no worries.

spectacular? I don't think so. it is nice to tell tales of yachts and planes and yard men but you and I are highly educated. We can analyze data. What does the data show? The data on Reaganomics/trickle-down economics is clear. The rich get richer. That's all. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/reaganomics/ http://www.faireconomy.org/research/TrickleDown.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/business/12scene.html?_r=1 Now we can dress up Reaganomics and say that it "works for America." But the bottom line is it doesn't work for the middle class. It doesn't work for the lower class. It only works for the top one or 2% of Americans. These are the facts. Now if you'd like to argue that the top one or 2% of Americans deserve or a lion share of the money because they make the lion share of the money then that's a different argument. Be well. Thanks your comments.

The post WW2 era (1945-1970) was an anomaly where a factory worker in America could live well on one salary because the economies of most of the other industrialized countries (esp Europe) had been bombed to smithereens. We were the industrial engine of the planet. Those times aren't coming back. Now we have competition from all over the world. Unfortunately, American consumers are largely responsible for keeping that competition alive because we've been more than willing to pay for foreign goods and keep foreign workers employed instead of employing fellow Americans. Let's start with the big items -- how many foreign cars do you and your friends own? You want a simple solution to job creation in the US that costs ZERO government dollars? Buy American. If we want lots of manufacturing jobs in the US, it's easy to get them. Start buying American manufactured products and let foreign goods sit on the shelf. Make it loud and clear that unless it's Made in the USA that you ain't buying it.

It is tricky because if the item is assembled in the US but the material comes from another country is it made in the US? Some foreign cars are made in the US but with some foreign made parts. The Hyundia Sonata is made here. Plus there is no law stating that it can't have a made in the US tag on it even if it wasn't made here is there? It gets tricky we can only do our best and really look and decide. I don't look at the bottom price I try and pick the made in the US.

you're a real riot. Did it ever occur to you to ask why Dr Thompson carefully cherry picked the years he is referencing? Probably not. A better comparison would be to compare the deficit all the years of the Bush presidency with the projected deficit for the Obama years. Let's recall that Bush started out behind the eight ball because he had the Clinton recession to deal with (remember that? the NASDAQ declined by 50% in just one year, the final 12 months of Clinton) and then he also had to deal with the recession following the attacks of 9/11. But what followed were years of strong economic growth and jobs. Not likely we'll see that with Obama. The Democratic damage to the economy is enormous. This Subprime Recession, (the result of Democratic policies to manipulate the mortgage market in order to buy votes), has affected the entire financial sector which fuels the rest of the economy. Or we could compare the Reagan years deficits with the projected Obama deficits. Remember Reagan started behind the eight ball also due to four disastrous Carter years that saw interest rates jump from 6% to over 20% in just four years, also double digit inflation. But Reagan had strong economic growth, stock market growth and job production. Dr Thompson wants to credit Obama with spurring recovery, but the truth is that the recession was waning BEFORE he took office. The first quarter of growth had already begun before he laid his hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution that he's largely ignored. The official end of the recession (two consecutive quarters of growth) was in June 2009 before ANY of Obama's policies had taken effect. (Obama had been in office less than two quarters. It is a literal impossibility for him to have caused growth that had begun occurring before he got there). Just admit the truth, it'll set you free.

You are a true partison. Cherry pick - Bush's last year vs Obama's last year. The me first GOP, which you claim to not be a member of, manages to fool a lot of people. The damages started by Reagan (not Carter) in foolish trickle down has led to wider disparity between middle and upper classes. Deny that. I know you subscribe to the philosophy of maybe someday I'll be rich too. It affects a lot of people. They'd rather dream of what they will never have than face the reality of what the GOP does to them.

Gentlemen - I truly appreciate everyone coming to WTO. Everyone has their bias. Everyone. There is no need for name calling. I don't mind if we call actions stupid, bizarre or whatever but when the conversations switches from action to people I get uncomfortable. This is my call for civility. Those who can't live with my simple rule with find their comment(s) lost in the ether. Cool? Errington C. Thompson, MD Sent from my iPad

Not sure what you're taking exception to here, doc, unless you deleted something that I can't see.

It's the personal tone. I didn't like the "you're a riot" and I slanted my comments. Nothing was deleted - except by me - as I had considered name calling. I've liked this site for civility so no complaints from me. Although I must say one of my favorite debate lines starts with "Jane you ignorant slut".

I haven't deleted anything. My comments were just a reminder of the ground rules. I appreciate your patronage and your thoughts.

"You're a real riot" is an old Jackie Gleason line from the Honeymooners. It means (sarcastically) 'oh yeah you're funny'. There's nothing particularly mean spirited about it.