Biden On The Economy: “We Have To Spend Money To Keep From Going Bankrupt”
Vice President Joe Biden doesn’t understand why everyone is so worried about the economy. Everything seems just fine to him. Don’t you people get it? The government has to spend money to keep from going bankrupt!
Vice President Biden plans a political broadside this afternoon in the home district of Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), accusing the senior Republican lawmaker of joining in his party’s smear of the $787 billion Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“To those who say that our economic decisions ‘have not produced jobs, have not produced prosperity, and simply have not worked’ I say, take a look around,” Biden will say, according to prepared remarks obtained by The Washington Post.
“I say, ‘Don’t let your opposition to the Recovery Act blind you to its results,’” Biden plans to say in the Richmond speech. “‘Come see what I see everywhere I go: workers rehired, factories reopened, cops on the street, teachers in the classroom, progress toward getting our economy back on the move.’”
There’s a reason why serious-minded people don’t rely on anecdotal evidence. Just because you look around and see a factory opening or a school being built doesn’t mean everything is peachy. When I look at America’s economic situation, I keep seeing this graph which was originally put out by the Obama administration to sell the “stimulus” spending spree and has now been updated to show actual unemployment numbers:
And I see this chart showing Bush-era deficits and projected Obama-era deficits:
And I read analysis like this one indicating that our debt situation has grown so bad the federal government is being forced to push up interest payments on our national debt in order to keep our international creditors buying it. And not only that, it’s so bad that Medicare is already in an operating deficit and the government’s ability to issue Social Security checks is very much in danger.
And, finally, I recognize (using logic and reason) that any jobs the “stimulus” spending Biden is so proud of are only going to last as long as the spending does. And that as bad as things are now, things will be even worse once the tax bill for all this spending catches up with us.
So, yes Mr. Biden. We’re looking around. We’re just not wearing your rose-colored glasses.
