Did Obama Reverse the Recession

At a town hall style meeting in Decorah, Iowa President Obama said "We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, gotten the economy moving again.......But over the last six months we've had a run of bad luck."  It is time to examine that statement in light the data that shows a more accurate accounting of how President Obama has, or more to the point, has not handled this economy.

How has the President improved the unemployment situation in this country.  Lets look at a chart of unemployment growth.  The red line indicates the unemployment numbers of President Bush and the blue those of President Obama.

There has been no recovery in this area.  Unemployment under President Obama has worsened, and it didn't happen over the last six months.  The President's policies have steadily eroded the ability of the private sector to sustain long term economic growth and job creation.  There were jobs created in the public sector, but as government stimulas  funds are exhausted those jobs have proven unsustainable, therefore they have not had a long term impact on the unemployment picture.  

An even more telling picture is the labor force participation rate.  This shows the actual number of Americans that are eligible to work that actually have jobs.  This includes a category of people that the unemployment rate excludes, those that have given up on finding work due to extended employment.

 Data points out that this number has been in sharp decline under President Obama, and it did not begin in the past six months.  If this chart were translated into a true unemployment rate, it would reflect a rate that exceeds 11%.   

What about GDP growth? How has that increased under President Obama.  Here President Obama began with some promising numbers.  Beginning in the first quarter of 2009 GDP began to grow and grew slowly, but steadily until the second Quarter of 2010.  Then it stagnated ad has been stagnant since.  What happened.  The worst economic and political travesty perpetrated on the american people in decades.  On March 22, 2010 the Democrats Congress rammed down our throats the Obama Healthcare reform bill.  The economic uncertainty and the mounds of debt added to our already weakened economy became a hindrance to economic growth in this country.

Was President Obama correct that the recession was reversing; he may have been.  However, the facts show several things.  What he reversed by his ill timed policies and lack of knowledge of how economies work, as well as inept leadership, was the growth that would have brought us out of this recession.   The responsibility for our economic hardships are not the cause of bad luck, foreign unrest, or principled leaders in Washington insisting that this government reign in runaway spending and act fiscally responsible in a way that past Democrats and Republicans refused to do.  The responsibility for this economy rest solely on the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 

How Can The Government Actually Stimulate The Economy? by: Brent Ryan

People make the right decisions far more often than the government ever has, does, or will. I think that the best form of government is one that encourages, facilitate, and empower the individual citizen to make their own individual choices on how to live their lives. I feel that this translates to the government trying its best to get out of the way much more often than 'providing' anything. I think that maybe the government should abolish the tax code as it is completely; And, maybe institute the "Fair Tax Act" as it is currently written.

The government should repeal and abolish all laws which restrict accumulation of precious metals; As well as, all laws which formed the Federal Reserve Bank. The Federal Reserve's mandate is to protect the U.S. economy and the U.S. Dollar and they have continually failed ever since it was created a century ago. The abolishment of the old tax code effectively abolishes the I.R.S. by default as the "Fair Tax Act" is essentially an interstate, and international, sales tax.

As Congress passes all of these acts the national economy will experience an unpresidented boon that will exceed all expectations. Charities will once again become a vital part of helping those in need. I think that all states should privatize their government schools and instead turn to a system of vouchers to insure all citizens receive a basic education; And, to encourage and promote this, I think Congress should shift all education money to a school voucher system similar to what President George W. Bush created. The system has already proven a great success, despite President Obama's halting of federal funding.

I feel that the best thing the government can do is to get out of the way of the private citizen, and small businesses. The Private Citizen, and small businesses are what have continued to give this country the greatest economy in recorded history, even as the National Socialist Party, otherwise known as the Democrat Party, threatens it with actions that increasingly has the Government get in the way of growth and prosperity. Every country that has gone down the path I have advocated has experienced unparalleled success; And, every country that has tried socialism has failed with universal misery.

Obama's Health Care Plan is Useless by: Sonny Julius

The health care plan that President Obama has proposes will do nothing to solve our health care crisis. All the plan will do is help those who now have sickness or diseases to help them pay for their treatment and prescription drugs.

Now you might say well that's what it should do, doesn't it? Well you are right it will help do that but that doesn't solve our health care crisis. The only thing that will finally solve that problem is education.

What I mean by that is you need to teach people what they must do to be healthy and stay healthy. My proposal is to establish health learning centers in various cities all over the country.

In those learning centers people would learn about healthy diet procedures, proper exercise, weight control, stress management and mind control. The staff that would run these centers would be people who would be highly qualified to teach the various methods of good health care practices.

