Annual G.D.P. Growth Rate During Presidency

Barack Obama, 1.2% 
George W. Bush, 1.6%
George H.W. Bush, 2.1%
Gerald Ford, 2.2%
Dwight Eisenhower, 2.5%
Richard Nixon, 3.0%
Jimmy Carter, 3.2%
Ronald Reagan, 3.5%
Bill Clinton, 3.8%
Lyndon B. Johnson, 5.0%
John F. Kennedy, 5.4%

Click for the Article

http://currencythoughts.com/2008/09/26/us-gdp-growth-under-different-presidencies/

Liberaland by Alan Colmes

From "Liberaland"  by Alan Colmes.  As our economy 

and elected officials struggle we grow more tired 

of all of them. 

Obama Approval Rating 40%, 

Down 10 Points Since June 7

POSTED IN LIBERALAND BY ALAN • JULY 29, 2011, 3:18 PMET • 57 COMMENTS »

Previous low was 41%

http://www.alan.com/

Congress in the Lead

"

"Obama’s Friday appearance had a gigantic unintended consequence. It brought members of Congress together. They decided to take control. The White House is now on the sidelines. Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders are negotiating directly with one another."

David Brooks writes cogently about the budget talks 

Click to read the column

Moderates - The Cult?

I enjoy reading and listening to Paul Krugman. He is a leading liberal economist. But this column is not one of his finest efforts. He blames conservatives, which he always does, but now he also blames balance and centrism.

We have two major competing interests fighting for control of our government and economy. The Conservatives believe we are going broke because we spend too much, while the Liberals believe we are going broke because we tax too little. They are both right.

The voice of reason and moderation calls for both sides to give a little and come up with a deal. That is not a moral failure - that is pragmatic common sense. And that view had better prevail

Not one of your better efforts, Paul. 

July 26, 2011, 5:09 pm

The Cult That Is Destroying America

Watching our system deal with the debt ceiling crisis — a wholly self-inflicted crisis, which may nonetheless have disastrous consequences — it’s increasingly obvious that what we’re looking at is the destructive influence of a cult that has really poisoned our political system.


And no, I don’t mean the fanaticism of the right. Well, OK, that too. But my feeling about those people is that they are what they are; you might as well denounce wolves for being carnivores. Crazy is what they do and what they are.


No, the cult that I see as reflecting a true moral failure is the cult of balance, of centrism.

Click to Read the Column

Thanks to Ken Zalga for Sharing

Deficits Made Clear

Great article in the Atlantic Monthly by  on the deficit. The author divides Federal Government expenditures into Social Security, Medicare, and everything else. 


Against conventional wisdom the everything else portion of the Federal Government is now a smaller portion of GDP then it was during Eisenhower. It is Social Security and Medicare that create our financial problems.


Click to Read the Article

Thanks to Anne Hullinger for Sharing

6% Rate Congress Performance as Good

"Just six percent (6%) of Likely U.S. Voters now rate Congress' performance as good or excellent, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey."


I think those 6% must just not be paying attention. 


Click to Read More

Federal Debt - Causes

Some good scoop on the Federal Debt from Wikapedia. The main drivers of deficit increase are Medicare and Medicaid, Defense, income security and food stamps, and Social Security.

The only way to get our country back on track is cut backs in these programs and tax increases. Unfortunately the left refuses any cutbacks and the right refuses and tax increases.

We are clearly on an unsustainable path. If something is unsustainable it will not be sustained. We will eventually do the right thing but it won't make many people happy.

Causes of change in debt

[edit]2001 vs. 2009

Causes of Change in Federal Spending as % GDP 2001–2009 from CBO Data

Causes for Changes in CBO Forecasts.

According to the CBO, the U.S. last had a surplus during fiscal year (FY) 2001. From FY2001 to FY2009, spending increased by 6.5% of GDP (from 18.2% of GDP to 24.7%) while taxes declined by 4.7% of GDP (from 19.5% of GDP to 14.8%). The drivers of the expense increases (expressed as % of GDP) are Medicare & Medicaid (1.7%), Defense (1.6%), Income Security such as unemployment benefits and food stamps (1.4%), Social Security (0.6%) and all other categories (1.2%). The drivers of tax reductions are individual income taxes (−3.3%), payroll taxes (−0.5%), corporate income taxes (−0.5%) and other (−0.4%). The 2009 spending level is the highest relative to GDP in 40 years, while the tax receipts are the lowest relative to GDP in 40 years. The next highest spending year was 1985 (22.8%) while the next lowest tax year was 2004 (16.1%).^[62]

[edit]2001 vs. 2012

The U.S. budget situation has deteriorated significantly since 2001, when the Congressional Budget Office(CBO) forecast average annual surpluses of approximately $850 billion from 2009–2012. The average deficitforecast in each of those years as of June 2009 was approximately $1,215 billion. The New York Times analyzed this roughly $2 trillion "swing," separating the causes into four major categories along with their share:

• Recessions or the business cycle (37%);
• Policies enacted by President Bush (33%);
• Policies enacted by President Bush and supported or extended by President Obama (20%); and
• New policies from President Obama (10%).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_deficit