The Other Half of History Daily Blog
Thoughts on modern politics from a historical perspective.
Government Caused the Mortgage Meltdown
Ronald Reagan once said “The most terrifying words in the English language are ‘We’re from the government and we’re here to help’.” The economic hardships America has been suffering for the last four or five years are a good example of what the Gipper was talking about.
Friday Links and Notes
Lots of interesting political news out there this week. The House Judiciary Chairman has warned Gangster General Eric Holder not to use a recent financial settlement from Countrywide as a political slush fund for the President’s reelection campaign. The chairman had better be careful about that. After Operation Fast and Furious, Holder has lots of heavily armed friends.
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Do Oil Companies Get “Subsidies”?
During his State of the Union speech last night, President Obama said “We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer givaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising.”
The President was stretching the definition of the word “subsidize” beyond anything reasonable here. Perhaps it wasn’t quite a lie, but it was a very creative use of the word.
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Obama’s State of the Union Speech – What to Expect
President Obama will give his State of the Union Speech tomorrow night. If it’s anything like his recent speeches at George Washington University and in Osawatomie, Kansas, he’ll make grossly inaccurate statements about American history in order to build support for his vision of a government-centered nation.
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The Media Puts Racism on the Right
The partisan bias in the news media has had profound effect on the beliefs of the American people; not just on matters of opinion, but on matters of fact. There are many “facts” that are not actually true, that are none the less believed by a great majority of the American people, because of the power of constant repetition in the mainstream press.
The most striking of these might be the carefully-nurtured fiction that the Republican Party is the party of white racism.
