The truth is that the wealthier those around you are, the better off you are. This is very important. The more wealth your neighbors have, the more they can buy. The economies of scale drive prices down, increasing your standard of living, and decreasing your cost of capital so you can increase your productivity and further increase your standard of living. One man possessing enormous wealth does in no way negatively affect any other people, unless he uses that wealth as a means to initiate force.
The saying should be: the rich get richer and the poor get richer. Everyone gets richer under capitalism where they are free to do so.
So you state that President Obama is depressed? How did you come by this information? From a direct source still working within the White House on a daily basis. As I had stated previously, tensions at the White House have reached a critical stage. The infighting among staff is off the charts. More recently, the president has increasingly withdrawn emotionally from the day to day demands of his job – he has become what was described to me as “empty”.
Empty? That is correct – empty.
Do you mean to say the president is not doing his job? Not exactly. He is there, he is getting briefed throughout the day, but President Obama appears to have emotionally shut down, not entirely mind you, but a great deal. It has worsened since I was last there. His natural detachment has become almost chronic to the point of being disconcerting to staff around him. It appears President Obama is suffering from severe depression.
You’re not a doctor, how are you qualified to make such a charge? No, I’m not a doctor, but from all the reports coming back to me, and from what I did see with my own eyes prior to leaving the White House myself, I think it is a very reasonable assumption to make. President Obama is emotionally shutting down. He is a terribly depressed man.
And why do you think this is happening? Well for one, he was completely unprepared for the job of being President of the United States. The demands on one’s time, the emotional and physical toll, are considerable. Second, the failure of the administration to effectively communicate to the American people. You have to understand that Obama believed that his ability to orate would be enough – that is proving to have been a considerable mistake on Obama’s part, and he is not dealing particularly well with that reality.
But you are no longer at the White House, correct? That is correct.
And about the time we are belting out "Auld Lang Syne" this holiday season, President Obama will raise all five income levels of tax categories between three to five percent.
Ironically the president will be raising the rate on the category that is home to seventy-five percent of all small businesses in America -- they will be socked by the largest increase.
I call it ironic because it is the small business community in America that hires 2 out of every 3 new workers in America.
Eventually it all adds up.
And then there was Monday's announcement. In Wisconsin, the President Obama proposed a $50 billion investment in long-term infrastructure projects that he claimed will stimulate the flailing economy, create jobs and refill the exhausted federal highway trust fund. But it's very unclear whether or not this proposal will ever be passed by Congress before the November midterms.
The president has not been pushed on this issue by the press. The president's team pretends that these realities do not exist. The president himself is willing to perpetuate the false notion that the stimulus package set up a "recovery summer" that in truth ended up in greater pain than it began with.
None of this takes into account the additional costs that will be incurred by taxpayers when the full implementation of President Obama's control of one-sixth of the economy through the manipulation of how we receive health care benefits kicks in. And not that it has a great likelihood of passing this year, but if by some miracle it did, the Obama tax penalties that would be incurred by every citizen in the nation under the proposed "cap and trade" legislation would add even greater misery to the growing pile.
All of these pending tax increases will be put into effect against well more than 95% of American tax-payers. Speaking of which that certainly contradicts his most famous campaign line.
In 1929, Yale economist Irving Fisher made note of a number of trends led to the worst economic depression in our nation's history.
Guess how many of these same trends fit into today's scenario:
• Debt liquidation and distress selling • Contraction of the money supply as bank loans are paid off • A fall in the level of asset prices • A still greater fall in the net worths of business, precipitating bankruptcies • A fall in profits • A reduction in output, in trade and in employment. • Pessimism and loss of confidence • Hoarding of money • A fall in nominal interest rates and a rise in deflation adjusted interest rates.
President Obama is ignoring and misrepresenting the rate of growth (or lack thereof) in the job numbers, and his economic team has laid the groundwork for the harshest attack on small businesses and every family in America that pays taxes effective January 1, 2011.
By every indicator this observer can see, we are poised for tragedy... and I didn't even get an Ivy League education!
Kevin McCullough is the nationally syndicated host of "'Baldwin/McCullough Radio"now heard on 212 stations and columnist based in New York. He blogs at The Kind Of MAN Every Man SHOULD Be is in stores now. And host of "The Kevin McCullough Show"weekdays 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. ET on Sirius 161.
Efforts to tame America's ballooning budget deficit could soon confront a daunting reality: Nearly half of all Americans live in a household in which someone receives government benefits, more than at any time in history.
