Tag Archives: Economy

It’s Jobs And The Economy Stupid

I’m not sure that Obama will be able to get from his time fighting inequality as a community organizer in the city of Chicago.  I’m not sure he knows HOW to get away from his time fighting inequality.

But America wants him to focus on fixing the economy and bringing more jobs:

Nearly every major poll indicates that the top issues for voters are jobs and the economy. Making the wealthy pay more in income taxes? Not so much, at least according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll.

An excerpt from Gallup:

“Creating good jobs, reducing corruption in the federal government, and reducing the federal budget deficit score highest when Americans rate 12 issues as priorities for the next president to address. Americans assign much less importance to increasing taxes on wealthy Americans and dealing with environmental concerns.”

In fact, higher taxes for the rich was given the lowest priority of the dozen issues, Gallup reports.

Respondents rated “extremely important” the following issues: “creating good jobs” (48 percent of respondents); “reducing corruption in the federal government” (45 percent); “reducing the federal budget deficit” (44 percent); “dealing with terrorism and other international threats” (42 percent).

After a number of other issues, it jumps down to “dealing with environmental concerns, such as global warming,” (21 percent). The same percentage — 21 percent — cited “increasing taxes on wealthy Americans” as an extremely important issue.

The poll would seem to indicate that the fairness arguments made by President Obama and his campaign aren’t top concerns for voters.

I think this is spot on for two reasons:

  1. People don’t think there is a fairness in taxation issue
  2. In so far as there is, no one really cares.  People compare their wealth to those around them and few see the excesses of the very wealthy.  But what they DO want is to regain some confidence in the job markets.

But that’s probably just me talking, not the folks who support our President:

What’s really striking about the poll results is that not only was this true of voters in the aggregate but of self-identified Obama voters, too.

Among Obama supporters, only 32 percent said raising taxes on the wealthy should be a top priority of the next president. That also put it dead last on the list of 12 issues among that demographic.

Well, maybe America HAS got it right.

Presidential Approval: NY Times/CBS News Poll

He’s tryin’.

The President is coming into the election against a head wind.  Unemployment is high, his signature legislative win is unpopular, and getting more so, and he’s facing some stiff foreign relationship issues.

He’s up against it pretty tough.  The relevant conversations of the day aren’t going his way.  So, I don’t blame him for trying to change the national dialogue.  For trying to pivot from issues he can’t manage well to issue that have proven to be traditional democrat strong suits.

I get the contraception pivot.

But it ain’t working.

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Tax Hikes and Tax Cuts

Let’s get one thing straight.

We ALL agree that we ALL should pay SOME tax.

The government needs money to pay for things that governments do.

We can disagree about what a government should do and how much it costs that government to do it, but serious, we have to pay some form of tax.

That said, what we tax and how much we tax is a whole conversation that needs to be had.

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Trade Debt: Is It Bad

I am a new comer to politics.  And economics.  While it’s true that I’ve always resonated with Republicans and Conservatives, I’ve never really been all that serious about it.

This has been true all the way through Bush vs. Gore; I just really didn’t care.

I guess marriage, home ownership and parenthood will do that to ya huh?

With that said, I’ve never really understood the trade deficit.  Am guessing many others don’t either.

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Trade

Trade, the exchange of goods and services, makes all people wealthier.  It always has.  And as long as personal liberties are enforced, it always will.

Consider how we normally trade; money for goods.

This weekend my young nephew was in town and the kids wanted to play Wii.  We only had one controller so I needed another.  Out to the store I went.

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Health Care Benefit

One of the “gets” for Obama and the Democrats during the Health Care debate and vote is the ability for parents to keep their children on their insurance plans until those turn 27.  A 26-year-old adult child can be carried on his parent’s insurance plan.

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Feature Not Bug

A long time ago [longer than I like] I turned 10.  My folks performed the usual; presents, cake and a party.  My friends came over, maybe spent the night, fun was had and Normal America ruled the day.  But there was something else that occurred on that birthday.  See, when I turned 10 that year, I was given something that I am still enjoying today; a job!

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Release the Hounds of War

They are girding their loins.  They are building the siege engines.  Iron has been forged into swords.  Boys are becoming men.  Men are leaving their families.  WAR is upon us.

Except, when they sound the battle horn, they will find themselves alone on the field of battle.  Why?  Because no one cares:

No one cares

Pew Research center has found that the concept of global warming doesn’t stir the public’s desires.

Wise leaders would do well to follow those they lead.

Hat Tip:  Watts Up With That

The Chairman’s Weekly Radio Address: April 25, 2009

Barack Obama’s Weekly Radio Address

April 25, 2009

Good morning.

Good morning.  But I bet it gets worse in about 3-2-1….

Over the last three months, my Administration has taken aggressive action to confront an historic economic crisis.

Yup, way worse.  Look, you keep sayin’ it, you Just Keep SAYIN’ it!  This is ONLY historic because it is the first time it has ever really affected YOU.  Stop.  And. Do. The. Math.

