Up & Down

A guest blog from my brother Dave:

Like most everyone else, I have been watching what our national economy has been doing for the last couple of years. There is very little argument from anyone that the recession that first appeared in 2007-08 has been a very serious drag. For months on end I have listened to news commentators, reporters and editorialists nitpick every small decline in every aspect of our economy. At the end of each "report" it is made clear again that it is President Obama in particular and Democrats in general are behind this never - ending spiral downward. Truth be told, it seemed to me that some of them actually enjoyed bearing the bad news.

Going into the 2012 elections, the talking heads have again chimed in to predict the defeat and fall of our President for reelection. They constantly harp on percentage point spreads of 8 -10% (with a margin of error of +/- 3%!) as irrefutable proof that President Obama has no chance. Even the wonkiest Republican will be sufficiently talented enough to boot him out.

Then something interesting began to happen about 3 months ago. While admittedly a small span of time, taken as a whole, the trends are consistent. Economically things are looking up and not just in a dry dusty drawer full of statistics but rather in concrete gains in employment, housing starts, etc.

And yet, I have yet to hear any of the pundits give any credit to the man in the office of the President. Perhaps it's like Topsy and it just grew. Or perhaps it is the profound effect of millions praying like crazy, but regardless, what goes down earns the blame and what goes up should win the credit.

Dave the Brummbaer
Kit & Dave, back in 1984