Our Changing Globe » 2012

Twenty Questions Obama Needs To Answer

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:59:57 +0000

Obamanomics vs. Reaganomics: Destroying the lies about trickle …

dancingczars.wordpress.com2/7/12

This entry was posted in Obamanomics vs. Reaganomics: Destroying the lies about trickle down economics and tagged conservative blog netowrk, Progressives are economic morons, Socialism doesn't, Trickle down works.

Another Record for Obamanomics | Wizbang

wizbangblog.com2/3/12

Another Record for Obamanomics. February 3, 2012 | Filed under Economics,Employment | Posted by Rodney Graves. And like all such records, it's not one that's doing the nation a damn bit of good.

President Obama has frequently justified his policies and judged their outcomes in terms of equity, justice and fairness.

All of which begs an obvious question,

How does our existing system and his own policy record stack up according to those criteria?

1) Is it fair that the richest 1% of Americans pay nearly 40% of all federal income taxes, and the richest 10% pay two-thirds of the tax?

2) Is it fair that the richest 10% of Americans shoulder a higher share of their country’s income tax burden than do the richest 10% in every other industrialized nation, including socialist Sweden?

3) Is it fair that American corporations pay the highest statutory corporate tax rate of all other industrialized nations but Japan, which cuts its rate on April 1?

4) Is it fair that President Obama sends his two daughters to elite private schools that are safer, better-run, and produce higher test scores than public schools in Washington, D.C. while millions of other families across America are denied that free choice and are forced to send their kids to second-rate schools?

5) Is it fair that Americans who build a family business, hire workers, reinvest and save their money—paying a lifetime of federal, state and local taxes often climbing into the millions of dollars must then pay an additional estate tax of 35% (and up to 55% when the law changes next year) when they die, rather than passing that money onto their loved ones?

6) Is it fair that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, former Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel and other leading Democrats who preach tax fairness underpaid their own taxes?

7) Is it fair that after the first three years of Obamanomics that the poor are poorer, that the poverty rate is rising, that the middle class is losing income, and some 5.5 million fewer Americans have jobs today than in 2007?

8) Is it fair that roughly 88% of political contributions from supposedly impartial network television reporters, producers and other employees in 2008 went to Democrats?

9) Is it fair that the three counties with America’s highest median family income just happen to be located in the Washington, D.C., metro area?

10) Is it fair that wind, solar and ethanol producers get billions of dollars of subsidies each year and pay virtually no taxes, while the oil and gas industry which provides at least 10 times as much energy pays tens of billions of dollars of taxes while the president complains that it is "subsidized"?

11) Is it fair that those who work full-time jobs, and sometimes more than one in order to make ends meet have to pay taxes to support up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits for those who don’t work?

12 Is it fair that those who took out responsible mortgages and pay them each month have to see their tax dollars used to subsidize those who acted recklessly, greedily and sometimes deceitfully in taking out mortgages they now can’t afford to repay?

13) Is it fair that thousands of workers won’t have jobs because the president sided with environmentalists and blocked the shovel-ready Keystone XL oil pipeline?

14) Is it fair that some of Mr. Obama’s largest campaign contributors received federal loan guarantees on their investments in renewable energy projects that went bust?

15) Is it fair that federal employees receive benefits that are nearly 50% higher than those of private-sector workers whose taxes pay their salaries, according to the Congressional Budget Office?

16) Is it fair that soon almost half the federal budget will take income from young working people and redistribute it to old non-working people, even though those over age 65 are already among the wealthiest Americans?

17) Is it fair that in 27 states workers can be compelled to join a union in order to keep their jobs?

18) Is it fair that nearly four out of 10 American households now pay no federal income tax at all, and is a number that has risen every year under Mr. Obama?

19) Is it fair that Boeing, which is a private company, was threatened by a federal agency when it sought to add jobs in a right-to-work state rather than in a forced-union state?

20) Is it fair that our kids and grandstands and great-grand-kids who never voted for Mr. Obama will have to pay off the $5 trillion of debt accumulated over the past four years, without any benefits to them?

What do you think? Was it fair?

Which Candidate Got Most Money From Wall Street?

