Dems Refuse To Deal With Their Fiscal Mess
IT'S BEEN OVER TWO YEARS SINCE THE DEMOCRAT-LED SENATE LAST PASSED A BUDGET, A FACT THAT PUTS IT SQUARELY IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW. So when will the arrests begin?
We say that only partly tongue in cheek, because the refusal of Democrats in Congress to pass a budget or take meaningful steps to head off our looming fiscal disaster is nothing short of a national disgrace.
This hasn't happened since the budget rules were changed in 1974. Though required by law to pass a budget, Democrats have just said no. YET THE MEDIA HAVE LARGELY GIVEN THEM A PASS ON THIS WILLFUL LAWLESSNESS. WHY?
In the recent budget talks, Democrats have whined about Republicans not agreeing to raise taxes as part of a budget deal. But the Republicans have put up plans, serious plans, to cut spending, debt and deficits. WHAT HAVE THE DEMOCRATS PRODUCED? NOTHING.
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/574136/201106021903/Doing-Nothing-Isnt-An-Option.htm
This is a Democrat tactic that the press is allowing. By passing nothing they keep from having to take a stand on what they will cut and it allows them to demagogue whatever the Republicans do. It’s shameful.
Obama’s reelection strategy regarding the auto bailout
….Geithner's op-ed included this amusing whopper about Chrysler:
Nothing about the president’s call was popular. IT MAY HAVE BEEN MORE POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT TO LET CHRYSLER FAIL. But the president knew that if Chrysler collapsed, tens of thousands of jobs would have been shed in the near term — a body blow to an economy already on the ropes.
Obama's top economic advisor, Austan Goolsbee, disagreed strongly with this assessment at the time the decision was made, as Obama's auto czar, Steve Rattner, recorded in his book Overhaul. Rattner disagreed with it as well, although he went along without raising as much noise as Goolsbee. RATTNER STATES IN HIS BOOK THAT POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS WERE THE ONLY REASONS FOR THE CHRYSLER BAILOUT -- THERE WAS PRACTICALLY NO ECONOMIC CASE FOR IT AT ALL.
Geithner's op-ed was also noteworthy because it came the day before GM's stock price plummeted on disappointing May sales numbers. Year-to-date, GM is selling more cars than last year, but its sales were down year-over-year for May. And IT IS SELLING ALL THOSE CARS ONLY BY OFFERING INCENTIVES MORE THAN 50 PERCENT MORE GENEROUS THAN THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE. The company has now lost more than 10 percent of its value since its IPO just seven months ago, and its stock is off about 25 percent from its peak in February….
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/06/looks-geithner-picked-wrong-week-praise-auto-bailout#ixzz1ODN1kCEB
The Obama spokespeople have created this story of the bravery this president has shown. It appears to be just so much nonsense as his decisions have been ideological rather than “brave.”
Job growth slows to 54,000 in May, rate up to 9.1%
JOB GROWTH DECELERATED SHARPLY IN MAY, the Labor Department said Friday. Total nonfarm payrolls increased by 54,000, MUCH LOWER THAN THE 125,000 GAIN EXPECTED BY WALL STREET ECONOMISTS. This is the smallest increase in nonfarm payroll since September. The UNEMPLOYMENT RATE TICKED HIGHER 9.1% IN MAY FROM 9.0% IN THE PREVIOUS MONTH. Economists forecast the unemployment rate to fall to 8.9%. Average hourly earnings increased 6 cents, or 0.3% to $22.98. Economists had been expecting a 0.2% gain. Earnings are up a slim 1.8% in the past year. The average workweek was steady at 34.4 hours. The factory workweek rose 12 minutes to 40.6 hours while factory overtime was unchanged at 3.2 hours. Labor Department officials said they found no evidence that tornadoes or floods in the Midwest and South affected the data. There will be state and local estimates available later in June.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/job-growth-slows-to-54000-in-may-rate-up-to-91-2011-06-03?link=MW_latest_news
Two things here: once again we have unexpected bad economic news and secondly unemployment increased even though we had 54,000 new jobs. The administration got a free ride when people dropped out of the job market and unemployment fell even as jobs were lost. They are now getting the other side of the coin. This is just another reason Obama’s second term is toast.
It’s official: The left has no ideas left
With a little over a year to go until the next national election cycle is complete, it has become apparent that from an economic standpoint, the SS Liberal has officially run out of steam. Hull weighted down with the barnacles of false promises and rudder crippled by the reckless mismanagement of a spendthrift captain from Chicago, she sits there floundering in a sea of unemployment and malaise not experienced since Jimmy Carter was at the helm.
And despite all the rosy window dressing provided by the beaming ship attendants of the MAINSTREAM MEDIA, WHO PRETEND TO BE SHOCKED EVERY TIME ANOTHER LEAK OPENS UP, WE PASSENGERS ARE FULLY AWARE OF OUR SURROUNDINGS.
CNBC reports that the PRIVATE SECTOR JOB MARKET IS STILL SHRINKING, with employers announcing over 37,000 more job cuts this month. That's up nearly 2% since April. In addition, Forbes reveals that HOME PRICES HAVE DROPPED TO THEIR 2002 LEVELS, falling another 4.2% in the first quarter of 2011. David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices, released a chilling statement that, "This month's report is marked by the CONFIRMATION OF A DOUBLE-DIP IN HOME PRICES ACROSS MUCH OF THE NATION."
