America Needs Skilled Workers, Not Women's Studies Degrees

It is time for the State Department, this administration, and all those occupy folks to start listening to America's favorite mailman when it comes to jobs.

I have known about John Ratzenberger's campaign to bring back blue collar jobs in this country for awhile, but I was always stymied by how it was that America was ever going to get back it's production base. I don't expect it to ever be what it was post World War II but we do need some sort of manufacturing base in this country. One free of union influence and corruption I might add.



I came across this article today so I immediately thought of Mr. Ratzenberger. I agree with his sentiment that often times a college education is way over rated and it definitely isn't for everyone and should not the yardstick by which we measure our fellow citizens.

Martin Daum, the head of Daimler Trucks North America, told the gathering that he felt he had better skilled workers at his plants in Mexico than in the United States, where some workers have to be taught proper math and writing skills.

He said that America produces highly educated professionals, but knowledge can be lacking when it comes to hiring for vocational jobs. According to Daum, the better skill sets of Mexican workers makes it easier to ramp up production at his company’s factories in Mexico than those in the United States.

“We have to bring in educators,” he said.

Anybody who occasions a visit to Instapundit (and who doesn't?) knows that for quite awhile he has been harping on an education bubble. That bubble exists only in the world of academia, not in the world for those who desire to use their hands for a living.

Glad That Speechifying Thingy Is Done

There are some details that have been released related to Obama's chicken in every pot campaign speech that he delivered last night. Quite honestly I could have cared less, but you couldn't escape it and then they went and pre-empted TMZ in my area so for that reason I give it two thumbs down.

Reading a related document released by the White House after the speech that attempts to detail the stupendous jobs bill that was 32 months in the making, and that wound up flopping like so many over hyped Hollywood productions do, I found a lot of pixie dust will be needed as a final ingredient to make these notes that appear to be jotted down while daydreaming during a defense briefing become reality. It did contain some tax relief proposals in the form of reduced payroll taxes for both employers and employees. As far as actually doing anything to spur jobs, it just further reinforced the what we all knew. He doesn't have a clue.

Teachers, schools, bridges, roads, and wi fi for all. $35B for teacher hiring. $30B building/repairing schools. $50B surface transportation. $10B to create an infrastructure bank. $15B to rehab vacant property.

In other words America, the SCOAMF feels that the only job most of us are qualified to do are in the construction field. Hire a vet who has spent a few years sweltering under the summer sun in Afghanistan lugging around 100 lbs of gear while dodging IED's to fill pot holes. Yeah I'm sure a lot of them will just jump at that chance. Sure they'll do it if nothing else exists but in his warped mind he thinks this is some sort of move up. Got an accounting degree? No potholes for you, no sir. We are going to put right to work on putting a roof on a school. Good news for you computer geeks too. Understanding how you are used to earning a living by exercising your brain we are going to give your brain a rest. Understanding that you have a valuable set of skills I am sure they can find bulldozer or other piece of heavy equipment for you operate.

One of the cuter items was the $10B to create his so called infrastructure bank. I mean who doesn't want that after what a success Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac turned out to be. Creation of this bank will certainly guarantee that the next time a Democrat is elected and the economy does a nose dive it will truly kill the country. And speaking of Fannie and Freddie he wants Americans to refinance their homes which will be once again backed up by the still struggling agencies who won't share their books with us and are still getting shots of taxpayers dollars every three or four months to prevent their collapse.

Yeah this whole thing is pie in the sky and none of it will come to fruition probably because that super duper budget commission he put together a while back has to score the whole damn thing and figure out where to get the money from so that it can live up PrezBo's claim that it is paid for. Of course they won't be able to use the creative accounting tricks using Obama's socialist calculator and while the committee is bipartisan all we will hear is that the evil Republicans blocked it.

Everybody else glad football is back to take our minds off of the SCOAMF for a little while?

