Wednesday, June 29, 2011

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)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

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]

Question: 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, right now during Carter's Second Term, and stop this skid into Government entitlement oblivion.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Mitt Romney And The Era Of Jimmy Carter

Stagflation, the worst of both worlds (anemic economic growth and high inflation) brings back less than fond memories of the 1970's, along with the misery index, which is calculated adding the inflation rate to the unemployment rate. Until the 1960's, Keynesian economists had thought that those two economic events couldn't happen at the same time. Image Credit: Copyright Free via myfreedompost.com

Mitt Romney And The Era Of Jimmy Carter

Welcome home to the era of Jimmy Carter as experienced here in Los Angeles and the rest of the nation. Half of our population never lived through the era and presidency of Jimmy Carter - where inflation and recession existed side-by-side which, in economic theory anyway, is not supposed to happen on the "Bell Curve". Where long lines of 30 or more cars formed around the street corners of gas stations and the ODD, EVEN gas rationing plan in Los Angeles was implemented because our supplies at the pump were allowed to become constrained.

Today, the unemployment numbers were just released and we are looking at a second summer where a double dip recession is a real possibility. A 9.1% unemployment rate was just announced for this last month (May 2011) and we know that this number will be adjusted upward as virtually all numbers released during this 44th Presidency have been manipulated to the media. Meanwhile, fuel prices fluctuate, policies get implemented without warning, and this Executive Branch leads with a high level uncertainty that promotes a sense of instability further antagonizing the fragility of our economic environment.

The Obama Administration, Democrat, and Republican ruling class leadership continue tell anyone that is in earshot that our best days are behind us and ask that we sacrifice any income to devote toward additional taxation. All the while, trillion dollar spending appropriations are passed, and 100 billions of dollars takeovers of large segments of our corporate manufacturing marketplace are made, kicking investors to the back of the line on the recognition of their ownership stake (possibly against American business law statutes) and turning these enterprises over to a shared control with employee unions ... who give dues money back to these politicians to finance their re-election campaigns.

This week in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney announced his candidacy to become the 45th President of the United States and unseat this current regime. We, at Carter's Second Term, would become excited but one has to ask ... where has Mitt been over these last two and a half years, to lead the push back, when we all have had to endure leadership without debate, transparency, capitalism, and an attitude of service to the freedom-loving people who are the nation (not the ruling class that think the Government exists to serve them).

Mitt Romney announces he is running for president, Thursday, June 2, 2011, during a campaign event at Bittersweet Farm in Stratham, N.H.. Image Credit: FNC

This excerpted and edited from 4president.org -

Mitt Romney 2012 Presidential Campaign Announcement Speech

June 2, 2011, Stratham, New Hampshire, Remarks As Prepared For Delivery #mitt2012

Thank you for coming. And I want to thank Doug and Stella Scamman for hosting us on their beautiful farm.

You know, everyone here today can tell a different story. We have different backgrounds and we wake up in the morning and go to different jobs … or, look for different jobs. We go to different churches or maybe don't go to church so much. I bet some of you have families who go back 200 years or more in New Hampshire. And there must be some who just snuck in across the border, from Massachusetts. I hear the taxes are better over here.

But here we are on a beautiful June day coming together to begin a process that we often, quite naturally, take for granted. But it is really one of the great achievements in the history of the world. For all of our country’s wealth and influence, those are not the source of our greatness. The true strength of America is self-rule, and a government that answers to a free and independent people.

We live in the most powerful nation that ever existed. And it all goes back to a few men and women who had the courage to stand - and even die - for their belief in liberty and equality. Because of their vision, the United States of America is not ruled by a monarchy or controlled by an aristocracy. Though sometimes folks in Washington might act otherwise, we don't have a House of Lords with inherited power. And as the Red Sox like to remind the New York Yankees, there are no dynasties in America.

Who rules this great nation?

You do. Every four years you decide who will give that State of the Union address, who will set the course of the country, who will be Commander in Chief.
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A few years ago, Americans did something that was, actually, very much the sort of thing Americans like to do: We gave someone new a chance to lead; someone we hadn't known for very long, who didn't have much of a record but promised to lead us to a better place.

At the time, we didn't know what sort of a President he would make. It was a moment of crisis for our economy, and when Barack Obama came to office, we wished him well and hoped for the best.

Now, in the third year of his four-year term, we have more than promises and slogans to go by.

Barack Obama has failed America.

When he took office, the economy was in recession. He made it worse. And he made it last longer.

Three years later, over 16 million Americans are out of work or have just quit looking. Millions more are underemployed.

Three years later, unemployment is still above 8%, a figure he said his stimulus would keep from happening.

