BloggeRhythms

Watching the House Oversight Committee’s take the testimony of MIT professor and Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber, provides the impression that the Republican objective is to lay the groundwork for continuing attempts at dissembling and/or repealing Obamacare in the future.

 

Whereas the committee does not have sufficient authority to do much more than gather information at this point, the next steps will take place in 2015, at which time the Republicans will control both houses of Congress, and therefore possess considerably more power.

 

A perfect example, however, of the Democrat attitude on the subject appeared in Chris Stirewalt’s column this morning on FoxNews.com:

 

That was then - “I don’t know if you have seen Jonathan Gruber of MIT's analysis of what the comparison is to the status quo versus what will happen in our bill for those who seek insurance within the exchange.” – Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, November 2009

This is now - “I don’t know who he is. He didn’t help write our bill.” – Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, November 2014

 

Whereas the Oversight committee’s hearing is considered to be quite potentially damaging to Democrat politicians, and their whole party, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who heads the Senate’s intelligence panel, ordered the release of a report today, alleging that CIA interrogation techniques in some cases amounted to "torture." Many believe that this is a strategy to offset some of the damage caused by the Gruber disclosures.   

 

According to Fox News.com: “The 480-page report, a summary of a still-classified 6,000 page study, amounts to the first public accounting of the CIA's alleged use of torture on suspected Al Qaeda detainees held in secret facilities in Europe and Asia in the years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 

 

“Reuters reported Monday night that the report contains graphic details about the techniques, including sexual threats made to detainees. According to Reuters, the report describes how at least one detainee was threatened in a sexual manner with a broomstick. In another example, Reuters reported, a detained Al Qaeda operative was threatened with a buzzing power drill. U.S. officials who have read the report say it includes disturbing new details about the CIA's use of such techniques as sleep deprivation, confinement in small spaces, humiliation and the simulated drowning process known as waterboarding.” 

 

Reading the Senator’s comments, alleging “torture” of suspected terrorists, thinking about how the CIA attempts to gain needed information regarding threats to the nation and/or its citizens abroad in the world, I looked the subject up on infoplease.com, to find the following: 

 

Feb. 26, 1993 New York City: bomb exploded in basement garage of World Trade Center, killing 6 and injuring at least 1,040 others.

 

Nov. 13, 1995 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: car bomb exploded at U.S. military headquarters, killing 5 U.S. military servicemen.

 

June 25, 1996 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia: truck bomb exploded outside Khobar Towers military complex, killing 19 American servicemen and injuring hundreds of others.

 

Aug. 7, 1998 Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: truck bombs exploded almost simultaneously near 2 U.S. embassies, killing 224 (213 in Kenya and 11 in Tanzania) and injuring about 4,500

 

Oct. 12, 2000 Aden, Yemen: U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole heavily damaged when a small boat loaded with explosives blew up alongside it. 17 sailors killed.

 

Sept. 11, 2001 New York City, Arlington, Va., and Shanksville, Pa.: hijackers crashed 2 commercial jets into twin towers of World Trade Center; 2 more hijacked jets were crashed into the Pentagon and a field in rural Pa. Total dead and missing numbered 2,992: 2,749 in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon, 40 in Pa..

 

June 14, 2002 Karachi, Pakistan: bomb explodes outside American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12.

 

May 12, 2003 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: suicide bombers kill 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners. Al-Qaeda suspected.

 

May 29–31, 2004 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: terrorists attack the offices of a Saudi oil company in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, take foreign oil workers hostage in a nearby residential compound, leaving 22 people dead including one American.

 

June 11–19, 2004 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: terrorists kidnap and execute Paul Johnson Jr., an American, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 2 other Americans and BBC cameraman killed by gun attacks.

 

Dec. 6, 2004 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: terrorists storm the U.S. consulate, killing 5 consulate employees. 4 terrorists were killed by Saudi security.

 

Nov. 9, 2005 Amman, Jordan: suicide bombers hit 3 American hotels, Radisson, Grand Hyatt, and Days Inn, in Amman, Jordan, killing 57. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.

 

Sept. 13, 2006 Damascus, Syria: an attack by four gunman on the American embassy is foiled.

 

Jan. 12, 2007 Athens, Greece: the U.S. embassy is fired on by an anti-tank missile causing damage but no injuries.

