Politics: In his weekly radio address and elsewhere over the weekend, PRESIDENT OBAMA BLAMED REPUBLICANS FOR "HOLDING BACK" THE RECOVERY BY BLOCKING HIS STILL-MIA JOBS PLAN. This wins the prize for Oval Office hubris
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HE'S EVEN QUESTIONING THE "PATRIOTISM" OF GOP LEADERS ON THE HILL, claiming they're putting politics above country. "They're more interested in the politics of it than they are in solving the problem," he complained…
…The most ideologically rigid president in history then accused Republicans — who control just a third of the Pennsylvania Avenue power corridor — of "rigidity" in refusing to raise taxes in a recession…
…You can't appreciate the heights of this cynicism without looking at Obama's 2006 memoir, "The Audacity of Hope," where HE BLAMED BUSH AND REPUBLICANS FOR "ANEMIC JOB GROWTH," "FLATLINING WAGES" AND NOT MAKING "TOUGH CHOICES TO CONTROL SPENDING." All the horrible things he said came from GOP policies back then are umpteen times worse now under his own policies.
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/582345/201108221840/Look-In-Mirror-Mr-President.htm
Kind of makes you wonder what Jobs Plan are the Republicans blocking (have you seen any plan?). But let’s review; Obama the candidate was against extending the debt limit, anemic job growth, and failing to make tough spending choices. Apparently Obama the candidate would not like Obama the President.
Obama’s debt
Swallow all liquids in your mouth before reading any further.
Updated numbers for the national debt are just out: It's now $14,639,000,000,000.
When Barack Obama took the oath of office twice on Jan. 20, 2009, CBS' amazing number cruncher Mark Knoller reports, the national debt was $10,626,000,000,000.
That means the debt that our federal government owes a whole lot of somebodies including China HAS INCREASED $4,247,000,000,000 IN JUST 945 DAYS. That's the fastest increase under any president ever.
Remember the day the Democrat promised to close the embarrassing Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility within one year? THAT DAY THE NATIONAL DEBT INCREASED $4,247,000,000. AND EACH DAY SINCE THAT THE FACILITY HASN'T BEEN CLOSED.
Same for the day in 2009 when Obama flew all the way out to Denver to sign the $787 billion stimulus bill that was going to hold national unemployment beneath 8% instead of the 9.1% we got today anyway? Another $4,247,000,000 that day. And every day since, even Obama golfing and vacation days.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/08/obama-national-debt.html
$4 trillion reasons not to vote Democratic in 2012.
Obama’s Approval Hits New Low of 44% With Hispanics
In the same week that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that her department was going to review the cases of 300,000 illegal aliens in deportation proceedings and allow “low priority” cases to stay in the country and receive work permits—a move House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith called a “back door amnesty”—PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S APPROVAL DROPPED TO AN ALL-TIME LOW OF 44 PERCENT AMONG HISPANICS, according to Gallup polling data released today
THAT IS A DROP OF 41 POINTS FROM THE SPRING OF 2009, when Obama’s approval among Hispanic Americans peaked at 85 percent (in the weeks that ended April 26, 2009 and May 17, 2009).
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/back-door-amnesty-backfires-obama-s-appr
Marco Rubio may make a fine VP candidate.
Gallup: Obama hits an all time low in Approval
ONLY 38 PERCENT OF AMERICANS SAY THE APPROVE OF THE WAY BARACK OBAMA IS HANDLING HIS JOB as president, according to Gallup's daily tracking poll released today (which averages the president's approval over Gallup's previous three days of polling).
That is the lowest that Obama's approval has been in the daily tracking poll since he was inaugurated in January 2009.
54 percent of Americans in Gallup's daily tracking poll said they disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job as president. That ties the president's highest level of disapproval in the poll. Disapproval of Obama also rose as high as 54 percent in the 3-day period of Aug. 11-13.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obamas-approval-takes-vacation-drops-all
I’m starting to read some about the possibility of Obama doing an LBJ and dropping out of the race in January. It is possible, but it’s awfully hard to leave that way. I think he will stay in and be beaten like a drum in the general election.
It’s the spending, stupid!
It’s conventional wisdom in Washington to blame the federal government’s dire financial outlook on runaway entitlement spending. Unless we rein in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the conventional wisdom goes, the federal government is headed for disaster.
That’s true in the long run. But what is causing massive deficits now? . . . The bottom line is that with baby boomers aging, entitlements will one day be a major budget problem. But today’s DEFICIT CRISIS IS NOT ONE OF ENTITLEMENTS. IT WAS CREATED BY OUT-OF-CONTROL SPENDING ON EVERYTHING other than entitlements. The recent debt-ceiling agreement is supposed to put the brakes on that kind of spending, but leaders have so far been maddeningly vague on how they’ll do it.
