The American Spectator : The Coming Crash of 2013

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The Coming Crash of 2013

By Peter Ferrara on 6.8.11 @ 6:09AM

Obamanomics is deteriorating even faster than expected.

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Yet President Obama continues to propose still more tax increases on these small businesses, job creators, and investors. Besides proposing a further $321 billion tax increase on them in his 2012 budget, by limiting or phasing out their tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, sales taxes, state and local income taxes, and medical expenses, he proposed in his April 13 national budget address an additional trillion dollar increase on them through further deduction limitations. Then he called as well for an automatic tax increase trigger that would raise taxes still further on them if "our debt is not projected to fall as a share of the economy." Senate Democrats have discussed adding a 3% surtax on incomes over $1 million.

Meanwhile, American businesses continue to suffer from virtually the highest corporate tax rates in the industrialized world, leaving American companies uncompetitive in the global economy. Yet under President Obama there is no relief in sight. Instead he continually proposes still further tax increases on American business.

President Obama and the Democrats doggedly pursue these tax policies because they believe ideologically in socialist wealth redistribution. But openly raiding small businesses, job creators, investors, and American companies is crippling for the economy, particularly this weak economy. This ends up hurting working people and their families the most, as they lose the jobs, wages, and opportunity they need for a decent life.

Besides this tax tsunami, President Obama is implementing another trillion dollar plus cost burden on the economy through the EPA's cap and trade tax policy. That is one central feature of President Obama's war on production of traditional, low cost, energy, shutting down drilling, extraction and pipelines from the northern tip of Alaska, down through Canada, to the energy rich Western states, through Texas, to the Gulf of Mexico. Obama keeps issuing statements that he is opening drilling or permitting or exploration here and there, only to have it shut down by his bureaucracy soon thereafter. All of this will only raise energy prices higher and higher through to 2013, squelching the economy still further.

President Obama doggedly pursues this because he and his advisers believe ideologically that higher energy prices and less energy production and use are good for the environment. But this extremist view of what is good for the environment is a catastrophe for the economy, jobs, and working people.

This is just the beginning, however, of President Obama's reregulation burden on the economy, which is estimated to be rapidly rising towards $2 trillion, or over $8,000 per employee, in annual costs even before EPA's calamitous cap and trade really begins. That is close to 10 times the corporate tax burden, and double the individual income tax burden. With another 4,225 federal regulations already in the pipeline, and the new regulatory burdens from Obama and the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill still to come, how high will that burden be by 2013?

Then there is the Fed and the effects of its monetary policy. The Obama Administration has cheered on the Fed's loose-as-a-bordello monetary policy, with near zero interest rates for years now, and the printing presses cranking out reams of cheap money. But once the Fed ends this monetary crack, the artificial pump up for the economy ends as well, and the underlying weakness of the economy is revealed. That appears to be what is happening now, as QE2 ends.

If the Fed stands pat, the downturn will feed on itself, fueled further by all of the above contractionary policies. If the Fed is spooked into resorting to QE3 and the return to easy money, that will cause the inflation started by QE2 to surge. Indeed, once the Fed goes down that road, it surely will not try to cut back again until the 2012 election is past, to avoid a nasty downturn in the middle of President Obama's planned reelection victory tour. Inflation would consequently surge all through next year, cutting the real wages of working people and their families further.

Right after the election, the Fed will stop the merry go round to finally pull the plug on burgeoning inflation. But that extended monetary malpractice will only make the downturn withdrawal from the monetary crack high all the more nasty.

From the comprehensive tax rate increases, to the soaring energy costs, to the costly regulatory burdens, to the monetary policy mindlessness, all of this adds up to one whopping double-dip downturn in 2013. The extended unemployment exploding into double digits will be effectively another depression. Once it starts feeding on itself, there is no telling just how far it will go.

But with the deficit already at $1.6 trillion or so this year, America cannot handle another recession, let alone effectively another depression that will cause the deficit to soar well beyond any possibly manageable levels. World financial markets cannot bear that load, and will not even try. Indeed, it is the Fed's monetary policy working the printing presses overtime for QE2 that has financed the purchase of the debt for the current all-time record deficit.

Our Choice in 2012

Because of the willfully mindless irresponsibility and ideological self-indulgence of Obamanomics, America is mortally vulnerable to another recession at any time soon. The result would be precisely the national bankruptcy of Greece, where we cannot raise in the world credit markets the further debt to finance what will be well over half of our budgeted federal spending. We are already borrowing and adding to the debt to finance 43% of our federal spending today.

That is bad enough for a puny, insignificant nation like Greece, where riots increasingly leave the government dysfunctional, with the EU likely to take over the country effectively. But what is the effect when that happens to the world's supposed superpower? America financed World War II by running up our national debt to its all-time record as a percent of GDP (for now). But that won't be possible when we have already run ourselves into national bankruptcy.

Our potential military enemies will be quite aware of this historic vulnerability of America. Just as Reagan brought us Peace through Strength, Obamanomics will be inviting War through Weakness. With a 2013 American economic collapse that will also disable the entire West, the world's uncivilized rogues from Russia, to China, to North Korea, to the Middle East Islamists dreaming of renewed world conquest, will all be tempted probably beyond resistance and reason to strike. They don't need even to attack the homeland to deal America a decisive defeat. They can just decimate our suddenly overwhelmed allies, from Israel to South Korea to Taiwan to our allies in the Middle East, let alone some even in Europe.

The only way to get off this bullet train to oblivion is to radically reverse Obamanomics in dogged detail. The American people get one more chance to do that in 2012.

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About the Author

Peter Ferrara is Senior Fellow at the Carleson Center for Public Policy, Director of Entitlement and Budget Policy for the Heartland Institute, and General Counsel of the American Civil Rights Union. He served in the White House Office of Policy Development under President Reagan, and as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States under the first President Bush. He is the author of America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb, now available from HarperCollins.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (324) | Leave a comment

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 6.8.11 @ 6:24AM

One of the biggest job killers is that the government tells private employers whom they must hire.

This trend continued with all three major pieces of legislation passed under Obama, all three containing constricting hiring policies or preferential policies based on race or gender.

This is why millions of jobs continue to move overseas, no liability and no lawsuits from the DOJ when your numbers don't add up to gender and racial success.

One day the political class will shift and start to roll back all the racial and gender preferences. It's already happened in some states.

Until that day millions of jobs will continue to disappear only reappearing overseas.

It's all part of central planning by the government and that type of central planning always fails.

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 9:47AM

And now with the Boeing decision, they;re even telling businesses WHERE they can open a factory.

Relax, fascism can be fun!

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 5:45PM

Fascism got Germany out of the Depression. Of course a lot of that armaments spending as Hitler got ready for war. The problem in this country is both the countryclub Republicans and the Limosene liberals want to spend, spend, spend until the cows come home. They waste money on endless, needless wars. They protect their plutocrat friends and let the little people suffer. I help out at food pantries and soup kitchens. Business has never been better, at these places. The collapse won't happen in 2013. It will be October at the latest.

William Western| 6.9.11 @ 12:07PM

Yes indeed, giving away free soup and food will always be a growth industry. And yes, I have served in a lot of church lunch kitchens over the years so have some experience.

Jerry in Vegas| 6.10.11 @ 1:29PM

Free soup will always be a growth industry. The folks that are willing to rely on others to feed them will always multiply. It is nothing new. Jamestown, the first attempted settlement here in North America by Europeans, failed in large part because of laziness. Communities cannot survive unless everyone in adding to the collective. Freeloaders must not be encouraged.

vivian| 6.9.11 @ 7:02PM

I am surprized so many of you are just figuring this out.
Conservatives have known this since before he was elected. No one listened to us. It must have been white guilt that got Obama elected.
HOPE 4 CHANGE... 2012

Vince| 6.12.11 @ 7:02AM

In case you aren't paying attention to world news, according to CIA data the countries with top growth rates for several years running most certainly fall under the "fascist" category; e.g., with the kind of growth China puts up it's no wonder that more countries have chosen recently to model them and not the US.

Anita| 6.8.11 @ 3:13PM

Jobs will disappear. Everyone is waiting for 2012. What makes you think he will hold an election. He is pushing for riots in the streets, chaos on every corner. Enough to stop the election and batten down with riot troops. Stay calm everyone.

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 3:46PM

12-21-12 hmmm...

Fredrick Ward| 6.9.11 @ 12:38PM

Lol, oh boy. You're really jumping off a hypothetical cliff there, man. I remember hearing this same doom and gloom speech when the year 2000 was around the corner. We are all still here except for the morons who offed themselves.

Jerry in Vegas| 6.10.11 @ 1:38PM

12-21-12 Hmmmm....? Hmmmm what? You believe ancient cultures could predict the destruction of man. People are intrigued by this because the future is bleak right now.
Believing in destruction brought about by nature is unavoidable. Believing in destruction from mans hand is another matter. The Mayan calender suggest's a catastrophic event, or maybe the recorder just quit the job or died. Leaving the blanks to be filled in by our imagination. Certainly they couldn't predict the business climate to which so many are reacting negatively. In their world, in their day, that would have been so foreign as to be incomprehensible.
I will see you on 12-13-2012, I believe.

TruSkeptik| 6.9.11 @ 6:06AM

Anita,
You have grasped the reality of the situation quite correctly. Can you say "muslim revolution", of "Egytptian Spring"? There is really only one alternative at this point, and it is certainly not to "wait and see what happens".

fouqU| 6.9.11 @ 2:37PM

So, what are you waiting for then? Start your revolution, keep us posted on how it turns out...

vivian| 6.9.11 @ 7:06PM

My husband also thinks Obama may not allow elections. Wouldn't that be a Hoot!

vivian| 6.9.11 @ 7:07PM

My husband also thinks Obama may not allow elections. Wouldn't that be a Hoot!

kam| 6.12.11 @ 9:26AM

I agree with you Anita. I have always said that Obama will create a national emergency and will call off elections. The people need to stand up and vote out everyone in the Senate and the President/Vice President. What a mess. But there are people still standing by Obama. I do not understand what their objectives are, I do understand Obama's objective but I don't understand his supporter's objectives, that is those that are really going to happen.

Speedypete| 6.12.11 @ 5:45PM

Carter and Volker scared us and as a nation we were depressed. We, defined as those working jobs that are relied on to employ others, are more concerned with Obama than Carter ever was a concern. Just like Hitler, who only had 30% of the popular vote (the german people were smarter back then), the legislatures voted him Chancellor with only 30% of the vote? His thugs then set fire to the Riechstadt and all elections were halted and the rise to power was realized. Obama really has only 30% of the voters thinking that what he is doing to us is wonderful. And you have a complacent legislature and subverted supremes so watch out everyone.

David Prats| 4.24.12 @ 2:47PM

I'll tell you what I don't understand. You people who are responsible for voting into office, the republican president who pushed forward the policies that raped the public coffers. You watched as your elected president lead our nation into two unfunded, unecessary wars. You were elated to get your tax cuts and you did nothing to support the war effort while we sent our kids to there deaths and disabiltities. No, you rant a rave with your unfounded conspiracy theories of how our sitting president is going to subvert this nation. The real problem in this country is us, not them. As long as we citizens continue to treat our politics like sports, waving the banners of our favorite team, regardless of their performance. We will all be subject to the disasterous results that come from allowing our petty prejudices to be used to manipulate our decision making. We as a nation shall reap exactly what we sow. Unfortunatley, the only seeds we seem willing to contibute are those of resentment, discontent and malice!

David Prats| 4.24.12 @ 2:48PM

Jon B| 6.9.11 @ 1:21PM

Working with a much milder recession, when we still had a manufacturing base, unemployment peaked at 10.8% in November and December 1982 after Reagan passed a wealth redistribution plan to the top that created a double dip recession. We have never recovered from the massive debt Reagan ran up, and BU$H the junior doubled. Even the debt under Clinton is traced directly back to the high interest rates of Reagan's $4.5 Trillion debt by 1992, up from $902 billion in 1980. In fact, Rerpublican budgets have run up 12 times more US debt than those of Democrats. But now that both parties are sold out to the same corporations The American Spectator serves, expect fewer solutions from either one.

Indiana Alex| 6.9.11 @ 1:37PM

Are you really that ignorant or just spinning?

How thoughtless can one be to suggest that wealth was somehow redistributed from those without wealth to those with wealth?

Is this the new parrott phrase "the rich got richer and the poor got poorer"? Because this is nonsense as well. It is quite clear to anyone who can execute a coherent thought that the rich not only almost always get richer, particularly rich liberals with trust funds. What these rich liberals don't want is anyone else to get rich.

Reagan's high interest rates? Really? This is beyond ignorance. There is no way the Fed could have tightend enough to get inflation under control, and lower interest rates dramatically without the increases in productivity that came from the free market approach to economics.

We are seeing the results of central planning and crony capitalism.

Guess what? It only works in bong smoke filled dorm rooms and the repititions of mindless talking point parrots who don't possess the capacity to generate a coherent orriginal thought.

JPWard| 6.12.11 @ 2:05AM

"Between 2001 and 2010, the Bush tax cuts added $2.6 trillion to the public debt, 50 percent of the total debt accrued during that time. Over the past 10 years, the country has spent more than $400 billion just servicing the debt created by the cuts."

Rednano74| 6.11.11 @ 4:41PM

For the sake of me I don't know why people cannot conceptualize the fact that the PAYROLL tax is the biggest job killer and income suppression along with the $2 trillion in regulations per year that only get passed down to the consumer in price of products/services creating poverty.

The payroll tax is a tax on employers to hire. SS tax use to be 1% each. Now it's over 6% or a 600% increase in the rate. The Medicare tax rate is up over 800% since it started. Yet, both programs are going bankrupt like all wealth pyramid stealing schemes eventually will.

Solution to sustainable, economic recovery? Completely abolish the IRS. No more taxation on production, working, earnings, death or hiring. No more tax credits for individuals or corporations as they are forms of welfare not counted in the budget. Everyone pays a 10% national sales tax. Cap federal spending at 10% of GDP currently due to Obamanomics it's at 23% far above historical averages.

The 70,300 pages of tax laws are distorted and manipulating the market.

JPWard| 6.12.11 @ 2:06AM

Kitty| 6.8.11 @ 6:31AM

Let's get real here. "Obamanomics doggedly followed the opposite of Reaganomics in every detail" on purpose, because Obama and his cohorts are trying to collapse our economy. And Austan Goolsbee wasn't "playing with us," he was lying.

Gary| 6.8.11 @ 7:13AM

Kitty is correct. Every bit of this is intentional. Riots in the streets is the crisis they're really waiting for. I am 100% sure they won't let that crisis go to waste. The militarized police are all geared up in their constumes and ready to go.

Here's the trap: If a Republican gets into the White House in 2012, the enemedia will blame all of this on him or her. What a mess...

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 9:51AM

If the rioters are the usual hooligans who see every "injustice" as an excuse to beat and plunder, then you might have a point. If the middle class takes to the streets because our savings and IRAs have been plundered, the value of our homes has been systematically looted, and the price of food and gasoline skyrockets, then I'm not so sure. It might be easy for "militarized police" to crush the "gangsta element", not so simple to do it against millions of middle class Americans. Especially when the police themselves are related to these very same Americans, and in fact live in the same damned neighborhood. Both my brother and I are on a first name basis with several members of our local and state police forces; I'm hard pressed to see any of them clubbing either one of us in the name of "law and order"

Aquanomics| 6.8.11 @ 10:32AM

My neighbor shares your view and I continually reply, "bunk." Once the jack booted thugs summarily execute a few reluctant oppressors, the rest (historically) fall in line.

But after that they get to face the 80,000,000 guns privately held by Americans. Once behind every blade of grass to paraphrase Yamamoto.

Jefferson's tree of liberty and all that....

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 10:59AM

I firmly believe that it's much easier to gun down someone who you've either never met or who you in fact have met because you've arrested him on numerous occasions than it is to shoot your friend, neighbor or family member

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 12:01PM

Kitty & Gary make sound statements.

Obammer is known to despise American values & the USA herself.

If anyone was not sure a simple reflection of what has happened (and not happened) the past approx. 2 years should make things clear.

The old saying about never letting a good crisis go to waste is something Obummer is acutely aware of...

The National Guard would be deployed. Usually the Guard is not a local group and have far greater powers than that of the local law.

Martial law is on the horizion unless something drastic changes very soon.

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 12:01PM

Kitty & Gary make sound statements.

Obammer is known to despise American values & the USA herself.

If anyone was not sure a simple reflection of what has happened (and not happened) the past approx. 2 years should make things clear.

The old saying about never letting a good crisis go to waste is something Obummer is acutely aware of...

The National Guard would be deployed. Usually the Guard is not a local group and have far greater powers than that of the local law.

Martial law is on the horizion unless something drastic changes very soon.

blackwatch| 6.8.11 @ 9:59PM

The Nasty Guard is way too small to attempt to police our country. It's a physical impossibility. They may be able to police a city during a riot but an entire country? Not going to happen.

john| 6.9.11 @ 1:10PM

If police action is to start against the general population, it will start in the big cities first.

Strider| 6.9.11 @ 5:36PM

Not to mention the fact that much of the NG is deployed overseas for all these stupid wars.

Also don't forget that "civilian army" Obama wants to create, answerable only to him. Fortunately they'll have to wear some kind of uniform, therefore the rest of us will know exactly who to kill.

Frekki| 6.8.11 @ 1:27PM

Let's put it this way; in three months my small grain bin will feed 30 people for a year. I like you, you are my best friend. Show up uninvited with an attitude and you will get shot at. I am a very good shot.

I have about 25 people close to my wife and I that I will feed if things get real bad. Anyone else better stay far away. This is reality here in flyover country. We all think this way.

I really do not like talking like this, but it must be said, we producers are not going to be slaves.

Don Carlson| 6.8.11 @ 3:12PM

There are un-pretty reasons people choose to become policemen, and those reasons can rise out of the dark when chaos seems to threaten. Have you noticed that police families are not listed in the phonebook. The police are not your neighbors, and they are above friendship because they are 'the law' and have been authorized by much more important people than you and I to make the country safe for authority. Take heed.

Gary| 6.8.11 @ 7:28PM

Remember, the Northern Command may include Canadian troops. Was that done to avoid this issue? Probably... why else?

Watching how SWAT teams routinely gun down innocent people in their homes with no consequences whatsoever should provide a hint of what to expect.

Let's watch Syria. We may learn something.

Gary| 6.8.11 @ 7:31PM

Remember, the Northern Command may include Canadian troops. Was that done to avoid this issue? Probably... why else?

Watching how SWAT teams routinely gun down innocent people in their homes with no consequences whatsoever should provide a hint of what to expect.

Let's watch Syria. We may learn something.

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 9:53PM

The Syrians are unarmed. We the people remember that we have the 2nd Amendment in case the "elites" try to take away the other ones

AlphaMale| 6.9.11 @ 11:58AM

>>>Have you noticed that police families are not listed in the phonebook.

I haven't even seen a phonebook in over a decade. What century are you living in?

Policemen are people just like you and me, who happened to be lucky enough to be the 3 that got picked when 15,000 camped over night in the parking lot for a chance at a blue collar job with shockingly high pay and benefits.

They are doing their best to put bad guys in jail, navigate a very complex set of regulations, keep their boss happy, keep funding for their job by meeting fine quotas for traffic tickets, and improve their condition for themselves and their families via union negotiations. Don't make like their part of a dark shadowforce cult.
Its the system that is broken.
All people are inherently self-motivated and any sytem of government must be designed around that, by not pretending that individuals are more motivated by the greater good than their own circumstance.
In Rome, there was no pretense, after a man served as consul, he could receive a governorship. While Rome paid no tax, a governor could tax a foreign province to the degree he saw fit, and keep the tax for his personal fortune. The was not regarded as secret, untoward, or nefarious, but a great way to build a fortune.
If we treated government more like that today, people wouldn't be getting their expectations shattered so often.

JF| 6.9.11 @ 3:28PM

We all know the media will blame the Republicans for the inevitable - the question is, how many intelligent people will buy the lie? The media hasn't been all that effective, and Obama's paid propagandists are being exposed on the websites they infiltrate.

PaulyD| 6.8.11 @ 9:37AM

History shows the policies of FDR and Liberal Democrats in the 1930's extended the Depression for years beyond the normal business cycle recovery period. The U.S. was the last Western country to recover from the Depression.

Since Obama and today's Liberal Democrats are enacting those same failed policies, it looks like history is repeating itself.

BackToBasics| 6.8.11 @ 4:33PM

Good-old Mike Mushahuckabee said yesterday that it is too harsh to say Obam wants to collapse our economy. I know he bowed out but I think he may get back in if Palin does too well. I wote about this yesterday. I'm beating a dead horse a little but I find it is necessary to remind some people often about this phony. Many Republican candidates are lacking but I think he is the worst one of all, even a little worse than Gingrich, mostly because he's a smoother-talker and one who has many evangelicals in a spell.

C.K. Amos| 6.8.11 @ 8:32PM

More and more, it seems more and more people scream for someone running for office or in office who has the real or figurative testicularity to speak truth about what they see and what they believe.

