Obama Stimulus Fails to Reboot Economy as No Multiplier Effect

[frawin]

Obama Stimulus Fails to Reboot Economy as No Multiplier Effect



By Matthew Benjamin and Alison Sider

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- The debate over whether the $787 billion stimulus package is sufficiently large or efficiently designed obscures a broader question, some economists say: Can any fiscal measure pull the economy out of the recession?

With credit still crimped and the outlook for consumer demand gloomy due to rising unemployment and increased personal saving, no amount of government intervention will be able to stanch the hemorrhaging of jobs and quickly ease the U.S. out of its deepest recession in a half-century, they said.

“Many households that want to borrow can’t, and many that can borrow won’t because they now must save for retirement the old-fashioned way,” said Richard Clarida, global strategic adviser at Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co., the world’s biggest bond-fund manager. “As a result, the multiplier from even a well-designed stimulus package is likely to be quite modest.”

The stimulus plan passed in February “is executing pretty much as expected,” yet it “won’t affect the economy’s primary problems, which are falling values of assets like homes and stocks,” said Doug Holtz-Eakin, who was director of the Congressional Budget Office from 2003 to 2006 and is now president at DHE Consulting LLC in Washington. So far, about $60 billion in spending and $43 billion in tax relief has been dispensed, accounting for 13 percent of the plan’s total.

Bond Yields

The slow pace of recovery has driven bond yields lower as investors continue to seek the safety of U.S. government debt. Ten-year note yields are down 38 basis points, or 0.38 percentage point, since June 10.

The outlook for many companies also is clouded. Second- quarter profit at General Electric Co., the world’s biggest maker of power-generation equipment and services, probably fell by more than 50 percent, according to the average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Most benefits from the stimulus plan won’t arrive until next year, the Fairfield, Connecticut- based company’s chief executive officer, Jeffrey Immelt, told investors May 19.

Proponents of the stimulus said the economic situation and the prospects for recovery would be much bleaker if no fiscal response had been put in place.

“It’s working, it’s demonstrably working,” said Jared Bernstein, chief economic adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden, whose office is overseeing the stimulus rollout.

Even though a second stimulus package is unlikely at this point, those advocating such a measure said it may be needed precisely because the effects of the first have been so modest.

‘Multiplier Effect’

The combination of rising unemployment and thrifty consumers “definitely lowers the multiplier effect” of every stimulus dollar spent, said Dean Baker, a co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. “That just means you need more stimulus. There’s really no alternative.”

Obama administration officials such as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the measure needs time to work and are appealing for patience.

“The stimulus program was designed to make a contribution over a two-year period and the biggest impact on investment will come in the second half of this year,” Geithner said yesterday in an Internet chat with Les Echos newspaper in Paris.

Martin Feldstein, a professor of economics at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and former head of the National Bureau of Economic Research, said the stimulus may provide a short-term boost that will quickly ebb.

‘Fade Out’

“We’ll get that bounce for a couple of quarters but then it will fade out,” Feldstein said.

It’s too early to consider another round of fiscal priming, Geithner said. “I don’t think we’re in a position yet to make that judgment.”

For the moment, the initial measure has shown little impact. The net worth of households has fallen almost 22 percent, by almost $14 trillion, since 2007, to the lowest level in five years. House prices have fallen more than 32 percent from their 2006 peak, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national index, while the Standard & Poor’s index of 500 stocks is 40 percent below its October 2007 level.

The crisis reminded Americans that home values can fall as well as rise and that bull markets don’t last forever, causing consumers to stash away a much larger portion of their incomes. Government data showed that the household savings rate rose to 6.9 percent in May, from zero in April 2008. The May figure is the highest in almost 16 years.

Personal Savings

Nouriel Roubini, an economist at New York University who is chairman of RGE Monitor, and Richard Berner, co-head of global economics at Morgan Stanley in New York, forecast the rate could rise to 10 percent. Economists Reuven Glick and Kevin Lansing of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimated in a May 18 paper that Americans would continue to boost their rate of savings, which could reach 10 percent by 2018. Such a jump would trim three-quarters of a percentage point per year from consumer spending.

“There’s been a fundamental change in people’s behavior,” said Lyle Gramley, a senior economic adviser with New York-based Soleil Securities Corp. and a former Federal Reserve governor.

Rising joblessness could further damp the ability of consumers, whose spending in recent years has made up more than two-thirds of the economy, to continue to shoulder that burden.

Contractions in industries such as autos, construction and financial services have helped shrink payrolls by 6.5 million since the recession began in 2007, Labor Department figures show. The June jobless rate reached 9.5 percent, the highest since 1983.

Jobless Rate

Federal Reserve officials are anticipating a jobless rate of 9.8 percent to 10.1 percent this year, according to the central bank’s latest economic forecast. In an interview last month, President Barack Obama also said the jobless rate would exceed 10 percent before turning for the better.

In addition, the rolls of the long-term unemployed are growing, with 29 percent of the jobless out of work for more than 26 weeks, the most since records began in 1948. A broader measure of underemployment that includes those who want full- time positions but work part-time has almost doubled over the past two years, to 16.5 percent.