This issue could be an important one in the coming presidential race. Should Republicans base their platform on entitlement reform, or should they focus on the here and now — specifically, on undoing the damage done by Obama and his Democratic allies? IN COMING MONTHS, THE ANSWER WILL LIKELY BECOME CLEAR: ENTITLEMENTS SOMEDAY, BUT FIRST THINGS FIRST.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/08/spending-not-entitlements-created-huge-deficit
It's not a revenue problem. It's a spending problem.
A Plan or an Outline of Some Ideas?
Last Monday, President Obama made news by promising to give a speech in September detailing, "A VERY SPECIFIC PLAN TO BOOST THE ECONOMY, TO CREATE JOBS AND TO CONTROL OUR DEFICIT."
But has that "very specific plan" already been downgraded to an outline?
That is, at least, the impression I got watching Obama advisors Robert Gibbs and David Axelrod on yesterday's Sunday morning shows.
"THE PRESIDENT IS GOING TO OUTLINE a short-term plan to accelerate the economy," Axelrod said on ABC's This Week, "in the face of the hits we've taken, because of the Arab Spring and oil prices, because of the Japanese earthquake, because of Europe that have slowed down economic growth.
On Meet the Press, Gibbs used similar language, "THE PRESIDENT IS GOING TO OUTLINE some ideas, the president has outlined ideas every day he's been in the White House."
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/obamas-specific-plan-now-just-outline
This isn’t surprising. A plan can be scored by the CBO. An outline can be interpreted anyway the defender of it wants. The problem with this administration is that all they had when they came into office was an outline and that’s all they still have.
Florida's Governor Promotes His Texas Colleague's Higher Ed Vision
Texas Governor Rick Perry's controversial higher education platform may be coming to a college near you -- if you're at a college or university in Florida. The Orlando Sentinel reports that Florida's governor, Rick Scott, has been sharing the philosophical framework for PERRY'S PERFORMANCE-BASED VISION FOR PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES -- the Texas Public Policy Foundation's "Seven Breakthrough Solutions" -- with candidates he is considering for trustee positions. "It does get the conversation going," Scott told the newspaper, REFERRING TO IDEAS LIKE CREATING "SEPARATE BUDGETING AND REWARD SYSTEMS FOR TEACHING AND RESEARCH, MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO REWARD EXCEPTIONAL INDIVIDUALS IN EACH AREA," and ALLOCATING STATE AID THROUGH VOUCHERS FOR STUDENTS IN PLACE OF INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT. Faculty leaders in Florida are not excited about the potential export from the Lone Star State. "People are just mortified by it," said Tom Auxter, president of United Faculty of Florida, the statewide faculty union. "The devil is alive and well in those details."
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/23/qt#268500
Why is it that teachers at all levels absolutely reject any kind of accountability even if it means the potential for higher remuneration?
Economists back spending cuts over tax increases
THE MAJORITY OF ECONOMISTS SURVEYED BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BUSINESS ECONOMICS BELIEVE THAT THE FEDERAL DEFICIT SHOULD BE REDUCED ONLY OR PRIMARILY THROUGH SPENDING CUTS.
The survey out Monday found that 56 PERCENT OF THE NABE MEMBERS SURVEYED FELT THAT WAY, while 37 PERCENT SAID THEY FAVOR EQUAL PARTS SPENDING CUTS AND TAX INCREASES. The remaining 7 percent believe it should be done only or mostly through tax increases.
As for how to reduce the deficit, NEARLY 40 PERCENT SAID THE BEST WAY WOULD BE TO CONTAIN MEDICARE AND MEDICAID COSTS. Nearly a quarter recommended overhauling the tax system and simplifying tax rates and exemptions. About 15 percent said the government should enact tough spending caps and cut discretionary spending.
The latest survey by the NABE was conducted in the two weeks ending Aug. 2, the day that the Senate passed and President Obama signed legislation to cut spending by more than $2 trillion and raise the nation's debt ceiling.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/44226011
So much for balance. I’ll bet we would see a different outcome if you did a survey of academic economists. Of course it was Obama’s team of academic economists who dusted off Keynes and put us on the fast track to insolvency.
