US Misery Index - Index by President

If this metric demonstrates anything, it shows how much things changed economically during each Presidents term, given that in some cases Presidents are limited by what they are able to change. It seems unfair in the instances of Eisenhower, who had nowhere to go but down and Ford, who had almost nowhere to go but up, given the mess he inherited. Ford is a small sample size casualty as well.

We do seem to be more miserable as a nation lately, that's for sure.

US Misery Index - Index by President:

Misery Index (7.8) equals Unemployment rate (6.1) plus Inflation rate (1.7)

President	Time Period	Start	End	Change	Average
Richard M Nixon	1969-01 - 1974-07	7.80	17.01	9.21	10.57
James E Carter, Jr.	1977-01 - 1980-12	12.72	19.72	7.00	16.26
Dwight D Eisenhower	1953-01 - 1960-12	3.28	7.96	4.68	6.26
Lyndon B Johnson	1963-11 - 1968-12	7.02	8.12	1.10	6.77
George H.W. Bush	1989-01 - 1992-12	10.07	10.30	0.23	10.68
Barack H Obama	2009-01 - 2014-08	7.83	7.80	-0.03	10.01
George W Bush	2001-01 - 2008-12	7.93	7.39	-0.54	8.11
John F Kennedy	1961-01 - 1963-10	8.31	6.82	-1.49	7.14
William J Clinton	1993-01 - 2000-12	10.56	7.29	-3.27	7.80
Gerald R Ford	1974-08 - 1976-12	16.36	12.66	-3.70	16.00
Ronald W Reagan	1981-01 - 1988-12	19.33	9.72	-9.61	12.19
Harry S Truman	1948-01 - 1952-12	13.63	3.45	-10.18	7.88

'via Blog this'

You Didn’t Build That « azizonomics

Those Freudian slips are a real PITA for this President. Keep 'em coming Chief!!

You Didn’t Build That « azizonomics:

"Obama:

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business–you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the internet so that all the companies could make money off the internet.

Much of the blogosphere — especially the liberal fringes — has defended Obama’s statement, along one of two lines:

That Obama didn’t mean that business-owners didn’t build their businesses — he was talking about infrastructure creation and the wider economic, legal and political system.
That Obama is right, and businesses owners are really not responsible for building their businesses.
Both of these arguments are nonsensical."

'via Blog this'

So it seems like the Re-distributor in Chief had another "Freudian slip", Joe the Plumber moment and the election may hinge on whether you believe in the so-called "Top-Down", "Trickle Down" economics (which worked pretty well for Reagan / Volcker -- who BTW, "inherited" a far worse economy from Jimmy Carter. 

At least under Reagan, we had some semblance of a recovery from the "Misery Index" years of Carter. Lately it seems as if everyone is all to willing to give credit for this Reagan recovery to President Clinton of all people, the guy who planted many of the seeds for the current disaster) or maybe we would rather have the current iteration of "Bottom-Up" economics espoused by Obama. 

This seems to be where we are heading IMO as well.

It really seems as if rather than debating whether Obama is as "great" a President as Reagan or Roosevelt, the debate more likely may eventually revolve around whether he ends up being considered "worse" than Carter or Nixon.

from wikipedia.com:

Misery index - era by U.S president

Index = Unemployment rate + Inflation rate

President	Time Period	Average	Low	High	Start	End	Change
Harry Truman	1948–1952	7.88	3.45 – Dec 1952	13.63 – Jan 1948	13.63	3.45	-10.18
Dwight D. Eisenhower	1953–1960	6.26	2.97 – Jul 1953	10.98 – Apr 1958	3.28	7.96	+4.68
John F. Kennedy	1961–1962	7.14	6.40 – Jul 1962	8.38 – Jul 1961	8.31	6.82	-1.49
Lyndon B. Johnson	1963–1968	6.77	5.70 – Nov 1965	8.19 – Jul 1968	7.02	8.12	+1.10
Richard Nixon	1969–1974	10.57	7.80 – Jan 1969	17.01 – Jul 1974	7.80	17.01	+9.21
Gerald Ford	1974–1976	16.00	12.66 – Dec 1976	19.90 – Jan 1975	16.36	12.66	-3.70
Jimmy Carter	1977–1980	16.26	12.60 – Apr 1978	21.98 – Jun 1980	12.72	19.72	+7.00
Ronald Reagan	1981–1988	12.19	7.70 – Dec 1986	19.33 – Jan 1981	19.33	9.72	-9.61
George H. W. Bush	1989–1992	10.68	9.64 – Sep 1989	12.47 – Nov 1990	10.07	10.30	+0.23
Bill Clinton	1993–2000	7.80	5.74 – Apr 1998	10.56 – Jan 1993	10.56	7.29	-3.27
George W. Bush	2001–2008	8.11	5.71 – Oct 2006	11.47 – Aug 2008	7.93	7.49	-0.44
Barack Obama	2009–Present Incomplete data Data updated through May 2012	10.75	7.30 – July 2009 index offset by negative inflation (-2.10)	12.97 – September 2011	7.73	9.9	+2.17

