Archive for the ‘Obama’ Category
May 16, 2012
Monday was a great day in the rough & tumble day in the world of presidential politics and candidates’ hypocrisy.
* * * * *
Monday morning
President Obama’s campaign launches an ad, “Steel,” attacking Mitt Romney’s record on job creation.
The two-minute ad focuses on GS Technologies, a steel mill in Kansas City that was bought by Romney’s private equity firm Bain Capital and went bankrupt soon after.
According to the Washington Post, the ad paints Romney as out of touch with the needs of the local workers and concerned only with Bain’s own profits.
“We view Mitt Romney as a job destroyer … a vampire. They came in and sucked the life out of us.”
click to view
* * * * *
Monday afternoon
In rapid response mode, the Romney campaign also released its own web ad, “American Dream,” focused on a successful steel company invested in by Bain:
click to view
* * * * *
Monday evening
According to the Weekly Standard, President Obama attended a fundraiser Monday evening in New York City hosted by Hamilton E. James, the chief operating officer and president of Blackstone — “one of the world’s largest private equity fund businesses”
This fundraiser-of-the day had a particular irony to it since earlier in the day Obama criticized private equity investors as vampires.
* * * * *
You just can’t make this stuff up …
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Tags:Bain, Obama, Romney, vampires, venture capitalists
Posted in Campaign 2012, Obama | 1 Comment »
May 10, 2012
The NY Times reported on President Obama’s campaign rallies over the weekend:
The atmosphere at both college rallies was buoyant and the crowds were sizable, though in Columbus the turnout did not fill the Ohio State University’s 18,300 seat arena.
At times, the rallies had the feeling of a concert by an aging rock star.
A few supporters were wearing faded “Hope” and Obama 2008 T-shirts, and cheers went up when the president told people to tell their friends that his campaign was “still about hope” and “still about change.”
OMG.
And, that’s from the NY Times …
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Tags:aging rock star, campaign, NY Times, Obama
Posted in Election - 2012, Obama | 1 Comment »
April 25, 2012
Former SNL comedian John Lovitz voted for Obama in 2008.
Now, he’s expressing his disappointment in a very “colorful” way.
The essence of his rant goes to the core of what bothers many besieged taxpayers.
“I voted for the guy and I’m a Democrat.
First they say … ‘You can do anything you want. Go for it.’
So then you go for it, and then you make it, and everyone’s like, ‘F— you’ … give me half … no, that’s not enough, give me more than half.
This whole thing with Obama saying the rich don’t pay their taxes is f—ing bulls—.”
Worth listening to the whole thing … if you don’t mind a few bad words … and want a few yuks
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Tags:Goes viral, Lovitz rant, Obama, Taxes
Posted in Laughs, Obama, Taxes | Leave a Comment »
April 23, 2012
Mort Zuckerman — head of U.S. News, not the Mark Zuckerberg, the guy at Facebook — was an Obama supporter in 2008.
Suffice it to say that he’s disappointed with the President’s accomplishments re: the economy.
His article President Obama’s Economic Programs Have Failed is worth reading in its entirety.
Here are a couple of data points from it …
- The pool of unemployed Americans is 15 million — that’s roughly equal to the entire population of the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Arkansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma.
- 25% of households include someone who is unemployed and looking for work.
- Among the jobless, a staggering 42% of the unemployed are long-term unemployed, without jobs for six months or longer.
- Since 2008, some 3 million people have dropped out of the job market. If they hadn’t, the unemployment rate would be about 10.8%.
- So-called structural unemployment has risen from 5 percent before the crisis to close to 7% today …. if so, many lost jobs that cannot be restored by boosting demand.
- Hiring today is at about 70% of the 2006 level … so, job seekers are only about one third as likely to find work as in 2006.
- Layoff announcements have risen 18% from a year ago, and hiring plans have dropped 82%.
- The U.S has lost 6 million blue-collar manufacturing jobs.
- 70% of job openings have been in mostly low-wage sectors, including healthcare, leisure, hospitality, and retail.
- Some 7.7 million workers are stuck in part-time jobs, with pay inadequate for entry into the middle class.
- 67% of the meager employment growth rate has been in the 55 and older age cohort.
- The jobless rate for workers ages 20 to 24 is over 13%; teenagers, 25%; Hispanic teenagers, 30.5%; and black teenagers, 37.9%.
- People with a college education face unemployment rates of about 4.2; those with a certificate from a community college or at least some college coursework have a jobless rate of 7.5%.
- People who did not finish high school have it worst at almost 13%.
- Two thirds of our employment is concentrated in 6 million small and medium-size businesses.
- The U.S. needs 1 million new businesses every year to keep us on the right track. Instead we have only about 400,000 firms starting up.
