The American Spectator : Obama's Calculated Deception

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Obama's Calculated Deception

By Peter Ferrara on 2.1.12 @ 6:08AM

He thinks you're really stupid. But Paul Ryan has his number.

Calculated deception as a central public manipulation strategy practiced by President Obama involves the President taking advantage of what he thinks the average person doesn't know and won't be told by a compliant media. Such calculated deception was central to last week's State of the Union Address. That address is useful only as an outline of the President's reelection strategy.

A powerful practical answer will come at the end of March in the form of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's 2013 budget proposal, which will be passed by the Republican-controlled House. That budget, which all the Republicans will run on, and the President's State of the Union Address will frame the 2012 election debate.

He Thinks You're Stupid

The Obama SOTU exhibited again Obama's core "progressive" conviction that the average American is hopelessly stupid. Obama bemoans America as "a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by." You may identify with that statement, as it correctly applies to Obama's America today. But not to Reagan's America, or my America.

As Henry R. Nau explained in the January 26 Wall Street Journal, "the U.S. grew by more than 3% per year [in real terms] from 1980 to 2007, and created more than 50 million new jobs, massively expanding a middle class of working women, African-Americans and legal as well as illegal immigrants. Per capita income increased by 65%, and household income went up substantially in all income categories."

But Obama continued last week, "Long before the recession, jobs and manufacturing began leaving our shores." Mr. Obama, let me introduce you to Mr. Nau, who, unlike you, is a real professor. The 25-year Reagan boom from 1982 to 2007 added 50 million jobs. The recession began in December, 2007, and it is your policies that have prevented America from recovering from it.

Obama recalled, "[T]he basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement." He said, "The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important."

Actually, that debate is over, Barack. Reagan already showed us how to do it. As Professor Nau also explained:

Yes, "the middle class has shrunk," as Mr. Obama said while campaigning last month. But not because it's getting poorer, but because it's getting richer. According to Stephen Rose of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, fewer people live today in middle-class households with incomes between $35,000 and $105,000, while the percentage of households making less than $35,000 has remained the same. Where did the missing households go? They became richer. In the past three decades [1980 to 2007], the percentage of households making more than $105,000 in inflation adjusted dollars doubled to 24% from 11%.

Where were you from 1980 to 2007, Mr. Obama? Sleeping? In Indonesia? In an ideologically induced stupor?

But Obama continued to drone on with his fairy tale bedtime stories in the SOTU. He proclaimed, "But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on the economic crisis in the first place." One of Obama's top fairy tales is the calculated deception that he has been trying so hard to get the economy to recover, but he has been "obstructed" by the "Republican Congress."

But there is no "Republican Congress." Obama is certain that you are too stupid to know that while the House of Representatives is firmly in Republican control, the Democrats still hold a majority in the Senate. Moreover, that Republican House has been busily passing good legislation that would help to restore the economy, from the repeal of Obamacare on day one, to the Ryan 2012 budget, that would cut $6.2 trillion in federal spending in the first 10 years alone, balancing the budget, and ultimately actually paying off the national debt, if continued long enough.

Moreover, the Ryan 2012 budget would do that while slashing income tax rates to 10% for those making less than $100,000 per year, and 25% for those making above, with the federal corporate tax rate slashed to 25% as well, which along with Reagan monetary and regulatory policies would restore the Reagan economic boom.

But the Democrat Senate has refused to even take up any of this legislation passed by the Republican House. Indeed, the Democrat Senate has refused to even pass any budget for 2 years, in violation of federal law. Which raises the question, if Harry Reid and his Senate Democrats don't have to obey the law, why should the rest of us have to?

Moreover, Obama is also certain that you, or at least your friends and neighbors, are too stupid to know that during the first two of his three years in office, the Congress was completely controlled by Democrat supermajorities that were able to give Obama anything he wanted. Congressional Republicans during those years were reduced to hapless bystanders, which is how Obamacare was passed.

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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 (90) | Leave a comment

TW in SC| 2.1.12 @ 6:40AM

As regards democrats, and especially this nihilist-in-chief, I have to resort to the salient words first uttered by Charlie Brown in 1966 when Lucy tried (again) to get him to kick the football.

"I don't mind your dishonesty half as much as I mind your opinion of me; You must think I'm stupid."

However, we also know how that turns out and Charlie (again) lands flat on his back, having been duped by the incessant Lucy who claims to have a "signed document". Sound familiar?

Even the least politically engaged person has to be aware that what Obama says vs. what he does are 180 degrees apart from one another. His cavalcade of lies during his SOTU campaign teleprompter presentation for extra credit is an insult to every single American, whether they support this guy or not.

bill| 2.1.12 @ 6:58AM

Yet one half us still think he's the cat's ass. Well, at least they are half right!

Michael Tomlinson| 2.1.12 @ 7:06AM

“It’s the economy, stupid” was 1992’s winning campaign slogan, and the message will be just as effective 20 years later. Obama is stuck defending an economic record far worse than George H.W. Bush‘s. The GDP grew an average of 4.3% over the first three quarters in 1992, while 2012’s growth is expected to be half that rate. Unemployment in October 1992 was 7.3%, while Obama has said that an 8% rate by Election Day is “possible.”

The Obama years have given us 1.7 million lost jobs, a credit downgrade, falling median incomes, fewer people participating in the labor market, a hemorrhaging deficit and debt, a housing market that still hasn’t hit bottom, an unpopular and ineffective economic stimulus and health care overhaul, and no pipeline from Canada to bring jobs and energy to the Lower 48.

The unemployment rate when Obama was elected was 6.8%; today it is 8.5% — at least that’s the official number. The Financial Times writes, “. . . if the same number of people were seeking work today as in 2007, the jobless rate would be 11 percent.” The CBO, the institution Democrats swear by, echoing the Financial Times admitted that the BLS numbers are bogus and real unemployment is at least 10% under Barack Obama.

There are now fewer payroll jobs in America than there were in 2000 and now, 40% of those jobs are considered “low paying,” up 10% from when Reagan took office. The number of self-employed has dropped 2 million to 14.5 million in just six years.

Regular gasoline per gallon cost $1.68 in January 2009. Today, it’s $3.39 — that’s a 102% increase in just three years. (By the way, if you’re keeping score at home, gas was $1.40 a gallon when President George W. Bush took office in 2001, $1.68 when he left office — a 20 % increase.)

Electricity bills have also skyrocketed, with households now paying a record $1,420 annually on average, up some $300. For all of 2011, sales of new homes fell 6.2% to a record-low level of 302,000. Sales of new homes peaked under President George W. Bush at 1.28 million in 2005. The records date back to 1963. Median sales prices have fallen 12.8% in the past year to $210,300. This is the lowest level since October 2010.

