Morning Must Reads: Acceleration

Damn the economy! It’s getting better, not worse!
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And I wanted Obama to fail!
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Waaah. Waaah.
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Gimme my bottle, dammit…

“Size does matter.” What’s Rick been doing on the side? Sheesh.

Perhaps he’s too big to fail!

Adam:
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Nativism? Is this sort of like “Tribalism”, or “Identity politics”? Pre-Obama it was “Southern Strategy” or “The Angry White Male”.
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With all these tiptoe-around-the-bush euphemisms maybe, just maybe, Mr. Sorensen, you need to look behind these euphemisms and call it what it really is:
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The use of racial hatred for political gain, or, to be more accurate, endemic racism in the GOP

You might just be more right than you think, foghorn…

HA! Maybe we need Rusty or Freep to MSU about him

RE pic: “Show ‘em what you can win, Johnny!”
“A NEW CAR!”

That Brownstein column points out that 1 in 5 ten year olds are hispanic, and 1 in 4 four year olds are hispanic. That and the fact that 63% of people 35 and younger voted for Obama makes you wonder what the GOP is really trying to do to itself in the long run.

Peggy Noonan writes social divisions and the failures of federal government are what lie at the root of Arizona’s new law in the first place.

But, but how does needing the federal government to deal with the problem square with the big bad federal government taking over everything? Get the government off my back, except when I want them to build and staff a fortress on my border. Of course, my tax money from a state without this problem has to go to that, but lower my taxes?

Guess we don’t need the government helping out the problems in the Gulf either. Drill baby, drill. No quotes from Sarah Palin or Michael Steele recently?

” I asked a campaigner for Hillary Clinton recently where her sturdy, pantsuited supporters had gone. They didn’t seem part of the Obama brigades. “Some of them are at the tea party,” she said.”
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I’m thinking Peggy may have been in her cups. Again.

–David Axelrod says the White House won’t approve any new offshore drilling until an investigation of the current Gulf disaster is complete. As Kate notes, it’s getting pretty political.

What does “getting pretty political” even mean? President Obama is a politician. His job is to create political solutions to address political problems. His job is also to listen to the public and take into account the views of the public when creating public policies. That’s what politics is.

Saying the offshore drilling issue is “getting political” is like saying that the NBA playoffs are “getting athletic”.

Politicians shouldn’t simply pander to voters or support bad policies that may be popular in the short term. But in general it is a feature and not a bug of democracy when elected officials do what the public wants.

I’d also add that if “getting political” is shorthand for “driven by electoral politics” rather than “driven by substantive policy reasons” then the offshore drilling issue is “getting less political.”

That is, Obama’s recent support for offshore drilling was driven almost entirely by short-term electoral politics. Obama wanted to preemptively blunt criticism from the “drill baby drill” crowd. To the extent that the administration is reconsidering its earlier electorally-driven support for offshore drilling in light of legitimate and substantive policy concerns then the issue is “getting less political”.

WDWM?
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Rusty’s daily diatribe, thank God.

Ron Brownstein and Peggy Noonan disagree?
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Gosh, how do I know who to trust? It’s not like one of them is a seasoned, objective political reporter with a track record of excellence and the other one is the Crazy Dolphin Lady who thinks it’s irresponsible not to speculate wildly.
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Tough call. Tough call.

The oil spill has reached the coast:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/us/01gulf.html?hp

Luckily, the free market will correct this without any intrusive government oversight.

Oh, I how I loathe that woman…let me count the ways. The only Hillary supporters that are with the tea parties are the PUMA psychos from the campaign season. And just like they were overhyped then..they are overhyped now. Since Obama has a near 90% approval from Dems, Ms. Noonan needs more people for me to believe her. I have always thought she was more hype than any other “writer” out there.

“I’m thinking Peggy may have been in her cups. Again.”
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Double D???

“Ms. Noonan needs more people for me to believe her”

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I don’t know tstar3, Peggy’s use of an unnamed source talking about unnamed people is pretty convincing.

The economy grew at 3.2 percent the annual rate in the first quarter…

Good news for economists, but until employment numbers trend up – and those jobs aren’t low-paying McJobs – we haven’t really changed all that much, have we? The US really needs to address the impact of losing manufacturing and service industry jobs in order to building long-term economic health and stability.

What did I miss?

- Probably wouldn’t have happened without the HCR bill.

“Los Angeles-based Anthem made the decision after an independent audit determined the company’s justification for raising premiums was based on flawed data”

- You can hear Frank Luntz’s newest talking point first!

“Can you say “checkbook tax”? I can, and I think lots of candidates will be saying it come November.”

- No comment.

“The Pentagon said in a report that much of the population was either neutral to the central Afghan authorities or supportive of the Taliban insurgency.”

- Telephone, A-Stan style.

Sometimes I feel that our greatest asset is our sense of humor and our ability to find something to do when we are bored.

