Now it's time to focus on Demand-Side Economics!

Here it is, one main reason the USA is stagnating economically:

This next chart shows similar information, again showing flat wages but including rising Productivity!

Together, they include....the way to fix the economy!


We tried several versions of "Supply-Side economics in the past thirty years. Just take care of the top % (the "Investing Class" or lately "Job Creators") and the prosperity will 'trickle-down' to the middle and lower class.  Trickle Down. As Reverend Al says, "we got the down, but no Trickle.

Bottom line? It hasn't worked, not during Reagan, and not under Bush. Twice.

Reagan Tripled the debt. Tripled the debt. Trible down, Ronnie.

Well then, how 'bout Bush, what did he do to the Deficit?


Here's what he did


2007    161   billion
2008     459    billion
2009   1413  billion 

What is that?   Really?  We went from 169 up to 1413?  Billion?  Dollars? No way!

Yes, way.

How many times does 161 go into 1413?  8.something?

So if Reagan Tripled the debt, Bush Octoogled the Deficit!

What about Obama?  

2010   1293
2011   1300
2012   1089
2013     901

Wow. It goes down?  Yes, it does!  Obama reduced the deficit.

Check it out. If you learn this stuff, you will sound really smart when talking politics and economy. Or you an ignore it and be thought of as a Republican. Ouch.

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/federal_deficit_chart.html  


 So what do we do to fix the economy? Look at the next chart. It shows us that the Middle Class has been getting a smaller share of the overall wealth than anytime in the last 80 years.

 That's because the top 1% is taking a higher share than anytime since the Great Depression.  Let's do the math.   If the top 1% takes 25%, how much does that leave for everyone else?

75%  YES! GOOD!  SO 400 PEOPLE GET 25%, HOW MANY PEOPLE SPLIT THE REST?

Consider this:
 As of 2011,  the top 400 people in America own more than the entire bottom 60% of Americans.
 

We should spend money on the Middle Class.  Just like the plan that saved the Auto-Industry, which was direct government loans to the industry, in place of private loans which were not available.  Government investment saved that industry. And we are making a profit as they pay back the loans.

This money stimulated the industry, enabled a structured bankruptcy and debt renegotiation, and the resulting economic vigor has made the auto industry vibrant again.. 

The Middle Class is the Demand Side of supply and demand.  When  Demand has the ability to buy stuff,  (desire & resources),  Supply can step up, hire people, open factories and make stuff to sell. Then Investors can jump on that economic activity, and assist businesses large and small to fight for that business.

It really helps to have a 'new product' a wave of excitement, either through new product or a new technology to get an economic push going.

Taht da da daaah! Anouncing 
"The Green Look American Makeover, USA! 
 ("GLAM USA")

The main motive behind the rebound should be repairing our infrastructure. It's needed, it uses a wide variety
of skills that American Workers have in spades, and it's patriotic! 

Don't just Rebuild it, Re-Brand it. 

Join "The Big Build"! A series of Big Projects requiring a Giant manufacturing and Construction overhaul

Join the Green Movement" - Glam USA 's leap into the future Greening of America, learn New skills, bring old ones to a new industry from wind to solar to Geo thermal.

The Old Bulls, GLAM USA's Old-school energy players competing for efficiency and safety records as the way to win government contracts. Challenge traditional industrys to show how clean, safe and efficient energy can be delivered, using old-school philosophies and modern technonligies.

Reward clean and safe over pure volume.  

The varieyt of ways to join the project cna build team unity and freindly copetition betewwen the agencies to make America the best looking, nost productive nation on earth. Set up[ so that the invesment class can win and retain the glory position, by changing the corporate outlook of oil at all costs, to clean energy and safe delivery. That wins contracts, as do favorable tax positions.

By investing in the country we can take every area of society up to the H-N-L, a hole-nudder-lebel.  



By providing the original investment and the market (government contracts, the government can put people to work, help raise incomes and lower the unemplopyment rate, and repair our crumbling infrastucture. American reboot!

