It�s Still the Economy, Stupid

“BREAKING NEWS: DEMS WALK AWAY FROM SUPER COMMITTEE

Latest update on the lack of progress for Dems and Republicans to reach a tax deal. Yesterday Democrats of the Super Committee rejected Republicans' offer to "raise federal tax collections by nearly $300 billion over the next decade."

Senator Rand Paul exclusively has JUST told Sean that not only are Democrats rejecting offers put on the table, but now they won't even continue to negotiate and have "walked away from the table...refusing to talk to the Republicans."

Paul warns the American people that this is all about Obama's reelection, and the taxpayers livelihood is of no concern to Obama and the Democrats.....

http://www.hannity.com/article/breaking-news-dems-walk-away-from-super-committee/14602”

“Hey good news folks! Yeah it seems that EUROPE is in a cometely tailspin because of SOCIALISM and are about to implode, taking the rest of us down with them. Yeah, so the Dow plunged 400 points when they heard the news. The Democrats and Oblame-a and the occutards want socialism too though..... Isn't that weird? I mean really reallyreally rediculously weird?

Man that is so weird.....How many weird things there are about progressives. Weirdy weirdy weird weird

Did you ever notice that weird is a weird word? Say it with me a few times.... Weird... Weeeedeird

Weird”

“It really isn't the economy anymore, after last night's full sweep of all our problems into the big (R) trash can - Thanks to Gov. Perry and his medicine cabinet of minds.”

“

Only a few short weeks ago, a wee-wee'd up Barack Obama called a joint session of congress, told them that he had a plan for creating jobs, and demanded loudly (and repeatedly) that they "pass it now!"

Which is why it's more than a little jaw-dropping that this same president has taken a look at a plan to create thousands of new high-paying jobs which wouldn't cost taxpayers a penny...and decided to "pass on it now."

The Keystone XL project would build a pipeline to bring oil to the United States from lovable, maple-syrup distilling, beaver-pelt wearing Canada instead of sending our oil money to the "Death to America" lunatics in the Middle East... thereby giving us more of that "energy independence" that Mr. Obama usually can't shut up about, while creating jobs out the wazoo.

But despite the president's usual dedication to "the fierce urgency of now," he's decided to postpone a decision on the pipeline until after the next election...for fear of losing the votes of environmentalists who are terrified of long pipes for reasons only their Freudian psychoanalysts can understand.

And he's softened the blow by implying that Americans really wouldn't be up to the job of building the pipeline anyway...recently referring to us as soft, lazy, and lacking in the will and imagination to tackle "big jobs."

Unfortunately, Canada can't afford to wait to sell their oil...and so they're preparing to sell it to China instead. Which will be disastrous for the environment that Mr. Obama claims to be so concerned about...and probably disastrous for the United States since China is devoting a lot of their energy use these days to building up their military.

But the job of the president is to make tough decisions, and Obama has decided that his re-election is far more important than jobs, energy, or national security.

And unsurprisingly, he didn't find it a tough decision at all.”

“Roll over Groover and let tax hikes take over.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/super-committee-republicans-taxes-mike-crapo_n_1097408.html”

“Mewt the hewt took off with the lewt.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/newt-gingrich-freddie-mac_n_1098488.html#comments”

“http://news.yahoo.com/next-financial-crisis-hellish-way-204303737.html
The next financial crisis will be hellish, and it’s on its way
Forbes

No big deal, nothing to see here...Move along folks, move along....”

“"Newt loves Fannie & Freddie sitting in a tree kissing our money and spending it on tiffany." MC81360”

“Not that there's anything wrong with that....”

“Here's another way to look at the Federal Debt Ceiling:

Let's say, you come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood.... and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings.

What do you think you should do... Raise the ceilings, or pump out the crap?

Your choice is coming Nov. 2012.”