Three years later, foreclosures are still at record levels.

Three years later the prices of homes continue to fall.

Three years later, our national debt has grown nearly as large as our entire economy.

Families are buried under higher prices for food and higher prices for gasoline.

It breaks my heart to see what’s happening in this country.

These failing hopes make up President Obama’s own misery index. It’s never been higher. And what’s his answer? He says this: “I’m just getting started.”
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President Obama sees a different America and has taken us in a different direction.

A few months into office, he travelled around the globe to apologize for America.

At a time of historic change and great opportunity in the Arab world, he is hesitant and uncertain. He hesitated to speak out for the dissidents in Iran, but his Administration boasts that he is “leading from behind” in Libya.

He speaks with firmness and clarity, however, when it comes to Israel. He seems firmly and clearly determined to undermine our longtime friend and ally. He’s treating Israel the same way so many European countries have: with suspicion, distrust and an assumption that Israel is at fault.
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With the economy in crisis, his answer is to borrow money we can't afford and throw it at Washington bureaucrats and politicians. Just like Europe.

Instead of encouraging entrepreneurs and employers, he raises their taxes, piles on record-breaking mounds of regulation and bureaucracy and gives more power to union bosses.

Instead of recognizing the states rightful authority to solve problems, he seizes power from them and rams through a disastrous national health care plan.

This President's first answer to every problem is to take power from you, your local government and your state so that so-called “experts" in Washington can make those choices for you. And with each of these decisions, we lose more of our freedom.
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President Obama’s European answers are not the right solution to America’s challenges.

In the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense, and I intend to make it—because I have lived it.
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Government under President Obama has grown to consume almost 40% of our economy. We are only inches away from ceasing to be a free market economy. I will cap federal spending at 20% or less of the GDP and finally, finally balance the budget.
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I will insist that Washington learns to respect the Constitution, including the 10th Amendment. We will return responsibility and authority to the states for dozens of government programs – and that begins with a complete repeal of Obamacare.

From my first day in office my number one job will be to see that America once again is number one in job creation. You know, if you want to create jobs, it helps to have had a job. I will make business taxes competitive with other nations, modernize regulations and bureaucracy and finally promote America’s trade interests. It’s time for a president who cares more about America’s workers than he does about America’s union bosses.
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The spirit of enterprise, innovation, pioneering and can-do propelled our standard of living and economy past every other nation on earth.

I refuse to believe that America is just another place on the map with a flag. We stand for freedom and opportunity and hope.

These last two years have not been the best of times. But while we’ve lost a couple of years, we have not lost our way. The principles that made us a great nation and leader of the world have not lost their meaning. They never will.

We know we can bring this country back.

I'm Mitt Romney. I believe in America.

And I'm running for President of the United States.
[Reference Here]

The speech reads pretty good, and if one were to judge a candidate on a speech ... one would be doing themselves a disservice.

There are three problems with Mitt Romney as a decent protector of what is good about American Freedom.

First off, he is on record supporting Ethanol subsidies to farmers ... THIS is not a smaller Government perspective.

Secondly, he has not, or will not disavow his mistake in promoting Romney Care. Sure, he says that this is an issue for State Governments to decide, but again, tackling from a public sector stance is also not a smaller Government perspective.

The final and third point came today in the town hall meeting in New Hampshire when he made a statement in support of the concept that Earth climate change is a product of Human activity - "I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that. /// And so I think it’s important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may well be significant contributors to the climate change and the global warming that you’re seeing," said Mitt Romney at a New Hampshire town hall meeting, according to Reuters.

The history of mathematical fraud is clear and it all came to light around November 2009 when internal emails were exposed "Wikileaks" style and proved that the "Hockeystick" effect - that had been published and re-affirmed in subsequent studise tying human activity to Global Warming - by the University of East Anglia located in England was trumped up in order to get more grants from the United Nations and other invested resources.

So, lets say Romney replaces Obama who is in current control of a radicalized EPA which is in the process of implementing "Cap & Trade" style policies. Will Romney feel inclined to shut it down? The easy answer is NO - Mitt Romney is in favor of Government helping to control/regulate carbon emissions.

One last Carbon understanding - of all greenhouse gases that exist, Carbon Dioxide is one of the least abundant at 40 parts in 10,000 parts. To bring this fact into clear thinking, imagine a basketball stadium has 10,000 seats filled with greenhouse gas particles - how many of these seats of greenhouse gas would be filled with CO2 particles? - Answer, only 40.

Three strikes ... and Mitt Romney is out - and sitting in the bleachers with Newt Gingrich ... here, during Carter's Second Term .