^[4]

[edit]Misery and crime

Some economists posit that the components of the Misery Index drive the crime rate to a degree. Using data from 1960 to 2005, they have found that the Misery Index and the crime rate correlate strongly and that the Misery Index seems to lead the crime rate by a year or so.^[5] In fact, the correlation is so strong that the two can be said to be cointegrated, and stronger than correlation with either the unemployment rate or inflation rate alone

Happy 99th Birthday "Dutch" - Where have you gone Ronald Reagan.....?

Beloved by his friends and admirers and respected by his foes and adversaries. What more could you want in a great leader? Also, humble, genuinely good-natured and funny when the occasion called for it. A great man and the greatest President in my lifetime. Happy 99th RWR...


- Freed the Hostages held in Iran for over a year under Jimmy Carter (they feared Reagan-note the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad look-alike in the highlights)
- Survived an assassination attempt 69 days into his presidency
- Lifted the "malaise" the country was cast under during the Carter years
- Lowered the Misery Index that sky-rocketed under Carter
(the twin towers of double digit inflation and double digit high interest rates)
- Crushed the Evil Empire - the Soviet Union
(I never realized before how great a speech the Evil Empire speech truly was)
- Brought down the Berlin Wall
- Crushed Mohamar Ghadafi - the first "terrorist"
- Comforted the nation after the Challenger disaster (as well as the nations school-children who were watching the flight because the first school teacher to go into space was on it)
- Brought us Peace through Strength
- Brought us limited, smaller government and more liberty and freedom
- Changed the course of government through three small words "We the People"
- Returned "Power to the People" - "Reagan's Regiments"
- Renewed National Pride - Informed Patriotism
- Renewed the concept of America as "The Shining City on the Hill"

all of these are accomplishments and concepts are brought back in some of these highlights and speeches.

This is what a gifted orator sounds like.

He concluded his farewell address with the following words that personified what he brought to America and what he left us with but what, since he left, we have somehow forgotten: his wonderful vision of this country and for this country:

Reagan's vision:

I've thought a bit of the "shining city upon a hill." The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.

We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.

And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

----
This was a monumental speech that fundamentally changed the course of recent history, IMO.

The "Evil Empire" speech - March 8, 1983

Address to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida that would come to represent Reagan's view of the Soviet Union. Reagan defends America's Judeo-Christian traditions against the Soviet Union's totalitarian leadership and lack of religious faith, expressing his belief that these differences are at the heart of the fight between the two nations.

Reagan to Gorbachev - "Tear down this wall" - June 12, 1987

The speech - abbreviated



The speech -in it's entirety



The Space Shuttle Challenger explosion - January 28, 1986

Speaking to the country and the nations children who were in utter shock and dismay. This was to be the night of the State of the Union address. Reagan, with the help of his gifted speech writer Peggy Noonan somehow found the proper words to memorialize the astronauts and help comfort and heal the nation in mourning.

Reagan delivered a speech written by Peggy Noonan in which he said:
The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave... We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God.'

The great Reagan humor:



Responding to a question about playing the "blame game":




Reagan's Farewell Address - "A Shining City on the Hill" and Patriotism

Part I



Part II




Reagan on the values of Patriotism - "National Pride and Informed Patriotism"

Once again speaking to and about the youth of America and American values.

Finally, there is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells, and I've got one that's been on my mind for some time. But oddly enough it starts with one of the things I'm proudest of in the past eight years: the resurgence of national pride that I called the new patriotism. This national feeling is good, but it won't count for much, and it won't last unless it's grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge.

