Category Archives: Deficit

Obama News April 30, 2012, Economics 101 companies do not pay taxes, Consumers pay in higher prices job cuts and reduced pay, US economy slowdown caused by Obama taxes and policies

Posted on April 29, 2012 | 38 comments

Obama News April 30, 2012, Economics 101 companies do not pay taxes, Consumers pay in higher prices job cuts and reduced pay, US economy slowdown caused by Obama taxes and policies

“What do you think a stimulus is? It’s spending – that’s the whole point! Seriously.”…Barack Obama

“…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

“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″

Citizen Wells has been writing for some time about the impact of high gas prices and taxation on the economy. One of the most important ideas presented here is the fact that companies do not pay taxes, consumers do.

From Citizen Wells April 3, 2012.

“First, the corporate tax rate in the US is near or at the top in the world.

US oil companies pay enormous amounts of taxes. How does this compare to one of Obama’s pay to play buddies GE? Check this out for yourself.

Here is the really important point about raising taxes on oil companies and other companies.

Companies (corporations, LLC’s, partnerships, sole proprietors) do not pay taxes!

Consumers pay for the tax increases.

Taxes are part of the cost of doing business.

A tax increase to a company results in some combination of the following:

Product and service price increases.

Employee and hours cutbacks.

Reduced hiring.

Does any of this sound familiar?”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/obama-lies-on-oil-companies-taxes-profits-and-impact-on-consumers-obama-energy-policy-based-on-chicago-pay-to-play-politics-truth-team-notification/

Here is another example.

From McClatchy News April 27, 2012.

“Weak growth of U.S. economy in first quarter renews fears of stalled recovery”

“The U.S. economy’s weaker-than-expected growth in the first three months of this year renewed concerns Friday that the nation’s fragile recovery might stall. ”
“The real disappointment in Friday’s report was a drop in business fixed investment of 2.1 percent and in spending on business structures of a whopping 12 percent. Spending on equipment was up by only a weak 1.7 percent, which partly reflects the end of a tax break for business investment last year.”

““I think what it says is consumers are coming back a bit, but firms are still holding back. They don’t feel confident enough in the recovery to start adding to capacity” and expanding, said Bill Craighead, an economics professor at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. Consumers appear to be making up for cautious spending in recent years, more confident that the worst is over, he suggested.

The same can’t be said for American businesses.

“Given corporate profits, you might have hoped for more investment growth,” Craighead said. The economy continues to “hit the snooze button. … It’s acceptable growth in the normal economy, but given how many people are unemployed it is disappointing.””

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/27/146970/us-economy-slows-to-22-percent.html

From McClatchy News April 23, 2012.

“U.S. economy faces likely slowdown, big year-end decisions”

“The U.S. economy is expected to slow later this year, dragged down by slowing global growth, rising anxiety about the elections and the specter of gridlock in Washington over urgent tax, spending and debt deadlines. The Bush-era tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 and the payroll tax cut of the past two years expire at year’s end, when last year’s debt deal also will force across-the-board cuts in federal spending unless Congress and the president strike new deals, but there’s no consensus on that.

A spate of recent indicators punctuated fears that the economy is stalling. March delivered only 120,000 new jobs, and the latest manufacturing and real estate data softened. Some economists say the economy’s strong six-month run through March might not be sustainable.

“If we’re right and growth was overstated in the first quarter and we see payback in the second and third quarters of this year, then it’s going to raise a lot of questions of just how much progress we’ve made over the past few years,” said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, N.C.”

“Recent U.S. data have been discouraging for what remains the world’s largest economy.

In the two weeks after the April 6 release of the weak March employment numbers, first-time jobless claims rose. The Labor Department said last Thursday that the four-week average for unemployment claims stood at 374,750 _ the highest since January.

Additionally, the job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported earlier this month that employers announced 9.4 percent more layoffs in the first three months of this year than the same period last year. Last year’s numbers, however, were the smallest number of layoffs since 1995.

It all points to slower hiring.

“Were we on the verge of a breakout? I think the answer is no,” said Kevin Logan, the chief U.S. economist for the global bank HSBC.

Noting that the economy is adding jobs in a monthly range of 100,000 to 200,000, Logan expects hiring to bump along the bottom. “The next few months, we’ll fall back into this slower pattern,” he said, adding that several drivers of the U.S. economy remain impaired.