Consumer spending is forecast to rise 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter and 1.7 percent for all of 2010, according to a July Bloomberg survey of more than 50 economists. The average quarterly increase from 1997 through 2007 was 3.5 percent.

‘Consumption Animal’

The U.S. consumer “clearly is not going to be the consumption animal that he was for the last 10 or 20 years,” Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc. in New York, said in a July 6 interview with Bloomberg radio.

Retailers such as San Francisco-based Gap Inc., operator of the Old Navy and Banana Republic chains, and Abercrombie & Fitch Co., a teen-clothing franchise based in New Albany, Ohio, are feeling the pinch. Both reported June sales declines steeper than analysts estimated.

Airlines including Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, are suffering as business travel declined. The world’s second-largest carrier’s traffic, measured in miles flown by paying passengers, fell 8.2 percent for the quarter, as American and other airlines discounted fares to fill planes. American filled 81.8 percent of its available seats in the second quarter, down from 82.5 percent a year earlier.

Credit, which consumers often turn to during recessions, remains difficult to obtain for many Americans.

About 50 percent of domestic banks tightened credit standards on prime mortgages in the first months of 2009, up from 45 percent in January, according to a survey of bank loan officers conducted by the Federal Reserve in April.

“Although financial market conditions had improved, credit was still quite tight in many sectors,” the central bank said in minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s June 23-24 meeting, released earlier this week.

What this means, Clarida said, is that “you’re not going to get the bang per buck that some of the stimulus proponents hoped for.”

[dnalexander]

Legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite dies at 92
July 17, 2009 9:36 PM EDT

NEW YORK - Walter Cronkite, the premier TV anchorman of the networks' golden age who reported a tumultuous time with reassuring authority and came to be called "the most trusted man in America," died Friday. He was 92. Cronkite's longtime chief of staff, Marlene Adler, said Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. at his Manhattan home surrounded by family. She said the cause of death was cerebral vascular disease.

Adler said, "I have to go now" before breaking down into what sounded like a sob. She said she had no further comment.

Cronkite was the face of the "CBS Evening News" from 1962 to 1981, when stories ranged from the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to racial and anti-war riots, Watergate and the Iranian hostage crisis.

It was Cronkite who read the bulletins coming from Dallas when Kennedy was shot Nov. 22, 1963, interrupting a live CBS-TV broadcast of the soap opera "As the World Turns."

Cronkite was the broadcaster to whom the title "anchorman" was first applied, and he came so identified in that role that eventually his own name became the term for the job in other languages. (Swedish anchors are known as Kronkiters; In Holland, they are Cronkiters.)

"He was a great broadcaster and a gentleman whose experience, honesty, professionalism and style defined the role of anchor and commentator," CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves said in a statement.

CBS has scheduled a prime-time special, "That's the Way it Was: Remembering Walter Cronkite," for 7 p.m. Sunday.

His 1968 editorial declaring the United States was "mired in stalemate" in Vietnam was seen by some as a turning point in U.S. opinion of the war. He also helped broker the 1977 invitation that took Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem, the breakthrough to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

He followed the 1960s space race with open fascination, anchoring marathon broadcasts of major flights from the first suborbital shot to the first moon landing, exclaiming, "Look at those pictures, wow!" as Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon's surface in 1969. In 1998, for CNN, he went back to Cape Canaveral to cover John Glenn's return to space after 36 years.

"It is impossible to imagine CBS News, journalism or indeed America without Walter Cronkite," CBS News president Sean McManus said in a statement. "More than just the best and most trusted anchor in history, he guided America through our crises, tragedies and also our victories and greatest moments."

He had been scheduled to speak last January for the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., but ill health prevented his appearance.

A former wire service reporter and war correspondent, he valued accuracy, objectivity and understated compassion. He expressed liberal views in more recent writings but said he had always aimed to be fair and professional in his judgments on the air.

Off camera, his stamina and admittedly demanding ways brought him the nickname "Old Ironpants." But to viewers, he was "Uncle Walter," with his jowls and grainy baritone, his warm, direct expression and his trim mustache.

When he summed up the news each evening by stating, "And THAT's the way it is," millions agreed. His reputation survived accusations of bias by Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, and being labeled a "pinko" in the tirades of a fictional icon, Archie Bunker of CBS's "All in the Family."

Two polls pronounced Cronkite the "most trusted man in America": a 1972 "trust index" survey in which he finished No. 1, about 15 points higher than leading politicians, and a 1974 survey in which people chose him as the most trusted television newscaster.

Like fellow Midwesterner Johnny Carson, Cronkite seemed to embody the nation's mainstream. When he broke down as he announced Kennedy's death, removing his glasses and fighting back tears, the times seemed to break down with him.

And when Cronkite took sides, he helped shape the times. After the 1968 Tet offensive, he visited Vietnam and wrote and narrated a "speculative, personal" report advocating negotiations leading to the withdrawal of American troops.

"We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds," he said, and concluded, "We are mired in stalemate."