That Huckabee cannot or will not admit that Marxist Obama and his thugocracy wants to collapse our economy damages his credibility. Ultimately, it may vaporize his believability and cause potential voters to wonder if he has sufficient common sense and judgment.

Thirty months ago, when Obama had only hot air but no record, I could give Huckabee a pass, kind of. But now? No.

By the way, he may have entranced far fewer evangelical/Pentecostal Christians than you imagine.

BackToBasics| 6.9.11 @ 1:38AM

I do not have current polling data but from what I've read in the past, a good majority of Pentecostals liked Palin since she is one. But some voted for Huckabee in the 2008 primaries.

Huckabee was still polling in double-digits before he bowed out, often running second to Romney or Trump. Most of that support came from fundamentalists, as opposed to Pentecostals. I know several who were still captivated by his smooth delivery and were very sorry he decided not to run.

And I did not say or "imagine" that ALL fundamentalists were under his spell but enough were so that he might have gotten the nomination. It does not take majority percentages to get the ball rolling for the top 2 or 3 through the first primaries. And if it ever came down to Romney and Huckabee towards the primaries end, although not by my primary vote, the fundmentalists and Pentecostals would mostly break for Huckabee and probably give him the edge going into the Republican convention. That is not something I wanted to see and I do not want to yet see this Carteresque charlatan try to sneak through the back door. If the word "spell" seems too strong then you don't know fundamentalists as well as I and I am one.

USSAlabama| 6.9.11 @ 12:13PM

Something about Huck gave me one of those deep, negative feelings a long time ago when I first saw him.

I trust that feeling - and do not trust him, rather I suspect him. Someone to watch out for and we know he is a big-gov Repub.

DeDee| 6.9.11 @ 9:25PM

Shout it, my friend!

MikeBee| 6.8.11 @ 7:22PM

Kitty,
Exactly right! The part that everyone seems to miss is that Obama and his administration have PLANNED for America to fail. It is their goal to bring the U.S. down to the level of other poorer nations. They believe that, by bringing down the world's superpower, all nations will then have more equal power, and the world will be at peace. All the drastic numbers and statistics cited by Peter Ferrara above are music to the ears of Obama and his administration. They believe that they are complete successes. Peter's right: we've got 2012 to get it right, or get used to living in the new Kenya.

AlphaMale| 6.9.11 @ 12:04PM

>>>Obama and his administration have PLANNED for America to fail

He is a dreamer, i don't think so. But G. Soros made a fortune off of the crash of the sterling pound. It increasing looks like the dollar will crash. Why is a world financier so entrenched in politics when most steer clear?

It would make sense that Soros bought the presidency for a charming dope, whose policies were guaranteed to tank the dollar, so that he could do to the U.S. what he did to Britain.

USSAlabama| 6.9.11 @ 12:19PM

Agree. However Soros has had close closet ties to Hillary in the past. Wonder why not her? Is he saving her for later?

What was said in that Obama/Bill Clinton meeting during that campaign that was so mysterious? After which the Clinton's seemed to cool ?

People in this country really better not take any of this lightly - Vote against Obama no matter who the candidate is, and in your Primaries do as Bill Buckley said and "Vote for the most Conservative"!

Judianna| 6.9.11 @ 2:44PM

Of course Soros is saving Hillary for later. When even the libs start to get antsy about Obama, who better to trot out for a primary challenge other than good ol' Hil ("who should have won in the first place")? That way the Dems can act as though they've gotten rid of a scourge while actually installing someone who is going to do the exact same things to destroy this country, albeit slower.

USSAlabama| 6.9.11 @ 6:49PM

Much more to it than that. More than meets the eye.

Would have loved to have had a fly on the wall in that Bill/Barack talk. ~Something~ went down - Barack had some kind of info for Bill, it was not friendly - The Clintons began to back down after that meeting.

zadok| 6.11.11 @ 7:12PM

Smart Kitty!

John Daniel| 6.8.11 @ 6:33AM

Our ability to last until 2013 may be overly optimistic. And, when Obama advocates the redistribution of wealth - which, last I checked, comes right out of Das Capital by Karl Marx who had something to do with defining communism - why don't we call him what he is...a communist....

PJ| 6.8.11 @ 7:03AM

I would have agreed with you but as Mr Ferrara mentioned in his article, Bush's extended income tax cuts will be expiring in 2013, the final push down the precipice of ruin.

Old Soldier| 6.8.11 @ 8:12AM

I was thinking the same thing. If we make to election day 2012 without a harsh recession, I'll be surprised.

If Obama and the Democrats win in 2012, the 2013 tax hikes will be redundant - the economy will already be dead.

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 9:57AM

not to quibble Old Soldier, but we are currently IN a harsh recession. Unemployment is sky high -- hell, I know plumbers and electricians who've been out of work for over a year now! What the hell...have we stopped needing running water, toilets and electric lighting? The value of homes continues to plummet...58 straight months now if I'm not mistaken, longer than during the Depression. I know TONS of people who are no longer counted as unemployed because their benefits have stopped and they've just given up; an "involuntary going Galt" if you will.

Just because the stock market has been booming doesn't make it a "recovery". In fact, that too will be ending, because the whole damned thing was artificially pumped up by monetizing the debt and quantitative easing.

There has not been a recovery!

Maddox| 6.8.11 @ 11:17AM

There has not been a recovery! You are so right, SoS. We want it to be true and the lie has been repeated so many times, even intelligent people seem to believe it. Real unemployment is about 20% or even more.

Seek| 6.8.11 @ 1:37PM

How, then, does one explain the current official unemployment rate of only 9.1%?

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 3:50PM

UI only accounts for people that are currently ON UI. If you have not applied, not eligable or benefits have ended you are not counted in the superficial number of UI.

The Gov takes a 1% drop in the UI numbers as a sign of job growth. The drop in UI may be benefits running out and only 15 jobs created - they are not reflective upon each other.

DEG| 6.8.11 @ 4:00PM

the numbers are a lies. the actual rate is double digit. These politicians lie with each and every word they speak. Liars All

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 10:11PM

"Only" 9.1% ? ONLY? On behalf of all the good, decent working people I know who either don't have a job, are working at half wages or have given up looking, I would like to tell you Seek that fake phony liberal scum like you are the reason I am one proud conservative, and will NEVER vote Democrat. Hope yo momma's proud of you, you halfwitted heartless P.O.S.

USSAlabama| 6.9.11 @ 12:28PM

The better table includes more:

the unemployed, plus those employed part time, plus those discouraged persons who have stopped looking for jobs—is 17.3 percent. Almost 40 percent of the unemployed have been so for seven months or more—

I call the unemployment rate what it is - 17.3

William Western| 6.9.11 @ 2:02PM

The problem with jobless rates is people who now sit around waiting for governments, god, or fortune to come to their aid. There is nothing stopping entrepreneurial people from helping themselves (and the economy). Upgrade your skills, look for markets or needs you can fill, invent something. That is what made America great rather than pundits trying to make political points with statistics.

Old Soldier| 6.8.11 @ 11:50AM

I guess I'm using the technical definition of recession - several periods of economic contraction.

We are certainly floundering. Corporations are showing profits because they are slashing costs (especially payroll) as fast as revenue is dropping. It's a race to the bottom with a nasty landing.

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 12:22PM

Again, it seems as if we're on the same side, and not to quibble, but isn't "economic contraction" the same thing as "belt tightening"? I've been belt tightening for years now. So have my friends and neighbors and family members. It seems like the only people who aren't having to tighten their belts are the same ObamaNazi scum who keep prattling about how we "all need to have some skin in the game"! Bureaucrats and politicians are doing quite fine thank you, while the rest of us make do or do without.

"Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets"

Alky| 6.8.11 @ 12:36PM

Believing there will be an election in 2012 is optimistic. If the O suspects any chance of losing, there will be some form of social chaos that will enable marshal law and elections put on hold as far as the eye can see.

Appleby| 6.8.11 @ 7:19AM

But where is the adult male who will lead us out of this swamp? Why do we look in every direction and see nothing but rookies, retreads and guys too busy photographing their underpants to know what is going on around them?

The last time this happened we were saved by Ronald Reagan. Today I suspect that the Reagans of the 21st century are keeping their heads down and going Galt.

Stormzeye| 6.8.11 @ 7:38AM

This piece is so depressing it's easy to give up. But don't!
You can't dismiss either Romney or Pawlenty (with Paul Ryan as a possible Treasury Secy or close adviser). I prefer the former in the total meltdown that Mr. Ferrara describes. Romney's expertise is in "work outs" and in spite of the fact that he had to govern the Bluest of states with two very liberal legislative houses he did a pretty good job. Of course his Romneycare is bankrupting the state but I'm sure he would have sought its repeal if he remained in office. Romney's financial expertise and understanding of economics cannot be denied. Also, Pawlenty and Romney look and act Presidential and communicate without teleprompters. As theu undergo the rough and tumble of the campaign trail they will get even tougher and grow as candidates. As for Romneycare or for that matter Pawlenty's position in support of Cap and Trade, don't let these issues cause any of you to write them off. Above all, don't despair and don't attack fellow Republicans.

Teaghan| 6.8.11 @ 7:58AM

Thank you for the peptalk Stormzeye.
We need it.

Michael L. Hauschild| 6.8.11 @ 8:40AM

Rah, rah, rah. Those "fellow" republicans are just as complicant for the mess we are in as the democrats. Furthermore, as to "writing off" Romneycare or Pawlenty's cap and trade, you are hopelessly insane. I will not forgive, I will not forget, and I will not support the same old intitutions, the same old cast of progressives in sheeps clothing, and I will not wait for these clowns to "grow up." Ferrara is absolutely correct in his analysis. You offer up a pep talk? For God's sake get your head out of your ass, open up your eyes and take a look at who, why and when we got into this mess.
"Of course his Romneycare is bankrupting the state," Christ, you can't even win an argument with yourself. Then you propose he "work out" the Nations problems, it is no wonder we are where we are.

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 10:01AM

Here, here!!!! Spot on, my friend!

No more ObamaNazis!
No more RINOs!
No more bailouts!
No more handouts!

We need a real conservative to lead the way, not some unprincipled Ken doll with values every bit as plastic as his hair. Btw, does anybody really think that Romney -- who got pimp slapped by that loser McCain-- is really going to have the cajones to take on the OBamaNazi war machine? Puh-leaze...he idn't have the guts to battle McCain all the way to the convention. He wussied out to the same "reach across the aisle RINO" who muffed it in 2008, and played by the same "matching tie and handkerchief" rules that brought on the defeat of Bush the elder and Bob Dole.

Stormzeye| 6.8.11 @ 10:27AM

Michael,
Electability is what determines who gets to appoint the next Supreme Court Justice. I would prefer a more conservative candidate but with the press knocking the crap out of every conservative that pops his/her head up only people like Romney and Pawlenty have a legitimate chance at winning. Getting the nomination might be easy for fire-breathing conservative but getting elected is another story. As for your personal attacks and vulgarity, you sound like an ignorant and angry mouth-breather hiding behind a keyboard. Vote Democrat, you seem to think they're no different than Republicans. People with your attitude are why we have Obama.

Michael L. Hauschild| 6.8.11 @ 11:01AM

No, YOU are why we have Obama, and YOU will give him to us again. I will give you Palin. Stay the course clown, that seems to have worked out so well. Did you even bother to read the what you wrote. When you get done arguing with yourself, get back to us.

Maddox| 6.8.11 @ 11:26AM

We cannot afford to elect someone just because of his or her "electability." Those who compromise (Rhinos) are going to destroy what is left of America, only a little slower. I see nothing vulgar in speaking forcefully and telling the truth. The time is now or never.
It takes courage to tell people the truth and I am not hiding behind my key board I am out front and center telling everyone I know. I believe people, like SoS are patriots, too bad Republicans are not more like him.

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 12:24PM

I agree maddox. Voting for a RINO instead of an ObamaNazi is like handing over your children to the gang that promises only to beat and rape them, but will let them live.

Both sets of gangs need to be swept out with an iron broom

Warrior| 6.8.11 @ 12:26PM

You are the same people who over 30 years ago kept telling us all that Reagan was too extreme and had no electability. Cut the electability shit out now, Romney is a younger version of McCain. This is simply a political power grab for a liberal minded Republican. If McCain had been elected, we would have been worse off than now. McCain would have had Democrat majorities to not only implement a much more socialistic version of healthcare, he would have supported cap and trade and a wide reaching amnesty program. His support of entitlements is without question. Put a liberal Republican up and watch us hid the skids even faster.

megapotamus| 6.8.11 @ 12:45PM

Absolutely but I take a slightly different view than others. The most important thing is that we are able to fuel our civilization. Global Warming is the original sin. NO ONE who signs onto GW is viable. Now, that means nearly no one. Pawlenty has denounced his late stupidity on the subject... we can work with that. But Romney has just doubled- down on GW. This marks him out as an idiot and a few other things. No Romney; no McCain clone. No Newt for the same reasons and he is also a straight out nut. No one who thinks your farts are causing wild fires in California should be walking around loose, much less elevated to high office. And if "electability" issues get us four more years of Obama? Too bad.

Sheila| 6.8.11 @ 1:18PM

Multitudinous kudos to Michael L. Hauschild for speaking truth to the rah-rah Republicans at this site. You're wasted here, Michael, casting pearls before swine. For more honest, factual economic forecasting of doom, visit http://voxday.blogspot.com/ (numerous posts about economy; others about social issues are just as well worth reading).

Stormfront Zapper| 6.8.11 @ 8:33PM

The only swine here are the White Nationalist Neo-Nazi trash like yourself and your pals.

Chilloutyo| 6.12.11 @ 2:37AM

White Nationalist Neo-Nazis are all leftists.

JimP| 6.8.11 @ 8:51AM

"Don't attack fellow Repubs". Is that code for just accept Mitt or Tim without vetting? We DON'T need another McCain or Bush, so vetting- or criticizing if you prefer- is a must, including your favorites.

Redstateboy| 6.8.11 @ 9:58AM

May I remind everyone.... Pawlenty went to IOWA and told those Corn-Ethanol-Welfarites that they're going to have to get of the Gov't Dole while Romney went to Iowa and told them.. no worries... I'll continue your Tax-payer funded, Ethanol-crap Gravy Train. enough said.....

Perry/Pawlenty, Pawlenty/Perry, Perry/Cain, Pawlenty/Cain - any combination of these and it's: Ba-bye Hussein.

Grzmlyk| 6.8.11 @ 11:22AM

Pawlenty bought into cap-and-trade and the whole global warming con; now he repents. Romney still buys into it.

Cap and trade is NOTHING but socialist redistribution of wealth by any other name.

Sorry, as far as I'm concerned, that's 's a deal breaker (and you can throw the whore Gingrich into that mix).

I don't care how much Pawlenty sings from the conservative hymnal these days - and I'm glad he's taken a stand on that other huge con, ethanol - but I'm not at all convinced that Pawlenty is the real deal. Romney is simply a guy who'll say anything to become president and, once there, will spend most of his time "reaching across the aisle." Romney is not only damaged goods, but he's a phony. He may be a competent manager, but he simply has no ideological rudder.

I am not impressed with either of them. I'm still open to being swayed, but right now I'm liking Palin, Bachmann or Cain.

I love Bolton, but that's a pipe dream. I have mixed feelings about Santorum.

One thing is sure: we need a TRUE conservative in office if we are to have a prayer of keeping this country from disintegrating right before our eyes.

The other sad truth is that, if by some miracle we do enact policies that end the depression and a true recovery begins, without fundamental changes to our very infrastructure, it'll be a nano-second before the gravy train is kicked back into overdrive, and government once again becomes a drunken, profligate Santa Claus enabling the kleptocracy.

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 12:23PM

Spot on Grz - I too share your view of Bolton.

SCM| 6.8.11 @ 1:24PM

We can't just elect a conservative president. Without an equally conservative Senate and House, we will be stuck in the same rut of "compromise" which Washington has been in for decades. Both Congress and the President must be on board with eliminating useless Departments, getting government of of the retirement and health care business, and letting the engine of capitalism, small business, do what it does best.
So, don't just think that any new President can turn things around alone. Work to get rid of the liberal congress critters.

Grzmlyk| 6.8.11 @ 2:50PM

I agree with you as far as it goes, but the sad fact is there is no saving this republic.

To paraphrase Reagan, the closest thing to immortality on this earth is a government program.

Once a body politic realizes it can vote itself goodies from the treasury, it will do so in perpetuity, and nothing short of total economic collapse can stop it. It is a metastasizing cancer, and we are in stage 4.

Even if we had 100 conservative senators and 435 representatives, our fate is sealed.

There are dozens of examples of programs and taxes that were supposed to be temporary but that live on in perpetuity. The Pavlovian expectation is that government will grow every year - even so-called conservatives have gone along with this for years.

To take just one issue, look at endless subsidies for ethanol - it is almost universally excoriated as a net destructive program: It's bad for food prices, both because it has supplanted the growth of other crops and it raises the price of virtually everything along the food chain; it is hard on the soil, problematic to store, difficult to transport, produces a net-negative bang for the buck vis a vis the energy it yields; it's hard on engines and its emissions are worse than the "disease" it was supposed to cure.

And yet Bush doubled our ethanol subsidies and presidential candidates invariably kiss the rings of the ethanol panjandrums for the Iowa caucuses (Pawlenty's current dubious pose notwithstanding) and of course "big agra" types like ADM throw millions into lobbying efforts .

Then there are all of the other energy initiatives like wind and solar - boondoggles plain and simple - and the legions of lobbyists and crony capitalists like GE eager to trash the country in order to get their lucre.

Then there is the ever-increasing number of public union employees, the subversion of the Constitution through the twin tyrannies of corrupt judges and insidious regulations that bypass the entire legislative process. One could go on and on and on.

Need I mention the cultural aspect of all of this? Our educational institutions have been Marxist factories for almost 40 years. Capitalism is a dirty word. Decadence is idolized; the family is trashed; religion is ostracized.

We are a victim of the success of our forefathers and the presumptuous recipients of amazing technological progress that has severed our connection to the causal universe. As a result, we are morally flabby and constitutionally lazy. We no longer know - or care - about issues of physical or spiritual subsistence. We live in a cloud-cuckoo land of vain, preening,cheap moral vanity coupled with hedonistic, voracious self indulgence.

Outside of that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 3:55PM

The elimination of Lobby groups is a fine start. Since when is it OK to exchange wealth directly for political and (even personal) gain - insain.

Grzmlyk| 6.8.11 @ 5:30PM

Sadly, the right to lobby is in the constititution.

And even though liberals will eventually take the alice-in-wonderland step of declaring the constitution unconstitutional, they never fail to take refuge behind it whenever there are sections that can prop up their corruption (the commerce clause, which has been distorted beyond recognition to accommodate things like Obamacare, is just one example; the Kelo decision is another).

There's no way lobbying will be eliminated.

I mean, ordinary people are about two months from being able to smell the stench of decay in this country and still, we have Democrats crying about Paul Ryan's plan - which is designed, by the way, to PRESERVE the nanny state, not fix it, and government union thugs threatening taxpayers with violence if we don't fund their lavish lifestyles. If our body politic hasn't risen to reject this crap unequivocally now, when will it? NEVER.

We live in a corrupt banana republic, a one-time empire that is in its final stages. We are Rome in about 300 AD. Sure, it hung on a little longer, but it was shriveling and dying, not growing and thriving.

skip| 6.8.11 @ 8:20PM

Grzmlyk,

You know I love you. But there is no true liberty and there is no freedom of speech if an individual cannot lobby his representatives in a constitutional republic.

Perhaps the problem is that not enough individuals have been lobbying their representatives.

buckeyeman| 6.8.11 @ 4:01PM

Wow, I wish I'd have written that.

C.K. Amos| 6.8.11 @ 8:40PM

The sad fact there is no saving this republic?

With people like you in our foxholes, we don't need enemies without.

Grzmlyk| 6.9.11 @ 10:39AM

You cannot wish away reality.

That is the province of liberals.

Grzmlyk| 6.9.11 @ 10:39AM

You cannot wish away reality.

Chilloutyo| 6.12.11 @ 2:42AM

...and exactly what reality are you talking about?

Cincinnatius| 6.9.11 @ 1:16PM

Masterly said! I stood and cheered and the thought occurred to me: Have you ever considered running for office?

DeDee| 6.9.11 @ 9:37PM

GREAT post, Grzmlyk!

AlphaMale| 6.9.11 @ 12:28PM

Romney comes across no different than John Edwards. "I'm walking human slime, but Karl Rove and 80-yr women love my amazing smile."

I'm sad about Daniels and his bit**-wife. I'd still vote for him if she were caught eating babies. Pawlenty is a waffling guppy. Huckabee is a joke.

Palin is a serious mistake. She is tenacious, she is smart, and she rouses up a good speech, but it takes more than good intentions and a a fighting spirit to govern well. It takes presence under fire.

What do I mean? Bush2's presidency was almost undone my midterms solely due to the unrelenting scorn of the press. He was so villified, so intensely, for so long, that by the end, no one would stand with him. People who rallied for him a few years before, and defended him 6 months later when it was *ok* again, abandoned him when the rhetoric and public scorn got too hot.