The U.S. city average retail price for one pound of 100 % ground beef was $2.36 in January 2009. As of December 2011, that price had risen to $2.92—a 23.7 % increase and a new peak. (Ground beef prices have risen every month since November 2009 – 26 months of price increases.) One pound of sliced bacon in January 2009 was $3.73 and in December 2011 had climbed $4.55, an increase of 22 %. The price hit a high in September 2011 at $4.82 per pound. Whole milk prices averaged above three dollars 33 out of the 36 months since Obama took office. In January 2009, the price for one gallon of whole milk was $3.58; but by December 2011, milk prices had slightly declined less than 1 % (0.28 percent) to $3.57 per gallon.

Some 48 % of all Americans — 146.4 million — are considered by the Census Bureau either as “low-income” or living in poverty, up 4 million from when Obama took office; 57 % of all children in America now live in such homes.

Since December 2008, a month before Obama took office; food-stamp use has increased 46 %. Total spending has more than doubled in just four years to a record high of $75 billion. In 2011, more than 46 million people — about one in seven Americans — got food stamps. That’s 14 million more than when Obama took office.

Median household income has dropped nearly 7 % in the last six years, taking inflation into account. What’s more, nearly 20 % of males age 25 to 34 now live with their parents. Low- and middle-income Americans 65 and older now hold more than $10,000 in credit card debt, up 26 % since 2005. The average age of the American car is 10 years; in 1990, it was 6.5 years old (by the way, in 1985, Americans bought 11 million cars; in 2009, less than half that, 5.4 million).

Thanks to the policies of Barack Obama and Democrats the amount of money the federal government takes out of the U.S. economy in taxes will increase by more than 30 % between 2012 and 2014, according to the Budget and Economic Outlook published today by the CBO. At the same time, according to CBO, the economy will remain sluggish, partly because of higher taxes.

On the macro side, America’s annual budget has jumped to $3.8 trillion — and yet the United States brings in only about $2.1 trillion in revenue. The U.S. trade deficit for 2011 was $558 billion. America’s total public debt stands at $15.23 trillion; in January 2009, the debt was $10.62 trillion. Mr. Obama is on pace to borrow $6.2 trillion in just one term — more debt than was amassed by all presidents from Washington through Bill Clinton combined. The debt is rising by $4.2 billion every day — $175 million per hour, nearly $3 million per minute. Since Obama took office in January 2009, the debt has increased $4.61 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. For the fourth year in a row, solely because of Barack Obama and Democrats, the nation faces a $1 trillion-plus deficit and just servicing the nation’s debt will soon cost as much as paying for Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor and disabled.

Flagstaff| 2.4.12 @ 4:09PM

Would that it were so simple, Michael.

"“It’s the economy, stupid” was 1992’s winning campaign slogan, and the message will be just as effective 20 years later. Obama is stuck defending an economic record far worse than George H.W. Bush‘s."

The problem is that the MSM will never hold Obama accountable for his errors (they haven't even reported honestly on most of them), so the only time he'll have to defend his record will be in the one debate he'll probably agree to, assuming that the questions are even asked, and most of them will not be asked.

The American Spectator does what it can, as do a few other publications and Fox News at times, but for every reader/viewer these news outlets have, there are dozens, perhaps hundreds or even thousands, who will see "news" terminology couched in phrases that support Barack Obama. So we won't be hearing about his failures directly, but only in terms that tell us that "the economy has turned around" and remind us that "Obama killed Osama."

Few of the economic statistics you cite will ever appear on the MSM, except perhaps gasoline prices will be used as an example of "corporate greed" rather than of failed energy and economic policies. Unemployment figures will continue to be fudged, with their inconsistencies swept under the rug.

For my part, I try to "like" articles like this one on my facebook page, hoping that my friends will do the same, but there is only a slim chance that someone who isn't trying earnestly to inform himself will ever get the real story, simply because the real story takes some work to dig out and understand. The casual voter is going to read in the MSM that Obama is a nice guy, loves his family, and is just trying to help the common man with his policies to force the greedy rich to pay their "fair share," while the Republicans are trying to get rich on "the backs of the poor."

RJ| 2.1.12 @ 7:09AM

Well, if you were Obama and 53% of the voting public voted for you, wouldn't you be pretty confident that they are idiots? After all, he had no record of accomplishment in government, nor executive experience. He was, as he said, an empty vessel in which many overly-emotional people placed their hopes in. The hype by him and his supporters was both embarrassing and illustrating. In November, we will have a national intelligence test. I hope America passes the test this time.

TW in SC| 2.1.12 @ 7:42AM

One of the things perhaps not really being talked about is the avalanche of blacks who came out to vote for "their guy". Perhaps a calculated risk by the democrats, knowing that many (most?) blacks don't vote, based solely on they're feeling left out because of the racial bias (their words, not mine) in elections. But they took the risk and it panned out for them by having a record number of blacks run to the polls.

It may seem naive on my part to think that even the blacks are seeing that this clown has not made their lives any better, paid their car tab, their rent or put in that new kitchen for them and on that basis alone might be why they'll stay home. Or, they may just vote for "the black guy" out of an angry snit to tick off the conservatives. And this is not to say that there aren't any black conservatives. Trust me, I've met enough black people who think Obama is an idiot and not doing anything to help the nation as a whole. But the ones who see only race as the factor will most likely still vote their color, though I'm hopeful some have had their eyes opened.

So will the blacks stay home or will they again come out in droves thinking that now he's got some experience, he'll do a better job? That, of course is naivete piled upon naivete but it happens.

And, as regards Mitt. Well, not once has he brought up Obama's dismal record. What makes anyone think he will if he wins the nomination? He's too afraid of the hollow theory that he'd lose "swing" voters by annoying them if he went all Jedi on Obama's a**. That and the media will somehow crucify him more than they normally do a republican anyhow.

Diogenes| 2.1.12 @ 10:54AM

This is actually an intelligent observation!

c. j. acworth| 2.1.12 @ 7:15AM

I had my chance to choose Obama's replacement in the NH primary. My choice is out, now I just want the final choice made so whoever it is can start pounding Obama with data as shown in Mr. Ferrara's article. I can only hope that the eventual nominee can do so in a credible, podium-thumping way, because another 4 years of Obama will mean utter ruin.

Ground Control| 2.1.12 @ 7:15AM

"The Obama SOTU exhibited again Obama's core "progressive" conviction that the average American is hopelessly stupid."