 

Dec. 11, 2007 Algeria: more than 60 people are killed, including 11 United Nations staff members, when Al Qaeda terrorists detonate two car bombs near Algeria's Constitutional Council and the United Nations offices.

 

May 26, 2008 Iraq: a suicide bomber on a motorcycle kills six U.S. soldiers and wounds 18 others in Tarmiya.

 

June 24, 2008 Iraq: a suicide bomber kills at least 20 people, including three U.S. Marines, at a meeting between sheiks and Americans in Karmah, a town west of Baghdad.  

July 13, 2008 Afghanistan: nine U.S.soldiers and at least 15 NATO troops die when Taliban militants boldly attack an American base in Kunar Province, which borders Pakistan. It's the most deadly against U.S. troops in three years.

Aug. 18 and 19, 2008 Afghanistan: as many as 15 suicide bombers backed by about 30 militants attack a U.S. military base, Camp Salerno, in Bamiyan. Fighting between U.S. troops and members of the Taliban rages overnight. No U.S. troops are killed.

 

Sept. 16, 2008 Yemen: a car bomb and a rocket strike the U.S. embassy in Yemen as staff arrived to work, killing 16 people, including 4 civilians. At least 25 suspected al-Qaeda militants are arrested for the attack.

 

Nov. 26, 2008 India: in a series of attacks on several of Mumbai's landmarks and commercial hubs that are popular with Americans and other foreign tourists, including at least two five-star hotels, a hospital, a train station, and a cinema. About 300 people are wounded and nearly 190 people die, including at least 5 Americans.

 

Feb. 9, 2009 Iraq: a suicide bomber kills four American soldiers and their Iraqi translator near a police checkpoint.

 

April 10, 2009 Iraq: a suicide attack kills five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen.

 

June 1, 2009 Little Rock, Arkansas: Abdulhakim Muhammed, a Muslim convert from Memphis, Tennessee, is charged with shooting two soldiers outside a military recruiting center. One is killed and the other is wounded. In a January 2010 letter to the judge hearing his case, Muhammed asked to change his plea from not guilty to guilty, claimed ties to al-Qaeda, and called the shooting a jihadi attack "to fight those who wage war on Islam and Muslims."

 

Dec. 25: 2009 A Nigerian man on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit attempted to ignite an explosive device hidden in his underwear.

 

Dec. 30, 2009 Iraq: a suicide bomber kills eight Americans civilians, seven of them CIA agents, at a base in Afghanistan. It's the deadliest attack on the agency since 9/11. The attacker is reportedly a double agent from Jordan who was acting on behalf of al-Qaeda.

 

May 1, 2010 New York City: a car bomb is discovered in Times Square, New York City after smoke is seen coming from a vehicle. The bomb was ignited, but failed to detonate and was disarmed before it could cause any harm. Times Square was evacuated as a safety precaution. Faisal Shahzad pleads guilty to placing the bomb as well as 10 terrorism and weapons charges.

 

May 10, 2010 Jacksonville, Florida: a pipe bomb explodes while approximately 60 Muslims are praying in the mosque. The attack causes no injuries.

 

Oct. 29 2010 : two packages are found on separate cargo planes. Each package contains a bomb consisting of 300 to 400 grams (11-14 oz) of plastic explosives and a detonating mechanism. The bombs are discovered as a result of intelligence received from Saudi Arabia's security chief. The packages, bound from Yemen to the United States, are discovered at en route stop-overs, one in England and one in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

 

Jan. 17, 2011 Spokane, Washington: a pipe bomb is discovered along the route of the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial march. The bomb, a "viable device" set up to spray marchers with shrapnel and to cause multiple casualties, is defused without any injuries.

 

Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi, Libya: militants armed with antiaircraft weapons and rocket-propelled grenades fire upon the American consulate, killing U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other embassy officials. U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton said the U.S. believed that Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a group closely linked to Al Qaeda, orchestrated the attack.

 

Feb. 1, 2013 Ankara, Turkey: Ecevit Sanli detonates a bomb near a gate at the U.S. Embassy. Sanli dies after detonating the bomb. One Turkish guard is also killed. Didem Tuncay, a respected television journalist, is injured in the blast. Unlike the bombing at the embassy in Benghazi last September, the U.S. government immediately calls the bombing a terrorist attack. According to Turkish officials, the attack is from the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party, which has been labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. and other nations.

