An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for Economy
“….gas prices will necessarily sky rocket.”
White House Wants to Keep Gas Prices High
The Foundry
With the national average of gas prices hitting $3.65 a gallon, nearing $6 in some parts of the country, and poised to head even higher, America’s families are wondering when the bleeding at the pump will stop. But for Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu, those steep prices aren’t even a concern. In fact, he says his goal is not to get the price of gasoline to go down.
Chu delivered those stunning remarks in testimony before Congress yesterday. When Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss.) asked Chu whether it’s his “overall goal to get our price” of gasoline lower, Chu said, “No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy.”
The Union That Killed “Motor City”
How Chrysler Can Actually Help Detroit
The Foundry
Did you know that there are no Volkswagen manufacturing plants in the Detroit area? Or Mercedes-Benz? Or Kia? Or Hyundai? Or BMW, for that matter? The Motor City has a well-earned reputation for having the greatest auto workers in the nation, yet honorable Michiganders largely build cars for only three companies.
Apart from having their cars assembled in Michigan, it turns out that those three companies have something else in common: the United Auto Workers union (UAW). It also turns out that every other car manufacturer has something in common, too: not wanting the UAW to do to them what it did to the Big Three.
Today, President Obama will address the UAW, and he should receive a rousing welcome. After all, his terms of the auto bailout richly rewarded his union allies at the expense of non-union employees and private investors, giving them, among other prizes, a very large stake of ownership in Chrysler. And together, they stand adamantly opposed to “right-to-work” laws that would empower the nation’s unemployed to find economic security with a non-union job.
Right-to-work legislation protects employees from being fired for not paying union dues. Without that protection, workers are forced to support a union financially even if they’d rather spend their hard earned dollars at home, if the union contract harms them, or if they’re opposed to the union’s agenda. And if they don’t, they lose their jobs. Obviously, when given the freedom of choice, many workers choose not to unionize.
World War III?
These don’t seem to be in order, but the info is there.
Our Money Pays For Their Good Times
Dear Mr & Mrs Obama:
We would very much like our tax money back. The Mr and I could really use a vacation about now. It’s been a really tough (and expensive due to health care costs thanks to ObamaCare) 18 months. Not sure what our share would be, after all the costs of the many Obama vacations are totaled up, but I’m fairly sure we could spend at least one week in Jamaica…preferably two.
Thank you in advance.
Mr & Mrs Ol’ Broad
Picture shared by Jerry.
Still Waiting
Found this chart over at Red State. If you click on the itty bitty, you will get a bigger picture. Click on the bigger one and you a REAL BIG PICTURE, so you can see the months and such.
Now, I don’t know about you, but this chart tells me a whole lot. First off, we all know the government is lying about the employment numbers. They don’t count the people who are underemployed, or those who have just finally given up. Although, if you look at the number of people who are now getting some sort of government assistance, you would get a clearer picture of what is really going on.
The stimulus bill, better known as Crap Sandwich, or Porkulus, did what to stimulate the economy? Hmmm… Not a damn thing as best I can tell. The lie of ‘shovel ready jobs’ has finally been admitted by the Liar in Chief. He’s really good at lying. And unfortunately, there are still way too many who haven’t bothered to pull their heads out of his hind end to actually see the BIG picture.
Now, looking at this chart, we have a section titled ‘recession’. Then the arrow continues to do a major dip. What do they call that? What comes after recession if there are no jobs, and very high real number unemployment. I dunno….I would think it would be called a ‘depression’. Now, I’m not an economist, by any stretch of the imagination, but I have enough smarts to know bullsh*t when I see it. And that’s we have here ladies and gentlemen. A very large, steaming pile of caca de toro!
Destroying America
Domestic production eyed as gas prices head toward record-breaking height
President Obama’s re-elect team defended White House energy policy on Sunday as gas prices shoot toward the $4 mark and beyond, a level that could devastate voters’ pocketbooks as well as Obama’s chances for a second term.
Nationally, gas prices are $3.53 a gallon, up 25 cents since Jan. 1, and likely headed to $4.25 a gallon by late April. Republicans have demanded more oil production at home, as well as building the Keystone XL pipeline across the middle of the U.S. to allow oil from Canada to reach Texas refineries.
