Category Archives: Jobs

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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Obama job facts November 5, 2012, Millions more unemployed or working part time, Average weeks unemployed doubled, Million more can only find part time work

Posted on November 5, 2012 | 46 comments

Obama job facts November 5, 2012, Millions more unemployed or working part time, Average weeks unemployed doubled, Million more can only find part time work

“With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”…economist Joshua Shapiro, WSJ August 3, 2012

“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 Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right. The obvious, the silly, and the true had got to be defended. Truisms are true, hold on to that! The solid world exists, its laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall towards the earth’s centre. With the feeling that he was speaking to O’Brien, and also that he was setting forth an important axiom, he wrote:

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

You won’t find this in the Mainstream Media or hear it from Obama.

The truth from Citizen Wells.

I am going to keep this real simple for the Obama supporters and not include the data from when the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress in January of 2007. The results would be much worse if I did so. Don’t take my word for it, look it up. Especially if you are a college student.

Employment-population ratio

2009 60.6

Oct 2012 58.8

That is almost 2 percent of the workforce not working since Obama took office. That is much worse than the stated unemployment rate of 7.9 percent.

Not in labor force: Want a job now

2009 5,682,000

Oct 2012 6,587,000

Number Unemployed for 15 Weeks & over

2009 4,771,000

Oct 2012 6,839,000

Number Unemployed for 27 Weeks & over

2009 2,696,000

Oct 2012 5,002,000

The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or longer almost doubled under Obama!

Average Weeks Unemployed

2009 19.8

Oct 2012 40.2

The average weeks unemployed more than doubled!

Employment Level – Part-Time for Economic Reasons, Could Only Find Part-Time Work

2009 1,679,000

Oct 2012 2,614,000

Almost 1 million more people could only get part time work than when Obama took office!

Don’t take my word for it, look it up.

http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm

46 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Election 2012, Employment, Government, Jobs, Lies, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Presidential candidate, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, Washington DC, white house

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Obama jobs data, November 3, 2012, 7.9 percent unemployment record high, 14.6 percent actual, Jobs gained jobs lost net far below needed, Obama layoff bomb

Posted on November 3, 2012 | 136 comments

Obama jobs data, November 3, 2012, 7.9 percent unemployment record high, 14.6 percent actual, Jobs gained jobs lost net far below needed, Obama layoff bomb

“With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”…economist Joshua Shapiro, WSJ August 3, 2012

“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”

US employers added 171,000 jobs in October. Whoopie!

Did they mention the planned almost almost 48,000 job cuts. Or the other job losses or the average work week?

The stated unemployment rate of 7.9 percent is nothing to write home about either. Especially since the U6 rate, which includes those still seeking employment, is 14.6 percent.

From One News Now November 2, 2012.

“Unemployment rate number labeled ‘deceptive'”
“The October unemployment rate inched up to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in September. But Dan Celia of Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries continues to insist this final pre-election look at the job figures is fictitious.

At the same time, U.S. employers added 171,000 jobs in October and hiring was stronger over the previous two months than first thought.

The Labor Department’s last look at hiring before Tuesday’s election sketched a picture of a job market that is gradually gaining momentum after nearly stalling in the spring. However, it is the highest unemployment rate of any incumbent president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney says the one-tenth-of-a-point increase in the unemployment rate to 7.9 percent is, quote, “a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill.””

“Dan Celia of Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries continues to insist this final pre-election look at the job figures is fictitious.

“I will remain in the camp — until I can have proven to me mathematically otherwise — that a 7.9-percent unemployment rate is a ridiculously fabricated, deceptive number about the unemployment rate,” he says. “We still have nowhere near those in the labor participation rate that we had in January of 2009, nothing close to it. It did go up, as would stand to reason; it went up two-tenths of one percent. That only means that it must have gone up a lot more than that …. I’m really being cynical here, but [they] couldn’t control it or spin it, so they had to add at least two-tenths of one percent, [which is] one of the reasons why unemployment went up to 7.9 percent.”

CeliaLong-term unemployment, according to Celia, still remains high.

“The U6 unemployment rate, that is the number of unemployment [plus] those still looking for jobs, is 14.6 percent,” he explains. “It did go down one-tenth of one percent. [But] there are still 23 million people struggling to find a job. There’s an 8-million job gap … between what the president said we would have at this time, compared to what we really have …. [That’s a] gap that I’m sure you’re not going to hear anyone talk about.”

He also predicts another aspect of the unemployment picture that likely will not be talked about very much.

“One of the big numbers here this week, today, was that hours worked per week did not change [dramatically]. It went down a tick [to] 34.4 hours per week,” he notes. “That is not a good forward-looking number, and that is some cause for concern.”

And what about the number of new jobs reported Friday?

“We are still staying on track of consistently adding close to 150,000 private sector jobs per month, which by the way this year is consistent with a do-nothing, just under two-percent GDP growth. That’s consistent. That’s about where it ought to be,” he offers.

“[But] just so you know, we need about 350,000 [new private sector jobs] average per month to really have any kind of a growing economy — which, by the way, is impossible to have in a two-percent GDP growth.””

http://onenewsnow.com//ap/politics/unemployment-rate-inches-up-again

From Market Watch November 1, 2012.

“Planned layoffs jump up in October: Challenger”

“Led by the automotive sector, planned job cuts jumped up 41% in October to almost 48,000, the highest level since May, outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday. “The final three months of the year tend to see heavier downsizing activity as companies make year-end adjustments to meet earnings goals and to prepare for the new year,” said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “Certainly, the deluge of weak third-quarter earnings reports that resulted from declining sales here and abroad does not bode well for workers as 2013 approaches.” Job cuts in October were up 12% from last year.”

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/planned-layoffs-jump-up-in-october-challenger-2012-11-01

From GOPUSA October 31, 2012.

“Malkin: The Obama Layoff Bomb”

“In June, a diffident and self-deluded President Obama claimed that “the private sector is doing fine.” Last week, the private sector responded: Speak for yourself, buster. Who needs an “October Surprise” when the business headlines are broadcasting the imminent layoff bomb in neon lights?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Tuesday that employers issued 1,316 “mass layoff actions” (affecting 50 workers or more) in September; more than 122,000 workers were affected overall. USA Today financial reporter Matt Krantz wrote that “(m)uch of the recent layoff activity is connected to what’s been the slowest period of earnings growth since the third quarter of 2009.” Some necessary restructuring is underway in response to the stagnant European economy. But more and more U.S. businesses are putting the blame — bravely and squarely — right where it belongs: on the obstructionist policies and regulatory schemes of the blame-shifter-in-chief.

