Free Republic

Even with Calculators on the Floor, the Senate Still Comes Up With a Zero on the BudgetBy Sunlen Miller | ABC OTUS News – Wed, May 16, 2012 You would have thought that starting the day with a vote permitting the use of calculators on the Senate floor today was a good sign that it could potentially be a productive day for the U.S. senators. But you would have been mistaken. The Senate spent the whole day today, with over six hours of straight floor speeches, debating five nonbinding budget resolutions that everyone knew in advance would not pass. And,...

The mainstream media will attempt to spin French President Nicholas Sarkozy's loss today to Socialist challenger François Hollande as a rejection of "austerity" policies--and to urge American voters to reject the deficit-cutting politics of the Tea Party when we go to the polls in November. In fact, there are important lessons from France--and they are the precise opposite of what the media is telling us. First, to call Sarkozy's policies "austerity" is to insult both austerity and socialism. The French government--like other European governments--sought to close its budget gap primarily by raising taxes, not by cutting the size and cost...

Last week, the total amount of debt emanating from student loans in the U.S. reached $1 trillion. With the Great Recession still present in the daily lives of the middle class, salaried jobs for college graduates are tough to come by. Many have had to settle for low-wage positions stocking shelves in retail stores or serving coffee at the local Starbucks. According to the Associate Press, three out of five new graduates are unemployed. The dissatisfaction these bachelor's degree-holders have with the lack of jobs manifested into last fall's Occupy movement. Many "occupiers" naively directed their anger at capitalism and...

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s camp is defending a controversial program he created that handed out free wheels to Massachusetts welfare recipients — including state-funded insurance and AAA memberships — even as the plan drew fire from conservatives the former Bay State governor is wooing. “Over 80 percent of participants have moved off of welfare,” said Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho.

While politicians may debate whether or not America is the most "generous" (with other generations' money of course) socialist welfare state in the history of mankind, the undoctored numbers make the affirmative case quite clear and without any chance for confusion. The single most disturbing statistic: in 2011 nearly half of the population lived in a household that receives some form of government benefit, which in turn accounted for 65% of total federal spending, or $2.5 trillion, and amount to 15% of GDP. And yet some people out there still think these people, long since indoctrinated to do little but...

The Treasury on Tuesday started dipping into federal pension funds in order to give the Obama administration more credit to pay government bills. "I will be unable to invest fully" the federal employees retirement system fund beginning Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a letter to Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on Wednesday on the Obama administration's request to raise the country's legal debt limit to $16.394 trillion.

GRIDLOCK in Congress implies that there won’t be any collective decision to spend more as a nation to get out of our slump. Increases in deficit spending seem unlikely, and so does the balanced-budget stimulus I’ve been advocating in this column. For now, we must pin our hopes for a robust recovery on the willingness of millions of consumers to spend substantially more. But what really drives consumer spending? Economists are reasonably good at divining how consumers tend to react to changes in government policy, but in the absence of such policy, and when the economy is in the doldrums,...

How the U.S. National Debt Could Drain Your Savings January 9, 2012 By David Zeiler, Associate Editor, Money Morning Now that Congress has allowed the U.S. national debt to grow bigger than the American economy, it won't be long until the American public suffers the consequences by losing most of its savings to inflation.Figures for last year show the national debt officially exceeded 100% of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). According to government figures, the national debt stood at $15.23 trillion at the close of 2011, compared to a GDP of $15.18 trillion. "The 100% mark means that your...

Ten States That Cannot Pay Their Bills Posted: January 11, 2012 at 6:59 amMichael B. Sauter, Charles B. Stockdale, Ashley C. Allen 10. New Hampshire > 2011 budget shortfall as a % of general fund: 27.2% > 2011 budget shortfall: $365 million > 2012 projected budget shortfall: 18.4% (8th largest) > GDP change (2006 – 2010): +7.5% (11th smallest increase) > Median home value change (2006 – 2010): -4% (12th largest decline) New Hampshire is often considered to have weathered the recession better than most states. It has one of the strongest economies in the country in many respects. Its...

Greek disabled groups are angry at a government decision to expand a list of state-recognized disability categories to include pedophiles, exhibitionists and kleptomaniacs. But the Labor Ministry on Monday said categories added to the expanded list — that also includes pyromaniacs, compulsive gamblers, fetishists and sadomasochists — were included for purposes of medical assessment and used as a gauge for allocating financial assistance.

