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Entries Tagged as 'Lies'

Obama urges Congressional Black Caucus to drum up grass-roots support

September 22nd, 2010 · Corruption, Deception, Democrats, Economy, Ethics, Federal Spending, Government Control, Greed, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US

Reference:

  • Maxine Waters, a 2nd Democrat from the Black Caucus, will go on trial for Ethics violations.
  • Despite 13 charges, Rep. Charles B. Rangel says he won’t resign:More Democrat Delusions

    • By Nia-Malika Henderson – Monday, September 20, 2010; 1:29 AM

    President Obama rallied a crowd of black lawmakers on Saturday night, telling them to “guard the change” his administration has begun and calling for a return to the kind of vigorous grass-roots organizing that drove the civil rights movement forward.

    In a speech to the Congressional Black Caucus, Obama warned that Republicans want to “turn back the clock” and said: “I need everybody here to go back to your neighborhoods, and your workplaces, to your churches, and barbershops and beauty shops. Tell them we have more work to do.”

    While many Democratic lawmakers facing election are keeping their distance from Obama, polls show that the president enjoys a 91 percent favorability rating among African-Americans, and the Democratic National Committee is eager to tap into that enthusiasm to stave off major losses in November.

    With the GOP hoping to regain power on Capitol Hill, Obama made a direct appeal to this crucial voting block.

    “It’s not going to be easy,” he told the black-tie crowd at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. “I said back on the campaign that change would be hard. It wasn’t just a matter of me getting elected, and suddenly, our problems all go away. It was a matter of all of us getting involved, all of us staying committed, all of us sticking with our plan for a better future until it was complete. That’s how we’ve always moved forward in this country.”

    Ticking off his administration’s achievements, including the health care and financial regulatory overhauls, Obama linked his achievements to the long struggle for civil rights.

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    More House Democrats stressing independence from Pelosi, Obama

    September 22nd, 2010 · Deception, Democrats, Dissention, Federal Spending, Government Control, Non-Transparency, Obama Exposed

    By Paul Kane and Karen Tumulty Washington Post Staff Writers
    Sunday, September 19, 2010; 8:57 PM

    MCGREGOR, TEXAS – Little more than two years after she touted him for the vice presidential nomination, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cannot count on the support of Rep. Chet Edwards.

    Edwards, a conservative Democrat trying win an 11th term representing this area southwest of Dallas, said he has not made up his mind whether he would support Pelosi (D-Calif.) for another term as speaker, as he comes under fire back home for his close ties to the Democratic leader.

    “No, I’ve made no commitments for speaker. Until we see the outcome of this election, I don’t even know who will be running for speaker,” Edwards said in an interview while campaigning Saturday in this small town of 5,000 southwest of Waco.

    Democrats from a number of states, including Texas, Ohio and North Carolina, are running away from Pelosi in a harsh political climate. Distancing one’s self from the speaker is nothing new for many Democrats, including Edwards, but the number of incumbents criticizing the party House leader is larger than it has been in past election cycles – and the volume of their criticism is louder.

    More than a few Democrats have said they are wavering on supporting Pelosi as their leader next year. At least four House Democrats are running ads stating their opposition to the speaker’s agenda, and one Democrat running in Tennessee called for her resignation.

    Edwards, rated by independent political analysts as one of the 10 Democrats whose seat is most endangered, goes further than most of his colleagues. He openly critiques his party’s entire agenda, saying its leaders “overreached” after the 2008 elections.

    Now that the Democratic majority hangs in the balance, so, too, does Pelosi’s hold on power. No Democrat is challenging Pelosi for speaker – or minority leader, should the party lose power – and there is no plan underway for a leadership succession if she were to resign after an electoral rout.

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    Clinton’s history of controversial statements on Mideast

    September 20th, 2010 · Deception, Democrats, Government Control, Non-Transparency, Obama Nominees, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Treason

    By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer
    Friday, September 17, 2010; 2:13 AM

    AMMAN, JORDAN – As Hillary Rodham Clinton took her first stab at substantive Middle East diplomacy over the past few days, she drew on her record of controversial statements about Israel and the Palestinians – and depicted it as an asset.

    It is a tricky balancing act that attests to the secretary of state’s talent as a politician, as well as her predilection for getting into hot water with bold, sometimes ill-timed pronouncements.

    Clinton has long taken apparently contradictory positions on the Middle East. As first lady, she hugged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s wife. As a senator from New York she staunchly defended Israel. And as President Obama’s chief diplomat, she has publicly upbraided – and also bolstered – Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

    Her diplomacy this week, which ended Thursday with a quick stop in Jordan to have lunch with King Abdullah II, was mostly behind closed doors. The results, if any, remain unclear. But there are enough past public statements from Clinton that both Israelis and Palestinians can claim her as a potential supporter.

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    Tax Contradictions: Obama says the economy needs a tax cut—and a tax increase.

    September 9th, 2010 · Dissention, Economy, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Taxes

    After 20 months and more than $1 trillion down the Keynesian drain, President Obama is discovering the virtue of tax cuts. Pass the smelling salts, we just fainted.

    Yesterday the President proposed a $180 billion plan that includes a permanent research and development tax credit and a tax write-off for all business capital purchases in 2011. These are both sensible ideas that would counteract at least some of the damage from Mr. Obama’s looming tax increase. John McCain could sue for plagiarism because versions of both ideas were part of his 2008 campaign platform.

    ***

    The White House will deny it, but it’s important to understand what a conceptual switcheroo this is. Mr. Obama’s economic policies to date have been based on the belief that government can drive growth by handing out checks to consumers, who will then spend the money and increase what economists call aggregate demand. Missing was any attempt to spur incentives for business or individuals to invest and take more risks. Even if this policy reversal is motivated by election desperation, it is still a tacit admission of the failure of its growth model.

    The biggest short-term boost would come from allowing business expensing of capital purchases—investment in new plant, equipment, computers, technology and so on—in a single year. Such spending is currently written off over three to 20 years depending on the industry and an estimate of how long that the asset’s value depreciates. But especially in our information age with its premium on human capital, it makes less sense to depreciate one type of investment at a faster rate than another.

    Immediate expensing would provide a powerful incentive for businesses to spend some of that $2 trillion or so in retained earnings that they are now hoarding out of fear and uncertainty. Labor will also benefit because encouraging capital investment makes American workers more productive on the job, which is the catalyst for higher wages.

    When President Bush allowed large and small businesses to write-off 50% of their capital expenditures as part of his 2003 tax cut, business spending on equipment and software rose to $1.06 trillion by the end of 2004 from $821 billion in mid-2002, a near 30% rise, according to tax economist Steve Entin. U.S. employment grew for 46 straight months, with almost eight million net new jobs created.

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    Obama at it again: Spend more money before Dems no longer control Congress

    September 8th, 2010 · Change of Power, Deception, Democrats, Economy, Ethics, Federal Spending, Greed, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Stimulus, Tax Dollars, Taxes, Terrorism from Within

    Obama to unveil more stimulus, tax breaks for business

    By Lori Montgomery Washington Post Staff Writer
    Wednesday, September 8, 2010; 3:04 AM

    President Obama will argue personally Wednesday against extending the Bush-era income tax cuts for the nation’s wealthiest families even for a year or two, White House officials said Tuesday – a message aimed at wavering Democrats who have been swayed by arguments that the economy is too weak to raise anyone’s taxes.

    In a speech scheduled for delivery Wednesday afternoon in Cleveland, Obama will restate his long-held position that the nation cannot afford to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of families, White House officials said.

    The officials added that Obama would not threaten to veto any compromise which extends the upper-bracket cuts, a position that has gained ground in recent weeks among moderates in both the House and Senate. But congressional sources said they were told to expect the president to try to stiffen Democratic spines in expectation of a showdown over income tax rates before the November midterm elections.

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    Delusional Harry Reid Still Making Crazy Comments

    September 7th, 2010 · Change of Power, Corruption, Deception, Democrats, Dissention, Economy, Ethics, Federal Spending, Greed, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Stimulus, Tax Dollars, Taxes, Terrorism from Within, Unemployment

    By Sharron Angle – Sep 07

    In national interviews with both CNN and ABC News, Harry Reid once again appeared completely delusional in making claims that he had nothing to do with the economic downturn, despite being the most powerful Senator in Washington D.C.

    With ABC News, Reid said: “You know that I had nothing to do with the massive foreclosures here. You know that I had nothing to do with these unemployment figures.”

    Reid went on to say, “I think it is my job to create jobs and I’ve done my best.”

    Remember, this is the same Harry Reid whose campaign slogan is, “No one can do more for Nevada.”

    Harry Reid’s “best” has resulted in Nevada having the highest unemployment in the nation with a 14.3 percent jobless rate statewide and a 14.8 unemployment rate in Las Vegas.

    That leads us to yet another outrageous claim from Majority Leader Reid. There are 194,943 people out of work in Nevada, and yet Harry Reid is making the claim that he’s created 3.5 million jobs. But the question is where, Sen. Reid? These jobs certainly are not in Nevada.

    “Harry Reid is making crazy statements while claiming absolutely no responsibility for the economy and the jobless rate in his own state. Yet, by the same token, he wants credit for creating 3.5 million jobs somewhere else,” said Jarrod Agen, Communications Director for Sharron Angle. “Harry Reid needs to stop running from his failed record and start taking responsibility for what he’s done to destroy the Nevada economy. If the Senate Majority Leader has absolutely nothing to do with unemployment or the economy, why is Harry Reid always asking for credit for doing ‘more for Nevada?’”

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    The Obama Economy: How trillions in fiscal and monetary stimulus produced a 1.6% recovery.

    September 7th, 2010 · Accountability, Change of Power, Deception, Democrats, Dissention, Economy, Ethics, Federal Spending, Greed, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama Nominees, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Terrorism from Within, Unemployment

    So two months before an election, and 19 months after the mother of all spending programs, President Obama said yesterday he’s rolling out one more plan to stimulate the economy. We’ll discuss the details when they’re released, but the effort itself is a tacit admission that his earlier proposals have flopped. As the autumn economic debate gets underway, it’s important to understand how and why we got here.

    ***

    The recession preceded Mr. Obama’s Inaugural by 13 months, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, and so did the President’s fiscal policy ideas. George W. Bush got there first. In February 2008, he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed on a $168 billion combination of federal spending and temporary tax rebates that were supposed to maintain growth through the housing market decline that election year.

    Larry Summers, who would later become Mr. Obama’s chief economic adviser, made the case for such a stimulus to boost domestic “demand” in late 2007. Any stimulus, he told the Brookings Institution, should be “timely, targeted and temporary.” Peter Orszag, then at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) before joining the Obama White House, made the same case.

    The official GDP statistics did show a growth blip in the second quarter of 2008 to 0.6%, but third quarter GDP fell by 4%, and we all know what happened after the financial meltdown. Stimulus I failed.

    Enter Stimulus II, the $814 billion plan that was also supposed to make up for lost private demand. It too was a combination of one-time tax rebates and spending, mostly on social programs like Medicaid rather than on “shovel-ready projects.” Mr. Summers promised this would have a 1.5 “multiplier” effect on GDP growth, and White House economists Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein famously predicted the spending would keep the jobless rate below 8%.

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    Unemployment rate rises to 9.6 pct

    September 7th, 2010 · Deception, Democrats, Economy, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Terrorism from Within, Treason, Unemployment

    The Associated Press
    Friday, September 3, 2010; 5:41 PM

    – UNEMPLOYMENT RISES: The unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent in August from 9.5 percent, as the nation lost 54,000 jobs. Private employers added a net total of 67,000 workers, but 114,000 temporary census jobs ended.