After the broadcast, President Johnson reportedly said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America."

In the fall of 1972, responding to reports in The Washington Post, Cronkite aired a two-part series on Watergate that helped ensure national attention to the then-emerging scandal.

"When the news is bad, Walter hurts," the late CBS president Fred Friendly once said. "When the news embarrasses America, Walter is embarrassed. When the news is humorous, Walter smiles with understanding."

More recently, in a syndicated column, Cronkite defended the liberal record of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and criticized the Iraq war and other Bush administration policies.

But when asked by CNN's Larry King if that column was evidence of media bias, Cronkite set forth the distinction between opinion and reporting. "We all have prejudices," he said of his fellow journalists, "but we also understand how to set them aside when we do the job."

Cronkite was the top newsman during the peak era for the networks, when the nightly broadcasts grew to a half-hour and 24-hour cable and the Internet were still well in the future.

As many as 18 million households tuned in to Cronkite's top-rated program each evening. Twice that number watched his final show, on March 6, 1981, compared with fewer than 10 million in 2005 for the departure of Dan Rather, Cronkite's successor.

A vigorous 64 years old, Cronkite had stepped down with the assurance that other duties awaited him at CBS News, but found little demand there for his services. He hosted the shortlived science magazine series "Walter Cronkite's Universe" and was retained by the network as a consultant, although, as he was known to state wistfully, he was never consulted.

He also sailed his beloved boat, the Wyntje, hosted or narrated specials on public and cable TV, and issued his columns and the best-selling "Walter Cronkite: A Reporter's Life."

For 24 years he served as on-site host for New Year's Day telecasts by the Vienna Philharmonic, ending that cherished tradition only in 2009.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Cronkite was selected to introduce the postponed Emmy awards show. He told the audience that in its coverage of the attack and its aftermath, "television, the great common denominator, has lifted our common vision as never before."

Cronkite joined CBS in 1950, after a decade with United Press, during which he covered World War II and the Nuremberg trials, and a brief stint with a regional radio group.

At CBS he found a respected radio-news organization dipping its toe into TV, and it put him in front of the camera. He was named anchor for CBS's coverage of the 1952 political conventions, the first year the presidential nominations got wide TV coverage. From there, he was assigned to such news-oriented programs as "You Are There" and "Twentieth Century." (He also briefly hosted a morning show, accompanied by a puppet named Charlemagne the Lion.)

On April 16, 1962, he replaced Douglas Edwards as anchor of the network's "Evening News."

"I never asked them why," Cronkite recalled in a 2006 TV portrait. "I was so pleased to get the job, I didn't want to endanger it by suggesting that I didn't know why I had it."

He was up against the NBC team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, which was solidly ahead in the ratings. Cronkite lacked Brinkley's wry wit and Huntley's rugged good looks, but he established himself as an anchorman to whom people could relate.

His rise to the top was interrupted just once: In 1964, disappointing ratings for the Republican National Convention led CBS boss William S. Paley to dump him as anchor of the Democratic gathering. Critics and viewers protested and he was never displaced again.

Cronkite won numerous Emmys and other awards for excellence in news coverage. In 1978, he and the evening news were the first anchorman and daily broadcast ever given a DuPont award. Other honors included the 1974 Gold Medal of the International Radio and Television Society, a 1974 George Polk journalism award and the 1969 William Allen White Award for Journalistic Merit, the first ever to a broadcaster.

His salary reportedly reaching seven figures, he was both anchorman and star - interviewed by Playboy, ham enough to appear as himself on an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." But Cronkite repeatedly condemned television practices that put entertainment values ahead of news judgment.

"Broadcast journalism is never going to substitute for print," he said. "We cannot cover in depth in a half hour many of the stories required to get a good understanding of the world."

The evening news program expanded from 15 minutes to half an hour in September 1963, 17 months after Cronkite took over, but it never got to the full hour he said he needed to do a proper job.

Cronkite denied rumors that he had been forced out by Rather, but chastised him upon his 2005 departure as anchor in the wake of a disputed "60 Minutes" story about President Bush's military service.

"Dan gave the impression of playing a role, more than simply trying to deliver the news to the audience," Cronkite said. He apparently felt more warmly about Katie Couric, providing a voiceover to introduce the former "Today" show host when she debuted as the CBS anchor in 2006.

[dnalexander]

Legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite dies at 92
July 17, 2009 9:36 PM EDT

NEW YORK - Walter Cronkite, the premier TV anchorman of the networks' golden age who reported a tumultuous time with reassuring authority and came to be called "the most trusted man in America," died Friday. He was 92. Cronkite's longtime chief of staff, Marlene Adler, said Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. at his Manhattan home surrounded by family. She said the cause of death was cerebral vascular disease.

Adler said, "I have to go now" before breaking down into what sounded like a sob. She said she had no further comment.

Cronkite was the face of the "CBS Evening News" from 1962 to 1981, when stories ranged from the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to racial and anti-war riots, Watergate and the Iranian hostage crisis.