Chief among them is the moribund housing market, which remains mired in a foreclosure crisis. What little housing is moving in many major U.S. cities is foreclosure sales and short-sales, dragging down home prices and erasing the potential wealth of neighbors.”

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/23/v-print/146393/us-economy-faces-likely-slowdown.html

 

38 Comments

Posted in 2009 Stimulus Bill, Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Deficit, Economy, Election 2012, Employment, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Obama taxes, Presidential candidate, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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Obama change in gas and food prices, Higher gas prices threaten economy, Jobs added?, Millions of jobs and job seekers lost, WON Whip Obama Now

Posted on March 17, 2012 | 68 comments

Obama change in gas and food prices, Higher gas prices threaten economy, Jobs added?, Millions of jobs and job seekers lost, WON Whip Obama Now

“If you’re complaining about the price of gas and you’re only getting 8 miles a gallon, you know…you might want to think about a trade-in.”…Barack Obama
“This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people,”…Barack Obama

“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″

Obama Change

Gasoline and food price facts for Truth Team and interested Americans.

Pedestrians help push a motorist who ran out of gas Friday into a station in downtown Los Angeles, where prices topped $5 per gallon. / Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press

I have located several versions of an AP article on gas prices and the economy.

From the AP March 16, 2012.

“Higher gas prices threaten economy if they persist”

“Inflation remains tame throughout the U.S. economy, with one big exception: gas prices.

Those higher prices haven’t derailed a steadily improving economy. But if they surpass $4 or $5 a gallon, experts fear Americans could pull back on spending, and job growth could stall, posing a potentially serious threat to the recovery.

And the longer prices remain high, the more they could imperil President Barack Obama’s re-election hopes.

A few weeks ago, economists generally agreed that the economy was in little danger from higher gas prices as long as job growth remained strong. But fears are now mounting that gas prices could begin to weaken consumer confidence.

The average pump price nationwide is $3.83 a gallon. Energy analysts say it’s bound to climb higher in the weeks ahead.

“It’s a thorn in the side of the consumer and businesses,” said Chris Christopher, an economist at IHS Global Insight. The economy this year “would have been better and stronger if we didn’t have to deal with this.”

So far, higher prices aren’t undermining the economic recovery, which is getting a lift from strong job creation. It would take a big jump — to around $5 a gallon — before most economists would worry that growth would halt and the economy would slide into another recession.

That’s because an improving economy is somewhat insulated from any threat posed by higher prices at the pump.

The risk is that gas prices could eventually slow growth by causing some people to cut spending on other goods, from appliances and furniture to electronics and vacations. Gasoline purchases provide less benefit for the U.S. economy because about half of the revenue flows to oil-exporting nations, though U.S. oil companies and gasoline retailers also benefit.

Many American businesses suffer, too. They must pay more for fuel and shipping and for materials affected by high oil prices, such as petroleum-based plastics. Profit margins get squeezed.

Even if prices ease after the summer driving season, don’t expect gasoline to fall below $3 a gallon. The government estimates that this year’s average will be $3.79, followed by $3.72 in 2013.

Most economists accept a rough guideline that a 25-cent rise in gas prices knocks about 0.2 percentage point off economic growth.

Gas prices also have an outsize impact on consumer confidence, Christopher noted. It’s a high-frequency purchase. Consumers notice the price whether they’re filling up or driving past a gas station.

Along with the unemployment rate and stock market levels, gasoline prices heavily determine how Americans see their financial health.

That effect was evident Friday when a decline was reported in the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment. The result surprised some economists who had assumed that higher stock prices and lower unemployment would lift consumer sentiment.

The Michigan report showed that “gasoline worries … are outweighing stock market gains and job growth” when it comes to influencing consumer attitudes, said Michael Hanson, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The price of gasoline has climbed 17 percent since the year began — to a national average of $3.83 a gallon. That’s the highest ever for this time of year. A month ago, it was $3.52.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jCwE51Rb2hl34tObtft80XI1pKhA?docId=8d2a58e51da64b07b23f1f6bad04b2b6

From above:

“So far, higher prices aren’t undermining the economic recovery, which is getting a lift from strong job creation. It would take a big jump — to around $5 a gallon — before most economists would worry that growth would halt and the economy would slide into another recession.”