- Real per capita disposable income — adjusted for inflation — is down to $32,600 now versus $34,641 back in 2006.
- The ratio of total household debt to after-tax earnings is 117% — down from last year’s peak peak of 131%, but is still above the pre-bubble rate of 70%.
Zuckerman concludes: We are still in an era of deleveraging, rising savings rates, home price deflation, and squeezed real income, all of which will continue to affect consumer spending.”
Have a nice day …
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Tags:Economy, Obama, Zuckerman
Posted in Economy, Obama | Leave a Comment »
April 19, 2012
In an earlier post “Government Gone Wild?”, I said:
If the President takes day trips on Air Force One to campaign, why shouldn’t GSA folks take day trips to Hawaii for ribbon cuttings?
A loyal, left-leaning reader (maybe now a former left-leaning reader) challenged the Homa Files fact-checkers as “just plain wrong” since:
The campaign reimburses the federal gov’t for the usage of Air Force One and costs associated with protection of the POTUS directly related to campaigning.
My immediate reply:
There is partial reimbursement …. the campaign pays for “incremental costs not related to official business” …. it’s not prorated …. when he gives a 30 minute Buffett Rule speech and does 3 hour long fund-raisers, the campaign doesn’t pay for 75% (or 85%) of the cost of the trip.
Just to sure, we doubled back on the facts.
Landed on a point-on article by ever right-wing ABC: Presidential Piggybacking: Obama Trips Combine Official, Political Business
The act of presidential piggybacking — coupling official duties, in this case a speech on the economy, with political fundraising — was not pioneered by Obama but is prominently on display this year.
The president’s jet-setting has raised the curiosity and questions from taxpayers about who bears the sky-high costs.
Official presidential travel has traditionally been paid for by taxpayers as part of executive branch operations, while political trips and events are to be covered by a candidate’s campaign committee.
On the occasions that they mix, the costs are to be split.
“Most presidents have doubled up on trips and said they followed the law, which is a complex formula no one really understands. At the end of the day the Federal Election Commission has not been abundantly clear about how the costs of mixed purpose travel should be paid for”
As a rule of thumb, an incumbent president’s campaign is expected to reimburse the government the cost of a first class commercial airline ticket for each person riding Air Force One to or from a political event.
But the amount doesn’t come close to covering the proportional operating cost of Air Force One, or the army of Secret Service agents, White House advance teams, the fleet of Air Force cargo planes transporting the presidential motorcade or the helicopters that often ferry the president from an airport to a remote site.
Air Force One alone cost $179,750 per flight hour in fiscal year 2012.
That figure includes fuel, flight consumables, depot level repairs, aircraft overhaul and engine overhaul. Pilot and airmen salaries are not included because they are paid regardless of the plane’s use.
On a recent three-day, three-state swing that included two official events and eight fundraisers, netting more than $8 million, incurred flight costs alone of $2.1 million, based on the Air Force figure and flight times gathered from press pool reports.
The Obama campaign has reimbursed more than $1.5 million for travel so far this election cycle, according to FEC records.
Read that last paragraph carefully.
80% of the “stops” of the cited trip were campaign-related.
And, just the cost of AF One were over $2 million.
So, you’d expect that the Obama Campaign would have picked up at least $1.6 million of the costs — just for AF one, just on this one trip.
But, according to ABC, the Campaign has only picked up $1.5 million in total, for the entire campaign cycle so far.
C’mon man.
I say to the GSA guys: Go cut some ribbons” … Why not?.
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Tags:Air Force One, Obama, Presidential piggybacking
Posted in Gov't Waste & Inefficiency, Gov't Spending, Obama | Leave a Comment »
April 17, 2012
Finished up my taxes this weekend …. OUCH.
Along with more than 30 million other taxpayers, I got caught by the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
There are about 130 million Fed tax filings each year … about half of them pay no Fed income taxes (or get a refundable credit) … that means that about half of all tax payers get hit with the AMT. it only takes about $75,000 in income to make somebody a candidate for the AMT.
This year — in part because of the hoopla re: the Buffett Rule — I dug dig into the AMT calculations rather than just take Turbo Tax’s answer and run.
The bottom line — based on my dissection — is that the AMT requires that high earners pay about 28% on their ordinary taxable income — wages, interest, pensions, etc.
So, on ordinary taxable income the Obama-Buffett Rule (OBR) boosts the rate from 28% to 30%.
Big deal, right?
The real impact is what happens to capital gains and “qualified” dividends — which are currently capped at a 15% rate — even under the AMT.
Under the Obama-Buffett Rule, capital gains and qualified dividends would be taxed at 30% — a doubling of the current AMT rate.
Now, that is a big deal.