As we do everything that we can to create jobs and get our economy moving,

You know, I have tried.  I have read this line and then re-read it.  Like lots.  And I just can’t quite get over this whole part.  YOU CAN’T CREATE JOBS!  YOU don’t produce ANYTHING.  Sigh.

we’re also building a new foundation for lasting prosperity

You are not.  You.  Are lying.

– a foundation that invests in quality education, lowers health care costs,

Now stop, just stop.  You have no intention of lowering health care costs.  In fact, the opposite is true.  You want RAISE the total health care spend, you just wanna pull the cost from the wealthy and give it to the poor.

and develops new sources of energy powered by new jobs and industries.

See, I hear whatcha are sayin’, I just don’t think that yo know how to go about it.  You have to let these entrepreneurs loose in a “sandbox”.  Let them think and learn and invent FREE of government; not beholden to it.

One of the pillars of that foundation must be fiscal discipline.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA  -inhale- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Stop it.  Please.  Oh lawd, THAT is rich!

We came into office

How much longer are you going to continue to play that card?

facing a budget deficit of $1.3 trillion for this year alone, and the cost of confronting our economic crisis is high. But we cannot settle for a future of rising deficits and debts that our children cannot pay.

Umm, but you did.  Serious.  Check it out.  And, not for nothin’, but YOU did it.

All across America, families are tightening their belts and making hard choices. Now, Washington must show that same sense of responsibility. That is why we have identified two trillion dollars in deficit-reductions over the next decade, while taking on the special interest spending that doesn’t advance the peoples’ interests.

I’m feelin’ it!  I’m a feelin’ it!

But we must also recognize that we cannot meet the challenges of today with old habits and stale thinking. So much of our government was built to deal with different challenges from a different era.

Amen!

Too often, the result is wasteful spending, bloated programs, and inefficient results.

I’ll say it again, AMEN!

It’s time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington.

Hallelujah

To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient,

Yes Lord!

more transparent,

Yes Lord!

and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent.

The demons have been purged and and we are on our way to fiscal heaven!  I feel, I say I FEEL the love!

Earlier this week, I held my first Cabinet meeting and sent a clear message: cut what doesn’t work. Already, we’ve identified substantial savings. And in the days and weeks ahead, we will continue going through the budget line by line, and we’ll identify more than 100 programs that will be cut or eliminated.

But we can’t stop there. We need to go further, and we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to reforming government. That’s why I’m announcing several steps that my Administration will take in the weeks ahead to restore fiscal discipline while making our government work better.

First, we need to adhere to the basic principle that new tax or entitlement policies should be paid for. This principle – known as PAYGO – helped transform large deficits into surpluses in the 1990s. Now, we must restore that sense of fiscal discipline. That’s why I’m calling on Congress to pass PAYGO legislation like a bill that will be introduced by Congressman Baron Hill, so that government acts the same way any responsible family does in setting its budget.

Second, we’ll create new incentives to reduce wasteful spending and to invest in what works. We don’t want agencies to protect bloated budgets – we want them to promote effective programs. So the idea is simple: agencies that identify savings will get to keep a portion of those savings to invest in programs that work. The result will be a smaller budget, and a more effective government.

Third, we’ll look for ideas from the bottom up. After all, Americans across the country know that the best ideas often come from workers – not just management. That’s why we’ll establish a process through which every government worker can submit their ideas for how their agency can save money and perform better. We’ll put the suggestions that work into practice. And later this year, I will meet with those who come up with the best ideas to hear firsthand about how they would make your government more efficient and effective.

And finally, we will reach beyond the halls of government. Many businesses have innovative ways of using technology to save money, and many experts have new ideas to make government work more efficiently. Government can – and must – learn from them. So later this year, we will host a forum on reforming government for the 21st century, so that we’re also guided by voices that come from outside of Washington.

We cannot sustain deficits that mortgage our children’s future, nor tolerate wasteful inefficiency.

Coulda fooled me.  Have you seen what you have been spending kind sir?

Government has a responsibility to spend the peoples’ money wisely,

THIS I know.  I just don’t think that you know it.

and to serve the people effectively. I will work every single day that I am President to live up to that responsibility, and to transform our government so that is held to a higher standard of performance on behalf of the American people.

Thank you.

The Chairman’s Weekly Radio Address: March 21, 2009

Barack Obama’s Weekly Radio Address

March 21, 2009

Last week, I spent a few days in California, campaigning talking with Jay Leno ordinary Americans in town halls and in the places where they work.  We talked about their struggles, and we talked about their hopes.

Ahhh yes, hope.  Whoda thunk it; campaign trail and hope.

At the end of the day, these men and women weren’t as concerned with the news of the day in Washington as they were about the very real and very serious challenges their families face every day:  whether they’ll have a job and a paycheck to count on; whether they’ll be able to pay their medical bills or afford college tuition;

Look Sparkey, you are talking to “ordinary Americans” in California.  Of COURSE they’re worried about these things!!  I mean, come on, have you seen what the Democrats have done to that state?

