Working Hard For A Living

(I know! A black women appearing on a white man's TV show in a maid outfit! How Uddery Racist!)

For just a little fun this week, I decided to see what dear leader had to tell us in his weekly radio address. Here's what I found.

First - the title of the address:

Working Together on Behalf of the American People

Hilarious! Especially since he is heading off for yet another taxpayer funded junket to Hawaii - a state that he was supposedly born in but was never domiciled in politically before he became president:

www.washingtontimes.com

 On to the address:

Hi, everybody.  

Great. He's channeling that guy again:

He then goes on to talk about how great it was that he bamboozed the weak kneed Republicans to give him virtually everything he wanted in a budget. Here's what he had to say about the end of the sequester that was tying all the incumbents in knots:

This budget will unwind some of the damaging cuts that have threatened students and seniors and held back our businesses.  It clears the path for critical investments in the things that grow our economy and strengthen our middle class, like education and research. 

Here's a little memory test. What major portion of the sequester has crippled the US at a time when the world is teetering on chaos? Oh yeah - the defense cuts. Odd that he forgot them here, especially since he goes on to say:

And it will keep reducing our deficits – at a time when we’ve seen four years of the fastest deficit reduction since the end of World War II. 

World War II - that is such old news, except when comparing mythical deficit reduction and stuff like that.

He then went on to talk about getting his way with his political appointees:

 Members of Congress also voted to finally allow several dedicated and well-qualified public servants to do their jobs for the American people – many of whom waited months for a simple yes-or-no vote.  

Ha! I am so glad that Senator Obama is not here to hear this president say that. Here's what that guy thought about changing the senate rules that allowed mere men to resist the will the majority:

....everyone in this chamber knows that if the majority chooses to end the filibuster, if they choose to change the rules and put an end to democratic debate, then the fighting and the bitterness, and the gridlock will only get worse.

His next tidbit was about the unemployment payments to the vunerables:

Right now, because Congress failed to act before leaving on vacation, more than one million Americans are poised to lose a vital source of income just a few days after Christmas.  For many people who are still looking for work, unemployment insurance is a lifeline that can make the difference between temporary hardship or lasting catastrophe.  Instead of punishing these families who can least afford it – especially now – Congress should first restore that lifeline immediately, then put their entire focus on creating more good jobs that pay good wages.  

So what exactly is he talking about? People who have been periodically unemployed since he took office and started the recovery from the ravages on the economy the that the Hated Bush instituted have been drawing temporary payments until they can get another job. Unless congress once again extends the amount of time they can draw these payments, they will become destitute (but still draw disability, child tax credits, free health care, Obama phones, and food stamps). The current program allows non-workers to get checks for up to 99 weeks. Doing the math on that:

 99 weeks / 4 weeks a month / 12 months a year = 2 years

Two years unemployed. Think about that for a minute. Ouch!

Moving on, he then talks about focus:

That’s what I’ll be focused on next year, and every day I have the privilege of being your President.  Growing the economy.  Expanding opportunity. 

Because he has <sigh> had to focus on so many other things up to now (hint, hint Obamacare). Then he had go to say this at the end:

Have a great weekend and a very Merry Christmas.

How Dare He! Religion has no place in our government! Who is proof reading these things? The correct term to use Mr. President is Happy Holidays. Either that or be inclusive and wish us Happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzza, or Winter Solstice. Actually, since today is Winter Solstice that would have been more appropriate.

So, to all my Wiccan readers out there, and I know there are more than a few (who are actually not offended by a wish of Happy Christmas),

Happy Winter Solstice - now is the beginning of the new beginning!

Listening to Dear Leader... November 3, 2013 Edition

Once again I was intrigued by what Dear Leader had to say in his weekly radio address. So without further adieu, President Choom:

Hi, everybody

Ok - right away i'm getting this really weird vibe. Am I the only one already thinking about another guy who likes to pretend to be a doctor:

 Moving along...

