Barack Hussein Obama, President of these United States, celebrated his 50th birthday at the White House Thursday with a Rose Garden party, surrounded by his Senior Staff and his devoted wife.

After actually working yesterday morning (probably starting at 10:00) in the Oval Office, Obama went to the Blue Room of the White House for a barbeque birthday party with top aides. White House chefs had been seen earlier, cooking chicken and burgers on outdoor grills.

What, no prawns and arugula?

Later, Obama continued partying down with family and friends, including some of his buds from Chicago, in the Rose Garden.

Moochelle decided to poke fun at her hubby, composing a campaign email with the subject line “Gray Hairs” that she “asked” supporters to sign electronically for the president. According to Moocheelle, there is a reason for Scooter’s salt-and-pepper hair.

I see Barack make choices he knows will affect every American family. That’s no small task for anyone – and more proof that he’s earning every last one of those gray hairs.

Uh huh.

While the Obama’s and their sycophants were having a par-tahy…America’s Stock Market was doing it’s impression of the Titanic.

Per cnbc.com:

Stocks plunged sharply Thursday, with the Dow down more than 500 points, in its worst one-day drop since December 2008.

All three major averages tumbled into negative territory for the year as investors were rattled over an intensifying global economic slowdown and ahead of the widely-followed monthly unemployment report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 512.76 points, or 4.31 percent, to close at 11,383.68, led by Alcoa [AA 12.94 -1.32 (-9.26%) ] and BofA [BAC 8.83 -0.71 (-7.44%) ]. The last time the Dow dropped more than 500 points in a single session was in Dec. 2008.

The S&P 500 sank 60.27 points, or 4.78 percent, to end at 1,200.07.

The Nasdaq plunged 136.68 points, or 5.08 percent, to finish at 2556.39.

The major indexes are firmly in negative territory for the year. In addition, all three averages fell into “correction territory,” defined by a drop of 10 percent from its peak from its intraday high in Apr. 29.

…On the economic front, weekly jobless claims were little changed last week, edging down to a seasonally adjusted 400,000, according to the Labor Department.

“The jobless claims number was not too encouraging … we need to see more of a significant improvement than the data just squeaking by,” said Doreen Mogavero, president and CEO of Mogavero Lee & Company.

The claims news comes ahead of Friday’s government non-farm payroll data, which likely increased 85,000 last month, according to a Reuters survey, after rising only 18,000 in June. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 9.2 percent.

“We’ve reduced our equity exposure by half at the end of the second quarter,” said Rob Stein, portfolio manager and senior economist of Astor Asset Management. “We’ll need to see the economic data stabilize.”

The economic news just keept getting better.  Per marketwatch.com, the Stock Market did something historical yesterday, something it had not done for 323 years: it  has now experienced a decline for 9 straight sessions:

The last time the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -4.31%, did that, in fact, was Feb. 22, 1978, when Jimmy Carter was president and the country was struggling to come to grips with a period of anemic economic growth and high inflation.

Isn’t it comforting to know that we’ve made such progress over the last three decades?

Actually, about the only thing that is comforting in the historical data on Dow losing streaks is that many of them have occurred near major bear-market bottoms.

For example, before February 1978, the previous time the Dow declined for nine straight sessions was in October 1974. That came just two months prior to the end of the punishing 1973-74 bear market.

No worries, though.  Scooter has a plan!

From thehill.com:

President Obama will travel the Midwest by bus in August to talk up his job-creation efforts and try to shore up political support in battleground states.

Obama will embark on a three-day tour from Aug. 15 – 17. The administration said Wednesday that the trip had long been planned, but wouldn’t outline an itinerary beyond saying the stops would be in the Midwest.

The bus is a rare mode of travel for a sitting president. Commanders in chief usually travel in the comfort of Air Force One or Marine One, and on the ground, the president has a blast-proof limousine for all occasions.

The trip might help explain why the Secret Service purchased two armored buses for its fleet earlier this year. The protective agency told The Hill it planned to use the buses during the presidential campaign — with one bus designated for the Republican nominee — and also for large entourages of visiting dignitaries.

And by the way, gentle reader, we’re paying for it.

Courtesy of theblaze.com:

Taxpayers will be footing the bill when President Barack Obama sets out on a Midwest bus tour to visit some traditionally key swing states later this month, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday.

In the latest example of tension between Carney and the White House press corps, Carney told reporters the tour will be an official event as opposed to a campaign event and snapped back when reporters questioned whether taxpayers would be paying for it.

“So is it being funded by taxpayers in battleground states?” a reporter from CNSNews asked.

Carney paused for just a moment before saying with an exasperated smile, “He’s the president of the United States:”

And that, Jaybird, is a fact that Americans are all too painfully aware of.

By the way…great idea…a bus tour..waitaminute…hasn’t that been done before?  Oh, yeah…