Paul Ryan: I Call BS

Denver Post Not a Fan of Obmanomics

"Economic growth was revised down to a piddling 1.6 percent in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday. It's a significant drop from the 3.7 percent growth in the first quarter.

Economists expect the third quarter to hardly grow much more, estimating 1.7 percent growth.

It looks like the Keynesian theory of infusing massive amounts of government cash into the economy has fizzled. And while many other factors also explain the lack of economic energy, the bottom line is that nearly everyone — from consumers to business owners to government decision-makers — faces tremendous unknowns.

Worries about maintaining jobs and salaries stymie consumers. Businesses are holding back money. Economists also say that likely changes to tax laws and new regulatory environments are having a chilling effect.

And that uncertainty continues to hobble our consumer-generated economy.

The news is dire and the message — we hope — is simple: We need clear-eyed action going forward. Kicking around political footballs when there is a chance the country could slip back into recession cannot be tolerated."

That Sinking Feeling

Democrats and the Obama administration continue to speak with great optimism. Vice President Joe Biden recently predicted that the economy was rebounding and would soon be creating 250,000 to 500,000 new jobs a month (the economy shed another 12,000 jobs last month). Obama continues to point blame to the mess created by Bush's war.

However if you do the math, as the Washing Examiner recently did, Obama's stimulus bill cost more then Bush's war. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported the cost of the war at $709 Billion. The first two years of Obama's stimulus bill will cost more then the 6 years of the Iraq war during the Bush administration

The just reported July home sales fell 27.7%. The main stream media the did more research on what Sarah Palin was throwing into her trash then what Obama's actual qualifications/accomplishments were that might qualify him to hold the most important position in the word, is finally starting to drop words like "unexpected" when reporting bad economic news.

From ABC News: "Economic growth is going to drop rapidly for the rest of the year and the Recovery Act is going to add zero".

And from AOL News: "If Washington seems out of ideas on how to get the private-sector jobs machine running again, there's a pretty straightforward reason -- the people in government have virtually no experience in business. In a major departure from prior administrations, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the current administration with any real business experience."

President Obama has stated that he wasn't concerned about being re-elected. I'd say that's a good thing. I'm looking forward to seeing him playing a lot of golf after 2012.

The Louisiana Purchase, Take 2

Louisiana Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu demands $300 million in federal pork for Louisiana in exchange for her vote to move forward with the health care debate.

"My vote today, should in no way be construed by the supporters of this current framework as an indication of how I might vote as this debate comes to an end."

Once again a member of Congress puts "bringing home the bacon" to their home state a higher priority over the best interest of our country. How much more will she demand for her vote on the final bill? How many other members of Congress will jump on the pork bandwagon now that it's clear that Reid is willing to reward each positive vote? As our Government continues to bury us in debt, we elect representatives whose primary concern is maintaining their hold on power. While Obama fiddles, Congress is burning the country down.

But of course Harry Reid is part of the our new "Honest and Open" government.

Remember this story, as reported in 2006 by Forbes magazine?

"Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn’t personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.

In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews.

The Nevada Democrat’s deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations. He’s never been charged with wrongdoing – except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.

Land deeds obtained by The Associated Press during a review of Reid’s business dealings show:

-The deal began in 1998 when Reid bought undeveloped residential property on Las Vegas’ booming outskirts for about $400,000. Reid bought one lot outright, and a second parcel jointly with Brown. One of the sellers was a developer who was benefiting from a government land swap that Reid supported. The seller never talked to Reid.

-In 2001, Reid sold the land for the same price to a limited liability corporation created by Brown. The senator didn’t disclose the sale on his annual public ethics report or tell Congress he had any stake in Brown’s company. He continued to report to Congress that he personally owned the land.

-After getting local officials to rezone the property for a shopping center, Brown’s company sold the land in 2004 to other developers and Reid took $1.1 million of the proceeds, nearly tripling the senator’s investment. Reid reported it to Congress as a personal land sale.

The complex dealings allowed Reid to transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences to Brown’s company without public knowledge, but still collect a seven-figure payoff nearly three years later.

Reid hung up the phone when questioned about the deal during an AP interview."

The Democrats promised transparency. Now that we can see no only their actions but their motivations, what are we going to do about it?

Road Trip with Obama!