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Subscribe to RSSElkhart four years later … State of Union stronger, but not as strong as it could be … It’s still the economy … Obama under 50% in latest polls … Dems plan to ‘win’ the sequester … Bipartisan gun deal? … Breannan pressed, but could teach Hagel a thing or two … Dempsey ‘surprised’ Clinton didn’t know about Benghazi cable.
Published 9:45 a.m. ET -- *** Elkhart (and America) four years later: Exactly four years ago tomorrow, President Barack Obama -- who had just been sworn in for his first term -- traveled to Elkhart, Ind., to sell his economic stimulus. At the time, Elkhart had a sky-high unemployment rate(19.4% as of Feb. 2009) due in large part to the city’s reliance on the manufacturing industry (especially the making of recreation vehicles). “I promised you back then [in 2008] that if elected, I'd do everything I could to help this community recover, and that's why I came back today, because I intend to keep my promise,” Obama said. Because of that promise, NBCNews.com began a series called “The Elkhart Project” chronicling the city’s recovery. Four years later, with Obama set to deliver his latest State of the Union address on Tuesday, Elkhart is pretty much the story of America: Things are better, but not back to where they were before the economy crashed in 2008. Elkhart’s unemployment rate is now 9.3%, down significantly from its peak in ’09, but below the state (8.2%) and national average (7.9%). “We’re definitely not where we want to be, but we have certainly rebounded from where we were,” said Barkley Garrett, the city’s economic development director. “All in all, considering where we were, we are doing well. But we have a long way to go.”
Aug. 5, 2009 (archival video): NBC's Chuck Todd poses questions to President Obama about the economic realities that most Americans, particularly those in economically hard-hit Elkhart, are facing during the recession. President Obama spoke at Wakarusa, Indiana announcing federal grants to support hybrid RV and pick-up manufacturers.
*** The State of the Union is stronger -- but not as strong as it could be: Speaking in Elkhart four years ago, the president acknowledged that full economic recovery would take time. “Even with this plan, the road ahead won’t be easy. This crisis has been a long time in the making; we’re not going to turn it around overnight,” he said. “Recovery will likely be measured in years, not weeks or months.” We now begin Year Five of America’s road to recovery. The state of the union -- at least economically -- is stronger than it was four years ago. But it also would be a stretch to say it’s as strong as it could be.
*** It’s still the economy: Despite the focus on guns and immigration, the economy remains the biggest story. And with analysts believing unemployment will remain in the mid-7% range into next year, the philosophical fiscal divide in Washington, mirrored across the world, will continue. There’s been no bridging the conservative view that austerity measures/spending cuts, especially in the public sector, to reduce the debt will lead to growth and the liberal view that more temporary deficit spending is necessary to provide support to a fragile economy -- and that those public-sector cuts are a big part of what's holding the economy back.
*** Not great news for Obama in latest polls: The president’s approval rating in a round of polls after his reelection showed Obama over 50%. Well, this morning the president’s approval is under 50% in both a new FOX poll (49%) and Quinnipiac poll (46%). The FOX poll also shows pessimism continues to reign.
*** Democrats plan to “win” sequester: Part of Obama’s State of the Union is going to be the sequester, Politico notes, and pushing for ending loopholes for the wealthiest, something Democrats believe they have broad support for: “Senate Democrats are digging in against Republican calls for deeper spending cuts by bringing out some of their favorite punching bags: corporate jets, Wall Street and Big Oil. With the automatic budget cuts in the sequester coming up next month, Democrats hope to vote on an alternative plan to raise taxes on some of their favorite boogeymen in hopes of shifting the blame when the GOP inevitably rejects it. … The Democratic public pressure campaign is expected to begin in earnest next week, starting with President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday and a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing expected Thursday at which senior administration officials will most likely sound the alarm that so-called sequestration cuts would devastate the economy. … According to sources familiar with the matter, Democrats are leaning toward a plan that would be split 50-50 between spending cuts and tax hikes, financed in large part by new taxes on corporate and wealthy taxpayers.”
