Woody's Place

Here's The REAL State Of The Union: Obama's Economic Record, By The Numbers

Hat tip to the Senate Republican Policy Committee.

UPDATE: Here are links to all the source data in case you think I'm making it up.  Facts are stubborn things.

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS13000000 
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000 
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMM_EPMR_PTE_NUS_DPG&f=W 
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np 
http://www.census.gov/ 
http://rpc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=misery-index 
http://trends.collegeboard.org/college_pricing/report_findings/indicator/884#f9011 
http://ehbs.kff.org/pdf/8226.pdf 
http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/34snapmonthly.htm 
http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf 
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/ 
http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-2011-2012/ 

Quote Of The Day: Florida Governor Rick Scott On Unemployment

"Taxation, regulation and litigation, those three form the axis of unemployment."

Stick Figure Logic

Quote Of The Day: Thomas Jefferson On Redistribution Of Wealth

Why Businesses Aren't Hiring

The Wall Street Journal published a brilliant editorial by Micheal Fleischer explaining why businesses aren't hiring new employees.  It's a must read.

[...] To offset tax increases and steepening rises in health-insurance premiums, my company needs sustainably higher profits and sales—something unlikely in this "summer of recovery." We can't pass the additional costs onto our customers, because the market is too tight and we'd lose sales. Only governments can raise prices repeatedly and pretend there will be no consequences.

And even if the economic outlook were more encouraging, increasing revenues is always uncertain and expensive. As much as I might want to hire new salespeople, engineers and marketing staff in an effort to grow, I would be increasing my company's vulnerability to government decisions to raise taxes, to policies that make health insurance more expensive, and to the difficulties of this economic environment.

A life in business is filled with uncertainties, but I can be quite sure that every time I hire someone my obligations to the government go up. From where I sit, the government's message is unmistakable: Creating a new job carries a punishing price.

Be sure to click over and read the rest.  It's right on the money.

EXIT QUESTION: How long before the MSM/DNC Cabal embargo on the failure of Obamanomics begins to crack?  I'm guessing right after the election.

The Chevy Volt Just Doesn't Add Up

Doctor Zero did some math and finds that GM's new Chevy Volt just doesn't add up.

The sticker price is $41,000. However, with federal subsidies, you could pay as little as $33,500. Additional subsidies provided by the state of California could knock it down even lower, for residents of the Golden State. So what’s the price?

$41,000, of course. The subsidies just mean you don’t pay all of it. The utterly bankrupt federal government takes money from other taxpayers, and uses it to discount your purchase. Since California is teetering on the edge of total collapse, and may well require federal bailouts in the near future, taxpayers across the country could end up paying additional sums to support Volt purchases that happen to occur within the state of California. These transfer payments are mixed into the thickening concrete surrounding the American economy, making it just a few inches deeper.

I made a chart to illustrate the point he is making:

	Sticker Price	$41,000.00
	Federal Tax Credit	-$7,500.00
	Purchase Price	$33,500.00
	Initial Production Run	10,000
	Federal R&D Subsidies	$400,000,000.00
	Subsidy Per Vehicle	$40,000.00
	Actual Cost Per Vehicle	$81,000.00
	Car Buyers Pay	$33,500.00
	Taxpayers Pay	$47,500.00

And who would pay $81,000 for this $18,000 sedan with a battery?  Why, the US taxpayer of course! 

The Volt would not exist at all, if the government had not performed an elaborate voodoo ritual which involved burning $50 billion in taxpayer cash and sprinkling the ashes over the United Auto Workers union. This raised General Motors from its free-market grave, and placed it at the service of those who killed it. How much of this fifty billion should be divided among the Volt production run to calculate its true, final value?

The purpose of seizing money from taxpayers to finance the Volt was preserving the jobs of union members politically connected to the Democrat Party.

And there we have it.  The root of all this mess is votes for Democrats, just like the housing meltdown.  Go figure.  Is there no end to how many things they can fuck up?

Glenn Beck Rant / Meltdown On Obama's Financial "Reform" Bill

Glenn had an especially nice rant this evening, and I decided to post it to YouTube.

