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As I listened to the opening to the State of the Union speech, I know I was going to have a rough night. Last week, I spent a couple hours on the phone with a seminary friend. One of her daughter’s friends from high school was just killed in Afghanistan as a member of the Indiana National Guard, and my friend was trying to deal with the effect this is having both on her daughter and also the mother of the dead soldier (who was also a friend of my friend).
We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world. . . .
I’m sorry, but our military adventurism has not made us safer, nor more respected, and to start the speech like this really put me off.
As one who makes a lot of public speeches, I was struck by the way in which this speech was structured. In particular, I quickly noticed that the way in which each issue was laid out followed the same pattern.
Before Obama made any kind of progressive-leaning statement or proposal, he always seemed to embrace or praise some kind of conservative sentiment or talking point first. When talking about the “house of cards” that is the housing industry mess, he criticized homeowners first and banks second. When talking about tax reforms, relief for corporations came first. When talking about education, raising standards came first, and criticizing shortsighted budget cuts came second. When talking about students, mandating education up to age 18 came first, before raising the issues of college affordability or post-college jobs.
Oh, wait a minute.
(scrolls through text of the speech again)
He didn’t say anything about these grads getting jobs after college. My bad.
Or his.
*sigh*
When talking about “American-made energy,” Obama spent paragraphs praising the oil and natural gas industries before saying one word about alternatives. Every single time, no matter what the issue, it felt not as if the conservative position was a leadup to the something stronger from the progressive end of things, but rather that progressive-leaning positions were being given the rhetorical back seat.
*sigh*
The financial crimes unit stuff really ticked me off. “So pass legislation that makes the penalties for fraud count,” he said, but passing legislation makes no difference if charges never get filed and cases do not get tried. Robo-signing and forgery are already criminal acts, lying to grand juries and judges is already illegal, and robosigning on a massive scale is a conspiracy to commit fraud. You don’t need new legislation to file these charges or prosecute the offenders. These are already crimes; you just need to treat them like that, rather than continuing to look for a deal that will give banks immunity for their past crimes.
Blergh.
Obama delivered the speech well, and the word had clearly gone out not to step on the rhetoric by applauding every sentence and screwing up the rhythm and flow. Kudos to whoever pushed the Congress critters not to turn this into an applause circus.
Oddly, given the prominence given to the conservative issues and talking points throughout the speech, as well as the hagiographic depiction of the military, the very last paragraph was a very pleasant surprise.
No one built this country on their own. This Nation is great because we built it together. This Nation is great because we worked as a team. This Nation is great because we get each other’s backs. And if we hold fast to that truth, in this moment of trial, there is no challenge too great; no mission too hard. As long as we’re joined in common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves forward, our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will always be strong.
(Am I way off base for thinking Obama probably needs to thank Elizabeth Warren for essentially writing it? See her comments here, starting at about the 0:55 mark.)
The repetition of “This nation is great because . . .” rang the changes of progressive thinking without apology. There was no “this nation is great because we’ve got bigger weapons” or “larger navies” or “more precise drones.” There was no “this nation is great because it’s every man for himself in the jungle of the market.”
No, the greatness of our nation — our true greatness — comes not from our military might but our unity of purpose, and not just any purpose but the purpose proclaimed in a document that begins “We the people of the United States . . .” and laid out more fully in the words that follow:
. . . in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. . .
It’s a pity that more of the speech wasn’t built around that theme of what makes this nation great. Instead, Obama reached again and again to the talking points of the right first, then gestured left, hoping again for a middle ground that does not exist.
66 Comments
tweeted and recommended with thanks peterr
“We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes ”
What’s a”hero” and it’s not following orders.
We have been nazified to worship the killers and hate the innocents we slaughter.
Speaking of Elizabeth Warren, her candidacy to head up the CFPB is probably a model for any new enforcement agency Obama proposes – in other words, the Republicans will stonewall for a long time, followed by him throwing any figures surrounding the new agency they don’t like under the bus and forwarding figures they would tend to prefer.
This is the general problem with Obama: he makes big speeches then doesn’t deliver. A few years ago we were hearing about how there was finally a progressive-left vision coming to DC – that turned out to be completely fake, now we’re hearing a moderate Republican vision and that probably will be fake, too.
