Stuff like this right here, is why the rest of America happens to think that the Detroit, Michigan area is being ran by complete idiots. Please note: For you “out-of-town” folks; this is not happening in Detroit proper; but rather in the suburbs of Detroit. Still this points to the obvious fact that these people simply do not understand, that we here in Michigan, as well as the rest of the Country — are in a fiscal mess. Furthermore, it points to the recklessness of Federal spending by the Obama Administration.
Can someone please explain to be just how the hell this hideous looking thing is going to improve business and encourage tourism in the State of Michigan and in the cities these things are going to be in? You have GOT to be kidding me! A $595.000 boondoggle is what the hell they are! Click to make this ugly looking thing bigger, if you must….
At a cost of $150,000 each, two more pillars of artwork are being constructed along Woodward as a means of threading a link between the communities along the avenue and their histories.
Urban planners call the sculptures tributes. One is going up this week in Royal Oak and another in Highland Park, joining the two in Ferndale and Pontiac.
The tiny nonprofit group behind these sculptures recently received another federal grant for $595,000, allowing it to plan for even more tributes — at least three more — along Woodward in Detroit and its suburbs, although no decision has been made on locations.
According to Woodward Avenue Action Association’s Executive Director Heather Carmona, the mural-covered pillars, which illuminate at night, will boost economic development and more than pay for themselves.
What happens when someone suggests that these things might just actually be a waste of money? Quote:
“I don’t think this is a waste of tax dollars,” Highland Park Mayor DeAndre Windom said. “Things like this are necessary to spark the revitalization of a city such as Highland Park. We have job retraining here, people being placed in jobs, other ways we’re using tax dollars for revitalization. But this is different. This will be up forever in Highland Park.”
BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAW!!!!!! *wipes eyes* An overgrown lighted totem pole is what is needed to revitalize a city. Yes, you just read that correctly. Never mind police, never mind fire, never mind city services, never mind maybe actually paving the roads; never mind actually requiring owners to fix up and keep up their property. Yes, what we need to “revitalize” (Whatever that means!) the city is a bunch of overgrown lighted totem poles.
Here is another million dollar question: Who is going to pay for the upkeep of the totem poles? Who is going to change the lights in those things, when they finally do burn out? Who is going to replace the glass in the things, when some kids come by with baseball bats and bust it up? Who is on the chain to pay for the electric bill for lighting that totem pole? You have two guesses and the first one does not count! You guessed it; the residents of those cities, in the form of higher taxes. It is, in effect, a double robbery of the American people; first it is a waste of your federal dollars going to build a lighted totem pole, then it is the robbery of the citizens of the cities, where these hideous things will be located —- for upkeep.
In closing: This is what happens, when you elect Democrats to run a Country, a State and a City. Because quite frankly, they really do not give a damn where your hard earned tax dollars are spent or how they are spent at all. Furthermore, this is why the State of Michigan, and the city of Detroit and the surrounding suburbs are on the decline; because of complete and utter idiocy like this right here.
If it were not for the fact that this story was so darned funny; it would actually be pretty sad.
Mother Jones the crypt keeper of all things liberal, comes up with some really super secret video of Mitt Romney telling the absolute truth about the Obama voting people.
Here are the videos:
On Obama voters:
On Treating Obama gingerly, because he does not want to lose the independent voter:
On his consultants:
On the fact that most people couldn’t give a rip about politics; that they care about bread and butter issues:
On Obama and Wall Street; and if Mitt Romney wins, Wall Street will improve:
In this idiotic article, the author makes a false claim:
(Note: Obama did not promise his policies would keep unemployment under 8 percent,and 50 percent of college graduates are not unemployed.)
Mother Jones reporter David Corn claims the line about Obama promising to get unemployment under eight percent is not true.
Corn is wrong: Two of Obama’s economic advisers released a report in January 2009 arguing that the economic stimulus bill would have unemployment under 6 percent by now.
The following are 16 statistics which show that the number of Americans dependent on the government is at an all-time high….
#1 According to the Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that gets direct monetary benefits from the federal government. Back in 1983, less than a third of all Americans lived in a home that received direct monetary benefits from the federal government.
#2 The amount of money that the federal government gives directly to Americans has increased by 32 percent since Barack Obama entered the White House.
