Andrew Klavan - Obamanomics 101 - Understanding How the Obama Economy Works

As President Obama explains his economic policy (or explains away the consequences of that policy), City Journal's Andrew Klavan cuts through all the spin with this very, very important primer on both Obamanomics and the truth about capitalism.

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Austin Hill - Obamanomics And The Jewish Deli Dilemma

Did you hear the big news from the world of small business? Jewish delis are closing in both Los Angeles, and New York City.

The trend has been a long time in the making, especially in New York City where Jewish delis’s used to number in the thousands and now total less than one hundred. Yet the Los Angeles Times reported this “news” just this past week, and the details that the report included – and the details that were ignored– point to some far greater problems.

The article, written by Journalist Tiffany Hsu, notes that the decline of the L.A. area Jewish delis “seems to be accelerating partly because of health concerns over the schmaltz-spread fare...” This may very well be the case – certainly American adults are inclined to being more “health conscious” with their dietary choices, rather than less, and food categories of all types that are perceived to be un-healthy are probably headed for a declined in consumption.

From there, the article suggests that “skyrocketing” food costs have driven some delis out of business. That may be true, too, but what has caused that to happen? The article suggests that “mass exports” of food to Japan is the culprit on the price spike. The story also blames the decline of LA-area Jewish delis on “the recession,” “too much competition” from other restaurant sectors, and the notion that younger consumers “don’t understand delis and comfort food.”

It was only one small news story in the LA Times. But let’s think through some of the ideas in this news story – ideas reported as “facts” – and consider what they mean from an economic standpoint. Consider, for example, the notion of “too much competition.” What exactly does this mean?

Obviously the more competitive a marketplace is, the more difficult it is for any particular business entity to survive and thrive. But how do we know when the level of competition is appropriate, and when it is “too much?”

Americans are accustomed to fierce competition in other arenas – in sports, especially, and even in the arts and entertainment. Similarly, most of us would never say “my favorite team didn’t make it to the Super Bowl this year because there was too much competition in the NFL.”

But when it comes to local small businesses, we often succumb to this vague, un-defined notion that there is this magical amount of competition that’s “just right,” and if our favorite business can’t compete, then therefore there is “too much” competition.

Yet in our free market economic system, we understand that competition is a good thing. If competition means that certain business entities or entire business categories decline because of the competition, then so be it. It is fairer and more just to allow businesses to rise and fall according to the market demands of consumers, rather than imposing artificial “limits” on the number of people who are to be permitted to participate in an industry.

But what are we to make of this idea that the delis’ failure is because consumers “don’t understand?” If a consumer chooses to “not understand” any particular business, and therefore chooses not to patronize it, then that consumer has made their choice – haven’t they? We’re all better-off if, win or lose, we honor and respect the choices of consumers, rather than presuming that they are ignorant if they make a choice that we don’t like.

And guess what the LA Times article about the delis completely ignored? The impact of government policy on small businesses. Nowhere did it reference the expansive and onerous mandates placed upon business via Obamacare, the impact on business owners of the President’s payroll tax hike, or his income tax increases on “rich people.”

No, the LA Times apparently wasn’t interested in how the President’s income tax hikes have taken money away from what the I.R.S. designates as “Subchapter S Corporations” (sometimes abbreviated as “S-corps”), and how this has effectively taken money directly out of small corporations, many of which operate small businesses. Likewise, the article made no reference to the fact California voters approved an increase in state income tax rates for “rich people” (thus leading to even less revenue in Subchapter-S Corporations) on their ballot last November, nor did it acknowledge that California has for years been on a trajectory of higher and higher unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation mandates for businesses.

It is perhaps more comfortable to pretend that our current government policies are not problematic, and blame the struggling economy on “too much competition” and consumers who “don’t understand.”

But how many more delis must fail, before we get honest and acknowledge that government is our problem?

Austin Hill

Austin Hill is an emerging American voice, addressing culture-defining questions through books, talk radio, web, speaking, and interviews. His recent books "White House Confidential" and his new title "The Virtues Of Capitalism" show his range from whit-infused writer to thought-provoking expert on the intersection of philosophy, religion, politics & culture. Hill helps to make the complex seem simple when exploring capitalism, socialism, and other "Isms".

