Citizens United Comes to Southern Colorado - some observations
And, I suppose, things are worse in larger media markets from what I glean from the daily election reports from Daily Kos.
The bare-faced lies from the right - particularly w/r/t the economy - are already flying furiously in a couple of TV commercials I've seen. As an economist, there are a few I find to be egregious plays into much of the public's abysmal lack of knowledge of the "devilish details" of economics - especially at the macro-level. For example:
"Government can't create jobs; only the private sector can create jobs." At best, a half-truth - just ask the civilian employees of, say, the Defense Department and the employees massive (non-competitive) industrial complex of contractors which supports it. Take away the government expenditures and see how many jobs remain filled a year later. Similarly, for the Department of Transportation - private contractors build the highways and produce mass transit vehicles; state DOT or local (often via contracts with private firms) employees typically maintain them. But, without the initial impetus of "government expenditures" all would would shrink dramatically.
"We gave the Obama Administration its $831 billion 'stimulus package' and it didn't work." As I recall, the original stimulus proposal was closer to $1.2 trillion until it was gutted in the House. But, that 33% reduction pales in comparison to the fact that the 2009-10 stimulus was just a one-time shot whose effect, after a considerable lag just to implement, then diminishes exponentially over time. For those reading this who had a basic Macroeconomics course, you may (or may not :-) recall that the "multiplier" is fully effective through time only for permanent stimulative increases (be they Government or Private Investment*).
"The Obama Administration spent $2.3 billion (of the stimulus) in Finland, Mexico, and - heavens - China. That means American taxpayers paid to have their jobs shipped overseas." First, the arithmetic: $2.3B/$831B equals about one-fourth of a percent. To put it another way, at 99.75%, the purity of domestic spending from the stimulus exceeded even the proverbial purity of Ivory(ª) soap. Oh, and about those "Made in China" traffic signals - without doing any detailed research - I'd be willing to wager that they were purchased (as the lowest-best bid alternative to save limited public funds) using some matching federal funds by a cost-conscious - i.e. revenue-starved - state DOT or local government.
Well, at least there are two heartening developments I've noticed: (1) Obama's campaign is rapidly responding to the attack-ads with factual ads of its own; and, (2) the presumptive Repug nominee is Romney.
"In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican."
---H L Mencken