Monthly Archives: January 2014

Obama omits 32 stark facts from speech, Real state of the union, These stats don’t lie, Whose economy improving?, Increased poverty food stamps, Labor force plummets

Posted on January 31, 2014 | 139 comments

Obama omits 32 stark facts from speech, Real state of the union, These stats don’t lie, Whose economy improving?, Increased poverty food stamps, Labor force plummets

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Nearly half of U.S. companies are reluctant to hire full-time employees because of the ACA. One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.

Other firms will shift toward part-time workers. More than 40 percent of CFOs say their companies will consider switching some jobs to less than 30 hours per week or targeting part-time workers for future employment.”…Duke University Fuqua School of Business December 11, 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

Whose economy is improving?

Yours on main street?

From The Economic Collapse January 29, 2014.

“32 Statistics That Obama Neglected To Mention During The State Of The Union Address”

” On Tuesday evening, Barack Obama once again attempted to convince all of us that things have gotten better while he has been in the White House.  He quoted a few figures, used some flowery language and made a whole bunch of new promises.  And even though he has failed to follow through on his promises time after time, millions upon millions of Americans continue to believe him. ”

“The following are 32 statistics that Obama neglected to mention during the State of the Union address…
“#1 According to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, only 28 percent of all Americans believe that the country is moving in the right direction.

#2 In 2008, 53 percent of all Americans considered themselves to be “middle class”. In 2014, only 44 percent of all Americans consider themselves to be “middle class”.

#3 In 2008, 25 percent of all Americans in the 18 to 29-year-old age bracket considered themselves to be “lower class”. In 2014, an astounding 49 percent of them do.

#4 Right now there is approximately a billion square feet of vacant retail space in the United States.

#5 There are 46.5 million Americans that are living in poverty, and the poverty rate in America has been at 15 percent or above for 3 consecutive years. That is the first time that has happened since 1965.

#6 Barack Obama says that the unemployment rate has declined to 6.7 percent, but if the labor force participation rate was at the long-term average it would actually be approximately 11.5 percent, and it has stayed at about that level since the end of the last recession.

#7 While Barack Obama has been in the White House, the number of Americans on food stamps has gone from 32 million to 47 million.

#8 While Barack Obama has been in the White House, the percentage of working age Americans that are actually working has declined from 60.6 percent to 58.6 percent.

#9 While Barack Obama has been in the White House, the average duration of unemployment in the United States has risen from 19.8 weeks to 37.1 weeks.”

Read more:

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/32-statistics-that-obama-neglected-to-mention-during-the-state-of-the-union-address

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Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Employment, Jobs, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, ObamaCare, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment

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Obamacare impacts medicare advantage plans, Physicians forced out, Patients losing doctors, Medicare Advantage covers 13 million, Billions of dollars in cuts to fund Obamacare

Posted on January 30, 2014 | 33 comments

Obamacare impacts medicare advantage plans, Physicians forced out, Patients losing doctors, Medicare Advantage covers 13 million, Billions of dollars in cuts  to fund Obamacare

“If you like your plan, you can keep it.”…Barack Obama

“millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.”…NBC News October 29, 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

 

From the Washington Post January 25, 2014.

“Doctors cut from Medicare Advantage networks struggle with what to tell patients”

“Thousands of primary-care doctors and specialists across the country have been terminated from privately run Medicare Advantage plans, sparking a battle between doctors who say patient care is being threatened and insurers that insist they have to reduce costs and streamline their operations.”

“Insurers say they must shrink their physician networks because they face billions of dollars in government-payment cuts over the next decade — reductions that are being used partly to fund insurance coverage for millions of people under the federal Affordable Care Act. They also say the smaller networks will allow them to curb premium increases and to remain nimble as they prepare for an influx of patients under the law.

Medicare Advantage, an alternative to traditional Medicare, covers 13 million beneficiaries, or 27 percent of the people in the federal health-care program for the elderly. Besides providing the standard benefits, the thousands of Medicare Advantage plans often offer extra perks such as free eyeglasses and adhesive bandages. They can do that because, for years, the government has paid the plans more, per patient, than it spends on regular Medicare.”

““It is an outrage. I have patients in their 80s and 90s who have been with me 20 years, and I’m having to tell them that their insurer won’t pay for them to see me anymore. The worst thing is I can’t even tell them why,” Vogelman said.

One of his patients, Jorge Otoya, 68, who is retired from Morgan Stanley’s trading desk, said he had tried, without success, to find a plan that includes both Vogelman and his primary-care doctor at New York University.

“I am a cancer survivor and have been going to this doctor for 15 years,” Otoya said. “He knows my system, left and right. I trust him. I called United Healthcare to protest, but they didn’t care.”

Medical associations say a number of insurers are trimming their networks this year, but the most dramatic reductions may be occurring in United Healthcare’s Medicare Advantage plan. With 3 million members, the AARP-endorsed plan is the largest of its kind in the nation.

United Healthcare said that it aims to reduce its national network of physicians by 10 to 15 percent by the end of 2014. The company declined to provide specific numbers, but medical associations say that in some states, thousands of doctors have been cut.”

