Category Archives: Budget

Federal budget deficit explained in common sense terms in NC, John Hammer Rhino Times, January 24, 2013, Obama and congress increased spending 40 percent

Posted on January 26, 2013 | 31 comments

Federal budget deficit explained in common sense terms in NC, John Hammer Rhino Times, January 24, 2013, Obama and congress increased spending 40 percent

“only 2 percent of the 3.5 million jobs gained since the recession ended in June 2009 are midpay. Nearly 70 percent are low-paying jobs”…AP, Kitsap Sun January 22, 2013

“We tried our plan—and it worked. That’s the difference. That’s the choice in this election. That’s why I’m running for a second term.”…Barack Obama

“the Times of the nineteenth of December had published the official forecasts of the output of various classes of consumption goods in the fourth quarter of 1983, which was also the sixth quarter of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. Today’s issue contained a statement of the actual output, from which it appeared that the forecasts were in every instance grossly wrong. Winston’s job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

Common sense in print in NC.

From John Hammer of the Rhino Times January 24, 2013.

“If you listen to Democrats, and even some Republicans, for the federal government to balance its budget would require draconian cuts that would decimate the Defense Department and put major social welfare programs in bankruptcy. But the truth is that the federal government will take in $2.9 trillion in revenue this fiscal year. If the federal government would simply reduce spending to what it was a mere five years ago it would have a surplus instead of a trillion dollar deficit.

In 2007 the federal government spent $2.7 trillion. That was during the presidency of George Walker Bush and the budget deficit was about $200 billion, because the revenue that year was $2.56 trillion.

What Congress and President Obama have managed to do since then is increase spending astronomically. The projected spending for 2013 is $3.8 trillion. So even though revenue has increased to $2.9 trillion the deficit is still right around a trillion dollars.

It is an unbelievable increase in spending. The problem is not, as Obama continues to say, that the rich aren’t paying their fair share. The problem is that Obama and Congress have increased spending by 40 percent in the past five years. This is during a period of almost no inflation.

Since 2007 the federal government has increased its spending by $1.1 trillion. It is an incredible amount of money and it would be nice to blame it all on Obama, but Obama is a co-conspirator. Spending bills have to originate in the House, which the Republicans have controlled since 2011. Obama in his first term had pretty much free rein in Congress. The Democrats controlled the House and for almost a year had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Spending skyrocketed and in Obama’s first year in office, 2009, the budget deficit increased to $1.4 trillion.

What could only be done in Washington – where reality left the building decades ago – is that the budget deficit has remained over $1 trillion. The reason for the budget deficit in 2009 was the $1 trillion stimulus plan that Congress passed and Obama signed as soon as possible. That was supposed to spike up the spending, but then it was supposed to come back down.

It never has.

But the country ran pretty well in 2007. We were fighting the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, Social Security was being paid, as were Medicare and Medicaid. The federal government was throwing money at local governments, as it does, but evidently to go back to those years would be a tremendous hardship. It’s hard to believe.”

Read more:

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-Columns-c-2013-01-23-214571.112113-under-the-hammer.html

31 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Budget, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Congress, Defense, Deficit, Democrats, Economy, Government, NC, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, republicans, The Case Against Barack Obama, US economy, US House of Representatives, US Senate, Washington DC, white house

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Obama tax plan creates massive job losses, Hundreds of thousands of jobs disappearing, Ernst & Young report, CBO, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp

Posted on December 2, 2012 | 79 comments

Obama tax plan creates massive job losses, Hundreds of thousands of jobs disappearing, Ernst & Young report, CBO, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp

“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher

“I absolutely reject that notion [mandate is a tax].”…Barack Obama

“Recently, Obama has been re-elected for a 2nd term by an illiterate society and he is ready to continue his lies of less taxes while he raises them.”…Pravda November 19, 2012

 

From the Examiner December 2, 2012.

“Fiscal cliff: Obama tax and spend plan unbalanced, says top lawmaker”

“While President Barack Obama complained about Republicans during his Pennsylvania visit on Friday and made another political campaign-style pitch to raise taxes by $1.6 trillion, he failed to put forward a “balanced” plan that includes significant spending reductions to deal with the so-called fiscal cliff, according to a top member of the House Ways & Means Committee on Saturday.

The President’s continued focus on increasing tax rates is fast turning the fiscal cliff into a jobs cliff. In fact, manufacturers across the country are warning Americans that the President’s tax increases will cost American jobs. And these employers aren’t alone.

According to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation, nearly one million small businesses and more than half of all small business income earned will be impacted by the President’s tax rate hikes.

Knowing that higher tax rates mean less money for investment and hiring, it is no wonder that both the accounting firm of Ernst & Young and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office confirm that raising any tax rate will result in hundreds of thousands of jobs disappearing.

The Ernst & Young report is more proof that the President doesn’t understand the economy or what it takes to create jobs in this country. After more than three years of high unemployment, slow growth and record levels of stimulus spending, the Obama Administration appears ready and willing to further derail the U.S. economic recovery by raising taxes on small businesses, according to House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI).

“We need these employers and investors creating more paychecks, not paying more taxes. Rather than double down on tax hikes that will make it harder to get America back to work, it is time to stop the tax hike – for all taxpayers – and move forward with comprehensive tax reform that will provide the certainty these entrepreneurs need,” Camp said.

Throughout his tenure in the House, according to Camp staff member Michelle Dimarob, he has worked with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to advocate for lower tax rates for American families and employers, a long term overhaul and simplification of the U.S. tax code, and trade policies that expand American exports while ensuring American workers are protected.

Camp authored the House GOP alternative to the Democrats’ health care law, the only health care legislation scored by the Congressional Budget Office to lower the cost of health insurance premiums for Americans, according to staffer Sarah Swinehart.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/fiscal-cliff-obama-tax-and-spend-plan-unbalanced-says-top-lawmaker

From the Ernst & Young report.

“Long-run macroeconomic impact of increasing tax rates on high-income taxpayers in 2013”

“This report uses the EY General Equilibrium Model of the US Economy to examine the impact of the increase in the top tax rates in the long-run. While a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report examined the near-term effects of all of the federal government fiscal policies under scrutiny at the end of 2012 and found them to be of sufficient size to push the economy into recession at the beginning of 2013, this report focuses on the long-run effects of the increase in the top tax rates. This report examines four sets of provisions that will increase the top tax rates:
 The increase in the top two tax rates from 33% to 36% and 35% to 39.6%.
 The reinstatement of the limitation on itemized deductions for high-income taxpayers (the “Pease” provision).
 The taxation of dividends as ordinary income and at a top income tax rate of 39.6% and increase in the top tax rate applied to capital gains to 20%.
 The increase in the 2.9% Medicare tax to 3.8% for high-income taxpayers and the application of the new 3.8 percent tax on investment income including flow-through business income, interest, dividends and capital gains.
With the combination of these tax changes at the beginning of 2013 the top tax rate on ordinary income will rise from 35% in 2012 to 40.9%, the top tax rate on dividends will rise from 15% to 44.7% and the top tax rate on capital gains will rise from 15% to 24.7%.
These higher tax rates result in a significant increase in the average marginal tax rates (AMTR) on business, wage, and investment income, as well as the marginal effective tax rate (METR) on new business investment. This report finds that the AMTR increases significantly for wages (5.0%), flow-through business income (6.4%), interest (16.5%), dividends (157.1%) and capital gains (39.3%). The METR on new business investment increases by 15.8% for the corporate sector and 15.6% for flow-through businesses.
This report finds that these higher marginal tax rates result in a smaller economy, fewer jobs, less investment, and lower wages. Specifically, this report finds that the higher tax rates will have significant adverse economic effects in the long-run: lowering output, employment, investment, the capital stock, and real after-tax wages when the resulting revenue is used to finance additional government spending.”