Oh yeah about that wifi crap. We are having a good laugh around here about that. I'll try to make this quick. Dawsonville, Ga is a rural area north of Atlanta. It is a hot bed of NASCAR activity. Joe Biden came to town a while back, you know to visit those rednecks. Facts about Dawsonville that Obama/Biden never knew. Average income slightly higher then the rest of Georgia. Community is served by 6 wireless carriers already. Number of millionaires in the area a lot higher then most of the rest of the state. Hey NASCAR and the associated industries such as engine building, parts, and other things pays well. Anyway upon meeting with the peasants Biden gifted them with something like $25B for wifi which sort of puzzled the mayor since he had nowhere to spend the money. As far as I know that money is probably still sitting around since it has to be used for wifi stuff, the admin is still talking about how they are helping out the poor dumb rednecks in rural America, and meanwhile nobody around here doubts why our country is in such dire economic straits since none of the bozos in Washington have a clue.

SCOAMF To Spend Time With Union Thugs at Government Motors

Other then playing golf where else would you expect the man to be? Obama is going to be spending at least a portion of his day in front of what he hopes is still his loyal followers by giving a speech to the AFL-CIO at a Government Motors facility in that failed union held, liberal bastion of economic success called Detroit. Probably the best thing about the whole visit is he is going to be using the opportunity to do a "dress rehearsal" of that all important, earth shattering, answer to all our needs, jobs speech that he will be giving to congress later this week.

Obama's speech at an annual event sponsored by the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO was serving as a dress rehearsal for the jobs address he'll deliver to a joint session of Congress on Thursday night.

Yeah, you read it. If you get the transcript of today's speech to the union storm troopers you will have a good preview of what he is going to say Thursday night in a speech that he expects the country to be watching, but for most of us will have us scrambling for the remote to find an infomercial on television rather then have our ears assaulted yet again by this SCOAMF.

Obama spent part of the holiday weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland "putting the finishing touches" on the proposals and the speech, said spokesman Jay Carney.

Poor Detroit, just when they thought things couldn't get any worse "The Curse" comes for a visit.

President Downgrade Has a Plan: He Mailed It In

According to a writer over at the Daily Nut Case PrezBo has a plan. And he mailed it in. I just wonder who is on the distribution list on that email. Must have been some sort of internal email cause I checked the inbox on both of my email accounts and nothing.

Below is the text of this supposed email with the big, grand, glorious, wrapped in awesomeness present 'The One' has come upon.

This week President Obama traveled to the Midwest where he met with Americans in rural towns and communities in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. The purpose of his trip, dubbed the Economic Rural Tour 2011, was to talk to people from different walks of life about what is happening in our country right now.

The President was there to talk, but also to listen. In town halls, county fairs and an economic forum, Americans shared their hopes for the future and their concerns about the economy and what it means for their businesses and their families.

Throughout his trip, the President proposed a series of common sense steps Congress can take immediately upon their return to Washington that will start rebuilding our economy. These include:

Extend the payroll tax cut so that middle class families have more money in their paychecks next year. If you've got more money in your paycheck, you're more likely to spend it, and that means businesses of all sizes will have more customers. They'll be in a better position to hire. [ed - Uh would that be those disgusting mostly hated by the left Bush tax cuts?]

Extend unemployment benefits so that millions of workers who are still pounding the pavement looking for jobs can support their families [ed - How to create jobs? There must be someway, let me think a little more]

Pass a bipartisan road construction bill. There are over a million construction workers out of work after the housing boom went bust, just as a lot of America needs rebuilding. We can put these workers back to work by rebuilding our roads and bridges and railways. [ed - Told you I could come up with something. Construction. What former medical or financial sector employee wouldn't jump at a chance to pour asphalt?]

Pass the patent reform bill to help our innovators and entrepreneurs get their job creating ideas to market faster. [ed - Hmmm m'kay, but where are they going to get the capital to make their super product?]

