Of course it cost the taxpayer money. Security alone had to have been enormous to keep it secret since 2009.
Thats another thing. All this chatter from O and his ilk about Fat Cats and lavish things and there is a party that any one of the "fat cats" would love to have.
I didn't see it, don't care too. I am not sure this was a warranted use of taxpayer dollars either, and you know Johnny Depp got PAID to be there, he didn't do it for nothing.
Libertatem Prius!
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I don't know Rick... I'd bet most of the lefties in Hollyweird would cream their jeans and drop everything just to be in the presence of their messiah.
I don't know Rick... I'd bet most of the lefties in Hollyweird would cream their jeans and drop everything just to be in the presence of their messiah.
I suppose, but for all their Socialist leanings and that kind of bullshit, they sure are dead set on getting PAID real hard cash on the barrel head, aren't they?
Slimes.
(Look at the piracy on the internet thing they want to shove up our asses next, you KNOW that's the Lefties doing it!)
Libertatem Prius!
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The nation's debt has reached a symbolic milestone. With gross domestic product of roughly $15 trillion and total debt of $15.23 trillion, our total debt is now bigger than our economy, as USA Today noted Monday.
What's more, the Obama administration's projections put our debt at more than $23 trillion by 2020, well in excess of the projected $22.5 trillion GDP.
Analysts agree that the rising debt ratio is not good, but they can't agree on just how bad it is, and while there's at least some agreement among economists about how to fix the problem, lawmakers have no such common ground — which is one of the biggest hurdles to actually doing something about the debt dilemma.
First of all, take a deep breath. That $15 trillion doesn't have to be paid back all at once. Think of it in terms of a household budget: The average household income is a little under $50,000, while the average sales price for single-family homes is about $169,500. Many homeowners owe more than they make in a year, and that's not cause for alarm in and of itself.
That $15 trillion figure is also a little misleading, said Bill Gale, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution and co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, because it includes money owed by one government agency to another. A more important figure is net debt, which is the amount the U.S. owes investors and now hovers at around 70 percent of GDP, Gale said.
The other silver lining is that the interest on the country's debt currently is not a huge burden, said Eileen Appelbaum, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a liberal think tank. But the flip side is that if policymakers can't agree on solutions to rein in debt, servicing that debt will become more burdensome, especially if interest rates rise from their current rock-bottom levels.
"A higher debt burden means a higher chance we will get downgraded again, which eventually means higher interest rates," said Francisco Torralba, chief economist for Morningstar’s Investment Management division. Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the United States in August has not led to substantially higher interest rates, although weak eurozone economies like Italy have to pay 7 percent or more to convince investors to buy their debt.
As the economy gains steam, tax revenues will rise and government expenses will fall for social services such as food stamps and unemployment insurance will drop. A thornier problem is the escalating costs of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, said Aaron Smith, senior economist for Moody’s Analytics.
CEPR's Appelbaum said policies that targeting the cost of health care — which is rising at a rate that far outstrips inflation — could help rein in the government's expenses.
Sweeping changes to these programs are politically unpalatable, while incremental changes are unlikely to be big enough to keep up with spiraling costs. The alternative is altering the tax code to bring in more revenue.
"If you get into the household side, then it starts to get a little political," Smith said. Instead, simplifying the corporate tax code and eliminating loopholes that let some companies pay little to no tax should be a priority, he said.
Lawmakers might not agree on how, but it's clear the U.S. needs to make some headway on chipping away at the debt.
"It's obviously an issue that needs to be tackled," said Smith. "We're on an unsustainable path and what needs to be done is we need to stabilize the debt and eventually start to bring it down as a share of the economy."
Raising the GDP is crucial, economists say. This increases tax receipts, which means more revenue flows to the government, and it decreases the national debt as a percentage of GDP. Growing the GDP in an economic slump is easier said than done, though.
"Two important things we can do here are alleviating the debt burden of homeowners… coming up with some sort of plan that reduces the mortgage burden homeowners have," Torralba said. The huge number of underwater mortgages in the country hamper spending and mobility.
"The other thing Washington can do is approve a fiscal stimulus plan that stimulates investment, job creation and consumption," he said, pointing out that infrastructure projects like road improvements give the private sector and job creation a boost. But the current deadlock in Congress when it comes to approving spending projects make it unlikely these kinds of initiatives will be launched anytime soon.
"The economy is more important than the budget," Brookings' Gale said.
"The first priority has to be to get the economy moving, ... but it's not really clear what the plan is right now."
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
WASHINGTON – President Obama is kicking off 2012 with an uncomfortable but inevitable request -- for Congress to permit another $1.2 trillion increase in the debt ceiling.
With the U.S. debt at about $15.2 trillion, it is now estimated to be larger than America's entire economic output. The proposed increase would boost the debt ceiling to $16.4 trillion, which should be enough to allow the government to keep borrowing until the end of 2012, or just after the presidential election.
The request was expected. It was the third and final such request the president was allowed under a deal the White House reached with lawmakers in August to prevent a government default.
But Republicans surely will use the request to criticize the president over his debt and deficit record in an election year.
