Great Recession

Nobel Prize Winner Paul Krugman And The American “Depression” Solution: An Activist Government!

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Paul Krugman, the winner of the Nobel Economics Prize, columnist for the New York Times, and Professor at Princeton University, has written a new book about how to deal with the American “Depression”, as he calls the Great Recession.

Just suggesting that we are going through a depression is a stunning statement, but Krugman, despite attacks from conservatives, Republicans, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul and his libertarian views, is correct in stating that austerity, being pursued in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe in a way that has led to a worsening economic condition throughout the continent, is absolutely the wrong thing to do at this time.

The time for cutting spending is when there is a booming economy, not an economy with millions of people unemployed, and attempts being made to cut back the social safety net for desperate people. As Krugman writes, it is John Maynard Keynes, whose ideas helped Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression, who needs to be followed today.

After all, even Richard Nixon said he was a Keynesian when he decided to impose wage and price controls in the 1970s, and it was Keynesian ideas that helped Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan during the two worse economic downturns in the 1970s and 1980s since the end of the Great Depression until those time periods!

So Krugman advocates much more government intervention and spending than Barack Obama was able to get through Congress in 2009, and argues that had more been done then and since, our economic condition would be far better than it is now.

There may be skeptics, and certainly Ron Paul supporters live in their own parallel universe, but Paul Krugman needs to be listened to, and followed, hopefully, by a Democratic controlled Congress in 2013 and after!

Chris Christie And “Couch Potatoes”: The Gall Of The New Jersey Governor!

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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, riding a wave of popularity in public opinion polls, is at it again, with outrageous, and bullyish comments, while instead it would be best if he kept his mouth shut!

Christie claims that Americans are becoming “Couch Potatoes”, waiting for the next check to arrive from the government, and that we are becoming a “paternalistic entitlement society”!.

At a Republican gathering in New York City, which included former President George W. Bush in attendance, Christie went on to say that hard working Americans who use their ingenuity, honor and integrity, will succeed in life.

One would think that Christie would understand that the recent Great Recession has put people who are hard working and have ingenuity, honor and integrity into an impossible situation, with the collapse of the economy under the Bush Administration, and contributed to by their reckless tax policy, resulting in loss of millions of jobs and millions of home foreclosures!

But instead, he blames the victims for their plight, rather than the capitalist ruling class on Wall Street and in the Republican Party, which brought this about, and now wants to further enrich the top one percent with the Paul Ryan plan to cut the social safety net in tatters!

Considering Chris Christie’s tremendous girth, he should look in the mirror at the TRUE “Couch Potato”, who has benefited very handsomely as a member of the New Jersey legislature and as Governor of the state, and has no problem pontificating about others, for whom he fails to see the plight they are in!

This is all part of Chris Christie’s hope that maybe, just maybe, he could end up as Vice Presidential nominee for Mitt Romney, and if Mitt loses, then Chrisitie would be the front runner for 2016!

Just what we need: Two egotistical, insensitive, materialistic, greedy, politicians who do not give a damn for the American people, just for themselves and the wealthy one percent they represent!

Super Tuesday: The Significance Of Ohio For Republicans, And Particularly For Mitt Romney!

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Next Tuesday, ten states will be voting in GOP primaries and caucuses, the most of any day in this Presidential campaign.

The state that will matter the most of those ten states is the Buckeye State, Ohio, a state with more delegates and more electoral votes than any of the other nine, and also a Midwestern state which has suffered a great deal from the Great Recession and its aftermath, and has benefited from the survival and success of General Motors and Chrysler promoted by President Barack Obama.

It is also a state which has given us more Presidents than any state except Virginia. And it is a state which EVERY Republican President has won, and every failed Republican nominee has lost.

To put it succinctly, Ohio is a MUST state for a Republican Presidential candidate, and yet it looks very possible that Mitt Romney, despite his narrow victory in his home state of Michigan, might lose this state to Rick Santorum.

If Mitt Romney, presumed to be the front runner and likely Republican choice for President, cannot win Ohio, then how can one expect that he can win it in November against Barack Obama?

So if he loses Ohio, and going by the history of the Republican Party, he loses Ohio in November, then Mitt Romney will lose the Presidential election, and is, therefore, a flawed candidate.

Of course, there is always the chance that for the first time ever for a Republican nominee, Mitt Romney could lose Ohio and win the Presidency, but again, this has NEVER happened from Abraham Lincoln through George W. Bush, and one cannot expect such a quirk would occur.

Maryland And Virginia: Two Different Worlds Politically, From Different “Planets”!