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/ey_study_long-run_macroeconomic_impact_of_increasing_tax_rates_on_high_income_taxpayers_in_2013__2012_07_16_final.pdf

79 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Budget, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Employment, Jobs, Lies, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, Taxes, The Case Against Barack Obama, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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CBO real Truth Team, Unemployment rate 15 percent, Obama deficits, 1.2 trillion 2012, Obamacare costs rise and causes millions to lose employer insurance

Posted on March 16, 2012 | 73 comments

CBO real Truth Team, Unemployment rate 15 percent, Obama deficits, 1.2 trillion 2012, Obamacare costs rise and causes millions to lose employer insurance

“And so our goal on health care is, if we can get, instead of health care costs going up 6 percent a year, it’s going up at the level of inflation, maybe just slightly above inflation, we’ve made huge progress. And by the way, that is the single most important thing we could do in terms of reducing our deficit. That’s why we did it.”…Barack Obama

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I, therefore, intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt.”…Barack Obama

“the Times of the nineteenth of December had published the official forecasts of the output of various classes of consumption goods in the fourth quarter of
1983, which was also the sixth quarter of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. Today’s issue contained a statement of the actual output, from which it appeared that
the forecasts were in every instance grossly wrong. Winston’s job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones.”…George
Orwell, “1984”

Real unemployment rate 15 percent.

From the CBO February 2012.

“The rate of unemployment in the United States has
exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, making the past
three years the longest stretch of high unemployment in
this country since the Great Depression. Moreover, the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the
unemployment rate will remain above 8 percent until
2014. The official unemployment rate excludes those
individuals who would like to work but have not searched
for a job in the past four weeks as well as those who are
working part-time but would prefer full-time work; if
those people were counted among the unemployed, the
unemployment rate in January 2012 would have been
about 15 percent. Compounding the problem of high
unemployment, the share of unemployed people looking
for work for more than six months—referred to as the
long-term unemployed—topped 40 percent in December
2009 for the first time since 1948, when such data began
to be collected; it has remained above that level ever
since.”

http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/02-16-Unemployment.pdf
Obama budget deficits

From the CBO March 2012.

“This report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) presents an analysis of the proposals contained in the President’s budget request for fiscal year 2013. The analysis is based on CBO’s economic projections and estimating techniques (rather than the Administration’s) and incorporates estimates by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation for the President’s tax proposals.1

In conjunction with analyzing the President’s budget, CBO has updated its baseline budget projections, which were previously issued in January 2012. Unlike its estimates of the President’s budget, CBO’s baseline projections largely reflect the assumption that current tax and spending laws will remain unchanged, so as to provide a benchmark against which potential legislation can be measured. Under that assumption, CBO estimates that the deficit would total $1.2 trillion in 2012 and that cumulative deficits over the 2013–2022 period would amount to $2.9 trillion.”

http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43083

Obamacare cost

From the Amrican Enterprise Institute March 15, 2012.

“CBO: Obamacare could cost $2.1 trillion through 2022”

“According to a new government report, it turns out that more people than first expected will end up getting healthcare through the subsidized insurance exchanges and Medicaid rather than through their employers:

In the original analysis of the impact of the legislation, CBO and JCT estimated that, on balance, the number of people obtaining coverage through their employer would be about 3 million lower in 2019 under the legislation than under prior law. As reflected in CBO’s latest baseline projections, the two agencies now anticipate that, because of the ACA, about 3 million to 5 million fewer people, on net, will obtain coverage through their employer each year from 2019 through 2022 than would have been the case under prior law.

The results acknowledge that if a business chooses not to offer insurance coverage under the ACA, some workers might enroll in Medicaid or CHIP or be eligible to receive subsidies through the insurance exchanges. And as a result, the cost of those programs would increase.

Right now, the updated baseline CBO forecast sees the gross cost of Obamacare through 2022 as $1.8 trillion, a number which includes this new estimate of employee coverage. When you include new taxes, the net cost is $1.3 trillion. (Back in 2010, the ten-year, gross cost was a mere $940 billion, as the bill was structured to back end spending. But now instead of six years of spending estimates, we have nine.)

But under one CBO-JCT scenario, the gross costs through 2022 could be $2.1 trillion if even more businesses than expected decide not to offer health insurance and more people need government subsidized coverage.

But no worry, say the government bean counters, $386 billion in addition taxes (for a total of $895 billion) will cover the difference. First, there would be higher penalty payments by employers and individuals. Second, since health benefits are generally not taxed but wages and salaries are, a shift in the mix of compensation would raise federal revenues.”

http://blog.american.com/2012/03/cbo-obamcare-could-cost-2-1-trillion-through-2022/

Obamacare causes millions to lose employer coverage.

From human Events March 16, 2012.

“The latest revelation, reported at The Hill, is that ObamaCare could cause up to 20 million Americans to lose their health care coverage. There is a “tremendous amount of uncertainty” in the forecast, which is just what our fragile Obamanized economy needs right now, but 20 million is the CBO’s worst-case estimate. Maybe it will only be 3 to 5 million people.

The CBO is actually being very, very conservative in its damage estimates, as industry groups think ObamaCare will nuke closer to 50 million employer-provided policies over the next decade. Amusingly, the CBO points to RomneyCare in Massachusetts as “one piece of evidence that may be relevant” to its projections, as “employment-based health insurance appears to have increased since that state’s reforms.” It will be super awesome to hear Romney debate this with Obama.

ObamaCare kills health insurance by dumping so many mandates on employers that it becomes attractive for them to escape by dropping insurance coverage altogether. Even the CBO’s worst-case projections are underestimating the effect this will have on health insurance, in years to come. What do you think will happen to insurance companies that swiftly lose millions of customers to the “public exchanges?” What will happen to the prices they charge to their diminished customer base… and how will that, in turn, influence other businesses trying to decide whether dropping coverage makes sense?

