Bushie Bounce means no hope for Emperor Zero Possumus Arugula
ZERO POSSUMUS ARUGULA
A few weeks ago, at the Barackropolis in Denver, the faithful were gathered to crown the new Caesar, Emperor Zero Possumus Arugula. But something FUnnie happened on the way to the White House: A Bushie Bounce. And it was all so predictable, according to Nutroots Nostradamus DUmmie tom_paine, as he explains--at length--in this THREAD, "I knew it was going to happen, but it still hurts like hell to watch it in slow motion."
"Beware the Bounce of Bushie!" Ain't that the sooth! So now let us watch the despondent DUmmies gear up to be let down, in Bolshevik Red, while the commentary of your humble guest correspondent, Charles Henrickson, glad his Cubbies are not seeing a Brewer Bounce, is in the [brackets]:
I knew it was going to happen, but it still hurts like hell to watch it in slow motion.
[You put the "pain" in "campaign," DUmmie tom_paine.]
NOTE: To anyone who feels that their morale may be damaged by an unvarnished assessment of reality these last eight to twenty-five years may not wish to read any further.
[NOTE: To anyone not wanting to spend the next eight to twenty-five years reading a long, drawn-out excuse for why the Democrats will lose, you may not wish to read any further.]
NOTE: Neither should this thread be construed as an advocation of giving up or not voting.
[NOTE: Democrats, DON'T give up! DON'T go on vacation! Get out there and VOTE on November 5th! Even though it is hopeless!]
It's like a slow motion car accident unraveling before one's eyes, bodies crumpled and mangled flying out windows at breakneck speed in agonizing detail. Or maybe it's like watching a bad reality show or maybe WWE wrestling again and again and again, one with the same outcome no matter what nonsensical plot twists get us to the preordained ending.
[It's like a bad writer, searching and straining for maladroit metaphors and silly similes, in a desperate attempt to out-Pitt Pitt, before getting to a long-overdue ending.]
But the outcome is never in doubt, and if we look at what passes for "elections" in Bushie Amerika or Putinist Russia, which are almost identically governed by Inverted Totalitarianism as well as having identically trustworthy "elections", we can see that computerized wholesale Bushie election fraud, which may or may not exist, may not even be necessary whether it exists or not.
[Huh?]
I have said it before and I have said it again . . .
[. . . and I will say it several times more, in my belaboring yet surprisingly obtuse style. . . .]
What the Bushies have done to our media, our institutions and our National Psyche as expressed in our National Dialogue, is psychologically similar, deeply similar, to what the Nazis did to Germany. . . .
[Flag on the play! Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies! 15 yards and loss of down!]
At least it is not yet physically dangerous. . . .
[Yet.]
Does wholesale electronic Bushie electoral fraud exist? Probably. But for the purposes of this discussion, let us assume . . . wholesale electronic Bushie electoral fraud does not exist.
[I got my electronic Bushie wholesale.]
In this nation of drugged-out, TV-zombied-up sheep, of which we are all a part what is essentially a vast artificial marketing scheme which has replaced objective reality, a National Hologram, to borrow Joe Bageant's term for it, do the Bushies even need wholesale election fraud to get their way?
[The Wholesale Hologram alternate excuse, in case nobody buys the Electronic Bushie excuse.]
At least a year ago, I knew that McCain would be our next Emperor. . . .
[You must be psychotic.]
No one can predict the details of the future, only that the Bushie Summer Propaganda Offensive would come in some form. . . .
[As YOU of course knew would happen, you Nutroots Nostradamus you!]
When the Bushies, probably through Randy Scheunemann, greenlighted Georgia for or perhaps ordered it to begin it's August 2008 "Bushie Bounce" invasion of Georgia . . . they knew their mass psychology.
[Georgia Done-by-a Bushie.]
Six percentage points, plus or minus three, for our next Emperor McCain.
[There go our hopes for Emperor Zero!]
This would probably not be the case if the Bushies hadn't long ago bent the media to it's will through corporate consolidation and a dozen other sub-strategies including Bill Parcells "working the ref", and all have been staggeringly successful to the point where the Bushie M$M is now pretty much where all discussions are leveled from the start by using a Bushie Linguistic Frame.
[I think you've been "working the reefer."]