When you cut to to the chase, the Obama-Buffett Rule is simply a doubling of the capital gains tax rate — selectively applied to those people who earn most of the capital gains.
The OBR simply takes capital out of play from the private sector and transfers it to the government sector.
If you think that the government does a better job allocating capital than the free market, then you gotta love the Obama-Buffett Rule.
If you think the government uses capital less efficiently than the private sector, you gotta hate it.
Put me in the latter camp …
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Posted in Buffett, Warren, Obama, Taxes | Leave a Comment »
April 16, 2012
The past week has been like a bad reality show: “Government gone wild“.
We’ve had — in chronological order — the GSA scandal mocking government controls on spending, Demster Hilary Rosen whacking away at Ann Romney, and the Secret Service “incident”.
Though I’m a b-school prof and I worked in the real world for a couple of decades, I don’t claim particular expertise in management leadership or ororganizational behavior.
That’s ok, because this one is so obvious …
Organizations observe their leaders – what they do, not what they say – and act accordingly. Consider …
- If the President wastes billions on shovel ready projects (“ha ha”), why should the GSA squeeze every dime?
- If the President shovels billions to his bundlers (think Solyndra), why shouldn’t the GSA buy a couple of iPads for each other?
- If the President takes day trips on Air Force One to campaign, why shouldn’t GSA folks take day trips to Hawaii for ribbon cuttings?
- If the first lady parties with the girls inVegas,why shouldn’t the GSA party in Vegas?
- If the President mocks folks for their “guns and bibles”, why shouldn’t Hilary Rosen mock Ann Romney for “never working a day in her life”?
- If the President has a constant stream of rock stars to the White House for private parties, why shouldn’t his Secret Service entourage have some party girls over every now and then?
- If the President openly disrespects our higher institutions (think Supreme Court), why shouldn’t the Secret Service disrespect our higher institutions (think, the Presidency)?
Obama should take the last point most seriously. He’s the role model and sets the tone for government employees.
Maybe, his “people” are just acting the way he’s acting
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Tags:GSA, Leadership, OB, Obama, Secret Service Scandal
Posted in Leadership, Management, Obama | Leave a Comment »
April 16, 2012
A month ago — in a post titled Head-scratching polling results — we pointed out:
… right-leaning FOX News has Obama +2 in approval, Rasmussen and Bloomberg — also usually a bit to the right — have him +1.
But, left-leaning Gallup has Obama down 7 points.
Far left-leaning CBS/NYT and ABC/Wash Post have him down 6 points and 4 points, respectively.
I thought those results were quite curious.
Well, I’m happy to report that the planets are back in alignment.
According to RCP, right-leaning Fox has Obama 6 points under water.
Left-leaning CNN, ABC, and Washington Post have him 5 to 6 points above water.
We’re back to the old normal … whew.
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Posted in Obama, Polls & Surveys | Leave a Comment »
April 13, 2012
Everyone knows that Barack Obama’s campaign slogan was “Hope & Change” in 2008.
But, according to left-leaning Politico:
No one seems to know what it will be for 2012.
The White House has been cycling through catchphrases since announcing his reelection bid a year ago:
- Winning the Future
- We Can’t Wait
- An America Built to Last
- An Economy Built to Last
- A Fair Shot.
And, my favorite:
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Tags:2012 election, brand, Obama, slogan
Posted in Obama | 1 Comment »
April 11, 2012
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a professional basketball league founded in 1967.
To compete with the NBA, the league copped some top players (think Pistol Pete and Dr. J.) and introduced some game innovations, including the 3-point line and and a red, white and blue basketball.
Note: The ABA became defunct when it merged with the NBA in 1976.
Well, Team Obama has gone retro and “personalized: the ball.
When you play some hoops at the White House you get to play with an Obama ball.
And, I bet that for a statistically significant donation, you can bring one home for the kids.
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Posted in Obama | 1 Comment »
April 3, 2012
Flashback to October 31, 2008.
At the time, political observer Peggy Noonan gushed in the WSJ about presidential candidate Barack Obama:
Obama and the Runaway Train The race, the case, a hope for grace.
Here’s the case for Barack Obama, in broad strokes:
He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing;
His rise will serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years, which need rebuking;
His victory would provide a fresh start in a nation in which a fresh start would come as a national relief.
He climbed steep stairs, born off the continent with no father to guide, a dreamy, abandoning mother, mixed race, no connections.
He rose with guts and gifts.
He is steady, calm, and … shows good judgment in terms of whom to hire and consult, what steps to take and moves to make.
Now, fast-forward to 2012 … last Friday in the WSJ:
Not-So-Smooth Operator
Obama increasingly comes across as devious and dishonest.
