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US Watchdog Say Taxpayers Still Owed $132.9 Billion From Bailouts

Michael Redbourn — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:35:54 +0000

Bailed-Out Companies Pressured TARP Pay Czar To Keep …

www.huffingtonpost.com1/24/12

The official overseeing executive pay for bailout firms limited cash compensation and made some reductions in pay, but still approved compensation packages in the millions, the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) inspector general said in the report. Former U.S. pay … In Mexico in the mid-'90s Wall Street engineered a currency coup that tripled the debt owed by small businesses and family farms and also allowed for them to be massively ratejacked on top of it.

Taxpayers Still on the Hook for $133B from Bailouts | Nanavaty …

www.nndcpa.com1/26/12

The federal overseer of the government's bank bailout program says taxpayers are still owed $132.9 billion on investments in 458 bailed-out banks and companies, including failed insurer American International Group (AIG: 25.31, 0.00, 0.00%), General Motors (GM: 25.08, … SIGTARP now warns TARP could be cemented in the government's architecture as a permanent bailout program, even though the public initially “perceived TARP as primarily a bank bailout.” …

Government watchdog Christy Romero says that U.S. taxpayers are still owed $132.9 billion by companies that received bailouts, and adds that much of it will never be recovered.

TARP – Troubled Asset Relief Program

The bailout debt which was launched at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008 will continue for years, says a report issued Thursday January 26, 2012 by Christy Romero, who is the acting special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout.

What’s worse is that some bailout programs, such as the one to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by reducing mortgage payments, will continue into late 2017, and they will cost the government an additional $51 billion, plus or minus a few billion dollars.

The report also notes that the roller coaster stock market slowed the Treasury Department’s efforts to sell off its stakes in 458 bailed-out companies, which include insurers, American International Group Inc., General Motors Co. and Ally Financial Inc.

The Present Share Prices And Needed Share Prices

AIG’s shares closed Wednesday at $25.31, while GM ended at $24.92 and Ally isn’t publicly traded.

They were $28.73 a share for AIG, and $53.98 for GM so it could take a long time for the market to rebound to that level.

The report concludes that it will also be challenging for the government to get out of the 458 companies as the market remains volatile and banks struggle keep afloat in the tough economy.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP

Congress authorized $700 billion for the bailout of financial companies and automakers and $413.4 billion was paid out.

So far, the government has recovered about $318 billion.

The Treasury’s Response

Treasury spokesman Matt Anderson said the department,

"has made substantial progress winding down TARP and has already recovered more than 77% of the funds disbursed for the program, through repayments and other income".

"We’ll continue to balance the important goals of exiting our investments as soon as practicable and maximizing value for taxpayers".

To be fair however, it needs be said that the government has recovered its investments in four of the companies that received the most aid:

Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Chrysler Group LLC and Chrysler Financial, which is the automaker’s old lending arm.

Criminal Activity

In Romero’s quarterly report to Congress, she said her office,

"has uncovered and prevented fraud related to TARP".

Investigations by her office have resulted in criminal charges against ten people and three convictions.

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.

Is President Obama Earning His Salary?

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:39:19 +0000

Barack Obama Vacations In Martha's Vinyard While Job Crisis, Debt …

www.huffingtonpost.com8/17/11

WASHINGTON — Is there ever really a good time for the president to go on vacation? President Barack Obama's summer getaway to Martha's Vineyard has reignited a seemingly annual debate.

Town Hall Patriots: Michelle Obama Vacations – While America …

thpatriots.blogspot.com11/14/11

"Everybody's going to have to give a little bit. … If you're a family trying to cut back, you might skip going out to dinner, you might put off a vacation." President Barack Obama Barack Obama has been President over …

A great many people are now asking what President Obama, his family and his political supporters are getting paid for.

Their Vacations?

His Reelection?

To Fulfill His ideology?

Or What?

And now Gov. Chris Christie wants to know what Obama is being paid for!

"I was angry this weekend, listening to the spin coming out of the administration, about the failure of the super-committee".

"The president knew it was doomed for failure, so he didn’t get involved".

"Well, then what the hell are we paying you for?

"It’s doomed for failure, so I’m not getting involved?".

"Well, what have you been doing, exactly?".

It’s been a slow steady decline, but President Barack Obama‘s job approval rating has finally dipped below Jimmy Carter’s, earning Obama the worst approval rating of any president at this stage of his term in modern history.

Gallup’s daily presidential job approval index puts the current president‘s job approval rating at 43% compared to Carter’s 51%.

And US News adds:

Back in 1979, Carter was far below Obama until the Iran hostage crisis; something that is being eerily duplicated in Tehran today with Iranian protesters storming the British embassy.

The early days of the crisis helped Carter’s ratings, though his failure to win the release of captured Americans, coupled with a bad economy, led to his defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1980.

According to Gallup, these are the job approval numbers for other presidents at this stage of their terms, a year before the re-election campaign:

– Harry S. Truman: 54%.

– Dwight Eisenhower: 78%.

– Lyndon B. Johnson: 44%.

– Richard M. Nixon: 50%.

– Ronald Reagan: 54%.

– George H.W. Bush: 52%.

– Bill Clinton: 51%.

– George W. Bush: 55%.

And to make matters worse for Obama, Gallup reports that his overall job approval rating ranks among the worst in American political history, averaging 49%.

And only three former presidents have had a worse average rating at this stage:

Carter, Ford, and Harry S. Truman.

More Than Eighty Reasons Why Obama Shouldn’t Be Reelected!

Michael Redbourn — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:51:35 +0000

Daily Kos: What I said to Joe Biden and the Obama re-election …

www.dailykos.com11/19/11

In the past two days I have received emails from Joe Biden and Jim Messina of the Obama re-election committee asking me to contribute and become active in the re-election effort. I support President Obama (in 2008 and will …

Mitt Romney: Nuclear Iran Would Be Consequence Of Obama Re …

www.huffingtonpost.com11/13/11

Mitt Romney: Nuclear Iran Would Be Consequence Of Obama Re-Election. Romney Obama. KASIE HUNT 11/12/11 11:54 PM ET Associated Press AP. React. Important Funny Typical Scary Outrageous Amazing Innovative Finally. Follow …

More Than 80 Reasons to Elect a New President Worthy of a Great Nation: Not the Abomination of an Obama Nation

With very rare exceptions, everything on this site was written by me; but this one was too good not to promote.

