Two words to describe the Obama era: Downward revision
If it feels like the recession never ended, that’s because economic growth is so low we’re practically in a recession right now.
The Commerce Department this morning reported its initial estimate for economic growth from April to June: an annualized rate of 1.3 percent, which is still less than half the long-term trend, two years after the recession officially ended.
But what shouldn’t be overshadowed by that poor number is the downward revision of growth from January to March to a paltry annualized rate of 0.4 percent — from an earlier estimate of 1.9 percent, which was bad enough but now seems like President Obama’s version of the Roaring Twenties. There were also smaller downward revisions to figures for the last two quarters of 2010, and four of the last six quarters overall.
In short, even the meager growth previously reported has been revised downward to the less-rosy reality Americans have been experiencing all along.
These figures represent inflation-adjusted growth. The unadjusted figures were 3.1 percent in the first quarter and 3.7 percent in the second. That means higher prices have swallowed up just about all of the economic gains this year. (Not-so-fun fact: While the debt ceiling has dominated the news cycle recently, gas prices nationwide have crept back up by almost 17 cents a gallon during the last month and are almost back to being $1/gallon higher than a year ago.)
The growth the Federal Reserve has tried to stimulate through its easy monetary policies has been consumed by the inflation those policies have wrought. The growth Obama and the Pelosi-Reid Congress tried to stimulate through timid tax cuts, gifts to state governments and not-so-shovel-ready public works has not only failed to multiply itself as promised, but simply evaporated.
And new, lasting growth is not going to come as long as the president is determined to browbeat business, punish success, build a permanently larger public sector, suck the middle class into the welfare state, and otherwise impose his notion of fairness as national economic policy.
If you believe otherwise, you haven’t been paying attention the last two and a half years.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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111 comments Add your comment
F. Sinkwich
July 29th, 2011
12:16 pm
How’s that Hope and Change working out for y’all?
F. Sinkwich
July 29th, 2011
12:17 pm
Oh, that’s right, it’s Bush’s fault.
saywhat?
July 29th, 2011
12:25 pm
*”The growth Obama and the Pelosi-Reid Congress tried to stimulate through timid tax cuts, gifts to state governments and not-so-shovel-ready public works has not only failed to multiply itself as promised, but simply evaporated.”*
Alot of the “timid tax cuts” were unnecessary and were dictated by pressure from the right, despite the fact that 10 years of tax cuts has failed to create jobs or stimulate the economy. The “gifts to states” you decry helped prevent major fiscal meltdowns at the worst possible moment in many states, giving them time to recover, and led to the initial arresting of the freefall the economy was in when Obama took office.If anything was really timid, it was the amount given to publics works projects. This was the one area where stiimulus could have done the most good, and had the longest lasting effect, but alas, the same right wing influence prevented this from happening as well.
*”And new, lasting growth is not going to come as long as the president is determined to browbeat business, punish success, build a permanently larger public sector, suck the middle class into the welfare state, and otherwise impose his notion of fairness as national economic policy.”*
How have businesses managed to have record profits depite this alleged browbeating? How is raising the top marginal tax rate back to what it was during the Clinton years “punishment” when the economy did much better than after the top rate was reduced? By “welfare state” I am assuming you mean the advent of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Why has every first world nation with nationalized healthcare not had it drag down their economies? Germany is doing well, and they have had nationalized healthcare a long time.
Coming out the worst financial crash in 90 years, recovery was always predicted to be slow. Maybe you need to pay more attention to the last ten years to better understand the last two.
that's goofy
July 29th, 2011
12:29 pm
This mess began in 2005 – 2006. Since that time we’ve had A Republican President and a Democrat President. We’ve had Congress controlled by Republicans, Democrats and to a lesser degree Tea Party.
The intellectually lazy way is to blame one President or one party. The truth – it is “we” that keep electing people unwilling to make the right choice. Not the right choice to stay in power the right choice for all of us.
Country before party… learn it, live it, love it.
Logical Dude
July 29th, 2011
12:31 pm
Kyle says: The growth the Federal Reserve has tried to stimulate through its easy monetary policies has been consumed by the inflation those policies have wrought
Wait, you say that growth is minimal, but now you say there in inflation? OY! (not meaning to misread anything, but this sentence just stood out as “WFT?”)
duckcheney
July 29th, 2011
12:31 pm
yeah kyle, let’s go back to the gwb era –
- constantly raising the debt ceiling
- tax cuts for rich (that was supposed to create jobs, but wait there were ZERO jobs created during the Bush regime)
- medicare part D (where did this money come from??)
- Let’s not forget TARP – the gwb bailout of his rich buddies
- Oh, and he lied us into war and hid it from the general budget
ByteMe
July 29th, 2011
12:32 pm
If you believe otherwise, you haven’t been paying attention the last two and a half years.
So that’s the limit for how far back conservatives can remember? LOL!
Shovel Ready Jobs and other Tales
July 29th, 2011
12:32 pm
I want to ask a serious question: how much of a tax rate on the “wealthy” is “fair”? I wonder how Obama would answer this question, since he is advocating an increase. Given the apparent validity of the Laffer curve, it is important for everyone to state what they think is the optimal tax rate. For Democrats, this would perhaps help them realize that little more than a fraction of projected deficit will be reduced by a tax hike and that spending cuts are going to be far more instrumental in doing this.
Shovel Ready Jobs and other Tales
July 29th, 2011
12:35 pm
“The intellectually lazy way is to blame one President or one party. The truth – it is “we” that keep electing people unwilling to make the right choice.”
You are too kind. Finger-pointing is not what I would call being intellectually lazy, but intellectually dishonest.
Point/Counterpoint
July 29th, 2011
12:36 pm
Now now, I’m sure as soon we can get gay marriage abolished, repeal Roe v. Wade, permanently disband ALL unions and get taxes to zero, the economy will come roaring back. We just have to give the GOP time to work out their differences (With each other).
Point/Counterpoint
July 29th, 2011
12:39 pm
Shovel ready – “I wonder how Obama would answer this question, since he is advocating an increase.”
