There is a dishonest fragment in this staggeringly dishonest presidential campaign: The debate about jobs.
How can Romney run against Obama with both the assertion that the government can not create jobs and that Obama has failed to create them? This position is as stupid as Obama's position that government can create jobs and he has done a good job of it. Perhaps because these positions are so illogical, Obama has sought safety in accusing Romney of incredible crimes and Romney has responded with politeness. The United States is close to become an also-ran in economic production after leading the world for 150 years and the two candidates for the presidency are playing Truth or Dare.
Built into this problem is that anything the government spends is, by definition, a positive contribution to the Gross Domestic Product. If it spends X dollars on a failed cold fusion company, X dollars on teachers or X dollars on breakthrough method of cheap hydroponics all--all--would contribute X dollars to the GDP despite being of grossly different importance and value to the nation.
Here's a little number to ponder. In the last three years things have been economically bad in the Western world and are beginning to decline in the East. These conditions are the result of a number of serious errors in political judgment as well as irresponsible public behavior. In that three year period 2.6 million Americans got jobs with new employers; 3.1 million Americans went on Social Security Disability. For every five people who got jobs, six people went on disability.
That is more than an "economic malaise." That is a restructuring of the nation's mindset. It is what has kept South America from mirroring the success of North America and is destroying the living standards of Europe now.
It is hard to imagine, after all of the world's struggles and experiments, that the United States, the most successful economic and political entity in the history of the world, would be facing an election which demands a reassessment of the relationship between a government and its citizens. What is worse is there seems to be no one on the political landscape willing even to broach the topic.
How can Romney run against Obama with both the assertion that the government can not create jobs and that Obama has failed to create them? This position is as stupid as Obama's position that government can create jobs and he has done a good job of it. Perhaps because these positions are so illogical, Obama has sought safety in accusing Romney of incredible crimes and Romney has responded with politeness. The United States is close to become an also-ran in economic production after leading the world for 150 years and the two candidates for the presidency are playing Truth or Dare.
Built into this problem is that anything the government spends is, by definition, a positive contribution to the Gross Domestic Product. If it spends X dollars on a failed cold fusion company, X dollars on teachers or X dollars on breakthrough method of cheap hydroponics all--all--would contribute X dollars to the GDP despite being of grossly different importance and value to the nation.
Here's a little number to ponder. In the last three years things have been economically bad in the Western world and are beginning to decline in the East. These conditions are the result of a number of serious errors in political judgment as well as irresponsible public behavior. In that three year period 2.6 million Americans got jobs with new employers; 3.1 million Americans went on Social Security Disability. For every five people who got jobs, six people went on disability.
That is more than an "economic malaise." That is a restructuring of the nation's mindset. It is what has kept South America from mirroring the success of North America and is destroying the living standards of Europe now.
It is hard to imagine, after all of the world's struggles and experiments, that the United States, the most successful economic and political entity in the history of the world, would be facing an election which demands a reassessment of the relationship between a government and its citizens. What is worse is there seems to be no one on the political landscape willing even to broach the topic.
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