The stock market show signs of life this week closing at 7223.98. For many of us that was great news. After months in free fall the market rebound, even if only for a week is great news.
Citi reported a profit and said they won't need anymore of our money. More good news.
The President came out and said the economy isn't as bad as we think. Yet, more good news.
Syracuse and UConn put on a 6 OT game that was one for the ages. March Madness is right around the corner.
and....
Baseball Season is coming shortly.
Yep, all and all good news for most of us this week. We have a whold weekend to let it settle in and enjoy some great College Basketball. Next week is three long days away. Lets enjoy it.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Obama's Polling Numbers
It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama's high levels of popularity, and to conclude that these are indicative of high levels of public confidence in the work of his administration. Indeed, a detailed look at recent survey data shows that the opposite is most likely true. The American people are coming to express increasingly significant doubts about his initiatives, and most likely support a different agenda and different policies from those that the Obama administration has advanced.
Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama's net presidential approval rating -- which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve -- is just six, his lowest rating to date.
Overall, Rasmussen Reports shows a 56%-43% approval, with a third strongly disapproving of the president's performance. This is a substantial degree of polarization so early in the administration. Mr. Obama has lost virtually all of his Republican support and a good part of his Independent support, and the trend is decidedly negative.
A detailed examination of presidential popularity after 50 days on the job similarly demonstrates a substantial drop in presidential approval relative to other elected presidents in the 20th and 21st centuries. The reason for this decline most likely has to do with doubts about the administration's policies and their impact on peoples' lives.
There is also a clear sense in the polling that taxes will increase for all Americans because of the stimulus, notwithstanding what the president has said about taxes going down for 95% of Americans. Close to three-quarters expect that government spending will grow under this administration.
Recent Gallup data echo these concerns. That polling shows that there are deep-seeded, underlying economic concerns. Eighty-three percent say they are worried that the steps Mr. Obama is taking to fix the economy may not work and the economy will get worse. Eighty-two percent say they are worried about the amount of money being added to the deficit. Seventy-eight percent are worried about inflation growing, and 69% say they are worried about the increasing role of the government in the U.S. economy.
When Gallup asked whether we should be spending more or less in the economic stimulus, by close to 3-to-1 margin voters said it is better to have spent less than to have spent more. When asked whether we are adding too much to the deficit or spending too little to improve the economy, by close to a 3-to-2 margin voters said that we are adding too much to the deficit. - WSJ Story
This is an excellent story. Click the Story link and read the rest of this.
Childrens Homeless numbers inflated
A well publicized report this week that an estimated 1.5 million American children experienced homelessness in 2005-06 did not use the federal definition of homelessness. Instead, it used a different definition that grossly inflated the actual number.
The report — released Tuesday by the National Center on Family Homelessness and reported by numerous news organizations, including FOXNews.com — estimated that one out of every 50 children in America experienced "homelessness" during that two-year span.
But rather than using the definition of homelessness established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Massachusetts-based organization used a standard adopted by the Department of Education that includes children who are "doubled up," or children who share housing with other persons due to economic hardship or similar reason.
The difference? About 1,170,000 children. - FOX News Story
The old saying in business is you can make the numbers say anything you want. The truth is the information behind the numbers.
Obama - "Economy not as bad as we think"
WASHINGTON -- President Obama is embracing a mantle of confidence-builder in chief. Whether he is meeting with his own economic advisers or worried business leaders, his message is meant to be calm and reassuring -- even in the wake of more bad economic news.Obama will have another opportunity to assert his optimism after he meets Friday with Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who now guides the president's economic recovery advisory board. Volcker was preparing to brief Obama and his economic team on how the $787 billion stimulus package is working.
Speaking to a gathering of the nation's CEOs on Thursday, Obama defended his plans for pulling the economy out of a downward spiral, saying that his long-term view gives him reason to maintain optimism despite an uptick in unemployment and falling economic indicators.
"I've never bought into these Malthusian, woe, Chicken Little, the earth is falling. I tend to be pretty optimistic," said Obama, once a long-shot candidate for the White House. "I wouldn't be here if I weren't pretty optimistic."