Read more:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/doctors-cut-from-medicare-advantage-networks-struggle-with-what-to-tell-patients/2014/01/25/541bfbd8-77b4-11e3-af7f-13bf0e9965f6_story.html

 

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Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Health Insurance, Healthcare bill, Medicare, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, ObamaCare, The Case Against Barack Obama

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Greensboro News Record protects Obama punishes Governor Pat McCrory, Glaring example of media bias, Obama SOTUS unemployment, NC unemployment, Baby boomers blamed again, Sloppy reporting or lies?

Posted on January 29, 2014 | 27 comments

Greensboro News Record protects Obama punishes Governor Pat McCrory, Glaring example of media bias, Obama SOTUS unemployment, NC unemployment, Baby boomers blamed again, Sloppy reporting or lies?

 
“Greensboro News Record editorial states ‘An occasional look at political claims that take shortcuts with the facts or don’t tell the full story.’  The News Record should practice what they preach.”…Citizen Wells

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

I suspected that the recent Greensboro News Record reporting on the NC unemployment rate and reasons was an attempt to discredit NC Governor Pat McCrory and his plans to create jobs.

I was ok with the News Record reporting the truth about the drop in the unemployment rate in NC. It was the truth. Mostly due to working age folks dropping out of the labor force.

Too bad the News Record does not apply the same standard to Obama. Instead, they use regurgitated AP lies that attempt to portray the drop in the labor force as mainly due to baby boomers retiring. That lie has been revealed here and at other sites such as Zero Hedge.

From the Greensboro News Record editorial January 28, 2014.

“Fact check on the State of the Union Address”

“An occasional look at political claims that take shortcuts with the facts or don’t tell the full story.”

“REP. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS of Washington, in her prepared Republican response: “Last month, more Americans stopped looking for a job than found one. Too many people are falling further and further behind because, right now, the president’s policies are making people’s lives harder.”

THE FACTS: She leaves out a significant factor in the high number of people who aren’t looking for jobs: Baby boomers are retiring.
It’s true that a large part of the still-high unemployment rate is due to jobless workers who have given up looking for a job. There are roughly three people seeking every job opening, a circumstance that can discourage others from trying.
But one big reason people aren’t seeking employment is that there are so many boomers — the generation born in the immediate aftermath of World War II — and therefore more than the usual number of retirements.
As of December, the economy had gained 3,246,000 jobs since Obama took office in January 2009. When he was inaugurated, the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent and on the rise.
It peaked at 10 percent in October 2009 and has been inching down ever since, to 6.7 percent this past December.”

Read more:

http://www.news-record.com/news/local_news/article_e422165e-888f-11e3-829d-001a4bcf6878.html

From the Greensboro News Record January 28, 2014.

“Report: NC jobless rate falls to 6.9 percent”
“North Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.9 percent in December, its lowest level in more than five years, but Tuesday’s news came with signals that the rapid fall was related to thousands of discouraged people giving up on finding work.”

“Gov. Pat McCrory and state House Speaker Thom Tills, a fellow Republican from Mecklenburg County, on Tuesday credited tax cuts and fewer business regulations that GOP lawmakers approved this year for sparking an economic comeback.”

“But economists warn the fast fall in the unemployment rate has a lot to do with thousands of jobless workers no longer counted because they have become discouraged about the prospects of finding work and have given up.

Since December 2012, 13,414 more people are on payrolls and more than 124,000 fewer people were listed as unemployed, the report shows. That suggests that just 11 percent of the drop in unemployed workers resulted from the jobless finding work, said Allan Freyer, an analyst with the Budget & Tax Center, a part of the liberal-leaning NC Justice Center.

The state’s population of working-age adults who are looking for jobs also shrank by nearly 111,000 over the year. That means North Carolinians in the working-age population who are either employed or actively looking for jobs is the lowest since before the national recession started in December 2007.
As more people give up on finding work, that makes the unemployment rate look better because they’re no longer being counted, said Patrick Conway, an economics professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”

Read more:

http://www.news-record.com/news/north_carolina_ap/article_97849be3-1c83-55f3-98a5-fce1d20f1cf5.html

From Zero Hedge January 8, 2014.

“This Chart Is A True Representation Of The Employment Crisis In This Country”

“The civilian labor force in the US has been causing bouts of hand-wringing and head-scratching. It represents the official number of people working or looking for work. It’s what the officialunemployment rate (U-3) is based on. If labor force participation drops – if for whatever reason, millions of people are no longer counted as part of the labor force, as is the case in the US – it’s a troublesome indicator for the economy and the real employment picture.

It also makes the unemployment rate, now 7.3%, look a lot less awful: if you’re not counted in the labor force, and you don’t have a job, you’re not counted as unemployed. There are millions of people in that category. And their numbers are growing, not diminishing.

“The irony of the U-3 unemployment statistic is the fact that while unemployment has gone down 30% since its 2009 peak, we have the lowest labor force participation rate in over 3 decades,” observed Ralph Dillon, Vice President at Global Financial Data, in an email. “The markets and politicians celebrate the official unemployment rate, but you have to be concerned with the trend that is most indicative of the health of the employment situation in this country: the downward trend of those who want to work and can’t.””

