Happy Easter

What’s new Today 

Story #1 relates some of the inconsistencies in the unemployment numbers.  #2 talks about how the Obama Administration that is lambasting tax cuts from the Bush Administration is lauding the Chinese government for a new policy to tax cuts in China.

        1. Unemployment numbers

The March unemployment data has been issued. The government claims 120,000 jobs were created and the unemployment rate fell to 8.2% from 8.3% in February. However closer looks at the statistics reveal an altogether different scenario.

In March, an additional 164,000 people dropped out of the labor force bring the total of people not in the labor force up to nearly 88 million (a new record). In January of 2009 (when Obama assumed office that total was 81 million.

The published unemployment rate of 8.2% does not include those who have dropped out of the job market or are discouraged. However the Bureau of Labor Statistics does publish a statistic that takes into account the total unemployed, plus discouraged workers and those marginally attached to the labor force (but not the entire universe of those who have completely dropped out of the labor force), that they all the U-5 unemployment rate, which in March was 9.6%.

If the labor force participation rate (that part of the overall civilian population in the labor force) were the same as when Obama took office, then the actual unemployment rate would be 10.5%. As those not in the labor force has increased nearly seven million since Obama became President.

By comparison the last time the nation faced a severe recession (actually worse than what Obama faced) was in the early 1980's. The unemployment rate peaked at 10.8% (November 1982) under Ronald Reagan; however within 14 months that rate was down to 7.6% after the effect of Reagan's new policies took hold -- a drop of 30%.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/04/unemployment_data_not_what_it_appears.html#ixzz1rM3ztR8X

In the past 12 months only 33% of the people who came into the age groups that make up the civilian population entered the work force vs almost 67% traditionally found there.  

2. Do as you do, Not as I say

While making positive comments about the most recent five-year-plan developed by the Communist government of the People’s Republic of China, Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats specifically applauded China’s decision to lower taxes because it would spur economic growth.

“What’s really encouraging to me is that there are a lot of groups in China that are reform-minded,” Hormats said while addressing a group of foreign reporters in New York City last week…

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-administration-applauds-tax-cuts-people-s-republic-china

The hypocrisy of the left is paramount in this story.  The applaud tax cuts in China while condemning them here.  Kind of reminds you of Obama stopping drilling in America while applauding Brazil’s offshore drilling telling them we want to be their biggest customer. 

Look at all the Liberal Failures....

What’s new Today

Story #1 tells us the real facts about Oil.  It seems Pres. Obama’s claim of the US possession only 2% of the known reserves is misleading.  #2 talks about unemployment.  Is it only 8.3%?  #3 has the NAACP asking the UN to investigate the use of voter ID laws in the USA.  #4 looks at HBO’s new movie, Game Change and declares it a political hack job.  #5 details out the liberal failures in the Golden State while #6 looks at the political protests by student over tuition increases.  Guess who they blame for them? 

1.  The Real Facts about Oil

When he was running for the Oval Office four years ago amid $4-a-gallon gasoline prices, then-Sen. Barack Obama dismissed the idea of expanded oil production as a way to relieve the pain at the pump.

"Even if you opened up every square inch of our land and our coasts to drilling," he said. "America still has only 3% of the world's oil reserves." Which meant, he said, that the U.S. couldn't affect global oil prices... It's the same rhetoric President Obama is using now, as gas prices hit $4 again, except now he puts the figure at 2%...

But the figure Obama uses — proved oil reserves — vastly undercounts how much oil the U.S. actually contains. In fact, far from being oil-poor, the country is awash in vast quantities — enough to meet all the country's oil needs for hundreds of years...

…All told, the U.S. has access to 400 billion barrels of crude that could be recovered using existing drilling technologies, according to a 2006 Energy Department report... When you include oil shale, the U.S. has 1.4 trillion barrels of technically recoverable oil, according to the Institute for Energy Research, enough to meet all U.S. oil needs for about the next 200 years, without any imports.

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/03/diagramming-president-obamas-oil-lies.html

400 billion barrels of oil would supply all our needs at current levels for the next 55 years which would be plenty of time to get replacement technologies that  work which might include oil shale or it might not.

