It appears that the White House and Democratic Party leaders have settled on their Fall campaign strategy—the economy! They will say it is a choice between the economic policies of Bush and Republicans that led us into this mess and those that are leading us out, namely Obama and the Democrat’s Stimulus spending.
They will use the following national statistics for the “lost decade” ending 12-31-09. They will point out that in at the last 10 years there has been no net increase in jobs, no median income growth after adjustments for inflation, no increase in household net worth, and no stock market appreciation. They will claim this all happened because of Bush tax cuts for the rich and running up deficits to pay for two wars and Medicare drug coverage.
The only problem with this is that virtually all the net losses above happened after the Democrats took control of the House and Senate in the 2006 elections, almost four years ago. The last Republican majority budget (FY2006-07) had a $161 billion deficit.
You will note that that the first Democrat-approved budget was a 282% increase in the deficit over the previous Republican one and the second one was over a 1000% increase in the deficit to $1.752 trillion in FY2008-09. The FY 2009-10 deficit is also expected to be over 1,000% more than the last Republican approved Federal Budget.
Unemployment was about 5% during the first six years of the Bush Administration when the GOP had a bare one-vote majority in the Senate. Having five liberal-oriented Republican Senators, (Jeffries, Specter, Hagel, Collins and Snow) who were constantly demanding concessions and threatening to vote with the Democrats if they did not get their pork, made passing any legislation without some pork impossible. Hagel is gone. Jeffries and Specter switched parties.
Real unemployment has reached almost 20% as Obama and the Democrats have systematically looted from those who earn their money by providing a good or service that someone is willing to pay for and giving it to their voter base, namely unions, government workers, and assorted politically aligned lobbyist constituencies like the environmental lobby.
Any Republican candidate for public office who is unable to demonstrate and explain the above this Fall could and should lose his election. No government stimulus spending legislation has ever produced more private sector jobs. They need to know our economic history. And so do all voters if they want to stop the government from destroying more jobs and our economy.
James F. Davis is the president of Accuracy in Academia and graciously submitted this guest column.