It’s Obama’s Katrina moment. He should have seen that explosion coming and should have had all that sophisticated government owned anti-spill equipment circling the rig endlessly. Conservative tax payers would have gladly paid the bill to buy all that equipment.
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Anyway, it’s Obama’s fault… and he better allow off-shore drilling… and any more spills are his fault… and with all that domestic oil available gas better stay under $3.00 a gallon… and if it doesn’t it’s Obama’s fault… because the free market and billion dollar corporations are too weak to fight Obama… just ask Wall Street… corporations only want to help, not make profits over our dead bodies… unlike Obama.

I’m doing my part for the GOP.
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I have two beautiful Hispanic grandchildren and three beautiful Biracial granddaughters [they really are beautiful - no bias by me].
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I like to say that I have an all American family.
Almost forgot. I also have a handsome black son-in-law.

Centfan,
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How dare you say such things.
You know that comments like those are strictly prohibited to be used when talking about President Obama.
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They are only allowed to be used by Liberals when they are talking about Republicans [Sometimes Independents].
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Please follow the “Rules” in the future.
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This is your last warning.
It’s hard to walk with broken Kneecaps.
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Rahm

Sarah Palin asks yet again, “How’s that hopey-changey thing going for you America?”
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Even with an average increase in the GDP of 3.2%, consumer spending remains at all time lows. Yes it is encouraging, but with unemployment still hovering at 9.7%, and expected to INCREASE and not decrease what exactly is there to rejoice about?
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Perhaps with all the concentration on healthcare, financial reform, immigration reform and climate change, Americans will ask themselves in November if this Administration and the Democratically controlled House and Senate are truly looking out for them or simply playing them for a fool.
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New blog post today, read the truth at http://www.newfreedomblog.com

You can hear Frank Luntz’s newest talking point first!
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Don’t you mean: You can hear Mitch McConnell’s next talking point?

Edit:

The US really needs to address the impact of losing manufacturing and service industry jobs with respect to building long-term economic health and stability.

Damn, I had my anti-Liberal mind scanning protector made of tinfoil on my head. How did Rahm find me?
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Why can’t the government just sit with their thumb up their a$$ and step aside to let my real saviors, the multi-billion dollar corporations controlled by a handful of executives, do what they want with my life? Thank God the CEO’s now get to have free speech with the millions in profit I work every day to give them.
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I’m not fit to be gum on their shoes.

Don’t you mean…
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That too!
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Current talking point:

Yesterday, a reporter noted that some Republicans think Arizona’s new immigration law goes too far, while other Republicans endorse it. Asked which group he falls into, Cantor said:
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“I think that’s a false choice.”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_04/023585.php

“Geez, Jimmie, how’d you guess my age?”

Job growth chart.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_04/023170.php

That’s what Karl Rove wants! Second to last answer in the magazine.

3x: Line that lovely family up, take them to a tea party, show them what “real America” looks like. Maybe some would be less offensive.

grape_crush: Thanks for the video from Afghanastan. It is great to see the guys having some fun.

Did Sarah repeat: “Drill baby drill!”?

“It’s Obama’s Katrina moment”
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This is the 5th time today I’ve heard that phrase. Three times in e-mails from conservative friends, one time from a conservative friend that I had breakfast with this morning and now here. This had to come from Fox or the Sludge Report. They’re trying to equate the response to Katrina and the oil rig blowout? Amazing. Only in their own little minds will that ever work.

There is actually no one in US history that has ever successfully engineered an economic recovery before this (and the jury is still out on this one!).
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So as far as the hopey changey thing is concerned, I think that the appropriate phrase might be:
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“I see light at the end of the tunnel”

I is borne on the desperate hope that someone will screw up horribly enough to make the American people, and the rest of the world, forget how badly the Bush Administration botched Katrina, and forget just how low the GOP stooped trying to blame the victims for their fate.
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I think that we might have to wait several centuries, or, at least, God forbid, one of these crackpots to take office as POTUS.
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Or, if at the point of a gun, as some on that side have threatened, “Our Dear Leader”…

Arizona is an anti-Mexican, anti-Hispanic state.

The sheer reach of the new immigration law, the loose manner in which it was drafted and the stark shameless pursuit of one part of the population of the state makes it really sick.

This is what Sen. McCain of AZ stands for… NOTHING!

One minute he was for comprehensive immigration reform and the next minute he joined the anti-immigrant lynch mob.
Anything is okay for him so long as it is politically expedient. How unstable.

The issue is the hate and distrust that looms beneath the surface of most of American racial discourse.

Is the border in AZ porous? Yes! But these crimes and all the rest of the problems that are being indirectly blamed on Hispanics as a whole is just silly.

It does not help that the state border is full of signs alerting border crossers of the location of border patrols.
The signs are put up by the border patrol.
Small adjustments like taking down such signs would help stop alerting “illegals” about when to jump out of cars and dash into the desert.

The employers in AZ do not do a good job of checking for proper documents either– otherwise the millions of so called illegals would not be employed. No job, no stay.