2.  The Real Unemployment number

Obama’s entire claim that the economy is reviving is based on phony numbers and rigged statistics. Nothing is more misleading than the recent administration claim that the economy added over 200,000 jobs during each of the past three months and that unemployment is stable at 8.3 percent.

Dr. John Hussman of the Hussman Fund says that the claims of job gains are based entirely on weighted figures. “Total non-farm employment in the U.S., before seasonal adjustments, fell by 2,689,000 jobs in January.” Then the spin doctors at the Bureau of Labor Statistics went to work. Hussman explains: “because it’s typical for the economy to lose a large number of jobs after the holidays, largely in retail trade, construction and manufacturing, the BLS estimated that the ‘normal’ seasonal decline in employment should have been 2,932,000 jobs in January. The difference between the two numbers … was 243,000 jobs, which was reported as an increase in employment.”

Hussman notes that this “adjustment” in 2011 and 2012 was far more extreme than in any previous year since the 1960s. Had the standard adjustment been used, instead of the souped-up figure BLS applied, the total number of new jobs created would be only about 60,000 for January.

And even that may be an overestimation.

http://rightwingnews.com/column-2/economy-actually-lost-2-7-million-jobs-in-january/

There are a lot of problems with the BLS numbers and this may explain some of it.  If you look at the numbers they publish, you will see while they claim 734,000 jobs were created in the last three months. When you look at the numbers that create the 8.3 percent unemployment, you have 1.5 million more Americans working in February than were working in November. 

3.  NAACP asks UN Human Rights Council to investigate US voter ID Laws

The NAACP have asked the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to investigate US voter ID Laws

The UN Human Rights Council includes such paragons of human rights – and free elections – as China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Libya (elected to the council under its late dictator-for-life) and Burkina Faso, whose citizens are required to carry government photo ID at all times, or risk highly mercurial spot fines. Oh, and let’s not forget Djibouti, whose current president, the nephew of the previous president, won an impressive 100 per cent of the vote in his 2005 re-election campaign.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/293550/lets-have-burkina-faso-run-us-elections-mark-steyn

I don’t think leftist are very good with the concept of irony.

4.  Perfect Strangers:  HBO and the Truth

Defenders of HBO's "Game Change" have fought back against those who criticize the politically charged film as a two-hour attack on Sarah Palin. They claim that unless a person has watched it in its entirety, they cannot judge its content or the people involved with the project.

Well, I've seen the entire movie, so don't mind me while I go ahead and judge this piece of high-dollar propaganda.

"Game Change" is pretty easy to deconstruct. At its core, it's a left-wing project designed to make one of their most hated political enemies toxic. They used people with an axe to grind to legitimize the story they want viewers to believe and help push their agenda. They also have no problem lying….

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2012/03/09/top-10-lies-game-change

This article really dissects the lies in the HBO Movie, Game Change.  This is less a movie that takes literary license and more an obvious propaganda piece from the Progressive Left.

5.  Liberal Measure Don’t seem to be working in California

State Controller John Chaing continues to uphold the California Great Seal Motto of “Eureka”, i.e., 'I have found it'. But what Chaing is finding as Controller is that California’s economy as measured by tax revenues is still tanking. Compared to last year, State tax collections for February shriveled by $1.2 billion or 22%. The deterioration is more than double the shocking $535 million reported decline for last month. The cumulative fiscal year decline is $6.1 billion or down 11% versus this period in 2011.

While California Governor Brown promises strong economic growth is just around the corner, Chaing proves that the best way for Sacramento politicians to hurt the economy and thereby generate lower tax revenue, is to have the highest tax rates in the nation.

California politicians seem delusional in their continued delusion that high taxes have not savaged the State’s economy. Each month’s disappointment is written off as due to some one-time event.

The State Controller’s office did acknowledge that higher than normal tax refunds for February might have reduced the collection of some personal income taxes. Given that 2012 has an extra day in February for leap year, there might have been one day more of tax refunds sent out. But the Controller’s report shows personal income tax collections fell by $325 million, or 16% versus last year. Furthermore, leap year would have added another day for retail sales and use tax collection, but those revenues also fell during February-by an even larger $813 million, 25% decline from 2011.

The more likely reason tax collections continue falling is that businesses and successful people are leaving California for the better tax rates available in more pro-business states….

