Dems exaggerating economic woes
In order to win an election, the Democratic Party is doing all it can to promote class warfare, create a perception that our country is on the brink of financial disaster and create the perception that we are all helpless victims of the Bush administration with no responsibility for our own actions. Let's try some truth for a change. The truth is our country and the world is going through one of the periodic economic downturn cycles that economies have on a regular basis over time. But we in the United States are still doing far better then virtually anyone else in the world.
According to the World Bank, International Monetary fund, and U.S, Census Bureau our economy has outperformed Europe and Japan in the last eight years. During the Bush years our economy has grown 19 percent versus France at 14 percent, Japan at 13 percent, Italy at percent and Germany at percent. Our GDP per capita is $41,813 which is 33 percent more than Britain, 37 percent more than Germany, and 38 percent more than Japan. Our unemployment rate during the Bush years averaged 4.7 percent versus 5.2 percent during the Clinton years and 8.3 percent in Europe. And that is remarkable when you consider the billions of dollars of economic damage caused by 9/11 and the cost of the war in Iraq. Today our unemployment rate is still significantly lower then Europe's. Is that on the news?
Do we have problems? You bet. But many of those problems are of our own making. As a nation, we save less as a people then virtually anyone else in the world because we want that 50-inch TV or that car we cannot really afford. That is simply irresponsible and leaves us no shock absorber for the tough times that always come and every generation before us had the discipline to plan for. As a nation, we went nuts buying houses that we could not afford pushing up prices beyond reasonableness and creating debt that was not sustainable. It is our own fault and we now have to pay the piper as housing prices get back to reality and our excessive debt must be resolved. Compare the average size of a house in the United States versus anywhere in Europe, Japan, or the rest of the world and you will be stunned at our excessive spending. What were we thinking?
Our gas and energy price increases have been self-inflicted. Instead of investing more in nuclear energy like France, Japan, Germany, and Norway, we let the shrill extremists kill that clean energy alternative which would reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Instead of expanding offshore drilling to have more control over oil prices like Norway and Brazil have and over 70 percent of our citizens want, Nancy Pelosi and the left wing loons won't even allow the Senate to vote on the issue. Now that is tyranny and a goofy self inflicted problem!
If you listen to the Democrats, the U.S. economy is simply a disaster and grossly unfair to "we the people." I am confused. If that is true, why do tens of millions of people try to leave their countries and enter our country every year to improve their lives? It is because the rest of the world knows that the USA is the best country on this earth and they want to live here.
Randy Rossi
Grayslake