#3 The number of Americans receiving Social Security disability benefits has increased by 10 percent since Barack Obama first took office.
#4 Back in 1990, the federal government accounted for 32 percent of all health care spending in America. Today, that figure is up to 45 percent and it is projected to surpass 50 percent very shortly.
#5 The number of Americans on food stamps recently hit a new all-time high. It has increased by 3 million since this time last year and by more than 14 million since Barack Obama first entered the White House.
#6 Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps. This is unprecedented in American history.
#7 In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps.
#8 Back in 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7% of all income. In 2010, government transfer payments accounted for 18.4% of all income, which was a new all-time high.
#9 By the end of 2011, approximately 55 million Americans received a total of approximately 727 billion dollars in Social Security benefits. As the retirement crisis becomes much worse, that dollar figure is projected to absolutely skyrocket.
#11 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a whole lot worse. It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
#12 The U.S. government now says that the Medicare trust fund will run out five years faster than previously anticipated.
#13 The total cost of just three federal government programs – the Department of Defense, Social Security and Medicare – exceeded the total amount of taxes brought in during fiscal 2010by 10 billion dollars.
#14 It is being projected that entitlement spending by the federal government will nearly double by the year 2050.
#15 Right now, spending by the federal government accounts for about 24 percent of GDP. Back in 2001, it accounted for just 18 percent.
So, in other words, Romney told the truth about the left and now they are having a collective (Something they do well, collectivism!) heart attack about it. Two words lefties: Oh well. Truth hurts don’t it?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The Federal Reserve announced plans to unleash more stimulus Thursday, in its third attempt at a controversial program to rev up the U.S. economy.
The policy, known as quantitative easing and often abbreviated as QE3, entails buying $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities each month. The end date remains up in the air, as the Fed will re-evaluate the strength of the economy in coming months.
The Fed is wasting no time. The purchases begin Friday and are expected to add up to only $23 billion for the remainder of September. The bond-buying policy “should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative,” the Fed’s official statement said.
Meanwhile, the Fed will continue its existing policy known as Operation Twist. Together the two programs will add $85 billion in long-term bonds to the Fed’s balance sheet each month.
Now what effect will this have on our money supply?
Even less saving going on than is happening now. Why do the lending institutions need more liquidity? Because there are no real life loanable funds in the first place. No one is putting money in depository institutions, for example, because interest rates are at rock-bottom levels, but also because people have no excess money to save. So, the Fed is creating fake loanable funds through the purchase of the MBSs. Much of this will probably be newly-created money.
It will maintain the focus on consumer spending rather than investment. The idea is to keep people spending on real estate. Thus, less will be spent on business investment.
People will incur more debt.
We’ve heard for years from some incorrigible economists that what we need is the Fed to pump up the real estate market to get people spending again. Their answer is: more debt, more spending, less savings and investment.
This is what has been happening for years to no avail, of course, and the Fed is now just turning it up a notch. I’m sure recovery is right around the corner.
The definition of insanity/Keynesianism: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
A-farking-men. This is what happens, when you elect the same very idiots, who screwed the housing markets squarely into the ground. People that voted for this sort of Government, get exactly what is coming to them and the sort of Government that they voted for. Who the heck ever heard of printing money, that you do not even have to print? It is the textbook case of utter insanity.
I will say this; if Mitt Romney loses this election and the way recent events have turned out, he just might lose —- and this Nation goes into the crapper, because Conservatives and the Republican Party decided to pick a safe candidate. Then the Republican Party should be shut down for good and a new Conservative Party formed. Others have said it, I know and they are absolutely correct.
This stuff right here is the very reason why I hung it up with the Democratic Party and stopped voting for them and supporting them. I am not a millionaire or even someone with any sort of money at all. Hell, I have been unemployed for 8 damned years. However, I do know stupidity, when it see it; and it is on full display here. Only insane people would do stuff like this, and try to rev up the economy. The solution is to let the free-market work and do its job, not stick a statist finger in it.
Also too; as much as I am not a big fan of weaving ads into my blog postings. I believe this one is important. This would be a good time as any to get into Gold, Silver and other metals. I deal with two companies that sell the stuff. Their banners are below and they both come highly recommended.