So, it's knotted now.
[Tie, the Bouncer.]
And I believe that, in the current restructuring and Gleichschaltung the Bushies have carried out on our "National Nervous System", every facet of it, it simply is not possible for Obama to GAIN in the polls.
[Ah, the ol' Gleichschaltung-on-the-Nervous-System ploy!]
As impossible as it was for whoever Medvedev's opposition patsy, his "Obama", was in our Sister Nation and fellow Inverted Totalitarianism, Putin's Russia, and THEIR "election" (which, if we are assuming no Bushie electoral fraud, then we MUSt also assume no Putinist United Russia electoral fraud and thus Medvedev's "election" victory was indeed 66-33% as advertised). . . .
[Boy, you must be smart! First "Gleichschaltung," now "Medvedev," "Inverted Totalitarianism," Russian election statistics. . . . and in a really long sentence!]
It makes me laugh.
[It makes my eyes glaze over.]
If there are any left who can scoff at this quite reasonable notion in the face of the last eight years, and I have no doubt that even now most will...even NOW, when it is tragically obvious to the point of insulting the intelligence of the few members of the Reality-Based Community left, then just wait until November . . .
[. . . when I will finally finish this ponderous, prolix, Pitt-like essay.]
First, the October Surprise is still yet to come. . . .
[If you finish by October, that WILL be a surprise!]
Then, the usual boring "Surprise McCain Upset Victory Show" coming a few days later. Boring.
[Almost as boring as the "Survive tom_paine's Run-on Essay Show."]
Can't you see it? Can't you smell it?
[Smells like old fish.]
Doesn't that tingle of deja vu tells you it's coming?
[Chris Matthews feels a different tingle.]
Just get ready, because in just a few more weeks...eight to be precise, we are all going to be schooled on just how powerless we are to stop the systemic and structural changes the Bushies have wrought to every aspect of our once-free, once proud society. And it doesn't matter who pulls what levers...even if there ISN'T wholesale Bushie manual and electronic election fraud occurring, which probably IS also occurring.
[Just . . . give up.]
All hail Emperor McBush
[AKA Emperor McCain. Hail Geezer! Now let's hear from your friends, DUmmies, and countrymen. . . .]
That sinking futile feeling I am starting to get in my gut and I suspect many of us have now, is probably the result of all of us being Rovian psy-opped for 8 plus years. . . .
[Rovian Mind-Control Rays are going out even as we speak.]
I will vote and learn to survive under The Spotty Dirt Bag and Gidget. . . .
[You mean Furious Geezer and his consort, Diana Prince.]
until I can get a job in Old Europe.
[Now becoming New Eurabia. Can we see you off at the airport? Help you pack?]
if you do want Obama to get elected, you wouldn't post "pep-talks" like this.
[I've read suicide notes peppier than this.]
Posts like this do zero to help Obama. . . . we all need to change our attitude.
[Zero pessimus!]
We can b*tch in November.
[And you will. DUmmie tom_paine is just getting a head-start.]
Obama ran a d*mn fine campaign and is doing so again. It won't all be roses, so get used to some bumps here and there. Can't you understand that the doom and gloom in threads like this are the antithesis of Obama's message of hope and new politics?
[The bloom is off the rose and the gloom is on the rise! Now DUmmie tom_paine replies:]
With the Bushies iron grip on our National Psyche and the National Hologram, I have long maintained and still maintained that they could run a ham sandwich against Jesus Christ and win by their usual 0.05-3%.
[A ham sandwich vs. Jesus? Where would the Jewish vote go?]
I, too, have lost all hope in America's salvation. Obama isn't the answer. Sadly, there isn't an answer. . . .
[The answer is . . . Luxembourg. Bon voyage!]
the media plays the biggest role in our elections. . . . This point guard bullshit and the PTA are good examples of the propping up while using the lipstick on a pig to drag the other candidate down. It is all bullshit and we are stuck with what the media wants us to eat.
[Lipstick on ham?]
KEEP WORKING!!!!!!!! KEEP WORKING KEEP WORKING KEEP WORKING. . . . IF YOU SIT AND DO NOTHING, EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW THERE WILL BE HUGH OBSTACLES, THEN WE ARE LOSERS IN AN EVEN BIGGER WAY. KEEP WORKING!!!!!!!!!!!