At the same time, the fraction of American households not paying federal income taxes has also grown—to an estimated 45% in 2010, from 39% five years ago, according to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan research organization.
A little more than half don't earn enough to be taxed; the rest take so many credits and deductions they don't owe anything. Most still get hit with Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes, but 13% of all U.S. households pay neither federal income nor payroll taxes.
"We have a very large share of the American population that is getting checks from the government," says Keith Hennessey, an economic adviser to President George W. Bush and now a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution, "and an increasingly smaller portion of the population that's paying for it."
The dimensions of the budget hole were underscored Monday, when the Treasury reported that the government ran a $1.26 trillion deficit for the first 11 months of the fiscal year, on pace to be the second-biggest on record.
And about the time we are belting out "Auld Lang Syne" this holiday season, President Obama will raise all five income levels of tax categories between three to five percent.
Ironically the president will be raising the rate on the category that is home to seventy-five percent of all small businesses in America -- they will be socked by the largest increase.
I call it ironic because it is the small business community in America that hires 2 out of every 3 new workers in America.
Eventually it all adds up.
And then there was Monday's announcement. In Wisconsin, the President Obama proposed a $50 billion investment in long-term infrastructure projects that he claimed will stimulate the flailing economy, create jobs and refill the exhausted federal highway trust fund. But it's very unclear whether or not this proposal will ever be passed by Congress before the November midterms.
The president has not been pushed on this issue by the press. The president's team pretends that these realities do not exist. The president himself is willing to perpetuate the false notion that the stimulus package set up a "recovery summer" that in truth ended up in greater pain than it began with.
None of this takes into account the additional costs that will be incurred by taxpayers when the full implementation of President Obama's control of one-sixth of the economy through the manipulation of how we receive health care benefits kicks in. And not that it has a great likelihood of passing this year, but if by some miracle it did, the Obama tax penalties that would be incurred by every citizen in the nation under the proposed "cap and trade" legislation would add even greater misery to the growing pile.
All of these pending tax increases will be put into effect against well more than 95% of American tax-payers. Speaking of which that certainly contradicts his most famous campaign line.
In 1929, Yale economist Irving Fisher made note of a number of trends led to the worst economic depression in our nation's history.
Guess how many of these same trends fit into today's scenario:
• Debt liquidation and distress selling • Contraction of the money supply as bank loans are paid off • A fall in the level of asset prices • A still greater fall in the net worths of business, precipitating bankruptcies • A fall in profits • A reduction in output, in trade and in employment. • Pessimism and loss of confidence • Hoarding of money • A fall in nominal interest rates and a rise in deflation adjusted interest rates.
President Obama is ignoring and misrepresenting the rate of growth (or lack thereof) in the job numbers, and his economic team has laid the groundwork for the harshest attack on small businesses and every family in America that pays taxes effective January 1, 2011.
By every indicator this observer can see, we are poised for tragedy... and I didn't even get an Ivy League education!
Kevin McCullough is the nationally syndicated host of "'Baldwin/McCullough Radio"now heard on 212 stations and columnist based in New York. He blogs at The Kind Of MAN Every Man SHOULD Be is in stores now. And host of "The Kevin McCullough Show"weekdays 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. ET on Sirius 161.
Also, I appreciate all of the thoughtful comments from that Great Gold Rush state.
The original subject of the post here was not about the republican party or President Bush, per say...but since you brought it up;
Glenn Beck was not silent about Bush or the republicans...he was already sounding the alarm on his radio show about over spending, and some of the other problems with the Progressive Movement. aka. (socialism)
Beck, Sarah Palin and others who are summoning people today to join them to restore the honor of America, whether intended or not, are following in the footsteps of Dr. King. He spoke prophetically about their generation. Yes, he had a "Dream" that young Becks and Palins, when they became adults, would join hands not only with members of their "Tea Party," but, all Americans of goodwill, regardless of their race, color or ethnicity, to restore the honor and values enshrined in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
Civil Rights leaders who justifiably stake a "proprietary" claim to the legacy of the March on Washington and Dr. King's "Dream" 47 years ago should reach out and extend the hand of fellowship to Beck and his followers. Subject to the eventual content of the program planned on that anniversary date, we should, in the tradition and legacy of Dr. King, welcome and extend a hand to all persons who are committed to social justice, equality and restoring the honor of America.
