The Obama Press Coverage Analyzed and a Clip from Schumer about How the American Public Doesn't Care about Pork

Well, I had a hard time sitting through the press conference last night, it was so full of garbage and meandering talk but a few things stuck out for me.

It is only government that can break the vicious cycle, where lost jobs lead to people spending less money, which leads to even more layoffs.

This is a democratic concept and a lie. When Reagan came into power unemployment was higher and inflation was out of control. Reagan repaired the economy and broke the cycle without a "stimulus package." Reagan used tax cuts to stimulate the economy. A very different approach. And, since the economy is cyclical... it would rebound if we did NOTHING, just not as quickly as with a tax cut. Obama can NOT honestly make this claim.

What it does not contain, however, is a single pet project, not a single earmark, and it has been stripped of the projects members of both parties found most objectionable.

This lie takes some guts. The stimulus package is nothing but pet projects and earmarks. And only 3 Republicans in both houses are not opposed to the bill. The bill is nothing but liberal agenda spending bill.

Last week in a speech to the Democrats on their retreat, Obama said, "[T]here's the argument, well, this is full of pet projects. When was the last time that we saw a bill of this magnitude move out with no earmarks in it? Not one," he said, answering his own question. "So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill -- this is a spending bill. What do you think stimulus is?"




We saw this happen in Japan in the 1990s, where they did not act boldly and swiftly enough and, as a consequence, they suffered what was called the lost decade, where essentially, for the entire '90s, they did not see any significant economic growth.

This is another misstatement. Japan's economy was crippled during this period... but it sought to do exactly what Obama is doing. It passed stimulus package after stimulus package almost quadrupling their national debt... and the economy was not repaired. What was not tried was a Reagan-style tax cutting stimulus plan. Just as FDR spent and spent and made the depression last and last, so did Japan. And those failed models are exactly what Obama is replicating.

That's why the figure that we initially came up with of approximately $800 billion was put forward. That wasn't just some random number that I plucked out of -- out of a hat. That was Republican and Democratic, conservative and liberal economists that I spoke to who indicated that, given the magnitude of the crisis and the fact that it's happening worldwide, it's important for us to have a bill of sufficient size and scope that we can save or create 4 million jobs.

Doing some simple math... this means according to Obama's own numbers of 800billion in cost and saving or creating 4 million jobs, each job will cost us 200,000 dollars. And as far as I am concerned saving jobs is an abstract anyone can claim without basis or proof. He is not even talking creating 4 million jobs at that outlandish cost.


I said during the campaign that Iran is a country that has extraordinary people, extraordinary history and traditions, but that its actions over many years now have been unhelpful when it comes to promoting peace and prosperity both in the region and around the world

I don't know that much even needs to be said about this.... before he became President he tried to disassociate from the middle east as much as possible... his cronies saying it was unfair to use his middle name to try and tie him with the muslims and muslim nations. As president however his first phone call to a foreign leader was to the Palestinian leader. His first tv interview was on Arabiya tv. And now Iran is a country with extraordinary people, history, and traditions, but it has been UNHELPFUL??


Well, first of all, I don't think it's accurate to say that consumer spending got us into this mess. What got us into this mess initially were banks taking exorbitant, wild risks with other people's monies based on shaky assets and because of the enormous leverage, where they had $1 worth of assets and they were betting $30 on that $1, what we had was a crisis in the financial system.

This is one of the most accurate statements he made all evening... but what he forgot to mention was that it was the democratic Congress that required banks to make those speculative and bad loans so that poor people could buy houses they could not afford.

But I am the eternal optimist.

In his closing remarks, Obama said he is an eternal optimist.... but his message has been of doom and gloom and dire warnings of dire consequences. He is fear mongering with the American public to get support for his package... and it seems to be working.

Anyway... this has been too long... but saw so much in the press conference worth discussing.