It will take two months to do to Palin, what it took 6 years to do to Bush. By the time she's inaugurated, there will be enough badwill that she will have trouble getting meetings with congress and find it impossible to govern.

I want an impervious man to be president. That man is Chris Christie. He is a straight shooter. He tells it like it is and owns up to mistakes. He is his own no spin zone. This is so foreign to the press who feed off the twisting of spin, that they look like donkeys when they try to criticize him. I love it.

If Christie, had a love child, he would say: '11 years ago, we had a rough patch in our marriage, I had an affair, I ended it, my wife and I reconciled, and I love and support the little bastard.'

The press would say... "How dare you President Christie..." and he would say "How dare I what? Love and provide for my bastard son?" and the press would fume at the ears and scream "Hee HAWWW! Hee HAWW!!!"

Frankly, I'd rather keep Obama, with the hope of getting someone good in 2016, than I would like to get some huge gladhanding mess with unnaturally white teeth that speaks to the press in coded triplespeak and guarantees 2016 results in a Gore/Wiener presidency. (Although the phrase 'Gore Wiener' would easily fuel late night monologues for a decade.)

Stormzeye| 6.8.11 @ 10:31AM

I agree. Criticizing and vetting is a must. I think what Gingrich did to Paul Ryan was beyond criticism and was more akin to attack. I also didn't like Sarah Palin showing up in NH when Romney was announcing his candidacy. She later stated that she regretted stealing his thunder but it was too late for him to get the press coverage he should have.

JimP| 6.8.11 @ 11:07AM

LOL The more you write, the more clear it is that you just don't want you're favorites being criticized. Neither Romney nor Pawlenty are ideal IMO. I would still vote for them as nominee, but I'd prefer someone with better conservative credentials. So bring on the criticisms is my mantra. Newt's on Ryan's plan were wrong, but he wasn't wrong for criticizing per se. Palin stealing Romney's thunder? Hey, it's politics, not beanbag. If Mitt had any charisma it wouldn't have happened, but who will care come Nov 2012? No one. Either Mitt will be the nominee or he won't and it will not be based on Palin pulling an alleged stunt in June '11.

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 12:27PM

I agree JimP. If Romney can't handle being upstaged by someone who is not even IN the race, what the hell can we expect of him in what will be the most vicious election in decades? Will he shamelessly beg for mercy? Roll over and play dead? Continue to fight by "matching tie and handkerchief" rules while the ObamaNazis beat and plunder?

megapotamus| 6.8.11 @ 12:51PM

Cutting off Romney's oxygen is the most important public service Gov Palin can do. Romney must be destroyed. I will never vote for Romney. I will not support Republicans who are not vehemently and publicly anti-Romney. He is poison. He is radioactive. His insincerity makes Obama look like Truman by comparison. He is a fool and a fake. He is a door to nowhere. His every blink has been choreographed for impact in focus groups. The one thing I will not accuse him of is evil but boy howdy, why chance it?

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 5:48PM

Amen!

grzmlyk| 6.8.11 @ 6:30PM

So, Megapotamous, I'm not getting a sense of your opinion of Romney.

I jest. Very,very well said, unfortunately. It's time to retire the halo effect of his triumph at the 2002 Olympics. That was a decade ago. Everything else is smoke an mirrors.

big bob| 6.8.11 @ 12:14PM

gee, I keep reading your posts and you seem to be saying everything I believe. Couldnt agree more with what you say!!

4Opencarry| 6.9.11 @ 2:53PM

Why can't everyone see that Palin is the best choice? She is in the mix and knows what needs to be done. I understand why she gave up her position as Gov of Alaska but look at how much she accomplished for Alaska before she left. The media attention and the lawsuits were too distracting and not good for Alaska. She did what was right for Alaskans. She will do what is right for America. She will stand up to the special interest, let us drill on our own land for oil and quit wasting money we don't have. I really beleive Palin is the best person for the President of this once great country and you all should wake up and see this. Remember her first speech as a vice presidential candidate. I was out of my chair and did not miss a word of it. I said to myself and others. "Now there is the person, the leader that America has been waiting for. Don't listen to the haters and the media that is summed up of 95% liberals. Use your own research and your mind.

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 10:08AM

Adult male? Oh, Appleby, we are not sexist pigs around here! We don't need no stinkin' male President to get out of this mess. I can think of two good women who see very clearly the problem and its solution. (Neither one was named after a guy who was going to be the first up Mt. Everest, either!)

I can think of a couple of good men who do, too. I can also think of a lot of men who sound good, but have not governed according to their recently espoused conservative, constitutional principles when they started getting the big paychecks in the fancy office...

No SEXISM here, please. What kind of progressive are you, anyway?

Appleby| 6.8.11 @ 11:58AM

I am the kind of progressive that can look a fact in the face, thanks; and the fact is that Joan of Arc couldn't get elected in a time like this. Ideally we need a Reagan-like adult male who has served in the military; that is the kind of person America will trust to lead the way and not falter.

This is no time for social experimentation; that's what got us into the war we are in now. Mars Needs Men...if we can find any who want the job. (Daddy used to say that nobody who wanted the job should be allowed to fill it.)

Save Ms. Bachman for peacetime, if we ever have it again; and make Mrs. Palin the Press Secretary BUT GET HER A VOICE COACH FIRST.

buckeyeman| 6.8.11 @ 4:26PM

Like fingernails on a blackboard, Eh? I love her conservatism but did you read any transcripts of her "Paul Revere" comments (yeah, I know they were technically correct but gawd, why does she have to talk like that). 300 million inhabitants (some of them actually legal) and we can't find ONE strong, literate, consistent, articulate champion of any sex who is willing to run for prez!

Frekki| 6.8.11 @ 1:35PM

You want someone with real balls? Vote for Palin. Vote as if your life depended on it. Vote as if you need to eat. Vote as if your daughter's freedom was at stake.
If you don't vote, or you waste your vote on Santa Claus wishful thinking, then you are stupid or lazy, and the tide of history will wash over your corpse.

Seek| 6.8.11 @ 1:40PM

Palin is semi-literate and arrogant. She has virtually no support beyond her "base," perpetually in need of a fix to be "energized." Her negatives, to use the language of the pollsters, are higher than any other candidate.

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 2:11PM

Seek;

That would render you ILLITERATE and incredibly elitist.

If you persist, please provide some documentation on Mrs. Palin's ignorance.

Remember her telling a Tea Party crowd to "Party like it's 1773!" The Lamestream media tut tutted that it's 1776, Mrs. Palin. Except, for the fact that the Boston Tea Party did not occur in 1776, it was 1773!

Remember her writing her speech notes on her palm. Please imagine what would happen if our little President spoke from notes written on his notes, instead of putting it on the double-backed up teleprompters? Ever hear of irony? Remember that moment in October 2008 when our now little President forgot himself and said to Joe the Plumber that we need to spread the wealth around?

Oh yeah, last week Sarah did say that Paul Revere did warn the British of the coming Minutemen? Everybody groaned at that one until even NPR's invited historian stated that Mrs. Palin understood the event better than most as, when Revere was caught by the redcoats that night, he bragged to the BRITISH redcoats that the minutemen were coming. Ooops.

Ask our little President how many states he campaigned in in 2008, last I heard, he said "57."

In 2008 when asked how long he wanted to 'serve' as president said "Ten years is enough." So is there a Constitutional Amendment I missed rescinding the 22nd Amendment? And will he really walk away after the first half of his third term. That math thing is really hard, little President, isn't it?

Does our little President know that this is 2011, not 2008 as he wrote in the guest register at Buckingham Palace last month when he visited London...

Have you ever heard her speak? Have you ever read any of her books.

Compare all the support Mrs. Clinton had in 2007 to the absolute firestorms of enthusiasm that Sarah lights just by stopping by and talking to the assembled crowds.

Seek, get busy read a little more history - you don't seem to know nothing (irr. grammar intentional!) You do not seem bright enough to light Mrs. Palin's closet!

Get outta here!

Frekki| 6.8.11 @ 2:13PM

Sounds like Reagan in 1979. They say, love is first shown as hate.

It's not Palin, it is the disgust that those of us who live on our own feel when you sycophants try to tell us how we should live.

Tell me, can you grow and hunt to survive? Do you even have the slightest understanding of the shoulders you stand upon? You are a hungry child who curses his father. Good luck with that.

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 5:51PM

She at least knows that a baby is human a deserves the right to be born. How can you trust someone who has such a pro abortion pro homsexual recordlike Romney?

C.K. Amos| 6.8.11 @ 8:51PM

Your pathetic remarks about Palin expose your intellectual impotence and emotional fear.

You are part of the legion that soils its shorts and panties by the mere mention of Palin.

By whose test do you judge her? Are you capable of objectively passing judgment?

Ultimately, were she the candidate, she would be the only person who stood a chance of defeating the poseur in the White House.

In fact, I believe she would defeat him handily.

That she's still standing and making waves as she does is a testament to her fortitude, savvy, common sense, intellect and centeredness.

None of the former Democrat/Progressive/liberal/leftist candidates, including the empty suit from Chicago, could have withstood the malicious misogynistic/misanthropic attacks on their lives, their families, their reputations, their faith, everything.

Certainly, I see none of the current potential Republican/conservative candidates who could, with the exception of Herman Cain.

4Opencarry| 6.9.11 @ 4:59PM

Well put. palin has bigger balls than any of them.

PJ| 6.8.11 @ 7:19AM

To Mr Ferrara,
In your opinion would states like Texas & I think Indiana, who are doing pretty well economically, be insulated from the crash that you are predicting & the after effects? Currently those states (such as NY, CA, CT) with an already high tax burden are not doing so well? Is there evidence of any states that managed to "breeze through" & possibly prosper during The Great Depression of the 1930s? CA?

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 10:29AM

Look at it this way, Texas and Indiana will be the tallest anthills in what was once a forest of redwoods. The problem is your dollar will be worth almost nothing.

Consider this, Illinois state government has a per household debt of $42,500 - the federal dept is over $500,000 per housedhold. So it's like this:

"Honey, I paid off the VISA bill!"

"Great, darling, too bad about Fannie Mae foreclosing on us and having the sheriff move all our stuff out to the curb. I even heard the sheriff say he's worried about his pension..."

I urge you to do what you can to make sure that progressives do not get re-elected to the White House or the Senate next year. That's your best bet!

Peregrine| 6.8.11 @ 11:25AM

Good reply, Dan. And what a great illustration.

John| 6.8.11 @ 7:25AM

The author makes some good points regarding Obama’s disastrous economic policies but only tells half the story. Conservative pundits seem to have amnesia in that the first crash happened under president Bush, so one must go back and find out why this happen.

It was primarily the too-big-too fail multi-national investment firms, global banks and AIG being corrupt gambling casinos and little has been done to correct this so another crash will surely occur. The first thing that should have been done is to downsize these global monsters and limit them to the USA where they belong -- not all over the world. Next the Glass-Segal wall separating the go-go investment firms from you corner bank should have been reenacted along with strict conservative banking laws -- this is sacred money.

Finally, a prime reason why the USA will never recover is because we allowed bought-off politicians of both Parties to allow greedy corporations to outsource our vital industry to foreign powers, many of them hostile. So we are now mostly a service sector economy and unlike previous recessions we have little manufacturing to fall back on.

This sellout of our industry and good-paying American jobs started in high gear with the Clinton/Gore NAFTA and has accelerated exponentially under president Bush and now amazingly the GOP and Obama are pushing for even more suicidal trade sellouts. Thus the USA is now held hostage to the whims of the world (even lowly Greece) and communist China owns us – if they sneeze we now catch pneumonia.

Meanwhile, all the GOP presidential candidates support so-called free trade agreements except Donald Trump. Economic Globaism is the real culprit here and is the prime cause of the next soon-to-be crash.

Old Soldier | 6.8.11 @ 8:15AM

And Democrats like to forget that the first crash happened after the Democrats took over Congress and had a compliant President Bush signing nearly every wasteful bill they passed.

President Obama inherited Senator Obama's mess.

Dixie Pixie| 6.8.11 @ 4:54PM

Old Solder....You may want to look at the following article::::

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....mic-crash/

I think the 2008 Crash was deliberately manufactured to help the electoral prospects of the Democratic Party.
McCain was ahead until the Financial Crash and never regained the lead thereafter.

Dixie Pixie| 6.8.11 @ 6:45PM

Please accept my apology for messing up your handle Old Soldier.
I really should proofread my posts before hitting the Submit button.

kurt2088| 6.8.11 @ 10:05AM

John, You are one of a few that gets why we are where we are! Perot tried to warn us of the giant sucking sound of jobs leaving the USA if NAFTA passed. Both Clinton and Bush senior attacked him relentlessly as being "coo coo" as they both supported the NWO agenda!!! Eighteen years later look what our nation has slowly become, a jobless third world cesspool!!! MFN China has most of our industrial jobs that once payed a living wage are now being preformed by slaves in CHINA!!! Things WILL NOT get better no matter who is the president if we don't scrap our trade policies that ONLY benefit large multi national corporations and WALL STREET!!!

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 10:07AM

"greedy corporations" outsourced business and industry overseas because leftwing chumps like you cheered on the eco-freaks and haters of free enterprise who have made it bloody damned impossible to do business here! Our Big Brother/nanny state government has piled tax upon tax, throttled entrepeneurs with red tape, played crony-favorite games with imbeciles on Wall street who keep losing money despite the fact that they work in BANKS, where the money is in the first place! How many startups have we lost because bloated behemoths like GE have used the power of government to "legally" crush their competition, in exchange for which they support the fascist economics of Obama? And how long before you wake up and realize that the definition of fascism is when Bog Government and Big Business shake hands, and crush the little guy, the middle class, the entrepreneurs, the creators and innovators?

kurt2088| 6.8.11 @ 10:33AM

Sonofsam, I agree with you also about banks and the welfare state being a major problem with our decline as a nation, but for you to give multi national corporations a free pass to exploit slave labor around the world for profit and turn their backs on american workers is pure BS!

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 11:43AM

If they were doing this out of "greed", then why didn't they do this for all of American history? Could it be that our government has become an out of control monster, and its government oppression that makes it profitable for businesses to send their operations overseas? And maybe, just maybe, businesses would come back here if it wasn't worth their while to move their operations thousands of miles away?

I'm not saying it would chnage all their minds; but it WOULD reward businesses that stay here and NOT those who outsource

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 1:14PM

How many times can someone hit, punch throw things ∧ spit on you before you move away from them and their unwelcome deeds?

Business is no diferent.

There is a line between larger businesses that will move away, state or to another country & small biz that will simply collapse.

If I am wrong please enlighten me or clarify my position.

Dixie Pixie| 6.8.11 @ 5:31PM

Greetings S..O..S..

I remember it was back in the late 60's and early 70's that the Left came up with the idea that it was a mortal sin that America had the bulk of the worlds manufacturing capability.
Their solution was to move America's manufacturing capability to the Third World to “Equalize the Economic Injustice”.
For decades the Left has been restructuring the politics and economic incentives to do just that.
NAFTA was the final blow which made it financial lucrative to “offshore” American manufacturing.

Wall Streets core business is breaking up pieces of companies and selling them to the highest bidder.
When the Left convinced the major banks that it was a financial sound practice to lend money to the Third World governments to buy up those American companies Wall Street was happy to sell to them, then the “outsourcing” flood began.

Does that answer your question?

PS....If you wanted to bring the manufacturing capability home then repeal NAFTA and reimpose the tariff walls to outside manufacturing.

skip| 6.9.11 @ 4:47PM

Provided free trade is really free, outsourcing is desirable.

When a good or service is provided at less cost in a foreign nation than domestically:
-the use of limited material resources is maximized;
-domestic capital capacity and investment is freed up for more efficient and profitable production of other goods and services;
-more goods and services overall are more affordable to more consumers both foreign and domestic;
-poverty in those foreign nations where production is outsourced is decreased and quality of life is increased;
-decreased poverty and increased quality of life in those foreign nations reduces foreign discontent with America, which reduces the need for foreign aid, or the likelihood of war, or any other potential interventions, which assists in the domestic common defense;
-the domestically owned corporations of the outsourced production still require domestic jobs, and provide domestic tax revenues.

The oppression of liberty is just as critical when it concerns economic rights as it does social rights and political rights. The oppression of liberty is tyranny, whether the oppression involves the individual's social rights, political rights, or economic rights.

big bob| 6.8.11 @ 12:23PM

No, economic globalism is NOT the real culprit. We call this revisionist history. We are in this mess because the liberal segment of our federal government forced banks to lend to people who could never pay the money back. Then those same officials sucker punched the banks. The majority (democrat) gatekeepers held off auditors and oversight committees until adults came into the game, and fines were assessed and frauds were fired. By then, the damage was done and the mortgage market was in freefall. Key culprits were Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Franklin Raines, and Jim Johnson. Many others were fundamentally culpable. Yet, these were the policy makers. Any other version of this is revionist. There is no shade of economic globalism in the real history of this disaster. Without the mortgage agenda, this would have been a mild recession, nothing more. Trust me, I was in the middle of it. I know of which I speak.

kurt2088| 6.8.11 @ 1:38PM

To say any country can prosper without a strong manufacturing base is ludacris! All the other problems you mention are part of the problem but not the WHOLE problem! The question is where do we start to repair a nation bound on destroying itself from within?

big bob| 6.8.11 @ 11:54PM

The problem we now have is not necessarily the "culprit". I wanted to set the record straight, (again), as to what got us into the mess. Now that we are in it, getting us out will take backbone, conviction and determination. It will be painful. In fact, the longer it takes to solve, the more pain that will be experienced when it finally comes. There are two tracks here, not completely unrelated, but still, two tracks. 1) is the lack of constitutional authority this administration has in almost every decision it makes. It wont do what it's supposed to, (protect citizens i.e. borders), yet follows a path of "redistributing" money without limitation. 2) jump starting private industry. That is actually not so hard at this point. Later on, it's going to be Very difficult. We need to turn back all the regulations to 2000 and cut taxes. I 'd like to see the end of capital gains, but that would be a pipedream. Yet that's the sort of thing that would have an overnight effect. Everything else is propaganda.

Timothy L. Pennell| 6.8.11 @ 7:33AM

How can this be? Any Idiot (even a Krugman or a Reich) knows that, left to it's own devices, the Economy will bounce back. It's called: An Economic CYCLE. Some of the comebacks are better than others (as in the case of the Reagan Recovery) but there always is one. Except now.
Why is NOW, so different? Why is this one, getting WORSE?
Could it be? Is it possible?
MAAAAYBEEEEE, it's ON PURPOSE.
How can it not be? Everything this Marxist President has done, has only made things WORSE. He's raising the COSTS of doing business. More Regulations. More Taxes. More Mandates. His Socialized Medicine will DESTROY the Medical Profession, and the Pharmaceutical Industry. (Anyone see any new MEDICAL stuff - Life Saving Drugs, New Procedures, New Technologies - coming outta Europe or Canada?)
His Contempt of Court Drilling Moratorium, hasn't hurt the Oil Companies. It's hurt everyone who SUPPORTS them. Restaurants, Bars, Hotels, Motels, Car Rental Places, on and on and on. Why would he do that? Why shut down OUR DRILLING, while at the same time, give BRAZIL Millions, so THEY can drill? Anyone?
His Cap and Trade, through his EPA Department, as a backdoor around Congress, will TAX Manufacturing Industries to more Friendlier places of doing Business, while his NLRB, with their Lawsuits against Companies that want to Set Up Shop WHERE THEY WANT TO, and their back door CARD CHECK scam, will chase the rest of the businesses away.
Is this Cloward and Piven? Is he INTENTIONALLY Collapsing the System?
The Government OWNS our houses. They OWN the Car Companies. They are BUYING UP LAND, at a Rocket's Pace, out West. They've cancelled SIGNED CONTRACTS with Coal Companies. Denied WATER to Farmers. Shut Down SHELL OIL, in Alaska. (because they didn't include the exhaust from their two Boats, when they submitted their Environmental Impact Report) They've shut down the Pipeline, from Alaska to the lower 48. Shut down the Pipeline from Canada, carrying Oil AND Natural Gas, to the U.S. They're going after the Commercial Fishing Industry. Why?
"I sought out the Marxist Professors when I got to College."
He's not a STUPID guy. No. He's a COMMITTED MARXIST.
"I'm not an IDEOLOGUE, I'm not."
Oh, but he is. His entire life - from his Marxist Father to his Communist Mother and Grandparents, to his Communist Mentor and his Marxist Mentor, and his Domestic Terrorist friends - has all been a LEARNING PROCESS. It has all been like something from The Boys from Brazil. Everything had to happen, JUST AS IT HAS, to produce the end product. An America Hating, White hating, Jew Hating, Muslim Loving, NARCISSIST, in the Oval Office. This BOY from Indonesia. Surrounded by HATE for this Country, his entire life. A BOY raised in Muslim Indonesia, until the age of 11, now sits on America's Throne, with one goal in mind. DESTROY HER, from within.
Go look in your BIBLE, and tell me that ALL OF THE PIECES aren't in place. THE ARE.
Mark My Words.

