Tag: economy

Trump Wins Nevada. Why Does He Keep Winning? “It’s the Economy, Stupid!”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics7 Comments

Walls-600-LIWell, like it or not, the Trump Train continues to gain momentum, as he rides the rails toward the Republican Nomination as their Presidential Candidate.

Politico.com reports that

Donald Trump trounced his rivals in the Nevada caucuses on Tuesday, notching his third consecutive victory and giving the Manhattan mogul even more momentum heading into Super Tuesday next week, when voters in a dozen states will cast their ballots.

Trump’s decisive win, which the Associated Press announced immediately after polls closed, was propelled by an electorate even more enraged than the ones that had swept him to wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and a second-place showing in Iowa.

“We love Nevada. We love Nevada,” Trump declared in his victory speech. “You’re going to be proud of your president and you’re going to be even prouder of your country.”

For the first time in the 2016 primary season, media entrance polls showed that a majority of voters, 57 percent of Nevada caucus-goers, said they were “angry” with the federal government.

And, as significantly, they want to bring in an outsider to fix it. More than three in five caucus-goers said they favor someone from outside the political establishment rather than a candidate with political experience as president.

It all added up to Trump’s biggest night yet.

“Now we’re winning, winning, winning,” Trump said. “And soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning.”

The outcome was bad news for Marco Rubio, who is now 0 for 4 in the February contests, and Ted Cruz, who won the Iowa caucuses but finished a disappointing third in South Carolina on Saturday.

Those two senators continued to vie for the crucial mantle of the best candidate to eventually take down Trump. With 36 percent of precincts reporting, Trump led with 43 percent of the vote, with Cruz and Rubio trailing far behind, both tied at 24 percent.

Rubio skipped an election-night speech, while an exhausted-looking Cruz proclaimed himself the only legitimate alternative to Trump.

“The only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump and the only campaign that can beat Donald Trump is this campaign,” Cruz told supporters.

Stopping Trump now looks like a steeper proposition after he trampled Rubio and Cruz on Tuesday, scoring huge wins across nearly every cross-section of the Republican Party. Entrance polls show Trump won moderate voters and very conservative voters by huge margins. He won in rural and urban areas, and among voters with only high school diplomas and those with post-graduate degrees.

Trump even handily bested Cruz among his supposed based of evangelical Christians, and, though the sample was small, topped his two Cuban-American opponents among Hispanic caucus-goers.

Trump reveled in the details. “I love the evangelicals!” he yelled. ““Number one with Hispanics,” he bragged.

And he pointedly called out the home states of his remaining rivals — Texas for Cruz, Florida for Rubio and Ohio for John Kasich — as places he now leads in the polls and will win the coming weeks.

“It’s going to be an amazing two months,” he said. “We might not even need the two months to be honest, folks.”

Indeed, it’s not clear where anyone can next beat Trump, though Cruz looked ahead to Texas, which votes on March 1, in his speech.

“I cannot wait to get home to the great state of Texas,” he said.

Cruz and Rubio now face a political calendar that plays even more to Trump’s strengths: massive made-for-TV rallies and free national media coverage, with a dozen states voting in only seven days.

Kasich, who was in last place in early returns, continued to insist he was in the race to stay. His chief strategist, John Weaver, released a memo after the race was called taking aim at Rubio, Kasich’s rival for the mantle of establishment favorite.

“Contrary to what his campaign is trying to portray, Senator Rubio just endured another disappointing performance despite being the highest spending candidate in Nevada,” the memo read. “Republicans are now left to wonder whether investing in Marco Rubio is throwing good money after bad.”

Cruz, who was neck-and-neck with Rubio in early returns, also said the Florida senator underperformed.

“Marco Rubio started working early and put a significant amount of resources into making Nevada the one early state he could win,” Cruz’s campaign wrote in a statement. “But despite the hype, Rubio still failed to beat Donald Trump.”

Low turnout put a particular premium on early organizing, in which both Rubio and Cruz quietly invested. Cruz had the backing of the state’s Republican attorney general, Adam Laxalt, and made appeals to Nevada’s rural voters with a television ad highlighting his opposition to the fact that the federal government controls 85 percent of the state’s land. (Kasich targeted the same issue in TV ads, as well.)

Rubio, meanwhile, tried to connect with Nevada voters from his time living there as a child in the late 1970s and early 1980s, telling audiences about how his father worked as a bartender at Sam’s Town and his mother as a maid at the Imperial Palace. (He still has numerous cousins in the state.) Rubio’s family’s dabbled with Mormonism during those years and Rubio hoped an active Mormon political network that lifted Mitt Romney to a landslide win, with 50 percent of the vote, would turn out for him.

But it didn’t happen.

Stumping in rural Nevada on caucus day, Trump continued to boast of his strong poll numbers in states coming up on the voting calendar, including Cruz’s home state of Texas. He warned supporters to be wary of “dishonest stuff” from Cruz, whom he dubbed a “baby” and a “liar.”

And Trump issued a warning shot to Rubio to beware taking him on: The two have largely avoided tangling but that could change if Rubio builds on his second-place finish in South Carolina on Saturday.

“When he hits me, ugh, is he gonna be hit,” Trump said. “Actually, I can’t wait.”

Trump was in a far more ebullient mood at his victory rally, where he stood behind a lectern for his third straight win, flanked by two of his sons.

Alluding to his practice in his earlier life of raking in money whenever he had the chance, Trump said: “Now we’re going to get greedy for the United States.”

Trump walked off the stage mouthing, “USA, USA, USA.”

Why is Billionaire Entrepreneur Donald J. Trump continuing to win?

To quote Ol’ Serpenthead (as his wife, Mary Matalin, calls him), James Carville,

IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID!

Andy Puzder, the chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants, does a great job in illuminating the point, in an op ed, posted today on realclearpolitics.com.

Jobs and the economy are top of mind for voters from both parties this election cycle according to a recent Gallup poll. This is hardly a surprise. But what was a surprise to many is the importance of immigration and free trade as economic issues for working class voters and the level of betrayal they feel with respect to their government’s handling of these issues.

These voters feel stuck between free trade policies that encourage companies to move good paying jobs outside the U.S. and the failure to enforce our immigration laws allowing people here illegally to take jobs that remain. While the economic wisdom of legal immigration and free trade policies is compelling, politicians would be well advised not to minimize these voters’ concerns.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the past thirty years the number of people employed in U.S.-based manufacturing has dropped dramatically by 5 million. When people are living in towns where the local plant closed because a big company moved jobs to Mexico or China, it’s extremely difficult to convince them that free trade policies are working to their benefit. Recent announcements by companies like Ford and Carrier Air Conditioning that they’re sending jobs to Mexico only reinforce their frustration.

Arguments on the benefits of liberal immigration policies also have little appeal when employers are hiring illegal immigrants for good paying jobs–such as those in construction–because they’ll work for less. Lacking higher paying jobs in sectors such as construction and manufacturing, working class Americans are often left to compete for lower paying retail positions and again find themselves competing with immigrants willing to work for less.