A perfect nations project to inspire pride and get community involvement. When you raise the GDP, you really do generate more income, enough to run a surplus. and raise wages.

By raising the Middle Class's stature and abilioty to buy, and buy making 'supporting the rebuld' a patriotic endeavor, we can create a new young-persons volunteer crew to manage the work and bring it to our communties. We can generate civic pride and contributios from every sector of our society.

A bright and shining rebuilt and remodeled, economically secure  America will rebuild our tourism brand and viatlize travel ni both directions. our stronger dollar and viable economy will spark similar efforts across the first world nations, and the rising GDP will raise enough income to lower our debt and being Europe's economy along with us.

This is a golden opportunity, folks. We need to get behind Obama's Rebuild America plan ! (well, I'm sure he will see the wisdom of this assoon as I teach it to him!)

Don't Be Ignorant

I keep talking to my republican friends and they keep on believing the strangest things. I am not sure what it is that turns otherwise reasonably smart and sane people into gullible obedient little GOP defenders but it is an amazing thing to watch.

I do present the facts to them, such as how we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs every month for almost a year before Obama took over, and now we have had over three years straight of job increases, doesn't matter.

Even though I point out that in order to make Obama's statistics look worse, the GOP counts everything in the 1st Quarter of 2009, even though Obama hadn't put any policies in place in 1st 6-7 weeks in office.  In fact, Obama wasn't even sworn into office until January 20th, they count January's job losses as something Obama could have done something about!

You wouldn't accept being held responsible at work for something the guy who had your job last year did, Obama can't be blamed for jobs lost before he took office! Try blaming your current wife or husband for something that happened in your previous marriage, see how that works out for you.

Yet that's what you have to be willing to do to accept the phony picture the GOP / Tea Party has been painting since the day Obama took office.

Obama has actually lowered the number of government employees drastically. Not only does the GOP still cry 'socialist', they don't come to the same, sane conclusion a normal person would, that if we have been adding overall jobs every month, yet government jobs have gone down, we must be doing much better in the private sector that the overall unemployment rate reflects.

Of course, the GOP uses the January 2009 rate of about 7.6% to argue Obama has 'raised the unemployment rate', but in fact as of the day Obama took office the rate is now lower.  Romney uses the claim "Obama 'promised' he would lower the rate to under 4%", which is true, but since it  happened in 2008 when the Bush rate was still around 4-5%, to knowingly use that as a political attack is deceitful. 

And If you look at the fast-rising line in a chart since the Bush recession started in 2008, you can see how it took a few months for the rate to stop climbing, but once it did we have had a fairly successful jobs rate since then, a large improvement over what Obama was handed.  (Bush took the unemployment rate from around 4% to over 8% in his eight years in office). By the end of his first year, Obama had stopped that catastrophic trend and has us headed in the right direction.

And regarding the charge of 'Obama the socialist', is it possible that well educated, normal people can so misunderstand that word they think it's true about Obama? or is it that they haven't bothered to see if it's true?

I'm guessing it's being ignorant of facts, rather than being under-educated or simply in denial. At least I hope that's what it is, I hate to think some of my friends and family are willingly being deceitful, or that they don't really care what happens to the country.

Time and again, though, presenting them with facts never elicits a surprising 'wow, didn't know that' or some other type of acknowledgement that the reason they just gave for hating Obama is wrong on the facts. They just ignore that, change the topic to some other (equally vacuous) charge, and of course continue to use the same, discredited argument in the next conversation.

I understand this kind of stubborn intentional ignorance and strongly held belief system when it regards religion, everyone wants their God to be The God. But that's personal, and their holding those beliefs are their right, and don't really impact others too much ( I know that's arguable, I am trying to be generous here).

But in politics, an ignorant belief in political lies has a huge impact on the rest of us, it happened when we 'elected' Bush, and if enough people hold this irrational position and hatred of President Obama, it will harm the country again.

There is evidence out there, much of it is presented in these essays. All you need to do is pay attention and be willing to discuss and seek the truth. Good luck.