Ross Perot Launches Public Information Website About U.S. Economic Crisis
Posted on June 16th, 2008 by beetlbumjl Categories and Tags: Uncategorized, America, bankruptcy, bureaucracy, Dallas, David Walker, debt, economics, Perot, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Ross Perot, Ross Perot Launches, taxes, Texas, U.S. Economic Crisis Press, United States, your moneyPress release from said website:
DALLAS, TEXAS - JUNE 16, 2008 /PRNewswire/—Ross Perot, business leader and former presidential candidate, announced today the launch of “PerotCharts.com,” a public information website that contains objective, factual information about the current economic crisis in America. The site is being launched as an alert and appeal for American citizens to inform themselves about federal government spending. Perot said, “The U.S. national debt reached $9.4 TRILLION on April 30, and it is increasing by more than $1 billion every day. We are leaving our children and grandchildren with debt they cannot possibly pay.”
The rest on the other side of the jump…
PerotCharts.com consists of three major components: a video featuring Ross Perot discussing the purpose of the website, a blog where new charts and other information are posted daily for study and comment, and a narrated chart presentation explaining the economic problems our country faces.
The website is not affiliated with any political party or candidate. Most of the data and research for the charts is gathered from official government sources.
“The economic crisis facing America today is far greater than anything since the Great Depression,” said Perot. “Our federal government continues to spend us deeper into debt. The American people must get directly involved and demand an end to deficit spending. This website will provide information for citizens to do just that.”
Like the economic charts Perot employed in his 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns, which served as snapshots of complex economic issues presented in simple terms, PerotCharts.com features the latest official government figures about the real conditions of our economy for everyone to see and consider. The site is designed to be a reservoir of information about the economy, and provides an accurate look at where the money comes from and where it goes.
David Walker, former U.S. Comptroller General and current president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation said, “Ross Perot is the father of fiscal charts, and PerotCharts.com will help Americans understand the serious fiscal challenges facing our nation. These updated economic charts will also serve to hold elected officials accountable while accelerating needed actions to help ensure that our collective future will be better than our past. What we need now is leadership from our elected officials.”
[snipped canned (paid?) endorsements from Gingrish and Boren]
“We simply cannot wait any longer to do something about runaway deficit spending,” Perot said. “This website addresses a number of issues, and we will add more in the coming weeks and months. But there is a common thread running through all of them. We cannot solve these problems unless we have the ability to pay for the solutions. Getting spending under control is the first step in that process.”
Politics aside, Perot generates some clear and simple looking charts. His website appears to be in blog format, with user comments and responses from the PerotCharts staff. While its content has been sorely missed during the nomination season, hopefully the site can help generate interest and discussion about gov’t spending in the general election. One candidate in particular could use a lesson in spending his own money, let alone yours and mine.
3 Responses to “Ross Perot Launches Public Information Website About U.S. Economic Crisis”
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June 16th, 2008 at 11:41 am
While not in graph form I don’t think you can ignore the fact that Ron Paul and now Bob Barr made spending and economics in general a huge component of their compaigns. And not the pork bullshit McCain talks about. I doubt that his site and graphs will enhance the dialog much beyond what Paul has already done. His campaign forced the other Republicans start talking more about the economics of government and even then it was minor.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
You’re right that they’ve spent a great deal of time talking about these things, but two thoughts come to mind: (1) Charts appeal to a different mindset than speech or word. Consider the power of publishing one of these graphs on the front page of USA Today. An illiterate would understand if you pointed out the labels. During the “debates”, I found that Ron Paul would sometimes ramble on. I generally understood his point, but I don’t think he’s best suited to a “debate” setting. None of the other “debaters” really wanted to further the discussion, so perhaps Paul was left trying to fill too much information into too small a time slot. (2) I was really taking a shot at Perot, not Paul/Barr. Why wait until the dust has settled and the MSM / voters have already decided who’s running?
June 16th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
It’s not as if Paul only spoke during debates. He was/is on CNN, Fox, ABC, etc. quite often talking about the economy. From the housing bubble to gas prices, SSI to war spending. I agree charts can appeal to a different mindset but even when he did attempt to use graphs the MSM just ignored them. Perot’s charts were famous because he sat in front of millions of US voters with them outside the MSM. Not simply because they were charts.