The state has done very little to safeguard its borders other than demonize the Mexicans at every turn.

If I lived in a poor country and I saw a border as wide open as that in Arizona with no real security, I would also cross into the US to seek a better life for my family. Most people including the Tea party mob would do the same thing.

The state of AZ has done very little in the way of rudimentary safeguards against illegal immigration and seemed to welcome it until now.
Now that McCain is seeking election and the Republican base is out for blood it has become a wild barbaric affair culminating in the drafting of an overreaching draconian joke of a law.

LM
http://theblindspotsofgod.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/criminals-use-technology-to-trackrape-and-kill-innocent-people/

3.2% growth in the first year of a recovery is extremely feeble — 6% to 8% would be good, and would help to shrink the unemployment rate.
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It doesn’t even require a close look at the data (available at http://www.bea.gov ). Even all the government spending does not show up as growth in any category. Net exports have been a greater contributor to what growth there’s been than either consumption, investment, or government. Why is government having so little impact? because it is a drag as well as a stimulus.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/halliburton-may-be-culpri_n_558481.html
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How much more death and destruction do we have to accept from Cheney’s buddies at Halliburton and KBR?
Add Blackwater and the misery is beyond our understanding.
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Now the Gulf Coast is suffering from their evil again.

If you started to make a list of necessary government functions, and then arranged them according to priorities, I think defending the borders would rank very near the top.
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When a government cannot perform its most basic functions, then the people are right to think their governement is dysfunctional — and to doubt their governments capacity to do anything else right. It is harder to argue that government needs to get bigger and more powerful when it cannot defend the borders.
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Noonan is not always right, but if there is anyone tuned in to the zeitgeist then it’s Peggy. How she does it, stuck there in Manhattan, I do not know.

(quote)There is actually no one in US history that has ever successfully engineered an economic recovery before this (and the jury is still out on this one!). (end of quote)
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The Harding-Coolidge administration did pretty well — cutting taxes and spending and setting loose the free market. The post-WWI recession was sharp and deep, and Harding did exactly the right thing at the right time.
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Reagan was marginally successful in ending the 1981-82 recession. But Congress insisted on phasing in the tax cuts too slowly – it would have been much better had the full tax cut taken effect immediately instead of 5%-10%-10% over three years. And the spending cuts were not as deep as they should have been.
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Grover Cleveland did as well as any president could have done in the 1890s, but not good enough to win the nomination of his party for another term.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-gouldwartofsky/wall-streets-answer-to-th_b_558193.html
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A huge rally, Wall Street arrogance on clear display.
Where was the “liberal press”?
If it had been 100 TPers they would have been hyping it everywhere.

(quote)Arizona is an anti-Mexican, anti-Hispanic state…. The issue is the hate and distrust that looms beneath the surface of most of American racial discourse.
Is the border in AZ porous? Yes! But these crimes and all the rest of the problems that are being indirectly blamed on Hispanics as a whole is just silly. (end of quote)
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I don’t think you know as much about Arizona as you think… because in fact Mexican-Americans are thoroughly integrated into society at every level.
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Arizonans are not anti-Mexican, anti-Hispanic, or even anti-immigrant. They are anti-illegal immigrant, and so are significant majorities in every other state. People of Hispanic heritage are only slightly less tolerant of illegal immigrants than are non-Hispanic whites. So does that make the legal residents of Hispanic heritage “racists” too?
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As for “crimes… being indirectly blamed on Hispanics as a whole”, that is silly. The people of Arizona know that it is the drug smuggler and the traffickers in illegals who are a primary cause of the crime. They know that Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of the US, and that the kidnappers and the victims are almost always Mexican. They know that the gangs are almost all Mexican. They know that their prisons are already overcrowded with Mexicans. They do not hate citizens and legal residents who are of Mexican or Hispanic descent — they just want the influx of illegal immigrants stopped NOW.
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I’m not sure of your reason for blathering on about bigotry and racism — what is the purpose? Do you actually want the border to stay wide open for millions of additional unskilled workers, when we already have millions of unemployed? If not, then what is your solution? A few years ago the Republicans tried to pass a bill for the contruction of a physical border fence from San Diego to Brownsville, and many miles of fence have been built. But then the Dems slowed the construction to a near stand-still and replaced the real fence with a virtual fence. Unfortunately the virtual fence is not terribly reliable.
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Everytime there is a crackdown in employers, with a series of raids on workplaces, some illegals are deported but not all. The rest just go to work somewhere else. Plus there are the day laborers. You see them hanging around outside Home Depot or Lowes or 7-Elevens and you know they are illegal workers — but most of them find some kind of work at least a few days each week. Everyone knows who they are, everyone wonders why no one is rounding them up, everyone wonders what the government is up to.

Correction: instead of saying “People of Hispanic heritage are only slightly less tolerant of illegal immigrants than are non-Hispanic whites,” what I meant to say was “only slightly _more_ tolerant of illegal immigrants…”

Reagan was marginally successful in ending the 1981-82 recession.

