In Iowa, Barack Obama Ups His Game

President Barack Obama talks with patrons during a stop for lunch at Ross’ Restaurant in Bettendorf, June 28, 2011. Image Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

In Iowa, Barack Obama Ups His Game

This week saw the President of the United States travel to Iowa for a fund raiser over the same time period the loyal opposition of the Republican party were campaigning to become the choice of the American people to unseat him.

Barack Obama scheduled this manufacturing plant speech for his run to get re-elected over the same time he is wanting to up the nations debt ceiling so that he, and the Democrat party can saddle the American citizenry with more Government spending and debt.

In the speech he came to Iowa to deliver, he made this statement, "You [Alcoa Davenport Works] had to up your game. And that’s what we’ve got to do as a country as a whole."

Before Barack Obama admonished the people of the United States for not playing hard enough and taking their life situations seriously enough, he showed his commitment to his wife's agenda for all Americans to eat healthier by dropping by for lunch at Ross’ Restaurant in Bettendorf.

My Plate replaces the food pyramid as the symbol of Government guidance on eating. Image Credit: choosemyplate.gov

This excerpted and edited from the Des Moines Register -

Obama makes good on promise to stop at Iowa diner
Des Moines Register - 1:47 PM, Jun 28, 2011
By Ed Tibbetts, Quad-City Times

The president then made good on a 2008 campaign promise today, making a quick stop at Ross’ Restaurant in Bettendorf. The diner is off Interstate-74 on the way to Alcoa, which is in nearby Riverdale.

Three years ago, Obama talked with an owner, Cynthia Freidhof, at a town hall meeting, in August, 2008, and pledged to come here.
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“You are so awesome,” Cynthia told the president as they hugged.

The president explained what had happened at the town hall, and that he’d been told about the Magic Mountain.
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The president ordered four Magic Mountains and two Volcanoes. A Magic Mountain has grilled loose meat hamburger on texas toast, covered with french frieds and cheese sauce. Topped with onions, which is called a “snowcap on the mountain.” It becomes a volcanoe by adding chili on the top.

“I think he’s a man of his word, always, and he’s doing the very best job that he can and I just can’t believe he’s here, but it’s real,” Freidhof said.

The president challenged the press with him to eat a Magic Mountain, saying he’d buy it if they ate it. (I’m not sure if anyone took him up on it). The president said the orders he placed were for people on the plane[as if!] .
[Reference Here]

So the President upped his game on eating poorly (or just feeding his staff poorly) in Iowa against the lecturing of his wife's, Michelle, My Plate Campaign upon which the USDA invested over $2,000,000 on the website alone. One has to ask themselves, why did we throw away the food pyramid in favor of a multi-million dollar USDA eat healthy campaign just to have it officially ignored by the people who choose to shove this agenda down our throats? ... all the while being admonished and told to "UP OUR GAME".

Two words:

Up Yours!

Oh! ... and stop (EPA up 125% alone since Obama took office in 2009), STOP spending our money.

(Article first published as In Iowa, Barack Obama Ups His Game on Technorati)

The Barack Obama Economy - Greece-ing Our Skids

President Barack Obama delivers remarks during the Official Arrival Ceremony for Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on the South Lawn of the White House, June 7, 2011. Image Credit: Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy

The Barack Obama Economy - Greece-ing Our Skids

Yesterday, the United States stock market dropped about 1.5% on fears of extreme unrest in Greece on the news that the citizens there, who have lived in an entitlement/socialist society for decades, have nearly bankrupted the country and can no longer receive the supports to their lifestyles they were accustomed to.

Greece is struggling with a nearly half a trillion dollar debt load, and is working to avoid having to restructure, or worse, default on its debt. However, the Greek public has protested deep spending cuts and austerity measures to save their economy, and plans to privatize government-held entities have fallen far short of the necessary capital requirements.

Last week, President Barack Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and one of the issues they discused was this ongoing problem of the Greecian economy. Greece has already received $161 billion in European bailout assistance, largely orchestrated by Merkel. Now, European finance ministers and international lenders are working on a second round, on the order of an additional $1l7 billion to $146 billion.

After his meeting with Merkel, Obama said the U.S. would participate in the bailout on condition that Germany takes the lead. In a sense, as the largest contributor to the International Monetary Fund, the United States is already participating.