You should ask him since he is considerd to be “wealthy”. Although I’m sure whatever it is won’t affect you, as I highly doubt you are in his income bracket.
stranger in a strange land
July 29th, 2011
12:41 pm
but no matter what the next dreary headline is, it will start with…”In an unexpected, unforeseen development…”
stranger in a strange land
July 29th, 2011
12:44 pm
shovel ready – to the question how much is ‘fair’? The answer in the form of another question is: “how much do you have”?
kayaker 71
July 29th, 2011
12:49 pm
Peggy Noonan’s column in the WSJ today is spot on. Her previous offering chided the President to just “get out of the way” in the debt crisis negotiations saying he is part of the problem, not the solution. Taking credit for what others have done, appearing to be the adult in the conversations while he was offering no solutions of his own. Her column today presses the issue even further. She states that while previous presidents were mistaken for some of their misdeeds, at least there was a part of the American electorate that liked them despite their shortcomings. Even at the height of the Monica scandal, there was a segment of America that shook their head, smiled wryly and wondered how Clinton could eat pizza, talk to some general about troop deployments and get a BJ all at the same time. Some called it stupidity while others labeled it multitasking. But at least, by a segment of the electorate, he was liked. Bush also. Despite his country cowboy ways, a pretty large segment of the population forgave him for his shortcomings and accepted him for who he was. Fast forward to Bozo. I cannot name, nor could Noonan, a segment of the population who genuinely likes this guy. No one says that he has to be a Reagan carrying 49 of 50 states in a presidential election……. that will not come again in our lifetime, if ever. Bozo is just not likeable…… some of it has to do with trust, some with being genuine, some even with telling the truth….. but the more that time goes by, his arrogant, narcissistic demeanor is taking it’s toll on the electorate. He is becoming more “unlikeable” by the day. His fringe groups hang onto him for what they can get from him and his policies. But having him over for dinner or sharing a beer….. not on your life.
ByteMe
July 29th, 2011
12:54 pm
Despite his country cowboy ways, a pretty large segment of the population forgave him for his shortcomings and accepted him for who he was. Fast forward to Bozo.
So… I was right. Conservative memories only go back 2.5 years at best.
Meanwhile Kayaker mistakenly thinks anyone wants to have a beer or dinner with him.
kayaker 71
July 29th, 2011
1:01 pm
ButeMe,
You weren’t invited. I pick my dinner companions a little more carefully than that.
jconservative
July 29th, 2011
1:02 pm
Wait! I thought extending the Bush & Obama Tax Cuts last Dec 17 was going to take us to the green pastures?
I know increasing spending has not taken us to the green pastures. And it looks like tax cuts have not taken us to the green pastures.
Just for the hell of it, lets try cutting spending for a change. We haven’t tried that in over 80 years.
And while we are at it lets try raising taxes; lowering taxes for the last 30 years hasn’t worked, maybe raising taxes will.
Worth a try!
ghp_fan
July 29th, 2011
1:06 pm
saywhat? – you took the words right out of my mouth.
I don’t comment on this forum much, and I generally feel Kyle isn’t too far out on the wacky fringes…. but to Kyle I say:. I have been paying attention and I’m not crazy over the top a Democrat or Obama fan….. given that, I disagree much with what you [Kyle] say in this piece. However saywhat? pretty much summed up what would’ve been my response.
ghp_fan
July 29th, 2011
1:12 pm
I don’t think we should raise taxes on the rich.
But I do think we should take away the tax cut on the rich.
Take away the big tax credit they’ve had the last several years – get rid of that loophole. It was never permanent anyway.
I think they should just let the Bush tax cuts expire when the time comes – for everyone. It mostly benefited the wealthy anyway. They don’t even have to pass legislation to make that happen.
Jefferson
July 29th, 2011
1:13 pm
Congress gets most of the blame. The GOP will never accomplish anything but failure with their agenda. We didn’t have this problem before.
ghp_fan
July 29th, 2011
1:17 pm
For those blaming Obama for this debt ceiling issue…. seems he hasn’t had any legislation to sign regarding that. The blame needs to reside with the Congress. It all starts there.
real john
July 29th, 2011
1:31 pm
Jefferson:
So if Congress is to blame, than I guess the Democrats would be to blame from 2006-2010?? You know, the worst part of our recession??
jconservative
July 29th, 2011
1:47 pm
From the 14th Amendment:
“The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”
“The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law…”
Authorized by law. I believe every dime of the public debt has been authorized by Congress.
Congress tells the president how much he can spend and the president spends it. And he must spend it, he cannot decide not to spend some money and put it in his bottom left hand drawer.
But does this mean the president has the authority to borrow the money needed to pay the nations’ bills?
Does this mean that Congress is in violation of the Constitution if they do not pay “… the public debt of the United States…”?
Per existing law only Congress can raise the Debt Limit and authorize the President to borrow.
Why do we even have a debt limit? Every nickle spent is authorized by Congress. Why does Congress need a law to tell them they are spending to much? Would they not know that?
(Yeah I know, dumb question.)
Finn McCool
July 29th, 2011
1:47 pm
We told you from 2001 – 2008, it was going to take a loooong time to get out from the whole dug by the combination of Bush and the 1994-2006 Republican-controlled Congress.
It’s going to take more than 3 years, then we can elect Republicans again and dig another hole just like this one.
Kyle Wingfield
July 29th, 2011
1:50 pm
saywhat? @ 12:25: “Pressure from the right”? Which “right”? In February 2009, there was no tea party, and barely enough GOP presence in the Senate to sustain a filibuster — had it even come to that. What did it take to get three Senate Republicans to vote for the bill? According to a contemporary account from the NYT: “Democratic senators suggested they would be open to altering the bill to reflect Republicans’ ideas on housing and spending for infrastructure.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/us/politics/02obama.html?ref=business
So, the Republican ideas that Democrats were considering — and I use “Republican” loosely, since Arlen Specter switched parties not long afterward — were to make the bill spend more on infrastructure! Not to “prevent [said spending] from happening.” (Btw, the part about housing, meaning enlarging and broadening the new homebuyer tax credit already under discussion, didn’t even come to fruition…which is just as well.)
The money sent to the state governments didn’t preclude their eventual pullback, but only delayed it. That’s not an “investment” or a way to “stimulate” growth. It’s the same kind of “borrow now, figure out how to pay for it all later” attitude that has brought us to the present debt crisis.
