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Niall Ferguson, Newsweek Cover Says President Obama Has Failed.

August 22, 2012 by  
Filed under News, Opinion, Politics, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Newsweek seems desperate to generate covers that will sell copies of their magazine.  Just a few months ago, the publication received attention for naming Barack Obama “The First Gay President.”   Now, it’s simply saying that Barack needs to be gone and replaced by Mitt Romney.

Newsweek’s latest cover has the words “Hit the Road Barack,” and they aren’t joking.  The article, written by Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson, says that President Obama has failed and that it’s time to take the country in a different direction.

Niall Ferguson was instantly attacked by liberals like Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, particularly on Ferguson’s assertion that President Obama’s healthcare reform plan will increase the deficit.  Writing for the New York Times, Krugman simply stated that Niall Ferguson’s words are highly  inaccurate and unreliable.  He also said that the Harvard professor misrepresented the numbers of the Congressional Budget Office in an unethical way.

Niall Ferguson then shot back at Krugman and other critics of his article:

“The critics are the ones who are splitting hairs because it’s absolutely clear what the CBO has said, is that the costs of the ACA [Affordable Care Act] will not be met by the new sources of revenue,” Niall Ferguson told Bloomberg TV’s “Market Makers”. “You have to distinguish here between the direct sources of revenue created by ACA and the indirect ways the CBO says it will not increase the deficit. … Krugman is being disingenuous.”

Brad DeLong, an economist with The University of California at Berkeley, actually called for Niall Ferguson to be fired for his mistake.  But Ferguson is holding steady to his critique and is now defending his academic reputation.

I don’t think you can claim that this is in any way undermining my academic reputation because the facts are absolutely clear,” Niall Ferguson said on Bloomberg TV. “What we’re dealing with here is a very carefully orchestrated campaign to try and discredit the piece by those who are ideologically loyal to the president.”

Niall Ferguson argues that those who are seeking to discredit him are being positioned by the Obama Administration to undermine his analysis. It is quite possible that this is the case, since the Obama presidency can often be just as oppressive as any other.  Even in the black community, anyone who speaks objectively or critically of President Obama is instantly put into the cross-hairs of paid political hounds.

At the same time, the subtle argument here appears to be that Ferguson himself is being affected by the very same bias that he believes to have tainted the perspective of his political enemies.  By simply focusing on the cost of the healthcare plan without considering indirect economic (and non-financial) benefits, Niall Ferguson may also be using selective information in order to make his point.  Paul Krugman is no dummy, and one can easily argue that each man is choosing to see his version of political reality, while both are smart enough to selectively choose data to make their point (that’s what many scholars do in their research).

Finally, I find it interesting that no one considers the human element to all of this.  Even if the Obama healthcare plan does increase the deficit, does it not matter that it allows every American to have health insurance?  The costs of healthcare and education have risen to the point that few American families can afford to pay either one.  Even if the deficit is negatively impacted by giving health coverage to children, I think that such a sacrifice makes our country better, not worse, in the end.  Allowing the wealthy to pay higher taxes so that everyone benefits comes at minimal cost to the rich, while literally saving the lives of those at the bottom.  If you aren’t willing to pay a little more in taxes to save another person’s life, then your soul has been poisoned with the very worst of greedy, unfettered capitalism.

Perhaps one day, we can stop seeing the value of human life like a price tag in a Wal-Mart store.  In spite of all of our economic troubles, the United States is still the richest country in the world.  The reality is that everyone deserves access to quality healthcare and education, and we can afford to give it to them.  The bottom line does not always have to have a dollar sign attached to it, for there are some things more valuable than money.

Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins
 
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.
 
 

Comments

16 Responses to “Niall Ferguson, Newsweek Cover Says President Obama Has Failed.”
  1. Paul says:

    Dear oh dear.

    Such absolute nonsense I have never heard the like. I’m in the UK & you guys over there seriously need to wake up.

    One guy describing obama as ‘the president the US has ever had’ Good God,how could anyone (unless on strong drugs) make such a claim.

    He is the ‘worst’ president the US has ever had. And Romney will be worse again or if Obama stays his 2nd term will be even worse.

    Why? Because its got very little to do with the ‘president’ the ‘puppet’ who does what the elite tells him to as they carry out their increasingly accelerated NWO agenda.

    ‘One’ informed person here who made any sense at the end.

    Please wake up guys for your childrens sake.

    Listen to Alex Jones, or Max Keiser on RT or check out Gerald celente or similar ‘alternative’ media that tell the TRUTH & not what the main stream media are ‘telling’ you as its ‘owned’ by the elitists & ‘control’ what they want you to ‘believe’ & boy are you guys lapping it all up, you guys really love the BS & slavery over there!

  2. lewis orr says:

    These short-sighted, warm-weather, gullible people want to blame President Obama for all their problems, because they listen to Fox News and parrot back all of Fox News’ false billion, trillion, zillion dollar false claims. If they(Fox) were really concerned about that money, they would go after those who stole the money like they went after Madoff. Madoff stole money from the rich that’s why they went after him. The Bush cronies Chaney included, are the ones who had access and influence over billions and trillions and zillions of dollars, you know poor people didn’t. Of course that argument will never come up on Fox, they have Chaney on as a honored guest. One thing everyone isn’t doing bad, the super rich are doing great and they’re not voting for Obama! They know under Mitt Romney they’ll do even better and you poor working people are going to do much, much worse. Do you really think a man as rich as Romney cares about poor working people? If you do I’ve got some swamp land for sale.