Michael Redbourn — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:09:42 +0000

Wall Street pays big to influence Washington – CNN Political Ticker …

politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com1/31/12

Washington (CNNMoney) — Financial industry spending to influence Washington topped $150 million for the second year in a row, with emphasis shifting to regulators of the Dodd-Frank reform law, according to watchdog …

Charts: Wall Street Blows All Other Political Donors Away | Mother …

motherjones.com1/26/12

Wall Street's outsized political influence is no secret, but some new data shows just how much it's ballooned. According to the Sunlight Foundation, campaign spending by elite donors from the finance, insurance, and real …

He got more money from Wall Street than any candidate in the history of U.S. politics!

How can Obama side with Occupy Wall Street protesters when took more money from Wall Street than any candidate in the history of U.S. politics?

It seems like the media and many OWS protesters conveniently forget that Larry Summers was instrumental in the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, which removed the final Glass Steagall regulations on banks, securities firms, and insurance companies, as well as the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 which deregulated financial derivatives at the very heart of the crisis.

Obama’s response?

Obama made him his Director of the National Economic Council!

As for campaign contributions, Obama’s second largest benefactor in 2008 was Goldman Sachs.

And numbers six and seven were JPMorgan and Citigroup.

In total, the various financial services industries donated a combined $30 million to his campaign.

John McCain received $21 million.

Obama Win Will Be Difficult In 2012

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:26:13 +0000

Shaw's Blog: Gallup Poll–Battleground State Nightmare for Obama

shawsblog2011.blogspot.com2/1/12

fox nation Today, Gallup released their aggregate state approvals for President Obama over the entirety of 2011. His drop relative to his 2009 standing is especially stark in battleground states. Here are some of the …

Webutante: Battleground States Show Sharp Decline For Obama

webutante07.blogspot.com2/1/12

Battleground States Show Sharp Decline For Obama. AS MITT ROMNEY MOPS UP IN FLORIDA TONIGHT, many of my fellow conservative commenters diss and whine about Romney's conservative qualifications, his …

The following data is from all of 2011, and 2012 is not looking any better.

The Good News For Obama

His political standing is in reasonable but not good shape in traditionally Democratic Midwestern battlegrounds such as Wisconsin and Michigan and the more Republican heartland state of Iowa where his rating is 46 approval/46 disapproval.

And his numbers in Virginia are better than those in other battleground states 45% approve, 49% disapprove.

His numbers in North Carolina 44/49 approve/disapprove and Florida 44/48 approve/disapprove and even in Georgia 45/48 approve/disapprove aren’t good, but given his overall numbers, they aren’t that bad either.

The Bad News For Obama

His job approval ratings in the other battleground states are solidly underwater however, and in many states, they are much worse than publicly perceived, mostly because of White House spin.

In Colorado, which is seen as a gateway to aggressively contesting the Southwest, Obama scored a net -12 job approval 40/52 throughout the year.

In Nevada, also seen as a major bellwether, Obama has a 41% approval rating, with 50% of respondents disapproving.

In the critical battleground state of Ohio, 50% of voters disapprove of his performance, with only 42% approving.

And in the must-win state of Pennsylvania, Obam’s job approval is underwater, with 45% approving and 48% disapproving.

More Bad News

New Mexico is seen as a Democratic-leaning state because of its voting history and its significant Hispanic population.

But Obama’s performance there, 42% favorable, 51% unfavorable, isn’t much different than his weak standing in the other Southwestern battlegrounds.

The Obama campaign argues that it has an outside shot at contesting Arizona, but his approval rating is at 40%, with 52% disapproving.

In New Hampshire, a state that John Kerry carried in 2004, Obama’s job approval is at 39%, with 54% disapproving, and it’s a state that with Romney heading the GOP ticket, is starting to look more and more out of reach.

So What Does Obama Have To Do To Win?

Based on the above numbers, the most plausible path for the president’s re-election runs through Virginia, Florida and Iowa, which isn’t a scenario that Team Obama drew up in its spin sessions, but if the polls are to be believed, then it’s likely the only way to go.

Are Low IQ Social Conservatives More Prejudiced?

Michael Redbourn — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:14:07 +0000

Gays: Facts, myths and religious prejudice | Public Eye Daily

www.publiceye.co.ls1/27/12

For those that are unsure, prejudice is defined as a preconceived opinion not based on reason or experience, in other words, you are being unfair and irrational in your attitude towards the subject(s) of your prejudice, normally …

“…there is reason to believe that strict right-wing ideology might …

wizbangblog.com1/28/12

Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, [researcher Gordon Hodson] wrote in an email to LiveScience. … Social conservatives were defined as people …

According to an article published on January 26, 2012 in LiveScience, “People with prejudices most likely have low IQs and are Social Conservatives”.