*** Bipartisan gun deal emerging? Guns is also likely to be a topic, and AP reports that there’s a bipartisan private group that is aiming at forging a deal expanding background checks and working on mental health issues. AP: “A bipartisan quartet of senators, including two National Rifle Association members and two with ‘F’ ratings from the potent firearms lobby, are quietly trying to find a compromise on expanding the requirement for gun-sale background checks. … The senators' talks have included discussions about ways to encourage states to make more mental health records available to the national system and the types of transactions that might be exempted from background checks, such as sales among relatives or to those who have permits to carry concealed weapons, said people who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to describe the negotiations publicly.” The senators involved in the private group include Democrats’ No. 3 Chuck Schumer, Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Republicans Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Rep. Mark Kirk of Illinois. It’s significant that, once again, Schumer’s in the middle of this, positioning himself as a dealmaker. Makes us wonder if Harry Reid’s thinking about retiring before his re-elect in 2016…
*** Brennan pressed, but could show Chuck Hagel a thing or two: The confirmation hearing for John Brennan to become CIA director began with fireworks with Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Sen. Dianne Feinstein needing to shut it down and clear the room after five protests. Eight people were arrested outside. Brennan sparred with senators over drones, torture, leaks, and Benghazi. Some senators disagreed with him and pushed him, especially on interrogation. Some might not be happy with his "I don’t know what the truth is" answer, but he was ready, confident and unapologetic. He acquitted himself much better than Chuck Hagel, the president’s nominee to be Defense Secretary. It was a stark contrast. Jill Lawrence, writing under the headline “John Brennan Shows Hagel How It's Done,” called it “a startling 180-degree contrast.”
*** The debate over kill or capture: The Washington Post notes that Brennan was challenged on why “the number of drone strikes has soared while captures of terrorism suspects have dwindled to single digits” under President Obama. “I never believed it's better to kill a terrorist than to detain him,” Brennan said in an exchange with ranking member Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). Still, the number of detainees has declined significantly, according to the Post. Is it because of better intelligence? Does it have to do with Obama wanting to avoid detainees? It’s an important question, but one no one with any knowledge is going to answer in public. (Brennan will go at it again in a closed classified hearing with the committee Tuesday.)
*** Dempsey ‘surprised’ Clinton didn’t know about Benghazi cable: Two pieces of news came out of the other hearing on the Hill yesterday before Armed Services with outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey: (1) Panetta and Dempsey said they agreed with a Hillary Clinton (State)-Gen. David Petraeus (CIA) plan to arm rebels in Syria, and (2) Dempsey said he was informed of the Benghazi cable requesting more security by the U.S. African Command, that he offered more help, but it was turned down. And then when asked how what he thought about Secretary of State Clinton testifying that she had no knowledge of the cable, he said, “I would call myself surprised that she didn’t.”
*** Obama acknowledges tension with Capitol Hill Democrats: At the House retreat yesterday, the president rallied Democrats about budget cuts and that he’s willing to fight for Democratic values in the court of public opinion with Republicans. “I have to tell you, if that's an argument that they want to have before the court of public opinion, that is an argument I'm more than willing to engage in,” he said to. But he also acknowledged tensions with Capitol Hill Democrats with this: "There will be times where you guys are mad at me, and I'll occasionally read about it." Today, Bill Clinton (10:00 am ET) and comedian Stephen Colbert (!!!) address the group.
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Your typical loser liberal ladies and gentlemen
Chris Doner (LAPD SHOOTER) Full Manifesto – He’s: Pro-Obama, Loves Hillary, Admires MSNBC and CNN, Adores Piers Morgan, Gay, and He’s Anti-Gun….. | The Last Refuge
If liberals were held back in 1st grade until they were smart enough to go the second grade teachers wouldn't be the only people retiring from the government school system...
Dee Ten is so jealous of the 2nd graders.....never got quite that far.
Unfortunately, many politicians, particularly House Republicans, don't understand economics. Contrary to popular belief, running the government isn't like running your household, or even running a business. For a household or a business, or even a state or local government, having a balanced budget is a good idea. In the case of the Federal government, it's not that simple.