Courtesy of www.rabbidov.com

(Based on an Idea and Initiative, and Built off a List, Launched by KRLA Radio Talk Show Host and Constitutional Law Professor Hugh Hewitt)

1. Obamacare – Attempting to federalize local state rights, extending federal control over massive components of the national bourse, extending federal control over individuals’ lives in violation of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause. Cynically lining up supporters in white doctors’ robes, while refusing to consult with much more prominent and predominant medical groups who oppose. Lying about the program’s cost and tax burden by subterfuging it with exorbitant taxes that begin several years into its anticipated roll-out. Robbing $500 billion from Medicare that will destroy access for seniors, while lying about the Ryan proposal that would not affect people over 55.

2. The catastrophic $850 billion stimulus. $700,000 to develop a robot that tells jokes. $3.4 million for an underground tunnel for turtles to cross the road in Florida. $1 million to help smokers kick the habit by giving them Blackberry "smartphones." $2.6 million for Chinese prostitutes in China to drink responsibly. Lying to Americans by claiming the money was going to "shovel-ready jobs" — and then joking about the falsehood. Lying by hiding the amounts transferred to favored liberal projects unrelated to job growth or economic stimulation.

3. Chronically high, persistent unemployment – His own staff said that he would bring it under 8% ; yet it remains over 9% thirty months into his one term, with real unemployment actually exceeding 15% as huge numbers of unemployed Americans withdraw from searching hopelessly for jobs. Lying about a Summer of Recovery (2010).

4. Gas prices – Now exceeding $4.50 a gallon in California, while he bars exploration in ANWR, restricts licenses to explore along the Atlantic coast or in the Gulf, but exports American dollars to help Brazil explore for oil in the Gulf even as Obama promises that America then will buy that oil from Brazil. (See also #82.)

5. Failure to pass a budget. The abject failure by the Chief Executive to get any kind of budget adopted for 2010.

6. Multi-trillion debt free-fall. Turning the disastrous Bush deficits into a multi-trillion-dollar economic free-fall, now leaving the nation with a debt exceeding $14.3 trillion . . . and pressing for authorization to increase the free-fall. His own latest mad deficit proposal was demolished in a House vote 97-318, as his own Democrats abandoned him in droves.

7. The seizure of GM and Chrysler. The illegal transfer of bondholder wealth to unions, imposing his views on parts of the American auto industry, artificially trying to jump-start his favored companies with "Cash for Clunkers," only to find that American tax dollars were used instead by people buying preferred Japanese cars to acquire them cheaper while being forced to destroy throughly sound used cars.

8. Dodd-Frank.

9. Unremitting hostility to Israel. Destroying the Mideast process by imposing unilateral burdens on Israel, forcing Israel to cease construction of Jewish homes, even in Jerusalem, thus compelling Abbas to harden several positions, all while publicly snubbing Prime Minister Netanyahu in the basement of the White House (the first visit) and trying to snub him on the second visit with a horrible policy speech as Netanyahu was flying en route to America.

10. Failure to support Iran‘s Green Revolution. A complete silence and abandonment of leadership when Iranians risked their lives for freedom, while backing the Moslem Brotherhood uprising in Egypt.

11. Failure to support the Syrian people’s revolution against Assad. Utter failure to lead until it was impossible to overlook the massacres by a dictator who actively finances and supports Iran and Hezbollah, America’s sworn enemies in Iraq and South Lebanon.

12. The Libyan Fiasco. Entering Libya while failing to consult Congress. No sense of whether we are supporting people just as bad as Qaddafi. Remaining in the war more than 90 days without obtaining Congressional approval. Lying about violating the War Powers Act by claiming there are no "hostilities" in Libya.

13. The Gulf oil disaster. Bumbling in handling the Gulf oil disaster – refusing aid from countries with oil-cleaning vessels, failing to accept offers of boom to corral the spill, bringing in underwater filmmaker James Cameron as an expert.

14. Closing down oil exploration. The unnecessary moritorium on permitting oil exploration in the aftermath of the Gulf oil disaster, contributing to a massive explosion of oil prices, even leading a federal court to overturn him.

15. EPA interference. The shutdown of Shell’s Arctic oil exploration by EPA

16. Cap-and-Trade Fiasco. The push in Congress for a disastrous "cap-and-trade" plan that would stymie the coal, electric, and natural gas industries, while enormously raising Americans’ home fuel prices, leading even his own party’s U.S. Senator from West Virginia to film a TV promise to voters that he will shoot the proposal full of holes.

17. Use of federal agencies to bypass Congressional oversight. The attempt, after Congress refused to adopt his cap-and-trade nonsense, to bypass Congressional opposition and impose cap-and-trade undemocratically via the EPA.

18. Use of FCC initially to restrict free speech. The push for unconstitutional restrictions on free speech on his political enemies on Talk Radio while assuring protections for unions to spend money on campaigns via The Disclose Act.

19. The Disclose Act and cherry-picking. The attempt to unconstitutionally impose The Disclose Act on his political opponents but not unions via Executive Order.

20. Czars to bypass Congressional oversight. The use of unaccountable "czars" who effectively run huge segments of the American Government without being accountable to Congress and who are protected from Congressional subpoena power.

21. Boorish shaming of Supreme Court justices. The embarrassing and arrogant verbal assault on the Supreme Court while Court Justices courteously attended the first State of the Unionaddress, sitting in front of him, leading most to boycott the subsequent State of Union addresses.

