The Inequality President

The rich have done fine under Obamanomics, not so the middle class.

President Obama made his fourth or fifth, or maybe it's the seventh or eighth, pivot to the economy on Wednesday, and a revealing speech it was. We counted four mentions of "growth" but "inequality" got five. This goes a long way to explaining why Mr. Obama is still bemoaning the state of the economy five years into his Presidency.

The President summed up his economic priorities close to the top of his hour-long address. "This growing inequality isn't just morally wrong; it's bad economics," he told his Galesburg, Illinois audience. "When middle-class families have less to spend, businesses have fewer customers. When wealth concentrates at the very top, it can inflate unstable bubbles that threaten the economy. When the rungs on the ladder of opportunity grow farther apart, it undermines the very essence of this country."

Then the heart of the matter: "That's why reversing these trends must be Washington's highest priority. It's certainly my highest priority."

Which is the problem. For four and a half years, Mr. Obama has focused his policies on reducing inequality rather than increasing growth. The predictable result has been more inequality and less growth. As even Mr. Obama conceded in his speech, the rich have done well in the last few years thanks to a rising stock market, but the middle class and poor have not. The President called his speech "A Better Bargain for the Middle Class," but no President has done worse by the middle class in modern times.

By now the lackluster growth figures are well known. The recovery that began four years ago has been one of the weakest on record, averaging a little more than 2%. And it has not gained speed. Growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 was 0.4%. It rose to a still anemic 1.8% in the first quarter but most economists are predicting even slower growth in the second quarter.

Via: The Wall Street Journal

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Limbaugh Slams Obama’s Economic Speech: ‘There’s Something Pathologically Wrong Here’

RUSH: We have a couple of sound bites from Obama, as he’s out in Galesville, Illinois, blaming Washington for paying not enough attention to the economy.  We’ve actually got one, two, three, four, five, six sound bites here.  We’ll get the last two that I want to play for you right now.  This is Obama talking about his vision for rebuilding the economy.

OBAMA:  With this endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals, Washington’s taken its eye off the ball.  And I’m here to say this needs to stop.  There are Republicans in Congress right now who privately agree with me on a lot of the ideas I’ll be proposing.  I know because they’ve said so.  But they worry they’ll face swift political retaliation for cooperating with me.

RUSH:  Oh, jeez.  Folks, I can’t react to this without… there’s something pathologically wrong here.  In the first place, “Washington has taken its eye off the ball, and I’m here to say this needs to stop.”  Now, I mentioned, I told you I heard that bite, I heard him say it live.  He is Washington!  This is the Limbaugh Theorem.  He’s articulating it himself.  It’s coming out of his own mouth.  He’s out there in Illinois claiming Washington hasn’t been paying enough attention to the economy.  They’ve been looking at the IRS. They’ve been looking at Benghazi. They have been looking into Obamacare, and they haven’t been working on the economy, and (imitation) “I’m here in Illinois to make sure that they refocus in Washington,” as though he has had nothing to do with it.

Via: Daily RushBo

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Poll: President Obama nears all-time low

President Barack Obama’s approval numbers are approaching their lowest levels ever in a new poll.

Just 45 percent of those surveyed in the NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll said they approved of the job the president was doing, a drop of 3 points from June. Fifty percent said they disapproved.

That’s close to the lowest numbers registered for Obama in the poll, a 44 percent approval and 51 percent disapproval rating registered in November 2011.

(PHOTOS: Obama going gray)

The poll’s numbers reflect Americans’ assessment of how Obama is handling the economy: Forty-four percent said they approved and 51 percent said they disapproved.

Pollsters also pointed to a drop in support among African-Americans as a possible explanation for Obama’s falling numbers, as 78 percent approve of Obama’s work, a 10 point drop since June and 15 point drop since April.

Obama’s approval rating is the same as George W. Bush's was at this point in his second term, while Bill Clinton’s approval rating was significantly higher, at 56 percent, during this point in his second term, The Journal said.

Congress fared poorly in the poll as well, registering a new low approval number. Only 12 percent of those polled said they approved of the job Congress was doing; 83 percent disapproved. That’s tied for Congress’s lowest approval ever in the poll and the highest disapproval registered.