It was Cronkite who read the bulletins coming from Dallas when Kennedy was shot Nov. 22, 1963, interrupting a live CBS-TV broadcast of the soap opera "As the World Turns."

Cronkite was the broadcaster to whom the title "anchorman" was first applied, and he came so identified in that role that eventually his own name became the term for the job in other languages. (Swedish anchors are known as Kronkiters; In Holland, they are Cronkiters.)

"He was a great broadcaster and a gentleman whose experience, honesty, professionalism and style defined the role of anchor and commentator," CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves said in a statement.

CBS has scheduled a prime-time special, "That's the Way it Was: Remembering Walter Cronkite," for 7 p.m. Sunday.

His 1968 editorial declaring the United States was "mired in stalemate" in Vietnam was seen by some as a turning point in U.S. opinion of the war. He also helped broker the 1977 invitation that took Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem, the breakthrough to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

He followed the 1960s space race with open fascination, anchoring marathon broadcasts of major flights from the first suborbital shot to the first moon landing, exclaiming, "Look at those pictures, wow!" as Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon's surface in 1969. In 1998, for CNN, he went back to Cape Canaveral to cover John Glenn's return to space after 36 years.

"It is impossible to imagine CBS News, journalism or indeed America without Walter Cronkite," CBS News president Sean McManus said in a statement. "More than just the best and most trusted anchor in history, he guided America through our crises, tragedies and also our victories and greatest moments."

He had been scheduled to speak last January for the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., but ill health prevented his appearance.

A former wire service reporter and war correspondent, he valued accuracy, objectivity and understated compassion. He expressed liberal views in more recent writings but said he had always aimed to be fair and professional in his judgments on the air.

Off camera, his stamina and admittedly demanding ways brought him the nickname "Old Ironpants." But to viewers, he was "Uncle Walter," with his jowls and grainy baritone, his warm, direct expression and his trim mustache.

When he summed up the news each evening by stating, "And THAT's the way it is," millions agreed. His reputation survived accusations of bias by Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, and being labeled a "pinko" in the tirades of a fictional icon, Archie Bunker of CBS's "All in the Family."

Two polls pronounced Cronkite the "most trusted man in America": a 1972 "trust index" survey in which he finished No. 1, about 15 points higher than leading politicians, and a 1974 survey in which people chose him as the most trusted television newscaster.

Like fellow Midwesterner Johnny Carson, Cronkite seemed to embody the nation's mainstream. When he broke down as he announced Kennedy's death, removing his glasses and fighting back tears, the times seemed to break down with him.

And when Cronkite took sides, he helped shape the times. After the 1968 Tet offensive, he visited Vietnam and wrote and narrated a "speculative, personal" report advocating negotiations leading to the withdrawal of American troops.

"We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds," he said, and concluded, "We are mired in stalemate."

After the broadcast, President Johnson reportedly said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America."

In the fall of 1972, responding to reports in The Washington Post, Cronkite aired a two-part series on Watergate that helped ensure national attention to the then-emerging scandal.

"When the news is bad, Walter hurts," the late CBS president Fred Friendly once said. "When the news embarrasses America, Walter is embarrassed. When the news is humorous, Walter smiles with understanding."

More recently, in a syndicated column, Cronkite defended the liberal record of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and criticized the Iraq war and other Bush administration policies.

But when asked by CNN's Larry King if that column was evidence of media bias, Cronkite set forth the distinction between opinion and reporting. "We all have prejudices," he said of his fellow journalists, "but we also understand how to set them aside when we do the job."

Cronkite was the top newsman during the peak era for the networks, when the nightly broadcasts grew to a half-hour and 24-hour cable and the Internet were still well in the future.

As many as 18 million households tuned in to Cronkite's top-rated program each evening. Twice that number watched his final show, on March 6, 1981, compared with fewer than 10 million in 2005 for the departure of Dan Rather, Cronkite's successor.

A vigorous 64 years old, Cronkite had stepped down with the assurance that other duties awaited him at CBS News, but found little demand there for his services. He hosted the shortlived science magazine series "Walter Cronkite's Universe" and was retained by the network as a consultant, although, as he was known to state wistfully, he was never consulted.

He also sailed his beloved boat, the Wyntje, hosted or narrated specials on public and cable TV, and issued his columns and the best-selling "Walter Cronkite: A Reporter's Life."

For 24 years he served as on-site host for New Year's Day telecasts by the Vienna Philharmonic, ending that cherished tradition only in 2009.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Cronkite was selected to introduce the postponed Emmy awards show. He told the audience that in its coverage of the attack and its aftermath, "television, the great common denominator, has lifted our common vision as never before."

Cronkite joined CBS in 1950, after a decade with United Press, during which he covered World War II and the Nuremberg trials, and a brief stint with a regional radio group.

At CBS he found a respected radio-news organization dipping its toe into TV, and it put him in front of the camera. He was named anchor for CBS's coverage of the 1952 political conventions, the first year the presidential nominations got wide TV coverage. From there, he was assigned to such news-oriented programs as "You Are There" and "Twentieth Century." (He also briefly hosted a morning show, accompanied by a puppet named Charlemagne the Lion.)

