I never said anyone was helpless. Recognizing that opportunities are fewer and barriers are higher for people in the lower classes doesn't presume they are helpless.

Barack and Michelle Obama are both exceptional people. They did NOT have white privilege on their side, nor did they have the privileges that come with wealth. All that means is they had to work harder and they did. It's not fair that they had to work harder but they did anyway. They were straight "A" students that worked their way to college and eventually got their law degrees.

This is what made them so inspirational to so many Americans, especially black Americans that saw how they beat the odds that were are stacked against them.

I've read the Bible Marty and I take it for what I think it is, a collection of badly written stories with some good morals. I've also read part of the Koran, another collection of badly written stories with some good morals. I don't think either of them are the word of God but you go ahead and believe... Honestly, power to you! I know it helps a lot of people with their individual lives and I think that's great. But if you start using it as a form of authority over others, you're going to get my middle finger.

I have already described in a logical, fact-based manner how pro-choice is helping to minimize the suffering of the unborn. I have no tolerance for people using a damned book that they insist is "the word of God" to interfere with that effort.

Actually, I spent a lot of time looking into that. Most of that increase in the deficit under Obama was the result of paying interest on loans that Bush took out. This is how money works Marty... when you borrow a lot of money you spend years paying it off with interest. This is why the term "new spending" started to appear in the WSJ and similar rags... to differentiate between obligatory spending and elective spending. As it turns out Obama had a lower level of new spending than any of the last seven presidents.

Here's a chart produced by the Cato Institute that shows spending "changes" which gives us an idea of what new spending looks like.



Here's a link to the article if you want to check it out.
https://www.cato.org/blog/trump-spending-soars-first-4-years

Keep in mind these numbers are relative to each other... We are looking at the increased rate of spending.

Notice Obama hasn't increased spending at all... Some will say that's because Congress put the brakes on Obama. I don't know enough detail to argue one way or another on that. But one thing is clear - the notion that Obama was a big spender is grossly inaccurate.

Now look at Trump - 10% increase overall. Only Carter and Dubbya increased spending more than Trump and I'm betting that more of his non-military spending went to his family and their opulent lifestyle than either Carter or Dubbya.

I've read the Bible Marty and I take it for what I think it is, a collection of badly written stories with some good morals. I've also read part of the Koran, another collection of badly written stories with some good morals. I don't think either of them are the word of God but you go ahead and believe... Honestly, power to you! I know it helps a lot of people with their individual lives and I think that's great. But if you start using it as a form of authority over others, you're going to get my middle finger.

I have already described in a logical, fact-based manner how pro-choice is helping to minimize the suffering of the unborn. I have no tolerance for people using a damned book that they insist is "the word of God" to interfere with that effort.