Thanks Peterr for watching so I didn’t have to, nothing new from 0 just more hopism and no one goes to jail but the small people.
As a Chicano and a military vet, we, know here in the Sonoran Desert, that President Obama, is first and foremost, a “conservative” Democrat. And to think otherwise, would give preference to the “lie” despite the obvious “unassailable” Facts Consequently, Obama’s “game plan” is to co-opt the conservative Republican playbook and this is easily understood in the context and content of his State of the Union speech.
Now, if indeed Obama was a Progressive, he would have been advocating for the Theme that is “Empowering the Individual.” And he did none of this.
Jaango
O/T
oldnslow are you lurking ?
Pure politics in traditional rhetoric. You should know by now that to determine Obama’s policy proposals, watch what he does. That whole speech has two purposes: (1) Outflank Romney and Gingrich on the right by co-opting the parts of their rhetoric that still has some resonance with swing voters. (2) Launch the attack on an obstructionist Congress. The Republican looks of heartburn indicate that he achieved both of those in their opinion. And Daniels’s response was weak.
There are rumors of an Occupy DC response. That could be interesting.
We are overdue for a fundamental rethinking of American national security policy and institutions, something that has not been done since the Truman Administration.
That rethinking will not come from the usual sources of initiatives for government, nor will it come from the military/intelligence community.
Progressives and the left have done an immense amount of critical thinking about this issue. We are pretty clear now about what not to do. What institutions we don’t need.
I think we are at the point at which we can and need to sketch a positive vision of a future global security system based on progressive principles and an American strategy of disengagement that results in that more stable and less militarized system. That vision then frames the proposals for how to reorganize our nation security institutions and reduce the military/intelligence/homeland security industrial complex. And show how America will be safer, not more threatened, as a result.
No one else is likely to do this sort of thinking.
“When talking about the “house of cards” that is the housing industry mess, he criticized homeowners first…”
I heard that myself and I remember wondering at time, “What about the gangsters at the top who designed all manner of fallacious, idiotic, inherently unstable financial instruments which could not have been fired up in the first place without encouraging a “home ownership” culture all the way down to the street level.”
Fn criminals…
Thanks for watching this Kabuki Show and reporting back on the empty rhetoric and lack of real “content,” other than yet more rightwing praise and kowtowing to the 1%…. as I pretty much suspected.
The last paragraph that you note is just a sop to the 99% and is essentially meaningless in terms of anything *real* for the 99%.
Obama got his, eff the 99%, yadda yadda yadda.
PS I agree completely with your comments about how we already have laws to arrest, try & convict the criminal bankers and Wall Streeters, but POTUS Hopey-Changey already informed us sometime last year that, in his eyes (Mr. Constitutional Law Prof, that he allegedly is), the Banks & Wall St have NOT committed ANY crimes, whatsoever. So: fahgedabboud the crooks being busted. The end.
Ah, Peterr, we already know who this man is and what he is about. What struck me most was his announcing a special prosecution unit for banks just days after it was revealed that both Holder and Breuer worked for the law firm that gave the legal OK to the MERS system. And sidelining the NY AG by making him a member of the unit. Smelled like an admission of knowing guilt to me.
Obama, another cheap labor conservative.
It’s just so sad. So much that comes out of this administration reinforces conservative messages. As a federal worker I am constantly dismayed by the on-going war on public employees. In DoD there is in effect a hiring freeze in place. A hiring freeze at the moment when everyone is talking about jobs. A hiring freeze that many organizations get around by buying contractors at greater cost! A hiring freeze when the government should be doing more not less. Bah!
Vote for another four years of terrorizing the poor (Medicaid, Tanf, Food Stamps, unemployment) and terrorizing the senior citizens (Medicare, Social Security). Obama puts all of the above at risk. He sold everybody out. If you add the number of blacks in prison to the percentage of blacks who are unemployed, you have a picture of essentially a genocide against people of color.
“the middle ground that doesn’t exist.”
Thanks and recommended.
