Political Critic Archives

We've now had three quarters in a row of negative GDP growth. Although the figure has eased from the prior two periods in the calendar, it is still negative. GDP has now contracted in five of the last six quarters. It's expected to be positive in the second half of the year, but not by much.

chart_gdp.03.gif

Unfortunately, total government debt continues to increase as the White House and Congress spend money with reckless abandon. Without substantial economic growth, interest rates will rise, the dollar will fall, and the unemployment rate will remain high.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - 10:47pm

Killing the Party

Between the lunatic birthers, Glenn Back calling President Obama a racist who hates white people, and the blind love of Sarah Palin, is it any wonder why conservatives aren't in power?

If the Republican Party plans on winning any elections in the near future, they need to purge themselves of these whack-jobs.

I'm sure the racist birthers think this is forgery, but it is actually President Barack Obama's real, live birth certificate.

Monday, July 27, 2009 - 9:17pm

Senators Dodd, Conrad Caught Lying

The official who handled the mortgages of Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) has told Congress that both Senators knew ahead of time that they were getting discounts from Countrywide Financial, despite their continuous denials.

Dodd and Conrad were hooked up with two mortgages each from Countrywide Financial in 2003 and 2004 with terms far better than what normal people could get. They were placed in a category called "Friends of Angelo" in reference to Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide's CEO at the time. Mozilo has since been charged with illegal insider trading and civil fraud by the SEC.

The men received discounts on rates, fees, and points. They "saved" tens of thousands of dollars by becoming Angelo's friend. In essence, they used their political position to steal money. The rest of us have been left holding the bag, as the housing market collapsed and stuck us regular folk with high-interest rate loans.

Any chance either thief steps down from his position and is prosecuted?

Saturday, July 25, 2009 - 11:52am

Something Good to Say About Sarah

Tomorrow is the big day. Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) will be the ex-governor of Alaska on Sunday. At her last public event yesterday, I was surprised to see her wearing a New England Patriots sweatshirt, my hometown team. See, there is good in her after all.

Of course, the first Presidential primary state of New Hampshire is in New England. Could she possibly have ulterior motives with her wardrobe? Nah, she's totally genuine, right?

Then again, if she breaks out an Iowa State University sweatshirt next week...

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - 8:00pm

Thank God for Blue Dogs

With Democrats holding 60 seats in the Senate, it's up to conservative Democrats (Blue Dogs) to stop President Obama and his ridiculous healthcare proposal. It's not that we don't need healthcare reform, but it should not come at the expense of taxpayers and increased deficits.

Unfortunately, members of Congress and former presidents spent our money like drunken sailors over the last few decades. When President Obama took office, he inherited a $10 trillion debt load.

However, rather than correct that problem, President Obama made it much worse in just six months by adding more than $1 trillion to the national debt. Now he wants to dig an even deeper ditch for the American public and spend hundreds of billions of dollars on healthcare reform. We can't allow it.

The bottom line is that the government just doesn't have the money.

Monday, July 20, 2009 - 7:35pm

The Lesson of CIT

A large financial company on the brink of bankruptcy. This time, the government does not bail them out. They should be filing Chapter 11 immediately, right? Um, yeah, not so much.

CIT quickly worked out a deal with the bondholders to the tune of $3 billion in emergency aid.

That would be the private sector functioning properly without any government intervention. Shocking, I know. Perhaps Obama and company will learn to stop bailing everyone out.

Friday, July 17, 2009 - 8:49pm

Walter Cronkite Dies

A true American legend has passed away at the age of 92. The managing editor and anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1961-1981, Walter Cronkite dominated the news industry for two decades. He was an iconic figure and the quintessential television journalist.

During Walter Cronkite's time, the mainstream media covered real, actual news. Today is a different story. I would hope they cover his death at least as much as they did for a washed up singer, but I think we know better.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - 10:52pm

Michigan Unemployment Soars to 15.2%

The state's June report was released today. While there is no exact definition of a depression, I tend to believe a 15% jobless rate for an extended period would qualify.

It could be a long time before Michigan recovers and pushes that rate back down.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - 11:37pm

Obama Throws Out 1st Pitch

The President almost bounced the first pitch of the MLB All-Star Game, but it looks like Albert Pujols bailed him out with a low catch.

