Learn the facts before you complain

Gordon Szymanski’s letter of Jan. 28 contained a list of items that he declares are proof of President Obama’s failed policies and lack of leadership. This constant refrain that Obama is the first president to do anything bad is tiresome in addition to being demonstrably false.

The writer claims that Obama was the first president to appoint czars. I remember Ronald Reagan’s drug czar, and some simple Internet research shows that government czars have been around since the FDR administration in the early 1930s. Mr. Szymanski claims that Obama was the first president to “abrogate bankruptcy laws” by having the government assist GM. Governments have bailed out bankrupt entities since at least the 1970s: Lockheed Martin, Chrysler and the city of New York to name a few.

Mr. Szymanski claims that Mr. Obama takes a vacation whenever there is a crisis. During the first 31 months in office, Mr. Obama took 61 days of vacation, Bush II took 180, Reagan took 112 and Bill Clinton took 28. I would hardly say that he is a vacation-happy president.

The claim that the $800 billion stimulus package created jobs at $250,000 per job is also misleading. It contained $245 billion in tax cuts. Those tax cuts allowed Americans to keep money that was used to buy goods and services that created jobs.

He states that Obama was the first president to have the U.S. credit rating lowered. This is factually true, but had Republicans done for this president what they had for all past presidents (106 times since 1940) and let this be a routine bookkeeping exercise instead of a bargaining chip, would that have even happened?

If you want to complain and disagree with Obama’s policies, reason and facts go a lot further than emotional rants. Be an informed complainer and voter.

Patti Siwicki

Elk Grove Village