Those of us who are blessed by longevity and privileged to have played a strategic role in the success of our "March on Washington" at the Lincoln Memorial where Beck plans to assemble his followers should be especially proud of our efforts. It was through our example and those of more than 250,000 of our multiracial brothers and sisters that summoned our fellow citizens to restore our nation's honor and values upon which our country was founded.
The Lord works in mysterious ways, and he has wonders to perform. Accordingly, we extend the hand of fellowship to Beck, Palin and their followers this weekend, and ask them to symbolically join hands with us to recommit ourselves to Dr. King's "Dream."
Glenn Beck is convening a "Restoration of Honor" Rally at the Lincoln Memorial this Saturday, Aug. 28, in Washington, D.C., in front of the Lincoln Memorial. His rally is schedule to occur at the same place, 47 years later to the date, of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech to more than 250,000 people assembled at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Mr. Beck summons us to "come celebrate American by honoring our heroes and our future."
I don't know whether Beck scheduled his rally by design or accident to coincide with the anniversary of Dr. King's historic address at the same venue. He says it is a "non-political event that pays tribute to America's service personnel and other upstanding citizens who embody our nation's founding principles of integrity, truth and honor." Until otherwise indicated, we take him at his word.
In his website invitation to persons to join him in Washington, Beck reminds us that, "throughout history America has seen many great leaders and noteworthy citizens change her course." He says that "it is through their personal virtues and by their example that we are able to live as a free people."
I have already heard comments on the cable television political news shows criticizing him for holding his event at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial on the same date where the March on Washington took place. There may or may not be a valid basis for criticism. It does not appear so from the words used to describe his event. Only the reality of actions taken and words spoken this Saturday will show whether such criticism was valid.
Beck and his followers have a unique opportunity to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. as an extraordinary example of one of America's "great leaders and noteworthy citizens," who by enabling our country to peacefully end American apartheid, changed our nation's course for us to live as a free people. The substance of Dr.King's speech 47 years ago at the Lincoln Memorial was a plea to America to "Restore its Honor." Or, in the words of Beck, "to restore the values that founded this great nation."
In collaboration with Stuart Connelly, I recently completed a book, describing the original "March On Washington" event, in real time, for today's generation. Titled Behind The Dream: Inside The Speech That Transformed A Nation, published by Palgrave Macmilloan (out on January 4, 2011), we provide a firsthand, never-before-told, story of the behind the scenes, discussions of the organizers of the MOW and a detailed description about the preparation and delivery by Dr. King of his famous speech. We recommend our book to Beck and his followers to refresh their recollection of the magnitude of the great debt our nation owes to Martin Luther King, Jr. for his efforts, in Beck's words, to restore America's honor and the "the values that founded this great nation."
Those of us who worked on convening the "March On Washington" during July and August 1963 are envious of the technology now available to organize and coordinate such an event. In our book I comment on the possibilities of how much more effective our rally 47 years ago at the Lincoln Memorial would have been had we had the use of the internet and various PDA platforms and cell phones. A review of Beck's "Restoring our Honor " website makes one's nostalgically ask, what if we had had this or that technology tool available to us as we planned and executed the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.
The Republican & Democratic ticket label matters little...
Did everyone fail to notice that... Bush and McCain are Progressives!
Only the lesser of two evils...that's why things are jacked, and Obama is even worse!
Progressive thinking is the disease that is killing this country!
We need to get back to the original intent of the Constitution before we lose the republic that our founding fathers sacrificed for.
Was it all for nothing? Blood has been shed by millions who have fought and died for our freedoms.
Freedoms that many people want to destroy!
Where are the people and other countries going to run when they are in trouble ...when China is the executive super power of the world?
Obama is purposely collapsing our system, and bring ruin on the United States. He is part of the Communist 60's Revolution Movement...all grown up and come home to roost!
Wake up from your slumber America before it is to late!
“If they are deliberately paying too much for mortgages to support the banks,” Mr. Baker said, “the government wants them to be in a position to keep doing that, and that would mean not doing anything about their status until further down the road.”
It’s no surprise that the government doesn’t want to acknowledge the soaring taxpayer costs associated with these mortgage zombies. The truth about Fannie and Freddie has always been hard to come by in Washington, and huge piles of money seem to circulate silently around both firms.
REMEMBER last Christmas Eve? That’s when the Treasury quietly decided to remove the $400 billion limit on federal borrowings available to Fannie and Freddie through 2012.
That stealth move didn’t engender much confidence in either the companies or their government guardian.