    9 PERCENT PLUS: Job creation by private companies is too weak to reduce the unemployment rate anytime soon. Unemployment has been 9 percent or higher for 16 months, nearing the record of 19 months, set during the 1982 recession and recovery.

    ANEMIC ECONOMY: Without more job growth, personal incomes won’t grow by much. That will limit consumer spending, which fuels 70 percent of the economy.

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    Health insurance tax credit likely to affect small part of small-business workforce

    September 2nd, 2010 · Democrats, Economy, Federal Spending, Healthcare, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama Exposed, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Small Business, Tax Dollars, Taxes

    By N.C. Aizenman Washington Post Staff Writer
    Thursday, September 2, 2010; 12:09 AM

    About 16.6 million workers are employed by small businesses that are eligible for health insurance tax credits under the new health-care law, according to estimates that were to be released by a nonpartisan research foundation Thursday.

    However, the report by the Commonwealth Fund estimated that only 3.4 million of those workers are at firms that would take advantage of the tax credit. For the most part, those are firms that already offer their employees health insurance.

    Those firms that do not offer coverage are unlikely to consider the tax breaks enough of a financial incentive to start doing so, according to the report’s authors.

    Still, the authors stressed the potential stimulus benefits of the tax credits, which apply beginning this taxable year and will increase in value in 2014 from as much as 35 percent of an employer’s premium contribution to as much as 50 percent. (The lower the wages and number of workers at a small business, the greater the size of the tax credit it is eligible for.)

    The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that by 2016, the last year for which the tax credits will be available, they will have reduced health insurance premiums for small business by 8 to 11 percent.

    At that point, small businesses and their employees will be able to buy comprehensive insurance on state-based exchanges, which will be established in 2014 and are expected to offer more affordable rates than available in the current market.

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    Summer of Economic Discontent

    September 2nd, 2010 · Change of Power, Deception, Democrats, Dissention, Economy, Ethics, Federal Spending, Foreign Policy, Government, Greed, Money Lost, Non-Transparency, Obama's Scheme, Selling Out the US, Social Security, Tax Dollars, Taxes, Unemployment

    The administration’s ‘summer of recovery’ has fizzled in almost every way imaginable. The growth rate is less than half what it was at this stage after the 1974-75 and 1981-82 recessions.

    By Michael Boskin

    The Obama administration’s “summer of recovery” has morphed into a summer of economic discontent amid anxiety over the weakening economy. The greater than 4% growth and less than 8% unemployment envisioned by the president’s economic team are nowhere to be seen. Almost everything that is supposed to be up—the economic growth rate, the stock market, bond yields—is down. And almost everything that is supposed to be down—unemployment-insurance claims, new mortgage delinquencies—is up.

    Sometimes a weak early recovery gathers strength after a year or so, as in 2003 when the second round of the Bush tax cuts helped double growth to 3.8% from 1.9%. But there are serious headwinds to stronger growth: household deleveraging, unresolved toxic assets, and most government economic policies headed in the wrong direction. While the base case outlook is still slow recovery, a double-dip recession or a Japanese-style lost decade is more plausible than a few months ago. This explains why Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke felt compelled last week to reiterate that the Fed will use more of its (in my view, weak) ammunition should the economy falter further.

    How bad is it? In the data for the last few weeks and months, real personal disposable income was flat; core capital goods orders, a precursor of business capital spending, declined 8%; new home sales fell 12.4%, existing sales 27%, despite record low mortgage rates; single-family housing starts declined 4.2%; building permits, foreshadowing future construction, fell 1.2%; initial jobless claims spiked to over 500,000, leading forecasters to expect at best meager short-term private-sector job growth; the Kansas City, Philadelphia and New York Fed manufacturing indexes fell; and the trade deficit increased, as exports fell and imports rose.

    These weak backward-looking data were accompanied by big downdrafts in forward-looking financial markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq over 6% in August—partly retraced yesterday—and the 10-year U.S. bond yield, at 2.47%, was back to its lows of March 2009. Real GDP growth slowed from 3.7% in the first quarter to just 1.6% last quarter.

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