History tells a different story

By Steve Bisbikis

Weeks after Mitt Romney’s defeat there are those who persist in the delusion that business people make the best presidents. The facts of history have shown us otherwise.

Since Herbert Hoover 1928, the American people have voted out of office after a single term only three presidents: Hoover, Carter, and George H. Bush. All were successful businessmen.

George W. Bush, who supposedly was a good businessman, was re-elected and oversaw the worst collapse in the economy since the Great Depression. To lament that Romney would have been an economic savior does not bear out what history has shown.

According to the

Washington Post

, on the average, under presidents with successful business experience, the GDP has increased only 0.12 percent, and under presidents with little or no business experience, the GDP has grown 5.46 percent. So, when one hears opinions that are not borne out by facts, we end up with misinformed voters.

Where does much of this misinformation come from? Study after study has shown that Fox News viewers are consistently the most misinformed, and without having a clue that they are. The University of Maryland poll found that Fox News viewers are 30 percent more likely to think that “most scientists do not agree that climate change is coming.” Also, Fox viewers were 14 percent more likely to believe that the Obama stimulus did not provide any tax cuts. The Obama stimulus bill provided one of the largest tax cuts ever for middle class Americans. An AUS.com study showed 31 percent of Fox viewers honestly believe that it is not clear that Obama was born in the U.S. even after Hawaii posted the record of his birth record, the birth announcement from a Hawaiian newspaper. This poll showed that Dems. and Repubs. who watched Fox News were equally misinformed.

Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the stimulus) is a subject that, if you listen to Sean Hannity on Fox on a daily basis, you would believe was a failure. According to the New York Times, the stimulus was responsible for creating 2.5 million jobs. Most economists agree that it helped the economy grow by 3.8 per cent and kept the unemployment rate from reaching 12 percent or higher. This is what Fox viewers don’t get, the economy may not have recovered to its pre-recession numbers, but at least it has not gone over the edge of Depression which it might have done.

Some seem to believe (as did Mr. Fontana Dec. 20 commentary) that Obama “by design wants an entitlement to depend on government.” The facts show that $1.5 billion went to rent subsidies and emergency housing that kept 1.2 million people with roofs over their heads when millions were losing their jobs at a rate of 775,000 per month, not to mention their homes. And yes it increased spending on food stamps. But this was necessary after the way the Bush Administration, filled with businessmen, left the economy.

None of this is mentioned on Fox News, only opposition, distortion, deceit, and ridicule of Obama’s policies. And who do many Republicans in Congress listen to, you know who, Fox News? Those who watch Fox News don’t get many facts, but seem to regurgitate their generalized opinions. The entire theme of the Republican Convention of “We Built That” was a lie Fox News perpetuated. It was not what the president really said, but was completely taken out of context. If you base your entire premise on a lie, it becomes a difficult hill to climb.

So now we find ourselves in a situation where Republicans in the House are so influenced by the “no tax increases under any circumstances” crowd, that they can’t even get themselves to raise taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of the population, but are electing to rather raise taxes on 100 percent of Americans who pay taxes. That should tell you who is looking out for the vast majority.

Simple economics can tell you, put money into the hands of the 98 percent, they will spend it and create the demand for products and services, which in turn creates more jobs. That is the sole reason for hiring; it doesn’t come out of the goodness of the hearts of the job creating businessman. In fact, just the opposite occurs; less employees means more profits. If you watch Fox News you will hear it’s all about assisting the job creators.

One more thing I would like to clarify concerning playing the race card of which I was accused of doing. I was merely referring to that we can not always go with what the founding fathers may have intended, and that if we did Obama could probably only have aspired to be a slave, which is probably a fact. But if one is troubled by the fact that some racism is really not a factor in our country any more, Shakespeare once said, “Ye doth protest too much.”

Steve Bisbikis is a Ramona resident.