The Economy – The economy shed another 131,000 jobs in July and new estimates say that May and June may have created 100,000 fewer jobs than what was earlier reported. Of course, the White House will spin this by saying that 71,000 jobs were created in the private sector. Many of the job losses were from temporary Census layoffs. Unemployment remained at 9.5%. Worse yet, Fannie Mae received another 1.5 billion dollar bailout to compensate for their 12th straight quarterly loss. In other news, state economies debt rose 10.3% to 460 billion dollars. Connecticut has the worst debt per capita with each resident strapped for nearly 5K of their debt. Finally, the Wall Street Journal is reporting companies are having a hard time trying to fill open positions. They theorize that the lavish unemployment benefits handed out by the government is keeping qualified workers away.
Rod Blagojevich – He was found guilty on only 1 of 24 charges. So far, it sounds like he will get off easy.
Bailouts – Last week Congress passed a 26 billion dollar bailout for state Medicaid and union budget shortfalls. Part of this will be paid for by an 11 billion dollar new tax on corporations. This is another step that is moving us closer to a social welfare state.
U.S. Postal Service – They posted a 3.5 billion dollar quarterly loss.
New START – The new treaty between the U.S. and Russia to cap nuclear arms has stalled in the Senate. The treaty would require 67 votes for approval.
John Kerry – The Massachusetts Senator is finally giving in and paying 500 hundred thousand dollars in back taxes he avoided by anchoring his sail boat in a Rhode Island marina instead of in a Massachusetts marina.
Fourteenth Amendment – The provision that claims any person born in the United States is a naturalized citizen is getting lots of attention these days. This provision was originally intended for children born from slave parents. However, in Texas today, it is estimated that 60,000 infants are born in the U.S. from illegal parents. This certainly was not the intent of the fourteenth amendment, but it will also be just as hard to rewrite the provision.
Private Sector – It costs a small business owner about 77K for an employee who makes 44K per year. This includes about 12K for benefits and another 21K in taxes to pay help pay for their government counterparts that take home nearly twice as much money in salary in benefits.
Promises – As I predicted, Obama has broken another promise. He declared there will be no more military tribunals. Well, the first of many military tribunals is under way at Guantanamo.
Immigration Reform – Florida is close to a proposing their plan for immigration reform that may be more aggressive than the Arizona proposed law.
Housing Assistance – Thousands of people wanting housing assistance, in the Atlanta area, showed up to file an application. The mob got unruly and several people were hurt in the confrontation. Is this what government dependence will look like in the future?
Food Stamps – The Democrats have voted to provide subsidies to unions and cut funding to food stamps. What ever happened to the liberal philosophy that Democrats look out for the poor?
No comments:
Post a Comment