The President: “Miracle Worker???”

It is very absurd for people to expect us to recover so quickly from a recession.  I have talked to many people and for the most part they bashed the hell out of President Obama.  I am not trying to defend anyone but, when President Obama came into office the economy resembled a back alley abortion done with a coat hanger.  What’s worse is these same people think of President Bush as a godsend.  I laughed in their faces so hard that my stomach and cheeks began to hurt as I was wiping the tears from my eyes.  The incessant babbling of moronic praise along with jeers like Obama Bin Laden and Barrack Hussein (from idiots not knowing his middle name is Hussein).

Like I said before, I am not defending anybody but I will most definitely call “Bullshit!”.  People think President Bush was great, well okay.  In all honesty, he was a liar and treated the military like his own personal G.I. Joe’s.  Especially when it came to Iraq. He talked about Iraq having WMD’s but the Soldiers found nothing.  People will say the components to make WMD’s were found.  Well I have packing styrofoam in my closet and gasoline in my garage. Are you going to raid my house for me and say I have home made napalm?  Just say you are going to take a tyrannical asshole who killed hundreds of thousands of his own people out of power (Saddam Hussein) and most likely no one is going to say anything.  Never mind the fact that W is the one that got our economy jacked up in the first place.  Pres. Bush knew a recession was coming because he instituted a $170 billion stimulus package in 2008.  This was intended to improve the economic situation by sending tax rebate checks to many Americans and providing tax breaks for struggling businesses.  Although his presidency has been ranked among the worst in recent surveys of presidential scholars, his favorability ratings among the public have improved since he left office.  The reason we didn’t see the Great Recession during Pres. Bush’s term was because he was capable of producing money which allowed enough stand-off for him to get out of office.

Jim Cramer, author and host of TV’s Mad Money, made it a point to say we were in a recession early on in 2008.  It wasn’t until late 2008 that anyone admitted it and by that time it was already called “The Great Recession“.  Oddly enough, the only thing Junior did better than Daddy was cause a bigger recession.  Ignoramus’ will also claim that Pres. Bush had among the lowest unemployment rates.  That is inherent inaccuracy.  The Clinton Administration had a lower unemployment rate than the Bush Administration and under the “Great Recession” that was caused by Pres. Bush, Pres. Obama inherited an economy with an unemployment rate that nearly doubled the two preceding Presidents.

The two most significant ways that a President can affect the economy is through taxes and government spending.  With that being said, how many billions of dollars did the Bush Administration spend on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially Iraq?  While the President has enormous influence over fiscal policy, Congress is the ultimate authority.   A policy takes a year to come into effect but it takes about 4-9 years before the effects are seen in the economy.  That being the case, the following administration will get the credit or discredit for what the preceding administration did.

During “The Great Depression“, the U.S. population was 123,188,000 people in 48 states.  The population during the “Mild Recession” was 231,664,458 people in 50 states.  The current population is 318,892,103 people in 50 states.  The population has more than doubled in the past 80 yrs.  The instant changes that people are expecting to see in such a short amount of time will be seen on a micro-economic level, relative to state implementing the change and it being seen in one of the cities.  By comparison, if a state represents a micro-economic structure then the U.S. would be a macro-economic structure.  It is unrealistic to think that we are going to come out the “Great Recession” as quickly as the “Mild Recession”.

The “Great Depression” started in 1929 and ended around 1939.  There were even recessions before and during the depression it was a 10 year span with two Presidential Administrations.  Contrary to popular belief, the war did not have to do with us coming out of the depression.  After WWII the U.S. did emerge as an economic Super Power.  President Hoover took office the same year the depression started, suffice it to say he inherited the dregs of an economy from President Coolidge who was laissez-faire and it ended during the Roosevelt Administration.  Even the “Mild Recession” as Pres. Reagan called it lasted from 1980-1984 and is actually considered two different recessions by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Knowing the President not only lacks Congressional support but also lacks support from the Federal Reserve makes it very difficult to influence change.  A President in that position is ice skating up hill let alone the fact that his term in office is coming to a close.  On the other hand, the Economy is currently on the rebound in a relatively short amount of time by comparison, regardless of what everybody else wants you to think.  Do your own research and find out for yourself.

Onyx Contributor:  R.L. Knight