Health Insurance Reform for Idiots

The quickest way to fix any cost and coverage issues with health insurance is to simply let insurers sell across state lines. Period.

Economy Grows in Q3, Recession Over? Not by Definition, Technically....

October 29 update: The Commerce Department, in its first estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product on Thursday, said the economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate, the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2007, after contracting 0.7 percent in the April-June period.

[. . .]

The surge in consumer spending and residential investment was likely driven by government stimulus programs.

The same-old, same-old shuffle scam....

A recession is defined simply as a period when GDP falls (negative real economic growth) for at least two quarters. Some economists prefer a definition of a 1.5% rise in unemployment within 12 months.

Keep this in mind and apply it to any media or government claims that the recession is easing or over.

U.S. GDP by quarter at a glance.

Economy returns to growth after a year of declines

Recession Over? Not by any Definition, Technically....

October 12 update: despite idiotic media reports to the contrary, nothing has changed to alter the realty of the data released less than two weeks ago....

A recession is defined simply as a period when GDP falls (negative real economic growth) for at least two quarters. Some economists prefer a definition of a 1.5% rise in unemployment within 12 months.

Keep this in mind and apply it to any media or government claims that the recession is easing or over.

U.S. GDP by quarter at a glance.

October 2, 2009: U.S. unemployment at 9.8 percent, adjusted to a real 17 percent.

Actual US Jobless Rate 16% Says Fed Official

The real US unemployment rate is 16 percent if persons who have dropped out of the labor pool and those working less than they would like are counted, a Federal Reserve official said Wednesday.

"If one considers the people who would like a job but have stopped looking -- so-called discouraged workers -- and those who are working fewer hours than they want, the unemployment rate would move from the official 9.4 percent to 16 percent, said Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart.

Read it.

A New Low: Obama Daily Tracking -14

These figures mark the lowest poll rating yet for Obama:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14. These figures mark the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President. The previous low of -12 was reached on July 30 (see trends).

Prior to today, the number who Strongly Approved of the President’s performance had never fallen below 29%. Some of the decline has come from within the President’s own party. Just 49% of Democrats offer such a positive assessment of the President at this time.

At the other end of the spectrum, today’s total for Strongly Disapprove matches the highest level yet recorded. The 41% mark was reached just once before and that came one week ago today. Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans now Strongly Disapprove along with 49% of those not affiliated with either major party.

Source.

Jobless Claims Continue Rise: Where's the Press?

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week, a government report showed on Thursday, fanning worries of an anemic recovery from the worst recession in 70 years.

The press is reporting the story as "unexpectedly."

However, the rise should have been expected, given the state of the economy and warnings, even from the Obama administration, to expect rising unemployment to continue for some time to come.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 576,000 in the week ended August 15 from 561,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast new claims slipping to 550,000 last week from a previously reported 558,000.

Some undocumented economists say that the recession will be over when the claims drop below a half million.

Go figure...

Source.

What Recovery? Retail Sales Dip in July

Retail sales outside of autos turned in a disappointing performance in July, underscoring concerns about the timing and durability of a recovery from the worst recession since World War II.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales fell 0.1 percent last month. Economists had expected a gain of 0.7 percent.

While autos, helped by the start of the Cash for Clunkers program, showed a 2.4 percent jump -- the biggest in six months -- there was widespread weakness elsewhere. Gasoline stations, department stores, electronics outlets and furniture stores all reported declines.

The July dip was the first setback following two months of modest sales gains. Excluding autos, sales fell 0.6 percent, worse than the 0.1 percent rise economists had forecast.

What Unemployment Dip? New Jobless Claims Rise to 558,000

The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, while continuing claims fell.

The Labor Department says new claims increased to 558,000, from 554,000 the previous week. Analysts expected new claims to drop to 545,000, according to Thomson Reuters.

As jobless benefits continue to expire, the number of people remaining on rolls fell to 6.2 million from 6.34 million the previous week.

Labor Says 247,000 Jobs Lost in July, Actual Number is Over 550,000

The Labor Department has said that U.S. employers cut 247,000 jobs in July.

Keep in mind, the Labor Department said Thursday new claims for jobless benefits numbered 550,000 for the week ending Aug. 1.

It's all smoke and mirrors....

Jobless Claims 550,000, Continuing Claims Up to 6.3 Million, Press Sees Good News

The Labor Department said Thursday initial claims for jobless benefits numbered 550,000 for the week ending Aug. 1, slightly down from a predicted figure of 588,000.

Since the actual number was fewer than the guess, mainstream press reports see good news, even though more than half a million more jobs vanished last month.

If the press is reporting that the labor market and the economy is stabilizing, the question has to be asked: Is 9.6 percent unemployment the new status quo in the Obamaconomy?

Seismic Shift: 71% Blame Obama for Driving Up Deficit

Seventy-one percent (71%) of U.S. voters say President Obama’s policies have increased the size of the federal deficit, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Read it.

Another 371,000 Private Sector Jobs Shed in July

Private-sector jobs in the U.S. fell 371,000 in July, according to a national employment report published Wednesday by payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers.

The expected loss was about 350,000.

Obama Uncut Pitching a Single Payer Health Insurance Plan

Uncut and unedited:

“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that’s what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.”