It takes a lot of gall for the stupidest man to ever set foot in the White House to think others are stupid.

G.S. Patton| 2.1.12 @ 9:49AM

I don't think Obama is stupid at all; He is a true believer. He has been exceptionally clever and successful at leveraging the "middle class," the proletariat if you will. Whether community organizing in Chicago, or the Bolshevik Revolution, the principle goal is one in the same. But I take your point at sarcasm.

Russel| 2.1.12 @ 10:23AM

Yep , his goal he's acomplishing very well . He's managed to send our economy into a spin that could take a decade to get out of . With help from his sociaist friends in congress . As Rush said , if he's re-elected , it's balls-to the walls . He'll be lame Duck and there's no reason to hold back . " Alinsky might as well be brot back from the dead and put in the oval office " .

Major Tom| 2.1.12 @ 11:48AM

Planet earth is blue;
liberalism is killing it this is true;
hopefully, there is something we can do.

VonMisesJr| 2.1.12 @ 7:33AM

Excellent article, except I would make one observation about the corporate tax rate and other aspects of crony capitalism under the Obama regime. General Electric earned $14.2 billion in profits last year and paid ZERO in corporate taxes.Perhaps this is why Buffet invested in GE.

As for Buffet, as I researched and clearly stated yesterday: Warren Buffet's tax rate is immaterial compared to the crony deals he gets in special investments through the government at the likes of Goldman at a 8% discount (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122220798359168765.html).
Then he got a sweet little deal at Bank of America that Berkshire had just sold shares at $12.24. Then he proceeded to buy 700M warrants at $7.14 that should double over a few years. I believe that is expected to be a $5B gain. It also pays a 6% dividend (http://pragcap.com/buffetts-bank-of-america-deal).
So the tax rate is not really the issue. It is the crony capitalism that is appalling and atrocious. And Obama is his partner in crime. It's the Chicago way.

Diogenes| 2.1.12 @ 10:56AM

Buffett was investing wisely before Obama hit puberty. you must have graduated with a voTech diploma... you research skills suck!

Todd S| 2.1.12 @ 11:15AM

What is your point Diogenes? VonMisesJr is just giving the facts about Buffet and how he rigs the system in his favor through crony capitalism and sucking up Obama to get his special deals with no problems. Fact is Buffet was very prominently behind the scenes pressing for Tarp and making sure all of his investments got bailed out and made over $3 billion on his Goldman's deal with taxpayer money making sure he got a very good return.

Buffet is a phony hypocrite, why doesn't just give the government more of his fortune instead of keeping it in a trust? As for his secretary, let us see her tax returns so we can see the real truth. Either she is doing very well or Buffet is one hell of a cheap bastard, the personal secretary of many years of the richest man in America has very little in common with your average secretary . Almost surely Buffet is including her social security and medicare taxes and the employer contribution as well. If Obama and Warren want to use her as a campaign prop, lets have some transparency about it. You are one of the many stupid people Obama is counting on to get re-elected.

VonMisesJr| 2.1.12 @ 11:56AM

Biodegenerate, I have an MBA and graduated a tad under magnum cum laude. I have a library of some 40 Austrian Economics books and their followers: Sowell and Walter E. Williams. I have read almost all of them.
My facts are documented with the appropriate websites, troll. From your vocabulary, spelling and lack of perception; not to mention your propensity for ad hominem attack; I am sure you would have flunked out of Technical Career Institutes, if you happened to get your GED first.

USSAlabama| 2.1.12 @ 12:07PM

BTW 'Diogenes' , magna cum laude is 'the cream of the crop'.

USSAlabama| 2.1.12 @ 12:07PM

BTW 'Diogenes' , magna cum laude is 'the cream of the crop'.

USSAlabama| 2.1.12 @ 12:23PM

I did not post this twice; the site crashed while it was submitted.

Al Adab| 2.1.12 @ 12:54PM

Site is having issues today. Actually though, Obama is right, we are stupid. After all we elected him did we not? As P. T. Barnum said, "There's one born every minute".

VonMisesJr| 2.1.12 @ 1:07PM

Thank you USSAlabama. But I simply have my momma's good sense. Most books are full of nonsense. The trick is finding the correct ones?

USSAlabama| 2.1.12 @ 1:49PM

Agree WRT finding the right books ... demonstrating why you are the cream!

Loral Orow| 2.2.12 @ 6:06PM

Buffet has been having a ball running with Obama & telling everyone how he, as a billionaire thinks he should be paying higher taxes...When in fact, he owes almost 10 years back taxes because he has an attorney fighting it for him. He owes almost a billion dollars. And Obama keeps his arm around Buffet's shoulder. Yep, that's cronyism for sure!

Timothy L. Pennell| 2.1.12 @ 7:54AM

Actually, he doesn't think WE'RE Stupid. In fact, he knows we're not. That's why "My Administration will no longer seek out the White Working Class vote". That's right. I put it in Quotes, cause he said it. His Campaign has said it, and HE is his Campaign.

He does, what he does, and he says the things he says, because he KNOWS how Stupid HIS BASE is. You know them. They're the people who Sh*t on Police Cars, and Chant: "KILL THE COPS". They're the people that climb aboard Buses, and head out to the HOMES of people they've labeled as The Enemy, Occupy their Property, and TERRORIZE their Families.

You know who they are. They're the people who TRASHED the State Capitol Building, in Madison, Wisconsin, because they could no longer get their FREE RIDE. They're the same people who staged a 3 Day POGROM, in Crown Heights, NYC, on the orders of MSNBC's latest Star - AL SHARPTON.

They are the people who HATE this Country. They are the people who HATE our Military. They are the people who Flock to the Museums to be first in line, to view the latest Desecration of a Religion, founded on the principles of Love, and Peace, Forgiveness and Mercy.

They Hate the Boy Scouts. They Hate the Police. And they are LED by a man who's Closest Friends, used to MURDER Police Officers.

They fight for the RIGHT to Murder their Children, in the Womb, even as they FIGHT for the lives of those who have Murdered us, in Cold Blood.

They Demonize our Military Personnel, at every turn, even as they work the System - PRO BONO - for the Best Possible Treatment of our Enemy.

They are the people who Spray the Graffiti. They are the people who don't wash their hair, pull up their pants, or wear their Hats right.

They are the people who GO TO COURT, to preserve their Education Curriculum of Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Lesbian Sex, and Masturbation, to our Children, in the 3rd Grade.

They are the ones who FIGHT to make sure that a 10 Year Old Girl can get an Abortion, WITHOUT the Consent of her Parent. The SCHOOL NURSE can take her for an Abortion, but she CANNOT give her an Aspirin.

