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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration warned on Monday it could start defaulting on the government's obligations "very soon" after hitting a limit on the national debt later this month. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the federal government should hit the ceiling by the end of February unless Washington raises the nation's limit on public borrowing. The federal government would then burn through its remaining cash more quickly that it would at other times of the year because the Treasury will be issuing tax refund checks, Lew said. "Without borrowing authority, at some point very soon, it would not be...

Confirming our fears from a few days ago, the early numbers are in for Obamacare... and they are not good. Of course, listening to "bloggers" an be bad for your health, but it seems, very few of the million of "uninsured" have decided that it is as crucial as the "leader" has exclaimed. As Millard Brown Digital reports, fewer than 1% of those trying to register for health insurance under Obamacare have completed the enrollment process. The following inverted pyramid highlights the dismal reality of the Affordable Car Act so far...   

 The Big Pharaoh, the preeminent Egyptian blogger, tweeted a chart that attempts to map the relations between different groups in the Middle East.As you can see, it is a convoluted mess. The red lines show who hates whom, the blue lines show who supports whom, and the green lines show who has no clue about a group. @TheBigPharoahThere are a few issues with the chart, some of which were pointed out by readers of the Washington Post. Israel may technically be at war with Syria but "does not feel it can trust the Sunni-dominated rebel forces any more than it can...

The U.S. jobs picture is bleaker than the most recent jobs reports may make you think. The economy added 175,000 jobs last month, but at the rate things are going, it would take almost a decade to get back to prerecession employment levels. A Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics digs in on the bad news: The number of job openings in the U.S. actually fell by 118,000 in April to 3.8 million.How bad can 3.8 million job openings be? The Economic Policy Institute looks at the number and sees that "the...

Even though I agreed with much of what Ron Paul had to say, all I could ever think is 'this isn't my guy' for president -too odd a demeanor/un-electable- not to mention foreign policy positions that were appalling to a peace-through-strength Republican like myself, particularly statements made re. Iran and Israel. But lo-and-behold, now we have fervent offspring Rand Paul who -while libertarian in his views- apparently saw wisdom in distancing himself from his father's take re. the volatile Muddled East.. and that's when I started listening to him. Maybe I've changed in my hawkishness too- I'd rather have not been involved...

Chart to the left from the Center for Disease Control proves anal sex is disgusting in more ways than one with or without a condom. These stats reveal that those who are against anal sex may have a legitimate phobia for their children in schools and society in general if homosexuality is normalized via same sex marriage and it is not homophobia. In the name of civil rights for maybe the first time sexual lifestyles are trying to make it in. And a very unhealthy one at that. Maybe there is a good reason why we should stick with nature...

Since Dr Michael Mann announced his intention to sue over my Corner post, I've had a few queries on this and that aspect of the case: 1) Several readers have asked if there's a legal defense fund to which they can contribute. No, but, if you want to help out, you could always send a few bucks National Review's way. Since Dr Mann's lawyer, John "I don't bluff" Williams, has assured us he doesn't bluff, it seems prudent to budget for a full-length trial.You can donate to NR here. Or better yet, subscribe to the magazine, and enjoy a fortnightly...

There was a little mentioned tangent to last Friday's very disappointing NFP print of +115,000 (driven by a surge in temp jobs offsetting a collapse in full time positions): as David Rosenberg notes, the jobs number was about half of another far more important number - that of Americans applying for disability , which in April was +225,000. He continues: "this is the new stealth stimulus program - so far in 2011, nearly one million Americans have applied for disability and year-to-date, 333k have actually enrolled (covering 539k family members). In total, more than five million people have been added...

