jpiretti

Give Obama 40 More Years in Office!

id anyone who commented notice when the negative debt/nat. income metrics begin there parabolic rise? 1981?...Given these charts, you could easily publish a peer reviewed paper dispelling the myth of the Laffer curve and supply side economics. Were we not also told that in 2005 our economy was robust? When the median (the most middle of the middle class) family incomes are dropping, can we still say the economy was successful in 2005? I have said this before...I am all for tax cuts, but they must be targeted towards investment (R&D block grants) vs. distribution (cap gains & dividends)

Give Obama 40 More Years in Office!

Not unless he losses to a third party candidate because the Republicans have nothing to offer in terms of a vibrant public policy debate. Can you imagine that the intellectual soul of the consevative movement has gone from William F. Buckley to Rush Limbaugh (college dropout, draft dodger, drug addict). If you are a Republican and want to compete, you better clean house from within....and I would be happy to see it.


On Jun 17 10:33 AM AndrewBaker wrote:

> Obama won't get to do eight years: his first four will make sure
> of that.

Give Obama 40 More Years in Office!

Dear WG,
I have a feeling that you believe ACORN received 5.2 billion dollars in the stimulus package (a lie often repeated and never corrected by FOX News)...here are the facts.
www.factcheck.org/askf...
Please...put your pitchfork and tea bags down and read a bit.

CNBC's Santelli Speaks for All of Us

I find Mr. Santelli's analysis of the market's reaction to Fed policy to be usually spot on, but when he turns to the floor of the CBOE and says "this is America"..this is nonsense. There are a minority of traders that are independent, but the majority work for divisions of banks and investment banks...all took TARP money. In essence, all of their paychecks are being subsidized by me and you...spare me the victim rant...or hand over your paycheck.

Let the debate begin: Senators Lincoln and Landrieu indicate they'll vote Yes on the motion to debate the Senate health care bill. Both also say they won't vote for cloture on the bill unless the debate process leads to further concessions, especially on the public option. But post-debate, the bill only needs 50 votes to pass. (via)

I have gotten to the point where I see Liebermann as a complete tool of the special interest, but his views on insurance/health care reform can't come as a complete surprise...after all he is a senator from the state of CT., home of Hartford, the insurance capital of the US.


On Nov 21 03:53 PM spald_fr wrote:

> What happened to "Independent" Joe Liebermann of CT? What a b*astard!

Give Obama 40 More Years in Office!

It's not a privately owned business when in 2007 (depending on the report you read) 40-62% of all individual bankruptcies listed medical indebtedness as their #1 liability...75% of those folks had insurance. This from an industry that maximizes it's "free market" profits by denying services...we all pay for that. WE (tax payers) also pay for the 47 million who don't have insurance and have to use the emergency room as their primary physician. We demand car operators have insurance to protect all operators from collective liability. We demand home owners have insurance so banks are not exposed to losses that would be written off and absorbed by tax payers...I am sorry, but the Libertarian approach of "every man for himself" will not address the fact that we spend 16% of GDP on health care while 47 million have no insurance and another 13 million are under insured. Does it not strike you as odd that the most Socialized of the Socialized medicine examples (France) only spends 11% of their GDP on health care and everyone is covered with no deductibles?....before you scream I am a Socialist, I am not proposing this. It would not also address the fact that we (Alabama & Ky.) just lost 2 bids to Canada over the last 18 months on new Toyota plants(HC costs were cited). This is not entirely a question of fairness, but global competitiveness.


On Jun 17 01:07 PM agneaux wrote:

> Even though Dr. Ron Paul, M.D. is a Republican, he does not vote
> in lockstep with the GOP and would diapprove of any "health care
> reform" from either party, because health care is a privately-owned
> business, not a Constitutionally-guara... right. He is really a Libertarian,
> and has run for president as a Libertarian in the past. He ran for
> president as a Republican in the last election. There's no point
> in talking about 'public policy suggestions' now, since Obama is
> going to ram them down our throats for the next four years, whether
> we like them or not.

Give Obama 40 More Years in Office!

I am quite shocked at the level of mis-information and stupidity on these sites. If people are really interested in fact checking themselves before they post bogus drivel, try these resources.
www.factcheck.org/
www.politifact.com/tru.../
My guess is that most folks will cling to there pre-desposed stupidity rather than fact check their warm,fuzzy but dead wrong assertions.

The upside surprise in nonfarm payrolls today is the second-biggest this year (in June, expectations were for -520K jobs and the actual number came in at -345K), and among the biggest expectations "beats" in the past 10 years.

This is why the unemployment rate is a useless metric and a lagging indicator, but temporary employment is a leading indicator and has trended higher since July. That number this morning was the highest in 5 years...you can't ignore that.

On Dec 04 10:14 AM Alan von Altendorf wrote:

> "improvement in the unemployment rate was largely due to people dropping
> off the radar of the government as their benefits run out" [Jesse's
> Cafe Americain]

Nov. Nonfarm Payrolls: -11K vs. -125K expected, -111K in October (revised from -190K). Unemployment 10% vs. 10.2% expected and prior. Avg. hourly earnings $18.74 vs. $18.72 prior. Overall workweek 33.2 hours vs. 33 prior.