I feel the same way Glenn.  Keep doing what you're doing man.  Maybe it's not too late.

Immigration, Unemployment & Deficits, All Connected

We have between ten and twenty million illegal immigrants in this country.  We also have nearly fourteen million unemployed citizens... Am I the only one who sees a simple solution to both problems?

Seal the border, crack down on those who hire illegals both corporations and all the "regular citizens" hiring day laborers and nannies, make it a requirement to provide proof of citizenship to rent an apartment or open an account with a public utility, and deport each and every illegal who violates our laws.

This would immediately begin reducing the nearly one hundred and thirteen billion dollars our governments spend for healthcare, education, food, housing subsidies and incarceration of illegal aliens.  It would also begin reducing the billions spent on unemployment as jobless American citizens begin filling positions once held by foreign nationals.  These savings could be used to fund this border enforcement initiative and later to reduce the defecit.

Another economic boon would be reaped when all those jobs are filled by our fellow citizens who spend their paychecks here in the US instead of immigrants who often wire the majority of their income to their family back home in Mexico City or Costa Rica. Those dollars would be circulating here creating even more jobs for Americans.

Some may say that these people are doing jobs Americans just won't do.  Well, that's bullshit and you know it.  Americans will do any job, they just want to be paid fairly for it.  I have no sympathy for any corporation whose profits, or any individual whose lifestyle is subsidized by paying slave wages to illegal laborers.  Nor do I have sympathy for the illegals who are "just here looking for a better life".  Well, a crack dealer is out looking for a better life too, but that doesn't change the fact that he is breaking the law.  Laws mean something.  There are legal ways to come here.  There is no excuse. 

And while we're on the topic.  I often hear that phrase about immigrants coming to America for a better life, but rarely do I hear about them coming here to become Americans.  Allowing millions of foreigners to infiltrate our country and reap the benefits of the society we've built while they maintain and proudly proclaim their fidelity with foreign governments is a travesty and a national embarrasment.

America is for Americans, not Mexicans. If you are a Mexican looking to become an American we invite you to apply for legal entry and citizenship, but if you are here illegally just to leech off our country and scoop up dollars to take home you need to be arrested and deported just like any other criminal.

Seal the border, law and order, recession over.

Bankrupt America? Yes We Can!

I saw a bumper sticker for sale like this, but rather than repost their crappy thumbnail I made a new and better version:

Dovetails nicely with the last post... unfortunately.

Obama's Policies Are Damaging The Economy

As you can see by this chart, the ratio of working-age citizens who are employed, versus those who are unemployed or have given up looking for work is at the lowest level in modern history.

This is because Obama's economic policies are doing more harm than good to the US economy.

Obama has engaged in an orgy of spending and defecits the likes of which we have never seen in the history of our Republic, and the money is being used almost exclusively to fund politically oriented programs that have little to no stimulative effect.  This does nothing to inspire confidence that a recovery is near, but does everything to inspire confidence that tax increases are.

Many of Obama's initiatives since taking office have been driven by the Democrats dishonest class warfare agenda.  Rewarding government employees at taxpayer expense, rewarding union members at taxpayer expense, and demonizing the business community and the investor class at every turn.  Hmm... which of those groups is the one that creates new jobs again?

Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress passed a healthcare bill that will significantly increase the cost of doing business in America, just when businesses could least afford it.

Obama & Co. are placing increased regulatory burdens on many sectors of the economy, again to little real effect, but politically popular with ingnorant Democrat voters even though they hurt the private sector and impede the chances of a recovery. 

Obama and the Democrats are threatening to push through a cap & trade style energy bill that would amount to a $640 billion dollar tax increase on American businesses.

Democrats keep floating the possibility of a European style VAT tax, which would just increase the cost of every product or service offered at every business in the nation. 

In addition to all the business tax increases listed above, the largest income tax increase in American history is coming in six months (IS coming, not MIGHT come), and Obama and the Democrats can't wait for all that money to come to Washington.  Money that could be in your community creating new jobs.  This will likely be a crushing blow to an already reeling US economy.