Pass the trade agreements that will help businesses sell more American-made goods and services to Asia and South America, supporting tens of thousands of jobs here at home.
[ed - I assume this doesn't include firearms like your Fast and Furious program]

Put our bright, talented and skilled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to work. The President has proposed several initiatives to make sure our veterans are able to navigate this difficult labor market and succeed in the civilian workforce, including the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits, and his challenge to the private sector to train or hire 100,000 unemployed veterans. [ed - So let me get this straight. After enduring the rigors of military life in a combat zone you want them to go to work pouring asphalt and jackhammering concrete outdoors, in the elements. How will they notice the change. Nice try chump]

As President Obama said this week, “there is nothing wrong with our country, there is something wrong with our politics…When this country is operating off a common ground, nobody can stop us. But when we’re divided, then we end up having a whole lot of self-inflicted problems.”

So that's it? Taking a page right out FDR's playbook Obama's big plan is to start a bunch of construction jobs, funded with yet more taxpayer money that the feds ran out of long ago, that will place us further in debt and are seasonal in nature. Yup sounds like a winner to me chump. Except of course you know those construction projects, like I thought you had discovered when you made your ridiculous 'shovel ready' proclamation that brought gales of laughter at the time, will take years to get approval because of your jobs killing EPA department. Unless just like Obamacare you plan to issue waivers of all sorts to your union friends and big contributors.

America Already Reaches New Debt Ceiling

Well, that didn't take long. In the space of less then 48 hours after passing the debt ceiling increase the United States is already back at the limit.

U.S. debt shot up $239 billion on Tuesday — the largest one-day bump in history — as the government flexed the new borrowing room it earned in this week’s debt-limit increase deal.

The debt subject to the statutory limit shot way past the old cap of $14.294 trillion to hit $14.532 trillion on Tuesday, according to the latest the Treasury Department figures, which are released on the next business day.

That increase puts the government already remarkably close to the new debt limit of $14.694, which means one day’s new borrowing ate up 60 percent of the $400 billion in space Congress granted the president this week.

This round of borrowing now puts us at 100% of GDP in debt. That means that the entire output of Americans now goes just to the debt.

The more you give the more they take. Hell, it looks like the first order of business when Congress comes off its' little vacation will be to go back into talks to raise the debt ceiling. It is almost as if this administration is determined to spend this country into oblivion. A question I have heard several times is if you were trying to deliberately destroy this economy, name me one thing you would have done different?

The EPA has been taking advantage of all the attention on Congress to push ahead with one edict after another that will have the effect of crippling energy production in this country even further. Slublog, one of Ace's crack hobo hunters, has a piece up about how soon that heart healthy cereal known as Cheerios will probably be inducing heart attacks when you see the price cause of new regulations.

More borrowing, more spending, more rules and regulations all aimed at further reducing further the productivity in America and handicapping not only energy production but instilling even more instability into business community.

I originally thought that we could survive four years of Obama, using Jimmy Carter as a model, but I no longer have even that glimmer of optimism. Folks, quite frankly I could care less who the next president is at this point, hell pick a random name out the Dubuque, Iowa phonebook. They certainly could not do anything more destructive then this administration has done.

Depressing: People Actually Sign Petition to Ban "Job-Killing" ATMs

These are the voters we need to make sure to remind about Election Day 2012.

For them, it will be on Wednesday, November 7th.



Via Breitbart.

Cross-posted.

"I Think It's Patently Obvious That the President is Focused on the Economy"

If it's so patently obvious, then why did Jake Tapper bother asking the question?

TAPPER: In recent weeks, Republicans have been attacking President Obama for, in their view, seeming to be out of touch over the economic woes of Americans, whether it's a Mitt Romney issue -- issuing a -- videos featuring unemployed Americans saying they're not speed bumps. Senator Mitch McConnell on the floor of the Senate yesterday suggested that President Obama was joking about the stimulus not working and that jobs and competitive council event in North Carolina, when he talked about "shovel-ready" is not as "shovel-ready" as they'd anticipated. Do you guys have any response? Does the White House have any response to this charge?

