Paul will be joining Obama on the trip to Northern Kentucky, where the president will likely continue his assault on Republicans in Congress over the American Jobs Act, an aide to Paul said.

Obama and Paul will be visiting a bridge that connects Cincinnati with Northern Kentucky that has been described as "functionally obsolete." Obama will continue to highlight what he says is the need for infrastructure spending contained in his jobs plan.

For the first time in his term, a majority of Americans say that President Obamabears responsibility for the state of the U.S. economy, a new Gallup poll finds.

More Americans say former President George W. Bush is to blame, but that number is slowly dropping as Obama's is ticking upward.

The survey, conducted Sept. 15-18, found that 36% blame Bush "a great deal" and 33% blame him "a moderate amount." By comparison, 24% now blame Obama "a great deal" while 29% blame him "a moderate amount." That's a shift from an 18%/32% split in an April survey.

Still, one in five voters say Obama bears no responsibility for the economic problems facing the country, while just 9% say that of Bush.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) had hoped to avoid another budget battle in the wake of the summer's debt ceiling fight and a near-shutdown of the government in April that caused voters to sour on Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

The rebuke gives new currency to Senate Democrats' efforts to fund disaster aid without cuts elsewhere. Congress has just days to resolve the impasse as lawmakers are expected to recess Friday for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana next week.

"They're threatening to shut down the government to get what they want," Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader, said of the GOP-led House.

Solving the problem will not be easy. The United States has been on a buy it now pay later program for so long that we as a nation will have a hard row to hoe, when it comes to changing the way we do things in Washington D.C.

But CHANGE we must.

Now the big questions..

How did the debt problem get to be so big? By habit and circumstance.

The federal government has typically spent more than it collects in taxes. In fact, it has run deficits for all but 12 years since 1934.

But debt started to accrue much more rapidly in the past decade because of several rounds of tax cuts, the war on terrorism, and a Medicare prescription drug benefit -- all of which were financed through borrowing.

Then, in 2008, a gob-smacking financial crisis spurred a lot more spending to stem the pain of the downturn. That recent surge is so-called "cyclical" debt -- meaning it will stop accruing once the economy recovers.

What worries budget experts far more is the "structural" debt -- the kind that will keep growing even when the economy is strong. The gap between money in and money out will persist largely because of long-anticipated demographic changes such as the aging of the population. And borrowing to fill that gap could become much more expensive than it has been.

Politicians know they will get more votes when they give constituents what they want. For years, that meant bringing home the bacon rather than trimming the fat. And it meant not asking constituents to pay for expensive policies.

More recently, to score political points, many on the right have demonized any suggestion that higher revenue be part of the debt solution. And many on the left have sworn that Medicare and Social Security must not be cut in any way.

And with the ascendance of the Tea Party and the destructive debt ceiling debate, many lawmakers have espoused unyielding and often impractical fiscal positions, making a compromise on serious debt reduction difficult to achieve.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/05/news/economy/national_debt_faq/index.htm?iid=EL

 But, let's give credit where credit is due.. The Corporatist and Lobbyists have for years bought and paid for the re-election of incumbents. 

The TEA-PARTY, love them or hate them have caused the rest of AMERICA to become aware of the problem with the nations run away spending habits.  There will be  more TEA-Party  affiliated representatives elected in 2012. Because the Tea-Party is the middle class, those that have worked in the factories and shipyards that have long since closed. 

And they are the new independent voter!

No Super committee needed..

Tasked with slashing another $1.5 trillion in debt over the next 10 years, the committee was created with no built-in provisions for public meetings, hearings or lobbying disclosures.

The stakes are enormous. The committee is likely to consider more cuts to discretionary spending, as well as limitations to defense spending and health care costs. The tax code and entitlement programs will come under scrutiny.

If the committee process fails to produce a debt reduction plan, as much as $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts would kick in -- evenly divided between defense and non-defense spending.

"To not have the public involved in decisions of this magnitude would be a disgrace," said John Wonderlich, policy director at the Sunlight Foundation, a group that promotes open government.

If the recent past is any indication, full transparency might not be in the cards.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/17/news/economy/debt_negotiations_secret/index.htm?iid=EAL

The American people were not involved in the spending… So why are they worried,  Oh Yeah, to make it look good for their friends that are lobbying… It’s the Lobbyists that are worried.

What the American People need to do is take away the $ from Congress, the Senate and Every President from now on.

Shut down the Fed and have these REPRESENTATIVES come to the people BEFORE they involve the United States in WARS in Foreign LANDS.

Make Managing the country.. Just that. We say what we will give the government and they manage what we allow them to have.

How you may ask…HOW do we take the bank account away from Congress , Senate, and President?

SIMPLE…. A Constitutional Convention making the Offices of President, Senate, and Congress  all management positions.

  "Most of the deficit reduction negotiations this year have taken place behind closed doors and none of it has gone beyond Washington horse-trading to engage the public in any meaningful way," Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a deficit watchdog group, wrote in a blog post.