Yes, many large businesses are profitable, but they’re not eager to expand. You may say it’s because there’s a lack of demand now. I say it’s because they see no reason to think there’s going to be much more demand in the foreseeable future — but what they do see are reasons to believe Washington is going to make their existing costs go up. They hear the president attacking industries — e.g., energy — for political reasons rather than economically sound ones. In short, they’re loath to invest their current profits to expand their businesses because they don’t like their chances of profitability down the road.
And yes, I was referring to the health reform. Maybe you’re not aware of this, but Germany and the other countries to which you refer have, for the past 40 years or so, grown at a significantly slower pace than the U.S. has. Two percent a year vs. 3 percent a year may not sound like a lot, but it’s the difference between doubling your economy every 24 years vs. every 36 years. Which is a big deal.
President Obama is not to blame for the economy he inherited, but he is responsible for those actions which are inhibiting its recovery, and those done in the name of recovery which did little to help but came at great cost.
Point/Counterpoint
July 29th, 2011
1:56 pm
I miss the old Boehner, you know one who said ” we asked him for a plan, not a speech, a plan”. Yes John, could you and your dysfunctional children please hurry up with a plan, the clock is ticking.
Exit strategy
July 29th, 2011
1:59 pm
At least it is positive growth. And for the Republicans on here bitching and moaning about the economy, how have our policies deviated from the George Bush years? We still have the Bush tax cuts, there isn’t more regulation on corporations (although the CEOs tell you that – they will only be happy with NO regulations), Obama has continued the spending habits of the Bush years. The answer is to responsibly bring cut spending, increase taxes (on all – shared sacrifice) and suck it up on not cutting government jobs until the economy is on a more sure footing, then start the cuts. A good place to start would be congressional staff, allowances, and pay.
ByteMe
July 29th, 2011
2:08 pm
President Obama is not to blame for the economy he inherited, but he is responsible for those actions which are inhibiting its recovery, and those done in the name of recovery which did little to help but came at great cost
Written like someone who thinks this is a normal “business cycle recession” and not a “credit crisis recession”. The two are very different and the speed at which we come out of it are different. BUT… the one thing that DOES speed a credit crisis recovery along is for government to throw money at the problem to increase demand. Of course, for the wingnuts, that’s strictly verbotten.
Point/Counterpoint
July 29th, 2011
2:12 pm
Good points Exit. People tend to forget that the debt ceiling is tied to money already spent. Money that was approved by Congress, sent to the President and then spent as directed. I’m all for a rational, productive debate on SPENDING, and I would hope that we could trim a lot of fat. However, tryng to morph the debt and spending protocols together and tie them to the increase was a bad move. Unfortunately, we are witnessing the result of poor planning but good intentions. And I believe we all know which road is paved with good intentions.
Ayn Rant
July 29th, 2011
2:13 pm
Place the blame for America’s continuing downward spiral where it belongs : the Republican political party with an outmoded dogma, an aversion to facts and reason, and lock-step party discipline.
Our government structure is designed for conscientious, free-thinking, responsible elected representatives, not dogmatic, disciplined political party hacks. We need a parliamentary system of government if we want to be governed by political parties, rather than distinguished representatives.
Point/Counterpoint
July 29th, 2011
2:18 pm
I’m not sure there’s a more simple analogy than this when it comes to the actual purpose of the debt ceiling increase. You go to bloick buster and buy a 65 inch television complete with surround sopund, blue ray, wireless streaming etc… you then pay for all warranties and extensions. You pay for all of this using your Best Buy card. However, when the bill comes from Best Buy asking for payment, you suddenly throw a fit about having to pay the bill, and then justify your position by saying that you need to reign in your spending before you will send them one red cent.
Moderate Line
July 29th, 2011
2:21 pm
The Republicans have had the balance power of the last 11 years.
2001 P-Rep,H-Rep,S-Rep
2002 P-Rep,H-Rep,S-Rep
2003 P-Rep,H-Rep,S-Rep
2004 P-Rep,H-Rep,S-Rep
2005 P-Rep,H-Rep,S-Rep
2006 P-Rep,H-Rep,S-Rep
2007 P-Rep,H-Dem,S-Dem
2008 P-Rep,H-Dem,S-Dem
2009 P-Dem,H-Dem,S-Dem
2010 P-Dem,H-Dem,S-Dem
2011 P-Dem,H-Rep,S-Dem
In the pass 11 Years the Rep have controled the Presidency 72%, the Senate 54.5%, the house 63% but yet our current state which began after the Rep controlled the Presidency, Senate and the House for 6 straight years is all Obama’s fault. This is hard to believe.
I don’t believe Obama has done a great job or even a mediocre job but the Republicans did much worse with more control.
I am not optimistic that either a change in to Republican control or more the same will make much of a difference.
Moderate Line
July 29th, 2011
2:25 pm
Ayn Rant
July 29th, 2011
2:13 pm
Place the blame for America’s continuing downward spiral where it belongs : the Republican political party with an outmoded dogma, an aversion to facts and reason, and lock-step party discipline.
Our government structure is designed for conscientious, free-thinking, responsible elected representatives, not dogmatic, disciplined political party hacks. We need a parliamentary system of government if we want to be governed by political parties, rather than distinguished representatives.
++++
I very good point. A parlimentry system does not have this problem. Also, Boehner would have been dumped in a no confidence vote.
Moderate Line
July 29th, 2011
2:36 pm
Kyle Wingfield
July 29th, 2011
1:50 pm
President Obama is not to blame for the economy he inherited, but he is responsible for those actions which are inhibiting its recovery, and those done in the name of recovery which did little to help but came at great cost.
++++
An interesting confession. Why would we expect the Republicans to be any better at getting us out of the mess they essentially got us into? After all those tax cuts our economy still crashed and even when it was growing it was growing as fast as when Clinton was President.
The cut taxes = growth formula did not seem to work and neither did the spend = growth so what faith should I have that the Republicans have the answer. Also, note even though Obama has a poor record on balancing the budget the Republicans do not have one any better. Under Bush we went from collecting more taxes than we spent to the opposite. Bush was dealt a royal flush and turned it into a 10 high. Obama inherited a 10 high and now it is an A high.
Point/Counterpoint
July 29th, 2011
2:39 pm
Moderate Line – “Why would we expect the Republicans to be any better at getting us out of the mess they essentially got us into?”
Because all that really matters is clearing the election and then everything after that will be pure gravy. No more debt, almost no unemployment, never again will we need to raise the debt ceiling. If only the GOP can take the Whitehouse back in 2012, all our problems will magically disappear.