Last week, Ohio-based auto parts manufacturer Dana Holding Corp. warned employees of potential layoffs amid “looming concern” about the economy. President and CEO Roger Wood specifically mentioned the walloping burden of “increasing taxes on small businesses” and the need to “offset increased costs that are placed on us through new laws and regulations.”

Case in point: Obamacare. The mandate will cost Dana Holding Corp., which employs some 24,500 workers, “approximately $24 million over the next six years in additional U.S. health care expenses.” As Ohio Watchdog blogger Maggie Thurber reported, the firm’s Toledo area corporate offices laid off seven white-collar employees last Friday; company insiders told her more were on the way. They are not alone.

On Tuesday, Consol Energy issued a federally mandated layoff disclosure announcing its “intent to idle its Miller Creek surface operations near Naugatuck, W.Va.” The move will affect the company’s Wiley Surface Mine, Wiley Creek Surface Mine, Minway Surface Mine, Minway Preparation Plant and Miller Creek Administration Group, all in Mingo County, W.Va. Despite state approval, cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and myriad other agencies, and a stellar safety record, Obama’s EPA dragged its feet on the permit approval process. The impasse has forced layoffs of 145 Consol Energy employees that will hit at the end of the year. They are not alone.

In August, Robert E. Murray, founder and CEO of Murray Energy Corporation in Ohio, blasted the White House anti-coal agenda for the layoffs and closure of his company’s mine. He told Obama water-carrying CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien that “the many regulations that (Obama) and his radical appointees and the U.S. EPA have put on the use of coal, there are dozens of them and collectively by his own energy administration, have closed 175 power plants.” As O’Brien barked at her guest about purported environmental objections, Murray explained that “we cannot get permits for these mines. They are delaying the issuance of permits. If you can’t get the permit, you can’t have the mine. … I created those jobs, and I put the investment in that mine. And when it came time to lay the people off, I went up personally and talked to every one of them myself to lay them off. It’s a human issue.”

And it’s an innovation issue, too. As I reported in February, Obamacare’s impending 2.3 percent medical device excise tax has already wrought havoc on the industry:

Stryker, a maker of artificial hips and knees based in Kalamazoo, Mich., is slashing 5 percent of its global workforce (an estimated 1,000 workers) this coming year to reduce costs related to Obamacare’s taxes and mandates.

Covidien, a N.Y.-based surgical supplies manufacturer, recently announced layoffs of 200 American workers and plans to move some of its plant work to Mexico and Costa Rica, in part because of the coming tax hit.

Mass.-based Zoll Medical Corp., which makes defibrillators and employs some 1,800 workers in the U.S. and around the world, says the medical device tax will cost the company between $5 million and $10 million a year.

This July, Indiana’s Cook Medical Inc. shelved plans to open five new plants because of the imminent medical device tax hit. They are not alone.

The heads of Koch Industries, Westgate Resorts and ASG Software Solutions have all separately informed their employees of prosperity-undermining Obama economic politics. Left-wing groups have lambasted the executives for exercising their political free speech.

But they have remained silent while the White House corruptocrats bribed federal defense contractors into delaying federally mandated layoff disclosures before the election. In a memo now being investigated on Capitol Hill, Obama promised to cover the legal fees of Lockheed Martin and other defense contractors if they ignored legal requirements to inform workers in advance about so-called sequestration cuts to the military’s budget scheduled to kick in next year.

Truth suppression is a time-honored Obama tactic, of course. Remember: The administration and its Democratic allies on Capitol Hill attempted to punish Deere, Caterpillar, Verizon and ATT in 2010 for disclosing how the costs of Obamacare taxes were hitting their bottom lines — even though they were simply following SEC disclosure requirements. The White House also tried to silence insurers who dared to inform their customers about how Obamacare was driving up premiums. Not this time.

The administration’s bully boys don’t have enough whitewash and duct tape to cover up the past, present and future devastation of the president and his economic demolition team.”

http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/2012/10/31/malkin-the-obama-layoff-bomb/?subscriber=1

136 Comments

Posted in 1984, 2009 Stimulus Bill, Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Election 2012, Employment, Government, Jobs, Lies, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, ObamaCare, Orwellian, Presidential candidate, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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Planned job layoffs up 41% in October to almost 48000, Led by the automotive sector, Highest level since May, Challenger Gray & Christmas, Weak third quarter earnings

Posted on November 1, 2012 | 14 comments

Planned job layoffs up 41% in October to almost 48000, Led by the automotive sector, Highest level since May, Challenger Gray & Christmas, Weak third quarter earnings

“With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”…economist Joshua Shapiro, WSJ August 3, 2012

“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

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”…Jesus, John 8:32

From Market Watch November 1, 2012.

“Planned layoffs jump up in October: Challenger”

“Led by the automotive sector, planned job cuts jumped up 41% in October to almost 48,000, the highest level since May, outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday. “The final three months of the year tend to see heavier downsizing activity as companies make year-end adjustments to meet earnings goals and to prepare for the new year,” said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “Certainly, the deluge of weak third-quarter earnings reports that resulted from declining sales here and abroad does not bode well for workers as 2013 approaches.” Job cuts in October were up 12% from last year. In September, employers announced about 34,000 cuts for the second lowest monthly result in almost two years. Despite the latest gain, job cuts are running at a slower pace this year, with the 434,000 cuts announced through October about 17% below the same period in 2011.”

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/planned-layoffs-jump-up-in-october-challenger-2012-11-01

14 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Employment, Jobs

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Obama exposed in NC in print, October 25, 2012, Rhino Times, Obama lies on Benghazi, Romney debate performance, US economy, Israel, Liberal mainstream media having hissy fit

Posted on October 25, 2012 | 48 comments

Obama exposed in NC in print, October 25, 2012, Rhino Times, Obama lies on Benghazi, Romney debate performance, US economy, Israel, Liberal mainstream media having hissy fit

“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 function of the press is very high. It is almost Holy.
It ought to serve as a forum for the people, through which
the people may know freely what is going on. To misstate or
suppress the news is a breach of trust.”…. Louis D. Brandeis

“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 John Hammer of the Rhino Times, in print in NC, October 25, 2012.