And according to Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario, “the research indicates that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults.”

“And these findings point to a vicious cycle”.

“Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice.”

In the study, researchers used two forms of intelligence tests and a series of statements supposed to measure social conservative attitudes, statements similar to:

"Family life suffers if mum is working full-time".

"Schools should teach children to obey authority".

And from the replies to the statement they attempted to capture attitudes about race using statements such as:

"I wouldn’t mind working with people from other races”.

Researchers say they found a correlation between having a low intelligence in childhood and holding prejudicial attitudes in adulthood, and the relationship linking the two was social conservatism.

And in a second data set, researchers also claimed to have found a link between poor abstract reasoning skills and homophobia.

* Social conservatism is a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the national government, or the state, should have a greater role in the social and moral affairs of its citizens, generally supporting whatever it sees as morally correct choices and discouraging or outright forbidding those it considers morally wrong ones. Source Wikipedia.

It’s important to note that the study refers to social conservatism, not political conservatism, and lead researcher Gordon Hodson, stresses that the researchers weren’t implying that all liberals are smart and all conservatives are dumb.

"There are multiple examples of very bright conservatives and not-so-bright liberals, and many examples of very principled conservatives and very intolerant liberals”. he said.

But Brian Nosek, who is a social and cognitive psychologist at the University of Virginia and not related to the study, told LiveScience.

"They’ve pulled off the trifecta of controversial topics. When one selects intelligence, political ideology and racism and looks at any of the relationships between those three variables, it’s bound to upset somebody”.

Hodson says however that,

“It’s a reasonable to conclude that a conservative ideology might appeal to those who have trouble grasping the complexity of the world. Socially conservative ideologies tend to offer structure and order. Unfortunately, many of these features can also contribute to prejudice”.

How Many Illegals Are In The US And What Is The Cost?

Michael Redbourn — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:41:47 +0000

Obama Slaps Intimidation Lawsuit on South Carolina Over Illegals

www6.lexisnexis.com11/7/11

States and localities bear the brunt of the costs that illegal aliens impose on taxpayers. … State and local costs for services siphoned by illegal aliens and their anchor babies now total $391 million a year in South Carolina.

Illegal Aliens Not “Innocent Immigrants”; U.S., Dem. Party Wasting …

neosecularist.com1/27/12

Why would we want to reelect a man, Barack Obama, who would give the potential illegal alien that much more incentive to become a criminal illegal alien? Isn't it more cost-effective to the American taxpayer to advance a “no …

How Many Illegals In The US And What Is The Cost?

It’s obviously impossible to come up with exact figures because illegal aliens don’t reply to census questionnaires, but the U.S. Border Patrol Union Local 2544 in Tucson, Ariz., says the total number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. today is somewhere between 12 million and 15 million.

And basing its figures on the "Current Population Survey", which is a monthly assessment of about 50,000 households jointly conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that there are between 11.5 million to 12 million "unauthorized migrants" living in the U.S. today.

Bear Stearns (download pdf) says however that based on school enrollments, foreign remittances, border crossings, and housing permits that, "there is significant evidence that the census estimates of undocumented immigrants may be capturing as little as half of the total undocumented population", meaning that there might well be as many as 20 million illegal immigrants in the US today.

Estimated Number Of Illegal Aliens – State by State

How Much Are Illegal Aliens Costing The U.S. ?

The following estimates are in billions and not millions!

Illegal aliens are said to be costing the welfare system between $14 billion and $22 billion every year – Federation for American Immigration Reform

Medicaid use by illegal aliens costs the U.S. 7.5 billion every year- Center for Immigration Studies

In 2006, illegal aliens sent an estimated $65 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin, to their families and friends – rense.com

The following information was sourced from and interview on - Lou Dobbs Tonight

Primary and secondary school education for illegal aliens is said to be costing $12 billion dollars a year.

Anchor (American-born children of illegal aliens) children another $27 billion a year.

The incarceration of illegal aliens – $1.2 billion a year and 28% of all federal prison inmates are reckoned to be illegal aliens.

Every single year a massive $190 billion dollars is spent on welfare and social services for illegal aliens.

It is thought that illegal aliens cause American wages to be suppressed by around $200 billion dollars per year.

The above figures are not 100% accurate of course, but they’re based on extensive research, so it’s probably safe to say that illegal immigration is costing the U.S. around $500 billion a year and $500 billion is half a trillion dollars!

