Bush Spreads the Good Economic News

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.
---- Niccolo Machiavelli

"I am the decider."
---Chancellor GW Bush, Ass't to Richard Bruce Chaney

January 31, 2007

White House - Fresh on the wings of a stronger-than-expected economic
report, Bush spread his good news to the Wall Street investors today.

"Thanks to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and possibly a new
investment in war with Iran, America's businesses and entrepreneurs
are creating new jobs every day," Bush said. "Workers are making more
money -- their paychecks are going further. Consumers are confident,
investors are optimistic.When people across the world look at
America's economy what they see is low inflation, low unemployment,
and the fastest growth of any major industrialized nation," Bush said.
"The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in the United States.
There is one undisputed leader in the world in terms of economy, and
that's the United States of America.

"To leave Iraq now would put an end to this prosperity that my
administration has worked so hard to make a success.
People are working and wages are up, because we're in a time of war ,
and it's - war's unsettling. War's negative, and I understand that,"
he said. "However, it is also a sure way to wealth for those willing
to invest in the products of war that create this kind of sure fire
prosperity."

"The unemployment rate is down to 4.5 percent, which is not only low
by historic standards, but a rate that many economists consider to be
full employment," he said. "Real wages grew last year at a pace that
exceeded that of the late 90s, and inflation is in the mid 2 percent
range. Last year saw exports grow at 13 percent while imports only
grew at 5 percent, and our trade deficit came down as a result."

War Is Good Business
War, the expression goes, is a bad business. It's certainly not a good
idea if you're a soldier or civilian caught in the middle of one, and
it tends to raise havoc with things like domestic spending. But if you
are Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman or former Joint Chiefs of Staff
chair, Admiral (ret.) William Crowe Jr., these are salad days.

For those who make its instruments, war is very good business indeed,
and, while the rest of the economy may be tanking, things that go
"bang" and kill people are on a roll.

You don't have to kill people to make money. Take Kellogg Brown &
Root, owned by Vice-President Dick Cheney's old company, Halliburton.
The construction company has been building bases since World War II
and had a virtual lock on military construction during the Vietnam
War. It made $2.5 billion from the DOD during the '90s and is
presently building bases in Afghanistan (the costs are classified).

General Dynamics is pushing armored vehicles to local police (a
bargain at $200,000 plus) and also wants the military to use its
Gulfstream Executive jets as early warning radar systems. Smart move.
With the economy a disaster, and the Iraq War likely to worsen things,
Executive jets are a slow sell these days. Northrop Grumman, builder
of the $2 billion B-2 Stealth Bomber, and co-contractor with Lockheed
Martin on the $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is pushing its
telecommunication systems as a way to fight bioterrorism.

All of this, of course, is done in the spirit of patriotism. "The
attacks on Sept. 11 are a very personal things for us," says Boeing
Vice-President John Stammreich. He did not, on the other hand, offer
any of his company's whiz-bangs at cost.

If one adds up all the supplementary costs of war beyond the $355.5
billion military budget--Homeland Security, $30 billion in
supplementary funds, $25.5 billion for foreign military assistance,
$16 billion for nuclear weapons, etc--the U.S. spends in excess of
$465 billion each year, or $1.2 billion a day.

For most countries today, war is a bad business? Not for everyone. For
America, war is a godsend to the economy.

War Is Good Business
Politics have no relation to morals.
---Niccolo Machiavelli

by Conn Hallinan
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=2851

"Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight,
wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans
traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of
battle. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser.
Americans play to win all the time.

"WAR, n. A time-tested political tactic guaranteed to raise a
president's popularity rating by at least 30 points. It is especially
useful during election years and economic downturns."

-Chaz Bufe, The Devil's Dictionaries ("American Heretic's Dictionary"
section)

Look for a surge in the Bush popularity ratings as he expands the war
in the Middle East and the economy shows even greater gains.

Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little
difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both
to their advantage.
---Niccolo Machiavelli