On April 16, 1962, he replaced Douglas Edwards as anchor of the network's "Evening News."

"I never asked them why," Cronkite recalled in a 2006 TV portrait. "I was so pleased to get the job, I didn't want to endanger it by suggesting that I didn't know why I had it."

He was up against the NBC team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, which was solidly ahead in the ratings. Cronkite lacked Brinkley's wry wit and Huntley's rugged good looks, but he established himself as an anchorman to whom people could relate.

His rise to the top was interrupted just once: In 1964, disappointing ratings for the Republican National Convention led CBS boss William S. Paley to dump him as anchor of the Democratic gathering. Critics and viewers protested and he was never displaced again.

Cronkite won numerous Emmys and other awards for excellence in news coverage. In 1978, he and the evening news were the first anchorman and daily broadcast ever given a DuPont award. Other honors included the 1974 Gold Medal of the International Radio and Television Society, a 1974 George Polk journalism award and the 1969 William Allen White Award for Journalistic Merit, the first ever to a broadcaster.

His salary reportedly reaching seven figures, he was both anchorman and star - interviewed by Playboy, ham enough to appear as himself on an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." But Cronkite repeatedly condemned television practices that put entertainment values ahead of news judgment.

"Broadcast journalism is never going to substitute for print," he said. "We cannot cover in depth in a half hour many of the stories required to get a good understanding of the world."

The evening news program expanded from 15 minutes to half an hour in September 1963, 17 months after Cronkite took over, but it never got to the full hour he said he needed to do a proper job.

Cronkite denied rumors that he had been forced out by Rather, but chastised him upon his 2005 departure as anchor in the wake of a disputed "60 Minutes" story about President Bush's military service.

"Dan gave the impression of playing a role, more than simply trying to deliver the news to the audience," Cronkite said. He apparently felt more warmly about Katie Couric, providing a voiceover to introduce the former "Today" show host when she debuted as the CBS anchor in 2006.

[redcliffsw]

Just received this and perhaps it belongs in the history or educational section.
Very interesting.......
Rc


Indisputable Truths   

On 6 June, 2009, in observance of Confederate Decoration Day, I was
invited to deliver the keynote address at the Confederate Cemetery in
Chattanooga, Tennessee.  This cemetery is the eternal resting place of
the earthly remains of as many as two-thousand Confederate soldiers. 
Some of these men had been wounded in battle and had been brought to a
hospital that was located across the street from this cemetery.  Others
were suffering from the many diseases that plagued the camps of both
Armies.  Many of these men "crossed the river to rest in the shade of
the trees" and never returned to their Military Unit or to their home
and family. The hospital where they crossed that river eventually
became Erlanger Hospital.  I wrote this as an address to deliver at
that service.  Since then, I have added several important points and
have provided footnotes.  I sincerely hope you will check these
references so you will know the truth!

   One of my favorite Bible passages is John 8:31-32  "To the Jews who
had believed him, Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are
really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will
set you free".  While Jesus spoke of freedom from sin and of a heavenly
reward, the truth will liberate your bias and prejudice during your
time on earth.  The truth will set you free!

May God Bless America, the South, and You,

Edward McNatt Butler  (Ed)

[This article may be printed and/or transmitted to others using all or
any portion of the content as long as the wording is not changed.  It
may be used for any purpose that is honorable.]

    WE HAVE NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR

   Southern Bashing is the sport of choice for many of the politically
correct in today's society.  I have thought many times about why a
great nation would persecute a segment of it's own people.  While I
have my own theories about why "those people" wish to bash Southerners,
I am not going to address the reasons they attack us but attempt to
vindicate the reasons we can be proud of our Southern Heritage.

   First I would like to mention the role Southerners played in the
American War for Independence or the American Revolution.  Our history
books have been diluted to the point that young people today do not
know even the nawthern version of the American Revolution.  The fact
is, most high school graduates do not know anything about the "American
Revolution"!  The nawthern version never told the "rest of the story". 
For years, the truth was a casualty of a long and cruel War.  Today,
the truth is a casualty of political correctness!

   If you will study the true history of the American Revolution you will
find that Southerners played leading roles in that War.  After years of
fighting and hardships, many nawtherners decided freedom was just not
worth the price they were paying.  It was the men from the South that
would not give up their "God given Rights" for which they were
fighting.  It was the Southerners that won the "American Revolution". 
Since that time, Southerners have always been very patriotic.  Some
would want us to believe that the Southern States committed treason
when they seceded but, secession was not illegal.  The Treaty of Paris,
signed in 1783 was a treaty between the Kingdom of Great Britain and
thirteen united former British Colonies.  Since the War Between the
States, Southerners have always volunteered in large numbers to defend
their country.  General Joseph Wheeler and many other Southerners
enlisted in the United States Army to fight in the Spanish-American
War.  In both WW I and WW II a disproportionate number of Southerners
volunteered to fight for their country.  In WW II, 64% of all
volunteers came from the South.  Over 70% of the Medal of Honor
recipients during the Viet Nam War were Southerners.  In the Gulf War,
60% of the volunteers came from the South and in the Iraq invasion, 47%
of the troops were Southerners.