“The chart (Global Financial Data) juxtaposes the unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate since 1980. After the financial crisis, suddenly, for the first time in history, they both started moving in lockstep. Downward.

““This chart is a true representation of the crisis of employment in this country,” Dillon wrote. The diminishing labor force participation rate – the officially available labor pool, however unrealistic it might be – has been driving down the unemployment rate for the first time in history.”

People 55 to 64 years old, the first forget-about-retirement generation, are staying in the labor force to an ever greater degree. In 1992, only 56.2% were still in the labor force, in 2012, 64.5% were. Similar for older folks. The participation rate for people 65 to 74 years old jumped from 16.3% to 26.8%. Reality is this: fewer people can afford to retire.

But who is not making it into the labor force? Young folks. The participation rate for those 16 to 19 has plunged from 51.3% in 1992 to 34.3% in 2012. OK, the BLS explains that by an increase in school attendance, and that would be a good thing. But the 25 to 54 year olds? Even among them, participation rates dropped from 83.3% in 2002 to 81.4% a decade later.

Among the 18 to 34 year old “Millennials,” those lucky ones who’re official counted in the labor force, unemployment has been a nightmare, with double digit unemployment rates, still, nearly 6 years after the financial crisis, reported the youth advocacy group Young Invincibles. It’s even worse for the 16 to 24 year olds, whose official unemployment rate is still 15%!”

Read more:

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2014-01-08/%E2%80%9C-chart-true-representation-employment-crisis-country%E2%80%9D

Some common sense from Citizen Wells.

Ignoring facts from the US Government about the trend of retirement aged people working longer, there are more younger people entering the work force age group than would leave if all people turning 65 retired at once.

There are only 85% of those turning 65 still alive.

More people were born in the early nineties than in 1949.

Still not clear?

Read more:

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/labor-force-participation-collapse-from-younger-dropouts-not-retirees-zero-hedge-nails-it-more-younger-people-born-to-replace-older-labor-force-should-be-increasing-not-decreasing/

For their Orwellian misrepresentation of the US unemployment which protects Obama, the Greensboro News Record is awarded 4 Orwells.

Orwells4

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Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Employment, Jobs, Lies, media, NC, News, North Carolina, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Orwell, Orwellian, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, US economy

Obama state of union address January 28, 2014, Nazi Germany revisited, Adolf Hitler required allegiance, Completely manipulated entire government and legal system, History repeats

Posted on January 28, 2014 | 67 comments

Obama state of union address January 28, 2014, Nazi Germany revisited, Adolf Hitler required allegiance, Completely manipulated entire government and legal system, History repeats

“As the crisis develops, it will be important to use the mass media to inform the broader llberal community about the inefficiencies and injustices of welfare. For example, the system will not be able to process many new applicants because of cumbersome and often unconstitutional investi-gatory procedures (which cost 20c for every dollar dis-bursed). As delays mount, so should the public demand that a simplified affidavit supplant these procedures, so that the
poor may certify to their condition. If the system reacts by making the proof of eligibility more difficult, the demand should be made that the Department of Health, Education and Welfare dispatch “eligibility registrars” to enforce federal statutes governing local programs. And throughout the crisis, the mass media should be used to advance arguments for a new federal income distribution program.”…Richard Cloward and Frances Piven

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it”…Joseph Goebbels

 

“We control life, Winston, at all its levels. You are imagining that there is something called human nature which will be outraged by what we do and will turn against us. But we create human nature. Men are infinitely malleable.”…George Orwell, “1984″

We began warning you in early 2008.

The handwriting was on the wall.

History does repeat.

From the WSJ January 26, 2014.

“Obama to Assert Unilateral Agenda”

“Mr. Obama will emphasize his intention to use unilateral presidential authority—bypassing Congress when necessary—to an extent not seen in his previous State of the Union speeches, White House officials said.”
“Mr. Obama will emphasize his intention to use unilateral presidential authority—bypassing Congress when necessary—to an extent not seen in his previous State of the Union speeches, White House officials said.”

“Mr. Obama will stress that he intends to take unilateral action on a host of other issues: infrastructure development, job training, climate change and education. Administration officials hinted broadly at the assertive new direction Sunday.”

“”He says, ‘Oh well, it’s hard to get Congress to do anything.’ Well, yeah, welcome to the real world. It’s hard to convince people to get legislation through. It takes consensus,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.). “But that’s what he needs to be doing is building consensus and not taking his pen and creating law.””

“The initiative is the latest White House effort to tackle public-policy issues without congressional action. Mr. Obama has used his executive power before, including on climate change, economic issues and immigration concerns, such as a 2012 move to allow many young undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. under certain conditions.”

Read more:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303277704579345163039263136?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories

From Ithaca.edu.

“Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Nazi Germany is nothing less than astounding.  In a little over a year, one man completely manipulated an entire government and legal system to acquire a totalitarian regime.  What many are not aware of is how Hitler’s strategy arose.  After a failed coup attempt in 1923, a short stay in prison and a controversial novel, Adolf Hitler abandoned his ideas that force was the sole solution in achieving complete control over Germany.  His second attempt revolved around statutes and regulations.  By understanding and contorting the law Hitler achieved sole political control and completely reorganized the German judiciary, all while under a blanket of legitimacy.”
“In 1929 Hitler revamped his political plan. With legality in mind, the party began to pursue middle and lower-class voters in small towns and rural areas. By the end of the year the strategy was beginning to show real promise.[8] For the following three years the Nazi party continued to grow as the Weimar continued to falter. Hitler’s came to a new and important realization in 1930. It was then that Hitler realized that the majority in the Reichstag was not important, the parties were too great and alliances too divided. The only means to accomplish anything was through the presidential decrees that Hindenburg was forced to continually make. Although Hitler had now realized the secret key to attaining power, initial popularity was still immensely important.

Before the 1932 elections Hitler participated in the “Hitler Over Germany” campaign where he spoke in fifty cities in fifteen days. The Nazis were extremely successful at presenting different platforms dependant upon the audience. The party members pitched their themes to the needs and fears of the appropriate social groups, and always relentlessly stressing their promise to rebuild Germany to her past glory.”
“The next step in Hitler’s “legal seizure” of power came on March 23, 1933. The Nazis sought the passage of the Law to Remove the Distress of the People and the State, or the Enabling Acts, which would empower the government to dispense of the constitution for four years while it issued laws, unchecked, which would deal with the country’s problems.[11] The Center Party’s vote solidified the Enabling Acts, and now the cabinet was given national lawmaking powers. The four-year expiration date was irrelevant.[12] Immediately thereafter the process of Gleichschaltung, the coordination of the German institutions with the Nazi party, led to a series of enactments further reducing the power of state governments.

Finally, on August 2, 1934, President Hindenburg died and three days later Hitler assumed the combined powers of Chancellor and President, consolidating them into the position of Führer. In order to further enhance his power he required that the public officials and members of the armed forces swear a personal oath of loyalty not to their constitution, but to Hitler himself.”

Read more:

http://www.ithaca.edu/history/journal/papers/fa03Hitler.htm

67 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, constitution, History, Hitler, Nazi Germany, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, The Case Against Barack Obama

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Wisconsin unemployment rate rapidly falling, New jobs being created, $912 million budget surplus, Media ignores Republican governor Scott Walker success, Rush Limbaugh explains

Posted on January 25, 2014 | 83 comments

Wisconsin unemployment rate rapidly falling, New jobs being created, $912 million budget surplus, Media ignores Republican governor Scott Walker success, Rush Limbaugh explains

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Nearly half of U.S. companies are reluctant to hire full-time employees because of the ACA. One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.

Other firms will shift toward part-time workers. More than 40 percent of CFOs say their companies will consider switching some jobs to less than 30 hours per week or targeting part-time workers for future employment.”…Duke University Fuqua School of Business December 11, 2013

“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed
–if all records told the same tale–then the lie passed into
history and became truth. “Who controls the past,” ran the
Party slogan, “controls the future: who controls the present
controls the past.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

 

 

The Obama administration has failed to create enough full time jobs while creating record debt and food stamp usage.

Of course the media is ignoring the success of Republican governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin.

From Rush Limbaugh January 24, 2014.
“Governor Walker’s Wisconsin Earthquake of Conservatism Goes Ignored by Media, GOP”

“RUSH: I need to illustrate a point. Yesterday there was really profound, great news out of the state of Wisconsin. In my mind, earth-shattering news. In my mind, it’s the kind of news that should have caused a political earthquake, and probably did. It’s just that nobody reacted to it. Here you have one of the bluest of blue states. You have a Republican governor, a conservative Reaganesque governor who was targeted twice for removal. They did everything they could to gin up hate, anger, tried to destroy his reputation, his career, and his life.

He hung in there. The state of Wisconsin instituted his policy reforms, deemphasizing the role of unions in the state, and the upshot of it is that Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is rapidly falling, so new jobs are being created there. Wisconsin’s budget is now in surplus $912 million. There is a $1 billion government surplus in the state of Wisconsin. And Governor Scott Walker is going to rebate the money in the form of tax cuts to the people who he said own the money. He’s going to cut income taxes and property taxes, and he made the point that it’s not just a gimmick of budgeting or accounting. It’s the result of serious, significant policy changes.

Now, folks, what I just told you was not reported once anywhere in what you would consider mainstream media. It was not reported on one cable network, much less all of them. It was not reported in the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the LA Times. It was reported in Wisconsin. There was an AP story on it, maybe some local papers picked it up, but just as a filler. On all the opinion shows on the Fox News Channel, there was not a syllable of this story discussed. And to me, for us as conservatives, Wisconsin and Governor Walker, I mean, everything that we want to happen, happened there.

We want people to stand up and defend themselves and what they believe, and when they do, we join them and help. We want somebody who believes in conservatism and can articulate it, who gets elected on that basis and then implements it. Everything that we are demanding as voters, everything that you as Tea Party members are demanding, Scott Walker did. The vast majority of everything you want, it’s happening in Wisconsin. A light has been turned on. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, if you will. The path has been illustrated here. Not one mention of this anywhere, that I saw, not one!”

