Free Republic

Although the Obama White House and economists keep saying the economy is getting better, Americans appear to be rejecting the message and the messenger.

Two major developments in the U.S. financial and business sector denote an ironic symbolism, pointing to precisely what is wrong with the American economy today. The corruption-laden Goldman-Sachs contributed nearly one million dollars to the campaign of Barack Obama, making it his largest donor. And GE, the Leftist corporation that pushed Obama's 'cap and trade' scheme, paid zero in taxes. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff). Inside Goldman-Sachs headquarters. Goldman-Sachs was a major player in the near-collapse of the financial sector in late 2008, resulting in the 2 bailout bills enacted by Congress--one under George W. Bush and the other under Barack Obama....

Conservatives in one accord are united behind at least 2 principles--reducing the size of government by slashing federal spending, and cutting taxes for all, across the board. At issue is how to best go about it.

In a display of gross misrepresentation of the supposed 'savings' the ObamaCare plan would provide for medical care in this country, Barack Obama claimed in a speech in Pennsylvania on Monday that his healthcare plan would save the system nearly $1 trillion dollars over a ten-year period. He even quoted the report of the Congressional Budget Office as the basis for his assertion. The problem is that the Congressional Budget Office report on the present proposal for healthcare reform says the exact opposite. As widely reported on Monday, the CBO estimates that ObamaCare and the other components of the Obama...

For those true believers out there who still accept whatever this Administration tells them, despite being caught in numerous lies, here is one to add to the list. Perhaps this will convince you that Barack Obama and his minions cannot be trusted. The Congressional Budget Office released figures that show that despite Obama's notion that his plan for America will reduce the national debt, the Obama agenda will actually add 9.7 trillion dollars to the debt over the next ten years, almost doubling the current debt-load of 12 trillion.

In a stunningly futile attempt to hide the facts concerning the job market this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, stated that he had 'good news.' And what, exactly, was that 'good news?' Reid continued, 'Only 36,000 lost their jobs in February.' This is good news, how? According to Reid it was not as bad as expected and not as alarming as it was during 2009. One is hard-pressed to find any good news in 36,000 more Americans losing their jobs in one month. But then, as bad as it is, this is a drop in the bucket compared...

A new report issued today by the National Bureau of Economic Research indicates that the present severe recession is much more than simply a subprime mortgage crisis. No doubt the government's policy of applying pressure to mortgage lenders via FannieMae and FreddieMac to lend money to those unable to afford mortgages was a major contributor to the financial meltdown. However, the NBER report indicates that the problem is much deeper. In order to understand the problem one must become familiar with a little-known entity by the name of REPO--the Renew Sale and Repurchase market for collateralized securities:

Hoping to keep the news low-keyed and under-reported, Fannie Mae announced late Friday afternoon after the markets closed that it had lost over $74 billion in 2009, bringing its 3-year loss totals to $137 billion. This is in addition to Freddie Mac's $80 billion loss during the same period. Fannie and Freddie have continued to squander taxpayer dollars even after the massive bailouts by the federal government. In fact, the mortgage giants lost more money after the bailouts than they did before.

It is time for some painful plain talk on the economy. Rather than dancing around the issue, whistling past the graveyard as if things are not as bad as they seem, the only solution for our current financial woes is to cut government spending to the bone. Economists across the board are in near-unanimous agreement that the mind-boggling debt load of the United States is unsustainable and only adds to the ongoing problem in the economy. There can be no recovery when the nation carries a debt load that is nearly impossible for the human brain to comprehend.

Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits. Economists fear that the nascent recovery will leave more people behind than in past recessions, failing to create jobs in sufficient numbers to absorb the record-setting ranks of the long-term unemployed. Call them the new poor: people long accustomed to the comforts of middle-class life who are now relying on public assistance for the first time in their lives -- potentially...