“
EURO ON THE BRINK
http://news.yahoo.com/pressure-builds-eurozone-ponders-debt-solutions-171745129.html


Eurozone Looks to IMF For Rescue...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pressure-mounts-europe-finance-ministers-070945478.html
Germany Told Must Act to Save Europe...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pressure-mounts-europe-finance-ministers-070945478.html
Finance Ministers Turn to Radical Ideas...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Euro-Finance-Ministers-wscheats-3060132077.html
Approve $11 Billion Loan For Greece...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Euro-Finance-Ministers-wscheats-3060132077.html”

“Cramer: We‘re ’Two Stages From a Financial Collapse So Huge It‘s Hard to Get Your Mind Around’

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/kramer-were-two-stages-from-a-financial-collapse-so-huge-its-hard-to-get-your-mind-around/
Even the optimist admits were screwed.”

“That Hope and Change of obamy's isn't working out to well.”

“If.....I mean WHEN Europe truly hits the fan , it will drag us into it because were so heavily leveraged there. Another Progressive dream turns into our nightmare. I'm telling you people, this ain't no joke. The Great Depression was a carnival ride compared to what's headed for us right now. But hey, who cares?”

“aw, I'm disappointed strat - thought you were staying away from fuego”

“d00d stays away about as well as we do, Peps. LOL”

“haha hey, I still lurk... but I wasn't planning on posting again”

“It's really getting more and more depressing. The constant bickering over whether we're in the frying pan or the fire.

Either way prospects aren't rosey.”

“certainly... but I think it's a fundamental error to blame only one side of the political divide. This isn't the fault of progressives any more than it's the fault of conservatives. This was a team effort led by public servants who only serve themselves. Prospects are indeed grim, but in focusing only on the left's contributions to the current situation, you ignore all the great things the right has done to royally screw this fine nation of ours”

“You think the right screwed up Europe? Ehhh, ok Pepsi...I'm sure it's the Tea Party's fault”

“^ case in point”

“It could all change next month if the government would stop penalizing success.”

“Oh, I don't blame one side. I do blame the current crop of liberals for continuing to spend on social welfare/justice schemes against the will of the people and in the face of this mounting debt marginally more the the reps. ...they just support this never ending war. The dems want both social justice and never ending war.”

“Still only two viewpoints, but neither will consider it's really only one side nor that there is really no side at all.”

“Two veiwpoints. Us, the producers. Them, the takers.”

“Pepsi, to best analyze who might suffer the greatest blame, let's ridiculously simplify how a government, society, and by effect even it's culture must be ran and maintained.

You have X resources available for Y number of programs. Now, you can limit what you pay on programs, therefor making the ability for more programs. Or conversely, you can limit the number of social programs allowing greater spending of available programs. You ONLY have X resources and NO MORE. Where we are today, as well as Europe which has been heading in this direction far far longer than we have, is the belief that our X resources can provide for Y, Z, A, B, and C programs. We always stupidly elect officials that promise the most with the least. Obama is the pinnacle, the crescendo, of our American stupidity.

The terms themselves of Conservative and Liberal easily point to whom carries the greatest guilt. By definition these 2 words themselves explain who understands (or cares) that we have a finite or set number of resources, verses using (abusing) far more resources than in reality exists.

This being said, I don't pretend for a second that our lofty Conservative legislators are off the hook, they too have failed us in what's to come.”

“Those "conservative" legislators have failed us, because although they call themselves conservative, and we elect them as conservatives, when they get to the legislature they act like liberals. As soon as they get there, their priority becomes getting re-elected. They think that to get re-elected, they must bring home the pork. So I guess we the voters encourage that behavior. Makes a pretty good argument for term limits, I guess.

Funny, every time I think about pork (at least in this sense) I think of Harry Byrd. Come to think of it "term limits" makes me think of him too.”

“True that NoP! There are no arguments in the whole world, great or small, that can be made against term limits.”

“...except that we already have them. They're called elections. If Americans ever decided our elected officials weren't acting in our interest we could replace them all in 6 years or less.

Saying we need term limits is blaming our own freedom.”

“Term limits have been extremely detrimental to the CA legislative process.”