Read more:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/01/24/governor_walker_s_wisconsin_earthquake_of_conservatism_goes_ignored_by_media_gop

 

 

83 Comments

Posted in 1984, Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Employment, Jobs, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, republicans, Rush Limbaugh, Unemployment

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Raghuveer Nayak sentencing Thursday January 23, 2014, Blagojevich Obama fundraiser, Convicted of bribery, 19 count indictment, Chicago pay to play politics

Posted on January 23, 2014 | 88 comments

Raghuveer Nayak sentencing Thursday January 23, 2014, Blagojevich Obama fundraiser, Convicted of bribery, 19 count indictment, Chicago pay to play politics

Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Department wait until December 2008 to arrest Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

“There is enough corruption in Illinois so that all it takes is someone who is serious about finding it to uncover it. If a U.S. attorney is not finding corruption in Illinois, they’re not seriously looking for it.”…Northwestern Law Professor James Lindgren

 

 

From NBC Chicago January 23, 2014.

“Department of Justice spokesman Randall Samborn said Wednesday’s proceedings were part of a two-day evidentiary hearing. They’ll continue Thursday. Nayak may or may not be sentenced at the end of the day Thursday.

A Chicago-area businessman convicted of bribery was scheduled to learn Wednesday whether he’ll get time in jail for his role in the corruption scandal involving former Illinoig Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Raghuveer Nayak wasn’t charged in the case of the now-imprisoned former governor but is alleged to have offered to raise $1 million for Blagojevich’s campaign if he named then-Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. to President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat.

A government court filing says the sentencing judge should consider those allegations, arguing that Nayak “corrupted the political process.””

Read more:

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/raghuveer-nayak-sentencing-blagojevich-jackson-241483541.html

From Citizen Wells June 26, 2012.

“A longtime friend of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.who was at the center of a Senate seat scandal that sent ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to prison was arrested Wednesday in his own federal fraud case, accused of bribing doctors to send patients to his surgical centers.

Raghuveer Nayak, a wealthy businessman and former campaign fundraiser for both politicians, was indicted on charges he secretly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to physicians from 2000 to 2010 to have patients referred to Rogers Park One Day Surgery Center, Lakeshore Surgery Center and other Chicago-area facilities he owned.

The investigation of his businesses had hung over Nayak’s head for years, and his lawyer, Thomas McQueen, said the charges were not unexpected. “He knew this had never gone away,” McQueen said after the FBI arrested his client at Nayak’s Oak Brook home.”

“The indictment of Nayak is seen as one of the final offshoots of the sweeping federal investigation known as Operation Board Games, which in addition to Blagojevich led to convictions of fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, formerAld. Edward Vrdolyak, Republican power broker William Cellini and others. One of the final sentences in cases connected to that probe could be handed down as soon as next week, when political insider turned federal witness Stuart Levine is expected to learn his punishment.”

“Nayak’s businesses have over the years needed the approval of state regulators and auditors, and Nayak became a big campaign bundler and contributor, donating more than $779,000 to elected officials including Blagojevich, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Obama from the late 1990s until his name surfaced in the Blagojevich scandal.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/jesse-jackson-jr-takes-medical-leave-for-exhaustion-raghuveer-nayak-indictment-obama-pay-to-play-buddies-getting-worried-obama-and-holder-soon-gone/

88 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Blagojevich trial, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, Crony Capitalism, Judges, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Pay to play politics, Rezko, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko

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Obama jobs economy speech lies, Job creation, Health care costs, Deficit, Truth is record labor force participation food stamps deficit part time job creation, Increasing health care costs

Posted on January 22, 2014 | 68 comments

Obama jobs economy speech lies, Job creation, Health care costs, Deficit, Truth is record labor force participation food stamps deficit part time job creation, Increasing health care costs

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,”…Keith Hall, former BLS chief

“Nearly half of U.S. companies are reluctant to hire full-time employees because of the ACA. One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.

Other firms will shift toward part-time workers. More than 40 percent of CFOs say their companies will consider switching some jobs to less than 30 hours per week or targeting part-time workers for future employment.”…Duke University Fuqua School of Business December 11, 2013

How do you know when Obama is lying?

When his lips are moving.

From a speech Obama gave on January 7, 2014.

“You know, a few weeks ago I said that 2014 could be a breakthrough year for America. Think about it. Five years ago this month, our economy was shedding 800,000 jobs, just in one month. But as Americans buckled down and worked hard and sacrificed, we began to come back. And our businesses have created more than 8 million new jobs since we hit the bottom. Our auto industry’s gone from bust to boom. Manufacturing’s rebounding. The housing market’s rebounding. Stock markets are restoring retirement accounts. The promise of energy independence is actually in sight. Health care costs eat up less of our economy. Over the past four years, costs have grown at the slowest rate on record. And since I’ve took office, we’ve cut our deficits by more than half.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-president-obamas-jan-7-remarks-on-unemployment/2014/01/07/79c65704-77bc-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html

Now for the truth.

28,223,000 Americans were on food stamps when Obama took office.

At the end of 2013 there were 47,636,000 Americans on food stamps.