For the average American the thought of borrowing money for a bailout is simply not an option, either because they understand the dangers of debt being used to cover debt or they don’t qualify for the loans in today’s economic climate. For our federal government, as ridiculous as the concept sounds, it is the only option. If you operated this way, you’d be broke, hungry and living on the street:

New York - Doctors in America are harboring an embarrassing secret: Many of them are going broke. This quiet reality, which is spreading nationwide, is claiming a wide range of casualties, including family physicians, cardiologists and oncologists. Industry watchers say the trend is worrisome. Half of all doctors in the nation operate a private practice. So if a cash crunch forces the death of an independent practice, it robs a community of a vital health care resource. (Snip) Doctors list shrinking insurance reimbursements, changing regulations, rising business and drug costs among the factors preventing them from keeping their practices afloat.

Media propagandists continue to advance the Democratic Party line. On December 21, Bloomberg News breathlessly reported, "The leading Republican candidates for president have embraced an explanation of the financial crisis that has been rejected by the chairman of the Federal Reserve, many economists and even three of the four Republicans on the government commission that investigated the meltdown." Reporter David J. Lynch further explained, "Both former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney lay much of the blame on U.S. government housing policies, saying they led to the real estate crash that almost brought down the banking...

The Obama administration delayed asking Congress to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion after congressional leaders objected to the time frame. The White House said the delay won't affect the nation's creditworthiness, The Washington Post reported.Under the request the administration originally planned to submit Friday, Congress would have had 15 days to disapprove the request or else the debt ceiling automatically would have been raised from $15.2 trillion to $16.4 trillion.Congressional leaders, however, objected to the timeline, saying it would have been difficult for lawmakers to vote on the measure. The House doesn't return until Jan. 17 and...

HONOLULU -- President Obama will hold off on asking Congress to raise the debt limit on Friday as the Treasury Department had originally intended, White House principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said. Listening to requests from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to have more time so that both houses can vote on a measure of disapproval. As part of the $1.2 trillion deal reached in August, both houses voted on a similar incremental increase in September. It passed in the House but fell in the Senate, and would need a two-thirds majority...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House plans to ask Congress for an increase in the debt limit before the end of the week, according to a senior Treasury Department official. The debt limit is projected to fall within $100 billion of the current cap by December 30. President Barack Obama is expected to ask for additional borrowing authority to increase the limit by $1.2 trillion. Under the new budget, Congress can only vote to block the debt-ceiling extension with a disapproval resolution. Lawmakers have 15 days within receiving the request to vote down the debt limit increase. The debt limit...

10 Things Medicare Won't Tell YouThe government's massive entitlement program is full of costly glitches By CATEY HILL DECEMBER 20, 2011, 6:05 P.M. ET 1. "We fork over millions for unproven procedures." 2. "Think Social Security is broke? Just look at Medicare." 3. "We pay for dead people." 4. "Don't expect a five-star plan." 5. "We're not popular with many doctors." 6. "We get ripped off a lot." 7. "We don't cover a lot of the care seniors need most." 8. "Paws off that cash, grandpa: Your settlement is ours." 9. "Complain all you want ..." 10. "Want Your Way?...

Fitch, when it lowered its outlook to negative, had said it was giving the U.S. government until 2013 to come up with a "credible plan" to tackle its ballooning budget deficit or risk a downgrade from the AAA status. "A key task of an incoming Congress and administration in 2013 is to formulate a credible plan to reduce the budget deficit and stabilize the federal debt burden. Without such a strategy, the sovereign rating will likely be lowered by the end of 2013," Fitch reiterated. Rival ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut its credit rating on the United States to...

Pale afternoon light filled the small bedroom where Claire Findley lay immobile in a hospital bed, an intravenous line running into her arm. An orchid bloomed on the dresser, a gift from a friend who visited over the weekend. Nearby were her breathing machine and a suctioning device. Next to her bed was the cot where her husband, Luther, sleeps every night. She learned this past week that her last wish, to die in the modest Fair Oaks house where she and Luther have lived since 1996, will be possible. "I'm ready to die," said Claire, her voice strangled and...

Detroit City Council Members Liken Financial Takeover to New 'Plantation'By Jennifer Hlad Published December 02, 2011 | FoxNews.com Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to ask for a preliminary review of Detroit's finances as early as Friday -- a move city council members are suggesting is tantamount to a setback for racial equality. Detroit does not want "someone who feels they have to control the plantation," Councilman Kwame Kenyatta said at a city council meeting on Thursday about the prospects of a state-run financial review that could lead to an emergency manager being appointed by the governor to take over...