When he was going on his short rant about Iran, he sounded just as stupid and factually challenged as his predecessor. There is no nuclear weapons program in Iran. The NIE told us so. He’s just doing the hawks and the corporates’ bidding on that one. People are going to die if there is a war with Iran, but he does not seem to be bothered about that.
40,000 plus letters written to the New York State DEC to request a ban on natural gas fracking in New York State, and President Screw You puts praise for natural gas exploration and drilling in the SOTU speech. Nice. :(/s
The clueless conservatives will still call him a socialist, the clueless Democrats will just hear the parts they want to hear and Obama will still actually be a secret Republican working for the oligarchy.
It might have a good political speech, as far as reaching Independants but it was little else. He just kicked off a campaign of more promises that will not be kept if he is re-elected. We all know that virtually nothing will happen in congress this year. None of the policies Obama spoke about will be turned into legislation. Not in this House.
As for the financial crimes unit. That’s just to keep everything going until the statute of limitations runs out.
Thanks, peterr! Excellent as usual. I continue to be sad and disgusted at the continuing use of the National Guard by the War Department.
Last night’s title should be: Annual Report of Elephant, Inc. to the Chicago School owners.
karen
karen
Gotta do something to keep the supply of heroes up.
Thanks, my blood temperature just dropped below boiling.
I, for one, forget that this is as much to undermine the Repugs as much as any real substance. And we know that virtually nothing that obummer says has anything to do with what he actually does.
Government can and will someday provide jobs for the unemployed, just like they did through the WPA and CCC and through other programs initiated at the Presidential level. Republican obstructionism is not a valid excuse. Turning over other people’s unemployment benefits to uncommitted private businesses is the jobs program that the centrist, cheap labor Democrats think is appropriate because their corporate overlords told them to do that.
Not to be pedantic, but in the Constitution, four of the five enumerated goals of government (Justice, Tranquility, defense, Welfare and Liberty) are capitalized. I believe that the founders had a specific intention behind it.
Unfortunately these days, the word corporate precedes every one of the five goals.
Under this Do-Nothing President, the people’s call for universal healthcare was transformed into Obama’s forcing everyone to buy private healthcare insurance. This new program will prove to provide minimal healthcare at an unaffordable price even with premium supports from the government. This President has done absolutely nothing to lower the actual cost of medical care in America. As long as a person cannot pay for care in America, he has no access to care.
Yep. The left takes up and incorporates right wing frames into its discourse. Tax relief, budget crisis, education reform, tort reform, internet piracy, the list goes on forever. Funny in an odd way that it was the right who seized on and used so effectively the linquistic, symbolic, rhetorical, analytical methods that were developed, mainly, by thinkers of a progressive bent.
I never took note of that before. Thanks for pointing it out. Probably just a typo. /s
To expand on your first paragraph; one opinion of the history of Revelations and 666 is that it was referring to Nero in a coded way to avoid the wrath of the Romans.
I don’t want to offer excuses for obummers lousy performance, but as long as citizens united stands, the corporations are the Romans. Directly confronting them is as about as constructive as telling a Hastati that Caesar is nuts.
That’s how mindfuckery works. Play with the meaning of the words, and you confuse people’s perceptions of the reality. We have a well-developed industry of mindfuckery experts now. It’s the one thing we will never outsource.
Its a common employee management trick say something nice about an employee before you say something bad. Only Obama spends a greater amount of time saying something nice even if he has to lie about some issue the Right likes then instead of saying the truth/something bad about the Right he mentions an idea the Left likes briefly almost as an after thought.
He made the case for and explained a GOP presidency but he threw in a few talking points for us without any explanation without making the case for our ideas.
I thought it was Peterr when Obama spent all that time talking about natural gas when thanks to global warming natural gas futures are low. Lower than the many of the frackers can make off of and the frackers are bringing online more supply.
Then he mentions alternative energy as an after thought and I can double check the latest numbers but alternative energy is cheaper than Fracked natural gas especially if pollution to water and earthquakes are factored in.
Germany is testing a plant that takes wind power and stores the wind energy by using the extra power to turn water to hydrogen and using that for fuel cells.
If Obama had mentioned that he could have made the case for alternative energy and fuel cell cars. But being a GOP president in everything but name Obama committed the sin of omission which I think is lying but thats more your dept to make the call on than mine.
