…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.