It is nevertheless significant that the Congressional Budget Office, with its typical static-analysis caution, is predicting that ObamaCare might create a number of uninsured that dwarfs the uninsured population it was ostensibly created to help. If Obama’s true agenda is to destroy private health insurance and clear the way for a socialized medicine takeover, everything is proceeding according to plan.”

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=50264

 

73 Comments

Posted in Americans, Barack Obama, Budget, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Congress, Deficit, Economy, Employment, Government, Health Insurance, Healthcare bill, Jobs, Lies, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, ObamaCare, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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UNC tuition hikes, University of NC System raises tuition costs in dismal economy, Working students and families pay other’s tuition, Income redistribution

Posted on February 12, 2012 | 90 comments

UNC tuition hikes, University of NC System raises tuition costs in dismal economy, Working students and families pay other’s tuition, Income redistribution

“Guilford (Large NC County) appears on it’s way to a third consecutive year with annual jobless rates in double digits. Economists say that likely hasn’t happened since the Great Depression.”…Greensboro News Record December 2, 2011

“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher

A teachable moment.

Once again the Greensboro News Record has placed articles about the dismal jobs situation and economy in Guilford county and NC on the front page with  UNC, University of North Carolina University System tuition hikes. I congratulate them for that.

From the Greensboro News record February 11, 2012.

“Amid chants of protest from about 100 students, the UNC Board of Governors this morning approved President Tom Ross’ proposal for tuition and
fee hikes over the next two years.

Ross’ plan would raise tuition by an average of 8.8 percent across the system and keeps increases below 10 percent on every campus.

UNCG’s in-state undergraduates would see a $423, or 7.5 percent, increase in tuition and fees under Ross’ plan. Trustees had sought an increase of 7.8
percent.

N.C. A&T undergraduates from North Carolina would see an 8.4 percent, or $385, increase.

Ross’ plan also sets tuition increases for 2013-14. Tuition for UNCG resident undergraduates would increase $153, or 2.5 percent. Those at A&T would see an
increase of $200, or 4 percent.

Students from campuses across the state packed the lobby of the General Administration Building, showing their discontent over the hikes by carrying signs that, drawing on the Occupy movement, declared the board of governors as the one percent; beating drums and chanting throughout the entire meeting. They marched from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and were met by police officers, who explained there was no capacity for all of them in the meeting room.

“We’re trying to take part in the governance of the university!” they yelled in response.

“Our university!”

“No justice! No peace!”

When David Young, chairman of the board’s budget and finance committee, sought a motion to vote, a group of students inside the meeting room interrupted, chanting in part, “Your tuition hikes will shackle students with years of debt and force many to drop out of UNC system schools!”

When board members turned to discussing what percentage of tuition dollars should support needy college students, protesters in the lobby could be heard
shouting, “We want financial aid!”

Today’s vote caps months of intense debate over tuition, which the system has used in recent years to help make up for legislative cuts to its budget. The
hikes have forced more students to take on extra jobs to pay for school, or drop out altogether.”

http://www.news-record.com/content/2012/02/10/article/amid_protests_unc_system_approves_tuition_fees_hikes

From the print edition:

“The state mandates that at least 25 percent of the money from the tuition dollars go toward financial aid for needy students. Some board members recently have spoken out about that requirement, saying it essentially calls for students, who themselves may be struggling, to subsidize the education of other students.”

The teachable moment.

To the students, working families struggling to pay tuition:

Most people do not fit neatly into boxes that define Republican, Democrat, Independent, Conservative, Liberal, etc. The only tag I accept for myself is
fiscal conservative. I also believe in the US Constitution as the rule of law. At the end of the day it is all that we have to protect you and me.

I promise you, as a fiscal conservative that I am more concerned about your condition in life than the many politicians or liberals spewing platitudes about
educational concerns.

Some observations about the UNC tuition hikes:

I have watched some of these schools spending like drunken sailors for years, apparently not anticipating or properly reacting to the downturn in the
economy.

Colleges in NC and elsewhere spend other people’s money. As Margaret Thatcher stated: “They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money.”

These “educators” are supposed to be educating our young people. What kind of message does this send?

Welcome to the world of socialism, redistribution of wealth. In a way I am glad this is happening. A real world example of taking from the “rich” and giving to the “poor.”

I am on the side of the students. Not because they have a right to a college education, but because as responsible citizens we should endeavor to keep costs down and subsequently teach the ultimate lesson about survival and what bad government and socialist policys yield.

90 Comments

Posted in Budget, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Deficit, Economy, Government, NC, News, Newspapers, North Carolina, Socialists, Unemployment

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The Corruption of America, Porter Stansberry, America is in decline, Americans Are Getting Poorer Fast, Entitlement root of many serious cultural problems

Posted on January 16, 2012 | 156 comments

The Corruption of America, Porter Stansberry, America is in decline, Americans Are Getting Poorer Fast, Entitlement root of many serious cultural problems

The following are exerpts from a well written article by Porter Stansberry on many of the economic and social woes of America. The full article is worthy of your time.

“The Corruption of America”

“Why I’m still bullish on America
By: Porter Stansberry
The numbers tell us America is in decline… if not outright collapse.

I say “the numbers tell us” because I’ve become very sensitive to the impact this kind of statement has on people. When I warned about the impending
bankruptcy of General Motors in 2006 and 2007, readers actually blamed me for the company’s problems – as if my warnings to the public were the real problem, rather than GM’s $400 billion in debt.

The claim was absurd. But the resentment my work engendered was real.

So please… before you read this issue, which makes several arresting claims about the future of our country… understand I am only writing about the facts
as I find them today. I am only drawing conclusions based on the situation as it stands. I am not saying that these conditions can’t improve. Or that they
won’t improve.

The truth is, I am optimistic. I believe our country is heading into a crisis. But I also believe that… sooner or later… Americans will make the right
choices and put our country back on sound footing.

Please pay careful attention to the data I cite. And please send me corrections to the facts. I will happily publish any correction that can be
substantiated. But please don’t send me threats, accusations against my character, or baseless claims about my lack of patriotism. If I didn’t love our
country, none of these facts would bother me. I wouldn’t have bothered writing this letter.

I know this is a politically charged and emotional issue. My conclusions will not be easy for most readers to accept. Likewise, many of the things I am
writing about this month will challenge my subscribers to re-examine what they believe about their country. The facts about America today tell a painful
story about a country in a steep decline, beset by problems of its own making.

One last point, before we begin… I realize that this kind of macro-economic/political analysis is not, primarily, what you pay me for. You rightly expect me to provide you with investment opportunities – whether bull market, bear market, or total societal collapse. And that’s what I’ve done every month for more than 15 years.

But that’s not what I’ve done this month. You won’t find any investment ideas at all in these pages. This issue is unlike any other I have ever written.

