I just got back from my second chiropractor appointment and am stretched out in my chair. I should be helping more with wedding preparations but everyone seems to have the running around frantically thing going well without me.
I am watching the Democratic National Convention in the US, They have a way better class of speakers than Romney had. Speaking of Romney, he is asking the question, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"
In case you don't remember back that far, here's a short refresher: In September 2008, George W. Bush was president and would be for another four months. Senator John McCain accepted the Republican presidential nomination a mere three days after vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter Bristol revealed she was pregnant. On September 15, 2008, a gallon of gas cost an average of $3.84, according to Consumer Reports. The unemployment rate spiked, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Fed agreed to bail out AIG, and the stock market crumbled.
Just before Obama took over the Presidency, the Dow was hovering around 8,000. Today it is at 13,278. That is about a 70% gain!
So, are you better off now? You bet!
It is also a pretty sure bet that Romney himself is better off today than he was in 2008. This is another reason he refuses to release his financial information, he does not want us to know how much better off he is. He is frantically digging up worn out Ronald Regan cliches to try to make a nonexistent point.
NOTE: Some wise person once said, "Throw a rock into a pack of dogs and if one of them yelps, you know you have hit something". That is what that post did. ;)
The Best Drive On This Trip So Far
14 hours ago
I guess in our case we should send a thank you note off to Stephen Harper recognizing that we are better off now than then!
ReplyDeleteWe too are better off than we were in 2008 but everyone knows that the Canadian economy rides on the coat tails of the huge gorilla in the room, the USA. When the US economy get a cold, our nose runs.
ReplyDeleteAnd like Joe Biden says... Osama Bin Laden is dead and GM is alive.
ReplyDeleteBill in Nebr.
Glad you have something to occupy your mind as your body heals. Tonight's speech will be interesting.
ReplyDeleteUnemployment Rate by year
ReplyDelete2008 – 6.1%
2012 - 8.9%
The 2012 figure doesn't count those
who have given up and live off the dole. Real rate is closer to 16% according to economists.
Interest rate on CDs
2008 – 4%
2012 - .025%
US Govt Debt to GDP
2008 – 67.2%
2012 – 103%
Am I better off now. Not by a long shot. Worked hard all my life, saved as much as I could and invested it. Was getting
4% return, now .025%.
Lots of US Sr. citizens saved for old age and now they are getting a pittance for their savings.
I am more interested in a leader who gets the job done, even though he may not be a great speaker. Lots of great speakers out
there who can't lead worth a darn.
Maybe Obama will open up his college records the same time that Romney opens up his tax info. Since when does a free market system penalize a person for being successful?
JMHO
All I can say is that is some crazy disjointed from reality analysis... First,republicans drove UP the debt, then when things really went in toilet it is Obama's fault. Then you pull out an interest rate number that is a result of the mess they made and say it is his fault too.
ReplyDeleteAll three statistics you quote were all the result of the policies and actions of the previous administration, but nope, not in your world... in your world it is all Obamas fault.
I will remind you that the previous administration inherited a budget surplus. I know, it was Obamas fault that they turned into a deficit too.
And how can you trust someone who takes his success and parks it overseas. What kind of message is it to the country when you don't believe in the country enough to keep your money where you made it, where you are one of its citizens?
I know... Its Obamas fault.
Sighhh
I'd much rather know how much money Romney parked overseas to avoid paying taxes than what grades Obama got in college.
ReplyDeleteThe free market doesn't penalize a person for being successful, but it would sure be nice to know that person is paying their fair share of taxes and isn't proposing making the rest of us pay more while giving the wealthy big breaks.
The Republicans are in control of Congress... so, how many jobs have they created?
Bill in Nebr.
I see a double-edged sword. We need to come to a common ground. It's about people, not parties.
ReplyDeleteI got a chuckle out of you comment about having enough people running around with their heads cut off. hehe
Bill in Nebr
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans
have the majority in the House,
the Demoscrats in the Senate.
Let's keep the facts correct.
Bill in Nebr.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about the 50% of U.S. taxpayers who pay no taxes at all when you say pay a fair share? Look it up.
Or, are you talking about the 10% of taxpayers that pay 71% of Federal Taxes.
Since 2010 the Republicans control the House and the Democrats the Senate + the White House. The Dems controlled both the House and Senate from 2006-2010.
I personally think everyone should have to pay taxes. No exceptions if you work. Even if it is $50/year. It's easy to say tax others more when you are on the receiving end of the benefits than when you are on the paying end.
Is it Obama's fault? I never said that. I don't agree with a lot of what he does or stands for, but he can't make laws, increase taxes or such. That is up to Congress.
Whatever, the American people will vote this November & whoever wins will have 4 years to clean up this mess. Good luck to them.
Clark Rambling:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3505
The place I start when I'm talking about the two men running for the White House, is the 13% tax rate that Milt is so proud of, the amount that he paid in tax to the government. My little girl working 12-16 hour days making eyeglasses pays 15% right off the top, before the state gets its share or the income tax kicks in. Mr. Rambling must think that the payroll tax is somehow different from income tax because they call it something else. We all pay tax from the first dollar we earn from labor. Is what it is, Rambling can put his 50% right in his ear.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans have become a reactionary political party in 2012, the idea that a 13% rate is good for a person making millions a year but a 15% rate for a person working two jobs is not enough reeks of the Golden Age. The Golden Age was called that because the rich had it Golden-reactionary times indeed.
What was it Mark Twain said? "Figures don't lie but liars figure." There was also "Lies, damn lies and statistics." He was a smart guy.
ReplyDeleteI'm not happy with Mr. Obama but Milt who isn't fessing up to his tax liability for any year but 2010 isn't my idea of a fair-haired boy either. Not to mention what I think of the Republican desire to rule my bedroom and my wife's body.
It sure seems that our US friends have a big decision to make. However bad I think our current Gover'n is I wouldn't trade our health care for private Ins Care. I also wouldn't want a leader who has his money off shore or one that thinks it's ok to ship jobs offshore. Bush and Dick took eight years to screw things up sounds like some of you think that is ok.
ReplyDeleteAnyway good luck it makes for good TV