"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for."

First written in 2012. Not much has happened to change my opinion. 

American  humorist Will Rogers didn't have much nice to say about politicians back at the start of the 20th Century and nothing happening today would probably change his mind.  Skepticism about politicians isn't new.  Before Rogers,  Mark Twain was known to take verbal shots at our elected leaders. "In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing,"  Twain wrote, and it sounds way too apropos of today's scene.

With that bit of perspective in mind, I have to call out some of most outrageous statements being vocalized in our current electoral frenzy.  One of the differences between the past and the present is that a liar in a nice suit can tell twenty million television viewers something completely ridiculous as long as it's presented with a straight face and a demeanor that exudes righteousness.  The relationship between facts and assertions has been so muddied that many people forget there are such things as facts and that they are handy to have around.  

 "Obama's platform, campaign, etc. is promoting class warfare, conflict, and so on."    In my book this is similar to saying that the neighbor who reported that the house was on fire is an arsonist."   There are dozens of economic and social measures going back years that make it clear that the poor in this country are losing ground and that those of us who used to be considered 'middle class' are also losing ground.  At the same time,  data make clear that the people who have the most wealth in the country continue to be wealthy and by many measures are wealthier.  Reporting on these realities is not 'promoting' anything---it's observing that presumptions held since World War II about having a place at the American table and sharing in our country's riches are no longer credible assumptions.

"Prosperity is what America is about." coupled with "We are nation founded on Christian principles.".  Jesus did not encourage prosperity as a high value anywhere in the Gospels. 

"Taxing the wealthy is stupid because it makes it impossible for them to use their wealth for job creation."  Where's the evidence that wealthy people actually use their money for job creation?    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ruth-marcus-fallacies-at-the-heart-of-romneys-tax-plan/2012/09/25/9c203a16-0744-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend


"The private sector is good."  Really?  They tell the truth, act for everyone's best interest, and their success will lead to the success of most everyone?  

"Government is bad.  And regulations on the private sector are bad."  The de-regulation of private sector institutions since the Reagan years has demonstrably led to many horrible outcomes.  For example,  miners killed because their corporation cheated on safety equipment....etc.   By contrast,  "Regulation is good and necessary."  Not always.   One of the secondary chants in this area demands we 'stop the growth of big government'.   The ironic thing is government is smaller today proportionately than it's been in decades.  And the horrible loss of jobs in recent years is mostly in the public sector--government decline means fewer government employees.  So how does that jibe with 'job creation' being something only the private sector engages in?  Not very well.  Private sector employment is actually up.

"The marketplace will protect people if it's just allowed to operate freely."   Okay...how's that again?   The theory is that business won't do things that are harmful because the marketplace will refuse to do business with them.  Selling bad or hurtful products would show up and people would stop buying the products.  Can we say tobacco companies---who fought regulation and falsified evidence of their products' impact with disregard for the harm it caused.  Many many products don't necessarily show their effects right away,  so people don't know they're being harmed.  Not only that, but vast amounts of evidence exist that exerting change on problems in the marketplace--for example by boycotting or going to court--take so long to have an impact that people despair of acting.  

"The President promised 'fill in the blank' in the economy and has failed to deliver'.   Anyone saying this ought to have their mouth washed out with soap.   It's not a presidential ability and to treat it as if it were that simple is an insult to the voters.  The same with "If elected I will..." with the economy.   

Testimonials from people--particularly small business owners because Americans love to view themselves as shopkeepers-- telling the story of their successful rise from nothing to success.  Two things implicit in these stories are 'I did it myself with my own skill, brains, and hard work'  and 'if I can do it,  the people who don't succeed must not be doing something right'.   The reality is that a large measure of luck, timing, and the application of resources by other folks plays a big role in whether a given individual succeeds.   The woman running for Governor of New Jersey who, with her husband built a floor covering business,  neglects to acknowledge that her access to government small business loans, for example, helped them succeed.