A front page thread pointing out all Obama’s lies would be great one stop shopping.
“Funny in an odd way”. Nope. Same old cunning and deceit.
Progress is now a charade and predation rules.
And nothing on health care. 20% of the US economy is consumed by an insurance industry run health care system vs. 10% of GDP in Europe’s more advanced economies. Taiwan and Japan’s also.
Health care insurance is the cost difference. It takes 50% of the health care dollar. The 15% guaranteed profit of Obamacare, the 20% overhead to purchase real estate, huge salaries, etc., the 10% in costs for actual health care providers in dealing with getting paid by insurance companies vs providing health care. Medicare has an admin cost of 3% TOTAL in comparison.
The $800B per health insurance industry tax on US economy is compounded by the resulting lack of health care for much of US population and the costs of the resulting bad health (40,000 unnecessary deaths a year per Harvard health study).
So Obama made the system worse with his Obamacare, insurance costs are STILL skyrocketing, percent of GDP rising, US economic competitiveness slipping, people sick and dying, the 1 million medical bankruptcies.
But nothing about reforming health care. Obama could lay out the facts above. Could say we still didn’t get the job done. Could fight for real reform. But nothing on health care reform.
But Obama’s over all military budget is $1.3T. New bases in Australia (what?). Moving troops out of Iraq…but into Oman base with 40,000 troops and 100,000 Halliburton support personnel.
Yeah. Industrial predation. Quelle suprise, comrade.
Obama’s program for the unemployed. Human sacrifices to uncommitted employers:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/08/obama-jobs-plan-bridge-to-work-program-long-term-unemployed_n_953838.html
Yet the supposed “progressive Democratic blogs” are hotbeds of pro-Obama zealots. We have to elect Obama because he is doing the right thing when he is not doing the right thing on health care, energy/oil, tax justice, Wall St, civil rights. I get that I’ll have to vote for him vs. Gingrich but to jump from that to Obama is a good president when he is as bad for the US as Reagan/Bushes on ALL the major issues leads to the ever right wing drift in the US which is clearly killing the US with deficits/debt, trade deficits, costly bad health care system, income inequality.
Obama mentions income inequality then never connects the dots to failed health care, US energy inefficiency (50% less than Europe) and oil imports and the $1.3T in wasted military to insure the oil supply. 20,000,000 green jobs cuts US military need in half ($500B saved). Eliminates oil import trade deficit ($500B saved). $1T back into US economy. That is what helps income inequality if that REALLY is Obama’s “No. 1 priority”. But it can’t be since Obama never addresses the underlying causes for the income inequality of failed health care system ($800B a year) and oil/energy/military (20M jobs, $500B oil imports, $500B wasted on oil wars and prep).
“the sin of omission which I think is lying”. Hell, here’s some synonyms for you:
Use perfidy. No one knows what it means so you’re least likely to be Gitmo’ed.
“clearly[,] killing the US” is the objective, no?
Are progressive Democrats just kinder and gentler? Methinks they prefer euthanasia to murder. It’s the lesser of evils, don’tcha know.
Obama is a conservative president. His speech will be a conservative speech. He is not a progressive, nor has he shown any inclination to govern as one. Don’t know why this is surprising.
Do you see the brilliance of installing an African-American president, now? Yes, you are dealing with some real mf’s, comrade.
That’s completely wrong and you know it. Obama’s history is clear. He embraces right wing rhetoric to stiff arm the left, and he welcomes Right wing obstructionism.
exactly. Obama is reinforcing reactionary messages.
Well said. President Screw You.
Good analysis. But I think that we need to stop using the word “conservative” this way. There is nothing inherently wrong with being conservative. Corporatism is the problem. Oligarchy is the problem. Rule by oligarchic ‘elites’.
Absolutely agree. Clean govt and sound financial management is “conservative,” and would make me very happy to see. Corporate oligarchy, OTOH, makes me want to sharpen my guillotine.
I can hardly wait to read Justin A. Frank, M.D.’a sequel to ‘Bush On The Couch-Inside The Mind Of The President’:
‘Obama On The Couch-Inside The Pathological Mind Of the President’
That should make for a few sleepless nights.
