[...] please consider the following: the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonpartisan think tank, has found that the immigration wave [...]

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Arthur Stone wrote:

Easterbrook is onto something.

Indeed. You should especially take a look at his chapters that show how, despite the sanctimonious whining about the disparity of the income-gap between rich and poor, the standard of living of generally ALL Americans has been rising, consistently. Inequality-gap statistics are a poor measure of just how well our society is doing as a whole (basically, all boats are indeed, lifted). People getting rich is GOOD for America. ALL Americans have experienced an enormous growth in buying power and living standards, undreamt of decades ago. And while the rich are getting richer, most of the real gains in living standards have occurred “below the plateau of wealth”.

Also consider, pg 12:

Similarly, the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonpartisan think tank, has found that the immigration wave is the primary reason poverty persists in the United States. Poverty among native-born Americans has shown consistent, linear decline since the 1960s. Were the country not accepting such large numbers of immigrants, American poverty might be nearly bested by now.

Subtract for immigrants, and the gap between native-born middle and wealthy Americans is shrinking, not widening. Most complaints about rising income inequality in the United States come from the political left, which would be utterly horrified if immigration were restricted. If open borders are to continue, then we must accept slower income gains in the middle.

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Slavery and the Jim Crow era were somehow better than today?

Does Obama still smoke crack? Cause he sure must have been high when he said this.

He’s such an O hole!

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It’s an interesting application of Obama doublespeak yet again. This nation has improved in human rights and opportunities. Because of his, and his wife’s, position and opportunity today, he is walking proof he is incorrect.

Yet we have regressed as a people in our appreciation of all we have, and how far we have come – becoming more whiny, demanding and endowed with a sense of entitlement. So he is also correct.

Since I doubt he was suggesting the latter, what he was referring to in his response is beyond me. The man is never clear, despite his favorite precursor, “let me be clear”….

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I think we need to get Barry and Michelle and all his supporters to pinpoint for us exactly when America was a good country. Because, as far as I can tell, America has always been horrible, based on its founding with the sin of slavery. And, as Michelle Obama noted for us, she has only now become proud of her country, because they are supporting the nomination for President of her husband.

So now I am confused. I thought that, according to the Obamas, America has always been bad based on slavery and racism, until just recently. So if Barry is now saying that we are no longer what we once were, that would be a good thing, wouldn’t it? Since we no longer have slavery and we are no longer as racist as we once were?

But wait, he states that he does not want his children to live in this new America, which is not what it once was. So does that mean he wants to bring back slavery and racism?

I’m so confused!

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Interesting.

When I read many of the posts from MataHarley, Mike, Curt and the other regulars here one message coming through time and again is that things were indeed better ‘back then’ and that ‘we’ (our parents, grandparents, etc.) were ‘better’ people as well.

Go figure.

Easterbrook is onto something.

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I guess that Jimma Carter’s presidency was top notch, I mean after all Gasoline lines, very high interest rates, high unemployment, allowing Iran to evolve into what it now is, was top notch? Either they weren’t alive at the time to revel in the absolute stupidity of Mr. Carters reign, or they are dishonest, either way it makes President Bush to be one of the best in History by comparison.

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Eloquently put and an accurate assessment – the problem is of course that Obama is not thinking that deeply about any of this. As a reformed left-winger turned neocon – a conversion borne out of having lived abroad in the 90s and then experiencing the reality of 9/11 upon returning home to NYC – I see the Obama Movement as simply a quest for power without regard for principal. The election for the Dems, I am convinced, is just a flat-out power grab. I have no doubt that a Dem controlled federal govt will in fact yield some pretty stupid legislation, however I am even more convinced that it will yield a fatter budget deficit, a lackluster impact on any legislation intended to clean up DC (i.e. campaign finance, etc.) and perhaps on the extreme end of potential problems, a reduction in our country’s ability to affect meaningful change in global hotspots, with special disregard to the Middle East and Central Asia. Oh yeah, if Obama wins, which I have serious doubts, we will definitely experience economic recession for the duration of his term – and it will be a bad one – because any attempt to control the natural unwinding of the credit bubble will simply prolong the process and inflame the symptons.

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