I’m sure it will spark a wave of cancellations – costing me hundreds of thousands of dollars. I fear it will spark a tremendous amount of controversy. Many
people will surely accuse me of deliberately writing inflammatory things in order to stir the pot and gain attention. That’s not my intention. The truth is,
I’ve gone to great lengths throughout my career to protect my privacy.

I am speaking out now because I believe someone must. And I have the resources to do it. I am sharing these ideas with my subscribers because I know we have arrived at the moment of a long-brewing crisis.

Our political leaders, our business leaders, and our cultural leaders have made a series of catastrophic choices. The result has been a long decline in
America’s standard of living.

For decades, we have papered over these problems with massive amounts of borrowing. But now, our debts total close to 400% of GDP, and America is the world’s largest borrower (after being the world’s largest creditor only 40 years ago)… And the holes in our society can no longer be hidden…

We’ve reached the point where we will have to fix what lies at the heart of America’s decline… or be satisfied with a vastly lower standard of living in
the future.

How do I know? How do I statistically define the decline of America?

The broadest measure of national wealth is per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). Economists use this figure to judge standards of living around the world.
It shows the value of the country’s annual production divided by the number of its citizens. No, the production isn’t actually divided among all the
citizens, but this measure provides us with a fair benchmark to compare different economies around the world. Likewise, this measure shows the growth (or the decline) in wealth in societies across time.

So… is America growing richer or poorer based on per-capita GDP? Seems like a simple enough question, doesn’t it? Is our economy growing faster than our
population? Are we, as individuals, becoming more affluent? Or is the pie, measured on a per-person basis, growing smaller?

This is the most fundamental measure of the success or the failure of any political system or culture. Are the legal and social rules we live under aiding
our economic development or holding us back? What do the numbers say?

Unfortunately, it’s a harder question to answer than it should be. The problem is, we don’t have a sound currency with which to measure GDP through time.
Until 1971, the U.S. dollar was defined as a certain amount of gold. And the price of gold was fixed by international agreement. It didn’t actually begin to
trade freely until 1975. Therefore, the value of the U.S. dollar (and thus the value of U.S. production, which is measured in dollars) was manipulated higher
for many years.

Even today, our government’s nominal GDP figures are greatly influenced by inflation. The influence of inflation is particularly pernicious in GDP studies.
You see, inflation, which actually reduces our standard of living, drives up the amount of nominal GDP. So it creates the appearance of a wealthier
country… while the nation is actually getting poorer.”

“You see, I believe the decline of our country is primarily a decline of our culture.

We have lost our sense of honor, humility, and the dedication to personal responsibility that, for more than 200 years, made our country the greatest hope for mankind. I want to detail some of the factors that gave rise to the current entitlement society. We have become a country of people who believe their well-being is someone else’s responsibility.

I’ve labeled these problems: The Corruption of America.

These problems manifest themselves in different ways across institutions in all parts of our society. But at their root, they are simply facets of the same
stone. They are all part of the same essential problem.

The corruption of America isn’t happening in one part of our country… or in one type of institution. It is happening across the landscape of our society,
in almost every institution. It’s a kind of moral decay… a kind of greed… a kind of desperate grasp for power… And it’s destroying our nation.

The Ethos of ‘Getting Yours’

Americans know, in their bones, that something terrible is happening. Maybe you can’t articulate it. Maybe you don’t have the statistics to understand
exactly what’s going on. But my bet is, you think about it a lot.”

“Bloomberg news published an article based on confidential sources about how Henry Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and the Republican U.S. Treasury secretary during the financial crisis, held a secret meeting with the top 20 hedge-fund managers in New York City in late July 2008. This was about two weeks after he testified to Congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were “well-capitalized.””

“This was the most outrageous example of graft and corruption I have ever seen. Certainly it involves more billions of dollars in misappropriated value than
any other similar story I can recall. These managers had the risk-free ability to make tens of billions of dollars, if not hundreds of billions, by using
derivatives to capitalize on what they knew was the imminent collapse of the world’s largest mortgage bank. Who picked up the tab? You know perfectly well.
It was you and me, the taxpayers.”

“What does that say about our country when even the most egregious kind of corruption – involving hundreds of billions of dollars – is simply ignored?

It seems like everyone in our country has lost his moral bearing, from the highest government officials and senior corporate leaders all the way down to
schoolteachers and local community leaders. The ethos of my fellow Americans seems to have changed from one of personal integrity and responsibility to
“getting yours” – the all-out attempt, by any means possible, to get the most amount of benefits with the least amount of work.”

“It is routinely alleged in national political debates that something is fundamentally unfair and un-American about the huge “wealth gap” between the poorest Americans and the wealthiest. Some politicians like to argue that the poor never have a real shot at the American dream, and as a nation, we owe them more and more of our resources to correct this injustice. Most important, it is alleged that only the government has the resources to correct this inequality.

This is a dangerous notion…

First, it promotes the idea of entitlement. Entitlement is a fairly new idea in the American political lexicon – perhaps because most of our nation’s wealth
is still fairly new. The American idea of entitlement argues that because you were born into a rich society, other people owe you something. The idea has
become pervasive in our culture. It underlies the basic assumptions behind the idea of a “wealth gap.” Implicit is the assumption that successful Americans
haven’t rightfully earned their wealth… that in one way or another, they’ve taken advantage of the society and have an obligation to give back most of what
they’ve “taken.”

As you’ll see, I believe the idea of entitlement lies at the root of many of our most serious cultural problems.

The more obvious problem is the idea that the government is responsible for fixing the “wealth gap.” But the government has proved wholly ineffective at
dealing with poverty in America. The data is nearly conclusive that government efforts are far more likely to be the cause of the wealth gap than the
solution.”

“It has now been almost 50 years since the start of the War on Poverty, President Lyndon Johnson’s program to radically increase domestic welfare spending.
These programs and their various spinoffs have been at the center of Democratic politics ever since. In fact, if you compare speeches about these programs from the mid-1960s until today, you will find the verbiage never changes. Obama is merely echoing the same calls for “social justice” that Robert Kennedy used in his ill-fated 1968 campaign for president.”
“And what do the Democrats do with this power? They push a form of American socialism. This political system features transfer payments, government jobs, and lucrative government contracts to voters in exchange for political support – and in many cases, outright bribes. They do all of these things under the cover
of “progressive” politics and “social justice.”

But if you brush away the veneer, what you find is a history of abuse of power, corruption, and outright bribery. Conyers himself was found guilty of several
minor ethical violations in 2006 – mainly of using his staff as personal servants, forcing them to babysit and chauffer his children. In 1992, he was one of
the most egregious abusers of the House Banking scandal. He wrote 273 bad checks and left his account overdrawn for nine months. But that’s all small-time
graft compared to how things really work in his office and in his district.

How do I know? Well… just ask yourself where Conyers’ wife sleeps today.