22. Boorish attempt to shame Paul Ryan. The similarly embarrassing and arrogant verbal assault on Rep. Paul Ryan when addressing the federal budget, with Ryan having been invited personally by Obama to attend the speech and sit in front of him.

23. Boorish attempt to shame John McCain. The insulting, embarrassing, and arrogant gloating at John McCain during the televised sham negotiation over Obamacare, when he responded to McCain not substantively but by saying that Obama had won and McCain had lost the election — so there!

24. Refusal to prosecute Black Panthers for Voter Intimidation. Obama’s and Attorney-General Eric Holder’s politicization of the Department of Justice, including refusing to prosecute the Black Panther voter-intimidation case in Philadelphia.

25. Marriage Act. Obama’s and Holder’s refusal to defend the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, an act of Congress.

26. Lies, Lies, Lies. The regular use of straw-man demonizations to try winning support for his unpopular legislation, like accusing doctors of performing unnecessary surgery so that they can enrich themselves by imposing misery on their patients.

27. Throwing his grandmother under the bus. Using his grandmother as a foil to win points, calling her a racist like "typical white people."

28. Bowing to the Saudi King and the Japanese emperor. Literally.

29. Treating our British alliance contemptuously. Shamefully returning to Great Britain the bust of Winston Churchill that they had given us and that had reposed in the White House, while insulting the Queen and the Prime Minister with inane gifts like DVDs. The subsequent fiasco while toasting the Queen, continuing to talk during the playing of the British National Anthem.

30. Violating and abrogating long-standing promises to our allies. Removing the missile shield from Poland and the Czech Republic to placate Putin.

31. Standing with the aspiring Honduran dictator. Backing the would-be dictator of Honduras when that nation’s duly convoked Supreme Court had removed him from office in careful compliance with law.

32. FTAs with allies. Failure to push for quick ratification of free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea.

33. Amateurish handling of Afghanistan military effort. The painfully over-extended indecision, for months, whether to authorize a military surge into Afghanistan, then exacerbating the indecision by announcing to our enemies a date-certain withdrawal timeline — a time coordinated with his reelection bid.

34. Incoherence on how to handle the anti-Mubarak uprising in Egypt. Having Frank Wisner despatched as his emissary, and then rejecting Wizner’s advice.

35. Radicalizing the NLRB outside Congressional purview. Appointing [Harold] Craig Becker, a radical unionist, to the NLRB through a recess appointment that otherwise never would have passed Congress.

36. Radicalizing FCC outside Congressional purview. Appointing FCC commissioners who are pursuing "net neutrality" without Congressional authorization.

37. Ecology gone wild in California. Wiping out much of the agricultural economy of California’s Central Valley by restricting full water deliveries to protect a small Delta Smelt fish

38. Gitmo debacles. Promising to close the Guantanamo Bay facility that interns terrorists, trying to close it, failing to close it, refusing to concede his error or assure that "Gitmo" will remain open.

39. Civil trials for terrorists debacles. Promising to move terrorist trials to civilian courts, then trying to prosecute Khalid Sheik Mohammed in Downtown New York, only to be opposed even by the two ultra-liberal Democrat U.S. Senators of New York, then pressing to try another terrorist, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, in civilian court, resulting in the terrorist being acquitted on 284 of 285 counts.

40. Napolitano out of touch. The shameful failure of Obama’s Homeland Security chief, Janet Napolitano, to appreciate the Obama Administration’s security failures in the face of the near-catastrophe of the "underwear bomber" in the skies over Detroit, as she insisted "the system worked."

41. Student loans. Government takeover of the student loan program

42. Border security. Cancellation of the "virtual border fence" project with no replacement, while deploying National Guard troops to do paper work at desk jobs and provide office assistance rather than stand armed along the border.

43. The "Beer Summit." In the aftermath of wrongly castigating and erroneously pre-judging fault regarding the Cambridge Police Department, tying up the country with a foolish spectacle on the White House lawn.

44. Immigration and Arizona. The Department of Justice’s attack on Arizona for that state’s exercise of its sovereign legislative authority on the issue of citizen identification rules. Failure of his own federal government to execute the law on immigration.

45. The attack on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Attacking the Wisconsin governor and his state legislature for exercising their sovereign legislative authority on public employment issues, while Obama failed to acknowledge that the new Wisconsin rules are comparable to those that always have applied to federal employees.

46. Lying to McCain on their deal over campaign fundraising. Violating his pledge to John McCain to abide by McCain-Feingold limits for funding his Presidential campaign.

47. Downplaying American exceptionalism. Apology tours.

48. Implying that the Minnesota bridge collapse was the result of lack of infrastructure funding

49. Chicago Olympics fiasco. Shamefully inserting himself into a botched campaign to bring Olympic Games to Chicago, thereby exposing the Presidency of the United States to ridicule and formal rejection, and demonstrating early-on his overconfident sense of himself and his unpreparedness for the seriousness of his office.

50. Hypocritical attack on D.C. public school voucher effort. The attack on a voucher program for Washington, D.C. schools, even as his own children are protected from the educational failures that curse the Washington populace.

51. Associating with the murky. Associations with convicted unrepentant domestic terrorists and eccentric haters of America: the Reverend Wright, William Ayres, Van Jones.

52. Anita Dunn. Her war against Fox News and her boastfulness that the Obama White House has the "courage to speak truth to Power" — when it is the White House, not a cable TV station, that is "Power"; and her speech to schoolchildren, as a White House representative, sharing with the young and impressionable her idolization and admiration of mass-murderer Mao Tse-Tung.

53. ACORN.

54. SEIU. Having Andrew Stern, President of SEIU, as the man who has visited the White House more than any other person during the Obama term.

55. Teleprompters / White House for Dummies. A reliance on teleprompters to protect him from stumbling and bumbling speeches when, without scripting, he has spoken of his visits to America’s "57 states," has denigrated the handicapped, could not pronounce "corpsman," moronically said that Austrians speak "Austrian," referred to deceased war heroes adding that many were in the audience he was addressing, and has made more gaffes than Dan Quayle.