Advocates for a closed process contend that a public discussion of sensitive issues makes it much easier for a deal to collapse as special interest groups are allowed to mobilize against the proposal.

"That has not proved successful. That approach has been tried and it failed," Bixby said. "If you are in on the landing, you have to be in on the takeoff."

Part of the consternation among transparency advocates stems from the unique rules set up for the committee. Once seven members of the committee agree on a plan, the bill will be rushed through the House and Senate under a special procedure.

No amendments will be considered. It's take it -- or leave it.

Oh, and think of the behind-the-scenes lobbying! Instead of seeking to influence 535 members of Congress, Washington's well practiced lobbying machine will be able to focus on only 12 members.

"We expect a feeding frenzy," Wonderlich said. "To try and get in and meet with those 12 people will be near impossible for the next few months."

One anonymous Democratic lobbyist already told Politico that he was "preparing by writing 12 really large checks."

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/17/news/economy/debt_negotiations_secret/index.htm?iid=EAL

THIS is not the type of representation We are guaranteed  in the Constitution..

THE UNITED STATES is supposed to be a Citizen run government… Not Corporate or Lobbyists run government.

And calling A committee after the open SIMPSON / BOWLES Committee is not a leadership move.

One Nevada Democratic Party insider offered this tip for candidates running for public office in 2012: "Don't get your picture taken with President Obama," he said.

“It’s been a week now since the President unveiled his second stimulus. And today, a week later, White House aides are expected to hold a briefing to explain it all to Democrats who don’t understand the details.

“Well, one would think they’d want to be briefed on the details before the President demanded they pass it ‘right away,’ not after. But then again, the White House probably expected stronger support from Democrats than it’s gotten so far.

If Republicans win both contests, it would raise fresh concerns about President Obama's drag on down-ballot Democrats and the party’s ability to keep its Senate majority. The losses would also raise questions about whether the party can gain the 24 seats it needs to regain the House.
Read full poll here (.pdf)

In the last week, the race for former Rep. Anthony Weiner's seat has given Democrats the biggest headache. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee late last week poured in $500,000 in a last-gasp attempt to hang onto a seat that has been in Democratic hands for decades. Before Weiner represented the Queens — and Brooklyn-based district, it was the home turf of now — Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The store, Cheryl Fudge, is a fave of Oprah and has praised first lady Michelle Obama's fashion flair. [Read Obama Gets Back to R&R.]

In fact according to their site, Cheryl Fudge is favored by many celebrities. Her site says, "In 2002, Cheryl Fudge left New York when she found a niche on Nantucket by transforming vintage Gucci and Chanel scarves into quirky-sexy halters favored by celebrities like Julia Roberts and Fergie."

Taxpayers are likely to end up on the hook for much if not all of that amount, a highly embarrassing development for President Obama because he was among the company's biggest cheerleaders. He visited its Fremont plant in May 2010 even though PricewaterhouseCoopers had weeks earlier raised doubts about its plans for an initial public offering by questioning whether it could continue as a going concern.

That's especially troubling because Solyndra is backed by one of Obama's key fundraisers, George Kaiser of Tulsa. Congressional Republicans were raising alarms about Obama's connections to Solyndra well before Wednesday's announcement, with GOP members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee voting in July to subpoena documents from the Office of Management and Budget on the loan-guarantee decision.

Although the editorial board generally supports alternative energy, it also offered a word of caution for the president:

But if there's evidence that political rather than business considerations played a role in funding decisions, Obama will have much to answer for.

To understand Paul's appeal, the Republicans must stop and take some time to think about what it is like for enlisted troops right now. We are in uncharted territory, because the United States has never been at war for this long, and the war is being conducted as conventional operations with an all-volunteer army. The goals have become increasingly vague for officers, and officers have become increasingly ineffectual at projecting clear objectives to the enlisted ranks. In other words, morale is depressed to low levels, to which past military engagements offer few useful comparisons.

But the soldiers themselves are also unlike the enlisted men and women of earlier ages. The number-one change: overwhelmingly, the young privates and specialists of today signed up to serve to get tuition for college. They plan to go to college and have elaborate educational dreams for themselves. They are not gung-ho patriots and are not hypersensitive about people criticizing their war effort. They are a new breed holding more in common with UCLA freshmen than with the Vietnam War veterans who haunt American Legion halls across the country.

Mr. President – we gave you $2.4 trillion in new spending and the American people got nothing in return,” the Minnesota Republican said. “Today’s jobs report showing that the economy created no jobs in the last month and unemployment at 9.1 percent is further evidence that President Obama’s failed economic policies are not working and have completely stalled job growth.”

Republicans slammed Mr. Obama after the Labor Department report on employment showed the U.S. failing to create a significant number of jobs. In its weakest jobs report in over 12 months, the Labor Department announced that the economy added no net jobs in August, while the nation’s 9.1 percent unemployment rate remained unchanged.

