibility. If it was so "unpopular" the anti-war protestors would have had some success during their 6 years of so-called protests, aka Vietnam redux.
The writer correctly identified the enemy -- frequently referred to as the media, or Enemedia for short -- in regard to the nasty election, but failed to add their misinformation/propaganda campaign in regard to the war in Iraq specifically and the WOT in general.
The answer to the “key question“ is not only a deceptive campaign, but massive voter fraud. Can you say Black Panthers…ACORN…Secretary of State Project? I won’t even mention the eligibility issues. The entire “election” was nothing short of a silent coup d’etat. Until people wake up to that fact we are in more trouble than you may suspect!
Ken (Old Texican)| 3.16.10 @ 10:43AM
Agreed, Guys!
A pretty simplistic article. Your comments have rounded it out nicely though.
Thank you.
A couple of thoughts: Please see my comment on the "Are Republicans Up To It?"
Our congress critters MUST place themselves back among we "governed".......they simply must!
Separate rights, separate benefits, and a two layer society between "governers" and citizens must end before our government as is can survive the revolution of the productive members of our society.
We have come to that point.
Adheeb| 3.17.10 @ 9:44AM
My friend, Ken, is right on the money. Those elected to go to Washington are elected to be our servants, not our masters. Not one of these 'representatives' are willing to be placed under the same health care plan they intend to yoke us with. That alone should be enough to reject this plan.
Northern Rebel| 3.16.10 @ 11:30AM
Let us not forget Chalkdust, that the socialist democrat party did everything in it's power to lose the war on fascist Islamism, and Obama was in the Senate, and leading the charge.
Also, we shouldn't forget Freddie and Fannie, run by the same party, was instrumental in the market meltdown. It also was the reason for high oil prices, by preventing us from drilling.
Yes Mccain is a doddering old fool, and was a terrible candidate. Again socialist progressives can take a lot of credit for his nomination, by flooding primaries that let independants vote. (Why this is allowed is a mystery to me)
The libs picked our candidate for us.
And finally, conservatism is by definition compassionate, so those that felt they had to use the adjective compassionate as a prefix, didn't really believe in conservatism.
So you are right on every point except the war issue, that I believe was used to destroy Bush's credibility. It worked, because Bush refused to fight back, and hid behind his "New Tone".
Petronius| 3.16.10 @ 11:51AM
Each and every Government Official, elected or not, who contravenes the Constitutional Oath in executing their offices must be removed and banished from these Untied States, never to return.
Nancy| 3.16.10 @ 3:15PM
That being the case I can safely say that we would have almost a completely new Congress if we removed those who usurp the Constitution. I seriously wonder if most of them have ever read it. The Constitutonal "lawyer" in charge thinks it's only a negative document...he must read a different one than the one I have.
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WAKE UP| 3.16.10 @ 3:17PM
"A very bad Republican (RINO) candidate courtesy of the same idiots ...." McCain was a diffident candidate, but had he won he would by now be a great President. Obama, despite having "won", is still campaigning, and will never make a President.
Northern Rebel| 3.16.10 @ 3:41PM
WAKE UP:
McCain, a great President? You mean the man who gave us McCain Fiengold? You mean the man who wanted to open the Mexican border? You mean the man who wanted a dignified campaign, as his opponent was openly insulting him, and laughing at him to his face? You mean the man who voted against tax cuts?
C'MON!
God bless his military service, but this guy has been a political moron, ever since he got pissed when Bush cleaned his clock.
He became a mean, vindictive, spiteful man, who only cared about himself, and couldn't even do that right! The term "doddering old fool" is used for a reason.
C'MON WAKE UP, WAKE THE HELL UP!
Sanchez| 3.16.10 @ 4:09PM
Indeed.
Sancho Panza| 3.16.10 @ 4:53PM
John McCain, the worst candidate in the last 100 years, who makes Wendell Wilkie look like Theodore Roosevelt by comparison, is the reason Obama won. And even at that, he only by 7 points. 7 points, with the Iraq and Afghan wars ongoing, Bush fatigue, 8 years of Republicans, the economic calamities, and a slavish media propelling him along with hurricane-force winds, Obama could only manage a 7 point victory. Any Democrat should have been able to win by 20 points in such a year. Which indicates that a decent Republican candidate would've beaten Obama despite all his advantages. The country never liked him and never will. They held their noses as they pulled the levers in the booths. Nominating McCain was a disaster for America.
Quartermaster| 3.16.10 @ 6:27PM
McCain in office is a disaster for Arizona, not to mention the US. He was OK as a sailor, but he has been worthless as a politician (hopefully that isn't too redundant).
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DatsunMark| 3.16.10 @ 9:40PM
Two interesting events were 1.: right after McCain nominated Palin as his running mate and had his post convention bounce there was a sell-off in the money markets that caused further panic in the financial crisis. 2. Hank Paulson was colluding with the Obama campaign feeding them info. McCain still could have won: he could have come out opposed to the panic bailouts and separated himseld from both Bush and Obama. Moreover this position is inline with his anti-spending convictions. But no, McCain did his best RINO impression and that is history.
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FTM| 3.17.10 @ 10:30PM
First off, President Obama won the election because he wasn't George Bush. President Obama at the time was an unknown quantity.
In regards to America being "Mostly Free," I avoid being in places where I may have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance but when I have to recite the pledge I always end up with, "with liberty and justice for some."
I have been in the place where I was defrauded by a company that I was to start work for. Just as an example. The fraud became revealed and the personnel manager told me straight up that I could sue the company if I wanted to but that the company had more money than I did. The moral of the story being that I can't afford access to the system but that the company can. Simple stated truth.
More recently a trusted friend of the family cleaned out the mother-in-law. Mother-in-law has a grand 'ol smack of Alzheimers. The cops in Loserville screwed around with the case for close to two years before they decided to drop the case for lack of evidence. Please keep in mind that we have a complete set of transaction records from the bank indicating in black and white who did what and when and for how much. The cop in charge explained to the spouse that the case would cost too much to prosecute and that if the spouse wanted to get stuffy about it that he'd arrest her because there were a couple of transactions against the account in question with her name on them. Once again right or wrong or justice does not enter into the equation. Money and access to what I call the "Just-Us" system are all that do matter.
The only people to win lawsuits are lawyers.
I haven't voted in an election for, seems like, twenty or so years. Seems like that's right. The last guy that I voted for was Perot. It doesn't seem to me that it makes much difference who is running the country, pillage and ruin are the outcome. The rule of the day.
I've read all eight volumes of "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire." I've read Livy.
I've read Plato and Aristotle and Plutarch. I've read a bunch. Seems to me that the rot is fatal. American politics has become a contest to see who can stave off the final financial collapse for another four years. Gangrene, complete with the stench. Our "Just-Us" system is a joke. The velvet glove covering the iron fist is becoming more and more threadbare by the year. President Obama is just the latest and most pronounced symptom of the death of a society.
The Roman Empire collapsed and a thousand year period of time called "the Dark Ages" ensured. Disease, poverty, superstition and violence prevaled. I fear that it's about to get dark again.
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