[ZERO PESSIMUS! ZERO PESSIMUS! ZERO PESSIMUS!!!!!!!!]
DO SOMETHING
[DUAC! DUAC!]
hoping for sunshine, preparing for rain
[There's NO preparing for . . . A PERFECT ROVIAN STORM!!!]
posted by PJ-Comix at 2:18 PM
50 Comments:
The perfect storm of Cosmic Despair. Such drama queens.
I could only read a few paragraphs of this drivel(get to the fucking point already!!), but what I waded through I got the impression that this Moonturd is blaming Obama being down in the polls on Bush?? Am I reading that right?? Anybody who, bless you if you did, read through this speil; come away with that??
Good thing they'll have Sarah to hate after Shrub leaves; or they'd have no more purpose in life. Their BDS will become PMS (Palin Madness Syndrome). The new affliction fits these moonbitches better.
Has anyone here ever seen community theater do Shakespeare? Hmm. I wonder why I always think of that when I read the DUmmie FUnnies.
Obamas father had contempt for his mother and him and acted on his contempt by dumping them both when Obama was 3.
His mother had contempt for Obama and acted on it it by dumping him when he was 10. She then dumped his step-father, revealing her contempt for men/herself/her children/marriage.
Obama is married to a contemptuous female impersonator who hates this country as much as he does.
Obama displayed contempt for his grandmother (and white people) by deriding her as a 'typical white woman'.
Obama hates himself, as evidenced by his choice of wife, "spiritual" path, friends and associates.
Ought we be surprised by his contempt for Sarah Palin .. a woman of real accomplishment? For Obama's intents and purposes her gender alone suffices for his contempt - but her genuine accomplishments really up his anxiety levels.
Obama blew it Big Time. His blew his cool to pieces.
I thought DUmmies had the game changer ready to be unleashed? They are threatening to emigrate to France already? Usually they don't threaten to move to France until at least a day after an election. They're getting cantankerous in the early 20's.
Skully, he does blame it all on Bush and Rove, but you have to think of that in the context of their relentless "McCain is Bush" mantra and it makes sense...well, sense in a DUmmie manner of speaking, not REAL sense.
keith,
Yep, in a couple of weeks the dispairing DUmmies will be talking about emigration. You can tell when things are going badly in DUmmieland when they discuss emigrating to Canada or New Zealand or Australia or some other country where there are generous welfare benefits and not too many brown-skinned people.
Just amazing how someone as stupid as Bush is so brilliantly orchestrating McCain's win while making sure Obama's campaign goes down in flames. That Bush guy is a born multi-tasker! LOL!
It's all about emotion. If you have emotion and feelings, everything will be right with the world. Right, troggy boy.
Skul
"And it was all so predictable, according to Nutroots Nostradamus DUmmie tom_paine, as he explains..."
I LOVE TOM_PAINE!!! And if you bastards are insinuating this fella put lipstick on a pig or that he wants to instruct kids how to have sex before they can read, then you can all go to hell. Like I care.
Meanwhile, the country's fucked. You people make me nuts. But I'm sure I'm not the only one. Keep it up.
"It's all about emotion. If you have emotion and feelings, everything will be right with the world. Right, troggy boy." Skul
Whatever you say, headbone. Emotion and feelings. Want to reference my reliance on emotion and feelings? That seems to be more in your orbit lately.
You wouldn't happen to know a good home decorator, would you?
<<...this fella put lipstick on a pig or that he wants to instruct kids how to have sex...>>
No, we're insinuating that he put lipstick on kids and instructed pigs how to have sex. Get your memes straight, Troggy.
This tom paine mayo guzzler just showed the world the key to BDS:
"the Bushies iron grip on our National Psyche"
This guy actually thinks bush is controlling their thoughts (through "media") and has a iron grip on his "psyche".
Can a doctor find a cure?
anon#69
Just a small aside..
I went and read a wad of the comments (brrrr.)
Many of them are convinced of this "stolen" election meme to their very cores. But I have a question.
It is Republicans who are fighting for voter identification. Not to eliminate voters, but to eliminate fraud.
If you show up at the polling place and claim your ballot with no I.D. they will give you a provisional and two days to establish you are who you say your are.
This is election theft?
