This page was last updated on September 28, 2011.
Whose fault is it?; Jerry Miskulin; Beaver County Times; September 28, 2011.
I encourage you to review Mr. Miskulin’s body of work in the archives. Mr. Miskulin has written at least 75 letters since 2004 (I didn’t critique all of them.). Most (all?) are illogical and full of falsehoods (not just wrong).
Mr. Miskulin expressed displeasure with the tea parties (here and here), proclaimed
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“In the Sept. 19 Times Lindsey Graham says the upcoming presidential election is the GOP’s to lose.
“First, after the bankrupting policies of Reaganomics since 1980 in which we now struggle to meet the interest payments on our debt, I ask who created the economic chaos that Obama has had to deal with?”
[RWC] Note Mr. Miskulin didn’t list “the bankrupting policies of Reaganomics.” That’s so Mr. Miskulin doesn’t have to defend his assertion.
As for “who created the economic chaos that Obama has had to deal with?”, we have the subprime mortgage mess to thank and that was a lefty policy/program dating back to the Carter administration.
“Secondly, no one who runs the country is going to be successful with $4 per gallon gas. In both cases, billions and billions of dollars are leaving the country every day. The oil industry is not labor intensive so they are run basically by stauch [sic] Republicans.”
[RWC] Let me get this straight; Mr. Miskulin believes Democrats run “labor intensive” industries and Republicans run industries that are not? Seriously?
As for “billions and billions of dollars are leaving the country every day” for oil, isn’t it predominantly Democrats – and Mr. Obama in particular – throwing up roadblocks to domestic oil production?
“Finally, all the factories and whole industries that have packed up and left this country are basically run by Republicans. It is no wonder Obama is doing just a fair job in the face of the Republican onslaught.”
[RWC] Does Mr. Miskulin simply make this stuff up, or is there some lefty clearinghouse for this nonsense?
If it were true “all the factories and whole industries that have packed up and left this country are basically run by Republicans,” why would they do it? Businesses have a fiduciary responsibility to their owners (including you, me, and pension funds). This is true even for not-for-profit businesses. Businesses make the decisions they need to in order to survive and succeed. Otherwise, they close up shop and/or go into bankruptcy. Unlike the federal government, businesses can’t print money. Would Mr. Miskulin prefer businesses continue to operate in the U.S. until they (we shareholders) go bust? Let’s say Mr. Miskulin owns and/or runs a company with 1,000 domestic employees and despite his best efforts it’s about to go under. Let’s also say offshoring the jobs of 100 employees would save the other 900 jobs. What would Mr. Miskulin do? Let’s say Mr. Miskulin’s business uses steel to manufacture its products but can no longer compete using U.S.-produced steel. Would Mr. Miskulin put his 1,000 employees out of work instead of buying less expensive foreign steel, possibly resulting in a loss of jobs at the domestic steel supplier?
“All these Republican candidates never give a second thought for us and I don’t think they really care.”
[RWC] How did we get to “these Republican candidates?” Everything above is either about 30-year-old history or Mr. Miskulin’s delusions about Republican business owners.
“It might be the middle of the day, but it just makes it easier to see that’s it’s all turned into a real nightmare.”
[RWC] It’s my understanding Mr. Miskulin appeared to be a bright guy in high school in the early to mid-1970s. What happened?
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.