 

April 15, 2013 Boston, Mass.: multiple bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Two bombs go off around 2:50 in the afternoon as runners finish the race. Three people are killed. One is an eight year old boy. More than 260 people are injured. Three days later, the FBI releases photos and video of two suspects in the hope that the public can help identify them. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, age 26, is killed. A suicide vest is found on his body. The other suspect, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, age 19, remains at large for several hours, causing a massive manhunt and lockdown for all of Boston, Cambridge, and many other surrounding communities. The manhunt ends when he is found alive, but seriously injured, hiding in a boat behind a house in Watertown. The two suspects are brothers and had been living together in Cambridge. They have lived in the U.S. for about a decade, but are from an area near Chechnya, a region in Russia.

 

July 17, 2014 Ukraine: A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 crashes in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, killing all 298 passengers and crew members. The crash occurs in territory where pro-Russian separatists have been battling Ukrainian troops. President Poroshenko says the crash is an act of terror. "I would like to note that we are calling this not an incident, not a catastrophe, but a terrorist act."

 

August 19. 2014: Members of ISIS behead American journalist James Foley, 40, in apparent retaliation for U.S. airstrikes against the group. Foley, who worked for GlobalPost, went missing in Syria in November 2012.

 

Sept. 2: An ISIS militant decapitates another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, 31, who worked for Time and other news outlets. He was abducted in 2013 in Syria.

 

Now, if the Senator ever takes the time to read the events listed above and still believes that one detainee “threatened in a sexual manner with a broomstick.” Or “a detained Al Qaeda operative threatened with a buzzing power drill. Or, ”the CIA's use of such techniques as sleep deprivation, confinement in small spaces, humiliation and the simulated drowning process known as waterboarding,” is too tortuous compared to the bombings, shootings, mass murders and destruction perpetrated by Al Qaeda and others against the U.S. in the past twenty years, the nation would be far better off with someone else in her position on the “intelligence" panel. Because, obviously, she has absolutely none herself.

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios

BloggeRhythms

The AP’s Melinda Deslatte and Bill Barrow reported this morning on Democrat Senator, Mary Landrieu’s, loss of her Senate seat in Louisiana, in a run-off election with Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy.

 

The vote, however, while critical to the state itself, was far more important because it has several additional ramifications.

As far as the South is concerned, “Democrats will be left without a single U.S. senator or governor across nine states stretching from the Carolinas to Texas.”

What’s more, “Republicans will hold 54 seats when the Senate convenes in January, nine more than they have now. The largest GOP advantage since the Truman administration after World War II.”

The AP reporters also point out that, “In a state where 73 percent of white voters on Nov. 4 told pollsters they "strongly disapproved" of the president, that was enough to prevent Landrieu from finding her footing as she tried several lines of attack.”

However, although news story’s haven’t yet begun thoroughly dissecting Senator-elect Cassidy’s win, this writer senses a very strong undercurrent of troubles for Democrat’s in the months ahead.

That's because there have been rumbles within the Republican party that House Speaker, John Boehner, and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell haven’t been aggressive enough since their party’s landslide wins in early November. 

 

In fact some hard-line conservatives believe that strong threats should be made against presidential policies, up to and including a government shutdown to demonstrate their new-found power.

But, it seems that a significant percentage of Republican voters don’t agree with that premise. Because yesterday they were given a chance to reflect any strong underlying animosity against Republican leadership’s actions to date, by refusing to support Senator-elect Cassidy by voting against him or staying home in protest, yet they didn’t do that. 

 

Which is a subtle, but clear, acceptance of Republican leadership’s performance to date. And at the same time, demonstrates a willingness to remain patient, at least for the present. Permitting their party to take slower, measured, more effective steps to undo the damage inflicted on the nation for the past six years, and put the U.S. back on the track toward solid recovery again. 

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms

While the incumbent president and the liberal press tout an apparently significant reduction in unemployment rolls, analysis of the numbers shows a very different picture. 

 

Ali Meyer of CNSNews.com, reports that, “The labor force participation rate remained at a 36-year low of 62.8 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

 

“The 156,397,000 who participated in the labor force was 62.8 percent of the 248,844,000 civilian non-institutional population, which matches the 62.8 percent rate in April, May, June, August and October of 2014 as well as the participation rate in March of 1978. The participation rate hit its lowest level of 62.7 percent in September 2014.”