Precisely how so? I realize that Reagan worship still runs high in some circles but this is just a fallacy. They don’t call it the “Volker Recession” for nothing. Also, it’s important to remember that it was Carter, not Reagan that appointed Volker and he brought about the recession by raising interest rates to control rampant inflation.

The Volcker Recession
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Official Dates: Aug 1981 to Nov 1982…..16 months
Abbreviated Dates: 1981-1982
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Cause?: Continued tight monetary policy led interest rates to reach historical highs, causing
large declines in investment and consumer durables purchases.
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Orthodox View: A continuation of the philosophy leading to the 1980 recession. Clearly, the
plan worked as inflation dropped from 11.3% and 13.5% in 1979 and 1980 to 10.3%,
6.2%, and 3.2% over the next three years. A great victory for monetarism and the
Federal Reserve.
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Post Keynesian View: Since 1973:II, real wages had been falling at an average of about
0.62% per year (through 1981:II). Meanwhile, over the same period energy prices had
been rising at an annual rate of over 20%. Which one caused the consumer price
inflation that averaged over 9%?
But, if the Fed’s policy was based on faulty logic, why did inflation suddenly come
under control? Because OPEC agreement over quotas collapsed. Look at energy
price inflation from 1980 to 1986, the very period over which inflationary expectations
were supposedly adjusting and monetarism’s great victory was won: 30.9%, 13.6%,
1.5%, 0.7%, 1.0%, 0.7%, and -13.2%. The inflation was cost push, and the Volcker
recession (which raised unemployment to the highest level since the Great Depression)
accomplished nothing positive. Worse yet, it encouraged policymakers and
neoclassical economists that if we again experience high inflation, the cure is a deep
recession.
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http://www.econ.tcu.edu/harvey/50453/recessions.pdf
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Volker Hits Brakes; Recession Follows
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1982 In a widely announced policy move, Paul Volker and the Fed slowed the rate of growth of the money supply to curtail the recent inflationary spiral. Although some mathematical proofs exist that anticipated monetary policies have no real effects, the U.S. unemployment rate increased from 7.5% in 1981 to over 9.5% in 1982.
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It would be hard to label the 1982 as anything less than intentional. Tight monetary policy increased the Federal funds rate, which was about 11% in 1979, to 20% by June 1981. The prime lending rate hit 21.5%, and long-term government bond yields topped out at over 15%. The ensuing recession began in July 1981 and ended in November 1982.
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Victory over inflation came at a cost in terms of unemployment, but the outcome was unmistakable. Inflation as measured by the consumer price index was 13.3% in 1979, 12.5% in 1980, 8.9% in 1981, and 3.8% in 1982. The CPI inflation rate did not get above 4% until 1987.

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http://www.econreview.com/events/volker1982b.htm

For another interesting read regarding the economy, Carter and Reagan, see this:
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http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-carterreagan.htm
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Myth: Carter ruined the economy; Reagan saved it.
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Fact: The Federal Reserve Board was responsible for the events of the late 70s and 80s.
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Summary
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Carter cannot be blamed for the double-digit inflation that peaked on his watch, because inflation started growing in 1965 and snowballed for the next 15 years. To battle inflation, Carter appointed Paul Volcker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, who defeated it by putting the nation through an intentional recession. Once the threat of inflation abated in late 1982, Volcker cut interest rates and flooded the economy with money, fueling an expansion that lasted seven years. Neither Carter nor Reagan had much to do with the economic events that occurred during their terms.
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Argument
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In 1980, the “misery index” — unemployment plus inflation — crested 20 percent for the first time since World War II. Ronald Reagan blamed this on Jimmy Carter, and went on to win the White House. Reagan then caught the business cycle on an upswing, for what conservatives call “the Seven Fat Years” or “the longest economic expansion in peacetime history.”
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Were either of these presidents responsible for their fortune with the economy? No. Carter battled the peak of an inflationary trend that began in 1965. In the following chart, take special notice of the long, slow climb in the inflation column:

You are jumping to a conclusion — blaming Halliburton — which is probably not justified. The rig belongs to Transocean, the world’s biggest offshore drilling contractor. It is a floating rig and has powerful thrusters to keep it positioned precisely above the drilling apparatus, 10,000 feet below — it was not moored or anchored. There are safety valves on the ocean floor and on the surface, and it is not clear why one of them failed or what caused the fire.
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The rig itself was worth about $700 million and cost about $1 million per day to operate. It was nearly ready to be disconnected and moved to another site.
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Here is what Halliburton says, from the HuffPo article:
(quote)
As one of several service providers on the rig, Halliburton can confirm the following:

– Halliburton performed a variety of services on the rig, including cementing, and had four employees stationed on the rig at the time of the accident. Halliburton’s employees returned to shore safely, due, in part, to the brave rescue efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard and other organizations.

