Political Humor - Jimmy Carter’s Disastrous Legacy
Political Humor – Jimmy Carter’s Disastrous Legacy
The best Political Humor is found by looking at reality. Unfortunately for the nation, some of the best jokes go ignored and are later repeated as live entertainment. Those that recall long lines at the gas station, double-digit inflation, interest rates exceeding 20% and rapid inflation associate all these events with that “most ex of US Presidents” – James Earl Carter. (Had to borrow P.J. O’Rourke’s description of the former President)
The generation of Americans growing up during the late 1970’s generally don’t look back at that time period as ‘the good old days’ – especially if they were trying to get a job. College graduates experienced difficulty starting careers, much less purchasing food and fuel. These were difficult times.
Of course in 1980, Carter was summarily removed from office in favor of former actor and Governor of California, Ronald Reagan. Liberals simply could not understand how a former actor could become President. Because they also couldn’t figure out essential operations of a free economy, this wasn’t surprising. In 2009, President Obama understands the key issues and has undertaken action to exacerbate each – perhaps like Carter - ensuring his demise in the next election.
As the Obama Honeymoon has mercifully ended, the current President will be less able to blame negative outcomes on George W. Bush. It is also an appropriate time to examine why Jimmy Carter produced such a disastrous economy and to look for similarities between the Carter and the Obama plan.
For a not-so-pleasant trip down memory lane, below is a top ten list of Carter disasters – some of which Obama is well on his way to repeating.
10. Making athletes pay for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan - When the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan on Christmas Eve, 1979, President Carter fished around for an appropriate response. Presently, he decided on restricting the ability of the United States Olympic Team from participating in the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow.
9. Restricting grain sales to punish overseas adversaries – Finding customers is difficult in any market. US farmers must overcome other government’s trade restrictions to sell produce. Jimmy Carter entered that game by restricting sales from the US side as well. Using food as a weapon in the trade war would never be tolerated by today’s liberals.
8. Assisting with the Islamic Revolution in Iran – Jimmy Carter’s mismanagement of the Iranian turmoil allowed militants to overrun that country. Iran has since developed into a major threat. President Obama believes that He can talk with the Iranian militants and convince them not to build nuclear bombs, not to use them on Israel and not to use them on us. Carter believed the same thing. Militants took willingness to talk as an invitation to take action. Obama has already telegraphed His willingness to be nice to Iran so they will play nicely with others. The Mullahs that run Iran are fine with this so long as they are left alone to finish their weapons of mass destruction. The US President will then be faced with a much bigger hostage crisis.
7. Giving birth to the 24 hour news cycle – Carter’s inept handling of the Iranian Hostage Crisis required day to day and hour by hour coverage. The country was outraged that the President –sworn to protect Americans world wide – would allow diplomatic personnel to be held hostage by thugs. Daily changes in the hostage situation required ABC News to launch its “Nightline” program, which proved quite popular in competing with the Tonight Show. Watching Jimmy Carter explain his actions throughout the day was as funny as the opening monologue on NBC.
6. Igniting recession through budget mismanagement – Jimmy Carter allowed expenditures to greatly exceed revenues. When consumers were also hit with major cost increases for fuel, the economy slid into deep recession. Obama has no problem with running up debt to incredible levels and with Cap and Trade, seems determined to hit the public with the same painful increase in fuel costs. Couched under the guise of being eco-friendly, Cap and Trade is now seen as a way to limit carbon emissions and slow global warming. It is an easy claim to make in springtime. Liberals will like this until they get cold next winter and want someone to heat their hovels for free.
5. Causing incredibly long gas lines –When Arab nations failed to ship oil to the US consumers had to compete for the limited supply of gasoline. Carter wasn’t completely to blame for this as Arab nations were angry about continuing US support for Israel. (Carter should have arranged for purchases of oil from Mexico, which was just beginning to realize the size and scope of her oil deposits. Had Carter then told OPEC to drink its oil for lunch, he’d have been a lock for a second term.) Obama, in pushing Cap and Trade is also escalating the cost of food and fuel. By restricting energy production, the President is allowing a fundamental cost to increase. The cost of all goods and services will also increase and the supply of available fuel will decrease. Obama learned nothing from the Carter experience on energy policy. Obama supporters have no problem limiting gas consumption except when it interferes with their trip to the Asian market to buy tofu.
4. Causing Unemployment – Jimmy Carter simply could not understand why more jobs were not being created. Obama will endeavor to understand the same. When businesses cannot identify reasonably priced capital to fund growth, growth and hiring will be restricted. Obama and the US treasury are competing as never before on the world capital markets. What capital is left over for business will be lent at high rates and will severely limit growth. Limiting growth limits employment.
3. Rising Interest rates – Of course a government-created shortage of investment capital drives up the cost of the remaining funds. Increased interest rates killed housing and other major industries that required consumer lending back in the late 70s. Lending rates frequently exceeded 20% - making borrowing for big ticket purchases like a home almost impossible. Not wanting to be left out, President Obama is on a path to accomplish this by the start of 2010.
2. Increasing Inflation – With escalating costs of capital and energy driving up prices for all goods and services, inflation restricted the ability of consumers to purchase goods. Additionally, ‘cost-push’ inflation resulted from companies increasing costs to acquire necessary labor and materials. These costs had to be passed on to consumers which only accelerated the pace of inflation. Jimmy Carter could never understand why costs just kept soaring. Obama will be wondering how He can blame Bush for this.
1. Starting the Reagan Revolution – The most positive gift Jimmy Carter provided the United States was a complete illustration of why liberalism always fails. Ronald Reagan was able – despite a Democrat controlled House to squeeze inflation out of the economy and return the nation to prosperity through the simple practice of free trade. Reagan also restored America’s international standing by building up the Armed Forces and indicating a genuine willingness to resist Communist expansion. When Reagan invaded the island of Grenada to put down a potential Communist take-over, the Soviets were shocked. America was indeed willing to stand for her principles. Grenadan’s mark the invasion date with their annual Thanksgiving celebraton.