    After living under the "Articles of Confederation" for eight years,
the leaders of our new nation realized they needed more than a few
loosely organized rules by which to govern our country.  In May, 1787,
fifty-five delegates met to draft a Constitution.  Four months later,
thirty-nine of these delegates signed the most perfect document ever
written by mortal men.  Every state but Rhode Island sent at least one
delegate to the Convention.  Rhode Island did not want a national
government interfering with their affairs!  James Madison recorded the
items approved by the delegates and organized them in the form you see
them today.  He is known as "The Father of the Constitution".  He was a
Southerner!

   The words "slave and slavery" do not appear in the Constitution but
the writers included three Clauses that protected the "Institution of
Slavery".  While slavery is condemned by today's moral and societal
standards, these standards can not be applied to the past.  Slavery is
as old as mankind and is still a common practice in several parts of
this modern world.  I urge you to read the Constitution of the United
States of America and bring to your attention:   Article I, Section 2,
Clause 3;  Article I, Section 2, Clause 15; and Article 4, Section 2,
Clause 3. (1)  These three Clauses protected the "Institution of
Slavery" and made that Institution, a National Institution!  Slavery
was not just a Southern thing!

   You will find the Constitution to be very readable.  Some of the
wording and phrases may not be familiar but for the most part you will
find it to be easily read and understood.  Be sure to read "The Bill of
Rights"!  It is "The Bill of Rights that guarantees American citizens
some of our most precious "God Given Rights"!  No other country on
earth enjoys some of the rights given to us by the "Bill of Rights"!

   I also urge you to read the Declaration of Independence, it was
written by Thomas Jefferson, a Southerner.  You should read the
Preamble and the first section entitled, "A Declaration of Rights". 
The third sentence in that Section states and I quote:  That whenever
any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying it's foundation on such principles and organizing
it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their Safety and Happiness. (2)  I can not overemphasize the importance
of this phrase.  It justifies the Secession of the Southern States!

   Another fallacy perpetuated by nawthern history states that the
Confederate States of America destroyed "The Union" when they seceded. 
We need to determine the historical validity of that statement.  On
December 7, 1787, Delaware was the first state to ratify the
Constitution.  New Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify the
Constitution and thus put the Constitution in effect on June 21, 1788.
(3)  These dates and the names of the states are not as important as
the number NINE!  The new Constitution did not go into effect until
NINE states had ratified it!  Would the secession of eleven states,
when there was a total of thirty-four, destroy the Union?  Thirty-four
minus eleven leaves twenty-three.  Did the Southern states destroy the
Union by seceding?  NO, they did not!

   The only effect the secession of eleven states had on the Federal
Government was that they had been paying over seventy percent of the
money collected by the Federal Treasury.  By seceding, they cut the
revenues of the Federal government by over 70%!  It was going to get
much worse!  The Morrell Tariff Act was passed in May, 1860.  It was a
tariff on agricultural machinery and equipment manufactured in European
countries.  It raised the 15% tariff to 37% and in three years it would
go to 47%. (4)  Most of the burden of this tariff would fall on the
agricultural South.  The Southern states had no desire to destroy the
Union - they just wanted out!  Most of all they wanted to be allowed to
"leave" and "live" in peace!  The nawthern Industrialists that put a
wealthy railroad attorney in the White House wanted WAR!  They knew
they could make millions of dollars and - - - they hated the South
because it was becoming stronger - financially and politically! The
Lincolnites perpetuated an outright lie by claiming the South had
destroyed the Union.  Lincoln never mentioned the money the South would
no longer pay to the Federal Treasury, he simply stated that the South
had destroyed the Union.  It was this claim that inspired many nawthern
men to enlist in the Union Army.  Their action was predicated on a LIE!

   The South started the War!  How many times have you heard that LIE?   
It is true that the South did fire the first shot!  But I ask "Why"? 
Soon after the Confederate Government was organized, three "Peace
Commissioners" were sent to Washington to negotiate a price for the
Post Offices, Armories, and other Federal properties located in
Southern States.  This was late in Buchanan's term.  He was terrified
by the talk of War and refused to not only see the Confederate Peace
Representatives, he did nothing during the last months of his term but
- hide.  Lincoln kept promising to give these three Peace Commissioners
an audience but instead, he was secretly planning to send
reinforcements to Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens which is in Pensacola
Bay.  An Armistice had been signed by representatives of the Federal
Government and South Carolina and Florida.  An Armistice is a
suspension of any acts of aggression between the signing parties.  But
- Lincoln could not operate his Government without Southern tax
dollars!   On December 12, 1860, seven weeks before his inauguration,
Lincoln initiated his plans to reinforce the garrisons at Fort Sumter
and Fort Pickens.  He had to create the idea that the South had started
the war.  On April 11, 1861 warships of the Union Reinforcement
Squadron were within site of Fort Sumter.  At 4:30 a. m. on the morning
of April 12, Confederate batteries began the bombardment of Fort
Sumter!  If you would like to learn more about these events, you can
read about them in "The Official Record of the Rebellion"! (5)

