How Politicians Are Wrecking the World Economy

Reader Comments
Back to blog

FedUpWithFacts: You were mislead. That righability was already in the 14th amendment.

Unzinkable of CA 11:12AM September 05, 2011

"Meanwhile, government has, in fact, been shrinking—and instead of unleashing private-sector growth, as some Republicans fantasize, those cuts have contributed to fears of a double-dip recession. So far this year, government has shed more than 200,000 jobs on net, mostly at the state and local level. Recent job reports would have been considerably better, except the loss of government jobs dragged down the overall numbers. And the recent debt deal will cut about $70 billion in spending over the next year or so, which economists say will have a slightly negative effect on GDP, not a positive one."
I don't see these government job cuts as an issue except to the local economies. We don't need over paid paper pushers who slow down everything that would help to create jobs thru egregious un-economic regulations.

mace of FL 4:52PM September 03, 2011

I read that Obama got, as part of the "compromise" on the debt ceiling increase, autonomous Executive Power to extend all debts without even telling the House, which would be just another blow to the Constitution. Our whole political process is corrupt and needs to be replaced by a strictly Constitutional government, like the one advocated by Ron Paul.

FedUpWithTheFeds of DC 11:43AM August 29, 2011

WE HAVE TO RENT BUSSES...THE REPUBLICANS HAVE TAKEN ALMOST EVERYTHING WE HAVE AWAY. WE CAN'T EVEN GET TO THE POLLS...THATS WHAT THE GOP IS TRYING TO STOP...THE POOR VOTING....IT DOESN'T TAKE A EINSTEIN TO FIGURE THIS ONE OUT. If you weren't to lazy to read you could find all this out for yourselves....you weren't paid to write your comment were you...nah its to old news..been a long time since you read up on things hasn't it? Is that all you have? pretty lame

connie england of OK 10:14AM August 29, 2011

Great article about the post bubble/recession world. Our politicians have certainly been economically inept. However, politicians pander to the voting public; that is how the get elected and come to office, and the public that has little understanding of macro economics.
The principles of running large, sovereign economies efficiently and effectively are as strange to the public as the principles of Relativity are in respect to ordinary Newtonian physics. The public understands how to balance a checking account, but when it comes to running an economy they are no Einstein. The economic strategies they want to see are wrong, at least in large part, and the political class says and mostly does what it takes for us to elect or re-elect them.

relmasian of CA 7:55AM August 26, 2011

What hasn't Obama done for the rich republican cry babies. He'll get re-elected for that alone. He is the funnel for public tolerance of the rich republican cry babies out there.... Wah... wah..... let me keep my lollipops..... wah.... i don't want to give back what we've worked so hard for to take.... like affordable health care, pensions, decent wages... wah... i like making 30 times what my workers make... wah... wah... my great grandpa would be proud of me.... wah... he paid 90% tax and was still rich while this country led the industrial revolution. they built bridges, dams, etc.. now we watch them all fall apart but look how rich i am.... wah... wah... take more away from everyone else.... wah... wah.... don't tax me like the old days... wah... i like paying less tax than the middle class.... wah.... wah..... i'm too big to fail so I get my bailout welfare check.... how do you like that free market capitalism system... the cost of living skyrockets and I get to pay my workers wages from over 10 years ago.... and they get to foot the bill for high medical costs, etc... I can't wait until I'm 66 so I can draw the social security check that I don't even contribute to for my income is way over 100k and they don't make me pay... ah... and I work real hard. my job requires me to say the word no... that's all i need to do.... wah... wah....
socialism is what the bailouts were. and those bailout recipients are the first ones to collect on social security when eligible even though they never paid social security tax on income above 100k per year. hey, they jacked up the price of college enough now so it's affordable by even less people even though it was free when they went in the 60's and 70's.....
it's de-regulation from a republican controlled senate, house, and president that allowed the financial industry to screw everyone but the upper class......
regan unleashed the beast by allowing that Merrill Lynch guy to be his right hand and selling this country into the stock market. we are forced to be gamblers........ the stock market is the only thing keeping this country afloat... it's just another vehicle used by the rich to take everyone elses money. it's never an even playing field... no one can afford the expensive high frequency trading servers that they rent........ how can we have pride in a country that only can stay afloat through deceit and exploitation.........