– Halliburton had completed the cementing of the final production casing string in accordance with the well design approximately 20 hours prior to the incident. The cement slurry design was consistent with that utilized in other similar applications.

– In accordance with accepted industry practice approved by our customers, tests demonstrating the integrity of the production casing string were completed.

– At the time of the incident, well operations had not yet reached the point requiring the placement of the final cement plug which would enable the planned temporary abandonment of the well, consistent with normal oilfield practice.

– We are assisting with planning and engineering support for a wide range of options designed to secure the well, including a potential relief well. (end of quote)
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From an email I received, this might be useful info:
(quote) all of the main pressure control equipment sits on the seabed –the uppermost unmoving point in the well. This pressure control equipment –the Blowout Preventers, or ‘BOP’s”as they’re called, are controlled with redundant systems from the rig. In the event of a serious emergency, there are multiple Panic Buttons to hit, and even fail-safe Deadman systems that should be automatically engaged when something of this proportion breaks out. None of them were aparently activated, suggesting that the blowout was especially swift to escalate at the surface. (end of quote)
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It is too early to say what went wrong. Whatever it was, it happened too fast for the fail-safe measures to be activated.

From the HuffPo article: “The coalition behind the protest–which included the AFL-CIO, SEIU, National People’s Action, and many others”
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Sounds like a typical SEIU/ACORN activity. Presumably the protesters all received at least $100 for showing up, plus expenses and maybe a free lunch.

http://wonkette.com/415151/wall-street-assholes-will-eat-your-cushy-middle-class-job
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More Wall Street a$$hole arrogance.
Where’s the liberal press?

jbaustian: where are your links. I know. All unions are evil and anti American. What about the number of protestors? Where is the liberal press? Gosh a free lunch?

Presumably the protesters all received at least $100 for showing up, plus expenses and maybe a free lunch.

Care to back that up with anything more than your presumptive smear? Yeah, I thought not.
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Since when is protesting the excesses of Wall Street a crime? Aren’t these people just as patriotic as you claim the teabaggers are when expresses their right to protest?
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You’re a typical douche bag. Just another unfounded smear of working class Americans.

diecash1: real interest rates stayed pretty high until almost the end of Reagan’s first term. So there had to be other reasons for the economy to start growing in 1982; one of them was failing tax rates which encouraged investment spending.
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Additionally, Reagan deregulated energy prices and American consumers benefited from the collapse in oil prices from ~$30/barrel down to ~$10/barrel.
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Additionally, labor unrest subsided in the wake of the air traffic controllers’ strike.
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There were a number of other factors, most of them partially related to declining tax rates, interest rates, and inflation rates. There was also the psychological factor — people trusted Reagan and felt as though he knew what he was doing, even before they saw evidence that his plan was working.

There was also the psychological factor — people trusted Reagan and felt as though he knew what he was doing, even before they saw evidence that his plan was working.

More utter delusion about right-wingers and their “feelings”. Reagan was incompetent and had one of the most corrupt cabinets in history. He spent like a drunken sailor, broke the law repeatedly and screwed the average American. He was fortunate enough to land in the right spot in the economic cycle though.
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Please spare me the talk of right-wingers and their “feelings”.

Do you really think those protesters would have shown up spontaneously, unless they were paid? .
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How do I know? When the caption says “SEIU”, then it’s pretty obvious. Do you know who they are?

How do I know? When the caption says “SEIU”, then it’s pretty obvious.

Like I said, you’ve got nothing but your prejudice.

Another oil rig overturned, this time near Morgan City Louisiana.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63T55Q20100430

Yes, 6-8% would have been great. Entirely unrealistic and insane to expect, but sure, great.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28real%29_growth_rate

Pictures of working real Americans.

Where was the “liberal press”?
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Some numbers for comparison:
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- October 11, 2009 – National Equality March. Approximately 200,000 people demonstrated in support of equal protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
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- March 21, 2010 – March for America; 200,000 people call for comprehensive immigration reform
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Source:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_protest_marches_on_Washington,_D.C.#2000-
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Where, indeed? ‘Liberal media’, my arse. Try finding mention of either of those events (or the one that apr2563 mentioned).

Yes, this is totally Obama’s Katrina moment. I’ve been seeing images of dead Americans floating in the water all day now.

J you are right it is too early to tell. I just have suspicions about a company who, among other horrors, let American service people get electricuted.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090601/scahill
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Also, word is coming out about an accoustical blowout preventative that is required in other countries was passed over by Bush/Cheney regulators.
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I don’t expect much in the way of new preventatives. Look at the mining events. Congress seems to think sternly worded warnings are sufficient followed by no oversight. Both sides are bought off. And, remember 11 died.