Which country are they referring to? As evidenced recently in NC and reported here, the NC unemployment rate was adjusted upward to above 10 percent.

Also as reported here several times.

Inflation has been downplayed as well. Anyone visiting a grocery store for the past several years has watched food prices skyrocket, mostly due to rising gasoline prices.

From America’s North Shore Journal March 17, 2012.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) keeps track of the average retail price for a number of common items as a U.S. city average. Let’s take a look at a few. We used the price for the month President Obmam was inaugurated, January 2009, and the last month of data available, December 2011. The items are sorted in descending order by the percentage increase of the price during the Obama administration.

    Obama Obama
Item Unit Jan 2009 Dec 2011 I/D Perc
Gasoline, unl reg gal $1.787 $3.278 $1.491 83.44%
Fuel oil, #2 gal $2.509 $3.777 $1.268 50.54%
Ground beef lb $2.357 $2.921 $0.564 23.93%
Sugar, white lb $0.569 $0.703 $0.134 23.55%
Bacon. Sliced lb $3.730 $4.550 $0.820 21.98%
Cookies, Choc chip lb $3.114 $3.682 $0.568 18.24%
Spaghetti & macaroni lb $1.131 $1.306 $0.175 15.47%
Eggs, A lrg doz $1.850 $1.874 $0.024 1.30%
Electricity kwh $0.126 $0.127 $0.001 0.79%
Lettuce, iceberg lb $0.944 $0.947 $0.003 0.32%
Milk, whole gal $3.575 $3.565 -$0.010 -0.28%
Potatoes, white lb $0.676 $0.666 -$0.010 -1.48%

CPI Food 2009-2011

http://northshorejournal.org/whip-inflation-now

WON (whip inflation now)

Whip Obama Now

68 Comments

Posted in Americans, Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Deficit, Democrats, Economy, Election 2012, Employment, Financial crisis, Government, Lies, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Presidential candidate, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, 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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Obama jobs lies, Truth team facts, Real unemployment picture, Obama vs Reagan, Jobs created not lost touted

Posted on February 28, 2012 | 31 comments

Obama jobs lies, Truth team facts, Real unemployment picture, Obama vs Reagan, Jobs created not lost touted

“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”

“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″

“Propaganda must not serve the truth, especially not insofar
as it might bring out something favorable for the opponent.”
… Adolf Hitler

A habitual liar will let something slip. They often can’t keep straight the truth from the lies. Such it is with Barack Obama and the Obama Camp. Here is an example from BarackObama.com  February 3, 2012.
“23 Months of Job Growth”

 

“According to new jobs numbers released this morning, the economy added 257,000 private-sector jobs last month, making January the 23rd consecutive month of private-sector job growth.”

http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/23-months-of-job-growth

They must believe that their followers will accept anything they promote as gospel truth. Anyone paying attention at all knows that the employment picture painted by this graph is not realistic. Here are the facts regarding this graph. Truth Team, pay close attention.

1. The Democrats took control of congress in 2007. That is when the job situation began worsening.

2. The job creation numbers Obama has used have always been suspect.

3. The jobs lost and discouraged workers dropping out of the workforce are not reflected.

Based on the lies and Orwellian attempts to mislead the public I am compelled to give this article 5 Orwells.

Ulsterman presented some interesting graphs on February 24, 2012.

“While the Obama administration and the mainstream media attempt to paint Americaas enjoying a current economic recovery – the facts tell a very different story.  After some 5 TRILLION dollars in deficit spending, job growth remains as stagnant as ever under the yoke of the Obama presidency:”

“There are a couple of interesting observations to be made from the above graphic from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One, the steep decline in American jobs correlates to when the Democrats took over control of Congress. Coincidence? Perhaps. But then recall that Barack Obama begins his presidency in 2009 and the decline very much continues well into 2010 where it at least flatlines. 2010 was when Republicans then took control of the House of Representatives and gained a number of seats in the Senate – which the Democrats still control.
$5 TRILLION in lost taxpayer deficit dollars is quite a sum for what that chart reflects – stagnant job growth. Millions who remain unemployed. Millions more who have dropped out of even trying to find work and are therefor not even being counted in the unemployment figures.