ByteMe
July 29th, 2011
2:42 pm
Bombthrowers are better at being in the minority party and not having to actually govern.
Just ask Newt. Or maybe don’t ask, since he’ll just make something up to make him look better than he really was.
Douglas
July 29th, 2011
2:47 pm
Byteme said “the one thing that DOES speed a credit crisis recovery along is for government to throw money at the problem to increase demand”
The stimulus threw almost a trillion dollars down the drain without speeding the recovery. The Obama, Pelosi, Reed policies of the last few years should definitively prove the Keynesian economic policies to be the joke that they are …….. but then I guess they would have worked had it not been for George Bush.
midtownguy
July 29th, 2011
2:48 pm
I was late to lear that only two modern democratic countries have a “debt ceiling”, the United States and Denmark. Spending is controlled by the annual budgeting process by congress. What purpose does the ceiling serve when the debt/obligations have already been incurred?
Kyle Wingfield
July 29th, 2011
2:51 pm
Moderate Line @ 2:36: I didn’t think acknowledging that President Obama wasn’t personally to blame for the state of the economy on Jan. 20, 2009, was any kind of “confession.”
Point/Counterpoint
July 29th, 2011
2:54 pm
midtownguy – “What purpose does the ceiling serve when the debt/obligations have already been incurred?”
Tradition mostly.
Joe Friday
July 29th, 2011
2:59 pm
We know why the economy is stalling. Because the Party of No has blocked every effort to get it moving again. Their stated mission is to see Obama fail, and the way to make Obama fail is to block economic growth. When Obama signs on, they’re against it.
Tea Party Republican Jim DeMint and others loved RomneyCare, campaigned for it, until they were against it.
The Heritage Foundation and Republicans loved mandates, until they were against it.
McCain and Palin and Republicans campaigned on Cap and Trade, until they were against.
Republicans supported stimulus and advocated for it under Bush, until they were against it.
Republicans supported infrastructure spending, until they were against it.
And Republicans voted for decades for clean debt-ceiling increases, until they were against it.
Anybody who is paying attention, knows that these nihilists don’t care about jobs, deficits, small government, or any of the things they claim. They’re extortionists. They care about the power and money. Period.
midtownguy
July 29th, 2011
3:00 pm
I say forget all this political posturing over the “debt ceiling”, raise it to as much as it needs to be to enable us to pay our bills on time and start serious discussions about spending cuts for Federal Fiscal Year 2012 and moving toward living within our means. This is all just pure political theatre designed to influence the next elections.
Shovel Ready Jobs and other Tales
July 29th, 2011
3:02 pm
“Written like someone who thinks this is a normal “business cycle recession” and not a “credit crisis recession”. The two are very different and the speed at which we come out of it are different. BUT… the one thing that DOES speed a credit crisis recovery along is for government to throw money at the problem to increase demand. Of course, for the wingnuts, that’s strictly verbotten.”
I guess Obama is absolved of any mistakes in your mind (though he himself admits them for his party) because of the recession. And I don’t think many people are arguing that the stimulus programs helped the economy much, if at all. But don’t let anyone confuse you with facts.
Gillislee
July 29th, 2011
3:04 pm
Hope and Change? Bwahahahaha, suckers………..
Joe Friday
July 29th, 2011
3:10 pm
Wingfield wrote that industry sees reasons to believe Washington is going to make their costs go up. That’s because they listen to lies spread by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
I’ll give you an example of these lies. Every talk radio/Fox News/WSJ addict I listen to claims that gas prices are up because Obama made oil companies stop drilling. In other words, these bubble boys and girls think that Obama shut down existing wells. They think there’s less drilling in this country. The exact opposite is true, but plutocrats and their pundits make up their own facts and then use them to make the case that, Mr. business owner, that scary Obama socialist guy is going victimize you the way he victimized those poor little oil companies.
The only uncertainty that’s hurting the economy is that caused by hostage takers in the House of Representatives. Notice how they’re fighting tooth and nail to keep the uncertainty alive.
midtownguy
July 29th, 2011
3:10 pm
Biggest political mistake made by the Democrats in my lifetime: Nominating Obama over Hillary. Either would have beaten McCain/Palin. We would not be in this mess if the Clinton’s were in charge.
Jefferson
July 29th, 2011
3:12 pm
Real John, I suspect you much like McConnell want a failed presidentcy. I’d rather the country do well no matter what party is in power. Its easy to spot a duck.
Repubs screwed the Stimulus
July 29th, 2011
3:19 pm
Douglas
July 29th, 2011
2:47 pm
The stimulus threw almost a trillion dollars down the drain without speeding the recovery. The Obama, Pelosi, Reed policies of the last few years should definitively prove the Keynesian economic policies to be the joke that they are …….. but then I guess they would have worked had it not been for George Bush.
You do realize that almost 40% of the stimulus was for tax cuts (but they create jobs!!). And some of the other stimulus money was flat out refused by the Republican governors in the this country. Obama, Pelosi, et al tried to build trains in this country, to not make us so dependent on the fluctuations of oil prices, but the Republicans wanted no part. (And BTW, drilling is not the answer. Oil companies will just charge the same. Look what the airlines are doing with the tax cuts right now!)
Truth
July 29th, 2011
3:22 pm
Balanced Budget Amendment
Repeal the amendment dealing with income taxation and change to Fair Tax
Problem Solved!
John Birch
July 29th, 2011
3:23 pm
These revisions are evidence of the unreliability of numbers from the GAO, CBO, etc. Kind of like Obamacare being deficit neutral.
Exit Strategy
July 29th, 2011
3:26 pm
There is no need for a useless Balanced Budget Amendment. If the members of Congress (both parties) do there job, there is no need. Congress creates the budget. Congress approves the budgets, and sends on to the president. All the Congress idiots need to do is NOT approve a budget that overspends, PERIOD. Demannd for a BBA is merely an admission that Congress is not doing its job. And, holding the economic future of this country hostage over a BBA borders or criminal.
Kyle Wingfield
July 29th, 2011
3:40 pm
midtownguy @ 3:00: Ah, but in this Age of Continuing Resolutions, the Congress no longer debates and passes an actual full-year budget, making the kind of trade-offs you imply. By Sen. Jeff Sessions’ count, it’s been more than 800 days since the Senate passed a full-year budget.
