"Everything that guy just said is bullshit."
- Vincent Gambini, opening statement, "My Cousin Vinny," 1992
In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Learning From Obama," Paul Krugman would have us know that Trump could win the Republican nomination (yes, but his fate hinges on the Wisconsin primary where the polls place him far behind Ted Cruz), and that Sanders cannot win the Democratic nomination (no mention by Krugman of the FBI investigation of Hillary's email server, which hovers ominously over her campaign). Krugman then marvels at Obama's presidential achievements:
- The economy: "We’ve gained 10 million private-sector jobs since Mr. Obama took office, and unemployment is below 5 percent." Krugman fails to tell us that America's national debt now stands at an unsustainable $19.2 trillion, amounting to some $60,000 of debt per citizen or more than $160,000 per taxpayer. Yeah, a minor omission.
- Health reform: "reform has indeed delivered the big improvements in coverage it promised, and has done so at lower cost than expected." Excuse me, Paul, but I thought that 12 of Obamacare's 23 health cooperatives have failed, premiums are going much higher in 2016, and Obamacare coverage is effectively "useless," owing to high deductibles, as reported by The New York Times.
- Financial reform: "In fact, while the big banks haven’t been broken up, excessive leverage — the real threat to financial stability — has been greatly reduced." Oh really? Not a word from Krugman concerning high frequency trading, which effectively places a tax on anyone wishing to invest in shares, and the government's refusal to reinstate the Uptick Rule, which enables hedge funds to manipulate share prices in any direction they please.
- Environment: "the Obama administration has used executive authority to take steps on the environment that, if not canceled by a Republican president and upheld by future Supreme Courts, will amount to very significant action on climate change." Yet Obama himself has acknowledged that he has "the world's largest carbon footprint" owing to flights to such places as Cuba, where he watched a baseball game with Raul Castro, and Argentina, where he danced the tango.
Okay, Krugman would have us examine the economy, health reform, financial reform and the environment. But what about foreign affairs? ISIS, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Russia, Ukraine, China, North Korea? I suppose we're not supposed to look in that direction.
Indeed, as Vincent Gambini declared in "My Cousin Vinny," "Everything that guy just said is bullshit."
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