The level of dislike for the president has ratcheted up sharply the past few months.
What is happening is that the president is coming across more and more as a trimmer, as an operator who’s not operating in good faith.
And it’s his fault, too. As an increase in polarization is a bad thing, it’s a big fault.
The shift started on Jan. 20, with the mandate that agencies of the Catholic Church would have to provide birth-control services the church finds morally repugnant.
Faced with the blowback, the president offered a so-called accommodation that even its supporters recognized as devious.
Not ill-advised, devious. Then his operatives flooded the airwaves with dishonest — not wrongheaded, dishonest — charges that those who defend the church’s religious liberties are trying to take away your contraceptives.
Events of just the past 10 days have contributed to the shift.
There was the open-mic conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in which Mr. Obama pleaded for “space” and said he will have “more flexibility” in his negotiations once the election is over and those pesky voters have done their thing.
On tape it looked so bush-league, so faux-sophisticated.
It was all so . . . creepy.
Next, a boy of 17 is shot and killed under disputed and unclear circumstances. The whole issue is racially charged, emotions are high, and the only memorable words from the president’s response were,
“If I had a son he’d look like Trayvon.”
Suddenly there were death threats and tweeted addresses and congressmen in hoodies.
At the end of the day, the public reaction seemed to be: “Hey buddy, we don’t need you to personalize what is already too dramatic, it’s not about you.”
Now this week the Supreme Court arguments on ObamaCare, which have made that law look so hollow, so careless, that it amounts to a characterological indictment of the administration.
The constitutional law professor from the University of Chicago didn’t notice the centerpiece of his agenda was not constitutional? How did that happen?
The high court’s hearings gave off an overall air not of political misfeasance but malfeasance.
From the day Mr. Obama was sworn in, what was on the mind of the American people was financial calamity — unemployment, declining home values, foreclosures.
But the new president wasn’t thinking about that. All the books written about the creation of economic policy within his administration make clear the president and his aides didn’t know it was so bad, didn’t understand the depth of the crisis, didn’t have a sense of how long it would last.
He presided from his hermetically sealed inner circle, which operates with what seems an almost entirely abstract sense of America.
They know Chicago, the machine, the ethnic realities. They know Democratic Party politics. They know the books they’ve read, largely written by people like them — bright, credentialed, intellectually cloistered.
As a former president he’ll be quiet, detached, aloof.
He’d make speeches and write a memoir laced with a certain high-toned bitterness.
It was the Republicans’ fault. They didn’t want to work with him.
My, how times change …
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Tags:2008, 2012, creepy, Noonan, Obama
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March 29, 2012
Remember the 2010 State of the Union address when Pres. Obama took the unprecedented step of criticizing the Supreme Court while they were sitting in the audience as distinguished guests?
click to view
Do you think Obama would like to have that shot back now that the fate of ObamaCare is in the Justices’ hands?
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March 20, 2012
We haven’t been posting re: presidential approval numbers for awhile … the numbers have been bouncing around so much based on the news cycle that I largely dismiss them.
But, something in last week’s poll numbers caught my eye …
Note that right-leaning FOX News has Obama +2 in approval, Rasmussen and Bloomberg — also usually a bit to the right — have him +1.
But, left-leaning Gallup has Obama down 7 points.
Far left-leaning CBS/NYT and ABC/Wash Post have him down 6 points and 4 points, respectively.
I think the latter two are what caused last week’s hand-wringing among Obamites, since NYT & Wash Post have a reputation for over-sampling Dems in their surveys. So, it’s harder for Dems to dismiss them than, say, Fox News.I still don’t make much of the results, but think they’re interesting …
Source: RCP
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Posted in Obama, Polls & Surveys | 2 Comments »
March 19, 2012
OK, so anybody who wants to keep using fossil fuels, to drill for oil and gas in the U.S., and to buy gas for a couple of bucks per gallon is a member of the flat earth society, lacking the the President’s vision.
Why Obama wants to insult the vast majority of Americans is beyond me, but that’s his tactical choice.
So far, the GOP has simply thrown back softballs: Solyndra, the Volt and the many other alternative energy busts.
Given my lack of tact, if I were a Romney adviser, here’s the line I’d offer up to Mitt:
“President Obama and I both have pipe dreams … mine in the Keystone Pipeline bringing oil from Canada … his goes back to his college days, I guess.”
Two for the price of one.
Keeps focus on the money wasted and lack of results from the President’s alternative energy gambles … and dregs up some old stuff re: Obama’s drug use that got wiped under the carpet in 2008.
Not rumors… straight from the horse’s mouth.
Obama first told of his early drug use in his 1995 memoir, “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” … published audaciously just after he became president of the Harvard Law Review.
