FOOD STAMPS UP 45%; FEDERAL HANDOUTS UP 32%
If
the Republican primaries are any indication, one big debate in the
upcoming election will be whether President Obama is pushing the
country toward a European-style welfare culture.
Mitt Romney, for example, argues that "over the past three years, Barack Obama has been replacing our merit-based society with an entitlement society."
Newt Gingrich has taken to calling Obama "the best food-stamp president in American history."
Obama, in contrast, says the government must play an increasing role — what he likes to call "shared responsibility" — to ensure a society that is fairer.
So is Obama turning the country into a welfare society and away from one focused on opportunity? While it's true that the country has been headed in this direction for many years — with the explosion in entitlements since the 1960s and the aging of the population — Obama has, in fact, greatly accelerated the trend.
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ECONOMY GROWS AT 2.8%, BUT SLOWDOWN IS AHEAD The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, but a strong rebuilding of stocks by businesses and weak spending on capital goods hinted at slower growth in early 2012. U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, a sharp acceleration from the 1.8 percent clip of the prior three months and the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2010. It was, however, a touch below economists expectations for a 3.0 percent rate. Growth in the fourth quarter got a temporary boost from the rebuilding of business inventories, which was the fastest since the third quarter of 2010, after they declined in the third-quarter for the first time since late 2009. ---Click here to read more--- |
2011 GDP: 1.7%
From the just-released GDP report: Real GDP increased 1.7 percent in 2011 (that is, from the 2010 annual level to the 2011 annual level), compared with an increase of 3.0 percent in 2010. TThe increase in real GDP in 2011 primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from state and local government spending, private inventory investment, and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. |
That's
the final, pathetic growth number for 2011.
HILLARY: "I'M DONE!"
Like
President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she
hasn’t been watching the Republican primary debates. But at least
Clinton has an excuse for tuning out — she says she’s quitting
government after the election no matter who wins.
“What could we do to persuade you to run for vice president?” a staffer asked at a State Department town hall meeting Thursday, referring to cyclical rumors and the wishful thinking of some supporters. “Oh, my goodness,” Clinton replied.
“I will certainly stay on until the president nominates someone and that transition can occur,” said Clinton, who has insisted repeatedly that she will be a one-term secretary. “But I think, after 20 years ...of being on the high wire of American politics, and all of the challenges that come with that, it would probably be a good idea to just find out how tired I am.”
The famously workaholic secretary said she has “no idea” what she will do in the future, and doesn’t want to think about it because it might divert attention from today’s diplomatic tasks. The election, she said, is going to “suck up a lot of the attention from following areas that we think are so important,” including “trying to resolve frozen conflicts” and “trying to build up America’s reputation” in the world.
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THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION -- BATTLELINE ONLINE
January 25, 2012
| FROM THE BATTLELINES | THE POLITCAL FRONT | GOVERNMENT MANEUVERS | ||
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Reagan-Model Employers |
Case Against Primaries |
Bills Worst When Bipartisan |
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Keep Them Poor
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Romney-Paul Ticket? |
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ObamaCare Ups Premiums $1300 |
Red Card Solution |
Small Cities Spend Wiser |
| CULTURE WARS | MEDIA MANIA | |
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Decline of Shared Values |
Social Media World |
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Railroad “Hell on Wheels” |
Occupy’s Billionaires |
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Entrepreneurship Year? by Craig Columbus |
Debates’ Left Bias |
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GINGRICH OPENS DOORS MIAMI — Fighting to curry favor with Florida’s large pool of Hispanic voters, Newt Gingrich on Wednesday called for a guest-worker program for most illegal immigrants, but his campaign could not say whether those people would be on a path to citizenship — the key question in the immigration debate. Under close questioning by Univision’s political host, Jorge Ramos, Mr. Gingrich said he would grant quick citizenship rights to illegal immigrants who join the military or to those who have been in the U.S. between 20 and 25 years. He said the rest of the estimated 11 million should be given access to a guest-worker program. But his campaign said it was unclear whether at the end of that guest-worker period the immigrants would be allowed to stay and gain citizenship, essentially jumping the legal immigration line, or whether they would be required to return home. ---Click here to read more--- |
NEW HOMES SALES IN 2011 WORST IN HISTORY
The Commerce Department says new-home sales fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 307,000. The pace is less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold in a healthy economy. Total sales last year were less than the 323,000 sold in 2010, making it the worst year on records dating back to 1963. The median sales prices for new homes dropped in December, as builders continued to slash prices. It fell 2.5 percent to $210,300. The decline in sales comes as other signs suggest the depressed housing market is starting to recover. Construction picked up, sales of previously occupied homes are rising, and builders are slightly more confident. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) — Fewer Americans bought new homes in December, making 2011 the
worst sales year on record.