If they had real jobs, they would have been working. Since they weren’t working, they were available for the “protest”.
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But at least on that day, they earned a paycheck. Or more likely just got paid in cash. ACORN may be dead, but it has been reborn in every state under other names, and SEIU is still calling the shots.
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Maybe $100 is not enough to motivate folks to show up. So maybe they earned more. However much they were paid, I do not begrudge them the money.

diecash wrote:
“More utter delusion about right-wingers and their “feelings”. Reagan was incompetent and had one of the most corrupt cabinets in history. He spent like a drunken sailor, broke the law repeatedly and screwed the average American. He was fortunate enough to land in the right spot in the economic cycle though. (end of quote)
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Psychological factors are quite important in influencing both consumer confidence and investor confidence. Both were very weak under Jimmy Carter, both improved with the election of Reagan. I am not talking about “right-wingers”, but about the great mass of American citizens, voters, consumers, and producers. They elected Reagan by a landslide in a 3-way race in 1980, and the more they saw of him they better they liked him.
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His opponents belittled his intelligence and competence, but they were wrong; he made a few mistakes but relatively few, and he did nothing to diminish the prestige of the office he held. As for corruption in his cabinet, can you name any instances? I know one cabinet official was tried and cleared of some charge, but was anyone convicted? How did his administration compare to Bill Clinton’s?
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I was an average American, I knew a lot of other average Americans, and anyone who did not better his situation in those years was simply not trying. I know that the strong dollar and weak oil prices made things tough for some folks in the Rust Belt and the Oil Patch. But most folks saw a big improvement in their standards of living.

The 1981-2 recession was no where near this one.
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Jbaustian, not to be facetious, but small problems are easily fixed.
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On the other hand, trickle down theory isn’t viable. Tax cuts don’t necessarily convert into prosperity.
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Otherwise, the US would have never seen prosperity following WWII.
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In addition, I might point out that there was a new, and rapidly growing sector that we all take for granted now.
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Hint:
Microsoft
Apple
Linux
Unix

It’s convenient of you to forget the many scandals that occurred under Reagan. Don’t recall a little operation called Iran-Contra? Of course not. That was just Reagan fighting those dirty commies.
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Independent Counsel has concluded that the President’s most senior advisers and the Cabinet members on the National Security Council participated in the strategy to make National Security staff members McFarlane, Poindexter and North the scapegoats whose sacrifice would protect the Reagan Administration in its final two years. In an important sense, this strategy succeeded. Independent Counsel discovered much of the best evidence of the cover-up in the final year of active investigation, too late for most prosecutions.

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See the report here: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/execsum.htm
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HUD scandal:

The HUD controversy involved administration staffers granting federal funding to constituents, and defrauding the US government out of money intended for low income housing. Judge Arlin Adamns obtained the following convictions:
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1.Samuel Pierce (R) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development because he made “full and public written acceptance of responsibility” for the scandal, he was not charged.
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2. James Watt, Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior was indicted on 24 felony counts and pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor. He was sentenced to five years probation, and ordered to pay a $5000 fine.
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3. Philip Winn – Assistant HUD Secretary. Pleaded guilty to one count of scheming to give illegal gratuities.
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4. Thomas Demery – Assistant HUD Secretary – pleaded guilty to steering HUD subsidies to politically connected donors. Found guilty of bribery and obstruction of justice
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5. Deborah Gore Dean – executive assistant to Secretary Samuel Pierce – indicted on thirteen counts, three counts of conspiracy, one count of accepting an illegal gratuity, four counts of perjury, and five counts of concealing articles. She was convicted on twelve. She appealed and prevailed on several accounts but the convictions for conspiracy remained.)
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6. Joseph A. Strauss, (R) Special Assistant to the Secretary of HUD, convicted for accepting payments to favor Puerto Rican land developers in receiving HUD funding.
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7. Silvio D. DeBartolomeis convicted of perjury and bribery.[18]

Not to mention the myriad of other scandals that dotted his administration. They guy is an undeserved hero of the right. He did irreparable harm to the country, not least among them, his demonization of government. I find that most damning of all. So-called conservatives rail against government being wasteful and corrupt and then they go out and prove it with their own administrations.

What I really want to know is when you’re going to substantiate this blatant smear:

Presumably the protesters all received at least $100 for showing up, plus expenses and maybe a free lunch.

..
Face facts, you are prejudiced and you seek to disparage ordinary Americans as they utilize their 1st amendment rights. Did you disparage the teabaggers in the same way and I missed it?

j..link to protestors being paid please. You don’t know much about unions do you.
Yes, here is a gathering of lazy home care workers, janitors, bus drivers, child care providors, nurses, lab techs, etc.
Certainly, not as hard working as those Wall Street masters of the universe.

