Whitney Tilson Lays it Out

Tilson's Graph of the Dow is Better Than the One I Used On 10/28

A year-and-a-half ago investor and philanthropist Whitney Tilson gave his reasons for supporting a second term for President Obama.

Read it here.

Today Tilson updated his piece. In it, he goes point by point through a plethora of issues, explaining why he believes Obama is a more viable choice for President than Mitt Romney.

All of his arguments are good, but I really like what he had to say about Romney's lack of veracity.

I also have grave concerns about both the integrity and core beliefs on someone who, depending on the voters he was trying to appeal to, has espoused vastly different views on countless issues: taxes, women's rights, abortion, the invasion of Iraq, the role of the federal government in education, campaign spending limits, immigration reform, gay rights, global warming, environmental protection, gun control, even whether he wanted to serve in Vietnan... The list goes on and on, to the point where I can't tell whether the real Romney is the pragmatic centrist who was the governor of Massachusetts (and who showed up on the debates) or the "severe conservative" he played for years as he campaigned for President-- or whether there is any real Mitt Romney at all.
Even if Romney is a pragmatic centrist, I question his ability to act independently of a party that I fear has become beholden to people I view as extremists-- anti-intellectuals who are hostile to women, minorities, the poor, immigrants, and gays, and who don't believe in evolution, diplomacy, protecting the environment, equality for women, global warming, and gun control.

In his discussion of the economy Tilson uses graphs to show the deterioration and improvement of the economy over time and says:

Nobody disputes three things:

1) Things were terrible when Obama took office: major parts of the economy, especially banking, autos, and housing, had collapsed, and the country was on its way to losing more than eight million jobs and the stock market declining more than 50% – both the biggest declines since the Great Depression;

2) Things are much better now: we've had 13 consecutive quarters of GDP growth, 31 consecutive months of job creation, and the S&P 500 has risen 75% since Obama took office. In addition, the unemployment rate has fallen to 7.8%, a 45-month low (down from a peak of 10.1%), consumer confidence is at a five-year high, and the housing market is at a post-crisis high. These charts show GDP growth, monthly job creation, and the stock market since the beginning of 2007;

3) The recovery that began shortly after Obama took office has been tepid.

The main questions in dispute are: a) Could/should Obama have done more?; and b) Will we be better off going forward with Romney as president?

He argues we wouldn't.

It's a good read, and it's here as a PDF.