They are:
and…:
Current Prices:
It would be absoutely insane not to get into at least some sort of Gold or other precious metal investment.
I hate to be the one to say it, but I told you so. I even wrote it early this morning; that Obama’s rhetoric in his speeches does not match realities on the ground and that includes his performance.
Buzzfeed even noticed the lack of mention of the Unemployed:
CHARLOTTE, NC — President Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night didn’t include language targeted at the nation’s unemployed.
Despite boilerplate language about the job losses four years ago and his plans to create jobs, Obama did not specifically address the millions of Americans still struggling to find a job or a job that meets their needs.
Obama’s speech also avoided any mention of the unemployment rate, which is still above 8 percent and fell in August because 368,000 Americans left the workforce. Obama was briefed on the August jobs report yesterday afternoon, hours before he took the stage in Charlotte.
The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the nation created only 96,000 jobs in August, well below what analysts expected, while the previous two months of job gains were also revised downward. On the surface the jobs report is a mixed bag for Obama, but nearly every underlying statistic reveals lingering economic weakness.
“If last night was the party, this morning is the hangover. For every net new job created, nearly four Americans gave up looking for work entirely. This is more of the same for middle-class families, who are suffering through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. After 43 straight months of unemployment above 8 percent, it is clear that President Obama just hasn’t lived up to his promises, and his policies haven’t worked. They aren’t better off than they were four years ago. My plan for a stronger middle class will create 12 million new jobs by the end of my first term. America deserves new leadership that will get our economy moving again.”
– Nonfarm payrolls increased by only 96,000 in August, the Labor Department said, versus expectations of 125,000 jobs or more. The manufacturing sector, much touted by the president in his convention speech, lost 15,000 jobs.
– Since the start of the year, job growth has averaged 139,000 per month vs. an average monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011.
– As the chart at the top shows, the unemployment rate remains far above the rate predicted by Team Obama if Congress passed the stimulus. (This is the Romer-Bernstein chart.)
– While the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1% from 8.3% in July, it was due to a big drop in the labor force participation rate (the share of Americans with a job or looking for one). If fewer Americans hadn’t given up looking for work, the unemployment rate would have risen.
– Reuters notes that the participation rate is now at its lowest level since September 1981.
– If the labor force participation rate was the same as when Obama took office in January 2009, the unemployment rate would be 11.2%.
– If the participation rate had just stayed the same as last month, the unemployment rate would be 8.4%.
– The Labor Department also said that 41,000 fewer jobs were created in June and July than previously reported. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised from 64,000 to 45,000, and the change for July was revised from 163,000 to 141,000.
– The broader U-6 unemployment rate, which includes part-time workers who want full-time work, is at 14.7%.
– The employment-population ratio is perhaps the broadest measure of the health of the labor market. It just shows how many Americans — not in the military or in prison — as a share of the population actually have some sort of a job. That number fell last month to 58.3%, just off its Great Recession lows.
– Each month, The Hamilton Project examines the “jobs gap” — the number of jobs that the U.S. economy needs to create in order to return to pre-recession employment levels while also absorbing the people who enter the labor force each month. If we added 96,000 jobs every month, we would not close the jobs gap until after 2025, as this chart shows.
– The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.4 hours in August. The manufacturing workweek declined by 0.2 hour to 40.5 hours, and factory overtime was unchanged at 3.2 hours.
– The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours.
– In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 1 cent to $23.52. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings rose by just 1.7 percent.
– In August, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees edged down by 1 cent to $19.75.
As President Obama likes to say on in his campaign speeches; when his supporters boo Mitt Romney or the Republicans — “Don’t Boo, VOTE!” Well, I think it is quite obvious that it is time for Americans to vote differently. Because it is quite obvious to this writer that President Obama has done nothing to match his flowing rhetoric in his speeches.
We can surmise that Obama’s lackluster performance last night was due in part to an early look at a jobs report that not even his most dogged media shills can spin. Mitt Romney put out a statement that read: “If last night was the party, this morning is the hangover. For every net new job created, nearly four Americans gave up looking for work entirely. This is more of the same for middle class families who are suffering through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. After 43 straight months of unemployment above 8%, it is clear that President Obama just hasn’t lived up to his promises and his policies haven’t worked. We aren’t better off than they were four years ago. My plan for a stronger middle class will create 12 million new jobs by the end of my first term. America deserves new leadership that will get our economy moving again.”