He wrote re: his personal experience:
“Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it.”
Picture source: Coed Magazine,
“10 Most Influential Pot Smokers”
Hmmm.
I guess that I hadn’t thought of the full range of hardships inflicted by the bad economy …
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Tags:blow, booze, crack, energy, flat earters, gas, Keystone, Obama, Obama's drug use. pot, oil, pipe dreams, Solyndra, Volt
Posted in Energy, Obama, Obama Scandles, Oil & Energy | Leave a Comment »
February 13, 2012
Nice, balanced retrospective in the NY Post re: Team O’s stimulus and why it didn’t — in Joe Biden’s words — “drop kick” the economic recovery.
First, where did the money go?
Biggest chunk to tax cuts that were so diffused — averaging $10 per paycheck — that they were either overlooked by folks or not enough to neutralize the impact of crushing debt loads or employment uncertainty.
Next biggest chunk to bail out states’ entitlement programs — mostly Medicaid and unemployment benefits. Just kept things even, no economic boost.
Thirdly, to teacher retention. Forestalled layoffs, but only temporarily since cash-strapped localities eventually had cut-back when the Fed funds stopped coming and locals couldn’t afford.
Lastly, to the so-called shovel ready infrastructure projects. Many of those that could of mattered either weren’t really shovel ready or got caught up in government red tape — i.e. the approval & permitting process. So, spending went to silly or half-baked initiatives — e.g. turtle crossings and bullet trains.
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Tags:Keynsian economics, Obama, Stimulus
Posted in Obama, Stimulus Bill, Stimulus Plan | Leave a Comment »
January 26, 2012
The Americans for Tax Reform has provided a decoding ring for translating from Obama-speak to plain English:
- “Investment” – Spending taxpayer money on Obama re-election constituencies such as government employee unions, teachers’ guilds, and big-city political machines.
- “Children and grandchildren” – The people picking up the tab.
- “Energy” – Something that flows from good intentions, government programs, “stimulus” spending but not pipelines.
- “Exports” – That trade – and only that trade – acceptable to union bosses.
- “I” or “Me” – Center of the known universe.
- “Compromise” – Tax hikes.
- “Sacrifice” – Tax hikes.
- “Bipartisan” – Tax hikes.
- “Fair” OR “Fair Share” – Tax hikes.
- “Balanced” – Tax hikes.
- “Small business” – Those who will pay the most under my plan to tax “the rich.”
- “Special interests” – Taxpayers who do not wish to give their money to my friends.
- “There are those who…” OR “Some” – [INSERT STRAW MAN HERE]
- “Middle class” – Those who are the target of seven tax hikes in Obamacare.
- “Deficit” – What Democrats want you to focus on when what they really want to sell you is a tax hike.
- “Regulations” – The governmental leash attached to the choke collar around the neck of the economy.
- “Recovery” – This time it’s real, I swear, not like that “Recovery Summer” we had in 2010 after spending $1 trillion of borrowed money.
- “Infrastructure” OR “Roads and Bridges” – Spending taxpayer money on those states voting Democrat in ’08.
- “Affordable” – Reality for the taxpayer only after they’ve worked 224 days to pay for the total cost of government.
- “Obstructionists” – House Republican lawmakers who have actually passed a budget – NOT the Senate Democrats who have refused to pass a budget for 1,000 days.
- “Streamline” – The pretense of dieting after an all-out spending binge.
- “Wall Street” – 1. Where your IRA and 401(k) live. 2. A bauble to distract you from noticing my bailout of Fannie and Freddie.
- “Jobs” – “You want to find work on the Keystone XL pipeline? Tough luck – I’ve got a campaign to run.”
- “Profit” – Money without which jobs would never be created.
Very useful, right?
* * * * *
P.S. Americans for Tax Reform also hit on the idea of Obama Bingo … great minds running in the same track … I didn’t jack the idea from them … I jacked it from students who told me that they sometimes play Prof Bingo in class.
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January 25, 2012
One of Obama’s SOTU themes last night was jacked from the book Built to Last by Jerry Porras and Jim Collins.
I wonder if any of O’s speech writers have either read the book or, at least followed up on the companies cited in the book (list below).
I did, and guess what?
Built to Last has been roundly criticized because many of the companies it profiled have subsequently faltered.
According to FastCompany:
Within 10 years of the book’s publication, almost half of the visionary companies on the list have slipped dramatically in performance and reputation, and their vision currently seems more blurred than clairvoyant.
At least 7 of BTL’s original 18 companies have stumbled (8 if you’re cynical about HP)
Each has struggled, and all have faced serious questions about their leadership and strategy.
Odds are, none of them today would meet BTL’s criteria for visionary companies, which required that they be the premier player in their industry and be widely admired by people in the know.