“But technology has its downside as well, and President Barack Hussein Obama is learning about the problems with electronic communication. The problem is that people can go back and find the records.

Obama tried to blame the whole Benghazi confusion on the State Department and the intelligence community. It simply was not believable that during and after the attack the State Department and the intelligence community believed that the attack was the result of a spontaneous demonstration. Four people were killed in the attack but everyone else survived, plus there were the surveillance videos.

Obama clearly was doing his best to push this entire controversy past Nov. 6 because after Nov. 6 it won’t matter whether he got an email from Ambassador Chris Stevens the day before the attack demanding more security, or a text message during the attack describing the well-organized planned attack that was taking place.

The truth is that Obama knew that it was an organized planned attack, but it doesn’t fit in with the worldview that he is trying to sell to the American people that the US has defeated al Qaeda and the world is a safer place because of President Obama. The truth didn’t fit in with his message, so he changed the story that he told to the American people and now he has been caught. It may change someone’s vote to know that the president deliberately misled the American people to better his chance of getting reelected.”

“The polls that the public sees just aren’t that good. Proof of that is that they still have North Carolina in the “leaning Romney” category. Barring some last minute surprise that will cause even hardcore Republicans to vote for Obama there is no way that Obama can win North Carolina. So any poll that doesn’t put North Carolina solidly in the Romney camp, and I haven’t seen one that does, is automatically suspect.”

“Judging from the campaigns, not only does Romney think he is ahead, Obama is convinced that Romney has won and is running around the country like a madman attacking Romney, trying to make something happen.

And Obama has to attack Romney; he has no other viable campaign. Obama can’t run on his record and he has a big problem if he presents a great plan to bring the country’s economy back around because then the question is, Why aren’t you doing this now? Why do you have to wait to get reelected?”

“One of the biggest lies of the debate was when Obama talked about Israel being “our greatest ally in the region.” Obama refused to even meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he was in the US this fall. Obama said it didn’t fit into his schedule, but during the same time he managed to find time for David Letterman and a lot of campaigning, which indicates his priorities.

Also, the White House has refused to say that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Obama has been as rude to Netanyahu as one head of state can be to another, and now he is trying to say that he believes Israel is our closest ally. You simply don’t treat your friends the way Obama has treated Israel. As president he has never visited Israel.”

“But in the debate it certainly didn’t appear that Obama knew more about foreign affairs than Romney. In fact, Romney did what presidents often do and mentioned some obscure groups and movements that may be big news in national security briefings but haven’t made the daily newspapers. It made Romney seem like he was more knowledgeable.

Obama’s comment about horses and bayonets was just rude. It was a good idea, but the way he said it was rude and mean. No one doubts that Romney knows all about aircraft carriers and submarines. But Obama is a rude man. He is rude to our allies, rude to the people he should be working with in Congress, rude to his political opponents and rude to foreign heads of state who visit him in the White House.

Romney once again didn’t take the bait.

But Romney’s big advantage in this race is the economy. The question that people are going to be asking when they go into the polls is, “Am I better off than I was four years ago?” And for the vast majority of Americans the answer is no.

Not only did Obama allow Romney to talk about the economy, he got sucked in and started talking about it himself.”

“The liberal mainstream media are having a hissy fit right now. The liberal media have figured out that their candidate is not going to win and they are beside themselves. The attitude seems to be, how can the American people ignore all the horrible things they have written about Romney and vote for him?”

“The New York Times Sunday magazine did a hit job on Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan this week. It is amazing what they manage to weave into an article like it belongs. But the reporter, Mark Leibovich, seemed to dislike Sen. Rob Portman even more than Ryan.

Here’s one phrase about Portman, which is really interesting if you have a few facts: “One mark against the wealthy senator was that he might be perceived as too much of a Grey Poupon Republican …”

Here’s the problem. Portman is certainly wealthy, and he is a senator, but he is not a “wealthy senator.” He is kind of average by Senate standards. Portman doesn’t even make the list of the 50 wealthiest members of Congress. Portman, according to Roll Call, is worth about $6.72 million.”

“So of the top 10 richest members of Congress, three are Republicans and seven are Democrats. And Portman doesn’t make the top 50, yet The New York Times refers to him as a “wealthy senator.” How many times have you read – wealthy Sen. Dianne Feinstein, wealthy Sen. John Kerry, or wealthy Sen. Frank Lautenberg?”

“The article is an incredible piece of liberal Democrat propaganda, but very smoothly done. It makes it sound like offering someone barbecue sauce is a bad thing. The tone is really incredible.”

Read more:

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-Columns-c-2012-10-24-213602.112113-Under-the-Hammer.html

John Hammer.

Excellent!

48 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Debate, Democrats, Economy, Election 2012, Employment, Jobs, Journalism, Liberalism, Lies, Mitt Romney, NC, NC voters, News, North Carolina, NY Times, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Orwellian, Presidential candidate, Presidential debate, republicans, Romney, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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California data skewed Labor Dept. unemployment claims report, CA data reveals real unemployment rate, Labor force participation rate 62.4 % dropped more than unemployment rate since Feb 2012

Posted on October 21, 2012 | 11 comments

California data skewed Labor Dept. unemployment claims report, CA data reveals real unemployment rate, Labor force participation rate 62.4 % dropped more than unemployment rate since Feb 2012

“With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”…economist Joshua Shapiro, WSJ August 3, 2012

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right. The obvious, the silly, and the true had got to be defended. Truisms are true, hold on to that! The solid world exists, its laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall towards the earth’s centre. With the feeling that he was speaking to O’Brien, and also that he was setting forth an important axiom, he wrote:

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

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”…Jesus, John 8:32

California has the third highest unemployment rate in the country at 10.2 percent. CA has been getting a lot of press recently for suspicious reporting the prior week that skewed the US Labor Dept. unemployment claims report. What you are probably not getting from the media is the fact that since February 2012, the labor force participation rate has dropped more than the unemployment rate.

First the reporting controversy.

From the Daily Pen October 19, 2012.