We're doing it wrong.
"You wouldn't happen to know a good home decorator, would you?"
No, but I know a great tree you can climb in Berkeley.
Actually, I can't blame them this time. This IS the perfect storm...against them. And by all rights, shouldn't be happpening.
McCain, not the Conservatives' favorite, turns out to be, because of his very "finger in Conservatives' eye" reputation, relatively palatable to moderate Democrats. The fury of the Hillary voters, because of Obama's tin ear regarding their candidate and the whole "woman question", the surprise ballsy choice by McCain of Sarah Palin, her amazing real-ness, and invigorating of the Conservative base because of her...
...creates the perfect antidote to the Obama phenomenon, that SHOULD have swept him into office on a tide of Moonbat and Media emotion.
I think McCain/Palin is going to win...and it surprises the crap out of me too, considering the supposed inevitability of the Golden One's Presidency just months ago.
Honestly, I sort of feel sorry for the poor DUmmies...they had every reason to celebrate...and no possible reason to expect what's happening to be happening.
It almost makes you believe in God.
"Meanwhile, the country's fucked. You people make me nuts. But I'm sure I'm not the only one. Keep it up."
This country is NOT fucked in any way shape or form. The only thing 'fucked' is the minds of leftists and moonbats who see nothing but the spoon fed doom and gloom that the MSM has been dishing out since before the new year. (Well the past 8 years actually)
Recession, recession, that's all they've been saying. Meanwhile, 3.3% growth in the 2nd quarter.
Just like the mantra of civil war in Iraq which never happened or existed.
Open your eyes troglaman and look around. Or is that too much to ask from the so called 'reality based' folks eh?
Meanwhile, the country is finally starting to wake up and smell the shit that Comrade Ombama has been dishing with his able helpers in the MSM.
I LOVE this episode of the DUmmies it shows just exactly how much Palin has got to them and that is a 'good thing' for sure!
No if McCain will only come out and finally stick a fork into the mortgage industry failures and specifcally Fannie and Freddie Mae.
An interesting sidelight:
"In late 2004, the leadership of the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae) was accused of having engaged in a series of questionable accounting practices that led to an overstatement of its earnings and an understatement of its risk. Although Fannie Mae’s top officers denied the accusations, a careful review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed the allegations. Within a few weeks, Fannie Mae conceded the charges and its top officers were forced to resign. Any doubts about the seriousness of the company’s shaky finances were laid to rest on January 19, 2005, when Fannie Mae cut its dividend in half to bolster its cash reserves."
Those "top officers" are NOW top econmic advisors to... (Drum roll please!) Obama! Look it up folks, it's a fact Jack!
"the National Hologram"
That must be the illusionary world the DUmmies (and Trog) inhabit where they see the massive destruction of America which was brought on by KKKarl and Bushitler. Meanwhile, we, the inhabitants of reality, see life going on pretty much as usual. The planes still fly, the cars still run, businesses are still open, the cities are not burning ruins, America isn't experiencing a civil war, mass starvation still doesn't exist, and despite all the wailing and whining from the DUmmies, Republicans still exist and are poise to maintain the Presidency.
Life just sucks, doesn't it Troggy?
"... This country is NOT fucked in any way shape or form. ..." - the OTHER t-man
Exsqeeze me, but I beg to differ:
Exhibit 1: the popularity of wealth re-distribution and collectivism
Exhibit 2: the continual demands for bigger government by both "liberals" and "conservatives"
Exhibit 3: Crony capitalism and the politics of pull
Exhibit 4: ball-less politicians whose only concern is establishing a lifetime place at the public trough
Exhibit 5: the continual trashing and enslavement of entrepreneurs and businessmen who create the jobs and wealth of the nation
Exhibit 6: the usurpation of economic power by politicians and government
Exhibit 7: the continual demands for legislated morality
Exhibit 8: the increasing political influence of unions
I could go on, but the point is we are moving further and further from the individualism and Capitalism our founding fathers envisioned.
"... No, but I know a great tree you can climb in Berkeley. ..."
Sorry, but they started cutting those down yesterday.
Getting a little emotional again, aren't you troggy boy.
Did I hurt your widdle feelings?
We feel your "paine".
Skul
Troggy is a hoot! Come on, admit it: you made him up. A real person can't be that obtuse. He is just a very amusing parody, right?
Inverted Totalitarianism
I had that once, but a few days rest and some muscle relaxants, and it got better.
Then, the usual boring "Surprise McCain Upset Victory Show" coming a few days later. Boring.
Wait, McCain has won previous presidential elections?
Can't you understand that the doom and gloom in threads like this are the antithesis of Obama's message of hope and new politics?
Wait... so all the "hope" hype was about Obamassiah getting elected?!? HA HA HA HA HA
THERE WILL BE HUGH OBSTACLES
Really, really "hugh"!...
I'm cereal!
Excelsior!
tom-paine is truly shakespearian - "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".
I agree, sj.
Tom_paine, in his self-importance, reminds me of an Aesop fable in which "The fly sat upon the axle of the chariot-wheel and said,What a dust do I raise!".
In fact, most of the DUmmies fall neatly into that category.
When the Bushies, probably through Randy Scheunemann, greenlighted Georgia for or perhaps ordered it to begin it's August 2008 "Bushie Bounce" invasion of Georgia . . . they knew their mass psychology.
That was as far as I got.
Seriously, what's this guy on? The administration greenlit Georgia to invade... Georgia? Huh? I'm pretty sure that Russia invaded Georgia. And I'm pretty sure that they gave us the finger as they did so.
New post folks. Even better than this one.
Skul
"You wouldn't happen to know a good home decorator, would you?"
Nope, do YOU?
Looser
Skul
"... This country is NOT fucked in any way shape or form. ..." - the OTHER t-man. galt
What? I think everything's totally fucked up. What the hell are you talking about? I, troglaman, disavow anything the OTHER t-man says and mr. galt's assessment of troglathought.
"You wouldn't happen to know a good home decorator, would you?"
Nope, do YOU? Looser Skul
Well. Took the bait skul. Not that's there anything wrong with that.
I'm watching MSNBC. They've been running NBC's September 9-11 live coverage of that day. Edited. Today Show. Katie, Matt and, later, Tom. It's still unbelievable.
Bin Laudin has bragged about drawing the US into a war we couldn't win. He has bragged about drawing the US into a conflict that would bankrupt our treasury much like they did to the USSR with US help. Who's winning this war, you dumbshits? We are bankrupt. We are spent. Anyone who has questioned this strategy has been called a traitor by the likes of you crazyassed turnips. And, it looks like you were all wrong. Wrong. Got that?
Maybe a random act of contrition would be to admit one's errors. I doubt, very much, that the people killed during this travesty would want more and more killing. In fact, I think they would want it to stop. I'd bet the farm they would want the killing to stop.
Wouldn't you?
Cripes, tooooo easy.
I love it.
(wiggle the bait a bit more)
Nope, didn't get it. What's yer point troggy?
You lost.
I love it when the little man tries to turn the tables.
Folks are laughing at you now, troggy.
How's that stink-bait taste sucker??
Skul
Got that little twerp?? SUCKER!!1!
"... What? I think everything's totally fucked up. What the hell are you talking about? I, troglaman, disavow anything the OTHER t-man says and mr. galt's assessment of troglathought..." -the one and only troglaman
I don't think everything's totally fucked up, just certain things, the worst of which I listed.
While I wasn't attempting to assess "troglathought" about what's fucked up, it seems there might be a chance for reason in your furry head, troglaman, if the things I listed disturb you also.
Despite the chains of collectivism thrown around the creators of wealth and opportunity and the creeping welfare state attitude in this country, we've still managed to make and keep it the greatest place on the planet for individual freedom.
"... In fact, I think they would want it to stop. I'd bet the farm they would want the killing to stop. ..." - troggie
The end wish, while likely shared by most people, does not identify the path to achieve it. ("Hope is not a strategy.")
The fortunate fact of reality is that not minds work the same or achieve the same levels of cognizance and reason.
The unfortunate effect of this fact is there are some minds that worship death and hope to achieve that goal for both themselves and as many others as possible.
Like cancer cells in an otherwise healthy body, they must be exterminated if the body is to survive.
edit:
"The fortunate fact of reality is that not ALL minds work the same ..."
