President Obama's ratings are in the tank, the deficit is out of control and Democrats are being led to slaughter. Sounds pretty desperate but the real culprit here is who has control of the narrative. In that war the democrats are doing miserably thus the reason for their pending extinction. I listen to talk radio everyday and wonder why a person earning $30,000 a year is worried their taxes are going up. Remember the Paul Newman movie line "what we have here is a failure to communicate", that should be a sign in every Democratic office across the land. Yes we all know this already but for some unknown reason there is a lack of action, plenty of complaining but no solid action.
One of the silliest arguments the Republicans have is President Obama's approval ratings well are they really that bad. Republican President Saint Reagan's approval ratings were down near 40% at this point during his second year in office so President Obama is actually outperforming him. As a matter of fact in the first quarter of Reagan's third year he dropped below 40%! How did the Democrats allow the Republicans to control the narrative on this point? This is pounded into the American psyche everyday on the CONservative radio megaphone with no challenge.
Taxes and deficits is another favorite Republican idiocy and this one is really killing Democrats. Doesn't anyone read history anymore? When in the life of this nation has lowering taxes had any effect on lowering the deficit? Reagan took the top tax rate of 70% to 31% and the deficit increased in fact it increased under both Reagan and Bush senior. Bush senior had to raise taxes and it cost his reelection. Clinton raised the top rate to 39% controlled spending and the deficit came down not to mention one of the most properous times in the US! When President Obama speaks of raising taxes on the wealthy he is talking about less than 3% of the wage earning population. As for small business they did pretty well under the tax increases of President Clinton.
The unemployment rate is at 9.6% after averting a depression that would have made the one in 1929 look like child's play. Again under Saint Reagan it was 9.8% but from CONservative megaphones one would never know that little fact. Yes President Obama has to work hard to lower this but without some courage in the Congress this will be impossible. Just a side note here the last depression lasted over a decade and it was only because of WWII that it ended.
Government spending doesn't create jobs another CONservative myth being eaten up by an ingnorant public. As mentioned above it was huge government spending for WWII that got the economy going again. How many jobs are dependent on the Defense Budget? Entire towns depend on military bases for their economic existence! Government spending just saved the US economy! There are many armchair economists that argue that point but think back to the meeting in September 08 in Washington DC. I've never seen so many ashen fearful faces both in Washington and on the financial news networks in my life. What would the unemployment rate be if all those banks and industries had gone under at the same time? How about a DOW average of 2000 or below? Thank you President Obama for your economic stimulis and having the courage to save this nation!
I drove a truck for six years covering the entire middle and eastern portion of this nation. During that time I spoke to literally hundreds of people from all economic classes and it was incredible to hear some of the ideas people had bought. In a large part of this nation there is only FOX News either by design or because of technical reasons but this is slowly changing thankfully. Most people aren't aware of any of the above just ask your own friends. I'll bet everyone thinks President Obama has the lowest ratings in American history and that their taxes are going up or some other fool ideas. Call talk radio shows and be sure you know the facts! Talk to friends and family make sure they know the truth.
Democrats need to go on the offensive and stop worrying about their damned reelection! Most of all take control of the narrative and put the Republicans on the defensive for a change. The message needs to be simple and direct! Simplicity is the mother of all victory. Damn the Torpedoes Full Speed Ahead!