He is an editorial contributor to national publications such as U.S. News & World Report, a columnist with TownHall.com, and is a popular expert-host on radio from leading stations in Washington DC, Chicago, Phoenix and Los Angeles, and nationally with networks such as Fox NewsTalk Radio.  He hosts the "Austin Hill Show" weekday mornings at Fresno, California's Talk Radio 105-9 KMJ-FM,  and weekday afternoons at Boise, Idaho's Newstalk 580 K I D O radio.

Hill holds a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, and a Master's Degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Biola University in California.

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Dennis Miller - I think the country looks like crap right now!

Dennis Miller will tell us what we learned, if anything, from President Obama's recent appearance on "The Late Show." with David Letterman.

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Agents of Change

Americans who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 share why they're changing their vote in 2012 and will be casting their ballot for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in November.

The debt of the United States has grown to a startling $16 trillion dollars — the largest total in our nation's history.

As the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has reported, the Obama Administration has racked up 4 straight trillion-dollar plus annual budget deficits.

Unemployment has remained over 8% for 43 straight months — a first since the Great Depression. The real unemployment rate — taking into account those who have stopped looking or who are working part-time and want more work — is almost 15%. More than 23 million Americans are out of work or underemployed.

Because of this troubled economy, the number of Americans receiving food stamp assistance — more than 46 million in all — is at a record high, according to the government.

The United States has slid from 3rd in ease of starting a new business to 13th in the world, trailing unlikely competitors like Rwanda and Macedonia.

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Austin Hill - Downgrade Nation: Seeing Through The Charade Of Presidential Politics

The U.S. Federal Reserve initiated more economic stimulus. And the very next day the U.S. Government received another debt downgrade.

Did one lead to the other- or is there more to the story?

Amid last week’s headlines of Islamic terrorist attacks and domestic bomb threats, the news about another U.S. debt downgrade may have seemed anticlimactic. Yet this additional downgrade for the U.S. has been a long time in the making, has long-term ramifications, and was not triggered by the Federal Reserve alone.

After months of speculation, pressure, and mostly bad economic data, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced last Thursday that he would launch a third round of economic stimulus code-named “QE3” (several media outlets, including CNBC and Yahoo! Finance, quickly nicknamed it “QE infinity” owing to its open-ended, no-end-in-sight nature). The plan, as Mr. Bernanke explained, is for the Federal Reserve to purchase $40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities every month, and to do so for as long as he thinks it is necessary.

Of course, it was only five months ago that the Egan-Jones Ratings company downgraded the U.S. Government because of its profligate spending and total lack of interest in reducing its deficits, lowering it from a ”AA+” to a “AA” rating. After last week’s announcement about even more deficit spending by the Federal Reserve, our government continued its downward spiral on credit-worthiness by achieving Egan-Jones ‘ latest evaluation: a rating of “AA-.” Each of the other major credit ratings companies (Moody’s, Fitch, and Standard & Poor) gives the U.S. a slightly better rating, yet all of them forecast negative outlook” for our government’s credit worthiness.

In making its downgrade announcement, Egan-Jones stated that our government’s decision to issue more currency and to artificially depress interest rates by purchasing mortgage-backed securities will likely do very little to expand America’s actual gross domestic product, yet at the same time it will likely reduce the value of the dollar. The agency further noted that this decision will increase the cost of commodities, which in turn will hurt the profitability of businesses, and will increase the prices of consumer products thereby reducing consumer purchasing power.

The team at Egan Jones seems to be seeing things clearly, and, if nothing else, is displaying a sound grasp of some very basic economic ideas. Just as a drunken person cannot drink their way back to sobriety, no entity of any sort – no individual, no household, no organization nor any government – can borrow and spend its way out of debt. And the more indebted one becomes, the less trust-worthy one becomes with creditors – which ultimately leads to less prosperity.

