Election year 2016. Here we are at the end of eight years of the Presidency of Barack Obama. The First Black President. Something that I, as a daughter of parents that were fervent (white) Civil Rights Activists never thought would happen in her lifetime, much less her mother's. My father was in an integrated group of Civil Rights Demonstrators who traveled by train from Berkeley, CA to segregated Jackson Mississippi. As integrated groups of blacks and whites were illegal in the Jackson Train Station at the time, my father's group was arrested. There were multiple integrated groups from all over the country who travelled to Jackson Mississippi hoping to 'fill the jails and overwhelm the justice system." The Jackson Mississippi jail was too small. My father spent 6 weeks in the Mississippi State Penitentiary, for being a white man and traveling on a train with black people.
Election Year 2008. The last year of 8 years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. During his tenure, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were targeted by Al Qaeda who flew hi-jacked 747's into them. The structural integrity of these bastions of American Engineering in all their regal glory was compromised and these towers fell, killing the passengers, crew, and hi-jackers of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Flight 175. Ten other large structures were also destroyed by their collapse. In addition, there was a partial collapse of the West Side of the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 impacted it. Another attack, presumably of the White House itself, was averted when the passengers of United Flight 93 to Washington D.S. overcame the hijackers, crashing into a field outside of Shanksville PA.
Over 2,996 people died in all three of these attacks including 35 Firefighters and 72 Law Enforcement Officers. A total of $3 trillion damage was done in these 3 attacks.
In response to this attack, the Bush Administration initiated an attack on Afghanistan, ostensibly because the Taliban refused to surrender the leader of the Taliban, Osama bin Laden . This war continues on, despite the ultimate death of Osama bin Laden by a stealth night attack of Navy Seal Team Six on his compound in Abottobad, Pakistan (NY Times, 2015). The toll of the War in Afghanistan and forays into Pakistan has been devestating and continues to this day. So far, 47,817 Afghan and Pakistani civilians have been killed, 69,570 wounded; 97, 135 combatants killed, 78,693 wounded (combined Pakistani,Afghanistan, Taliban, US, UK, Canadian, French & German) 3, 442 Contractors killed, 13, 606 wounded. 423 Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Workers killed, 345 wounded. 76 Journalists killed. (Costs of War, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, "War -related Death, Injury & Displacement in Afghanistan & Pakistan 201-2014", Neta C. Crawford, Boston University; May 22, 2015)
In 2003, U.S. and allies invaded Iraq under the pretense of looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction. These were never found. The ostensible (hidden) cause of invasion was to buy the land for and build the UNOCAl's oil Pipeline. In that war 165,00 Iraqi civilians died with approximately double that number injured. ("Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan, David Ray Griffin, Global Research; 25 June 2010) 4,486 U.S. soldiers were killed, 32, 223 wounded (Huffington Post).
Future Obligations for Veteran Care for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are estimated to be: $287.6 billion for VA Med, $42.3 billion for Social Security Disabiity; VA Disability $419.7 billion and VA related costs $86.6 billion. The total cost of VA medical costs and administration through 2054 (the presumed life span of the veterans) is expected to be greater than $1,000 trillion. (Costs of War, Brown University)..
The cost, the lives ruined, and lost, the care for veterans and their families, the costs of maintaining a military force engaged in the Middle East, yet ready for action anywhere in the world is astronomical and rising. Yet you hear very little during this Presidential Campaign regarding this. The cost of Maintaining the Three Branches of the Military and their familis is estimated to be 54% of Discretionary Spending or 16% of the Federal Budget, approximately $598.5 billion (u.s.gov).(National Priorities Project)
As the Republican and Democratic Presidential election of 2008 began winding up, a devestating financial colllapse was underway. During much of the early 2000's a real estate boom was exploding. Financial institutions. under legislation loosening up requirements for high risk borrowers, were extending sub-prime mortgages to high risk borrowers with poor histories. These were bundled and sold to other financial institutions as supposed "low-risk" pools. These were used to back securities known as collateral debt and included many mortgages which were in default. In the Great Recession, roughly from Dec. 2007 through June 2009, the $8 trillion housing bubble burst. Starting in March 2008, Bear Stearns collapsed. Following Labor Day of 2008, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG all failed. The Dow fell 5,000 points, ultimately bottoming out in March of 2009 with an $11.2 trillion in loss in the Dow Market.
The U.S. lost 8.4 million jobs in 2008 and 2009, 6.1% of all payroll employment. Roughly 800,000 people a month were losing their jobs when President Obama took office (State of working america.org; Economic Policy Institute). During this recession, 27 million people were un or under-employed. In Jan. 2009, when President Bush relinquished the reins of leadership to President Obama, one in 7 people, approximately 46.2 million people were living in poverty. The largest number living in poverty in the U.S. in 52 years,. 50.7 million people including 7.5 million children were without health insurance. The median net worth of whites fell from $150,000 to $100,000. The loss of net worth was even more proportionately devastating for blacks, falling from $10,000 to $2,000.
