Forbes Magazine, a very conservative publication, in an article by Leonard Pitts on Sept.5, 2014, declared President Obama “the best economic president of modern times.” He took the words right out of my mouth.
Princeton economist Alan Binder says, “Under presidents Nixon, Reagan and Bush we averaged an annual growth rate of 2.54 percent. Under presidents Kennedy, Clinton and Obama it is 4.35 percent.”
In every way conservative policies get bad results. It was Republican Herbert Hoover who was president when the great depression began. It took a Democrat, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to lead the country to recovery.
Recently, Republican George W. Bush was president when the great economic downturn began. It took a Democrat, Barack Obama, to lead us to recovery.
According to Pitts the Obama administration has outperformed President Reagan’s administration in all commonly watched categories.
“Simultaneously, the current administration has reduced the deficit, which skyrocketed under Reagan, reduced the number of federal employees, which grew under Reagan, (especially if you include the military), thereby delivering a “smaller government,” and kept inflation low, even at a time of an international economic slowdown.”
Pitts writes that whenever the minimum wage is raised there is a small uptick in jobs, not the tragic loss the GOP always predicts. This confirms what Democrats have contended for years. We’ve also said that cutting taxes during an economic downturn will not lead to an increase in revenue as the GOP always claims. In Kansas lawmakers cut taxes and the revenue tanked.
In July 2013, Hotelier Scott Ostrander stood before SeaTac Airport in Seattle and said, “I am shaking here tonight because I’m going to have to lay people off and put them out of work.” He said this would happen if they (SeaTac) raised the minimum wage to $15. After it was raised he continued with a huge expansion of his hotel and now will be hiring many more employees.
Conservative economic policies, which reduce government dollars flowing into the economy, do not work in practice, especially in an economic downturn, when private money dwindles. The economy needs money to work properly.
Mississippi takes $2.50 from the federal government for every $1.00 they pay in taxes. This conservative red state has been bailed out by tax money from blue states for a long time. If conservatism brings prosperity, why is Mississippi so poor? Why do they vote Republican? A disgusted Mississippian, who goes by the name Front Toward Enemy, wrote in KOS recently that Mississippians vote Republican because they are so opposed to abortion. So, what state has the highest infant mortality rate?
States with the highest infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births are Mississippi 9.62 Alabama 8.73 Tennessee 7.87 Ohio 7.72, Indiana 7.62, Louisiana 7.55, Oklahoma 7.49, Delaware 7.48, South Carolina 7.34, and Arkansas 7.33. The hated liberal California was 44 at 4.47. It’s not a coincidence that all but Delaware have Republican controlled state houses and governors which are vehemently anti a woman‘s right to choose. Republicans never seem to care much what happens to babies after they‘re born — even those shot dead without cause.
Pitts points out that 97 of the 100 poorest counties are in red states. Today’s conservatism isn’t working well there. According to the Mississippi fellow, the most corrupt states and those states with the worst education, lowest income, and the highest infant mortality rate are mostly red states. Almost always the states that vote Republican the most consistently and thus live under Republican governance fail miserably economically and in just about every other way.
I looked up some things. According to the New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research, the states with the lowest personal income are Mississippi, Idaho, South Carolina, West Virginia, Utah, Arkansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Alabama and Arizona. All but West Virginia, Kentucky and New Mexico are right-to-work states.
The “New Herald’s” list of the 10 worst states for kids to grow up in are New Mexico, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Nevada, Arizona, Alabama, Oklahoma and a tie between Kentucky and Alaska.
According to “The Street” on the Internet, the 10 worst states for providing an education are West Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Mississippi, which has the lowest average personal IQ, makes every list. That figures. With few exceptions, these states are governed by Republican state senates and legislatures. Their conservative policies aren’t working very well. They never have, they never will.
Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@phonewave.net.