This thread is partly inspired by welfarequeen's poll on how USMB members grade Obama's presidency. The large majority of you gave Obama an F which, in my opinion, is completely unfair and is an obvious indication of willful ignorance.
This is a fair and balanced assessment of how the country has faired under Obama. They are based upon numbers only. Subjective criticism such as his character or leadership skills are not in this article. I highlighted in bold what I consider to be important points.
Keep in mind that these figures only represent what has happened UNDER Obama. Which means many factors influence them. Not just Obama.
Obama?s Numbers, October Update
To me the trick is determining how much Obama's policies have influenced these economic numbers. And of course not just him, but Congress as well.
My take on the economy: Things could be better with 7.3% unemployment. However, the economy went into a free fall in 2007. 100,000s of jobs were being lost each month up. The unemployment rate may have gone up under Obama, but there is no denying that Obama has created more jobs than Bush did in his entire 8 years. In other words, a president only has so much control over a nation's economy. In my perspective, the higher unemployment rate has very little to do with Obama's policies. Could he have done more to repair the problem? Maybe, but our do-nothing congress has contributed a great deal to this.
Republicans, historically since 2000, have done NOTHING to improve the economy.
"but there is no denying that Obama has created more jobs than Bush did in his entire 8 years. "
Do you recall these events??
1) Recession that started under Clinton ended 11/01?
Specifically, 50.8 million jobs were lost through the first six quarters of the ‘01 recession .
Heritage Employment Report: February Continues Winter Blues
The 2001 recession officially started 03/2001... BUT the steps leading up to it started under Clinton!
DID THIS HAPPEN?? WAS IT BUSH's FAULT???
1) Dot.com bust cost $5 trillion in lost market value..
this means every year for 30 years now starting in 2000 the federal revenue is over $20 billion written off against taxes owed.
According to the Los Angeles Times, when the dot-com bubble burst, it wiped out $5 trillion dollars in market value for tech companies.
More than half of the Internet companies created since 1995 were gone by 2004 -
and hundreds of thousands of skilled technology workers were out of jobs.
The dot-com bubble: How to lose $5 trillion ? Anderson Cooper 360 - CNN.com Blogs
DID THIS HAPPEN???
DID THIS HAPPEN??
2) Did YOU forget that 9/11 occurred and it cost $2 trillion over the next 30 years again $8 billion will NOT BE PAiD.. was that Bush's fault?
Jobs lost in New York owing to the attacks: 146,100 JUST in New York!!
Year 2001: September 11 Terrorist Attacks
The 9/11 terrorist attacks were the events that helped shape other financial events of the decade. After that terrible day in September 2001, our economic climate was never to be the same again. It was only the third time in history that the New York Stock Exchange was shut down for a period of time. In this case, it was closed from September 10 - 17. Besides the tragic human loss of that day, the economic loss cannot even be estimated. Some estimate that there was over $60 billion in insurance losses alone.
Approximately
18,000 small businesses were either displaced or destroyed in Lower Manhattan after the Twin Towers fell. There was a buildup in homeland security on all levels. 9/11 caused a catastrophic financial loss for the U.S.
The Top 10 Financial Events of the Decade
DID THIS HAPPEN???
DID THIS HAPPEN?? DID BUSH CAUSE THE WORST HURRICANE SEASONS!!!!???
3) $1 trillion in written off losses due to the WORST Hurricane SEASONS in history!
The worst Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 3 in 2005. It took 1,836 lives and caused $81.2 billion in damages. Andrew slammed into South Florida in 1992 as a Category 5. It caused 40 deaths and $30 billion in property damage. More than 250,000 people were left homeless and
82,000 businesses were destroyed or damaged.
Hurricane Katrina ALONE! Year 2005:
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
On August 25, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the U.S. as a strong Category 3 or low Category 4 storm. It quickly became the biggest natural disaster in U.S. history, almost destroying New Orleans due to severe flooding.
Hurricane Rita quickly followed Katrina only to make matters worse. Between the two, more than $200 billion in damage was done.
400,000 jobs were lost and 275,000 homes were destroyed. Many of the jobs and homes were never to be recovered. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and over 1,000 were killed and more are missing. The effect on oil and gasoline prices was long-lasting.
400,000 jobs due to Hurricanes Katrina/Rita
145,000 jobs in NYC alone due to 9/11
300,000 jobs lost due to dot.com busts.
Largest Gross Domestic Product in history!!
When Bush took office in 2001 GDP was $12.355,271,000,000
when Bush left office in 2008 GDP was $14,359,490,000,000
A 16% increase in GDP or $2 TRILLION.
Bush growth of the GDP was greater then Clinton in 2005 GDP grew at 6.5% Clinton's best:6.4%
Measuring Worth - GDP result.
When Bush started 131,785,000 people employed.
At the end of 2008 136,790,000 people employed or
5,000,000 more employed then when he took office.
DID THIS HAPPEN???
Oh and did I mention along the way when "Mission Accomplished" occurred after less then six weeks of combat in May 2003.. 10 years ago..that over 1 million Iraq people were
saved from starving? 50,000 people a year were starving under Saddam and when he was removed, (by the way at the request of Kerry,Pelosi, and 90% of the 28 million Iraqis) the
UN mandated embargo was removed.
Researcher Richard Garfield estimated that "a minimum of 100,000 and a more likely estimate of 227,000 excess deaths among young children from August 1991 through March 1998" from all causes including sanctions.
Human rights in Saddam Hussein's Iraq - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SO PLEASE.... TELL ME what comparable EVENTS during Obama's presidency comes CLOSE TO the above?????
AND YET he still shuts down federal drilling leases!
Obama orders EPA to destroy millions of jobs!
FACTS: 1) EPA itself estimated that its ozone standard would cost $90 billion a year,
while other studies have projected that the rule could cost upwards of a trillion dollars and destroy
7.4 million jobs.
2)Boiler MACT Rule: EPA's Boiler MACT (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) standards are so strict that not even the best-performing sources can meet them, so many companies will have no choice but to shut their doors and ship manufacturing jobs overseas.
The rule has been projected to reduce US GDP by as much as 1.2 billion dollars and will destroy nearly 800,000 jobs.
Articles: Obama's EPA Plans for 2013
So HoW can there be more jobs more employment while Obama's EPA is destroying theM???
