LETTER TO MY DEMOCRAT FRIENDS

People always say every election is “the most important one ever” but this one may in fact be just that, which is why even hardened Democrats should reconsider their man.

 

 

Like a drunken sailor, the president needs an intervention. 

The Tenneseean, a newspaper from……Tennessee, recently endorsed Romney for president. It has endorsed a Democrat since 1972. Why the shift?

 

“The next president must be the one with the best chance to get the crushing, $16 trillion national debt under control, coupled with the more immediate need of enabling a vibrant job market.”

 

The Des Moine Register also hasn’t endorsed a Republican since 1972. It does now, along with the other three major newspapers in Iowa.

 

Greece collapsed when its debt reached 120% of GDP. Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal, are close to catastrophe and U.S. debt is close to 100% of GDP. The European welfare state has failed yet this is where Obama wants to lead us. Some economists say that economies start to slow at about 90%. While it’s true that Japan’s debt is about 200%, their economy grew at a paltry .69% annually over the last 20 years while the U.S.’ rate of growth was 2.09%.

 

Debt matters. Entitlements more than double defense spending and the Congressional Budget Office projects entitlements to explode the budget, devouring 40% of not just the budget but the entire economy by 2050. The CBO also admits taxing the rich will not fix it. Taxes on everyone would have to skyrocket to balance the budget. We already pay over 200 billion/yr. on interest for the debt. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta stated the debt is actually a threat to national security.

 

But isn’t Obamacare awesome and don’t the Republicans just want to get rid of it?

 

Obamacare did do one good thing: More people have insurance now though it still leaves 30 million uninsured. The problem is that it didn’t even bother to tackle the three biggest cost drivers:  20% of medical costs are from fear of lawsuits, consumers can’t shop for insurance across state lines, and charging for individual procedures provides no incentive to reduce costs. Once Romney provides Obamacare waivers to all 50 states, there will be great pressure on Republicans to replace it with something and chances are high they would tackle one or all of these issues.

 

But isn’t Trickle-Down Economics a failure? And didn’t Bush cause all this in the first place?

No. Reagan dropped tax rates on all incomes and reduced regulation. The economy boomed. Unemployment rose from 7% in 1980 to 10.8% in 1982, then declined to 5.4% in 1988. The inflation rate declined from 10% in 1980 to 4% in 1988. Economists have blamed the current melt down on two primary issues. Liberals point to the failure of regulation. Indeed, the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed by both Republicans and Clinton. It allowed banks to merge investment and every day banking. But Obama didn’t change this. Conservatives point out that the other major reason for the melt down was government strong-arming banks to loan to disadvantaged borrowers. When Bush tried to fix this problem by reigning in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Democrat congressman Barney Frank basically said, “That’s stupid. We have nothing to worry about”. Oops.

But is deregulation really a good idea? 2011 Gallup poll said small business owners say complying with regulations is the most important problem facing them today. Even George McGovern, former uber-liberal presidential candidate who passed away last month, agreed. In fulfilling a lifelong dream by owning a hotel and restaurant, he was stymied by regulations. In 1992 he wrote for the Wall Street Journal:

I also wish that during the years I was in public office, I had had this firsthand experience about the difficulties business people face every day…Today we are much closer to a general acknowledgment that government must encourage business to expand and grow….Too often, however, public policy does not consider whether we are choking off those opportunities…

 

Not to be outdone by the uselessness of Obamacare, his only other major accomplishment was Dodd-Frank (Yes, that one.), a massive financial regulatory bill. A major gift to New York banks, it didn’t end “too big to fail”, left Fannie and Freddie untouched, and didn’t even bother to end the incestuous relationship between ratings agencies and the companies’ products they rate, another major cause of the meltdown.

 

 

If reelected, the next four years would be rough for Obama. He would face staunch opposition and he has been incredibly vague about his agenda. I don’t think he has one. This nation is at a tipping point and we need a president that accepts the crass reality of money. We’re broke. Maybe you admit that some of the above is true but just can’t bring yourself to vote for those racist bastard Republicans? See “The Oreo, The Coconut, and the Banana”, parts I and II for why conservatives are not racist and liberals are. Then read “The War on Men”. I’m not asking you to burn your American Communist Party card or to remove your I ©Obama bumper sticker. Just go into the booth on Tuesday and, secretly if you must, do the right thing for your country. Just this once.