While free trade is unambiguously good for the worldwide economy and for each individual nation, including ours, there are adjustment costs. Working class Americans of all racial and ethnic backgrounds have borne a disproportionate share of those costs, made worse by inexcusably lax enforcement of our immigration laws.

Scapegoating immigrants won’t solve these problems any more than the Democrats’ efforts to scapegoat the rich. But these voters have little interest in complex arguments on how free trade or immigration will improve the economy overall. Rather, they want to hear specifically how candidates are going to protect their jobs, their families and their children’s futures.

When Donald Trump talks about punishing China, building a wall, and restricting immigration–rightly or wrongly–he hits these voters where they live. Their level of betrayal with what has come to be called “Establishment” politicians is so great that they’re apparently willing to ignore any political and ideological differences they may have with Mr. Trump.

These working class voters are essential to a Republican victory in 2016. While much has been said about Mitt Romney getting a mere 27% of the Hispanic vote in 2012, Nate Silver’s “Swing the Vote” web site shows that even if he had gotten 67% he would still have lost the Electoral College vote and the election. However, with an increase of just a few percentage points in the college and non-college educated white vote, Romney would have won the presidency despite getting only 27% of the Hispanic vote.

With respect to the popular vote, the Census Bureau’s Center for Immigration Studies found that Romney would have had to increase his share of the Hispanic vote by 23 percentage points–from the 27 percent he actually received to 50 percent–to win it. However, he could also have won it by increasing his share of the white vote by only three percentage points, from the 59 percent he actually received to 62 percent.

And this assumes stagnant turnout. According to the Census Bureau, between 2008 and 2012, voter turnout for white voters without a college degree declined a disconcerting 3.7% (from 48% to 44.3%), or nearly 4 million fewer voters.

These voters are a proxy for all working class voters whose concerns cut across racial and ethnic barriers. Any candidate seriously intent on winning the presidency in 2016 must understand why they didn’t show up in 2012 and, more importantly, how to get them to show up in 2016. That will require solutions on how working class voters (white, Hispanics, black or Asian) can build a better life, pursue a career, find a path to the middle class, send their kids to college and retire with dignity.

Republican candidates should proclaim at every opportunity a simple, relatable and heartfelt economic message that allows working class Americans to believe their candidate is protecting their interests. In different times, they believed it about Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Today they believe it about Donald Trump. The question for the rest of the Republican field is whether they will believe it about anyone else.

Bingo.

Give that man a cee-gar.

As the polls show, and will continue to show, Trump is striking a resonant chord in the hearts of Average Americans, living here in the part of America, which the snobbish Political Elites refer to as “Flyover Country”, but which we refer to as “America’s Heartland”, or, quite simply, “HOME”.

Our palpable anger is one which has been building since January of 2009, when a Lightweight, who throws a baseball like a girlas inaugurated as President of the United States of America.

That anger, a result of his anti-American actions and resulting failed Foreign and DOMESTIC Policies, which have affected Americans’ daily lives, including our Household Incomes, has been exacerbated by the Republican Elite, who, in their desire to “reach across the aisle” and “go along to get along”, have distanced themselves from the Middle Class Average Americans, like you and me, who elected them to Congress in the first place.

Meanwhile, these same average Americans, (i.e., you and me), remain mired up to our necks in an abysmal swamp of bills and taxes, living paycheck-to-paycheck, afraid to make a move, for fear of drowning in an ocean of debt.

Seemingly forgotten, in all of the forgotten promises, made by Barack Hussein Obama, and Establishment Democrats and Republicans, alike, are the 94 million Americans, who are no longer, largely through no fault of their own, participating in our Workforce.

You want to talk about anger and frustration?

Try looking for work, when you are over 55 years of age.

It makes you want to give up…daily.

But, I digress…

Anger has played an important part in the forging of this great country, which will be lucky to survive Obama’s final year in office.

It was anger that formed our country….an anger over being held captive to “Taxation Without Representation”…an anger which, as a prime example of history repeating itself, Americans are experiencing, even as I type this blog.

It is this anger, which has propelled Donald J. Trump to his lead in the Republican Primary Race…and those who prefer the Washingtonian Status Quo know it.

Hence, South Carolina’s Governor Nikki Haley’s alluding to it in her Rebuttal, something which has never been done before.

When delivering a Rebuttal to the SOTU Address, the Opposition Party’s Spokesperson is supposed to discredit the sitting President, not one of their own.

But, again, I digress…

In conclusion, concerning the “Mantle of Anger”, I, like Trump, wear it proudly.

It is an American’s Right…and Heritage.

And…we will wear it all the way to November.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The August Jobs Report: More Americans on Unwanted “Fun-cation”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

marie-antoinette-obamaAs August’s Job Report was delivered, yesterday, I was struck by how, under the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, our American Capitalist System, which after World War II, produced a health and vibrant Middle Class, has been compromised to the point of now beginning to resemble a faltering economic system, not unlike a European Democratic Socialist country like, say, Greece.

According to cnsnews.com,

A record 94,031,000 Americans were not in the American labor force last month — 261,000 more than July — and the labor force participation rate stayed stuck at 62.6 percent, a 38-year low, for a third straight month in August, the Labor Department reported on Friday, as the nation heads into the Labor Day weekend.

The number of Americans not in the labor force has continued to rise, partly because of retiring baby-boomers and fewer workers entering the workforce.

In August, according to BLS, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 251,096,000. Of those, 157,065,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one.

The 157,065,000 who participated in the labor force equaled only 62.6 percent of the 251,096,000 civilian noninstitutional population — the same as it was in July and June. Not since October 1977, when the participation rate dropped to 62.4, has the percentage been this low.Historical perspective

In January 1948 — the first year the data was recorded — 88.7 percent of men, aged 20 and older, were participating in the U.S. labor force. The rate first dipped below 80 percent in November 1975 (79.9%), spiraling steadily downward through August 2015, when 71.5 percent of men 20 and older were participating in the labor force.

It’s the opposite story for women 20 and older: In 1948, a time when one-earner incomes were generally sufficient to support the family, only 31 percent of  women participated in the workforce. In May 1966, the rate climbed above 40 percent for the first time; it broke 50 percent in October 1978; and 60 percent in July 1996.

When Barack Obama took office in January 2009, 60.9 percent of women were particiating in the labor force, but after rising somewhat in that economically turbulent year, the particpation rate for women started heading down. Last month, it stood at 58.2 percent.

Change. Little hope.

Norman Matoon Thomas (1884-1968) was a six-time Presidential Candidate  representing the Socialist Party of America.  In a campaign interview in 1948, he said the following:

The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.

Are you catching my drift? Mr. Thomas was right.  I think that he and the president would have been fast friends.

When Barack Hussein Obama first ran for the Presidency of the United States in 2008, he claimed that his economic policies would “foster economic growth from the bottom up and not just from the top down.” Obama promised to put in place “an immediate rescue plan for the middle class” and would end the “tired, worn-out, trickle-down ideologies we’ve been seeing for so many years.”