“Based on the increase of the denominator in the ratio, the analysts focused on California as the possible state which they believed had been left out because California has the largest population and largest labor force in the U.S. which, if omitted, would indeed cause about a 0.5% fluctuation based on previous report numbers.
In reaction to accusations of impropriety, the California Employment Development Department strongly denied that it had failed to properly document the data.
“Reports that California failed to fully report data to the U.S. Department of Labor, as required, are incorrect and irresponsible,” California Employment Development Department director Pam Harris said in a statement last week.
“The California Employment Development Department, which administers the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program in the state, has reported all UI claims data and submitted the data on time.”
However, it now appears the analysts were right.  Early Thursday, the federal government finally revealed that California was indeed the state that had, in fact, underreported jobless claims, as suspected by many, after the weekly Labor Department job report, skewing the national jobless claims results. This week’s updated jobs report corrected the error and showed unemployment claims spiking back up by 46,000.
The intentional omission of California’s data promoted an artificially favorable economic report for the Obama administration because the inclusion of California’s unemployed would have cause the jobless rate to increase by 0.02%, not decrease by 0.48% to 7.8%.
Regardless, the pro-Obama, biased media spread the “good news” quickly, with outlets like CNN and Bloomberg declaring, “Jobless claims fall to four-year low.”
Within hours, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Labor Department analysts announced that one major state had failed to fully document jobless claims. They declined to name the state.
Now, it has been learned that Marty Morgenstern, the secretary of the California municipal agency that under-reported unemployment claims, contributed to President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election campaign.
According to campaign disclosure records, Morgenstern donated $4,600 — the maximum amount allowed by law — to the 2008 Obama campaign, beginning with a $1,000 contribution to Obama for America in February 2008. Morgenstern followed up that donation with a $1,300 contribution in June, and then a $2,300 payout in early September.
Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Morgenstern to lead the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency in 2011. The state agency oversees the Employment Development Department.
California recent in-state report claims its unemployment rate has dropped from 10.6% to 10.2%.
Analysts are rightly skeptical of the report. “

http://thedailypen.blogspot.com/2012/10/hawaii-health-department-not-only.html

From the Wall Street Journal October 18, 2012.

“So this week’s initial jobless claims spiked back up, jumping 46,000 to 388,000, a stark reversal from last week’s report and a number that suggests the economy still just flat-out isn’t generating enough jobs.
But more importantly, well, yes, we’re going back to Cali.
When last week’s numbers came out much lower than expected, the explanation from the Labor Dept. was that one large state didn’t report all the quarterly data on time. In the midst of a contentious election season, the issue sparked a minor firestorm and people jumped in trying to figure which state was responsible.
More than one said it was California. California, in no uncertain terms, said it wasn’t them. The Labor Dept. said, last week, that this week’s figures would make it clear which state was responsible. Guess which state the numbers point to.
As Sarah Portlock explained:
There were nearly 5,000 fewer layoffs in the service and retail industries in California for the week ended Oct. 6, according to the Labor Department report.
The Labor Department sets seasonal factors well in advance based on historical trends but that can skew numbers when state-level reporting doesn’t match those established patterns.
“These types of things happen several times a year,” a Labor Department official said Thursday. “It tends to be temporary.”
California maintain today that it did indeed report all data to the Labor Dept. on time, and that the seasonal adjustment was the cause of the skew. The Labor Dept. is saying that last week’s skew was due to a lower-than-expected number of claims from California. It’s possible that this all becomes nothing more than a lot of hair-splitting, elevated to a degree that it wouldn’t be if it weren’t election season, and if that September jobs report hadn’t stirred the wrath of Jack Welch.
The problem with seasonal adjustment is that it aims to correct data that move around in regular patterns. In this case, there’s usually a jump in claims in the first week of the quarter, so the adjustment takes away a bunch of claims. To keep the data smooth, those claims are added earlier in the prior quarter instead. Last week when some of the claims that would usually be filed in the first week of the month didn’t come in, the seasonals still kicked in and made it look like a big drop. The extra claims came in this week instead when the adjustment wasn’t expecting them. That made this week’s claims number look higher.
California’s numbers last week, late or not, skewed the seasonally adjusted data. The skew is gone this week. Bang. Go smell the flowers and forget all this whole imbroglio.
The season factors this month seem to be wreaking more havoc than usual,  so if you want a bottom line to all this nuttiness, look at the four-week moving average of claims. That rose to 365,500, from 354,750. Or you could just look at the unadjusted data, and rid yourself of all the seasonal adjustments that are causing all this agita. Unadjusted, initial claims were up 29,000 to 359,000.
The real bottom line is the U.S. economy isn’t generating enough jobs to get it back on a self-sustaining footing, which means the feds and the Fed are going to remain under pressure to pick up the slack.”
Politicians and the media lie, numbers don’t.
The following data is taken from the California Labor Market Review for September 2012.
There is more than suspect reporting in initial unemployment claims from CA. On Page 7 we find the changes in unemployment rate and labor force participation rate from February to September 2012 under seasonally adjusted.
February 2012.

Unemployment rate 10.9 %    LF Participation rate 63.3 %.

September 2012.

Unemployment rate 10.2 %    LF Participation rate 62.4 %.

The Labor Force Participation Rate dropped more than the unemployment rate. 

So the following claim:

“The California unemployment rate was 10.2 percent in September, down 0.4
percentage point from August.”

is very misleading.

The following facts are also interesting.
“By race and ethnicity, the September 2012 unemployment rate for blacks was 18.1 percent, Hispanics 13.2 percent, and whites 10.5 percent.”

“By duration, the largest group of unemployed persons was those who had been unemployed 52 weeks or more (691,000 persons or 35.0 percent of all unemployed). The next largest group was those who had been unemployed 5 to 14 weeks (418,000 persons or 21.2 percent of all unemployed)”

“Persons not in the labor force increased by 45,000 (0.4 percent) in September to 10,745,000. Over the past year, the number of persons not in the labor force increased by 295,000 (2.8 percent).”

http://www.calmis.ca.gov/file/lfmonth/calmr.pdf

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Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Election 2012, Employment, Government, Jobs, Labor Department, Lies, media, News, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Presidential candidate, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment, US economy, Washington DC, white house

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NC unemployment rate 9.6 percent, October 19, 2012, 4.5 percent when Bush took office, 4.7 percent when Democrats took both houses in January 2007

Posted on October 19, 2012 | 61 comments

NC unemployment rate 9.6 percent, October 19, 2012, 4.5 percent when Bush took office, 4.7 percent when Democrats took both houses in January 2007

“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

“The weak job growth recorded during 2011 did little to replace the jobs lost earlier in the business cycle. Since the onset of the “Great Recession,” North Carolina has lost, on net, 295,300 positions, or 7.1 percent of its payroll employment base.”