Jim Collins – one of the authors – counters that “The book never promised that these companies would always be great, just that they were once great.”
That makes more sense. Obama isn’t saying that his America is going to become great (again) and stay great …. just that it once was great.
Now, that’s something to rally around….
* * * * *
Here’s Collins and Porras’ BTL List
… draw your own conclusions.
3M
American Express <= TARP
Boeing <= NLRB target <= a good thing (unless you’re Team O chasing them)
Citigroup <= TARP
Disney <= struggling since Cap Cities acquisition
Ford <= least bad U.S. car company
General Electric <= TARP
Hewlett Packard <= CEO turnover
IBM
Johnson & Johnson
Marriott
Merck
Motorola <= corporate break-up
Nordstrom
Philip Morris (now Altria)
Procter & Gamble
Sony <= lost its mojo
Wal-Mart <= evil empire
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Posted in Book Summaries, Obama | 1 Comment »
January 24, 2012
Irish bookies are laying odds on which clichés President Obama will drop first and say most often in tonite’s State of the Union address.
Why not turn it into a game …. like students do with boring profs.
Randomly post the most likely clichés to squares on 5 x 5 game cards.
First player to score a row, a column, a diagonal or the 4 corners with “he said it” marks wins the game.
Below are the official odds on what Obama will say first.
Note My “lock” prediction isn’t even on the list: “Let me be perfectly clear” … a couple of my other favorites are bolded.
Odds Cliché
8/1 We have more work to do
10/1 Health care reform
10/1 As I stand here today
12/1 Fundamental belief
12/1 God bless America
12/1 Crossroads of history
12/1 Defining moment
12/1 Make Washington work
14/1 Common purpose
16/1 Pursuit of happiness
16/1 Building a better America
16/1 Reduce the deficit
18/1 War on terror
18/1 It won’t be easy
18/1 Hungry for change
18/1 My civil liberties
20/1 Honor for me
20/1 I have a dream
20/1 Willing to listen to each other
20/1 Yes, we can
20/1 Don’t get me wrong
25/1 Hard to believe
25/1 I’m fired up
25/1 Withdraw our troops
25/1 There are better days ahead
25/1 Do-nothing Congress
25/1 We’ll have to make hard choices
25/1 We can be one people
25/1 A new direction
33/1 For far too long
33/1 Safe from harm
33/1 Jobs to the jobless
33/1 Reshapes our economy
40/1 Deepest gratitude
40/1 Greatness of our nation
40/1 Possibilities of this nation
40/1 Florida primary
50/1 Believe in what this country can be
50/1 Unity is the great need of the hour
50/1 In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope
50/1 We can work together to keep our country safe
50/1 Abiding faith
66/1 Brighter day will come
66/1 Publish tax returns
66/1 Washington has a long way to go
80/1 Overcome the adversity
80/1 Bloated federal government
100/1 Diversity of my heritage
100/1 Yes, we might
250/1 Life is like a box of chocolates
Source: Washington Times
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Tags:cliches, Obama, Obama Bingo, State of the Union
Posted in Gambling, Games, Obama | 1 Comment »
January 19, 2012
I’m hoping that Romney simultaneously releases his birth certificate, college transcripts and tax returns. …
Frankly, I don’t really care about Mitt’s tax returns.
Pretty predictable: a gazillion dollars of investment income – dividends, cap gains and tax shelter LPs … 15% effective tax rate … maybe lower since charitable deductions will be at least 10% of income – his required tithing to the Mormon church.
P.S. Don’t remember Obama donating 10% to charities …
P.P.S. Mitt wouldn’t be hiding income from the church, would he?
I’m still more interested in grabbing a peek at the President’s college transcripts … glad that they got brought up again in Carney’s presser yesterday: Carney Dodges Question About Obama’s College Transcripts
OK, call me petty, but I’d like to know:
- Was Obama’s undergrad GPA higher than George Bush’s? After all, Obama is proclaimed to be the smartest president ever … the other was, well, dumb old George Bush. Wouldn’t it be a hoot if Bush outscored Obama? Remember when Bush’s GPA was revealed to be higher than Kerry’s? Oops.
- Did Obama have grades and LSATs comparable to other Harvard Law admits? I’m betting under on the grades and a push on the LSATs.
- What courses did Obama take as an undergrad? Taught by whom? Would expect lots of poli-sci and philosophy from radicals (think Cornell West types) … little math & science (oops) … zero business or economics.
C’mon …. be honest … wouldn’t you like a peek, too?
