American Reality Check

[benjamen]

Those pesky facts blowing holes in the official recovery story:
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/07/june-jobs-swoon-americas-labor-market-depression-continues/

I love the graph showing the promised drops in unemployment when the recovery plan was originally presented compared to what unemployment actually did.

For those that claim that the U.S. economy is recovering, the bottom graph in article clearly shows the percentage of employed adults bottomed out in 2010 and has flatlined ever since.

 

[benjamen]

The U.S. has so much money, we are just giving it away:
http://thenewamerican.com/rio-20/item/11987-us-pledges-$20-million-and-counting-for-african-“clean-energy”-projects

"The federal government has done such a bang-up job of picking winners in the “clean energy” field here at home (see, e.g., Solyndra) that it is now planning to spend $20 million of taxpayers’ money on similar projects in Africa — with “hundreds of millions of dollars” to follow, according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

You know, I can not find the section of the constitution that authorizes our government to give money away?
:shrug:

 

[benjamen]

If you can not the anti-firearm law passed in the U.S., then do it through the U.N.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybe...eement-should-have-all-gun-owners-up-in-arms/

"In January 2010 the U.S. joined 152 other countries in endorsing a U.N. Arms Treaty Resolution that will establish a 2012 conference to draft a blueprint for enactment. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged to push for Senate ratification.

Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton has cautioned gun owners to take this initiative seriously, stating that the U.N. “is trying to act as though this is really just a treaty about international arms trade between nation states, but there is no doubt that the real agenda here is domestic firearms control.”

 

[benjamen]

Increase in the number of people getting disability outpaces increase in new jobs:
http://news.investors.com/article/6...ility-climbs-faster-than-jobs-under-obama.htm

"The disability ranks have outpaced job growth throughout President Obama's recovery. While the economy has created 2.6 million jobs since June 2009, fully 3.1 million workers signed up for disability benefits."

"The number of long-term unemployed — those out of work 27 weeks or more — is still 5.4 million — almost 1 million higher than when the recovery began, and almost twice the level it ever reached prior to Obama's recovery."

opcorn:

 

[benjamen]

California finally getting it's budget under control?
http://news.yahoo.com/final-bills-california-budget-sent-governor-013902748.html

Nevermind:
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/po...pprove-construction-on-high-speed-rail-system

aperbag:

 

[ancona]

Californians will never learn. The third city in two weeks has filed for bankruptcy for a reason, there simply is no more money. Tax bases have eroded by huge margins and people are fleeing. Productive folks are tired of having these legislators dip in to their wallet to line their pension funds with furs, and now they authorize even more debt for a train to nowhere that will never be completed. Watching the sequence of events in California is like a real time enactment of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

 

[bushi]

If you can not the anti-firearm law passed in the U.S., then do it through the U.N.

...ah, yes, the same modus operandi as over here - when EU member country passess some nonsense bullshit bureaucratic law/regulation, and people start asking questions why, there is that new universal "authority" at hand, that is supposed to serve as an end-all argument (and surprisingly enough, 90% cases, it shuts the opponents up!): "but, but, we have to impose this that law, to be in order with EU directives"

...like, you know, a nonsense stops being a nonsense, if it comes from such "high above", that there's no one to argue with/challenge.

people are sheep...

 

[benjamen]

U.S.A.
We want the national debt paid off
We do not want to pay more in taxes
We do not want less government benefits
The rich are not paying enough taxes, make them pay more

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/raising-taxes-winning-issue-obama-223018677.html

:noevil:

 

[bushi]

U.S.A.
We want the national debt paid off
We do not want to pay more in taxes
We do not want less government benefits
The rich are not paying enough taxes, make them pay more

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/raising-taxes-winning-issue-obama-223018677.html

:noevil:

Funny, because under current monetary system, as it is designed (money=debt & debt=money), it doesn't really matter what a country might do, there WILL be a debt pushed around from one place to another, from one group to another, from public to private, lastly, from one country to another - unless you want to destroy global monetary system. Simply, no debt = no money in the system. When the debt gets paid up, the money gets destroyed. And you can tax people 100%, make them eat thin air and live under the blue sky, and you still won't be able to get rid of the debt, on the global scale - because, after paying all the borrowed capital back (=destroying all the existing money), there will be still interest due, which has never been created (=borrowed into existence).

So speaking about "reducing debts" AND at the same time "reviving the economy" WITHOUT redesigning monetary system from the ground up, is a nonsense, mathematically, and let alone real-world imperfections. And it can only serve as an example, how clueless the public, and their representatives are, in monetary matters.

 

[benjamen]

WOW:
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/07/6-charts-that-show-the-welfare-state-run-amok/

"There are just 1.2 private sector workers per 1 person on welfare or working for government."
:flail:

"In the 1960s, there were 18 workers per Medicaid recipient. Today that number is 2.5."
:flail:

I am not sure if graph #3 or #5 is the scariest in the article?
:shrug:

 

[rblong2us]

but if you compare the apparent increase in spending with the 'dollar destruction' chart, spending in real terms remains constant :rotflmbo:

 

[benjamen]

Let us check off the list of "free" things given away:
Food
Housing
Energy
Cellphones
Cash
Airconditioner

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...ent-is-handing-out-free-air-conditioners-too/
http://moneyland.time.com/2012/02/08/how-to-get-the-government-to-cover-your-cell-phone-bills/

If we dare cut government spending, two million jobs will be lost!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/report-2m-jobs-lost-automatic-065313310.html
Ignore the fact that the 2 million would all be government job...