I know however that this is probably a proposal that will never come about because of such strong resistance from Big Pharma, the medical community and even Congress. It seems the biggest reason it won't is because creed is more important to them our citizen’s health condition.

I become very angry and saddened that this kind of attitude has become part of our culture today. As a senior citizen I can remember in the past when the government and the medical community were more caring then today. As for as Big Pharma their existence was barely known.

Just yesterday, July 1st, I watched President Obama's address at the town hall meeting in Annandale, Virginia. I usually don't listen to any of his rhetoric because he is just like the typical politician that, I don't believe, has the interest in our beliefs at heart.

However I turned on CNN while I was having lunch to see what the latest news was and they happened to be carrying this town hall meeting.

After listening for a while, I was about ready to turn off the TV, when he was ready to open up questions from the audience. What really caught my attention was a lady in the audience who they had given a microphone to ask a question.

With tears in her eyes and difficulty talking she relayed to the President her sad story about her sickness and her inability to pay for her medical insurance or doctor visits. I never really heard the seriousness of her ailment because she was so distraught she had difficulty talking clearly.

Then Mr. Obama had her come closed to him, hugged her and assured her that her problem would be taken care of by his illustrious health care plan. His remarks even made me sick at my stomach because of the great things it will do for everyone.

His ineffective health care plan is no more than a band aid treatment for her ailment or anyone else which is the same kind of band aid treatments anyone gets from their doctor and Big Pharma every day.

According to her, whatever her ailment was to begin with, she now has other ailments to contend with which are bigger problems than the ones she started out with.

So here is just one person in several million whom are crying out for solutions to their health problems and still not getting the right answers to solve them. And as I previously stated health education is the only answer to solve people's illnesses and diseases.

Since I believed the government, Big Pharma or the medical community will never help solve this gigantic health crisis, me and many others who preach alternative healing methods are left with the duty to spread their beliefs far and wide.

I can tell you this; I will never quit preaching my beliefs as long as I am physically and mentally able to do so. It's my strong passion and I spread my beliefs in my website, my blog, my 6 lesson ecourse and many articles I write and submit to directories.

Just recently I heard Mr. Obama say that because Big Pharma is interested in his health care plan, they are willing to invest $80 billion to support it. I find that real interesting. Do you believe that they are really interested in solving America's health problem or is their interest in what they might get in return for their investment?

Taking America Back - How to Fix the Economy in 365 days without destroying America by: David M Arnold

It is becoming more obvious as time passes, that, elected officials are no longer representing the American people, but rather, special interest groups. The longer our elected officials serve the more corrupt they become. I have outlined several ways of significant importance that We can take America back and fix the major problems within the economy.

Amending the Constitution – It is time to correct the wrong that was never presented. I propose a Constitutional Amendment that makes elected politicians be on term limits. The plan is very simple.

The House of Representatives can serve up to 6 terms (12 years). They will be mandated to give up their seat for one term (2 years) and then be eligible to run for the House again. This will allow a stop-gap from allowing corruption to infiltrate our system in the House of Representative.

The Senate will be allowed to run for 3 terms (18 years). They will be mandated to give up their seat for one term (6 years) and then be eligible to run for the Senate again. This will allow a stop-gap from allowing corruption to infiltrate our system in the Senate.

Any criminal activity needs to be investigated and prosecuted and hold all elected politicians accountable. Again, this is not about politicians, it’s about protecting the American people!

House and Senate Behavior.

Read the Legislation. Pass legislation which says, bills cannot be rushed or voted on until all members of the House and Senate have read them.

Eliminate Ear Marks and Pork Barrel Spending until there is a balanced budget.

Tort Reform – It is time to change the court systems. Elected politicians are supposed to represent ALL of us as the constituents. However, mention Tort Reform, and they protect their own. When they become elected public official; they give up their right to be a lawyer. They cannot just cover their craft. The plan is very simple:

Cap Legal Fees.

Loser Pays. Having loser pays will strengthen people desire to file a lawsuit and any lawsuit should have a justifiable reason.

End Frivolous Lawsuits. In the court system, you can appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court. If there are to be frivolous lawsuits, then they should be limited to 4. Again loser pays!

Healthcare – This is 1/6th of our GNP. Having a Socialist healthcare system is a failure. It will only weaken our research and development and will put our healthcare below the standards of other average nations. The plan is very simple:

Repeal the current plan if passes. Should the unthinkable happen, we need to take Healthcare back.