This excerpted and edited from CNBC's moneycontrol.com -

US is in even worse shape financially than Greece: Gross
moneycontrol.com - Published on Tue, Jun 14, 2011

When adding in all of the money owed to cover future liabilities in entitlement programs the US is actually in worse financial shape than Greece and other debt-laden European countries, Pimco`s Bill Gross told CNBC Monday.

Much of the public focus is on the nation`s public debt, which is USD 14.3 trillion. But that doesn`t include money guaranteed for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which comes to close to USD 50 trillion, according to government figures.

The government also is on the hook for other debts such as the programs related to the bailout of the financial system following the crisis of 2008 and 2009, government figures show.

Taken together, Gross puts the total at "nearly USD 100 trillion," that while perhaps a bit on the high side, places the country in a highly unenviable fiscal position that he said won`t find a solution overnight.
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Should the debt problem in Greece explode into a full-blown crisis-an International Monetary Fund bailout has prevented a full-scale meltdown so far-Gross predicted that German debt, not that of the US, would be the safe-haven of choice for global investors.
[Reference Here]

We, at MAXINE, are compelled to ask: Why are we bailing out Greece when we should be bailing out ... ourselves?

This is not the time to approve an increase the debt ceiling as the President insists on having the Congress and the Senate agree with him to do. Our country is already way too much in debt on un-funded liabilities alone.

It's time to hit the spending brakes and stop this skid into Government entitlement oblivion.

The 44th President's Penultimate State Of The Union Speech

President Barack Obama delivering his State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. Tuesday's speech was his second State of the Union address. Image Credit: Getty Images via Clarity Media

The 44th President's Penultimate State Of The Union Speech

Barack Obama gave his second speech to the Congress reviewing his view on where our country is today and updating his call to spend more money during the next year. If we are lucky, this will be the next to the last "State Of The Union" speech he will be required to deliver.

Barack Obama became our nation's 44th President just two years ago and decided to outspend any other of the previous 43 presidents through increasing the budgets of the operation of all government agencies by over 25% in an economy that was only growing an anemic 2.1% over this same period. He also passed a one-time emergency stimulus spending bill that boosted the spending of all of the agencies by about an additional 25% making the increase during these two years of around 50%.

In his speech, he said he recognizes that the American people sent a message to have government spending become under control so he proposed that the Congress freeze spending at current levels for the next five years. Sadly, this would suggest not to cut the 25% of continued increased spending he has placed on all of us while our economy may only grow at between 2-3% during the same time period.

He claimed that our nation is facing a "Sputnik" moment (where the country recognizes it is behind the successes of other nations)and called for increased government investments/spending in education, innovation, and infrastructure (like high-speed trains - all the while AMTRAK looses over 1 Billion dollars as it grows to new ridership rates). Do not forget to raise the debt ceiling to 14 Billion while your at it!

Last November, the President's party saw congressional election losses that have not been seen in over 70 years and State government losses that could be claimed as the most sweeping ... ever. The President at the time of the election last November 2010 mentioned that he and his Democrat political party suffered a shellacking but in this latest speech, while speaking words that, for the first time, did not mention George Bush and the previous administration, put forth more of the same expansion of government spending and control through regulation and additional paperwork. He still wants to keep the expansion of government ownership of the nation's healthcare system.

Our country can not afford the agenda of President Barack Obama and the country knows it. If we wish to be able to experience the blessings of self-government, we will need to change the leadership in the executive branch and stop the progressive movement. Last night, we all may have just witnessed the penultimate State Of The Union speech of this 44th presidency ... Carter's Second Term.

The Beat Goes On In A Bad Obama Economy

Image Credit: citytowninfo.com

The Bankruptcy Beat Goes On In A Bad Obama Economy

All of the government "stimulus" and government spending in the world can not repair a free market economy.

The number of Americans filing for bankruptcy in 2010 ticked up 9% over the previous year to more than 1.53 million, industry groups said Monday.

The number of consumers filing for bankruptcy has increased each year since 2005, when bankruptcy laws were revamped to make bankruptcy more difficult, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Bankruptcy Research Center.

This 2010 figure of reported bankruptcies far outpaces the 1,407,788 total consumer filings that were recorded during 2009, a trend that the American Bankruptcy Institute attributes to high debt and a stagnant economy.

