Under Obama, 11,327 Pages of Federal Regulations Added

(CNSNews.com) – Over the past three years, the bound edition of theCode of Federal Regulations has increased by 11,327 pages – a 7.4 percent increase from Jan. 1, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2011. In 2009, the increase in the number of pages was the most over the last decade – 3.4 percent or 5,359 pages.

Over the past decade, the federal government has issued almost 38,000 new final rules, according to the draft of the 2011 annual report to Congress on federal regulations by the Office of Management and Budget. That brought the total at the end of 2011 to 169,301 pages.

That is more than double the number of pages needed to publish the regulations back in 1975 when the bound edition consisted of 71,244 pages.

The figures were released on Monday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., when the business federation held its annual Labor Day briefing on the state of the economy, obstacles to job creation and the burden of regulations on the labor market.

Randy Johnson, senior vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, distributed a handout of a Congressional Research Service analysis of a 2008 study commissioned by the Small Business Administration that estimated the annual compliance price for all federal regulations at $1.7 trillion that year.

Seventy percent of the regulations were economic, accounting for $1.236 trillion of the annual cost. The other regulations were, in order of cost, environment regulations ($281 billion), tax compliance ($160 billion) and occupational safety and health and homeland security ($75 billion).

“I think these kinds of figures, if you put yourself in the place of a business person you’ll find them fairly mindboggling,” Johnson said.

Economists with the Chamber also analyzed the OBM’s report on the study, calculating that if every U.S. household paid an equal share of the federal regulatory burden, it would mean a $15,586 tab for each household in 2008.

Ronald Bird, economist with the USCC, told CNSNews.com that the 7.4 percent increase in pages of regulations during the first three years of the Obama administration is higher than the increase over the first three years of the George W. Bush administration (2001, 2002, and 2003) when the publication grew by 4.4 percent.

Via: CNS News

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Cheney responds to Obama’s reportedly poor intelligence briefings attendance

Former Vice President Dick Cheney took a shot at President Barack Obama late Monday night after it was reported that the president has attended fewer than half of his daily intelligence briefings.

“If President Obama were participating in his intelligence briefings on a regular basis then perhaps he would understand why people are so offended at his efforts to take sole credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden,” Cheney told The Daily Caller in an email through a spokeswoman.

“Those who deserve the credit are the men and women in our military and intelligence communities who worked for many years to track him down. They are the ones who deserve the thanks of a grateful nation.”

Some former special forces officers have released a political ad criticizing Obama for taking what they believe to be too much credit for the raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.

In the Washington Post Monday, opinion writer Marc Thiessen pointed to a new report by the conservative Government Accountability Institute that charged that Obama had attended fewer than half of the presidential daily briefs since taking office.

“The Government Accountability Institute, a new conservative investigative research organization, examined President Obama’s schedule from the day he took office until mid-June 2012, to see how often he attended his presidential daily brief (PDB) — the meeting at which he is briefed on the most critical intelligence threats to the country,” Thiessen, who was a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, wrote.

“During his first 1,225 days in office, Obama attended his PDB just 536 times — or 43.8 percent of the time. During 2011 and the first half of 2012, his attendance became even less frequent — falling to just over 38 percent. By contrast, Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, almost never missed his daily intelligence meeting.”

Via: The Daily Caller

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Father's Note Changes Family's 9/11 Account

The note is just five words and two numbers.

Randy Scott scrawled these five words and two numbers on a piece of paper on Sept. 11, 2001, while at work at Euro Brokers Inc. in the World Trade Center.

But if a picture is worth a thousand words, these five words and two numbers have changed the picture completely for Scott's family. Family members refer to it simply as "the note." The note that floated from the 84th floor of Two World Trade Center to chaotic streets below, and was tenderly preserved as it traveled from hand to hand and through time to reach them.

Via: Hartford Courant

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Biden says 'I' more than any convention speaker

BIDEN SPEAKS “I,” “I’ve,” “I’m,” “I’ll,” “my,” “mine” and “me.”