Exit Strategy @ 3:26: Thomas Jefferson had the rebuttal 213 years ago: “In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
There are flaws in the BBA concept, but there’s little reason to believe Congress will do as you suggest anytime soon.
midtownguy
July 29th, 2011
3:48 pm
I agree they haven’t passed a full-year budget in quite a while but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t (and by “they” I meant he Congress and the President). The continuing resolutions allow each side of the aisle to protect their sacred cows and blame the other side and/or the White House. The resolutions just continue the programs in place so that no real debate on what could and should be spent is ever held.
Joe Friday
July 29th, 2011
3:57 pm
We need a balanced budget amendment like we need a hole in the head.
Especially the one that Republicans crafted which makes it easier to do the things that they like to do (cuts spending for the poor and middle class) and harder to do the things they don’t like to do (cut tax “expenditures” for the rich).
guy
July 29th, 2011
4:02 pm
Those that supported obama don’t care because most are content to let the liberal media think for them and are even prouder for the government to support them. You will never overcome ignorance and anger.
Linda
July 29th, 2011
4:10 pm
Kyle, Sounds like you hit some nerves. How do you put up with this nonsense day in & day out? No wonder you write about generic topics from time to time.
I’ve offered dozens of sites to back up my comments on your blog. It’s useless. The left is in denial of any facts whatsoever. They continue to blame Bush & Republicans & find Obama blameless for anything. They think that raising taxes is the answer for all woes. Economic geniuses. The Democrats are so deserving (of each other).
BTW, there are now 4,835 comments on another AJC blog with the topic being a mural. Some journalists are expendable. Glad you are not one of them.
Joe Friday
July 29th, 2011
4:13 pm
The latest is that the bill that Republicans will vote on in the house today would raise the debt ceiling only until next year.
Then, they would only raise it again IF congress passes a balanced budget amendment by 2/3 votes in both houses. In other words, “Give us our constitutional amendment, or the American people get.”
Reasonable people would think that our senators and congressman should have the opportunity to vote for or against something as important as a constitutional amendment based on whatever their consciences tell them to do. But Republicans aren’t reasonable people. Whether you support the amendment they propose or not, you’d better vote for it, or America gets it.
What they’re attempting to do is the very definition of extortion, and if it were up to me, these hostage takers would be serve prison time for their methods.
—
extort: to obtain from a person by force, INTIMIDATION, or undue or illegal power (merriam-webster)
carlosgvv
July 29th, 2011
4:20 pm
This may be the Obama era but you can’t blaim Obama for the lack of business hiring. Corporations are sitting on a large amount of cash but aren’t hiring because they have come to realize, now more than ever, that they can just pile more work on their existing employees, knowing they won’t dare quit. Instead of using the extra cash to hire more workers, they just pocket it. No president, Democratic or Republican, can force Corporations to hire. My guess is they will keep on doing this for the foreseeable future and that now is the new normal. Hey, is this a great country or what???????
ATF
July 29th, 2011
4:21 pm
the hole we are in is the Bush Great Recession. Bush and a Republican Congress took the surpluses of the Clinton years and trashed them. Just look at what is happening in the House if you want an example of disfunction.
To create a bill that will extend the debt ceiling the Republicans need to be compromising with the Democrats, not the tyrants of the Tea Party. The illusion of progress being made in the House is the same story we always hear from Republicans – illusion.
Tell me. If tax cuts produce jobs, where are they?
DannyX
July 29th, 2011
4:25 pm
“gifts to state governments ”
And there were some good ones. Georgia Republican Governor, Sonny Perdue, representing every single Republican Governor in the nation fired off a letter to Obama begging for more stimulus money.
Republican Texas used the stimulus money to balance their budget!
saywhat?
July 29th, 2011
4:26 pm
What exactly would the Republicans have done differently the past 2 and 1/2 years had they won the Presidency and both houses of congress in 2008? There would have been no health care bill, and no ending of DADT, those two are a given. But what would they have done to stimulate the economy and create jobs that hasn’t already been tried in the past and failed miserably (like cut taxes and deregulate everything)?
Joe Friday
July 29th, 2011
4:36 pm
saywhat?
We know exactly what Republicans would have done. They’ve been planning it for years. They created deficits specifically so they could kill the beast.
Keep in mind that they don’t want to kill the beast because they oppose big government. They only oppose big government for most people so they can expand government for the powerful few.
Linda
July 29th, 2011
4:43 pm
Since the War on Terror began after 9/11, thousands of our military have suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). They have had to navigate a bureaucratic military care system that pays for only a partial cost of the therapy needed thru the DOD’s Tricare insurance program. Thanks to Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot & the Marcus Foundation, our own Shepherd Spinal Center is one of only 2 civilian hospitals in the US to treat veterans of war. Mr. Marcus is one of the most generous philanthropists of our day, whose gave Atlanta the aquarium. Shepherd has treated 176 of our military. One said he received more help at Shepherd in 7 wks. than during 10 mts. elsewhere.
Govt. is not the answer. Govt. is the problem. Thank God for the rich & benevolent. Thank God for our military.
Thank you, Bernie Marcus.
Original Thought not Necessary
July 29th, 2011
4:46 pm
Linda,
Of course it’s the case that everyone that disagrees with you is in denial because it is impossible to fathom that there are some intelligent, considered, patriotic American’s that aren’t lock step members of the GOP. You are one of many that need to wake up and realize there are vast numbers of people who see things from a different perspective, who think a little differently than you, who are just as intelligent as you and yours but don’t agree with anything you have to say.
People like you on both sides of the political spectrum are dangerous and will remain so until you wise up and realize that there are good ideas abundant on the left and the right. The demonization of the “enemy” will bring this republic to its knees faster than any outside enemy. If you need an example look at the mess we are in now. A completely fabricated crisis over an arbitrary limit with both sides digging in their heels.
I’m praying that the vast middle is beginning to awaken and will soon assert its might, pushing the fringes and zealots to the margins of the left and right where they belong so that the adults that understand that “my way of the highway” is no way to govern can begin the work of cleaning up after the children.
Joe Friday
July 29th, 2011
4:50 pm
Linda likes living in a world where we have to rely on the rich and benevolent to take care of us. If I felt that way, I’d vote Republican too.