All of this unecessary and politically motivated commotion (a.k.a. "Change") is creating a climate of fear and uncertainty in the private sector.  Would you invest in expanding your business when any increase in profits would likely be taxed away from you?  Would you hire more employees when the healthcare costs are set to skyrocket?  Would you risk your wealth or take out a loan to finance a new business venture when things are so shaky and the leadership of this nation is apparently making every single wrong move you could make?

No.

And the results are already becoming clear:

The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that nonfinancial companies had socked away $1.84 trillion in cash and other liquid assets as of the end of March, up 26% from a year earlier and the largest-ever increase in records going back to 1952. Cash made up about 7% of all company assets, including factories and financial investments, the highest level since 1963.

Businesses are setting aside cash because they have no confidence in Obama.  This cash could be creating new jobs and new opportunities, but Obama and the Democrats have blown any chance of a speedy economic turnaround.  It will take a complete shake up in Washington to fix this, and that's not possible until January 2013, so buckle up folks, it's going to be a long and bumpy ride.

Broke

I whipped up this nifty little graphic and thought I should post it.

I created it to represent numerous things:

• That our nation is financially broke and running record defecits.
• That millions of Americans are out of work and unable to pay their bills.
• That Obama has broken many of his campaign promises.
• That The Congress has broken it's trust with the American People.
• That Wall Street and the investor class do not trust the Government and are not investing to grow the economy.
• That our People have never been more polarized, more depressed or more stressed out in modern times.

Yeah.  That one word seems to sum up the entire Presidency of Barack Obama so far, but things are looking up.

Let's hope that sums up the remainder of this national train wreck that is Obama.

My Version Of The ARRA Road Construction Signs

Doctor Zero On Obama's Deficit Reduction Sham

Doc Zero has a great new piece out on Obama's "Defecit Reduction Commission":

Watching this Presidential commission discuss strategies for deficit reduction is like watching a pack of gluttons talk about getting in shape while they prowl up and down a buffet table. They linger over the deep-fried mortgage interest deduction caps, dip their spoons into the rich chocolate of the VAT tax, and lick their lips as they wait for the expired Bush tax cuts to pop out of the oven. They end up perched on the edge of creaking chairs, tittering at the wonderfully naughty idea of devouring everyone’s 401k plans for dessert. It’s a nauseating spectacle that will only end when they’re escorted from the restaurant by angry voters.

Who knew reading about a Presidential Commission could be so entertaining?  Then again who knew we'd elect an Administration composed entirely of Keystone Kops?  Go read the rest over at Doc's place. 

Federal Spending By The Numbers

Obama's Economic Policies Are Accomplishing Nothing...

...except buying votes for the Democrat party at the taxpayer's expense.  Well, I guess that's something.

Here's an example (hat tip to Hot Air):

As this chart makes clear, the Obama Administration naively spent $2,800,000,000 just to move auto purchases from September, October and November into June, July and August.  This accomplished nothing in the real world, aside from cementing the loyalty of the UAW votes for Obama and his cronies.  

And then we have the just released employment numbrs for May 2010 that show almost no growth in the private sector, but a huge temporary boost from the Census (government workers, Democrat voters).

And let's keep in mind that all those Census jobs are temporary... can you imagine the employment crash that will result when their work is done?  Not to mention the fact that there's been some chicanery alleged where Census workers have been hired one month, fired, then hired again the next month in order to count as more than one job "saved or created" by Obama's stimulus legilstation.

Oh well.  What did we expect when we have a President and an entire administration who've never signed the front of a paycheck? 

Hey, Let's Rearrange Some Deck Chairs!

Quotes Of The Day: Honest Politicians & Ignorant Politicians

Via Mitchieville:

"It is virtually impossible to find an honest politician. They have one major objective – Power. To attain power they have to buy votes. But to buy votes they cannot tell the truth. No politician ever forecasts bad news because bad news does not buy votes." -Egon von Greyerz

If the American people hadn't been so ignorant over these last decades they would not have let their votes be bought (with their own money... duh!) and perhaps we wouldn't find ourselves trapped in this economic crisis.