Economists were expecting employers to add between 70,000 and 90,000, a number that would have left the nation's unemployment rate at 9.1 percent -- but the nation's nonfarm payroll was flat. In July, at least, hiring had added 85,000 jobs.

"Net employment flat-lined in August," Ellen Zentner, a senior U.S. economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York, who forecast a decline of 5,000, told Bloomberg. "When the outlook is uncertain, businesses don't hire. Calls that we're on the cusp of a recession or already there are not completely unwarranted."

The leader of the largest labor group called on President Barack Obama on Wednesday to offer an ambitious jobs program and said unions would be judging his plan as they decide where to throw their support as he runs for re-election in 2012.

"This is a time for boldness. And this is a moment that working people will judge all our leaders. Will they propose solutions that are on the scale necessary to address the job crisis that America has right now?" said Richard Trumka, president of the 12-million-member AFL-CIO.

Specifically, we should extend the payroll tax cut as soon as possible, so that workers have more money in their paychecks next year and businesses have more customers next year.

We should continue to make sure that if you’re one of the millions of Americans who’s out there looking for a job, you can get the unemployment insurance that your tax dollars contributed to. That will also put money in people’s pockets and more customers in stores.

In fact, if Congress fails to extend the payroll tax cut and the unemployment insurance benefits that I’ve called for, it could mean 1 million fewer jobs and half a percent less growth. This is something we can do immediately, something we can do as soon as Congress gets back.

Princeton University economist Alan Krueger, who will replace Austan Goolsbee as the White House’s chief economic advisor, “is likely to provide a voice inside the administration for more-aggressive government action to bring down unemployment and, particularly, to address long-term joblessness,” according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

But will Krueger’s recommendations jive with the president’s apparent economic and political agenda? Krueger co-authored a paper for the Handbook of Public Economics in 2002 that seems to undercut the economic argument for extending unemployment benefits. The paper found that those benefits tend to increase the length of unemployment by discouraging the search for a new job, and may actually encourage layoffs. Conversely, the paper also found that unemployed persons who are ineligible for benefits search harder for a job and are therefore unemployed for less time.

I was nauseated and dismayed to also discover G.E. received $140 billion in T.A.R.P. Funds (Troubled Asset Relief Program) and was bailed out by the American taxpayer, only to show their gratitude, by shipping hundreds of high paying U.S. jobs to China. G.E. doesn't pay any income tax either. This is hypocrisy and politics as usual. To use a word from Gov. Perry of Texas, “This borders on treason.”

Immelt and GE have come under fire in recent days after The Washington Post reported the company is solidifying a deal to deliver aerospace technology — developed partly by NASA — to Chinese engineers in return for a foot in the door to China's emerging airline market.

GE has said the deal is too lucrative to pass up, but critics contend it will put additional pressures on U.S. airline manufacturers, such as Boeing, at a time when those companies are providing valuable domestic jobs amid an unemployment crisis.

"American taxpayers subsidized the development of this advanced technology, but U.S. taxpayers’ investment will end up creating jobs in China," Kucinich said.

At some point anti-USA persons like Immelt should lose their US citizenship status and they should be forced to move to China if they pay no US taxes.

And Obama should be removed from office for what he has let GE get away with – these amount to acts of hostility to the US economy. And that is exactly how Obama and GE operate: they do whatever they want and whatever they can get away with.

n addition to the loss of generating capacity, the Commerce Department estimates that the new rules could kill up to 60,000 jobs, says Heritage, while an industry trade group says that the rules will cost $129 billion, according to the Washington Post.

During the 2008 presidential campaign then-Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden both claimed that if elected they would institute policies that make it cost prohibitive for coal-fired plants to operate in the United States.

Looks like this is one promise they’ll keep.

"Hoover wasn't able to print gold, but can be blamed for supporting the Fed's tight money policies," writes Scott Sumner. "Obama can't print dollars, but can be blamed for not moving aggressively to put people at the Fed who understand the need for more dollars."

Alas, the clock is ticking. Bruce Bartlett reminds that the velocity of money supply (the ratio of quarterly nominal G.D.P. to the quarterly average of M2 money stock) is moving in the wrong direction again. The implications?

August 15, 2011

Obama Begins Bus Tour as Approval Slides
First Read: "A long and very fluid GOP race might be exactly what the doctor ordered for President Obama, whose job-approval rating sunk to 39% in Gallup's daily tracking poll. He also needs some better economic news, as well as some luck (which he really hasn't had since that Osama bin Laden raid back in May). Today, Obama tries to get back on track with a three-day bus tour across the Midwest. He begins in Minnesota with a town hall in Cannon Falls at 1:05 pm ET. Then he heads to Iowa, where he holds another town hall in Decorah at 6:15 pm ET. The Midwest has always been important to Obama; it's where he achieved so much success in the '08 primaries and later general election. And he needs it to get back on track."