 

What’s most interesting, however, is how the unemployment rate’s presently derived, whereas this administration has changed the calculation method. Because, “[o]f the 156,397,000 who did participate in the labor force, 147,287,000 had a job, and 9,110,000 did not have a job but were actively seeking one -– making them the nation’s unemployed.

 

The 9,110,000 job seekers were 5.8 percent of the 156,397,000 Americans actively participating in the labor force during the month of November. Thus, the unemployment rate was 5.8 percent, the same as it was in October.”

 

Which means that those who’ve given up searching for employment are no longer part of the equation, although they still have no jobs. However, Ms Meyer provided the data regarding them, as follows: 

 

“Another 92,447,000 people did not participate in the labor force. These Americans did not have a job and were not actively trying to find one. When President Obama took office in January 2009, there were 80,529,000 Americans who were not participating in the force, which means that since then, 11,918,000 Americans have left the workforce.”

 

And, for the record, the last time the labor force participation rate sank that low, 62.7, was in March of 1978, when that other brilliant economy expert, Jimmy Carter, was president. 

 

On another subject, FoxNews.com reports that, “Hillary Clinton is taking heat for saying America should “empathize” and show “respect” for its enemies.”

 

She made the remarks during a speech Wednesday at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C, “Touting an approach she calls “smart power,” she urged America to use “every possible tool and partner” to advance peace.

 

“This, she said, includes “leaving no one on the sidelines, showing respect even for one’s enemies, trying to understand and insofar as psychologically possible, empathize with their perspective and point of view.” 

 

Fox noted the her remarks came, “At a time when the U.S. military is launching airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, some called the comments out of place.”

 

And then, a reader once again posted a pointed comment offering a quite appropriate summation of Bill’s wife’s opinion.

 

Shwilliams wrote, “Apparently, Hillary is off her meds..!  Emphatic rhetoric for ISIS but there was less empathy for the US Ambassador tortured in Benghazi. "What difference does it make"? Seemingly, Hillary's run for president will exhibit her true hate and blame of the United States by understanding and respecting terrorists who have beheaded American citizens. Absurd comments and disrespect for the American people at its highest.  Hillary Clinton is a train wreck with less ability and capability of leading the United States than Obama, if that is possible. Evil people who behead Americans, stab American teachers or fly airplanes into American buildings, DO NOT deserve our respect or understanding.”

 

Now, its reasonable to assume that most Fox readers tend toward conservative politics. Yet, Shwilliams thoughts seem to be indicative of a large segment of the voting public. And if that’s truly the case, as the midterm elections seem to indicate, Bill’s wife making it back to the White House is quite far from a slam dunk. 

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios

BloggeRhythms

Something that’s always perplexed this writer has resurfaced in the news again today; the overwhelming majority of Jewish voters who continually support Democrat candidates, regardless.

 

And even more surprising is the continued appeal of the current president, who’s blatantly aligned himself significantly with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel individuals and causes.    

 

In that regard, according to the hill.com, “In 2012, pollsters Mark Mellman, Aaron Strauss and Kenneth Wald published an in-depth report: “Just the Facts: Jewish American Voting Behavior 1972-2008.

 

“They found that, in presidential elections from 1992 to 2008, the Republican candidate had never gotten more than 24 percent of the ballots cast by Jewish voters.

“In the 2008 presidential election, Obama commanded the support of 78 percent of Jewish voters, according to exit polls. 

Although by 2012, that number had fallen to 69 percent, with Mitt Romney attaining a 30 percent share, a very significant number of Jews still voted Democrat.

Which brings us to today’s item from washingtonfreebeacon.com, by Adam Kredo, as follows:

“The Obama administration is refusing to discuss reports that emerged early Thursday claiming that the White House is considering imposing sanctions on Israel for continuing construction on Jewish homes in Jerusalem.

 

“News of the supposed meeting leaked to the press though Israeli officials who were apparently apprised of the discussion.

“The thought of the White House leveling sanctions on Israel as it works to lessen those already imposed on Iran prompted consternation on Capitol Hill and throughout the pro-Israel world."

One senior congressional aide who works on the issue of Israel expressed shock that a White House could even discuss such action. "If these reports are true, this would mark a new era of unprecedented hostility from the White House against our strongest ally in the Middle East,” the source said. “It’s impossible not to notice the irony of the administration mulling sanctions on Israel while threatening to veto new sanctions against Iran.”