What is perhaps most striking about Egan Jones’ response to the Fed is that it was the complete antithesis of the collective response from the stock market. Investors, traders and brokers were so exuberant over Chairman Bernanke’s choice to spend more of our non-existent tax dollars that the Dow was driven to a 5-year high on Thursday. Those who are entrusted to offer honest assessments of our government’s credit worthiness see the U.S. as inviting more trouble upon itself. Those, on the other hand, who are not so concerned with honest assessments, are apparently quite happy to trust in the gamesmanship and hocus-pocus of politicians and government bureaucrats- despite the preponderance of evidence that such government manipulation of the marketplace produces only short-term pleasure and a lot of long term pain.

And herein resides the greater problem for the United States and its debt: credit ratings agencies, foreign governments, and private individuals around the world are watching our country and observing our near-total lack of “political will” to get our fiscal house in order. Granted the Chairmanship of the Federal Reserve is, at least in theory, a non-political position in our government, and its occupant is not beholden to electoral politics. Presumably Chairman Bernanke has chosen to act in this way because he believes it is the right thing for him to do (although his choice to implement such a short-sided policy within two months of a presidential election has nonetheless raised doubts about his independence of the President).

But the fiscal recklessness of our government does not begin and end with Bernanke. It rests with the President and the Congress primarily – and especially with President Obama, given that he and his party controlled both the Executive and Legislative branches of our government for two years, yet he chose to harness that power for to create more government spending and debt and not less.

Our current presidential campaigns also give the impression abroad of an “out of touch America.” Vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan dares to address our dangerous condition, but only in the most minimal of terms – and for this he has been labeled “the Flim Flam Man” by the New York Times’ Paul Krugman, and is accused of allegedly hurting children, the elderly, and ethnic minorities with his proposed reductions in entitlements.

Add to this the reality that our President’s foreign policy is going up in flames before a global stage – yet he remains politically viable and popular – and it’s not difficult to understand why other countries are getting nervous. The real question in this, however, is when will Americans get nervous – nervous enough – that they demand fiscal sanity from their elected leaders?

It won’t happen between now and the next election day. But will it happen soon enough-before the politicians have done irreparable damage?

Austin Hill

Austin Hill is an emerging American voice, addressing culture-defining questions through books, talk radio, web, speaking, and interviews. His recent books "White House Confidential" and his new title "The Virtues Of Capitalism" show his range from whit-infused writer to thought-provoking expert on the intersection of philosophy, religion, politics & culture. Hill helps to make the complex seem simple when exploring capitalism, socialism, and other "Isms".

He is an editorial contributor to national publications such as U.S. News & World Report, a columnist with TownHall.com, and is a popular expert-host on radio from leading stations in Washington DC, Chicago, Phoenix and Los Angeles, and nationally with networks such as Fox NewsTalk Radio.  He hosts the "Austin Hill Show" weekday mornings at Fresno, California's Talk Radio 105-9 KMJ-FM,  and weekday afternoons at Boise, Idaho's Newstalk 580 K I D O radio.

Hill holds a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, and a Master's Degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Biola University in California.

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Are You Better Off Than Four Years Ago?

Are you better off than you were four years ago? This is the question that is puzzling the Obama campaign. Hear more on this Front Page as Rituparna Basu of the Ayn Rand Center and Terry Jones of IBD join Allen Barton to discuss the Obama economy and the election.

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Rep. Aaron Schock - Obama has 'failed' young voters

Following a series of speeches by President Obama aimed at garnering support among college students, Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock told The Daily Caller that young people should vote for Obama's opponent, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, claiming that the current "CEO" of America has "failed" on every "financial" front. By Nicholas Ballasy

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Barack Obama Policies has Delivered 'Despair' Instead of Hope and Change

Former Obama backers have become disillusioned with Barack Obama over the last four years. Instead of 'Hope and Change' - Barack Obama has delivered despair, uncertainty high prices, economic melt-down and high unemployment.

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Austin Hill - The Quest For A Reason To Re-Elect The President

Have you heard the latest from the Obama re-election team?

Mitt Romney doesn’t have enough of his money taken from him in taxes. Paul Ryan wants to give rich people a tax “break.” Mitt Romney cut jobs when he was an executive at a private equity firm. Paul Ryan wants to cut school lunches for needy children.

