Good morning folks,
The economy is improving under President Obama. How do we know? Just ask him.
He ran a campaign promising it. He said it during his inaugural address. And this weekend, he basically said that if not for House Republicans, the economy would be roaring. “We began this year with economists and business leaders saying that we are poised to grow in 2013. And there are real signs of progress: Home prices are starting to climb again. Car sales are at a five-year high. Manufacturing is roaring back. Our businesses created 2.2 million jobs last year. And we just learned that our economy created more jobs over the last few months than economists originally thought. But this week, we also received the first estimate of America’s economic growth over the last few months. And it reminded us that bad decisions in Washington can get in the way of our economic progress.”
There’s a problem with this…. First, President Barack Obama, of course, runs Washignton. If bad decisions in Washington are the problem - he probably has the influence to do something about them. Second, he’s simply not painting a truthful picture.
As Peter Kirsanow writes on NRO, “Forget for a moment that the economy shrank last quarter. Or that the $16.5 trillion national debt is 106 percent of GDP and growing. Or that entitlements plus interest on the debt consumes more than 70 percent of all tax revenue — a figure that’s also growing. Whatever may be going in the right direction is outweighed by those things going in the wrong direction. Four years into the Obama presidency, more people are dropping out of the workforce than are finding jobs. …Indeed, if the labor participation rate were the same as when Obama took office, the unemployment rate today would be near 11 percent. Over 8 million more people are without jobs than when President Obama first took the oath of office — and that number is growing, not shrinking.”
Not convinced? Household income is dropping, health-insurance costs and premiums are continuing to increase (despite the President’s signature initiative) and 11 million more people are living in poverty than when Barack Obama was sworn in on January 20, 2009. Mal-employment is the new norm for college graduates and more and more people men and women in the mid-to late twenties are moving home with mom and dad.
But President Obama promises everything is going in the right direction. Except that it’s not.
Seize the day,
Brad Dayspring
@BDayspring
Mark Bednar
@MarkBednar
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@MaryAnnBarton “‘VA Lt. Gov Bolling hints Wed night at run for governor-”save March 14 for big announcement’ AP reports: http://patch.com/A-1HNH #politics”
@SportsCenter “Knicks’ 10-game win streak over the Wizards is snapped in 106-96 loss. The Wiz have won 6 of 7 at the Verizon Center.”
@NatGeo “How bacteria changes ions into gold: http://on.natgeo.com/TLKE1e”
@DonSeymour Of note: GOP address by @marcorubio on 2/12 will be streamed live onhttp://gop.gov/sotu . More here: http://www.speaker.gov/press-release/senator-marco-rubio-deliver-republican-address-nation-february-12 … #sotu
On The Radar
Economic Growth
State Considers Steep Sales Tax Hike To Eliminate Income Tax. “‘It’s something Governor Scott Walker ‘is considering,’ according to Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch. ‘For the first time in, I would say the last 20 years, this is getting much more discussion across the nation. And I think it’s being led by governors like Bobby Jindal in Louisiana who are trying to figure out ways that they can eliminate their income tax. That’s really the motivation here. They want to eliminate the income tax.’”
U.S. Job Creation Index Dips To 11-Month Low In January. “The Gallup Job Creation Index averaged +16 in January, the lowest monthly index level in 11 months, after one-percentage-point declines each month since November 2012. Despite this, the index remains fairly high relative to the past four years.”
Examining The Proper Role Of The Federal Housing Administration In Our Mortgage Insurance Market. “I recently completed a comprehensive study that shows the FHA is engaging in practices resulting in a high proportion of low- and moderate-income families losing their homes. Based on an analysis of the FHA’s FY 2009 and 2010 books of business, the FHA’s lending practices are inconsistent with its mission and represent a disservice to American working-class families and communities.”
Immigration
California 2013: Coming To Terms With Immigration Reform. “Although the matter of illegal immigration is being addressed (for the moment) on a national level, housing one-fourth of the U.S. illegal immigrant population also makes this a very important concern at the state level.”
Health Care
Fewer To Get Health Insurance Under Reform Law, CBO Says. “That’s mostly because of the deal Congress made last month to keep the country from going over the fiscal cliff, the CBO says. About 8 million people who would have been insured by their employers will probably lose their coverage because of tax changes, the CBO projects.”
Obamacare Exchange Costs Up 29% Before Program Even Starts: The projected cost of the subsidies for the exchanges has increased by about 29 percent between the 2010 assessment and this week’s, from an average of $3,970 per enrollee to $5,510. This means the “10-year cost of Obamacare’s insurance subsidies offered via the health law’s exchanges [has increased] by $233 billion,” says John Merline of Investor’s Business Daily.
Sotomayor Plans For Pepsi Event Stirs An Outcry. “‘The very idea that she would be headlining a Pepsi event is shocking,’ said Louise Harpman, who holds an architecture degree from Yale. Ms. Harpman said she opposed corporate sponsorships of such events in general. “I didn’t go to Pepsi University,” she said. Worse, she said, ‘this is an objectionable company from a public health perspective.’”
X-Factor
Krauthammer - “I Don’t Understand the Hysteria Over Drones”: Unfortunately, the administration’s guidelines “were probably written by someone in the lower quintile of his law school class” because “they want to pretend that you can only hit an American al-Qaeda operative who is an imminent threat and then define him as a threat out of existence by saying al-Qaeda is continually hatching plots so he’s always an imminent threat.”
Shackling The Spenders. “The arguments against a constitutional amendment to require balanced budgets are various and, cumulatively, almost conclusive. Almost. The main arguments are:The Constitution should be amended rarely and reluctantly. Constitutionalizing fiscal policy is a dubious undertaking. Unless carefully crafted, such an amendment might instead be a constant driver of tax increases. A carefully crafted amendment that minimizes this risk could not pass until Republicans have two-thirds majorities in both houses of Congress, which they have not had since 1871.”
Obama Plans Fund-Raising Trips to Aid Senate and House Candidates. “The 2014 Congressional elections are 21 months away, but Mr. Obama’s fund-raising schedule in 2013 suggests that the midterm campaign season is just around the corner.”
This & That
Time Cover: Marco Rubio, GOP Savior
Lawmakers yuk it up at annual Washington Press Club dinner
Kathy Ireland: Super ‘Role’ Model
Rihanna Stands By Abuser Chris Brown
Unfriending On Facebook May Affect Real-Life Relationships
Colorful men’s undies signal healthy economy