Tort Reform healthcare practices. This will substantially lower the costs of healthcare.

Doctors can work for the public option for two years after completion and receive a base salary and have 50% of their medical school loans paid off by the government.

Insurance plans need to be 100% portable and people can choose which Private or Public Option they prefer. If public option is preferred, there will be a choice of 3 options 80/20 plan, 70/30 plan, or the 50/50 plan. The Government will pay for 100% catastrophic which allows individuals to pay for their preferred plan. This will cut the cost of private insurance and allow competition without a government takeover.

Eliminate Medicare and Medicaid. These individuals will be able to afford any of the options and after age 65 receive a discount to offset inflation.

Social Welfare. There is so much abuse in the welfare system that it is time to evaluate current programs. The plan is real simple.

Cap Benefits. Since this is the most abused system and most failed programs in American history, it is time to wean off the dependency. Every American Citizen will be allowed a $75,000 lifetime benefit that covers any situation other than unemployment. Unemployment is not a welfare program. Private and/or public non-profit programs can help individuals gain necessary skills and become productive citizens rather than unproductive citizens.

Education. The plan is real simple.

Eliminate the Department of Education and allow the States to control their educational requirements.

Allow school vouchers for people to choose which school they can attend.

Tax Reform. We need to level the playing field. The tax laws are vast, unfair, and obsolete. The plan is real simple.

Flat Tax at 17%. This will incentivize people to start their own business and provide competition. If you look around, the wealthiest individuals are business owners that took a dream and made it a job creating company.

Two Year Moratorium on Capital Gains Tax for two years and incorporate that back in at 27%. Unemployment will go down, deficits will be paid off, and prosperity will flourish.

Public Policy. There are many bad policies that take away from our prosperity. If it hurts our prosperity then its bad for America! The Plan is real simple.

Repeal the following:

Cap and Trade if passed

Exportation laws – Things need to be made in America

Ban on Drilling – We have the resources in our own country to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. We can drill and the profits can go to help generate better technologies for green energy.

Nuclear Power Plants. We need them and this will create thousands of jobs and energy independence.

It is very obvious that the Socialist Liberal Democratic wing of the political system will not go for any of these ideas. That is why we need to elect Conservatives and take control of the House and Senate.

Taking A Look At The The Future of Gun Control by: Mike Selvon

What did the founding forefathers mean when they wrote: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"? Does the 2nd Amendment refer to the right of the state to convene an armed militia to protect against federal tyranny? Or is it the individual person's right to bear arms to protect themselves from corrupt local officials and police forces?

The answers aren't so clearly spelled out, but it's clear that founding forefathers like Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, James Monroe and Benjamin Franklin were vocal advocates of owning arms. In a landmark 2008 case (D.C. vs. Heller), the Supreme Court defined "the right to bear arms" as an individual's right and included handguns in the definition of "arms," which leaves many people wondering if this has forever set a precedent on the question of gun control.

In the initial 1939 Gun Control Act, the Supreme Court declared, "We cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear arms." In public opinion polls, 39% of Americans favor stricter laws of gun control, which is down from 50% in 2007. Additionally, only about 1% of Americans in the last election indicated that the gun control debate was "of great importance" to them.

Perhaps this latest ruling will quiet the debate once and for all, now that Supreme Court justices have directly interpreted the meaning of the Constitution to provide an individual right to bear arms, handguns included.

"Whenever they can, wherever they can, the Democrats want to take away the rights of law abiding citizens to own and purchase a gun, a right that is guaranteed under the United States Constitution," warns Republican National Convention Chairman Michael Steele. He says that the issue of gun control is far from over, given that there is a Democratic President and a largely Democratic Congress.

Mitt Romney added, "No constitutional protection is more often ignored, distorted or disdained than the individual right to keep and bear arms." The National Rifle Association says that their membership has increased by the thousands every month since Obama has been president, bringing the total number of members up to 4 million.

Yet Barack Obama's idea of gun control is not so straightforward. In 2008, Obama said he had "no intention of taking away folks' guns" and admits that we have "two conflicting traditions in this country." He explained, "I think it's important for us to recognize that we've got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally. And a lot of law-abiding citizens use it for hunting, for sportsmanship, and for protecting their families. We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage."

Today, his stance on the gun control debate seems much more moderate. Today he is looking for a "common-sense approach" to the illegal guns that are winding up in the hands of criminals. Obama explains, "We can make certain that those who are mentally deranged are not getting a hold of handguns. We can trace guns that have been used in crimes to unscrupulous firearm dealers that may be selling to straw purchasers and dumping them on the streets."

