Defense Secretary Leon Panetta appeared at a Senate Armed Services Committee congressional hearing, where he said “legal basis” was needed to initiate a no-fly zone over Syria.
WASHINGTON, March 7—Under question from Sen. Sessions at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey indicated that "international permission," rather than Congressional approval, provided a 'legal basis' for military action by the United States.
The 0.5-percentage-point increase in February compared with January is the largest such month-to-month change Gallup has recorded in its not-seasonally adjusted measure since December 2010, when the rate rose 0.8 points to 9.6% from 8.8% in November. A year ago, Gallup recorded a February increase of 0.4 percentage points, to 10.3% from 9.9% in January 2011.
In addition to the 9.1% of U.S. workers who are unemployed, 10.0% are working part time but want full-time work. This percentage is similar to the 10.1% in January, but is higher than the 9.6% of February 2011.
Obama talks about how important it is that he half the deficit in his first term, and promises he will do it:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/8/govt-sets-record-deficit-february/
Govt. sets record deficit in February
The federal government recorded its worst monthly deficit in history in February, according to a preliminary report Wednesday from the Congressional Budget Office that said the deficit in fiscal year 2012 is already more than half a trillion dollars.
The CBO’s figures show that despite repeated efforts to trim spending, the government has borrowed 42 cents of every dollar it spent during the first five months of this fiscal year.
The nonpartisan agency projected the government will run a deficit of $229 billion in February, the highest monthly figure ever. The previous high was $223 billion a year ago, in February 2011.
It is the 41st straight month the government has run a deficit — itself a record streak that dates back to the final months of President George W. Bush’s tenure. Before now, the longest streak on record was 11 months.
For all of fiscal year 2012, which began Oct. 1, the budget analysts said the government has raised $869 billion in revenue but spent $1.5 trillion so far.
Congress and President Obama sparred for most of last year on how to cut spending, but the CBO’s figures show that spending has actually remained flat in 2012 once the timing of certain payments has been adjusted.
Mr. Obama last month released a budget that showed the government averaging $1 trillion deficits for the rest of this decade. House Republicans are working to write their own budget now, while Senate Democratic leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada has said he doubts his chamber will write a budget this year.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/8/govt-sets-record-deficit-february/
Govt. sets record deficit in February
The federal government recorded its worst monthly deficit in history in February, according to a preliminary report Wednesday from the Congressional Budget Office that said the deficit in fiscal year 2012 is already more than half a trillion dollars.
The CBO’s figures show that despite repeated efforts to trim spending, the government has borrowed 42 cents of every dollar it spent during the first five months of this fiscal year.
The nonpartisan agency projected the government will run a deficit of $229 billion in February, the highest monthly figure ever. The previous high was $223 billion a year ago, in February 2011.
It is the 41st straight month the government has run a deficit — itself a record streak that dates back to the final months of President George W. Bush’s tenure. Before now, the longest streak on record was 11 months.
For all of fiscal year 2012, which began Oct. 1, the budget analysts said the government has raised $869 billion in revenue but spent $1.5 trillion so far.
Congress and President Obama sparred for most of last year on how to cut spending, but the CBO’s figures show that spending has actually remained flat in 2012 once the timing of certain payments has been adjusted.
Mr. Obama last month released a budget that showed the government averaging $1 trillion deficits for the rest of this decade. House Republicans are working to write their own budget now, while Senate Democratic leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada has said he doubts his chamber will write a budget this year.
[ Obama, the anti-King Midas - everything he touches turns to shit, you can't make this shit up. Car dies during Consumer Reports testing? ]
Obama’s Fisker Stimulus — for Finland
By Greg Pollowitz
Comments 4
Idiotic. Via ABC News:
With the approval of the Obama administration, an [COLOR=#216221 !important][FONT=inherit !important][COLOR=#216221 !important][FONT=inherit !important]electric[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work.
Vice President Joseph Biden heralded the Energy Department’s $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company called Fisker as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma [COLOR=#216221 !important][FONT=inherit !important][COLOR=#216221 !important][FONT=inherit !important]sports[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] car has been outsourced to Finland.
______________________________________________________
Fisker Karma car dies in Consumer Reports testing
updated 3/8/2012 4:45:49 PM ET
"It is a little disconcerting that you pay that amount of money for a car and it lasts basically 180 miles before going wrong," David Champion, senior director for the magazine's automotive test center, told Reuters, on Thursday.