“Absent significant changes in economic conditions and public policies, weak job growth, high levels of joblessness, and pervasive economic hardships appear to be in store for North Carolina, with 2012 apt to mark the fifth consecutive year of negative or minimal job growth.”…South by North Strategies, LTD February 10, 2012

“People leaving the labor force were a big reason that North Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent in April, a month when only 1,400 more people got jobs.”…WRAL May 18, 2012

The NC Department of Commerce announced the unemployment rate for September. 9.6 percent. To put this in perspective it was  4.5 percent when Bush took office in January 2001 and 4.7 percent when the Democrats took control of both houses of congress in January 2007.

In my humble opinion, the report leaves much to be desired and appears to be attempting to put a positive spin on the numbers. Here are a couple of statements that I found interesting.

“Among the major industries in North Carolina, Government had the largest over-the-month increase in employment at 30,600 (4.6%), followed by Education & Health Services (2,700; 0.5%), Professional & Business Services (2,300; 0.4%), Construction (1,700; 1.0%), and Manufacturing (200; <0.1%).”

“The Goods Producing sector decreased by 4,500 (0.7%) jobs over the year. Construction declined by 6,700 (3.7%), followed by Mining & Logging (200; 3.5%), while Manufacturing grew by 2,400 (0.5%).”

http://www.ncesc1.com/pmi/rates/PressReleases/State/NR_Sept_2012_StRate_M1.pdf

From Citizen Wells September 29, 2012.

“Despite the lies from politicians like Barack Obama who blamed George Bush for all of his ills, numbers do not lie.

When George Bush became president in January 2001, the unemployment rate in NC was 4.5 percent.

When the Democrats took control of both houses of congress in January 2007, the unemployment rate in NC was 4.7 percent.

When Obama took control of the White House in January 2009, the unemployment rate in NC was 9.0 percent. In November 2008 it was 7.8 percent.

Before the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in January 2011, the unemployment rate hit a high of 11.4 percent in NC.

The stated unemployment rate is currently 9.7 percent in NC.

The National Labor Force Participation Rate is 63.5 percent, a record low.

The North Carolina Labor Force Participation Rate is 62.0 percent.

More on the jobs situation in NC from Citizen Wells February 14, 2012.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/nc-unemployment-rates-under-george-bush-democrat-congress-and-barack-obama-4-5-percent-when-bush-took-office-4-7-percent-when-democrats-took-both-houses/

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Obama fact checked in print in NC, October 18, 2012, Rhino Times, John Hammer prints truth about Obama, Economy Obamacare Libya attack debate, Obama lies

Posted on October 18, 2012 | 35 comments

Obama fact checked in print in NC, October 18, 2012, Rhino Times, John Hammer prints truth about Obama, Economy Obamacare Libya attack debate, Obama lies

“if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them”…Barack Obama

“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 function of the press is very high. It is almost Holy.
It ought to serve as a forum for the people, through which
the people may know freely what is going on. To misstate or
suppress the news is a breach of trust.”
…. Louis D. Brandeis

From John Hammer of the Rhino Times, in Greensboro, NC October 18, 2012.

“Another debate and another pounding of the economic policies of President Barack Hussein Obama by Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Obama has a difficult task running for reelection with the economy in its current shape. Romney is relentless in pointing out that the economy grew slower this year than last year and grew slower last year than the year before, and that 23 million Americans are unemployed. When Romney says the real unemployment rate is 10.7 percent Obama doesn’t argue. When Romney says that Obama has piled up budget deficits of over $1 trillion year after year, Obama doesn’t argue.

Obama does say that his policies are going to work, but it’s hard to sell the idea that policies that haven’t worked for four years are suddenly going to start working in the fifth year or maybe the sixth year or the seventh year.

Romney talks a lot about Obamacare, but Obama doesn’t. He talks about bringing health care to every American, but he doesn’t dwell on Obamacare because polls show that most Americans are against it. It’s his signature piece but he has all but given up selling it to the American people.

When it comes to the contraception aspect of Obamacare, Obama is extremely misleading. Nobody is talking about not providing contraception services. The question is, who pays. According to Obamacare it has to be a free service. Why? Why is that free? Most medical care is not free even if you have insurance. What’s more, Obamacare will force the Catholic Church and other religious organizations to provide abortion services that they believe are morally wrong.

If Obamacare is not changed by the courts or by Congress, it is likely that Catholic hospitals, clinics, social service providers, universities, schools and other outreach programs will close. Perhaps Obama has been listening to his Catholic Vice President Joe Biden and not the Catholic bishops. But he might want to pay attention because if Catholic hospitals close in the major cities, there is going to be a health care disaster, and the Catholic bishops have made it abundantly clear that they are going to have no part in providing abortions.

Biden was entirely wrong in his answer about the situation with Obamacare and the Catholic Church, but then Biden has been told by at least one bishop that he is not a Catholic in good standing and should not participate in the sacraments.

, , ,

There are only two possibilities I can think of when it comes to the response by President Obama to the planned and well-executed terrorist attack on the American compound in Benghazi, Libya.

One is that when an American ambassador was killed in the line of duty for the first time since 1979, during the Carter administration, President Obama decided that in the midst of a presidential election he could not afford to admit that he had refused to give an American ambassador in one of the most dangerous places on earth adequate protection. So he lied to the American people about what happened and hoped that the truth wouldn’t come out until after Nov. 6.

The other is that the Obama administration is so incompetent that it borders on criminal. For two weeks the Obama administration – through its press secretary, Jay Carney, and the US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice – claimed that the attack was the result of a spontaneous demonstration over a video some nutcase in California made.

But the night of Sept. 11, when the attack was underway, Obama should have immediately known that an American embassy compound where the American ambassador was in residence was under attack by well-organized and well-armed terrorists. We have one of the most sophisticated communications systems in the world. If the president isn’t informed about a terrorist attack on a US embassy compound immediately, then what is the system used for? To make sure Obama doesn’t miss any basketball scores? When high-level State Department officials are being killed that is an emergency.

