Obama and the current economy....Looks likes it improving...

[Neil D]

Even the conservative news sources are conceeding the point...

Not your average "Liberal" news source

Washington Post to sell a few more newsp... on the economy

He can make a case that he’s gotten some big things right. His administration halted the worst downturn since the Great Depression and rescued the financial sector with a plan that drew on private, rather than public, funds to recapitalize ailing banks. Even with an intractable Congress, he kept the government from shutting down or defaulting on its debt, which bought the economy time to heal.

[Dr. Shane]

The economy is growing but not as fast as the population. I see the construction bid lists that are published each week and there is still hardly anything being built. I am told that the Texas economy is among the best in the nation and that where I live is among the best in Texas. That must mean many folks a doing really bad. In this area we use to have two or three $5 million+ projects bid each week. Now we are lucky if we have one bid in a month. It has been this way for two years and there are no signs of anything changing soon.

Obama squandered the opportunity to open up the energy sector.

He did manage to save some jobs in the manufacturing sector but those are "saved" jobs, not new ones.

His terrible health-care reform has managed to accomplish what no previous recession has done - decrease the jobs in the healthcare sector.

I would say he has been not only a failure but a disaster.

[Neil D]

what???

If those 'moderate" republican sources are conceding that the American economy is improving under Obama's leadership , you had better too...otherwise you might be labled as a crazy like Palin, or Bauchman or Limbaugh....none of which are labeled any where near "right of center",,,,

[LifeHiscost]

The numbers to the far right of each line of figures are indicating the source identified at the bottom of the page.

Quote:

PRESIDENCY

SOME WILL APPRECIATE THIS AND SOME WILL NOT.

HOWEVER, ALL OF IT IS TRUE.

After two years of Obama ...

Here's your change!

January 2009 TODAY % chg Source

Avg. Retail price/gallon gas in U.S. $1.83 $3.44 84% 1

Crude oil, European Brent (barrel) $43..48 $99..02 127.7% (2)

Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel) $38..74 $91..38 135.9% (2)

Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL $3.56 $6.33 78.1% (2)

Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL $9.66 $13..75 42.3% (2)

Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. Fob $13..37 $35..39 164.7% (2)

Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall 7.6% 9.4% 23.7% (3)

Unemployment rate, blacks 12.6% 15.8% 25.4% (3)

Number of unemployed 11,616,000 14,485,000 24.7% (3)

Number of fed. Employees 2,779,000 2,840,000 2.2% (3)

Real median household income $50,112 $49,777 -0.7% (4)

Number of food stamp recipients 31,983,716 43,200,878 35.1% (5)

Number of unemployment benefit recipients 7,526,598 9,193,838 22.2% (6)

Number of long-term unemployed 2,600,000 6,400,000 146.2%(3)

Poverty rate, individuals 13.2% 14.3% 8.3% (4)

People in poverty in U.S. 39,800,000 43,600,000 9.5% (4)

U.S. Rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings 5 9 n/a (10)

Present Situation Index 29.9 23.5 -21.4% (11)

Failed banks 140 164 17.1% (12)

U.S. Dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate 89.76 82.03 -8.6% (2)

U.S. Money supply, M1, in billions 1,575.1 1,865.7 18.4%(13)

U.S. Money supply, M2, in billions 8,310.9 8,852.3 6.5% (13)

National debt, in trillions $10..627 $14..052 32.2% (14)

Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history.

Over 27 times as fast. Metaphorically speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane.

27 times faster, it would be doing 7,555 MPH!

Sources:

(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor;

(7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC;

(13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury

So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He's done all this in 29 months -- so you'll have about 11 months to come up with an answer. Every statement in this email is factual and directly attributable to Barrack Hussein Obama. Every bumble is a matter of record and completely verifiable.

[LifeHiscost]

Quote:

"We the people are the rightful masters of both

Congress & the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution,

but overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."

Abraham Lincoln

Chilling Letter from Proctor & Gamble to Obama

Who would have thought, and yet many are thinking it.

By Lou Pritchett, Procter & Gamble

A LETTER FROM A PROCTER AND GAMBLE EXECUTIVE TO THE PRESIDENT* THE LAST SENTENCE IS THE MOST CHILLING

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an

Acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest

Rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize

Him as the foremost leader in change management.. Lou changed the way

America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to

Be known as "partnering."

Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years; made corporate history.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike

Any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive

Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no

Visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth

Growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus

Don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned

Yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to

Publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail..

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America '

Crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style

Country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system

With a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly

Capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose

That lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of

Living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics

Against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from

Challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider

Opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both

Omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything

You do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the

Limbaugh's, Hannitys, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing,

Conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will

Probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

*

*

This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it.

Big surprise. Since it hit the Internet, however, it has had over

500,000 hits. Keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for

good men do nothing.. It's happening right now.

God blesses!