When Obama took office in January 2009 vs December 2013.

Labor Force Participation Rate then 65.7   now  62.8

Employment-Population Ratio then  60.6   now  58.6

Not in Labor Force then  80,529,000 now  91,808,000
Not in Labor Force want a job now then  5,708,000 now 6,111,000
Could only find part time work then 1,671,000 now 2,586,000
From the Independent Journal Review.
“The Poverty President: How Obama’s Economic Policies are a Disaster”
“Since the moment he came into office, President Obama has pursued the same failed liberal policies that extended the Great Depression, instituted the socially corrosive Great Society programs, and has grown government beyond America’s ability to afford it. Estimates of the U.S. long-term unfunded liabilities range from $87 trillion to an astounding $211 trillion.
One of the first measures Obama undertook was passing an ultimately $812 billion “stimulus” program. After glibly admitting that ‘shovel-ready (jobs) was not as shovel-ready as we expected,’ the U.S. is still far off the jobs trajectory projected by his advisers; while it was presumed the U.S. would be near 5% unemployment, we are at 7.3% — and that’s with millions dropping out of the workforce.
Instead of focusing on generating jobs and growing the productive economy, President Obama decided to work with the Democrat Congress to force through a trillion-dollar boondoggle known as ObamaCare against the objections of the majority of Americans.
President Obama said in an ABC News interview in 2009 that if Congress did not pass health care legislation that brought down costs, the federal government “will go bankrupt.” The ten-year cost estimate since then has tripled from $900 billion to nearly $2.7 trillion, and the GAO estimates the program will add $6.2 trillion in debt liability.
The “unintended consequences” of the ObamaCare provision that employers with 50 or more full-time employees at 30 hours a week or more must offer certain health insurance plans has predictably led to small businesses with more part-time employees. While the president has illegally suspended his enforcement of duly passed law, the “employer mandate” provision, full-time hiring is not expected to pick up due to long-term uncertainty.
Nearly 2.5 million of the ‘jobs created’ under President Obama are part-time; as a separate figure, 2.7 million of those ‘jobs created’ are temporary hires — a 50% increase over Obama’s time in office.
The president claims he has created 7.2 million jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 154,526,000 in the Civilian Labor Force in February 2009 and in June 2013 there were 155,835,000. That would be a net gain of 1.309 million more people working civilian jobs as of the latest figures. The labor force participation rate of 63.5% is hovering at the lowest levels since late 1978.
Even if we took this at face value, like a good Democrat loyalist would, this is still less than half the people added to the food stamp rolls — 15 million folks. The escalating gas, electricity, and food prices, as well as the ObamaCare “sticker shock” on health insurance premiums for an estimated 75% of Americans will not ease their budgets. And the AP now estimates that 4 in 5 Americans are in poverty, low-income, or have no jobs.”

Read more:

http://www.ijreview.com/2013/07/69124-the-poverty-president-how-obamas-economic-policies-are-a-disaster/

68 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Employment, Health Insurance, Healthcare bill, Jobs, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, ObamaCare, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment

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Labor force participation collapse from younger dropouts not retirees, Zero Hedge nails it, More younger people born to replace older, Labor force should be increasing not decreasing

Posted on January 20, 2014 | 65 comments

Labor force participation collapse from younger dropouts not retirees, Zero Hedge nails it, More younger people born to replace older, Labor force should be increasing not decreasing

“People 55 to 64 years old, the first forget-about-retirement generation, are staying in the labor force to an ever greater degree. In 1992, only 56.2% were still in the labor force, in 2012, 64.5% were. Similar for older folks. The participation rate for people 65 to 74 years old jumped from 16.3% to 26.8%. Reality is this: fewer people can afford to retire.”…Zero Hedge January 8, 2014

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

As pointed out at Citizen Wells, there should be an increasing labor force not decreasing. More younger people are born than are left in the aging populations to retire. And older workers are not retiring in droves.

From Citizen Wells November 9, 2013.

Is the repeated emphasis by the Washington Post on the impact of baby boomers on the plummeting  force participation rate an intentional lie or just sloppy or biased reporting?

Intentional or not it is a lie.

Citizen Wells first criticized the Washington Post on May 9, 2012 for this false report.

“The Washington Post on May 4, 2012 posted a very misleading article titled “The incredible shrinking labor force.” Is this another example of sloppy or biased journalism or both?”

“The verbage in the top right corner looked suspicious, ”As the most recent recession hits the workforce, larger numbers of baby boomers begin to retire.” Yesterday I called the Bureau of Labor Statistics and discovered that they had not placed those words there. It was the work of the Washington Post.

So why did the Post superimpose that wording about baby boomers on the graph?”

“Critics of the Obama administration have been quick to seize on this as the real reason for the falling unemployment rate. In February, the Republican National Committee released a research note on “The Missing Worker,” arguing that “over 3 million unemployed workers have called it quits due to Obamanomics.”