Over the past two weeks, politicians at both the Democratic and Republican conventions spoke of health care policy, taxation and every other hot-button issue under the sun.

They also, it turns out, talked about themselves. A lot

Using the transcripts produced by Federal News Service, POLITICO examined the speeches of the conventions’ most prominent speakers and counted the number of instances the following words were employed: “I,” “I’ve,” “I’m,” “I’ll,” “my,” “mine” and “me.”

The results? Joe Biden took first place by a wide margin. With his primetime — and personal — speech, the vice president racked up 135 mentions of himself. He was followed by first lady Michelle Obama, with 112. Mitt Romney took top honors among Republicans with 91 mentions of himself, as compared to 103 for his opponent, President Barack Obama.

Other notable speakers — and top self-mentioners — included Chris Christie (73), Ann Romney (67), Clint Eastwood (63), Paul Ryan (62), Mike Huckabee (56) and Marco Rubio (47), Julian Castro (43), Elizabeth Warren (37), Charlie Crist (33) and Lilly Ledbetter (32).

Despite Bill Clinton’s stem-winding speech in Charlotte, he clocked in with a relatively modest 30 mentions of self.

Via: POLITICO

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Dick Morris: Obama Thugs Rough Up Gallup For Polls They Don’t Like

The Obama Administration’s Justice Department announced, on August 22nd, that it was joining a lawsuit by a former Gallup employee and whistleblower against the Gallup Corporation for allegedly overcharging the government on polling work.

The announcement comes on the heels of a confrontation between Gallup staffers and Obama strategist David Axelrod in which he accused the company of using out of date sampling methods which, he said, generated polling data negative to the president.

The whistleblower’s lawsuit has been kicking around since 2009, but the Justice Department joined the suit only after the run-in between Axelrod and Gallup in April of this year.

In a scene right out of a typical authoritarian regime, Fox News reports that “employees at the venerable Gallup polling firm suggested they felt threatened by Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod when he questioned the methodology of a mid-April poll showing Mitt Romney leading the president – according to internal emails published Thursday.”

That poll that sent Axelrod ballistic showed Romney leading Obama 48-43 percent.

The Daily Caller published e mails that started when Axelrod sent a tweet to Gallup saying the tracking poll was “saddled with some methodological problems” and directing followers to a National Journal story in which a professor suggested outdated sampling.

According to the email chain titled “Axelrod vs. Gallup,” the White House in addition asked that a Gallup staffer “come over and explain our methodology,” which was apparently perceived as a subtle threat.

Fox News reported that “a Gallup official said in an email he thought Axelrod’s pressure ‘sounds a little like a Godfather situation.’”

Gallup refused to change its methodology to suit the White House.

And the Justice Department intervention in the whistleblower suit came three months later. The whistleblower, Michael Lindley, claims that Gallup violated the False Claims Act by overcharging the federal government for its services to the U.S. Mint, the State Department and other federal agencies. The Justice Department plans to add Gallup’s work with FEMA to the list of alleged overcharges covered in the lawsuit.

Lindley charged that Gallup overestimated the number of hours of field work that the government surveys would require and that it billed the feds based on the inflated estimates.

According to the Washington Times, Lindley worked for the Obama campaign in 2008 as an Iowa field organizer based out of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

As the election progresses, this blatant effort to influence Gallup’s data and its poll numbers is an example of Chicago political thugs at their worst.

Via: Dick Morris

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DESPITE MEDIA HYPE, NO BOUNCE FOR OBAMA IN SWING STATES

Politico’s “Unnamed Sources” say Ohio is lost for Mitt Romney. Like hell it is. They say Obama got a serious bounce from the DNC. Like hell he did.

Whatever bounce Obama got was in the blue states. In the swing states, it’s still way too close to call. Today’s Rasmussen poll results show that in the eleven swing states, including Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, which total 145 electoral votes, it’s Obama 46% and Romney 45%. In 2008, Obama won these states 53% to 46%.

So how does the MSM try to spin the evidence so Obama looks like he’s unbeatable? Let’s look at Ohio, for example. Politico reported (using uncredited sources, of course), that Ohio is lost for Romney:

“Two officials intimately involved in the GOP campaign said Ohio leans clearly in Obama’s favor now.”

