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Obama?
Mar 9, 2011 9:06:02 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 9, 2011 9:06:02 GMT -4
This says it all! White House memo notes shortage of applicants for contest to have Obama to speak at high school graduation The competition was extended from the February 25 deadline until Friday, March 11 after few schools met the original application deadline. CBS News has learned a White House Communications Office internal memo dated February 22 noted "a major issue with the Commencement Challenge." "As of yesterday we had received 14 applications and the deadline is Friday," the memo said. The memo also urged recipients to, "please keep the application number close hold." www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20040100-503544.html
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Obama?
Mar 9, 2011 21:24:20 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 9, 2011 21:24:20 GMT -4
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Obama?
Mar 10, 2011 14:00:27 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 10, 2011 14:00:27 GMT -4
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Obama?
Mar 13, 2011 7:15:44 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 13, 2011 7:15:44 GMT -4
Obama: “It Would Be so Much Easier to Be the President of China”… WASHINGTON (NYT) — In the Middle East crisis, as on other issues, there are two Barack Obamas: the transformative historical figure and the pragmatic American president. Three months after a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself aflame and ignited a political firestorm across the Arab world, the president is trumping the trailblazer. . . . How Mr. Obama manages to do that while also balancing American interests is a question that officials acknowledge will plague this historic president for months to come. Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, “No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.” weaselzippers.us/2011/03/11/obama-it-would-be-so-much-easier-to-be-the-president-of-china/
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Obama?
Mar 16, 2011 16:27:55 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 16, 2011 16:27:55 GMT -4
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Obama?
Mar 16, 2011 16:30:20 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 16, 2011 16:30:20 GMT -4
Right Direction or Wrong Track 22% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction, Lowest of Obama's Presidency Just 22% of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, the lowest level of confidence found since before President Obama’s inauguration in January 2009. According to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, March 13, 72% of voters now say the country is heading down the wrong track, also at its highest level since before the inauguration. www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/right_direction_or_wrong_track
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Obama?
Mar 19, 2011 11:47:29 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 19, 2011 11:47:29 GMT -4
US Cost of Living Hits Record, Passing Pre-Crisis High A special index created by the Labor Department to measure the actual cost of living for Americans hit a record high in February, according to data released Thursday, surpassing the old high in July 2008. The Chained Consumer Price Index, released along with the more widely-watched CPI, increased 0.5 percent to 127.4, from 126.8 in January. In July 2008, just as the housing crisis was tightening its grip, the Chained Consumer Price Index hit its previous record of 126. www.cnbc.com/id/42130406
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Obama?
Mar 21, 2011 20:46:16 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 21, 2011 20:46:16 GMT -4
I think we turned the corner! Existing-Home Sales Plunge, Setback for Housing Recovery Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell unexpectedly sharply in February and prices touched their lowest level in nearly nine years, implying a housing market recovery was still a long off. AP The National Association of Realtors said Monday sales fell 9.6 percent month over month to an annual rate of 4.88 million units, snapping three straight months of gains. The percentage decline was the largest since July. Economists polled by Reuters had expected February sales to fall 4.0 percent to a 5.15 million-unit pace from the previously reported 5.36 million unit rate in January, which was revised slightly up to 5.40 million. The median home price dropped 5.2 percent in February from a year earlier to $156,100, the lowest since April 2002. www.cnbc.com/id/42192395
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Obama?
Mar 22, 2011 7:42:24 GMT -4
Post by Frank on Mar 22, 2011 7:42:24 GMT -4
Maybe we need another stimulus program
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Obama?
Mar 22, 2011 14:29:27 GMT -4
Post by grova on Mar 22, 2011 14:29:27 GMT -4
Maybe we need another stimulus program Which one? Bush or Obama's?
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Obama?