56. Arrogance and Haughtiness. An extreme level of personal nose-in-the-air arrogance and lack of graciousness, from physical comportment to the way he addresses others. The Roman columns. The arrogant temerity to tell Americans, God-like, that history will record his coronation as the moment that the rivers stopped rising and the planet healed.

57. Chicago Corruption. The house he corruptly acquired through Tony Rezko.

58. The artificial shifting dialects. Affecting an artificial accent when speaking to unions, and to others with whom he allies in his "class wars," that belies his having grown up in Hawaii, reared by a Caucasian grandmother, his having spent years being schooled in Indonesia, and later attending school at Occidental College in California, Columbia University, and Harvard Law School.

59. Lack of transparency. Refusing to share his academic records or the sources through which he paid for private college and law school, despite his pre-election calls for transparency.

60. Failure to lead on immigration. Not confronting the immigration issue when he dominantly controlled both the House and a filibuster-proof Senate, then mocking the GOP on immigration, saying they would not be happy with "alligators and moats" — when all they want is secure borders.

61. Fiscal irresponsibility on foreign relations with Egypt. Forgiving billions of dollars in Egyptian and related Mideast debt when we are past the 14.3 trillion debt line.

62. Wasting billions on corrupt "Palestine" agencies. Pumping billions more into the discredited United Nations Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA) and the Palestinian Authority that merged with the terrorist Hamas.

63. Radical judicial appointments. Nominating a radical leftist, Professor Goodwin Liu, for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit despite Liu’s contempt for constitutional imperatives towards limited government.

64. Acceding to political bribery by cherry-picking waivers to Obamacare for favored donors. Forcing Obamacare down the throats of small businesses across America that cannot afford it . . . then approving politically correct and electoral pay-off waivers for his friends, donors, and rich boutique businesses. Granting 20% of all the country’s Obamacare waivers in Pelosi’s San Francisco district. Buying off votes from Ben Nelson of Nebraska (the Cornhusker Deal), Mary Landrieu (the Louisiana Purchase) to pass Obamacare.

65. Using the White House to crush political opposition. Trying to force donors to his political opponents to reveal their contributions. Using the White House official website asking supporters to report to the Government instances of people criticizing Government policies.

66. Attempting to crush media opposition. Punishing a Boston newspaper whose editorial attacked him, having his White House conduct a war against Fox News, claiming they are an entertainment, not a news organization, and then boycotting Fox until that strategy backfired.

67. Encouraging cultural decline. Inviting "Common," a "poet" with disgusting lyrics of hate, to entertain at the White House

68. The Louis XVI Factor. Vacations and high-profile golf during the Gulf oil crisis, prompting even Democrat strategist and Presidential advisor James Carville to erupt in fury. More high-profile golf at Cape Cod while the country was losing its AAA credit rating for the first time.

69. The Marie Antoinette Factor. Michelle high-profile huge trips abroad, a la Eva Peron, with family friends and their children partying on the public payroll, at 5-star hotels in places like Spain.

70. Al Sharpton. Launching his national presidential reelection campaign with a speech to Al Sharpton’s base.

71. Secrecy in Legislation. Failing to honor his pledge to conduct transparent governance, crafting Obamacare with Democrats behind closed doors barred to Republicans, leaving Obamacare as a massive document so convoluted that Nancy Pelosi had to tell the media: "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."

72. A philosophy of redistributing other people’s money. Trying to persuade "Joe the Plumber" that it is a beneficial national economic goal to "redistribute the wealth."

73. Cynically blaming Republicans and Talk Radio for the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Blaming their rhetoric, while failing to address Democrat use of vile and violent language to describe Republicans and the Tea Party.

74. Lying about a family connection to the Holocaust. Lying and falsely telling Americans that his grandfather was among those who liberated Auschwitz when, in fact, no American troops liberated Auschwitz.

75. Failing to grasp the Israel narrative. Describing Israel’s right to exist as premised on the Holocaust, thus missing the entire point of a Jewish country built on the land where Jews have lived since Biblical times.

76. Lying about a family connection to the Civil Rights movement. Telling Americans that his birth happened because his parents became amorous as a result of the 1965 Selma Civil Rights March — even though he was born in 1961.

77. Collapse of the housing market. American housing prices lowest since 2002.

78. Manipulating legislation by forcing votes on massive documents. Racing massive thousand-page legislation packages through Congress without allowing Congress or the American People time to read, comprehend, and absorb the bill — and thus breaking a major campaign promise.

79. The Credit Rating downgrade. Presiding over the first credit-rating downgrade in American history.

80. Timing military campaigns to coincide with election campaigns. Manipulating and sacrificing the lives of American soldiers, basing a withdrawal from Afghanistan not on strategic national security considerations but timed instead to coincide with the start of the 2012 Democrat Presidential Convention.

81. NLRB. Stacking the National Labor Relations Board with left-focused political hacks who are attempting to prevent America’s leading exporter, Boeing, from building a $1 billion manufacturing plant in South Carolina because that state permits employment of non-union labor.

82. Cynically manipulating the national Strategic Oil Reserve. Releasing 30 million barrels of oil from the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to obtain the temporary political goal of lowering gasoline prices that have skyrocketed in the face of his severe restrictions on permitting exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, along the Atlantic coast, and in Alaska in his obsessive pursuit of "green jobs."

83. "Operation Fast and Furious" debacle. Allowing Mexican drug lords to access illegal firearms, then losing track of the firearms while the drug cartels used the illegal firearms for crime including murdering Americans.

84. Lying, lying, and more lying to voters. Trying to create class warfare by telling people that Republicans’ refusal to raise taxes will cause youngsters to be unable to finance their college educations, while causing seniors to lose health care and social security payments. Failing to admit honestly that Congress extended the Bush tax cuts and refused to increase taxes even when Democrats had a filibuster-proof Senate and veto-proof control of both Congressional chambers.