Every action taken by government has consequences. If the sequester agreed to in 2011 were to take effect, spending would be cut drastically. But here's something most voters don't know: the spending cuts called for in the sequester ARE NOT even nearly sufficient to balance the budget, even though they would ELIMINATE ONE MILLION JOBS in the Department of Defense alone — 350,000 uniformed military jobs and 650,000 civilian support jobs. And that's over and above the jobs that would be lost in the other departments, along with the private-sector jobs that would be lost at firms with which the government contracts to provide goods and services it needs to operate.
To say the sequester, if allowed to take effect, would be devastating to our nation's economy would be a gross understatement. Even Republicans understand that. That's why they're concerned about Defense cuts — because every Member of Congress has some defense contractor who's been contributing to his or her campaign. Some even have defense plants or military bases within their districts or states. The fact is the United States spends too much on Defense — equal to the next fourteen-highest nations COMBINED. And all but two of them are our allies.
Our tax burden, as a percentage of GDP, is the LOWEST it's been in more than 60 years. During that time, Medicare and Medicare were created, and the percentage of our population that is more than 65 years old has grown exponentially. It will be 20 percent by 2020.
Revenues will have to be part of the solution. It is not possible to cut spending enough to balance the budget even if the Department of Defense were to be totally eliminated!
Wasn't it Obama and Dems who just joined with Republicans in making "permanent" the Bush tax cuts for 99.3% of taxpayers?? According to the CBO, that action will increase the national debt by $4 trillion over the next 10 years. The tax burden absolutely is the lowest it has been in the last 60 years, especially for those in the middle class. One could conclude that Obama has led the effort to keep it that way.
Invisible, the first problem is Obama hasn't passed a budget in 3 years. The house passed a budget every year but Harry and his Senate don't bother to even look at it, let alone vote on it.
And running the federal government is exactly like running an international company. Do you think running Google or Apple is easy? It's a lot easier when you have competent people. But if you want to make the government easier to run, MAKE IT SMALLER.
Look at the Post Office. I was just shredding tons of junk mail and thinking, the Post Office lost 16B this year, and I'm getting junk mail. That means every piece of junk mail you get is a loss of taxpayer money. Simply prohibiting junk mail would cut your loses. I saw a piece on MSNBC that was saying how important the post office is because since the 50's it was a place of equal opportunity employment for African Americans. Really? We should keep the post office open because in the 50's black people could get jobs there? What a joke. It's cheaper to put them on unemployment. What is the difference between Fedex and UPS. They do the same exact job, only they make money and the USPS losses money.
When you create a budget, you don't say this is all the money we can afford, let's spend it all. You say, we have 2.4T to spend, we will budget 2T in case we run a little over... for emergencies. How do we spend 3.6T a year? I've probably paid more into Social Security in 20 years than most pay in 40 years. The government can keep it if they cut the program. The same with Medicare. I'm tired of taking care of everyone else. I care for my family. No one gives me insurance or pays for my family, I don't want to care for anyone else's. Cut it. No one bothered to think 40 years in the future when more people are collecting than contributing. It failed. Cut it!!!!!
The only detrimental cut is military. Because military spending is the only spending that CREATES. It creates jobs, revenue, economic growth, technology, products and services. Social Security CREATES nothing. Its just a drain. Medicare creates very little. And the fraud and cost not only offset it but far outweigh it.
Obama raises taxes, but already has the money spent for a new program or agency or more government hiring that the money doesn't go to cut the deficit or pay down any debt.
To say, "Unfortunately, many politicians, particularly House Republicans, don't understand economics" is the most ridiculous thing in your post. If you CUT taxes the economy will grow. People will have more money to buy stuff. Corporations will make more, raise wages and hire. More people will pay taxes and higher taxes because they will make more. Corporations will pay more, not because of HIGHER rates, but because they will make more. This isn't economics, this is COMMON SENSE. The revenue you are looking for is created by economic growth, not by taxing people that are already struggling.
By the way... Republicans DON'T WANT sequestration. This was Obama and Jack Lews concoction. If Republicans came up with the idea, it would consist of cuts to EVERYTHING BUT the military.
The President doesn't pass budgets. Congress must pass a budget; then the President must sign or veto it.
By law the president must present his budget to the Congress by Februaray 1st. He has failed to do that so far this year. He presents his blueprint and then Congress acts on it.