Economists say the story is considerably more complicated. For one thing, the trend predates President Obama. And while part of the story is clearly that the labor force is shrinking because the bad economy is driving workers out, another significant factor is that baby boomers are beginning to retire early — a trend that has worrying implications for future growth.”
“But a number of economists are arguing that the recession is distracting people from the real story — long-run demographic trends that have nothing to do with the current economy. Baby boomers are starting to retire en masse, which means that there are fewer eligible American workers.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/washington-post-misrepresents-labor-force-participation-rate-unemployment-rate-blamed-on-baby-boomers-selective-quoting-post-receives-4-orwells/

On September 6, 2013 the Washington Post reported.

“So why is the labor force dropping? There are a couple big factors going on here. Older Americans are retiring, younger Americans are going back to school, and many workers have been discouraged by the weak U.S. economy. Here’s an updated breakdown:

1) The aging of America. One big reason the participation rate dropped involves long-run demographic trends that have nothing to do with the current economy. Baby boomers are starting to retire en masse, which means that there are fewer eligible American workers.

Demographics have always played a big role in the rise and fall of the labor force. Between 1960 and 2000, the labor force in the United States surged from 59 percent to a peak of 67.3 percent. That was largely due to the fact that more women were entering the labor force while improvements in health and information technology allowed Americans to work more years.

But since 2000, the labor force rate has been steadily declining as the baby-boom generation has been retiring.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/06/the-incredible-shrinking-labor-force-again/

On November 8, 2013 the Washington Post once again listed older workers retiring first as a cause of the drop. They did, however, add some clarification as if to back off of their position.

“So what’s up with that broader trend? Why has the participation rate been dropping in recent years? There are a couple big factors going on here. Older Americans are retiring, younger Americans are going back to school, and many workers have been discouraged by the weak U.S. economy. Here’s an updated breakdown:

1) The aging of America. One big reason the participation rate dropped involves long-run demographic trends that have little to do with the current economy. Baby boomers are starting to retire en masse, which means that there are fewer eligible American workers.

Demographics have always played a big role in the rise and fall of the labor force. Between 1960 and 2000, the labor force in the United States surged from 59 percent to a peak of 67.3 percent. That was largely due to the fact that more women were entering the labor force while improvements in health and information technology allowed Americans to work more years.

But since 2000, the labor force rate has been declining steadily as the baby-boom generation has been retiring. “

“So what’s going on? One theory is that the weak job market is causing people to simply give up looking for work — they’re crumpling up their resumes and going home. A recent paper (pdf) from the Boston Fed suggested that these “non-inevitable dropouts” might even account for the bulk of the decline.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/11/08/the-u-s-labor-force-is-still-shrinking-rapidly-heres-why/

I am going to make this real simple.

Let’s ignore immigrants increasing our work force for the moment.

The baby boomer generation is known for it’s size. However, due to the growth in the US, recent generations are even larger.

Let’s take the example of those turning 65 in 2014, born in 1949 and those turning 22 in 2014, born in 1992. I chose age 22 to account for college even though some of them entered the work force earlier, if they could find a job.

There were  3.56 million people born in the US in 1949. 85 % or 3.026 million are alive.

There were 4.08 million people born in 1992. Probably at least 4 million still alive.

Let’ assume that all of the people who turn 65 next year retire.

That is still a net gain of about a million potential workers.

As we all know, all of those people do not stop working unless they cannot find a job.

From the CBO.

“The resulting rise in the projected rates of labor force participation for older people is noteworthy. For men ages 62 to 64, CBO projects that the rate of labor force participation will rise from about 52 percent in 2012 to about 55 percent in 2022. For men ages 65 to 69, the projected rate rises from about 37 percent in 2012 to about 41 percent in 2022. The changes for women are similar: The projected rate of labor force participation for women ages 62 to 64 rises from about 44 percent to about 48 percent, and for women ages 65 to 69, the projected rate increases from about 28 percent to about 32 percent. In 2022, the FRA will be 67 only for people age 62 or younger in that year. As that group ages and the FRA gradually becomes 67 for all older people, CBO projects that the labor force participation rate for older people will continue to increase, although at a slower pace.”

http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43834

That’s right. You read it correctly.

Men ages 62 to 64:  rate of labor force participation  about 52 percent in 2012.

Men ages 65 to 69:   37 percent in 2012.

Once again I am compelled to award the Washington Post 4 Orwells.

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2013/11/09/washington-post-lies-about-baby-boomer-impact-on-labor-force-participation-rate-more-young-people-enter-job-market-than-retire-older-folks-continue-working-intentional-lie-sloppy-reporting-or-cove/

Zero Hedge nails it again.

“A few days ago we disproved, in what we hoped would be the last time, any insinuation that the collapse in the labor force is due to demographics (a topic we had covered before) when we showed that it was just 10 short years ago that the Bureau of Labor Statistics itself was forecasting an increase in the overall participation rate – here we assume logically that America’s demographic profile was known to its labor market experts in 2004 – only to slowly at first, then very fast, revise it ever lower… and still it was unable to catch up to the unfolding gruesome reality.

Yet somehow, so called finance experts, econ PhDs, central planners and other ivory tower dwellers still refuse to let this topic go, and continue to reference the participation rate and demographics in the same sentence. So to truly end any speculation that the plunge in the labor force is due to “old people”, defined as workers 55 and over, retiring, here is a chart (which in an update of a post we didfirst in October 2012 and it took the rest of the media world only 14 months to catch up) of the cumulative job gains broken down by “young”, or those 16-54, vs “old”, those 55 and over.