[Bravus]

Lies from corporate CEOs are still lies.

[Neil D]

From Zero Party Politics

Lou Pritchett's Stupid Letter to President Obama

I was asked by a regular follower of Zero Party Politics to comment on an “open letter” to President Obama supposedly authored by former Procter and Gamble executive, Lou Pritchett, and which has been making the email circuit over the course of several months (I know it's made its way to me a couple of times already). Writing this article was a fun little excercise actually, and revealed rather vividly how neo-conservative criticisms of the Obama administration are entirely rhetoric driven.

Accordingly, this “open letter” is more rhetoric laden neo-con speak, lacking any substance which is so typical of the new breed of conservatives who have taken over the Republican Party. How appropriate that a corporate executive from a Fortune 500 company allegedly authored this drivel--America’s corporate puppet masters pulling the strings, as politicians and their constituents dance around like marionettes.

The letter describes how Obama “scares” Pritchett. Each line begins with, “You scare me because…” and then Pritchett writes some nonsense that has a very tenuous relationship with reality, and is often times a criticism that could easily be ascribed to neo-conservatives themselves. I have included the body of the letter in this article in red, and you will see my comments underneath the red text in black writing.

AN OPEN LETTER TO

PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

Boo!

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

What a silly criticism. Wikipedia and Google are your friends Lou. What is it that you are dying to know? “I know nothing about you” is code for “black people with funny names scare me.”

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

Poor filthy rich Lou can’t quite figure out how a lower income black kid pays for college. You see Lou, in the real world, people have to borrow money or rely on scholarships and grants to pay for higher education. Believe it or not, it happens every day.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

Gasp! Can you imagine the sheer horror of having the leader of the free WORLD briefly living abroad and having exposure to points of view and cultures which are, dare I say, not American? How could this possibly be of any use to a future President of the United States? Everyone knows you can’t leave the continental United States and expect to be President because you’ll be infected with cooties and communism. By the way, Obama’s “formative years” spent abroad were between the ages of 6 and 10. I suppose he was infected by anti-Americanism while losing his baby teeth?

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

Neither did Ronald Reagan. Did he scare you too Lou?

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

As opposed to George W. Bush who safeguarded the borders of Texas from the Vietcong by joining the Texas Air National Guard and then going AWOL (because running away from Vietnam wasn’t bad enough, he just couldn’t handle the stress of doing monthly sorties over Austin)? Is that how George W. Bush was able to understand the military “at its core” and why you didn’t have an issue with him sending 5000 American servicemen to their deaths chasing phantom WMD’s and non-existent 9/11 links?

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

This coming from a guy who wrote a 20 point “you scare me” letter and then spammed it to 20 million Americans?

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

Ah yes… Jeremiah Wright, the “radical extremist” rears his ugly head again. Because in 35 years of Reverend Wright’s preaching, Barack Obama is responsible for not being aware of 90 seconds of controversial sound bites taken completely out of context. (Incidentally Obama did separate himself from Wright when the controversy ensued and condemned Wright’s words).

Lou, if Obama scares you, then you should also be frightened of Oprah Winfrey (no, not because she’s also black), but because she also used to attend Chicago’s Trinity United Church with services led by Reverend Wright.

Boo, Lou! Boo!

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad.

This is code for “your daddy’s a Muslim, and I’m 99.9% sure you are (even though I just [censored] and moaned about not liking your CHURCH), and you placate to the whims of Muslim countries and their Islamo-Fascist leaders.”

Yes indeed President Obama, how dare you give a speech in Cairo calling out to Arab leaders to do a better job of curbing terrorism while insisting Israel stop building settlements and comply with international law?! Israel is our friend, and you hate Israel because you’re an anti-Semitic lover of Arabs who practices Islam on the sly! (Even though Arabs are Semitic people and your Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is an Israeli-American Jew who was an officer in the Israeli Army). Lou Pritchett will not let facts and reality get in the way Mr. President! You hate America, because you don’t hate Muslims!

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

This is code for “I hate healthcare reform, I hate reform of the banking industry, and drill baby drill!”

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

(“I hate healthcare reform.”)

Did Richard Nixon scare you too Lou? Because he endorsed the notion of a universal healthcare system in the early 1970’s. And so did a majority of Senate Republicans in the 1990’s who authored a bill nearly identical to the one which was just passed. Scary stuff my man!

Too, what “government takeover” are you referring to? There is no public option. Certainly no single payer system under this plan. You have private sector insurance companies, insuring private sector citizens, who are going to private sector doctors at private sector hospitals and clinics, getting prescribed medication dispensed from private sector pharmaceutical companies, and utilizing medical supplies and products manufactured by private sector corporations.

Here’s a newsflash: health insurance regulation is NOT synonymous with a “government controlled” healthcare system.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

(“Drill baby drill!”)

You realize that Obama ended the moratorium on offshore oil drilling on the East Coast of the United States back in March?