Regarding Lawrence Walsh, Independent Counsel in the Iran-Contra case:
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(quote)His investigation led to the convictions of both former National Security Advisor John Poindexter and National Security Council member Oliver North, though both convictions were subsequently reversed.
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Walsh also brought an indictment on two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice against former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger in June 1992, though much of the indictment was dismissed for technical reasons that September.
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On the eve of the 1992 presidential election, on October 30, Mr. Walsh re-indicted Weinberger on one count of “false statements.” The indictment conflicted with longstanding Justice Department policy of not bringing an indictment of a political figure out of a grand jury after August of an election year.
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Walsh went further, specifically implicating Bush in the scandal, though the accusation was irrelevant to the indictment. Bush had been closing the gap with Bill Clinton when Walsh made the indictment, and many believe Walsh’s action put the final nail in his campaign..
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Judge Thomas Hogan dismissed the October indictment two months later for being outside the statute of limitations. Weinberger’s subsequent pardon by President George Bush six months later preempted any trial. (end of quote)
excerpted from the Walsh entry at Wikipedia.
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So, two convictions overturned on appeal, other indictments dismissed. Much ado about nothing. I guess he was bummed because he didn’t get a judicial appointment, so he took it out on Weinburger and Bush 41.
.
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(quote)James Watt, Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior was indicted on 24 felony counts and pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor. He was sentenced to five years probation, and ordered to pay a $5000 fine. (end of quote)
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This happened a dozen years after he left the Reagan cabinet, and many years after Reagan was out of office? How does that reflect on Reagan’s stature?
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As for the HUD scandal… it all seems so petty in hindsight. A handful of underlings were convicted. But later on Henry Cisneros, another HUD secretary, was indicted on 18 felony charge and eventually pled guilty to a misdemeanor. Oops, forgot to mention he worked in the Clinton administration. So did Webster Hubbell, who actually served a term in jail. So did the chief of staff to the Ag Secretary Mike Espy.
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Anyway, these are all footnotes, and in each case barely tarnish the reputations of the president each man or woman served.

(quote)You don’t know much about unions do you.
Yes, here is a gathering of lazy home care workers, janitors, bus drivers, child care providors, nurses, lab techs, etc. (end of quote)
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You seem to know much more about these individuals than I do. Names, addresses, occupations, employers… I won’t ask you to violate their privacy by identifying each one.
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I know a little bit about unions. I have nothing against the rank-and-file, but their leaders are the scum of the earth.

(quote)What I really want to know is when you’re going to substantiate this blatant smear:
“Presumably the protesters all received at least $100 for showing up, plus expenses and maybe a free lunch.”
..
Face facts, you are prejudiced and you seek to disparage ordinary Americans as they utilize their 1st amendment rights. Did you disparage the teabaggers in the same way and I missed it? (end of quote)
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How did I smear the protestors? They earned their pay for what they did, how is that a smear?
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As for disparaging someone… I do not disparage anyone by calling him a “teabagger” or a “douchbag”.
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Besides, who am I supposed to be prejudiced against? That’s a strange allegation, at least in this instance. So is raising the issue of the 1st Amendment.

First, “teabagger” is how they have addressed themselves so I don’t consider that an insult or smear.
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Second, it’s “douche bag” and when you smear ordinary Americans with your ridiculous, unsubstantiated allegations, that’s what you are.
..

Presumably the protesters all received at least $100 for showing up, plus expenses and maybe a free lunch.

The fact that you don’t recognize that statement as a smear speaks volumes about you. When you can prove that as fact, it is no longer a smear.
..

Besides, who am I supposed to be prejudiced against? That’s a strange allegation, at least in this instance. So is raising the issue of the 1st Amendment.

It would seem you are prejudiced against the SEIU, Acorn and other hard-working Americans; certainly those that were out protesting the Wall Street crowd. Seems pretty straightforward to me.
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I raise the 1st amendment because they were exercising the right to freely assemble and voice their concerns through protest, just as the teabaggers have done yet you smear these Americans and you’re strangely silent about said teabaggers doing the same. That protest was as much for Congress as it was for Wall Street.

j: I see. The people at this rally were paid and fed to be there. But on top of that they were no rank and file members. Linky please.

What’s really awesome are the people who helped trigger the recession telling service workers to get a job. Because of course the unemployment rate spiked to ~10% in ’08-’09 for absolutely no reason. People just got lazy all of a sudden.

(quote)First, “teabagger” is how they have addressed themselves so I don’t consider that an insult or smear.(end of quote)
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No, the people who attend the tea parties do not address themselves with that term. Only the people who trash the tea partiers. So do not pretend that it’s a term of endearment.
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(quote)Second, it’s “douche bag” and when you smear ordinary Americans with your ridiculous, unsubstantiated allegations, that’s what you are. (end of quote)
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Nothing I say is ridiculous. You, on the other hand, have just alleged that you’re an ordinary American… thereby smearing all other ordinary Americans. I’m not sure yet what kind of creature you are, something, well, I won’t speculate.

Nothing I say is ridiculous. You, on the other hand, have just alleged that you’re an ordinary American… thereby smearing all other ordinary Americans.

Apparently you’re delusional. You’ve made ridiculous, unsubstantiated allegations. You continue to obfuscate the simple fact that you cannot back up your statements and you somehow construe my statements to be a smear on ordinary Americans. How very………Orwellian.
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Let me know when you find that substantiation and you’re able to make a cogent argument. I’m sure that won’t be anytime soon.