Spot something wierd?

It seems that the “old” age worker group – that which is supposed to be bleeding workers to retirement – has had zero job losses since the start of the Depression in December 2007, while it was the “younger” workers who according to the BLS’ Household Survey, have hit the labor cliff and seen their number collapse, dropping as much a 6 million, and only slowly rising, with another 3.5 million jobs left to catch up before pre-recession levels are met.”

Read more:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-20/spot-labor-force-collapse-culprit

 

 

 

65 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Employment, Jobs, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment

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Blagojevich appeal judges to receive all wiretap transcripts, Judge James Zagel Order, Why not play all the tapes?, Transcripts to remain under seal from public

Posted on January 17, 2014 | 94 comments

Blagojevich appeal judges to receive all wiretap transcripts, Judge James Zagel Order, Why not play all the tapes?, Transcripts to remain under seal from public

“Why did Mutual Bank fire whistleblower Kenneth J Conner after he
challenged the appraisal on the land purchased by Rita Rezko, just
prior to the land sale to Obama?”…Citizen Wells

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

“Regardless of how this plays out, it benefits Obama. If there is no appeal or the appeal is denied, Blagojevich will be sequestered. If the appeal proceeds, it could drag out beyond impacting the 2012 election cycle. The intent is obvious.”…Citizen Wells, July 19, 2011

 

 

From ABC WLS TV in Chicago January 15, 2014.

“Blagojevich wins one; Appellate court to receive transcripts of all undercover tapes”

 

“The ABC7 Eyewitness News I-Team has learned of a victory for imprisoned Illinois former Governor Rod Blagojevich, albeit a small one.

Blagojevich finally has an answer to the question he asked so many times: Why not play all the tapes?

When he wasn’t quoting Kipling or signing autographs at the federal courthouse, former Governor Blagojevich would frequently repeat that line: play all the tapes.

Of course, he was referring to the hours and hours of undercover recordings made by the FBI, only a portion of which were played at trial. Blagojevich believed that if the jury could heard them all he would have been cleared. That didn’t happen but the appellate court will now be able to consider all the tapes.
“Play all the tapes” became Blagojevich’s battle cry at both of his corruption trials.

And Wednesday night it is resurrected as his appeal moves forward.

With the ex-governor tucked in for another dozen years or so at a federal penitentiary in Colorado, his attorneys in Chicago filed a motion in federal court, stating that Blagjoevich’s submitted wiretap transcripts were not filed with the appeals court clerk, comprised of an index and 52 transcripts.”

“Wednesday night Judge James Zagel has authorized turn over of all the transcripts.”

Read more:

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=9395708

From just one of the released wiretaps.

Damning for Obama and the media.

 

94 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Blagojevich trial, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, Court of Appeals, Judges, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Pay to play politics, Rezko, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko

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Senate Intelligence Committee Bipartisan Benghazi Report, January 15, 2014, Senator Richard Burr, Declassified findings, Disappointing lack of accountability

Posted on January 15, 2014 | 32 comments

Senate Intelligence Committee Bipartisan Benghazi Report, January 15, 2014, Senator Richard Burr, Declassified findings, Disappointing lack of accountability

“we do know that Islamic extremists with ties to Al-Qa’ida participated in the attack.”…CIA Benghazi talking points memo

“The question that I had in my mind, was why did we not do something to protect our forces?”…Charles Woods, father of slain Navy Seal

“I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”…Barack Obama

From Senator Richard Burr of NC January 15, 2014.

 
United States Senator ∙ North CarolinaRichard Burr

217 Russell Senate Office Bldg. ∙ Washington, D.C. 20510

(202) 224-3154 ∙ FAX (202) 228-2981

http://www.burr.senate.gov

Senator Burr Releases Statement on the Intelligence Committee’s Bipartisan Benghazi Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, January 15, 2014 CONTACT:Phone: Rachel Hicks(202) 228-1616

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) released the following statement regarding the Intelligence Committee’s bipartisan report on the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

“Today the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the most detailed, bipartisan report to date on the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

The committee’s report presents a wide range of declassified findings that will allow the public to more fully understand the deteriorating security situation in Benghazi leading up to the attacks, and the lack of State Department recognition of the danger to our personnel.

This bipartisan report is a step forward in our understanding of these events, but should not by any means be viewed as a final verdict.  To the extent this report is incomplete, it is not due to the Committee’s unwillingness to investigate, but the State Department’s intransigence.  It is our obligation and duty to continue to ask probing questions and investigate all details as they continue to come to light – as they invariably will.

Despite the Committee’s best efforts to investigate all relevant threads of information, I still feel strongly that there remains a disappointing lack of accountability. It is my hope that this bipartisan report will serve as a foundation to continue the discussion and search for answers.”

Read report:

Click to access benghazi.pdf

32 Comments

Posted in Accountability, Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Islam, Murder, Muslims, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Terrorist Attacks, Terrorists, The Case Against Barack Obama

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