CHART OF THE DAY: KYLE BASS: This Is What The End Of The Global Debt Super-Cycle Looks Like Joe Weisenthal Dec. 1, 2011, 10:39 AM In his latest investor letter (via Gurufocus), Kyle Bass lays out his case that a wave of hard defaults is coming. His basic argument: The world is just saddled with too much debt. Throughout history, he says, total debt-to-GDP only ever breached 200% when nations were spending on war. Today we're at 310%. Says Bass: "There is no savior large enough with a magical pool of capital to stafe off this unfortunate conclusion to the...

The 2012 political year is right around the corner and the recent failure by the so-called "Super Committee" to reach agreement on $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction will re-cast the environment on Capitol Hill and shape the 2012 campaign. With divided control of Congress, and a 60-vote threshold in the U.S. Senate, major Congressional action before the 2012 election is now extremely unlikely. Congress always seems to need a deadline to make the members focus on the country's business, and December promises to be a busy month. It's likely that members of Congress will do the following: - Pass yet...

President Barack Obama said the United States was ready to help Europe solve its fiscal problems on Monday, following a summit with European Union leaders dominated by the euro zone crisis. 'The United States stands ready to do our part to help them resolve this issue,' Mr Obama said after hosting EU representatives at the White House, stressing the potential for a European fiscal disaster to crash upon US shores. 'This is of huge importance to our economy. If Europe is contracting, or if Europe is having difficulties, then it's much more difficult for us to create good jobs here...

President Obama wants to spend $3.7 trillion next year and $5.7 trillion in 2021. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) wants to spend $3.6 trillion next year and $4.7 trillion in 2021. The Republican Study Committee (RSC) wants to spend $3.6 trillion next year and $4.2 trillion in 2021. Rand Paul wants to spend $3.7 trillion next year and $3.4 trillion in 2016. The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) has a "People's Budget" outline that, in keeping with representing a math-averse nation, doesn't include anything as straightforward as a series of annual-outlay numbers, though it does promise that outlays and revenues in 2021...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have forced Congress to balance its budget every year as a way to reverse years of deficit spending. A majority of House members supported the balanced budget measure, but supporters fell short of achieving the two-thirds majority needed to amend the Constitution. Republicans who backed the amendment said it was the only way to get Congress to put its fiscal house in order. Democratic critics said a balanced budget requirement would result in drastic cuts in Medicare and other social programs when economic downturns put the budget...

Scoffing at Washington's troubled effort to cut just $1.2 trillion in federal debt over 10 years, the Tea Party's own debt commission today unveiled a shocking plan to slash nearly $10 trillion over the next decade, in part by eliminating several federal agencies, balancing the budget by 2015, and killing foreign aid to unfriendly nations. "Go bold or go home," says the report from the Tea Party Debt Commission. "Are you listening, Washington?"The FreedomWorks-led effort started months ago by asking Tea Party members for ideas on what to cut from the federal budget. They ended up going much further than...

Trouble is, Democrats don't buy into it -- at least not yet. Senate supercommittee members Patty Murray and John Kerry have opposed real tax reform. And it has been reported that House supercommittee member Xavier Becerra opposes it (although Chris van Hollen might be looking at it). But the whole trouble with the machinations of the two sides in this deficit-cutting episode is that the closer you get to the Nov. 23 deadline, the more compromises are made. Democrats are pulling hard for higher tax rates, which would damage the economy, while Republicans are making no progress getting any meaningful...

Top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wednesday defended their companies' pay practices which have drawn opposition after it was disclosed the government-controlled firms were paying out nearly $13 million in executive bonuses. Michael Williams, chief executive of Fannie Mae, and Charles Haldeman, Freddie Mac's chief executive, both argued the compensation structures at the mortgage finance firms were warranted to retain and attract qualified staff. A bill to block the pay packages was approved by the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday in a 52-4 vote. The full House must still vote on the measure. A similar bill...

Americans who follow the workings of our government -- even if only casually -- presumably know that the Republican Party took control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the November 2010 elections. Fewer likely know that the Republican-controlled House gained a veto over federal spending on March 4, 2011. Fewer still may know that from March 4, when the Republican-controlled House gained that veto over spending, through Nov. 14, the national debt increased by $795,257,695,953.36. That works out to about $6,766 each for what the Census Bureau estimates are 117,538,000 American households. Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution...