CARNEY: I think it's patently obvious that the president is focused on the economy, that he takes enormously seriously the hardship that Americans continue to endure as we emerge from the worst recession most of us have ever seen in our lifetimes.

He -- one of the reasons why he asked his office to cull 10 letters a day for him from the 40,000 that are received by this White House addressed to him every day is because he wanted to, in their own words, read about the travails that some Americans are going through and especially if you've met -- you know, when he's initiated this practice back in the early part of his administration when we were in an economic free fall.

Right. Obama actually reads 10 letters a day from struggling Americans. You buyin' that?

I'm not. Carney might as well just tell us Obama reads all 40,000 letters. It's all bullcrap. We're talking about the same guy who's about to head out for round number 73 this weekend. Obama has now spent the equivalent of nine work weeks out on the course during his time in office.

Yeah, he's focused like a laser. On the economy. Or something.


Video here.

Hope Is Gone Now That Change Has Come

Adding to the growing list of companies having to lay people off due to the uncertainty in the economic climate because of all the regulations and seeming indifference from the Obama administration is Piedmont hospital in Georgia, which will now lay off 464 people.

The move is, in part, a reaction to hurdles many hospitals are facing, including a growing number of uninsured patients, a new state hospital bed tax, anticipated cuts to Medicare reimbursements and the Medicaid expansion in 2014, Day said.

This comes on the heels of the recent announcement from an energy company which is forced to lay off 600 people in order to meet new rules and regulations from the EPA.

American Electric Power on Thursday announced it plans to shut down several coal-fired power plants, convert or retrofit others, and cut as many as 600 jobs in the next few years to comply with regulations proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The really disturbing trend in the employment picture in this country is how companies after initially laying off thousands of employees in the previous years have simply chosen to not fill those jobs. Those were jobs still on the books that companies were still taking applications for in the hopes of the economy turning around and then being able to hire. Those jobs will now be gone forever.

The other side effect is that those that have managed to retain their jobs are being worked to death and now after two years of this administrations misguided, inept, and total indifference to the plight of the worker are approaching the burn out stage which will no doubt lead to further issues with people simply giving up. Depending on the individual this continued burn out of the workers will manifest itself in one of two ways. A resignation that this is the way life is going to be and either refusing to let a job get the better of you and slowing down to do what is required to keep your job and nothing more, or trying to keep up with the demands of the job and risking serious physical harm along with damage to any personal relationships outside of the workplace.

In either case it paints a very bleak picture for the future prospects of counting on the spirit of the American people to be able to turn around and succeed in spite of the odds.

I don't think this is the fundamental change that most Americans had in mind when they voted for Obama.

9 Out of 10 Reports Agree, We're Screwed

Wow, ABC must stand for the All Barack Channel for the amount of spin they put on this story about our worsening economy and jobs picture. It seems to them all of the news is good while everybody else is reporting how this bodes ill for America.

California is well represented on our list of the areas with the most layoffs as four other cities made the list including: San Francisco (No. 4), Riverside (No. 5), San Diego (No. 6) and Sacramento (No. 9). California leads the way among the 50 states with 390 layoffs statewide which affected 48,497 employees. That is three times more than any other state.

But ABC seems to be arguing with itself over just what the jobs numbers mean.

"We do not see a double-dip recession or hyper-inflation in the future, but we do think U.S. economic growth prospects are pretty weak," he said.

From CNBC:

“Let’s face it — no matter how you cut this data, it’s lousy,” Mesirow Financial Economist Diane Swonk told CNBC Friday.

From the White House mouthpiece, and head of Obama's economic counsel, Austan Goolsby we get this little pearl:

"There are always bumps on the road to recovery, but the overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past two years," he said in a statement. "This report is a reminder of the challenges that remain."

While I can agree the the overall trajectory of the economy has moved dramatically, improved is not the word I would use. More like stagnant at best.

Even the BBC, which tries to take a more balanced approach to the news finds little good news, and the person they defer to for analysis brings up the specter of yet another bailout.