A Conservative's Concern About Health Care Reform A Conservative's Concern About Health Care Reform

To begin, I am not opposed to health care reform, as long as it utilizes sound economic principles and does not involve any control by the government. Here is my opposition to government control of health care. We can't afford it.
As a country we now spend more than the amount of money realized in revenue by our poorly formed tax system. How does that translate to main street America? On main street we have a word for it; bankrupt. This country has been, and still is, in a depression. Why a depression? Depressions typically begin with a bubble in the securities and commodities sector and involves several rapid hitting recessions affecting every sector of the economy. That happened in the late twenties and thirties. FDR had a response similar to the response today, allow government spending to get America out. The result was that the great depression lasted far longer than it would have if sound economic policies of controlled spending and sound tax reform had been implemented. America did not exit the great depression until the war industry ramped up during World War II when there was controlled government spending and sound tax reform in order to spur our industrial base. During a depression the last thing a sound economic plan calls for is adding to national debt. That has a prolonging effect.
How can we have meaningful health care reform without government control? It involves a staggered approach.
.
1) Remove the anti-trust exemption of health insurance companies
I would like to point out to every member of congress that complains about the big health insurance companies that they allowed their power and uncontrolled growth by making them exempt from anti-trust laws allowing the monopoly of territorial markets. Lifting those restrictions would force companies to trim down and cut expenses because the consumer would have more choices and could fire their company if performance fell below their standards.

2) Government Provided Catastrophic Care Insurance
This is the least used health insurance, the cheapest, and yet the largest expense on the books of most insurance companies. This would be a reasonable expense for the federal government because it would not add a significant amount to the size of the federal budget. Taking this expense off the insurance companies books would cut the cost of a typical insurance policy by 40%

3) Tort Reform
End needless lawsuits. It is time to be realistic. If a loved one dies and their earning potential for a lifetime is $1,000,000.00, their death is not worth $10,000,000.00. Much of the cost of doctor's visits and health care cost from providers is the cost of liability insurance coverage. As with anything in the economy, those cost are passed to the consumer.

4) Tax Exemption for Health Care
Eliminate all taxes paid in the health care industry. Again, the health care industry does not pay their taxes, those cost are passed on to the consumer, the largest being the federal government. Can you see the irony, the government is paying the taxes that they levy. That is a shell game that must stop.

5) Re-Writing the Tax Code
Eliminate the income tax and institute a fair tax based on consumption that promotes savings and allows all Americans to pay their fair share based on what they consume. This will double the revenue to the federal government, and the fair tax calls for a prebate monthly for every American to cover the cost of essential services (i.e. utilities, etc). Even with the prebate factored in the revenue to the government almost doubles. This puts more money in the pockets of Americans to afford insurance and spur economic growth to produce jobs.

6) Health Savings Accounts for All Americans
All with reforming the tax code take a portion of the economic surplus and provide $1,000.00 per year for each American in a free health savings account to cover non-covered expenses, and allowing unused amounts to roll over to the next year and be an addition to the yearly contribution. A family of five for instance would have a $5,000.00 yearly savings
contribution.

These are sound ideas that would completely restructure, not only health care, but revenue collection and it would make health care affordable for every one without adding to the national debt. The restructured tax code would be a buffer against economic recession. These are the sound, common sense conservative principles that should be being put forth by so called conservative leaders instead of the game of politics as usual that has neutered the effectiveness of every area of our government.

How Big Does A Health Care Have to be In Order to be Big Enough

The new House health care bill is now in the neighborhood of 1990 pages.  The most important question for Nancy Pelosi and the house Democrats is how big must this beast be in order to be big enough.  The projected cost of this bill is $894 billion dollars over the past ten years.  The red tape and bureaucracy of past bill is still here.  One might wonder to whom members of the house were listening to during the heated town hall meetings this past summer.  The true danger of this bill is the same as in the past, the need to raise taxes in order to pay for this bill as it kills competition that controls cost in an open market place.

In the end many house members will again vote on a bill that they do not read because of the sheer size of the bill.  Hidden in the fine print are the true evils of a bill that will eventually turn the American medical system from one of the premier systems in the world to a sub par system that takes the control of medical care away from doctors and individuals and puts it in the hands of bureaucrats.  One can only hope there are enough representatives in congress that will vote against this monster and send it where it really deserves to be, in the trash can.