“Yeah, but you overlook the fact that we Americans are getting better and better at electing and re-electing the biggest spenders AND the biggest liars. Indeed it does deem us as less than intelligent. Of course it don't help us none to be a country full of roseymonsters either!”

“People just haven't felt the pain yet NA. When they do, and the 60% that doesn't vote gets ticked off, the last thing a politician will want attached to his name is an "r" or a "d".
It'll happen. Sooner or later reality will hit that the federal government has totally ripped us off. Even now it's hard for a long time Senator or Congressman to be elected President. Just ask Newt or John McCain or Bob Dole.”

“Yes indeed camp, the longer we are able to stave off the beast, the more fierce the unforeseen beast will rear its ugly head. I couldn't agree more, when that time comes ..... possibly only God can help those that are Rs or Ds. Is it conceivable to witness a modern-day version of the French Revolution? ....... that would depend on how long we can drag this weary dawg out......”

“Revolution? Doubtful, at least not in the French or Russian tradition. The states will preserve order just fine. The dollar will collapse, not sure exactly what the repercussions of that will be.. not sure anyone knows.
The US has artificially propped it up for years. So turnabout is fair play. What won't change is our status as superpower. So don't worry about Chinese repo man.”

“As a whole, I don't think it'll be revolutionary bad, and I too think the states will be able to fill developing fed gaps. As for turnabout is fair play, surely we'll deserve whatever we get! But our status as superpower..... now there I'm less inclined to see. Surely we will still be A superpower, but I doubt in due time we'll be THE superpower. Historically speaking, we've been there, gotten that t-shirt, and boy did we do a jim-dandy of a job while we were there!! But our time as top dawg is passing. As to who might take our place ... more than likely it'll be a combination of 2 other powers. Likely they'll be a stronger check to our balance.”

“QQ”

“Whoever the other two are have a lot of catching up to do..
I mean, if we had no ships or no aircraft at all, our submaries alone would have enough firepower to win any conceivable conflict. And they are virtually impossible to find.
So relax. :)”

“Hehe, relaxed is me. However, you're giving our esteemed military more credit than I'm willing to. In the near term you're right naturally, but after that....? Too many questionable dangers lie in our path to so easily rely on our superior (for now) war technologies. Future worldly competitions will more favor leadership abilities and effective organization of social structures. The powers with the ability to sustain their populations with food, some basic healthcare, and social benefits that we now all take for granted will, by default, become tomorrow's superpowers..... over those nations that will not have these simple capabilities.


All that is a befuddled mess, huh? My point camp is that future superpower competition won't have anything to do with war. With more than a handful of countries having the ability "to push a button", king of the hill won't be attained thru military domination.”

“..again who? China? They don't provide food or social services. Far from it. Russia, ditto. The world has always been governed by the aggressive use of military force. I don't see that changing, ever.

Way off topic on the economy, other than we could afford huge military cuts. Huge.”

“Aren't all the potential Super Powers like many of you , with thousand of $s invested in weapons that will never be used, EH?”

“Well you know Cliff, a nice weapon is something you don't want to be caught wishing you had.. kinda like raingear, just less likely to need.

It's cool to be a pacifist, just realize you might be the victim of the first non-pacifist you run across. Lol.”

“50 Facts About The U.S. Economy That Will Shock You

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/50-facts-about-the-u-s-economy-that-will-shock-you/

1. A staggering 48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be “low income” or are living in poverty.

2. Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in homes that are either considered to be “low income” or impoverished.

3. If the number of Americans that “wanted jobs” was the same today as it was back in 2007, the “official” unemployment rate put out by the U.S. government would be up to 11 percent.

4. The average amount of time that a worker stays unemployed in the United States is now over 40 weeks.

5. One recent survey found that 77 percent of all U.S. small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers.

6. There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.

7. Since December 2007, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8 percent once you account for inflation.

8. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 million Americans were self-employed back in December 2006. Today, that number has shrunk to 14.5 million.

9. A Gallup poll from earlier this year found that approximately one out of every five Americans that do have a job consider themselves to be underemployed.