They are the Drug Addled, and the Insane. The Freaks and the Felons. They are the ones who ALWAYS follow Dictator in to Power, because they share his Nihilism and his Dogma.

The Russians had Lenin and Stalin, Kruschev and Brezhnev. The Germans had Hitler. The Italians had Mussolini. China had Mao. Cambodia had Pol Pot. Zimbabwe has Mugabe. Cuba has Castro. Venezuela has Obama's best buddy. (Read the Wiki-Leaks about the Honduras Episode.)

Every one of these Men, promised HOPE and Change. Every one of these CREATURES, "Fundamentally Changed" their Countries. Every one of these Countries became a Brutal Authoritarian NIGHTMARE, for its' people. Every one of these Countries became an Economic Basket Case, and a Grave Yard for Liberty and Freedom.

We have had 40 Years of the Education System LYING to our Children. 40 Years of Left Wing Dogma, Indoctrination.

We've had 40 Years of Left Wing Propaganda/Blame America First, from Hollywood, and on the T.V.

We've had 40 Years (AT LEAST!) of a one sided, Biased, Cheerleading LIBERAL PRESS, slavishly doing the bidding of the Democrat Party with its' relentless Attacks on the Republican (Whomever it is) and its' endless Whitewashing of anything done by a Democrat. Running Guns to Mexican Drug Cartels, WITHOUT the knowledge of the Mexican Government, as a means to get Stiffer Gun Control Laws, is just the latest.

What was the question? Does he think we're Stupid?

I guess that all depends on what the meaning of "WE" is.

Mimi| 2.1.12 @ 8:26AM

Wow Tim...You are really getting GOOD at this...Congrats on a GREAT post !!!

Phil DeGraves| 2.4.12 @ 1:35AM

Let me condense Mr.Pennells excellent essay above into one sentence: If America is to survive the demorcat party must be destroyed.

PolishKnight| 2.1.12 @ 1:48PM

Tim, I consider Obama dumping the white working class a kind of compliment. For the past 4 decades, the left has been treating that demographic as a bunch of chumps who could be lied to with FDR platitudes and cheap shaming ploys.

On the other hand, I respect the left's understanding that the way to win votes is to buy them and shamelessly represent (or pretend at least) their electorate. Consider by contrast McCain who spent much of his time appealing to LaRaza with promises of amnesty for anti-American South American socialist illegals. Then again, even normal conservatives on this board feel a need to deny their own political self-interests and instead preach about protecting The Constitution.

Obama's statement is like a big flashing Las Vegas sign that American politics is hitting a milestone where the elephant in the room issue, bashing men and whites, is going to need to be addressed by the right if they expect them to show up and the left's racist/feminist agenda is going to be even more clear (not that it wasn't already.)

Thank YOU Obama for being unexpectedly honest with us. Now it's the right's turn.

**wagthatfinger**| 2.1.12 @ 2:04PM

We are not the WANTONLY IGNORANT.
We are not the VICTIMS.
We are not the ones believing this evil, liar in charge.
We are the ones they will run to when their lives are being threatened after their usefullness has run out.
We are SMART, CAPABLE and soon to be IN CHARGE.

Indy| 2.1.12 @ 8:04AM

Youth unemployment is at "Arab Spring" levels. More trouble is coming, OWS will ratchet up the violence in the Spring / Summer, they are calling for 1968 activism in Chicago at the G8 - it will get rough.

Romney made a statement at The Villages which nobody is reporting, he said Republicans will not go after Medicare / SS so does that mean he won't reform entitlements? Paul Ryan was right to put together a plan which would not change anything for current retirees and those soon to retire but we have to do something for everyone else, the numbers don't lie....

Timothy L. Pennell| 2.1.12 @ 9:07AM

Black Unemployment (The REAL Numbers) is at 17%. The highest it's been in 28 Years. Black Youth Unemployment, is over 50%.

At LEAST 95% of Blacks will pull the Lever for the Black Guy. Maybe, 98%. MLK died for nothing.

These people deserve everything they get.

PolishKnight| 2.1.12 @ 1:53PM

Tim, I sat on a jury at the Los Angeles courthouse where a Hispanic man was on trial for kidnapping, assault, and endangering a child because he went to pick up his daughter from his estranged girlfriend as part of a custody arrangement, she reneged, and then she and her mother hit him and he hit back and took the daughter anyway and returned her on schedule.

The DA wanted to throw the guy in jail for 30 years.

The jury which was a mix of myself, another white male, and a some women and black women had the black woman say, without apology, that a woman had a right to hit a man and for him to not be allowed to hit back and the white male judge let her get away with it without dismissing him (you can imagine what I said about that!)

I got dismissed by the judge (what good could I do as an alternate) before speaking my mind but your observation above jibes with my feeling that this black woman's attitude towards men explains a lot about the family problems in her community and the growing problems for other communities as well. It's a pity that I didn't get to go to the jury room with her and give her a piece of my mind...

Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 2.1.12 @ 8:20AM

Great article Pete!! I printed it out, and I'm going to force read it to a few of the Soldiers in my Company, who for some unknown reason (that for the life of me, I'll never figure out-NEVER!!) think that Obama's doing a great job, and that everything that's wrong in the Country is because of the Republicans, the Banks, and the Rich (who never pay their fair share in taxes). I've been saying all this stuff to them for a long time now, with most of them just rolling their eyes up into the back of their skulls (they can do that, because they don't have a lot going on up there), but this states the case better (and a lot calmer) than I could ever do!! So once I'm done torturing them by making them listen, I'll ask them if they can refute one thing in here that's untrue!! They won't be able to!! And every now and then, with all the young Paratroopers that I talk about politics with, I see the light go on inside, and I can see them connect the dots at last!! One less Democratic Party voter!! So I'm winning over one Soldier at a time, it's a tough job, but the War never ends!!

Michael Tomlinson| 2.1.12 @ 8:23AM

Timothy L. Pennell said it all about Obama and his stupid base.

Mimi| 2.1.12 @ 8:27AM

So did you Michael!

numbatdog| 2.1.12 @ 8:26AM

The author asks "if Harry Reid and his Senate Democrats don't have to obey the law, why should the rest of us have to?"
I can go on- If illegal aliens can break the law without consequences, why should we have to obey the law?
If insider trading laws don't apply to congress, why should I obey them?
If the government gives taxpayer money to its buddies for fake businesses, why should I pay my taxes?

Timothy L. Pennell| 2.1.12 @ 8:58AM

Indeed.

Diogenes| 2.1.12 @ 10:57AM

BEcause you WILL go to jail!

Al Adab| 2.1.12 @ 12:57PM

Civil disobedience. After all the Left promotes the moral superiority of those who practice it.

numbatdog| 2.1.12 @ 4:59PM

Diogenes, This is a moral question. Any fool knows you will go to jail for tax evasion but it it fair for a corrupt looting regime to have different standards for themselves and for the taxpayers?

RJ| 2.1.12 @ 3:39PM

I have made a similar statement to liberals in that if government violates its own laws, why do they believe that I and others will feel compelled to obey. You should see the blank stares that I get from that one.

numbatdog| 2.1.12 @ 8:27AM

fckewe| 2.1.12 @ 10:58AM

What Diogenes said!

DARTH VACUOUS| 2.1.12 @ 1:46PM

Stuuups...

...all of you...come to the stuuupid side...

...with me as Diogenes...with me as fckewe...with me as Orr, Gasm and Associates...with me as Purp as me as Purpleguy...with me as jharp...with me as others still...

...come to the stuuupid side with me all you stuuups...

Redstateboy| 2.1.12 @ 8:30AM

Golleee!!! Let's be Honest.. The Slave (Democrat) Party is Dependent on the Stupid, the indigent, the dumbed-down and purposely kept dependent.
This is their base but thank God for the New Media! Why does the Left hate FOX and talk radio so vehemently?!? Because an Educated Voter is the Slave Party's worst nightmare.

tsd| 2.1.12 @ 8:30AM

With the help of the media, the progressive elites and his Marxist buddies he will try to BS his way back into the presidency to finish off his complete change to a socialist/Marxist United States. A bit telling when his goals seem to follow the title of his book "Dreams from my father"... and who/what was his father??? If indeed we are dumb enough to let him... we will see.

Irish22| 2.1.12 @ 8:34AM

We are stupid! I did not hear any of this in the wet sock we called a Republican response to the SOTU???????

Anthony| 2.1.12 @ 8:48AM

And Obozo would be absolutely correct, with over 40% of Americans in agreement with his policies, or not interested enough to do something about them.
We have the same problem within the R Party, so why would Obozo change tactics?

Louis Jenkins| 2.1.12 @ 9:06AM

Well, they were crazy enough to vote for him to begin with. A few of us knew better, so let them sleep with Obama. From what I've seen Obama still has his base, although it now excludes most of the white middle class. Four more years of Obama=a socialistic American society. Yes he treated the middle class Americans, those who vote, as stupid last week. Why should we expect anything less? The American voters always have a very short memory. And the runner up, Romney, has already been chosen for us. Hitch up your pants boys and girls.

Chris| 2.1.12 @ 9:10AM

Interesting article. Good points made, others not so much. In all, President Obama has reached a majority of the countries views with his State of Union speech. Overall people are tired of the rhetoric between both parties. People are frustrated with the "system" of politics and economy that honestly isn't an equal opportunity for all. Special interests control politics (both parties) and so called "job creators" is just another form of talking point to try to sway citizens to believe that elite wealthy individuals are doing what they can to help create jobs which couldn't be father from the truth. Its oppose any and everything approach just cause he isn't your "guy", with no care for country as a whole. Something as simple as affordable healthcare for all citizens turns into a political mess. Luckily, given the GOP field our President will be reelected and have more time to put his polices in place and the direction of this country will continue to recover from the many years of irresponsibility demonstrated by our Government and financial systems.

dc| 2.1.12 @ 9:50AM

Chris, thanks for providing us all an example of a perfect pro-Maobama voter. Empty yammering, not a shred of facts or evidence, and a pollyannish throwaway line at the end, well, gee whiz, things will get better because my ruler says he'll make things better.
So, ignore the record of your Dear Leader's abject failure by every conceivable measure--economic, social, foreign policy--as ably catalogued by Mr. Ferrara and several of the above commenters. Keep hoping & changing away, while a determined african socialist undermines the financial, social, and military integrity of this country in every way possible. And when he and his Praetorians come for you, your family, and your property, because you're not enough of a true believer, just raise your useless A** up in the air and take what's coming to you.
The rest of us would rather vote this vile, anti-American jackal out of office, or arm ourselves to the teeth to prepare for the inexorable consequences of his re-election.
One last question--when's the last time you were hired to do a job (assuming you have ever held a job) by a poor man? If the "rich" don't invest, they don't stay rich--unless they're Chicago cronies of your Dear Leader. People who have earned money don't roll it up tightly and use it to light their cigars just for fun, or use it to snort blow like Maobama did and likely still does. They buy property, stock, bonds, companies, and yes, hire people, to expand existing businesses, or help others do the same. It's called a free market. Don't like it? Move to Cuba or North Korea, they don't much like it either. I'm sure they'd welcome you with open arms, just as they do Joe Biden's staffers and other fellow communists.

PolishKnight| 2.1.12 @ 1:59PM

Something I say that makes liberal white male Democrat pseudo intellectuals very uncomfortable is that even as they comprise a shrinking share of the Democrat good-ol-boys backroom elitists, the vast majority of their base are simply in it for the welfare and race/gender entitlements. They don't care about all the OWS nonsense and when I've asked them, most of them don't even know the talking points or care. White males who don't have a government union job or some other personal stake are either a bunch of fools (usually FDR loyal seniors who haven't left a retirement home for 40 years) or scumbag backstabbers who are happy to throw their fellow white males under the bus while pretending that they are making a new futurist socialist "caring" society (and don't think the logic or illogic through. Heaven's Gate followers were more rational.)

I just watched FranceTV on MHz and the topic was growing poverty in France and it looked like SE DC. They're not making America into Europe. They're making Europe and America into Detroit!

mister Z| 2.1.12 @ 4:37PM

Megaditto, dc...what you said.

JEM| 2.1.12 @ 9:53AM

Our country will just accelerate on its path to bankruptcy. If you think he is helping I would hate to see what he would have to do for you to think he was hurting it.

jay hoenemeyer| 2.1.12 @ 9:10AM

Two really really simple talking points for The Stupid Party . Stop using the headline unemployment rate and start using the U-6 rate and start amplifying that 17% number with anecdotes : the builder who now stocks shelves at WalMart . Stop using a 'do nothing Congress " and start calling it th Do Nothing Senate : 1000 days and still no budget and put Harry Reid's ugly puss up alongside smiling Paul Ryan . If you don't control the vocabulary , you are certain to lose the debate .

David W| 2.1.12 @ 9:22AM

I had a conversation with a friend last Saturday (hadn't seen her for a few weeks). We somehow started talking about "green energy" and why we can't put up more windmills. I quickly disabused her of her knowledge of green energy. She also had never heard of Solandra, nor of the half a billion in tax guarantees provided to help Obama's donors, nor of how little energy actually is produced, nor of how much energy goes into building a turbine.

Obama is correct in his assumption - too many people are not paying attention. All they will hear are the platitudes and unreported lies from Obama and will pledge their allegiance to him again in 2012.

Perhaps the RNC can get the addresses of all non-Republicans and just send them a flyer (instead of these fricking stupid "what should the GOP-do" surveys) that will provide simple information about Obama's lies and provide web sites to go to. Then maybe they will have a chance to realize how stupid Obama's policies are. Otherwise Obama will win.

Indiana Alex| 2.1.12 @ 9:44AM

Deception and symbolism is all that's left for Liberals. He tried to suggest that he can solve the deficit problem with tax increases on the rich, which even Axelrod knows is not true.

His major legislative "accomplishments", the stimulus and Obamacare were both sold on completely false pretenses, and if you want to throw Dodd/Frank in there it fits well.

The major problem is that the subtitle of the article "he thinks your very stupit" is pretty much true for a majority of the legal voting population. It is more than evident when reading posts from the lefties that have no thoughts of their own, and repeat whatever was faxed to them that particular morning.

Even a lot of people that end up voting against Obama will do so without much of a clue as to what is at stake.

There is a very good case to elect anybody over The Great Deceiver, but I don't trust the powers that be that pass for Republican strategist to make it strongly enough.

fckewe| 2.1.12 @ 11:02AM

IF, the 50 million jobs were genuine, where did we spawn or import the 50 million workers to do them? Uh... IF they were positions filled by displaced workers, then your have to subtract out all the offshored jobs to get a net figure.

Notice Nau doesn't include the 10 million jobs lost in 2008 and 2009 as a direct result of GOP failures and corruptions. Ferrara is a fraud, even more so than his sources, because he knowingly passes off their fraudulent data and fraudulently expounds his views.

cowgirl| 2.1.12 @ 11:42AM

2008 - 2009 - The Congress was controlled by Democrats. The Democratically controlled Congress that we have right now has been unable to cough up a budget for three years. Besides breaking the law they are screwing up the country.

If the spelling of your name is any indication of your intelligence, God help you.

Al Adab| 2.1.12 @ 12:56PM

Excuse the baseness of this but, you know how sheepherders are Cowgirl.

RAMIII| 2.1.12 @ 1:27PM

Al Adab: That was a hilarious comment, inspite of its baseness. So please excuse me for having laughed out loud. It certainly did put the thing in perspective. Thank you for putting humor in the equation, when the trolls spout their rancid comments.

Al Adab| 2.1.12 @ 1:33PM

Thank you Ram:
My mother-in-law once stopped a tour bus in Ireland (she was from Arizona) to take a picture of sheep and cattle together in the same pasture. Since everyone on the bus looked confused she answered, "Where I come from they shot each other over this."

fckewe| 2.1.12 @ 11:07AM

The Regan 'boom' died when the Bush RECESSION CANCELLED it in 89-91. THEN the CLINTO boom quadrupled the value of American Business, expunged the REAGAN DEFICIT, and left the BUSH bunnies to munch away at the 200 BILLION DOLLAR SURPLUS. They not only ate that up within a year, the kept eating ritght through our collective pockets like moths, and Ferrara the liar just massages his data and perverts his journalism.

If it weren't for the Great Society, he never would have bought his way through college with grants and loans. Did he evade Vietnam?

Indiana Alex| 2.1.12 @ 12:52PM

Interesting how Lib-bots focus on the importance of the deficit, unless of course when discussing the record of The Great Deceiver, or of course the party in power of congress at the time.

No thought, of course that it is Congress that actually determines spending.

The lost irony is that it is always Libs that are looking to expand government, expand entitlements and create new ones.

The Libs of yesterday created the budget busting programs of today, while the Libs of today whistle past the graveyard, as the future of our once great country spirals down on the fiscal path of the European economies the Libs have admired through the years.

When The Great Deceiver said that he beleives in American exceptionalism just as he believes in Greek exceptionalism he really meant it.

George S| 2.1.12 @ 1:33PM

What exactly did Clinton do to cause this wonderful economic expansion? (Answer below). If it was the tax increases, then those were the tax increases that were reduced by GW Bush, which a future president refused to let expire. Now, that would be the ultimate in either stupidity or incompetence to not revert to those magic tax rates.

The reason for the budget "surpluses" are quite simple: look at the historical records -- the economy took off in 1998 through 2001 in terms of revenue into the treasury. During 1993 to 1997, it was business (and deficits) as usual.

So what happened in 1998? That's when Newt Gingrich and John Kasich reduced the capital gains tax rate to 20%. Bill Clinton had to be dragged kicking and screaming to sign that budget (he was presented with 5 rewrites).

The Reagan boom laid a foundation for a 25 year expansion. It was effectively killed by the Obama return to Keynesian spending. 5 trillion and counting -- the amount spent from 1965 to 2008 on the Great Society programs. In just two and a half years.

Jack London| 2.1.12 @ 3:02PM

Don't be ridiculous George. As you know perfectly well, the 'boom' crashed before Obama took office, while the median middle class inflation-adjusted income didn't rise between the mid-1980s and 2008. The rich of course got much richer and inequality soared.

You need to learn a bit of economic history - really you do.

Paul '52| 2.1.12 @ 5:28PM

Jack, do you expect these morons to realize anything close to reality?

Do you expect them to understand that Reagan's actions were so good that within 3 years of his leaving office we were mired in a serious recession?

Do you expect them to understand that after two major tax increases (1990 and 1993) we had 7 years of growth?

George can't even do his homework. If he had he'd know that the deficit inherited by Clinton was 300 billion, that Clinton passed his tax rates in 1993, that by 1995, when the GOP took Congress the deficit was already halved and that the increases in revenues were, in fact, a straight line from 1993 into 2000. So his claim that a tax cut caused surpluses is pure and unadulterated garbage.

Do you expect them to understand that W Bush proved, as Reagan did, that irresponsibly low tax rates lead to a couple of years of growth but that large deficits in relatively good times will inevitably lead to recession as they did in 1990 and 2007?

Do you expect them to acknowledge that the S&P 500 is up 1250 points in the last 50 years; that 1450 of this 1250 point increase occurred under Democrats, and -200 of it occurred under GOP Presidents?