In Real Estate, the burden of those high risk loans and the phenomenal loss of jobs in general, resulted in 4 million foreclosures completed and greater than 8.2 million foreclosure starts from Dec. 2007 through Dec. 2011 (Blomquist 2012). 48% of families surveyed experienced a loss in home value. Unemployment ultimately topped out at 10% in Dec. of 2009. During the 3rd quarter of 2011, construction debt was at $793 billion. Loss of household wealth fell 19% , approximately $19.2 trillion, from 2007 through 2009. (The Aftermath of the Great Recession. Financially Fragile Families & how Professionals can help; Pam Bennett, Assist. Professor, University of Central Arkansas)
The Federal Government under George W. Bush bailed out all of the Wall Street Financiers except for Lehman Brothers, which they allowed to fold. The cost of rescuing Wall Street. added $23 trillion to the U.S. Deficit. In November of 2008, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford asked Congress for $50 billion to avoid bankruptcy and the loss of 3 million jobs. Congress denied their request, sending them back in their corporate jets to retool the amount When Obama took office, one of his first acts was to work with Congress to develop a bail-out package. The Federal Government took over GM and Chrysler in March of 2009. They emerged from bankruptcy in 2009. Between Jan. 2009 and Dec. 2013, the U.S. Treasury invested $80 billion in the auto industry, mostly in General Motors. This saved the 3 million autoworker jobs, and created an additional 340,000 jobs. Ultimately, Ford declined Federal assistance. This Government Assistance to the Auto Industry ended up costing the U.S. taxpayer between $9.2-$11.2 trillion (About News, Auto Industry Bail-out and What It Cost the Taxpayer Updated Feb. 8, 2016).
This my friends, is the legacy that the George W. Bush Administration left us with. This Great Recession and these terrible wars were what Barack Hussein Obama was bequeathed along with 257 Democrats and 178 Republicans in the House and 57 Democrats, 2 Independents and 41 Republicans in the Senate in 2009 when President Bush relinquished the reins of leadership to President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden/
This hard place is where the nation was. We were counting on the first Black President ever, along with our elected Representatives and Senators to guide us out of the abyss. On the night of President Obama's First Inauguration lauded in with all glory and joy, Republican leaders held a meeting and explicitly decided upon a policy of non-cooperation to deny him (Obama) anything approaching a bi-partisan triumph. "If he was for it, we had to be against it." Former U.S. Republican Senator from Ohio George Voinovich (The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era, Michael Grunwald, 2013)
I have been listening to the Republican Presidential Candidates tell us about the terrible state that Obama has left us in. You now know where we were, on the "Eve of Change" when Obama was sworn in Jan. 2009. What happened and who did what in the ensuing years that evokes this charge from the Conservative Candidates and Pundits? What have we got to show for 8 years under a black Democratic President , and an increasingly contentious Congress? I hope to cover this in future blogs.
Namaste
Kismet
Election Year 2008. The last year of 8 years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. During his tenure, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were targeted by Al Qaeda who flew hi-jacked 747's into them. The structural integrity of these bastions of American Engineering in all their regal glory was compromised and these towers fell, killing the passengers, crew, and hi-jackers of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Flight 175. Ten other large structures were also destroyed by their collapse. In addition, there was a partial collapse of the West Side of the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 impacted it. Another attack, presumably of the White House itself, was averted when the passengers of United Flight 93 to Washington D.S. overcame the hijackers, crashing into a field outside of Shanksville PA.
Over 2,996 people died in all three of these attacks including 35 Firefighters and 72 Law Enforcement Officers. A total of $3 trillion damage was done in these 3 attacks.
In response to this attack, the Bush Administration initiated an attack on Afghanistan, ostensibly because the Taliban refused to surrender the leader of the Taliban, Osama bin Laden . This war continues on, despite the ultimate death of Osama bin Laden by a stealth night attack of Navy Seal Team Six on his compound in Abottobad, Pakistan (NY Times, 2015). The toll of the War in Afghanistan and forays into Pakistan has been devestating and continues to this day. So far, 47,817 Afghan and Pakistani civilians have been killed, 69,570 wounded; 97, 135 combatants killed, 78,693 wounded (combined Pakistani,Afghanistan, Taliban, US, UK, Canadian, French & German) 3, 442 Contractors killed, 13, 606 wounded. 423 Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Workers killed, 345 wounded. 76 Journalists killed. (Costs of War, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, "War -related Death, Injury & Displacement in Afghanistan & Pakistan 201-2014", Neta C. Crawford, Boston University; May 22, 2015)
In 2003, U.S. and allies invaded Iraq under the pretense of looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction. These were never found. The ostensible (hidden) cause of invasion was to buy the land for and build the UNOCAl's oil Pipeline. In that war 165,00 Iraqi civilians died with approximately double that number injured. ("Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan, David Ray Griffin, Global Research; 25 June 2010) 4,486 U.S. soldiers were killed, 32, 223 wounded (Huffington Post).
