Of Irony and Killing the Golden Egg

To say that Tuesday, November 6, 2012, was less than a good day for conservatives would be a gross understatement. As DaTechGuy says, “The American People Get the Government They Deserve.”

But, that fact doesn’t stop us from examining some ironic statements from Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and Obama’s tax plan for the US that will certainly kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

In the irony department, Bill Clinton, commenting on Romney’s “Jeeps-to-China” statement, said, “… who wants a president who will knowingly, repeatedly tell you something he knows is not true?” Clinton continued, “When I was a kid, if I got my hand caught in the cookie jar, where it wasn’t supposed to be, I turned red in my face, and I took my hand out of the cookie jar.” He actually said that. Is his statement ironic, or what? As a reminder, Clinton was impeached in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice after he repeatedly told Americans and a grand jury that he did not have sexual relations with a White House intern.

Barack Obama, in the closing days of his campaign, said to a crowd in Madison, WI, “We tried our ideas. They worked. The economy grew. We created jobs. Deficits went down.” Obama actually said that. Is his statement ironic, or what?

Technically, regarding his first two claims, he is correct. If economic growth is measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, the economy “grew” very slowly under Obama. A GDP growth rate of greater than 3 percent is required to create jobs. During the last six months the GDP grew at a rate of 1.7 percent, and GDP growth has been slow at best.

Regarding job creation, let’s examine the cost. As this chart shows, a net of 194,000 jobs were created under Obama. At the same time, over 14.7 million people were added to the foodstamps rolls. That’s over a 75 to 1 ratio. And, under Obama, long term unemployment (those unemployed six months or longer) more than doubled.

I guess being technically correct is the best we can expect from Obama. But his claims are still ironic. The saddest thing is that a majority of Americans bought his claims without any further examination.

Obama’s last claim, regarding a deficit reduction, is simply laughable.

In the “Killing the goose that laid the golden egg” department, consider these facts:

• The proper role of government in a healthy economy is to provide an environment for growth because small businesses create65 percent of all new jobs.
• The Laffer Curve clearly illustrates (to economists, not political hacks Obama has hired) that raising taxesis not a good idea.
• Obama clearly plans to raise taxesduring his second term.
• Raising taxes will kill jobs.
• Raising taxes will NOT lower the deficit, but raising taxes will slow economic growth and kill jobs.

All we can now do is trust in God and his plan for the United States of America. The previous four years have been a test. The next four years will certainly be a test. Can this country persevere? Only God knows!

But that’s just my opinion.

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