Under Obama, The Economic Recovery Is A Mirage

Miracles of Socialism, Chapter 1,392. Venezuela runs out of money to print more money...Tweet by David Burge
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Well, the GDP numbers for the last quarter are in.  Hold your breath. This is a whopping number. Here we go:  0.5%.  Considering a healthy GDP is about 3%, this number is pathetic.  This quarter is on the heels of the previous quarter that showed a GDP of about 1.4%,

But the Obama administration might just set another record before their term ends next January. This administration may go down as not having one year of 3% growth.  Allow that to sink in. In comparison, Reagan averaged 3.5%.  Even Bill Clinton averaged 3.8% with the help of a Republican Congress. Also, under Clinton, economic inequality skyrocketed (reading this Hillary?) but median wages grew (Washington Post).  G.W. Bush averaged a GDP of 2.15% and that included the beginning of the recession in his final year when the GDP tanked.

This pathetic GDP number follows yet another disturbing report from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  That summary reported 1 in 5 families in the United States has no one who works.  To put that number in perspective. That's about 20% of approximately 81M families in America.  Moreover, under Obama, those receiving food stamps has increased 45% as corporate profits increased by about 180% (reading this Hillary and Bernie?). {Fact Check}.

And if those numbers don't impress you perhaps this one will. As of this past March,  just a hair under 94M Americans remained---out of the workforce. No matter how one cuts it, that's a YUGE number.

This and more clearly shows economic recovery under the Obama administration has been nothing but a mirage.

Listen Closely---You Can Hear The Political Establishment Weeping

At the risk disappointing the young voters,  Bernie Sanders has been dead since the Vermont primary...WH Press Secretary Parody
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Trump didn't just win last night. It was a landslide. Not only did he win all five states---he  won every county in those states.  And, as regular readers know, my preferences for president dropped out some time ago (Walker + Perry).  I've also been inclined to lean toward Cruz as the only genuine conservative remaining in this race.  But one fact is now clear.  The "establishment" is weeping today.  Their status quo has been blown to smithereens.  Also, keep in mind, most national elections are not about ideology. It's almost always about the circumstances facing the nation at the time (e.g. the economy, foreign policy, terrorism, etc.).

And I have to give Trump some more props. His speech today on foreign policy is perhaps his most important to date. He finally targeted Hillary Clinton. My only criticism is he should have given this speech months ago.  Here are some excerpts by him that I believe make my point:

• We're in a war with radical Islam (language we have not heard from Mr. Obama or Clinton);
• We have done nothing to help Christians...
• Our rivals no longer respect us.
• We're rebuilding other nations while weakening our own,
• America first will be the major and overriding theme of my administration.

If I were 100% behind Trump, I would be very happy with this speech today.  I'm impressed because---along with his wins last night and now this speech---one can clearly hear the political class weeping. And that's a good thing.

Postscript. Since this was posted, it looks like it's Trump v. Hillary. Get the handkerchiefs ready.

Feel The Bern = Feel The Pain

"Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they already have it."  ...Ronald Reagan
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The difference between Capitalism and Socialism is not a mystery.  In short,  Capitalism rewards merit, respects rights and creates freedom (as in creating the U.S. of America). On the other hand, Socialism destroys,  robs prosperity and plunges a knife into the back of hope, aspiration and the national spirit.

The evidence of the damage that Socialism has done throughout history is overwhelming. But one doesn't need to go as far back as the old Eastern European block of countries. As a Pole myself, I've written about it often. It's happening right now in many countries and in many American cities. For example,  Venezuela is currently in the throes of socialist failure. This country---with some of the richest oil reserves in the world---is now importing oil.  It's economy is in shambles after two decades of socialist governments. It's so bad; Venezuelans do not even have access to enough toilet paper. Brazil faces similar challenges. As one commentator said recently, Brazil is wrecked by the twin evils of socialism and corruption. Both of these countries and many others illustrates the dangers of the big government establishment.

On the Democrat side of the aisle, we're watching as two of their toxic candidates are duking it out.  We already know of Hillary Clinton's countless scandals. And while Sanders doesn't appear to have that type of baggage, he does have a history of promoting socialist principles. Keep in mind. This is the guy who flew a Soviet flag in his office as mayor of Burlington, VT. This is the guy who honeymooned in the Soviet Union. And this is the guy who supported the Marxist Sandinista government.  Just as disturbing, Sanders has a long history of bashing Israel and supporting Palestinians (he often refers to "Palestine"---it doesn't exist).  As Andrea Peyser of the The New York Post once pointed out: Sanders is a Jew who's bad for the Jews.

So all of the minions who support Sanders should know this. If he were ever to become president of the U.S.---look at Venezuela today.  That would be America's future.