You’ve probably seen and heard it all before. Romney and Ryan are scary, “extreme,” and out of touch, according to Team Obama. The President, Vice President, and all their operatives and surrogates are committed to getting the word out.

But while the President and his friends are adept at making rhetorical attacks on Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, it’s an infrequent occurrence when they offer any reasons why the President should be re-elected. So what, really, is the case for an Obama re-election victory? We know why the President dislikes the Romney-Ryan ticket (and Republicans, generally). But why do we need another four years of Barack Obama as our President? “Because Mitt Romney is terrible,” seems to be the implied answer.

Try searching for remarks from the President about what he intends to do in a second term, and you won’t find much. This is because he hasn’t said much on the topic. Most of the President’s comments these days are disparaging remarks about Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan and not about his agenda - although he did note in an Associated Press interview on August 25th that if he is elected to a second term, he believes there are Republicans in the House and Senate who will compromise and work with him to “get things done” for the country.

I did, however, receive a recent email update from the Obama campaign, a portion of which read like this: “President Obama believes the only way to create an economy built to last is to build it from the middle out and not from the top down. His economic plan is to restore middle-class security by paying down our debt in a balanced way that ensures everyone pays their fair share. Yet the President also wants to still invest in things we need to create jobs and grow our economy over the long term, things like education, energy, innovation, and infrastructure.”

This little blurb should raise some big questions. First, we should all ask “who is seeking a ‘top-down’ approach to the economy?” The answer, of course, is the President himself.

Within less than two years of taking office, President Obama successfully put in to place a system of tremendous governmental control over the otherwise private economy. By the middle of 2010, the President had become a de-facto C.E.O. over huge chunks of the economy, with the power to hire and fire executives, establish compensation limits for executive management, and to determine what products and services are produced. Insurance companies, car manufacturers, lending institutions and energy producers – President Obama has successfully forced his will upon them all.

So has all this governmental control created an economy that is “built to last?” We should also ask the Obama campaign emailers “how does the extra $6 trillion in U.S. government debt (roughly the amount of federal debt increase since the President’s first day in office) help pay down the debt?” And what about the $813 billion stimulus bill of 2009 – that was supposed to be an “investment” in innovation, infrastructure and education – where did that money go? Wasn’t that supposed to be “invested” in important things? And what happened to “shovel ready jobs” – were there any “created?”

A quick check of Democrats.org, the national party’s website, also reveals a list of other specific policy ideas that the President allegedly supports, yet he isn’t talking about them these days. One such policy has to do with energy independence, as the Democrats claim that “President Obama knows we can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices,” and that President Obama is focused on “developing all of America’s natural resources...”

Of course, the President himself said late last year and earlier this year that he is committed to an “all of the above” approach to energy policy, implying that he’s okay with petroleum-based energy, along with the alternative energy development that he’s promoted.

This sounded great- but the President isn’t saying this anymore. This is probably because an “all of the above” approach to energy, we now know, means “anything except Big Oil” within the Obama worldview – hence the President’s veto on the Keystone XL Pipeline project that could have reduced America’s reliance on oil from other continents and could have created jobs from the Canadian border all the way down to Texas. The President and his friends would prefer to ignore this here within the last ten weeks of the election cycle, so they simply don’t talk about it – better to remind everyone about the scary and terrible Romney and Ryan.

Historically, Americans haven’ been content to merely vote against a particular idea or candidate – they generally prefer to vote for someone or something, even if they are choosing the lesser between two “evils.” Will President Obama defy the odds this year – or will Americans be more scrutinizing?

Austin Hill

Austin Hill is an emerging American voice, addressing culture-defining questions through books, talk radio, web, speaking, and interviews. His recent books "White House Confidential" and his new title "The Virtues Of Capitalism" show his range from whit-infused writer to thought-provoking expert on the intersection of philosophy, religion, politics & culture. Hill helps to make the complex seem simple when exploring capitalism, socialism, and other "Isms".