Obama got everything that he wanted in his first two years in the White House, when Democrats had solid control of Congress — a massive stimulus, auto industry bailouts, temporary middle class tax cuts, vast new regulations on businesses and ObamaCare.

But,  all of his brilliant Socialist Economic Policies  produced the exact opposite of what he’d promised.

So, he pounded his them of “Class Warfare” even harder.

So much so that, during his Re-election Campaign in 2012, President Barack Hussein Obama said,

This country doesn’t just succeed when just a few are doing well at the top. It succeeds when the middle class gets bigger. Our economy doesn’t grow from the top down — it grows from the middle out. We don’t believe that anybody is entitled to success in this country,” said Obama. “But we do believe in opportunity. We believe in a country where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded, and everybody is getting a fair shot and everybody is doing their fair share and everybody is playing by the same rules.

On July 24, 2013, Newly-Re-elected President Obama began a series of Stump Speeches titled, “Growing the Economy From the Middle Class Out”.  Here’s an excerpt of the first speech:

…With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball. And I am here to say this needs to stop. Short-term thinking and stale debates are not what this moment requires. Our focus must be on the basic economic issues that the matter most to you – the people we represent. And as Washington prepares to enter another budget debate, the stakes for our middle class could not be higher. The countries that are passive in the face of a global economy will lose the competition for good jobs and high living standards. That’s why America has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity. Rebuilding our manufacturing base. Educating our workforce. Upgrading our transportation and information networks. That’s what we need to be talking about. That’s what Washington needs to be focused on.

And that’s why, over the next several weeks, in towns across this country, I will engage the American people in this debate. I will lay out my ideas for how we build on the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America, and what it takes to work your way into the middle class in America. Job security, with good wages and durable industries. A good education. A home to call your own. Affordable health care when you get sick. A secure retirement even if you’re not rich. Reducing poverty and inequality. Growing prosperity and opportunity.

So, who is it that is keeping America’s Middle Class from prospering?

I’ll give you a clue: His initials are B.H.O.

The prosperous years during the Reagan Presidency marked a period of economic progress for Middle Class Americans. Middle Class Income increased 11 percent after adjustment for inflation, while nearly 20 million new jobs were created.

Those Liberal critics of the 1980s, who argue that the Middle Class shrank in number during those years, are half -right for the wrong reasons. The proportion of Middle Class Americans did indeed decline, but this reflected an upward movement of households into the high income category. Meanwhile, the proportion of Low Income Households declined, as more became middle class. The income growth during the Reagan Presidency increased the size of the pocketbooks of Americans at all income levels.

During Obama’s time in office, America’s major corporations have been hit with punitive measures, including high corporate tax rates and Obamacare, which has caused them to “down-size” their employee rolls and to relocate their call centers to companies like India, which has effected the rest of our economy.

Trickle-Down Economics was simply common sense. Capitalism is the engine that drives America’s economy.

When those who actually hire Americans are attacked by an Administration, naturally, those consequences are felt by those in lower economic strati (that’s you and me, boys and girls).

Obama’s “Trickle-Up” Economic Policy has been a miserable failure.

Because, as Lady Margaret Thatcher once said,

The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama’s State of Denial…Err…the Union 2015

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

AFBrancoMiddleClass12015Just one more State of the Union Speech under Barack Hussein Obama left (Praise God).

Courtesy of USAToday.com, here are some excerpts from last night’s :

“We are fifteen years into this new century. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. It has been, and still is, a hard time for many.

But tonight, we turn the page.”

…

“At this moment — with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production — we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth. It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next fifteen years, and for decades to come.

Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?”

…

“So the verdict is clear. Middle-class economics works. Expanding opportunity works. And these policies will continue to work, as long as politics don’t get in the way.”

…

“In fact, at every moment of economic change throughout our history, this country has taken bold action to adapt to new circumstances, and to make sure everyone gets a fair shot. We set up worker protections, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to protect ourselves from the harshest adversity. We gave our citizens schools and colleges, infrastructure and the internet — tools they needed to go as far as their effort will take them.

“That’s what middle-class economics is — the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

…

“I believe in a smarter kind of American leadership. We lead best when we combine military power with strong diplomacy; when we leverage our power with coalition building; when we don’t let our fears blind us to the opportunities that this new century presents. That’s exactly what we’re doing right now — and around the globe, it is making a difference.”

…

“In Iraq and Syria, American leadership — including our military power — is stopping ISIL’s advance. Instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East, we are leading a broad coalition, including Arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. We’re also supporting a moderate opposition in Syria that can help us in this effort, and assisting people everywhere who stand up to the bankrupt ideology of violent extremism. This effort will take time. It will require focus. But we will succeed. And tonight, I call on this Congress to show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL.”

…

“No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids. We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats, just as we have done to combat terrorism. And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information. If we don’t act, we’ll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable. If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies that have unleashed untold opportunities for people around the globe.”

B.S. ad infinitum. Forget the shoes. Save the watch.

As an asthmatic child, I was sick…a lot. I found an escape from my condition in the world of comic books.

My favorite comic book hero was Superman. He fought for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. He went about doing good.

One of Superman’s biggest foes was Bizarro, a Superman created in his image, who turned out to be the exact opposite of Superman. In fact, the entire world that this character lived on was bizarre…just like whatever planet that Barack Hussein Obama is currently living on.

…Because he sure isn’t living on this one.

As I wrote yesterday, all of Obama’s Domestic Policies have failed spectacularly.

37.2% of America’s Workforce…are no longer in it.

Obama attempt to cram Marxist Economic Theory down our throats still tastes as sour as when he told Joe the Plumber that “spreading the wealth around is good for everybody”.

This failed president still insists that Socialism will work here, despite the fact that it has failed everywhere else that it has been tried.

His Foreign Policy has been a disaster.

ISIS is laughing in his face. Iran continues its “Nuclear Enrichment Program”. And, just yesterday, Muslim Terrorists invaded the Palace in Yemen’s Capital.

“A smarter kind of leadership”, my hindquarters.

Concerning the Internet, Obama and his minions don’t want to protect our FREEDOM, they want to LIMIT IT.

After all, no one should insult the name of the Prophet…or Obama.

Obama’s incompetency, accompanied by his undeserved arrogant aloofness, has finally started to hit home with even his most ardent supporters.

His dwindling cadre of supporters will continue to make excuses for Obama’s failures, but nobody’s buying it, here or abroad.  Obama has stubbornly set himself on his own flight path and, after the Political Massacre of the November Mid-Term Election,  the next two years promises to be the longest kamikaze flight on record.

 One could possibly use the Peter Principle to describe this Manchurian President.

The Peter Principle is a theory that proposes that, as people rise in a hierarchy, they eventually rise to their level of incompetence.

However, that does not apply in the case of President Barack Hussein Obama.

He started out unvetted and incompetent.

Now, he’s become a disaster.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Majority Of Americans Feel We’re Heading In The Wrong Direction

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

ObamaTransparentBranco852014Here we are, a couple of weeks away from the 2014 Mid-Term Elections, in which voters will go to the polls to decide the future direction of our country.