Mar 22, 2011 16:00:43 GMT -4
Post by Frank on Mar 22, 2011 16:00:43 GMT -4
Maybe we need another stimulus program Which one? Bush or Obama's? My remark was sarcastic, but . . . Hmmm, let me think. Bush's gave me an extra $600 to put into the economy, Obama's cost us thousands per taxpayer and put our government another trillion dollars in debt. Tens of millions wasted, shovel ready projects to nowhere, and no accountability of the usage. If I had a choice, I think I'll go with the Bush plan. How about you?
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Deleted
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Obama?
Mar 22, 2011 16:40:44 GMT -4
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2011 16:40:44 GMT -4
Frank, I don't have the specifics.....but, I think we are actually paying less taxes now then a few years ago, it's part of the deficit problem. I could be incorrect on that.
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Obama?
Mar 22, 2011 21:09:21 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 22, 2011 21:09:21 GMT -4
US Approaching Insolvency, Fix To Be 'Painful': Fisher The United States is on a fiscal path towards insolvency and policymakers are at a "tipping point," a Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday. "If we continue down on the path on which the fiscal authorities put us, we will become insolvent, the question is when," Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said in a question and answer session after delivering a speech at the University of Frankfurt. "The short-term negotiations are very important, I look at this as a tipping point." www.cnbc.com/id/42209447
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Obama?
Mar 23, 2011 8:04:10 GMT -4
Post by Frank on Mar 23, 2011 8:04:10 GMT -4
Frank, I don't have the specifics.....but, I think we are actually paying less taxes now then a few years ago, it's part of the deficit problem. I could be incorrect on that. We are. Bush dropped the tax rate by 2% in 2003. The current rates will continue for the next two years. Congress and this administration are looking at modifying the Bush plan for 2013. Taxpayers in the upper brackets will be affected then. However, if the Bush tax cuts are simply discontinued, everyone will pay more.
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Deleted
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Obama?
Mar 23, 2011 8:26:58 GMT -4
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2011 8:26:58 GMT -4
Obama is not going to be re-elected, so that shouldn't be an issue with the Bush tax cuts going away. As for congress, republicans will gain control of the senate, with the majority in the house already, cuts still won't go away. The 2012 presidential election, a republican will be president in 2013, or should be because of Obama.....republicans will be in total control.
I hope this scenario happens personally and I'm even going to vote that way were possible. There will be no more excuses of why things can't be done. People should embrace that, give the republicans 4-8 years to get the country on track. In the end, if things aren't better, we should go the other way and see what they can get done.
I'm not kidding about this.
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Obama?
Mar 23, 2011 8:58:43 GMT -4
Post by Frank on Mar 23, 2011 8:58:43 GMT -4
Now the way I see it, we need a compromise between both parties. The tax increase proposed for the wealthy makes sense from what I've read. I believe everyone should pay their fair share. The problem is every politician has to tack on their personal agenda to vote in favor of it. Hence, nothing gets done.
Unions were created to protect the worker from abuse from the company. Now unions have become the bully to the company. The company makes bad decisions for fear of the unions. That's not the way it is supposed to work.
We should have started drilling in ANWR two years ago. Oil prices are going to create turmoil in this country. I blame this fully on the Obama administration. The average worker that needs to drive to work will have to chose between gasoline and necessities.
I would also prefer a Republican in the white house. We will be paying for the arrogance of this administration, along with our children and grandchildren.
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Obama?
Mar 23, 2011 10:32:18 GMT -4
Post by dmki on Mar 23, 2011 10:32:18 GMT -4
Obama, mama, your mamma, banana, fana, fo fama, fee, fi, fo, famma, Obama's your mamma.
Frank, dank, the stank, stuck its neck out and sank, wanna drill take a pill you just like the oil spill.
;D
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Obama?
Mar 23, 2011 11:09:53 GMT -4
Post by dmki on Mar 23, 2011 11:09:53 GMT -4
Yup, give the republicans total control and let them turn the mess around. After all they started it and who better to fix it then who started it right.