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/03/13/exodus-california-tax-revenue-plunges-by-22

Perhaps the Democrats should take a look at this before they talk about making sure everyone pays their fair share.  Brown came in talking like that and seems to have taken a bad situation and made it worse. 

6.  California Student’s Protest Spiraling Tuition

In so-called "March in March" protests, thousands of students in California universities recently demonstrated in outrage over spiraling tuition costs.

At both the California State University and University of California multi-campus systems, tuition hikes in recent years have far exceeded the national average. Meanwhile, universities slash classes, cut key research, and rely even more on exploited and poorly paid part-time lecturers and graduate-student teaching assistants.

YET AGAINST WHOM, EXACTLY, ARE THESE CASH-STRAPPED STUDENTS DEMONSTRATING? After all, their college faculties are unionized, largely liberal and sympathetic to their plight.

Campus administrators likewise want more state money for universities. But, unlike the beleaguered faculty, their numbers by some calculations have increased 221 percent between 1975 and 2008. At CSU, there may be one administrator for every full-time faculty member. Why, then, were not the students calling for their administrators to return to the classroom, and thereby provide additional classes at reduced cost?

Do the students fault the governor and the legislature for unwise spending priorities that have led to funding cuts and tuition hikes? Not really. Gov. Jerry Brown is a liberal Democrat. Both the state senate and assembly are also overwhelmingly Democratic -- and have been for years. In fact, state officials largely spoke in favor of the student protests.

Are the students instead angry at the state's public employees, who on average make more and are better pensioned than their counterparts in other states? Or do protestors connect the state's escalating costs that divert money from universities with California's massive number of illegal aliens -- whether in terms of the soaring costs of social services, billions of dollars sent as remittances to Mexico, or the incarceration costs of 30,000 Mexican nationals in the state prison system?

Does state money allotted to other discretionary areas, from things like preliminary funding for envisioned high-speed rail to restoring salmon in the state rivers, come at the expense of students?

The cash-strapped protestors would probably not think so. Instead, they seem to believe that the causes of all their troubles are the proverbial "rich" who are not "paying their fair share."…

http://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2012/03/15/whos_to_blame_for_california

Quite frankly these students appear to be so dense and uneducated; I would refund their tuition and close down the schools.  They don’t seem to be actually educating their customers.

What is the Obama Reality?

What’s new Today

Story #1 looks at what Obama has really done and what he is telling people he’s done.  #2 then looks at the reality of Obama, how he governs and what it means.  #3 is a look at the Planned Parenthood situation.  And finally, #4 looks at unemployment and what the real number is. 

1.  Reality and Obama

…Obama applauded his administration for increases in oil and natural gas production in the U.S. He also claimed that the federal government, under his watch, invented hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.

To wit: at the 27:13 mark of the SOTU, Obama said, "And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock -- reminding us that government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground." He actually said that! (For the record, fracking was first used in 1947, before Obama was even born.)

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) data shows that oil and gas production increases occurred in spite of Obama's policies, not because of them. The IER said, "The increase in production is occurring on private and state lands, the use of which is much harder for the President to restrict. Meanwhile, production on federal lands is decreasing significantly[.] ... [Obama's] administration did not hold a single offshore lease sale in fiscal year 2011." The offshore leases were not sold when the Obama administration decided not to pursue a new 2010- 2015 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lease plan.

The Deepwater Horizon oil explosion/spill occurred on April 20, 2010. After that, Obama suspended all new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and then, after the ban was lifted, made it so difficult to get new permits that oil companies moved their drilling rigs to less politically intransigent regions of the world.

Exxon-Mobil, Conoco-Phillips, Chevron, and Shell announced in February 2011 that the development of a Marine Well Containment System (MWCS), capable of controlling oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon accident, had been completed. Said the IER, "Since the Marine Well Containment System was crafted in conjunction with government regulators in order to meet strict specifications, there is no reason for the Obama Administration to continue preventing responsible energy companies from returning to the Gulf."

Let's see. February 2011 is within FY2011, so upon what basis did the Obama administration decide not to hold a lease sale?....

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/obama_on_energy_an_exercise_in_nuance.html#ixzz1lJhUOrR3

Of course Obama will stretch the truth to sound better. Actually the truth doesn’t come close to what Obama will say this election cycle.