Via: Politico

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Senate Dems propose increasing IRS budget for targeting Conservatives and Tea Party Groups

Senate Democrats on Tuesday proposed increasing the budget of the Internal Revenue Service and other financial agencies next year. 

The IRS would get $12.07 billion in funding under the Financial Services subcommittee bill reported to the full Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, an increase of $276.5 million.

House Republicans, in contrast, have suggested cutting the IRS's budget by 24 percent.

Senate Republicans are not happy with the funding level proposed by Democrats, and subcommittee ranking member Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) took the rare step of recording a “no” vote against the bill.

“Count the IRS among the winners in the bill despite the political targeting that appalled all of us and eroded the public’s trust,” Johanns said. 

The IRS has been embroiled in controversy since May, when the administration admitted the agency had improperly handled requests for tax-exempt status by conservative and Tea Party groups.

Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), in his first markup in his new role, said the bill contains language to force the IRS to improve its management. He called the House cuts “counterproductive,” arguing they would lead to personnel cuts and result in lost tax revenue. 

In total, the Senate bill contains $23.2 billion in discretionary spending, an increase from the $21.4 billion enacted in 2013 before automatic spending cuts under the sequester went into effect.

The bill increases funding for the implementation of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) gets $110 million more and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gets $353 million in additional funds.

The bill heads to full committee on Thursday.

Via: The Hill

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REPORT: WEINER WAS SEXTING WHILE PREPARING TO RUN FOR MAYOR

On Tuesday evening, Anthony Weiner, with his wife by his side, admitted to continuing to send lewd messages to women after he resigned from Congress. He assured the public however, that the behavior was "behind him now." According to Facebook messages from Weiner, publishedby RadarOnline, he was sexting with a woman in March of this year, while he was campaigning for Mayor. 

When exactly did the sexting get "behind him?" 

On March 16th, in an exchange with Weiner, a woman writes "Nice! Just what I'm looking for....I want to XXXX the future mayor of nyc!"

Weiner hadn't formally announced for Mayor at that time, but had conducted polling on the race and was reportedly considering making a run. On March 16th, the date of the message, FoxNews reported that Weiner was preparing for a mayoral race.  

RadarOnine has 23 pages of Facebook messages between Weiner and the woman. Some date back to 2010, indicating an on-line sexual relationship of at least three years.

Throughout his campaign for Mayor, Anthony Weiner has promised New Yorkers that he is a "very, very different man." He is in a way. He is much more lewd than we thought. 

Via: Breitbart

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Obama Rips GOP For "Endless Parade Of Distractions, Political Posturing And Phony Scandals"

Obama Decries ‘Phoney Scandals’ That ‘Distract’ From Economic Action: ‘This Needs To Stop’

During a major speech on the economy from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois Wednesday,President Obama aimed some sharp criticism at Washington for “taking its eye off the ball” by succumbing to “an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals.” He told the supportive audience in attendance: “I am here to say this needs to stop.”

The president lamented the “gridlock” in Congress in that has only “gotten worse” over the last six months. “If you ask some of these Republicans about their economic agenda, or how they’d strengthen the middle class, they’ll shift the topic to “out-of-control” government spending,” Obama said, “despite the fact that we have cut the deficit by nearly half as a share of the economy since I took office.” Or, even worse, they will bring up the “tried and true” boogeyman of Obamacare, “despite the fact that our businesses have created nearly twice as many jobs in this recovery as they had at the same point in the last recovery, when there was no Obamacare.”

“With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals,” Obama continued, alluding to the uproar from conservatives over the attack in Benghazi, the IRS targeting political groups and the DOJ subpoenaing reporters, “Washington has taken its eye off the ball. And I am here to say this needs to stop.” Instead, he said, “Our focus must be on the basic economic issues that the matter most to you – the people we represent.”

“Rebuilding our manufacturing base. Educating our workforce. Upgrading our transportation and information networks,” the president said to cheers from the crowd. “That’s what we need to be talking about. That’s what Washington needs to be focused on.”

Via: Mediaite

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