Analogy time
Thats like having someone fix your dishwasher and the next day it floods your kitchen completely ruining your hardwood floors. Just get that same person in there to fix it again, dont worry about the floors, they sure wont.
Seriously I hope the republicans get full control, then we will all see. If this country makes a turn great, if it doesnt just give them another eight years.
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Obama?
Mar 23, 2011 11:57:27 GMT -4
Post by RobMoore on Mar 23, 2011 11:57:27 GMT -4
When will people learn that the .gov will NEVER fix the problems, whether they are donkeys or pachyderms.
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Obama?
Mar 29, 2011 9:03:11 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Mar 29, 2011 9:03:11 GMT -4
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Obama?
Apr 1, 2011 5:24:11 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Apr 1, 2011 5:24:11 GMT -4
Gasoline up 100% under Obama Feeling pain at the pump? Gas prices have doubled since Mr. Obama took office. According to the GasBuddy gasoline price tracking web site, the price of a gallon of regular gas was around $1.79 when Mr. Obama took office. Today the national average is $3.58. The lowest average price in the continental United States is $3.31 in Tulsa Oklahoma, the highest is $4.14 in Santa Barbara, CA. Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has arrived on average throughout California, and a number of other states are headed in that direction. www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2011/mar/30/gas-prices-double-under-obama/
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Obama?
Apr 1, 2011 6:37:46 GMT -4
Post by falgar25 on Apr 1, 2011 6:37:46 GMT -4
Gasoline up 100% under Obama Feeling pain at the pump? Gas prices have doubled since Mr. Obama took office. According to the GasBuddy gasoline price tracking web site, the price of a gallon of regular gas was around $1.79 when Mr. Obama took office. Today the national average is $3.58. The lowest average price in the continental United States is $3.31 in Tulsa Oklahoma, the highest is $4.14 in Santa Barbara, CA. Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has arrived on average throughout California, and a number of other states are headed in that direction. www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2011/mar/30/gas-prices-double-under-obama/Lies, d**n lies, and statistics Take a look for yourself at gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx?time=3 Expand the graph out to the six year time line. Yes, gas prices in December 2008 were half of what they are today, but they were also half what the price was from May to October of 2008. While prices have been increasing lately, they are still less today than what they were in June of 2008 (remember, that was before Obama was President). Perhaps we need an article that credits Obama for bringing gas prices down and holding them down for the last two years. The recent rise in gas prices, under Obama, coincides with the fall of the dictators in Africa and the Middle East. Maybe there should be an article that credits Bush with keeping the brutal dictators in place to keep gas prices low. "If you see it in the sun it's so" is part of a nice story. Reality isn't that simple.
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Deleted
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Obama?
Apr 1, 2011 8:34:41 GMT -4
Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2011 8:34:41 GMT -4
Inflation adjusted Gasoline Prices
Updated July 21, 2010
Back in 1980 - 81 we were shocked as gas prices rose above $1.00 for the first time. This was especially shocking because just four years earlier in 1976 gas was $0.60 per gallon and in 1969 it was only $0.35 a gallon. But by 1981 only 12 years later it was a full dollar higher at $1.35. That is an increase of 286% in 12 years!
In 1981 that $1.35 would be the equivalent of $3.24 in inflation adjusted terms for 2010 dollars.
Compare that to the price increase from 1998 where the average price was $1.02 and by July 2008 it had increased to $4.02 and you have a 294% increase in 10 years. But that is to the monthly peak price. Amazingly the average price for all of 2008 was $3.23. Almost identical to the price in 1981 when adjusted for inflation.
Interestingly, the average price of a gallon of gas from 1918 to the present is $2.39 in 2010 inflation adjusted dollars. So it is safe to say that anytime during that period that the price of gas was above $2.39 in inflation adjusted terms it was expensive and whenever it was below that price it was cheap. So obviously when it reached $4.00 a gallon in July 2008 it was expensive. And with the average for 2010 at $2.73 it is much closer to the average.