In a statement, Fisker said it was assessing the source of the problem that caused its Karma plug-in hybrid to fail. Fisker dispatched two engineers Wednesday night to examine the car.
Fisker has benefited from the publicity generated when actor Leonardo DiCaprio was handed the first Karma last summer and pop idol Justin Bieber received one as a gift this month.
But the breakdown of the Consumer Reports car is more bad news for a company that has found itself under the microscope as its woes have mounted.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4667266...KY.like&fb_source=home_multiline#.T1oyynllxEN
Obama’s Fisker Stimulus — for Finland
By Greg Pollowitz
Comments 4
Idiotic. Via ABC News:
With the approval of the Obama administration, an [COLOR=#216221 !important][FONT=inherit !important][COLOR=#216221 !important][FONT=inherit !important]electric[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work.
Vice President Joseph Biden heralded the Energy Department’s $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company called Fisker as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma [COLOR=#216221 !important][FONT=inherit !important][COLOR=#216221 !important][FONT=inherit !important]sports[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] car has been outsourced to Finland.
______________________________________________________
Fisker Karma car dies in Consumer Reports testing
updated 3/8/2012 4:45:49 PM ET
- Font:
"It is a little disconcerting that you pay that amount of money for a car and it lasts basically 180 miles before going wrong," David Champion, senior director for the magazine's automotive test center, told Reuters, on Thursday.
In a statement, Fisker said it was assessing the source of the problem that caused its Karma plug-in hybrid to fail. Fisker dispatched two engineers Wednesday night to examine the car.
Fisker has benefited from the publicity generated when actor Leonardo DiCaprio was handed the first Karma last summer and pop idol Justin Bieber received one as a gift this month.
But the breakdown of the Consumer Reports car is more bad news for a company that has found itself under the microscope as its woes have mounted.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4667266...KY.like&fb_source=home_multiline#.T1oyynllxEN
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0603/Political-misquotes-The-10-most-famous-things-never-actually-said/I-can-see-Russia-from-my-house!-Sarah-Palin
It was actually comedian Tina Fey, who was impersonating Ms. Palin on Saturday Night Live, who uttered the line that is now widely attributed to the former Alaska governor.
The basis for this line comes from a September 2008 interview with ABC News's Charles Gibson, who asked Palin what insights she had from her state being so close to Russia. She responded: "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."
This is true. As Slate has pointed out, on a clear day, those on the Alaskan island of Little Diomede can see the Russian island of Big Diomede, located across the International Date Line some two and a half miles away. Given that Big Diomede has no permanent population, the amount of foreign policy experience one can gain from staring at it is debatable. But you can see Russian soil while standing in Alaska.
By Neal Boortz
This contraception thing … are you operating under the mistaken impression that what we’ve been talking about here is a right to use contraception? Not so. If you listened carefully to the words of the now-famous Sandra Fluke you will have heard that the issue wasn’t whether or not she or her horny classmates could use contraception – but rather who would pay for it. Fluke, you see, was demanding that the pills and condoms be paid for by someone else; and now she’s been joined by aaaaaaacitivists across the country. Somehow in this age of entitlement contraception has become a right .. which means that it absolutely must be paid for by someone else.
So let’s see if we get this right. The government (the people) have absolutely no right to tell a woman whether or not she can have sex, who she can or cannot have sex with, and what she can or cannot do if that sex results in a pregnancy. That’s fine … as long as I don’t have to watch and can’t hear you. But now it’s my responsibility to provide you with contraceptives? What’s next? AstroGlide? How about some personal battery-operated devices? And what if you can’t reach orgasm? Is it then the government’s responsibility – which means our responsibility – to provide you with any medical or psychological care you might need to make your sex fulfilling?
Where will this go next? What right will the moocher class invent? The imagination of the moocher class is so overactive we will have to just sit back and see what they come up with next.
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Highway bill is worth billions to companies owned by Soros, Pickens, Douglas
by S. E. Robinson
03/13/2012
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=50163#comments
Comments
George Soros, T. Boone Pickens, Kevin G. Douglas and companies under their control stand to reap the rewards of billions of taxpayer dollars in subsidies contained in a Democratic-sponsored measure set for a vote this week.
The legislation, authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), would amend the much-ballyhooed highway bill to include the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions act, or NATGAS act. The act would provide subsidies for individuals, corporations and public entities that purchase natural gas vehicles or build natural gas distribution facilities.
