From Reuters: The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter for the first time in more than a year as government stimulus helped lift consumer spending and home building, fueling an unexpectedly strong advance. Signaling the end of the worst recession in 70 years, the Commerce Department on Thursday said the economy expanded at an […]
Obama Administration
Nancy Pelosi: Value-Added Tax is “On the Table”
I’ve mentioned before that the Democrats were laying the groundwork for a European style Value Added Tax or VAT… I wish I could tell you I was wrong but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed that a VAT tax is “on the table” during an appearance on the Charlie Rose show Monday night: A new value-added […]
Train Wreck: GDP Decline Twice as Bad as Obama Admnistration Forecast
Ouch, this isn’t good news for President Obama’s agenda… The White House has been using some pretty rosy economic forecasts to sell his agenda. However, those rosy forecasts have finally crashed head-on into economic reality. In short, GDP declined roughly twice as much as they predicted and their out year deficit forecasts will be roughly […]
Pres. Obama Backs Offshore Drilling… Just Not in U.S. Waters
I was going to comment on this Wall Street Journal editorial yesterday but I didn’t get to it… In short the Obama Administration has finally embraced offshore oil drill, unfortunately it’s not in the U.S.: You read that headline correctly. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration off Brazil. The U.S. is going to […]
WSJ: Obama Advisers Set Groundwork to Raise Taxes on Middle Class
You don’t have to be an economist to realize the Obama Administration’s budget numbers don’t add up and that he’s going to have raise taxes on more than just those earning more than $250,000.00 to pay for his agenda. With that in mind it’s not surprising that White House economist Larry Summers and Treasury Secretary […]
Tax Revenues Continue to Plunge
From the Associated Press: The recession is starving the government of tax revenue, just as the president and Congress are piling a major expansion of health care and other programs on the nation’s plate and struggling to find money to pay the tab. The numbers could hardly be more stark: Tax receipts are on pace […]
Reid: No Health Care Vote Before August Recess
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid effectively pulled the rug out from under Pres. Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today by announcing that the Senate will wait until the fall to debate and vote on the presidents health care reform proposals: Senate Democratic leaders on Thursday abandoned plans for a vote on health care […]
Obama Administration Putting Off Budget Update
The Associated Press is reporting that the Obama Administration is putting of releasing the annual mid-summer budget update until mid-August: The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today’s bleak landscape. The administration’s annual midsummer budget update is sure to show higher deficits and […]
Joe Biden: ‘We Have to Go Spend Money to Keep From Going Bankrupt’
From CNSNews.com: Vice President Joe Biden told people attending an AARP town hall meeting that unless the Democrat-supported health care plan becomes law the nation will go bankrupt and that the only way to avoid that fate is for the government to spend more money. “And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today […]
Speed Bump: Senate Democrats Delay Action on Obama’s Healthcare & Climate Initiatives
Democrats in the House and Senate handed President Barack Obama a double dose of bad news yesterday when they moved to delay on his top legislative priorities, healthcare and climate change. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said they would put off work on the climate change bill until September while […]
Will Obama Push for a Weaker Dollar?
Ugh, this is not good… former Clinton trade official and current member of the Obama administration’s economic advisory panel Laura Tyson said in Singapore today that the $787-billion plan Congress passed in February “will have a positive effect, but the real economy is a sicker patient.” She went on to say the plan turned out […]
Bloomberg.com: House Health-Care Bill to Include $600 Billion in Tax Increases
Bloomberg.com is reporting that the health care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid: June 12 (Bloomberg) — Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to […]
WSJ: Obama’s Jobs Numbers Are Pure Fiction
William McGurn has must read Op Ed in today Wall Street Journal detailing the fiction of the Obama Administration’s jobs “saved or created” statistics: Tony Fratto is envious. Mr. Fratto was a colleague of mine in the Bush administration, and as a senior member of the White House communications shop, he knows just how difficult […]
Democrats Considering a National Sales Tax?
It looks like the cats out of the bag… With the Federal Government now borrowing nearly 50 cents of every dollar spent it looks like the Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress are considering a national sales tax or “Value Added Tax” (VAT) to pay for their out of control spending: With budget deficits soaring […]
AP: Stimulus not Stimulating
The AP’s Matt Apuzzo yesterday examined Vice President Joe Biden’s first quarterly report of the Stimulus plan and found the picture to a bit more cloudy than the White House claims: Capturing the full effect of the stimulus at this early stage is difficult, but the administration has set high bars for success. In championing […]