The outcome of the Mid-Terms will most assuredly depend on how Americans feel about the present course which Obama’s Ship of State has us traveling on as a nation.

Breitbart.com reports that

A devastating new Politico poll reveals voters believe America has spun off its axis and is “out of control.” 

“An overwhelming majority of voters in the most competitive 2014 elections say it feels as if events in the United States are ‘out of control’ and expressed mounting alarm about terrorism, anxiety about Ebola and harsh skepticism of both political parties only three weeks before the Nov. 4 midterms,” reports Politico.

The poll, which surveyed states and districts in the most competitive congressional races, found that 64% of Americans believe “things in the U.S. feel like they are out of control right now.” 

Specifically, the poll found that 84% of voters believe the Islamic State (ISIS) represents a “serious” threat to America. Just 12% said ISIS terrorists do not pose a serious threat.

On the issue of Obamacare, the poll found that 57% of Americans believe their health care costs will increase, and just 7% believe that Obamacare will do as President Barack Obama claimed and reduce personal costs. 

Politico’s poll also found Obama slightly trailing former President George W. Bush on managerial effectiveness. When asked “Which President do you believe was more effective at managing the basic functions of the federal government?” 38% said George W. Bush, 35% said Obama, and 26% answered “both about the same.”

The Politico poll sample contained 36% Democrats, 36% Republicans, and 28% Independents.

Voters head to the polls in 15 days.

So, how are individual average Americans feeling about the present problems plaguing our nation?

According to wsj.com,

The only time the public has felt worse was in October 2008, during the first, deep spasms of the recession. Then, 78% said the nation was on the wrong track, and only 12% felt good about the country’s direction. The last time “right direction” beat out “wrong track” was in January 2004 — and the last election cycle where that was the case was 2002.

Why are people so gloomy? Well, it might just be everything,” says pollster Micah Roberts, sounding a bit like Eeyore himself. Mr. Roberts is vice president of Public Opinion Strategies, which along with Hart Research Associates conducted the poll. “We haven’t had a plurality saying ‘right track’ in over ten years so that’s pretty amazing. After 10 years it’s just part of the collective consciousness of Americans,” to think the nation’s gone off the rails, he added.

The most negative responses came when people were asked, “Tell me, what are the one or two reasons you feel things in the nation are (headed in the right direction/off on the wrong track)?”

A politically independent millennial from California had quite a few more than that on her list:  “Disease, economy. Like Ebola and economy as in people can’t really find jobs. I guess turmoil, like I can’t explain it. Senseless slayings, like in St. Louis downtown there’s like cops shooting people for no reason, public fighting, public riots, people fighting outside of Congress offices, and there’s still a sense of racism. I guess human trafficking. I noticed there was like weird public fires in San Diego. That’s all I can think of right now.”

As if that weren’t enough.

Even those who said they thought the nation was on the right track seemed to doom the future with faint praise.

Take this response from a Democrat, a middle-aged white woman living in the swing state of Pennsylvania: “People are not buying enough. I work for a company Neiman Marcus and we sell to the richie rich. Jobs are an issue. There are none to be had in this area. I believe free trade killed us. I believe it’s done that. I don’t know, there are things that are going in the right direction. This was not done by one President, meaning the damage. As far as I’m concerned, jobs are the most important. The healthcare, a lot of companies aren’t hiring because they have to pay the health insurance. The minimum wage is disgusting. People are not making a living on minimum wage. Anything under ten dollars an hour is not a wage. I believe the minimum wage should be raised.”

Or this, from an African-American Republican female, aged 55-plus, living in New York: “For one thing, we haven’t got wars going on, or fighting.” Or, from a young Republican man in California: “I definitely think the economy is picking up a little. I just left a bank job. So I’m aware of more of that than the Obama administration…That’s it.”

If things seem that bad among people who are happy with where the U.S. is headed, what about the rest?

Here’s a Democrat, a white, retirement-age woman from Iowa who said the nation is on the wrong track:  “The wars, the bombings, the terrorism and that, this Ebola thing, that’s not good. Social Security, is that enough. I guess I don’t know what else to tell you.”

Many among the 1,000 voters surveyed named Ebola as a concern. The poll was conducted during the second week in October–just after Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person in the U.S. to be diagnosed with Ebola, died Oct. 8, and a nurse who cared for him was diagnosed.

An astounding 98% had seen, read or heard something about the disease, and 70% had seen, read or heard “a lot” about it. Compare that with the General Motors recall of cars linked to at least 54 accidents and a dozen U.S. deaths: 75% of people surveyed by CNBC in June knew something about it, and 32% knew a lot.
Only slightly more than half of Americans, 56%, think the U.S. is prepared to handle an Ebola outbreak, according to the WSJ poll.

A disturbing 42% feel the nation isn’t prepared enough, or not at all. This Virginia woman is likely one of them: “The economy sucks, jobs suck, health-care sucks,” said the 30-something Democrat.

However, the absolute, chart-topping bogeyman for Americans was again Congress. Indeed, the poll’s overall negativity “is about Washington, about an economy that seems stuck and not improving –and of course Ebola, ISIS, endless wars,” Mr. Roberts said.

“Collectively, this is all a weight on the shoulders of the average American.”

Average Americans, those good-hearted people, living in America’s Heartland, know that something is wrong with our country, the country which the overwhelming majority of us were raised to pledge our allegiance to, and to thank God for the blessing of an American Birth.

During the almost 7 years of the Obama Presidency, those who were raised differently from the rest of us, have been in charged of steering this Ship of State…and, they have us headed straight toward the shoals of destruction.

The overwhelming majority of Americans have been raised by their parents and extended family to know the difference between right and wrong.

The Still Small Voice, which resides in each and every one of us, is positively shouting that our nation is headed in the wrong direction, being led that way by people who do not believe in American Exceptionalism, the unbridled potential of the individual, and individual responsibility.

During this Administration, they have experimented with introducing an amoral, self-indulgent, nanny-state, socialist-syle government, here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, a country which was founded on the principles of Liberty, Inalienable Rights, and Individual Accomplishment.

As the walking-out by the crowd at Obama’s campaign rally speech this weekend and the above articles solidly demonstrate, Americans have had enough of empty rhetoric and unfulfilled promises.

The Mid-Term Election promises to be a Political Tsunami of epic proportions.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Obama Takes a Break From Vacation to “Fix Everything”… Except the Thing That Matters Most…the Economy.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

Obama-Shrinks-2Air Force One has landed. Obama is back in the White House! We’re Saved!

Well…the moment he decides to get up. and saunter down to the Oval Office, probably around 10:00 a.m., or so.

Foxnews.com reports that

President Obama took a break from his summer vacation to return to Washington early Monday for series of high-level, but unspecified, White House meetings.

Obama left his first family vacation on Martha’s Vineyard and will meet with Vice President Joe Biden and other top-ranking officials later Monday, according to White House staffers. But they have not disclosed what officials will discuss — amid a list of international problems that include fighting in Iraq, Israel and Ukraine and the humanitarian-immigration crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Obama’s decision to return to Washington appears to be in part a response to criticism about him spending two weeks on a resort island amid so many foreign and domestic crises.

