From Mr. Hope to Dr. Doom

I thought it was a brilliant campaign that Obama ran. He ran on the premise of hope. People were tired of the past 8 years and wanted change. However, recently Obama's been using words like 'catastrophe' and 'Depression'. Obama has stated that this is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, but is this statement really true?

Not really. A great speaker once said "America is at its best when it's not fearful. I mean, if you think about our history, our most shameful times have been when we were afraid." This statement was made by Obama. He compares the current recession to the Great Depression but only to scare people into supporting his spending package.

In fact, the 1982 recession was worse. Unemployment was much higher, the economy was shrinking at a faster rate, house sales took a bigger plunge and interest rates were higher. Let me throw a couple of facts out there.

Unemployment is currently at 7.6%. In 1982, unemployment was at 10.8%. In 1932, unemployment was at 25.2%. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts that GDP will shrink by 2% in 2009. In 1982, GDP contracted by 1.9%. However, in 1931 GDP contracted by 9%.

The facts prove that 1982 was worse and we are nowhere near the crisis of the Great Depression. Obama needs to be honest with the American people and change his rhetoric back to that of hope and change. People can lie. Fortunately, facts and history don't lie.