On Thursday, I addressed a conference for business leaders from around the world.  And my pitch was simple:  Choose America.  Invest in America.  Create jobs in America.

Because American exceptionalism is at such an all time low now that we need foreign investors to keep us afloat.

It speaks to my top priority as President: growing our economy, creating good jobs, strengthening security and opportunity for the middle class.

So that whole Obamacare thing was what? Another priority? Um, not to split hairs Mr. President Choom, but you say 'top priority' like it's one thing, then go on to list two things. Do you want to grow the economy or create good middle class jobs?  I am thinking most economist would not agree they are necessarily the same thing. I mean look at the stock market. The DOW has continued to grow throughout this economic disaster, indicating a 'growing' economy, even while actual unemployment has hit an all time high. Speaking of employment:

Over the past three and a half years, our businesses have created over seven and a half million new jobs.  And this week, the Treasury confirmed that since I took office, we’ve cut our deficits by more than half.

New jobs? I'll let this article do the actual analysis for that old canard.  But basically the population grew by seven million, five of which were new 'immigrants', and six million workers stopped looking for work. Let me do a little advanced math on that:

X = 7.5million jobs - ((5 million immigrants + 2 million natives) + 6 million give ups)

X = -5.5 million jobs (to stay even)

The deficit works the same way. But that's math, and math is hard.

But we have more work to do.  We need to grow and create more good jobs faster.  That’s my driving focus.  And I’ll go anywhere and do anything to make it happen. 

Faster than the actual negative growth - I agree. Wait a minute - I thought this was your driving focus:

Jumping down a little:

I was glad to hear the Republican leader in the Senate say this week that they won’t pursue another government shutdown or threaten another default on our debt.  Because we shouldn’t be injuring ourselves every few months – we should be investing in ourselves.

Let me interpret that a bit:

Jumping down a bit more:

Think about it.  We can keep wasteful corporate tax giveaways that working folks don’t get – or we could close those loopholes and use that money to pay for things that actually create jobs.

Let's see. We are back to the concept that corporations are people, and are getting 'cuts' that normal taxpayers don't. Not mentioned here is that corporations, like say Walmart exist to create profit for their shareholders, who mostly are retirees investing as groups in money markets. Now a 'closing of loopholes' mean that such corporations have two choices. To reduce the profits they give investors, or increase their prices. It is not unreasonable to expect that they will do both. Contrast this with a basic increase of taxes on an individual, like what is in the shiny new Obamacare law. When people have to pay more taxes, then they necessarily start cutting down on what they are spending. See? It's the basic difference between spending and earning. I know <sigh>, math.

Priorities. Choices.  That’s what this is about.  And the stakes for the middle class couldn’t be higher.  If we don’t pick the right priorities now, make the right choices now, we could hinder growth and opportunity for decades, and leave our children with something less.

Humm. It's like this economy just dropped dropped out of thin air onto this administration. No bad choices were made in the last 5 years that put us in this hole. It was the deficit fairy:

 Jumping ahead again:

Building new roads, and bridges, and schools, and airports – that creates jobs.

I'm pretty sure all that takes government money, which comes from taxes, which hinders growth. Besides, what happened to all those shovel ready jobs you already created? Since money pretty much grows on trees, I am thinking that this just might work! Or we could create jobs the old fashioned way... whatever that is...

Because in America, our economy doesn’t grow from the top-down.  It grows from the middle-class out.  

I am thinking that you probably should consult with Mooch on this. Middle America's growing middle is the real problem here, and it is definitely growing from the middle out.

And as long as I am President, our national mission will remain building an America where everyone belongs

Like the millions of folks who are streaming across our borders who are not actually Americans. That sounds so, er, Presidential.

 Thanks, and have a great weekend

Meh - weekends are overrated. Give me some freedom and and a taste of justice, and i'm all good:

You had me at 'Good Morning'

So I woke up this morning listening to NPR carrying The Bamster's Weekly Radio address. I was struck by his smugness and apparently willingness to continue demagoguing in the face of apparently yet another GOP cave to his kingship. I copied down the full text and thought i'd take a deeper look at just what he said. So here that goes:

Good morning.