However, the president’s first week on the Massachusetts island, in which he played several rounds of golf, included on-camera statements on U.S. military action in Iraq and the clashes between police and protesters in Ferguson, Mo. And he called foreign leaders to discuss the tensions between Ukraine and Russia, as well as between Israel and Hamas.

“I think it’s fair to say there are, of course, ongoing complicated situations in the world, and that’s why you’ve seen the president stay engaged,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.

Officials disclosed Sunday that Attorney General Eric Holder will brief Obama on Monday about the situation in Missouri, where the Aug. 9 police shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown has sparked rioting.

Political observers have speculated that Obama might be returning to take executive action to help fix the country’s broken immigration system — perhaps broadening a 2012 order that delayed deportation for some young illegal immigrants to include as many as 5 million people now living illegally in the United States.

However, White House officials have said the president won’t take such action until after summer and after receiving full reports on the issue from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

Obama is scheduled to return to Martha’s Vineyard on Tuesday and stay through next weekend.

Well, gosh. I’m so sorry that Obama has to cut short his vacation to actually do his job.

Last week, a Liberal challenged me about my views about Obama going ahead and taking a luxury vacation in the middle of the world and his presidency collapsing around him.

The gist of his defense of The Lightbringer was the fact that ordinary Americans take vacations also.

My response to him was that Obamawais not an ordinary American. He is supposed to be “The Leader of the Free World”.

In January of 2009, Obama swore an oath to protect us from enemies foreign and domestic.

An oath which he has failed miserably to uphold.

IN the article I posted above, Fox News touched on all the major issues that Obama needs to address, except for one.

That is the indisputable fact that 92 million Americans have dropped out the workforce.

These are average Americans like you and me, who, in their very real despair, have given up trying to find a job, choosing instead to work under the radar as handymen or flea market vendors. some not even working at all, sitting at home and letting Uncle Sugar take care of them.

When you askLliberals about this unacceptable situation, they will respond to you with charts and graphs designed to buttress their opinion that Obama is actually moving America’s Stagnant Economy forward.

And, if that argument doesn’t work, their pre-programmed response is

But…but…Booosh!!!

Quite frankly, the reason that Obama has not moved our economy forward, like President Ronald Reagan did, is because Obama is more concerned about growing the Central Government, than he is about growing American Production by freeing the job creators from punitive tax rates, in order to encourage the growth that will revitalize our economy.

That is why I spent 6 hours on Saturday, on the phone with Punjab from Calcutta about my Comcast Cable Box, which was on the fritz.

But, I digress…

Make no mistake, granting amnesty to millions of unskilled, underage illegal aliens will do nothing for the health of our economy.This action would simply provide future voters for the Democrat Party, which is now firmly in the control of the Far Left. If Obama grants amnesty, he would be putting a further strain on our economy, as all of these “little rascals”, would rely on their new Uncle Sugar for their “daily bread”.

The latest Liberal defense going around is their claim that Reagan actually had a bigger Federal Government than Obama.

The funny part is: It’s true.

It was larger because President Reagan, through his sound Economic Policy, actually increased tax revenues.

American Production rose, therefore,  TAX REVENUES INCREASED.

Yes, “Trickle-Down Economics, “trickled up”, allowing for a well-funded, strong American Military and Administration.

You see, boys and girls, that’s the secret of American Exceptionalism,a concept that Obama gives lip service to, but, clearly, does not believe in.

For America to proper, we must remain free. For America to remain free, we must be prosperous.

American Capitalism is the engine which drives a strong, vibrant economy.  American Capitalism is the result of the courageous Entrepreneurial Spirit of American Citizens. The same “Can Do” attitude which led to Western Expansion and triumphs against those before-mentioned enemies, foreign and domestic.

The current state of the Shining City Upon a Hill can be summarized thusly:

America was formed by men seeking FREEDOM. She grew and prospered because of an indomitable will and spirit forged through the Refiner’s Fire, guided by the common-sense words, inscribed in our Constitution, and administered through a Constitutional Republic. Our nation’s largesse and strength comes through the actions and character of her citizens, not through the usurpation of power by professional politicians, who has long since lost touch with their constituency.

Obama’s attempt to “radically change our nation into a Third World Barrio is meeting with resistance, not because of these professional politicians, but, because of the defiance of the American People, who love their country.

America’s Heritage of God and Country is still alive and well in the hearts and minds of the overwhelming majority of the citizens in this country, even those who have dropped out of the workforce.

Mr. President, if you want to be viewed positively as a world leader, work to restore America to a position of strength, both both in foreign and domestic policy.

It all starts with the Engine that drives our country.

IN OTHER WORDS:

IT’S STILL THE ECONOMY, STUPID!

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Obama: America’s Semi-Retired President

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

obamaobliviousA lot of Americans, as they become older and more established in their professional lives,  enter a state of “semi-retirement”.

This is a time of their life, when they do not have to work 60 hour weeks in order to pay the bills, and, therefore, on beautiful, sunny days, these American businessmen can often be found with their fellows out of the golf course, or sipping a libation in “the 19th Green”.

It is a perk that they believe that they have earned for “a job well done”.

Evidently, the President of the United States of America believes that he has reached the pinnacle of his “career” as well, even though he has never worked at a legitimate job in his entire life of sponsored privilege.

As I have chronicled, our country is being invaded by illegal aliens, carrying with them gang affiliations and diseases, such as tuberculosis and scabies. Obama has done nothing to stem this flow of “undocumented immigrants” into our Sovereign Nation. On the contrary, he has fed them and then, transported  them all across our country, placing them in position to be future Democrat Voters.

Also, domestically, Obama has signed an Executive Order stating that any American Religious Institution, which accepts taxpayer money from the Federal Government, may not “discriminate” against Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, or Transvestites.

Meanwhile, over 92,000,000 Americans have become so depressed over trying to find meaningful employment in Obama’s stagnant economy, that they have simply dropped out of the American Work Force.

At the same time, as Israel defends their own sovereignty, by launching a strike against the forces of Hamas, who had built tunnels for their own nefarious purposes in the Gaza Strip, Obama and his Secretary of State, John Kerry, call for a cease-fire, refusing to acknowledge that Hamas is using Palestinian children as human shields.

Additionally, regarding “Smart Power!”, Obama’s failed Foreign Policy, boxcars full of stacked human remains from Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, are leaving the site where Russian-Armed Ukrainian Separatists shot it out of the sky, killing all aboard.

Obama’s response?

A sternly worded speech.

I am sure Putin is beside himself with fear.

With all of this going on, in America and around the world, one would think that a Responsible American President would keep his had firmly on the helm of the Ship of State.

Not Obama. He’s a success…in his own mind.

It’s time for some more fundraising for the Democrats! After all…a man has to have priorities.

Newsmax.com reports that

Facing dueling foreign policy crises abroad, President Barack Obama is fending off criticism at home as he heads to the West Coast tomorrow for a three-day fundraising swing for Democratic candidates.