Jordan| 6.8.11 @ 8:10AM

The US is simply a socialist nation, without the pride that comes with saying that that a European or Canadian would feel. It started in the 1800s with public schooling, increased immensely under the New Deal and Great Society programs, then Bush II and Obama's spending and Carter and Clinton's home ownership programs that drove us into the ditch. Now the government tries to help through stimulus and investment and increased welfare programs; why? Because Obama wants us to be like Europeans: totally dependent on government for our livelihood, for our health care, for our education, for our jobs.

megapotamus| 6.8.11 @ 12:58PM

Yes, a great deal of the philosophical foundation for our modern crypto-socialism was born in the growth of public school as a government utility. This is a very tough sell, to say the least. What needs to happen (and it is) is that so-called "free" education has to decline to such a state that it is not worth sending your kids to. It has to be so bad that even though you have paid for it and will continue to pay for it, you do not participate a la homeschooling or other private alternatives. We're not far from that now. Here in Georgia there is a grade inflation and cheating scandal of truly epic proportions. Now that we are totally out of money the lessons of public education's true costs (per Bastiat) are undeniable even to those who make handsome livings there.

Mimi| 6.8.11 @ 9:16AM

Tim .....This is an amazing POST....We have an amazing amount of work to do....but it will get done and we will defeat "THE DESTROYER " in a totally massive way. Mark my words!!

Paul| 6.8.11 @ 10:29AM

Tim - dead on as usual - I appreciate the way you express this -

Maddox| 6.8.11 @ 11:29AM

Bravo sir! Tim, you speak the truth.

pigletrios| 6.9.11 @ 1:02PM

One man alone cannot bring down a country. It's important that we recognize that and take heed. So many of our politicians have been in office so long that they don't remember what life was like before then - so many of them need to go - Democrat or Republican - doesn't matter the color of their party. What does matter is that they have allowed their institution to get out of hand, to grow almost beyond control. It is imperative that everyone vote correctly in 2012 - your children's future depends on it.

Mimi| 6.8.11 @ 7:37AM

Peter....Your nitty, gritty and truthful facts are sad and sobering.....What are we to do, sit back and just accept the horrendous consequences this President is accomplishing ? Do any smart Democratic Senate members know and are aware of just what this ideologue is doing to our Nation?
They would be the ones, because we now have the House, to begin to set things right.!
We have all been saying on this site the 2012 Election is critical and we must defeat this DESTRUCTIVE president. Thanks again Peter for your facts and information. After "WEINER" and the COMIC relief....time to get more serious !!!

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 10:10AM

Actually Mimi, I believe that there is a tie in between Weiner and Obama. Its simple: they both believe in Big Government controlling our lives, right down to the lightbulbs we are legally able to buy. They both believe that "we the people" are too stupid to know what's best for us, and that THEY know better. And yet: Weiner is too stupid to use Twitter, and Obama is too stupid to speak without a TelePrompter. WHY do we listen to a word they say? They should be laughed off the stage, and straight into the trash barrel of history!

Frekki| 6.8.11 @ 3:54PM

You don't understand, let me explain;
If the President's understanding of currents events is faulty, then it is not his fault, someone else is to blame. If the economy is not living up to his expectations, it's because the evil side (whoever) is purposely making things bad.
Whatever happens, no matter what or who, the enemies have caused it. VOTE FOR ME, I am your only hope.
This is why we are in this mess, this is the greatest danger against us.
This is not only satire, this is truth.

jothepro| 6.8.11 @ 7:38AM

To the progressive, the more chaos that they effect, the more we need them to fix the chaos that will be the result of their policies that spread chaos !!!!

Ken (Old Texican)| 6.8.11 @ 7:38AM

Peter,
I'm sorry. You are still trying to be reasonable.
Let's face it now. We just don't know when or what the final straw will be that breaks everything down.
I will be on the phone today with one of my largest shareholders. The last time we talked, he asked me that other than our company...what should he be investing in?
I told him deadly seriously..."five acres of good farm land, two .22 rifles, and LOTS of .22 shells for harvesting small game."

See..... every single business man I know, (except the ones feeding at the government trough), are literally "raising the drawbridge" and forting up for the financial siege....right now.

Since I like to mix metaphors, I will say the gunwhales are barely above water right now, and one unexpected ripple on the "pond" could capsize the boat at any given moment.
Uh... one cannot bail out a capsized boat......until everyone gets out into the water to do the bailing.

I do hope you will go to my blog site and read some good material for your future columns.
www.txbooks.blogspot.com

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 10:11AM

The boat is especially in trouble when we have Captain Quueg steering it!

tsd| 6.8.11 @ 7:54AM

After our commander and thief tanks the whole country, I hope all of you are ready to roll up your sleeves to help dig us out of this mess... seems no end of this BS until we hit bottom. No real lessons can be learned without some woop ass suffering. The dumber the collective the deeper the suffering and boy are we acting dumb... no matter how smart we think we are.... and in this collective we elected this guy to think for us. Have a good day!

buckeyeman| 6.8.11 @ 4:41PM

Ken, Good, as far as it goes, but tell your friends that they'll need more than .22's when the ravaging hordes of former welfare recipients spread out over the land like locusts. After the firs year they'll be pretty much gone but you've got to survive the first year.

**posttenebraslux**| 6.8.11 @ 12:23PM

Ken: Would like your opinion. Why, do you believe Obama has not been impeached by now?

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 1:19PM

Obummer has always planned to knee cap America.

How can this not be evident to so many Obummer deciples?

There will be a major crisis as planned upon by the American Way hater.

Martial Law is not a fantasy - I hate to say such a thing.

To echo great words - a Democracy is a great thing, if one can keep it

Dixie Pixie| 6.8.11 @ 6:22PM

To answer your question Post*Tenebras*Lux, Harry Reid's Democrats control the Senate.

It is the House of Representatives that creates the Impeachment Indictments.
It is the Senate that holds the Impeachment Trial.
In Reid's Senate, Obama would be found innocent of all charges despite the evidence.
Since a man can not be charged again for which he has found to be innocent, an Impeachment in Harry Reid's Senate would give Obama a free pass to do as he pleases.

The Republican Leadership are many things but they are not that politically stupid.

looe r| 6.12.11 @ 10:21AM

Please,

ONLY the ignorant and gullible would think that.

Sam Vaughn| 6.8.11 @ 7:59AM

The arrogance of the left is not that they don't care about individuals, they care about themselves (ala Weiner), it's that they con themselves into thinking they do to "save the planet" Throwing one or two people under the bus for the "common good" is okay, right! Throw a few more under the bus is okay in the pursuit of the "common good" soon becomes a few thousand, then a few million and so on. In their arrogance they can not stop, until they run out of people to throw under the bus....

I can't help but wonder, however, are the "results" of economic policy exactly what they want and expect? Is Goolsbee leaving not out of failure but because he succeeded? Not possible we all say to ourselves who could be so dastardly as to have committed themselves to economic warfare. I wonder are we in the midst of the "transformation" 0bama spoke about. Did the 20mm dead Chinese of the Cultural Revolution wonder?

looe r| 6.12.11 @ 10:21AM

"Arrogance of the left?"
DAVID VITTER, you dummy.

Jordan| 6.8.11 @ 8:00AM

I'm not really a Paulbot, but I do believe that the Federal Reserve should work for Congress; the Constitution clearly states that Congress has the responsibility over "coins", i.e. government money and so should take greater power over the Fed to stop their purposeful weakening of the US dollar through low reserve rates, a "get-exports-quick" jobs scheme that is simply another short-cut policy that leads us to economic ruin without building up the basics of our economy: consumer spending.

Inflation isn't that bad now (according to government states which we all know do not cover important commodities) but if QE3 does launch it will surely be the end of Obama's presidency. It would take too many months for the number of jobs to be added that would be required to cover up inflation which was also Carter's problem. However Obama is starting at a pace and job number well behind Carter which makes it even more unlikely considering we would have to see 300k job growth for literally months. Bernanke doesn't want QE3 but it might be Obama's only hope for some type of job growth; uncertainty amongst individuals and business prevent any rash of spending or business expansion, what with taxes slated to go up on investors and job creators, "mandatory" spending that threatens to take up 89% of our budget in less than a decade, and of course Obama's "independent" executive toys that are destroying the business climate everywhere from Washington State to Texas to the World Wide Web; the NLRB, EPA, HHS, and FCC.

Pecos Pete| 6.8.11 @ 8:02AM

Dirk Nowitzki for president!

Clint| 6.8.11 @ 8:28AM

Goolsbee has handed in his resignation & follows former Obama CEA Christina Romer off the sinking S.S. Obama.

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 1:22PM

The FED Reserve is so far underwater that we no longer are in a position to eliminate the FED. The USS Treasury, a sorry listing ship, would capsize for sure - taking so many lives along the way.

Do a little lite research on the 'liquidity' of the FED.

Anyone hear what china did as an attempt to straighten their economy last week? No, of course not...

Clint| 6.8.11 @ 2:44PM

"A little less than half of the total national debt is "owed to" the "Federal Reserve and intragovernmental holdings".

"The US Treasury holds about 52% of the nations debt. State and local governments, individual investors, public and private pension funds, holders of US Savings Bonds, insurance companies, and corporations and US banks hold a fair share. Most of whats left is held by foreign governments."

"Chinese investors were buying a large number of bonds through the UK and Canada. According to Treasury’s data on the UK and Canada, there has been a net decrease over the past five months of short-term bills. That means, then, that China’s divestiture in these types of shorter-maturity treasuries is indeed happening.

But, it may just be replacing them with longer-term treasuries. Once again this year, overall British and Canadian holdings of treasuries have risen dramatically by $288.1 billion since last June, when the last revision occurred. This indicates that, again, China is raising its stake in long-term treasuries — and buying them through British and Canadian markets to boot, making it harder to track its purchases."

JimP| 6.8.11 @ 8:11AM

I guess it is a matter of symantics, but IMHO, we are already in a depression. Three and a half years? A recession is part of a cycle of up, then down, then back up again. Forty one months = depression where I come from: But, what do I know, I didn't go to an Ivy League college. Thanks for the column Mr. Ferrara. I am passing it on for all my contacts to pass on. Hopefully this will wake them up if they aren't already.

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 10:15AM

Exactly so Jim! Housing prices have slid for a longer period of time than they did during the depression, with no "floor" in sight! And where the hell are all these "jobs saved or created"? They must be either in China or Narnia!

JimP| 6.8.11 @ 11:12AM

Right on, Sammy. It seems clear, to me, that the media and government are deliberately avoiding the 'D' word for various obvious reasons. I think we prols/non elites need to start telling it like it is to one another at least. Also, none of what I have said was in any way a crticism of Mr. Ferrara- just in case that needs to be said

Louis Jenkins| 6.8.11 @ 8:28AM

Here we are, while the Obama plays golf, has expensive dinners (look at the menu for the last one), and holds concerts of shucking and jiving. He's even bailing out Greece according to this morning's headlines. Meanwhile our economy is going down the tubes faster than a speeding bullet. If Obama didn't come to town to party, and to he-- with the nation, then I don't know nothing. Let's face it America, we're belly up until the next election, and if an R doesn't win, we're dead meat on the highway. This nation will change, perhaps even revolution. Have we had enough yet America? Get ready folks. It may not be pretty.

JP| 6.8.11 @ 8:36AM

There was a period during the interregnum of Nov 2008-Jan 2009 (perhaps 48hrs) that it looked like President Obama would pull a Bill Clinton. He hired Paul Volker, afterall (as it turned out, it was just a symbolic hiring). For a few days word leaked that everything was on the table; the President was willing to try anything to get the "people back to work". Leaked from inner circle were ideas like a 12 month federal income tax moratorium; a temporary suspension of the corporate and capital gains tax; even things like suspension for 6 months of the federal payroll tax were bandied about. There was even whispers of removing the gasoline tax for a year.

Of course, this was all smoke and mirrors. The President never was concerned about unemployment. What is ironic is that he had within his power the means to get unemployment down to below 8%. And if he did that a thankful nation would most probably allow to do much of his "transformation" (bit by bit, of course). If we actually had a real recovery, the Tea Party never would have come about, and most middle of the road Republicans would have joined him. Obama certainly had an oppurtunity to create a long lasting Democratic majority if and only if he could get real GDP growth. But, the President was in a hurry. And as Rahm said so famously, "Never let a crisis go to waste."

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 10:18AM

Blaming this all on Bush is like the thirty year old who never moved out of his momma's basement blaming his life on his parents. But don't expect these ObamaNazi pigs to change; they must be swept aside with an iron broom, to make way for those of us who want to work, not the deadbeats in Wall Street and the projects who want to leach off of others like the lazy good for nothing vampires they are

Melvin| 6.8.11 @ 8:41AM

I can only speak for this little community here, we saw this financial leviathan grow and grow over the years. Even when, what what I heard financial analysts call the, "Boom Years," that was based on nothing, but financial thin air.
The Savings and Loan bust, the deregulation of our Nation's energy, which allowed companies like ENRON to fleece just about everybody. The Dot Com. bust where many lost entire portfolios with Dot Com startups that were based on venture capitalism and not profit.
Barny Frank went and howled that the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were solvent, and not to worry, everyone still making money.
And all the financial check and balances that were in place to prevent financial Armageddon were being cast aside by our government and Wall Street.
I constantly warn people at my work and who I know get rid of your debt, NOW! and they give me the deer in the headlight stare, and ask, "Why?"
2008 more or less drove my point home to a certain degree, but even to this day people that should care, don't care.
Not many people in my circle of friends are demanding that this whole financial mess needs to be investigated and people who committed fraud gone to jail.
It is as if they have resigned themselves to the fate of, why bother, everything is going to hell in a hand basket and I cannot do any thing about it, so why bother?
I know this is an extreme comparison, but its like the American people right now are like the Jews during WW2. Being told by the Nazis that they were going to go to a really neat place, and the Jews went willingly, and even when the word came back about the camps, the attitude was, "What can we do about it, and they still clambered onto the trains.
The American people are being told that everything is going to be hunky-dory, the economy is growing yadda, yadda, even though the word is 2013 the sky will fall, but we still plod along and clamber aboard the train to financial hell.
We as Conservative Americans have the power to stop this madness. The question is are we willing to do what it takes to stop this.
For one thing, forget the elections. It is just a globalist illusion set up to make it look, like we still matter. There are two options that are immediately available to us; one is outright rebellion armed or peaceful. But keep in mind thousands upon thousands of Conservatives mounted a assault on Washington D.C. and the politicians poked their heads around the corner of their curtains and snickered, "Look at those fools, they still think that they matter."
The other is economic Secession by Conservatives that would finally put us back into control of the sweat off our brow, instead of watching it being sent over seas.
I don't know about the rest of you people, but I'm not getting on that damn train. I would rather stay and fight in any way shape or form. And the tea leaves are telling me that it probably will be the latter.

SpiralArchitect| 6.8.11 @ 1:24PM

Pumping Dollars toward nations that owe us money is insain.

This is also common. >:(

Frekki| 6.8.11 @ 2:44PM

He should blame his parents. My son understands that at 18 he is on his own. I will try to help him, with his 4.6 GPA and his 2580 SAT. He might need some cash to get through to his masters, since he is only 15.

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 9:03AM

HEY! It's not over til we say it is over. Are you people quitting? Have you all started eating cheese and turned into surrender monkeys?

You want to know the good news? Here it is:

We know what the problem is. EVERYBODY does. Excepting of course the main stream media. The Democrat progressives know what the problem is because they are causing it. We know what's wrong and we know how to fix it.

Step 1. Toss the little President Obama and his socialist progressives out.

Step 2. Stop the insane spending and borrowing.

Step 3. Get the government off the people's backs and businesses.

Step 4. Return to sane monetary policy.

Step 4. Apply constitutional law uniformly to everybody, including politicians (Mr. Weener).

Step 5. Defend OUR country and OUR borders.

Step 6. Stand back and watch the spectacular American renaissance.

Most problems are problems because you don't know what is causing them or how to fix them. We clearly know both, now it's just a matter of getting serious and quitting whining.

Call you danged Congressman, Call your danged Senators and tell them what for. Work to elect true conservatives, if you can't find anybody to run, then YOU run.

They only WIN if we QUIT!

Remember Viet Nam. We WON and then they talked us into QUITTING. NEVER AGAIN, dammit.

A lot of Americans died so we could have this opportunity. ARE YOU GONNA LAY DOWN AND LET IT GO?

It's not that difficult, especially after we get Step 1 out of the way and we elect a real, honest to god true conservative to the White House.

PS Governors who sign health insurance mandates can call themselves conservative all day long, but they are NOT. Look for candidates who WALK THE WALK!

Don't tread on me!!!

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 9:08AM

Oh yeah, and another thing. In the early '80s I went to a very high falutin' business school in the Midwest. They were finally all very clear on what caused the 1930's Depression. But it took them about thirty years to figure it out. Right now, most of the country knows what the problems are. If we just don't repeat the 1936 screw up of re-electing the President causing the problem, this will be the 1980's yet again. It worked, it works, trust it. History does repeat and history does not lie.

Get busy, people.

Oh yeah and one other thing, don't forget to pray to God. You never know when He's decided to re-write history...

Mutch Moore| 6.8.11 @ 9:34PM

Now there's a formula I can embrace! If nothing else, it is a nice pep talk... quite Reaganesque. You're the man, Dan! Really, I should address you as Mr. Hirsch. Great post!

looe r| 6.12.11 @ 10:20AM

"Tread on you?"
You mean spit on you. "Down with Medicare!!"

Lazy Jack| 6.8.11 @ 9:07AM

An oldie but a goodie written in 2009. First, some facts to smash the democrat meme that the US is inherently despicable to its people.

A back of the napkin calculation to demonstrate that the very policies expanded exponentially by this administration and the last congress have the opposite of the stated effect.

The tragedy is that as late as 60 days ago, even the investment banks and many major US investors were also trumpeting a reasonably solid optimism, apparently hoping that the administration's policies had no interaction with the economy.

All this is reversable, but we are budning daylight.

Lazy Jack

http://thanksforthelaughs.word.....expansion/

Paul| 6.8.11 @ 9:10AM

What, the guy that had never worked a day in his life (professional college student, college professor, "community organizer," politician) or managed so much as a lemonade stand, is responsible for the economy going in the toliet? Who could have forseen this? I guess the economy does not know he is black, cool, glib, and everything! That should make the economy jump right back in line! The people in this country are getting what they deserve. Unfortunately, those of us that knew all too well what we were getting with the affirmative action super star are getting what we don't deserve.

Anthony| 6.8.11 @ 9:33AM

Amen Paul. If only the drones on the left were the sole beneficiaries of Obozo's economic sunami.
Unfortunately for them, the LSM is in total Lewinsky mode with Obozo; they hope selling their souls for him will result in a bail out from another "stimulus slush fund" before their network lights go out due to lack of audience.
This time, the left will finally get a dose of reality. At least we can laugh as we suffer along with them.

looe r| 6.12.11 @ 10:16AM

"Drones on the left?" Check yourself. Let others do the thinking for you genius.

Redstateboy| 6.8.11 @ 9:11AM

"Just as Reagan brought us Peace through Strength, Obamanomics will be inviting War through Weakness."

This more than anything frightens the B-Jeezus out of me.. Hussein has left us - The United States of America!!! - so exposed! He should be Tried for Treason!!!

looe r| 6.12.11 @ 10:17AM

And he brought us "trickle-dwon," which ALL economists agree started this "roller-coaster" to the bottom.

Oh yeah, and he RAISED taxes several times.

Aiken Bob| 6.8.11 @ 9:17AM

While I agree with the article I don't see many conservatives willing to take on the entitlements. They all know it is political suicide to tell folks that SS will be cut, or that Medicare is broke. The NY-26 election scared me since that was in a nominally red district.
Hopefully someone will step up with some clear principles but I don't see it. Mitt and Tim have pandered to the voters in the past, so it is hard to trust them. Newt buys into the AGW scam.
God help us=======

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 9:56AM

Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Bobby Jindahl come to my mind in a flash. Open your eyes and ears, Bob. You are not alone in your thinking.

Mimi| 6.8.11 @ 10:31AM

Romney just came out for AGW scam too! According to RUSH...He's DONE!!

Maddox| 6.8.11 @ 11:41AM

Yes, he is done. Either he is too ignorant to understand global warming is a scam or he is too willing to compromise with the socialists in order to gain votes. We don't need another Rhino reaching for the olive branch that never grows across the aisle.

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 2:16PM

The RNC firmly believes that politics is an Oreo cookie. All the fun is in the middle. That is why almost every polished, practiced modern GOP'er runs for the middle in an effort to be not scarey to the know nothings in the middle.

You are supposed to run to the middle, AFTER you win the primary, not before. Don't tell Romney, Daniels, Newt, Huntsman, or Huckabee. They seemed to have missed this class in Election Strategy 101. Dopes!

Strider| 6.9.11 @ 6:04PM

I can't remember where I first heard it, but I've always loved the saying:

"The only things in the middle of the road are a streak of yellow and roadkill."

looe r| 6.12.11 @ 10:19AM

"Oreo cookie,?"

The ones who eat while you feed your ignorant face on the couch?

looe r| 6.12.11 @ 10:18AM

Yeah, and "entitlements" to the rich by MASSIVE tax breaks and cuts are good?