"Washington's mounting debt is a drag on our economic recovery, and this request is another reminder that the president has consistently punted on the tough choices needed to rein in the deficit and protect important programs for American seniors from going bankrupt," said Brendan Buck, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.
House Republicans quickly announced a vote would be set for Wednesday on what's known as a "resolution of disapproval" -- which signals that they don't support the request to raise the debt ceiling.
But such a resolution would not clear the Democratic-led Senate, and the White House says Obama would veto an objection, anyway, in order to avoid default.
Obama originally planned to make this request in December, but with Congress on vacation until mid-January, lawmakers asked the president to delay his request so they could vote on the matter when they returned.
The debt limit is the amount the government can borrow to finance its operations. It has soared because the government has run record deficits over the past decade. In August, Congress and the administration agreed to raise the borrowing limit by $2.1 trillion in three steps. The deal was reached hours before a potential default on the nation's debt.
Congress agreed to raise the debt limit by $400 billion in August and by another $500 billion in September.
There was a flash of relatively positive news on the spending front Thursday. According to the Treasury Department, the federal deficit was lower in the first quarter of the 2012 budget year than the same period last year. Yet, the imbalance remains high by historical standards and should keep lawmakers debating tax increases and spending cuts through Election Day.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Rating firm Egan-Jones cuts its credit rating on the U.S. government to "AA" from "AA+" with a negative watch, citing a lack of progress in cutting the mounting federal debt.
Getty Images
"When debt-to-GDP exceeds 100 percent, a country's financial flexibility becomes increasingly strained," Managing Director Sean Egan wrote in his report on the downgrade. "For the first time since World War II, U.S. debt exceeds 100 percent."
The U.S. dollar fell slightly against the yen after the news, which came at the start of Asia's trading day.
Egan said he sees no end in sight to the increasing deficit.
"With an annual federal budget deficit in the area of $1.4 trillion, debt is likely to reach $16.7 trillion as of the end of 2012 while assuming GDP grows 2.5 percent, total GDP is likely to reach $15.7 trillion. Therefore, as of the end of 2012, debt-to-GDP is likely to be in the area of 106 percent."
Economic growth, meanwhile, has averaged 2 percent to 2.5 percent, with economic growth "at best stagnant, at worst negative" if adjusted for inflation, Egan wrote.
Meanwhile, Congress has done little, according to Egan. The bipartisan "super committee" that sought spending cuts of $1.5 trillion over 10 years "was a failure," he said. "Obviously, the current course is not enhancing credit quality. Without some structural changes soon, restoring credit quality will become increasingly difficult."
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
“I don’t know how they've been bamboozling folks into thinking that they are the responsible, fiscally-disciplined party. They run up these wild debts and then when we take over we have to clean it up,” Obama said. “And then they point and say, 'Look how irresponsible they are.' Look at facts, look at the numbers. And now I want to finish the job," President Obama said at a fundraiser in Denver.
“This election will be closer than last one. People don't remember last election was close. We're going to have to contend with even more negative ads, even more cynicism and nastiness and just plain foolishness.”
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Summary: Anonymous appears to have published login and private information from over 4000 American bank executive credentials its Operation Last Resort, demanding US computer crime law reform.
By Violet Blue for Zero Day | 6Comments
Following attacks on U.S. government websites last weekend, Anonymous seems to have made a new "Operation Last Resort" .gov website strike Sunday night.
Anonymous appears to have published login and private information from over 4,000 American bank executive accounts in the name of its new Operation Last Resort campaign, demanding U.S. computer crime law reform. A spreadsheet has been published on a .gov website allegedly containing login information and credentials, IP addresses, and contact information of American bank executives.
If true, it could be that Anonymous has released banker information that could be connected to Federal Reserve computers, including contact information and cell phone numbers for U.S. bank Presidents, Vice Presidents, COO's Branch Managers, VP's and more.
The website used in this attack belongs to the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC). The page extension URL is titled, "oops-we-did-it-again."
The spreadsheet document contains usernames, names of individuals and their titles at banks across the U.S., hashed passwords (not passwords in plain text). It was placed on a .gov website and on Pastebin, and publicized via various Anonymous accounts on Twitter and Facebook.
OK, I called a few of them. What must be so problematic for the Federal Reserve is not the information so much as this file was stolen from their computers at all.
The ramifications of that kind of loss of control is severe.
Banks listed on the document claim credentials from management at community banks, community credit unions, and more, across the United States.
A visit to the bank websites on the document shows that these are current employees at each of the banks.
Anonymous stated in its first Operation Last Resort defacement last friday (ussc.gov) it had infiltrated multiple federal websites over a period of time. The hacktivist entity dropped enough technical details to make it clear that its tracks were covered and that Anonymous still had access to .gov websites.
Significance of Monday, February 4?
While today in the United States it is the day of a major American sporting event (the Superbowl), this Sunday night's timing of Anon's document release coincides with another event more important to the new Anonymous campaign Operation Last Resort - a campaign anchored on the Swartz tragedy.
After the Anonymous OpLastResort hacks last weekend, last Monday a House panel issued a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder (.pdf link) with seven specific questions, and demanding answers regarding the Swartz prosecution.