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Tags:full disclosure Election 2012, Obama. transcripts, Romney, tax returns
Posted in Election - 2012, Obama, Politics | 3 Comments »
January 9, 2012
According to the New York magazine …
For the last year or so, though, the economy has stubbornly failed to cooperate, and pundits began to acclimate themselves to the assumption that President Obama was highly vulnerable, if not a dead man walking.
A few months ago, that scenario was looking almost certain.
Now it’s looking far less likely.
Oh really? 8.5% unemployement is a good thing?
I guess the logic is that extrapolating the the November to December change, we’ll be back to full employment in in about 5 years.
Maybe faster if more people can be encoraged (or is it discouraged?) enough to leave the work force?
But, let’s not quibble over the numbers.
The question is: will December’s 8.5% help or hurt President Obama’s re-election campaign.
Short-run, the President should get an approval bump from the unemployment rate headlines. That’s fair.
But, the new lower number may be an albatross in 2012.
Here’s why.
Still, much of the rate drop is attributable to folks who are unemployed and stopped looking for a job because either (1) they had holiday shopping to do (2) didn’t want to work as a retail clerk or FedEx warehouse grunt (3) like the idea of 99 weeks of unemployment checks, or (4) have flat out given up because the economy sucks so bad.
My view: the road to economic success is is not paved with people giving up hope and couch-sitting instead of job-hunting.
The unemployment rate is likely to move back up in 2012 because, historically, as the economy appears to be bouncing back, unemployed folks who aren’t looking for work re-enter the job market and start looking again. In other words, the unemployment rate may creep up because the denominator is getting bigger.
So, even if a modest recovery is taking place – something I don’t personally believe to be true – the labor market dynamics work against the President.
Pundits have been saying that Obama will be ok with a high unemployment rate in 2012 as long as the trajectory is in the right direction. That is, that unemployment is coming down.
Here’s my scenario, unemployment will creep back up and Obama will be facing a high unemployment rate that is rising.
That’s not good for the O-team.
Further, if Obama chest-pounds the 8.5% now, Congress has less pressure to “pass it now.” So, he may get less of his jobs bill through.
Politically, Obama might have been better off if the rate had stayed closer to 9% … he may be in the awkward position of having a high unemployment rate that’s going in the wrong direction.
It’ll be interesting …
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Tags:jobs. Obama, re-election 2012 presidential election, unemployment
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December 22, 2011
Someone just said in a press conference that the proposed 2-month 2% payroll tax holiday would save an average family earning $50,000 per year about $1,000.
Hmmm. Annualizing a 2 month program. Clever arithmetic.
Perhaps, sensing that’s misleading, he went on to clarify: that works out to about $40 per week.
Hmmm.
Let’s do the math: $40 times 52 weeks = #2,080 … that can’t be right.
$1,000 divided by 52 weeks is less than $20.
Huh?
I hate to get petty, but if the “someone” had been Rick Perry, the gaffe woulda made headlines.
If it had been Joe Biden, everybody would have just shook their heads and said “again?”.
But, it was Barack Obama, so it’ll get ignored by the press … but not by the Homa Files.
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October 12, 2011
Well, Tuesday was the day that, according to CNN Money …
Community groups and progressive organizations that have been working with the broader Occupy Wall Street movement marched on the homes of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, billionaire David Koch, hedge fund honcho John Paulson, and News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch.
The millionaires and billionaires are being targeted for what event organizers called a “willingness to hoard wealth at the expense of the 99%.”
Why not stake out Warren’s place until he agrees to forego all of his tax loop holes (e.g. deductible contributions to his buddy Gates)?
Or, better yet, Washington … picket the millionaire who has been pushing hard for class warfare.
Hope Barry & Warren are proud … mission accomplished.
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Posted in Buffett, Warren, Obama | Leave a Comment »
October 11, 2011
Couple of wars, economy is tanking … let’s call it a day.
Reported by the NY Post (so it has to be true):
The president’s workdays are said to end early, often as early as 4 p.m.
He usually has dinner in the family residence with his wife and daughters, then retreats to a private office.
One person said he takes a stack of briefing books.
Others aren’t sure what he does.
True or not, most CEO’s don’t relish this kind of buzz …
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October 5, 2011
As far back as July, 2009, the HomaFiles is on record as saying that the economic recovery would be slow and delayed for reasons beyond pure economics. That CEOs would be reluctant to hire as long as the Administration was punitively anti-business.
At the time, we said:
The bottom line: businesses will resist government policies passive aggressively. Fewer jobs will get added back than history would suggest, and those that get added back will materialize later than past patterns. Businesses will add jobs as a last resort rather than trying to build capacity ahead of the economic growth curve. Why should companies increase their costs and risks any more than is absolutely necessary ? Companies will continue to off-shore jobs, but will be more clever and clandestine about it, e.g. by vertically disintegrating and simply buying goods and services from 3rd parties.