Anthony| 6.8.11 @ 9:18AM

Let's stop the B.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, in their typical Washington Orwellian mind set, excludes those who have given up looking for work in their un-employment calculations.
The real un-employment rate is about 13.5% and the un/under employment rate is more like 22%. These are Depression numbers. Remember, the same LSM thought Bush's 4.5% was a weak economy.
Obozo has no worries about a double dip recession, why should he, things are going exactly according to plan with this destruction of the American private sector, and the LSM in complete cahoots.
The only thing that upsets the LSM is Sarah Palin. Their fixation with her is psychotic.
If Obozo is not defeated in 2012 with a solid conservative, who can take the weak kneed Rs in Congress under her control, America is finished as a Constitutional Republic.
James Carville will then be correct in his prediction of civil unrest, big time!!!

David Shoup| 6.8.11 @ 9:23AM

Peter Ferrara: "as the economy roared back later in the year, which it should have done just on its own according to long established rhythms of the business cycle." The main problem clouding the economy has been...(Hold onto yourselves, people) a federal debt as big as America's. It doubled under Bush. It has increased by another 50% in Obama's 2.5 year juvenile attempt at statecraft. Government cannot suck up all the private capital, p*** it away, slap the hundreds of billions in interest payments on the back of taxpayers, and still expect the economy to come "roaring back" like it did before. Some ideas are so stupid, like federal debt, that only intellectuals and DC insiders will believe them. I told you so.

C Smith| 6.8.11 @ 9:36AM

Too Late:

I will bless those who bless you. (Genesis 12:3).

Let people serve thee [Jacob], and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee (Genesis 27:29).

He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee [Israel], and cursed is he that curseth thee (Numbers 24:9).

Bill Sundling| 6.8.11 @ 9:43AM

The economy will crash long before 2013. It could happen tomorrow if the US loses it's reserve currency status.

bill carson| 6.8.11 @ 9:59AM

"The depression for African Americans continued, as unemployment among them rose again to 16.2%."

I don't care if the unemployment rate for blacks goes to 45%, they are still going to vote 90% for Obama. That is sad!

Dustoff| 6.8.11 @ 12:51PM

Damn shame isn't it.

Don't let facts get in the way of your feelings.

Jennifer| 6.8.11 @ 10:32AM

I recently read Amity Schlaes' "Forgotten Man," and the similarities between administrations during the Great Depression and now are very striking. Unwilling to let the recovery cycle work on its own, Hoover thought he could help by tinkering with the economy. This, to me, is like Bush with TARP and other bail-outs. But then FDR came in with his alphabet soup of government programs, laws and restrictions (even confiscating gold from private citizens), which prolonged recession, prevented a recovery, and gave us the Great Depression. Like Obama, who talks of "spreading the wealth", wealth was confiscated from the wealthy with oppressive taxes, and FDR often went after his political foes and anyone who didn't bow to his every whim. It created an atmosphere of fear (the "only thing we have to fear") and timidity in the private sector, as success and innovation were rewarded with burdensome taxes and greater restrictions.

I was taught in public school how FDR had "saved" us from the Great Depression. It's no wonder we are about to repeat history--too many people have been taught the same thing, and believe that government intervention is the only way out of this mess.

martin j smith| 6.8.11 @ 10:37AM

So, what do we do in the mean time ? And where is an alternative leadership ? So far we have in the Presidential race ( or had ) Donald Duck,Mike Hukaphoney,Newt The Byut ( will not survive ), Mitt Romney ( may not survive ) Ron Paul ( isolationist at our own risk ), and Tim Pawlenty
( does he have the guts ? ) , Cain ( a relatively unknown )and maybe Bachman,maybe Palin.
There is a cowardice that deeply troubles me . My best guess is that people even of good will are afraid of saying things that could cause panic and yet unless we have a leader who is capable of leading us thru this mess we wil be in very bad shape. I hope that some one steps forward very soon.

shipley130| 6.8.11 @ 1:50PM

I rather like Donald Duck. He turned millions inherited into billions. I would like to see Donald put his theories of what he would do to the test.

George S| 6.8.11 @ 11:01AM

Maybe, this has nothing to do with Obama. Maybe, the beast is dying a natural death and we, unfortunately, will be under it when it collapses -- and it matters not who is president as it cannot be stopped. The beast being the Debt, created after years of a monetary policy based on printing money. This has done three things:

First, the fiat money party that started in the early 1970's has resulted in the entitlement state. Congress was able to avoid raising taxes necessary to support Medicare and other Great Society entitlements, thereby cementing the foundation for a Euro style dependency class. This creates a voting bloc that assures government will be a drain on the economy forever.

Second, the fiat money produced over the past forty years has made millionaires out of Wall Street and government insiders. The insiders keep the printing presses going while Wall Street earns billions moving and managing all this vapor money, creating vapor wealth in the process. The new found money is borrowed to start businesses, creating jobs and mortgages, further making the economy dependent on Wall Street and government. A cozy arrangement as some of this vapor wealth gets funneled back to government to fund reelection efforts. This is primarily why we have a "Wage Gap" in this country.

Third, all that vapor money sustaining and growing the business cycle to the point where people are now dependent on that fiat money, with its attendant low cost interest, for everything from their mortgage to their jobs. Since all this money was never earned, all the wealth sustaining the middle class and the rich was nothing more than numbers on a bank statement. The artificial increase in vapor money supply, coupled with low interest rates, created a lender's market which made it possible for more jobs to be created and more houses to be purchased. The economy was being sustained by credit, backed by the earnings of future generations.

To keep the economy going, the beast must be fed by new sources of money. We have already depleted the Treasury. We have already borrowed as much as we can from the world. We have already tapped Americans who will be born in the 22nd century. So where will the beast get its money? It will be the confiscation of our wealth or the destruction of the constitutional republic that will result from wiping the slate clean. This is the day where the can stops being kicked as there is no more road. The economy has to be reset to where the dollar is valued by labor instead of political directive -- hello riots and civil unrest as people realize that we will now have to imitate China and Indonesia as we were overpaid over the decades for what we produce wealth-wise.

I think Obama is powerless to stop this, as is anyone else. We cannot live off borrowed money. It has to be paid back. It isn't going to anytime soon. That is the problem that no amount of tax cuts or 'investments' will solve.

buckeyeman| 6.8.11 @ 4:58PM

The "beast" is not debt. The Beast is the willingness of our citizens (many of whom think they are, themselves, responsible conservatives) to allow the government to steal from others for their own benefit. The Beast is the combination of greed and envy and theft and cowardice. The Beast is collectivism. Debt is simply consequence of allowing the Beast to run free.

"...and it matters not who is president as it cannot be stopped..." This is what I fear most, George,-- that you have just written our epitaph.

Strider| 6.9.11 @ 6:49PM

The government's epitaph is not our epitaph. Did a huge hole open up in the Earth's crust in 1991 and swallow the USSR? No -- it simply split into 15 independent nations. The same will happen here when the US breaks apart for good. Here's my (very rough) hypothesis of what will happen:

a. Alaska, Hawaii and California remain independent, as do all the US colonies (Puerto Rico, Guam, USVI, etc.) As California becomes more Mexicanized, the northern half secedes.

b. Washington, Oregon & NoCal form the Republic of Cascadia.

c. The South rises again, this time along with Kentucky and Oklahoma. WV must reunite with Virginia if it wants to join.

d. The interior West forms a conservative federation. (Utah may prefer independence as a Mormon theocracy.)

e. Marxist-Leninist nations form in the Mid-Atlantic, New England and upper Midwest. NYC becomes an independent city-state like Singapore. So does Chicago, after the rest of Illinois kicks it out of the state.

f. All sorts of permutations are possible in the 9 states comprising the rest of the former USA. Your scenarios are as good or better than mine here!

Once these alignments are complete, we will then see the greatest human cross-migration since the India-Pakistan partition of 1947, as freedom-loving conservatives and freedom-hating liberals on the wrong sides of the lines flee to friendlier locales. Few of us living north or west of Lake Okeechobee will be sorry to see all the "Condo Commies" vacate SE Florida for good.

Wayne | 6.8.11 @ 11:07AM

The problem with the term "recession" is that it is based on the dollar, as though the dollar is stable. But it has gone down in value. We never got out of the recession in reality, just as the unemployment rate has never gone down (if you include those who graduated from school or quit looking for work).

I agree with those that Obama has no intention of improving the economy. He is a committed ideologue. His ideology is to punish his enemies (us) and reward his friends (Soros, GE, the Unions). He has the GOP dreaming of 2012, while he does his damage now. It will be too late.

Don| 6.8.11 @ 11:25AM

Suggested Reading:
A Time for Truth...
and
A Time for Action...
both written by Wm.E. Simon in the Carter years..
This was the blueprint for Reaganomics...
Here is Mr Simon's wikepedia bio..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Simon
http://www.wesimonfoundation.org/
The University of Rochester school of business is named for Mr Simon...
He was the real deal...

JohnB| 6.8.11 @ 11:29AM

I agree with Rush Limbaugh: that the President is purposely collapsing America's economy. That "purpose"? Can anybody say "dictatorship"? The Roman pillars at the Dem convention in Denver in 2008 were no mistake -- ladies and gents, I give you "Obamus Caesar." The days of the American-Roman Republic are drawing to a close.

Mike Rogers| 6.8.11 @ 11:44AM

The price of freeedom is eternal vigilance.
The point of collapse could be as soon as July unless QE3 is unleashed, and not much later if it is :(
The cure is a drastic cut in spending NOW, and we must all pursue out representatives and senators to that end. Little or no increase in the debt limit; debt service first, defense second (including military pay and pensions), social programs trimmed slightly while we work out the details for the long term; MANY departments shuttered for good.
70% cuts in 1920, 50% cuts in 1946, cant't we do 40% today???
As usual, Ferrara hits it out of the park - GOP candidates, are you listening?

Mark MacDonald| 6.8.11 @ 11:45AM

These are the most ominous times I have seen in my 54 years on the planet. I have a small pension and 4 years ago moved my investments into precious metals entirely. This proved to be a wise move but I have come to believe that even precious metals will either stall or even decline in the coming storm. On the other hand, I can see no viable investments in the future. Advice anybody?

SonOfSam| 6.8.11 @ 12:06PM

I'm not sure how you can believe that metals will decline after all the funny money that's been pumped into the economy. That much being said, you might also want to invest in practical things that really matter: how to grow at least some of your own food, having a safe and reliable water supply, stockpiling canned and dry goods, laying in a supply of needed clothing, etc. all these commodities are going to go through the roof. You might even want to stockpile stuff you can trade with your neighbors, like extra coffee and sugar and wheat flour. Some good solid shotguns, shells and sturdy locks won't hurt either. And, you might to get to know your friends and neighbors better: there's safety in numbers after all.

"the future is unwritten, the heroes are unknown"

big bob| 6.8.11 @ 12:31PM

Are you all aware of the trading restrictions that will placed on retail gold trading starting July 1, 2011? I have a client who was called by the exchange to tell him he was not going to be able to trade any more. And BTW, the effect of this is that the only ones able to trade will be in the CHICAGO Mercantile exchange. It's a payback to the thugs in Chicago. There is so much going on behind the scenes that we don't know about, and with our boy Rahm running things in Chicago, we will NEVER know about them. This is just one result of the Frank-Dodd Financial "Reform" bill. What a joke.

Michael Gabel| 6.8.11 @ 11:48AM

In addition to the president's the foolish policies, economic and other, don't forget the effect of his anti-American and un-Constitutional beliefs.

I believe CEOs and the many would be drivers of economic growth were utterly frightened when Obama stole private property from the creditors of Chrylser and GM, and gave it to his polital allies. This, in my opinion is a clear breach of Obama's duty to defend and uphold the law of the land.

Additionally, he berated Chrylser's creditors, stated that he does not stand with them, and referred to them as "speculators". This, Obama's continual demonization of profit, and his ever present threat to spread more wealth by taxing the $250K millionaires and billionaires, and can anyone wonder why people are unwilling to commit capital?

Mimi| 6.8.11 @ 12:09PM

T hanks MICHAEL...You done GOOD!!!
Can anyone send this Post to the WHITE-HOUSE, and Every Democratic senator...Also the the Major news outlets....they need to know that WE know and the Whole World knows that We know...Just WHAT they have DONE!!!

martin j smith| 6.8.11 @ 11:54AM

In order to test if the current economic sitation has"nothing to do with Obama" we would need a country in the same circumstances as ours treat economically by a "supply sider" President and compare the outcomes. What we actually have is a Socialist who refuses to do anything except those things that fit in his Socialist play book REGARDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES.
Thus, we cannot rule out the notion that Obama's chocies have consequences which we are now dealing with.

simon templar| 6.8.11 @ 3:42PM

We have had several in the last century and did still does not matter..they still cling to their Keynesian economics and central command economic theory.

John| 6.8.11 @ 11:56AM

The economies in the western world have been booming of over the last many decades due to the easy availability of credit. The banking crises has put a stop to that. The banks were playing the casino and neglected the real economy. When the music stopped the banks were bailed using taxpayer money. And credit has flown from east to west to feed the decades long binge. The music has stopped folks. Time to pay the bills. The greedy bankers who have been bailed should be 100% asset stripped. Only fair since they gambled and lost. banks should be restructured for the real economy. We will all be in the doldrums for years to come. will democracy survive. Will capitalism survive. The jury is out. This is not the end of History.

big bob| 6.8.11 @ 12:34PM

In the end, it was not the banks, (who controls/regulates banks???) and BTW, they were not greedy, at least not as greedy as the govment boys calling the shots and who are now stealing you and your family and friends blind. This NOT capitalism...it is fascism, and maybe crony capitalism.

simon templar| 6.8.11 @ 4:01PM

Your analysis is stunningly ignorant and riddled with socialistic talking points. The economies have been booming due to the advances in communication, computers, and technology and the economic development of countries like China and India. The banks and so-called free money have nothing to do with the boom per se. It is the growth of government, three major wars, and the GIGANTIC borrowing and debt that these governments particularly the US to pay for all these BIG Government programs that has place us in this fiscal crisis and uncertainty. Decades of government waste, fraud, corruption, and spending brought us here. The housing fiasco created and underwritten by big daddy government created the trillions of dollars of over development via freddie and fannie pressure and manipulation of the banks to lend trillions to unqualified lendees for two decades started the crisis and exposed the nation to financial instabilty. Gee, what would that real economy be exactly? Socialism? The banks were bailed out because in many ways the government had no choice. The Fed created the problem in the first place and don't want useful idiots like you to discover that. Big bob is correct..we live in a nation where cronie capitalism is running rampant as well and many of these so-called capitalist have been scratching big feds back and colluding with it to gain advatage and favor. GE ring any bells for you? Explaining this to you was most likely a waste of time.

buckeyeman| 6.8.11 @ 5:07PM

"Explaining this to you was most likely a waste of time"

Maybe so, Simon, but I enjoyed it. "Crony Capitalism" is another false flag run up the pole by the Left. This government theft and self-redistribution has absolutely NOTHING to do with capitalism. Maybe we should start calling it crony socialism - that's more like what it is.

simon templar| 6.8.11 @ 12:08PM

Do not get too excited by a coming 2013 economic crash. There is good reason and plenty of history that demonstrates that the progressives will benefit from this possible crash. First, they never let a crisis go to waste. The MSM will spin this as the fault of the republicans and conservatives as they have already done in the last crisis quite well despite the FACTS that they were the major player responsible. They are doing it with Medicare issue right now. They are cleverly distracting away from Obamacare, placing blame and focus on Paul Ryan and conservatives, and shedding any kind of responsibility for the mismanagement, theft, and corruption, and failure of the program let alone the reality that it will soon go bankrupt. For the most part, the GOP is letting this happen and is failing to connect or communicate with the public and turn this around. The debt ceiling is another example. Infact, I predict that the resistance to raise it will be used as the excuse and reason for the potential future crash.

Pat| 6.8.11 @ 12:15PM

Just what kind of a two bit democracy would we have if voters couldn’t get all emotional, make a poor decision at the polls and then constantly complain about it afterwards? C’mon, we’re all entitled to make dumb choices and even if we personally refrain from voting in the latest village idiot admired and fawned over by our media folks, we still must live with the bad decisions of other voters.

As one scientist and tenured professor at Harvard explained within the pages of Scientific American, we all have a portion of our brain called the Medula Commonsensicus which controls our day to day decisions; it’s about the size of a fingernail clipping and some folks lack an MC even as large as that. But we humans also share another mental control mechanism centered between our eyebrows, the Pons Dumbshiticus, about the size of a golf ball, although within some voters the size of tennis ball. This normally dormant portion of our brains becomes very active during election campaigns and is often targeted by Democratic candidates in quite clever ways.

For example, Obama appealed to our collective Pons with his Hope and Change slogan, his “Don’t Vote for Me Just Because I’m Black, But It’s OK If That’s Your Only Reason” theme and the simple fact the Pons, in large numbers of Americans, was thoroughly bored with Bush after 8 long years.

Now Obama assures us there won’t be a double-dip recession in 2013 – of course, by that statement, he means he personally won’t experience an economic downturn. In fact, Obama is on his way to becoming very rich, anticipating government pensions and health care for life, enormous speaking fees, lucrative book deals and all this with thanks to American voters and their Pons Dumbshiticus. And, if you’re among the long term unemployed, don’t bother sending cards and emails to the White House begging for financial help in 2013, Obama’s personal wealth is his and his alone, but he’d very much like your Pons Dumbshiticus to consider him for another 4 years – he believes he’s definitely worth the additional money.

russel| 6.8.11 @ 1:07PM

Another site has everyone beating up on each other , while I maintain it's way too soon to postulate . Light years in political time . We DO know zero can't touch anything that doesn't turn brown , so his fortunes can only get worse . He is such a malfunction I expect him to not last long enough to see the next election , and that covers a lot of territory . As Rush pointed out , the socialist's don't have to nominate him because he is so radioactive , and they worship their own skin above all else .

Kristal| 6.8.11 @ 1:09PM

Predictions are a dime a dozen.

Especially about the future.

There is probably only ONE absolutely true prediction that ONE can always make about the future---

People will ALWAYS make predictions about the future.

And guess what---guess WHAT?

Someone is ALWAYS correct, at least more or less. Why?

Because SOMETHING always DOES happen, and just like throwing spaghetti at a wall and hoping some will stick, well----

That said, what the hell’s a DIME worth, these days, anyway?

Under eat and under stand---that’s the ticket, in the gross food and subtle “food” realms!

It’s actually too funny---conventional wisdom, that is.

When it “comes to” certain body parts, in particular those in the lower vital area, society enforces certain “polite” norms---so, it’s a no no to publicly mention not only the sex organs, but even more taboo is the eliminatory TUBES---the anus is so BAD!

Excuse my “poop”, but the secret to a long and healthy physical life is---the COLON.

Yes, any sane person KNOWS to keep the drain pipes in their house unclogged, because backed up filth is---DEADLY.

And, yet, hidden from view by ever expanding guts, we are “exposed” to the burgeoning evidence that inner TUBES are backed up, and---FILTHY humans are suicidally self-poisoning: and, here’s the humorous aspect.

They think they are VICTIMS!

And, as we all can easily SEE, in the political realm, much the same kind of clogged TUBES action is all too humanly apparent—

Behold the sub-MAN: Obama!

Petronius| 6.8.11 @ 9:38PM

K
You and Pat have Grand Unified TheorieS. That anal retention and accumulated feces is bad is a given. What effect it has on the our infantile electorate when it reaches their brains is fatal all around. Over and out!

John| 6.8.11 @ 1:17PM

Meanwhile, Obama is pledging today to help bailout Greece with more taxpayer money. This is really bailing out the global banks again who have gambled by buying Greek debt.

There are no free markets in this so-called global economy since we now subsidize the downside. Economic Globalism run amok is why we are going to crash.

Why aren’t the talk-radio free market pundits exposing the crooked banksters and their ties to both Parties?

simon templar| 6.8.11 @ 3:39PM

It is about proping up a major socialist state in the european union. It is the same with the Brazil deal on oil. It is the same with the billions targeted to the socialist, muslim brotherhood arab spring revolutions.

Oldefarte| 6.8.11 @ 1:42PM

Peter's brilliant articles are always well researched, highly intelligent and pointedly correct; but understandably he is too much a gentleman and possesses far too much kindness to state the obvious conclusion/point within this editorial. It is not that the current president and his administration are bungling idiots of economic/financial common sense and theory, but simply that what is now happening is EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT/INTEND TO OCCUR! He was elected in November of 2008 as a trojuned-horse, stealth political candidate using the messaging of HOPE and CHANGE, successfully pied-pipering America's voters toward the cliff of bankruptcy and destruction as a leading-world country. Now that they've obtained the presidential powers, they have used same with the last two years to implement administratively with mandates, agency dictates and coersion etc, their purposeful destruction agenda with the intent to destroy this country. It is all by design, folks! It is not some idiots that don't know what they're doing and who are making mistakes, okay? Think about it, and you'll realize that their foreign policy [the political uprisings within the middle east], their domestic economic/financial policy [preventing Louisiana from oil drilling offhore or using NLRB to prevent Boeing from operating in SC], their administrative controls [suing Arizona over immigration] are all expressfully intended to destroy this country's greatness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

simon templar| 6.8.11 @ 3:35PM

I have been saying the same thing now for 3 years. I knew this guy, I knew his philosophy, I knew his agenda, the day after he announced and discovered he was an Alinsky community organizer. ALL of this has been by design from the beginning. The amazing thing about all this and the very same thing that perplexes me is that fact that so few get this, particular these talking heads and so-called political analysts. Got any ideas, or theory about this ancient one?