And How Much Do Illegal Immigrants Pay in Taxes?

Most experts agree that many illegal immigrants are paying taxes to Uncle Sam, but just how much they pay is hard to determine because the federal government doesn’t fully tally it.

"The latest available figures indicate however that it will amount to billions of dollars in federal income, Social Security and Medicare taxes this year and one rough estimate puts the amount of Social Security taxes alone at around $9 billion per year". – MSNBC

So What’s To Be Done?

Mass Deportation?

According to The National Policy Institute, the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion, and you can download a free copy of the The National Policy Institute ebook entitled, deportation if you’re interested in more details.

How Much Overall Support Is There For Reducing Immigration?

What Steps Was It Recommended That The Government Take?

In 1995, the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform asked the National Research Council / National Academy of Sciences to study the economic and fiscal effects of immigration.

Here are the principle findings of their extensive analysis, published in 1997 as The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration (ISBN 0-309-06356-6).

Their recommendations on Illegal Immigration were to.

Restrict the eligibility of illegal aliens for publicly-funded assistance.

Implement a nationwide system for easily verifying authorization to work (specifically, a computerized registry based on a secure
social security card).

Increase the resource for border management and interior enforcement.

Is There The Political Will To Implement Either Of The Above?

Obviously not, because in spite of a recent Pew survey (and all other polls that I’ve seen confirm it) showing that 73%of those polled approved of Arizona’s new immigration plan, and in spite of many other States wanting to adopt it, the Obama administration is seeking to have Arizona’s new law ruled unlawful.

The Answer To The Question

A Mexican journalist by the name of Evangelina Hernandez asked in Denver recently, "Illegal aliens pay rent, buy groceries, buy clothes. What Happens to your country’s economy if 20 million people go away?".

The answer would of course be, that the U.S. would be close to $500 billion a year better off, and

Joint US-Israel Missile Drill Will Be The Biggest Ever

Michael Redbourn — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:27:08 +0000

Largest Ever, Upcoming U.S.-Israel Joint Drill Sending Message to …

www.theblaze.com1/8/12

Arrow 3 Defense Missile Launch Test (Photo credit: Israeli Defense Ministry via Israel Hayom). A planned American-Israeli missile defense exercise is receiving special attention on the heels of a 10-day Iranian naval exercise …

Israel and US to hold joint missile drill | Aerospace & Defence News

aerospace.firetrench.com1/9/12

Israel and the United States are to hold a joint missile defence exercise, the Israeli military said late on Thursday. ASDNews … Last week it test-fired three missiles during war games east of the strait at the entrance to the Gulf. …

An upcoming American-Israeli missile defense exercise is receiving special media attention because it comes on the heels of a ten-day Iranian naval exercise, plus Iranian threats of closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Israeli Defense Forces played down the timing of the announcement, calling such periodic exercises “routine:”

“These exercises, which are part of a long-standing strategic partnership, are planned in advance and part of a routine training cycle designed to improve the interoperability of our defense systems. Like other bi-lateral exercises, Austere Challenge 12 represents another milestone in the strategic relationship between the US and Israel, as well as a step forward in promoting regional stability".

“The exercise scenario involves notional, simulated events as well as some field training, and is not in response to any real-world event".

“The exercise has been planned for at least two years and therefore has no relevance to any world events".

The AP quoted a senior military official who said on condition of anonymity:

"Thousands of American and Israeli soldiers from different units will take part, and the drill will test multiple Israeli and U.S. air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets".

In a speech last month, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta previewed the exercise, citing it as an example of what he called,

"The administration’s unprecedented levels of defense cooperation with Israel to back up our unshakable commitment to Israel’s security".

And on Sunday’s Face the Nation, Panetta stated two red lines for the U.S.:

"Our red line to Iran is do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us. I think they need to know that, that if they take that step, that they’re going to get stopped. We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz. That’s another red line for us and that we will respond to them.".

And Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey on the same show said he believes,

" Iran has the capability, for a period of time to block the Strait of Hormuz, but we would take action and reopen the Straits".

Efraim Inbar, who is director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University, says that even if it’s not intended as a response to Iranian moves:

“Any military exercise has political implications. The military organ is always connected to political even if that’s not the intention on the part of the Americans or Israelis. It’s a clear political signal to the bad guys. After we saw the military exercise by the Iranians last week, everybody with political sensitivity tends to believe this is a counter-flexing of muscle".