At events in Seattle, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, the president will mingle with Hollywood stars and technology moguls. The political events, scheduled weeks ago, come as Obama works to contain a growing conflict in Gaza and the fallout from a crash of a Malaysian passenger jet in Ukraine.

White House officials defended Obama’s decision to stick with his schedule, saying the president travels with a mobile White House that allows him to do his job from the road.

“If it becomes clear that there’s a need for him to come back to the White House, in order to fulfill those functions, then we’ll make a change in his schedule,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters today. “Right now, it’s not apparent that that’s the case.”

Now, you see “The Importance of Being Earnest” (That’s a pun, son.)

His job qualification is that he can spout all of that prevaricating spin with a straight face.

He learned how to do that from the Prevaricator-in-Chief.

Speaking of The Lightbringer…

If you think that Obama cares that the majority of Americans think that he’s the worst American President since World War II, you would be mistaken.

During a Townhall Meeting yesterday, during which Obama spoke to a hand-picked crowd of young people, he explained to them how he handles criticism…

“I just don’t watch TV,” Obama joked, after he was asked about his critics during a town hall promoting the White House “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative.

Obama advised young people to listen to critics who actually had their interests at heart.

“Who gives you constructive criticism because they’re invested in the same things you are but maybe can see the things you can’t, versus folks who are just — what’d someone say — hatin’? Somebody just hatin’, just haters?” Obama said.

Obama said that people should only focus on “constructive criticism.”

“One thing you should learn is, if somebody is being constructive in their criticism, usually they are not criticizing you, they’re criticizing your actions and what you do and are giving you something specific,” Obama said.

Obama used a basketball metaphor to explain himself, comparing a coach who has specific goals for players versus a coach that tells a player they’re no good.

“If they can’t, if all they’re saying is, ‘You’re not worth nothin,’ then that’s probably not something that you want to pay a lot of attention to,” Obama said. “Does that make sense?”

There is one problem with your logic, Scooter:

You can’t ignore us.You work for us…not the other way around.

We, your bosses, did not give you permission to be “semi-retired”.

If you can not handle the full-time job you were elected to do, perhaps it is time you took some more time off to get out and raise money for the Democrat Party.

How does the rest of your life sound?

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

The War Against Christianity: “Having Done All, to Stand”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics2 Comments

American Christianity 2Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. –  Ephesians 6:13 (KJV)

As I was sitting back yesterday, thinking about the events of the week, international, national, and personal, I started thinking about the Plan that the God of Abraham has for all of us, Believers and non-Believers, alike.

Internationally, as I write this, a Marine sits, neglected by our Administration, in a Mexican Jail, guilty of the horrendous crime of committing some sort of traffic violation.

Halfway around the world, in the Radical Muslim Rogue Nation of Iran, an American Pastor, jailed for preaching the Word of God, and refusing to worship a pedophile, sits languishing in horrible conditions, while his wife and children petition our leaders to get up off their duffs and bring him home.

In North Korea, an American is being held for the crime of reading a Bible in a Hotel Room.

And, finally, this week has seen the President of the United States, the Leader of the Free World, trade 5 Top leaders among Muslim Terrorists for an Army Deserter, who has reportedly converted to Islam, as has his nutjob Father.

Nationally, America’s economy remains rotten, with more and more Americans choosing to drop out of the work force, in disgust and humiliation. 37.2% of America’s Work Force, to be exact.

A lot of these “drop-outs” are Americans over 50, like myself, who are being intentionally ignored, because of our age, which seems to matter more than our business acumen and wealth of experience.

Meanwhile, the very fabric of our society is being torn asunder, through the dissipation of morality and the glorification of evil.

Vampires, Witches, and Zombies…oh, my!

And, of course, legalizing marijuana has no consequences. So what if elementary school kids are being caught selling their parents stash? And, DUI accidents are up?

Yep. No consequences at all.

What we seem to be heading for is not simply an immoral society, but, an amoral one, whose concept of right and wrong is “Whatever Gets You Through the Night (It’s Alright. It’s Alright.)”, and whose ultimate authority is not the God of Abraham, but a Godless Central Government, whose credo is

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. (Karl Marx)

Just as Marxism has failed wherever it has been tried before, so will it fail here.

Just as amorality and licentiousness led to the destruction of the Roman Empire, so, if unchecked, will it lead to America’s.

So, what can an average Christian American, like you and me, do about this “Tyranny of the Minority”?

As the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians, we can STAND.

However, you cannot stand without “the full armour of God”. I have found, as have my family and friends, that the better that you are doing, in terms of your Christian Walk, the harder that you will be attacked.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. – Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)

The more we stand up for the Triune God, the harder the Enemy attacks…in all areas of our lives…including our political beliefs.

I have been attacked time and again, over the past 4 years, by non-Believers who replied to my blogs insisting that Crosses and other Christian symbols have no place in the Public Square.  They wish for Christians to remain unseen and unheard from, worshiping in private.

Well,  y’all can wish for a unicorn to magically appear in your backyard…but that ain’t gonna happen, either.

As a free nation, all you who are non-believers have every right to exercise your faith.

However, as Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Lapin of the Jewish Policy Center clearly explains:

[I] understand that I live . . . in a Christian nation, albeit one where I can follow my faith as long as it doesn’t conflict with the nation’s principles. The same option is open to all Americans and will be available only as long as this nation’s Christian roots are acknowledged and honored.

…Without a vibrant and vital Christianity, America is doomed, and without America, the west is doomed. Which is why I, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, devoted to Jewish survival, the Torah, and Israel am so terrified of American Christianity caving in. God help Jews if America ever becomes a post-Christian society! Just think of Europe!

Is the Rabbi prophetic? I pray that he isn’t. 

I have, however, noticed in the last few years, a propensity among those who have not been raised in a Christian home, to be intolerant toward those who have….starting with the individual who sits at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

Americans’ Christian Faith, of which 76% of us, according to Gallup, still anchor our lives around,has been the Solid Rock upon which our nation was built. To deny that, is to deny reality, to re-write history, and, to, quite frankly, endanger “the Shining City on a Hill”.

As President Ronald Reagan said, 

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under. </blockquote

I leave you with a prayer written by America’s Pastor, the Reverend Billy Graham. May God Bless you all.

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable… We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from sin and Set us free. Amen!’

With the Lord’s help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we once again can be called ‘One nation under God!’ AMEN

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

Obama Issuing EO to Change Fuel Standards of Trucking Industry to Combat “Climate Change”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

trucking21814President Barack Hussein Obama is using his #2 pencil and Big Chief Tablet to write another Executive Order, and this time he may just erase an entire American Industry with it.

The New York Times reported that

President Obama on Tuesday ordered the development of tough new fuel standards for the nation’s fleet of heavy-duty trucks as part of what aides say will be an increasingly muscular and unilateral campaign to tackle climate change through the use of the president’s executive power.

The new regulations, to be drafted by the administration by March 2015 and completed a year later so they are in place before Mr. Obama leaves office, are the latest in a series of actions intended to cut back on greenhouse gases without the sort of comprehensive legislation the president failed to push through Congress in his first term.

