Walter Patterson Herald ColumnistThe news just keeps getting worse, especially on the economy.  
Our economy grew only 1.5 percent during the last quarter, and this is a disaster.  Because of this lack of growth, there are very few jobs, and nearly half of our people are on some kind of government relief.  
Over half of this year’s college graduates cannot find jobs, and if you are a parent having invested literally thousands in your child’s education, this news is not comforting.
An economist by the name of Nouriel Roubini, known by his peers as “Dr. Doom” told CNBC that “My perfect storm scenario is unfolding now.”
In May, Roubini predicted four elements – “stalling growth in the U.S., debt troubles in Europe, a slowdown in emerging markets, particularly China, and military conflict in Iran – would come together to create a storm for the global economy in 2013.”
What are our political leaders in Washington doing about our economy?  Anyone who pays attention to what is happening in our economy knows that we are in serious trouble, yet our leaders in Washington, the Democrats in particular, want to “tax the rich” and impose a entitlement program on the American people known as Obamacare. “Crash the economy at all costs,” is their motto.
Democrat Harry Reid is more worried about where the Olympic uniforms are made than he is about the $17 trillion debt that is dragging this nation’s economy into the gutter.  Reid, also, makes the false claim that Mitt Romney, a free market capitalist running for president, has not paid income taxes in the past ten years.  
This is the voice of a desperate man who knows that his president is in deep trouble with the American people and is trying every trick in the Democrat play book to find some way to discredit Romney. Try not filing income taxes for the next 10 years and see what the IRS does to you. Reid’s lies will not work.  The Reagan Democrats, for example, are moving to Romney by as much as 20 points in some polls.
Yet the Democrat insanity continues.  Obama refuses to allow drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and he is yet to approve the Keystone Pipeline, a project that could employ as many as 200,000 citizens. Mr. Obama continues to ramp up regulation on small business owners, and Obamacare, in addition to putting people who do not comply with the heavy handed mandates of the act in jail, has small business men and women literally handcuffed, unable to move, unable to hire new workers, unable to invest in their business because of the uncertainty brought on by this socialist act.
Speaking of Obamacare, one of the unintended consequences of this act is that it will bring about a doctor shortage.  Already, 83 percent of practicing physicians have considered retiring from medicine and finding work elsewhere.
In an article published in Money and Policy, it was noted that “In the Island Empire, an economically depressed region in Southern California, President Obama’s health care law is expected to extend insurance coverage to more than 300,000 people by 2014.  But coverage will not necessarily translate into care.
Local health experts doubt there will be enough doctors to meet the area’s need. There are not enough now. We might want to ask, “What does this mean for the Delta region of Mississippi. Will there be enough doctors to meet the need?”  Of course not.
Unfortunately, Mr. Obama, a community organizer,  does not have the knowledge to turn this “depression era” economy around nor do his cohorts in the Senate and House.  There we have a collection of the most incompetent, inept, and corrupt individuals this country has ever seen.  Some of them no doubt had their fingers crossed when they took the oath of office, because it is clear that they do not intend to “protect and defend” the Constitution of the United States.
If we can survive for another 90 days without economic collapse, we have a fighting chance.  A new president who understands free market capitalism may be able to begin the long journey back to prosperity.  But this group of Democrats love power more than life itself.  
Don’t be surprised if Mr. Obama, in a desperate attempt to stay in office, initiates a war with Iran.  If he does, you can “call the dogs and pour the coffee on the fire.”  We’re done.