Posts Tagged “Pork”

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Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) meets a tough crowd.

From TheBlackSphere.net (Kevin Jackson)

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China’s Premier Wen Jiabao is worried about their investments in U.S. Treasuries. Now he wants Barry to guarantee their safety.

Analysts estimate that nearly half of China’s $2 trillion in currency reserves are in U.S. Treasuries and notes issued by other government-affiliated agencies.

Washington is counting on China to continue buying Treasuries to fund its $787 billion stimulus package. Last month, visiting Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to reassure Beijing that government debt would remain a reliable investment.

“They are worried about forever-rising deficits, which may devalue Treasuries by pushing interest rates higher,” said JP Morgan economist Frank Gong. “Inside China there has been a lot of debate about whether they should continue to buy Treasuries.”

From Bloomberg :

Ten-year notes headed for a weekly decline as Japan and China signaled they will take additional measures to boost their economies. China, the U.S. government’s largest creditor, is asking “the U.S. to maintain its good credit, to honor its promises and to guarantee the safety of China’s assets,” Wen said today in Beijing.

If you recall, back in January Treasury Secretary Timmy Geithner said President Barry believes China is “manipulating” its currency. That’s something American manufacturers have long sought to combat the soaring U.S. trade deficit with China.

So what happens if China is seen as a currency manipulator? Under U.S. trade law, that designation could result in U.S. economic sanctions against China. Let the trade wars begin. Barry has plenty to be worried about. The trade gap with China increased to $20.6 billion in December, up from $19.9 billion in November as U.S. exports to China dropped faster than imports.

Obama’s failed “Buy American” plan is still lurking in the minds of many countries that export to the U.S., and they fear the Obamassiah will implement some form of “trade protectionism.” He only needs to look back at the last economic depression for the answer.

From Stewart Patrick:

In the 1930s, global recession had catastrophic political consequences—in part because policymakers took exactly the wrong approach. Starting with America’s own Smoot Hawley Tariff of 1930, the world’s major trading nations tried to insulate themselves by adopting inward looking protectionist and discriminatory policies. The result was a vicious, self-defeating cycle of tit-for-tat retaliation. As states took refuge in prohibitive tariffs, import quotas, export subsidies and competitive devaluations, international commerce devolved into a desperate competition for dwindling markets. Between 1929 and 1933, the value of world trade plummeted from $50 billion to $15 billion. Global economic activity went into a death spiral, exacerbating the depth and length of the Great Depression. More [here].

Yet through all of this, Obama continues to talk about punishing companies that send manufacturing jobs overseas. Speaking of seas. Obama’s budget contains a 13% excise tax on offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Oh great! Lets punish the American oil and gas producers. What a great way to send more of our money overseas. But hey, we can always borrow more from China, right? Even the Russians are are running low on cash. They’re signing a 20-year deal for oil sales to China in return for a $25 billion loan.

Meanwhile, back at sea… China says we’re spying on them and the US Navy has dispatched destroyers to escort our non-weapon equipped surveillance voyages. I guess you can hold a gun to your banker’s head.

Maybe Obama could get some guidance from Wal*Mart? Oh wait, I forgot. Evan Williams, one of the kids that co-founded Twitter was summoned by Barry to a summit in Washington DC to discuss the current economic crisis. Barry can sure pick them. Twitter doesn’t even have a revenue model. That’s right, while Twitter is wildly popular, they live off of venture capital, i.e. loans, (read:no income).

Go figure.

AWB

So now the great one and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel have turned from trying to fix the economy to picking a schoolyard rumble with Rush Limbaugh. How mature is that? Emanuel calls Limbaugh “an intellectual force” and voice of GOP. I don’t see anything “intellectual” coming from their side of the aisle. How about turning your focus away from Rush and towards fixing things? I cannot recall a single like event anytime during the eight years G.W. Bush held office.

Since November 4th, when the Obamassiah was elected, the Dow has tumbled over 25%. As Obama and company continue their march towards socialism, Wall Street continues to respond with a big “no confidence vote”. When you consider the bulk of Obama’s porkulus screwing of the U.S. economy is going towards social programs, its no wonder. On top of that, this so-called “stimulus bill” contains 9,000 earmarks.

Obama is raping the system that has worked for decades in this county. It’s called capitalism. Instead of rewarding America’s job creators, he wants to punish them. Instead of incentivizing those disinclined to work, he’s giving them a reason to sit this one out on their collective asses. Someone else will pay the bills for them, why should they worry?

His foreign policy is fast becoming one of holding hands with those that embrace communism, fascism and dictatorial rule. He’s sent olive branches to Iran and Moscow, and is now going to send $900 million dollars of your money to Palestine.

He’s also turned his eye on socializing the U.S. healthcare system. As a direct result, healthcare stocks are the newest victim of Obama’s economic tailspin, and are shedding value with each passing day.

Today Obama is sending his Treasury secretary and budget director to Capitol Hill to defend his plan to start taxing industries on greenhouse-gas emissions, also known as cap and trade. If he succeeds, your electric bill will purportedly increase anywhere from 15% – 40%, gasoline prices up anywhere from 9% -145%, and natural gas prices from 12% -50%, all within the next 6 years.

Obama’s supporters, always wrapped up in class resentment, can’t see the forest through the trees. The love the über-partisan environment on capital hill, and walk blindly following “The One” down the path of failure.

He’s not going to change, and Limbaugh doesn’t need to hope he’ll fail, he’s well on his way.

AWB

Obama and the democrats are bragging about the $825 billion stimulus package that will give hope, and make change. It’s loaded with pork, here’s a few highlights.

$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts

A quarter billion dollars to fix State Department computers

$200 million to spruce up the National Mall

$670 million to rebuild restrooms and other buildings in national parks

$8 billion for renewable energies

$6 billion for mass transit

$4 billion for community activist programs such as ACORN

$2 billion for child care subsidies

$650 million for coupons for digital TV conversions

$400 million for global warming research

$335 million for STD prevention

How will any of the above items stimulate the economy? They won’t.

$50 million might seem like a drop in the hat when you’re talking about $825 billion, but if people want the arts to succeed, donate and patronize.

How is the $8 billion going to be spent on renewable energies? 1/2 billion of it is set aside solely for expense of implementing the program. Read: more government jobs. $800 million is set aside to advance the storage output of batteries. One would think the battery industry is already working on that. $4.5 billion is to be set aside for grants, that’s nothing but pure pork.

$4 billion for community activist programs? What the hell is that?? $2 billion for child care? That’s not going to create any jobs. $400 million for Al Gore and company? Screw global warming. It’s been proven time and again, it’s not happening. Over 31,000 scientists and climatologists have publicly signed a petition stating they do not agree with Al Gore & company.

And Pelosi’s pet pork project, $335 million for STD prevention. Maybe that will create a few jobs for the homeless. They can go around and handout free condoms.

According to Pelosi, “if we reduce the number of STDs, we reduce our aggregate health care expenses, which in turn stimulates the economy”. Maybe what she means is there won’t be so many people stuck up at home with the clap, gonorrhea and syphilis and they’ll jackupoff the economy by being able to get out of the house and spend their stimulus checks.

This is not the time for Republicans to sit down and shut up.

If you’re really bored, you can read the entire bill here.