OKLAHOMA CITY – Using the argument that Oklahoma’s Tinker Air Force Base could potentially be affected by proposed “$500 billion in automatic, across-the-board cuts” aimed at the Defense Department, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Moore), said in a statement Tuesday that “drastic cuts to the defense budget would have calamitous and long-lasting consequences.” Cole, serving on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, noted that “the nation’s military chiefs” expressed their deep concerns about such drastic cuts and that America’s national security would be in peril – in fact, we would face “dire consequences” and that such cuts “would significantly reduce our capability and...

I missed this during my travel to BlogCon 2011 in Denver, which I reached by airline travel — an economical and safe choice on a route served by multiple carriers and requiring little government subsidy to use. The competition for this route falls short of that for the Los Angeles-San Francisco route, though, where more than a half-dozen carriers offer flights between California’s two largest metropolises, complete with choices of departure and arrival airports on either end. Despite the lack of need for fast and reliable transportation between the two cities, Governor Jerry Brown told the LA Times editorial board...

Commission on Security Cooperation in Europe (CSCE):  Also known as the Helsinki Commission, their job is to monitor European compliance with the Helsinki Final Act, which served to dilute Cold War tensions. Maybe somebody needs to tell them that the USSR ceased to exist over 20 years ago... and that Obama's already abandoned Eastern Europe to current Russian regime anyway. Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC):  Visitors to the FCIC website can find useful info on topics ranging from how to purchase a new car to how to save $ for college... and all the same as you can find on zillions...

In the elections last night, Ohio voters decisively turned back "Ohio Senate Bill 5", which would have limited the power of the public service unions, and forced union members to pay a significant part of their own health care insurance premiums. Granted it was not as much of a share as the Ohio taxpayer had to fork out for their own coverage, but compared to what the union members had been paying... it was an outrage. The issue was settled by State Issue 2, which was a referendum on the Senate bill. The unions can now celebrate a key win,...

Late last week, a group of 100 U.S. Representatives sent a letter to the so-called Super Committee urging the handpicked group of twelve legislators to consider “all options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues” in order to reach the committee’s goal of $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction over the next ten years. In Washington speak, this is code for raising taxes. Among this list is 40 Republicans whose capitulation encouraging the committee to raise taxes is troubling. We shouldn’t be surprised to see 60 Democrats seizing on the opportunity to drive a wedge between conservatives intent on restoring economic...

The Bill: S. 1769, Rebuild America Jobs Act Annualized Cost: $8.1 billion ($40.7 billion over five years) Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) sponsored the Rebuild America Jobs Act to rebuild and improve the nation’s infrastructure. The bill establishes short- and long-term national development priorities through new construction programs.

The biggest fashion spenders in America aren't New Yorkers, Los Angelinos or even Chicagoans. They're Washington, DC locals. A new list by Bundle.com focuses on different spending habits across the U.S. - and has thrown some less than predictable cities into the fashion spotlight. Focusing on average monthly spend on clothes, shoes and other wear, the figures show that DC - not normally associated with fashion - is packed with shopaholics who spend, on average, a massive $263 each month on clothes and shoes. Serious spending: As much as NYC is viewed as a shoppers' city, it is Washington DC...

Voters approved the project in 2003, to replace a freeway damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Back then, the cost was $647 million. Today, the price tag is $1.6 billion, with the lion's share of the funding still to come from the federal government. In July, San Francisco's Civil Grand Jury concluded the project was poorly designed, won't meet projected ridership levels, and, as the scathing title of its report says, costs "too much money for too little benefit." At about $1 billion per mile, the Central Subway has become a driving force in Tuesday's mayoral election.

The California-as-Greece meme picked up steam this week when Oakland turned into the poor man’s Athens – clashes with police, protesters shutting down the city’s port (one of Oakland’s few remaining economic engines) and calls for a general strike. And there is a genuine danger for California, which has come upon some very hard times. The state is utterly broke and likely past its ability to increase revenue through tax increases. Wealthy individuals and businesses are fleeing the state for spots in Texas and across the West. New taxes would only worsen the trend. California Democrats were able to resist...

The Obama administration’s efforts to fix the housing crisis may have fallen well short of helping millions of distressed mortgage holders, but they have led to seven-figure paydays for some top executives at troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government regulator for Fannie and Freddie, approved $12.79 million in bonus pay after 10 executives from the two government-sponsored corporations last year met modest performance targets tied to modifying mortgages in jeopardy of foreclosure. The executives got the bonuses about two years after the federally backed mortgage giants received nearly $170 billion in...

