-By Dan Scott
For months now we watched and read stories from the Main Stream Media (MSM) the economy was in the tank, the wheels had or were coming off the economy and somehow to set this straight we needed the Democrats to take the Whitehouse and raise taxes. Today with the new preliminary release of the fourth quarter GDP (Gross Domestic Product) number for 2007 at 0.6%, we see no recession, but an indication of economic slowdown. Recession is defined as two consecutive negative GDP quarters. Here is the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) report for the fourth quarter and 2007. http://bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2008/pdf/gdp407a.pdf The GDP increases have been positive for years. Is 0.6% a sign of the end of the world? What has record told us? Hint, look at the second quarter of 2007, page 6 Table 1. (If you want to see past years http://bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=1&FirstYear=2006&LastYear=2007&Freq=Qtr ) The GDP for the year 2007 is 2.2% is that bad? I don’t know about you but a $700 billion increase in GDP for all of 2007 is not bad since it is similar to 2006 in dollar terms. But that should be the point, isn’t it? The percentages don’t necessarily reflect the actual growth because percentages are relative to something. (http://bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=5&FirstYear=2006&LastYear=2007&Freq=Qtr )
Real GDP increased 2.2 percent in 2007 (that is, from the 2006 annual level to the 2007 annual level), compared with an increase of 2.9 percent in 2006.
The major contributors to the increase in real GDP in 2007 were personal consumption
expenditures (PCE), exports, nonresidential structures, and state and local government spending. These positive contributions were partly offset by decreases in residential fixed investment and in inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
The deceleration in real GDP primarily reflected a larger decrease in residential fixed investment, a downturn in private inventory investment, and a deceleration in equipment and software that were partly offset by a deceleration in imports.
The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.7 percent in 2007, compared with an increase of 3.3 percent in 2006.
Page 3 of the BEA Report
From whose perspective is 0.6% a bad thing, and does their opinion really count? From the Federal Reserve’s perspective a 2.2% annual GDP growth means inflation is not an imminent threat to the economy which allows them to lower interest rates. Low interest rates are good for the housing market, you know the sector of the economy that is doing poorly. The good news is Bernanke called it right. Is the MSM smoking crack or do they think the American people are truly that out of touch with economy? Which begs the question, for what reason is the MSM so intent on economic bad news, is it merely a ratings ploy as they breathlessly proclaim the end of the current business cycle or is it something more partisan? It seems someone has an ulterior motive in the way they report the news, or is it just me being conspiratorial? Furthermore, who stands to gain politically by a recession? Why that would be the Democrats who have as their mantra, CHANGE.
The Durable Goods Report showed December 2007 with a 5.2% growth, how is that a sign of recession? http://www.bizzyblog.com/2008/01/29/cnnmoney-ap-and-the-not-so-durable-goods-report/ Yet the CNN buried the idea that manufacturing was up. Last time I checked, any number in the plus area was good, any number with a minus sign in front of it was bad, or am I being overly simplistic? Look at the Durable Goods performance for yourselves, draw your own conclusions, don’t let the MSM draw them for you. http://www.bea.gov/industry/gpotables/gpo_action.cfm?anon=58578&table_id=20841&format_type=0
Partisanship in reporting is the mark of propaganda not journalism. The fact that the Network Executives and Newspaper editors have not disciplined these so called journalists slanting the story line for an agenda means they at best condoned the activity through inattentiveness or at worst approved of an agenda based story line. Furthermore not only has the MSM shown a definite favoritism toward the Democrat Party, but the Democrat Party showed it’s favoritism toward the MSM to the point they actually cancelled a debate by Fox News, a competitor who has been giving the MSM fits in it’s ratings. Ratings equals dollars and the Democrat Party steered their debates to financially benefit their allies, the MSM. The last time I checked, that was called Quid Pro Quo. So what happened to McCain-Feingold?
Question, should the MSM or any other organization be abusing the public trust in order to influence an election? Particularly a presidential election? Would we be upset if we found another country manipulating our political process? Is it any more acceptable then with the MSM doing it? Since the MSM has been acting as a partisan spin machine for the benefit of the Democrat Party, their abusing of the public’s trust one must consider the following. If the MSM so readily can decide which political party they want to support and then act on it to manipulate public perception, they can also decide what candidate they like as well. If I were an Obama supporter, such behavior would concern me greatly. After all, it is well known there are many Clinton supporters amongst the MSM, why should they give Obama any more of a fair shake than the Republicans? Obama keeping the Democrat nomination race competitive is good for ratings and the bottom line, but once they have reaped the rewards of those ratings, why should they support Obama over Clinton? It seems to me the fix is already in as far the Democrat nomination convention is concerned with the super delegates, Bill Clinton being one of those super delegates, not to mention garnering the Florida delegates that will be counted as well, surprise! Clinton has repeatedly changed the rules to her advantage whether rhetorically or through tears, so why should it be any different in the MSM where the Clintons have numerous allies?
The MSM needs to restore it’s credibility in this matter, therefore what better way to do this than to Pledge not to play favorites or spin the news regarding the economy or terrorism for political partisan purposes? Any MSM organization that refuses to take pledge will de facto be admitting they are engaging in what they are denying. So MSM, now it’s time to prove to the public they can trust you, take the Pledge.
———-
Dan Scott calls himself a “Member of the Global Capitalist Cabal preaching Capitalism and personal responsibility as the economic solution to world poverty.” He is also a member of the 14th Amendment Society — victimhood is a liberal code word for denying the civil rights of others. He is also a proud member of the Global Warming Denier Cabal, insisting that facts not agendas determine the truth.
Dan can be seen on the web at http://www.geocities.com/fightbigotry2002/ as well as http://www.geocities.com/dscott8186/saidwebpage.htm, And can be reached for comments at dscott8186@yahoo.com.
Correction: Look at first quarter of 2007 not 2nd quarter.
The figure $700 billion is a rounding for $688 billion and $687 billion for 2007 & 2006 respectively.