85. Investigating CIA patriots. The Holder investigation into CIA operatives’ interrogations of suspected Al Qaeda terrorists and their use of methods that had been approved in advance by the Justice Department.

If there’s anything that you believe should be added to the list, then please post a response.

And please post why you think any sane person would vote to have Obama reelected.

Will Youths Blacks And Hispanics Desert Obama?

Michael Redbourn — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:32:38 +0000

Early Jobs Projections Could Haunt Obama in 2012 – NYTimes.com

thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com11/4/11

Friday's tepid jobs report brings a fresh reminder of the stubborn difficulty President Obama and his team face in overcoming the argument that his administration has failed to address unemployment.

Droves Of Democrats Balking On Obama 2012 | Politicons

politicons.net11/14/11

Radioactive Obama… Politico has a piece highlighting the droves of Democrats that are refusing to back Obama in 2012. …

Just one year from the 2012 election and President Obama is in an extremely perilous political situation.

The poor economy he inherited hasn’t recovered and has most likely worsened.

Published unemployment is stuck above 9% with real unemployment being around 18.5%

Long-term unemployment is at record post-war levels.

The housing sector, where most people’s personal wealth was and is concentrated, remains mired in deep recession.

The scandals surrounding Republican-led investigations into Solyndra and Operation Fast and Furious are deepening.

Obama Had Overwhelming Majorities In Both Houses Of Congress

Although the President had overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress in his first two years, he has only two major legislative achievements to his credit:

The stimulus bill.

And Obamacare.

The stimulus bill is generally perceived as having been worse than a total failure, because it’s perceived as having been motivated more by politics than economics, and because much of the $800 billion was directed towards public service union members and liberal causes; i.e. "green energy", rather than real economic recovery.

Obamacare also remains deeply unpopular with the general public and is headed for the Supreme Court, which could well find its key provision unconstitutional next summer, just as the election gets into high gear.

The Economy And America’s Status

Budget deficits soared during the Obama years, with three trillion-dollar-plus deficits in a row.

And this has caused the national debt to swell to a level that, relative to GDP, has not been seen since the end of World War II and for the first time ever, the United States lost its AAA credit rating, which was a deep embarrassment for the country and also the administration.

Obama’s Ratings

So it shouldn’t be surprising that under these circumstances, that the President’s approval ratings have been in sharp decline, with some of his key supporting groups, including the youth and Hispanic voters to a greater or less degree abandoning him.

Obama’s Re-electability

No recent President was re-elected with unemployment above 7.8%, and that was in 1984, when unemployment was falling rapidly as a major economic boom accelerated.

So What Happened?

How did a man who three years ago won a higher percentage of both the popular and electoral vote than any Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson’s landslide almost fifty years ago find himself fighting such uphill odds to keep the White House?

The answer to that seems to lie in the somewhat exceptional circumstances that existed during the 2008 election, and Barack Obama’s personality which fitted the times.

In 2008, the American electorate was thoroughly tired of both the Bush administration and the Republican Party, which had lost its majority in Congress in 2006 for the first time in twelve years.

The Republican field of presidential candidates in 2008 was a weak one, with the eventual winner, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, widely perceived as being too old for the job.

So Obama, who was only forty seven years old, seemed in contrast, like a breath of fresh air.

He seemed personable, articulate (nobody had yet focused on his TelePrompTer) and he was the first ever bi-racial candidate for a major-party nomination with any serious chance of winning.

His biggest opposition was Sen. Hillary Clinton, the first woman candidate who also had a serious chance of winning, but she was already well known to the American people, having been First Lady for eight years; and she carried a lot of baggage from her husband’s administration.

Obama, in contrast, was a blank slate and to some extent still is because of the main stream media which is still protecting him.

Obama Hid His Tracks

Obama only served a little over three years in the US Senate, where his record was thin, and he mostly voted "present” rather than take a stand on issues.

Which we can now see was because he didn’t want evidence that could later be used against him.

How Obama Won

The Obama campaign used his lack of Washington experience to the fullest, much like Herman Cain is using his now.

They cultivated an image of a new kind of president, one who would cut through the old Washington merry-go-round of partisan bickering and special-interest pandering.

He would be post-partisan, a President who would throw the special-interest moneychangers out of the temple of the nation’s capital.

Obama’s biggest advantage in the 2008 election however, was that the mainstream media, failed to reveal any of his major negatives, such as having been and active member of the New Party (communist) and promoted all of his seeming positives; simply because it so desperately wanted to see an extreme left-wing, bi-racial candidate elected.

So What Happened To Candidate Obama’s Promises?

Running for President and being President, are two entirely separate matters however, and once in the White House a new Obama emerged, one who was quite different from the post-partisan, special-interest-bashing one.

What metamorphosed, was a hyper-liberal ideologue who attended to his special interests, such as labor unions, as assiduously as any other Washington politician had ever done before.

And what’s more, an arrogance and a rigidity that had not been seen in the candidate before, became increasingly evident, and expressed itself in such things as his State of the Union speech in January 2010, wherein he publicly criticized the Supreme Court, many of whose members were sitting in front of him for one of its decisions, which was totally unprecedented behavior.

Soon Gone Was The Bi-Partisanship

"I won the election”, he bluntly told Rep. Paul Ryan when the latter tried to negotiate regarding Obamacare, and it resulted in his two major pieces of legislation passing with almost no Republican votes in either house.

The Tea Party

What happened next was a groundswell of opposition to the Obama administration’s big spending ways which quickly became known as the Tea Party, and it’s something that Obama naively or arrogantly ignored for too long.

Obama Vainly Ignored The Clear Writing On The Wall

Republican candidates did extremely well in the off-year elections of 2009, winning the governorships in both New Jersey and Virginia with control-the-spending campaigns, and even greater evidence of voters’ dissatisfaction was when Scott Brown, who was a little known Republican, won the special election to fill the Senate seat of Democratic icon Ted Kennedy in deep-blue Massachusetts in January, 2010.