And that prospect will fuel speculation that the US Federal Reserve may embark on a third round of "quantitative easing" - purchasing government bonds to pump more cash into the financial system - later this year.

"Arguing about the merits of whether QE3 would be a good idea, is irresponsible right now," said Tod Schoenberger, managing director at Landcolt Trading in Delaware.

"It would be proactive for the [Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee] to discuss and develop a strategy for implementing QE3, because it's painfully clear the United States is headed for a very messy second half of 2011."

Just imagine how much more "Change" Barry O can accomplish in his remaining two years.

The Home "Affordable" Modification Program: Curdled Government Cheese

Barack Obama's policies have consistently proven to be such epic disasters, it sometimes makes me think the GOP could nominate a piece of driftwood for President in 2012 and still win the electoral college in a landslide.

Then I remind myself that not everyone is paying attention.

And I weep.

President Obama’s beloved foreclosure-prevention scheme, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), was a fraud from Day One: It is designed to do nothing but camouflage the effects of the housing meltdown. It is based on bribery — paying the banks to modify (or pretend to consider modifying) mortgages that they really had no business or interest in modifying. And administration of the program was entrusted to Financial Public Enemy No. 1: Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise that did so much to inflate the housing bubble in the first place while enriching its politically connected executives and committing a sustained campaign of outright financial fraud. An economically meretricious bank-bribery scheme run by a known criminal organization: That’s the foundation of the Obama administration’s housing strategy.

This was guaranteed to go bad in a hurry, and it did. Republicans now want to kill the program, and they should, the protestations of our tax-dodging treasury secretary and the Obama administration’s feckless economic team notwithstanding.

HAMP often is criticized for the fact that the great majority of the people who receive temporary (“trial”) modifications under the program ultimately are rejected, receiving no permanent modification of their mortgages. The critics suggest that this is a shortcoming of the program, the effect of bureaucratic ineptitude and governmental inertia. That is poppycock: The fact that most of the temporary modifications will never become permanent modifications is a built-in feature of the program, the economic incentives of which all but guarantee that outcome. The program is, to be blunt, a scam.

You really should read the whole thing.

I wonder if there is even a single homeowner out there whose dire fiscal situation hasn't been made even worse by this wonderful program.

Cross-posted.

McConnell Says Deal With Obama on Tax Rates is Close, and All GOP Has to Agree to Is Never-Ending* Unemployment Benefits

*Seriously. When does it end?

One would assume that Mitch McConnell is well aware that Republicans won in a landslide last month.

But stuff like this makes me wonder.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sounded optimistic on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday that Republicans will come to an agreement with President Barack Obama that would allow current income tax rates to continue for a few years while also extending unemployment payments for people whose benefits are set to run out.

So, the Republicans are making compromises with Barack Obama just to maintain the status freakin' quo on tax rates?

May I ask why?

Unemployment benefits have already been extended to an unprecedented 99 weeks. By my math, that's nearly two years. If we're going to keep extending it, let's just be honest and start calling it what it is - welfare.

It's certainly not economic stimulus or a jobs program - otherwise, why isn't the economy roaring by now?

Cross-posted.

Rich Patriots: Please, Obama - Tax Us Up the Wazoo!

Joe Biden has trained these guys well.

Anti-tax activists everywhere have been loudly arguing for an extension of George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans in the United States. Now a group of millionaires is arguing the opposite.

More than 40 of the nation's millionaires have joined Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength to ask President Obama to discontinue the tax breaks established for them during the Bush administration, as Salon reports.

"For the fiscal health of our nation and the well-being of our fellow citizens, we ask that you allow tax cuts on incomes over $1,000,000 to expire at the end of this year as scheduled," their website states. "We make this request as loyal citizens who now or in the past earned an income of $1,000,000 per year or more."

The group includes many big-time Democratic donors such as Gail Furman, trial lawyer Guy Saperstein and Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's ice cream (pictured). The list remains open to millionaires who want to sign on.