I didn’t know Axelrod and Plouffe were working for Romney, but hey, they’ll go where the money is.

But, as usual, Politico was relying on Obama-leaning polls to support their narrative; yesterday the PPP poll (which is always weighted toward Obama because of PPP’s affiliation with the SEIU) showed Obama up by five in Ohio.  Hmmm. According to the Gravis marketing poll taken last Tuesday, Romney was up three in Ohio. Who’s telling the truth?

Consider these:

Example #1.  On August 14, the PPP poll showed Obama up three in Ohio, while the same day Rasmussen Reports showed Romney and Obama tied.

Example #2: Last Monday PPP showed Obama tied with Romney in North Carolina, while the Elon University/Charlotte Observer poll, a local state poll, showed Romney up by four.

But Politico won’t be denied their mission to say whatever they can to disillusion Romney’s base, and they make no bones about using uncredited sources; as Politico reporter Jonathan Martin said last month when Politico quoted unnamed sources in a story about Republicans unhappy about the selection of Paul Ryan (what?????):

We were candid about the sourcing on that, as you mentioned, Howie, and basically say to our readers, ‘Look, folks don’t want to put their names [on] the charges. If you don’t want to read Politico, that’s fine.’

Every race in the swing states is close right now, and the unconscionable skewing of the polls by the MSM shouldn’t discourage Republicans. The MSM has lied before, they are lying now, and they will lie in the future. The Obama campaign has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Romney, they have the power of incumbency, and Romney simply is not going away. And all of this is before Romney has even attacked Obama in ads and the debates.

Hey, Dems, this show ain’t even close to over; we’re just getting warmed up.

Via: Breitbart

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Schools beat the drum for equity

Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwiches Now Racist…

Verenice Gutierrez picks up on the subtle language of racism every day.

Take the peanut butter sandwich, a seemingly innocent example a teacher used in a lesson last school year.

“What about Somali or Hispanic students, who might not eat sandwiches?” says Gutierrez, principal at Harvey Scott K-8 School, a diverse school of 500 students in Northeast Portland’s Cully neighborhood.

“Another way would be to say: ‘Americans eat peanut butter and jelly, do you have anything like that?’ Let them tell you. Maybe they eat torta. Or pita.”

Guitierrez, along with all of Portland Public Schools’ principals, will start the new school year off this week by drilling in on the language of “Courageous Conversations,” the district-wide equity training being implemented in every building in phases during the past few years.

Through intensive staff trainings, frequent staff meetings, classroom observations and other initiatives, the premise is that if educators can understand their own “white privilege,” then they can change their teaching practices to boost minority students’ performance.

Last Wednesday, the first day of the school year for staff, for example, the first item of business for teachers at Scott School was to have a Courageous Conversation — to examine a news article and discuss the “white privilege” it conveys.

Most of the staff are on board, but there is some opposition to a drum class being offered to middle school boys of color at Scott School.

Fifty percent of the students at Scott are Hispanic; another 15 percent are black and 9 percent are Asian. Eighty-five percent are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

Chuck Barber, who also offers boys’ drum corps at Vernon and Faubion schools in Northeast Portland, approached Gutierrez last year to start up a lunch-time drum class for black and Latino boys once a week. This year, it’ll expand to two classes a week, to accommodate new boys as well as those with experience.

Via: Portland Tribune

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Insight: GM's Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs

Loses $49,000 on each car sold. - General Motors Co sold a record number of Chevrolet Volt sedans in August — but that probably isn't a good thing for the automaker's bottom line.

Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts.

Cheap Volt lease offers meant to drive more customers to Chevy showrooms this summer may have pushed that loss even higher. There are some Americans paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost as much as $89,000 to produce.

And while the loss per vehicle will shrink as more are built and sold, GM is still years away from making money on the Volt, which will soon face new competitors from Ford, Honda and others.

GM's basic problem is that "the Volt is over-engineered and over-priced," said Dennis Virag, president of the Michigan-based Automotive Consulting Group.

