I really don’t have time for this ****. Ok the interest rate was never raised under Obama because the economy was at such a slow growth it would have affected it. It was raised once under Trump and it had a short term affect but it didn’t take long to get back to business as usual. I’m guessing it will be raised again not too far in the future. The GDP never got over 3% for the year under Obama. The first time ever a President that didn’t. Obama said 1.5% GDP is the new norm
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But I’m not sure what you mean by “exploded” describing Trumps spending compared to Obamas spending. They are pretty much on pace at the same rate. But the big difference is Obama was investing that deficit spending on the study of black birds and Solyndra and Trump is investing it in job creating jobs. How does the study of black birds create new jobs? Solyndra Obama stated was the future. Really? It went bankrupted 6 months after he visited the plant. That was $500 million out the window.
No way we are even close to where we are now if Obama was still President. The stock market is an indicator of the confidence in the economy. Because it’s a gamble. So that’s why you see the difference in record breaking highs in the stock market. I believe Trump has broken the record 90 something times.
Just don’t sound foolish like Joe Biden who claimed nobody is feeling it when under Trump. At one point under Obama it was minus $5000 per house hold on average per year. It’s only gone up under Trump.
But this topic is about Maduro and the chaos he has put his country in. It’s a major crisis of his doing.
I'm not blaming Trump or Obama for the low interest rate. The problem is now systemic. The US simply can't carry the debt load at a high interest rate (
Endgame: Starting In 2024, All US Debt Issuance Will Be Used To Pay For Interest On Debt).
"But the big difference is Obama was investing that deficit spending on the study of black birds and Solyndra and Trump is investing it in job creating jobs."
While those Obama projects were wasteful, they are small potatoes in the scheme of things. Ridiculous levels of defense/intelligence/security spending, medicare/medicaid spending (a function of demographics), and social security outlays (also a function of demographics), is the root of the problem. You can increase tax rates by a high margin and reduce the debt hemorrhaging, but the economy would implode, so that's a no-go. At some point, either the defense spending or the entitlement spending will have to take an enormous hit. Either way, the result will be both an economic disaster and a political disaster when the day of reckoning arrives.
But this topic is about Maduro and the chaos he has put his country in. It’s a major crisis of his doing.
That's a political/media created meme that's been echoed for decades. But specifically with the case of Venezuela, here's the sequence.
1. Chavez led a revolution leading to social democracy (around 1999). The oil industry was nationalized and the profits went to the people rather than to major corporations. Big oil was kicked out.
2. By 2002, the US along with wealthy, angry, Venezuelan elites plotted a coup to kickout Chavez. The coup lasted less than 48 hours as the military and the population rescued Chavez.
3. Around 2014-2015, the US conspired with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to create a massive surplus of oil, dropping the price near 80%. Although this hurt oil producing countries including the Saudis as well as US shale producers, the aim was to cripple other oil producing economies such as Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. Those countries friendly to the US such as dictatorial Nigeria, were given loans so that they could keep afloat and maintain infrastructure through this time period. Countries that were not on the same page as the US (Russia, Iran, Venezueal) were hit with sanctions so that they could not maintain infrastructure and obtain loans that would carry them through. Obama actually declared Venezuela as a national security threat to the US. Justification? None given and no one asked for a reason.
4. In 2015, under pressure from US oil producers, Congress and Obama reversed a decades long ban of exporting oil produced in the US. Originally, the ban was put in place to protect the US consumer and US economy from oil shortages like those in the 70's and 80's resulting from Arab Gulf embargoes.
5. The US needed markets for oil. By shutting down markets from competitors (Iran and China), US producers could gain market share from Venezuela and Iran. Threats of sanctions for anyone doing business with these countries followed.
6. With artificially low oil prices and crippling sanctions, the Venezuelan economy began to spiral out of control. Naturally, the US doesn't want to be seen as the scapegoat, hence the allegations of corruptions and the meme "socialism always fails" are parroted around the clock. While there is corruption, much of it lies in the remaining old guard of elitists that never wanted Chavez to take power. Unlike Stalin and Castro, Chavez did not pursue a massive purge and open gulags. As a result, a strong opposition has been in place ever since.
7. Now the Neocons are attempting to use the same templates used so many times before; Maduro is a ruthless dictator who purposely steals from and starves his people; socialism fails every time its tried; it's the US duty to free the people (by plotting a violent coup, depriving the population of medicine, and robbing the government of their assets necessary to support the population).
Only a complete dupe buys the nonsense spouted out by Trump, Pence, Bolton, Abrams, Pompeo, and Rubio. There are a bunch of dupes. They never, ever learn.