Obama Has Been Slow To Learn

Obama simply made a few token political adjustments, and in November, 2010, a tidal wave election gave decisive control of the House back to the Republicans and added seven Senate seats to their column, with Republicans also winning races for governor and state legislative seats across the width and breadth of the country.

Obama did admit that he had taken a shellacking, but he seems no more willing to change his ways than before because his latest plan to stimulate the economy is little different than his first one, and it has no chance of being enacted.

Can Obama Win Reelection?

Unlikely unless:

The economy turns around.

The Republicans nominate another weak candidate, which is possible.

The Supreme Court upholds Obamacare, or avoids making a decision before the election.

Obama’s biggest problem however seems to be that he’s totally egocentric and believes that his way is the only right way.

It’s highly unlikely that he’ll change, and increasingly likely that he’ll be a one term president, which is something that he said that he’d prefer.

"I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president".

And if that comes to be, then he’ll be able to say that he was right about that too!

Would Perry Have Been A Good Or Great President?

Michael Redbourn — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:57:43 +0000

Prison Planet.com » Rick Perry Would Back Israeli Attack On Iran

www.prisonplanet.com11/4/11

29 Responses to “Rick Perry Would Back Israeli Attack On Iran”. Quantummonkeybutt says: November 4, 2011 at 10:24 am. Nobel Peace Prize Winning Barack Obama (a.k.a. 'Baraq 'u Vama'): “War!!!” Perry: “War!!!” …

In Rick Perry's Speeches, a Growing Anti-Washington Theme …

thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com11/4/11

As the Cain controversy explodes, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is sticking to economic themes.

I Got This One Wrong! Big Time!

Will Perry Be The Republican Nominee And Then Beat Obama?

The somewhat obvious answer is, most likely, "Yes" to both questions.

But Why?

Dan Henninger categorically says what he thinks the U.S. can learn from Texas

The Texas Economy Is Huge

Rick Perry says that Texas is the most successful state in America and he’s right because Texas’ economic output even exceeds Mexico’s and Australia’s and is close to that of India’s.

Rick Perry has been governor of Texas for nearly eleven years, but does the logic of politics lead us to conclude that the governor of the nation’s most successful state is, ipso facto, the best man to be president of the economically gasping United States?

Texas, unlike California, isn’t America’s most beautiful state, and through October this year parts of Texas had 90 days of 100+ temperatures, yet companies and people keep moving into the high heat of Texas.

From Dan Henniger’s Wonderland

In a preview of his "Wonderland" column, Dan Henninger discusses what he thinks the U.S. can learn from Texas.

In 1990, one of the world’s biggest companies, Exxon Mobil, left New York City for Dallas. Exxon’s former CEO, Lee Raymond, says the move in part was indeed about costs and New York State’s notoriously overbearing tax authority. But it was also about working amid a culture of competence.

"It’s just the attitude in Texas of getting things done and doing them well".

This is about something beyond low taxes and no unions:

"In Texas the people tend to be farmers or individual businessmen, and they have this attitude".

"We have to make do with what we have and work together to get things done and survive".

"It’s can-do and that attitude permeates everything there".

Alan Boeckmann, until recently CEO of Fluor Corp., which is an engineering and construction firm, says:

"Regulatory and legal hassles pushed Fluor out of California. Congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley. California had its own version. There were constant class-action suits over Fluor’s benefits. It could have been settled, but not in California. That’s how the game is played there".

And when word of the 2006 move got out.

"California made no attempt to keep us. In Texas, things started to happen quickly, without us initiating them. The Irving Chamber of Commerce did orientation sessions for employees and spouses, even helping with new-house searches, and a street was renamed a street ‘Fluor Drive’, which in California or the Northeast would be laughable".

Smaller Fish Too

Ed Trevis, who is a smaller fish, is also happy.

Ed is a California-educated Brazilian immigrant and tech entrepreneur who operated in Silicon Valley for 25 years and moved Corvalent Corp. to Austin for similar reasons.

He had to hire a firm just to do California’s compliance.

"In California you are always doing something wrong".

"What I found in Texas is that from the standpoint of running a business, cost of living, education, the labor pool, quality of life, it just blew other states out of the water. I heard this constantly. People enjoy being in business in Texas".

More Points Of View

Technology consultant Bob Barker says while taking a visitor around the nearby hills,

"Austin may have more Ph.Ds driving taxis than any city in the country".

Austin’s famed population of big and small technology companies has suffered layoffs.

But Barker says:

"No one wants to leave. They stay, plugging into Austin’s numerous business-support networks. In Austin you discover a primary reason beneath Texas’ success. It’s about competition plus collaboration. It seems everyone in Texas high-tech knows everyone, and if they can help each other, they will".

David Booth, who moved Dimensional Fund Advisors’s headquarters to Austin from Santa Monica in 2008, puts Rick Perry’s role in perspective:

"He understands his job isn’t to get in the middle of everything".

Fluor’s Alan Boeckmann seconded that, and Mr. Booth and others said this is also true of the Texas lieutenant governor, its attorney general and the comptroller.

"They are very supportive of business",

says Lee Raymond,

"In the sense of moving things along. If there is a rock in the road, they want to know what they can do to move it out of the way".

Mr. Booth says:

"This isn’t merely the ‘pro-business’ bias of a Rick Perry or any other governor. Texas’ pro-business bias goes back about 175 years and never died. It’s just that they believe in the whole Horatio Alger myth down here. It’s hard to understand if you haven’t lived here".

Texas Or California?

Obama chose the California model and not the Texas one and look where America’s at!

The Texas mentality would be the same with or without Perry but he gave it free rein rather than bridling it, and it worked.

So This much Should Be Obvious

Texas, not California had better be the American future.

And somewhere inside of him, Rick Perry of Texas understands this distinction.

Will Moody’s & Fitch Downgrade America’s Credit Rating?