And in a sign that there may be a wider market problem, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi have been struggling to sell their electric and hybrid vehicles, though Toyota's Prius range has been in increasing demand.

GM's quandary is how to increase sales volume so that it can spread its estimated $1.2-billion investment in the Volt over more vehicles while reducing manufacturing and component costs - which will be difficult to bring down until sales increase.

But the Volt's steep $39,995 base price and its complex technology — the car uses expensive lithium-polymer batteries, sophisticated electronics and an electric motor combined with a gasoline engine — have kept many prospective buyers away from Chevy showrooms.

Via:Rueters

Obama’s Good for Business: Gun Sales Soar

Business is booming in the firearm industry and considering Obama’s feelings about gun control, the irony is almost too poetic.

Smith & Wesson stock Friday was zooming, thanks to a stellar earnings report. The firearms maker also boosted its outlook for the rest of the year. Because of the strong business, its backlog of orders more than doubled from the same quarter last year, the company is concentrating on boosting production and building inventory.

“We are underserving the market at this moment, we all know that, and that's a great opportunity going forward for us,” CEO James Debney said in a conference call with analysts.

And another gun maker, Sturm, Ruger & Co., also hit a milestone of sorts in terms of meeting consumer demand. It produced its one-millionth gun of the year…well ahead of last year’s pace.

If the president gets reelected some are concerned that an Obama ‘unleashed’ would mean more regulations. President Obama has long been in favor of gun control and since becoming president, his administration has pursued a deliberative albeit subtle approach to that end. Some examples includeFast and Furious, unleashing OSHA on a gun range fining spree and, in 2009, voting to participate in the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty – a dramatic reversal of Bush’s position on the issue. Although there were no curve balls in the 2012 Democratic Party platform, more calls were made for regulations and “improvements” including “reinstating the assault weapons ban” and “closing the gun show loophole.” (Quite ironically, they also removed the reference to “what works in Chicago” perhaps because the city has some of the toughest gun control laws yet is also among the most deadly cities in the U.S.) So the logic is: buy now in case it becomes more difficult later. This is only part of the equation, however. The article also points to broader acceptance of gun use, target shooting and safety concerns.  

“Sure, about a third of it is politics,” said a Maryland salesman, who also didn't want to be named. “But the majority are people concerned about safety. They are worried about crime and looking at the economy and no one having jobs. They want to be protected now. So they’re buying.”

"The biggest new group of buyers now are senior citizens," Larry Hyatt, owner of a North Carolina gun shop, said on CNBC's "Closing Bell." "Ten thousand Baby Boomers a day are turning 65; they can't run, they can't fight, they got to shoot."

Via: Townhall 

GOP's Love: Focus should be on economy, not 'in the weeds' on abortion

Mia Love, the Utah mayor and rising GOP star running for Congress, backed her party’s stance on abortion but said members shouldn’t be “getting into the weeds on this.”

Love told “Fox News Sunday” that she is pro-life and that Republicans are trying to protect the lives of unborn children, but candidates and elected officials should at this point “just focus on the economy.”

She also dismissed Democrats’ argument that Republicans are waging a war on women, saying it is “a way to distract from failed policies.”

Love, who is currently mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, is trying to unseat six-term incumbent Democrat Jim Matheson, who is leading in polls. She won the nomination at the state GOP convention this spring with more than 70 percent of the vote and has national support from such party leaders as Mitt Romney and House Speaker John Boehner.

The first-generation Haitian-American stepped into the national spotlight last month with a well-received speech at the Republican National Convention.

On Sunday, she defended a decision as a city council member to increase taxes, saying the decision in part helped the then-largely agricultural Saratoga Springs prosper and achieve its AA-plus bond rating.

  

Love also argued for her plans to cut federal spending that includes reducing subsides for college tuition, despite still having outstanding loans.

Via: Fox News

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Mark Steyn: A Nation Of Sandra Flukes

According to Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke, invited to address the Democratic convention and the nation, America faces a stark choice this November. “During this campaign, we’ve heard about two profoundly different futures that could await women in this country — and how one of those futures looks like an offensive, obsolete relic of our past,” she cautioned. “That future could become real.”