Inbar also addressed expressions of isolationism in the U.S., something which has been gaining more media attention due to the presidential campaign of GOP candidate Ron Paul:

“This type of exercise expresses the importance of Israel to the U.S. particularly when the U.S. is seen as being weak in the region. It is leaving Iraq, it is on its way out of Afghanistan. Israel is probably the only place a U.S. military airplane will eventually be able to land in the Middle East".

“U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation is beneficial to both sides. The U.S. is a super power and we are a small state but in our area contrary to what isolationists say in the U.S., we all still need allies, or what used to be called ‘calling stations’. Israeli ports are open to the U.S. In fact, the only port where the U.S. can probably bring ships safely in the Eastern Mediterranean is to Israel. Looking at the other countries: Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, the Mediterranean is becoming an Islamist lake".

And an Israeli Air Force officer emphasized that not only Israel gains from the relationship:

“The Americans are eager to conduct this exercise, we are their laboratory in the field of missile defense. A laboratory because Israel has extensive firsthand experience of absorbing incoming rockets and missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah and regularly activates its Iron Dome system to combat the threat".

The Telegraph reported from London that the UK will deploy its largest warship, the HMS Daring, to the Persian Gulf to,

“send a significant message to the Iranians”.

The UK destroyer is due to arrive in late January.

And Oil Supplies?

Western powers have agreed a contingency plan to tap a record volume from emergency stockpiles which could replace nearly all the Gulf oil that would be lost if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz.

Who Are The World’s Biggest Debtor Nations? Slide-show!

Michael Redbourn — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:53:27 +0000

Debt-Free United States Notes Were Once Issued Under JFK And …

theeconomiccollapseblog.com12/19/11

Our current debt-based monetary system was devised by greedy bankers that wanted to make huge profits by creating money out of thin air and lending it to the U.S. government at interest. Sadly, the vast majority of the …

The Corporate Cash Myth | Euro Pacific Capital

www.europac.net12/21/11

The death blow to US corporations could come when US interest rates rise to historically normal levels. A four-percentage-point rise in the interest rates paid on debt by US corporations would cost them nearly $300 billion per …

If you think that the US is in a terrible state financially, you’re right, because the US can’t pay the interest on its debts which is why those debts are getting bigger every second of every day.

But take a look at this slide-show and most likely be amazed.

Of the twenty countries listed, America is number twenty meaning that there are nineteen countries who owe much more of their GDP that it does.

And please note how the socialist countries are doing and perhaps cringe, knowing that this is the direction in which Obama would like to lead America.

Fifty Facts About The US Economy That Might Shock You!

Michael Redbourn — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:40:05 +0000

Zakaria: The real burden on the U.S. economy – Global Public …

globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com12/11/11

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN President Obama gave an important speech in Kansas last week. Whether you agree with all of it or not, he has begun a national conversation about the economy and the role of government.

Global Economic Crisis: The U.S. An Insolvent and Ungovernable …

www.marketoracle.co.uk12/18/11

Global Economic Crisis: The U.S. An Insolvent and Ungovernable Country :: The Market Oracle :: Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting Free Website.

Do you now how bad the US economy really is?

If you answered, "Yes" then read on because it’s almost certainly far worse than you thought.

And if you answered, "No" or "Maybe" then sit down before you read on!

The following data along with links appeared on a blog entitled The Economic Collapse and for those unfamiliar with the site, TEC (The Economic Collapse) is a blog that regularly compiles a comprehensive list of the most startling and unsettling facts about the U.S. economy.

Why Does TEC Do It?

A blurb on the site says:

“If we do not educate the American people about how deathly ill the U.S. economy has become, then they will just keep falling for the same old lies that our politicians keep telling them. Just ‘tweaking’ things here and there is not going to fix this economy".

“America is consuming far more wealth than it is producing and our debt is absolutely exploding. If we stay on this current path, an economic collapse is inevitable. Hopefully the crazy economic numbers from 2011 that I have included in this article will be shocking enough to wake some people up"

“If we all work together, hopefully we can get millions of people to wake up and realize that ‘business as usual’ will result in a national economic apocalypse".

So Without More Ado – Here Are The Fifty Figures

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

2. Approximately 57% 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%.

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% 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% 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% of all U.S. adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.

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

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

16. As the economy has slowed down, so has the number of marriages. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, only 51% of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72% 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% 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% of all homes in the state of Florida are sitting vacant. That figure is 63% 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% 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% of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today they account for approximately 16.3%.