The State Department knew. The intelligence community knew. Obama made a big deal about watching the attack on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan live in the White House. It wasn’t exactly true that they were watching it live, but they were watching the video the night that it happened.

The American embassy compound in Benghazi had surveillance cameras. The Rhino Times office also has surveillance cameras. You can watch The Rhino Times surveillance cameras real time from a computer, tablet or smart phone anywhere you can hook up to the internet. I cannot believe that the surveillance cameras at the American compound in Benghazi were not hooked up to some communication device so that they could be watched by people in the State Department and intelligence community.

Even without the surveillance cameras, the US had competent people on the ground who, once they got away from immediate danger, reported to their superiors. In fact, according to the State Department timeline, a call about the attack went out immediately with frequent updates. The State Department knew as soon as the men in the compound knew that they were under attack by an organized force.

Vice President Biden says that he didn’t know, and that is entirely possible. Why would anyone bother to tell the vice president, even if he were a competent, honest, intelligent human being? The vice president isn’t going to be making any decisions. He is completely out of the loop as long as the president is alive. Biden may still believe that the attack was the result of a spontaneous demonstration or he may believe that it took place in the last century where he evidently spends a lot of his time.

But President Obama knew or should have known within minutes exactly what was happening in Benghazi. He should have received the reports from those on the ground and he should have been watching the action on the surveillance cameras. But the reports from those in the compound who escaped only to be attacked at the so-called safe house about a mile away should have been more than enough proof that this was a highly organized, well-planned attack.

So in this next debate Obama needs to explain to the American people what happened. Was there such a tremendous communications breakdown that he didn’t get word from Libya about what happened for two weeks? Did the State Department put the Benghazi terrorist attack report on a sailing ship to send it to the White House? How on earth could a report and surveillance video take two weeks to get to the White House?

Obama needs to explain. If the first day the White House had gotten the story wrong that could be attributed to an honest mistake, but in today’s world to claim that the White House didn’t get information from its embassy for two weeks is simply a lie or evidence of overwhelming incompetence.

, , ,

Liberals love this, and the moderator for the presidential debate, Candy Crawley, is certainly a card-carrying liberal, which is why she re-asked the incredibly stupid question about making AK-47s illegal in the United States. Romney answered the question correctly by saying that fully automatic weapons are already illegal in the US. They have been since 1934. It is possible to get a license to have one, but it is not easy or cheap.

One of the so-called fact checkers said Romney was wrong when he said that fully automatic weapons were illegal. Technically Romney was wrong. Most people would tell you that it is illegal to carry a concealed weapon without the proper permit, but the fact checkers evidently would tell you that is wrong because you can carry a concealed weapon on your own property without a permit. Technically there was no Vietnam War, but that is simply not how we speak. Technically only a couple of hundred people get to vote for president, but candidates and pundits talk about voters in the presidential race all the time. Nobody says “people who vote for electors committed to one candidate,” we call them voters.

However, what the question was about were “assault weapons,” which is a term invented during the Clinton administration. The AK-47 is not an assault weapon; it is an assault rifle because it is fully automatic and for all practical purposes illegal. The assault weapons ban was not about banning a particular kind of rifle but banning rifles because of the way they looked. Rifles that operate identically could be legal or illegal based on how they looked. One that looked like a hunting rifle would be legal and one that looked like an assault rifle would be illegal.

It was a law that simply made people who want all guns to be illegal happy, but didn’t really do anything. Now many hunters are using what are technically assault weapons for hunting. They are lightweight, accurate and make good hunting rifles. And it is true that they are used to kill people. But knives are also frequently used to kill people and there was no question for the candidates about making knives illegal.

, , ,

President Harry S. Truman, a Democrat who won the respect of both parties and whom history has smiled upon, had a plaque on his desk that read, “The Buck Stops here!”

President Obama, a Democrat who has not won the respect of Republicans and is losing the respect of many Democrats and whose place in history is unknown, has no such plaque, and up until Tuesday night did not follow the philosophy expressed on the plaque.

We know this because Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was sent out to take the fall for Benghazi. The buck stopped with the secretary of state, not the president. You have to wonder what Truman would say about such cowardice by an American president.

Obama takes full credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden although he was over 7,000 miles away. That was Obama who took Bin Laden out, not the Navy Seals who were onsite risking their lives and doing the shooting. But when an American ambassador gets killed in the line of duty for the first time since 1979, it was not Obama’s fault, but the fault of the secretary of state.

During the second presidential debate on Tuesday night, the story changed again. Evidently having Hillary Rodham Clinton take the fall for the terrorist attack in Benghazi was not working with the American people. So during the Tuesday night debate Wendy Crawley threw Obama a softball so he could take full responsibility for the failure.

The attack was on Sept. 11, and on Oct. 16 the president finally takes full responsibility. It does make you wonder how many months it would have taken for Obama to take full responsibility if it wasn’t an election year.

, , ,

The more we learn about Obama the more questions arise. According to his own personal history Barry Obama quit being Barry and became Barack when he was at Occidental College in Los Angeles. By the time he went to Columbia University he was going by Barack exclusively, even to the point, according to his sister, of trying to get his family to call him Barack. But Martha Raddatz reportedly invited Barry Obama to her wedding. So if everyone called him Barack and had no reason to even know that he was called Barry as a kid, why was Barry invited to the wedding.

Or did really close friends at Harvard call him Barry? We’ll never know.

, , ,

They call it the Stupid Party for a reason, and unfortunately the reason hasn’t gone away. Four years ago the moderator of the vice presidential debate, Gwen Ifill, had written a book about Obama. If he were elected her book would make money, if he lost then the book would go in the remainder bin. She had a lot of money riding on the outcome of the debate and the election.

But then the Republicans allow that snafu to be topped. Barry Obama went to Martha Raddatz’s wedding and she was invited to the Obamas’ wedding but didn’t attend. However, her husband (now her ex) did. Do the Republicans vet these people at all? Do they have a list of Obama’s immediate family and if the person is not on that list, not named George Obama for instance, then they are eligible?

Then when you think it can’t get any worse they come up with this woman for the second town hall meeting, Candy Crawley, who gave Obama 9 percent more time than Romney and was much harder on Romney than on Obama. She also selected the questions, which were Obama-friendly, and asked her own follow-up questions, which she was not supposed to do according to the agreement signed by both campaigns.