In one of those futures, women will be “shut out and silenced,” rape victims will be “victimized all over again,” pregnant women will “die preventable deaths in our emergency rooms,” and “access to birth control is controlled by people who will never use it.” If you’re wondering where all that is on your ballot form, just check the box marked “R.”

“We know what this America would look like,” warned Miss Fluke sternly. “In a few short months, that’s the America that we could be. But that’s not the America that weshould be. And it’s not who we are.”

Fortunately, the America that we could be that isn’t the America that we should be doesn’t have to be the America that we would be. The good news is that “we’ve also seen another America that we could choose. In that America, we’d have the right to choose,” said Miss Fluke. This would be “an America in which our president, when he hears that a young woman has been verbally attacked, thinks of his daughters, not his delegates or his donors. And in which our president stands with all women. And strangers come together, and reach out and lift her up. And then, instead of trying to silence her, you invite me here, and you give me this microphone — to amplify our voice. That’s the difference.”

Via: National Review

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Biden Dares ‘Fact Check Me’, Romney Campaign Obliges

Vice President Biden is doubling down on watchdog groups and others  who are saying he made misleading remarks in a speech earlier this week regarding the Romney-Ryan rescue plan for Medicare – daring reporters to “fact check me.”

Biden put down the challenge during a speech Saturday, after saying as he did during his acceptance speech Thursday at the Democratic National Convention that GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and running mate Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan would cut benefits immediately for 30 million seniors already collecting Medicare.

 “I say to the press, fact check me,” a smiling Biden said to applause at a rally in Zanesville, Ohio,

The Romney Campaign took up the challenge within hours.

“Today, Vice President Biden said that he should be fact checked, and we agree,” said Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg. “The vice president knowingly and deliberately leveled false and discredited attacks. This is further proof that the Obama Campaign is unable and unwilling to talk honestly or substantively about the most important issues driving the country."

"In an attempt to distract from President Obama’s failed record, including unemployment remaining over 8 percent, labor force participation falling to three-decade lows, and our national debt passing $16 trillion, Vice President Biden is once again advancing fabricated and disproven attacks on Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan," Henneberg added.

Biden's comment follows Romney pollster Neil Newhouse saying in late August, "We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.”

The Romney campaign also on Saturday released a statement with fact-checks on statements Biden made relating to Romney's tax and Medicare plans, and claims from Biden that Romney shipped jobs overseas.

Via: Fox News

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How To Read Political Racial Code

Part of my job when I speak about politics is to speak up for black people and say things black people need said. This mission has rarely felt so necessary as it has when racial code words recently entered the Presidential election. These code words are ancient racial stereotypes in slick, modern gear. They are linguistic mustard gas, sliding in covertly, aiming to kill black political viability by allowing white politicians to say ‘Don’t vote for the black guy’ in socially-acceptable language. Sometimes the code comes directly out of a candidate’s mouth. Sometimes it comes from supporters, or can be found in advertisements.

(MORE: Inside the Racist Mind)

Do not be fooled by the canard that both parties do it. That was former RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s response when I asked him about it on my MSNBC show “The Cycle.” Using certain words to invoke racialized fear and scare white working class voters is a long-established part of the Republican playbook. The GOP is a 90% white party and has been for decades. According to Ron Brownstein of the National Journal, Mitt Romney will need over 60% of white people to vote for him or he will lose. “That,” Brownstein says, “would be the best performance ever for a Republican Presidential challenger with that group of voters.” Given that math, in a base turnout election where Romney has a big lead among white, non-college educated men, it’s understandable why he’d try to motivate those voters with code words that remind them of their racial difference with Obama and stigmatize that difference. In this effort a word like “welfare” is extremely valuable. Sure there are more white than black Americans on welfare, but when a candidate says ‘welfare’ many whites think of their tax dollars being given to blacks.

