Filed under: The Economy
A writer at finance news site Business Insider has re-published a missive comparing the statements made by President Obama in his State of the Union address to statements made by President Hoover during the Great Depression. Some interesting parallels include statements such as:Obama's State of the Union:
"But now that the worst of the recession is over..."
Herbert Hoover, June 1930, to a delegation requesting a public works project:
"Gentlemen, you have come sixty days too late. The depression is over."
Obama's State of the Union:
"The steps we've taken over the last two years may have broken the back of this recession..."
Herbert Hoover, State of the Union, December 6, 1932:
"The unprecedented emergency measures enacted and policies adopted undoubtedly saved the country from economic disaster..."
Business Insider certainly stirred the pot of controversy with this post, inspiring both right wing Obama haters and liberal supporters of the president to go back and forth about the validity of these comparisons. The funny thing is that if you look at the comments, the right wingnuts who persist in attacking the president because they think he is Kenyan, or because his middle name is Hussein come off as just that -- nutty as hell. It's incredible that the most vociferous opponents of President Obama's economic policies don't have any logical criticisms to offer other than the unfounded accusation that he got where he is "through affirmative action." The very act of Republican supporters expressing their opinions on the economy undermines the image of the GOP as fiscally responsible leaders if this is the type of member they attract.
The Obama supporters on the other hand could not have come off as more eloquent. They make an excellent case for President Obama, to the point that any person with a brain would be soothed by their sensible statements after being shaken by his comparison to the Great Depression president. One person in particular explains the apparent reflection of Obama's words in Hoover's statements very well:
Hoover genuinely thought the recession and recovery were over. Obama has repeatedly maintained his stance that, while we may be past the worst of the slump, we still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to recover. ...
Part of a president's job is to constantly express optimism about the future of the economy. Imagine, for a moment, what would happen to economies throughout the world if a president went on TV and said, "well, the economy is basically a garbage dump for the next decade. Whatever you do, don't invest in anything, because you're going to get screwed." It would immediately become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What do Obama's Republican opponents offer in response? Take a look:
Ahem, let me counter your points one at a time in a reasoned manner: BARRY SOETERO Obama Bin Lyin' SOROS hopey changey birf certifcate TelePromPTeRZ socialist communist fascist kenya!
Well now. That makes a lot of sense! But in a roundabout way, it does. When you have Tea Party candidates who believe that the founding fathers ended slavery, and a GOP leadership in Congress that did not even know that their fiscal campaign promises were impossible to implement -- so they are reneging on them -- seeing their supporters attack the president with statements that look like evidence of a brain disease makes perfect sense.
Hopefully, if more evidence of possible brain disease in the GOP and Tea Party is exposed, then more American citizens will realize that most of the opposition against Obama is not coming from people with superior fiscal acumen. People with no knowledge of history, who don't know House procedures and who can't put a sentence together usually can't come up with good economic ideas. When Americans start being more realistic about the economy, rather than listening to anything out of frustration, they may stop being swayed by obvious GOP manipulation. Then maybe, as a unified nation, we can give the president's financial plans a chance.