Michael Redbourn — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:00:36 +0000

U.S. credit rating facing another cut soon, Bank of America warns …

latimesblogs.latimes.com10/23/11

U.S. credit rating could suffer another downgrade before the end of the year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch warns.

US Rating Likely to be Downgraded Again: Merrill — Clearing and …

www.clearingandsettlement.com10/24/11

The United States will likely suffer the loss of its triple-A credit rating from another major rating agency by the end of this year due to concerns over the deficit, Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecasts. The trigger … Moody's Investors Service, which has a negative outlook on the United States's Aaa rating, said it is looking at several other factors, including the results of presidential elections and the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts late in 2012, to decide on the rating. …

Is the United States in for another credit downgrade by year’s end?

The US spends about 40% more every year than it collects in taxes!

Merrill Lynch just warned via Bank of America that it’s likely that either Moody’s or Fitch, or both, will move to downgrade America’s AAA rating if Congress fails to agree on a long-term plan to tame the nation’s $14.8 trillion deficit!

The Downgrade Is Likely

Merrill’s North American economist, Ethan Harris, wrote in their Friday report:

“The credit rating agencies have strongly suggested that further rating cuts are likely if Congress does not come up with a credible long-run plan to cut the deficit. Hence, we expect at least one credit downgrade in late November or early December when the super committee crashes".

Moody’s

Moody’s Investors Service hasn’t yet said what it will do if there’s no deal, but it’s already placed U.S. credit under review for a possible downgrade.

“It’s not that we’re waiting just for this committee to decide on the rating".

Steven Hess, Moody’s lead analyst for the United States, told Reuters last week.

“Failure to come up with a deal however would be negative information, but it is not decisive in our view about the rating".

The Super Commitee And The Lie!

Instead of agreeing on spending cuts or new taxes, Congress and the president appointed a bipartisan super committee to reach a deal to reduce the U.S. deficit by at least $1.2 trillion by Nov. 23.

It’s widely believed that if there’s no deal, then automatic across-the-board cuts mostly in discretionary spending will occur.

But what’s not well publicised is that:

Congress would be free to stop any or all of those reductions, if it chooses and the president agrees.

Can Obama Recover From His Massive Failures?

Michael Redbourn — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:49:14 +0000

At U.N., Obama faces problems on larger stage

By Laura MacInnis WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, grappling with a poor economy and slumping approval ratings, faces problems on a larger stage this week at the United Nations, with challenges to his …

Publish Date: 09/19/2011 8:35

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/19/at-un-obama-faces-prob_n_969141.html

RealClearPolitics – Obama: Failing the Lincoln Test

Obama: Failing the Lincoln Test. By Michael Gerson. WASHINGTON — During his recent speech to Congress, President Obama gave Republicans this ideological glove to the face: "We all remember Abraham Lincoln as the …

Publish Date: 09/13/2011 3:00

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/09/13/obama_failing_the_lincoln_test_111312.html

What President Obama Inherited

Obama inherited a deep recession and financial crisis resulting from problems that had been building for years and those responsible include:

Borrowers and lenders on Wall Street and Main Street.
The Federal Reserve.
Regulatory agencies.
Ratings agencies.
Different presidents and Congress.

What Obama Will Bequeath?

Huge deficits.
Massive interest payments which could ultimately destroy the Republic.
Higher inflation.
A weaker dollar.
Pressure for higher taxes.

What Exactly Did Obama Enact?

An $825 billion stimulus package.
The Public-Private Investment Partnership to buy toxic assets from the banks.
Cash for clunkers.
The home-buyers credit.
The auto bailouts.
Five versions of foreclosure relief.
Numerous lifelines to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Financial regulation and health-care reform.
Energy subsidies.

Which Succeeded?

The auto bailouts?!

Even though a rapid private bankruptcy was preferable and GM and Chrysler are not yet de-nationalized successes, we can I believe, mark this up as a success.

Which Failed?

The stimulus bill cost an astounding $280,000 per job which is over five times median pay, as reckoned by the administration’s inflated estimates of jobs "created or saved", and much more using more realistic estimates.
Cash for clunkers cost $3 billion, just to shift car sales forward a few months.
The Public-Private Investment Partnership, despite cheap federal loans, generated 3% of the $1 trillion claimed, and toxic assets are still hindering some financial institutions.
The Dodd-Frank financial reform law institutionalized "too big to fail" amid greater concentration of banking assets and mortgages in Fannie and Freddie.
The foreclosure relief program permanently modified only a small percentage of the four million mortgages the president promised.

The economic records set on Mr. Obama’s watch are historic and no corporate CEO could survive such a clear history of failure.

Under The Obama Administration Watch:

The US experienced the first downgrade of sovereign U.S. debt in American history.
Relative to GDP, it now has the highest federal spending in U.S. history with the exception of the peak years of World War II
The highest federal debt since just after World War II.
The fraction of the population working is the lowest since 1983 and long-term unemployment is by far the highest since the Great Depression.
Job growth during the first two years of recovery after a severe recession is the slowest in postwar history.
Home-ownership rate is the lowest since 1965 and foreclosures are at a post-Depression high.
The share of Americans paying income taxes is the lowest in the modern era, while dependency on government is the highest in U.S. history.

Can Or Will Obama Recover From The Catastrophes?

Based on his present ratings in the polls and the fact that the economy has little or no chance of improving before the elections, one would have to say, "No he will not recover!".

And to make a comeback even less likely is the likelihood that the Obama administration will try to deliver more of the same things that failed.

Just fourteen years ago Obama was an active member of the New Party (read Communist) and he didn’t quit; it got shut down by the courts. Meaning that there is no reasonable chance that he will switch to anything like a free market economy, soon or ever!