For a bit of contrast check out thiscomparative chart detailing the Reagan recovery vs the Obama recovery. One president charged ahead with plans to greatly reduce taxes, lessen regulations, and pushes to increase domestic energy production in the United States. The other president – Barack Obama, called for more taxes, more regulation, and has fought increasing domestic energy production at every opportunity – such as his shutting down of the much-needed Keystone pipeline:”


“The truth is clear – the Obama presidency has been a near-complete disaster for working Americans.  This might explain a term growing in popularity of late – “ABO”  –  Anybody But Obama in 2012…”

 
Excellent Ulsterman!
 
For more graphs and data:
 

31 Comments

Posted in 1984, 2009 Stimulus Bill, Barack Obama, Big Brother, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Congress, Deficit, Democrats, Economy, Election, Election 2012, Lies, Ministry of Truth, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Orwell, Orwellian, Presidential candidate, republicans, The Case Against Barack Obama, truth, 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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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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Alan Simpson Obama deficit commission Co-Chair, Senior citizens Greediest Generation, Social Security Milk Cow with 310 million teats

Posted on October 2, 2011 | 27 comments

Alan Simpson Obama deficit commission Co-Chair, Senior citizens Greediest Generation, Social Security Milk Cow with 310 million teats

This was sent to me from a friend:

“Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of Obama’s deficit commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared “Social Security” to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.

Here’s a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana … I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is!

“Hey Alan, let’s get a few things straight..

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS.

2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).

3 My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud..

4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.

5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills.

6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us “greedy” for calling “bullshit” on your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?

2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?

3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?

4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the “greedy” ones. It is you and your fellow nutcases who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That’s right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.

If you agree with what a fellow Montana citizen Patty Myers says, PASS IT ON!!!!”

By the way Alan, I am pissed too!

I am very close in age and work longevity to Patty, but I would like to add the following. In the early to mid seventies, when most businesses did not have computer systems, the company I worked for processed payroll for other companies. I made many of the tax changes. It seemed like every year for a while that the government raised the rate of the Social Security Tax. Every time I made that change I, too, was pissed. This was a contract we had no choice in and that got changed at the whim of the federal government without our consent. To add insult to further injury, along the way they upped the early retirement age without our consent from 59 1/2 to 62. Every reasonable study ever conducted indicates that the same money put in the most conservative private fund would yield an enormously higher return.

Social Security has been a Ponzi Scheme from the beginning.

So, Alan Simpson and any other idiot member of congress. You had damn well better watch what you say and do.

Millions of Americans are pissed!

27 Comments

Posted in Accountability, Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Congress, Congress Watch, Deficit, Government, Lies, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, The Case Against Barack Obama, US economy, US House of Representatives, US Senate, Washington DC, white house

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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 bus tour spin, Everyone but Obama to blame, Spend more money, The more Obama speaks the worse the markets perform

Posted on August 18, 2011 | 21 comments

Obama bus tour spin, Everyone but Obama to blame, Spend more money, The more Obama speaks the worse the markets perform

“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″

From the LA Times August 18, 2011.

“Obama’s bus tour themes: Washington (not him) really screwed up and we should spend a lot more”

“President Obama did some real good talking the last few days out there in Iowa and Minnesota and Illinois. Well, he did a lot of talking anyway.

He made it sound as if he’s been living in Peosta or Atkinson himself, the way he went on about all the misbehavior going on back there in Washington, D.C., where he has lived since January of 2005 and, since January of 2009, at taxpayer expense in the White House.

The way he described those D.C. political shenanigans, who would want to spend $745 million of someone else’s money to get there? Or $1 billion more to stay there? Or pay $37.1 million of others’ money to 464 aides to help him work there.

Here are a few things said by the Democrat who just spent weeks negotiating spending cuts. See if this sounds like a chastened spender whose credit rating just got downgraded:

When folks tell you that we’ve got a choice between jobs now or dealing with our debt crisis, they’re wrong. They’re wrong. We can’t afford to just do one or the other. We’ve got to do both….

We’ve got over $2 trillion worth of repairs that need to be made around the country, and I know there are some right here in this county and right here in this state. And we’ve got a lot of construction workers that are out of work when the housing bubble went bust, and interest rates are low, and contractors are ready to come in on time, under budget — this is a great time for us to rebuild our roads and our bridges, and locks in the Mississippi, and our seaports and our airports….