The act would subsidize three different enterprises controlled by Soros, Pickens and Douglas, who consistently rank among the most generous political donors, according to Federal Election Commission Records.
Moreover, HUMAN EVENTS has learned that one of these companies, Fuel Systems Solutions based in Santa Ana, Calif., has and continues to conduct business, through its foreign subsidiaries, with customers in Iran, according to the company’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company acknowledges in those filings that tougher international economic sanctions levied in light of that nation’s civilian nuclear program may adversely affect its Iranian-based revenues in 2012, as such measures have in the past.
Douglas is a key shareholder in Fuel Systems, and he is the largest individual investor in Westport Innovations, a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based supplier of natural gas engine systems and retrofit kits. Westport’s investors also include Soros Fund Management, an investment vehicle of the Soros family. Westport’s board previously included T. Boone Pickens, who currently owns Clean Energy Fuels Corporation, a Houston-based supplier of natural gas.
Fuel Systems, Westport and Clean Energy Fuels constitute what Robert Brown, a stock analyst with Craig-Hallum Capital in Minneapolis who specializes in the energy sector, referred to as “the big three” of the natural gas-powered automation arena in North America. The companies are all relatively small in terms of revenues and considered speculative as stock investments, but the NATGAS act would allow them to profit from their research, design and development.
Clean Energy Fuels supplies liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG), and specializes in the development of natural gas distribution platforms. Westport and Fuel Systems offer engine and fueling systems for vehicles that run on CNG, an alternative to gasoline, and LNG, an alternative to diesel.
Brown said that all three companies will profit handsomely on passage of the NATGAS act and that all three will be harmed should Congress scuttle the Menendez Amendment.
Pickens, Soros, Douglas fund NATGAS act proponents
The three investors and their affiliates are on record as financially supporting proponents of the NATGAS act, according to FEC reports. Douglas and his wife Michelle have contributed more than $130,000 to President Barack Obama, Democrats and Democratic super PACs since 2009, according to FEC records, including to Nat Gas act supporter Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.).
Soros’ history of Democratic financial support is well known, such as $1.5 million to MoveOn.org from 2003 and 2004. In 2011, Soros gave $175,000 to the House Majority PAC and the Majority PAC, two super PACs whose donations have come mostly from American labor unions, according to FEC records. He has also given broadly to Democratic committees since 2009.
Pickens, his wife Madeleine and senior employees of Clean Energy Fuels have contributed more than $150,000 to politicians and committees that support the NATGAS act, according to FEC reports. Pickens and his wife gave $60,800 to House Representatives, including the act’s sponsor, Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.)
To Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) or related committees, the couple has given $20,800. To the Democratic Parties of New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, all key states for the natural gas industry, the couple has given $30,000.
Clean Energy Fuels employees have given a combined $19,750 to congressional representatives who support the NATGAS act, and $10,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to a HUMAN EVENTS review of FEC reports. Clean Energy Fuels employees have also given $7,800 to Sen. Reid and $4,400 to Sen. Menendez.
Fuel Systems in Iran
Details regarding Fuel Systems’ business in Iran are available in the company’s Form 10-K filed March 8, 2012 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011. The company’s investor relations spokesperson declined to comment on the companies operations in Iran and phone calls to the company’s corporate office were not returned as of Tuesday morning.
The SEC document, filed March 8, 2012 for the year ending Dec. 31, 2011, contains the following:
Some of our foreign subsidiaries have done, and may continue to do, business in countries subject to U.S. sanctions and embargoes, including Iran.
Some of our foreign subsidiaries sell fuel delivery systems, related parts and accessories to customers in Iran, a country currently subject to sanctions and embargoes imposed by the U.S. government, the European Union (“EU”), the United Nations, and other countries. In addition to Iran, there are other countries that are also subject to sanctions. These sanctions are complex. We believe we have procedures in place to conduct U.S. and foreign operations without violating U.S., EU, or other sanctions. However, if we fail to comply with U.S. sanctions, EU sanctions or other sanctions in our foreign operations, we could be subject to material fines and penalties and incur damage to our reputation, which may lead to a reduction in the market price of our common stock.
In addition, our foreign subsidiaries’ sales to Iran could reduce demand for our common stock among certain of our investors for political reasons.
Recent Iranian sanction laws and regulations have adversely affected our revenues and may cause us other adverse consequences.