The president boldly declared that the national crisis is "not as bad as we think" and that he has seen public opinion seesaw without logic. - FOX News Story
Now isn't that a change in rhetoric. He is quoted as saying he never bought into the Sky is falling, I seem to recall during the whole stimulus debate that was exactly what he was saying. If it didn't pass immediately the world was going to end. I remember the Millions of Dollars we spent as he shuttled his campaign across the US, Ohio, Florida, Colorado, to tell how bad we need his stimulus to pass.
Now he is talking out another part of his anatomy saying it isn't as bad as we all think.
So what is the truth Mr. Obama?
Obama's Chinese Problem
The decision by President Obama to send an armed escort for U.S. surveillance ships in the area follows the aggressive and co-ordinated manoeuvres of five Chinese boats on Sunday. The vessels harassed and nearly collided with the unarmed USNS Impecccable.
One unidentified officer quoted in the China Daily newspaper said that the decision was disproportionate. While China’s Foreign Ministry has so far kept tight-lipped on the latest development, the decision to run such a comment so swiftly in the state-run English-language newspaper was a signal of Beijing’s concerns.
One naval source said the PLA had taken note of the latest U.S. move and was watching developments closely.
Another described the deployment of the USS Chung-Hoon, armed with torpedoes and missiles, as a signal of the Pentagon’s intention to “keep on pressing” China in the South China Sea.
He added: “The timing and the extent have gone beyond what you could call proportionate.” - FOX News
The problem is we are so indebted to China that they have a huge economic grip on us. Every time we burrow money, the vast majority of it comes from China. With the rumblings from Washington that yet another Stimulus may be necessary, where do we thing that money will come from? China. This is a the problem with deficit spending, you give other nations, leverage over you. In this case, a nation that we are not necessarily allied with.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
President not Ready to Shore up Mexican border
WASHINGTON - A top Homeland Security official told a House panel Thursday that Mexican drug cartels are the biggest organized crime threat to the United States.
Homeland Security official Roger Rufe said a department plan to respond to escalating violence on the southwest border includes — as a last resort — deploying military personnel and equipment to the region if homeland security agencies become overwhelmed.
Rufe, echoing comments a day earlier from President Barack Obama, said now is not the time to militarize the southwest border.
"We would take all resources short of DoD and National Guard troops before we reach that tipping point," Rufe told lawmakers. "We very much do not want to militarize our border."
Rufe said military forces would be called in only when homeland security and other government agencies are overwhelmed. He did not specify what circumstances would trigger a call for troops.
The Mexican government has deployed 700 extra federal police to Ciudad Juarez, a city bordering Texas where local police have been overwhelmed by drug violence. Earlier this month, 3,200 federal troops were sent to the city.
Mexican officials say the violence killed 6,290 people last year — and more than 1,000 in the first eight weeks of 2009. Warring drug cartels are blamed for more than 560 kidnappings in Phoenix in 2007 and the first half of 2008, and killings in Atlanta, and Birmingham, Ala.
"We're not so concerned, at least at this point, about that violence spilling over into our cities," he said.
Warnings issued to travelers
Further, the Homeland Security Department's attache to Mexico said the violence in Mexico is not as dangerous to U.S. tourists as has been portrayed.
Alonzo Pena said the violence is in isolated areas of the country and only affects the people involved in criminal activity. He said the violence is not affecting U.S. citizens visiting Mexico and Americans should not cancel their vacations in the country.
Earlier this month, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives warned college students on spring breaks not to travel to parts of northern Mexico because it was too dangerous.
In February, the State Department advised travelers to avoid areas of prostitution and drug-dealing in Mexico. - NBC News
I just cam back from visiting Mexico Last Week. It is different down there, quite a showing of police and military. However, why wouldn't it be time to put some military on the border. Shore it up and keep the violence from spilling into the US. What the President of Mexico is doing is a good thing. He is taking on these Drug Cartels and obviously putting a dent in them if it is getting violent. They earn a vast part of their money from importing into the US and that is what they are fighting for. Why wouldn't we join forces with Mexico and stand with their President to shut down these Cartels?
Marquette Loses on Last Second Layup
NEW YORK -- Dwayne Anderson's last-second layup fell in as the buzzer sounded -- his only field goal of the game -- to give No. 10 Villanova a 76-75 victory over No. 1 Marquette on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
The fourth-seeded Wildcats (26-6) led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but Marquette took its first lead since the game's early minutes on a 3-pointer by Lazar Hayward that made it 75-74 with 1:40 to play.
