Rebutting the Obamaphobe Myths

Throwing this here because Speakup won't let me post more than one link. 

Congratulations on showing everyone what a simple minded partisan hack you are, I didn't get it from Fox News .... But if I did so what? Its true.

And much of it misleading, or else you're being willfully ignorant of the cause. 

I know that being the party cheerleader you are you want to avoid inconvenient truths like:

* Since Obama has been president, seven out of every eight jobs that have been created in the U.S. economy have been part-time jobs.

Not sure where you're getting that data, but thankfully just a few weeks ago, the US economy finally earned back every job lost during the Bush recession.

Citations: here, here, and here.  It's worth noting that 547,000 public sector jobs have never been recouped, because the focus was on strengthening private sector employment and keeping government spending and staffing low. If we hired everyone back to public jobs, the participation rate would be higher and the unemployment rate lower. There are about 7.3 million people who are involuntarily part-time right now. This is essentially unchanged from the 7.8 million who were involuntary part-time in November 2008. 

Just to remind ourselves, George W. Bush was President until the third week of January 2009. 

* When Barack Obama entered the White House, there were about 32 million Americans on food stamps. Today, there are more than 47 million Americans on food stamps.

This is an unfortunate consequence of the great recession. I'd like to see how this is directly President Obama's fault.

* When Barack Obama took office, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $1.85. Today, it is $3.53.

This one is my favorite.

At its earlier peak of October 2007, the highest the DJIA reached was in the 14,000s. By early November 2008, the Dow was in the 8900s. Its nadir was in March 2009 when it hit 6,600. Its most precipitous plunge took place in mid-October 2008, as the Dow lost 18% of its value. If you look at a chart of the Dow superimposed on gas prices, they match up. This is because gas prices didn't magically just go from $1.85 to over $3.00 in a vacuum, nor was it unprecedented. 

As a matter of fact, the highest average price for regular unleaded ever recorded in the US was in May 2008, when it hit $4.12/gallon. The price plummeted in late 2008, along with the global economic crisis that ground economies worldwide to a halt. The drop in gas prices you reference was a result of dramatic, catastrophic deflation, which is a symptom of an economy that is ground to a halt. The rise in gas prices (inflation) is a sign of a economy in recovery.

In fact, gas prices were reasonably stable, in the $1.50 - 2.25 range between 2003 until August 2005, when they skyrocketed past $3.00. That was thanks to Hurricane Katrina. With the exception of the global financial meltdown, gas prices have stayed over $3.00 since Katrina. 

* Electricity bills in the United States have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.

In prior years, electricity rates had not kept up with the rate of inflation. Much of this is catching up.

* The United States has fallen in the global economic competitiveness rankings compiled by the World Economic Forum for four years in a row.

Maybe check your work? For 2013 - 14, the US is # 5 behind Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, and Finland - all countries that have generous universal health care schemes, and are not involved in land wars in Asia or their resultant quagmires. In 2012-2013, the WEF had the US ranked #5, as well. In 2011-2012, the WEF had the US ranked #5. It had been #4 in 2010 - 2011.

So, Obama has kept the US stable competitively as compared with 147 other countries. He's just horrible at being a socialist!

* When Barack Obama was first elected, the U.S. debt to GDP ratio was under 70 percent. Today, it is up to 101 percent.

The US uses debt to fund wars and economic stimulus. Since 1980, only one President - Bill Clinton - has reduced public indebtedness. There's plenty of blame to go around with this one. Perhaps if we hadn't prefaced the global recession with two wars and a post-9/11 stimulus?

* More than a million public school students in the United States are homeless. This is the first time that has ever happened in our history. That number has risen by 57 percent since the 2006-2007 school year.

The 2006 - 2007 school year would have preceded the global financial meltdown, which also led to a foreclosure crisis as home values in some parts of the country plummeted, people found themselves either underwater or unable to pay their mortgages. Again, show me how this is Obama's fault.

* 53 percent of all American workers now make less than $30,000 a year.

This is a direct result of the abject failure of "supply side" economics, and the "trickle down" theory. I agree that wages are unreasonably low while productivity has soared. People deserve to earn a living wage, and I hope we can force companies to do just that.

* When the Obama era began, the average duration of unemployment in this country was 19.8 weeks. Today, it is 36.6 weeks.

As the labor market strengthens, the number of long-term unemployed is falling. Maybe ask why companies are hoarding $2 trillion in cash here and overseas but not hiring people? Why won't Congress fix the laws that encourage this?

and you would much rather focus on more compelling issues like what the guy on WGR is saying. Continue on with the really fascinating conversations of how you hate fox news and how wrong WGR is.
When you get done with your partisan bickering see if you can drum up the energy to discuss something substantive.

I don't listen to WGR, and I cut most of the cable cord specifically so I don't have to pay for channels - like Fox News - that I don't watch.