Ok, given that this came out at something like 5am, nobody really believes that he recorded this sometime this morning, if so it was like 1am, and he and Reggie Love were doing shots in the secret White House rumble room. His speech is not a bit slurred, so I am guessing that he did this sometime yesterday afternoon. So thanks Mr President, you have, in true form, started out with a lie.

Over the past few days, I’ve met with Republicans and Democrats from both houses of Congress in an effort to reopen your government and remove the dangers of default from our economy.

Well sure he met with Boner. But as I recall, Boner came out of that meeting talking about how pointless it was as The Bamster just went over how he was not going to negotiate. So, while the first sentence is technically correct, it is something of a lie by omission. To actually open the the government, it would have to be closed. So far, 83% of it remains active, with only NTSB, food inspectors, and park rangers getting sent home.

It’s a positive development that House Republicans have agreed on the need to avoid the economic consequences of not meeting our country’s commitments. 

So it's just the house republicans that aren't meeting our obligations? You make it sound like these obligations just grew on trees and somehow fell on our country unbidden. The truth is a bit more complicated. Basically you have been given a blank check, and now that Congress is balking, it's their fault they are not handing you another one to spend.

 Because once the debt ceiling is raised, and the shutdown is over, there’s a lot we can accomplish together.

HAHAHA! Once I get what I want, I can make them squirm and give me even more of their stuff!

We’ve created seven and a half million new jobs in the past three and a half years. Now let’s create more.

 Why tell the truth when a bald faced lie will do, as long as you continue to repeat it. This economy is in the toilet, and August unemployment hit 4 year low because people are giving up on looking for jobs.

 We’ve cut our deficits in half over the past four years.

Um, math question here. If that is true, then why do we need to increase the debt limit? the real truth is the debt under your administration dwarfs all the preceding administrations.  Here's a handy chart.

 Now let’s do it in a smarter, balanced way that lets us afford to invest in the things we need to grow.

So the way to grow the economy is to spend more money on government programs? Who knew? If all our income and money went to the government, we would be all fabulously wealthy and never have to work again. What a great idea!

 <blah, blah...> I met with some really innovative small business owners on Friday who’ve already lost contracts, lost customers, and put hiring on hold – because the pain of this Republican shutdown has trickled down to their bottom lines. It’s hurting the very citizens that our government exists to serve.

Well that kinda fits with the above. The little guys that are being hurt are contractors that can't get their money from the government. The government is set up to serve those guys? that doesn't seem right... I am thinking that old Republican had it all wrong - perhaps it was because he was a warmonger making a speech at a battlefield:

 that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Guess he didn't get the word about government serving the contractors. What a maroon!

That’s why a growing number of reasonable Republicans say it should end now.

HAHAHA! I've got a bunch of them scared by a fake poll by NBC/WSJ!

 And it wouldn’t be wise, as some suggest, to just kick the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple months, and flirt with a first-ever intentional default right in the middle of the holiday shopping season.

 Republicans want to steal Christmas! The bastards! I bet their going to kill Kenny too!

Because damage to America’s sterling credit rating wouldn’t just cause global markets to go haywire; it would become more expensive for everyone in America to borrow money. Students paying for college. Newlyweds buying a home. 

Let's set aside the fact the, um, elephant in the room is that America's credit rating is complete BS, given we are the largest debtor nation on earth, largely obfuscated by the fed's 'quantitative easing' (buying our debt up by printing money). In fact, what you are saying is if the debt limit isn't raised, then the house of cards will come falling down. So rather than face our problems, it's just best to pretend they are not there.

It would amount to a new tax – a Republican default tax – on every family and business in America.

Nothing partisan about this discussion. Again, this debt thing is somehow the Republican's fault for trying to force you to deal with it.

It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s not supposed to be this way. Manufacturing crises to extract massive concessions isn’t how our democracy works, and we have to stop it. Politics is a battle of ideas, but you advance those ideas through elections and legislation – not extortion.