Funny thing about you jbaustian. You seem to make a habit out of unsubstantiated allegations.

In many states, the only way Democrats can win is by committing voter fraud — either by counting absentee ballots from dead people, or not requiring a photo ID when registering or voting, or encouraging illegal immigrants to register and vote.

I notice that you were unwilling or unable to back up this ridiculous allegation too. I suppose that this is your modus operandi. How typical.

Apr,
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That’s a very good idea. That way they can see for themselves what Mainstream Americans look like.
It would also have the advantage of them seeing first hand how much liberals have been lying about who the Tea Party people are. Just normal average Americans who want nothing but what is in the best interest of all of our citizens. Tea Party = Real American Patriots.

The Federal Government has been a little slow on their response to this oil problem.
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Thank goodness we have a Governor who has responded quickly and with real professionalism.

3xfire3:
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I’ve been staying out of it mainly because apr has it nailed, but I have two tasks for you:
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1. Reconcile earljr1′s statement on the other blog with the wording of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States that I linked to at 18.9 on that blog.
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2. Given that some 40% of Black Americans are conservative, I would like you to explain (without assuming they are not discerning) two phenomena:
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a. Why all polls, without exception show this demographic to be the least likely to support your cause and
b. Why you don’t want the 5 to 7 million votes these Black American conservative votes, and the 10 to 14 million voter swing they represent.
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You have two choices:
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Divert, insult, avoid, and look really stoopid, or,
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Do the math.
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Please respond here.

3xfire3:
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A task awaits you at 5.4…

It’s true!
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Rush Limbaugh said so!

kevin:
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I saw that the final count for Katrina was 1500 dead. Is that right? I thought it was 1071.
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Anyway, no one send Karl Rove anywhere unless it’s Cleanup in Aisle Nine.
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I have a sneaking hunch that if we knew what Karl Rove knows about Katrina, and the political mess he cleaned up, he would be scheduled for execution, along with a few others, for crimes against humanity.
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We won’t know for sure for another 50 years, though…

53-3,
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As I have said before, the reason our black citizens voted nearly 100% for Obama was for two reasons.

..1. Blacks who are middle class or above voted for Obama because they are proud to have a black person run for President. There act here is totally understandable.
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..2. Blacks who have not achieved middle class or above love the free stuff Democrats continue to give them. They are afraid that if they don’t vote Democratic they will lose all the free stuff. The Social Welfare system created primarily by Democrats have destroyed the productive lives of millions of our black citizens.
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In the future as more blacks achieve middle class and above and we do not have a black running for President, I believe many more blacks will vote as Republicans and independents.
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I believe in the near future, many middle class blacks will realize that it a lie when democrats keep saying that Republicans are racist. They will learn first hand that Republicans represent their best interest much more then the Democrat Party that have been hijacked by the Liberal/Progressive/Socialist Extremist end of the party. It’s no longer my parents or grandparents Democratic Party.
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Hopefully I have answered all your questions.

Hey, 3xfire3:
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“They are afraid that if they don’t vote Democratic they will lose all the free stuff.”
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I have to say, 3xfire3, that there is no other name for this. You have taken an entire demographic and you have clearly demonstrated that you think they are incapable of any sort of independant thought!
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So, if your son in law votes Dem (and you should not know whether he did or not!), then you are saying?
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Thanks for trying, 3xfire3, but you don’t know sh!t about the Black community, and that statement proves it. Apparently, you believe that the Black community is totally different than any other demographic in that you stated that they cannot make informed decisions!. I’ll let others decide whether you are just relentlessly ignorant or…
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As for the comment on the other blog, which you avoided, well, a failure there as well.
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You are 0 for 2…

Here is 3xfire3′s take on the Black community:
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“They are afraid that if they don’t vote Democratic they will lose all the free stuff.”
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“Blacks who are middle class or above voted for Obama because they are proud to have a black person run for President.”
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I just thought it would be nice if I posted it here for all to see. His post is at 5.5.

He completely avoided the second task, btw…

It’s been wonderful, 3xfire3. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your talking sh!t over your shoulder and walking into that wall.
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It must have hurt…

53-3,
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You are attempting to mislead other people on this blog. about my comments.
As you are aware, I was only referring to people caught up in the welfare culture of the inner city. I was not referring to our black citizens as a whole.
There is a big difference between those that are prisoners to the inner city welfare culture and those that have succeeded in getting out of that environment.
As usual you bring everything down to race. The true sign of a racist.
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My comments would also fit the poor whites who live in the back hills of West Virgina. You know those red necks you hate so much.

53,
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No that’s what people living on the coast of Louisiana said when interviewed by reporters. You sure are thin skinned when it comes to Obama. Is he your God or just your Hero?

%3-3,
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I have answered all your questions and rants back in comments after 5.5.