This just in for the next and final debate, Obama’s campaign Communications Director David Axelrod is unexpectedly unavailable to moderate the debate so the Commission on Presidential Debates has asked Michelle Obama if she will step in. The Commission on Presidential Debates has noted that Mrs. Obama is a Harvard Law graduate like president Obama but did not attend Harvard Law School at the same time as President Obama, so they do not think she will have a conflict of interest based on their law school years.

The Republican Party has reportedly agreed to accept Michelle Obama as a fair and impartial moderator but has insisted that her daughters not be allowed to sit with her while she moderates the debate.

Who are these people on the Commission on Presidential Debates? Do they pick moderators from a list submitted by the Obama campaign? It’s like having the Ram’s Club pick the referees for the Duke-Carolina game. The Republicans have four years to get their act together but they had better get some conservative Republicans appointed to the Commission on Presidential Debates.”

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-Columns-c-2012-10-18-213522.112113-Under-The-Hammer.html

 

35 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Election 2012, Employment, Health Insurance, Healthcare bill, Jobs, Lies, media, NC, News, North Carolina, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, ObamaCare, Occidental College, Presidential candidate, Presidential debate, Terrorist Attacks, The Case Against Barack Obama, Washington DC, white house

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Obama deficit lies, Obama blames Bush tax cuts, AP repeats Obama lie, Washington Post reveals Obama lie, 4th Straight $1 Trillion Plus deficit spending

Posted on October 14, 2012 | 28 comments

Obama deficit lies, Obama blames Bush tax cuts, AP repeats Obama lie, Washington Post reveals Obama lie, 4th Straight $1 Trillion Plus deficit spending

“With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”…economist Joshua Shapiro, WSJ August 3, 2012

“Since the Democrats took control of both houses of congress in January 2007, the number of people who could only find part time work has gone up 215 percent”…Citizen Wells

“Student health care costs have doubled, tripled and in some cases increased over 1000% in 2012. Premiums for employer provided family coverage rose $2,370 since 2009, Obamacare penalties to hospitals will average $125,000 per facility in 2013 and gasoline has risen over $2 per gallon since Obama took office.”…Citizen Wells

“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 has been blaming Bush for the deficit and bad economy since he began running for the presidency. He continues to blame the Bush Tax cuts for the deficit even though it is a lie. The Washington Post recently exposed this lie.

From Citizen Wells October 8, 2012.

“From the Washington Post October 1, 2012.

“Obama’s claim that the Bush tax cuts led to the economic crisis”

“Now Governor Romney believes that with even bigger tax cuts for the wealthy, and fewer regulations on Wall Street, all of us will prosper. In other words, he’d double down on the same trickle-down policies that led to the crisis in the first place.”

— President Obama, in a new two-minute television ad released Sept. 27, 2012

“This election to me is about which candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. This is a clear choice. The Republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper income people and go back to deregulation. That is what got us into trouble in the first place.”

— Former president Bill Clinton, in an Obama campaign ad running since August

When two different people give virtually the same message in two different ads, it’s a good bet that the language has been carefully poll-tested. Both President Obama and former president Bill Clinton assert that Mitt Romney wants to cut taxes for the wealthy and cut financial regulations — which they suggest is a recipe for another economic crisis.

The name “George W. Bush” is never mentioned but is certainly implied. This leads to the question: Did the Bush tax cuts cause the economic crisis?

We’ve been interested in the Clinton comments for some time and never quite got a satisfactory response from the Obama campaign. But Clinton used the vague word “trouble,” which could be broadly defined as also meaning higher deficits. (Clinton’s staff did not respond to queries about what he meant.) Certainly the Bush tax cuts did play some role in higher deficits, though, as we have noted, increased spending played a bigger role.

But Obama is not vague at all. He highlights the tax cuts and then says the “same trickle-down policies” — Democratic code for tax cuts for the wealthy — led to the “crisis.” The campaign’s back-up material labels that as “economic crisis,” thus leaving no ambiguity about his reference.”

“The Pinocchio Test

It is time for the Obama campaign to retire this talking point, no matter how much it seems to resonate with voters. The financial crisis of 2008 stemmed from a variety of complex factors, in particular the bubble in housing prices and the rise of exotic financial instruments. Deregulation was certainly an important factor, but as the government commission concluded, the blame for that lies across administrations, not just in the last Republican one.

In any case, the Bush tax cuts belong at the bottom of the list — if at all. Moreover, it is rather strange for the campaign to cite as its source an article that, according to the author, does not support this assertion.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/washington-post-and-labor-dept-facts-expose-obama-lies-bush-tax-cuts-employment-data-democrats-controlled-both-houses-of-congress-playbook-of-goebbels-orwell/

Despite the fact that Obama knew it was a lie, Obama continued to blame the Bush Tax cuts in his debate with Mitt Romney.

“When I walked into the Oval Office, I had more than a trillion-dollar deficit greeting me. And we know where it came from: two wars that were paid for on a credit card; two tax cuts that were not paid for”

From NPR and the AP October 12, 2012.

“US Runs A 4th Straight $1 Trillion-Plus Budget Gap”

“The United States has now spent $1 trillion more
than it’s taken in for four straight years.

The Treasury Department confirmed Friday what was widely expected: The
deficit for the just-ended 2012 budget year — the gap between the
government’s tax revenue and its spending — totaled $1.1 trillion. Put
simply, that’s how much the government had to borrow.

It wasn’t quite as ugly as last year.

Tax revenue rose 6.4 percent from 2011 to $2.45 trillion. And spending
fell 1.7 percent to $3.5 trillion. As a result, the deficit shrank 16
percent, or $207 billion.

A stronger economy meant more people had jobs and income that
generated tax revenue. Corporations also contributed more to federal
revenue than in 2011.

The government spent less on Medicaid and on defense as U.S. military
involvement in Iraq was winding down.

Barack Obama’s presidency has coincided with four straight $1
trillion-plus annual budget deficits — the first in history and an
issue in an election campaign that ends in 3½ weeks.

When Obama took office in January 2009, the Congressional Budget
Office forecast that the deficit that year would total $1.2 trillion.
It ended up at a record $1.41 trillion.

The increase was due in large part to the worst recession since the
Great Depression. Tax revenue plummeted, and the government spent more
on stimulus programs.

Tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush and military spending
in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to the deficits.”

