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DAVID AXELROD’S PATTERN OF SEXUAL MISBEHAVIOR

By: Ann Coulter 
11/9/2011 04:31 PM

CBS News Obtains Documents Showing Holder Used Fast And Furious Scandal To Justify Crackdown On 2nd Amendment Rights…

I pledge allegiance to NO one, except myself, not even to the citizens of The United States of America

and the party of which they stand for. One nation under World Order, with liberty, without justice

for our democratic providers.

The only thing that sully16 carries in her bingo bag besides her dabbers is a big black dildo that she named Leroy because she can't get the REAL thing,

Bobya, Louise, and Scorpio, read this in full before you put your foot in your mouth     again...!

Truth is a many splendor thing...!

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By HARVEY GOLUB

President Obama, in speech after speech, proudly makes the following point: Although we inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression, we have generated net new jobs every month, and while we need to do more, we are going in the right direction.

Of course, recoveries always go in the right direction—that is, things get better over time. But merely going in the right direction is an incredibly low performance standard. Moreover, since deep recessions are generally followed by more robust recoveries, this should have been one of the strongest recoveries ever.

So what went wrong? All the available Keynesian levers for achieving economic growth have been pulled, yet the recovery is one of the weakest since World War II. The problem lies with the way the "stimulus" was carried out, the uncertainty of looming higher taxes, and the antibusiness rhetoric and regulatory strong-arming of this administration.

First, exactly how weak has this recovery been? The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis tracks economic performance for each recovery and compares gross-domestic-product growth and job growth, the two most important indicators of economic performance. Over the past 60 years, there have been 11 recessions and 11 recoveries.

Sadly, this recovery is near the bottom of all 11. Cumulative nonfarm job growth is just 1.9% 34 months into recovery, the ninth-worst performance and well below the average job growth of 6.5%. Cumulative GDP growth is just 6.8% 11 quarters into this recovery, less than half the average (15.2%) and the worst of all 11.

But wouldn't things be even worse without massive fiscal and monetary stimulus? It's true that monetary policy by the Federal Reserve has resulted in extraordinarily low interest rates, almost zero for the past three years. Normally, low interest rates would result in increased borrowing by individuals and businesses, generating increased economic activity. Its positive effects in this recovery, however, have mainly been to help the government borrow more cheaply, large banks recapitalize quickly, and homeowners refinance at low rates.

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AFP/Getty Images

Uncertainty regarding ObamaCare and higher taxes on businesses and individuals has discouraged the type of borrowing and lending that low rates generally encourage. Near-zero interest rates have also resulted in historically low yields on savings and encouraged riskier investments. In effect, we have subsidized increased spending by penalizing savings.

Fiscal policy, under the control of the president and his party, increased expenditures by about $700 billion per year since 2008 and launched a spending package of about $800 billion (along with various "targeted" temporary tax reductions), all of which resulted in an increase in national debt of over $5 trillion. In other words, we borrowed $5 trillion, for which we will pay interest for who knows how long, in order to stimulate the economy now.

There's little doubt that this level of spending—$5 trillion in an economy with an annual GDP of about $15 trillion—has a temporary stimulative effect. The question is, was it a good investment? For the most part the money was spent poorly and we will get very little future value from it. Billions were spent to reward favored constituencies like government employees and the auto industry. Billions more were spent on training programs that don't work and unemployment insurance that reduces incentives to actually find work. Little went toward building infrastructure or other assets that will help the nation create wealth over time.

So, yes, we are going in the right direction—but far too slowly to create reasonable economic growth and needed jobs. By their very nature, recoveries involve people and businesses making investments and spending money and borrowing to do both. However, for rational people to spend or invest requires confidence in the future. The "animal spirits" so necessary for a true recovery have been dampened by this administration's policies and rhetoric.