Uh, small point here, but this whole thing is about legislation that deals with one of the primary responsibilities of congress - authorizing spending. What you really mean is you control the two thirds of the government, you won, so the House republicans should sit down, shut up, and do as their told. Unfortunately, while I haven't checked them all, i'm pretty sure they were elected too.

<blah, blah> I want you to remember: this is not normal. Our government is closed for the first time in 17 years. A political party is risking default for the first time since the 1700s. This is not normal. 

 As I pointed out earlier, only 17% of the government is closed. While it is unusual for someone that was a member of the 'Choom Gang' way back then, government shutdowns are pretty common in our system of government - 17 times seems to be the number that keeps popping up.  The risk of default is also a bit of a red herring. If the debt limit is raised, then the government will have to make do with the money it gets in... i.e. - austerity. Again, it is notable that this debt did not just drop on us from the sky.

Whether it’s the work of creating jobs, growing the economy, or getting our fiscal house in order for the long haul, we’ve got a lot of work to do – and constant brinksmanship doesn’t let us do it.

As I recall, it was The Bamster that has refused to negotiate and forced the 'brinkmanship'. But by all means, blame the whole thing on the Republicans.

<blah, blah> - the more frequently this brinksmanship is inflicted – the more we’ll see markets react, businesses put off plans to spend and hire, and unemployment claims tick up. 

Wait a minute! Didn't you just say that you had created a bunch of jobs? So which is it? Are the number of jobs going up and the economy is going gangbusters, or not? Ah - I see, the tanked economy and all the jobs lost over the past four years are because the republicans have shut down the government now? I had no idea the economy was so prescient.

 The hundreds of thousands of hardworking civil servants who go even longer without pay will worry that they won’t be able to cover their bills, and that their own creditworthiness will be ruined for no good reason at all. And I want to thank all the neighbors and local business owners who’ve shown acts of kindness to these Americans who serve their country. I ask that same spirit of citizenship from lenders who do business with these folks. Because they’re being punished enough through no fault of their own.

As I have stated elsewhere, while I feel for those workers that have been laid off on essentially paid vacations, they are last people I would worry about. To make this about government employees who are on paid vacations is really kinda slimy.

So let’s pass a budget, put people back to work, and end this Republican shutdown

Not my fault! Not my fault! Not my fault! The buck didn't even think about stopping here!

Because there is so much else we should be focusing our energies on right now. We’ve got to create more jobs, and kids to educate, and an immigration system to fix. We’ve got more troops to bring home, and a middle class to rebuild, and opportunity to restore.

Allow me to translate:

1. Create more jobs: give my cronies and the unions more of your money.
2. Educate kids: indoctrinate the kids to the principles of Marx, and the values of socialism. If you don't like it we'll lock you up.
3. Fix immigration: Flood the system with illegals from Mexico, solidifying a democrat voter block for the next 50 years 
4. Bring the troops home: give up, except for our support of our Muslim brotherhood friends in Egypt and Al Qaeda in Syria, because really - who cares about a bunch of dead Christians?
5. rebuild middle class: Give more money to the freeloaders, moving them into the middle class, solidifying that voting block.

Finally:

And as always, this country works better when we work together.Thank you, and have a great weekend.

As long as I get my way, nobody gets hurt. You got a problem with that? Does that whole 'great weekend' thing sound a little ominous to anyone else? No? Ok then, y'all have a great weekend, ya hear?

UPDATE: Welcome IMAO readers! Since you are reading this on Monday, you'll probably be thinking "What the heck? Have a great weekend?" No worries though, since this is Columbus Day, it still counts as the weekend! So, kick off your shoes (except for Ernie - jeez that guy has smelly feet), make your self comfortable, and stay a while. Heck, even bookmark me or subscribe to my RSS feed. You could do a drinking game with that by how many times I go back and edit some completely incoherent post after I publish it. Fun stuff, most of the time... and thanks for dropping by.