Tomorrow, Monday February 4, is the deadline for Attorney General Eric Holder to answer specific questions regarding the Aaron Swartz prosecution.
Anonymous may be focusing on that deadline, as well.
Previously on the defaced ussc.gov website Anonymous cited the recent suicide of hacktivist Aaron Swartz as a "line that has been crossed."
The statement suggested retaliation for Swartz's tragic suicide, which many - including the family - believe was a result of overzealous prosecution by the Department of Justice and what the family deemed a "bullying" use of outdated computer crime laws.
With the letter to Holder, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee requests a briefing with the Justice Department. CNET writes,
"Many questions have been raised about the appropriate level of punishment sought by prosecutors for Mr. Swartz's alleged offenses, and how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, cited in 11 of 13 counts against Mr. Swartz, should apply under similar circumstances," [Reps. Issa and Cummings] say in the letter, which requests a briefing no later than February 4.
The letter is another voice from the Federal side of the discussion, joining a chorus led by Democratic congresswoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren who has authored a bill called "Aaron's Law" that aims to change the 1984 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (with which Swartz was being prosecuted).
Last friday February 1, Lofgren submitted a draft of the bill to be reviewed on Reddit. Ars Technica reported that after its online critique, a revised version of the bill was published today, with more far-reaching reforms.
Last weekend Anonymous commandeered the US Sentencing website to launch Operation Last Resort "warheads" (encrypted files suggested by Anonymous to be sensitive US government documents).
The defacement demanded reform on US computer crime laws, citing the January 11 tragic suicide of young hacker and digital rights activist Aaron Swartz.
Anonymous spent last weekend playing cat-and-mouse with the Department of Justice after taking over the ussc.gov website (still decimated and now "under construction" over a week later).
After the US government regained control of the .gov website used in the hacks and defacements, Anonymous regained control of two .gov sites and turned the sites into a mocking video game of Asteroids.
Public interest in Sunday's Asteroids game created a crowdsourced DDoS, downing the websites for days.
It is possible that banks and user information on tonight's new "oops we did it again" document may be connected to accounts at The Fed (The Federal Reserve Bank).
The Fed has a collection of services called Fedline, which operates at highly critical junctures across the U.S. banking system.
For instance, one of the services offered by Fedline is money and funding transfers via the U.S. Federal Reserve.
It enables financial institutions to transfer funds between member participants. These participants are estimated to be around more than 9,000 financial entities (such as banks).
Fedline is the primary U.S. network for high value, time-critical and international payments.
In 2007 the estimated average daily value of funds transferred via Fedline products was 2.7 trillion (an estimated 537,000 payments daily, the average was over $5 million per transaction).
At this point, the information on the document is unverified and exactly what banking systems the information may affect is not known. ZDNet will update this article with new information as it becomes known.
The Operation Last Resort video, posted Friday on the U.S. Sentencing Commission website now has 1,183,000 views.
It is interesting to note that this second "official" #OpLastResort salvo does not cite AntiSec, as seen in the Asteroids game.
Anonymous appears intent to influence federal action - one way or another.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
In a move that can only fuel charges that his week-long trip to Africa is a de facto vacation, President Obama is taking his mother-in-law Marian Robinson and niece Leslie Robinson with him on Air Force One, which departed the United States this morning. Leslie is the daughter of First Lady Michelle Obama’s brother Craig…
The Obamas have been criticized for the massive expense of the trip, which reportedly could reach up to $100 million. Obama was ridiculed when news surfaced that he had been contemplating a safari that would have required Secret Service agents to act as snipers in case animals tried to attack the first family.
The White House says the excursion is an important step toward building democracy and advancing U.S. strategic interests in Africa.
At least Obama limited his strategic deployment of family members on Air Force One to just Michelle’s relatives. If he had brought along all his half-brothers, it would have taken a thousand planes to ferry them all over.
Speaking of building democracy, can we get that done in America? Because there’s supposed to be a big difference between an American leader and some tinpot Third World dictator who lives the good life while squeezing the people dry.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Barack Obama (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
(CNSNews.com) - According to the Daily Treasury Statement for July 12, which the U.S. Treasury released this afternoon, the federal debt that is currently subject to a legal limit of $16,699,421,095,673.60 has stood at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 straight days.
That means that for 56 straight days the federal debt has remained approximately $25 million below the legal limit.
Even though the portion of the federal debt that is subject to a legal limit has not changed in almost two months, the Treasury has continued to sell bills, notes and bonds at a value that exceeds the value of the bills, notes and bonds it has been redeeming.
The “public debt subject to limit”--as the Treasury calls the portion of the federal debt that is legally limited by Congress--first hit $16,699,396,000,000.00 at the close of business on May 17.
Up to that point in fiscal 2013, according to the Daily Treasury Statement, the Treasury had already redeemed approximately $4,776,995,000,000.00 in U.S. debt instruments (bills, notes and bonds) that had matured. At the same time, the Treasury had issued $5,354,508,000,000.00 in new debt instruments. That means that, on net, as of May 17, the part of the federal government’s debt publicly circulated in instruments likes bills, notes and bonds had increased $577,513,000,000 for the fiscal year.