Indeed, this administration has been overtly hostile to business across the economy except for progressive favorites like electric cars or wind and solar power. It has tightened regulatory screws on the coal industry and all other fossil-fuel providers, enacted health-care "reform" based on false estimates of its likely costs and effects, unleashed a hostile National Labor Relations Board on businesses, and passed financial regulations in the form of Dodd-Frank along with hundreds of other regulatory actions that put increased burdens on the private sector. Meanwhile, the president has yet to pass a budget or announce a plan to rein in government expenditures.

The president has said, over and over again, that he wants to increase taxes on businesses—small and large—and on financially successful individuals. He doesn't quite articulate the point that way, but that is the effect. After all, he says millionaires and billionaires aren't paying their fair share. He forgets, or simply does not know, that the top 1% of earners actually pay as much as the bottom 90%, and the bottom half pay no income taxes at all.

In this negative environment, businesses are less willing to invest in the future, and individuals are less willing to spend what they can. Meanwhile, savers and retirees have seen much of their income decline because of low interest rates. The massive costs of all the stimulus have been wasted because of the heavy counterweight put on the economy by the administration's antibusiness and pro-redistribution policies.

Mr. Golub, a former chairman and CEO of American Express, is the chairman of Miller Buckfire and serves on the executive committee of the American Enterprise Institute.

A version of this article appeared May 23, 2012, on page A15 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: How the Recovery Went Wrong.

Taake notice:  Bobya, Louise,and scorpio>>>>>:

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He doesn't call. He doesn't write. He doesn't drop by for a visit.

That's what some of the most senior Democrats in Congress are experiencing from President Barack Obama these days.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) is trying to cut a deal on the nation's fiscal crisis, but he can't recall the last time he talked to the president. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is in charge of one of Obama's top priorities -- preventing a rate increase on student loans -- but he hasn't talked to the president in months. And Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is the go-to guy on high gas prices, but the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee hasn't spoken to the president much since the previous Congress.

"I think the reality is the current Congress is not constituted in a way that makes it likely that we can do very much," Bingaman said, "and that's reflected in what we wind up doing on the floor and understandably the president is not as engaged -- at least with me."

Obama is certainly in regular touch with the top Democratic leaders on the Hill -- Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid -- but when it comes to some key policymakers and chairmen in Democratic congressional politics, he's far less engaged than earlier in his presidency. The lack of communication not only reflects a gridlocked Congress in an election year, but it speaks to the president's personal style -- he's never been much of a schmoozing, back-slapping type in the spirit of Bill Clinton or Lyndon B. Johnson. And even though he came from the Senate, Obama wasn't there long enough to develop deep, bonding friendships with some of the old bulls in Congress.

This is an appalling state of affairs as America faces major problems in the days ahead-particularly the fiscal cliff that happens on January 1^st (also known as Taxaggeddon-when major tax hikes, as well as spending cuts, are triggered absent any changes made in Washington). As Raju writes, "Some say the president -- along with congressional leaders -- needs to begin laying the groundwork now to avoid a catastrophic logjam that could ensue after the November elections".

When Democrats had a hammerlock in Congress the first two years of Obama's term, his aloofness was less noticeable. But now that Republicans control the House--and campaign season is in high gear - apparently Barack Obama has more worthwhile and self-centered ways to spend his time (fundraisers, for example).

He refuses to deal NOT just with Republicans but many Democrats as well. With Democrats no longer steamrolling legislation through Congress (it was so easy then when "soft despotism" was the rule in Washington), Barack Obama refuses to engage and work with others to deal with the nation's problems.  While his own needs to win reelection and his own oft-mentioned coldness may account for some of his distance, one should never underestimate Barack Obama's startling lack of a work ethic - a trait that has been noticeable for decades.

Maybe he is just too busy playing basketball with NBA stars, vacationing at  luxury resorts, playing golf with Chicago pals, listening to music in the East Room--after all why would he want to actually lower himself to talk with and work with Congressmen from "Podunk"  and "Pallookaville" - as he has characterized and complained about them in the past.

He promised to work across the aisle and to dissolve partisanship - to change things in Washington. He has to some extent. Every other President-be they Republican or Democrat-has actively worked with Congressmen from both parties on behalf of the American people.

President Obama HAS NOT..!

President Barack Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts [Updated]