The latest, election-eve jobs report shows that unemployment is stuck at the same nearly 8 percent level.
Forget the fact that according to honest economists, this percentage ignores the people who have given up on work. Forget the fact that no report can document the businesses and innovations that never came into existence because of our heavy-handed, control freak and obsessively incompetent, incoherently indiotic Big Government.
Forget the fact that Obama promised his stimulus program, passed in 2009, would drive unemployment well below this level, and it hasn’t. Forget the fact that Obama himself claimed, back then, that unemployment should significantly go down in his first term — otherwise he should not be reelected.
Forget the fact that if anyone other than Obama were President — especially a Republican, a party inaccurately associated with free market capitalism — that the headlines on NBC, MSNBC, CNN, CBS and ABC would be screaming: “Economy no better than when President [Bush, Romney, McCain] took office. ” Instead, those headlines minimize or ignore the obvious truth.
Forget the fact that while it’s true government does not create jobs — only the free market does, or can — that government can stand in the way of job creation. Forget the fact that under Obama’s regime, government interference in the marketplace has grown, not decreased — and new jobs are still not appreciably emerging.
Forget the fact that Obama, when running the first time, called capitalism (which he mistakenly equated with the policies of Reagan and the two Bushes) a “failed philosophy” because the economy had problems on their watch; but when those problems continue and arguably worsen under Obama’s watch, there’s is nothing to say other than, “It could be worse.”
Forget the fact that when Republicans are in office, because they are inaccurately associated with free market capitalism, they are held accountable for the consequences of their policies. And, when Republicans are in office, anything bad that happens (including a hotter than average summer, or an usually big blizzard or hurricane) are considered causally connected to Republican policies, and take the blame for them.
Forget the fact that when a hard-core leftist Democrat such as Obama is in office, it’s heresy (verging on the illegal) to even raise a question about the rationality of those polices when — just as under Republican administrations — we have bad hurricanes or unusually hot or cold weather. Forget the fact that the last President gave us Big Government policies and they failed, while the current President gives us even Bigger Government policies and we’re failing even more — with an even higher national debt!
I’m not really sure what the Republican Party stands for, but I know that the Democratic Party is the party of the helpless, the hapless, the poor and powerless victim. As a result, Democratic Presidents — like their constituents — are not held responsible for any of their words or actions, even when those actions (such as Obamacare, to name just one) are imposed on millions of people by force, as often as not against their will.
If economic health and growth are the standard of effectiveness, do Big Government, high tax, high regulatory policies work? Obviously not. They fail under both Republican and Democratic administrations. The more they’re tried, the more they fail — by that standard. But there’s no rational or credible way to fight them so long as what passes for intellectual leadership in our society blames the victims and holds the victimizers (the proponents of all this Big Government) blameless.
In a democratic republic, there would be some hope if people paid even a little bit of attention to what their elected leaders are doing.
There’s a lot we’re being expected to forget in order to swallow the incredible idea that the economy is really doing pretty well, all things considered.
Economy not up to par? We need more spending, taxation and regulation. That’s what we’re told. Economy working? It’s thanks to the spending, regulation and government activity that takes place. This is what we’re expected to believe in order to forget the true, or even the obvious.
“The private sector be damned.” So we’re told, or so it’s implied by every Big Government policy rolled out every year. Republicans are constantly apologizing for the private sector, while Democrats condemn it to death every day they’re in power. The private sector should stop doing everything it does tomorrow, and watch how effective our government is at taking it all over.
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