Thankfully, the government has a never ending supply of money. Nothing to worry about, move along..

:noevil:

 

[benjamen]

Everyone cheer, U.S. M2 is now up to 14 digits!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/10-trillion-m2-now-rearview-mirror

"Which then begs the question: if and when the US currency in circulation starts picking up, due to conversion of reserves into dollar bills, and if the current ratio of reserves to currency persists, then the conversion of another $1.6 trillion in reserves into currency (since the Fed will be absolutely unable to withhold the reserve avalanche from converting into real circulating money without raising the IOER to a level which would crush the stock market, directly in opposition of what the Fed's prime and only directive is) would mean, all else equal, total bank deposits would rise from the current $8.4 trillion to $21 trillion."

opcorn:

 

[benjamen]

Is is really possible to be "poor", yet have 2+ televisons, air conditioning, cable TV, a DVD player, gaming system such as a Playstation, more living space than an average European, and food?
http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/01/news/economy/poor-income/index.htm?iid=Lead

This line amused me:
"Liberals, however, counter by saying that while electronics and appliances have become more affordable, basic necessities such as child care, health care and transportation have not. These costs have left the poor struggling to make ends meet."

I think this goes to the heart of the U.S. problem. People care more about having the latest gadget than taking personal responsibility of providing their family with food and health care!

$.02

 

[KMS]

Dude, I have no kids of my own, all of those things (toys) you've mentioned. Aside from helping keep the roof over our heads, the vehicles running, and food on the table - not much else in the way of expenses.

And I still don't have much extra fiat at the end of each month. Truthfully, my biggest bill is taxes. I pay more in taxes than I do in any one other department in a year. Food/gas/energy/phone/cable. Any single category, doesn't add up to my tax bill.

Bottom line is, I don't know how people don't get more mad already...

 

[ancona]

Is is really possible to be "poor", yet have 2+ televisons, air conditioning, cable TV, a DVD player, gaming system such as a Playstation, more living space than an average European, and food?
http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/01/news/economy/poor-income/index.htm?iid=Lead

This line amused me:
"Liberals, however, counter by saying that while electronics and appliances have become more affordable, basic necessities such as child care, health care and transportation have not. These costs have left the poor struggling to make ends meet."

I think this goes to the heart of the U.S. problem. People care more about having the latest gadget than taking personal responsibility of providing their family with food and health care!

$.02

Don't even get me started on this one. When i see people lined up at the food stamp office, wearing three hundred dollars worth of clothes and shoes, sporting gold chains and an iphone, it makes me want to scream. Our liberal contingent in the USA thinks that this doesn't matter and that we shouldn't add cell phones, cars and clothes to a persons net worth. I say that if these folks can afford 200 dollar name brand tennis shoes, Jordache jeans, an iphone and payments/insurance on a Toyota Camry, then they don't need my help just yet. As cold as it may sound to some, sell the fucking car and take a bus. We have a decent bus line and transit schedule and it costs a buck a trip. You can go as far as eighty miles on a one dollar fare, which is significantly cheaper than a four hundred dollar monthly car payment and another hundred or so for insurance. The gold chains? Sell those too.

I am sick and tired of subsidizing the lives of the perennially lazy and permanent victim class.:judge:

 

[benjamen]

Lawmaker actually notices the unemployement rate is complete bull...
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/brea...needs-fixing-rep-duncan-hunter-113437674.html

"The current 8.2% figure you hear about so often is wildly inaccurate and doesn't fairly reflect the true state of the nation's labor force. It's a deficiency that Wall Street-types have long adjusted for with a wink-wink sort of acceptance, knowing full well that the so-called "U-3" headline number is actually a quagmire of exclusions and adjustments that under-reports the real situation by as much as 50%."

I wonder how fast this guy's attempt at being honest gets shot down?
opcorn:

 

[benjamen]

Legislative branch of government turning over more power to the executive brance:
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/co...minating-senate-approval-of-pres-appointments

"By a vote of 261-116, the House of Representatives passed a bill rewriting Article II of the Constitution and divesting the Senate of the power to accept or reject the appointment of many presidential nominees.

Last year, the Senate passed the measure by a vote of 79-20, so it now goes to the desk of President Obama for his signature."

WTF!
:soap:

 

[pmbug]

Legislative branch of government turning over more power to the executive branch:
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/co...minating-senate-approval-of-pres-appointments

...

Unconscionable. If there are too many appointments taking up their time, perhaps it's time to shrink the government instead of abdicating responsibility. :judge:

 

[pmbug]

BTW, Article II of the Constitution does allow Congress to do this:

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.