In June 2010, the United Nations Security Council by Resolution voted to impose a new and expanded round of sanctions against Iran. In July 2010, the European Union implemented the UN Resolution. On July 1, 2010, President Obama signed into law the new Comprehensive Iran Sanctions and Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010 (the “CISADA”). In November 2011, President Obama signed Executive Order 13590 imposing broad sanctions similar to those included within the CISADA and which expressly apply to any individual or entity (whether or not a U.S. person). In January 2012, the EU expanded its sanctions against Iran. The expanded round of laws and regulations imposing sanctions on Iran has not significantly impacted our revenues derived from this country. We can offer no assurance that any further expansion of Iranian sanctions will not further adversely affect our revenues and cause us other adverse consequences.
S. E. Robinson is the Executive Director of Students for Solvency PAC and a writer for Human Events. A graduate of Bowdoin College and a native Mainer, he lives in Washington and works at Regnery Publishing.
Forward
Highway bill is worth billions to companies owned by Soros, Pickens, Douglas
by S. E. Robinson
03/13/2012
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=50163#comments
Comments
George Soros, T. Boone Pickens, Kevin G. Douglas and companies under their control stand to reap the rewards of billions of taxpayer dollars in subsidies contained in a Democratic-sponsored measure set for a vote this week.
The legislation, authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), would amend the much-ballyhooed highway bill to include the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions act, or NATGAS act. The act would provide subsidies for individuals, corporations and public entities that purchase natural gas vehicles or build natural gas distribution facilities.
The act would subsidize three different enterprises controlled by Soros, Pickens and Douglas, who consistently rank among the most generous political donors, according to Federal Election Commission Records.
Moreover, HUMAN EVENTS has learned that one of these companies, Fuel Systems Solutions based in Santa Ana, Calif., has and continues to conduct business, through its foreign subsidiaries, with customers in Iran, according to the company’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company acknowledges in those filings that tougher international economic sanctions levied in light of that nation’s civilian nuclear program may adversely affect its Iranian-based revenues in 2012, as such measures have in the past.
Douglas is a key shareholder in Fuel Systems, and he is the largest individual investor in Westport Innovations, a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based supplier of natural gas engine systems and retrofit kits. Westport’s investors also include Soros Fund Management, an investment vehicle of the Soros family. Westport’s board previously included T. Boone Pickens, who currently owns Clean Energy Fuels Corporation, a Houston-based supplier of natural gas.
Fuel Systems, Westport and Clean Energy Fuels constitute what Robert Brown, a stock analyst with Craig-Hallum Capital in Minneapolis who specializes in the energy sector, referred to as “the big three” of the natural gas-powered automation arena in North America. The companies are all relatively small in terms of revenues and considered speculative as stock investments, but the NATGAS act would allow them to profit from their research, design and development.
Clean Energy Fuels supplies liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG), and specializes in the development of natural gas distribution platforms. Westport and Fuel Systems offer engine and fueling systems for vehicles that run on CNG, an alternative to gasoline, and LNG, an alternative to diesel.
Brown said that all three companies will profit handsomely on passage of the NATGAS act and that all three will be harmed should Congress scuttle the Menendez Amendment.
Pickens, Soros, Douglas fund NATGAS act proponents
The three investors and their affiliates are on record as financially supporting proponents of the NATGAS act, according to FEC reports. Douglas and his wife Michelle have contributed more than $130,000 to President Barack Obama, Democrats and Democratic super PACs since 2009, according to FEC records, including to Nat Gas act supporter Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.).
Soros’ history of Democratic financial support is well known, such as $1.5 million to MoveOn.org from 2003 and 2004. In 2011, Soros gave $175,000 to the House Majority PAC and the Majority PAC, two super PACs whose donations have come mostly from American labor unions, according to FEC records. He has also given broadly to Democratic committees since 2009.
Pickens, his wife Madeleine and senior employees of Clean Energy Fuels have contributed more than $150,000 to politicians and committees that support the NATGAS act, according to FEC reports. Pickens and his wife gave $60,800 to House Representatives, including the act’s sponsor, Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.)
To Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) or related committees, the couple has given $20,800. To the Democratic Parties of New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, all key states for the natural gas industry, the couple has given $30,000.