2.  What is the reality of Obama

What does he do all day? Are you impressed with the image of Obama-at-work left by Ryan Lizza’s “Obama Memos” piece in the New Yorker? The President’s decision-making method–at least as described in the piece–seems to consist mainly of checking boxes on memos his aides have written for him. … They offer him four stimulus packages, none bigger than $890 billion. He does not ask for more but does push for an “inspiring ‘moon shot’” initiative. At first it’s a “national ‘smart grid’”–hard not to get inspired just hearing those words! When aides explain that this isn’t stimulating enough, he settles for “high-speed trains.” …

…Toward the end of his piece, Lizza writes “[p]redictions that Obama would usher in a new era of post-partisan consensus politics now seem not just naive but delusional.” What you mean “now”? They seemed naive and delusional then, given the looming health care battle. Lizza’s whole argument depends on the reader deluding himself about that.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/02/what-does-obama-do-all-day/#ixzz1lJwUafek

Obama had never held an executive position before this.  It should come as no surprise that he doesn’t know how to do the job.  Has he learned how in the past three years?  No. 

3.   Planned Parenthood

For 17 years, I believed the big lie - the lie that Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion chain, was all about protecting women’s health. Not about abortion, but about “preventing the need for abortion.”

In 1991, I began working at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Storm Lake, Iowa - first as a family planning assistant, then as a manager. I had been drawn there, as other ex-employees will attest to, by my desire to help low-income women access affordable health care. In my mind, Planned Parenthood was the “trusted friend” it claimed to be, educating and providing women with effective contraceptives so that abortion could be avoided. My rationale was strengthened by the fact that the Planned Parenthood clinic where I worked provided only family planning services.

This all changed in 2008, when Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa (now known as Planned Parenthood of the Heartland) required our clinic to begin “telemed abortions.” Telemed abortion is the practice by which an abortion doctor from a remote location simply presses a button, which opens a drawer containing the dangerous abortion pill, after a brief teleconference call with the woman.

Telemed abortion doesn’t only result in the death of an unborn child; it strips women of their dignity by denying them the courtesy of an in-person visit from a doctor concerned for their health and well-being. It risks their lives by sending them away with no support and a drug that has led to massive bleeding and hemorrhaging, infection and even death.

So what does Planned Parenthood, the “trusted friend of women,” love so much about telemed abortions? Low overhead costs….

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/31/planned-parenthoods-big-lie/

It appears PP is a business and one that if it were not providing abortions would be picketed and denounced by leftists.

4.  11.5% unemployment

The new employment numbers are out and they show that unemployment fell to 8.3% in January. Woo-hoo. We added “243,000″ jobs, right?

Not exactly.

From Zero Hedge:

“In January, the number of Part Time workers rose by 699K, the most ever, from 27,040K to 27,739K, the third highest number in the history of this series. How about Full time jobs? They went from 113,765 to 113,845. An 80K increase. So the epic January number of 141.6 million employed, which rose by 847K at the headline level: only about 10 % of that was full time jobs: surely an indicator of the resurgent US economy… in which employers can’t even afford to give their workers full time employee benefits.”

I am not that pessimistic. From little acorns, oak trees grow. But this also may reflect a reluctance to add full-time staff that gets you in Obamacare trouble. If Obamacare gets the Supreme Court Seal of Approval, look for employees to be replaced by private contractors throughout the USA to avoid an expensive mandate.

That said, Zero Hedge laid out the case in another post for putting the unemployment rate at a more realistic 11.5%. The participation rate has dropped to a 30-year low.

http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/50933

I am a bit more pessimist than is Zero.  The participation rate has dropped from 64.2% to 63.7% over the past year.  So while there are 2.2 million more people employed than a year ago, there are 2.5 million more who aren’t in the labor pool who should be there. 

What Obama does best

What’s new Today

Story #1 is looks at the unemployment rate questioning what the real rate is.  With Tebowmania a fact of sports life, why not look at Tebow vs Obama, not as athletes, but as leaders.  One guess which one fares better in story #2.  Looking at 12 key swing states in #3 we see both Romney and Gingrich winning there.  #4 looks at what Obama seems to think his job is.  #5 has Obama admitting the obvious. 