10. According to author Paul Osterman, about 20 percent of all U.S. adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.

11. Back in 1980, less than 30 percent of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40 percent of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

12. Back in 1969, 95 percent of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job. In July, only 81.2 percent of men in that age group had a job.

13. One recent survey found that one out of every three Americans would not be able to make a mortgage or rent payment next month if they suddenly lost their current job.

14. The Federal Reserve recently announced that the total net worth of U.S. households declined by 4.1 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2011 alone.

15. According to a recent study conducted by the BlackRock Investment Institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the United States is now 154 percent.

16. As the economy has slowed down, so has the number of marriages. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all U.S. adults were married.

17. The U.S. Postal Service has lost more than 5 billion dollars over the past year.

18. In Stockton, California home prices have declined 64 percent from where they were at when the housing market peaked.

19. Nevada has had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for 59 months in a row.

20. If you can believe it, the median price of a home in Detroit is now just $6000.

21. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18 percent of all homes in the state of Florida are sitting vacant. That figure is 63 percent larger than it was just ten years ago.

22. New home construction in the United States is on pace to set a brand new all-time record low in 2011.

23. 19 percent of all American men between the ages of 25 and 34 are now living with their parents.

24. Electricity bills in the United States have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.

25. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5 percent of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today they account for approximately 16.3 percent.

26. One study found that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.

27. If you can believe it, one out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards.

28. The United States spends about 4 dollars on goods and services from China for every one dollar that China spends on goods and services from the United States.

29. It is being projected that the U.S. trade deficit for 2011 will be 558.2 billion dollars.

30. The retirement crisis in the United States just continues to get worse. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 46 percent of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 29 percent of all American workers have less than $1,000 saved for retirement.

31. Today, one out of every six elderly Americans lives below the federal poverty line.

32. According to a study that was just released, CEO pay at America’s biggest companies rose by 36.5 percent in just one recent 12 month period.

33. Today, the “too big to fail” banks are larger than ever. The total assets of the six largest U.S. banks increased by 39 percent between September 30, 2006 and September 30, 2011.

34. The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have a net worth that is roughly equal to the bottom 30 percent of all Americans combined.

35. According to an analysis of Census Bureau data done by the Pew Research Center, the median net worth for households led by someone 65 years of age or older is 47 times greater than the median net worth for households led by someone under the age of 35.

36. If you can believe it, 37 percent of all U.S. households that are led by someone under the age of 35 have a net worth of zero or less than zero.

37. A higher percentage of Americans is living in extreme poverty (6.7 percent) than has ever been measured before.

38. Child homelessness in the United States is now 33 percent higher than it was back in 2007.

39. Since 2007, the number of children living in poverty in the state of California has increased by 30 percent.

40. Sadly, child poverty is absolutely exploding all over America. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4 percent of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty, 40.1 percent of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty, 52.6 percent of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty and 53.6 percent of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty.

41. Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps.

42. In 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7 percent of all income. Today, government transfer payments account for more than 18 percent of all income.

43. A staggering 48.5 percent of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of government benefits. Back in 1983, that number was below 30 percent.

44. Right now, spending by the federal government accounts for about 24 percent of GDP. Back in 2001, it accounted for just 18 percent.

45. For fiscal year 2011, the U.S. federal government had a budget deficit of nearly 1.3 trillion dollars. That was the third year in a row that our budget deficit has topped one trillion dollars.

46. If Bill Gates gave every single penny of his fortune to the U.S. government, it would only cover the U.S. budget deficit for about 15 days.

47. Amazingly, the U.S. government has now accumulated a total debt of 15 trillion dollars. When Barack Obama first took office the national debt was just 10.6 trillion dollars.

48. If the federal government began right at this moment to repay the U.S. national debt at a rate of one dollar per second, it would take over 440,000 years to pay off the national debt.

49. The U.S. national debt has been increasing by an average of more than 4 billion dollars per day since the beginning of the Obama administration.

50. During the Obama administration, the U.S. government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office”

“So how's that "Reagan revolution" working out?”