Great Recession Of 2008

Joe Biden’s Amazing Economic Record After 2.5 Years In Presidency!

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We are coming up on 2.5 years in the Presidency for Joe Biden next week, and when one looks back at these 2.5 years in reflection, it is clear that Joe Biden has had an amazing level of success, one of the best of any President for this period of time in office!

His NATO trip demonstrated that he is very much respected in the international community, and that he is a true master in foreign policy, more knowledgeable and experienced than any modern President except for maybe Richard Nixon, and on the margins, George H. W. Bush.

And Biden’s economic record is sterling, with the one issue, high inflation, now clearly tamed.

And when one looks at his Job Creation record, it is unmatched, as under his administration, we have seen 13.2 million jobs created from the low point of the COVID 19 Pandemic!

Just looking at the statistics on job creation, the closest to Biden is Bill Clinton, who presided over 11.6 million jobs in his first term, and 11.3 million jobs in his second term!

Next best was Ronald Reagan in his second term with 10.8 million jobs, followed by Barack Obama in his second term with 10.4 million jobs, and then by Jimmy Carter in his one term with 10.3 million jobs, a statistic that might surprise those who love to criticize Carter!

No one else comes close, and with Republican Presidents since Nixon much lower–with Nixon first term with 6.2 million jobs; Nixon-Ford in second term with 5.1 million jobs; Reagan first term with 5.3 million jobs; George H. W. Bush in his term with 2.6 million jobs; George W Bush in his first term only 0.1 million jobs and in his second term with 1.3 million jobs.

Obama in his first term, with the depths of the Great Recession that he inherited, had only 1.2 million jobs.

And get this, Trump, in his term, actually LOST 2.7 million jobs, the only President actually to LOSE jobs!

So as I have stated at other times on this blog over the years, Democratic Presidents do FAR BETTER on the economy than Republican Presidents!

And realize, there are still 18 months left of the Joe Biden term, so clearly, there will be millions more jobs likely created, pushing Biden way past all earlier Presidents since Nixon in a vast way!

The Republican Party War On Social Security And Medicare Continues!

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The Republican Party historically has been consistently against Social Security, promoted by Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal 88 years ago.

The Republican Party historically has been consistently against Medicare and Medicaid, promoted by Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society 58 and 57 years ago.

The Republican Party historically has been consistently against the Affordable Care Act (Obama), promoted by Barack Obama 13 years ago.

Of course, SOME Republicans over the decades have supported these programs, which are very popular, and part of the “Social Justice” agenda of Democrats since the 1930s.

Actually, however, these ideas in outline were promoted by Republican progressive Theodore Roosevelt and his “New Nationalism” platform that he ran on with his Bull Moose Progressive Party campaign in 1912, more than a century ago.

The Republicans never learn that the American people at large WANT these programs, which are NOT “entitlements”, that are “given” to Americans, as taxpayers pay for these programs, and the idea that they can just be cut, while corporations and the wealthy get their tax breaks, is infuriating!

So the attempt of the 118th Congress to cut these programs will fail miserably, but will also take Republicans down, with their evil intention, to defeat, in 2024 and beyond!

The idea being proposed to “privatize” Social Security fails to recognize that George W. Bush proposed this in 2004-2005, with it failing to occur, and fortunately so!

As in 2008-2009, with the Great Recession, if one had Social Security in the stock market, they would have lost the anchor that Social Security represents, a guaranteed support!

Most people are not knowledgeable enough to know how to invest, and be assured that such investments do not turn out to be disasters!

Republican Attacks On Social Security And Medicare Arise Again: They Never Give Up!

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Social Security has been under attack by Republicans and conservatives ever since its passage in 1935 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Medicare has been under attack by Republicans and conservatives ever since its passage in 1965 as part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society.

The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) has been under attack by Republicans and conservatives since its passage under Barack Obama in 2010!

Most recently, George W. Bush promoted privatization of Social Security, which failed to occur in 2004-2005, luckily so, as the Great Recession of 2008 would have destroyed those who invested in the stock market, rather than having the guarantee of Social Security.

Also, Mitt Romney proposed privatization of Medicare during his Presidential campaign in 2012.

Now, Senator Rick Scott of Florida, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin are the biggest backers of phasing out Social Security over five years! Also, Arizona Senatorial candidate Blake Masters has backed this idea!

If the Republicans were to win both houses of Congress and the Presidency by 2024, a great tragedy would occur!

As it is, Rand Paul and Ron Johnson face reelection this November, and every effort possible should be mounted to defeat these two horrendous US Senators! And Blake Masters needs to be defeated in his quest to be elected to the Senate!

Joe Biden Selection Of Ron Klain As White House Chief Of Staff A Great Start!

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President Elect Joe Biden has selected Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff, a great start and an excellent appointment!

The Chief of Staff is an extremely important position, as he organizes the President’s day and agenda, and Klain has already worked with Al Gore, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden himself.

Klain has great background and experience, and is totally hard working and loyal, and it makes one feel very positive about the future!

The fact that Klain worked on the Ebola Crisis in 2014 and the Economic Crisis in 2009 demonstrates he will make a massive difference in the fight against the COVID 19 Pandemic and the Second Great Depression that has emerged from it.

Economic Downturns And American Presidential Elections In History

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With the sudden, rapid decline in the economy, caused by the CoronaVirus Pandemic, the odds of Donald Trump winning reelection in November 2020 has dramatically declined!

Economic Downturns ALWAYS lead to defeat of Presidents running for reelection, as witness the following examples:

Martin Van Buren–Panic of 1837, loses in 1840.

James Buchanan–Panic of 1857–chose not to run for reelection, but Republican party opposition won in 1860 with Abraham Lincoln.