Somebody might want to inform these uber-patriots that they are free to write checks to the IRS right now - nobody's stopping them. If they wish to shovel even more money into our bloated government's gaping maw, that's certainly their perogative.

But they should leave the rest of us out of it.

Cross-posted here.

More Evidence That Jobs Ain't Coming Back Anytime Soon

It would appear that 10% unemployment is going to be the new normal for quite some time. The National Federation of Independent Businesses released a report which comes as no real surprise to anybody outside of D.C. or not employed by the Imperial Federal Government or "public" sector.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses said its Small Business Optimism Index dropped 3.2 points to 89.0 last month, more than erasing the modest 1.6-point gain it saw in May. The report, which was compiled by NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg, described the decline as “a very disappointing outcome.”

In past periods following a recession, the NFIB index typically has risen back above 100 within a quarter or two of the trough in economic activity as measured by the National Bureau of Economic Research. That hasn’t been the case during this recovery. The index hasn’t broken above 93 in any month since January 2008 when the economy was in the early stages of recession, even though the NBER is expected to eventually date the beginning of the recovery in the third quarter of last year.

In 23 of those past 30 months, readings have come in below 90, an unprecedented result in the survey’s history, the NFIB said.

Some 70% of the 3.2-point decline in June was explained by weaker expectations for business conditions and real sales over the next six months, the report said.

Businesses, big and small have pared their workforces to the bare bones already, and cuts are still happening. Payroll is always the biggest expense for a business and the normal model in the past was for companies to cut staff, show a profit for a quarter or two allowing the CEO to get his bonus and then do some modest rehiring. In today's environment no such hiring is occurring.

The workforce is being further strained by having to work harder and longer because after all in a lot of cases the work hasn't gone away just the workers, particularly in IT fields. The manufacturing and blue collar jobs are gone. America needs to figure out how to restart this sector, and it probably can be done if you keep the unions out of it. The biggest impediment here is the fact that Americans are still unwilling to accept a lower standard of living then they have become accustomed to. Instead of having 3 cars and all the latest electronic gadgets they can't bring themselves to downsize to 1 car and passing on the latest Apple® product.

Nothing, and mean nothing, is going to improve the conditions as long as those entitlement lords of the Democrat party are in control of our fiscal policies.

And can we quit calling this a recovery unless by recovery you mean a patient who was admitted for a hernia and had it repaired now has a flesh eating virus, but hey the hernia is fixed.

In Wake Of Obama Visit Georgia Unemployment Hits Record High

The PrezBo was in Savannah, Georgia yesterday to talk about jobs and how much government handouts were going to spark the economy.

Any minute now.

Wait for it.

It's gonna happen....trust me.

Today the unemployment numbers for Georgia were announced, and I am sure the national figure due to be released later this week on Friday is going to reflect the same trend. The Georgia unemployment rate is now 10.4%. And getting worse.

The Georgia Department of Labor reported that the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in January was 10.4 percent, topping the previous record high of 10.3 percent a month earlier.

I know this is local type stuff, but it is my world where I live. In addition to working for a company that is squarely in the crosshairs of this administration this just adds to the growing ulcer threatening to burst out like some sort of alien birth.

I don't know what the tipping point is before the current administration realizes that they are doing more harm then good, or is that their intentions all along. It sure seems like they are tone deaf to our economic woes or else they are just so damn stubborn that they will take this country off the cliffs like lemmings to the sea. Whichever it is, somebody needs to figure out how to snap them out of it or at least the very least just get them to stop.

Go play basketball for 6 months Barry. Take Nancy and Harry with you and all of those economic advisers you got. Quit thinking that throwing more money around is the solution. The answer lies beyond that. The answer is contained in an intangible thing called confidence.

Ronald Reagan projected it. Peyton Manning exudes it. Hell the kid that is the captain of the eighth grade debate team has it. Until the private sections of this country have some confidence that things will get better, they won't.

So please Mr President, go do nothing. Have congress do the same. Everyday y'all show up for work is another day when the private sector waits to see which one of them is going to attacked or legislated to death.

I think Tip O'Neill is generally credited with saying that all politics is local and that is true.

Latest Excuse For Job Loss Numbers? Snow

Are you frikkin kidding me? The latest excuse, put forth by the state media for the of course unexpected decline in job numbers is snow.

The number of new claims for unemployment benefits jumped unexpectedly last week as heavy snows caused layoffs to rise.

Now who could have predicted that the northeast would have snow in the winter? Certainly not the climate change advocates who for a long time have given dire predictions of snowless winters. So I guess that leads to the obvious question: could our current employment situation actually be helped if there was actual global warming?

Folks, I warned of continued layoffs in the first quarter of 2010 last year, when some economists looking through their rose colored glasses were talking of an economy that was turning around. In fact as this article points out, economists say the economy has been improving for six months.

The economy has grown for six months but is not yet spurring new hiring. Many economists point out that the current recovery is weak compared to the aftermath of previous deep recessions.

I am not quite sure what they are using to say the economy is improving, but I can tell you that the general atmosphere in the business world is that there is just too much uncertainty, mostly linked to wondering which portion of private sector business is going to be targeted next by the political class to be public enemy number one. There is a ton of uneasiness related to all of the legislation pending or being bandied about in DC, whether it is the health care takeover, punishing companies with profits that some liberal considers to be extreme, or any of the various environmental measures being contemplated.

There is just too much fear in the private sector and a still tight credit market to promote any sort of expansion or risk taking by private business. Amazing, ain't it, that nobody seems offended by obscene profits being posted by Google or Microsoft?

So let's blame the snow instead of the real reasons. I can't wait until Congress subpoenas Frosty the Snowman to come testify in defense of the obscene levels of snowfall while he was taking exotic vacations to the North Pole. Sounds about as reasonable as their pursuit of a playoff in college football and steroids in baseball.

Obama Snubs Utah and Idaho With Home Stimulus Bribe

Hey, what's a Democrat to do when he can't bribe the lawmakers? Why try to bribe the voters, that's what.

Unless of course you happen to live in a state which ain't exactly in line with their line of thinking and probably not going to be able to be flipped into your column in the next election.

Barry O announced a $1.5 billion taxpayer funded bribe to some states to help with their housing foreclosures and looking at the list he was doing okay until I compared the list of states getting the money to the states that needed it and while he did get 4 out the top highest states as far a foreclosures right, he skipped over Utah and Idaho in favor of Michigan. The five targeted states Nevada, Arizona, California, Florida, and Michigan.

Only one reason I can think of for that.

From CNBC the top 10 states in foreclosures are:
1. Nevada
2. Arizona
3. California
4. Florida
5. Utah
6. Idaho
7. Michigan
8. Illinois
9. Oregon
10. Georgia

The governments first attempt at these so called mortgage modification loans was a miserable failure, so why not do some more of the same. Good luck to the taxpayers in these states actually getting a return on some of their tax dollars, and enjoy your present from the responsible citizens of this country.

If Spain Is In Trouble, What The Hell Is America In?

Recently there have been some articles pointing to the economic problems being experienced in Spain. The comparisons are being made against the other EU nations, but the point is they are in financial trouble. After reading this article I thought I would go look up and see how the United States is in comparison to Spain.

Wrong thing to do.

In January, unemployment reached 18.8%, the highest level by far in the European Union, where the average is 9.5%

Well they got us beat there, but we are worse then the EU average and at the rate we are shedding jobs we may very well get to Spain's numbers before all is said and done.

Although still lower than the E.U. average, the debt-to-GDP ratio has also doubled in the last year to 55%.

The United States debt-to-GDP ratio?

The debt level is the debt as a percent of the total country's production, or GDP. Total economic output, or GDP, is $14.4 trillion. The debt is now 83% of GDP, up from 51% in 1988. (Source: U.S. Treasury, Debt to the Penny; Bureau of Economic Analysis)

Uh oh. Where have I seen this before?