China Has A Much Lower Credit Rating Than The US

Michael Redbourn — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:09:44 +0000

Moody's Review China's Credit Rating, Overseas Investment …

www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk11/8/11

HIGHLIGHTS FROM CHINA About ARC China ARC China is a Shanghai-based investment manager focused on investments in consumption-driven, entrepreneur-owned small and medium sized enterprises in China's Tier II and Tier III …

China cuts bank reserve ratio by 50 bps | Bramesh's Technical …

www.brameshtechanalysis.com11/30/11

In a major rating action review of as many as 37 banks globally, S&P has incidentally upgraded two Chinese banks – Bank of China and China Construction Bank. A credit rating is generally considered as a tool to measure an …

A PDF of The Ratings Of Various Countries By The Credit Agencies Is Available For Download

Government officials in China are berating the U.S. because of the Standard & Poor’s downgrade to AA+ and Guan Jianzhong, chairman of Dagong Global Credit Rating, says the U.S. dollar is,

"Gradually being discarded by the world", adding that the “process will be irreversible".

China’s Credit Rating

Fitch gives China an A+ which is their fourth highest rating.

Moody’s gives China an Aa3 which is there third highest ranking.

S&P lists China’s debt rating as AA-, which is the fourth highest level, due to its “sizable” contingent liabilities in its banking system.

Debt to GDP

China’s debt-to-GDP ratio is not only worse than the United State’s ratio, it’s probably worse than Portugal’s, and Portugal is close to bankruptcy.

Despite Moody’s Investors Service saying last month that China’s local debt was understated by hundreds of billions of dollars, the People’s Daily said S&P’s downgrade of the U.S.’s credit rating,

"Sounded the alarm bell for the dollar-denominated global monetary system".

Some Points To Ponder

China has come to own an estimated $1.16 trillion in U.S. debt, by printing excessive Yuans which holds down the currency’s value, making its exports dirt cheap, and it then it uses that extra printed currency to buy U.S. debt.

China likes to say its debt-to-GDP ratio is 17% but the respected Beijing-based research firm Dragonomics says it’s in fact 89% of GDP, which if true would make it worse than Portugal’s which is 83% of GDP.

Stephen Green, who is China economist at Standard Chartered Bank, reckons China’s total debt, including contingent liabilities, is 77% of GDP.

Moody’s said last month that China’s local government debt is understated and might be 3.5 trillion yuan ($540 billion), bigger than its state auditor has estimated,

China’s central bank alone holds an estimated $1.16 trillion in debt, and the government has already increased credit in the system to a reported 200% of GDP.

The eurozone’s problems have kept the euro on a very questionable footing, with the European Central Bank keeping it strong by raising interest rates.

Japan’s massive debts, which are the largest in the world, have kept the yen on an unsound footing.

Strong U.S. defense of Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates make it in their interests to protect the dollar.

Obama’s Reelection Chances Don’t Look Good

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:59:09 +0000

The Future of the Obama Coalition :: American Renaissance News

www.amren.com11/28/11

White working class voters in swing state were crucial to Obama's victory in 2008, and in 2012, will again make the difference. If the Democrat power brokers are writing off working class whites in favor of minorities, this means …

Occupiers Go After The Democrats Who Praised Them … – TPM 2012

2012.talkingpointsmemo.com11/30/11

Republicans have certainly had a field day with DCCC support of Occupy, and many have dismissed the movement as a pro-Democratic, pro-Obama swell that isn't worthy of GOP attention. But Occupy DC clearly has plenty to criticize at … I'm pretty sure that they don't exactly take Democratic lip service to the occupy movement itself as actually supporting those in need in this country, so I guess I fail to see how this is "ironic." They've been against the corruption and …

The next presidential election is about fifteen months away, and even though the outcome is highly uncertain, we can nevertheless get an early read on the fundamentals, and they don’t look good for Obama.

From 1936 until around 1984, Democratic partisans greatly outnumbered Republicans in the broader electorate, which meant that GOP nominees not only had to win their base, but they also had to do extremely well among independents and carry a good number of Democrats.

That changed however, with the success of the Reagan administration, and the percentage of Democrats in the electorate began to decline.

Today the two are either very close or the same, meaning that both parties now have roughly the same two goals in a presidential election:

Turn out as many partisans as possible, and

Win the independent vote.

This gives us two good metrics to begin looking at Obama’s prospects, so let’s begin with the independent vote.

The Gallup poll offers a weekly breakdown of self-identified independents in the adult population and therefore provides an excellent metric to determine how the president is doing with this critical bloc.

It shows that Obama fell below 50% with independents in the summer of 2009, and since the winter of 2010, he has struggled to stay above 45%.

That’s very bad news for him because in the last forty years, no president has ever been elected in a predominantly two-way race with less than 48% of the independent vote.

* That was George W. Bush in 2004

So What About Obama’s Partisan Base?

The spin leading up to and after the 2008 election was that the president was transforming the electorate by converting new voters, independents, and thinking Republicans into Democrats.

How Is Obama Doing On This Front?

Below is a historical trend-line showing the proportion of the adult population who identify as Democrats and Republicans.

The data point in each graph is the closest poll taken to Election Day, and as you can see, in 2010 the percentage of adults calling themselves Democrats was at its lowest point in fifty years!

And that’s more horrible news for the man in the White House!

Over the last decade, Democrats have won about 90.5% of the Democratic vote and 7% of the Republican vote, so for the sake of argument, let’s assume that Obama will win the same amount.

And let’s also assume that he’ll win a share of the independent vote equal to his approval in the Gallup poll.

That leaves only one more variable to account for, which is the percentage of Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the electorate.

Let’s Use Three Models.

First, a “Very Democratic Electorate", wherein partisan identification breaks down in a similar way to 2008 when it was 39% Democratic, 29% independent and 32% GOP.

Secondly, a “Slightly Democratic Electorate", wherein partisan identification breaks down in a similar way to 2006 and 2000 when it was 38.5% Democratic, 26% independent and 35.5% GOP.

Thirdly, an “Even Electorate", wherein partisan identification breaks down in a similar way to 2004 and 2010 when it was 36% Democratic, 28% independent and 36% GOP.

Using the above three models, we can estimate Obama’s re-election chances, and right now, they certainly don’t look good.