PREPOSTEROUS

(Published in the Independent Coast Observer)
Is there anything this President or his supporters won’t say or do to gain traction in this election? Recently, an internet commentator named Rex Nutting conveniently cobbled together an article that he said proved spending growth under President Obama was actually less than that of his predecessors. This preposterous claim was soon throughly discredited by the facts. However, this did not stop the President or his supporters, and at least one local writer, from repeating the absurdity. 

Let’s look at some cogent numbers from Peter Ferrara’s article in Forbes (6/14/12):

1. President Obama’s spending binge begun in 2009 quickly rocketed federal spending to 25.2% of GDP and is projected to average 24.4% for the entire four years. That compares to an average of 19.6% during Bush’s two terms. The average during Clinton’s two terms was 19.8%.
2. Obama’s 2013 budget (which has not passed) shows federal spending increasing from $2.983 trillion in 2008 to an all time record $3.796 trillion in 2012, an increase of 27.3%.
3. Before Obama there had never been a deficit anywhere close to $1 trillion.  The highest previously was $458 billion in 2008. The federal deficit for the last budget adopted by a Republican controlled Congress was $161 billion for fiscal year 2007.   Obama’s 2013 budget reports his deficits as:  $1.413 trillion for 2009, $1.293 trillion for 2010, $1.3 trillion for 2011, and $1.327 trillion for 2012.

These staggering deficits add up to more than $5 trillion dollars in new debt in just 4 years! Thus, in just one term President Obama will have increased the national debt as much as all prior Presidents, from George Washington to George Bush, combined. And, ObamaCare's trillions are yet to come.

Surely, this nation can do better.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

NO MORE

(Published in the Independent Coast Observer)

President Obama has failed to put forth any plausible rationale as to why he should receive a second term. His two signature "achievements" - - ObamaCare and the almost $1 trillion dollar stimulus  - - are so out of favor with the American people they can’t be discussed in polite company, much less stand as a basis for his reelection.

Oh, he has tried very hard; that is, he has tried very hard to place the blame for his failures on former President Bush and myriad other “non-Obama” reasons for this almost unprecedented period of continuing economic stagnation. 

The hard fact is that President Obama’s poorly-conceived policies of overspending and over-regulation, and the resulting uncertainty, continue to stifle the entrepreneurial initiative of the American people. No matter how clever his excuses, this anemic economy hangs about Mr. Obama's neck like a limp albatross.

It’s amusing to hear local liberals attempt to make the case for returning Obama to the Oval Office with reasons such as, “He’s killed a lot of terrorist with drone attacks," or,  "He’s (now) more experienced than Romney because he’s held the office for three plus years, yada, yada, yada.”

Seriously, if President Bush had sat in a room picking out bad guys to kill from the air, these same liberals would have screamed for his impeachment.  And as to President Obama’s newly-minted "experience," too bad voters (and most of the media) didn’t seriously consider that issue in 2008. 

Instead, we elected a woefully inexperienced individual who, with rhetorical charm, promised almost everything to everyone and then proceeded to break almost every one of those promises. He didn’t just break them, he completely forgot them.

The question voters should ask is:  “Will four more years of an Obama regime yield different results?” We believe not.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

HORRIFYING

(Published in the Independent Coast Observer)


Editor:

For nearly thirty years I've spent a large portion of my professional life working in Europe with European client companies, colleagues and good friends.  For at least the last twenty of those years I've told friends around the world (some of whom, until recently, were really tired of hearing it) that Europe's socialist system was in an accelerating spiral of collapse, with eventual catastrophic results.

When an American – at least one with eyes open – spends this much time abroad it's impossible to avoid being a witness to the specter of incentive dying, as Europeans become increasingly reliant on the state for essentially everything.  One can almost watch citizens on the street grow progressively more accepting as paralyzed governments seem unable to reverse these trends.

Daily media accounts vividly describe what the economic meltdown of European socialism  – using Greece as the example du jour – looks like.

Germany may yet postpone the inevitable for Greece, but that's the pathetic best that can be hoped.  Eurozone national banks are the largest bank holders of Greek sovereign debt.  And as was learned dramatically here in America during the mortgage securities crisis, the Obama government is only too ready to vector billions of US dollars to bail out European banks.  Once German money runs out – as it will long before Spain, Portugal and France face certain Greek-style meltdowns – all of our futures can only be imagined.

A careful read of today’s European economic situation should scare the living bleep out of every thinking American.  What should be most alarming is that under the Obama government literally every root cause of the looming economic and social catastrophe in Europe has a horrifying American parallel.  No Presidential election in our country's history has been more important than 2012.  The survival of our society is literally at stake.

Gary A Curtis

Concerned Coastal Voters

The Sea Ranch