Future Obligations for Veteran Care for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are estimated to be: $287.6 billion for VA Med, $42.3 billion for Social Security Disabiity; VA Disability $419.7 billion and VA related costs $86.6 billion. The total cost of VA medical costs and administration through 2054 (the presumed life span of the veterans) is expected to be greater than $1,000 trillion. (Costs of War, Brown University)..
The cost, the lives ruined, and lost, the care for veterans and their families, the costs of maintaining a military force engaged in the Middle East, yet ready for action anywhere in the world is astronomical and rising. Yet you hear very little during this Presidential Campaign regarding this. The cost of Maintaining the Three Branches of the Military and their familis is estimated to be 54% of Discretionary Spending or 16% of the Federal Budget, approximately $598.5 billion (u.s.gov).(National Priorities Project)
As the Republican and Democratic Presidential election of 2008 began winding up, a devestating financial colllapse was underway. During much of the early 2000's a real estate boom was exploding. Financial institutions. under legislation loosening up requirements for high risk borrowers, were extending sub-prime mortgages to high risk borrowers with poor histories. These were bundled and sold to other financial institutions as supposed "low-risk" pools. These were used to back securities known as collateral debt and included many mortgages which were in default. In the Great Recession, roughly from Dec. 2007 through June 2009, the $8 trillion housing bubble burst. Starting in March 2008, Bear Stearns collapsed. Following Labor Day of 2008, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG all failed. The Dow fell 5,000 points, ultimately bottoming out in March of 2009 with an $11.2 trillion in loss in the Dow Market.
The U.S. lost 8.4 million jobs in 2008 and 2009, 6.1% of all payroll employment. Roughly 800,000 people a month were losing their jobs when President Obama took office (State of working america.org; Economic Policy Institute). During this recession, 27 million people were un or under-employed. In Jan. 2009, when President Bush relinquished the reins of leadership to President Obama, one in 7 people, approximately 46.2 million people were living in poverty. The largest number living in poverty in the U.S. in 52 years,. 50.7 million people including 7.5 million children were without health insurance. The median net worth of whites fell from $150,000 to $100,000. The loss of net worth was even more proportionately devastating for blacks, falling from $10,000 to $2,000.
In Real Estate, the burden of those high risk loans and the phenomenal loss of jobs in general, resulted in 4 million foreclosures completed and greater than 8.2 million foreclosure starts from Dec. 2007 through Dec. 2011 (Blomquist 2012). 48% of families surveyed experienced a loss in home value. Unemployment ultimately topped out at 10% in Dec. of 2009. During the 3rd quarter of 2011, construction debt was at $793 billion. Loss of household wealth fell 19% , approximately $19.2 trillion, from 2007 through 2009. (The Aftermath of the Great Recession. Financially Fragile Families & how Professionals can help; Pam Bennett, Assist. Professor, University of Central Arkansas)
The Federal Government under George W. Bush bailed out all of the Wall Street Financiers except for Lehman Brothers, which they allowed to fold. The cost of rescuing Wall Street. added $23 trillion to the U.S. Deficit. In November of 2008, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford asked Congress for $50 billion to avoid bankruptcy and the loss of 3 million jobs. Congress denied their request, sending them back in their corporate jets to retool the amount When Obama took office, one of his first acts was to work with Congress to develop a bail-out package. The Federal Government took over GM and Chrysler in March of 2009. They emerged from bankruptcy in 2009. Between Jan. 2009 and Dec. 2013, the U.S. Treasury invested $80 billion in the auto industry, mostly in General Motors. This saved the 3 million autoworker jobs, and created an additional 340,000 jobs. Ultimately, Ford declined Federal assistance. This Government Assistance to the Auto Industry ended up costing the U.S. taxpayer between $9.2-$11.2 trillion (About News, Auto Industry Bail-out and What It Cost the Taxpayer Updated Feb. 8, 2016).
This my friends, is the legacy that the George W. Bush Administration left us with. This Great Recession and these terrible wars were what Barack Hussein Obama was bequeathed along with 257 Democrats and 178 Republicans in the House and 57 Democrats, 2 Independents and 41 Republicans in the Senate in 2009 when President Bush relinquished the reins of leadership to President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden/
This hard place is where the nation was. We were counting on the first Black President ever, along with our elected Representatives and Senators to guide us out of the abyss. On the night of President Obama's First Inauguration lauded in with all glory and joy, Republican leaders held a meeting and explicitly decided upon a policy of non-cooperation to deny him (Obama) anything approaching a bi-partisan triumph. "If he was for it, we had to be against it." Former U.S. Republican Senator from Ohio George Voinovich (The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era, Michael Grunwald, 2013)
I have been listening to the Republican Presidential Candidates tell us about the terrible state that Obama has left us in. You now know where we were, on the "Eve of Change" when Obama was sworn in Jan. 2009. What happened and who did what in the ensuing years that evokes this charge from the Conservative Candidates and Pundits? What have we got to show for 8 years under a black Democratic President , and an increasingly contentious Congress? I hope to cover this in future blogs.
Namaste
Kismet
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