Myths & Lies

From a piece in The Street entitled "10 Myths That Politicians Want You to Believe" here is one item:

Myth: The U.S. Has the Highest Standard of Living in the World

Truth: According to the United Nations' most recent Human Poverty Index (from 2008), the U.S. standard of living ranks 17 of 19 among developed countries. The ranking is a composite of life expectancy, literacy, long-term unemployment and income equality -- while this data is over three years old, it's not unthinkable that our situation has worsened in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

And this:

Myth: President Obama Is an Enemy of Wall Street

Truth: When he was on the campaign trail, then-candidate Obama had some tough words for those who repealed Glass-Steagall (the law that prevented banks from acting like hedge funds), calling the process of deregulating banks a "legal but corrupt bargain." But get a load of this:

• The two men who served as principal negotiators for banking deregulation: Gene Sperling and Larry Summers.


• The two men who President Obama appointed to become his top economic advisers: Gene Sperling and Larry Summers.


• Two guys who happen to be paid millions of dollars in consulting and speaking fees by "too big to fail" banks: Gene Sperling and Larry Summers.

President Obama is the best friend Wall Street could have.

Go read the whole article.

I don't agree 100% with the above article, but it is useful because it presents facts that should make people stop and think. What the politician tells you isn't what the politician is doing. I think the best advice is the one Deep Throat gave the Watergate investigators "Follow the money".