Monica Conyers, the wife of the second-longest tenured congressman in the United States, sleeps in a federal prison in West Virginia. She pled guilty to
bribery in June 2009. She is serving a 37-month sentence for accepting $60,000 in bribes as the president pro tempore of the Detroit City Council. And yet…
and yet… Conyers won re-election handily in 2010.”

“Government Employee Unions:
Organized Corruption

A big part of the answer lies in understanding the key mechanism in the Democratic Party’s funding system. (Don’t worry… so far, we’ve been talking about Democratic Party failures, but I’ll get to the Republicans next. The corruption of America is a bipartisan problem.)”

“A government union turns the public servant into the public’s master. It is a means of using the government’s own spending to organize control of that
government. And that is exactly what’s happened. The government, unlike private companies, isn’t limited by normal economics because the government controls the monopoly on force and has the power to levy taxes.”

“Our country’s core problems are not found in only one political party.

There is just as much corruption, if not more, on the Republican side of the aisle. It was, for example, as I pointed out earlier, a white, Republican-
appointed Treasury secretary (Henry Paulson) who tipped off 20 top hedge-fund managers about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s imminent collapse after assuring the public that it wouldn’t happen.

For big business, the powerful role of government in our society is simply too valuable to ignore. And the amount of corruption it inspires is stunning. Few
politicians even bother trying to hide the fact that they’re bought and sold like furniture.

Take Newt Gingrich. The white, Republican former House speaker was paid $1.6 million for “consulting” by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during a period of time the two firms were under constant attack by Newt’s fellow Republicans. Were the attacks efforts to truly reform a major threat to our financial system… or were they merely shakedowns? All we know for certain is Fannie and Freddie collapsed, just as many Republicans warned they would. The Republican effort to reform the firms failed. Newt collected $1.6 million.

Fannie and Freddie could end up costing taxpayers as much as $500 billion. No, I’m not ignoring the colossal role the Democrats played in staffing Fannie and
Freddie, lobbying Congress for the companies, etc. I’m simply pointing out that, in Washington, everything and everyone seems to be for sale, on both sides
of the aisle.”

“Here’s a simple solution. Hold the senators and congressmen personally liable for any deficit, each year. We elected these people to be our leaders. We did
not elect them to spend us into bankruptcy. We did not elect them to feather their own nests with unlimited public spending. We did not elect them to buy
votes. The only way to stop what’s happening is to make them personally responsible for their actions. Either they will balance the budget or face personal
financial ruin.

Demanding personal accountability for fiduciary responsibilities would have an immediate and profound impact on our society. It would wipe out the
entitlement mentality that’s destroying our society – almost overnight.”

“I do agree that the nation will soon face a choice between heading down the path towards fascism… or turning back the power of government and restoring the limited Republic that was our birthright. I continue to believe Americans will choose personal liberty.

I believe they will choose more freedom rather than more totalitarian rule. I don’t believe Americans will tolerate martial law for long – even in the advent
of a real emergency, which I do believe will occur.”

“What gives me confidence for the future? Gun sales, for one thing. U.S. citizens legally own around 270 million firearms – about 88 guns per 100 citizens
(including children) today.

That’s a hard population to police without its consent. America is the No. 1 country in the world as ranked by the number of guns per-capita. That plays a
major factor in the kind of government you will see take root in America. Things might go too far in this country for a while… And I’d argue they’ve been
going the wrong way for too long. But the government can only take things so far before they’ll be faced with a very angry, well-armed opposition.

If the government attempts to take our guns… my opinion would change immediately. But that’s one right the Supreme Court has been strengthening recently.
It gives me hope that most people in America still understand that the right to bear arms has little to do with protecting ourselves from crime and
everything to do with protecting ourselves from government…”

Read more:

http://www.stansberryresearch.com/pub/reports/201112PSI_issue.html

Thank you, Porter Stansberry,  for this well written and insightful article.

I urge you all to read the entire article and pass it along to your elected officials and those running for office.

156 Comments

Posted in America, Americans, Barack Obama, Budget, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Congress, corruption, Democratic Socialists of America, Democrats, Economy, Financial crisis, Government, Money, Obama, Pay to play politics, Politics, republicans, Socialists, United States, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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NC unemployment worst since Great Depression, UNCG and government spending spree, Other people’s money, Obama supporters predictable

Posted on December 4, 2011 | 23 comments

NC unemployment worst since Great Depression, UNCG and government spending spree, Other people’s money, Obama supporters predictable

“Guilford (Large NC County) appears on it’s way to a third consecutive year with annual jobless rates in double digits. Economists say that likely hasn’t happened since the Great Depression.”…Greensboro News Record December 2, 2011

“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher

Spending other People’s Money.

From Citizen Wells November 16, 2011.

“UNCG proposes 10 percent hike in tuition, fees”

“Tuition would rise 10 percent for UNCG students next year according to a proposal the university’s tuition and fee committee presented Tuesday night to the Student Government Association.

In-state undergraduates would see a $660 increase in their bills next year — an extra $345 for tuition and $315 for fees, bringing total tuition and fees to $6,158.

The increase would generate $7.4 million, with half of it used to offset budget reductions. The rest of the money would be used for need-based financial aid and pay increases for faculty, who have gone without raises in recent years.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/uncg-10-percent-tuition-fee-hike-proposal-660-increase-in-state-university-of-nc-at-greensboro-spending-like-drunken-sailors-out-of-control-expansion/

From Citizen Wells December 3, 2011.

From Rush Limbaugh December 2, 2011.

“Regime Manipulates Numbers to Get Unemployment Headline Under 9%”
“Bloomberg News is even reporting this means that more people left the workforce than got jobs.  Now, stop and think of this.  More people left the workforce than got jobs, and the unemployment rate goes down?  We’re dealing here with a serious form of corruption, manipulation of data; but, we all knew it was coming.  After all, we’re talking about the regime.  We knew this was coming.  We know the fact, we know the histoire, that no president’s been reelected with an unemployment rate higher than 8%.  So here we are 11 months away from the next election, voila! Heading into the Christmas, slash, holiday season, and we’re at 8.6%, the 0.6 doesn’t matter, we’re at 8%.  And the media is having orgasms out there, O-gasms.”

 https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/unemployment-rate-lies-exagerations-obama-lies-315000-americans-left-the-labor-force-worst-jobless-figures-since-great-depression-in-nc/

The Greensboro News and Record on December 2, 2011 presented an interesting juxtaposition of insanity on the front page followed by a moment of clarity from an informed citizen.

Left front top.

“UNCG students would see a 10 percent increase in tuition next year under a plan the university’s board of trustees will vote on today.

But they could see additional increases as high as 10 percent annually for three years beyond that under a proposal the trustees are also considering.”

Later in the day we learn.

“Update: UNCG trustees approve tuition, fee hikes”

“UNCG’s trustees this morning unanimously approved a plan to increase tuition 10 percent next year, as well as a proposal that could boost tuition as much as 10 percent for three years beyond.