He is an editorial contributor to national publications such as U.S. News & World Report, a columnist with TownHall.com, and is a popular expert-host on radio from leading stations in Washington DC, Chicago, Phoenix and Los Angeles, and nationally with networks such as Fox NewsTalk Radio.  He hosts the "Austin Hill Show" weekday mornings at Fresno, California's Talk Radio 105-9 KMJ-FM,  and weekday afternoons at Boise, Idaho's Newstalk 580 K I D O radio.

Hill holds a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, and a Master's Degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Biola University in California.

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Charles Krauthammer - Romney's Birth Certificate Comments and National Debt Analyzed

The Obama Campaign and Main Stream Media's harsh response to Mitt Romney's Birth Certificate comment while campaigning in Michigan, is a front and center issue, along with our National Debt as it approaches the $16 Trillion mark. These issues are analyzed by the Fox News "All-Star" Panel (Hosted by FNC's Bret Baier) comprised of: Steve Hayes -- Senior Writer for the Weekly Standard; Charles Lane -- Washington Post; and Charles Krauthammer -- Syndicated Columnist.

8/24/2012

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Sarah Palin - Election Countdown,

Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, sits down with FNC's Sean Hannity to discuss the latest in a never ending series of hot issues surrounding Barack Obama and his bid for re-election, and what possible strategies Republican Candidate Mitt Romney should employ going forward.

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Lt. Colonel Allen West - The Balkanized State of America

Are Liberals trying to divide the country? FNC's Dave Briggs asks Colonel Allen West, Florida Congressman to weigh in on this heated topic. Also discussed: Americans need to preserve their freedoms, his thoughts on the 2012 Presidential Race, and the current level of unemployment in this country and what steps need to be taken to improve this situation.

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Allen Barton - No Longer Unexpected: Disappointing Job Numbers Put Obama's Reelection in Jeopardy

The U.S. economy created just 80,000 jobs in June and the employment rate is still hovering around 8.2%. The administration continues to tell the public not to "read too far into it," but how will this play in the upcoming election? Scott Shackford of Reason.com and Terry Jones of Investors Business Daily join Allen to discuss the issue.

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Bill Whittle - Everyone Gets Poorer: America Loses 40% of Its Wealth

The Federal Reserve released a report showing that Americans lost 40% of their net worth as a result of the last recession. Obama argues that the private sector is doing fine. Who is right, the Fed or the President? And who is to blame for this massive reduction in America's pocketbook? Find out as Bill Whittle, Terry Jones and Tim Cavanaugh discuss the destruction of wealth in America.

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Jeannie DeAngelis - The David Axelrod’s ‘Not Doing Fine’ Talk Show Appearance

Originally posted at American Thinker Blog

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David Axelrod took to the Sunday morning (6/10/12)airwaves to clarify the ‘Hope and Ever Changing’ President’s assessment that the economy-is-fine and not-so-fine statements. Hearing Barack Obama’s top campaign strategist attempt to do damage control is always painful. Yet taking the time to listen to David Axelrod does explain why Obama is constantly “evolving” – it’s because neither he nor his closest advisers know what the hell they’re talking about.

Then again, there is the possibility that the Obama 2012 reelection campaign may have been floating a campaign “private sector is doing fine” stump speech trial balloon when Barack Obama said the following:

We’ve created 4.3 million jobs over the past 27 months. The private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government, oftentimes cuts initiated by, you know, governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don’t have the same kind of flexibility of the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in.

After Barack Obama emphatically declared that we/he created 4.3 million jobs in the private sector and that tax-supported state and local governments suffer because tax breaks bring in “fewer revenues,” he was later forced to admit that it’s “absolutely clear” that the same economy that was “doing fine” just a few hours prior is really “not doing fine.”

While acquiescing to the obvious, Barack Obama again asserted that in the private sector there has been “good momentum.” However — and here is where the Axelrod stump speech trial balloon may have been floated — the President did intimate that if the Republican Congress would stop refusing to raise taxes, more revenue would be generated and the federal government could then help state and local government create union jobs, which they believe, in turn, would bolster the economy.

Backing Obama up and acting as an advocate/mouthpiece for a regular presidential gaffe machine, a rattled David Axelrod appeared on the Sunday morning show circuit and attempted to sound intelligent as he pushed the talking point that the “country needs to ‘accelerate’ job creation in the private sector — by hiring more teachers, police and firefighters.”

