PJ: Leading up to a national election is often referred to as 'silly season' for the simple fact that it is. Voters are treated to a litany of dubious ads which twist or outright lie about an opponent's qualifications, background, positions and integrity. Strangely the US has laws to protect consumers against fraudulent claims by advertisers, referred to as 'truth in advertising' laws, but those same laws do not seem to extend to politics. Political operatives and politicians are allowed to get away with just about anything with the worst punishment for misrepresentations being walked-back or an apology being issued (which rarely happens and even if it did, the damage has been done). These campaigns may charge an opponent with a wrong-doing (remember "pallin' around with terrorists"), claim credit where none is due (Mitt Romney's recent claim that he deserves credit for the auto industry bailout comes to mind#) or attack an opponent's record by distorting the facts (Romney's claim that not one new job was created during President Obama's time in office*).
The US protects consumers when they go to the market. Manufacturers must print easy to read labels that identify ingredients and advertisers are not allow to claim patently false benefits of their products. But when Americans go to the polls to elected someone to lead their country...to be the most powerful leader in the world...they are not protected against blatantly false information fed to them during an increasingly long and painful 'silly season'
#http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/romney-takes-credit-for-auto-industry-turnaround-reignites-bailout-debate/
*http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_12/romneys_limited_understanding034285.php
National Post
WHAT THE U.S. ELECTION will really be about
By David Frum
Barack Obama is foreign. Oh yeah? Mitt Romney is a bully.
Think the U.S. presidential election will be about the economy? Think again.
On the economy, both presidential candidates are marked with indelible vulnerabilities.
President Obama first. He inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. He has presided over a weak and fitful recovery.
During the recession of 2008-09, the U.S. lost more than 8 million jobs, net. Since 2009, the U.S. has gained only about 4.5 million jobs, net. Yes, the unemployment rate has improved somewhat since January 2009 - but largely because so many people have quit searching for work. Among Americans of prime working age - 16 to 54 - the percentage in work today is the lowest since 1983, near the very beginning of the mass entry of married women into the workforce.
So Obama cannot run a "morning in America" campaign for recovery. Too many Americans are still shrouded in the pre-dawn murk.
Yet challenger Mitt Romney finds himself not much better positioned than incumbent Barack Obama.
His own job-creation record as governor of Massachusetts was not especially impressive*. As a CEO, he was better known for downsizing purchased companies, than for new hiring. And he has been pressed by his party to campaign on a platform that emphasizes radical spending cuts for the young and the poor and another big round of upper-income tax cuts on top of the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003.
Go to the link for the entire article:
http:
//www.financialpost.com/todays-paper/WHAT+ELECTION+will+really+about/6610634/story.html
* While Romney was governor of Massachusetts, his state ranked 47th (out of 50) for job creation.
No comments:
Post a Comment