26. One study found that approximately 41% 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% of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 29% 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% 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% 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% 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% 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%age of Americans is living in extreme poverty (6.7%) than has ever been measured before.

38. Child homelessness in the United States is now 33% 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%.

40. Sadly, child poverty is absolutely exploding all over America. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4% of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty, 40.1% of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty, 52.6% of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty and 53.6% 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% of all income. Today, government transfer payments account for more than 18% of all income.

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

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

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 Who’s To Blame?

Take A Look At The Federal Reserve

Since its inception, the Federal Reserve has been a perpetual debt machine that has almost single-handedly destroyed the value of the U.S. dollar!

The Solution

From The TEC website:

"One of the most important steps that we could take to bring prosperity back to America would be to nationalize the Federal Reserve. Doing so would allow the federal government to quit borrowing money, dramatically reduce taxes and eventually pay off the entire U.S. national debt.

Instead of inheriting the largest debt in the history of the world, future generations would actually have a chance at economic prosperity because they would not be forced to pay off the horrific debt of previous generations.

There are no good reasons to keep the status quo. Our current debt-based monetary system will inevitably lead to a complete and total economic collapse. We desperately need to make a change while we still can. As you will see below, there are a ton of good reasons why we should nationalize the Federal Reserve.

Right now, most Americans believe that the Federal Reserve is actually an agency of the federal government. But that is simply not the case.

The truth is that the Federal Reserve is about as "federal" as Federal Express is, and the Federal Reserve openly admits as much.

For example, in defending itself against a Bloomberg request for information under the Freedom of Information Act, the Federal Reserve stated in court that it was "not an agency" of the U.S. government and therefore not subject to the Freedom of Information Act".

So Who Owns The Federal Reserve?

According to the Federal Reserve’s own website, it is the member banks that own it.

The twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, which were established by Congress as the operating arms of the nation’s central banking system, are organized much like private corporations–possibly leading to some confusion about "ownership." For example, the Reserve Banks issue shares of stock to member banks. However, owning Reserve Bank stock is quite different from owning stock in a private company. The Reserve Banks are not operated for profit, and ownership of a certain amount of stock is, by law, a condition of membership in the System. The stock may not be sold, traded, or pledged as security for a loan; dividends are, by law, 6 percent per year.

Will Obama Nationalize The Federal Reserve?

No chance!

So Who Might Do It?

Well Obama’s replacement might, but even that’s not for sure because we don’t know who it will be; or if it will be.

But we do know however that the 2012 election will be one of the most important in US history.

So if you care about the US then make sure you vote, and be sure to vote Republican because with a Republican in the White House there’s a chance of positive change, but with Obama there’s none!

And if you want to know what the interest on Amreica’s debt is doing to our economy then checkout:

Forget The Deficit! How Big Is The Interest On Our Debt?

Hezbollah Now Linked To Mexican Drug Cartels

Michael Redbourn — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:42:57 +0000

Israel Matzav: Hezbullah partners with the Mexican drug cartels

israelmatzav.blogspot.com2/22/11

Some of you in the US may not realize it, but just south of your border there's a war going on. The war is between the Mexican drug cartels and the Mexican government. The cartels are getting help from a familiar name in …

Maysaloon – ??????

www.maysaloon.org10/11/11

Over the past few years there have been many allegations that Iran, and Hezbullah, have connections with drug gangs and extensive networks in Latin America. This is the first time that something this substantial and is …

U.S. authorities stated on Tuesday Dec 13, 2011 that a Lebanese national, Ayman Joumaa,is the ringleader of a huge international drug smuggling ring that has links to the militant group Hezbollah.

At the indictment in federal court in Alexandria Va. it was alleged that he led a conspiracy that, among other activities, sold nearly 100 tons of Colombian cocaine to the Zetas drug cartel in Mexico between 2005 and 2007 that was later smuggled into the United States.

Joumaa, who is currently at large was indicted on drug and money laundering charges after allegedly realizing more than $850 million in illicit profits.

According to court documents, the conspiracy was said to have run since at least 2004 and at times brought in as much as $200 million in a single month.

Law enforcement officials believe Joumaa is currently in Lebanon and it’s unclear whether U.S. officials will be able to obtain his extradition.

The indictment seeks the forfeiture of at least $850 million, which is the amount that Joumaa allegedly obtained over the course of the conspiracy, according to the grand jury.