That’s right — according to David Axelrod, key campaign advisor to the Obama reelection campaign, the cure for a lagging economy is to try to make apples grow by planting orange trees.

Invited to appear on two Sunday morning shows to explain the president’s face-saving walk-back, Axelrod said on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley that “The private sector, we need to accelerate job creation in the private sector.” He then followed up that statement by referencing a “proposed small business tax credit and refinancing program as ways to help the private sector.”

For much of the CNN segment on the President’s fine-not-so-fine blooper, Obama’s chief campaign strategist continued to frenetically push the hire-public-to-help-the-private-sector line. Frustrated host Candy Crowley tried repeatedly to get Mr. Axelrod to answer her original question, but the effort failed miserably.

Clearly, David Axelrod’s idea of addressing the President’s verbal error was to first mildly concede that the evil private sector is still struggling a bit. But after he did, Axelrod also felt compelled to cite for a second time Obama’s claim that “we created” a private-sector number of 4.3 million jobs, stressing once again that while the private sector did grow, the sector the government mismanages lost a half-million teaching jobs.

Therefore, according to David Axelrod, that is why the private sector is “doing far better than the public sector,” and is also why the Obama mouthpiece, who was supposedly invited to be a guest on news/talk shows to clarify Barack Obama’s misstatement, explained the President’s error by continuing to insist that the private sector’s momentum would only continue to improve if more public sector employees were hired.

If the predictable philosophy of ‘fairness’ were to be applied to this public/private sector controversy, one would think the President was attempting to level the playing field by finding a way, regardless of budgetary restrictions, to justify adding 4.3 million teacher, firefighter and law enforcement jobs to the public sector.

So, in other words, the Obama administration’s answer to fixing the country’s fiscal woes is to pour gasoline on a raging fire of high-cost, unsustainable, poorly-managed public sector jobs in hopes that reigniting a public-sector forest fire will somehow miraculously put out a brush fire in the private sector. And Axelrod, who confused the embarrassing issue even more, had the audacity to accuse Romney’s “prescription for a stronger economy” of being proof that the presumptive Republican nominee is “living on a different planet?”

Immediately following Axelrod’s not-so-fine appearances on CNN and ABC, the Romney campaign responded by rightly observing that “When even your own chief strategist can’t defend your comments, it indicates that your assessment of the economy might be wrong.” This is especially true if that strategist is part of a team of advisors who counsel the president on how to best articulate economic policy.

In response, Republican strategists depicted Axelrod’s inability to answer pointed questions about Obama’s “economy is fine” statement as “awkward.”

Most would agree that “awkward” is a polite way to describe David Axelrod and Barack Obama’s nonsensical argument that the private sector, which is doing better than the public sector, needs the poorly-performing public sector to help a private sector that is supposedly already improving without their help.

Jeannie DeAngelis

Jeannie DeAngelis writes almost exclusively for American Thinker and has been published on the conservative website Pajamas Media, as well as hosting a blog. See Jeannie's Blog

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Lurita Doan - Obama's Economic Cowpies

The Obama Administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has requested all federal agencies to cut their FY2014 budgets by 5%. Not too surprisingly, these “cuts” are being heralded as an example of new, fiscal prudence by every Democrat seeking office. If only. What the President is conveniently forgetting is that these cuts, if actually implemented, will only impact discretionary spending, and avoid the much bigger and more problematic entitlement spending that is the primary cause of our economic problems.

The president’s Simpson-Bowles commission told him more than a year ago that entitlement spending was the problem, but Obama and all other Democrat office seekers continue to ignore the facts. Worse yet, they continue to champion policies that will further erode our economy, pile on even more debt, and throttle the engine of growth and innovation.

Clearly, the White House doesn’t understand, and doesn’t care, that federal spending is bloated and can’t continue to grow at the pace urged by Team Obama. Instead, Obama continues his curious set of campaign stops where he consistently promises different interests groups more than the government can possible deliver.

