No president has been re-elected with a Gallup approval rating below 48 percent approaching Election Day.
No president has been re-elected since World War II with an unemployment rate higher than 7.2 percent.
Saturday, February 18
Will Obama Get Re-elected?
No president has been re-elected with a Gallup approval rating below 48 percent approaching Election Day.
No president has been re-elected since World War II with an unemployment rate higher than 7.2 percent.
Friday, February 17
National Museum of African American History and Culture
This country is sinking in the quicksand of debt and yet our leaders can spend money to develop the cult of Obama? To be fair, the museum was approved by Congress in 2003 when Barrack Hussein was still studying Saul Alinsky and a proponent of a single payer health care system.
"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and former first lady Laura Bush will celebrate the groundbreaking for a new national museum showcasing black life, art and history on the National Mall.
The Smithsonian Institution announced Wednesday that Obama will speak at the Feb. 22 groundbreaking for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Actress Phylicia Rashad will host the event.
Early construction work has already begun at the museum site near the Washington Monument. Officials have said the museum is on track to open in 2015. Congress has pledged to provide half the cost of the $500 million museum project.
Designers for the project have been planning a layered bronze structure with a stone base.
Bush serves on the museum's advisory council with Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones and others."
Black History Museum
"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and former first lady Laura Bush will celebrate the groundbreaking for a new national museum showcasing black life, art and history on the National Mall.
The Smithsonian Institution announced Wednesday that Obama will speak at the Feb. 22 groundbreaking for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Actress Phylicia Rashad will host the event.
Early construction work has already begun at the museum site near the Washington Monument. Officials have said the museum is on track to open in 2015. Congress has pledged to provide half the cost of the $500 million museum project.
Designers for the project have been planning a layered bronze structure with a stone base.
Bush serves on the museum's advisory council with Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones and others."
Black History Museum
Thursday, February 16
Entitlement Nation
The next election will determine what kind of country America will become. Under the Obama administration we are being fundamentally transformed into the nanny state, dependent upon the federal government. We are losing what has made this nation an "exceptional" country - individual liberty.
"Direct payments. The amount of money the federal government hands out in direct payments to individuals steadily increased over the past four decades, but shot up under Obama, climbing by almost $600 billion — a 32% increase — in his first three years. And Obama's last budget called for these payments to climb another $500 billion by 2016, at which point they would account for fully two-thirds of all federal spending.
People getting benefits. According to the Census Bureau 49% now live in homes where at least one person gets a federal benefit — Social Security, workers comp, unemployment, subsidized housing, and the like. That's up from 44% the year before Obama took office, and way up from 1983, when fewer than a third were government beneficiaries.
Food stamps. This year, more than 46 million (15% of all Americans) will get food stamps. That's 45% higher than when Obama took office, and twice as high as the average for the previous 40 years. This surge was driven in part by the recession, but also because Obama boosted the benefit amount as part of his stimulus plan.
Disability. The number of people on Social Security disability has steadily climbed since the 1970s, thanks mainly to easier eligibility rules. But their numbers jumped 10% in Obama's first two years in office, according to the Social Security Administration. That sharp rise was due largely to meager job prospects since the recession ended in 2009. When employment opportunities are scarce, experts note, many who could otherwise work sign up for disability benefits instead."
Soaring Entitlements
"Direct payments. The amount of money the federal government hands out in direct payments to individuals steadily increased over the past four decades, but shot up under Obama, climbing by almost $600 billion — a 32% increase — in his first three years. And Obama's last budget called for these payments to climb another $500 billion by 2016, at which point they would account for fully two-thirds of all federal spending.
People getting benefits. According to the Census Bureau 49% now live in homes where at least one person gets a federal benefit — Social Security, workers comp, unemployment, subsidized housing, and the like. That's up from 44% the year before Obama took office, and way up from 1983, when fewer than a third were government beneficiaries.
Food stamps. This year, more than 46 million (15% of all Americans) will get food stamps. That's 45% higher than when Obama took office, and twice as high as the average for the previous 40 years. This surge was driven in part by the recession, but also because Obama boosted the benefit amount as part of his stimulus plan.
Disability. The number of people on Social Security disability has steadily climbed since the 1970s, thanks mainly to easier eligibility rules. But their numbers jumped 10% in Obama's first two years in office, according to the Social Security Administration. That sharp rise was due largely to meager job prospects since the recession ended in 2009. When employment opportunities are scarce, experts note, many who could otherwise work sign up for disability benefits instead."
Soaring Entitlements
Wednesday, February 15
Michigan Polls
A Santorum win in the Michigan primary would be a political earthquake.
An MRG Michigan Poll, done with Lansing-based Inside Michigan Politics, showed Santorum up 43 percent to 33 percent on Romney, trailed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 11 percent and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas at 8 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Research, a polling firm in East Lansing, released a survey showing Santorum ahead of Romney 34 percent to 25 percent, with Paul at 11 percent and Gingrich at 5 percent. That poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.
Tuesday, February 14
Monday, February 13
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston is still dead at this time. It's unfortunate that many of her close friends and relatives who are now mourning her passing didn't get more involved with her substance abuse issues while she was living. That is the true tragedy: many of them were enablers.
Sunday, February 12
Diabetic Man Beaten by Police
It's unfortunate that the driver was having a medical emergency, but the police were unaware of this. This is a highly unusual situation and the police were responding to an uncooperative person. I admit the kicking was excessive as the police were in control of the situation. Perhaps the situation could have been avoided if the person was wearing some kind of ID indicating that he was a diabetic. As for the police laughing after the incident, this may have been a case of nervous discharge of laughter. I worked for the police and I readily admit my positive bias for the police because I know the crap they have to put up with. (Not to mention that my son is a police officer.) There is a "macho" culture that permeates the police, and I am thankful that there are men and women who are willing to do the job. One's experience with the police can affect one's perception of the police.
See Video here
News Junkie
I admit it. I'm a news junkie. I'm a sucker for the printed word. I recall Mahatma Gandi's words, "Constantly strive to increase your knowledge of the world." To me, one of the great pleasures of life is reading the Sunday newspapers. Here's some stuff I learned from todays papers:
Everybody loves to get mail but fewer and fewer people are sending it. According to the U.S. Postal service only 4% of household mail comes from another household. (I suppose everybody is communicating via e-mail and the ubiquitous cell phones.)
A Chinese dissident, Zhu Yufu, was sentenced to 7 years in prison for writing a poem encouraging his fellow countrymen to gather at a public square. (We Americans take for granted our free speech rights.)
The family of disgraced ex-Governor of Illinois is considering moving to Colorado if the U.S. Bureau of Prisons grants Blago's request to serve his prison time there.
The number of prisoners over the age of 55 is growing at 6 times the rate of the rest of the prison population.
More and more people are using white doves (actually homing pigeons) at funerals.
Elvis' home, Graceland, has an average of 600,000 visitors a year.
Toss up States
These states with their electoral votes will decide the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election:
Colorado (9)
Florida (29)
Iowa (6)
Missouri (10)
Nevada (6)
New Hampshire (4)
North Carolina (15)
Ohio (18)
Pennsylvania (20)
Virginia (13)
Wisconsin (10)
Colorado (9)
Florida (29)
Iowa (6)
Missouri (10)
Nevada (6)
New Hampshire (4)
North Carolina (15)
Ohio (18)
Pennsylvania (20)
Virginia (13)
Wisconsin (10)
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