Monday, July 13, 2009 - 10:20pm

Budget Deficit Over $1 Trillion

First time ever topping $1 trillion in a year. What's sad is that it only took until the end of June to achieve the mark. If this spending keeps up, we'll hit $2 trillion by year-end. This wild spending could lead to hyperinflation, rising interest rates, and an extremely weak dollar.

[deep impact]

Remind me again why Americans voted for Democrats to run the show.

Monday, July 13, 2009 - 12:15am

Did U.S. Commit Atrocites?

2,000 prisoners of war under U.S. control in Afghanistan in 2001. All of them are dead. A mass grave has been uncovered. Were they killed by American forces?

This must be investigated! I know President Obama doesn't want to investigate any past violations of the law, but he must put politics aside and find out exactly what happened.

Sunday, July 12, 2009 - 10:00pm

Cheney Ordered CIA to Withhold Info from Congress

When will the current White House and Attorney General Holder grow a pair and arrest this monster? Dick Cheney belongs locked up in a prison for the rest of his pathetic life.

Friday, July 10, 2009 - 9:00pm

Obama in Ghana

I know he's the President of the United States, but you get the feeling that Barack Obama can make a huge difference on the continent of Africa? Not only do the countries need financial support from America, the people are actually looking to President Obama for leadership.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 - 10:20pm

The State Budget Problem

California is not the only state with an enormous budget deficit. Nearly every state in the union is spending more than they generate. New York has a $17.9 billion deficit, Illinois is down $9.2 billion, and New Jersey is running $8.8 billion behind.

Combined, the states are $164 billion in the hole. To put that number in perspective, President Obama's economic stimulus plan will only put $107 billion to work in 2009. For every dollar the federal government pumps into the system, the state will be removing a dollar and a half.

Despite the administration's attempt to stimulate economic activity, their efforts will go unrewarded. The states will crush any chance we have to recover from the recession.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 - 5:00pm

Enough of the Pedophile

Now that the anorexic, drug abusing, child molester has been laid to rest for good, perhaps the mainstream media will start to cover real news. Another miserable performance by the press of glorifying a pathetic human being.

Congressman Peter King (R-NY) had it right when he called Jackson a low-life.

Sunday, July 5, 2009 - 11:45pm

Dems Want Stimulus Money Spent Faster

Democrats are complaining that the $800 billion economic stimulus plan that they passed in February is not being spent quickly enough. The brain-dead politicos have finally figured out, five months too late, that the stimulus package was designed to be allocated over two years.

Of course, that fact was pointed out on this blog and countless other places in advance of the passage of the bill. The argument at the time was that spending a majority of the funds in late 2010 and 2012 wouldn't help the American economy get out of a deep recession in 2009. Now that the unemployment rate has quickly risen to 9.5%, well beyond expectations, Democrats are having second thoughts about their ill-conceived stimulus package.

In reality, the economic spending package was simply a wish-list of Democratic pork-barrel projects. It was a waste of taxpayer money since it didn't address the recession problem.

The fatally flawed stimulus plan and the looming tax-hikes and spending cuts at the state level is putting the next Great Depression back on the table. The government could've helped the economy avoid a depression, but I fear it is now just a matter of time before it arrives.

Friday, July 3, 2009 - 11:52pm

Sarah Palin Quits

A rambling press conference; incoherent and nonsensical. It was apropos of her entire political career. Let's hope she's doesn't come back anytime soon.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announces she's stepping down this month.

A Republican Governor resigns, but not the one we thought. Who resigns a position in the first term without cause? I could feel sorry for her, but I suspect she made this move to cash in on her newfound celebrity status. She will bank some good coin as a talk show host.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - 9:47pm

California Budget Crisis

The braindead politicians in the State of California cannot seem to balance their budget, even though the deadline was yesterday. Now they have to issue IOU's since they have run out of cash.

Please help them out by doing it yourself. It's really not that difficult.

Ah, here's the problem. These California politicos spend money like drunken sailors. Look at the massive increase in spending over the last few years. Talk about irresponsible.

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