(snip) On March 14, 1942, a team of German and Italian lawyers, in the absence of any Greeks, signed an agreement obliging the Bank of Greece to provide Germany with a ‘war loan’ of 476million Reichsmarks (a currency which preceded the Deutschmark). And 70 years later not one penny of it, let alone any interest, has been repaid. Economists (German ones, as it happens) have calculated that, allowing purely for inflation, Greece’s 1942 loan to Germany would today be worth £9bn. But if one adds even a modest rate of interest of 3 per cent, then that debt increases to...

With the Golden State nearly broke, it now plans to secure funding largely by borrowing more, the Associated Press reported, though specifics were unclear. About 20 percent would come from the private sector. Until now, the state had been relying on more than $15 billion from the federal government, $10 billion from private investors and $5 billion from local governments. But the state hadn't gotten any closer to raising the money in the three years since voters approved the plan. The bullet train project, which would link San Francisco and Los Angeles with the nation's first high-speed rail line, has...

Last year, as a debate over the runaway national debt gathered steam in Washington, Social Security passed a treacherous milestone. It went “cash negative.” For most of its 75-year history, the program had paid its own way through a dedicated stream of payroll taxes, even generating huge surpluses for the past two decades. But in 2010, under the strain of a recession that caused tax revenue to plummet, the cost of benefits outstripped tax collections for the first time since the early 1980s.

Social Security advocates are planning to protest Thursday at Social Security offices around the county. Thousands of American Federation of Government Employees Social Security employees, along with the Alliance for Retired Americans, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the Strengthen Social Security Campaign are protesting recent proposals from Congress that would cut the Social Security Administration's operational budget.

Continuing his recent tack of bypassing Congress and enacting reforms “without them,” President Obama on Wednesday announced a package of student loan reforms designed to lower college graduates’ monthly payments, arguing his plan will redirect some of that borrowed money into the economy to promote job growth. Speaking to a friendly audience of college students in Denver, Mr. Obama said the changes “won’t cost taxpayers a dime but will save you money and will save you time,” and tied the ever-rising cost of education to the nation’s lagging economy. “Living with that kind of debt means making some pretty tough...

The total of U.S. state debt, including pension liabilities, could surpass $4 trillion, with California owing the most and Vermont owing the least, a new analysis says. The nonprofit State Budget Solutions combined states' major debt and future liabilities, primarily for pensions and employee healthcare, unemployment insurance loans, outstanding bonds and projected fiscal 2011 budget gaps. It found that in total, states are in debt for $4.2 trillion. The group, which follows state fiscal conditions and advocates for limited spending and taxes, said the deficit calculations that states make "do not offer a full picture of the states' liabilities and...

While the federal government grapples with its own enormous deficit, individual states are also facing huge deficits that total an astounding combined $4 trillion. That figure comes from the newly-released annual report on state debt from State Budget Solutions, a nonprofit think tank that cuts through state government accounting tricks to find the true extent of their deficit burdens. For their figures, SBS combined states' outstanding debt and their current year budget shortfalls, and then factored in the projected costs of other liabilities, including pension and retirement costs, that have yet to be paid for. On the high end, SBS...

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman's presidential campaign is nearly broke - but the campaign is vowing that it will have the resources to continue until the primaries. The campaign said Friday it has just $327,000 on hand and $890,000 in debt. It listed its total receipts - including a $2.25 million donation from Huntsman himself - at $4.51 million, and its total dispersments at $4.18 million. Huntsman campaign manager Tim Miller said Huntsman will have the money he needs to stay in the race until the New Hampshire primary, which will likely take place in early January. "Governor Huntsman has...

I want to welcome this groundbreaking scientific expedition to the savage lands of the Left Coast. You are here in California to answer an important theoretical question and now you have your answer. Yes, this is what Barack Obama’s second term would look like. Study it. Fear it. And then go home and make sure that it never happens to the rest of the country. Of course, in spite of all of its problems, California is still one of the best places in the country to build a successful small business. All you have to do is start with a...

While the battles over the budget underscore how polarized Americans have become, there is one issue that people across the political spectrum agree on: They oppose giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. Fully 69% of Americans in the latest IBD/TIPP poll say they don’t favor states giving in-state college tuition to illegal residents while charging higher fees for legal, out-of-state residents. Just 22% support such a policy.

America has now officially closed the books on the 2010-2011 fiscal year. It is only fitting that the last day of the year saw the settlement of all outstanding and recently auctioned off debt. The result: a surge of $95 billion in total government debt overnight, and a fiscal year closing with the absolutely unprecedented $14,790,340,328,557.15 in debt. Net net, in the past fiscal year, the US has issued a total of $1.228 trillion in new debt and has accelerated over time. At a rate of $125 billion per month, total US debt to GDP will pass 100% in...