Following a recommendation from UNCG’s tuition and fee committee, trustees voted to raise tuition by $345 for in-state undergraduates and fees by $315 for 2012-13, bringing total tuition and fees to $6,153.

But they also approved a proposal from Chancellor Linda Brady that would allow her to seek additional increases of up to 3.5 percent for another three years. That supplemental increase would be in addition to any other campus- initiated tuition increase the university seeks.”
http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/12/02/article/uncg_approves_extended_fee_hikes

On the top right front of the December 2 edition we have:

“Jobless figures worst in 80 years”

“data released Thursday by the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina show that Guilford appears on it’s way to a third consecutive year with annual jobless rates in double digits.

Economists say that likely hasn’t happened since the Great Depression.

“I suspect we would have to go back to the 1930’s (to find that),” said Don Jud, professor emeritus at UNCG’s Bryan School of Business and Economics.”

 I would provide a link but when I last checked this site was the only one that I found reporting this on the internet.

Anyone else see the irony, stupidity and connections to the Obama administration in this?

In the same December 2 edition of the News and Record on December 2 on the Opinion page the following astute observation was made:

“Athletic department drains UNCG”
“By Christopher C. Tew

Let’s examine Chancellor Linda Brady’s 10 percent solution to UNCG’s education costs:
Knowing that the new legislative majority wouldn’t sufficiently fund any level of education, UNCG proposed a 2011-12 tuition and fees schedule that has forced out several hundred students whose families couldn’t afford increases of more than $500, about what students must pay, after a 10.6 percent increase, to subsidize an athletic department of 250 athletes and 70 coaches and staff.
With incredibly poor timing, UNCG also limited enrollment “educational opportunities,” and thus income, to raise standards in an economic climate where college graduates have better chances of finding work.
To reconcile these incompatibilities, Brady proposes a 10 percent solution: increases raising $7.5 million; increases redistributing some families’ income to provide loans and grants for others; increases giving to UNCG’s athletic department, which teaches no credit courses, employs no one who addresses UNCG’s educational or research missions, and redistributes mainly North Carolina income to mainly out-of-state athletes because UNCG’s teams don’t generate enough interest and earned revenue to cover costs.
This 10 percent solution is typical of an administration that has botched the mergers of two academic divisions, demoralized and alienated its faculty and staff with heavy-handed arrogance, and plans to force students to pay for extravagant discretionary construction, most of it more suitably funded, accomplished and managed by free-enterprise firms, while the campus library goes without books and journals and is left to raise its own funds for a long-needed media center.
UNCG should simply disband its athletic department. The freed-up resources would exceed Brady’s 10 percent solution with no net increase in student costs. Long-term savings from salaries, benefits and NCAA obligations could fund ample intramural sports and improve neglected faculty compensation.
Brady might also augment the $324,000 compensation she apparently finds too meager.”

http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/12/01/article/athletic_department_drains_uncg

23 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Board of Education, Budget, Citizen News, CitizenWells, Education, Employment, Government, NC, News, Newspapers, Obama, Obama administration, Unemployment

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UNCG 10 percent tuition fee hike proposal, $660 increase in state, University of NC at Greensboro, Spending like drunken sailors, Out of control expansion

Posted on November 16, 2011 | 14 comments

UNCG 10 percent tuition fee hike proposal, $660 increase in state, University of NC at Greensboro, Spending like drunken sailors, Out of control expansion

Drive through the campus of UNCG, the University of NC at Greensboro, on any day and you will notice a plethora of Obama stickers. Converse with the faculty and staff and the Obama, left wing support will be obvious. Therefore, what I am about to report will come as no surprise. The same kind of mentality that pervades the Obama camp, permeates UNCG and many other colleges and universities. Spending other people’s money.

Sadly this happens all too often in “institutions of higher learning,” where our young people are supposed to be prepared for life, to manage their own finances.

From the Greensboro News and Record November 16, 2011.

“UNCG proposes 10 percent hike in tuition, fees”

“Tuition would rise 10 percent for UNCG students next year according to a proposal the university’s tuition and fee committee presented Tuesday night to the Student Government Association.

In-state undergraduates would see a $660 increase in their bills next year — an extra $345 for tuition and $315 for fees, bringing total tuition and fees to $6,158.

The increase would generate $7.4 million, with half of it used to offset budget reductions. The rest of the money would be used for need-based financial aid and pay increases for faculty, who have gone without raises in recent years.

UNC leaders are allowing chancellors to propose increases above the 6.5 percent cap to help make up for budget cuts.

The universities’ boards of trustees and the UNC Board of Governors must approve any tuition increases.

The Board of Governors isn’t expected to vote until February but has asked campuses to submit their proposals by early December.

UNCG Chancellor Linda Brady said next year’s proposed increase is a temporary salve.

“That doesn’t restore the $26 million cut that we took at UNCG just this year,” she told students and faculty during the meeting in the Elliott University Center.

The meeting got off to a rocky start, with a group of about a dozen students interrupting it, calling the meeting a “sham.” They recited from slips of paper they held, demanding that there be no hike in tuition.

They also asked that the money UNCG is using to build student housing in the Glenwood neighborhood be used to close the budget gap.

Brady said housing fees will repay the debt on that project.

University police escorted the group from the room.

While the remainder of the meeting was mostly civil, students did ask some pointed questions, such as the amount of Brady’s salary and whether administrators would be willing to take a pay cut.

Brady, who answered that she makes $324,000 annually, said that employees have not been given pay raises in four years.”

Read more:

http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/11/15/article/uncg_proposes_10_percent_tuitionfees_hike

I am infuriated and insulted on several levels by this move.

  • I am a lifelong resident of NC and this reflects poorly on the state.
  • Education and influences on young people is one of my concerns. Raising costs by 10 percent in the worst economy in my lifetime is an outrage.
  • I began college at UNCG and was on their first wrestling team and the golf team. Unlike Steve Jobs who made a conscious decision to leave a college curriculum and seek knowledge independently, I lucked into computer software classes taught by an IBM employee. I took several more classes at UNCG, other colleges as well as from the IBM Education Center in Washington, DC. I thank God that I was removed from the liberal arts atmosphere at UNCG, even though then they exercised more control over spending.
  • I taught college level computer science courses years ago (not at UNCG.) I have insights into the academic  and business worlds.
  • I have watched UNCG for years spending like drunken sailors. They seem to be more concerned about building and expansion than education and keeping it affordable for more students. 

The article states:

“The meeting got off to a rocky start, with a group of about a dozen students interrupting it, calling the meeting a “sham.” They recited from slips of paper they held, demanding that there be no hike in tuition.

They also asked that the money UNCG is using to build student housing in the Glenwood neighborhood be used to close the budget gap.

Brady said housing fees will repay the debt on that project.”

The students ask a valid question. “will repay”. When?