1.  What’s the real Unemployment Rate?

The unemployment rate dropped to 8.6% in November 2011 from 9% in October. That’s a 4-tenths-of-one-percent drop, which is hyped as huge. If it were true. To get to 8.6%, September and October jobs were adjusted up. HERE ARE 17 THINGS TO THINK ABOUT AND HOW THE MATH WORKS….

http://www.maggiesnotebook.com/2011/12/unemployment-8-6-corrupt-heres-the-math-not-fuzzy-but-corrupt-17-things-to-think-about/

If you are a math nerd like I am, this offers a lot of good information. Using the numbers in the 17 points, you can figure out the actual unemployment rate and it slightly over 10 percent (that’s when you add in the people who have been unsuccessful and stopped looking for work). 

2.  Tebow vs Obama

Last night, watching Denver quarterback Tim Tebow’s post-game press appearance and President Obama’s interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, I was struck by the fact that ONE MAN IS OFFERING HIS TEAM (AND THE COUNTRY ACTUALLY) THE LEADERSHIP THEY NEED WHILE THE OTHER IS TRAPPED IN TRADITIONAL DISCOURSE AND SCORING POLITICAL POINTS.

Tebow is not even close to the most physically talented quarterback in the NFL (and he probably isn’t even the most physically talented quarterback on his own team), but he has taken a team sitting in the cellar and lifted it up to playoff contention.

Do I buy into some intervention by God because Tebow is a man of incredible religious faith? No. I do believe there is a divine presence in every one of us and in everything, and the power of that presence remains a mystery of the ages. It can’t be proven or disproven by an intellectual conversation or scientific method, but it is hard not to accept if you are a person of faith and connection to something outside our mere humanity. Yet THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS DENVER RISE AND WINNING STREAK IS ABOUT.

First, I would be very surprised if God is concerned about whether one NFL team is winning and whether one is losing. Even if God was concerned, I would hope he would have helped my hometown team -- the Detroit Lions -- who have had no success in the Super Bowl era.

Second, there are many players of faith on every team in the NFL, so I don’t think the Creator is picking and choosing which player or team or faith He likes more or less.

I DO THINK THIS TEBOW BOOMLET IS ABOUT FAITH. AND IT’S ABOUT CONFIDENCE. AND LEADERSHIP. AND HUMILITY -- a humbleness born of strength and conviction. It is about Tebow’s faith in his own teammates. It is about his faith and confidence in his own organization. It is about him acknowledging his own weaknesses and failings and mistakes and understanding that if his team looks good, then he looks good….

http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/common-sense/quarterbacking-our-country-tebow-style-20111212

The author brings up a huge part of leadership, that is, faith in those who are with you and a realization their success is your success.  Obama went after the golden ring of left wing politics, a universal healthcare law even while the country was in a deep economic slide.  We now effectively have a 10% unemployment rate (if you add back in the 2.5 million who have dropped out of the workforce), a $1.5 trillion annual deficit, and multiple scandal involving crony capitalism. He can’t take credit for Obamacare because of its popularity and we are seeing him trying to blame Bush, the internet, the rich, and anyone else he can think of.  He has failed as a leader.   

3.   Both Romney and Gingrich would Beat Obama in Key Swing States

According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich would defeat President Obama in the general election in twelve key swing states. Romney is polling five points ahead of Obama, 48 percent to 43 percent, while Gingrich is three points ahead, 48 percent to 45 percent.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/285656/romney-gingrich-would-both-beat-obama-swing-states-katrina-trinko

It this important?  Not yet, but it is interesting.  If you look you see 48% for both Romney and Gingrich with Obama getting another 2% when matched up against Gingrich.  This is probably the upper limit to what Obama can expect to get.  I say upper limit because right now both Romney and Gingrich are being attacked (by each other and the Democrats) while Obama is pretty much being left alone.  When the campaign actually begins and you see the ads of Obama promising X and delivering Y, you will see that number erode. 

4.   Obama's job: Talk, talk, talk

If you want to know why President Obama spends so much time talking instead of diligently working to turn the economy around, he gave the answer on Sunday night.

In an eye-opening interview on “60 Minutes,” THE PRESIDENT SAID THE WORD “JOB” 12 TIMES. SEVEN OF THEM WERE IN REFERENCE TO HIS OWN JOB OR THAT OF HIS ATTORNEY GENERAL. Three of them came in this statement:

“It is my job to put forward a vision of the country that benefits the vast majority of Americans. It is my job to make sure that my party is behind those initiatives, even if sometimes it's breakin' some china and goin' against some of the dogmas of our party in the past. We've done that on things like education reform. And it's my job to rally the American people around that vision.”

NOTHING HAS BETTER SUMMED UP OBAMA'S VIEW OF A PRESIDENT'S RESPONSIBILITIES. IT CAN BE SHORTENED TO ONE WORD: TALK.

That is all a President has to do to “put forward a vision,” get his own party behind it, and “rally the American people” around it. And that is almost all Barack Obama has done since taking office. HE IS A RHETORICAL PRESIDENT.

At the end of his “60 Minutes” interview, he expressed, with more rhetoric, how he intends to campaign for reelection next year.

His message: “That reversing a culture here in Washington, dominated by special interests, it was gonna take more than a year. It was gonna take more than two years. It was gonna take more than one term. Probably takes more than one President.”

That is his pitch. UNABLE TO RUN ON HIS RECORD, HE WILL RUN ON PRECISELY THE SAME THEME HE EMPLOYED IN 2008: VAGUE, EMPTY PROMISES TO OPPOSE SPECIAL INTERESTS AND WASHINGTON CULTURE. The President who is all talk will continue to do nothing but talk. THERE WILL BE NO REAL SOLUTIONS, NO SUBSTANTIVE, CREDIBLE PLAN TO RETURN AMERICA TO PROSPERITY — MERELY MORE WORDS THAT CAST OBAMA AS THE LONE HERO DOING BATTLE WITH FACELESS VILLAINS IN BLACK HATS AND EXPENSIVE TOP COATS….

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20111213/OPINION01/712139997

Obama’s success in life has been his ability to talk.  That is the reason why he kept coming on TV and making campaign stops to get Obamacare passed.  In the end, for all his talking it didn’t make any difference.  All of his talk didn’t persuade the American public to support it.  It was old fashion political bribes and pressure that got congress to pass it.     

5.  Obama beseeches supporters to stay with him

Imploring supporters to stick with him, President Barack Obama acknowledged Tuesday that his re-election is "not a slam dunk" — despite his administration's achievements — because of understandable public skepticism over the economy.

Addressing donors at a hotel near the White House, the president drew attention to his efforts to heal the economy, save the auto industry, end the Iraq war and overhaul health care.

But he said: "All those things don't mean that much to somebody who's still out of work right now. Or whose house is still underwater by $100,000."

Obama said his campaign will have to fight to take its message to voters. "This is going to be tough," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-beseeches-supporters-stick-him-183344380.html

I thought the last statement I posted was the most understated comment I’ve heard so far this year.  It’s going to be tough????? 

Where's the Hope?

We have bad news and worse news

…Now for the really bad news: THAT 18,000 GAIN ANNOUNCED BY THE GOVERNMENT YESTERDAY ISN'T REAL.

For one thing, the number of jobs increased in June only because the Labor Department simultaneously revised downward the number of jobs that existed in this country during May. It's like moving the fences at Citi Field so the Mets players can hit more home runs. It might make Jose Reyes feel better, but it doesn't actually make him more powerful.

Without the fence-moving operation in the May employment report, THE JUNE NUMBER -- YESTERDAY'S NUMBER -- WOULD HAVE SHOWN A DECLINE OF 26,000 JOBS…

http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-news-fridays-anemic-jobs-number.html

Expect a further revision in this number next month.


History: Obama’s doing what Hoover did

…. HOOVER DID NOT TIGHTEN UP ON SPENDING. According to the historical tables of the Office of Management and Budget, spending in 1929 was $3.1 billion, up from $2.9 billion the year before. In 1930 it was $3.3 billion. In 1931, Hoover raised spending to $3.6 billion. And in 1932, he opened the taps to $4.7 billion, where it basically stayed into 1933 (most of which was a Hoover budget). AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP, SPENDING ROSE FROM 3.4% IN 1930 TO 8% IN 1933--AN INCREASE LARGER THAN THE INCREASE UNDER FDR, though of course thankfully under FDR, the denominator (GDP) had stopped shrinking.

This spending represented a substantial increase over the Coolidge years (outlays had been steady between $2.85 billion and $2.95 billion since 1924). And in real terms they represented a very substantial increase, since both nominal and real GDP were falling.