Ulysses S. Grant–Panic of 1873, Republican successor to Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, lost by massive margin of 250,000 votes in 1876 election, but won a disputed Electoral College vote over Democrat Samuel Tilden.

Benjamin Harrison–Panic of 1893 (evident in late 1892), loses in 1892.

Herbert Hoover–Great Depression (1929 and after), loses in 1932.

Jimmy Carter–Recession of 1980, loses in 1980.

George H W Bush–Recession of 1992, loses in 1992.

John McCain–Great Recession 2008-2009, successor Republican candidate for George W. Bush, loses in 2008.

50 Years Since MLK Assassination, And In Many Ways, Not Much Progress In Race Relations In America

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It has been 50 years since the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee.

His death ended the most active and accomplished period of the civil rights movement, which occurred during the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson.

No one ever came forth with the charisma and following of Dr. King, to succeed him.

As we look back a half century, we can say that the African American community saw great advances in education and attainment of the middle class by a growing percentage of their population.

We also saw political gains by the African American community, including what many thought was the most triumphant moment of all–the election of the first African American President, Barack Obama.

But looking back now, one can say that the Obama election brought the truth out of the ugly woodwork–that racism is still very much alive and thriving, and not just in the South, but nationwide.

We see young and middle age African American boys and men, in particular, being victimized by police across the nation at alarming rates, and a large percentage who are not killed being subjected to unequal justice and long periods in prison.

The violence in the cities is over the top, and yet nothing has been done to overcome the danger of growing up in an environment where those who just wish to advance themselves out of poverty are often the victims of people of the same color.

The dream of Dr. King that everyone would be judged by the content of their character, rather than their skin color, has not been fulfilled, and we have a long road toward true racial equality in all areas of life, including economic advancement, which was badly damaged by the Great Recession, more for African Americans than for the working class whites, who are still appealed to by right wingers and Donald Trump to see African Americans as the enemy.

Bernie Sanders On The Road To Being The Ralph Nader Of 2000! He May Bring Us Donald Trump And A Right Wing Supreme Court!

Ronald 26 Comments

It looks as if Bernie Sanders is on the road to being the Ralph Nader of 2000.

In so doing, he may bring us Donald Trump in the White House, which would condemn him in history, as Nader brought us George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina!

Sanders has failed to win more than a few primaries, mostly winning unrepresentative caucuses; is more than three million popular votes behind Hillary Clinton; and will not have more pledged delegates than Clinton, but he now says he will fight to change “super delegates”, who have pledged to Hillary Clinton, to switch loyalties to him, which will not happen. He is not lifelong Democrat, but rather a Socialist who was allowed to join the Democratic Party, and now is, seemingly, out to harm them for his own ambitions!

But what it means is that we will have division, dissension, and turmoil at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, rather than unity. Already, Sanders has demanded, which will not happen, to remove Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Congresswoman from Florida as the DNC Chair, and also to replace former Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut as leaders of the Platform Committee at the convention.

Bernie now comes across as a bitter, nasty, crotchety old man who seems not to care about whether the progressive agenda wins, but only whether his own ego is satiated!

The Democratic Presidential Race Has Begun With Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer Comments!

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Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has fired the first shots of the Democratic Presidential race, making us realize that the concept that, somehow, Hillary Clinton would win the nomination without challenge, and by default, is a dream that is not going to happen.

Schweitzer, who served two successful terms as Governor of the fourth largest state in land area, but eighth smallest in population, gained a reputation as a western populist, and has been critical of “corporatists”, which in his mind include Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who are too cozy with Wall Street, and have not promoted the idea of pursuing indictment of Wall Street leaders for the Great Recession of 2008.

This is one issue on which many liberals and progressives have had trouble with President Obama, who relied on Larry Summers, Timothy Geithner and other icons of Wall Street, in making his economic policies.

So the left of the Democratic Party, including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, and Schweitzer, among others, have been critical, and while Warren has said she is not running for President, and Sanders says only that he is considering it, Schweitzer has been out front in criticism on economic matters.

Additionally, Schweitzer has thrown a shot across the bow at Hillary Clinton and other US Senators who supported the Iraq War intervention, which he made clear he thought was a major mistake.

So without formally announcing, Schweitzer has hinted strongly that he will enter the race, if nothing else than for the reason that, even assuming Hillary has the edge and might be the nominee of the Democratic Party, that competition is good, and that it would make Clinton a better candidate, than one who is treated with kid gloves and is not ready to fight for the nomination and the Presidency in full combat gear.

Right now, however, the odds that Schweitzer, or anyone else, other than maybe Vice President Joe Biden, can stop Hillary Clinton from being the nominee of the Democratic Party, is highly speculative, but it makes the upcoming primaries and caucuses two years from now a lot more interesting and exciting than it might have been.

So, former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, welcome to the fray!

Two Days Of Great Challenge Face Barack Obama: Government Shutdown And Israel

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With the likelihood of a government shutdown imminent on Tuesday, President Barack Obama faces two of the most challenging days he has ever faced in his four plus years in the White House!

A government shutdown could lead to economic chaos and the return of the Great Recession of 2008 and since.

But additionally, there is likely to be fireworks on Monday between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is coming to the United Nations to give a speech, warning of the growing threat of a nuclear Iran, and having made clear his discontent that the President made a phone call to Iran’s President as he was leaving New York to return to Teheran.

This first direct contact between Iran and the United States since the Iranian Revolution was a bold move, but not well received in the American Jewish community and in Israel’s governing circles, as well as many Israeli citizens.

This President has not had a break from crisis, and a lot is riding on the success of Obama’s goals of resolving the economic crisis with the Republicans in Congress, and to move ahead on Mideast peace without alienating Israel and the Jewish community at home!