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Originally Posted by justplugit
Speculation.
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Not really, my initial assertion that a 2009 McCain presidency would have had a budget deficit nearly as large as Obama's would have been quite likely. That it would be larger is certainly speculation, but not an unreasonable one.
Deconstruct the 2009 numbers and I don't see very much that any Republican could have impacted more than 10-20%. Nobody would have proposed deep across the board cuts during a massive recession. What would have been far more likely are deep tax cuts which would have depressed revenues even further.
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My original question still hasn't been answered.
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Well, first off I think your Rep is misleading you just to make political hay.
Obama didn't promise 8% unemployment. This was a projection (with a large margin of error) based on the current generally accepted baseline which had unemployment peaking at 9%. This baseline was shown to be dramatically off as the recession ended up being much deeper than anticipated...
Additionally, I'm not aware of any Obama statement that unemployment should be 6.8% right now. The only reference to that number I've seen is a conservative who's asserted that had Obama not extended unemployment benefits this is where the rate would be.
While it makes for some good ideological fodder, it premise doesn't seem to be rooted in reality, in fact it's quite absurd.
So I'm not sure what the question really is in context of those numbers...Garret is just playing games with old talking points.
In broader terms...
1) According to the CBO the Stimulus has had a large beneficial impact and by the reckoning of many may have averted a much bigger economic meltdown. People will debate this forever.
2) The projected budget deficits and National debt were caused by both parties. Personally I don't see any solution that doesn't involve both spending cuts and increased taxes.
3) A big reason the unemployment rate isn't dropping further is simply because American businesses have become more productive and the explosive growth that fuels rapid hiring is happening in other parts of the world. This isn't just because we've "shipped jobs overseas", it's because the hiring is taking place close to the action, just like it did in the US in the 1990s.
4) These emerging nations will gradually help the US economy
5) Government investment in growth technologies is a good investment and something I'd like to see Obama do more of
-spence