If we look at the average annual Inflation adjusted gasoline prices for each of the following years (1958, 1968, 1978, 1988, 1998, and 2008 )we see several of the "8" years below the average.
Inflation Adjusted Gasoline Prices Year Price 1958 $2.26 1968 $2.13 1978 $2.17 1988 $1.77 1998 $1.36 2008 $3.26 2010 $2.73
So if the long term average price is $2.39 then in 1988 gas was very cheap and in 1978 it was only slightly below average but in 1981 (at an inflation adjusted $3.24) and in 2008 it was extremely expensive on a historical basis.
In 1998 gas had gotten really cheap by historical standards allowing people to buy gas guzzlers like SUV's and Hummers. But that reversed in 2008 as prices rose above the long term average.
With the Annual Average for 2009 at $2.34 it was extremely close to the long term average price of $2.39.
Remember that these are average annual prices and individual months had much higher averages and on a weekly or daily basis prices could (and did) spike much higher (and lower).
According to the US Energy Information Administration the average price of a gallon of gasoline in March 2008 cost $3.21 ... although I know in many places like California people would have been glad to find gasoline for $3.21 a gallon so in addition to averaging over time it is also averaging over the whole country.
I spent several weeks driving around California in March 2008 and often saw gas closer to $4.00 a gallon and then actually saw $5.00 a gallon in May in Alaska. Granted that was more of a supply/demand issue (it was the only station for a hundred miles and all the gas actually came from a refinery thousands of miles away). The irony of the matter was across the highway within site of the pump, was the Trans-Alaska pipeline, transporting crude on the beginning of its thousands of miles trip.
The chart above right shows the Average annual Gas prices in nominal terms (what you actually pay) and in inflation adjusted terms (red line).
It is extremely difficult to decide how over or under priced a commodity is when the scale is constantly changing so by adjusting for inflation we can see this much easier. It pays to know what prices are in "Inflation Adjusted Terms" so here are some other inflation adjusted prices you might find helpful.
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Obama?
Apr 2, 2011 5:30:56 GMT -4
Post by dej on Apr 2, 2011 5:30:56 GMT -4
While prices have been increasing lately, they are still less today than what they were in June of 2008 (remember, that was before Obama was President). Perhaps we need an article that credits Obama for bringing gas prices down and holding them down for the last two years. Nope, that don't work either. If you exand the chart to the 3 year period, you can also see prices bottomed out in December of 2008 (remember, that was before Obama was President.) So we can't give him credit for bringing gas prices down. In fact, the chart shows prices steadily increasing since his inauguration, so we can't give him credit for holding them down the last two years either. I do see one thing we can give him credit for. Under Bush it took about 7 & 1/2 years into his term to hit these prices. Under Obama, we got there in just 2 & 1/2 years, and that was starting from the lowest prices we had seen in 6 years!
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Obama?
Apr 2, 2011 8:18:29 GMT -4
Post by hisea on Apr 2, 2011 8:18:29 GMT -4
Barack Obama: Losing $84 billion big success Barack Obama has some 'splaining to do about taxpayers' profitable "investment" in General Motors. It turns out the president is imagining things. Though Democrats tout the auto bailout as a success, recent reports illustrate the taxpayer cost of the GM auto bailout was substantially larger than the Obama administration and a Congressional Oversight report has owned up to. "American taxpayers are now positioned to recover more than my administration invested in GM,” President Obama said, according to a piece in USA Today last November. Steven Rattner, former head of the Treasury's auto task force agreed, telling CNN in November: “Recent progress at GM gives reason for optimism that it may be possible for taxpayers to get every penny back.” In fact, Investor's Business Daily reported that even the White House’s Director of the National Economic Council remarked that the Treasury Department Department had a good chance in "recovering most, if not all, of its investment in" GM. www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2011/mar/31/barack-obama-losing-84-billion-big-success/
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