I have watched UNCG spend enormous sums on athletic facilities, student housing and generally swallowing up property surrounding the campus, including the Glenwood area.

UNCG Chancellor Linda Brady stated that she makes $324,000 annually and that there have been no pay raises in four years. Where I come from, $324,000 is a lot of pay for poor performance.

Perhaps Chancellor Brady should be removed, with a savings $324,000, along with others responsible for this fiasco, and replaced for a while by a volunteer panel of business people.

14 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Budget, Citizen News, CitizenWells, Deficit, Education, Liberalism, NC, News, North Carolina, US economy

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Obama jobs speech, September 8, 2011, Joint session of Congress, More shovel ready jobs?, More Obama promises, More Obama spending

Posted on September 8, 2011 | 413 comments

Obama jobs speech, September 8, 2011, Joint session of Congress, More shovel ready jobs?, More Obama promises, More Obama spending

***  UPDATE BELOW  ***

From the Chicago Tribune September 8, 2011.

“President Barack Obama will lay out a jobs
package worth more than $300 billon on Thursday, staking his
re-election hopes on a call for urgent bipartisan action to revive the
faltering economy.

With his poll numbers sliding to new lows amid voter frustration with
9.1 percent unemployment, Obama will make tax cuts for middle-class
households and businesses the centerpiece of the plan and will press
for new spending to repair roads, bridges and other deteriorating
infrastructure.

He will use his televised speech before a joint session of the U.S.
Congress, at 7 p.m. EDT, to urge passage of those measures by
year-end.

If congressional Republicans reject his remedies, his strategy will be
to paint them as obstructionists and blame them for the stagnating
economy.

Stubbornly high unemployment has heightened fears that the economy
could be headed for another recession. Net employment growth
registered zero in August as a budget standoff in Washington and the
European debt crisis spooked businesses and consumers.

Obama is under intense pressure to change perceptions that he has
shown weak leadership. His economic stewardship has been criticized by
both Republicans and fellow Democrats, casting a cloud over his
prospects for re-election in November 2012.”

“Republicans have derided an $800 billion economic stimulus package
that Obama pushed through Congress in 2009 as wasteful spending and
have pushed for immediate cuts in the deficit.

Democrats say that while long-term deficits must be addressed, the
economy needs a short-term fiscal boost.

Media reports have put the size of Obama’s jobs package at upward of
$300 billion. CNN quoted sources saying it could top $400 billion. The
White House would not confirm the reports.”

“Republican Senator Lamar Alexander said Obama should take
responsibility for making the economy worse.

“Unemployment is worse, housing is worse, the debt is worse, and he’s
done all that by throwing a big wet blanket over the economy with his
regulatory, tax and healthcare policies,” he said.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-obama-jobstre781765-20110902,0,2398267.story

What Obama stated on March 3, 2009.
    “Two weeks ago, I signed into law the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history.
 And already, its impact is being felt across this nation.
Hardworking families can now worry a little less about next month’s
bills because of the tax cut they’ll soon find in the mail.  Renewable
energy companies that were once downsizing are now finding ways to
expand.  And transportation projects that were once on hold are now
starting up again — as part of the largest new investment in
America’s infrastructure since President Eisenhower built the
Interstate Highway System.

    Of the 3.5 million jobs that will be created and saved over the
next two years as a result of this recovery plan, 400,000 will be jobs
rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and schools, repairing our
faulty levees and dams, connecting nearly every American to broadband,
and upgrading the buses and trains that commuters take every day.
Many of these projects will be coordinated by Secretary LaHood and all
of you at the Department of Transportation.  And I want you to know
that the American public is grateful to public servants like you —
men and women whose work isn’t always recognized, but whose jobs are
critical to our nation’s safety, security, and prosperity.  You have
never been more important than you are right now, and for that we are
all grateful.  (Applause.)

    Now, in the coming days and weeks, my administration will be
announcing more details about the kinds of transportation projects
that will be launched as part of the recovery plan.  But today, I want
to speak about an investment we are making in one part of our
infrastructure.  Through the Recovery Act, we will be investing $28
billion in our highways, money that every one of our 50 states can
start using immediately to put people back to work.  It’s an
investment being made at an unprecedented pace, thanks in large part
to Joe Biden, who’s leading the effort to get the money out the door
quickly.  Because of Joe, and because of all the governors and mayors,
county and city officials who are helping implement this plan, I can
say that 14 days after I signed our Recovery Act into law, we are
seeing shovels hit the ground.”

“Now, we have another responsibility.  Having inherited a
trillion-dollar deficit that we’re working to cut in half, we also
need to ensure that tax dollars aren’t wasted on projects that don’t
deliver results.  And that’s why, as part of his duty, Joe will keep
an eye on how precious tax dollars are being spent.  To you, he’s Mr.
Vice President, but around the White House, we call him the Sheriff —
(laughter) — because if you’re misusing taxpayer money, you’ll have
to answer to him.”

Read more:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-and-vice-president-transportation-infrastructure

From The Blaze October 13, 2010.

“Obama: ‘No Such Thing’ as a Shovel-Ready Job”
“The president has offered a number of his own “serious proposals,” not
the least of which was the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
The underwhelming fallout from the $787 billion investment is one of
many reasons the American public is challenging the Democratic
leadership this year.

In reflecting on his time in office, the president laments that he
looks too much like “the same old tax-and-spend Democrat,“ and
realized that ”there’s no such thing as shovel-ready projects.”

But the promise of these “shovel-ready” jobs was one of the Democrats’
main selling points in lobbying for the stimulus plan. In December
2008, the then-President-elect Obama pledged, “We’ve got shovel-ready
projects all across the country that governors and mayors are pleading
to fund.  And the minute we can get those investments to the state
level, jobs are going to be created.”  Just one day later, the
president-elect presented his ideas for a “bold agenda” of
“shovel-ready projects,” promising the creation of 2.5 million new
jobs when he took office.”
In March 2009, President Obama boasted that just “14 days after I
signed our Recovery Act into law we are seeing shovels hit the
ground.”

“At the same time, Vice President Joe Biden, the White House’s de facto
stimulus shepherd, said the stimulus act “provides a necessary jolt to
our economy to implement what we refer [to] as ‘shovel-ready’
projects, meaning projects that were on the books that were needed in
the municipalities and the states that would improve the quality of
life for our constituents, the competitiveness of our businesses, but
were unable to be funded.”

Months later when the economy hadn’t begun to turn around, Obama
continued to promise “shovel-ready” jobs.  In August he bragged that
the stimulus helped fund “almost 100 shovel-ready transportation
projects… which are beginning to create jobs.”

A year later, Biden continues to parrot the White House’s claims that
“shovel-ready” projects were putting Americans to work, despite
stagnate unemployment levels.  “Last summer… we had 1,750 highway
projects that were underway — ‘shovel-ready,’” he said this summer.”