In a report that on the surface appears to be good news--news which the Obama Administration will no doubt use as proof that its policies are working--the government today stated that unemployment declined to 9.7% in January. But the report on the improving jobless rate is basically meaningless. Jobs remain scarce amid a sluggish economic recovery. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter). One key component of calculating joblessness is the number of jobs that are available. For several years the U.S. has been losing the number of jobs that are available for workers. Those lost jobs skew the unemployment figures. And here...

More news is surfacing concerning the story reported yesterday on the under-the-table plans for the U.S. Treasury to seize retirement funds and other citizen assets in order to minimize the impact of the coming economic meltdown. The IRS has been purchasing shotguns for its tax collection activities. A photo of the type of shotgun they are buying indicates that it is the short-barreled variety. Only 60 of these shotguns will be purchased. But the story concerning the IRS and firearms highlights the fact that the agency has a massive arsenal at the tip of its hands, given that it deploys...

As the Obama administration assures Americans that 'there are signs of hope' in the economy, the facts say the opposite. The forecast is so dire, in fact, that the retirement funds and financial assets of all Americans are vulnerable to government seizure. Economists and market analysts who predicted the last meltdown are joining in a united chorus to warn that yet another is on the way for 2010, and this one will be much worse than the last. In an alarming piece at WRSA the assertion is made by several respected authorities on economics that the U.S. Treasury Department will...

WASHINGTON — US existing-home sales plunged in December following a buyers' rush to take advantage of tax credits, industry data showed Monday, signaling a murky outlook for the troubled sector.

The Waffle House in Columbia, South Carolina gives one an interesting panoramic view of the American electorate--a microcosm of the U.S. population. Here there are white-collar government types, blue collar whites, African-Americans, Hispanics, the works. Conversations over the past week in this popular gathering place have centered on Barack Obama and the state of the economy. South Carolina has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the nation, which spiked up by .3% in December to 12.6%. December's unemployment figures for the entire nation continued to move upward, in spite of the jobs created by the holiday season. The...

Editor's note: Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D. is a frequent contributor to RFFM.org. Rapacki is an independent intelligence analyst and consultant in behavioral analysis and threat assessment. Rapacki's reports, briefings and personal commentaries are distributed nationally. A Christian, Rapacki's motivation is to challenge people to think critically about the times we are experiencing and to prepare appropriately, especially in their relationship with God. "People die for lack of knowledge" is a defining statement guiding his writings. Overview: A clock is ticking…prior to the clock striking the preverbal midnight, will the 2010 elections arrive and usher in a sweeping repudiation of Obama,...

If you still have a job, maybe Friday's numbers from the Labor Department will give you a chance to exhale. Since the recession began in December 2007, the employment market, for the most part, has been one negative headline after another. Now, we've learned that the U.S. lost only 11,000 jobs in November, that the unemployment rate surprisingly ticked down from 10.2% the previous month to only 10%, and that for the prior two months the total of jobs lost actually wasn't as bad as initially thought. The last time the data were so bright, if they can be called...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent in October as 190,000 jobs were shed, the government said Friday in data highlighting ongoing struggles of an economy emerging from recession. The Labor Department report, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, showed a rise in the jobless rate, up from 9.8 percent in September, to the highest since 1983. But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in over a year. The jobless rate shot above the key 10 percent barrier for the first time since June 1983, even though the...

AP IMPACT: Stimulus jobs overstated by thousands October 29, 2009 By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writers WASHINGTON – A Colorado company said it created 4,231 jobs with the help of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan. The real number: fewer than 1,000. A child care center in Florida said it saved 129 jobs with the help of stimulus money. Instead, it gave pay raises to its existing employees. Elsewhere in the U.S., some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two, three, four or even more times.

According to current documents the Copenhagen Treaty, if signed by President Obama in December, will ultimately make the U.S., along with other "developed nations", financially responsible for the CO2 emissions of "developing nations". Read the document here. "Recognizing that current and potential climate change impacts require a shift in the global investment patterns and that criteria for financing allocation shall clearly respond to the priorities identified by the international community, with climate change stabilization being one of these priorities." What does this mean? Essentially, the treaty would mandate that the U.S. and other developed nations share there wealth with developing...