Oldefarte| 6.8.11 @ 4:35PM

Absolutely agree, ST! I think that this was a TROJUN-HORSED attempt from the getgo to capture the castle, which was obviously successful. Once captured, we've seen various attacks from numerous angles all designed to bring down this nation. Justice's lawsuit against Arizona, Interior's oil drilling moratorium and refusla to issue permits, the amazing middle east uprisings against their dictatorial regimes [and the no doubt ultimate takeovers of same politically by the Muslim Brotherhood etc] are just a few examples. Its ALL BY DESIGN and absolutely NOT ACCIDENT!!!!!!!!!

shipley130| 6.8.11 @ 1:47PM

All those that hailed Obama as the greatest president ever should chew their own face off.

Colin Foy| 6.8.11 @ 2:04PM

Keep it up Dems! For the first time ever please continue to demon straight just who and what you are.
Historically speaking, the Dems and our tyrannical, corrupt, bloated, stupid federal government are in the exact same spot as the soviet union was in 1979 –81’.
Consider:
Mired in a pointless, unwinnable and expensive military engagement in Afghanistan, going on ten years now.
Trying to affect revolution/s and overthrowing governments in multiple muslim countries.
Facing a reverse union revolt in the west, mid west and southern states which, if successful, will force the dems to find illegal campaign funding elsewhere. (China, Saudi Arabia?)
Assassinating or trying to assassinate radical foreign religious leaders. (Remember the soviet sponsored assassination attempt on Pope John Paul)
Trying to keep up militarily with growing threats from emerging, rapidly advancing economic world powers who’re beginning to outpace us at every turn.
Clinging to failed socialist to marxist economic and social policies when other world leaders and governments are turning to common sense, capitalistic, free market solutions to their problems.
Protected by a gutless, sycophantic state controlled media which daily spew propaganda increasingly impossible to live up to.
And, oh yeah, were broke and getting broker!
One major difference; I’m sure the wives of Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko, Gorbachev and Yeltsin were a damn side more charming then the clueless low class ghetto rat we now have as first lady.
If you despise democrats and politicians in general, as I do, the next 5-10 years are going to be fun.

Colin Foy| 6.8.11 @ 2:44PM

Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR)

United Socialist States of America (USSA)

Strudwick Wickerwire| 6.8.11 @ 2:56PM

The last couple of paragraphs of this piece point-out the threats the current POTUS is exposing our freedom to, his complete, mindless intransigence leading the way to oblivion.

Obuckethead's services are no longer needed and his continued residence in the WH should be terminated -- his time is up!!!

mmercier| 6.8.11 @ 3:37PM

The fact of 2012 will present for all to see that there are now more of "them" than "us".

Suck it up, cupcake.

Dixie Pixie| 6.8.11 @ 4:09PM

The above article and most of the thread posters are wildly optimistic.
Every one assumes there is an American Economy that can bounce back if only the lead hand of government can be removed from around its neck.
The author also assumes disaster will strike when the Bush Tax Cuts will expire.
What raging optimists we are!

The true facts are the 2nd Great Depression started in the 2nd quarter of 2008 as shown by the Romer-Bernstein Chart in the recent AmSpecBlog.
The expiration of the tax cuts will only throw a few more quarts of gasoline on a already burning bonfire.

Wall Street has asset stripped the economy and sold it overseas to the highest bidder calling it “outsourcing”.
The Federal Government has used Keynesian Economics asset strip the rest of the economy and spent it on themselves.
So what economy is there to bounce back from?

Wayne | 6.8.11 @ 5:14PM

There is always an economy.

Dixie Pixie| 6.8.11 @ 5:54PM

Greetings Wyane

My point is the Economy we had before the asset stripping began no longer exists.
No politician is proposing the necessary policies to correct the economic situation.

For example, not even Sister Sarah is proposing to repeal NAFTA and reimpose the tariff walls to force the rebirth of American manufacturing.
Nor is any politician proposing to repeal the Keynesian Economic policies that are killing the economy.
Not one politician has protested QE 1, QE 2 and next QE 3 as the cause of the inflation driving up gas and food prices.

The Economy of America's Golden Age is dead and no politician or political organization wants it back.

Don Carlson| 6.8.11 @ 4:16PM

It does appear that American leftists--everyone from the president of Harvard to Barbra Streisand, President Obama, the Dixie Chicks, John Kerry, Elena Kagan, and back again--are sufficiently mislead by their socialist religion to be exuberantly destructive. This causes the realists among us to think there might be a conspiracy afoot, but there is no conspiracy. These people are truly convinced of their ability to foretell and control events. Like the pitiable preacher who keeps revising his Dooms Day prediction, Obama and all his friends are creatures of blind belief. When the bottom falls out of their basket, as Peter Ferrara says must happen, Mr. Obama may become the first incumbent president to do the ultimate bunk.

buckeyeman| 6.8.11 @ 5:17PM

Quite right, Don. I know and have known many others over the years who think just like this. Hell, half the congress thinks like this. There isn't any vast conspiracy of puppeteers. There is just a vast army of worthless cowardly thieves who will pull the lever for anyone who promises to steal other peoples wealth and "spread it around". Everything else just falls into place.

There was no vast conspiracy of right wing thinkers who built this great country. Just masses of similar minded individualists doing what came naturally. Now that is gone and we have become a nation of collectivists and our greatness is dissolving before our eyes.

BackToBasics| 6.8.11 @ 4:43PM

I see many people holding signs on the roadsides for money for food. Everyone I see who is doing this is white. I live in a top 20 metro area that is racially mixed, but the sign-holders are white. Some may be scam artists but not all.

Many tens of thousands of these folks will probably not vote in 2012 since they are homeless. If they were to hold their anger against Obam in the election they may not be able to vote without a permanent address. The Dems will give cigarettes and booze to get homeless people of color onto buses to vote. But I'll bet a lot of these homeless whites will not vote and they will NOT be helped to get registered and helped to the polls by local Republican leaders the same way that minorities are helped by the Dems.

Gr0w1er| 6.8.11 @ 7:00PM

I wonder how many unemployed Hispanics and Blacks will still vote for Barry in 2012? Turns out you still can't fix stupid. 'Nuff said.

Purpleguy| 6.8.11 @ 7:03PM

"I expected that based on American economic history, recovery from the recession should have occurred some time during 2009." - what part of we almost had a Second Great Depression do you not understand. Comparing this nearly complete financial collapse, worldwide btw, to just a cyclical recession is economic malfeasance.

You obviously missed the crisis of credit, upon which all previous recoveries are based. This is more similar to the Great Depression than any "historical recession" . Consistently making arguments from the false premise that this is simply another recession completely ignores the severity of the situation.
What are the solutions? Tax cuts? We've had them in place for the last 10 years - and - how did that work out for us? Tax cuts have never promoted job growth no matter how much it is said. On the other hand, raising taxes DOES create job growth. During the Clinton era, the Reagan era, the JFK era tax increased resulted in a booming economy. Why is that? Because the so-called rich that are supposed to use tax cuts to create jobs are far more motivated to find tax shelters and tax dodges when taxes are raised and those tax shelter investments actually create jobs. Wow, what a radical idea. What say you, Right Wing?

skip| 6.8.11 @ 8:33PM

You are stupid.

You are a liar.

It would be one thing to engage in an argument to destroy with ease every premise you've assumed, but as you are a stupid liar it is not possible for you to engage in this argument in any remotely intelligent or remotely honest manner.

kurt2088| 6.8.11 @ 9:16PM

Skip,
Purple is either public employee, on welfare or disability, better known as a parasite!!!

Mutch Moore| 6.8.11 @ 9:24PM

Purpleguy, no one is "ignoring the severity of the situation" here. And you seem to be endorsing some of the "economic malfeasance" yourself if you're proposing tax increases as some sort of fix. Aint no tax increase gonna dig us out of the hole you libs have dug. The bottom is falling out. I'm with skip, there's no arguing with trolls. Troll, for your information, is an internet slang, a troll is someone, like purpleguy, who posts erroneous, inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic comments in an online community, such as American Spectator comment forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. Please move along to Yahoo or Huffington post with the false premise that the United States can somehow tax its way into prosperity. This feebleness will not fly on A.S.

skip| 6.9.11 @ 2:53PM

I have provoked a number of trolls into actual arguments, and proceeded to utterly destroy their positions with enough intelligence and honesty to shut up every last one of them, as AmSpec's archives will attest. It may seem a futile gesture, but if just one of them becomes convinced of the absolute depravity of liberalism, or even engages his fellow liberals in discussion of points I made, it seems worth it. At a minimum my arguments may shore up a wavering conservative, or provide him with better ammunition on some point for his own arguments. At the very least when the likely inevitable result of this political struggle is reached I will have a clearer conscience while copiously fertilizing the tree of liberty.

simon templar| 6.9.11 @ 12:42AM

The right wing says Stop all the insane spending, keep the tax rates where they are, curtail these protracted, nation building interventionist wars, reduce fed regulation particularly on small business, get rid of obamacare, fix entitlement programs with reforms and privitazation options, stop the waste, duplication, fraud and evergrowing size of government. Any further tax cuts are off the table as you progressives have dug the whole so deep it no longer is an option, at least for now. Kennedy and Reagan both lowered taxes which resulted in enormous growth. Look it up or stop lying.

Child of God| 6.8.11 @ 7:39PM

why is the author surprised? no surprise to me.
But I haven't had my head buried in the sand either. Mr. Ferrara, obama and company are intentionally, get it ?, destroying this country via the economy.

Marxfreesociety| 6.8.11 @ 8:08PM

What was this garbage today by CNN asserting that 75% of Americans like BHO personally. WTF????

Marxfreesociety| 6.8.11 @ 8:10PM

Raising taxes does promote job growth - government job growth!

Mutch Moore| 6.9.11 @ 12:59AM

Marxfreesociety: Touche' ! You stated volumes in less than 10 words . . . . demonstrating yet again that, indeed, "brevity is the soul of wit." Great post. Thanks.

Mutch Moore| 6.8.11 @ 9:06PM

Peter Ferrara is not crying wolf here, nor can his gloomy forecast be likened to the misguided rapture prophet, Harold Camping. All the ingredients are in play for 2013 judgment day of a U.S. dollar collapse.
This is real, very real. And far worse than just political bungling or mismanagement. This is criminal ineptitude of the most serious order that will plunge America into chaos - perhaps even sooner than 2013.

Juan Jose Morales-Castillo| 6.8.11 @ 9:40PM

I am so happy that Baron Obombast is such a hopelessly incompetent fool! I pray that his defeat in 2012 will convince the Dem Party to stop nominating for POTUS incompetents and nonentities whose sole qualification for the US Presidency is that they bear a totally imaginary resemblance to FDR and JFK.

George True| 6.8.11 @ 9:54PM

This was a blockbuster of an article. Almost as defining as the article last year by Codavilla about the ruling class. And so many insightful comments. There is very little that can be added to the collective wisdom expressed in them

When Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno took over for Gen. Petraeus in Iraq, some journo-lister was asking him what would happen going forward. Odierno impressed me mightily with his sage answer: "I was never taught at West Point, nor have I ever been able to learn since then, how to predict the future." Neither do I claim any fortune telling expertise. But there is most likely one thing that must happen as surely as the sun will rise.

Our currency is going to collapse. It has already been debased more than most people even begin to imagine. The dollar now buys half of what it did just 22 years ago. That is bad enough, but the big problem is the rapid acceleration of its debasement over the last few years. It has lost 38% of its value against the Swiss franc in just the last five years.

If that were not bad enough, the stealth devaluation of the dollar will continue apace this year and next in the form of QE3 and 4, and continued $1.5 trillion yearly deficits. The leftist cabal in charge, aided behind the scenes by Soros and the rest of the one world government crowd will move heaven and earth to get Obama re-elected. They will do whatever is necessary to forestall the currency collapse until after November 2012. (QE3, QE4, QE5, etc.) Whether they can forestall it that long or not remains to be seen. If not, Obama is a dead duck. If they are successful, then they simply do not care what happens to the country or any of us after that. They will have their millions or billions in gold and other assets. their limos, and their dachas in the countryside with gates and guards.

Life will go on for the rest of us, but it will be radically different. Some refer to it as TEOTWAWKI, or the end of the world as we know it. Something similar happened in Argentina in 2001. That is when their socialist government, having extracted all the loot that could be gotten out of the economy, devalued the Argentinian peso literally overnight, to 20% of what it had been the day before. They also confiscated everybody's retirement accounts. Overnight, life became a much harder struggle for most people. The only things of real value were gold and silver, guns and ammo, food, and anything that people really needed for their daily existence.

Crime soared. The cities were not safe. And the countryside was even less safe. People discovered the hard way that even holed up in their well-stocked compounds in the country, criminal gangs would just wait them out. Shoot them dead when they went out to fetch water, drive to town, etc. And then rape the wife and loot the home at leisure, because the police were not coming.

When the devaluation comes here, it may not be to the tune of 80%. But even 30-40% would be a disaster collectively for the country and for most of us as individuals. As others here have suggested, stockpile at least some gold and silver, guns and ammo, and food and water. If feasible, dump the gas guzzler ASAP and replace it with the most fuel efficient vehicle you can afford.

Finally, get completely out of dollar denominated assets if you can. Anything you have in domestic brokerage accounts, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc, will become devalued at the same percentage that the dollar is devalued. Anything that when liquidated or converted to a retirement income stream will be paid to you in dollars, will be affected.

For someone who specializes in IRA/401k distribution planning, what I am about to say next is blasphemy. Consider taking your money out of any qualified plan if you can, even if you have to pay the tax and penalty on it. Then open up an offshore brokerage account (fully disclosing it to the IRS), and invest in the same assets you had before if you want to, but where your gains will be computed and paid out in something other than U.S. dollars. Such a move may seem radical and counter intuitive now, but the day after the devaluation occurs will be too late.

Even if a Republican is elected president in 2012, I do not see how the collapse of the dollar can be avoided at this point. But at least if the Marxists are swept from power, a constitution respecting, fiscally conservative president and senate could, over the following eight years, go a long ways towards aggressively downsizing government, cutting income taxes, eliminating corporate and capital gains taxes, reducing regulations on businesses, and not inflating the currency (whatever is left of it). The intervening years would still be a struggle, but at least we would be moving in the right direction.

Mutch Moore| 6.9.11 @ 12:51AM

George true wrote: ". . . open up an offshore brokerage account (fully disclosing it to the IRS), and invest in the same assets you had before if you want to, but where your gains will be computed and paid out in something other than U.S. dollars. . ."

Homeland Security measures pretty mutch preclude this sort of Cayman Island maneuver. Easier said than done.

". . . stockpile at least some gold and silver, guns and ammo, and food and water. If feasible, dump the gas guzzler ASAP and replace it with the most fuel efficient vehicle you can afford. . ."

Gold & silver, being a commodity, not a currency would be pretty mutch like tits on a bull = useless, especially in an anarchic scenario where guns & ammo are required in lieu of a cell phone to dial 911.

Unorthodox advice for sure, especially for a financial planning specialist. Please elaborate.

Rowdy Boots| 6.9.11 @ 12:08AM

Can anyone who voted for Obama still feel that he is the Great Black Hope?

This is the Most Disastrous Presidency in American History, because Obama is a Marxist, Socialist anti-Capitalist a Fascist.

If there is any decent Lib out there who really Loves Liberty--act now and denounce this Menace to Society

Karl from Chicago| 6.9.11 @ 2:39AM

So both presidents inherited weak economies from their predecessor. In addition, they inherited a budget that would set a post WW II record for spending as a % of GDP. They both enacted tax cuts. But after that, they diverge. One of these presidents cut spending and the deficit in his first budget, the other president doubled down and set an even higher spending record in his first budget, then did it again the next year. Who was the president who set new spending records three straight years? Why President Reagan, of course. Yes, he acted as a Keynesian and the economy recovered nicely. Discretionary spending was higher under Reagan than under Obama. We did not stop setting spending records until all of the 2.7 million lost private sector jobs were recovered.

By the way, at 8.8 million lost private sector jobs for the downturn that started in late 2007, this is more than three times the job losses of any recession since the Great Depression (12 million lost jobs). Therefore, one should expect that the recovery from this downturn will take substantially longer than any recession since the Great Depression.

Gary| 6.11.11 @ 2:51PM

Karl, reclaim barry to your city and disappear, please. demoncrat philosophies of a house for anyone and their protection of friends brought this country down. They should be in jail. Not to worry, justice will still find them.

chuck jim fox| 6.9.11 @ 3:22AM

When or if O gets thrown out in 12 by one of these GOP neoLandons ("we can do it better and it won't cost you a penny") he will hang around and groom the legend that the Racists drove him from office. And with one term behind him he could still run again and have another four years as potus in six years.

wodiej| 6.9.11 @ 7:10AM

What a poor excuse of leadership for this country.

Bernd Harzog| 6.9.11 @ 10:31AM

If we want businesses to invest in America they must have positive expectations regarding the outcome of that investment. In other words they must expect it to be profitable. Obama and his brand of economics are doing nothing but making it less profitable to invest in America. Here are some examples:

1) Obama keeps talking about raising taxes on "the rich". Well small businesses pay taxes as individuals so those higher tax rates reduce profits and reduce the available money to invest and hire people.

2) ObamaCare is going to make it more expensive to hire people, but we do not know by how much. Not an incentive to invest or hire.

3) The EPA is going to try to regulate C02 as a pollutant. Who knows what it will cost to comply with these upcoming regulations. Not an incentive to invest or hire.

4) Borrowing 1.5T to finance the deficit this year, requires paying $45B a year in interest forever on just this year's borrowing. This leads to an expectation of even higher taxes. Not an incentive to invest or hire.

5) The liberals refusal to cut entitlement benefits down to the tax stream that is supposed to fund them (FICA) creates the expectation of ever higher spending, borrowing, and taxes to pay for it. Not an incentive to invest or hire (at least here in America).

Taken together these Obama polices are the most business hostile, investment hostile and job growth hostile policies of any administration ever.

Cut spending, cut taxes, rein in entitlements, rein in the EPA and the other regulators and then get out of the way. The private sector will invest again when it sees a government that is not actively hostile to our free enterprise system.

antimarket| 6.9.11 @ 10:39AM

Garbage in (column) equals garbage out (comments).

Gary| 6.11.11 @ 2:52PM

Hey antimarket: Wow. More BS in your one line comment than a pasture full of herfords.

AlphaMale| 6.9.11 @ 11:44AM

I see an easy fix for this. The feds could just start opening businesses. There could be a federal gas stand, a federal restaurant, a federal pet shop, even a federal fashion/clothing store.
There would need to be a lot of additional regulation determining who could buy what for what price, and who would get priority on new factory items.
I'll bet Michelle could design the menu for the restaurant, and that it would offer three healthy selections: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Free from tax burdens, these federal business/supply entities could focus on customer services, and employee millions. A single federal restaurant could serve 3 states and employ a million staff, all focused on customer service.
High speed rail transportation service networks could ease citizens abilities to take advantage of government services.
This would also end a lot of waste since the gas could set prices in order to adjust U.S. carbon outputs to our fair share. Instead of hundreds of new designs each year, each federal clothing would be updated every five years. Twice a decade the unisex pant, shirt, and undergarment would get a full makeover in all three sizes.
While not offered clothes for purchase, anyone with a BMI over 30, would have the opportunity to spend 5 times as much to purchase an ochre zip-tent sleeve to give them the extra support and encouragement they need to get healthy. (Sry Stallone, those pecks make you a little top heavy and pop you well into the morbidly obese category.)
The economic failures of marxism were not caused by bad ideology, but unsophisticated central planning tools. We know better now. Central planning has been demystified. WE CAN DO IT!
Public works are the best start. Have you seen the Moscow subway? It's still the envy of the world. It makes me wish I could just kiss Stalin. Its a marvel of engineering and a work of public art all in one. Sure we might need to murder a few million of our own people now and again, but to make an omlette, you've gotta break eggs.