An example of how far relationships have deteriorated in the past six years can be found in the comment from  a senior official with a pro-Israel organization who agreed to speak only on background.

 

“Even this administration, which has been historically hostile to our Israeli allies, even as they worked overtime to bomb the enemies of Iranian proxies across the Middle East, could not possibly be so aggressively committed to undermining our alliances as to levy sanctions against Israel at the same time they’re lifting them on Iran.” 

 

So, the question remains as to why those of the Jewish faith continue blindly supporting a party, and it’s leader, who do nothing whatsoever to hide their favor of any and all  anti-Israel, and by extension, anti-Semitic endeavors. 

 

Which also means that a people regarded, above all else, as having superior intellects don’t seem to use that inborn capability when it comes to pulling voting levers.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms

For anyone still unsure as to how much economic damage the incumbent  president’s done to the nation, Brett Arends posted an article on marketwatch.com via Drudge this morning, reporting that “The Chinese economy just overtook the United States economy to become the largest in the world. For the first time since Ulysses S. Grant was president, America is not the leading economic power on the planet. 

 

“The International Monetary Fund recently released the latest numbers for the world economy. And when you measure national economic output in “real” terms of goods and services, China will this year produce $17.6 trillion — compared with $17.4 trillion for the U.S.A.

 

“As recently as 2000, we produced nearly three times as much as the Chinese.

 

“To put the numbers slightly differently, China now accounts for 16.5% of the global economy when measured in real purchasing-power terms, compared with 16.3% for the U.S.

 

“This latest economic earthquake follows the development last year when China surpassed the U.S. for the first time in terms of global trade."

 

However, the Democrat party, and certainly its current leader, don’t worry about things like the nation’s financial condition, or the national debt reaching $18 trillion. They have far more important concerns, such as where to build the incumbent president’s library, which at present seems to be wavering between Chicago and Hawaii. 

 

Reading about what appears to be a major concern, whereas the incumbent’s legacy is said to be critical to him, some further research provided some insight regarding presidential library’s importance to the public. 

 

While Bill Clinton, for example, is said to be vastly more popular than the incumbent, his library in Little Rock has had over 1.64 million visitors. 302,583 visitors in 2009 and 273,108 visitors in 2008. There were approximately 500,000 visitors during its first year (November 2004 – 2005), according to Wikipedia.

 

By comparison, nyctourist.com/empire shows that the Empire State Building, the 7th world wonder has attracted 120 million people to its New York observatories. That is nearly 3.6 million visitors a year, or more than three times annually than the Clinton library's had in its total existence.

 

But, even that doesn’t come close to Walt Disney World, which has an attendance of 52.5 million per year.

 

Which goes to show that while most things that Bill Clinton or the current presidential incumbent do could be termed as “Mickey Mouse,” the real Mickey is close to fifty times more popular than both of those other two wannabee's put together.

 

And lastly, a comment from foxnews.com reader okmoe, as follows:

 

“President Obama the fifth best President ever.

 

These are the details according to Texas A&M:
1. Reagan was first,
2. Twenty-four presidents tied for second,
3. Seventeen other presidents tied for third,
4. Jimmy Carter came in fourth, and
5. Obama came in fifth”

 

That's it for today folks.

 

Adios

BloggeRhythms

After Republican won a landslide Congressional election, it seems the party’s conservatives wish to blindly push their agenda ahead once again without thought, preparation or planning.

  

[F]oxnews.com/politics reports that House majority leader, John “Boehner's solution is to call a vote on a bill this week opposing and trying to block Obama's immigration orders -- though it would likely die in the Senate. Then, the House would vote next week on a bill funding the government through the full fiscal year, and funding immigration-related agencies through early next year. This would kick the fight over the president's immigration plan to 2015, when Republicans have control of both chambers. 

 

“But that's not enough for many conservatives, who want to use the current spending fight as leverage to defund the president's plan now. They complain that the planned vote this week would merely be symbolic. "

 

However, whether the immediate vote would be symbolic or not isn’t really the question. The only thing that matters is that holding that vote over until 2015 virtually assures congressional passage. Something Speaker Boehner clearly understands. But, what’s even more obvious, and evidently unnoticed by impatient conservatives is that 2015 is only 4 weeks away, making their current argument moot. 