Or that growth under Democrats has been greater than under the GOP?

Really?

These guys literally bathe in ignorance.

George S| 2.2.12 @ 2:46AM

Yes, but at least we are consistent. If the tax increase of 1990 (GHW Bush) led to growth, then what was 1992's "It's the Economy, Stupid" all about?

And if the tax increases of 1993 led to marvelous growth, then why was that not a "straight line" increase from Reagan? (Actually, revenues increased every year since 1950 -- but not by equal percentages.)

The S&P? I thought you consistent liberals said, during GWB's term, that you cannot pay attention to stock market performance.

Speaking of 1993 taxes... those were the rates that were lowered in 2003 (the "~~Hitler~~ Bush" Tax Cuts). If those rates were so magical, then why didn't Obama and his majority congress roll those back to the Clinton levels? Stupidity? No. They can tell the difference between what really happens and what they propagandize to their robots.

Speaking of the Bush tax cuts... didn't they only go to the wealthy and not to the middle class? Just heading off your build-up-the-middle-class talking point. Just to keep you consistent.

I know my history, very well, thank you. I won't bore you with data that actually matters -- comparison of tax hike vs tax cut years with respect to GDP change. Because deficits can only happen when you SPEND more money than you take in. So, yes, tax cuts increase economic growth and government spending comes along and creates the deficits. All you have to do is spend other people's money faster than you confiscate it. Even those who bathe in ignorance can understand that simple dynamic.

toosmarttovoteGOP| 2.3.12 @ 7:18AM

Either consistently stupid or dishonest. The 1990 GHWB tax hike was insufficient and resulted in a recession, hence, "It's the economy, stupid." It wasn't a straight line from Reagan because GHWB and his policies were in the way.

Obama and the majority Congress DID try to let the shrub's tax rates expire as they were originally intended since it was widely known that those rates were unsustainable. It was the Senate Republicons with their record-setting number of filibusters in the 110th Congress and subsequent taking hostage the unemployment extension that kept the unwise tax rates in place. The only propaganda involved was, as always, on the part of the GOP.

The smirking chimp's tax cuts did affects everyone. It's just that nearly half of the cuts went to the top 5% of the populace.

You don't know jack about history,except possibly how to spell it, and have proven that you have no clue as to which data actually matters (hint: the good ones are called FACTS). There are one or two cases where tax cuts happened to be timed with economic growth. It is not solely government spending that creates deficits. President Ronnie proved it with two recessions and an unprecedented wage-growth stagnation. Both Bushes proved it.

Every time a government cuts spending during a recession (or worse) the economic downturn increases. America 1934. Austerity ruin what had been a fragile recovery and plunges the U.S. BACK into the depression. Brilliant! More recently, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Britain have all seen their recoveries falter due to austerity measures.

How many time must conservatives ruin things before the voters cease buying the load of dreck they keep spewing? "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." -Churchill

Oh. Never mind.

skip| 2.3.12 @ 3:26PM

Are we to never mind about the lack of any facts provided in all your unintelligent and dishonest emotional prattle devoid of reason and experience?

Every time a government spends a dollar the result is a decrease of more than a dollar to the economy, regardless whether the economy is growing, is stagnant, or is receding.

Idiot.

skip| 2.2.12 @ 1:14PM

Did you expect us not to notice that you never once refer to federal spending in all your ignorant moronic prattle?

toosmarttovoteGOP| 2.3.12 @ 6:55AM

The Reagan boom? Really? Were you an adult then? I remember two fairly bad recessions during his terms and a mortgage rate of 10% looking REAL good. Btw, can I have some of whatever hallucinogen you're on?

skip| 2.3.12 @ 7:28PM

The Carter term saw 21.5% interest, 13.6% inflation, and 7.6% unemployment. When interest was 10% under Reagan that meant he had cut the rate by more than half.

Your comments consist of the unintelligent and dishonest emotional prattle devoid of reason and experience typical of every idiot liberal.

Idiot.

play nice| 2.1.12 @ 1:19PM

"Something as simple as affordable healthcare for all citizens..."

huh?

Pete| 2.1.12 @ 2:10PM

"the Ryan 2012 budget, that would cut $6.2 trillion in federal spending in the first 10 years alone,"
The GOP must quit saying things like this. It is the same type of lie that the democrat's spread.
1. The 2012 budget is for ONE fiscal year, not 10.
2. There are not cuts in his projections. He just has increases below the stupidly customary 8 percent annual increases.

The purpose is to figure out how to save money without cutting the federal bureaucracy. If we want to cut spending we have to fire federal workers. The GOP, with or without Ryan, lack the guts to do such a thing.

toosmarttovoteGOP| 2.3.12 @ 6:52AM

The Republicons have fired several hundred thousand public sector workers at every level. They have made it abundantly clear that they have NO interest in moving this country out of the near-depression they spent more than thirty years engineering.

Oldefarte| 2.1.12 @ 3:19PM

Peter's article is typically PURE GOLD, but the political seeding of this situation extend back the 1960's and the Democratic Party's push to create a welfare state [for vote obtaining purposes]. Kennedy-Johnson's WAR ON POVERTY kicked off the game with governmental welfare programs initiated by Democrats; and were continued/enhanced by their 1977 legislation of the CRA act which forced banks to provide loans to financial indigents in order to provide the additional HOUSING WELFARE [in addition to their GOVERNMENTAL WELFARE mentioned previously]. To politically message their combined welfare being provided, Democrats [as Peter indicates] tweeked [via Barney Frank, Chris Dodd etc] the GSE's through HUD that re-greased the financial/economic skids further for indigents receiving this housing welfare [and all at taxpayers' expense]. Fast forward to today with El Chosen One riding the range shouting MILLIONAIRES & BILLIONAIRES ARE SCREWING THE POOR MIDDLE CLASS and with the MSM's providing effecting blocking on their Green Bay sweep around end by bullexcrementing daily the reading/viewing public into submission/compliance, and you have the housing/credit/banking/economic crisis of today that is cascading toward the total collapse of this country from bankruptcy. WAKE UP AMERICA CAUSE IT'S THE DEMOCRATS, STUPIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

toosmarttovoteGOP| 2.3.12 @ 6:49AM

Discounting all of the fascist pogroms the Republicons have been subjecting America to for over one-hundred thirty years, of course.

Buck Ofama| 2.1.12 @ 3:33PM

we must exterminate the commie rat vermin from the niggerhaus asap.

Rancid Crabtree| 2.1.12 @ 4:10PM

Obonehead, additionally, is most appreciative of an enabling MSM that's also as stupid as a box-o-rocks!!!