So when Romney began running ads about Obama “dropping the work requirement from welfare” — ads which are still running even though the claim has been thoroughly debunked — he was merely updating Ronald Reagan’s old “welfare queen” meme. Both are designed to create racial resentment around entitlements. This tactic is bolstered by the classic stereotype of blacks as lazy. A recent Pew Research Center poll, for example, found that 57% of Republicans believe people are poor because they don’t work hard. When a recent Washington Post poll asked “Why do most black voters so consistently support Democrats?” the second reason given by Republicans was “black voters are dependent on government or seeking a government handout” while for Democrats it was that “their party addresses issues of poverty.” (The top answer for members of both parties was “Don’t know”.)

Via: Time Magazine

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Obama: I’ll work with Republicans if they agree to raise taxes

MELBOURNE, Florida - President Barack Obama said in an interview partly broadcast Sunday that he would be "more than happy to work with the Republicans" to trim the swelling national debt — as long as they drop their opposition to raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

"You can't reduce the deficit unless you take a balanced approach that says, 'We've got to make government leaner and more efficient,'" the president told CBS's Scott Pelley. "But we've also got to ask people --like me or Gov. Romney, who have done better than anybody else over the course of the last decade, and whose taxes are just about lower than they've been in the last 50 years - to do a little bit more."

Obama said he would be willing to make "some adjustments to Medicare and Medicaid that would strengthen the programs." "The way to do that is to keep health care costs low. It's not to 'voucherize' programs so that suddenly seniors are the ones who are finding their expenses much higher."

That was a reference to Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan. The Republicans have proposed a plan that would transform Medicare by giving the elderly voucher-style payments they could use to purchase health insurance. They say it would rein in runaway health care costs. But Democrats — and the impartial Congressional Budget Office — say it would eventually shift much of the burden of health care costs to the elderly.

"President Obama's latest false attacks are a sign of desperation," Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams said in a statement. Williams charged that Obama had "robbed" Medicare of $716 billion to pay for the health care law popularly known as Obamacare. (Obama's approach does not directly affect benefits — it reduces reimbursements to health care providers and insurance companies.)

Obama is attacking Romney on Medicare because "he can't talk about his record of crushing the middle class and failing to turn the economy around," said Williams.

Obama was to pursue that attack as he wrapped up a two-day bus tour in Florida. (The photo above was snapped as Obama prepared to eat with seniors at the Ossorio Bakery and Cafe while campaigning in Cocoa, Florida.)

Via: Yahoo! News

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STUDY: RECOVERY FOR BURGER-FLIPPERS ONLY

According to new analysis of unemployment data by the National Employment Law Project, while 60 percent of the jobs lost during the 2008-2009 financial crisis were in middle income occupations, the vast majority – 58 percent – of jobs created under President Obama are low-wage. Those jobs include “retail sales, food preparation, home health and customer service.”

“The recovery continues to be skewed toward low-wage jobs, reinforcing the rise in inequality and America’s deficit of good jobs,” said the author of the study, Annette Bernhardt. “While there’s understandably a lot of focus on getting employment back to pre-recession levels, the quality of jobs is rapidly emerging as a second front in the struggling recovery.”

Just half of US adults are currently middle class.

Via: Breitbart

The Real Facts: Unemployment at 19%

Beneath the surface of Friday's jobs report lies the reality of just how disastrous the Obama economy truly is.

Consider the following 11 economic facts:

1.  When you include the underutilized labor figure with the eight million Americans who have lost hope altogether and stopped looking for a job, real unemployment now stands at just under 19 percent.

2.  If the labor force were the same as when President Obama took office in January 2009, the unemployment rate reported on Friday would be 11.2 percent. 

3.  A record 88,921,000 Americans are no longer in the labor force. To be included in that figure, an individual must be over 16 years of age, a civilian, not in a mental hospital or nursing home, and have stopped hunting for a job for at least four weeks.