An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn't get these things from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-'60s.

But now, we're about to enter the '90s, and some things have changed. Younger parents aren't sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven't reinstitutionalized it. We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs production [protection].

So, we've got to teach history based not on what's in fashion but what's important—why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant. You know, four years ago on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, I read a letter from a young woman writing to her late father, who'd fought on Omaha Beach. Her name was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and she said, "we will always remember, we will never forget what the boys of Normandy did." Well, let's help her keep her word. If we forget what we did, we won't know who we are. I'm warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let's start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.

And let me offer lesson number one about America: All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven't been teaching you what it means to be an American, let 'em know and nail 'em on it. That would be a very American thing to do.

-------

Final Tribute to Ronald Reagan

SNOW AND THE MISERY INDEX

According to Forbes, Chicago is the 6th most miserable city to live in.

Let's see:
Long Commutes (check)
Income Tax Rates (3% State Income Tax, check)
Superfund Sites (yikes)
Unemployment (not that I'm aware of)
Violent crimes (not yet)
Weather (oh yeah, check, check and triple check)

Of course, I post this after having to rise at 5AM to shovel another foot of snow off the driveway, so we can get out in the morning. That snow-blower at Lowes or Home Depot is looking mighty tempting at this point.

But what's with the hating on the Cubs? That strikes me as a bit of piling on. I don't get the impression that Cubs fans are too miserable at all. At least not those that attend Wrigley Field, how could you be? They obviously did not read my Wrigley Field post. Shoddy research Forbes.

Also, they fail to mention the seemingly mindless attachment to a predominantly Democratic (socialist) leadership in city government that has led to wastefully inept and blatantly corrupt political leadership. It's ingrained into the cultural fabric. And seemingly impossible to get out.

On the plus side, there is the so-called "Viagra Triangle" on the corner of State and Rush Streets, so named because of the high density of "eye candy" to be observed there. I have no personal knowledge of this phenomena, I heard about it from this guy, who knows someone, who used to work with this other guy, who told him about it. Really, I swear.

This does give folks like me a hook to hang our hat on, however. It is obviously not so much that we are inherently miserable people, it's the onerous environment we are forced to live in. Yeah, that's it. Thanks Forbes.
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http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-cz_kb_0130miserable_slide_7.html?thisSpeed=3000

No. 6
Chicago, Ill.
Rank

Commute times 144
Income tax rates 35
Superfund sites 107
Unemployment 108
Violent crimes 118
Weather 122

Misery Measure 634

Residents of the country's third-largest metro face
long commutes (31 minutes on average) and high violent
crime rates (619 crimes per 100,000 residents).
Another chief complaint: the bitter-cold winters. And
as for misery, nothing tops being a Cubs fan. The team
has not won a World Series since 1908, the longest
winless streak in baseball.

Ranks are based on the 150 largest metro areas.

Sources: Bert Sperling; Moody's Economy.com; U.S.
Census Bureau
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http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-cz_kb_0130miserable.html

America's Most Miserable Cities
Kurt Badenhausen 01.30.08, 6:00 AM ET

In Pictures: America's Most Miserable Cities
By This Author
Kurt Badenhausen


The Motor City grabs the top spot on Forbes' inaugural
list of America's Most Miserable Cities.

America's Most Miserable Cities
Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and
emotional distress. The economic indicator most often
used to measure misery is the Misery Index. The index,
created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the
unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been
in the narrow 7-to-9 range for most of the past
decade, but was over 20 during the late 1970s.

There also exists a Misery Score, which is the sum of
corporate, personal, employer and sales taxes in
different countries. France took the top spot (or
perhaps bottom is more appropriate) with a score of
166.8, thanks to a top rate of 51% on personal incomes
and 45% for employer Social Security.

So we decided to expand on the Misery Index and the
Misery Score to create our very own Forbes Misery
Measure. We're sticking with unemployment and personal
tax rates, but we are adding four more factors that
can make people miserable:
commute times,
weather,
crime
and that toxic waste dump in your backyard.

We looked at only the 150 largest metropolitan areas,
which meant a minimum population of 371,000.
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YEAH, YOU HAVE A NICE ****ING DAY TOO PAL.