Phil Gramm has been all but burned at the stake for his comments about the economy in early July. As usual, most of the talking points among Big Media and Big Liberalism sources come from what they imagine Dr. Gramm said, not from what he actually said. Dr. Gramm did not deny that the economy is troubled, nor did he deny that there may be a recession. He merely made a factual observation that America is not in a literal, technical recession, which is a verifiable truth as defined by two consecutive quarters of declining GDP. For five quarters, 2007 - 1st quarter 2008, the GDP has continued to increase. So, Dr. Gramm is correct. Here are some of his remarks:
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"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity over losing jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet." -- Washington Post, 7/9/08
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And here's a dirty little secret: Phil Gramm is eminently qualified to make such an observation. He has a Ph.D. in economics, has taught it for 12 years at Texas A&M University, and has won elective office as both a Democrat & Republican. As an economist, he is as qualified to tell Americans that we are not in a recession as any other economist paraded by Big Media and Big Liberalism is to tell us that the sky is falling. Yet following Dr. Gramm's factual statement, Big Media and Big Liberals immediately began whining. Touche, Dr. Gramm.
So for all our good friends living in the land of left-believe, since we are experiencing such troubled economic times, how in the world did the new Batman movie set a new weekend box office record for a superhero movie? According to the AP report on 7/21/08, "The Dark Knight" grossed 155.34 million dollars! And that doesn't include concession stand revenue! Don't movie viewers know that the economy has tanked? That no one has any money? That everyone is living in cardboard boxes and holding out tin cups? What about having to make that tough choice between medicine and food?
This box office buster phenomenon represents two things. (1) Americans still have money and are still willing to spend it. Ask around; I'll bet you can find someone from "struggling lower middle class" and below households who have plunked down pocket change to see Batman. Would truly desperate people be so frivolous? The stark truth is that far and away the bulk of Americans are not truly desperate. Maybe not as well off as we would like to be, but not truly desperate when there is money to spend for high priced entertainment. (2) Americans want to use their personal money for frivolous entertainment, but want to use someone else's money (i.e., taxpayers) for necessities like housing, food, healthcare, transportation, etc. In fact, "we" have come to expect and demand this as a right. Commit to too much mortgage or other debt? Demand a government bailout. Have to choose between food and casinos? Demand a government bailout. Have to choose between healthcare and movies? Demand a government bailout. Facing retirement age without enough personal savings because of spending for all those movie hours, casino trips, tattoos, piercings, et. al. that have been accumulated over peak earning years? Demand a government bailout - hey, social security is for poor people, not the wealthy who have paid into it.
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"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he said. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline" despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy, [Dr. Gramm] said.
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Not off the mark there, either.
So all of you who saw "The Dark Knight," I hope you enjoyed it. But don't come whining to me if you can't pay your mortgage or come up a little short in retirement.
*****
"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity over losing jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet." -- Washington Post, 7/9/08
*****
And here's a dirty little secret: Phil Gramm is eminently qualified to make such an observation. He has a Ph.D. in economics, has taught it for 12 years at Texas A&M University, and has won elective office as both a Democrat & Republican. As an economist, he is as qualified to tell Americans that we are not in a recession as any other economist paraded by Big Media and Big Liberalism is to tell us that the sky is falling. Yet following Dr. Gramm's factual statement, Big Media and Big Liberals immediately began whining. Touche, Dr. Gramm.
So for all our good friends living in the land of left-believe, since we are experiencing such troubled economic times, how in the world did the new Batman movie set a new weekend box office record for a superhero movie? According to the AP report on 7/21/08, "The Dark Knight" grossed 155.34 million dollars! And that doesn't include concession stand revenue! Don't movie viewers know that the economy has tanked? That no one has any money? That everyone is living in cardboard boxes and holding out tin cups? What about having to make that tough choice between medicine and food?
This box office buster phenomenon represents two things. (1) Americans still have money and are still willing to spend it. Ask around; I'll bet you can find someone from "struggling lower middle class" and below households who have plunked down pocket change to see Batman. Would truly desperate people be so frivolous? The stark truth is that far and away the bulk of Americans are not truly desperate. Maybe not as well off as we would like to be, but not truly desperate when there is money to spend for high priced entertainment. (2) Americans want to use their personal money for frivolous entertainment, but want to use someone else's money (i.e., taxpayers) for necessities like housing, food, healthcare, transportation, etc. In fact, "we" have come to expect and demand this as a right. Commit to too much mortgage or other debt? Demand a government bailout. Have to choose between food and casinos? Demand a government bailout. Have to choose between healthcare and movies? Demand a government bailout. Facing retirement age without enough personal savings because of spending for all those movie hours, casino trips, tattoos, piercings, et. al. that have been accumulated over peak earning years? Demand a government bailout - hey, social security is for poor people, not the wealthy who have paid into it.
*****
"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he said. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline" despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy, [Dr. Gramm] said.
*****
Not off the mark there, either.
So all of you who saw "The Dark Knight," I hope you enjoyed it. But don't come whining to me if you can't pay your mortgage or come up a little short in retirement.
(photos: Dr. Phil Gramm (l.) Dark Knight movie poster (r.))
2 comments:
You used spending to SPIN about the people wealth. Only idiots fall into your trap. Honestly there were lot and lot of idiots believed in your so called conservative thinking for years, and now they just started paying for their foolishness. There is no such thing as liberal media because all major mainstream newspapers/TV/radio/studios outlets are own and operated/controlled by big wealthy corporation which in turn funding the think tank for propagandas such as yours, channeling money to special interest groups/politicians....The real liberals have very little or no voice and have absolutely no power in American politics. Yet it is too funny that conservative crooks (if they are wealthy) or morons (if they're poor but listen to talk shows, believed in propagandas) keep pointing to the boogyman Liberal that does not exist. Talking about spending, statistic shows that poor people often spends a lot more money in lottery than rich people. Does it mean that poor people have more money to waste or they still have lot of money that they can waste???? I'm very sure that you can SPIN out a very good essay to answer.
I could give you a very well-researched, factual answer, but why bother?
Now, I don't refute your statement about wealthy "special interests." That, unfortunately, is a piece of the system that has developed out of more or less all political parties in the US of A. There are steps that could be taken to reduce, if not eliminate, such a system, and American conservative ideology provides those solutions. Liberal ideology does not; in fact, liberal ideology inevitably exacerbates the system of favoritism.
In response to your question about poor people and the lottery, I think that they spend their money unwisely if thay purchase lottery tickets and still have bills or debts they need to pay. Allocating resources for discretionary spending while leaving financial obligations unpaid is theft whether one is conservative or liberal.
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