The news on the economy this morning is not encouraging.  The GDP numbers have been revised downward to an anemic 2.7%.  When asked to identify the Obama administration’s greatest accomplishments so far, one of his ardent supporters identified: 1) ObamaCare and 2) Afghanistan.  Yikes!  60% of the country remains opposed to ObamaCare with 55% supporting its repeal and Afghanistan is in need of a complete overhaul, especially on the civilian side meaning the Ambassador and special envoy Holbrooke.

President Obama now travels to the G8 and G20 meetings this weekend to try to get the rest of the major economies in the world to follow Obama’s leadership into recreating the Great Depression.  The good news is that the other heads of state are not members of the Democratic Party or beholding to Obama.  They are responsible to the citizens of their own countries.  For the European countries, they cannot go on a similar spending binge that Team Obama has embarked upon, if for no other reason than their declining birth rates will not create a new generation of people to hand the bill to.  They see the flashing warning lights that emanated from Greece and are rapidly changing course.

Either President Obama will use his silver tongue to convince the others to open the spending spigot or he will come home with his tail between his legs, his policies discredited worldwide.  Either way it will not be positive for the United States of America.

Zogby International conducted a survey to measure how well people understand economics and what their political persuasion was.  The conclusion they came to was clear:  the Left is economically ignorant.  As reported in the Wall Street Journal (Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?) there were eight questions and the multiple choice answers were:  Strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree or are not sure.  Here are the statements:

1. Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services
2. Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago
3. Rent control leads to housing shortages
4. A company with the largest market share is a monopoly
5. Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited
6. Free trade leads to unemployment
7. Minimum wage laws raise unemployment

Answers of strongly agree and somewhat agree were grouped together for scoring purposes, as were strongly disagree and somewhat disagree.  The survey respondents were then asked their political persuasion:  progressive/very liberal; liberal; moderate; conservative; very conservative; libertarian.  The correct answers to the statements are

1. Agree
2. Agree
3. Agree
4. Disagree
5. Disagree
6. Disagree
7. Agree

Here is how the respondents performed grouped by political views:

1. Libertarians 84.3% correct answers
2. Very conservative 82.4% correct answers
3. Conservative 77.7% correct answers
4. Liberals 59.9% correct answers
5. Progressive/very liberal 32.4% correct

If this were a course in school, liberal, very liberal, and progressive students, would have all failed and in some cases miserably;  conservatives would all have passed by comfortable margins.  The article goes on to say, “The pattern was not an anomaly.”  I think this survey explains an enormous amount about the frustration being felt across America today. 

Other studies have shown that about 60% of Americans describe themselves as conservative.  The current administration is driving hard left at an extraordinary rate and most Americans don’t understand what President Obama and the Democratic Congress are doing or why.  This survey explains it pretty well.  They don’t know what they are doing, or they are expecting outcomes that are economically flawed.  The American people know it and they have been shouting, “STOP!”  But the Democrats blissfully press on in their ignorance and are confused why America is not going along. 

Statists have long assumed and treat their fellow Americans as if we are too stupid to know what they are doing is for our own good.  Well here’s the proof folks that the American people are the ones who know what works and what doesn’t and the only way to fix it is to send all the progressives/very liberal/liberal politicians packing.  If we elect conservatives they will implement what works and what economics proves works, and our country will be on the mend.

On Tuesday night President Obama gave an uncharacteristically bland speech regarding his way forward in Afghanistan.  In one sentence he said he was adding 30,000 troops while shortly thereafter he said he would be removing them.  It’s enough to make one nostalgic for John Kerry’s “clarification” of how he voted for the war in Iraq before he voted against it.  So our Waffler in Chief has given the enemy their battle plan: hunker down;  keep a low profile;  don’t back me into a corner, and beginning in July 2011, while we’re packing up you can be ramping up.  Bush never committed to an end date certain for that very reason.  They way you defeat the enemy is by making it clear that you will finish the job, no matter how long it takes.

It’s All Karzai’s Fault!

With this administration, it’s always somebody else’s fault.  But put yourself in Karzai’s shoes.  If you have the U.S. on one side, and the Taliban on the other with the U.S. packing up and the Taliban sharpening their knives, who are you going to cut a deal with?  They guy who plans to be there for the next 20 years or the guy who plans to be there for the next 20 months?  There is one way to deal with the bad guys who plan on being there for the next 20 years and that’s to make sure they spend those next 20 years six feet under.

We had similar challenges in Iraq, but once Bush ordered the surge and the bad guys knew we were going to finish the job, they started cutting deals of their own.  Many came over to our side and helped end the violence in a number of provinces.  Peace through strength.  It works.  Weakness fires up the enemy and emboldens him.  You decide which is the better strategy.