The new regulation would primarily affect the country’s 600 coal-fired power plants, like this one in Texas, and could ultimately shutter hundreds of them.E.P.A. Staff Struggling to Create Pollution RuleFEB. 4, 2014

The limits on truck tailpipe pollution would combine with previous rules requiring passenger cars and light trucks to burn fuel more efficiently and pending rules to limit the carbon emissions of power plants. Cumulatively, experts said the à la carte approach should enable Mr. Obama to meet his target of cutting carbon pollution in the United States by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. But they said he would still be far short of his goal of an 80 percent reduction by 2050.

“Improving gas mileage for these trucks is going to drive down our oil imports even further,” Mr. Obama said at a Safeway grocery distribution center here, flanked by a Peterbilt truck and Safeway and Coca-Cola cabs. “That reduces carbon pollution even more, cuts down on businesses’ fuel costs, which should pay off in lower prices for consumers. So it’s not just a win-win, it’s a win-win-win. We got three wins.”

Not everyone sees it that way. United States car and truck manufacturers have lobbied heavily against aggressive increases in federal fuel economy standards, saying that they could increase vehicle prices and diminish safety. More broadly, Republicans have said that the president should not single-handedly impose what they consider onerous requirements on vast swaths of the energy economy when Congress has opted against its own intervention.

The announcement was part of the president’s vow in his State of the Union address last month to advance his agenda “with or without Congress.” But while most of the actions taken since then have been relatively modest, like ordering a study of job training programs, one area where Mr. Obama both has the power to take more sweeping action and seems intent on using it is the environment.

…A coalition of shippers that stand to benefit from lower fuel costs, including FedEx, Wabash National Corporation and Waste Management Inc., welcomed the president’s action and released its own suggestions to shape the administration’s new regulations.

“This collaborative approach will result in realistic, achievable goals and an effective regulatory framework to improve fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Douglas W. Stotlar, president of Con-way Inc., the nation’s third-largest freight company and a member of the coalition.

The American Trucking Association took a more cautious view, saying that it had worked with the administration on previous rules. “As we begin this new round of standards, A.T.A. hopes the administration will set forth a path that is both based on the best science and research available and economically achievable,” said Bill Graves, the association’s chief executive.

Mr. Obama pointed to what he called an emerging consensus. “If rivals like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola or U.P.S. and FedEx or AT&T and Verizon, if they can join together on this, then maybe Democrats and Republicans can do the same,” he said.

The fact that the Trucking Industry plays a crucial part in our nation’s economy is no surprise to anyone who works in it.

But, did you know how big a role the Trucking Industry plays?

According to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, trucks moved 73.7 percent of the country’s freight in 2012, carrying $10 trillion worth of the country’s $13.6 trillion in freight.

These fact come straight from the DOT’s recently released Commodity Flow Survey, a survey which is  done roughly every five years.

Trucks also carried 70 percent of the tonnage moved in 2012, hauling 8 billion of the 11.7 billion tons shipped last year.

Per the CFS, the for-hire trucking industry carried $6.6 trillion in freight, or 48.5 percent of the total, while private trucks hauled 25.2 percent, or $3.4 trillion.

In the Trucking Industry, like every other industry, the name of the game is revenue.

When this battle in Obama’s Quixotic tilt against his evil nemesis, the fictional Climate Change, comes to fruition, it will damage the Trucking Industry, by cutting into their profitability.

This decrease in revenue will be compensated for by raising their price per mile to their clients, who include the Food Industry, the Construction Industry, the Retail Industry, the Pharmaceutical Industry, and, to bring it around full-circle, the Oil Industry itself, among others.

Obama, in his zeal to “appear to be doing something” about a Liberal and Celebrity Cause Du Jour, will harm our nation’s economy, placing American workers even further behind the eight ball than we are now, regarding of what his sycophants in the industry and he himself will tell you.

Obama’s over-reaching economic ignorance will leave our nation in a hole we will never be able to climb out of, if he is not stood up to…immediately.

Until He Comes,

KJ 

Misplaced Priorities: America’s Jobless and the Push for Amnesty

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

UnemploymentAs the attention of Americans remains focused on the disaster known as Obamacare, another disaster has slipped by the public’s watchful eye.

CNSNews.com reports that

The number of Americans who are 16 years or older and who have decided not to participate in the nation’s labor force has climbed to a record 90,609,000 in September, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The BLS counts a person as participating in the labor force if they are 16 years or older and either have a job or have actively sought a job in the last four weeks. A person is not participating in the labor force if they are 16 or older and have not sought a job in the last four weeks.

In from July to August, according to BLS, Americans not participating in the labor force climbed from 89,957,000 to 90,473,000, pushing past 90,000,000 for the first time, with a one month increase of 516,000.

In September, it climbed again to 90,609,000, an increase of 136,000 during the month.

In January 2009, when President Barack Obama took office, there were 80,507,000 Americans not in the labor force. Thus, the number of Americans not in the labor force has increased by 10,102,000 during Obama’s presidency.

The labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of the non-institutionalized population 16 years or older who either have a job or actively sought one in the last four weeks, was 63.2 percent in September. That was unchanged from August.

When President Obama took office in January 2009, the labor force participation rate was 65.7 percent.

In other words, ladies and gentlemen, Americans have given up looking for jobs. And, this is a subject I know a little something about.

I used to work the Front Desk at a State-run Employment office.

While there, I was able to observe folks down on their luck, struggling to find work and survive in this economy.

I also saw American families,whose existence living on the Government Dole, had become generational.

It is these people whom Obama and the Democrats have hypnotized into believing that Uncle Sugar loves them, and is their only solution to surviving a stifling existence.

They are so, so wrong.

The strength and vitality of America does not come from the benevolence of a Nanny-state Federal Government.

As the greatest American President of our lifetime, Ronald Reagan said:

The nine words you never want to hear are:  I’m from the Government and I’m here to help.

Being enslaved to the Government Dole steals one’s ambition.  It takes away any impetus or desire to create a better life for yourself and your family, to challenge yourself to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and pursue the American Dream.  It makes you reliant on a politically motivated spider’s web full of government bureaucrats who view you and your family as job security.

I watched American citizens trapped in this web of government bureaucracy,  so numbed of any initiative that they once had, that they seemed offended that they actually had to prove that they inquired about three jobs that week in order to keep their “benefits”.  Others seemed puzzled that they had to search through the state data base and pick out a job that they wanted to talk to an interviewer about receiving a referral to, and weren’t just simply handed a job when they walked through the door.

So, yesterday’s news was not a huge surprise for me. With an Administration who positively revels in their growing control of American Citizens’ lives, cradle to grave, it is a fait accompli that the amount of people who forgo providing for their families by the sweat of their brow, to embrace “Free Lifetime Benefits” given so graciously to them by Uncle Sugar, should rise.

That being said, what is the Administration and the Vichy Republicans doing to correct this problem, and get America working again?