But because taxpayers own Freddie and Fannie, we should know more about their buying habits, as Mr. Baker points out. Unfortunately, if the government’s past actions are any indication of what we can expect, then don’t hold your breath waiting for the facts.
Yes absolutely,...this is an attack on free speech!
The argument seems to be that information is now becoming a distraction...
...and that we just can't sort out whats true...so now we need to government to sort it all out for us!
What happened to the idea that knowledge is power?
How could having too much information be a bad thing?
Also when was the last time you got information from a music player or a video game?
This is all about the Internet!
This is all a prelude to Obama's plan to regulate the Internet... they couldn't get it done in the court with net neutrality...so now they have decided to try and pass legislation that will treat the Internet as a public utility that they can regulate. Which means the government can regulate and control information and free speech.
Are we really going to let them do this?
Does anybody care about their First Amendment Rights anymore?
Frank Marshall Davis had been a noted poet, journalist and radical activist who had once been investigated by the congressional House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1956 he had exercised his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent rather than risk incriminating himself when asked whether he was a Communist. By 1970 Davis, then 65, was living in obscurity but he was a familiar sight on Kuhio Avenue, just off Honolulu’s teeming Waikiki Beach. Clad in a faded Aloha shirt and cut-off jeans tied with a length of rope, he would read, watch the world pass by and hold court with whoever wanted to stop.
Liberals Want To Ignore Immigration Law Mike Gallagher April 27, 2010
The ink hadn’t even dried from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s signature on the anti-illegal immigration law written by the state legislature before the shrieks and howls and wailing and gnashing of teeth began in earnest in the media.
“This is racial profiling!” they screamed. “What about civil liberties?” “All this does is discriminate against Hispanics!” they moaned.
Wow, what a fuss. Fury erupted because Arizona lawmakers had had enough and decided to become the first state to have the guts to give police the authority to do the unthinkable: enforce the law.
Some concept, huh? Actually letting cops do their jobs. So when an Arizona police officer pulls someone over for speeding or weaving through traffic and they discover that the driver has absolutely no identification on them and is barely capable of speaking English, that officer might conclude that the driver is in Arizona illegally. Ask any cop and they’ll assure you that it doesn’t exactly take a forensics team from NCIS to figure out that someone is an illegal.
But ACLU-loving, America-hating bunch that seems to think illegal immigrants deserve weekly ticker-tape parades down Main Street is mortified at Arizona’s chutzpah. They’re upset that at least in ONE state, the jig is finally up.
For too long now, the apologists for illegal immigrants have played a little game. They pretend to understand that the act of sneaking across the border and taking up residence in America is against the law. They even profess discomfort at illegals getting free health care, taking jobs that could belong to American citizens, and occupying seats in our country’s already overcrowded classrooms.
But they expect everyone to ignore the problem. They insist that illegal immigration is a federal concern and therefore oppose any effort for local law enforcement -- the real soldiers in the trenches -- to be able to do anything about it. It’s as if they believe there’s a magical, mythical federal army of illegal immigration watchdogs that just hasn’t quite yet gotten around to arresting illegals.
But it’s just a game to these folks. They resist enforcement of our illegal immigration laws and pretend to pawn the problem off on the feds so that the problem will never get solved.
Well, Arizona just took a giant step towards rectifying the situation. Polls show over 70% of state residents support the Senate bill that Gov. Brewer signed into law. I’ll bet the national percentage is even higher.
We are, after all, a nation of laws. And we live in a culture where carrying a form of identification is as normal as keeping your car keys in your pocket. When any of us walk into a grocery store and cashes a check, no one skips a beat when asked to present our driver’s license. If a police officer is looking for a criminal, he or she might stop a number of people in that particular area and ask to see their driver’s license. No one bellyaches about civil rights or privacy issues. We’re just happy the cops are trying to find the bad guy. Continued...
Also if I may reiterate a point from my original post, many of those crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico are criminal illegal aliens that support the drug cartels in Mexico.
Many of the protests involving the Latinos have been organized by the Labor Unions that support Obama, such as SEIU. Unfortunately, None of this is really about the people. Instead it is about a political agenda. They are using the Latinos to gain political power.
There is much more to this issue than what is generally being reported in most of the news media.
We can't put ourselves at risk saving everybody! America only has so many resources...
Yes, aren't we all? And that's the point, we've got to stop spending ourselves into oblivion.