Read more:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=162821416

The AP, Associated Press, repeats the Obama lie about Bush Tax Cuts contributing to the deficits.

“Tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush and…contributed to the deficits.”

For their continued efforts to help Obama the AP receives 4 Orwells.

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

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Small Business hiring plans plunge, September another month of low expectations and pessimism, Rising health care and energy costs, Federal taxes

Posted on October 9, 2012 | 13 comments

Small Business hiring plans plunge, September another month of low expectations and pessimism, Rising health care and energy costs, Federal taxes

“With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”…economist Joshua Shapiro, WSJ August 3, 2012

“Since the Democrats took control of both houses of congress in January 2007, the number of people who could only find part time work has gone up 215 percent”…Citizen Wells

“Student health care costs have doubled, tripled and in some cases increased over 1000% in 2012. Premiums for employer provided family coverage rose $2,370 since 2009, Obamacare penalties to hospitals will average $125,000 per facility in 2013 and gasoline has risen over $2 per gallon since Obama took office.”…Citizen Wells

From the National Federation of Independent Business October Survey.

“Hiring Plans Plunge: Small Business Optimism Drops 0.1

Expectations for the Future Remain Low

September was another month of low expectations and pessimism for the small-business community, with the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index losing 0.1 points and falling to 92.8. The recession-level reading was pulled down by a deterioration in labor market indicators, with job creation plans plunging 6 points, job openings falling one point and more firms reporting decreases in employment than those reporting increases in employment. Since the commencement of NFIB’s monthly surveys in 1986, the Index has been below 93.0 a total of 56 times; 32 of which have occurred since the recovery began in June 2009.”

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT   READ THE PRESS RELEASE

Small business optimism index

“Highlights

  • Capital Expenditures: Small-business owners are still in “maintenance mode,” with the frequency of reported capital outlays over the past six months falling 4 points to 51 percent. Of those making expenditures, 34 percent reported spending on new equipment (down 7 points from the previous month), 16 percent acquired vehicles (down 5 points), and 14 percent improved or expanded facilities (unchanged). Four (4) percent of owners acquired new buildings or land for expansion (down 2 points) and 12 percent spent money for new fixtures and furniture (unchanged). Overall, there was a substantial reduction in capital spending activity. The percent of owners planning capital outlays in the next three to six months fell 3 points to 21 percent. While the number of owners who characterized the current period as a good time to expand facilities went up 3 points (seasonally adjusted) to seven percent, this is only half of the 14 percent of owners who said the same in September 2007. The net percent of owners expecting better business conditions in six months rose 4 points to two percent after posting a 6 point improvement last month, albeit still registering a pessimistic collective view. Not seasonally adjusted, 15 percent expect an improvement in business conditions (up 1 point), and 20 percent expect deterioration (down 4 points). A net one percent of all owners expect improved real sales volumes.
  • Sales: Weak sales continue to be an albatross for the small-business community. The net percent of all owners (seasonally adjusted) reporting higher nominal sales over the past three months was unchanged at a negative 13 percent, cementing the 17 point decline since April and affirming weak GDP growth for the second quarter. Twenty-one (21) percent still cite weak sales as their top business problem—historically high, but down from the record 34 percent reached in March 2010. Seasonally unadjusted, 23 percent of all owners reported higher sales (last three months compared to prior three months, down 1 point) and 30 percent reported lower sales (up 1 point). Consumer spending remains weak and high energy costs continue to “tax” consumer disposable income. The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales was unchanged at one percent of all owners (seasonally adjusted), down 11 points from the year high of net 12 percent in February. The weak reading is unlikely to trigger orders for new inventory or business expansion. Not seasonally adjusted, 24 percent expect improvement over the next three months (down 4 points) and 31 percent expect declines (up 3 points).
  • Job Creation: Job creation plans showed that small-business owners created fewer jobs in September than in the two previous months. Not seasonally adjusted, 10 percent plan to increase employment at their firm (down 3 points), and 11 percent plan reductions (up 2 points). Seasonally adjusted, the net percent of owners planning to create new jobs fell 6 points to four percent, a historically weak reading, especially in a recovery. Essentially, hiring is keeping up with population growth, but not exceeding it. Seasonally adjusted, 10 percent of the owners reported adding an average of 2.2 workers per firm over the past few months, and 13 percent reduced employment an average of 3 workers. The remaining 77 percent of owners made no net change in employment. Fifty-one (51) percent of the owners hired or tried to hire in the last three months and 41 percent (80 percent of those trying to hire or hiring) reported few or no qualified applicants for open positions. The percent of owners reporting hard to fill job openings fell 1 point to 17 percent of all owners. The only region of the country that saw any positive job growth was the West North Central states, largely because of energy production. “

“Consumer spending has barely advanced this year, and consequently so has job creation. Employment is still 4 million lower than it was in the first quarter of 2008 (first quarter). The population grows about 1% annually. A few more jobs are needed to take care of that, and that seems to be about all we are getting. The percent of owners reporting hard to fill job openings fell 1 point to 17% of all owners, no help for a lower unemployment rate. Seasonally adjusted, the net percent of owners planning to create new jobs fell 6 points to 4%, a historically weak reading, especially in a recovery. Owners remained pessimistic about the future in September and consequently hiring plans remain weak. Reported job creation for the past few months was negative. More workers let go than hired, signaling a weak BLS jobs report for September, around 100,000 new jobs overall.”

“Uncertainty has cast a cloud over the future for small business owners, making it difficult to make commitments to new spending and hiring. In a recently released NFIB Problems and Priorities survey, owners rated the severity of 75 business issues. Uncertainty about the economy ranked second while uncertainty about government policy ranked fourth. For perspective, securing long term funding was 56th and finding qualified workers 32nd. With a 50/50 election, according to the polls, and very different sets of policies that might be put in place, owners are unwilling to put their own capital on the line until the future path of the economy and economic policy becomes clearer.

MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM: 2012
1.  Rising Cost of Health Care Insurance
2.  Uncertainty over Economic Conditions
3.  Energy Costs
4.  Uncertainty over Government Actions
5.  Unreasonable Government Regulations
6.  Federal Taxes on Business Income
7.  Tax Complexity
8.  Frequent Changes in Federal Tax Laws and Rules
9.  Property Taxes
10. State Taxes on Business Income”

Read more:

http://www.nfib.com/research-foundation/surveys/small-business-economic-trends

 

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