HOOVER DID RAISE TAXES ON HIGH EARNERS QUITE A BIT IN 1932, and perhaps this is what my colleague is thinking of--THOUGH AS THIS DID NOT PRODUCE ANY IMMEDIATELY NOTICEABLE INCREASE IN TAX REVENUE, it's hard to say how much of a fiscal contraction this actually represented….

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/07/hoover-was-no-budget-cutter/241665/


FDR even accused Hoover of 'reckless and extravagant' spending’ while FDR’s VP accused Hoover of 'leading the country down the path of socialism.' Wasn’t it Obama who criticized Bush for a failure to lead when he voted against raising the debt limit when Obama was a Senator?


Obama’s Petulant, Passive Aggressive Leadership

Is there any mindset which defines Obama’s default attitude better than to say it is simply “adolescent?” No, for the following reasons. Barack’s interactions with the real world evokes from him responses which can be described as: angry; superior, haughty, dismissive, dishonest, petulant, cocky, petty, vengeful, mocking, holier-than-thou, and full of faux-insights and dishonesty. In other words, Barack acts like a big kid pretending to be someone he’s not, everyday on the job. This is not only aggravating to observe, and depressing to consider, but worse—extraordinarily dangerous for a leader…

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/38348


This is a worthwhile read if you want some insights in BHO. Actually it isn’t unusual, but most people go through this much earlier in their careers. Obama is way over his head and he knows it, but uses the techniques laid out in this article to try to deflect others from realizing it.


Liberal Outrage of people spending their own money

‘Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), a leading advocate of shrinking entitlement spending and the architect of the plan to privatize Medicare, SPENT WEDNESDAY EVENING SIPPING $350 WINE WITH TWO LIKE-MINDED CONSERVATIVE ECONOMISTS AT THE SWANKY CAPITOL HILL EATERY BISTRO BIS.

It was the same night reports started trickling out about President Obama pressing Congressional leaders to consider changes to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for GOP support for targeted tax increases.

The pomp and circumstance surrounding the waiter's presentation, uncorking and decanting of the pricey Pinot Noir caught the attention of another diner who had already recognized Ryan sitting with two other men nearby.

SUSAN FEINBERG, AN ASSOCIATE BUSINESS PROFESSOR AT RUTGERS, WAS AT BISTRO BIS CELEBRATING HER BIRTHDAY WITH HER HUSBAND THAT NIGHT. WHEN SHE SAW THE LABEL ON THE BOTTLE OF JAYER-GILLES 2004 ECHEZEAUX GRAND CRU RYAN'S TABLE HAD ORDERED,

SHE QUICKLY LOOKED IT UP ON THE WINE LIST AND SAW THAT IT SOLD FOR AN EYE-POPPING $350, the most expensive wine in the house along with one other with the same pricetag.

Feinberg, an economist by training, was even more appalled when the table ordered a second bottle. SHE QUICKLY DID THE MATH AND FIGURED OUT THAT THE $700 IN WINE the trio consumed over the course of 90 minutes amounted to more than the entire weekly income of a couple making minimum wage.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/rep-paul-ryans-pricey-pinot-noir.php


Hmmm, Ryan spends his OWN money on this and the left is outraged? This is a Chris Christie, “It’s none of your business” moment or one in which you show them the next article. BTW it’s nice to know an associate professor from Rutgers can multiple $350 by two.


Pelosi spends hundreds of thousands of Tax Payer’s money on liquor and travel

HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI HAS SQUANDERED OVER $101,000 TAX DOLLARS ON “IN-FLIGHT SERVICES” on congressional delegations since 2008, according to new documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the government watchdog group Judicial Watch…

… During the same two-year period, the entirety of Speaker Pelosi’s TRAVEL EXPENDITURES, INCLUDING THE USE OF AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT FOR HERSELF AND RELATIVES, COST THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE $2,100,749.59….

http://www.redstate.com/jrichardson/2010/02/03/pelosi-spends-hundreds-of-thousands-on-travel-alcohol/


Ah, liberal outrage!


Holder lied and people died

New information indicates that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's actions are squarely behind the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) operation known as "Fast and Furious", which orchestrated the delivery of almost 2,000 weapons to Mexican drug cartels.