David| 2.1.12 @ 4:12PM

Santorum will provide the greatest contrast with Bam Bam.

Remember, Newt, Mitt, and Barack all hold the following positions.

They believe in man-caused global warming baloney, and the regulations and restrictions that have resulted from such thinking. Santorum does not.

They supported the Wall Street bailouts. Santorum did not.

They support and/or supported individual mandates for health insurance. Santorum never has.

They all criticized Paul Ryan's plan to get our fiscal house in order. Santorum embraced it.

Santorum cannot be accused of being a flip-flopper.

Santorum cannot be accused of telling people what they want to hear.

Santorum cannot be accused of stating his positions based on the particular audience in front of him.

It is clear that Santorum has been the adult in this race. It is also clear that he has been the true, principled, consistent conservative his entire politcal career.

noone| 2.1.12 @ 11:13PM

Obama reaped the third highest profit from Sallie Mae and Freddie Mac as lead consul for ACORN. This is something he conveniently leaves out - he and his friends manufactured the crisis so that they could profit from it.

POST American| 2.1.12 @ 11:33PM

We're fully expecting BAR-Rockefeller Obama
to be re-elected. He's certainly no less popular
than Bush at the end of his second term ----and
with far more charisma and schmooze.

We'll be surprised if the CFR-front Republican
carboard will unseat him ---and it couldn't
matter less one way or the other.

Unaccountable, fraudulant, UN-Consititutional
USURY remains unmentioned ---undiscussed.

The deadly sinister foundations and NGOs
remain unchallenged.

A full century of the darkest imaginable
legacy of setting up genocidal ideologues
---third world plunder ---cultural subversion
and degradation and incremental,
full-spectrum EUGENICS at the service
of soft-kill population extermination
----operating in TAX FREE broad daylight.

The RED China handover and TREASON OP
is even a sideshow to this, --the-- plan.

------------THE REPUBLIC HAS FALLEN------------

------------------WE ARE THERE!

toosmarttovoteGOP| 2.3.12 @ 6:46AM

Everything you mention from your third paragraph on down is a direct result of Republicon pogroms dating from the 1880s forward. Either shut up or quit voting GOP.

jstwndring| 2.2.12 @ 2:54AM

Actually, Obama is correct in assuming we are stupid. We--the Republican Party--are running his twin brother (Romney) against him. How can he lose?

Tex Expatriate| 2.2.12 @ 6:58PM

A fine and detailed essay. This, however, cuts to the heart of the issue:

Then call us Rebels, if you will,
We glory in the name,
For bending under unjust laws,
And swearing faith to an unjust cause,
We count as greater shame.

----Richmond Daily Dispatch, May 12, 1862

toosmarttovoteGOP| 2.3.12 @ 6:40AM

Gee. Some honesty would sure be a refreshing change on this site.

youfamissim| 2.3.12 @ 4:37PM

That Democrats will spend the nation into bankruptcy is a forgone conclusion. What they will do if they achieve that goal is the $64,000 question. Why, erstwhile educated people would ignore the bad outcome and rush headlong into a financial abyss is curious. They are determined to secure the bad outcome at any cost - literally.

The truly rich will leave for safer climes. The indolent/dependent/core Democrat voting bloc will demand even more. The poor middle class will have their entire incomes confiscated and become indolent-lite. But at least everyone will be equal. The revenue shortfalls will increase. The printing presses will roll out more phony dollars. When our creditors say No More and call the debt... then what?

Obama is not utterly stupid, but he is manipulated. I contend he is the Manchurian Candidate for forward thinking forces like Soros, UN, & others who play international rules corruption. A rift is coming fast, should he secure a 2nd term. I'll have to leave. I couldn't take it. I can't now. This administration drives me crazy. Government has driven me crazy for some time.

What kind of government subsidizes the breeding of the least capable among us? And more, why the Gov't refuses to control the indolent's behaviors is mind numbing. These are people who are unable to manage their lives, which is why they are in the straits they are. But government flinches at the mere mention of suggesting the least competent's behaviors should not be indulged. The dullards and indolent are out-breeding the industrious. Perhaps this is to whom Obama speaks. They are the Democrat's core constituency. Each vote is bought and paid for - their livelihoods depend upon Democrat give aways. And it's a pretty good life.

Make under $20K a year. Have your two children diagnosed with a "D" disorder: OCD, ADD, ADHD, HDTV, DVD, DOA, and you get a disability checks on top of the standard welfare handouts. Sign up for all the government programs available and that family qualifies for just under $60K a year in direct or indirect payments from Federal and State governments. Some local governments add to the kitty. And we're not including private sector give aways... I ran the numbers one day in a fit. Over $70K is a reasonable expectation. Unbelievable. Fortunately, most of these folks are mentally incapable of realizing what's available.

The most irresponsible human behaviors, behaviors that leave families destitute, mentally deranged, and dependent are encouraged, and rewarded for creating even more demand. I swear there are days I want to scratch my eyes out.

InVinoVeritas| 2.4.12 @ 2:09AM

So according to you if everybody tries hard enough everyone would be making a good living without any need for help. In that case who would clean toilets? Serve people dinner? Work at night? Break their backs farming?
I imagine you would lock the borders as well, which would leave the market to take care of the problem. I can already see the law of demand and offer at work. Pay for cleaning toilets up from minimum wage (ironic) too bad that would certainly increase inflation which means your money is not worth much anymore... no this really doesn't seem to work, upon thinking of it.

Yep, next time think about what you say! Let's not even comment on your ideas about the disabled!

InVinoVeritas| 2.4.12 @ 1:56AM

The writer of the article also think you're stupid! 50 million jobs added? Just enough! Not really a boom considering the increase in the population from 230 million in 1982 to more than 300 million in 2007.
Democrats passed a budget in the Senate, where they could, just as Republicans did in Congress. The author though decided that Democrats are the ones breaking the law! What does he think that we are all stupid?
Really a poor article, full of insults, twisted statistics, fuzzy logic ....... and deceptions!

msg| 2.9.12 @ 4:39PM

hi,

someone needs to write about the following (perhaps i've missed it) - that by putting the contraception issue front and center, the Democrats have brilliantly succeeded in pushing a previous non-issue to the forefront. the effect of this, desirable or otherwise, has been to add to the dissension in the ranks and otherwise increase the odds that Romney will not be the nominee. I think its an interesting question, no matter who one might support in the GOP primary. i also think that by picking contraception and not abortion, the Democrats have basically aligned themselves with the overwhelming majority of the voters. its pure math. its brilliant. and its going unreported