Corporatism is capitalism. Communists aren’t the only ones with fantasies.
He is not co-opting their rhetoric, he is co-opting their policies.
He’ll not repeat a misdiagnosis in public.
Expand, illuminate, speculate.
Please.
Agree we need a third choice and since nobody thinks O will create jobs or save the economy then things will get worse and either we create a third party or have a revolution.
The GOP created the Tea Baggers to create a Right Wing revolution they stole from Hitler’s playbook blame immigrants instead of Jews but otherwise its the same play.
The thing is Tea Baggers are less popular than Muslims and socialism is polling higher and higher.
Since the GOP can’t do a popular revolution I expect them to do a coup if the economy gets worse.
So true. REAL conservatives would be liberals looking to conserve the FDR to Carter US of fiscal responsibility,unions, income equality, Social Security, Medicare, well financed public schools. The massive public infrastructure buildup from 1945-1980 that has been sold off by the GOP radical Reaganomics that saw Debt/GDP soar from 30% in Carter’s last year to 60% in Reagan/Bush term (down to 50% in Clinton’s fiscal conservative term), 80% in Bush II term and now 100% in Obama term.
Love that comment:)
The pathologies of greatest importance are in the American Ruling Class (and well distributed in the population.) Obama is a tool, just as the chimp was. A symbol incarnate.
We used to wonder how chimpy ran the white house. Well, who do you think Obama’s Darth Vaders are? Can you imagine Obama has the gravitas to run a nation?
Ho ho. Maybe if we just called all presidents by their title, INSTEAD OF PERSONALIZING THEM, the POTUS’s visage would evaporate.
Due respect to Mr. Frank’s profession, but politics is another game entirely.
We need a third choice for killing US?
No, revolution is the only way, comrade. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.
In a word: yes. Kabuki Show time!
And empire is the devils’ religion. That’s why “a positive vision of a future global security system” sounds like the devil speaking out the other side of his mouth.
The fantasy that Obama is outwitting the “Romans” just isn’t infectious anymore.
Nations built on genocide and slavery are never great. They are simply oppressive empires ruled by tyrants desperate to hide the pathological foundations upon which they stand.
Obama is simply a corporate whore war mongering pig with a dark complexion. (just turned Thom Hartman off for the week. i’ve had enough of his pathetic party hack cheer leading for awhile. thom twisted himself so far today into a preztel that he actually endorses obama’s notion of turning our energy future over to the Pentagon. now there’s some change you can believe in.)
Rocky Anderson 2012!
to ProximalSuns January 25th, 2012 at 9:24 am:
Deficits are good, surplus is bad and govt debt does not matter! For sovereign money governments which create money, the debt problem is a red herring. For example, if a person owes a mortgage of $350,000 on an annual income of $70,000 should he worry about his debt to income ratio = 5 yr ?The US debt to GDP is near 1 yr (100%). Japan’s debt to GDP is 2.3 years. Japan has paid off its real estate loss in 10 years keeping GDP constant with no austerity and USA should be copying Japan to escape a depression.
Income taxes play a minor role in macroeconomics. It has a role in income inequality and inflation control.
Govt “debt” is the same as private wealth. FACT! Two key equations in economics which apply to any system of govt:
a) Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings. For numerical proof see figure 4 of
http://pragcap.com/resources/understanding-modern-monetary-system
b) Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment + Private Consumption + Net exports.
USA has no problem creating more dollars and solving the problem except for the dysfunctional congress and their economic ignorance and incessant “debt hysteria” by main stream economists, The GDP is equal to approximately 5 times govt spending. Actual data is in
http://pshakkottai.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/us-gdp-vs-govt-spending-2/
I’m am so so sick of bipartisanship fixation. You’d think from the way Obama gets high promoting it that it had been the way things had gotten done in this Repubic since 1789.
It isn’t. Everything that’s got done, for good or for ill, was done by one party dominating the system because it won an election and then implementing it’s agenda despite the other party’s opposition.
The Federalist agenda of the 1790s was not supported by Jeffersonians.
The Republican Revolution after Jefferson’s election in 1800 ignored Federalist objections.