Joe Doakes| 6.9.11 @ 11:55AM

"When Ronald Reagan took the reigns of this nation in 1981 we were in far worse shape than we are in today, a large portion of our military qualified for poverty assistance, a business owner could not breathe without the governments permission, inflation was sky high, unemployment at double digits. Unless we do the right thing now we will be there again, rapidly. Our economic problems today are manufactured by our own fiscal malfeasance - there is no shortage of food, energy, labor, or capital. What we have too much of is the heavy hand of government deciding who gets what, how much, and when via a complex set of regulations and tax policy. President Reagan, to the largest extent possible, ended that madness, and while the 80’s were no picnic, that decade created 20,000,000 new jobs, strengthened this nation so we could carry on in the future, and we brought most of the world with us as a lucky strike extra. The economic lesson of the 80’s is that freedom and economic liberty are viral, and the only antidote for it is big government - this is something we have forgotten or chosen to ignore. Up to now President Obamas rhetoric has been the antithesis of this pro growth philosophy. Mr. Obama thinks that a combination of targeted tax cuts, welfare, and government make work projects are the cure for our ills. To do this Mr. Obama will need more bureaucrats, and add more legal and fiscal complexity to meet his goals. I reject this economic cure and its implementation. Remember, what the government gives to one it must take from another. How does the government know that the capital or wealth it is redistributing will not be used for a much wiser purpose then the one it has ordained? It doesn’t. Like an alcoholic in a bar, the government drinks without accountability, and spends the monthly mortgage payment on whiskey without forethought, and hurts everyone it claims to care about. Remember these thoughts as you create the next seemingly free government give away; someone has to pay for it, that someone will be our children, their payment will either be in gold or blood."

ONTIME| 6.9.11 @ 11:58AM

The Mystery Man has not accomplished this plannned policy failure by himself, he has had a lot of help...why the hell would any sane American help this fiasco of fools?

shawn rock| 6.9.11 @ 12:12PM

Washington is making up all the headlines and the stories for the media to report on. Want proof? Sarah Palin’s emails will be released on Friday.

How many coincidences does it take to make something more than a coincidence?

Sarah Palin a Maverick
John McCain a Maverick
Maverick Mark Cuban appears to be the Rich Jerk in the Rich Jerk videos
Robert Johnson Rich Jerk appears to be Tony Rezko who sold Obama real estate
Sarah Palin’s basketball name (Barrac-uda) as in Barack-uda
Barack Obama’s basketball name (O’Bomber)
Mr. internet technology (Ma)verick (Ma)rk Cuba-n was under investigation of insider trading for a company called (Ma)mma. Sarah Palin coined the phrase “(ma)(ma) grizzly” (Ma)verick (Ma)rk Cuban produced a movie through (Ma)gnolia Pictures called Redacted. Sarah Palin’s 24,199 emails will have a lot of information which will be “redacted.” Why not release 24,000 emails, why the strange number? The Rich Jerk program originally sold for $199, must be another odd coincidence. Probably as odd as the first testimonial on The Rich Jerk site being from Mark Joyner, who’s actually FBI most wanted terrorist Seif al-Adel.

I said it before and I’ll say it again, Sarah Palin is a federally fabricated person. Her identity as governor of Alaska was fabricated by the feds. If I’m making all of this up, she would sue me, and the FBI and secret service would arrest me. Sarah’s last name is short for palindrome. George SOROS(a palindrome) has been credited with collapsing a number of nations currencies and speaks of a New World Order.

Osama Bin Laden is also a code;
(Os) ?
(ama) ?
(Bi) ?
(nla) ?
(den) ?
Osama is the look alike for Obama/Biden (Bi)nla(den)

http://illuminaticonspiracy.blogspot.com

AlphaMale| 6.9.11 @ 12:51PM

Finally, someone explained the strange bugs crawling on my skin that make me try to bite my own ear and howl at the toilet.

Rick| 6.9.11 @ 12:20PM

Great Depression 2.O

delmar Jackson| 6.9.11 @ 12:20PM

Want more jobs?

Cut immigrationlevels!!

Currently still bringing in over 100,000 work visa foreigners each MONTH!!

AlphaMale| 6.9.11 @ 12:58PM

Thats because Americans have insuffiecient educations and work ethics to get the job done, but at least my five-year-old learned that there's a significant chance that he's gay or transsexual, and that as an assignment, for the next several weeks, he and the rest of the soccer team should experiment with wearing girls clothes to school and french kissing each other in class.
The also learned that no one should ever touch your privates unless you want them to. But that if you did want them to, it was safe to ask them to do it in the privacy of the classroom, so that the other students could observe and gain insights into exploring their own bodies.

Michael| 6.9.11 @ 10:06PM

And unfortunately too many Americans don't want to believe this is actually happening in our public schools.

The education system is but one part of our infrastructure that is being dismantled by the communists in charge.

Stay tuned in, we WILL get things corrected!

Tom| 6.9.11 @ 12:38PM

There is another option.
www.gradyforpresident.com
Straight talking, conservative, and he says what he's thinking.

Jon B| 6.9.11 @ 1:19PM

Mutch Moore| 6.9.11 @ 2:04PM

Jon B: No special effort would be needed to engage in a dialogue to destroy with ease every premise you've ASSerted here, but since you are either stupid or a liar - NO, scratch that as rude - since you are either exceedingly naive or disingenuous, it is not possible for you to engage in a dialogue in any remotely intelligent or remotely honest manner. Please take your revisionist Reagan history, exaggerations, misrepresentations and general trollisms to Yahoo or Huffington post where you can exchange fiction with your buddies all afternoon, day after trolling day.

Mutch Moore| 6.9.11 @ 2:12PM

Quick quiz for Jon B: Which U.S. President heavily promoted "free"trade with Pacific Rim nations? Which Prez. formally designated communist China as the "most favored" trading partner of the U.S. , thereby evisceration the industrial base of the U.S. in subsequent years? Who's presidential watch did NAFTA happen on?...and which prez betrayed his union constituent voters in so doing? And finally, here's the grand slam; get this one right and you win the quiz: Which President ran up more debt than all his predecessor's COMBINED? Clue, it wasn't Bush Jr. Got it?

MarkR| 6.9.11 @ 4:34PM

Please take your meds!

MarkR| 6.9.11 @ 4:35PM

Above was for JB-I repeat take your meds- hullicinations are out of control.

Michael| 6.9.11 @ 10:03PM

We all could chip in and buy JonB a one way ticket to Cuba, because I'm sure he'd be happier there.

Then again, it will be more fun to watch him anguish when e conservative fixes the mess created by liberals(both democrat and republican)

Out with the libs and the RINOs.

More TEA please.

Delores Smith| 6.9.11 @ 1:21PM

SUGGESTIONS FOR DEMOLISHING OBAMA:
1. All people should concentrate on exposing Soros, Obama, and their radicals. EXAMPLE: Obama was a Palestinean activist in Chicago. He
spoke at many meetings and is quoted by his friends as being anti-Israel. He promised he would do more for them when he became Pres.
2. Obama has never been a Community Organizer;
He is a Nation Disorganizer, along with George Soros. Actually, Obama is a peon with Soros calling the shots. Expose Soros...the man who worked for the Nazis during World War II. Although a Jew, Soros gathered possessions and land for the Nazis while the Nazis took the Jewish victims to the gas chambers. This explains why Soros became an Atheist following his actions. He probably feels that in collective salvation, no one will remember his horrible actions. Soros states that at times he feels like "a God." I guess he can comfort himself as a God. He probably calls this "the Sorosonian Religion." Find out how nuts he is.
3. When Obama spoke in Egypt, he invited the Muslim Brotherhood. The leaders attended. The leader of Egypt was never overthrown by Egypt's people. The population of Egypt is 48,000,000, and at most, 200,000 were in the Square, along with Muslim Brotherhood. It was Obama and MB that overthrew the leader of Egypt. Obama said, "Step down...you have lost the respect of your people!" Basically, Obama & MB overthrew a sovereign nation. The Nazi Party is in Egypt now, along with MB.
4. Libya is another story. It started with a "No Fly Zone" to protect Libyans who did not want to be protected...then Rebels...then Opposition Forces backed up by America and Nato. Since Obama, Gudaffi (sp), Louis Farrahcon (sp) and Rev. Wright were all good friends...this war could be a ploy to distract, or it could be time to overthrow another sovereign nation and a friend under the bus. It is another nation for MB to own.
5. Those of you who are looking for a Jihad, don't count on it. It depends what the goals are for The New World Order. You may be just another ploy for Soros & Obama.
Good luck everybody!!
Delores Smith
Delores109@cox.net

Michael| 6.9.11 @ 9:59PM

Obama will rot right along side of Soros, fore there is no collective salvation.

God bless!

MarkR| 6.9.11 @ 1:25PM

I hear people say "He doesnt know what he's doing! He is incompetent! Why cant he fix our ailing economy? Blah Blah Blah" I say BS. He knows exactly what he is doing. He IS NOT INCOMPETENT AT WHAT HE IS DOING because its what he intended to do all along. He does NOT want to fix our ailing economy. Read "Rules For Radicals"-see what Rev. Wright believes. See what the Fox-Piven strategy is. Its all out there as it was in 2007-08. He hasnt changed an iota and I believe he is perfectly content to see what is occurring. So as I read everyone stating "the sky is falling" I say yea so what- so why wasnt this understood and accepted 3-4 years ago? Because we have become a country with enough socialistic systems already in place and enough of the population dependent upon them and unwilling to demand a future for their children and grandchildren. Sorry, but this the logical result of a population not paying attention.

Michael| 6.9.11 @ 9:57PM

Amen brother!

The "sleepers" will not awaken until we hit bottom, and then......... it may be too late.

Yrerbendr| 6.9.11 @ 1:52PM

This article is the type of propaganda that is tiresome. The policies pursued by the last 30 years of Reaganomics came to fruition in a massive crash. Middle class income has been shrinking for years and jobs left this country under Republican leadership. The Bush tax cuts were disastrous combined his military and adventurism and economic elitism. What took 30 years to accomplish is going to take more than 3 years to reverse

Michael| 6.9.11 @ 9:54PM

I believe you may find a happier life in Greece, or even Cuba. The liberals(democrat and republican) have destroyed this country with their taxation and regulation that have an economic stranglehold on the golden goose.

If they continue, the goose will simply die. THEN who will supply the funding for their ridiculous social policies?

After all, it is liberal regulatory policies that have destroyed all of the benefit realized by Reaganomics.

WillofLa| 6.9.11 @ 2:08PM

With constant communication with my Congressman and Senator, they are not quite ready to empeach Obama for willfully instituting economic policies he knows and is being warned even by his own administration advisors, is going to cause this nation to collapse. He won't want to be the President over a nation with the kind of people who don't exist anywhere else in the world, a people who have it in their genetic code to be free and who aren't afraid to take some serious action to bring to an end any more tyranny coming from Washington or even their own city halls. In short we aren't going to put up with this before we act on our Constitutional right to bring this government to an end and replace it with a Constitutional one that will solve these problems once and for all, and I don't mean nicely either.

This has only happened two other times, but somewhat different from each other in that we fought against the King of England in a war for Independence, and the second time was the War Between the States where the Southern States didn't believe in becoming part of any union with states that didn't believe in the kind of America the South did. That war took almost one fourth of America's population to end.

How many American's would this next war OF the states that has to come in order to end liberalism, and Socialism in this nation once and for all. It is those two things which actually are one in the same, that has caused all this suffering of the American people even back in the 60's when it started, caused a lot of suffering of the Black and White races caused by liberals who wanted to split these two races for political purposes to grab a voter base in order to keep the Democrat hold on the throat of the government they saw they had. The Democrat Party needs to come to an end and American politics needs to return to it's roots where there wasn't any political parties to run the government for the good of the American people. It's been the Democrat Party and their weak accomplices in the Republican Party who have caused all this degeneration in the Greatest Nation God ever created. And we are, and we are more than worth saving no matter what we have to do to save it. No globalist has the right to take this nation from us. No number of George Soros' should think America is theirs for the taking by causing this kind of trouble for our nation will sufficiently weaken this nation so it's easier for their taking. This nation wasn't created, and all that we have gone through to rebuy this nation over and over through the decades with blood and treasure just to let it go to a bunch of liberals who think they can do a better job our forefathers couldn't do? They are in for a big surprise.

WillofLa| 6.9.11 @ 2:56PM

I for one do not want to see my country fall into the hands of people like Barry Soetoro, or whoever he is, and George Soros, and the fat cats on Wall street who are in cohoots with the international investors who got the eight and ahalf trillion dollars that Paulsen gave them to recover from the failed Fannie/Freddie that was mulnipulated by the likes of Barney Frank, and Franklin Reins, Jim Johnson, Bernannke, who should all be in prison. But instead were rewarded for putting this nation on this track to destruction it is on.

I do not want to see America suffer like it is when there is very much that we can do to put a stop to it right now. I was told that there were parlimentary manuvers that the Republican's could have done that could have stopped ObamaCare in it's tracks but they didn't have the guts to do it. The conservatives that we put in both Houses in November last year know what to do to bring this nation back from this cliff but they are being stopped by the likes of Boehner and the other country club Republican's, the big government Republican's who have collborated with the Democrats for years to disconstruct this nation for the purpose of promises of power and wealth. They much be really dumb to fall for these lies from the Democrats because they are only stringing these people along while the Republican's are giving the Democrats exactly what they want.

Bush committed himself to "healing the rift between the parties" when he took office. His campaign promise was to "bring the two parties together". What does that sound like? If it hadn't been for 9-11 and the war in Afghanistan and Iraq during his first term we would have seen what Bush finally was able to do during his second term, all during his first term. He may have been voted out of office after his first term and the only reason why he served a second term was because of the his support for our troops. But his second term was when he gave the farm away to the Democrats and the proof of it was how mad he got when the People of this nation stopped his insane Amnesty bill. Do you remember what he said about us when the bill was killed in the Senate? He said, "The American people don't know what they are doing. They just need to mind their own business and let us do what we know this nation needs." What, the North American Union? We don't need to be put together with Mexico and Canada when it would be the end of this nation's sovereignty and power. And that is the reason why he wouldn't seal the borders and it has been allowed to be left open for all these years and that is to give the Democrats the voters they need to forever be in control of our government.

I don't want the Democrats in control of my government anymore...period! I want them forever removed from power over my nation. They are, and have been for generations the most destructive force this nation has ever had to endure. Look at Roosevelt and the damage he and his Socialist administration did to our nation, and again it would have been much worse if WWII hadn't interveined to stop him before he got done to us what he had planned.

And now we have Obama and his Marxist administration full of card carrying Communists who have no intention whatsoever to do what is right according to our Constitution. Obama says, when told that he must report to the Congress what he plans on doing in Libya, "I don't have to obey any law.". Are those grounds for empeachment? Yes, they are. What about all the other violations of the Constitution that even people in Obama's own administration have advised that he do? His reply is he doesn't have to obey the Constitution. Really? Really? Are those grounds for empeachment? Yes.

That is why I have been in touch with my Congressman, who is a very good conservative. And he had written me back and told me that they aren't ready yet to empeach him even though he HAS done plenty to be empeached for. He said he wants to try to overturn Obama's policies and misguided decisions. Well, my question is, "For how long are we to wait? Until it's to late?" Obama can pass a Presidential Directive ordering the FBI to begin the confiscation of everyone's guns overnight. Are to wait until after he's done that before we begin empeaching him? If we begin now it will stop him from being able to run for President. No one can run for President who is in the middle of empeachment processes. That would guarantee Obama couldn't run again.

MattZ| 6.9.11 @ 3:04PM

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The economy started flagging again once movie was removed from the state and local levels after the stimuls ran its course.

If low taxes led to job creation, there wouldn't have been a crash in the first place.

Adding money to the economy (regardless of who adds it) will obviously create jobs and demand.

Stupid article.
MZ

Michael| 6.9.11 @ 9:44PM

You are not looking at facts. If you can't learn to research facts, and find true historic economic data, you are destined to live as a democrat drone.

See David Mamet, if you want the truth.

Peter N Gauvin| 6.9.11 @ 3:29PM

Obamacare will interfer with job creation as Companies will fear for Government regs and benefits requirements as well as resulting sluggish acconomy. Also, affects of Dodd / Frank legislation on economy.

WillofLa| 6.9.11 @ 3:56PM

As has been seen in the past, the Democrats aren't stupid. They see to it that they pass laws that continue to cost us or have bad affect on us way after they are gone from office. But, they have done this with the knowledge that it wouldn't be long before they were back in office again and back in power. So they come up with bills that don't take affect for years after they've been voted out of office because they know that the Republican's won't be able to repeal those bills that are the most destructive before it's to late to stop their affect on our economy. It's a big game to them to see how much damage they can cause, and to write in triggers and traps the Republican's don't find until it's to late to stop the trigger from tripping. Or the Republican's find out there is a trigger in some bill they want to amend down. If they try to get rid of the part of the bill that is doing the damage, removing it triggers some other economic damage from a bunch of regulations or taxes hidden in the bill. It's like you either let this bill stand, and if you try to take it out doing that will trigger a part we've hidden in the bill that will be worse than the bill does itself. Democrats are devious like that because they are evil.

It's when what the Democrat leadership under someone like Nancy Pelosi does that is really damaging the economy comes into play that even some Democrats don't want to have anything to do with it that they go to the right and try to slow it down or wait unbeknownce to the Democrat leadership, vote with Republican's to kill the bill. That angers Pelosi and she takes it out on them but they tell her if she keeps it up they will continue to vote with Republican's. That makes her back off until Democrats come up with the next big bill that hurts this country and that's when they pull out the big guns by forcing those who are holding out to loose all they have gained by being Democrats if they don't support that bill. That's when we see a defection all of a sudden and Republican's who think they can still count on Democrats support, end up loosing it when the vote comes. And the bill is passed. That happened when the first Stimulus bill was killed in the Congress. And that's where it should have died. But it didn't. It went on to the Senate like as if it had passed. That was unconstitutional. When a bill dies in the House, that's it, it's dead. The same for the Senate. But none of that happened and it came back to the Congress with fixes from the Senate and this time the Democrats voted for it after Pelosi threatened all those who voted against it the first time. See, it's game playing oneupmanship. If the Republican's can't pass the Bush tax cuts when they control both Houses, what will they be able to do with a bunch of junior Congressmen who are being held at bay by the Republican leadership?

I have hopes for 2012, but with caution. I don't see Palin or Romney as viable candidates for President. Neither do I see Cain as anyone that will be supported either. It's going to have to be someone we don't see right now, surging forward in the polls. To begin with the Arabs will not have anything to do with a woman...period. That kills any support we might get from anyone in the Middle East who will side with us to protect Israel. If that could exist at all. Israel will be the hingepin on whether or not we will be able to protect ourselves from terrorist over here. We need to shut down all the mosques right now and deport all the mullahs and clearics and their supporters, conviscate their computers, and bank accounts need to be frozen. Bugging mosques isn't going to be enough. Besides they probably sweep the mosque everyday for wire taps and bugs that could have been planted during the night or when the mosque is closed. I would. We've got to many problems right here in our own country and I don't see anyone who could solve those problems in less than this stupid "ten years" programs I keep hearing Republican's talking about. We can't wait for ten years to fix our economy, we're going over the cliff now! We need the fixing to take place right now or no less than two years. In other words we need to force the Democrats to repeal their destructive bills that are destroying our country regardless of what Obama wants us to do, right now!

Rick| 6.9.11 @ 4:30PM

Your a rasist!

Hugh Miller III| 6.9.11 @ 5:13PM

Okay, yes lets have a conservative fix the country. 1.more tax relief for the wealthy. 2. reduction in government to the point that unless you are the right color and right income level, you will be desolute and poor. 3. The government in our bedrooms telling us who we can screw, what way we can screw, and that if a woman gets pregnant.too bad.eat dust...
No think you..I want no part of a conservative country...off to canada I guess...

Gary| 6.11.11 @ 3:03PM

Hugh, living off of I and II's efforts, are you?

ARMOND "SI" SIMMONS| 6.9.11 @ 6:38PM

Obviously, Peter Ferrara hasn't heard of Obama's Cloward-Piven Plan: http://www.infowars.com/obama-.....rld-order/

kurt2088| 6.9.11 @ 7:27PM

Hugh, DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU IN THE ASS ON YOUR WAY TO CANADA, you will be of no loss, what so ever, for true Americans!!!

Gerald Bollman| 6.9.11 @ 8:31PM

Nice essay, Peter. The quantitatively obsessed may have difficulty with the notion of regulatory depression. However, students of the FDR years can see the Blue Eagle of the NRA and the industry codes in the current financial, environment and energy policies of the Obama folks. We need to rescind tens of thousands of new pages in the Federal Register.

Michael| 6.9.11 @ 9:35PM

Nail on the head!!

My biggest concern is will we get him out of office in time, and will the new leader(s) act quickly enough to avert a real crisis?

Jim from Virginia| 6.9.11 @ 9:44PM

I can't tell who knows less about economics: the author or many of the commenters here? Republican Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson described in his recent book just how much the W's economic and foreign policies under W had damaged the US economy, nearly on the order of Hoover's. While it took more than a decade to recover from the disaster of 1929, this author mockingly suggests surprise that the WH's new occupant could not fix the economy in a few short months. Clearly our grandparents had far more patience than voters display today and more wisdom: the appeal then from the Coughlins and Longs waned as will the Spectator's.

George True| 6.10.11 @ 5:06AM

Jim, are you really this ignorant of the known facts? Most conservatives were vehemently opposed to Paulson and Bush's TARP bailout.