   Taxes, tariffs, states rights, slavery;  greed, corruption, ambition,
hatred;  the lust for riches, treasure, and money;  which, was the
primary cause of "The War"?  While all were factors leading to the War,
none was the primary reason the War was fought.  But, there is an
answer!  The nawth fought for the right to rule another section of the
country.  Their entire tax structure would collapse without Southern
tax dollars.  They MUST have the power to rule and collect those tax
dollars!  The South had no ambition to conquer other portions of the
country.  We only wanted to be allowed to "go in peace"!  Why did the
South fight?  Because we were invaded!  This story is as old as mankind
itself.  The power to rule and collect taxes has been the cause of all
wars in the history of this world.  We have nothing to apologize for: 
the South fought only because we were INVADED!

   Many years after the War an old Confederate Veteran stated "the South
was never whupped - they just plumb wore us out"!  Soon after Lincoln
was elected, feelings of Southern Patriotism, rage over paying high
taxes and tariffs, resentment of a dominant all controlling Federal
Government that was exceeding the powers given it by the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights, and just plain ole rebellion against "that"
authority assumed by "that" Government, elevated emotions to a fever
pitch all across the South.  The most popular topic of the day was
whether or not the nawth would invade the South and start a war.  A war
that would be fought over nothing, but the almighty dollar!

   Few Southerners stopped to consider the odds the South would face. 
The nawth had a well established government, an Army, a Navy,
tremendous manufacturing capabilities, and economic ties to the rest of
the world.  They had 71% of the population, all of the canals, most of
the improved roads, and 72% of the railroads, MOST OF WHICH had been
built with Southern tax dollars.  The nawth had 81% of the bank
deposits, and 85% of the factories. (6)  During the four long years of
war the nawth had 2,800,000 men in uniform while the South had at most
only 800,000. (7)  The South had two more assets that are purposefully
ignored.  The unconquerable fighting spirit of the South is
occasionally mentioned in nawthern books but you will never read about
the critical role the slaves and freemen of colour played during the
war!

   There are thousands of references in documents written during the War
that mention the role of Black Southerners.  Tens of thousands joined
the ranks of the Confederate soldiers and served as brave, determined,
warriors. (  Hundreds of thousands built fortifications and armaments
and millions stayed home to produce food and fiber to support the
Confederate Armies. (9)  At a time when most able-bodied young men were
away from home in the service of their country, there was never a slave
revolt in the South!  Without the contributions of the Black
Confederate Soldiers and Citizens, the War would not have lasted four
long years!

   The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves! (10)  Another
preposterous LIE!  In late 1862 the War was not going well for Lincoln!
  He was being bombarded by protesters and Copperheads.  Many
nawtherners did not want to fight his illegal War (only congress can
declare war) and were known as Copperheads!  Lincoln was constantly
being harassed by relatives of the hundreds of nawtherners he had
thrown in prison or had "Secreted Away" to never be heard of again. 
Also, England and France were considering giving recognition to the
Confederate States of America.  Their financial and military assistance
would have brought a swift end to Lincoln's illegal war!  Prior to
1860, England, France, and many other Nations had freed their slaves. 
None resorted to a "Civil War" to end slavery.  They paid slave owners
for "Their Property" and freed their slaves peacefully!  Had Lincoln
chosen to end slavery by purchasing all slaves and freeing them, he
would have spent less than half of what "The War" cost the United
States of America! (11)  No - slavery was not ended by the Emancipation
Proclamation but by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States of America!  It was ratified on December 6, 1865 and
became the law of the land! (12)  For all the good it did, it should be
called the Emaciated Proclamation.

   The Emaciated Proclamation had a very negative affect on many units in
the Union Army.  The 120th Ohio Voluntary Infantry was camped on a
levee near Arkansas Post when the news reached them.    Morale was at
an all time low as the soldiers coped with constant rain, mud, cold,
inactivity, and sometimes even hunger.  Many members of the Unit were
suffering from the usual camp diseases.  Most of these volunteers had
left home to "preserve the Union".  A great many were unwilling to
fight to end slavery and went "over the hill". (13)  Captain William H.
Davidson of the 17th Kentucky Infantry U. S. joined the Confederate
Army soon after the Emaciated Proclamation was announced. (14)  General
U. S. Grant never freed his own slaves NOR did the Emaciated
Proclamation free them!  The 13th Amendment freed them.  That was over
three years after the Gettysburg Address and eight months after the War
ended!