 

On another issue that defines how politicians put their agenda above all else, regardless of merit, weeklystandard.com/blogs reports that, “Under questioning from Rep. Barletta, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson was unable to state how President Obama's executive amnesty benefits legal Americans.” Which is a prime example of how the entire leftist agenda works. 

 

Secretary Johnson’s inability to explain the benefits of amnesty for illegal’s brought back memories of a list posted back in 2013, as follows: 

 

This is Canada 's Top Ten List of America 's Stupidity... Canada 's version of David Letterman's "Top 10"
 

10. Only in America ... Could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 a plate campaign fund-raising event.

 

9. Only in America ... Could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General and roughly 20% of the federal workforce is black while only 14% of the population is black. 40+% of all federal entitlements goes to black Americans – 3X the rate that go to whites, 5X the rate that go to Hispanics!

 

8. Only in America ... Could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner (the head of the Treasury Department) and Charles Rangel (who once ran the Ways and Means Committee), BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.

 

7. Only in America ... Can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.

 

6. Only in America ... Would they make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege, while they discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just 'magically' become American citizens.

 

5. Only in America ... Could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country's Constitution be thought of as "extremists."

 

4. Only in America ... Could you need to present a driver's license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.

 

3. Only in America ... Could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. Oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes (Nike).

 

2. Only in America ... Could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a trillion dollars more than it has per year - for total spending of $7Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn't have nearly enough money.

 

1. Only in America ... Could the rich people - who pay 86% of all income taxes - be accused of not paying their "fair share" by people who don't pay any income taxes at all.

 

And finally, a comment from reader, Marcus Wel, on Politico, who wrote: “I did not have foreign relations with that man, President Obama" -Hillary Clinton

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios

BloggeRhythms

In an article today that few will probably bother to read, Terence P. Jeffrey, editor in chief of CNSNews.com writes about newly released information regarding the national debt.

 

Mr. Jeffrey begins by reporting that since fiscal year 2015 started just eight weeks ago for the government, “Treasury took in $341,591,000,000 in revenues. That was a record for the period between Oct. 1 and Nov. 25. But that record $341,591,000,000 in revenues was not enough to finance ongoing government spending let alone pay off old debt.”

 

The Daily Treasury Statement released Wednesday afternoon “revealed that the U.S. Treasury has been forced to issue $1,040,965,000,000 in new debt since fiscal 2015 started just eight weeks ago in order to raise the money to pay off Treasury securities that were maturing and to cover new deficit spending by the government.

 

The Treasury also drew down its cash balance by $45.057 billion during the period, starting with $126,568,000,000 in cash and ending with $81,511,000,000.”

 

Mr. Jeffrey then explained that, “The only way the Treasury could handle the $942,103,000,000 in old debt that matured during the period plus finance the new deficit spending the government engaged in was to roll over the old debt into new debt and issue enough additional new debt to cover the new deficit spending.”

 

What was most interesting, however, is the description of the debt situation presented by the Securities and Exchange Commission, as follows:   

 

“This mode of financing the federal government resembles what the Securities and Exchange Commission calls a Ponzi scheme. “A Ponzi scheme," they say, “is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors.

 

“With little or no legitimate earnings, the schemes require a consistent flow of money from new investors to continue,” explains the SEC. “Ponzi schemes tend to collapse when it becomes difficult to recruit new investors or when a large number of investors ask to cash out.”

 

While the quarterly results add confirmation to the case that the current administration’s fiscal policies are by far the worst since Jimmy Carter’s, the magnitude of the situation seems incredible. Because in just eight weeks, the government took in more than a quarter of a trillion dollars, yet that wasn’t enough to pay off current spending nor reduce any of the current debt.

 

Reading the last sentence above was remindful of my entry for November 25th, which began: “Liberal site Policy.Mic decries the president’s failure to expand ObamaCare in his sweeping executive action on immigration: “His latest actions do not provide those newly-protected immigrants access to health care benefits under the Affordable Care Act, preventing millions of people from purchasing coverage and receiving subsidies. Obama could have, within the parameters of existing law, broadened the scope of the program as part of his executive action.”

 

And there you have in one brief paragraph. a perfect example of the Liberal mindset that’s taken this nation from its former position as the most fiscally sound in the world, and reduced it to a debt-ridden society that will soon have no creditworthiness at all.

 

At the end of Mr. Jeffrey’s column, reader Tony Konte commented, “That's all without Al Sharpton paying his 4.5 million in back taxes! Wow.”

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios