Hardball - Chris Mathews

On Hardball tonight: Democrats remain unhappy with Obama

Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:37 PM EDT

Chris talks to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson what President Obama needs to to tackle unemployment.

Watch Hardball at 7 p.m. ET.

Jimmy Carter - Hope and Change

Good Cartoon. Thanks to Ken Zalga for Sharing.

The Economy - Blame Game

It has been a couple of bad weeks for the US Economy. We have been downgraded from AAA to AA by S and P.  We are lectured by the Chinese and Russians. We look like inept fools.


The Democrats blame the Republicans and the Republicans blame the Democrats.


Who is right?  They both are.


Throw the rascals out. Let us try to elect competent honest people who under stand that we must keep our government solvent. That is going to require Both program cuts and tax increases.


The big question is whether we voters are bright enough to pick better people. And that is a very big question.

Fooling the People

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)

Quite a few people are still fooled by Congress.  But more and more of us have decided they are inept and incompetent.

Now, the big question is can we get any better people?

And are we as voters smart enough to elect honest competent people, or are we going to keep electing people who promise you things that are not possible?

We must cut program expenses and we must increase taxes.  Unfortunately the majority of the electorate cannot figure that out, so we elect Democrats who promise no program cuts and Republicans who promise no new taxes.

Man Hurls Himself Over White House Fence

There was drama at the White House this week when a man tried to hurl himself over the fence. 


But the Secret Service intervened and talked the President into going back inside and finishing his term.


Conan Obrien

John King and crew were there and documented it.

Tea Fragger Party

Kathleen Parker




"Take names. Remember them. The behavior of certain Republicans who call themselves Tea Party conservatives makes them the most destructive posse of misguided “patriots” we’ve seen in recent memory."


Click to Read More:

Fareed Zakaria - Budget Deficit

On Thursday's The Situation Room, Fareed Zakaria said the tactics used by Tea Party congressmen in the debt ceiling debate were akin to holding the country hostage and threatening to "blow up" the economy.


"So nobody has ever held a country hostage and say [sic] if you don't pass our policies, we'll blow up the economy, we'll blow up the credibility of the United States," Zakaria remarked on CNN Thursday. He called the recent debt ceiling fight "unprecedented" and slammed the Tea Party for its refusal to compromise."

"This is why the Tea Party's insistence on holding the debt ceiling hostage in order to force its policies on the country – the first time the debt ceiling has been used this way – was so deeply un-American," Zakaria ranted in his newest Time cover story.

Read more: 

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matt-hadro/2011/08/04/fareed-zakaria-compares-tea-party-terrorists-un-american#ixzz1UMfSQMII

Job Losses in Recessions

"We have spent six months in an invented political crisis about the nightmare "emergency" of the federal deficit."

"The federal deficit is a serious challenge in the long run. The real emergency is how many people are still out of work. That's the deficit that matters. Almost nothing can do more harm to a nation's cultural, social, political, and of course economic fabric than sustained high joblessness."

Click to Read the Article

Shrinking Tea Party

The Incredible Shrinking Tea Party

By Greg Sargent

If there’s one thing the debt ceiling battle revealed, it’s that the Tea Party continues to enjoy outsized influence in Washington in general and over the GOP in particular.

So it’s interesting to note that according to the internals of today’s New York Times poll, the Tea Party is rapidly shrinking before our very eyes, and is hemorraging supporters at a surprising rate:

Do you consider yourself to be a supporter of the Tea Party movement, or not?

Yes 18

No 73

Click to read the article 

Throw the Rascals Out !!!

I am pretty disgusted with the "leadership" of our Nation. Both Congress and the President have mismanaged our economy.


The Democrats refuse to even consider trimming Social Security and Medicare. The Republicans refuse to even consider a tax increase. Both are needed.


I am of the opinion that we need new folks in both the White House and Congress.  I predict the next election will be bad for incumbents, and it should be.


When we elect people we need pragmatic problem solvers who will not just pander to their base. We need quality ethical people who will not just say and do what they think will get them reelected.


Ultimately we deserve the government we elect. And we as voters have not been doing a very good job. Let us try to do better in the next election.


Throw the rascals out!!!

39% Approve Debt Deal

Gallup: 39% Approve Debt Deal; 46% Oppose

POSTED IN LIBERALAND BY ALAN • AUGUST 4, 2011, 10:16 AM ET • LEAVE A COMMENT »

http://www.alan.com/

My opinion is that we do need to get our budget balanced 
or closer to balance with a combination of program cuts 
and tax increases. 

Unfortunately the country and our elected officials do 
not seem to understand that. 

But before we start making those cuts and tax increases 
we need to get the economy working again.


But apparently we are not going to do that either.


Democracy is great. Gotta love it.

Throw the Clowns Out

70,000 more people out of work because Congress did not pass simple legislation to keep the FAA working. This in the middle of this deep recession.


What a bunch of inept clowns.


The poll last week said that only 6% of the people approve the performance of Congress.


They must not have been paying attention.


Throw them all out and start over.

Jobs Jobs Jobs!!

Our country and world need jobs. Where are we going to get them?

Here is one idea.

The US should open up immigration to the business people of the world who have $250,000 to invest in a business. We currently allow people in who have $1,000,000. 

We could direct them to inner cities of communities that really need help - Detroit, Gary, etc.

This is a slight revision on the famous poem on the Statue of Liberty.

 "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free". 

provided they have $250,000 to invest in a job producing business.

The Sky is Falling !! We are Doomed!!

The 2010 debt-to-GDP ratio:


US                     53.5% 


Germany           78.8% 


Japan              225.8%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-to-GDP_ratio

The data above is from the ever popular Wikapedia taken from the ever popular CIA estimates.


Our growing debt is worrisome and needs to be brought down with a combination of economic growth, program cuts and tax increases. But as the data above shows, we are better off then our two leading advanced economy competitors. 


Yet the hysterics of Tea Party folks has reached the levels of the Global Warming crowd - WE ARE DOOMED !! THE SKY IS FALLING!!


So why the hysterics?  Well talk radio and pundits, for one.  It is good for ratings and the bottom line to talk as if we are in big trouble. People pay far more attention to hysterical screams then they do to rational discourse.  And of course the true believers exaggerate the problem to get peoples attention and galvanize action.

Social Security Info

The U.S. Social Security program is the largest government program in the world and the single greatest expenditure in the federal budget, with 20.8% for social security, compared to 20.5% for discretionary defense and 20.1% for Medicare/Medicaid.^[6] 

Social Security is currently the largest social insurance program in the U.S. where combined spending for all social insurance programs constitutes 37% of government expenditure and 7% of the gross domestic product.^[7] 

Social Security is currently estimated to keep roughly 40% of all Americans age 65 or older out of poverty.^[8] 

In 2010, 54 million people were receiving Social Security benefits, while 157 million people were paying into the fund; of those receiving benefits, 44 million were receiving retirement benefits and 10 million disability benefits. 

Assets in 2010 were $2.6 trillion, an amount that is expected to be adequate to cover the next 10 years. 

In 2023, total income and interest earned on assets are projected to no longer cover expenditures for Social Security, as demographic shifts burden the system. 

By 2035, the ratio of potential retirees to working age persons will be 37% — there will be less than three potential income earners for every retiree in the population. The trust fund would then be exhausted by 2036 without legislative action.^[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_(United_States)

A Deal At Last

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama and Senate leaders announced Sunday night that they have reached agreement on a “framework” debt deal that will cut spending and increase the federal debt ceiling.

Click to Read

Nothing like having a deadline to get something done. Of course we don't know what is in the  bill yet.

But as Nancy Pelosi famously said, Congress will have to pass the bill so that the American people can see what is in it.

But our leadership has not covered itself in glory. I think it is time to throw the current rascals out and get some fresh new rascals. And when we vote we should be mature and intelligent enough to vote for capable pragmatic experienced people with a good track record. Lets try to avoid one issue candidates and those who promise you the world.