It’s not easy being green and it’s not very smart either
…For most of the last few years the White House and its supporters have been saying it's about all three. But that's never been true. IF WE WANT ENERGY INDEPENDENCE (and I'm not sure why we would) or if we want to reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil (a marginally better proposition, given that Canada and often Mexico supply the U.S. with more oil than Saudi Arabia), WE WOULD MASSIVELY EXPAND OUR DOMESTIC DRILLING FOR OIL AND GAS AND OUR USE OF COAL OR CARBON-FREE NUCLEAR. That would also create lots of jobs that can't be exported (YOU CAN'T DRILL FOR AMERICAN OIL IN CHINA, BUT WE CAN, AND DO, BUY LOTS OF CHINESE-MADE SOLAR PANELS).
As for the windfall in green jobs, that has always been a con job.
For instance, BARACK OBAMA CAME INTO OFFICE INSISTING THAT SPAIN WAS BEATING THE U.S. IN THE RUSH FOR GREEN JOBS. NEVER MIND THAT IN SPAIN — WHERE UNEMPLOYMENT IS NOW AT 21% — THE GREEN JOBS BOOM HAS BEEN A BUST. One major 2009 study by researchers at King Juan Carlos University found that the country destroyed 2.2 jobs in other industries for every green job it created, and the Spanish government has spent more than half a million euros for each green job created since 2000. Wind industry jobs cost a cool $1 million euros apiece.
The record in America has been no better, Obama's campaign stump speeches notwithstanding. The NEW YORK TIMES, WHICH HAS BEEN TOUTING THE GREEN AGENDA IN ITS NEWS PAGES FOR YEARS, ADMITTED LAST WEEK THAT "FEDERAL AND STATE EFFORTS TO STIMULATE CREATION OF GREEN JOBS HAVE LARGELY FAILED, government records show." Even Obama's former green jobs czar concedes the point, as do other leading Democrats, including Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles….
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg-green-20110823,0,4353091.column
The only secure thing you can say about going green is that it costs a lot of green. It’s a technology that isn’t there, yet our pro-science progressives don’t seem to understand that.
Obama strangles the Energy Sector
LAST WEEK, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOUND ITSELF IN A LEGAL BATTLE WITH EXXON OVER THE LARGEST FIND IN THE COMPANY'S HISTORY, A FIELD OF OVER 1 BILLION BARRELS OFF THE COAST OF LOUISIANA. This represents 5% of total U.S. oil reserves and there's supposed to be a lot more out there. The Marcellus Shale field in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland contains between 160 and 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Out in North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan, THE BAKKEN DEPOSIT IS ESTIMATED TO CONTAIN FROM 10-40 BILLION BARRELS OF OIL EQUIVALENT ACCORDING TO INDUSTRY EXPERTS. This doesn't include large deposits in Colorado, Wyoming, and elsewhere. Even if Bakken comes in at the low end it, represents another 40-50% increase in onshore American oil reserves.
In the meantime, THE OIL COMPANIES DRILLING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO ARE STILL REPORTING INCREDIBLE DELAYS IN RE-OPENING EVEN THE INSHORE OIL RIGS. Offshore fields have become almost impossible to develop despite the incredible size of some of these discoveries. The government shut down even the inshore oil fields in the Gulf after the Deepwater Horizon disaster last year. The Department of the Interior just announced the first auction of oil leases since the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in April of last year, to be held in December. THE GULF PROVIDES 29% OF AMERICA'S OIL AND 13% OF OUR NATURAL GAS.
A report released in July by LA Senator David Vitter noted THE DEPARTURE OF 10 DEEP-WATER RIGS, THE IMMINENT DEPARTURE OF SEVERAL MORE, AND THE DIVERSION OF 8 MORE SINCE THE MORATORIUM WAS DECLARED IN MAY 2010. Each of these projects ranged from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in investment. Many of those rigs are on their way to the vast 50- to 80-billion-bbl Lula oil field off the Brazilian coast. It is interesting to note that the Export-Import Bank is loaning $10 billion to Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, to invest in their offshore oil industry. Funny timing.
THE ADMINISTRATION HAS ALSO DONE ITS BEST TO STALL DRILLING BOTH ON THE NORTH SLOPE AND IN THE COOK INLET IN ALASKA. While talking about exploration, new pipelines, and improved practices, the reality is that every roadblock possible is being placed in the way of increased production. Last year, Fenton Associates, the public relations agency for many environmental groups, boasted that they had shut down drilling in Alaska.
"DRILL, BABY, DRILL" HAS BEEN REPLACED BY "CHILL, BABY, CHILL."
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/obamas_real_energy_policy.html
This administration is actually hostile to businesses and indirectly to jobs for the American people. If Obama thinks about jobs the first thing when he wakes up and the last thing when he goes to sleep, he is either an economic illiterate or such an ideologue that he is willing for you to lose your job to attain his desired end.
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