The Good Post Gallery

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that's what she said

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that's what she said

This belongs in the oh snap mine.

I thought it had a little more too it than simple snap.

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I'm gonna print this post out, frame it, and put it on my wall:

Pretty much every economic indicator has improved since the end of the recession in mid-2009. Unemployment is down, unemployment claims are down, jobs created are up, corporate earnings are up, total debt is down, the deficit as a percentage of GDP is down, GDP growth is up, credit card and mortgage delinquencies are down, TARP has gone from a $700 billion bailout to $66 billion with a project profit, the banks are in better shape, AIG has turned to no taxpayer loss, Fannie and Freddie have gone from multibillion-dollar quarterly losses to profits, the housing market has bottomed and is turning, the automakers are revived and sales are growing, manufacturing is up, industrial production is up, consumer spending is up, real personal income is up, exports are up, we are more energy independent, and interest rates are down.

Policy is better. The financial system is better regulated, banks are required to have higher capital, more children are covered under health insurance, another estimated 30 million people will be covered by health insurance at no cost to the deficit, standards have been raised for for-profit student loan institutions, numerous successes have been achieved in foreign policy. The only major outstanding policy incomplete is long-term deficit reduction, but there is already an outline for a deal based on the Obama-Boehner agreement of 2011 and/or Simpson/Bowles.

So many predictions haven't come to pass. The predictions of bond market vigilantism from not just the likes of Niall Ferguson but more respected names such as John Taylor back in 2009-- didn't happen. The predictions the economy would never recover without a much deeper liquidation from people like Peter Schiff and Karl Denninger-- didn't happen. The predictions of high inflation-- didn't happen. The predictions of a double-dip recession that seemed to reoccur every season-- didn't happen.

So many disasters have been survived or averted. The Arab Spring. The Japanese tsunami. The euro crisis every season.

The ironic thing about Obama? Back in early 2008, when he was an overrated empty suit with nothing but a couple of corporate slogans that everybody now admits was hollow and false, when he hadn't achieved anything in his life worthy of being his party's Presidential nominee, and much of what he had achieved frankly was aided by a kind of affirmative action, everybody loved him, he walked on water, he could do no wrong. But after 3.5 years of actually working so hard and achieving so much good substantively for this country, it seems that a lot of swing and moderate voters aren't impressed at all. They loved him when they should have hated him and they hate him when they should at least recognize that he turned this country around, even if we're still travelling too slowly.

"Disappointing." Sigh. In the end, that's what it all comes down to. "Disappointing." Life may not be fair, but you sure wish it was.

It's sad that not getting worse is worth voting for, however muted and unimpressive the "positive" results are...

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Good submission, Nix, Frankn's post is phenomenal.