By the way, I wonder how veteran’s health care is going to do after Republicans deliberately drive our economy over a cliff next week. Probably not great.
Not to worry though. Bernie Marcus will pick up the slack.
Jefferson
July 29th, 2011
4:54 pm
There is no way the gov’t can cut its way out of debt. Until it is belived by the GOP, expect more of the same dysfunctional gov’t. The tea reps ain’t seen nothing yet.
Chuck
July 29th, 2011
5:02 pm
@ Joe Friday,
“I wonder how veteran’s health care is going to do after Republicans deliberately drive our economy over a cliff next week. Probably not great…Not to worry though. Bernie Marcus will pick up the slack”
I can’t stop laughing! I studied southern history and Linda’s implication that the rich and powerful will take care of us reminds me of the noblesse oblige argument in support of slavery. That slave owners are too kind, generous, and well bred to exploit the people put under their care by the lord almightly.
USMC
July 29th, 2011
5:05 pm
Great piece Kyle,
This President is Anti-Business and really Anti-American. I don’t care if he has a Birth Certificate.
He was raised in Hawaii and Indonesia and it is so obvious that he is the “Manchurian Candidate”.
I do believe that Obama will LOSE in 2012, but don’t let up on the gas pedal just yet.
Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock…
USMC
July 29th, 2011
5:08 pm
“There is no way the gov’t can cut its way out of debt. Until it is belived by the GOP, expect more of the same dysfunctional gov’t. The tea reps ain’t seen nothing yet.”
What kind of MORON doesn’t understand that Cutting spending is the best way of getting out of debt?
These are the Bolsheviks that we are contending with these days.
Joe Friday
July 29th, 2011
5:18 pm
I hear you, Chuck. Your comparison is valid.
If only Linda could hear herself. She votes for Tea Party types who seek to cut spending indiscriminately, except where the powerful are concerned, and then has the gall to argue that inadequate veteran health care benefits are an indication of a “bureaucratic military care system.”
Original Thought not Necessary
July 29th, 2011
5:21 pm
And up pops USMC to prove my point.
Thanks.
Republicans do not oppose big government
July 29th, 2011
5:27 pm
IF they did why did they pass Medicare Part D – the drug benefit that provides a subsidy to the drug industry and ensures a rapid escalation of costs. Sorry most of you who drink the Republican kool aid – also don’t have the cuts to reform any of the entitlement programsm or fund new expenses like wars through taxes or cuts – rather it is more convenient to keep the cost of wars off the balance sheet. The republicans had their chance – they opted for bridges in Alaska to no where – they lost the trust of fiscal conservatives.
Sorry – I will stick with a libertarian ticket
Jefferson
July 29th, 2011
5:28 pm
USMC you are a name caller and wrong. Look at the last 2 days in the house or reps. They can’t do nothing. So when will it be?
Joe Friday
July 29th, 2011
5:29 pm
USMC,
What kind of MORON doesn’t understand that Cutting spending is the best way of getting out of debt?
Well, you obviously know that when revenues fall faster than spending does, then deficits and debt go up.
You also know that government spending makes up a significant part of the economy, and that if you cut government spending, then you’re cutting part of the economy.
And finally, you know that when the government spending shrinks drastically then revenues will fall too. I mean, that government spending went into somebody’s pockets that paid taxes on that income. No income, no taxes to pay.
I know that you know these things because, what kind of moron wouldn’t?
What is happening to the countries in Europe that are cutting spending? Their economies shrink, their revenues go down, they have deficits, they cut more spending, their economies shrink, their revenues fall again, and so on.
That’s exactly what austerity will get us in America.
Jefferson
July 29th, 2011
5:31 pm
What makes anyone belive if the GOP was handed the whole gov’t like in 2000, they would do anything different than before? Now thats hope vs experience.
Linda
July 29th, 2011
5:53 pm
The crisis we are in has little to do with raising the debt ceiling. The credit agencies & the investment banks have been very specific. The problem is the DEBT. None of the proposals in DC will prevent the US from being downgraded. None of the proposals in DC address the DEBT. They merely prevent the debt from increasing at the rate that Obama proposed.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 29th, 2011
5:58 pm
Two words to describe the Obama era: Downward revision
12:05 pm July 29, 2011, by Kyle Wingfiel
———————
ROFLMGDAO! Perfect.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 29th, 2011
6:02 pm
“What makes anyone belive if the GOP was handed the whole gov’t like in 2000, they would do anything different than before?”
——————–
Uh, most Americans would agree that Bush’s relatively frugal $400 billion deficits and 4-6% unemployment are superior to the sad result of your Idiot Messiah’s failed regime.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 29th, 2011
6:05 pm
Wow, I found that last people in the world who still admire barry obozo, other than the jihadees in the Middle East of course, and it’s the libs that populate the blogs of the Urinal.
Just sayin…………ew.
F. Sinkwich
July 29th, 2011
6:10 pm
Joe:
“And finally, you know that when the government spending shrinks drastically then revenues will fall too.”
Nope. Did you get your economics degree from a matchbook cover?
In Joe-World, we need to double or triple our government spending to fix the economy.
Joe is a typical Messiah voter.
Original Thought not Necessary
July 29th, 2011
6:23 pm
And up step the disgraces known as LBB, Sinkwich and I Report to further prove my point.
Keep it up folks. Bellow into the wind and self inflict those wounds, your day will soon come to an end as you and your compatriots on the left are pushed aside.
F. Sinkwich
July 29th, 2011
6:29 pm
“A new poll shows that President Barack Obama’s approval rating has plummeted to a new low as talks to raise the debt ceiling stalled and the president stayed out of the public eye after a Monday night speech through early Friday. The president’s average approval rating on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was 40 percent in Gallup’s daily tracking poll released on Friday.”
How in the hell can Hopey/Changey’s approval rating be so high?
Who is being polled? Pawn shop owners? Registered socialists? Alinsky acolytes? Illegal aliens?
SEIU thugs? ACORN losers? EITC leeches? Members of the Karl Marx fan club? Dum-asses?
Could be all of the above…
F. Sinkwich
July 29th, 2011
6:32 pm
“Bellow into the wind and self inflict those wounds, your day will soon come to an end as you and your compatriots on the left are pushed aside.”