Bingo Jerry.
Invisible, it's the President's job to submit a budget. The last time he did so, not even one democrat in the Senate would vote for it. Of course the Senate didn't bother to vote on the Republican budget passed in the House. It was too BALANCED!!!
ah, didn't the President sign the sequester into law?
Five years later after a socialistic Keynesian bailout....sure if someone would dump 200 million into my business then I could hire some people and bump up the accounting sheets.....where is the free will or free enterprise spirit.......cowards pure and simple.....
Keynesian economics is not socialism.
you are correct, pure fascist communism....
The very fact that you used the phrase "fascist communism" is proof enough that you have no idea of which you speak. If you can't figure out why go look at the definitions and history of fascism and communism.
please, the bailout was as unamerican as apple pie and you know it.....don't start with the political pandering..........call it whatever you like to call it... theft, inflation, saving Wall Street, liberal policies or make a political definition trying to conjure it something else...there was an FDIC to revert back to...
turn in your guns and always look up for drones....the new America.
No one asked for your guns, hypocrite. Why must you post lies, Hopeless?
NBC when are you going to report on Leon Panetta's Friday testimony - When are you going to report to the American Public that Obama never even followed up with Panetta the night of the kilings in Benghazi? The deaths of those Americans are falling right at his feet - it is obvious everything is being covered up to protect Obama - what the testimony revealed is chilling. A president who took no action - didn't even ask for any updates then flew off in the AM to LasVegas. Why doesn't Andrea Mitchell, or one of your other supposed journalists, delve into this story. If this had to do with a Republican president you'd have it all over your news outlets. It is shameful how you purport to be a news organization but never delve into the details of anything that might shed a bad light on Obama. More and more of the public is catching on to the fact that your deck is stacked with liberals who are unable to objectively report on the news!
S Allison...
When will you pull your head out of your a$$ and go back to FOX news?
Comrade obama sleeps peacefully while our Ambassador and three Americans are murdered!!!
Omsnbc, where is your article on Dr. Ben Carson!!!
Comrade obama were you paying attention??? LMAO!!!
the problems left by bush and cheney are the reason we are where we are, really? news flash the democrats have held the majority in the senate since 2007 and they held a majority in the house from 2007-2011. so let's see they must have done nothing through those years correct? i forgot cloture, the republicans forced legislation to receive 60 votes to be voted on. really and reid and the democrats couldn't find any republicans to support any of their ideas like spending more or were they trying to cut spending and the republicans wouldn't agree. you folks need to listen to yourselves, making excuses for the lack of leadership in the senate since 2007 is one of the reasons we are where we are. step up demand the folks you elected do their job. continue to buy their lame excuses and nothing will ever get done. they haven't passed a budget in the senate since 2009, have i ever heard of a continuing resolution one apologist asked, yes. news flash a budget forces you to put in writing the spending and is scored by the cbo which estimates the effect of that spending on the deficit/debt. again tell them no excuses do your job period.
The Obama Administration used the Newtown survivors who were trotted out very quickly after that event. So when are we going to hear from the survivors of the Benghazi Consulate Massacre? The American people would like to hear what they have to say. Why is the Administration keeping them away from the media??? What is the Obama Administration trying to hide? What is Hillary trying to hide?
Mesa
Quite living in the past,oh I forgot that's where repukes live,,,
.....still blaming Bush, Bullet??
The red states are full of these bible thumping pig people,like AZ,NV,All southern states,TX is the biggest loser when it comes to religion and welfare,trailer parks. Ect oh fat people. Uneducated garbage
Did you know that California, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and a host of other Blue states have a higher percentage of the population in their states on welfare than do Texas, Arizona, Nevada and many red states??? What a hoot!
Not true Peter,,,, Fox News are not true facts.
Peter, apparently JFD can't even google "Highest welfare states". How sad............
Noted pediatric brain surgeon Dr. Carson gave an incredible speech in front of a seething Obama. Dr. Carson has true visions on how to solve the debt crisis and health care problems. Not once did he look at a teleprompter or read from his notes. Obama thanked him, from the teleprompter. Obama can't fake everything. I would bet he isn't going to show up around Dr. Carson anymore.
