PHOTOS, PAGE 1

       Editor and prime reporter is Doug Terry, a veteran television and radio reporter in   Washington, DC, (details below)

Why are voters so upset and ready to vote Republicans back into office, even though they’ve come up only with old answers to current problems? Well, for one thing, most of the public is largely ignorant of what the Obama administration has done in regard to taxes and bailouts. That is the inescapable conclusion from a new poll reporter on by Bloomberg and published in Business Week online:

 (Bloomberg) The Obama administration cut taxes for middle-class Americans, expects to make a profit on the hundreds of billions of dollars spent to rescue Wall Street banks and has overseen an economy that has grown for the past four quarters.

 Most voters don't believe it.

A Bloomberg National Poll conducted Oct. 24-26 finds that by a two-to-one margin, likely voters in the Nov. 2 midterm elections think taxes have gone up, the economy has shrunk, and the billions lent to banks as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program won't be recovered.

"The public view of the economy is at odds with the facts, and the blame has to go to the Democrats," said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., a Des Moines, Iowa-based firm that conducted the nationwide survey. "It does not matter much if you make change, if you do not communicate change."

 The Obama administration has cut taxes ”largely for the middle class”by $240 billion since taking office Jan. 20, 2009.

You can read the full story by clicking on the blue box.

http://tinyurl.com/27u6pgf

Obama and crew got slammed by forces beyond their comprehension almost the moment he took the oath of office. First, the TARP money program had already been put in place by Bush, then the car company bailouts quickly followed. Obama continued the policy of helping the auto companies survive and added nearly a trillion dollars in stimulus money on top of that.

This kind of “prime the pump” spending, directed at government programs, was classic Democratic action against a deep and dangerous recession that threatened to become a world wide financial collapse. Did it make or save jobs? Yes, no doubt. Did it represent enough to start pulling the country out of recession? Doubtful, but the combination of all of the actions taken by Bush and Obama probably helped restore confidence, which is vital in ending an economic down turn. You can rebuild if people are running for their lives.

There should be no question that this recession will take at least five years to erase and perhaps more than that. As the TerryReport has emphasized several times, the bad practices and down right thieving habits of American business have not been shaken out of the system. Had the recession gone deeper and laster longer, business and individuals from top to bottom might well have been forced to change their ways.  As things stand now, it is the bottom fifty percent of the population that has been hit the hardest by the recession and it is that segment which is likely to cause the Democrats serious trouble in the off year elections and thereafter. For the lower 1/3 of the economy, the recovery hasn’t started yet and seems like it might never get going.

Yet, the Bloomberg poll makes clear that, no matter what is happening in the economy and with government, it is what people believe that is more important than “mere” facts. The public has been convinced in large numbers that Obama is raising taxes, even though he’s not. They are convinced that the bailouts have cost billions, permanently, even though they have not. And, they are convinced that the recession is getting worse, even though....you know the rest.

All of this is enough to make you wonder if there was anything the Obama White House could have done to keep control of “the message”. The answer is yes, but it would have been very difficult in the face of the rage of the millions suffering through the worst recession since the great depression. Pure anger can trump reason any day of the week, especially where politics and money are concerned. The poll reported on by Bloomberg makes it appear that many are not even paying attention to facts.

Doug Terry, 10.30.10

CONTACT THE TERRYREPORT

       HOME PAGE

end