GDP Shrinks, Economy 2X Worse Than Predicted: Press Sees Good News

The first 12 months of the U.S. recession saw the economy shrink more than twice as much as previously estimated, reflecting even bigger declines in consumer spending and housing, revised figures showed.

The world’s largest economy contracted 1.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the last three months of 2008, compared with the 0.8 percent drop previously on the books, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.

The economy sank at a pace of 1 percent in the second quarter of the year, the Commerce Department report shows. Many economists were predicting a 1.5 percent drop. This prompted many in the media to peg the report as good news.

With the contraction in the second quarter, U.S. GDP has fallen for four straight quarters for the first time since government records started in 1947.

AP said that the recession is winding down. CNN said the pain is easing. AFP said the economy is improving. Reuters said U.S. economy fares better than expected.

Taxes of Top 1% Now Exceed That of Bottom 95%

Newly released data from the IRS clearly debunks the conventional Beltway rhetoric that the "rich" are not paying their fair share of taxes and disproportionately benefited from the Bush tax cuts.

The IRS data shows that in 2007 -- the most recent data available -- the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.

Read it.

Newsweek: The Recession is Over

Mark this day, July 27, 2008.

Daniel Gross, writing July 25 in Newsweek magazine, on a day nearly half of the United States reported unemployment rates over 10 percent, said the recession is over.

Link.

Can we now dump the failed stimulus?

Then again, ABC News reported the same news on May, 12 2009.

Link.

Can we now dump the failed stimulus?

Senior Dem Lawmaker: No Point in Reading Obama Health Care Bill Without 2 Lawyers to Interpret

During his speech at a National Press Club luncheon, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Democratic Congressman John Conyers (D-Mich.), questioned the point of lawmakers reading the health care bill.

“I love these members, they get up and say, ‘Read the bill,’” said Conyers.

“What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?”

Video.

The Healthcare Chart Democrats Don't Want You to See

It's a bureaucratic nightmare....

Roll Call today reported that Democrats are preventing Republican House Members from sending their constituents a mailing that is critical of the majority’s health care reform plan, blocking the mailing by alleging that it is inaccurate.

The dispute centers on a chart created by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee to illustrate the organization of the Democratic health care plan.


At first glance, Brady’s chart resembles a board game: a colorful collection of shapes and images with a web of lines connecting them.

But a closer look at the image reveals a complicated menagerie of government offices and programs that Republicans say will be created if the leading Democratic health care plan becomes law.

Click here for an enlarged version.

Non-Government Motors Earns $2.3 Billion 2Q Profit

Ford Motor Co. posted a second-quarter profit of $2.8 billion Thursday, due to income related to a reduction of debt.

The nation's second-largest automaker said it earned 69 cents a share, compared with a loss of $8.7 billion, or $3.89 a share, for the same quarter a year ago. That quarter was the worst in Ford's history.

In contrast, government-controlled General Motors' sales dropped sharply last quarter as it headed into U.S. bankruptcy protection and the automaker ended up with global sales down 15 percent for the quarter.

General Motors Co., which has received $50 billion in U.S. government aid and emerged from Chapter 11 on July 10, said Wednesday that it sold 1.94 million vehicles worldwide in the April-to-June period, despite a 32 percent decline in North America.

Even NYT Disputes Obama's Healthcare Speech

Shortly after President Barack Obama finished his --deride the doctors and the cops while talking about himself -- healthcare press conference Wednesday evening, The New York Times posted an article at its Web site refuting some of Obama's arguments.

The New York Times harshly chastised Obama for "claiming credit for not spending money that, under the policy he inherited from Mr. Bush, would never have been spent in the first place."

Mr. Obama said doctors, nurses, hospitals, drug companies and AARP had supported efforts to overhaul health care.

While it is true the American Medical Association has endorsed a bill drafted by House Democratic leaders, a half-dozen state medical societies have sharply criticized provisions that would establish a new government-run health insurance plan.

Likewise, Mr. Obama said Medicare could save large amounts of money by creating "an independent group of doctors and medical experts who are empowered to eliminate waste and inefficiency" and hold down the annual increases in payments to health care providers.

Far from supporting this proposal, the American Hospital Association is urging hospital executives to lobby against it.

Need to check the story? The link is at the bottom:

Of the proposed new cost-control agency, Mr. Obama said: “It’s not going to reduce Medicare benefits. What it’s going to do is to change how those benefits are delivered so that they’re more efficient.”

Hospitals say the cuts could indeed cut services in some rural areas and from teaching hospitals, which receive extra payments because of higher costs.

But here was the most shocking part:

The president continued to take credit for deficit reduction by making a claim that has been challenged by many experts.

“If we had done nothing, if you had the same old budget as opposed to the changes we made,” the deficit over the next 10 years would be $2.2 trillion greater, the president said.

In fact, $1.5 trillion of those “savings” are mainly based on an assumption that the United States would have had as many troops in Iraq in 10 years as it did when Mr. Obama took office. But before leaving office, President George W. Bush signed an agreement with Baghdad mandating the withdrawal of all American forces within three years.

So Mr. Obama is claiming credit for not spending money that, under the policy he inherited from Mr. Bush, would never have been spent in the first place.

Read it.