Read more:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/obama-no-such-thing-as-a-shovel-ready-job/

*** Update from the Guardian September 9, 2011 7:45 AM ***

“President Obama’s jobs speech to Congress – as it happened”

“9.10pm: Here’s a summary of tonight’s speech on jobs by Obama:

• Barack Obama unveiled his American Jobs Act, designed to boost employment and costing $447bn. Obama repeatedly urged Congress to “pass this jobs plan right away”

• The bulk of the plan is for $245bn in reduced payroll taxes, designed to make it cheaper for business to hire new staff, as well as spending on building infrastructure and education, including funds to retain teachers and retraining for the long-term unemployed

• Under the act, an average American family would receive a tax cut of $1,500 in 2012

• Economists said the plan, if adopted in full, could support two million new jobs and cut the unemployment rate from 9% down towards 8%

• But the plan contained little to address the crushing burden of America’s housing market, and for that reason was rejected as “inadequate” by some economists

• Republican leaders gave a tepid but civil welcome to Obama’s speech, without offering specific support, although more conservative Republicans remained staunchly opposed to any new spending

• The new spending and lower revenue would have to be offset by further cuts to the federal budget under the recent debt ceiling deal, to be identified by the congressional “super committee”, with Obama pledging to submit a revised set of budget changes”

Read more:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2011/sep/08/obama-jobs-speech-congress-live

413 Comments

Posted in 2009 Stimulus Bill, Americans, Barack Obama, Budget, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Congress, DC, Deficit, Democrats, Economy, Election 2012, Government, Jobs, Joe Biden, Lies, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, republicans, The Case Against Barack Obama, United States, US economy, US House of Representatives, US Senate, Washington DC, white house

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Obama lies about taxes, Truth about taxes from John Hammer of the Rhinoceros Times, August 11, 2011, Federal dollars buy frills

Posted on August 12, 2011 | 55 comments

Obama lies about taxes, Truth about taxes from John Hammer of the Rhinoceros Times, August 11, 2011, Federal dollars buy frills

“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher

I have been a fan of John Hammer of the Rhinoceros Times for years. So was my late father. I met with John several weeks ago and had a great discussion. I half jokingly stated that we may be the only 2 reporting entities in the area providing real news. John Hammer provides his article, “Under The Hammer” in print as well as the internet every Thursday. Sadly, in the home state of Edward R. Murrow, you will be hard pressed to find the truth in print elsewhere.

From John Hammer August 11, 2011.

“Obama continues to say that the wealthy have “to pay their fair share” of taxes. What Obama doesn’t say is what that fair share is. Right now the top 50 percent of wage earners pay 97 percent of the taxes. The top 5 percent pay about 57 percent of the taxes and the top 1 percent pay 37 percent of the taxes.

It looks like the wealthy are paying their fair share, but it would be informative for Obama to tell the American people just what he thought a fair share for the wealthy was. Should the upper 50 percent of wage earners pay 99 percent of the taxes? Should the top 1 percent pay 75 percent?

Maybe the problem is not that the rich aren’t paying enough but that the federal government is giving away too much to whom it defines as poor. There is now a federal program to provide cell phones to poor people and they get 250 minutes of free time a month. How can a cell phone be a necessity? I lived most of my life without a cell phone and thought I was doing pretty well.

The average family defined by the federal government as living in poverty lives in an air-conditioned residence with two color televisions, cable or satellite service, a DVD and a VCR player and a PlayStation or an Xbox. Along with the refrigerator, oven and stove they have a microwave and a coffee maker in the kitchen. They also have a washer and dryer, ceiling fans and a cordless phone.

So people living in poverty live better than the Muse and I because we only have one television and don’t have cable or satellite, and we don’t have a game box. We didn’t have a microwave until a friend who was horrified that we lived in the dark ages gave us her old one. It is used mainly for heating milk, although I understand it has other purposes.

The average family living in poverty in the US isn’t struggling to buy food or pay medical bills but does struggle to pay the cable or satellite television bill and for air-conditioning in the summer.

These are people who qualify for government assistance because they, according to the federal definition, live in poverty.

The federal government can define poverty any way it wants. It would appear that the definition of poverty has gotten so high that people who don’t need help but are willing to accept help are getting a lot of federal dollars.

Why on earth should the federal government be helping families pay their cable bill or make the payments on their second television?

Obama is right, all Americans need to pay their fair share, but the problem is not at the top or at the bottom. Everyone should be able to agree that people who really need assistance should have it available. It appears that a large part of the problem may be that poverty has suffered from the equivalent of grade inflation. People who don’t need help are getting lots of it.”

Read more:

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-c-2011-08-10-209180.112113-Under-the-Hammer.html

55 Comments

Posted in Americans, Barack Obama, Budget, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Government, Lies, Money, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Socialists, United States, Washington DC, white house

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Rasmussen poll 17 percent say government has consent of the governed, Dow plummets, Colin Powell challenged on Obama birth certificate

Posted on August 8, 2011 | 51 comments

Rasmussen poll 17 percent say government has consent of the governed, Dow plummets, Colin Powell challenged on Obama birth certificate

There is much to report today, August 8, 2011. The stock market is plummeting as I write this, Colin Powell has been challenged by the Birther Summit about Obama’s birth certificate, S&P continues to downgrade entities associated with the federal government and Obama et al blame everyone else. But wait, there is more. A new Rasmussen Poll.

“New Low: 17% Say U.S. Government Has Consent of the Governed”

“Fewer voters than ever feel the federal government has the consent of the governed.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 17% of Likely U.S. Voters think the federal government today has the consent of the governed.  Sixty-nine percent (69%) believe the government does not have that consent. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The number of voters who feel the government has the consent of the governed – a foundational principle, contained in the Declaration of Independence – is down from 23% in early May and has fallen to its lowest level measured yet.

Perhaps it’s no surprise voters feel this way since only eight percent (8%) believe the average member of Congress listens to his or her constituents more than to their party leaders. That, too, is the lowest level measured to date.  Eighty-four percent (84%) think the average congressman listens to party leaders more than the voters they represent.

Voter approval of the job Congress is doing has fallen to a new low – for the second month in a row. Only six percent (6%) now rate Congress’ performance as good or excellent.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 1-2, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Democrats and voters not affiliated with either political party are more inclined to think the government does have the consent of the governed, but sizable majorities of all three groups don’t believe that to be the case.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of the Political Class, on the other hand,  feel the government does have the consent of the governed. Seventy-seven percent (77%)  of Mainstream voters disagree.

Most voters across the demographic board believe the average congressman listens to their party leaders more than the people they represent.

Voters also are more convinced than ever that most congressmen are crooks.

Most voters still lack confidence even in their own local Congress member. Given a choice between keeping the entire Congress or picking a new one and starting over, most voters want to dump all the incumbents.”

Read more:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2011/new_low_17_say_u_s_government_has_consent_of_the_governed

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