Clean Energy Fuels employees have given a combined $19,750 to congressional representatives who support the NATGAS act, and $10,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to a HUMAN EVENTS review of FEC reports. Clean Energy Fuels employees have also given $7,800 to Sen. Reid and $4,400 to Sen. Menendez.
Fuel Systems in Iran
Details regarding Fuel Systems’ business in Iran are available in the company’s Form 10-K filed March 8, 2012 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011. The company’s investor relations spokesperson declined to comment on the companies operations in Iran and phone calls to the company’s corporate office were not returned as of Tuesday morning.
The SEC document, filed March 8, 2012 for the year ending Dec. 31, 2011, contains the following:
Some of our foreign subsidiaries have done, and may continue to do, business in countries subject to U.S. sanctions and embargoes, including Iran.
Some of our foreign subsidiaries sell fuel delivery systems, related parts and accessories to customers in Iran, a country currently subject to sanctions and embargoes imposed by the U.S. government, the European Union (“EU”), the United Nations, and other countries. In addition to Iran, there are other countries that are also subject to sanctions. These sanctions are complex. We believe we have procedures in place to conduct U.S. and foreign operations without violating U.S., EU, or other sanctions. However, if we fail to comply with U.S. sanctions, EU sanctions or other sanctions in our foreign operations, we could be subject to material fines and penalties and incur damage to our reputation, which may lead to a reduction in the market price of our common stock.
In addition, our foreign subsidiaries’ sales to Iran could reduce demand for our common stock among certain of our investors for political reasons.
Recent Iranian sanction laws and regulations have adversely affected our revenues and may cause us other adverse consequences.
In June 2010, the United Nations Security Council by Resolution voted to impose a new and expanded round of sanctions against Iran. In July 2010, the European Union implemented the UN Resolution. On July 1, 2010, President Obama signed into law the new Comprehensive Iran Sanctions and Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010 (the “CISADA”). In November 2011, President Obama signed Executive Order 13590 imposing broad sanctions similar to those included within the CISADA and which expressly apply to any individual or entity (whether or not a U.S. person). In January 2012, the EU expanded its sanctions against Iran. The expanded round of laws and regulations imposing sanctions on Iran has not significantly impacted our revenues derived from this country. We can offer no assurance that any further expansion of Iranian sanctions will not further adversely affect our revenues and cause us other adverse consequences.
S. E. Robinson is the Executive Director of Students for Solvency PAC and a writer for Human Events. A graduate of Bowdoin College and a native Mainer, he lives in Washington and works at Regnery Publishing.
What the liar in chief said it would cost:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press...to-a-Joint-Session-of-Congress-on-Health-Care
President Obama's national health care law will cost $1.76 trillion over a decade, according to a new projection released today by the Congressional Budget Office, rather than the $940 billion forecast when it was signed into law.
Democrats employed many accounting tricks when they were pushing through the national health care legislation, the most egregious of which was to delay full implementation of the law until 2014, so it would appear cheaper under the CBO's standard ten-year budget window and, at least on paper, meet Obama's pledge that the legislation would cost "around $900 billion over 10 years." When the final CBO score came out before passage, critics noted that the true 10 year cost would be far higher than advertised once projections accounted for full implementation.
Today, the CBO released new projections from 2013 extending through 2022, and the results are as critics expected: the ten-year cost of the law's core provisions to expand health insurance coverage has now ballooned to $1.76 trillion. That's because we now have estimates for Obamacare's first nine years of full implementation, rather than the mere six when it was signed into law. Only next year will we get a true ten-year cost estimate, if the law isn't overturned by the Supreme Court or repealed by then. Given that in 2022, the last year available, the gross cost of the coverage expansions are $265 billion, we're likely looking at about $2 trillion over the first decade, or more than double what Obama advertised.
http://campaign2012.washingtonexami...bamacare-cost-176-trillion-over-10-yrs/425831
Regulation Nation: New study finds Obama’s regs cost $46 billion a year
1 day 16 hours ago
288Comments
1 day 16 hours ago
288Comments
[ National Debt increased more in Obama's 3 years than Bush's 8, way to
go asshole ]
National Debt has increased more under Obama than under Bush
By Mark Knoller Topics Campaign 2012
(Credit: CBS)
(CBS News) The National Debt has now increased more during President Obama's three years and two months in office than it did during 8 years of the George W. Bush presidency. The Debt rose $4.899 trillion during the two terms of the Bush presidency. It has now gone up $4.939 trillion since President Obama took office.