The job numbers will likely harden the perception that the president is in over his head. The voters do not see a “recovery.” A call for “more time” is unconvincing if one has the sense neither that four nor 40 years would make a difference under this president.
Romney will continue to hammer away at the president’s failures. But he would be wise to push (as he is doing in 15 new ads in eight states) his own plans for middle-class Americans, and most especially domestic energy development. Voters are certain things are bad; they now need to be reassured Romney will be better. With these jobs numbers the public might well conclude: How could he do any worse?
To this I can only add a very hearty Gentile Protestant Christian —- Amen. 😉 😀
This is not much of s surprise at all, after all; Obama basically conceded defeat on the economy, of which Romney reminded everyone.
Quoting:
A majority of voters believe the country is worse off today than it was four years ago and that President Obama does not deserve reelection, according to a new poll for The Hill.
Fifty-two percent of likely voters say the nation is in “worse condition” now than in September 2008, while 54 percent say Obama does not deserve reelection based solely on his job performance.
Only 31 percent of voters believe the nation is in “better condition,” while 15 percent say it is “about the same,” the poll found. Just 40 percent of voters said Obama deserves reelection.
I remember back when Obama was trying to pass healthcare. I remember thinking at the time; “Why is he doing this? Why isn’t he trying to fix the economy first?” I also remember thinking, if he does this backwards like this, he is going to lose the people. Sure enough, I was right. Now, as a Conservative; I know darned well, that the President cannot actually fix the economy. However, what a President can do is create a climate of confidence, that will make small business owners want to hire people. Like reducing taxes, removing unnecessary red tape and regulations.
Another reason why Obama has ruined the business climate in America is because of spending. Now this is where I go off yowling and sounding like a Ron Paul follower, which I am really not; but the guy does have a point about this subject. I will explain it again for the 500’th time. When America spends money, it usually means that it prints more money, so that it can spend it. What this does is devalue our currency, when the currency is devalued, it costs more to buy products. This is called inflation, it was a problem in the 1970’s and it is now a problem again. To it’s credit, the United States brought it’s inflation problem under control in the 1980’s and because of that, the 1980’s was a time a great prosperity in this Country, this continued into the 1990’s as well.
Then the spending started again, under Clinton, and then, under Bush and now again under Obama. This is why we are in the spot that we are in, is because of the reckless spending by the Bush Administration on wars and also because of the Obama Administration’s strange idea that you can spend yourself out of a recession, which is quite idiotic.
Again, this is why that there are no jobs. Because when the Government spends, it puts the private sector at disadvantage. Now, if you are a Marxist and believe that the Government is the end all for everything, you like this. However, if you are a person that believes in limited Government, and that capitalism and private industry is the backbone of America; this, to you, is a very bad thing.
Another thing too, and I mentioned this earlier in my piece and that is taxes. It is my understanding that businesses taxes under Obama have increased. No matter what form that they might take, tax increases on businesses of any sort, small, large, medium —whatever, are a death knell to business growth. It only stands to reason that if a business owner is going to have to pay more taxes, that he is not going to be able to hire that extra employee. This is just common sense.
Which is something that is sorely lacking in the Democratic Party these days.
The Weekly Standard notes that jobless claims have been revised up and makes the following observation:
Americans need to work and not merely to pay the bills. They define themselves by their work and take pride in their work and in doing a good job. “I can outwork anyone,” is a common American boast. John Henry vowed he could drive more steel than a steam engine and he “died with a hammer in his hand.” The government can hand out unemployment checks but even if they cover the bills, it isn’t the same
Mark this on your calendars, because this is the first time that this non-wilsonian conservative will say of the wilsonian Weekly Standard; and that is they hit it out of the ballpark on this one here.
Of course, it would intellectually dishonest of me to not remind them and my readers that we are in this mess because of the idiocy of BOTH PARTIES. With Bush’s wars and Obama’s idiotic keynesian spending; it is a wonder that were not living in subjugation to China now.
So, yeah, that’s the reality of America and its my reality for the last eight years.