I think to myself, you know what, if folks in Washington were carrying out their responsibilities the way you’re carrying out your responsibilities, we’d be just fine. We would be just fine. (Applause.)…

Of course, those folks in Washington including him are not in Washington. Congress is on recess, the same time-off Obama will begin today on another island vacation.”

Read more:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/08/obama-bus-canada.html

Obama’s rhetoric is doing a good job of calming financial market fears.

Stock Indexes

Dow 11,046.60 -363.62 -3.19%
S&P 500 1,149.37 -44.52 -3.73%
Nasdaq 2,411.45 -100.03 -3.98%

From the US Labor Dept. today.

In the week ending August 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 408,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 399,000.

21 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Deficit, Economy, Election 2012, Jobs, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Taxes, The Case Against Barack Obama, United States, US economy, Washington DC, white house

Alan Keyes to Republicans, Lower debt, Refuse to raise the debt ceiling, House Republicans chastised

Posted on February 7, 2011 | 41 comments

Alan Keyes to Republicans, Lower debt, Refuse to raise the debt ceiling, House Republicans chastised

From World Net Daily February 7, 2011.

“Former GOP presidential candidate and Reagan administration official Alan Keyes has joined the ranks of those calling on House Republicans to reject another hike in the debt limit that will permit the federal government to keep borrowing money to propel its spending programs.

He joins Sens. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Reps. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., in rejecting House Speaker John Boehner’s concession to raise the debt limit, which is expected to be reached toward the end of next month.

“We should demand of our representatives in Congress that they refuse to raise the debt ceiling,” said Keyes. “But we must also demand of ourselves that we refuse any longer to choose our political leaders from candidates produced by political parties intrinsically dependent on political vehicles fueled by unbridled government spending. Where politics is concerned, restoring the ceiling must be just the first expression of our determination to rebuild, as a home for responsible freedom, the house of constitutional liberty our forsworn elites are determined to destroy.”

Shock the Washington establishment by participating in the “No More Red Ink” campaign and shut down all new plans for bailouts, “stimulus” spending and even the funding for Obamacare.

Keyes, whose coming book, “And Crown Thy Good: Restoring America’s Covenant in 2012,” will address the issue, said Boehner tipped his hand late last year when he spoke to House Republicans sent to Washington by Americans fed up with business as usual in Washington: “We’re going to have to deal with it as adults,” Boehner instructed his colleagues. “Whether we like it or not, the federal government has obligations and we have obligations on our part.”

“U.S. government finance has evidently become a Ponzi scheme predicated upon access to fresh streams of borrowed capital,” said Keyes. “If done in ignorance, we might excuse the scheme as childish. Otherwise, we call it crooked, and treat adults who knowingly perpetrate it as criminals. Many of those who voted Republican in 2008 are demanding an end to precisely this kind of institutionalized chicanery. Sadly they may have cast their votes in vain. Of course, in order to mask the fact that the Republicans mean to go on with ‘business as usual’ GOP leaders are claiming instead that it’s ‘business as necessary.’ Naturally, the Obama faction Democrats heartily agree.”

Keyes continues: “They agree because what’s happening isn’t child’s play, it is power play. The GOP leaders blather about ‘meaningful cuts in government spending,’ but as I’ve pointed out before neither wing of the sham two-party system can have any intention of fundamentally curbing the U.S. government’s appetite for the nation’s resources. The political power of both parties depends on it. They won’t give up that power until the force of circumstances compels them to do so.”

Keyes made his comments in support of a plan led by Joseph Farah, editor and chief executive officer of WND, to persuade House Republicans to defy their own leadership and refuse to raise the debt limit – an act that will force government to live within its means.

Called the “No More Red Ink” campaign, it empowers America citizens to send messages to every member of the House Republican caucus inexpensively and efficiently – with guaranteed delivery by Fed Ex.”

Read more:

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=258801

41 Comments

Posted in Americans, Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Congress, Congress Watch, DC, Deficit, Democrats, Government, Michele Bachmann, News, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, republicans, Tea Party, The Case Against Barack Obama, United States, US House of Representatives, Washington Post, white house

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