As of the close of business on July 12, the latest day reported by the Treasury, the Treasury had redeemed approximately $5,848,194,000,000.00 in debt and issued approximately another $6,477,293,000,000.00—meaning the publicly circulated debt has increased by a net of $629,099,000,000 so far this year.
Thus, over the past 56 days, the net value of U.S. Treasury Securities circulating in the public has increased by $51.586 billion ($629,099,000,000 minus $577,513,000,000).
How could the value of extant U.S. Treasury Securities increase by $51.586 billion during a 56-day period when the federal government’s debt subject to the legal limit set by Congress has remained constant at $16,699,396,000,000.00—just $25 million below the legal limit?
On May 18, the day after the debt began its long stay at $16,699,396,000,000.00, Treasury Secretary Lew sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner. In the letter, Lew said the Treasury would begin implementing what he called “the standard set of extraordinary measures” that allows the Treasury to continue to borrow and spend money even after it has hit the legal debt limit.
How many days did Lew think he could keep the debt just under the debt limit while the Treasury continued to borrow money?
“The effective duration of the extraordinary measures is subject to considerable uncertainty due to a variety of factors, including the unpredictability of tax receipts, changes in expenditure flows under the sequester, and the normal challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U.S. government months into the future.”
Lew went on to say, however, that “it is now clear that the measures will not be exhausted until after Labor Day.”
If that prediction is correct, it will mean that the Daily Treasury Statement will continue to peg the “debt subject to limit” of the United States at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00—or just $25 million below the legal limit—for another month and a half.
If the Treasury then says, sometime in September, that it can no longer hold the debt subject to limit at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 but must default on the bills of the federal government if the Republican-controlled House of Representatives does not vote to increase the legal debt limit, the Treasury will then be forcing a battle with the Republican House over the debt limit at the same time that the current continuing resolution, which funds the government until Sept. 30, is set to expire.
In his May 18 letter, Lew warned Boehner that the Obama administration would not negotiate with the House to curtail spending in exchange for giving Obama new authority to borrow additional money.
“I want to reemphasize what the president has said repeatedly regarding any threats to cause default in order to extract policy concessions from the Administration,” Lew warned. “We will not negotiate over the debt limit.”
Tomorrow, the U.S. Treasury will again report that the public debt subject to limit is exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00.
Every time that Obama claims the economy is back, another company goes out of business. When Obama says that the economy is back, he means that his big money donors are using their share of government pork to send him big checks.
So cue the big speech which is being delivered as behind him, Detroit goes bankrupt. Or fights for the right to go bankrupt.
This is what our modern Lincoln, FDR, Reagan, Aaron Burr and Jimmy Carter wrapped in one man said not too long ago.
Obama’s 2011 speech described a Detroit that can only be described as a myth wrapped in a wish inside a dream.
“This is a city that’s been to heck and back,” Obama said. “And while there are still a lot of challenges here, I see a city that’s coming back.”
Now cue the big speech.
Quote:
In the period after World War II, a growing middle class was the engine of our prosperity. Whether you owned a company, swept its floors, or worked anywhere in between, this country offered you a basic bargain – a sense that your hard work would be rewarded with fair wages and benefits, the chance to buy a home, to save for retirement, and, above all, to hand down a better life for your kids.
But over time, that engine began to stall. That bargain began to fray. Technology made some jobs obsolete. Global competition sent others overseas.
While others were regulated out of existence. Doing business in America became ridiculously expensive. Navigating a punishing network of regulations alone wouldn’t keep you in business. You also had to lobby Washington D.C. to get pork from dirty little men like Barack Obama.
If your company was making Warren Buffett or George Soros money, you might stay in business. If it wasn’t, then you wouldn’t.
And one day some little Chicago creep would clamber into the White House and declare a War on Coal and your job would be destroyed.
But let’s get back to the Chicago Community Organizer’s 1 percent class warfare explanation for everything…
Quote:
Washington doled out bigger tax cuts to the rich and smaller minimum wage increases for the working poor. The link between higher productivity and people’s wages and salaries was severed – the income of the top 1% nearly quadrupled from 1979 to 2007, while the typical family’s barely budged.
But that hardly explains where the jobs went, does it. Let’s assume that the hideous beasts of capitalism gorged more and more on the fruits of the oppressed workers. Where did the miserable jobs sweeping the factory floors go?
Obama, as usual, is pulling a bait and switch. He begins talking about jobs going away and then switches to a rant about the rich… a class that he comes from and subsidizes him.
Quote:
Towards the end of those three decades, a housing bubble, credit cards, and a churning financial sector kept the economy artificially juiced up.
Juiced up by the government. And by men like Barack Obama who played a role in pushing for race-based loans that borrowers could not repay so that his wealthier supporters could turn those loans into investments.
Quote:
But by the time I took office in 2009, the bubble had burst, costing millions of Americans their jobs, their homes, and their savings.
Obama took office in the Senate in 2005. But somehow he isn’t interested in remembering that.
Quote:
Today, five years after the start of that Great Recession, America has fought its way back.
Wall Street has. No one else has.
Quote:
Together, we saved the auto industry, took on a broken health care system, and invested in new American technologies to reverse our addiction to foreign oil and double wind and solar power.
The auto industry was held together with a massive bailout. Why did it get the bailout and not other industries and how many other industries can we afford to bail out?
ObamaCare is already destroying countless jobs. Some companies are shutting down entirely.
And Green Energy is a giant boondoggle of wasted money that created fewer jobs than pouring money into a pie and paying Michelle Obama to eat it would have.
Quote:
Together, we put in place tough new rules on big banks, and protections that cracked down on the worst practices of mortgage lenders and credit card companies.
Practices that Obama’s backers and cabinet members helped create and profit from.
Quote:
We changed a tax code too skewed in favor of the wealthiest at the expense of working families, locking in tax cuts for 98% of Americans, and asking those at the top to pay a little more.
Those were the Bush tax cuts. And so much money is being spent by Obama Inc. that we would have to tax everyone at 100 percent to pay off that kind of debt.
Quote:
We’re about to produce more of our own oil than we buy from abroad for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Mainly by companies that took on Obama Inc. and refused to back down.
Quote:
And our deficits are falling at the fastest rate in 60 years.
Brezhnev phoned in to say that the Russian harvest is at 96%.
Quote:
Thanks to the grit and resilience of the American people, we’ve cleared away the rubble from the financial crisis and begun to lay a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth.
In our personal lives, we tightened our belts, shed debt, and refocused on the things that really matter.
Obama shed debt? He tightened his belt? Who is this “our”?
Quote:
With new American revolutions in energy, technology, manufacturing, and health care, we are actually poised to reverse the forces that have battered the middle class for so long, and rebuild an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead.
We’re going to revolutionize the middle class by taxing them to construct overpriced windmills out of parts we buy from China.
Quote:
But I’m here today to tell you what you already know – we’re not there yet.
No, really?
Quote:
Even though our businesses are creating new jobs and have broken record profits, nearly all the income gains of the past ten years have continued to flow to the top 1%. The average CEO has gotten a raise of nearly 40% since 2009, but the average American earns less than he or she did in 1999.
Maybe that’s because the CEOs took their jobs to China. And Obama will counter that with more taxes and regulations so even more jobs go to China so even more profits go to the 1 percent.
Because he’s a visionary.
Quote:
In many ways, the trends that I spoke of here in 2005 – of a winner-take-all economy where a few do better and better, while everybody else just treads water – have been made worse by the recession.
No, it’s been made worse by massive government looting of the economy under Barack Obama.
Quote:
This growing inequality isn’t just morally wrong; it’s bad economics. When middle-class families have less to spend, businesses have fewer customers.
And then government has less tax revenue to pay for Obama to take a $100 mil safaris to Africa.
Quote:
When wealth concentrates at the very top, it can inflate unstable bubbles that threaten the economy. When the rungs on the ladder of opportunity grow farther apart, it undermines the very essence of this country.
That’s why reversing these trends must be Washington’s highest priority. It’s certainly my highest priority. Unfortunately, over the past couple of years in particular, Washington hasn’t just ignored the problem; too often, it’s made things worse.
So instead of fixing the economy, Obama will pile on more class warfare. That’s worked well so far. We’re going to reverse a recession by screaming about the 1 percent. OWS FTW.
And then letting the government do some wealth redistribution that will leave everyone poorer.
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We’ve seen a sizable group of Republican lawmakers suggest they wouldn’t vote to pay the very bills that Congress rang up – a fiasco that harmed a fragile recovery in 2011, and one we can’t afford to repeat.
By that, the Liar-in-Chief means that the GOP didn’t want to raise the debt ceiling to accommodate another insane Obama spending spree.
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Then, rather than reduce our deficits with a scalpel – by cutting programs we don’t need, fixing ones we do, and making government more efficient – this same group has insisted on leaving in place a meat cleaver called the sequester that has cost jobs, harmed growth, hurt our military, and gutted investments in American education and scientific and medical research that we need to make this country a magnet for good jobs.
Over the last six months, this gridlock has gotten worse. A growing number of Republican Senators are trying to get things done, like an immigration bill that economists say will boost our economy by more than a trillion dollars.
Putting 12 million illegal aliens on benefits will apparently make our economy soar.
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But a faction of Republicans in the House won’t even give that bill a vote, and gutted a farm bill that America’s farmers and most vulnerable children depend on.
By gutted, Obama means tried to reform food stamp giveaways.
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If you ask some of these Republicans about their economic agenda, or how they’d strengthen the middle class, they’ll shift the topic to “out-of-control” government spending – despite the fact that we have cut the deficit by nearly half as a share of the economy since I took office.
Obama increased the national debt by 6 trillion dollars. That’s his idea of a cut.
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With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball.
Investigating Obama’s wrongdoing is a phony distraction. Check.
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We’ll continue to focus on strategies to create good jobs in wind, solar, and natural gas that are lowering energy costs and dangerous carbon pollution.
The only carbon that’s dangerous comes out of Obama’s yap. And thus far the “good jobs” are government subsidized monstrosities that hike up energy costs and cost millions per job.
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We’ve got more than 100,000 bridges that are old enough to qualify for Medicare.
Obama was on about old bridges back in 2009. He rammed through stimulus plans that were supposed to fix infrastructure. So whose fault is this?
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The businesses of tomorrow won’t locate near old roads and outdated ports; they’ll relocate to places with high-speed internet; high-tech schools; systems that move air and auto traffic faster, not to mention get parents home to their kids faster.
Apparently what the businesses of tomorrow really want are high tech schools. Who knew?
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If you think education is expensive, wait until you see how much ignorance costs in the 21st century.
Fortunately with our unionized public school system, we can have both. Just look at Chicago. Educated ignorance with guns.
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That’s why I’ll keep pushing to make high-quality preschool available to every four year-old in America
Because apparently high tech education requires four-year-olds in preschools. How did Thomas Edison ever invent anything?
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Today, for example, federal agencies are moving on my plan to connect 99% of America’s students to high-speed internet over the next five years.
Because there aren’t enough misspelled comments on YouTube yet.
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As we work to reform our tax code, we should find new ways to make it easier for workers to put money away, and free middle-class families from the fear that they’ll never be able to retire.
Like seizing their 401Ks
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And if Congress is looking for a bipartisan place to get started, they don’t have to look far: economists show that immigration reform that makes undocumented workers pay their full share of taxes would actually shore up Social Security for years.
The amount they pay in SS will be overshadowed by the amount they collect in Medicaid, Food Stamps, Medicare and everything else.
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Fifth, I will keep focusing on health care, because middle-class families and small business owners deserve the security of knowing that neither illness nor accident should threaten the dreams you’ve worked a lifetime to build.
Small business owners are already embracing the security of moving workers to part-time because of ObamaCare.
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If you don’t have health insurance, starting October 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business.
They already do. It’s called business.
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You can comparison shop in an online marketplace, just like you would for TVs or plane tickets, and buy the one that fits your budget and is right for you.
You can already do this.
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Now, I know there are folks out there who are actively working to make this law fail.
Like some of the country’s biggest unions who are looking for a way out.
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I will keep making the case that we need to raise a minimum wage that in real terms is lower than it was when Ronald Reagan took office.
Because not enough jobs have been lost yet. Let’s move more jobs to China. And then give speeches about the 1 percent.
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We’ve come a long way since I first took office.
Down.
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That’s not the vision I have for this country. That’s not the vision you have for this country. That is not the America we know. That’s not a vision we should settle for, or pass on to our children. I have now run my last campaign.
Your campaign is a SuperPAC and it’s promising access to you in exchange for six figure donations.
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I do not intend to wait until the next one before tackling the issues that matter.
Wait, what?
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I care about one thing and one thing only, and that’s how to use every minute of the 1,276 days remaining in my term to make this country work for working Americans again.
Also golf. And parties with celebs. And more golf. And vacations. So make that like 26 days.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Barack Obama (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
(CNSNews.com) - According to the Daily Treasury Statement for July 26, which the Treasury released this afternoon, the federal debt has been stuck at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 70 straight days.
That is approximately $25 million below the legal limit of $16,699,421,095,673.60 that Congress has imposed on the debt.
The portion of the federal debt subject to the legal limit set by Congress first hit $16,699,396,000,000.00 at the close of business on May 17. At the close of every business day since then, it has also been $16,699,396,000,000.00, according to the official accounting published by the Treasury Department.
If the debt had increased by even $30 million at any time during those 70 days, it would have exceeded the statutory limit. But, according to the Treasury, the debt did not do that. Instead, it remained precisely $16,699,396,000,000.00.
Even though the government's official accounting of the debt has not budged for 70 days, the Treasury has continued to sell bills, notes and bonds at a value that exceeds the value of the bills, notes and bonds it was redeeming.
In fact, according to the Daily Treasury Statement for May 17, the Treasury had by then already redeemed approximately $4,776,995,000,000.00 since the beginning of the fiscal year (which started on Oct. 1, 2012). As of that same day, the Treasury had already sold $5,354,508,000.000.00 new bills, notes and bonds during the fiscal year. That represented a net increase in publicly circulating U.S. government debt instruments of $577,513,000,000.00 for the fiscal year.
As of July 26, according to the latest Treasury statement, the Treasury had already redeemed approximately $6,128,368,000,000.00 in bills, notes and bonds during this fiscal year. But, at the same time, according to the statement, the Treasury had sold an additional $6,759,148,000,000.00 bills, note and bonds--for a net increase of $630,780,000,000.00 for the year.
Thus, the value of U.S. Treasury debt instruments circulating in the public has increased $53.267 billion since May 17--even though the Treasury says the debt has remained exactly at $16,699,396,000,000.00 during that time.
How could the value of extant U.S. Treasury securities increase by $53.267 billion during a 70-day period when the federal government’s debt subject to the legal limit has remained constant at $16,699,396,000,000.00—just $25 million below the legal limit?
