You Thought 2009 Was Bad?
You thought 2009 was bad?
Well, in the aftermath of the mess left behind by the previous administration, it was.
And, as we end 2009, unemployment is still unacceptably high.
USA Today writes in an editorial today, “2009 will not go down as a great year. Come to think of it, the whole decade has been rather wretched.”
The editorial, for example, cites:
The 2000s included, in chronological order, a disputed presidential election, a tech bust, a terror attack, an anthrax attack, a war premised on faulty intelligence, a terrible hurricane, a college massacre, a housing debacle, a financial panic and the biggest Ponzi scheme in the history of mankind.
As if all that weren’t enough, the decade featured a proliferation of TV and radio ranters and Internet bloggers in a kind of amplified re-emergence of a crowd Vice President Spiro Agnew once dubbed the “nattering nabobs of negativism.” To these naysayers, bad isn’t good enough. We should be mortified. Despondent.
Depending on which political wing they are coming from, the president is either socializing health care or selling out liberalism. The banking system is on the brink of collapse.
But wait; there is good news and “cause for cheering this holiday season.”
Among the good news, USA Today lists, for starters, “this miserable annum is almost over,” and continues:
* The economy is improving. “…last month, the unemployment rate dropped from 10.2% to 10%. The economy grew by 2.2% in the third quarter. The Dow Jones average is up 60% from its bottom in March. Even the pessimistic projections for next year have businesses creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. More optimistic ones say that job growth will be robust because, after years of downsizing and productivity gains, companies will be forced to hire as their business picks up.”
* Banks are repaying bailout money. “A number of major banks have either paid back their money from the 2008 bailout, or have announced plans to do so. These are the same institutions that were written off early this year as ‘zombie banks’ that would have to be nationalized…”
* Crime is down. “Despite the recession, crime rates kept dropping during the first half of 2009. Murder and manslaughter were down 10%. Property crimes dropped 6.1%. Violent crime dropped 4.4%. Rates haven’t been this low since the early 1960s…”
* The swine flu hasn’t been so bad.
USA Today cautions:
Despite these hopeful trends, there’s no guarantee the 2010s will be better than 2000s. Terrorists and rogue states are still trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. is drowning in debt, and the nation’s political system seems incapable of addressing intractable long-term problems.
But, as the new decade begins, the world keeps spinning on its axis from darkness toward morning. There will be new inventions, new heroes and new works of art. There is every reason to believe, as author William Faulkner said in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech six decades ago, that mankind ‘will not merely endure: he will prevail.’
I join USA Today in their optimism and in their Merry Christmas wish
19 Responses to “You Thought 2009 Was Bad?”
a financial panic and the biggest Ponzi scheme in the history of mankind.”
Which one, Madoff, or Washington Made Off (Obamacare)?
Republicans are crooks. Agnew is merely one example. Crooks don't like any questions being asked about their crimes.
The trend is: Democrats lead better then republicans, especially in difficult times.
…and I got my H1N1 flew shot. My doctor, with pictures of Ronnie Raygun and Dubya all over his office, (I will be changing doctors because of this), said he had 500 H1N1 diagnosed patients come through his office alone. However the conservatives say it is some sort of “scare tactic”. What a bunch of goofy clowns.
There will be no recovery until consumers have money to spend. Banks paid off their loans so executives could give themselves huge bonuses forbidden by TARP while their loans were unpaid. Fake recovery by Wall Street speculators is no recovery.
And with another fool Southern conservative president we will get more wars to christianize the world.
You were supposed to get a rabies shot. Oh, well, maybe the nice new Doctor or Vet will have pictures of Karl, Vladimir and Mao on the walls.
Who's is that? Tiger.
“Crooks don't like any questions being asked about their crimes.”
Is that why Obama wanted dissent suppressed and the media muzzled and firmly controlled?
(the latter part, he may still want, so far as we know)
FT, that strikes me as one of the kindest and most forgiving things that can be said about 21st century republicans. I commend you on your restraint.
As for crime being down, I guess that depends on where you are. Our business in Lansing has been broken into three times in the last 2 months, despite being on a busy well-lit highway, having an alarm system and survaillance cameras. Lots of smash and grab crimes around here in an area that used to be nice. The cops seem to be utterly useless at controlling any of this. Probably too busy writing out traffic tickets and busting pot users to fight crime.
Did you know there are more Marijuana Med. stores in LA than there are Starbucks? What gives, can't a government run a regulatory agency. (And, I'm for decriminalization of pot.)
Oh, the execs at FMNA and FDMC are getting $6 mill. each (another gov. screw up).
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ceos25-20…
2009 was bad, though the Dems overreached to the point of breakdown and since then, we've been given relief (when issues are shelved, absolute; when legislation is made less bad, relative, as with health care).
I wonder if part of the rush (which at times was mindless) to get things done this year (now to be replaced by “before the next election”) is in some ways a hope of trying to make things lurch to the left before demographics and other changes make it harder — which Census mischief can't stop 100%.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no_2009…
“hope it brings a little more prosperity… and a _lot_ more reason”
That's what Daley Hopes [tm], too. Hopefully this health care recovery by the Dems is Lessons Learned. (Uh-oh. More “right wing” “corporatist” Democratic Party leadership speaks out, albeit with some exaggeration. The GOP isn't pounding anybody, or at least hitting anyone or anything hard. He also is somewhat evasive in not clearly, and bluntly staying what the problem has been this year, not “seems to be” [sic]. Note that the health-legislation passage was done by reducing the problem.)
“[N]ow they face a grim political fate. On the one hand, centrist Democrats are being vilified by left-wing bloggers, pundits and partisan news outlets for not being sufficiently liberal, 'true' Democrats. On the other, Republicans are pounding them for their association with a party that seems to be advancing an agenda far to the left of most voters.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar…
Why is a duck allowed to live while so many are hungry?
I am a Social Capitalist, not a Communist. I have personally killed Communists.
…and yes, you can Thank Me for My Service.
FOX needs to be controlled…and Murdoch shot for treason.
FOX is worse than Pravda.
All commendations accepted. I will wear it on my chest with pride.
something was bad,MJ & Brittany Murphys die~~~ wish it will not so bad in the coming year~~~
“Merry Christmas
http://www.topnflnews.com/“
LOL, Seems he has finally spit out some of the froth build up and has gotten back to his normal replying.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Peace Maker and TMV, PostRank – Politics. PostRank – Politics said: You Thought 2009 Was Bad? http://bit.ly/5kCqhU #postrank #politics [...]
I thank everyone for his service, so I certainly wish to thank you, and very, very sincerely.
If you want next year to be less dangerous, it's time to catch up on the key facts of Islam including its history and core beliefs so you won't be surprised at the next Maj. Nidal Hasan or his 7th cent. mindset. Try the Historyscoper's site, it's free, click http://go.to/islamhistory
For a complete free historyscope of 2009, click http://tlw.weebly.com
According to the WSJ Investors Hope the '10s Beat the '00s
Since End of 1999, U.S. Stocks' Performance Has Been the All-Time Clunker; Even 1930s Beat It
How's that Bush presidency worked out for you?