Here's another good one:

"When you have three key figures, Obama, Bernanke and Geithner assisting in or managing economic policy and none of them have signed the front of a check, managed a real bank much less worked as a teller, or created and developed a business from scratch, then the formula is place for theory to become the disaster we are witnessing. This is half-assed Keynesian economic policy at its best, a blatant ignorance as to the crossroads our nation finds it itself at historically."  -John Galt

Yep... I don't think the voters are going to get the type of change they had hoped for.

Quote Of The Day: How Obama Is Stalling Any Possible Economic Recovery

Via MItchieville:

"You cannot have job creation when you continue to raise taxes, when you continue to - every day our great leader goes on the microphone and has more regulations. What entrepreneur in his right mind would start a new business right now or even hire more people under these circumstances of rising taxes, rising regulations?"

[...] The first chance for a sustainable bottom will be in 2017. When you have such wealth destruction as we are seeing now, when you have such a contraction in international trade and credit and everything, you cannot have a big recovery.

Pretty much what I was thinking.  Great Depression 2, here we go!

Obama Calls For Bi-Partisan Defecit Panel To Give Democrats Political Cover

Okay... let's read that headline once more before we proceed so we can really savor the irony of the President who spent 3.5 trillion dollars in just his first year now wanting to find ways to reduce government spending?

Perhaps he should just go back to Chicago?  I have a feeling that would be a really good start.

From the New York Times:

President Obama plans to create a bipartisan commission to make recommendations to Congress on ways to reduce the federal budget deficit under an agreement reached Tuesday night at the White House.

Why the bi-partisan?  Wasn't it the Democrats who were voted in to bring change to Washington? 

Oh, I see, it's bipartisan just to give the Democrats some political cover in this year's election.  Hey, even the Times admits as much:

In the short run, such a commission would buy time for the White House and Congress, putting off decisions until after this year’s midterm elections while the commission deliberates.

As far as I'm concerned they spent all that money, so they need to live with the consequences.  Let them be hoisted by their own petard.

I also think any Republican lawmaker who joins this panel, thereby helping to insulate Dems from the mess they've created, is a traitor to his party and should be voted out of office. 

The Obama Pelosi Recession Is The Worst Recession In US History...

Only the Great Depression was worse, but give them some more time, as they appear to be working hard at setting a new record low for every single economic indicator.

Democrats are the ones who screwed up this economy and now they are going to make it even worse.  Great Depression II anyone?

Let's vote for some REAL hope and change in 2010 please... before it's too late.

Hat tip to Hot Air.  More depressing charts are available over at the Minneapolis Fed's website.

Quote Of The Day: Warren Buffet On The Economy

Woody's Place financial advisor Warren Buffet was interviewed on CNBC today:

While the economy is a "shambles" and likely to stay that way for some time, he remains optimistic there will eventually be a recovery over a period of years.

Buffett says the nation should concentrate on creating jobs.

[...] Taking a firm position in an ongoing debate in the financial markets, Buffett says he's not concerned at all about deflation, but does think inflation will be a problem in coming years.

[...] Buffett repeated his criticism of "cap and trade" as a method to control pollution, saying it would be a huge, regressive tax.

You've got to wonder if he's starting to regret his endorsement Obama in the last election.  Between the "soak the rich" tax policies, printing money like it's going out of style, the job killing Waxman-Markey (Obama-Pelosi) cap & trade carbon tax, and the proposed confiscatory corporate income tax on American companies that do business overseas, Obama's policies are going to result in much, MUCH less capital being available for the private sector, making any recovery less likely, delayed and more fragile.

Warren's a super nice guy, and the most successful businessman in modern history, but it would appear his wisdom does not necessarily extend into politics.  He got suckered into believing Obama wasn't a Marxist radical just like John Q. Public did.

Quote Of The Day

George Will:  

The administration’s central activity — the political allocation of wealth and opportunity — is not merely susceptible to corruption, it IS corruption.

Exactly.