The Jacksonian vision of the 1830s was done over rabid Whig resistance that included attempts at nullification and a Whig Supreme Court saying he couldn’t do it. Jackson ignored them.
The Radical Republican reconstruction of the late 1860s that brought us the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments and a brief period of African American inclusion was HATED by the stump Democrats and when a bipartsian Democrat President, Andrew Johnson, resisted it they impeached him.
Teddy Roosevelt’s and later Wilson’s progressive changes were so anathema to the Republicans that TR had to leave the party. But TR and Wilson didn’t care and did it anyway.
The return to “Normalcy” of the 1920s was not supported by the Democrats who were out of power.
FDR didn’t work with the Republicans, he called them out and said he welcomed their hatred.
LBJ’s great society was ramrodded through the system and he didn’t give a >expletive deleted< how Republicans or Dixiecrats felt about it.
Reagan's dismantling of the New Deal and George W. Bush's continuance of it was done despite Democrat resistance. Instead of trying to work with Democrats, W's people said those who disagreed were mentally ill. When Democrats won Congress in 2006, basically on an anti-war agenda to get out of Iraq, W's ignored their win and SURGED instead.
So what the hell is this fixation with bipartsianship? All bipartsianship has done in the history of the Republic is preserve the status quo between periods of partsianship.
But I guess that's what the Powers That Be, the big corporations, want, isn't it? Oh well.
The left takes up and incorporates right wing frames into its discourse. I agree. Obama said “Together, we’ve agreed to cut the deficit by more than 2 trillion.” How will it help improve the economy? Deficits grow the economy!Govt “debt” is private sector “non-debt”.
GDP is empirically found to be five times Govt spending. If 2 trillion is cut over some period of time, GDP will fall by 10 trillion in the same period of time. Govt deficit is the private sector surplus (if net imports are zero). See
http://rodgermmitchell.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/myths-about-debtgdp-and-deficitgdp-while-being-24-and-believing-those-myths/
“The left” has been clearly demonstrated NOT TO BE the left. The answer to your dissonance is not “they know not what they do”.
If “Govt deficit is the private sector surplus”, the private sector now has no confidence in it as an investment. They want a hostile takeover, instead.
When business has no confidence in government, there is usually something wrong with business.
Capitalism is bullsh*t.
This generation of “heroes” has been incarcerated and/or prosecuted beyond the fullest extent of the law, a la Bradley Manning. That these whistle blowers are not regarded as heroes exemplifies that the USA is no longer a great nation, if it ever was, except in concept.
Great Rant now do a diary and get some links:)
This seems to be at the middle and likely is.
“Deficits are good, surplus is bad and govt debt does not matter!”
No. Deficits are bad and debt is bad. They can be TEMPORARY emergency expedients but US prospered as the WWII debt was paid down from 144% of GDP to 30%. The WWII deficit and debt is an example of temporary emergency (WWII and Great Depression) and the post WWII period growing the economy so that Debt/GDP declined was why it such prosperous period of US’s greatest income equality.
Clinton term produced a huge jump in private sector jobs because the US was not borrowing money and interest rates went down and the money went into the economy.
Currently the deficits and debt are rooted in military spending of $1.3T per year, completely unproductive waste of money as Ike explained. Also rooted in an unfair tax system that lets those with the income and wealth not pay their fair share.
Take Social Security and Medicare, eliminating the ceiling on taxable income and applying SS and Medicare taxes to ALL income from Goldman bonuses to inherited income fully funds both and restores the $1T in Medicare/Medicaid cuts over last 30 years.
Another misunderstanding. Govt surplus means private sector deficit. Balanced budgets kill economic growth. Only deficits grow the economy. For example,
1817-1821: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 29%. Depression began 1819.
1823-1836: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 99%. Depression began 1837.
1852-1857: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 59%. Depression began 1857.
1867-1873: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 27%. Depression began 1873.
1880-1893: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 57%. Depression began 1893.
1920-1930: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 36%. Depression began 1929. Actual graph of recent data is in
http://rodgermmitchell.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/a-timely-reminder-here-is-the-cause-of-recessions-and-recoveries/
The key equation in economics: Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings.”