So if the unemployment rate in Elkhart was 19.4% due to the right wing republican policies and the failure of trickle-down economics and the policies of president Obama brought it down to 9.2% ( That's a 10 point drop), why would anyone doubt that this president is fighting for the working class ? It's shame that our president has to fight this obstructionist congress to make this country a better place for everyone...
Typical libhead taking credit for other's achievements. Elkart held town meetings, re-educated their production lines, gave low tax rates and subsidies to companies to stay open. Obama had NOTHING to do with it.
Hahaha .... Typical Fox News spin !!
JFD, I guess we were just confused. After over 4 years of blaming Bush and the GOP for "obstruction", how did the President have anything to do with Elkhart's comeback? I am sure you realize that the GOP has obstructed every single thing the President has tried to do, so he can't possibly be responsible for any improvements in the economy, right? You just don't get to have it both ways.
Goofy people, the USA has never borrowed from China. Treasury sells notes. The sales are open to anyone. If the Chinese government or your Uncle Fred want to buy them, who cares.
Once sold, the USA has the money. There is no influence over the USA by your Uncle Fred or China just because they decided to invest in debt.
Moron. The Fed is buying 80% of the treasuries, and of all durations. If "Uncle Fred" buys the treasuries, where do you think the money comes from, Obama's stash? You can Google the Fed primary open market operations "POMO" days and line it up with the stock market gain. POMO = DJIA buying, which is why the market is up on lower corporate earnings. Hint: Money comes into existence by the issuance of debt, but that is WAY over your head, obviously. Troll.
4 years and trillions more in debt, is what the headlines should read. I guess chronically high unemployment, coupled with the lowest workforce participation rate since the 1980's, no budget, high welfare and foodstamp rolls, and continuing to spend money we don't have is now considered the "new normal". President Obama apparently HAS "transformed" America. How sad.............
Every Obama success, which is obviously just a massive abject failure of unlimited spending, is rooted in borrowing from our children and grandchildren. The demoncrats should be listed as the child abuse party.
That would be "unlimited" Republican obstruction, sabotage, corruption, incompetence, etc, etc....
Republicans of all stripes are solely responsible for obstructing and sabotaging our recovery - scumbaggery at its worse. The Republican-Tea Party-Right Wing Cartel is guilty of the following: fake patriotism, fraudulent politics, fake religion, fake morals. And you can take your "Christian" fundamentalism and shove it....
R-i-i-g-g-h-h-t-t-t. Because the Democratic Party, along with most mainstream media, have shown their proclivity for civil discourse and tolerance!!!!!!!!!!!!
Recoveries never happen when a country has to borrow to pay out-of-control social programs. Never in history. We borrowed almost 17 Trillion so far, 0 GDP growth. Obama has "Casey Jones" the debt train, and no recovery in sight. The debt-addicted, child-abusing, demoncons want destruction, mayhem, war, control, dictatorship. Ask Venezuela how that worked out for them this week? 46% drop in their currency in one day. Your party, just because there are more people living off the dole, the uninformed party, will make us Venezuela or Greece very soon. You blametards will still be saying it was Bush 50 years from now, unbelievable.
It was Bush !!.... The whole world knows that Reaganomics and Reaganomics on steroids ( Bush Policies )have ruin the worlds economies,.... The whole world except the right wing republican fascist in the US ... Total denial !!
Democrats have controlled the Senate since January 2007, the last 6 years. Not a single piece of legislation has become law during that period without support from Democrats. The House of Representatives was controlled by Democrats the entire time Reagan was in office - they wrote all the spending and tax bills during those years. We no longer have any alternatives to spending cuts and long term fiscal restraint. The sooner Obama and the Democrats acknowledge reality and work with Republicans to get the federal government on a sustainable financial track the less draconian the necessary cuts will be.
In a recent interview Erskin Bowles, the Democrat Obama chose to co-lead the deficit reduction commission, commented that for many decades voters have counted on their representatives in Congress to "bring home the bacon." He then added that "the pig is dead".
The economy would have been much better had it not been for the GOP - and their party of no!