Secondly, Obama's policies since taking office in Jan 2009 have been the VERY THINGS that have CAUSED the greatest depression in our history. The stimulus not only did not work, it was highly damaging to the economy. Obamacare and all the other destructive regulations on business he has instituted by executive fiat are the reason businesses are hunkering down in survival mode (and not hiring). And after our third one-and-a-half TRILLION dollar deficit in a row under Obama, the government has sucked so much money out of the private sector and devalued our currency so much that we are in a much, much worse situation than we were just 28 months ago.

And the reason it took ten years for the country to recover from the great depression of the 1930's was as a direct result of the disastrous and incredibly damaging policies of FDR.

It is not a matter of having the patience and wisdom of our grandparents. It is a matter of rejecting Keynesian economics, which have failed spectacularly every time and in every place it has ever been tried. It is also a matter of rejecting the destructive and galactically stupid Marxist central planning policies that our current gangster government is forcing on us.

If you have any extra money, I suggest you try to buy a clue.

Bill Baker| 6.9.11 @ 11:29PM

First step - eliminate Government departments that are not functional to diminishing the debt
DOE, EPA, TSA, Commerce and transportation, any committee, not involved with the security of the Republic of the United States. Make Government a tax payer not a tax burden

Bill Baker| 6.9.11 @ 11:52PM

There is no way out. GOVERNMENT HAS BROKEN - NOT THE PEOPLE
Government wants a democracy for "3rd world" country's. So do we here in the USA - Lets toss them all under the bus and start over - Who wants to be President?

WillofLa| 6.10.11 @ 12:09AM

I refuse to get used to $3.65 a gallon for gas! I refuse to get used to anything the Democrats have rammed down our throats! I am old enough to remember when a gallon of Premium grade gas, and that was leaded gas by the way, something the environmentalists claim is harming the air...lie, was $.42 cents a gallon! I had a hopped up brand new mustang back then with a 18 gallon gas tank on it. I would run a tank of gas out racing all evening, and before I went home I would go back by the gas station and fill back up, for $7.00! There wasn't any "mid-grade" back then. It was either "regular" or "premium" gas back then. The pick-up truck I have right now got a new paint job a few years ago. I purposely left the sticker on the radiator frame you see when you open the hood that says, amoung some other things about the engine and whatnot, "use 91 octane gas or higher". I want to see that because it reminds me of a time in this country when we were doing really good, life was good, you could quit a job at 11:45 am and have a job by 12 noon paying more money. It may have only been $.15 cents more per hour, but back then you could fill the house up on $15.00 worth of groceries. If you were bringing home $75.00 a week you were making good money. If you had a college degree you could go anywhere in the country and start out at $20,000 a year, but that was back when you could buy a brand new house for $15,000 or $20.000 !

Yeah, yeah I know those were different times than we are experiencing now. The same house that I could buy for $10,000 built back in the 1930's or 1940's, what is called a "pre-owned" house is going for $350,000 to $400,000!! What the heck is that? Those same houses aren't going for that much in my home town, but I see them on HGTV all the time. It makes me scream!

But I don't want to see my country go down this path any more. And there is things we can do to put a stop to it. All we need is "unity"! But that's the hardest thing in this country to come by these days since the society has been infected by liberalism that says everybody has rights. Oh yeah? Well, in my day when American society was better than it is now, stronger than it is now, more prosperous than it is now, everybody had their "place". That's right, you had a place in society. And if you don't get it yet I mean that everybody had a place, as in you stayed in your place? Am I saying it right? It's not that I don't know what I'm talking about, it's that it's rather hard to say it in the way I know that it means. Let me put it this way and I'm sure you'll understand the difference between America in my day and the America liberals hate the most.

In my day even as today but today society isn't as easy to see as it was back in my day. And what I mean is the America that was better, stronger, prosperous had more well defined strata than it does these days. Back then society was broken down more than it is today and the reason why it isn't today is because liberals enjoy using the word "racist" much more than we did back then. When a person who had a different ideology than you back in my day heard you call a Black by what is referred to these days as the "N" word, they usually didn't say anything to you at all. It's not that they didn't like that word, that may not have, but they didn't feel like they were obligated to call you on it right then and there, then stomp away all offended an all. Back then you were free to say what you wanted and if people didn't want to use those kinds of words, they just didn't. It's like it should be...free, freedom, freedom of speech, free to speak what you wanted to say regardless of who was listening. Of course if you were responsible for your behavior you watched what you said in front of what used to be known as "mixed company". "Mixed company" means other than if you were standing around talking with your friends and weren't in your back yard or at your place of work yakking with your buddies. Only today we don't have that freedom because if you don't really know who you work with as far as their politics, you'd better watch what you say because if you used the "N" word and someone in the group was a liberal they might take offence and turn you into your boss who would be obligated to fire you for using "hate speech" on the job. You might not ever find out who it was who turned you in and there you'd be standing in the unemployment line scratching your head wondering how you got there. It's like being in Communist Russia where you never knew who might be the secret police and would turn you in to the authorities. You can't trust who you work with or who lives next door these days who might be a bleeding heart liberal and might turn you in if they hear you say something they are offended by.

This is Obama's world. But back in my day our strata actually kept us safe from anyone who might take offence to anything we say to each other about most any subject or issue. If you were a middle class White person who was not heading to college after high school and didn't exactly have anything specific you wanted to do, you might end up jumping around from job to job or you might have one of your relatives help you find a job. Back in my day there were numerous corporations you could go to work for and after forty years you could retire. Like the electric company. You could go and take the test and elect to be trained to be a lineman. A lineman was a man who climbed up the telephone poles and worked on the wires up there. Or you could go to work for the telephone company and be a lineman for them. A lineman for the telephone company was a man who climbed up the telephone poles and worked on the telephone lines and fix whatever was the problem. They still do that today, but it's far and few who stay with the company long enough to retire after forty years. Most companies these days don't let employees stay with the company that long though because it saves the corporation retirement money they'd have to pay out for a bunch of people. They don't want to do that anymore.

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Inugomontoya| 6.10.11 @ 5:38AM

No wonder Ferrara is so deluded: an unreformed Reagon suck-up! We were in cardiac arrest 9/08, now at least your ATM works. Everybody except criminally weird knows we're still unwinding the Bush bubble and the private as well as public debt. It was bigger and worse than anything since GD, so recovery is worse.
Ferrera is just another delusional Rightwing Chickenlittle who thinks we're on the brink of bankruptcy and that the Reagan boom (ya can't make this stuff up) extended thru the Clinton years. Everybody without n*mbnuts knows Clinton's policy created its own boom with a light recession around 2000-2001, not the gigantic economic policy disaster of the GOP during 2000s.
Amazing part is GOP goofballs still think we need lower taxes and balanced budget. It doesn't get weirder than that.

Chilloutyo| 6.12.11 @ 2:53AM

Yep, just like FDR who spent 8 years unwinding the one-term Republican Progressive Hoover's screwed-up policies until the Marxist Nazis in Europe came to the rescue. Dumb ass!

George True| 6.10.11 @ 6:12AM

"Everybody knows...Clinton's policy created its own boom..."

What bizarro world are you living in pal? "Everybody knows" nothing of the kind. You have drunk fully of the leftist koolaid.

We ARE on the brink of bankruptcy. I do not expect someone who has bought so totally into the Big Government-Keynesian collective narrative to understand such a thing, though.

How is it possible that anyone could think that high taxes and one-and-a-half TRILLION dollar deficits is somehow a good thing? Talk about weird! Anyone who thinks such a thing defines the term "not playing with a full deck".

Unwinding the "Bush bubble"? What the hell are you talking about? Are you on drugs? Obama's deficit in his first year was as much as Bush's deficits in all eight of his years. Oh, but I forgot, in Bizarro World, you don't let actual facts get in the way of a good collectivist narrative, do you?

People like you are hopeless. As a wise Texican sometimes says, we can't fix stupid here.

Jersey Bill| 6.10.11 @ 10:16AM

Could it be, in simplified terms, because the O man is the exact opposite of Reagan in most aspects. Attitude, outlook, an pure love of country just don't seem to be in BHO's book. He hasn't changed. He's the same leftist, statist, America-has-too-much parson as always. look at his mentors; Wright. Ayers, Dorn, et al. The most negative president ever. Comparisons are meaningless. All should remember - and hopefully hear again - Michelle's chilling words of campaign '08: "You've got to change your thinking. You've got to put your history & traditions aside, We're going to a different place!" WHAT?!" No thank you, lady. If that doesn't rouse Americans to defeat this crowd, then perhaps we're worse off than I thought. I'm happy to be a part of the greatest nation on earth and want it kept that way. Despite Reagan's faults, and he had rhem, there was much confidence and good feelings emitted.

WillofLa| 6.10.11 @ 3:58PM

The entire economic condition of this country is the fault of the Democrat Party and their adherence to the Communist Manifesto. They are following it to the letter. Obama has gotten everything he has wanted without fail. The Democrats always make law that has it's kick-in time years later when they forsee a time they can come back in a take the controls of the government back. It's their little game that they play with anyone who opposed them during insueing elections that may take place while their doing other things to us. Other than what took place in who was in control of our government in 1994 when Republican's took control of both Houses for the first time since the 1930's, and had a run for the next twelve years. If it hadn't been for Newt Gingrichs' derailing those young guns conservatives who were able to take us back from the brink, which at that time was quite some distance away, could have stopped the leftist once and for all. Look what they did manage to do in creating the Welfare Reform Act they got Clinton to sign. And now know this, one of the first things Obama did as soon as he took office was to abolish the requirements of the Welfare Reform Act on the basis that he believed it was a "racist" and a discrimiatory Act. Obama has enacted more Presidential Directives than any president before him, along with more czars than any other president before him. He is in violation of the Constitution more than any other president before him, and has told the Congress that he doesn't have to obey the Constitution as far as the War Powers Act to inform the Congress in 60-90 days what he plans on doing in Libya, and why he didn't inform the Congress before he sent jets to operate with other NATO forces according to the "law". The "law" is what he is refusing to obey and that is the law established by the Constitution.

I do not want to see my countries founding documents regarded so little by someone who may not be qualified to be the President and who has violated the Constitutional law in turning in his personal papers which is required only for the office of the President for individuals who want to be a candidate for the office.

I do not want to see my countries economy wreaked like the Democrats have done. And I know there are those who want to "equally" blame the Republican's for doing the same thing during the Bush administration. And there are those who want to blame Reagan for doing the same thing by signing destructive economic bills into law. What you have to understand is that Reagan had the law of the "line item veto" back then and could take out anything he didn't believe would help the country. And he did. But during his first term he had a Democrat controled Congress, and during his second term he had a Democrat controled Senate. So it was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't for eight years just to finish his second term being indicted by the liberals in the Senate to answer their leftist questioning in front of a panel of hard core Socialists and Marxists who wanted to empeach him bad. Well, they didn't get their wish so they tried to burn Col. North. That didn't work either. And it was because what they were trying to do was wrong to begin with. And we are seeing the same thing again twenty-five years later under Pelosi and Reid standing in the way of anything that would be good for America.

They don't want America to succeed. And that is the part I don't understand and that is where do they think their wealth came from? Do they think it fell out of the sky? If they manage to kill off our economy they will loose their money and everything they have as well as us. Are they that stupid? No, they're not, but they are liberals and with liberals it is liberalism first and logic and common sense last, if that is they have any.

WillofLa| 6.10.11 @ 4:16PM

It is obvious by now that Obama will do anything unlawful to get his way. He will use any ploy or plot to stop any opposition to what he wants to do. He is criminal in his thinking and clearly anti-American in his intentions. So what do you think he will do to win this upcoming Presidential elections. Do you think he'll be like all the other Presidents before him? He has violated the Constitution more than any other President before him. He has the errogance of a King to the point where he doesn't even try to hide his hatred of the "law of the land" which is the Constitution, and doesn't even flinch in telling the Congress that he is not going to obey the Constitution and doesn't have to. What the heck is that?? Who the heck does he think he is?? Where does he think his powers come from, Rules For Radicals??

Democrats have always been the ones who have delt with the money in the way they have. They make it complex, complicated, conveluted and confusing on purpose so as to ward off anyone who intends to follow the money back to them personally. It's like Barney Frank. Can anyone in the Republican Party confidently find the evidence to indict Frank for what he did with Freddie/Fannie and shockingly is still in charge of those two government controled financial scams? Is there anyone in the Congress or the Senate who is conservative who might be able to find a judge who would be willing to hear the case against either Obama, Pelois, Reid, Frank, Paulsen, or Weiner for the crimes they have committed against the people of America? Who will stand up and take on the biggest Democrat in that Party? Who has the guts to call Obama what he is on TV? And who has the guts to tell the American people the truth about him and what he has done to them while in office that he took over illegally, and got the cover from the Democrat Party? Who will understand that we are in the fight of our lives for the soul of America. And yes we were told that last November and we came through. But can the American people do it again in 2012? Or who will begin empeachment proceedings on Obama which would stop him from being able to run for President in 2012. We may be able to get rid of him before then.

WillofLa| 6.10.11 @ 6:09PM

I don't want to see an economic collapse in this nation in 2013, or any other year for that matter. I don't want to hear about how liberals always think that giving tax breaks means those tax breaks always go to the rich. What they don't have the guts to admit is when the Bush tax cuts were put into affect THEY got a tax cut to!! How can they take that money and are still seeing it in their paychecks they can't say that is the reason why they are making what they are still making and not paying out the butt if they had actually supported the tax raises that Democrats want. They don't support those tax raises but at the same time liberals still are whinning and crying that the "poor" are still poor. But do they understand why the so-called "poor" are still poor? No.

And why is it that liberals can't understand, or rather admit to the truth, and the facts of the matter that tax cuts DO bring in more money to the Federal government. Tax cuts do stimulate the economy like nothing else the government could do.

Let's say Obama lost his mind and put out a Presidential Directive and said that the oil companies could drill anywhere they wanted, mine the shell and extract the oil in it, and I may add it would be hundreds of billions of barrels of oil amounting to more than all the Middle Eastern oil combined, that alone would be like a huge tax cut because if the price of gasoline dropped to two dollars a gallon or more don't you think that would be the same thing as having more money to spend on something else other than gas? Any relief we get because the government removes restraints on the economy is like getting a tax cut because it gives back to the worker more of their own money for their use not the governments use. And that would be the billions Obama gave to Brazil to help them out in their off shore drilling costs? That just burns me up to the absolute MAX!!

The government has used our money for things we have no knowledge of whatsoever. I've always said that if the American public knew half of what the government was up to, they would freak completely out! If the American public knew the people the government has helped and is either presently helping and for what reason the American public would storm the Capital! How far down the drain will the American public allow our economy to fall before they start screaming, "STOP!". And why in hell do they wait so long? Is it they don't think our government will let things get that bad? Well, I've got news for you, the government has already allowed our economy to fall more than has been "historically" allowed by the public. That is really strange though if you think about it. What has a grip on their minds now that didn't have the same grip before, or some other grip that was removed before it was to late that still has a grip on their minds now? Do they want to get in some last minute shopping? Do they think that somehow things will return to normal and they won't have to lose anything? Do they think this time is not any different than any other time in our political history, and things will normalize like it has always done? Do they think this is just politics and they'll stop playing games before somebody gets hurt, you know like kids do? Do they think that maybe it's not just our government that is causing all the problems and that it's the situation in the world and everyone is having to kinda go through some hard times for some reason? I've seen this before myself, well, maybe not so bad as it is now, but I've seen it bad in other ways. Look at the 60's and the riots everywhere Martin Luther King would go, after he'd leave the Blacks would riot. The liberals were raising taxes, placing more and more regulations on corporations causing prices to rise, the government seemed to not be able to stop all the protests and demonstrations that were taking place all over the country. So I've seen it bad and we didn't know what was going to happen next, we always had some way to escape like going to the movies. And there was some good movies coming out back then. And there was TV programs like the Sonny and Cher Show. It was really funny. Then there was the Flip Wilson Show and many others. But you know those who are running things always used Hollywood to get the minds of the people off the problems of the nation when things went bad and the government was doing something they didn't want us to see what they were doing.

But we're not that naive like we used to be. The liberals over the years have always had their people up to speed with "information" and the method of delivery was the difference of who knew what and who didn't. But now we have the internet, and it's open for everyone to see what everyone else knows, we know. They can't hide from us anymore, and there for awhile it seemed like the liberals were the only people who had all the information needed to make decisions about issues the whole public needed to have been in on. But we're all here together and the liberals don't like it. When they were presenting Obama to the public, we were able to find out all there was to know about Obama and Bill Ayer's relationship. The liberals didn't want us to know about that, but we do now. We have found out about this horrible economy and what they've done to it to make it so bad, and they don't like that either.

joel| 6.11.11 @ 9:07AM

What a boneheaded article. Certainly this publication can to better than this biased so-called intellectual.

Gary| 6.11.11 @ 2:43PM

Jim Rogers, famous commodities investor, is right when he says it will take a catastrophe to right the corruption in DC. We will not stop the spending until the pitchforks are on the streets of DC. Honestly, until Congress, their staffs, the agency employees, the lobbyists, the lawyers and the president and his team see the American people physically take action, until they see their own personal safety at risk, the needed aciton will not take place. We are years from that point and the country, I fear, has much more suffering to endure due to this feckless fraud of a president and all around him.

Gary| 6.11.11 @ 2:44PM

Add petulant to the adjectives describing the idiot in the WH.

Gary| 6.11.11 @ 3:00PM

Isn't it ironic that Dodd/Frank were key players in creating the economic collapse and now they are key players in the financial bill that will ensure more failure? When are they going to be handcuffed?

Malcolm Dean| 6.11.11 @ 8:34PM

Truly rubbish, bought and paid for by corporate interests for whom the word "national loyalty" has no currency [sic].

Howie Feltrsnach| 6.11.11 @ 11:10PM

Holy crap, the garbage conspiracy crap you guys are all writing is insane. It scares the s**t out of me to think that some of you are college educated. Get a grip. Quit blaming your disappering middle management jobs on every one but your lazy self.

BMatkow| 6.12.11 @ 2:01AM

Its amazing that anyone compares the economic problems we have had in the past 3 years to any other time of economic woe in our country. The Great Depression was helped tremendously by WW II and the industry that boomed afterward. But since our country has sent all of its manufacturing jobs overseas, and the dot com bubble burst, and the mortgage and housing bubble was found to be an illusion, what is left? What is this country good at? What do we produce? You can't expect a president to fix everything, and its clear that the Bush tax cuts did not create jobs. We let ourselves get in to this mess, and it is going to take a very long time to get out of it. No president, Democrat or Republican has the magic pill to fix our country's ills.

Chilloutyo| 6.12.11 @ 2:59AM

" The Great Depression was helped tremendously by WW II"
Yeah, More than eight years later, dumb ass!

looe r| 6.12.11 @ 10:11AM

The American Civil Rights Union is a civil liberties organization founded by former Reagan Administration official Robert B. Carleson in 1998. It was founded in response to views that ACLU was too leftward leaning;[1] ACRU has been described as a conservative civil liberties advocacy group.[

looe r| 6.12.11 @ 10:14AM

What would one expect as "commentary" coming from a member of the above?

And the rest of the lackeyes who read this hogwash, have ALREADY formed their conclusions, which appear to mimic the writer's comments, thus...
No, new information, just the usual "conservative," HATEFUL and negative rhetoric.

dawn4| 6.12.11 @ 11:06AM

What a load of horse crap! I definitely think you "conservatives" should abandon ship and defect to some South American country before 2013. See ya

Jgills| 6.12.11 @ 11:11AM

So, the conservative solution is more tax breaks less spending blah blah blah, if we want to compete with other countrys slash everything make us a third world country. We parasites have had it too good for too long. Never mind the fact that bush tax cuts didn't do shit but ensure campaign donations while he ran a massive surplus into the ground fighting pointless wars. (not counted in the deficit ) Everyone here parrots this shit because it makes them feel better about being stupid. History doesn't occur in a vacuum. Stop the Reagan worship, senile criminals don't need a cult following. Just get it over with and roll out your kill the poor plan, be as honest about what you think as possible. That's the best way to make sure your politicians never get elected. Theres more poor to avg income people in this country than rich, and your policies grow those numbers every day. (owns small business 8 employees 350,00 gross last year, not much but I did it while not being an asshole)

Konrad| 6.12.11 @ 5:25PM

Dude, I'm sitting at the most southern end of Africa and even I can see your unemployment rate is 28%.

insanity| 6.13.11 @ 11:00AM

good to hear that

weddingdress| 7.7.11 @ 5:23AM

Ferrera is just another delusional Rightwing Chickenlittle who thinks we're on the brink of bankruptcy and that the Reagan boom (ya can't make this stuff up) extended thru the Clinton years. Everybody without n*mbnuts knows Clinton's policy created its own boom with a light recession around 2000-2001, not the gigantic economic policy disaster of the GOP during 2000s.

nike shox| 8.9.11 @ 2:31AM

is good

Tenn Slim| 2.24.12 @ 9:42AM

Update 2 24 12
Obama budget DOA for 2013. Debt continues to climb per day. True UN employment near 13 % across US. GOP RHINOs in state of confusion.
CHI Town HQ for Obama RE Election up and running.
2013 Economic European picture cloudy at best.
All in all, a d.... dreary winter.
Semper FI