Answer: Absolutely Nothing (Say it again!)  The Administration and their “friends across the aisle are making plans to grant amnesty to 10 million Illegal Aliens, in a fight to see who can create more voters for their political party.

in fact, per  Breitbart.com,

According to Politico, pro-immigration reform groups will target House Republican leaders and over 20 Republicans they think are vulnerable on the issue. Their goal is to get a vote on immigration reform this year.

Republican mega-donor Paul Singer has teamed up with George Soros to finance pro-comprehensive immigration reform groups like the Evangelical Immigration Table, which released a letter on Monday urging lawmakers to support a pathway to citizenship, and the National Immigration Forum, which will also be mobilizing support.

The Fair Immigration Reform Movement, described as “an umbrella organization for an array of immigration rights groups nationwide,” will “intensify the pressure on House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as well as 26 Republicans” representing districts with a significant number of minorities.

Both Political Parties need to realize that if they free up our Capitalist System to run in the manner in which is has for over 200 years, Americans will have jobs, their outlook will be more hopeful, and both parties will have happy voters. And then, they can decide what to do with the 10 million who have broken our country’s Immigration Laws.

Our American Leadership have misplaced priorities.

It’s still the economy, stupid.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama Pushes 40% Tax Rate on Small Businesses. Karl Marx Smiles.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

obamabiggovernmentPresident Obama delivered another speech in his Economic Campaign Tour on Tuesday, where he continued “playing his greatest hits”….or misses, depending on your point-of-view.

The Weekly Standard posted yesterday that,

The New York Times reports that President Obama is reviving an old proposal to lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent (and 25 percent for manufacturers). Obama’s push to lower the corporate tax rate to 28 percent comes less than a year after he raised the top individual income tax rate, paid by many small businesses, to 39.6 percent.

In a speech delivered Tuesday afternoon, Obama did not explain why he thinks it’s a sound economic idea to raise the top marginal tax rate on small businesses but lower it for corporations.

“Right now, our tax code is so riddled with wasteful loopholes that many companies doing the right thing and investing in America pay 35%, while the corporations with the best accountants stash their money abroad and pay little or nothing at all,” Obama said, according to the text of his prepared remarks. “I’m willing to simplify our tax code in a way that closes those loopholes, ends incentives to ship jobs overseas, and lowers rates for businesses that create jobs right here in America.”

Neither Obama’s Tuesday speech nor his February 2012 corporate tax reform plan explained in detail which loopholes would be closed. During the 2012 presidential campaign, the Obama campaign hammered Mitt Romney for not saying which loopholes he would close to pay for a proposed reduction in individual income tax rates.

Obama was singing a different tune last November, as thehill.com reported.

President Obama and his daughters visited an independent bookstore on Saturday to participate in “Small Business Saturday.”

Obama is urging Americans to shop at neighborhood stores as an alternative to big Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales by national chains. He also dispatched top White House aides to do holiday shopping at local small businesses on Saturday.

Obama has made a tradition of marking Small Business Saturday by visiting a non-franchise bookstore with Sasha and Malia. Last year, the president and his two daughters visited Kramerbooks & Afterwards Café in Dupont Circle.

This year, the trio visited One More Page Books in Arlington, Va., a short trip across the river from Washington, D.C. They stayed in the bookstore for just over half an hour, according to a White House pool report, and immediately returned to the White House.

Despite a lack of browsing, the president bought 15 children’s books during the stop. The White House reported the purchases will be given as gifts to family this year for Christmas. Obama explained that he prepared ahead, apparently consulting a Christmas shopping list on his BlackBerry.

“Preparation,” the president told shop owner Eileen McGervey, according to the report. “That’s how I shop.”

The federal government is offering stores free Small Business Saturday marketing materials and promoting the event on social and paid media in a partnership with American Express.

“From the mom-and-pop storefront shops that anchor Main Street to the high-tech startups that keep America on the cutting edge, small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the cornerstones of our nation’s promise,” Obama said in a statement Friday. “Through events such as Small Business Saturday, we keep our local economies strong and help maintain an American economy that can compete and win in the 21st century.”

As a matter of fact, Obama was on the side of Small Business Owners, as late as last February…

During the 2013 State of the Union Address on February 12th, Obama said,

Now is our best chance for bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform that encourages job creation and helps bring down the deficit. (Applause.) We can get this done. The American people deserve a tax code that helps small businesses spend less time filling out complicated forms, and more time expanding and hiring — a tax code that ensures billionaires with high-powered accountants can’t work the system and pay a lower rate than their hardworking secretaries; a tax code that lowers incentives to move jobs overseas, and lowers tax rates for businesses and manufacturers that are creating jobs right here in the United States of America. That’s what tax reform can deliver. That’s what we can do together.

We know that all of Obama’s promises have expiration dates. However, in a horrible economy, why is Obama trying to tax America’s Small Business Owners out of business?

You remember them…the people who actually create jobs for you and me.

That’s not the only problem America’s Entrepreneurs are facing.

Adding to Small Business Owners’ Burden will be ObamaCare, and the penalties for non-compliance.

Cato.otg explains,

If our small-business owner has 50 or more employees — or fewer full-time employees and lots of part-timers — he faces the prospect of tens of thousands of dollars in penalties under ObamaCare’s employer mandate if he does not provide “adequate” coverage to his workers.

The worst part is that these penalties will be triggered by factors that are unpredictable, unobservable, and totally beyond the control of our small-business owner. He could get hit with those penalties simply because a worker’s spouse loses or changes jobs. Or if a worker’s spouse moves out or dies. Or if an employee’s parents move in.

This creates so much uncertainty that a small-business owner with 55 employees may have to fire six of them just to eliminate that potential liability.

But if he splits his 60-employee small business into two 25-employee businesses, then the federal government — maybe the IRS — will start snooping around to determine whether he did so for legitimate business reasons or just to avoid the mandate.

Why is he doing this to the Backbone of Our Economy? I have a theory. (I know. You’re shocked.)

Remember the Obama-Biden Tax Plan?

The 40% tax rate on Small Businesses, which the Weekly Standard is referring to, was a part of that original plan, which Obama got passed during the Congressional negotiations over raising taxes on America’s “Wealthy”, the other folks who hire Americans.

Our Petulant President, like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum was determined to get what he wants. And, it appears that, what he wanted, was to tax America’s Small Business Owners out of existence…and replace them with those who he can control through Government Grants.

Think about it…if the Administration  can get rid of those Business Owners who are not obliged to them, say, those who vote Republican, and replace them with those who are indebted to Uncle Sugar for giving them the money to start their business, isn’t that, basically, creating a new voting bloc for Obama and the Democrats?

Just thinking out of the box, you understand…

And now, with his “Middle Out” Economic strategy failing miserably, because he’s taxing the Middle Class out of existence, he’s talking about lowering the Corporate Tax Rate, in order to get Corporations who have left the country due to the tax burden he and his fellow Democrats placed on them, to move back home, and bail him and his Political Party out.

Will expatriated American Businesses tell him to take his “Bargain” and shove it?

Does Moochelle like lobster?

Until He Comes,

KJ