Let’s see…when he took office 3 LOOOOOOONG years ago, gas was what….a buck 81, or at least in that vicinity. So, instead of using the resources we have right here, for AMERICANS, D’Bama makes it damn near impossible for U.S. companies to drill and refine, yet hands over billions, of OUR money, to companies that go bankrupt in a matter of months. Not to mention letting the Chinese drill in the gulf off OUR shores, and investing in a freakin’ Brazilian company, so we can BUY oil from another foreign source. Excuse me, but where is the logic in all this? Oh, that’s right….THERE IS NONE!
Obama rejected the plan, but one of his spokesmen, Robert Gibbs, said the president is looking to increase domestic energy production.
He’s got a damn funny way of showing it! 10 to 20 thousand jobs. Jobs that are desperately needed, and he suck ups to a bunch of yahoos who don’t have enough sense to piss out of a boot with the instructions on the heel. Give me a freakin’ break!
“Just on Friday, the Department of Interior issued permits that will expand our exploration in the Arctic. The president has increased our fuel efficiency and energy efficiency standards so we do use less energy, which will help drive down the price,” Gibbs said. “Our domestic oil production is at an eight-year high, and our use of foreign oil is at a 16-year low. So we’re making progress.”
Golly gee, the moron at the Department of Interior issued permits? To whom? How many? And when will those rigs that haven’t left the gulf going to be able to start pumping? Or have they all already left. Don’t hear much about that anymore. The EPA is running and ruining this country. The green tin foil hatters have more power over our energy production than a parent does over what the kid has for lunch. Does anyone else see a major problem here? We have gone through the rabbit hole and can’t find our way out! I vote we shoot the rabbits, have one huge BBQ and get on with living our own lives, and keeping the government OUT of EVERYTHING!
But John Hofmeister, former CEO of Shell Oil and founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy, told Fox News that oil production today is only 7 million barrels per day when it used to be 10 million per day.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!! Anybody home? Naw….they’re all out pushing for windmills that kills eagles, and solar panels that take up so much space, even that Boxer broad doesn’t want ‘em in her state! While Obama is shoveling OUR money to companies that have no hope of succeeding, investing in the future is what I think he called it, our present needs for energy is being totally ignored.
What happens when there is no oil/gas/energy? Well, the price of EVERYTHING goes up! It takes money to get products from point A, the factory that needs energy to run, to point B, where the consumer pays much higher prices because the company has to charge more to make up the difference in the cost of manufacturing and shipping! Now, if I, an lil’ ol’ broad in Podunk TN can figure this out….why can’t all those so called ‘intellectuals’ that the faker in chief has surrounding him get the BIG picture? Why? Because they don’t want to! They WANT to bankrupt the country! They WANT a completely different country, run totally by those who think they know what is best for everyone, and can run your life MUCH better than you can. And how are they doing that? Why, by crippling the entire country, of course! The more it costs to produce and distribute, the fewer jobs there are available. HELLOOOOOOO??!?!?!? Jack wagons!
Oh yeah…and Happy freakin’ Monday!
H/T: Tena
The Dismal Failure of Obamanomics
Obamanomics Has Failed
The Foundry
Three years ago today, President Barack Obama signed into law his trillion-dollar stimulus plan, a measure that he promised would save or create 3 million jobs by the end of 2010 and would prevent unemployment from ever going above 8 percent. And though the President today will likely claim that thanks to his efforts, the U.S. economy is surging, don’t believe him. The verdict is in: Obamanomics has failed.
But you don’t have to take our word for it. Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report offering an analysis of the last three years of the Obama economy. In short, the stimulus did not live up to the President’s promises.
The CBO writes that America’s unemployment rate has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, making this the longest stretch of high unemployment since the Great Depression. To make matters worse, unemployment will remain above 8 percent until 2014. And the level of long-term unemployment — those looking for work for more than six months — is over 40 percent, the highest since at least 1948, when that data was first collected.