On May 17, the day the debt began its long stay at $16,699,396,000,000.00, Treasury Secretary Lew sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner. In the letter, Lew said the Treasury would begin implementing what he called “the standard set of extraordinary measures” that allows the Treasury to continue to borrow and spend money even after it has hit the legal debt limit.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
U.S. military personnel will face a disruption in pay if Congress doesn’t quickly pass a budget and raise the debt ceiling, President Barack Obama warned in his weekly address Saturday.
“The government will shut down. So will many services the American people will expect,” Obama said, speaking of the consequences he says the country will suffer if Congress can’t come to an agreement on a continuing resolution bill. “Military personnel, including those deployed overseas, won’t get their paychecks on time.”
On Friday, the House stripped funding for the president’s landmark healthcare law from a continuing resolution bill to fund the government. If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reinserts the funding when the bill reaches the Senate, which he most likely will, some Republicans have threatened filibuster it.
Obama said these Republicans are part of a “faction on the right” who are acting at the “height of irresponsibility.”
“Some are actually willing to plunge America into default if they can’t defund the Affordable Care Act,” Obama said. “They would actually plunge this country back into recession all to deny the basic security of healthcare to millions of Americans.”
“That’s not happening and they know it’s not happening,” the president continued. “The United States is not a deadbeat nation.”
In his address, Obama said raising the debt ceiling will not increase spending by a single cent.
“Raising the debt ceiling is not the same as approving more spending,” he said. “It lets us pay for what Congress already spent.”
Obama added his administration has reduced deficits.
“[R]ight now, our deficits are already falling at the fastest rate since World War II,” the president said. “And by the end of this year, we will have cut our deficits by more than half since I took office.”
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
The United States debt limit explained. A satirical short film taking a look at the national debt and how it applies to just one family.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
May 10, 2012: United States Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, left, is joined by Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Roy Austin, during a news conference in Phoenix. (AP)
Republican Sen. David Vitter vowed Monday to block President Obama's nominee for Labor secretary, citing a past run-in with his state of Louisiana as well as the nominee's role in the controversial voter intimidation case involving the New Black Panther Party.
The president on Monday tapped Justice Department official Thomas Perez for the Labor post. The candidate, though, was already being questioned over a newly released report that found he gave incomplete testimony on the decision to drop charges against members of the new Black Panthers.
"Thomas Perez's record should be met with great suspicion by my colleagues for his spotty work related to the New Black Panther case, but Louisianians most certainly should have cause for concern about this nomination," Vitter said in a statement.
The senator went on to cite a separate incident in which the Justice Department filed suit against Louisiana over its voter registration efforts. Vitter's office said he would block the Perez nomination until the Justice Department responds to a 2011 letter on the issue.
"Perez was greatly involved in the DOJ's partisan full court press to pressure Louisiana's Secretary of State to only enforce one side of the law -- the side that specifically benefits the politics of the president and his administration at the expense of identity security of each and every Louisianian on the voter rolls," Vitter said.
Perez, an assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, would replace Hilda Solis at Labor if confirmed. Obama, touting Perez' personal story as the son of immigrants who became the first lawyer in his family, urged the Senate to act quickly on the nomination.
"Tom's knowledge and experience will make him an outstanding secretary of Labor," Obama said.
The new report by the Justice Department's inspector general, though, is likely to provide fodder for Republicans like Vitter. The report challenged testimony Perez gave to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, when he claimed in 2010 that no political leadership was involved in the decision to dismiss three of the four defendants in a lawsuit the George W. Bush administration brought against the New Black Panther Party. The high-profile case involved allegations of voter intimidation outside a Philadelphia polling place in the 2008 election.
The IG report found that, despite Perez' testimony, top political appointees were looped in on the decision-making. Further, the report said Attorney General Eric Holder "was briefed and generally indicated his approval" of a decision to dismiss some of the defendants.
"We found that Perez's testimony did not reflect the entire story regarding the involvement of political appointees," said the report.
"We did not find that Perez intentionally misled the commission," said the IG. "Nevertheless, given he was testifying as a department witness before the commission, we believe that Perez should have sought more details ... about the nature and extent of the participation of political employees in the NBPP decision in advance of his testimony before the commission."
The report said Perez left out from his testimony that Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli and a deputy associate attorney general were involved in consultations about the decision.
IG Michael Horowitz said there are no rules prohibiting political appointees from participating in such decision making and that Perez did not know about the incidents when he testified to the commission in May 2010.
Separately, the wide-ranging IG report also concluded that deep ideological polarization in the Justice Department's voting rights section in both the Bush and Obama administrations fueled disputes that in some instances harmed the office's proper functioning. The department's inspector general said that on some occasions the disputes involved harassment of employees and managers.
Despite the polarization, the IG said its review did not substantiate claims of political or racial bias in decision-making.
Perez was drawing GOP complaints over other issues as well. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., called the pick "unfortunate and needlessly divisive," calling his views on illegal immigration "far outside the mainstream."