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

“Highest standard of living?” Maybe for corporate fat cats like you Lou. But here’s where the rest of America ranks in comparison to the rest of the world:

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States ranks 18 out 36 countries in secondary education.

According to a United Nations study we rank 38th in the world in life expectancy. (Communist Cuba ranks 37th incidentally.)

According to the same study, we rank 33rd in infant mortality rates. (Cuba ranks 28th.)

You know where we do rank number 1? We imprison more people per capita than any country on earth.

On just about every calculable measure, we do not even come close to having the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.

(“I hate reform of the banking industry.”)

You want to explain to me how the Dodd bill for financial reform is “extortion?”

Isn’t extortion more aptly described by how the banks sold toxic debts, then demanded $1.5 trillion in taxpayer bailouts while claiming if they didn't get those bailouts they would collapse the nation's economy, then issued bonuses to their executives with that money, and then refused to lend said money to the very taxpayers they “extorted” to get it in the first place?

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

If by this you are referring to the $1 trillion in annual defense spending which is routinely approved by BOTH parties, and the $1.5 trillion in corporate bailouts (half of which came from George Bush), then I wholeheartedly agree with you.

But you don’t really mean that now do you Lou? You mean $94 billion dollars on a program that sends sick people to doctors which the Congressional Budget Office says will bring in more money than it spends. That’s what you consider wasteful, because after all, we do have that "highest standard of living in the world" according to you, so there is no need to waste money on sick people like every other country in the industrialized world does.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You mean like appearing before a Republican House retreat in Baltimore on national television and answering every one of their loaded questions in January? Or like the publically televised health care summit with Congressional leaders in February?

Lou, is it your position that the Republicans who attended those summits were not intelligent people?

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

Look who’s talking.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

Finally we agree on something! Fox News is not legitimate media! Bravo Lou! Bravo!

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh's, Hannity's, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

Believe me Lou, the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Reillys, Becks (and Pritchetts) don’t need any help from the President in this regard. You can’t accuse someone of demonizing the devil. These demagogues routinely spew nothing but hate. It is quite obvious to any sane observer they have demonized themselves.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Two words: Patriot Act.

Warrantless wiretaps, the monitoring of the books you read, websites you visit, your banking information, your religious affiliation, the places you travel, Cuban torture chambers, and a litany of other Fourth Amendment violations don’t scare you...but regulating health insurance does?

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Why? Because by then you would have been proven to be a fool and you’d be too embarrassed to put pen to paper?

Don’t worry, thanks to your right-leaning Supreme Court and their ruling on Citizens United vs. FEC, you’ll be able to write all the letters you want, read them on primetime television, all while paying for it straight out of Procter and Gamble’s treasury which would have otherwise belonged to your shareholders.

Boo Lou Pritchett! (You don’t scare me by the way—what scares me is the army of Tea-Bagging morons brainwashed enough to buy your load of dung, because if you can sell them this, you can sell them anything.)

I hope you were honest about one thing in that awful letter you wrote Lou. I hope you really are scared. I hope you're shaking in your boots. "Hopey-changey" can be a scary thing after all.

Posted by Gus Bridi

[Neil D]

Oh, and here is what the author of the rebutal claims is his qualifications as to be able to rebutt people like Lou Prichert.

I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of California at Riverside in 1993, and graduated from the Creighton University School of Law in 1996.

As a lawyer in private practice for approaching 15 years and working my way through court rooms and backrooms all across the United States, I have become all too familiar with the notion of "politics as usual.” "Politics as usual" nowadays means our “elected” and appointed leaders fail in every regard to safeguard the interests of their constituents and are beholden to their corporate and special interest masters.

My political profile is that of the vast majority of Americans. I am a mixed bag politically-- leaning left on many issues, leaning right on many issues, and leaning neither way on many others. I do not believe in a two party system of politics. I do not believe in a multi-party system of politics. Like George Washington, I believe in a system with no political parties where politicians are held accountable to their core philosophies and the needs of their constituents, unfettered and un-yoked by a party system that requires loyalty to party before loyalty to country.

[LifeHiscost]

Quote:

Like George Washington, I believe in a system with no political parties where politicians are held accountable to their core philosophies and the needs of their constituents, unfettered and un-yoked by a party system that requires loyalty to party before loyalty to country.

I think the major problems will be solved when all realize that the Savior sits on a great white throne and holds no political office and that the individual is amenable to His conclusions no matter what we in our fallen condition might think about our ability to be privy to all the answers.

God blesses!

[Dr. Shane]

The economy has a long way to go. The real unemployment number, as shown by polling organizations, is closer to 10% than 8%. Wages are down for those employed. The construction sector is hardly moving, Obamacare is still hurting the healthcare sector and the energy sector has a lot of potential that Obama is hesitant to explore. Just open up the newspaper and look at the classifieds. Things are still pretty bad.