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There seems to be no comparison of two geographically neighboring states quite on the level of Maryland and Virginia, two diametrically opposite governments, seemingly from different “planets”.

Maryland, one of the most prosperous states, has a Democratic dominated state government and Congressional delegation, and has a Governor, Martin O’Malley, who comes across as a national leader of the future. Maryland has become the eighth state to legalize gay marriage. It has dealt with the issue of the Great Recession and its aftermath in a socially responsible way, and is seen as a model of progressive viewpoint and outlook.

Virginia, on the other hand, while it has the Northern Virginia suburbs, which are more progressive, has an extremely conservative and Republican state government under the leadership of Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who makes McDonnell look moderate, not an easy task!

Virginia was moving toward requiring vaginal exams of any woman who wanted to get an abortion. The ultrasound law would have allowed the state to invade women’s bodies in the name of fanatical religious zealots who wanted to stop all abortions, even though it is allowed by Supreme Court decisions. But McDonnell, seen as on the short list for Vice Presidential nomination, came to the conclusion yesterday that such a law would harm his chances of moving ahead politically, as the Virginia Governorship limit is one term. So he suddenly backed off from a pledge to sign such an invasive, insulting bill as this one.

The likelihood of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, an extreme right winger, succeeding McDonnell in November 2013, as Virginia Governor, is a horrifying thought to many, particularly women and gays, as Cuccinelli is a hardliner on the social issues that are dominating the GOP race for President right now!

So a world of difference exists between Maryland and Virginia, an amazing manifestation considering their being in the same “neighborhood”!

Business Background And The Presidency: Herbert Hoover And George W. Bush

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney touts his business background and experience as a plus in his race for the Republican Presidential nomination. Many people take him at his word, but is that a good thing?

Historically, the answer is a resounding NO!

Who are the Presidents with a business background?

Two precisely, Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) and George W. Bush (2001-2009).

Isn’t that enough information all by itself?

Both presided over the WORST economic collapses in American history, Hoover with the Great Depression, and Bush with the Great Recession.

Hoover was, by far, the smarter and more talented and creative of the two, but still the business background was of no help at all in the Presidency.

The point is that business is NOT the same as government, and never will be. Business is NOT the right background to run a government, as the needs of people are vastly different than the need for profits.

So, business background and the Presidency do not mix well, and it will not insure that Romney would have a successful Presidency and revive the economy!

The Poor Often Forgotten: The White Underclass

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Whenever there is discussion of the problem of poverty, the tendency of most people is to assume that poverty is found only in the city ghettos across the country, and that poverty is found only among African American and Hispanic and Latino communities.

The thought that there might be millions of white poor people in rural areas and in the suburbs, particularly since the Great Recession hit in 2008, which has caused the loss of more jobs and foreclosure of homes on a massive basis than ever in the past 80 years, has not been generally recognized.

Many of the white poor are single mothers with children, but also includes families where both mother and father have lost their jobs, and also people in their 50s and 60s who are unlikely ever to get a full time job ever again, sadly, and also senior citizens and the disabled who are in a terrible state of affairs when it comes to medical care and having adequate money for food and other necessities.

Of course, there are minorities in the same boat, but in actuality, there are many more forgotten whites than minorities. And instead of the Republican Party being willing to recognize this reality, instead they love to use the race card to imply that the vast majority of poor are nonwhite, when just the opposite is the case.

The growing income inequality and education gaps are the true crisis for America’s future, and we do not see the Republican Party willing to address this truth, but instead utilize fear and hysteria to keep many whites from voting for the party who really cares about their future, the Democrats under Barack Obama!

Barack Obama Evokes FDR: Don’t Change Horses In Mid Stream!

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In 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt was President, and the nation was in the depths of the Great Depression.

From a high of 25 percent unemployment, we had seen the unemployment rate decline to about 17 percent, in most estimates. In other words, we had seen a decline, but there was a lot of work to do on improving the economic picture. FDR chose to emphasize the progress made, and the idea why would anyone want to revert to the policies that had failed under Herbert Hoover.

He would use the concept of “Don’t Change Horses in Mid Stream” as the argument to re-elect him. It worked, as even with the high but improved unemployment rate, FDR won all but Maine and Vermont, and a total landslide in both electoral and popular votes against Kansas Governor Alf Landon in 1936.

Now in 2012, Barack Obama is using the same appeal: that with unemployment skyrocketing in 2009, and the rate raising to almost ten percent before declining, that great progress has been made in job creation, about 3.7 million jobs, with the chance of regaining ALL of the lost jobs by the time of the election, and with the rate now 8.3 percent, it could go down below 8 percent by November.

So therefore, why would one wish to return to the George W. Bush policies that failed economically, and led to the Great Recession, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression?

The Obama strategy seems to be working, as he now has a majority of the registered voters supporting him, and meanwhile, Mitt Romney is gaining fewer voters for himself, even as he wins primaries and caucuses!

Stock Market Revival Under Barack Obama: Wonderful, But Not Time To Declare Victory!

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Three years into the Obama Presidency, and the great news is that the stock market has seen a tremendous revival under his watch.

Yesterday, the stock market reached a level unseen since before the economic collapse of 2008 and the Great Recession, as the Dow Jones reached its highest level in four years, and the Nasdaq reached its highest level in eleven years.

With a 5,000 point gain since the Obama inauguration, there is a temptation to think that the economic decline is over, but that would be unwise to believe. There is still too much unemployment, and too many people who are underemployed, so it is not a time to declare victory in any shape or fashion. 8.3 percent unemployment is the lowest in three years, but not good enough to rest on one’s laurels.

However, if Obama can bring about or have the fortune that at least 150,000 jobs are created every month from now on, with last month bringing 250,000 growth in jobs, then the unemployment rate will go below 8 percent, and the odds of Obama winning a second term will be greatly enhanced.

The point is that Mitt Romney and other Republicans will have less of an issue to use against Obama if that growth occurs, and already, one can see that Romney is having problems being coherent in his reaction to the job and stock market gains.

The long range issues of foreign policy and defense and national security, and the significance of the federal courts and the Supreme Court, will, hopefully, start to come to the forefront, as in the long run, these are the more important issues for the future of the nation.

The Truth About The Safety Net: Full Of Holes And The Worst In The Developed World!

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Mitt Romney claimed two days ago that we have a “safety net” for the very poor, and that, therefore, we don’t have to worry about them.

What a distortion of the truth, as we have the absolutely WORST “safety net” for the very poor in the developed world. It is not enough to say how fortunate our poor are as compared to Africa and parts of Asia and Latin America, as this is America!

Here are the facts:

The official US poverty rate is 15.1 percent, and it does not include the millions of the middle class who have been impoverished by the Great Recession and its aftermath.

One out of five children lives in dire poverty in America, and if one is born into that background, the odds of escaping it are far less likely than for other children.

Our Food Stamp program provides $1.44 per meal to each of its recipients.

Medicaid only covers the poorest children, of parents working at 63 percent of the poverty line, and 37 percent of non working parents. The new health care law would cover the gaps, but Romney endorses repealing it.

Only one in four poor renters get housing vouchers as assistance to pay the rent.

Supplemental Security Income helps the impoverished elderly and disabled, but only 27 percent of this group receives such welfare assistance, while in 1996, 68 percent received such aid. And SSI at its best only lifts those families to 75 percent of the poverty level.

Any person who wishes to be President should have the decency and the compassion to recognize that the “very poor” are not well treated in a society which believes in mobility, and that we MUST do better, and stop having conservatives and so called “religious” people continue to condemn and deplore the poor, and not give a damn about their ability to survive and advance in society, with a sense of dignity! This is a MORAL cause above all!

A Sad Development: Hull House (Chicago), Jane Addams’s Settlement House, Goes Into History!

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Hull House, the original “Settlement House” founded by Jane Addams in Chicago in 1889, is “biting the dust” in difficult economic times.

Founded as a model for others, Hull House had middle class and wealthier people operating and contributing to a place where immigrants and the poor could come and receive services, much of it gained by private contributions, but also with the growing involvement of government as a commitment to those less fortunate.

With the Great Recession doing its damage, even when the Great Depression of the 1930s did not impede its work seventy years ago, Hull House becomes another victim of the lack of commitment to the poor and deprived, at the same time that the wealthy become wealthier than ever before.

Instead of spending millions of dollars on trying to “fix” political results in the White House or Congress or the states, as Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers and innumerable others are doing, as a result of the Citizens United Case of the Supreme Court two years ago, it would be so much more productive if wealthy people gave aid to what today would be called “community or neighborhood centers”.

But, of course, the fact that Barack Obama was a “community organizer” in Chicago is portrayed as if the future President was a Marxist, a Socialist, a radical, or a much maligned follower of Saul Alinsky, who has been demonized so much by Newt Gingrich, that if Alinsky was alive, he would have grounds to sue Gingrich for defamation of character.

In the midst of great deprivation, we seem to have no time to consider what poverty in America is like, what it is like to be an immigrant, what it is like to be stereotyped.

So Hull House’s demise is only a symptom of the crisis we face in an America that supposedly believes in equal opportunity and the “American Dream”, but does not practice it! Social Justice is the loser!