Barack Obama seems to believe he has an infinite supply of goodies and benefits to shower upon his favorite constituents, for which no one ever will have to pay. And yet, the president’s merry, 2012 election campaign carnival continues, with a never-ending stream of unfulfillable promises, economic delusions, and further government support for bad habits and cultural rot.

The White House refuses to understand that every additional dollar our country borrows comes at a cost to our own weakened economy, our own weakened political clout and ultimately strains the economies of the other nations who buy our bonds and loan us money.

Nor does Obama understand that our debt has grown too high to be long sustained and annually running a $1 trillion dollar deficit is reckless. Instead, Obama is fully and completely focused on winning his next election. Obama’s campaign strategy consists of buying votes by promising the impossible, then taking money from one group of Americans to give to others.

In what will likely figure as the most irresponsible administration in the nation’s history, Democrat leaders in the White House and in congress have decided to ignore common sense and, instead, indulge their every pseudo-philanthropic whim—providing largess and preferences through expanded entitlements, all at the expense of the nation’s future economic viability.

Team Obama is equally inept at encouraging economic growth and innovation. Interestingly, this past week was National Small Business Week, which went largely unheralded by the Obama White House. Not too surprising, since the Obama Administration has been hostile to business from day one, and has been especially hostile to small business.

Why? Because a vibrant, small business community creates jobs. Private sector jobs grow the economy. A vibrant economy means affluence, and affluence means choices—which is what America is all about. But, Dems don’t get it.

The president’s lackluster speech, nominally giving the nod to risk takers and innovators, touts the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, a piece of legislation which might be more appropriately called the Small Business Strangulation Act, since the number of reporting requirements--not to mention their intrusiveness into the intellectual property and proprietary information of businesses--made the proposed government-backed loans unattractive as a business expansion option. Drafted by bureaucrats, the Small Business Jobs Act has been a failure. (Witness--continuing 8+% unemployment for the past three years).

Team Obama does not understand that access to capital is not the only factor in growing a business. Small business owners need regulatory freedom to innovate and an environment of predictability and opportunity that encourages a small business to expand—all of this is best created by less (not more) government interference.

President Obama seems determined to eliminate options for American independence and innovation and increase Americans’ dependency on the government. This, in turn, increases the size of government.

Democrats don’t understand that a small government will operate more efficiently, and at less cost, on behalf of the American people. Instead, with each new rule implemented by Team Obama, and each new piece of legislation, additional government entities are created that must be funded with more and more taxpayer dollars.

What is essential--a strong defense, a strong currency, low taxes, less regulation and policies that encourage the growth of free enterprise—can be accomplished better with a limited, rather than a bloated government.

Democrats, especially Obama, talk poignantly about WTF (Winning the Future). But the Democrats’ political pablum is all lip service.

Burdensome taxes to pay for bloated federal spending have crushed the rosy future of our nation’s youth. Democrats, led by Barack Obama, have resorted to manufactured conundrums, diatribes on student loans and access to birth control, to successfully divert the attention of inexperienced college students from the trillions of dollars of growing federal and public debt which they, as the nation’s future generation of workers (if they can somehow get a job), will be required to repay.

Democrats don’t seem to care that entitlement spending has ballooned out of control because so many of those receiving the entitlements vote Democrat. Promising an ever-expanding roster of federal entitlements is the only way that Democrats can garner the votes necessary to stay in office.

If Democrats cut off the federal entitlement spigot, the votes would dry up. Taxpayer dollars, in the hands of Team Obama, are the biggest source of “get-out-the-vote-money” and it’s completely legal (albeit unethical).

Unfortunately, the American taxpayer is a shrinking base, doomed to extinction under current Democrat ideology. Democrats have grandiose social engineering-philanthropic ideas that always seem to require someone else to foot the bill, so Democrats have no compunction about raising the debt ceiling, and raising tax rates to increase the amount of money the federal government can spend.

What Americans taxpayers have learned--from the wasteful spending scandals at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), from the scandals with the Secret Service, from the revelation that almost ever federal agency in the executive branch, as well as the legislative and the judicial branches of government have indulged in self-aggrandizing, over-the-top conferences, at which members of government, public servants, were themselves the major recipients of the largesse--is that their taxpayer dollars are being wasted.