What, YOU are a Democrat that supports all of these things?  Oh my.

whether they’ll be able to leave their children a world that’s safer and more prosperous than the one we have now.

Maybe they think you are going to release the Gitmo innocents into Cali?  Then again, maybe not.  Just sayin’.

Those are the concerns I heard about in California.  They are the concerns I’ve heard about in letters from people throughout this country for the last two years.

Dude, serious.  Are you TRYING to make it obvious that you are campaigning?

And they are the concerns addressed in the budget I sent to Congress last month.

Um, no.  No it’s not actually.  What concerns me [heh heh, I kill me] about your budget is that you are going to turn all of us into California.

With the magnitude of the challenges we face,

Don’t look now, but the recovery appears to have begun.  And again, whoda thunk it, not one dime of bailout money has been spent.

I don’t just view this budget as numbers on a page or a laundry list of programs.

It’s an economic blueprint for our future – a vision of America where growth is not based on

Reality

real estate bubbles or overleveraged banks,

Yo, over leveraged banks?  Umm yeah, not so over leveraged if when this new accounting method is restored.

but on a firm foundation of investments in energy,

Short for tax and economic hardship.

education,

We’ll see.

and health care

You just can’t stop wading in markets you don’t understand.

that will lead to a real and lasting decade long recession prosperity.

These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out of thin air – they are a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for too long:

  • High taxes
  • Over regulation

Maybe?

the high cost of health care and our dependence on foreign oil; our education deficit and our fiscal deficit.

Sigh.  I didn’t think so.

Now, as the House and the Senate take up this budget next week, the specific details and dollar amounts in this budget will undoubtedly change.  That’s a normal and healthy part of the process.

But when all is said and done, I expect a budget that meets four basic principles:

First, it must reduce our dependence on dangerous foreign oil and finally put this nation on a path to a clean, renewable energy future.

On the one hand you mention dangerous foreign oil.  Then on the other hand, you mention clean and renewable energy.  Which is it?  Cause we gots lots of domestic energy if you would just let us go get it.

There is no longer a doubt that the jobs and industries of tomorrow

We may differ in the definition of tomorrow here.

will involve harnessing renewable sources of energy.  The only question is whether America will lead that future.  I believe we can and we will, and that’s why we’ve proposed a budget that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy, while investing in technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and fuel-efficient cars and trucks that can be built right here in America.

Second, this budget must renew our nation’s commitment to a complete and competitive education for every American child.  In this global economy, we know the countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, and we know that our students are already falling behind their counterparts in places like China.  That is why we have proposed investments in childhood education programs that work; in high standards and accountability for our schools; in rewards for teachers who succeed; and in affordable college education for anyone who wants to go.  It is time to demand excellence from our schools so that we can finally prepare our workforce for a 21st century economy.

I think I agree with all of this.  But it’s a turd.  Who hasn’t sad this?

Third, we need a budget that makes a serious investment in health care reform – reform that will bring down costs,

With ya.

ensure quality,

Right there.

and guarantee people their choice of doctors and hospitals.

Wow.  Three for three.

Right now, there are millions of Americans who are just one illness or medical emergency away from bankruptcy.

Oh oh.

There are businesses that have been forced to close their doors or ship jobs overseas because they can’t afford insurance.  Medicare costs are consuming our federal budget.  Medicaid is overwhelming our state budgets.  So to those who say we have to choose between health care reform and fiscal discipline, I say that making investments now that will dramatically lower health care costs for everyone won’t add to our budget deficit in the long-term – it is one of the best ways to reduce it.

See, but you don’t wanna reduce costs.  You wanna give health insurance to everyone.  If you wanted to reduce costs, you would be doing a whole different set of things.

Finally, this budget must reduce that deficit even further.  With the fiscal mess we’ve inherited and the cost of this financial crisis,

Ok dude, so, if you are going to keep at it, I am.  You voted for it and in part were responsible for the crisis.  Senator.

I’ve proposed a budget that cuts our deficit in half by the end of my first term.  That’s why we are scouring every corner of the budget and have proposed $2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade.

Not wholly true.  But at this point, I’ve lost count.

In total, our budget would bring discretionary spending for domestic programs as a share of the economy to its lowest level in nearly half a century.

What do you mean by discretionary?

And we will continue making these tough choices in the months and years ahead so that as our economy recovers, we do what we must to bring this deficit down.

I will be discussing each of these principles next week, as Congress takes up the important work of debating this budget.  I realize there are those who say these plans are too ambitious to enact.  To that I say that the challenges we face are too large to ignore.  I didn’t come here to pass on our problems to the next President or the next generation – I came here to solve them.

The American people sent us here to get things done, and at this moment of great challenge, they are watching and waiting for us to lead.  Let’s show them that we are equal to the task before us, and let’s pass a budget that puts this nation on the road to lasting prosperity.

I agree.  So throw this one away and go back to the drawing board.  Thanks, and God bless America!