The latest posting from the Bureau of Public Debt at the Treasury Department shows the National Debt now stands at $15.566 trillion. It was $10.626 trillion on President Bush's last day in office, which coincided with President Obama's first day.
The National Debt also now exceeds 100% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, the total value of goods and services.
Mr. Obama has been quick to blame his predecessor for the soaring Debt, saying Mr. Bush paid for two wars and a Medicare prescription drug program with borrowed funds.
The federal budget sent to Congress last month by Mr. Obama, projects the National Debt will continue to rise as far as the eye can see. The budget shows the Debt hitting $16.3 trillion in 2012, $17.5 trillion in 2013 and $25.9 trillion in 2022.
Federal budget records show the National Debt once topped 121% of GDP at the end of World War II. The Debt that year, 1946, was, by today's standards, a mere $270 billion dollars.
Mr. Obama doesn't mention the National Debt much, though he does want to be seen trying to reduce the annual budget deficit, though it's topped a trillion dollars for four years now.
As part of his "Win the Future" program, Mr. Obama called for "taking responsibility for our deficits, by cutting wasteful, excessive spending wherever we find it."
His latest budget projects a $1.3 trillion deficit this year declining to $901 billion in 2012, and then annual deficits in the range of $500 billion to $700 billion in the 10 years to come.
If Mr. Obama wins re-election, and his budget projections prove accurate, the National Debt will top $20 trillion in 2016, the final year of his second term. That would mean the Debt increased by 87 percent, or $9.34 trillion, during his two terms.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_...s-increased-more-under-obama-than-under-bush/
go asshole ]
National Debt has increased more under Obama than under Bush
By Mark Knoller Topics Campaign 2012
(CBS News) The National Debt has now increased more during President Obama's three years and two months in office than it did during 8 years of the George W. Bush presidency. The Debt rose $4.899 trillion during the two terms of the Bush presidency. It has now gone up $4.939 trillion since President Obama took office.
The latest posting from the Bureau of Public Debt at the Treasury Department shows the National Debt now stands at $15.566 trillion. It was $10.626 trillion on President Bush's last day in office, which coincided with President Obama's first day.
The National Debt also now exceeds 100% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, the total value of goods and services.
Mr. Obama has been quick to blame his predecessor for the soaring Debt, saying Mr. Bush paid for two wars and a Medicare prescription drug program with borrowed funds.
The federal budget sent to Congress last month by Mr. Obama, projects the National Debt will continue to rise as far as the eye can see. The budget shows the Debt hitting $16.3 trillion in 2012, $17.5 trillion in 2013 and $25.9 trillion in 2022.
Federal budget records show the National Debt once topped 121% of GDP at the end of World War II. The Debt that year, 1946, was, by today's standards, a mere $270 billion dollars.
Mr. Obama doesn't mention the National Debt much, though he does want to be seen trying to reduce the annual budget deficit, though it's topped a trillion dollars for four years now.
As part of his "Win the Future" program, Mr. Obama called for "taking responsibility for our deficits, by cutting wasteful, excessive spending wherever we find it."
His latest budget projects a $1.3 trillion deficit this year declining to $901 billion in 2012, and then annual deficits in the range of $500 billion to $700 billion in the 10 years to come.
If Mr. Obama wins re-election, and his budget projections prove accurate, the National Debt will top $20 trillion in 2016, the final year of his second term. That would mean the Debt increased by 87 percent, or $9.34 trillion, during his two terms.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_...s-increased-more-under-obama-than-under-bush/
Highest Gas Price Recorded in March
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/03/highest-gas-price-recorded-for-march/#
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The average price of a gallon of regular is now $3.87, the highest recorded price in March. The average price is up nearly 4 cents from a week ago, and over 30 cents from a year ago, according to the Department of Energy, as more drivers face gas prices of $4 a gallon or more across the country.
Last week, the average gas price was $3.83 a gallon, the previous record according to data going back to 1990.
The West Coast was once again the most expensive region with an average gas price of $4.23, up almost 2 cents from last week, with an increase of over 37 cents from a year ago.
The least expensive was the Rocky Mountain region with $3.62 a gallon. That region had the highest increase from last week, 14 cents, while the average price there climbed almost 24 cents from a year ago.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/03/highest-gas-price-recorded-for-march/#
Email
44 Smaller Font Text Larger Text | Print The average price of a gallon of regular is now $3.87, the highest recorded price in March. The average price is up nearly 4 cents from a week ago, and over 30 cents from a year ago, according to the Department of Energy, as more drivers face gas prices of $4 a gallon or more across the country.