"The steady climb of consumer filings notwithstanding the 2005 bankruptcy law restrictions demonstrate that families continue to turn to bankruptcy as a result of high debt burdens and stagnant income growth," ABI Executive Director Samuel Gerdano said in a statement. "We expect that consumer filings will continue to rise in 2011."

With a total of 118,146 bankruptcy filings, December 2010 was a particularly bad month for consumers, an increase of 3% over November's level.
(ht: CNNMoney)

The Obama administration combined with entrenched ruling class politicians that have run Washington federal politics over these last several decades is finally coming to roost here in 2011 as the national debt exceeds 14 Trillion dollars.

using a total population of 333,000,000 (333 Million - 1/3 of a Billion) for ease of mathematics ... a Trillion dollars is 1,000 Billion dollars, and a Billion dollars is equal to a contribution of $3.00 for each and every person wither the person is 9 months, or 90 years old. Using this base of logic, each and every human being in the United States owes the federal government over $42,000 in order to wipe out the current level of debt.

The debt is growing at over 4 Billion dollars a day or by the end of today YOU will have to add another $12.00 to the $42,000 that you and everyone else owes to wipe out the debt our representatives are piling onto us at this moment.

Bankruptcy is a default against a personal debt and everyone owed looses their time and money they invested in meeting the wants and needs of the person who is declaring bankruptcy. The federal debt is still owed to everyone ... and by everyone else.

Translate this to California's debt of 28 Billion dollars the math does not get any better. At an estimated population of 37 million as of July 2009 which will translate to $27.03 for every Billion dollars of debt. Using this logic - each and every Californian is in debt $27.03 for every Billion dollars X 28 Billion = $756.76.

WaPo and Obama Administration shape numbers and claim fiscal restraint

United States Surpluses & Deficits Graph (in billions of dollars) Image Credit: The Washington Post / Hugh Hewitt (blog)

WaPo and Obama Administration shape numbers and claim fiscal restraint

The average person stumbling upon an article appearing in The Washington Post, yesterday, about the economy and Government spending would think that our current leadership was having success at being responsible with the citizens money that had been collected in taxes.

The article begins with the following quote excerpted from The Washington Post:

Obama team points to smaller deficit numbers
By David Cho - Washington Post Staff Writer - Tuesday, April 13, 2010

"The federal deficit is running significantly lower than it did last year, with the budget gap for the first half of fiscal 2010 down 8 percent over the same period a year ago, senior Obama administration officials said Monday."
Reference Here>>

While, technically, this statement may be true, it masks the fact that the larger truth is that this adjusted figure moved from being ten (10) times larger than the deficit created by the previous leadership in 2007, to just nine (9) times larger. The Washington Post does reveal the information of this fact in two areas in their article on the Obama Administration report, in a graphic (above) and not until the 13th paragraph of this glowing piece of how well this administration is really not spending that much!

Quote from the 13th paragraph of the same Washington Post article:

"The deficit figure released by the Treasury Department for March means that the federal government has been spending more than it collected for a record 18 consecutive months, dating to the Bush administration."
Reference Here>>

The graph shows the truth of the deficits and Government spending and it is astounding that the Washington Post does not make the lead of this article that the improved spending number of $1,288,000,000,000 (1.3 trillion) is a whopping NINE TIMES larger than $158,000,000,000 ($1.6 billion) of the 2007 deficits of the Bush Administration, the first year with a Democrat Party controlled House of Representatives.

Nationally syndicated talk show host Hugh Hewitt could not have summed up how wrong this article is in its reporting of the effects of the policies of Barack Obama and the reporting job by the Washington Post.

This excerpted and edited from the blog of Hugh Hewitt -

"This is a ruinous level of spending, the sort of wildly-out-of-control hosing of printed money that could lead to a national fiscal stroke. Happy talk about a hundred billion of possible savings here and there and a reduction in earmarks should not divert attention from the fact that President Obama has led the country over a fiscal cliff, and has no solution in the offing except for a commission that will recommend vast tax hikes the prospect of which already chills investment and job growth."
Reference Here>>

In short, we all should expect a higher standard of context and truth in reports issued from our current leadership and more importantly, reporting of this information by the Fourth Estate (MSM).