"The end wish, while likely shared by most people, does not identify the path to achieve it. ("Hope is not a strategy.")" mr galt
But 'hope' is all about identifying an ideal, an objective. An 'end wish' is exactly what it is. Hope has to do with what's ahead. And making it better. I think that's a great strategy. The only pathway, cruel or not.
Your cold objectivity scares me sometimes. It's not that I disagree with your conclusions, it's that I disagree with where they're going if that makes any sense, mr galt.
"But 'hope' is all about identifying an ideal, an objective." - t-man
Exactly!
But knowing or "feeling" what the goal is or should be gives no guidance on the best (or best possible) path to achieve it. That's the job of REASON and LOGIC.
"... I disagree with where they're going if that makes any sense, mr galt." - t-man
I'm not sure that does make sense, unless you're implying that cold objectivity would lead to extermination pogroms like eugenics or "The Final Solution." In fact, objectivity, backed by a dedication to individual rights would never allow such things to happen.
"In fact, objectivity, backed by a dedication to individual rights would never allow such things to happen." mr galt
Why's that? What do you mean by "individual rights"? Do they apply to Muslim terrorists? Illegal immigrants? Murderers? People who don't speak English? Do these "individual rights" apply to everyone, mr galt? Because they either apply to everyone or they don't. We started this debate when the founders of this country wrote the Constitution.
So why would "objectivity" include the dedication to "individual rights"?
This should be good.
I want to answer your questions, t-man, but it would take a lot of 'splainin'
Take my suggestion about that Rand package deal. Also pick up "The Voice of Reason" and "The Capitalist Manifesto" while you're there on the Ayn Rand bookstore site.
www.aynrandbookstore.com
If you'd rather I attempt to answer, post your e-mail address and I'll take it off this blog. Of course you'd probably also get a bunch of flack mails... ;)
Brilliant. Just freaking brilliant.
troglaman@yahoo.com
I'm not afraid of flackmails. Or flickmails. Fligmails or flugmails. Fire away. My address has always been available. Put 'galt' in subject or address so it won't kick you out as spam.
But I can fairly represent our conversation here, right?
troglaman said...
"... This country is NOT fucked in any way shape or form. ..." - the OTHER t-man. galt
What? I think everything's totally fucked up.
I'm at a complete loss as to where lefties get their impression that 'everything has turned to sh!t' in the last eight years.
For one, Iraq is pretty much over, and the US was victorious. Take that.
For two the economy is absolutely fine, and is doing a lot better than Japan and the Eurozone, despite the problems in the financial sector.
Being for the benefit of t-man, and his fellow moonbats, whose nightmares of Rethuglican economic mismanagement keep them awake at night:
How does the performance of the U.S. economy really compare with other advanced economies over the eight years of George Bush's presidency? Data published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the International Comparison Program (ICP) (a cooperative venture coordinated by the World Bank) and the U.S. Census Bureau allow a nonpartisan, factual assessment. Here are some of the findings:
-- Economic growth. U.S. output has expanded faster than in most advanced economies since 2000. The IMF reports that real U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an average annual rate of 2.2% over the period 2001-2008 (including its forecast for the current year). President Bush will leave to his successor an economy 19% larger than the one he inherited from President Clinton. This U.S. expansion compares with 14% by France, 13% by Japan and just 8% by Italy and Germany over the same period.
The latest ICP findings, published by the World Bank in its World Development Indicators 2008, also show that GDP per capita in the U.S. reached $41,813 (in purchasing power parity dollars) in 2005. This was a third higher than the United Kingdom's, 37% above Germany's and 38% more than Japan's.
-- Household consumption. The ICP study found that the average per-capita consumption of the U.S. population (citizens and illegal immigrants combined) was second only to Luxembourg's, out of 146 countries covered in 2005. The U.S. average was $32,045. This was well above the levels in the UK ($25,155), Canada ($23,526), France ($23,027) and Germany ($21,742). China stood at $1,751.
-- Health services. The U.S. spends easily the highest amount per capita ($6,657 in 2005) on health, more than double that in Britain. But because of private funding (55% of the total) the burden on the U.S. taxpayer (9.1% of GDP) is kept to similar levels as France and Germany. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 84.7% of the U.S. population was covered by health insurance in 2007, an increase of 3.6 million people over 2006. The uninsured can receive treatment in hospitals at the expense of private insurance holders.