Last week, the average gas price was $3.83 a gallon, the previous record according to data going back to 1990.
The West Coast was once again the most expensive region with an average gas price of $4.23, up almost 2 cents from last week, with an increase of over 37 cents from a year ago.
The least expensive was the Rocky Mountain region with $3.62 a gallon. That region had the highest increase from last week, 14 cents, while the average price there climbed almost 24 cents from a year ago.
Dire finances leave Detroit stalled
Mayor Bing resists proposed emergency takeover by the state
Despite assurances from Clint Eastwood and Eminem, Detroit’s rebirth may be on hold, as the city is on a Greece-like track to run out of money before summer, and things are getting increasingly testy between the state’s Republican governor and the city’s Democratic mayor.Although the automotive sector and some other parts of the city’s business picture have bounced back in recent years, Detroit city government finances are still on an unsustainable course, and the city does not have a viable fiscal plan to avoid running out of money in May.
Last week, the city rejected a proposed consent agreement that would have given a nine-member state-appointed oversight board a voice in city government and started a war of words with the state government, which has its own deadline set for next week.
Mayor Dave Bing said it would be “nuts” to think he would accept the oversight board. “When I did read it, I was appalled.” Mr. Bing and the City Council were expected to meet this week to come up with their own plan, though such efforts have failed in the past.
The political conundrum — the city won’t cede power, but seemingly can’t solve its problems — means analysts and activists here are increasingly resigned to the possibility that Michigan will step in and humiliate its biggest city by appointing an emergency manager to take over its finances, essentially turning Detroit into an American version of Greece.
A vacant warehouse in Detroit is emblematic of the Motor City’s financial woes. Detroit’s finances are on an unsustainable course, and the city does not have a viable fiscal plan to avoid running out of money in May. The state of Michigan may have to step in. (Associated Press)“Something has to happen. I think what everybody agrees is that the status quo is not sustainable. The city is out of money,” said Michigan State University economist Charles Ballard. “I’m sympathetic to the consent agreement in the sense that right now it seems that it’s the only thing on the table. Local governments don’t like to be told what to do, so it’s understandable that there is reluctance in parts of the city.
“It reminds me a lot of the debt crisis in Europe,” Mr. Ballard said. “The Greeks are resentful for this feeling they are being told what to do by the Germans, but the status quo was not tenable.”
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has repeatedly warned that time is running out and that while it’s not his preferred option, the state would appoint an emergency manager and strip power from the mayor and City Council if necessary. On March 26, an emergency review team he put into place months ago must come back with recommendations on the need for a financial takeover.
That law letting the state do that has been used successfully in such other Michigan cities as Ecorse and Benton Harbor. Detroit’s public school district has been under an emergency financial manager for several years in a reorganization widely considered to have been painful but successful.
Doing nothing to protect city services and keep the city out of bankruptcy is not an option, Mr. Snyder said.
“It’s not about [Mayor Bing] and I. It’s about showing results for citizens,” the governor said Friday in a WDHB radio interview with host Mildred Gaddis. “I have no interest in terms of interfering in Detroit at all. It’s not Michigan versus Detroit. We are in this together.”
The governor has planned town-hall meetings to get citizen input and to help educate residents about the city’s financial problems in advance of any decision.
The notion of the state running its largest city and the image it sends to the nation and world, however, has angered many Detroiters, including some civic and religious leaders, who decry big-foot tactics from Lansing — even as money needed to fund police, fire and emergency services and even pension payments — continues to evaporate.
Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley told city readers Friday that time has run out and that the mayor has been too slow to offer solutions.
“Bing failed to fix the mess because he was operating at 33⅓ rpm while the crisis was running at 78,” she wrote. “(That’s a reference to the vinyl records on my grandmother’s stereo years ago. The 33s ran slow. The 78s ran fast. And the 45s were Motown).
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/19/dire-finances-leave-detroit-stalled/
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Bristol Palin has asked President Obama to call her to discuss the long-standing insults hurled against her and the Palin family by $1-million Obama donor Bill Maher, writing: 'If Maher talked about Malia and Sasha that way, you'd return his dirty money, and the Secret Service would probably have to restrain you' — and still waiting for Obama to respond.