TAXPAYERS STILL OWED NEARLY $133 BILLION FROM BAILOUT
WASHINGTON (AP) - A government watchdog says
U.S. taxpayers are still owed $132.9 billion that companies
haven't repaid from the financial bailout, and some of that will
never be recovered.
The bailout launched at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008 will continue to exist for years, says a report issued Thursday by Christy Romero, the acting special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout. Some bailout programs, such as the effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by reducing mortgage payments, will last as late as 2017, costing the government an additional $51 billion or so.
The gyrating stock market has slowed the Treasury Department's efforts to sell off its stakes in 458 bailed-out companies, the report says. They include insurer American International Group Inc., General Motors Co. and Ally Financial Inc.
If Treasury plans to sell its stock in the three companies at or above the price where taxpayers would break even on their investment - $28.73 a share for AIG, $53.98 for GM - it may take a long time for the market to rebound to that level, the report says. AIG's shares closed Wednesday at $25.31, while GM ended at $24.92. Ally isn't publicly traded.
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FED SIGNALS A FULL RECOVERY IS YEARS AWAY - RATES WON'T GO UP BEFORE 2014 The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it was likely to raise interest rates at the end of 2014, but not until then, adding another 18 months to the expected duration of its most basic and longest-running response to the financial crisis. The announcement means that the Fed does not expect the economy to complete its recovery from the 2008 crisis over the next three years. By holding short-term rates near zero beyond mid-2013, its previous estimate, the Fed hopes to hasten that process somewhat by reducing the cost of borrowing. The Fed said in a statement that the economy had expanded “moderately” in recent weeks, but that unemployment remained at a high level, the housing sector remained in a deep depression, and the possibility of a new financial crisis in Europe continued to threaten the domestic economy. The statement, released after a two-day meeting of the Fed’s policy-making committee, said that the Fed intended to keep rates near zero until late 2014. ---Click here to read more--- |
OBAMA WARNS HE WILL
The speech was the president’s third such address and comes amid a tumultuous Republican battle to see who will challenge his bid for a second term. Against that backdrop, Obama reminded Americans of the economic mess he inherited and which he blames on past policies. Claiming progress since he assumed office, Obama spoke directly to the members of Congress sitting before him. “As long as I’m president, I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum,” he said. But he added his warning to fight those who seek to obstruct him. ---Click here to read more--- |
President Obama pledged in Tuesday
night’s State of the Union address to work with Congress
where possible in forging “an economy built to last.”
But he warned his opponents he will “fight obstruction
with action,” and promised to “oppose any effort to
return to the very same policies that brought on this
economic crisis in the first place.”OBAMA PUSHES FOR NEW TAXES, MORE SPENDING
Attempting to lay out his blueprint for an
“economy that’s built to last,” an often impassioned, even
defiant President Barack Obama on Tuesday night vowed to fight
obstructionism in Congress and return to a “fairness for all and
responsibility from all” approach in his third State of the
Union. “Let’s never forget: Millions of Americans who work hard
and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a
financial system that do the same. It’s time to apply the same
rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts, and no
copouts,” he said. “An America built to last insists on
responsibility from everybody.”
That “fairness” is likely to include hefty tax increases for many American high earners and successful small businesses, critics say. The president's speech was the first salvo in an administration push to create a millionaire surtax of up to 5.6 percent and raising the capital gains tax rate to 20 percent for upper income taxpayers.
The move is already infuriating Republicans, making it harder to see how both sides can come together on the president's agenda in an election year. GOP leaders like House Speaker John Boehner believe such a tax is a Democratic attempt at “class warfare” and expanding government bureaucracy.
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CARTOON OF THE DAY |
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We believe that the Constitution of the United States speaks for itself. There is no need to rewrite, change or reinterpret it to suit the fancies of special interest groups or protected classes.
John Corson
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