Your credit card's been stolen- and the punk that  did it has been running hog-wild ever since Every American voter needs to see this stuff...  please help to drill reality into some of the thicker skulls within your own personal sphere from now until the election.  Just look at the charts, what's to debate unless you're talking to some hard-core, incurable Cloward-Pivenist?  We're doomed if we don't 86 this guy... period More at Reaganite Republican... RightChange  SodaHead   PoliticoMafioso   FinanceWand   Oddhammer.com One Conservative Voice   TownHall   DittoRush   The Roanoke Slant    TerrellAfterMath   Cartoon-a-Day   Two Minute Conservative   BabylonToday

A friend and I watched the latest Republican debate [yesterday], and he said that if Herman Cain were elected President that he would be our first black President. This started a conversation on FaceBook which led to me compiling some prior humorous videos before Obama was elected. Very Funny!

Pictures are worth a thousand words. This one, via Jason Hart at thathero, is a priceless rejoinder to the class-warfare demagoguery of the public employee unions: As Jason explains: “Consider the average OEA employee’s pay, stacked up against the averages for Ohio private industry workers, government employees, and teachers…The data (aggregated here in a single Excel workbook) from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio Department of Education, and US Department of Labor paint a picture that belies the union’s class warfare routine. But hey, let’s play their game: while the OEA continues lobbying for higher taxes, think about where...

Year, Month, Monthly Average, and Yearly Average

RUSH: We're gonna have to put this chart up at RushLimbaugh.com. It's from Business Insider, Henry Blodget. "Here's The Only Chart You Need To See To Understand Why The US Is Screwed." You've seen the chart, Snerdley? This all from Saturday. "We're still working our way through Kleiner Perkins' partner Mary Meeker's excellent analysis of the financial condition of the United States. We'll be breaking out some key sections in the next few days. In the meantime, here's the one chart you need to see to understand why the US is screwed. This is the 'income statement' of the United...

Societe Generale has mapped out the world by each country's place in the global debt cycle. The cycle starts with countries paying down debt, followed by growth with little debt, then a rapid increase in leverage, closing with the bubble bursting. Every major developed country fits on a part of the chart. Right now, the U.S. is starting over, paying down debt and a long way from the growth portions of the cycle. At the opposite end of the spectrum are Brazil and China, ramping up growth and increasing debt.

If you thought the original (ABOVE) Democrat health plan chart Republicans used to criticize the health care reform bill during the debates this year resembled a dystopian bureaucratic mess, check out the new chart (BELOW) the Joint Economic Committee minority just released on Wednesday.

Great for political self-awareness: take the quiz and map your Bible-clinging, gun-slinging reactionary views- you misguided anti-progressive, you-

For the past several months, the media has tried helping the White House spin unemployment numbers. Whenever initial jobless claims go down, media analysts hail it as a sure sign that the “recovery” is gaining strength. When initial claims rise, it’s an “unexpected” sign that the recovery may take a while longer to show some effects. All of that is nonsense. The employment picture hasn’t changed much at all in the past six months despite all of the media spin. Initial jobless claims have been flat since the end of October, as this chart from Uncommon Misperceptions shows: Actually, the...

I will start.

Shipping Into The U.S. Unexpectedly Jumped In December John Carney and Kamelia Angelova Jan. 12, 2010, 4:58 PM Shipping into the U.S. climbed from November to December, defying typical seasonal trends and perhaps demonstrating growing demand in the U.S. "December was a surprisingly good month that put a promising end to 2009," the research company Panjiva said in a report issued today. Specifically: There was a 3% increase in the number of global manufacturers shipping to the U.S. market There was a 2% increase in the number of U.S. companies receiving waterborne shipments from global manufacturers Traditionally, these numbers decline...

That Horrible Q3 GDP Report Was Even Worse Than You Thought Joe Weisenthal and Kamelia Angelova Dec. 28, 2009, 5:53 PM Last week the Commerce Department announced that in Q3 GDP had been revised down to 2.2% growth after first clocking in at a brisk 3.8%. The number was the latest blow to those who are still holding out hopes of a V-shaped recovery. Not only was the headline number disappointing, but a deeper drill-down is also depressing. As Goldman Sachs analyst Jan Hatzius pointed out in a recent note, major GDP components, including consumption, residential investment, and business investment...