  3. Maria says:

    Hey, do not use the human factor to sell Obamacare, most children have heath coverage under the welfare program, seniors get Medicare, the only ones not covered are between the ages of 18-60 who are unemployed or under-employed and cannot afford a health care plan. In my opinion, what this plan would do will be to burden the healthcare system, then, we will have to wait three months to see a doctor.

    I am sorry, but Obama has failed, I voted for him, hey, I even sent him money, because I believe on what he said on the campaign trail, but within two years, I became disillusioned. While I took paycut after paycut, and paying more for gas and food, he is out there vacationing and playing golf, sorry, fool me once…

  4. Jim Lawless says:

    “….greedy, unfettered capitalism.” Wow. You need to hear what Milton Friedman has said about greed. Our system of Capitalism is what has made the United States the richest country and society in the history of the world. What you are suggesting is unfettered Socialism, and unfettered Socialism has destroyed every society it ever tried to save. Learn your history….or be doomed to repeat it.

  5. Am says:

    Obama has made things better? He increased our debt by almost 6 trillion in the last 4 years, downgraded the US credit rating for first time in history, has more Americans on food stamps than any other president in history, has more Americans out of work than he did when he took office, 14 percent of black Americans are out of work, has invested taxpayer dollars in green companies such as solyndra which have gone belly up. Get informed!

  6. lewis orr says:

    How and why have so many redneck bigots gotten on a so-called Black website? Their bigotry has blinded them to all the racism that has gone on and is still going on in this country. Most of the racism that goes on in this country isn’t even discussed. And when something is mentioned the bigots are first to scream “the race card”. Having lived in this country before integration, I feel the Black community was safer then, than it is now. When the races were separated you didn’t have bigots all up in Black peoples business knowing all our innuendos. We all knew who was working for Mr. Charlie and who the snitches were. Today every organization is infiltrated by either bigots or provocateurs. So it only stands to reason the President can’t get much done with people in his own organization working against him. Just look at the so call special forces that murdered Bin Laden. Some of them act as though they’re the Commander and Chief and not the military arm of the Commander. I wish I could suggest a way out but my suggestions would be deemed too militant for this generation.

  7. Jon says:

    “And all the red neck crackers who frequent this phony “black” website are showing their outrage of having a black man in the White House.”

    You talk about racist opposition, and then spout quite racist stuff yourself. Isn’t that hypocrisy? Do you really think it’s anger about having a black man in the white house? Last I checked, I thought the GOP wanted Herman Cain to get elected, and he’d probably have been the candidate if he hadn’t had a sex scandal.

    The truth is they are opposed to him because he has a D next to his name and is doing some slightly left wing things. The irony is Romney and Obama are basically the same on healthcare and have the EXACT same foreign policy.

    So the choice this year is between dumb and dumber.
    Perfect year to vote third party.

  8. Jameszhawn says:

    Obama Failed

  9. Realman says:

    Obama has been the most disrespected president in U.S. history, he has received more death threats than all previous presidents combined, and he had to face the most hostile and racists opposition in history. So the answer is YES! It’s all about race. And all the red neck crackers who frequent this phony “black” website are showing their outrage of having a black man in the White House.

  10. Angela says:

    Well said Kenneth. Darryl Diggs – you should stop bowing before Obama and maybe you could see the reality of what this is doing to our country. Best President???? It is not his race that has made him a poor choice for the presidency – it is what he is doing to this country, even as a MAJORITY are saying he is wrong. Is that not against everything we stand for. Racist is voting for a man because of his color and not his qualifications and that is what happened here. And by the way, I’m sure Newsweek will pick up a few subscriptions so I don’t think they will miss you.

  11. David says:

    Amazing how Darryl Diggs wants to make it about RACE! It has nothing to do with race! So much to be said here. Bottom line is, Obama is the first president to be scorned for things he has tried. Mr. Diggs you should know this for sure since was not long ago President Bush was scorned for everything he did. Maybe you should cancel your subscribtion to all news, you only want to believe what you want anyway.

  12. kenneth says:

    Regarding your statements about the cost of Obamacare vs the needs of all people to have access to medical care, I have some questions.

    Why should I, the tax payer, pay for the support of people who have money for piercings, tattoos, expensive clothes/bling, tricked-out cars, high def TVs, drugs, alcohol, etc., but don’t have any money to cover the basics FIRST! Is THIS what our community has become? A completely dependent, subsidized subset of America?

    We HAD the chance to make strides. Even got the law on our side. Two, three generations on and we’re our own worst enemy. Again!

    Be concerned, Parents. VERY concerned…

  13. JRC says:

    Wow! Indeed!
    The honeymoon is over and the truth is seen.
    Judge a person based on their character, not by their sex, color, race or creed. And President Obama’s character has failed. It is time for him to go.

  14. Darryl Diggs says:

    Niall Ferguson’s cover and article are the ravings of a lunatic. The most disrespectful statements made about a sitting president that I have ever seen in my over sixty years of life. If this is not racism at its core than I’m not a black man. Almost every complaint aimed at President Obama is a result of what republicans did before President Obama was elected and in every case the president has made things better. To suggest that we must put in place two men that are the intellectual, spiritual, and moral opposites of the best president the US ever had is almost treasonable. This cover should have never been allowed and the article should never have been printed. I for one will be canceling my subscription to Newsweek forever.

  15. design says:

    I wonder what is going on,

    Obama failed when the Bilderberg group interviewed Mitt Romney. It was clear, that they would turn the press against Obama ,if they liked Romney.

    That is how the media is used by the establishment, Obama should have known.

  16. Carol Durante says:

    Wow!

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