Thomas of NE 1:23PM August 25, 2011

"I've never seen a political party so obviously and blatantly bent only in gaining more power than the Republicans."
Never heard of ACORN, or the democrats renting buses to get homeless folks to the polls, or doing everything they can to allow illegal immigrants to vote, etc., etc.?

concerned about ignorance of CA 12:19PM August 25, 2011

What if Congress made a law giving automatic citizenship to everybody who buys a home in America? Would this save the housing market and the economy and create jobs?

bry of TX 8:28AM August 25, 2011

I'm apolitical but sometimes the truth is partisan. The GOP marketing machine has always been expert at contriving slogans that encourage working-class people to vote against their own interests. This is why Republicans won the last congressional election, and now we're paying the price for it. I've never seen a political party so obviously and blatantly bent only in gaining more power than the Republicans. The GOP is a party (in every sense of the word) for billionaires and corporations. They don't even pretend otherwise. Bush, Cheney, and Rice held up posters of Saddam Hussein for Americans to focus their anger about 9/11 upon so they could advance their own personal oil interests (Chevron's largest oil tanker was named The Condoleezza Rice). Recently, Bush publicly –and shockingly– admitted that they all knew at the time that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Why they’re not brought before The Hague for war crimes –which some of our allies have suggested– is itself a crime. Now Republicans are holding up the word “deficit” as the explanation for our current economy, even though the Bush administration created it by starting an illegal war, eliminating regulations that kept Wall Street and banks from robbing the American public, and poisoning the US and the world’s economies, while encouraging corporations to move American jobs abroad. You’ll observe that the Republican rally word has changed from “jobs” to “the deficit”. To shrink the deficit –at this time– would immediately create more unemployment and further shrink the US economy, as virtually every prominent economist has stated, and result in an economic catastrophe –just in time for the next election.

Jim Gala of CA 7:19PM August 24, 2011

As long as the American poeple understand our history and what it is to be American with real news reports like these. our country will recover and rid ourselves of these poor quality leaders...
I think most American dont believe they can make change or frankly only care about some fox news report of distorted facts..
Fixing all the issues in America starts with good honest reporting that highlights stories like these here..
The other part is Americans most learn what it is to be a American and our history and what it means to be free.. With out that we are doomed.. Many do not vote or if they do they think its like a game show vote...
After reading these reports that rarely hit the main stream news cycle I feel there is hope in America but it may have to get worste before Americans wake up and stop being brain washed with party media games that side track most with some nonsense story vs what was writting here.....I literally could not said it better than this::::
The British magazine The Economist recently called the GOP stance on taxes "economically illiterate and disgracefully cynical." ( but not just GOP all of them)
News reporters and our leaders are all trying to be Rock Stars and dont care about our country as long as they become wealthy and famous....
Americans must orginize but not in a Tea Party style of rage and blame creating more confusion but demand our leaders be real qualified leaders not TV actors playing a role for its has been truly dusgracefull how our laws are not being enforced or changed all together to allow banks to rob the wealth of Americans from our homes to our retirement savings, then they say goverment too big or the goverment is the problem....The problem is no one driving the bus and theft is being done to our country by the rich via bail outs, forclosures with out any acountablity!!!!
There has been a war an real war against Americans and it is a class war... Union jobs lost for profit, retirement plans stollen, now medical SS benefits being threatened.. Where does it stop ? When working class cant afford to live and are enslaved to low paying job and basic utility bills?
This is America dam it !!!this concept that public service is for profit or rid of it, from our parks to basic items like new streets..Meanwhile this whole concept no taxes for the rich as they live better than any other generation in our history with out any regard of the country or the Americans that allowed them to have that wealth.. With out sounding nuts we are headed for cival war if this doesnt stop and with Americans being so spoiled it will not be pretty.. Leave things as they are you will see millions without work , homes or benefits to even eat if this happens, American will not stand for it ! Lets hope a leader rises to stop this \with real media to protect them from the rock star style politicians......

Carl of CT 6:49PM August 24, 2011