When unemployment skyrocketed in the wake of that industry's collapse, [housing market] the government responded by spending billions on emergency job-creation plans. Now, it has a deficit of 11.4% to show for its efforts - one of the highest in the E.U.

Folks, reading stuff like this doesn't make me real optimistic for the future, especially with a bunch of Washington bureaucrats who only know how to spend, spend, spend.

Forget Hope, Better Hang On To Your Change

Who are you going to trust? White House officials and Treasury members who constantly tell us recovery is just around the corner or business leaders down in the trenches who have to deal with reality, not rhetoric?

A recent survey of Atlanta-based companies revealed some sobering information.

During a recent Audit Committee Institute Roundtable, as many as 34 of 49 executives (69 percent) polled said they don’t expect a return to pre-recession employment, investment and productivity until 2013 or later. A full 38 percent said a return to pre-recession levels might not occur until 2015 or 2016.

Twenty-four percent said they wouldn’t predict a full rebound “for the foreseeable future,” the survey said.

A meager 4 percent of respondents were optimistic enough to say pre-recession levels would return within two years, but not a single board member or executive polled would commit to a return to pre-recession growth in 2010.

While serving in the Army we used to have a few truths. First was the LT telling you that the objective was only a click and a half away. This was interpreted to mean plan on walking all day.

The second was there are no winds on the drop zone. This meant that gale force winds were circulating at 100 meters above the ground.

The final truth was that chow was on the way, which meant start rummaging around the bottom of the ruck sack for any cracker crumbs that may have found their way to the bottom.

This is the same attitude I take whenever the folks in Washington who live in a bubble keep telling us that this economy is going to turn around. No really.

I'm not kidding this time.

I double pinky swear.

All you folks that voted for HopeNChange, you need to hold on to hope because I don't think you will have any change left in your pocket. To borrow an overused phrase from the Democrats, this is going to be a historic presidency. In a fall of the Roman Empire sort of way.

GDP Numbers: Good News or Bad News?

This is the tale of two headlines. They both concern the latest revised figures for the GDP, but the nuance is in the headlines.

BBC states it as US Growth Rate Revised Downwards

The latest estimate said the economy grew at an annual pace of 2.2%, down from the previous estimate of 2.8%. The first reading had shown growth of 3.5%.

Reuters paints a rosier picture with this headline. Economy Expands 2.2 Percent In Third Quarter

It was still the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2007 and ended four straight quarters of decline in output. The resumption of growth in the July-September period probably ended the most brutal recession since the 1930s.

The good news is that any growth in the GDP is a good thing, but there is far more bad news in the release of these figures then good news, and all indications point to a rough road ahead.

Non residential building construction dropped by 14.8%, imports jumped by 21.3%, business inventories fell by $139.2 billion, business investment fell at a 5.9% rate and continued layoffs.

While those are the figures for the 3rd quarter, the Federal Reserve is predicting that the 4th quarter will continue with a growing GDP, and they may be right, although it has been so long since any of the experts have been right that I am skeptical.

The critical period for me and the time frame I am keeping an eye on is the 1st quarter of 2010, starting in January. There is a lot economic fatigue in the country right now, and a lot of companies have simply grown tired of laying people off and were hoping that there would be something at the end of the year to give them some sort of hope.

Instead all they have received is more bad news of further expansion of federal control over their business sectors, increased regulations, and huge looming mandates for yet more confiscation of their money by the federal government.

Recent EPA proclamations coupled with the steamrolling of the business community and individuals by the Democrats contained in the healthcare bill and a general tightening of the pocketbooks by the average American consumer just doesn't give most businesses anything to be hopeful for.

If the healthcare bill sees the light of day, a lot of construction projects already in the pipeline funded by the states will be cut so that states can meet the Medicaid mandates that will be forced upon them. I am sure a lot of other contracts at the state and local level will have to be canceled to meet these new demands on states budgets.

Of course Nebraska has no problems, just the other 49 states.

Signs Of Economic Recovery

Hey, a jobs a job right???