HOLDER OPENLY PROCLAIMED HIS CONNECTION TO THE OPERATION IN APRIL 2009 DURING A PUBLICIZED SPEECH IN MEXICO, THEN TOLD A CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE IN MAY 2011, "I PROBABLY HEARD OF FAST AND FURIOUS THE FIRST TIME IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS." ...

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july092011/holder-atf-death-tk.php


This is not good for Holder and the Obama Administration. This may end up being the Obama Administration’s Watergate.

A Government of Sociopaths

….TO THE SOCIOPATH, MOST SITUATIONS COME DOWN TO, “HOW DO I MAKE PERSON X DO WHAT I WANT.” This sounds a lot like the Cass Sunstein theory of ‘Nudges’. THE GOVERNMENT ACTING AS MANIPULATOR GETTING PEOPLE TO DO WHAT THEY’RE BEING TOLD, WHILE MAKING THEM THINK IT’S THEIR OWN IDEA IS EXACTLY WHAT A SOCIOPATH WOULD THINK OF AS A BRILLIANT SOLUTION. It is a perfect illustration of a mind that is intellectually aware that people are individuals, but does not understand or empathize with it as a gut level.

Of course we’re not actually a country run by sociopaths. For the most part. But it is run by men and women who display similar traits and blind spots.
Let’s take a brief look at SOME OF THE BEHAVIORS AND ATTRIBUTES USED TO IDENTIFY A SOCIOPATH.

• Are they cavalier about the truth, and capable of telling lies to your face?
• Have they no apparent sense of remorse, shame or guilt?
• Is their charm superficial, and capable of being switched on to suit immediate ends?
• Do they enjoy taking risks, and acting on reckless impulse?
• Are they quick to blame others for their mistakes?
• Do they have no qualms about sponging off others?
• Are they sexually promiscuous?
• Would you regard them as essentially irresponsible?

Put bluntly, THE BEHAVIORS WHICH ARE COMMON TO POLITICIANS ARE ALSO COMMON TO SOCIOPATHS. But the worst of these is irresponsibility. Without responsibility, there is no self-correcting mechanism. The experience of negative consequences does not lead to avoidance of the same behavior….

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/38345

An interesting look at what’s wrong with both parties as everything hinges on the next election.

TSA

Surrendering our freedoms one grope at a time

We celebrated our freedoms on the Fourth of July, but we seem to be slowly losing them.
The wars we are still funding and the TSA are prime examples of how knee-jerk government policies, once set in motion in reaction to fears both real and imagined, damage the very people they profess to protect.

Sadly, OUR GOVERNMENT, WHICH WAS FOUNDED ON LIBERTY AND TASKED WITH "PROVIDING FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE," IS SLOWLY BEING TAKEN DOWN BY DELUDED NOTIONS OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WHILE IT BESTOWS EQUAL RIGHTS ON OUR ENEMIES. Common sense — and our safety — are being sacrificed.

Jean Weber’s frail, wheelchair-bound, 95-year-old mother was detained for 45 minutes at a Florida airport and searched by the TSA, which forced her to remove her adult diaper. The 105-pound leukemia patient had to fly to her destination without underwear. The TSA is so devoid of reason and common sense that the poor old lady met with more scrutiny than a 20-year-old Middle Eastern male.

By our government condoning outrages like this, Osama bin Laden has won. He need not be buried where religious fanatics can worship at his grave. He lives every day in the TSA monster he caused us to create.

A TSA spokesperson resolutely defended the screening agents in Ms. Weber’s mother’s case, and in others just as egregious. Not long ago, a 6-year old boy was groped by TSA screeners. At least the Catholic Church makes an effort to transfer its violators to another parish. The TSA does nothing but dig in and defend the indefensible. MAYBE THE TSA IS WORKING ON A THEORY THAT AL-QAIDA IS TROLLING OLD FOLKS’ HOMES, CONVINCING 95-YEAR-OLD CANCER PATIENTS TO HIDE KNIVES IN THEIR DIAPERS IN HOPES OF THEM BEING ABLE TO OVERCOME TWO 35-YEAR-OLD AIRLINE PILOTS….

http://www.newsherald.com/articles/freedoms-95125-slowly-government.html#ixzz1RioZrZwu

Political correctness gone amuck.