Quote:
Originally Posted by lustylad
If you applaud 50% of this column but are offended by the other 50%, then you are part of the problem.
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I am offended by neither "50%" of this column, and fully agree! It's sad to see the delusional ramblings of some on both sides of the divide.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WTF
While I do agree that both extremes are nuts... the real problem is debt and deficits. That all started back in 1980 ![Roflmao](https://cdn-w.eccie.net/images/smilies/modern/roflmao.gif)
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And I fully agree with WTF here, too! Since this thread is titled "Partisan Bias Test," it's nice to see that he deep-sixed the rabid partisan zealotry that so suffused the Reagan-hatred thread that went off the rails.
Yes, 1980 was a pretty bad year, and the deep recession necessitated by Volcker's need to raise interest levels to painful levels pushed the unemployment rate to about 10.8% by the time it was done ravaging the nation. It was at the time the worst recession since the Great Depression. Recessions of this severity always create deficits, and those created by the steep, double-dip 1980-82 recession, along with the need to combat it, were costly indeed.
Of course, Jimmy could have avoided the worst if he had made the tough decisions earlier in his term and tapped Volcker in 1978 instead of the disastrous G. William Miller, who poured gasoline on the inflation fire instead of reaching for a fire extinguisher. A much milder recession would then have ensued, since inflation would not have spiraled so steeply out of control if confronted 18 months earlier.
Although I had never thought about it this way, maybe we all owe a debt of gratitude to the late Bill Miller. After all, he did more than any other individual (save for the Georgia peanut farmer himself!) to get Jimmy's ass thrown out of office.
What a great day it is! Our friend WTF has finally shown true objectivity and bipartisanship, and it's the first day of meteorological fall (and raining all over Texas after a severe summer drought and bad wildfire season).
Wonders never cease. God bless America!