Unfortunately, you and I can't just print money or borrow from a super power like China or Japan anytime we feel like it. We have to keep a budget, and pay our bills, otherwise there are consequences.
Eventually however, there are consequences for countries that over spend as well.
Look at the bankrupt country Greece for example...
Some of the money to bail them out is coming from the U.S... Where does it end?
FOX News is reporting this morning that our government had to borrow some kind of mechanism to do a burn off for the oil because we didn't have the necessary equipment, that was supposed to be in our emergency plan kit for such a crisis!
Further, there are reports that the Federal government is trying to pass legislation to force British Petroleum (BP)to be held accountable for even more of the liability for the accident than the law allows in the Constitution.
Our government should be working to help clean this up no matter what the expense, this is crucial before it hits Mississippi water ways. It has probably already ruined the coastal fishing industry...
Our government seems to think it is more important to bailout companies, and give us useless stimulus packages that do absolutely nothing but line their pockets! When we have a genuine crisis they do nothing! And God forbid they let the EPA regulate this mess in days to come or cancel off shore drilling! That will be bad for all of us! Already hearing about $5.00 and $10.00 dollar gasoline for the summer!
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. – Winston Churchill
The unemployment rate is up around 15 - 17 percent, also many of those involved in T.E.A. (Taxed Enough Already), are retired Grandma's and Grandpa's.
Personally, I agree with the Tea Party Movement, and I have been to a rally myself.
The Truth is that it is not about the Right or Left,... but Right and Wrong, also Big Government -vs- Small Government.
Saving our Country, starts with saving your money!
President Obama has increased the deficit by 3 Trillion dollars with the passage of Health Insurance Reform. The United states is about to loose our Moody's AAA Rating that helps us to borrow money at lower interest rates with China and Japan.
The President is now considering a VAT (Value Added Tax) because the U.S. is going bankrupt like Greece.
The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) predicts that by 2020 (just 10 yrs from now), under the projected Obama Budget, 100% of GDP will be the equivalent of the National Debt.
That is a huge number! It's chilling to think that all the income we could generate in a year, would be all it would take to pay off the National deficit we have in spending.
Further, The Value Added Tax could break the President's promise to the middle class.
With this in place the tax burden for everyone would be at around the 75% range. With Federal Income tax, State income Tax, excise taxes combined at 50% of a person's pay check. Then with the additional sales tax which is after tax income, being taxed that puts it at about 14% that we pay at the store. VAT tax would be an additional amount added into our purchases that could be as much as 25%.
This is crazy! Are we only working to pay the government?
We don't need all these crazy entitlements, and government programs eating up our money. We can be self sufficient! We can be financially responsible, and help others with charity, not government handouts.
Socialism can't be supported by the free enterprise system. That's why it is a government takeover of our economy! Wake Up Everybody!
And I haven't even started on the President's Cap and trade ideas to tax our energy consumption. The states are already bankrupt because of Union pensions and other expenses like the additional Medicaid recipients they will be covering by the Health reform. Who is going to bail them out? The U.S. taxpayer, I think not.
This whole plan of President Obama's is unsustainable!
Now he want to Create Wall Street Financial Regulatory Reform which is really just a 50 Billion dollar slush fund of Permanent TARP that will put the American people in a constant position to bailout companies. If a company is too big to fail, maybe they are too big! We can't afford this!!
Further, President Obama received nearly One Million dollars in campaign contributions in 2008 from Goldman Sachs. If you look at that in terms of Tarp dollars, they spent a dollar for every thousand dollars they got in TARP Money. So at the end of the day that was a really good investment! Nearly Everyone in the Obama Administration is in the pocket of Goldman Sachs!
Further, Why aren't there New Rules being proposed for Federally backed Freddie Mae and Freddy Mac who made the bad FHA loans on risky mortgages, since they are the reason for our financial crisis?
longcoolwoman61 Blog Comments (29)
Obama Being Treated for Severe Depression
continued...The truth is that the wealthier those around you are, the better off you are. This is very important. The more wealth your neighbors have, the more they can buy. The economies of scale drive prices down, increasing your standard of living, and decreasing your cost of capital so you can increase your productivity and further increase your standard of living. One man possessing enormous wealth does in no way negatively affect any other people, unless he uses that wealth as a means to initiate force.
The saying should be: the rich get richer and the poor get richer. Everyone gets richer under capitalism where they are free to do so.
Copyright © 2001 by Jeff Landauer and Joseph Rowlands