It's interesting how so many people find blame with one party; the one which only controls one chamber of Congress.
Does the party which holds the WH and one chamber of Congress have any responsibility for what is going on?
People!! People!!
HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!
Paul Craig Roberts served in Reagan Treasury Dept, and also worked as editor at the Wall Street Journal. He knows about what he speaks. He described the horrendous economic situation for the US Economy. He puts blame on Wall Street and US Corporate executives who use Asian labor in outsourcing, rendering the US nation of workers poor.
I just can’t get over the Greed of the Rich!! They are not investing in America!! They’re going to wait till Tea-Publicans drive America into the ditch again, and pick up the pieces!!!
America’s problems started August 1971!!
These are things Republicans don't want you to remember!!
With inflation unresolved by August 1971, and an election year looming, Nixon convened a summit of his economic advisers at Camp David. Nixon then announced temporary wage and price controls, allowed the dollar to float against other currencies, and ended the convertibility of the dollar into gold. This meant our money was now worthless!!! Inflationary dollars!!
The first signs of impending trouble are the exploding budget deficits themselves. They began, of course, under the parlous economic stewardship of Ronald Reagan. Reagan cut the marginal tax rate on the wealthiest of Americans from 70% to 38%. He promised it would spur an orgy of investment and rocket the economy to new levels of production and prosperity. Instead, his supply side economics did the exact opposite. It produced the deepest recession since the Great Depression.
During Reagan's administration, the unemployment rate declined from 7.5% to 5.4%, with the rate reaching highs of 10.8% in 1982 and 10.4% in 1983. Reagan also earned the nickname "the Teflon President", in that public perceptions of him were not tarnished by the controversies that arose during his administration.
Output fell 2.2% in 1982 while budget deficits soared. When Reagan took office in 1981, the national debt stood at $995 billion. Twelve years later, by the end of George H.W. Bush’s presidency, it had exploded to $4 trillion. Reagan was a B grade movie actor and a doddering, probably clinically senile president, but he was a sheer genius at rewarding his friends by saddling other people with debts.
Bill Clinton reversed Reagan’s course, raising taxes on the wealthy, and lowering them for the working and middle classes. This produced the longest sustained economic expansion in American history. Importantly, it also produced budgetary surpluses allowing the government to begin paying down the crippling debt begun under Reagan. In 2000, Clinton’s last year, the surplus amounted to $236 billion. The forecast ten year surpluses stood at $5.6 trillion. It was the last black ink America would see for decades, perhaps forever.
OUR MONEY IS WORTHLESS!!!!!!!!! WORTHLESS!!!!!!!!!!
THE FOUNDING FATHERS!!!!!!!!!!!
The Founding Fathers knew that irresponsible government’s print paper money, backed by nothing, overspend and devalue the currency, causing "inflation", and destroying the economy. That has been happening for decades and is accelerating at a tremendous rate NOW.
OUR MONEY IS WORTHLESS!!!!! JUST PRINT MORE!!!!!!!!!!
OUR MONEY USE TO BE BACKED BY GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!
WORTHLESS MONEY CAUSES INFLATION!!!!
The Founding Fathers knew that irresponsible government’s print paper money, backed by nothing, overspend and devalue the currency, causing "inflation", and destroying the economy. That has been happening for decades and is accelerating at a tremendous rate NOW.
THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT ARE RICH ARE SELLING GOLD!!!!!!!!!!
GOT SOME !!!!!! WANT TO BY IT???????????
WHAT A SCAM!!!!!
the rich get richer and the poor get poorer!
AJ from Oh, yes and no, so to say. With the way the economic mess is, if you have a decent income, and live way below that income level, and invest your money wisely, you can make money, thus becoming richer. If you don't do that, then yes, you are getting poorer, as inflation is eating up the dollar.
They, the politicans have a reason for not including the cost of fuel and energy into the cost of living. If the truth be know, (I'm guessing) the inflation rate is around five or six percent, and it's not going to come down. Gas prices are still going up, and nobody can explain why? I guess those billions in profits aren't enough for the oil companies.
"The King of France had 40,000 men, he marched them up a hill and marched them down again."