Democrats roundly voiced support for Perez, however. "Tom Perez will bring an impressive resume to the top spot at the Department of Labor," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said. "A former Secretary of Labor in Maryland, and a fierce defender of workers' rights and civil rights, Tom is uniquely suited to serve in this important post at a critical time when Congress will be considering issues like immigration reform, reducing unemployment, and continuing our economic recovery."
The White House stressed Perez's accomplishments in the Civil Rights Division, including the settlement of three major fair lending cases.
"Tom is a dedicated public servant who has spent his career fighting to keep the American Dream within reach for hardworking middle class families and those striving to get into the middle class," a White House official said.
In choosing Perez, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Obama would be placing an already high-ranking Hispanic official in a Cabinet slot. Perez, a lawyer with a degree from Harvard Law School, would replace Solis, a former California congresswoman and the nation's first Hispanic labor secretary.
Before taking the job as assistant attorney general, Perez was secretary of Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, which enforces state consumer rights, workplace safety and wage and hour laws.
Barack Obama and Thomas Perez Obama Emphasizes the origins of Hispanic immigrants Thomas Perez, 'know what climb the ladder of opportunity', says
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Hilda Solis resigns as U.S. Secretary of Labor
WASHINGTON, United States, Tues 18, 2013. - President Barack Obama on Monday nominated as the next Secretary of Labor to Hispanic Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for civil rights issues.
In a ceremony at the White House, Obama referred to its immigrant origins and said Perez, son of Dominicans, "knows what it is to climb the ladder of opportunity."
If confirmed by the Senate, will replace Perez in the position to also Hispanic Hilda Solis, who resigned in January.
The President recalled that Perez, 51, was secretary of labor in the state of Maryland, under the leadership of Governor Martin O'Malley Democrat, which will bring its experience to the position
Obama urged Senate twice quickly to confirm, also said it was the first lawyer of his family.
The president was confident that Perez made an "extraordinary" work as head of the department at a time that is "too much work" to do.
For his part, thanked Perez confidence in Spanish President Obama to nominate him for the post and was immediately ready to work with Democrats and Republicans.
He noted that in times when the country was still facing "critical economic challenges" and an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent, which is higher for Hispanics, the department's mission "is more important than ever."
The nominee, said that both he and his brothers their fathers taught them that if you work "hard" progress "is possible" and focus on results, he hopes to apply some lessons from his post.
"I appreciate the great honor of being nominated to serve in this position," Perez said in Spanish, "I'm looking forward to serve our country," he said in English.
Perez has been in charge of the civil rights division of the Justice Department since 2009.
The White House has described as a "public official betrayed" his work he has devoted his career to fighting for the so-called "American Dream" is available to all and to defend the rights of workers and the middle class.
The official residence also highlighted its efforts to reach broad agreements between banks and families victims of unfair lending practices and its campaign to intensify the penalties for human trafficking.
President Barack Obama and Labor Secretary Thomas Perez. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais))
(CNSNews.com) - The number of Americans who are 16 years or older and who have decided not to participate in the nation's labor force has climbed to a record 90,609,000 in September, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The BLS counts a person as participating in the labor force if they are 16 years or older and either have a job or have actively sought a job in the last four weeks. A person is not participating in the labor force if they are 16 or older and have not sought a job in the last four weeks.
In from July to August, according to BLS, Americans not participating in the labor force climbed from 89,957,000 to 90,473,000, pushing past 90,000,000 for the first time, with a one month increase of 516,000.
In September, it climbed again to 90,609,000, an increase of 136,000 during the month.
In January 2009, when President Barack Obama took office, there were 80,507,000 Americans not in the labor force. Thus, the number of Americans not in the labor force has increased by 10,102,000 during Obama's presidency.
The labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of the non-institutionalized population 16 years or older who either have a job or actively sought one in the last four weeks, was 63.2 percent in September. That was unchanged from August.
When President Obama took office in January 2009, the labor force participation rate was 65.7 percent.
The percentage of the civilian non-institutionalized population over 16 that was employed also remained constant from August to September at 58.6 percent. When President Obama took office in January 2009, the employment-population ratio was 60.6 percent.
The overall national unemployment rate--which is the percentage of people participating in the labor force who actively sought a job and did not find one in September--was 7.2 percent. That was a slight drop from the 7.3 percent unemployment rate in August. When President Obama took office in 2009, the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent.
The number of people actually employed increased by 133,000 last month, climbing from 144,170,000 in August to 144,303,000 in September. When Obama took office in January 2009, there were 142,153,000 Americans employed--meaning the number has increased by 2,150,000 over the past 57 months.
One reason for the increasing number of people not in the labor force is the aging of the Baby Boom generation, whose members have begun retiring--and are not being replaced by an equal number of young people entering the labor force.
Another reason is that female participation in the labor force has been declining. In January 2009, the female labor force participation rate was 59.4 percent. In September 2013, it was 57.1 percent.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Re: President Obama's Deficit
Originally Posted by Ryan Ruck
exceeds 100 percent, a country's financial flexibility becomes increasingly strained," Managing Director Sean Egan wrote in his report on the downgrade. "For the first time since World War II, U.S. debt exceeds 100 percent."
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