Yo, dude, pass the bong…
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 29th, 2011
6:38 pm
you and your compatriots on the left
I know know this is hard to follow, stooge, but I’m a right wing Christian extremist, or as better known outside of planet Moonbat, a typical American.
Call me a leftie again and I’ll ruin you.
MarkV
July 29th, 2011
6:40 pm
“The crisis we are in has little to do with raising the debt ceiling. The credit agencies & the investment banks have been very specific”
An obvious lie. The credit of the US has been intrinsically downgraded by the debt, but the crisis we are in is due to the debt celining fiasco.
“A new poll shows that President Barack Obama’s approval rating has plummeted to a new low as talks to raise the debt ceiling stalled and the president stayed out of the public eye after a Monday night speech through early Friday. The president’s average approval rating on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was 40 percent in Gallup’s daily tracking poll released on Friday.”
Still much better than the approval of the Republicans in Congress,
Hillbilly D
July 29th, 2011
6:47 pm
In theory, a Balanced Budget Amendment sounds like a good idea. In the real world, if it ever did pass, they would just play games with what’s in the budget, what’s off-budget, etc. And things would probably be based on “projections”, which can easily be manipulated by whoever is holding the reins at the time. I think Congress is going to always find ways to hide things and play games; it’s in their job description.
Paddy O
July 29th, 2011
6:48 pm
Obama has personally stated that he did not know that shovel ready projects were not just lying around by the boat load – and you wonder why he hangs out in the background & throws darts at others ideas? Obama has not DESIRE to balance the budget. That is horrible leadership. That is demagoguery. That is the neophyte Obama. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
MarkV
July 29th, 2011
6:52 pm
“The president’s average approval rating on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was 40 percent in Gallup’s daily tracking poll released on Friday.”
The approral rating of GWB dropped to 40% in 2006 and went down from there.
Paddy O
July 29th, 2011
6:52 pm
hillbilly – if you want to be lied to about our country’s economy, fine – but without a balanced budget amendment (that would be in the Constitution), our entire economy is a house of cards – it has allowed the overpaid inept twits in Congress to run around propping up 3rd world countries – even countries with large populations than us – INdia & China – which is actually treasonous activity. We need to exit NAFTA, adopt import tariffs,and start mass producing things like clothes, TV’s, 80% of the stuff at wal mart – that would generate good jobs for those who are not qualified for college (about 60% of the population).
MarkV
July 29th, 2011
6:58 pm
“In theory, a Balanced Budget Amendment sounds like a good idea. ”
The Balanced budget Amendment is a stupid idea in theory as well as practice. The conservatives always like to say that the government should deal with the finances like family with its budget or corporations with theirs. Would anybody want to have a balanced budget law for the family finances, or for corporation finances?
Hillbilly D
July 29th, 2011
6:59 pm
Paddy O
In my opinion, they’ll lie to us either way and our economy has been a house of cards for a long time. I’ve said before that even though he was nutty as a fruitcake on some things, Ross Perot was dead right on NAFTA, I’m for import tariffs, including things sold by US companies that are manufactured in their own plants, if those plants are overseas and I don’t shop at WalMart or buy things made in China. More than once I’ve had a store employee ask me what I was doing, when I’m searching for the info on where something is made, on the box. I even remember when Sam Walton used to use “Made in USA” as a selling point.
F. Sinkwich
July 29th, 2011
7:02 pm
MarkV:
“The approral rating of GWB dropped to 40% in 2006 and went down from there.”
Grow up, please. Your guy sucks. Period.
Instead of tripping down memory lane every time someone points out the incredible stupidity of your Messiah, why don’t you try to defend the idiot.
Oh, that’s right, he’s indefensible.
Linda
July 29th, 2011
7:17 pm
I laugh out loud when anyone on the left calls me a liar, when any idiot or sane person can get on the internet & read the conversation between S&P executive John Chambers & S&P’s investors during a conference call on 7/27 when he said that $4 T would be a good down payment. S&P has already said that it may slash out AAA rating due to the DEBT. NONE of the bills in DC deal with the DEBT.
The US is in trouble with the credit rating agencies, the Wall St. investment banks, the IMF, etc.
We WILL be downgraded.
Linda
July 29th, 2011
7:29 pm
Hillbilly, How do you get around? How do you get to Wallmart? How do you get to work, etc? Where does your gas come from? Do you only buy gas from Texas? How will you light your home since all the CFBs come from China? They are too dangerous to be manufactured in the US. Liberals are a stitch!
MarkV
July 29th, 2011
7:33 pm
I laugh when somebody substitutes a vague, nonbinding statement of one person for his/her reasoning. The debt is a chronic problem, while the debt ceiling issue is an acute condition, a crisis. It is sad to see someone who claims to be edcucated to ignore the warning of a vast majority of economists regarding the debt ceiling issue.
MarkV
July 29th, 2011
7:35 pm
“Instead of tripping down memory lane every time someone points out the incredible stupidity of your Messiah, why don’t you try to defend the idiot.”
Somebody who substitutes insults for arguments is worse than an idiot.
Hillbilly D
July 29th, 2011
7:44 pm
Linda
You’re right I have no control over where my gas comes from. The things I can control, I don’t buy things made in China. How do I get to WalMart? I don’t go there. I buy incandescant light bulbs and will as long as I can get them. And I’m not a liberal by the way, for those keeping score at home.
Linda
July 29th, 2011
7:55 pm
A vast majority of economists & a vast majority of climatologists suggests we should vote.
The fact is that the credit ratings agencies plan to downgrade our worthiness, with good reason. Why they did not do it long ago baffles me. Our debt is unsustainable. Nothing being debated in Congress addresses it. Obama wanted a clean debt ceiling, a blank check. Had it not been for the 87 new members in congress, many of which were supported by the Tea Party, he might have been granted his wish. By tying the debt ceiling to the debt, the Tea Party appears to have saved the USA about $2 T. Go Tea Party!
MarkV
July 29th, 2011
8:04 pm
“Obama wanted a clean debt ceiling, a blank check.”
That is the kind of demagoguery that is so common in these debates. Raising the debt ceiling is not a “blank check.” It is merely a recognition that we must pay our obligations.Tying the debt ceiling to the debt is blackmailing the country, not Obama or Democrats, to go along with the ideas of one group of people.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 29th, 2011
8:05 pm
MarkV: …someone who claims to be edcucated…
——————-
If you’re going to call someone stupid, you might want to pay attention to your spelling.