   Lincoln wrote the Proclamation during the Fall of 1862.  His war was
not going well.  He hoped to accomplish two objectives by writing it
but debated with himself for several months before issuing it.  First
was his desire to prevent England and France from providing assistance
to the Confederate States of America.  Second, he hoped the
Proclamation would start slave rebellions in the South.  He knew that
slave rebellions would empty the ranks of the Confederate Army!  If the
Emaciated Proclamation had freed the slaves, would Lincoln be justly
known as a great humanitarian.  Stories abound as to what his plans
were for the slaves after the War.  His comments in his 1st Inaugural
Address, many of his comments during the famous Lincoln/Douglas
Debates, and comments made by his law partner while Lincoln was a
wealthy attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad show that he had
little concern for the welfare of slaves and considered himself to be
much superior to black people.  Had he lived, would he have educated
them, trained them in a usable skill, and given them a way to earn an
honorable living?  Or, would he have deported them to island Nations in
the Caribbean, to South America, or back to Africa?  The answers will
always be "What Ifs"!  We can only speculate about what might have
happened.

   The South was rebuilt during the Reconstruction years!  That is
another absurd statement!  Those years should be called the
Re-destruction years.  They were little more than a peacetime
continuation of the devastation by rape, robbery, arson, greed, murder,
and hatred that characterized the the war years.  Carpetbaggers and
Scalawags took control of most State and local governments. (15)  Many
slaves enjoyed a few days or weeks of celebration when freed but they
soon discovered that the forty acres and the mule, promised by the
Federal Government, would never materialize.  Many hoped to move to
nawthern states and start a new life but they found little if any
opportunity and discovered that some nawthern states had enacted
legislation that prohibited black people from settling there. (16) 
Near starvation and lack of shelter caused many to return to their
previous masters and hire on as field hands or sharecroppers.

   For generations, many Southerners would not talk about "The War". 
They were most ashamed because they lost!  As a result, many people
today do not know if they have Confederate ancestors!  Many believe the
nawthern history books.  Because of that, they are ashamed of their own
history and heritage.  But - - - we are standing on the MORAL HIGH
GROUND!  In 1831 Charles Darwin set out on a five year voyage around
the world as a naturalist for the Crown of England.  A few years later,
he published his Theory of Evolution.  A decade later a German
philosopher, social scientist. and revolutionary named Karl Marx begin
writing essays and books touting his theories that man, not God, is the
highest being.  Both men had tremendous influence on the teachings in
many nawthern colleges and universities.  BUT - the people of "The
Bible Belt" have clung to their belief in the Constitution of the
United States of America, their faith in God, and their unwavering
belief that this Nation was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics.  These
beliefs are what make the South a location - NOT -  just a direction on
a map or a compass!

From My Heart In Dixie,
Ed Butler
931-544-2002          edbutlerscv@yahoo.com

(1)     The U. S. Constitution can be found in any set of
encyclopedias, in your local library,
   or on the internet.
(2)     The Declaration of Independence can be found in any set of
encyclopedias, in your
   local library or on the internet.
(3)      See U. S. Constitution.
(4)      Morrell Tariff Act of 1860.  Look in an old set of
encyclopedias, in your local library, or on the
    internet.  In the 1860's the Congressional Record was called the
Congressional Globe.  You will find
    many interesting truths recorded in the Globe.  The 36th Congress
(1861) passed four amendments to
    protect the Institution of Slavery in hopes of luring the South back
into the Union.  The records of
    several years prior to 1861 and after 1865 will also shed light on
"The Truth".
(5)      "The Official Record of the Rebellion"  Found in most larger
libraries.  Several companies sell
    electronic copies.  Check the internet.
(6)      "The World Book Encyclopedia"  1984 edition see "Civil War".
(7)      "Confederate Military History  A Library of Confederate States
History, In Twelve Volumes", Written
   by Distinguished Men of the South, and Edited by Gen. Clement A. Evans
of Georgia.
(      "Black Southerners In Confederate Armies" & "Black
Confederates" compiled and
   edited by C. K. Barrow, J. H. Segars, & R. B. Rosenburg
(9)      Hundreds of letters, diaries, books, & newspaper articles
written during "The War" tell of the work
    done by slaves in defense of their country.
(10)    Found in most encyclopedias and on the internet.
(11)    "The Real Lincoln"  by Thomas J. DiLorenzo,  "Lincoln Unmasked"
by Thomas J.
   DiLorenzo,  Three Rivers Press  & "The Real Lincoln" by Charles L. C.
Minor.  See Congressional Globe.
(12)   See U. S. Constitution.
(13)   "Grandpa's Gone   The Adventures of Daniel Buchwalter in the
Western Army   1862-1865"  by Jerry
             Frey, 1998   Burd Street Press
(14)   "Torn Asunder"  by Beth Chinn Harp,  Kinnersly Press
(15)  Letters, diaries, newspaper articles, books written soon after
"The War".  Also
            check the internet.  Be careful of what you read as many
internet articles tell what the author thought
            should have happened, not what happened!.
(16)   "The Real Lincoln" and "Lincoln Unmasked" by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
  Three Rivers Press

[flintauqua]

Just curious if there are any British Loyalists around that are still ranting and raving about how a bunch of good for nothing Federalists disposessed them of their rights, screwed up their way of life, and started this continent down a path towards Marxist totalitarianism about 235 years ago.

Any one heard anything from them lately? 

No? 

Maybe in another 100 years some other people with the same thoughts about another war on this continent will be hard to find too.

Charles