Smoke for sale
If the president wins another term, it will be a tribute to his party’s skillful selling of several myths.
Myth 1: The “failed policies of the Bush administration” caused the deep recession of 2008. We now know enough about the causes of the recession to dismiss that explanation as simplistic and inaccurate.
Myth 2: The president “saved” General Motors; Mitt Romney would have let it fail. Romney would have allowed normal bankruptcy proceedings, which protect the company from creditors while it reorganizes. GM would have survived just fine, although the UAW pension welfare plans would not have received preferential treatment.
Myth 3: Osama bin Laden is dead, and al-Qaida is on the run. Bin Laden is certifiably dead. Al-Qaida is not.
Myth 4: If the “richest” Americans will pay their “fair share” of taxes, we will cut some unnecessary spending and all will be well. The “rich” don’t have enough money even if you took it all. And spending cuts?
Myth 5: The recession was so bad that no president could have fixed it in four years. What else could you say, having failed to fix it?
Virgil Early
Smithfield
