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Obama policies working; Philip S. Dedig; Beaver County Times; November 2, 2012. At the time of this writing, this letter appeared only in the print edition of the BCT. I apologize for any transcription errors.
Mr. Dedig has written at least 20 letters since February 2008. Among those letters, Mr. Dedig supported the proposed federal gasoline tax holiday, Hillary Clinton for President, complained about “business as usual” (“Business as usual in D.C.,” 6/17/08) in Washington, DC, regarding energy, opposed offshore drilling, said Democrat voters deserve better candidates (“Local Democratic voters merit better,” 8/22/08), supported “bailing out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae” (“Fed, Treasury had to move;” 9/30/08), told us we had “No choice but to help auto makers,” told us “College costs must be made affordable,” supported the $787 billion “stimulus” package (here and here), told us “U.S. can afford health care for all,” and claimed “U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire is a Republican in sheep’s clothing.” Mr. Dedig’s most recent previous letters were “Recovery on the way,” “Pipeline not good idea,” “Energy policy long overdue,” and “Obama caves in far too easily.” If it’s a leftist position, Mr. Dedig supports it.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“The Republican positions [sic] that the economy is headed in the wrong direction under the Obama administration is simply incorrect.”
[RWC] This is a recurring theme for Mr. Dedig and this letter is mostly a rewording of his last letter. Mr. Dedig led off his last letter with “President Obama was somewhat correct when he remarked that the private sector economy was doing just fine.” I don’t have the time to research Mr. Dedig’s alleged factoids so I’ll limit my critique to what I have at my fingertips.
“How do they explain why the stock market is near record levels, as well as corporate profits?
“The economy, measured by the ISM index, indicates it has been in expansion mode since 2009.
“Inflation, interest rates and federal income taxes are the lowest in decades. Only Turkey and Mexico have lower federal taxes than United States.”
[RWC] Given all the money-printing (aka “quantitative easing”) by the Federal Reserve, low inflation and interest rates are a sign of a sick economy. In an otherwise healthy economy, money-printing and excessive borrowing drive up inflation and interest rates by cheapening the dollar and making the bond market a buyer’s market. According to Obama administration info, it is untrue “federal income taxes are the lowest in decades.”
“Sales of existing and new homes are rising and foreclosures are at a five-year low.
“Unemployment has come down slowly and is below 8%. Government spending is a problem, but the rate of spending is declining.”
[RWC] The unemployment rate for October 2012 was 7.9%, one-tenth of a point higher than September and when President Obama took office in January 2009. Last month was the first below 8% since Mr. Obama took office. The BLS report says, “Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for blacks increased to 14.3%,” up from 13.4% in September.
The “rate of spending is declining?” False. According to Obama administration info, spending has increased the last three fiscal years and will continue to do so until at least 2017.
“Two things I do know. The economy is vastly improved under the Obama administration and Republican supply-side, trickle-down, fairy-dust economics does not work.”
[RWC] GDP growth (annual rate) for the third quarter of 2012 was an estimated 2.0%. GDP growth for the first and second quarters was 2.0% and 1.3%, respectively. A “healthy” GDP growth rate is about 4%. Mr. Dedig and I appear to have different definitions of “vastly improved.”
I don’t know what “supply-side, trickle-down, fairy-dust economics” is.
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