MarkV: Another victim of public schools.
Linda
July 29th, 2011
8:14 pm
The debate going on in DC right now has relatively nothing to do with raising the debt ceiling. It has everything to do with the future of the US, our ability to exist as a country.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
July 29th, 2011
8:19 pm
Boehner 4.0 should be a freeze of spending at current levels. It’s easier for the Obozo voters to understand and it cuts more spending than any plans offered to date.
John Konop
July 29th, 2011
9:38 pm
We cannot fix the problem unless we are all honest about the math. The solution is simple when you look at the mess. Cut military and entailments and raise tax revenues by 4 %. I would rather see this done by a lower flat tax and eliminate write offs
….. CM: Bruce Bartlett is former Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary under the first George Bush and a policy adviser to Ronald Reagan. Bottom line, let’s look at the numbers right now. We’ve got a chart coming up. This shows the Bush tax cuts were responsible for increasing the debts. Now, we have about a $14 trillion debt right now, half came out since the turn of the century, and more than 40% of that has been from tax cuts.
BB: That’s right. When Bush took office, we had a debt of about $6 trillion. The projections from the CBO were that we were going to run a $6 trillion surplus. By this point, if we had done nothing, we would have paid off the dead debt, but we added about $3 trillion of tax cuts. We lost about $3 trillion of revenue because of the slower economy and added about $6 trillion of spending, largely due to two unfinished wars and a Medicare drug benefits and a lot of other things. So, instead of getting — paying off the debt–we ended up with about a $14 trillion debt.
CM: Some of these clowns, not all of them, running around saying Barack Obama is a Socialist, he drove up the national debt to $14 trillion and dance around in a circle and congratulate each other. That’s not true.
BB: No, i think the dirty secret is that Obama is a moderate conservative. If I were a liberal democrat, I probably would be upset.
CM: The point is a $1 trillion debt, and another poring (?) is from the prescription drug bill. The whole rest of that is from a lousy economy under Bush and these two wars he came up with.
BB: That’s right. The Republicans keep saying the tax cuts are the key to prosperity. The 2000s are evidence that that is not true. We had booming economies in the 1980s and ’90s. If we went back to those taxes, we would be better off.
CM: What is the argument against the kind of tax policy– let’s just say it again. It seems like a heck of a great economy with the tax rate of about 39.6, as opposed to 35?……..
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
July 29th, 2011
10:30 pm
BB: No, i think the dirty secret is that Obama is a moderate conservative.
——————–
There’s your sign.
independent thinker
July 30th, 2011
7:09 am
The tea bag zealots claim they want to reduce federal spending but none of them or the Republicans in general want to to touch the waste in military spending. The following is a prime example of what happens when you give cart blanche to the military(as part of Sant Ronnie’s deficit spending on an arms race with the Soviets for unnecessary military weapons later scrapped}:
“”"”"”"”"”"In the era of massive belt-tightening budget cuts, the story of two never-completed, unused Navy ships now being sent to the scrap heap after costing U.S. taxpayers $300 million is a case study in Pentagon waste.
Requisitioned by the U.S. Navy in 1985, the two oil-hauling ships, the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford, “have never gone on a mission, were never even completed, yet they cost taxpayers at least $300 million,” the Virginia-Pilot’s Scott Harper reports.
Now the “ghost ships” are headed from their dock on the James River in Virginia to a Texas scrap yard to be dismantled, Harrop writes. And there’s one more catch–the United States awarded a $10 million contract to dismantle four ships, including the Eckford and the Isherwood, to a UK firm, so no money from the reclamation will return to the United States.
The two vessels were part of a $567 million request for three oilers put out by the Navy, Harrop writes. But the builder, Pennsylvania Shipbuilding Co. in Philadelphia, defaulted on the contract in 1989. A Florida firm contracted to finish the ships cancelled the contract over price disputes in 1993. The ships are now being scrapped, rather than refurbished, because they do not meet modern specs. “”"”
That and over 1000 military bases creates an ongoing drain on the economy to fund the never satisfied military industrial complex. You would think world War II never ended. So how much of this bloated military budget is being cut?? zero.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
July 30th, 2011
7:13 am
So how much of this bloated military budget is being cut?? zero.
—————
News flash: It’s 2011. Your Idiot Messiah has been in office going on three years. He had a Democrat House and Senate for the first two years. If zero has been cut, put the blame where it belongs.
Hypocrite.
GHWB
July 30th, 2011
4:17 pm
And new, lasting growth is not going to come as long as the president is determined to browbeat business, punish success, build a permanently larger public sector, suck the middle class into the welfare state, and otherwise impose his notion of fairness as national economic policy.
Wow, That has to be some of the most subjective bull crap I think I’ve ever read. If you were more interested in the use of objective analysis in lieu of subjective hyperbole, you might actually show some promise of being something more than a hack. By the way, how are those ad revenues coming along. Anything for a buck, eh. I’m sure you would make Murdoch proud if you could only get his attention.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
July 30th, 2011
7:52 pm
“you would make Murdoch proud if you could only get his attention”
——————-
I guess you missed Kyle’s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
July 30th, 2011
7:55 pm
After Carter’s disastrous regime, Reagan turned the economy around and economic growth was 5-9% for the next two years.
Your Idiot Messiah’s recovery, two years and counting, is utterly pathetic by comparison. Given the horrible recession you libtards pretend we had, the ensuing recovery should have been quite strong. There are reasons it isn’t, and Kyle summarized them quite nicely in his penultimate paragraph.
Idiot Messiah: Loser.
Junior Samples
August 1st, 2011
12:02 pm
it will be hard for an empty suit like obama to get elected again.
in the last election it was a stupid little slogan like hope and change (along with being african-american) .
surely we’ve learned our lesson. knowing the gop though probably not
LOU
August 3rd, 2011
7:36 pm
VOTE REPUBLICAN – Cut the poor, sick, and elderly programs.[they drain our economy]…. Support tax cuts for Billionaires, Oil Companies, and Wall Street Moguls….after all, they provide us with lobbying money! End Medicare, Medicaid, & Social Security for everyone but Us. Stop Government spending except in our districts. Finally, destroy the economy & blame it on the Dems so we get elected to help the upper class out of their slump. SOMEONE NEEDS TO PUT THIS ON A BILLBOARD