While life expectancy is influenced by lifestyles and not just access to health services, the World Bank nevertheless reports that average life expectancy in the U.S. rose to 78 years in 2006 (the same as Germany's), from 77 in 2000.
-- Income and wealth distribution. The latest World Bank estimates show that the richest 20% of U.S. households had a 45.8% share of total income in 2000, similar to the levels in the U.K. (44.0%) and Israel (44.9%). In 65 other countries the richest quintile had a larger share than in the U.S.
Investment has been buoyant under President Bush. According to the ICP outlays on additions to the fixed assets (machinery and buildings, etc.) of the U.S. economy amounted to $8,018 per capita in 2005 compared to $4,963 in Germany and $4,937 in the U.K. Higher taxes on the upper-income Americans, as proposed by Mr. Obama, are likely to result in lower saving and investment, less entrepreneurial activity and reduced availability of bank credit. Lower-income Americans would be among the losers.
When considering the distribution of income and wealth in the U.S., another factor that should be taken into account is the sharp rise in the number of immigrants. The stock of international migrants (those born in other countries) in the U.S. grew by nearly 10 million from 1995 to 2005, reaching a total of 38.5 million according to the World Bank.
The inflow of migrants may have restrained the growth of average income levels in the bottom quintiles. Nevertheless, their earnings still allowed immigrants to remit $42 billion to their families abroad in 2006, double the level in 1995. So the benefits are widely spread among the families of immigrants remaining abroad -- an important U.S. contribution to the reduction of poverty in these countries.
-- Employment. The U.S. employment rate, measured by the percentage of people of working age (16-65 years) in jobs, has remained high by international standards. The latest OECD figures show a rate of 71.7% in 2006. This was more than five percentage points above the average for the euro area.
The U.S. unemployment rate averaged 4.7% from 2001-2007. This compares with a 5.2% average rate during President Clinton's term of office, and is well below the euro zone average of 8.3% since 2000.
-- Debt interest payments. The IMF reports that the interest cost of servicing general government debt in the U.S. has averaged 2.0% of GDP annually from 2001-2008, compared with 2.7% in the euro zone. It averaged 3.2% annually when President Clinton was in office.
The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been largely absorbed in a relatively small increase in the defense budget (to 4.1% of GDP in 2006 from 3.8% in 1995). A much higher proportion of U.S. income was devoted to the military during World War II and the Korean War.
The evidence shows that much of the Democratic Party's criticism of President Bush's economic record is wide of the mark. True, the economic slowdown now affecting most advanced countries will likely result in rising unemployment over the coming months. But thanks to sensible policies pursued by the Bush administration (not always with adequate support from a Democratic-controlled Congress), the U.S. economy is sufficiently flexible to keep unemployment below the 7.7% peak reached in the last post-recession year of 1992.
By Keith Marsden
Mr. Marsden, a fellow of the Centre for Policy Studies, was formerly an adviser at the World Bank and a senior economist in the International Labor Organization.
Trog --
Better off transcribing your email address as troglaman-at-yahoo-dot-com then Galt can format it in his email.
Otherwise it will get picked up by spambots.
Here's some interesting facts on the economy from Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122143692536934297.html
"I'm at a complete loss as to where lefties get their impression that 'everything has turned to sh!t' in the last eight years." mandible
Are you fucking kidding? Tell you what, I'm at a complete loss as to how to explain you're a brainless dung beetle. I really am. Help me out. Jesus.
"Better off transcribing your email address as troglaman-at-yahoo-dot-com" mc
Thanks, mc.
t-man, my ISP was screwed up last night, so I'll couldn't set up an e-mail account to correspond with you. I'll get back to you.
As an authenticator we'll have to set up some shared info: you mentioned you're in the Seattle area. I lived in and around Seattle for a while. I'll mention some of those areas in the e-mail.
"As an authenticator we'll have to set up some shared info: you mentioned you're in the Seattle area." galt the authenticator.
I've never dealt with an authenticator before. It's all so scary.
Ray, help me out here. What the fuck is an authenticator? Have I already been absorbed and just don't know it? Can I come to your basement, susie? Your closet, manbearpig? Someone, please help me.
LOL!
Wait for it t-man! It's coming soon.
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