Wikipedia has an entry for Reality-based community. I'm sure you remember how -- thanks to the Bush Administration -- that term entered our political lexicon. Well, I'm still a member of the reality-based community, but it appears more and more than the Obama Administration is channeling their inner Bush.
Join me over the fold for the most recent evidence ....
Wikipedia's entry informs us that:
Reality-based community is an informal term in the United States. In the fall of 2004, the phrase "proud member of the reality-based community" was first used to suggest the commentator's opinions are based more on observation than on faith, assumption, or ideology.
The source of the term is a quotation in an October 17, 2004, The New York Times Magazine article by writer Ron Suskind, quoting an unnamed aide to George W. Bush (later attributed to Karl Rove):
The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality."
Yeah, I believe that solutions emerge from the judicious study of discernible reality. And if one turns an eye on our economy, well, 'Houston we got a problem ..'
Unless you're a spokesman for the Obama Administration ... cuz today in the Washington Post you'll find:
President Barack Obama’s spokesman is discounting talk that the economy may be headed back into recession, despite recent concerns of economists.
Spokesman Jay Carney says there is no question that economic growth and job creation have slowed over the past half year.
But, Carney told a White House briefing, “We do not believe that there is a threat of a double-dip recession.”
The recession that began in December 2007 officially ended in summer 2009 and the economy has seen growth since then. However, that growth has slowed to a trickle in recent months.
He blamed the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, higher energy prices, default worries in Europe and recently resolved uncertainty over raising America’s borrowing limit. Carney said, “We believe the economy will continue to grow.”
We do not believe that there is a threat of a double-dip recession.
Hmmm ..Ironically, the same Washington Post is carrying an op-ed by former Obama econmomics advisor Larry Summers in which Summers puts the odds of a double-dip recession at 1 in 3. Economists Paul Krugman and Brad Delong are only slightly less pessimistic.
Of course there's a threat of another recession. Every economic statistic we track (other than corporate profits) is anemic at best. The Administration is now going to shift the public discourse and 'pivot to jobs.' Good luck with that. While unemployment is the biggest problem we face, the recent debt deal ensures that the President and congress have effectively tied their own hands -- preventing them from doing anything meaningful to alleviate the situation.
Actually, it's worse than that; the debt deal will cost even more jobs and further drag GDP down another few tenths of a percent. I could go on, but it's too depressing. Go read Brad Delong ... or Paul Krugman ... or Dean Baker ....
But first listen to the New Pornographers sing "Crash Years" and enjoy those ol' eternity blues ...
6:22 PM PT: Be sure to read The debt ceiling "deal" is projected to cost 1.8 million jobs in 2012 by cassandraX