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/06/its_official_the_left_is_out_of_ideas.html
Bold action is needed but it won’t come from the Democrats. Spending needs to be cut dramatically. We need to open up energy exploration across the country and off our shores. We need to deregulate as well. Everything Obama has done has been counterproductive to the economy.
War Powers Act: Boehner throws down the gauntlet
In the immortal words of the vice president, this could be a big $%^ing deal: House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is throwing what one Republican calls “a legal and political hot potato at the President.”
In a resolution to be voted on in the House tomorrow, BOEHNER IS GIVING THE PRESIDENT TWO WEEKS – until the Pentagon Appropriations bill comes up – to either:
a) ASK FOR AUTHORIZATION FOR THE MILITARY INTERVENTION IN LIBYA, OR
b) FIGURE OUT HOW TO DISENGAGE THE US FROM THE NATO OPERATION IN LIBYA.
The resolution states: “The President has not sought, and Congress has not provided, authorization for the introduction or continued involvement of the United States Armed Forces in Libya. Congress has the constitutional prerogative to withhold funding for any unauthorized use of the United States Armed Forces, including for unauthorized activities regarding Libya.”
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/06/speaker-boehner-throws-down-the-war-powers-act-gauntlet-on-libya.html
And here’s the result of the vote: it passed, 268-145.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/3/bipartisan-congress-rebuffs-obama-libya-mission/
Obamacare Update
High Risk Pool, Anyone?
I've predicted that lots of parts of Obamacare will not work the way they're expected to. But here's one I wouldn't have predicted: the high-risk pools, which were meant to tide people over until 2013, have signed up JUST 18,000 PEOPLE AS OF MARCH.
There were supposed to be millions of people who were uninsurable because of pre-existing conditions. We heard lengthy testimony about their terrible plight. I don't think it's too strong to say that this fear--that you could get sick and no one would insure you, that's right, you, Mr. & Mrs. Middle-Class Voter--was one of the main reasons offered for the health care overhaul. IT WAS ESTIMATED BY MEDICARE'S CHIEF ACTUARY THAT AROUND 400,000 WOULD SIGN UP (the CBO estimated 200,000, but only because they assumed that HHS would use its authority to limit enrollment in order to stay within the $5 billion budgeted for the program). So where are all the uninsurable people?
The explanations so far offered don't sound very convincing to me. SUZY KHIMM CHANNELS NANCY PELOSI TO SUGGEST THAT THE POLITICAL CONTROVERSY OVER OBAMACARE HAS SOMEHOW PREVENTED PEOPLE FROM FINDING OUT ABOUT HIGH-RISK POOLS. I could certainly see how that would account for fewer-than-expected signups . . . but a 95% reduction? It sort of strains credulity to say that only 18,000 uninsurable people in the whole country are aware that the pools exist--at least, if you believe that all the rest of the uninsurable people care about getting health insurance.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/why-hasnt-anyone-signed-up-for-the-high-risk-health-insurance-pools/239833/
Hmmm, wasn’t this one of the major fixes by Obamacare?
Books
The Secret Knowledge…
David Mamet's provocative new book, The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture, EXPLORES IN GREATER LENGTH AND CONSIDERABLY GREATER DEPTH THE THEMES HE ANNOUNCED IN HIS 2008 OP-ED FOR THE VILLAGE VOICE, "WHY I AM NO LONGER A 'BRAIN-DEAD LIBERAL.'" It comes complete with a bibliography of 117 books listing virtually every work relating to his topic….
….In a chapter entitled "The Intelligent Person's Guide to Socialism and Anti-Semitism," he first argues that "SOCIAL JUSTICE" IS A SORT OF SUNDAY RELIGION that does not carry over to the pressures of the workweek…
….And then he answers his own question with a mini-drama:
Our American plane has been forced to land at some foreign airport, by the outbreak of World War III. It will not be allowed to depart. TWO PLANES ARE LEAVING THE AIRPORT; WE MUST CHOOSE WHICH WE WANT TO BOARD. ONE PLANE IS FLYING TO ISRAEL AND ONE TO SYRIA, AND WE MUST CHOOSE. THAT'S WHERE THE SYMPATHY STOPS.
No one reading this book would get on the plane to Syria. Why? It is a despotism, opposed to the West, to women, to gays, to Jews, to free speech. ... And yet one may gain status or a feeling of solidarity by embracing the "Arab cause."…
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/06/a_brain-dead_liberal_awakens.html
This looks to be a book worth reading whether you are a liberal or a conservative.
Science
Science confirms the old adage about people with handicaps..
DEAF PEOPLE HAVE BETTER EYESIGHT THAN THOSE WHO CAN HEAR, RESEARCH SHOWS.
Scientists discovered that the retinas of people born deaf, or who lost their hearing early in life, developed differently from those in people who can hear.
THIS GAVE THEM GREATER PERIPHERAL VISION, allowing them to see more and thus increase their awareness of their surroundings and any potential hazards.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1393772/Why-deaf-better-hear.html#ixzz1ODlQTF8y
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