The Hezbollah Connection

Earlier this year, the Treasury Department designated Joumaa as a drug trafficker and described how Hezbollah profited from his network.

One of the members of Joumaa’s network is a suspected Hezbollah supporter; bank managers had links to Hezbollah officials; and the treasury accused a major Lebanese bank, the Lebanese Canadian Bank, of being complicit in Joumaa’s money laundering and turning a blind eye to massive cash transactions.

In The Courtroom

The court’s documents show that Joumaa’s network played a major role in the global drug trade for years, helping Colombian producers get their product into the hands of cartels in Central America and Mexico, and from there into the U.S.

It needs be said though, that the criminal indictment itself makes no mention of links between Joumaa, 47, and Hezbollah, which the U.S. government designated a terrorist group in 1997.

Neil MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, whose office is prosecuting the case said:

“Money fuels the drug trade, and Mr. Joumaa is alleged to be at the center of it all, working with those producing the vast majority of the world’s cocaine to get their drugs safely into the hands of Mexican cartels. Organized crime networks know no borders, and neither can U.S. law enforcement".

According to the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), The Lebanese Canadian Bank was sold to an affiliate of France’s Societe Generale in March to restore confidence after those accusations triggered concerns in Lebanon that the U.S. would begin targeting Lebanon’s banking sector as a way to exert pressure against Hezbollah.

Lebanon is a major financial hub for the Middle East and its banks, like those in Switzerland, have a reputation for secrecy so it’s not surprising that attempts to contact the bank for comment were unsuccessful after working hours Tuesday.

Mounting Evidence That Hezbollah Is Involved

This is the second time in recent months that federal prosecutors in Alexandria have announced charges against major international drug trafficking rings.

In July, authorities announced they had taken down a major drug ring that was smuggling drugs from Ghana through Dulles International Airport near Washington and most of those charged in that ring, including the ringleader, were eventually extradited to the U.S. and are facing trial.

In addition, two men of Bangladeshi origin were caught by Customs and Border Protection illegally crossing the US-Mexico border last June and they confessed that they were members of a terrorist organization that’s allied with Bin Laden against America.

This latest Mexican-Hezbollah revelation should make one thing clear though:

Hezbollah’s infiltration of Latin American is an increasing threat, and in the absence of greatly improved border security measures, it is likely to worsen.

Do Liberals Finally Understand Obama Was A Huge Mistake?

Michael Redbourn — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:12:28 +0000

Obama Rejected Numerous Proposals to Retrieve Lost U.S. Drone …

atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com12/9/11

Apart from the obvious — Islamic Iran, China and Russia now have state-of-the-art stealth technology and we lose a killer app in the war against the enemies of freedom, the most troubling aspect of this story is that Obama had a window of opportunity to retrieve the critical intelligence gathering drone and rejected it. He left it there for the murdering mullahs. With early knowledge that the aircraft had likely remained intact, the senior U.S. official also told Fox News that …

Gay donors fuel Obama's 2012 bid – Catholic Citizens

www.catholiccitizens.org12/10/11

The left-leaning super-rich, including George Soros, see Obama as hopelessly compromised and have lost their enthusiasm for him. Some Wall Street and hedge fund executives, tired of being criticized and regulated, have …

It’s somewhat hard to believe that this conversation took place on an MSNBC panel.

And I’m somewhat stunned by it!

On Morning Joe, a consensus emerged that Barack Obama doesn’t believe he has failed America, but rather that America has failed him.

Joe Scarborough encapsulated, saying,

"Obama sees our version of democracy as a stumbling block to his greatness".

More quotes:

"He believes that the country is not commensurate with his gifts".

"He thinks this country has an 18th constitutional republic that needs significant updating".

"He sees elected leaders from across the country as a stumbling block".

"And he sees democracy as …".

"He sees this government as a stumbling block that’s getting in the way of his greatness!".

I never thought I’d say it but,

"If this was on Morning Jow, then it must be true".

Does this video signify the end of the leftist MSM’s support for Obama?

That Obama was coming from the extreme left was never in doubt because he was a member of the New Party (communist) just twelve years before he was elected.

And he didn’t quit his prominent role; the courts shut the New Party down!

Did the MSM believe that he would be less left than his past portrayed?

Who knows, but let’s hope that they now understand and continue to downgrade him.

He has to go and maybe now there is a uniformity or opinion on it!?