nroberts98
Rookie
- Mar 2, 2010
- 7
- 4
- 1
In the November, 2008 election the Democrats regained power in both houses of Congress and the White House. During this time, the country was embroiled in two costly wars, a rapidly mounting multi-trillion dollar national debt, a global recession, the effects of melt-down of Wall Street and our virtually unregulated financial system, and a year-long loss of 7.2 million American jobs, which was rapidly increasing with an additional 700,000 jobs lost each month. Trillions of dollars of our national wealth had evaporated, seemingly overnight; the country and many of its citizens were broke. Our economy, 70% consumer driven, was grinding to a halt as those consumers discovered their credit cards were maxed and their virtual piggy-banks, their homes, were empty and in many instances worth less than they owed on their mortgages. With the American consumer absent, the one thing all economists agreed upon was that it would take massive government spending to restart the economy and get Americans back to work. Consequently, Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress passed a mammoth 787 Billion dollar spending bill, the Stimulus Package, in an effort to temporarily replace the missing consumer, cushion the ongoing job-loss, and ultimately revive our flagging economy. Furthermore, to avoid the loss of an additional 3 million jobs, directly and indirectly, associated with the failing American auto industry; Obama was forced to infuse massive amounts of capital into GM and Chrysler to prevent them from going bankrupt. The administration also maintained the TARP program to recapitalize the financial industry and get banks lending again.
Consequently, all this necessary massive government spending was ballooning our already rapidly increasing national debt. Tragically, the Republican Party seized on this opportunity, hoping to regain power in the upcoming elections. They realized that if Obama succeeded and restored our economy, their hopes of regaining Congress and the White House, or even remaining a viable political force, would be lost for at least a generation. Their plan was simple; make certain Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress failed. Consequently, they would obstruct whenever possible and breed fear by convincing the gullible American public that the Obama administration was socializing and bankrupting America. They realized they could accomplish this simply because Americans are not only not as smart as our media and political leaders lead us to believe, but also because we dont pay attention, nor are we really interested in the way our government and economy functions. Ergo, lies pass for truth when the listener lacks neither the knowledge nor the interest to distinguish between the two. Furthermore, if the listener is ideologically motivated to believe what is not true, he will believe it even when it is disproved. Prime examples of this are the Birthers, death-panel believers, and Obama citizenship deniers.
Unfortunately, this Republican strategy has delayed and hindered the recovery, extending and exacerbating the misery of millions of Americans. Beyond broad-based congressional obstruction, their constant sowing of seeds of fear that the stimulus has failed and the country is going bankrupt, they have further panicked the already shell-shocked American consumer, who in response has reigned in his spending even more than might be necessary, especially when that spending is necessary for our economy to grow and to get our citizens working again.
Consequently, all this necessary massive government spending was ballooning our already rapidly increasing national debt. Tragically, the Republican Party seized on this opportunity, hoping to regain power in the upcoming elections. They realized that if Obama succeeded and restored our economy, their hopes of regaining Congress and the White House, or even remaining a viable political force, would be lost for at least a generation. Their plan was simple; make certain Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress failed. Consequently, they would obstruct whenever possible and breed fear by convincing the gullible American public that the Obama administration was socializing and bankrupting America. They realized they could accomplish this simply because Americans are not only not as smart as our media and political leaders lead us to believe, but also because we dont pay attention, nor are we really interested in the way our government and economy functions. Ergo, lies pass for truth when the listener lacks neither the knowledge nor the interest to distinguish between the two. Furthermore, if the listener is ideologically motivated to believe what is not true, he will believe it even when it is disproved. Prime examples of this are the Birthers, death-panel believers, and Obama citizenship deniers.
Unfortunately, this Republican strategy has delayed and hindered the recovery, extending and exacerbating the misery of millions of Americans. Beyond broad-based congressional obstruction, their constant sowing of seeds of fear that the stimulus has failed and the country is going bankrupt, they have further panicked the already shell-shocked American consumer, who in response has reigned in his spending even more than might be necessary, especially when that spending is necessary for our economy to grow and to get our citizens working again.