Crony Corruption
Obama’s Friends Win Big in Budget
The Foundry
You don’t need to log on to President Barack Obama’s Facebook page to find out who his friends are, and you don’t need to read tea leaves, gaze into a crystal ball, or consult a psychic to learn where his priorities lie. No, you only have to take a look at his 2013 budget, just released on Monday, to see what kind of company the president keeps and to what extent he will go to lend his pals a helping hand.
The folks seated at the president’s head table haven’t changed much in the past few years — the only difference is how much is being served up in the taxpayer-funded buffet. As in the past, the president has plenty of handouts for his big labor buddies. His budget delivers a fourth consecutive annual deficit exceeding $1 trillion — and that spending goes to yet another round of not-so-shovel-ready construction projects and government “investments” totaling $178 billion. Heritage’s Patrick Knudsen writes that the spending includes the president’s favored road, bridge, and school construction projects, but “then they go alarmingly beyond the usual ‘infrastructure’ arguments to fund teachers’ pay.” In other words, unions representing the construction site and the classroom win big.
Thieving Money
Yesterday, this little story was in our church’s bulletin, and it got me to thinking. I have a tendency to associate things with current events, and this is no different.
A twelve-year-old member of the church I pastor recently left a five dollar bill on my desk with a note that read, “I have my thieving money”, along with her signature. I couldn’t figure out what she meant. Had she stolen money she was now returning?
When I saw the girl’s father the next Sunday, I mentioned the money and note and asked if he could tell me what she meant. With no hesitation, he said that it was her tithe. She obviously had misspelled tithing.
As I thought about the misspelling, I realized that for those who do not tithe, they really do have a stash of “thieving” money, for as the Bible suggest, the one who refuses to tithe is stealing from God.
Now, what struck me in the scope of current events? Well, that would be the complete misunderstanding of Barack Hussein Obama of scripture!
“For me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that for unto whom much is given, much shall be required,” Obama said, quoting the Gospel of Luke.
Evidently, he doesn’t understand that the command is for the individual to give. Forced giving is not a joy, it is a burden. To give freely of yourself is the joy that the Bible is relating, not the theft by the government in the form of taxes. It is the church’s duty to care for the destitute, the infirm, the lost, NOT the government! I suppose sitting in Jeremiah Wright’s church for all those years, it’s understandable that he doesn’t know the true meaning of Scripture. I suggest we pray that his eyes will be opened, that he will take the blinders of socialism off, and truly see!
NO Second Chance
President Obama: ‘I deserve a second term’
President Obama in a pre-Super Bowl interview aired on Sunday said that despite being unable to completely turn the economy around in three years, he still deserves to be re-elected.
“I deserve a second term but we’re not done,” Obama told NBC’s Matt Lauer in an interview broadcast from the White House.
First question: Why does this fool think that anyone wanted to hear him bumping his gums on Super Bowl Sunday?
Second question: What on earth makes him believe he deserves a damn thing, other than our scorn?
Lauer noted that in a pre-Super Bowl interview three years ago, Obama had said “If I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.”
Obama said that three years ago the economy was losing 750,000 jobs a month and the latest unemployment data from Friday shows. “Now we are creating 250,000,” he said.
Sorry, cooking the numbers doesn’t make it true. Why are there more people having to get food stamps now than ever before in our history? You said one term, we’re taking you at your word. You have NOT turned the economy around. As a matter of fact, it is worse! Even the New York Times has a problem with Obama’s numbers.
The Labor Department estimated on Friday that the economy gained 243,000 jobs.
The department also estimated that the economy lost 2,689,000 jobs in the month.
Let’s see…ya take that lost number, subtract that gain, and what do you get? A NEGATIVE! Which is what we’ve had for quite a while. The downturn started under Bush’s watch in 2007. What happened in 2007?
Lies, Damn Lies, and Politics
Labor Market Contracts by 1.2 Million People, Zero Hedge Reports
The labor market contracted by 1.2 million people in a month, according to research from Zero Hedge, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The government reports that the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent in January from 8.5 percent in December as the economy has added a net 243,000 nonfarm payrolls to the economy.