4.  The average American lost 40 percent of their wealth from 2007 to 2010. 

5.  Every fifth man in America is out of work.

6.  One out of two Americans are now low-income or below the poverty line.  

7.  Over the past four years, 400,000 food stamp recipients a month have been added to the welfare dole. 

8.  In 2006-2007, 90 percent of college graduates landed jobs. Under Obama, just 56 percent find work after college.

9.  A gallon of gasoline cost $1.84 when Obama entered office. Today, a gallon of gas costs$3.77. 

10.  Every fourth home mortgage in America is underwater. 

11.  Under Obama, healthcare costs have skyrocketed 18.9 percent.

The latest Gallup tracking poll shows Mr. Obama leading Republican challenger Mitt Romney 49 to 45 percent.

Recovery? 96K New Jobs, 173K New Food Stamp Recipients

breitbart.com

It's like a corrupt media ritual. The moment a Republican enters the Oval Office, America's homeless are suddenly discovered, dragged before news cameras, and used as props to prove how heartless the current administration is. But as soon as a Democrat assumes office, the homeless suddenly disappear; presumably to a place with chocolate rivers and peppermint trees that only Democrat presidents are able to magically manifest as soon as the oath of office is complete.

The media's been even worse with Barack Obama. Not only have the homeless vanished from news coverage, but so have America's poor. But as NBC's David Gregory made clear, if you even try to bring up the record number of food stamp recipients Barack Obama's failed policies have created, you'll be labeled a racist.

Beyond food stamps, by some reports, the poverty level itself is set to explode to record levels in the fall once a new census report is released. But if past is prologue, you can expect the media to smother that news, because over the last few days, the media has smothered this news:

Via Breitbart

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Fact-checkers find exaggerations in Obama, Biden conventions speeches

President Obama and Vice President Biden made statements in their convention speeches about unemployment, Medicare and other issues that fact-checkers say appear inaccurate or at least misleading.

Among the questionable remarks were Biden's argument that "after the worst job loss since the Great Depression we created 4.5 million private sector jobs in the past 29 months" – a frequent response by the Obama campaign when questioned about the slow economic recovery.

The Associated Press and others point out that statement is misleading because it counts jobs from the recession's lowest point  to where employment began to grow again – excluding jobs lost earlier in Obama's term and masking that overall unemployment has increased over that period.

"Overall, roughly 7.5 million jobs were lost during the recession that began in December 2007 and ended officially in June 2009," according to the wire service.

The Associated Press also points out that Obama said in his speech that he wants to use money saved by ending the wars to build highways, schools and bridges.

However, the wars were largely financed by borrowing "so there is no ready pile of cash to be diverted to anything else," the wire service writes.

The group FactCheck.org listed eight instances in which either Biden or Obama "spun" facts during their speeches Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C.

Via: Fox News

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James Hoffa, Teamsters President, Says Romney 'Wants To Annihilate Organized Labor'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The way Teamsters President James P. Hoffa sees it, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney would be happy if an already weakened American labor movement ceased to exist altogether.

"He wants to annihilate organized labor as we know it," Hoffa told HuffPost outside the Democratic National Convention this week. "It's on his website. I'm not making this up. He's for a national right-to-work law. The Republican Party has veered dangerously to the right. It's rather incredible, in 2012, if you think about it."

Indeed, Romney's official stance on labor isn't kind to unions. His campaign website suggests that unions have outlasted their significance, "driv[ing] up costs and introduc[ing] rigidities that harm competitiveness and frustrate innovation." He supports states pursuing right-to-work laws, which weaken the clout of unions, and his party last week approved a platform pushing for national right-to-work legislation. He'd also like to prohibit automatic union dues-deduction from employee paychecks.

Hoffa isn’t the only labor leader who visited Charlotte this week and sees a hostility toward unions in Romney's positions. Mary Kay Henry, head of the 2 million-member Service Employees International Union, told HuffPost earlier this week that Romney "wants to take us out."

The Romney campaign didn't respond to Hoffa or Henry's comments.

Rank-and-file union members said they often feel taken for granted by Democrats in office. Among many labor activists, the enthusiasm for the Obama-Biden ticket appears to stem in large part from a loathing and distrust of the alternative. But Hoffa, like other labor figures who headed to Charlotte, insisted the current White House has been good to unions over the past four years.

Via: HuffPost Politics

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