Team Obama has created, within the government, a culture of excess and indulgence, wherein public service has become self-serving rather than serving the people of this country. That’s not the American way.

Almost 180 years ago, Alexis de Toqueville wrote: ““Americans are taught from birth that they must overcome life’s woes and impediments on their own. Social authority makes them mistrustful and anxious, and they rely upon its power only when they cannot do without it”.

America is a grand country, achieved through great dreams, built through hard work, innovation, frugality and self-reliance. These are the characteristics that make America the envy of the world. These are the characteristics that Democrats fear. Something sure smells bad in Washington—methinks it’s Obama’s economic cowpies.

Lurita Doan

Lurita Alexis Doan is an African American conservative commentator who writes about issues affecting the federal government.

Lurita has been involved in the business community through participation in many trade associations, membership in business organizations including the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (now Entrepreneurs' Organization) and Young Presidents' Organization, and involvement on charitable community activities.

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Bill Whittle - The Vote Pump

Barack Obama will have ONE BILLION DOLLARS to spend on his re-election in 2012. Bill calls that chump change. Find out how the Big Government statists spent 22,000 times that amount on buying votes in 2011 alone!

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Retired Geek - Barack Obama's 'State of the Economy'

Barack Obama on raising the Debt Ceiling

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies.

Over the past 5 years, our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion.That is “trillion” with a “T.” That is money that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers … Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."
Senator Barack Obama - Floor Speech 2006

1. Jan 2, 2009 Public Debt 10.6 Trillion - Jan 25, 2012 Public Debt $15,243,626,741,722 Trillion
2. Largest wealth destruction in American history: Net Wealth Lost 2009-2011 --$8.7 Trillion.
3. Average Cost of Health Care for Families - 2008 $12,860 - 2011 $15,073 (18.8% increase)
4. Highest sustained Unemployment in decades: 8.5%
5. Drop in Number of Americans Working -1,309,000 (.92% decrease) after $1.5 Trillion of government stimulus
6. Brutal Unemployment for minorities: Black Americans : 16.7%
7. Unprecedented Unemployment: Black Teenage Americans :46.5%
8. Historic loss in American credit: U.S. Credit Rating drops to: AA-plus
9. Historic jump in Number of people in U.S. on Foodstamps : 45.8 Million - the highest in American History.
10. Quixotic investment in mythic Green Jobs : $80 billion

Supposed Number of Green Jobs Created : 255,000 Approximate Cost of each Green Job: $313,725.50

11. Stimulus Program: TARP : $475 Billion
12. Stimulus Program: Shovel Ready projects : $787 Billion
13. Stimulus Programs: Cash for Clunkers : $3 billion
14. Stimulus Programs: Cash for Caulkers : $10 Billion
15. Averaged cost of a gallon of gas $1.81 when Obama took office: $3.349 Today +85.03% increase
16. New Regulations 2009-2011 : 75 Major New Regulations, 1,827 Rules Amended
17. Executive Orders signed by Obama : 96
18. Cost of New Regulations : + $1.75 Trillion annually
19. 2012 Federal Budget Proposed by Obama : $3.73 Trillion
20. Percentage of Americans that pay no taxes: 51%
21. Percentage of Federal Spending required from borrowing: 40%
22. Percentage of Government Spending on Entitlements: 60%
23. Number of Obama proposals to limit entitlement spending: ZERO

Are Americans Better Off Today, Than When Obama Took Office?

January 24, 2011

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Wild Bill for America - Outsmarting Obama

A brilliant move by China illustrates the foolishness of liberal politics.

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Visit the Wild Bill for America Blog

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Bill Whittle - Three Years Under Obama

In his last Afterburner of 2011, Bill Whittle takes a look at the state of this country three years into Obama's rule and has amassed a list of breathtaking failures bound to stun and/or depress champions of smaller government. Solyndra, Fast & Furious, the Keystone Pipeline and the deficit are just a handful of the scandals that make Bill's blood boil. So what do we need to do in 2012 to counteract Obama's policies? Take a look.

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