However, those who quit looking for work aren’t counted as part of the total labor force, which also isn’t accurately reflecting population growth, which basically allowed the government to yank 1.2 million out of the labor force in January.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this administration would just tell the truth for a change? I know…. I’m asking the impossible! What are the REAL numbers? They can tell us the unemployment rate has dropped to 8.3%, but that doesn’t make it true. How about counting ALL the people who are out of work, who have given up because there are no jobs in their field, and are now having to take government aid? But then, isn’t that what this administration wants? As many people dependent on the government as possible. The ruinous policies of the Obama administration has sunk this country so far into debt, in all likelihood, no matter who wins in 2012, the ability to reverse the damage will be almost impossible in one term. However, giving Obama and his machine a second ‘chance’, will do even MORE damage!
OUR Money, Their Agenda
Legislation Prohibits Taxpayer-Funded Attack Ads on Soda
Rob Bluey
New legislation introduced in the U.S. House yesterday would prohibit the use of federal money for advertisements attacking products like Coke and Pepsi.
Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) introduced the bill to counter a growing trend of anti-obesity ads that are funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Scribe reported in October the money was included in President Obama’s economic stimulus law.
When I first saw that headline, I thought….there they go again! But after reading the whole post, I must say, I totally agree with what I read of the legislation. If there is other nonsense stuck in the bill, I’m not aware of it. Now, I realize that diabetes is a very serious disease, and obesity is a problem, but to fake pictures, and attack U.S. companies that provide jobs for American citizens is taking it too far. Not to mention using our money to attack those companies.
New York City received $15.5 million in federal funding for its anti-obesity efforts. While it has generated most of the attention for its eye-catching ads, other cities are engaging in similar practices. In Philadelphia, the city spent $2.4 million on ads attacking soda. Campaigns have also popped up in Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle and even Topeka, KS.
The 2009 stimulus, of course, was sold to Congress as a plan to revive the economy by creating or saving millions of jobs. According to Smart Taxpayers Exposing Waste, a campaign launched by the American Beverage Association, Philadelphia could have used the money it spent on ads to hire 52 police officers, 54 firemen, 57 paramedics, 58 teachers or 88 EMTs.
Now we know why the porkulus was such a failure. It was pushed as a spending spree to get the economy moving, and provide jobs. When the number of jobs that COULD have been created is canceled out by Big Brother pushing an agenda instead of considering the safety of citizens FIRST, I’d have to say the porkulus was a MAJOR FAIL! If any city needs more cops (from reading SYLG), it would be Philadelphia!
The Food Stamp President
Like it or not, Newt Gingrich is right. Barack Obama IS ‘The Food Stamp President’. If, as he claims, our economy is SO much better, why are there so many people depending on the government for a hand out? Hmmm…???? Because Obama flat out lies, that’s why! Those who are disputing the statement aren’t looking at the numbers. And as we all know…numbers don’t lie. They can be manipulated, but they don’t lie! And FYI….the color of the recipients skin is totally irrelevant! The fact that AMERICANS have been pushed into poverty by Obama’s policies IS!
Finally, as for the question of race — which has ignited some of the backlash against Gingrich — about 34 percent of beneficiaries are white, 22 percent are black, 17 percent Hispanic, 7 percent Asian or Native American, and 20 percent “race unknown.” (source)
Obama’s Rainbow Farting Unicorns…
…in the land of make believe!
Obama’s Magic Kingdom of Joblessness
The Foundry
Yesterday in Walt Disney World, the land “where dreams come true,” President Barack Obama appeared before Cinderella’s Castle to announce his latest plan to boost jobs in America–an effort to increase tourism to the United States. His announcement came one day after he flat out said “NO” to another plan that would have directly created at least 20,000 truly shovel-ready jobs–and 179,000 American jobs by 2035–while bringing more than 700,000 barrels of oil to the United States each day. That plan was the Keystone XL pipeline.
Had the President approved Keystone, a 1,700-mile pipeline would have been extended from Alberta, Canada, to Texas refineries — lifting up the U.S. economy with private-sector investment, putting people to work, and helping increase the supply of energy to lower prices when fuel costs are through the roof. Despite a finding by the State Department that the pipeline would pose minimal environmental risk, environmentalists were still up in arms and lobbied the President to say no to the plan.