But you neither have facts nor statistics...do you have any other conspiracy theories?


On Dec 04 08:44 AM Schweizer wrote:

> Obama selects the number and BLS finds a way to hit it.
>
> BLS is garbage ... it's not facts, it's statistics.

Nov. Nonfarm Payrolls: -11K vs. -125K expected, -111K in October (revised from -190K). Unemployment 10% vs. 10.2% expected and prior. Avg. hourly earnings $18.74 vs. $18.72 prior. Overall workweek 33.2 hours vs. 33 prior.

The BLS headline # is suspect...probably seasonal adjustments, but the temporary # and the weekly hours # are leading indicators and good news. No matter what the headline # is we were shedding 750K in Jan and now 50k + or - 50k...the trend is indisputable.


On Dec 04 08:36 AM mrdirt wrote:

> Increase was in Temporary jobs
> from BLS.
>
> Employment in professional and business services rose by 86,000 in
> November.
> Temporary help services accounted for the majority of the increase,
> adding
> 52,000 jobs. Since July, temporary help services employment has risen
> by
> 117,000.

Give Obama 40 More Years in Office!

How do we provide HC coverage to the 47 million who don't have it? Can we kick this can down the road any longer without crippling our economy? Can we depend entirely on the private insurance industry to provide leadership on this when they maximize profits by denying coverage while they pay their CEO's 124 million dollars in one year?
United Health Group
CEO: William W McGuire
2005: 124.8 mil
5-year: 342 mil

Forest Labs
CEO: Howard Solomon
2005: 92.1 mil
5-year: 295 mil

Caremark Rx
CEO: Edwin M Crawford
2005: 77.9 mil
5-year: 93.6 mil

Abbott Lab
CEO: Miles White
2005: 26.2 mil
5-year: 25.8 mil

Aetna
CEO: John Rowe
2005: 22.1 mil
5-year:57.8 mil

Amgen
CEO: Kevin Sharer
2005:5.7 mil
5-year:59.5 mil

Bectin-Dickinson
CEO: Edwin Ludwig
2005: 10 mil
5-year:18 mil

Boston Scientific
CEO:
2005:38.1 mil
5-year:45 mil

Cardinal Health
CEO: James Tobin
2005:1.1 mil
5-year:33.5 mil




On Jun 17 02:17 PM MudEngineer wrote:

> If spending money at a rate that is 3 times faster than the overspending
> of the past 8 years and taking over American businesses and giving
> them to the Unions is being an effective and farsighted leader, then
> we are in good shape! Thank God for that, huh? Just just drinking
> that Kool-Aid and you won't even notice when society as we knew it
> comes to an end! Sheeple elected him and Sheeple just keep on defending
> him even as he marches us all to the destruction of our Country.
> It just amazes me how blinded and uninformed people can actually
> become.

Give Obama 40 More Years in Office!

Do you have any real public policy suggestions?...or would you like to go back to another 8 years of K street manipulated economic policies? (Medicare pt. D ripoff)


On Jun 17 11:57 AM agneaux wrote:

> Obama is of the parasitic class, steeped in the logic of The Big
> Lie. If you lie to us long enough, it almost starts to make sense.
> Except that none of what he says makes any sense at all. I agree
> with the comment that he will not be re-elected after his first four
> years, and that he will make a bad economic problem much worse by
> his socialist actions. This has been and always will be a Capitalist
> country with free men and free markets. It has been said that Capitalism
> is the worst possible economic system, except for all the others...
> (which are much worse: Socialism, Communism, Fascism, ...). Remove
> the parasites, and the patient will recover.

The Leading Cause of Personal Bankruptcy

I have never understood the argument that a for-profit health insurance network would be considered the most efficient. Let's use Apple Computer as an example. They make wonderful profits the old fashion way...they produce products that people want and are willing to pay a premium for. What is the most effective way an insurance company maximizes profits?....deny services!...how can we have a world class health care system under this business model?

The Jim Rogers / George Soros Gap

And your apparently a tool of Bill O'Reilly. Put the pitchfork down and pick up a book not published by Regnery Press.


On Apr 07 03:19 PM Socialism cannot compete! wrote:

> Bullsh!t!! Soros is a tool of the FAR left, and is an enemy of Liberty
> and civilization. The guy profits from taking down banks, national
> currencies, etc., and may even have been behind the huge run-up in
> oil futures last year. Soros is not "cagey" -- he's got the resources
> to "force the market", to HIS benefit, and society's detriment.<br/>

On This Week today, Alan Greenspan played down the recent spat of weaker than expected data: "It is true, the last couple of weeks that some of the numbers that are coming in have been a little bit soft. But this is what a recovery looks like."

Just a reminder. When Reagan took office in Jan. 81' the unemployment rate was 7.6%. 2 years later in Jan. 03' it was 9.6% and that was considered an economic revitalization and I don't think anyone who comments on this site would consider those 2 years to be a false recovery. The private sector is even slower to hire then it is to shed capacity...it takes time.