Both teams had two empty possessions after that with Jerel McNeal of the Golden Eagles (24-9) missing on a drive with 14 seconds to play.
Villanova's Reggie Redding dribbled the ball near the top of the key and finally began a move toward the basket with just a couple of seconds left. He found Anderson on the left side of the lane and his layup seemed to sit on the rim for a while before falling through. - CBS Sports
Democrats change Rhetoric on New Stimulus
Democratic leaders have faced few roadblocks this year in pushing through their agenda, but this week they opened a fiscal door that many lawmakers appear loath to step through.After passing President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on Tuesday that Democrats are open to passing another one, if necessary.
Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., suggested the next day that he has directed House Appropriations Committee staff members to begin "preparing options" and ideas for the possibility of another stimulus bill.
But on Thursday, after Republicans pounced on the possibility of a third stimulus package within a year and called for an independent audit of the current one to increase transparency, Pelosi stressed that another spending jolt is not in the works.
"I don't think you ever close the door to being prepared for what eventuality may come, but I think that is not a near, near thing," she said. "But don't close the door to some other things. It's just not something that right now is in the cards."
She added it will not come from her "initiation" and is hopeful that "we get the results we need from this package."
But Republicans have already seized on news that Democratic leaders are at least thinking about another stimulus package.
"Just three weeks after President Obama signed his 'stimulus' bill into law, congressional Democrats are already conceding that it will fail to achieve its objective," House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said in a statement.
"As the speaker knows, the only reason to craft a second stimulus bill would be if the first one failed," he continued. "Every Republican in the House voted against the first stimulus bill because we believed that Congress could do better, and we had a plan to achieve that goal. America does not need another massive spending bill, what we need is to create jobs."
Republicans also say they are skeptical that the current stimulus bucks are being spent wisely. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Thursday for an independent audit of the stimulus bill by the Government Accountability Office.
"I am deeply concerned by reports that oversight will stop at the state level once a governor designates the federal money to be spent at the local or municipal level," McConnell wrote in a letter to the agency. "The American taxpayer will benefit from full transparency at each step of the process as these funds are disbursed." - FOX News
Senate Questions Obama's Spending Plan
President Obama's ambitious new U.S. budget faced bipartisan skepticism Thursday as key senators questioned the administration's long-term budget outlook and the deficits it envisions rising in the middle of the next decade.Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner defended it in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, saying current increases in spending are short term and will have to be substantially reduced to get the country back into fiscal shape.
Still, the Democratic chairman of the Budget Committee, Sen. Kent Conrad , called the track of future deficits "unsustainable" and singled out Obama's proposal for spending $634 billion on health care over the next 10 years.
"Some of us have a real pause about the notion of putting substantially more money into the health care system when we've already have a bloated system," he said.
Sen. Judd Gregg, a Republican, complained that the budget does not tackle rising entitlement spending on old age pensions and health care for the elderly. Geithner countered that the administration intends to confront rising health care costs with broad reforms that will significantly reduce spending.
Geithner is at the center of the president's economic policy, advocating both its budget proposals and its tax policies, but also a $700 billion rescue program for the financial sector.
Geithner was facing questions on all those fronts Thursday. By the end of the day, he was scheduled to leave for talks Friday and Saturday in London with finance officials from the Group of 20 nations.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, a Republican, dismissed Geithner's defense of the budget as "campaign mode."
"This budget is based on more taxes, more spending and more debt," Sessions said.
The president's budget would raise taxes, starting in 2011, on individuals earning more than $200,000 and on households earning more than $250,000. Geithner said the increases would kick in after the economy is expected to be in recovery.
But Geithner sidestepped a question by Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican, who asked whether the administration would let the increases take effect if the economy has not recovered in two years. "We have to watch how the economy evolves," Geithner said. - FOX News
This is a horrible plan. There should be questions coming from all walks of life. If things seem bad now, give this plan time and this will only be the tip of the iceburg for mainstreet America.
Remember, the guy defending this plan broke the law by not paying taxes until it was discovered and he had to in order to get the job of being in charge of the IRS.
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