Given the Administration’s anti-corporate rhetoric, actions, and proposed game-changing rules, I doubt that many CEOs will be taking on added costs and risks to boost the administration. More likely, they will let unemployment continue to creep up, and will slow roll the process of rehiring. Corporate chieftains will sit back and watch the President squirm.
Why private sector jobs won’t be coming back any time soon … hint: it’s called passive aggressive resistance, July 21, 2009
My view wasn’t really original thinking. It was simply what I was hearing privately from senior biz execs.
Well, a couple of years later, the argument seems to be catching some traction.
In an article titled The Coming Post-Obama Renaissance, Victor Davis Hanson writes:
When Obama leaves office, there will be a sense of psychological release in the business community that will lead to a far greater “stimulus” than printing more money.
the country is still growing, still needs new homes, more food, and more energy.
We are not a shrinking nation with the demographic crises of a Europe or Russia.
Soon the mounting pressure will be released by a new change in government and we will see a recovery that should have occurred more than two years ago when the recession officially “ended” in June 2009 — only all the more enhanced due to its delay.
If I were a GOP President-elect, I’d call in the business movers & shakers … tell them that I’ll be working feverishly to support business … and ask them to give the benefit of the doubt and to start making decisions “at the margin” – e.g. an extra job here or there – to move the economy ahead. Not dumb stuff – just some decisions at the margin. Suddenly, there would be a virtuous cycle.
Remember, you heard it here first. …
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Tags:Economic recovery, Passive aggressive behavior, Post-Obama Renaissance
Posted in Economics, Employment - Jobs, Obama | Leave a Comment »
October 3, 2011
Ken’s Take: The article excerpted below got me thinking.
There’s been increasing talk recently about how blacks are provably suffering disproportionately in the current economic environment. The facts are unshakably true.
Even the Congressional Black Caucus has risen to the cause and chastised Pres. Obama for largely ignoring their plight.
Not new news.
The article below observes that “black interests often have to take a back-seat to the interests of labor, environmentalists, immigration advocates, and so on — even among those elected to represent African Americans!”
Obama’s response: Stop whining, stop complaining … kick off your slippers, put on your shoes … and walk to get me re-elected.
Then, along comes Herman Cain – dishing one-liners that cut to the core … pitching his story of self-reliance, hard work, and earned success … and, arguing that blacks can accrue political power by splitting their votes across parties, rather than voting as a bloc.
It’ll be interesting to see if his vision resonates among African-Americans.
* * * * *
Excerpted from Weekly Standard: Herman Cain Could Be a Game Changer
If Herman Cain could get some African Americans to give the GOP a look, there would be a real potential not only for the party to do better nationwide, but also for African Americans to leverage their voting strength more effectively.
African Americans do not enjoy robust two party competition for their votes, and accordingly their interests are often poorly served.
- White conservatives overwhelmingly vote Republican, but black conservatives do not.
- White moderates usually split their votes between the two parties, according to the study, but black moderates do not.
In many respects this state of affairs is bad for African Americans, because it limits the power of the black vote itself, and so a lot of black interests are just plain overlooked.
For instance, school choice would essentially be a transfer of resources and power directly to poor black families, who would be major beneficiaries of such a program.
However, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers would be losers in the deal, so it is a non-starter on the Democratic side of the aisle.
Additionally, liberal immigration policies do not hurt educated whites, whose skills basically price them out of competition with most immigrants.
If anything, upper income whites are helped because a glut of workers enables companies to keep costs, and therefore prices, down.
Instead, African American workers – who often find themselves in competition with immigrants – would be harmed.
But the Democratic party as a whole would be helped thanks to a flood of new immigrant voters, so it unabashedly advocates loose policies.
Black interests often have to take a back-seat to the interests of labor, environmentalists, immigration advocates, and so on — even among those elected to represent African Americans!
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Tags:Black vote, earned success, Herman Cain, sel-reliance
Posted in Cain, Herman, Economy, Obama | 1 Comment »
September 28, 2011
Punch line: As part of an ad campaign featuring “real people” explaining their decision to buy Fords, a guy named “Chris” says he “wasn’t going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government,”
Team Obama didn’t like the ad, and Ford pulled it so that Team Obama could stay focused on Gibson Guitars, S&P, and the tanning salons.
According to the Detroit News …
Ford pulled the ad after individuals inside the White House questioned whether the copy was publicly denigrating the controversial bailout policy.
With President Barack Obama tuning his re-election campaign amid dismal economic conditions and simmering antipathy toward his stimulus spending and associated bailouts, the Ford ad carried the makings of a political liability when Team Obama can least afford yet another one. Can’t have that.
The ad, pulled in response to White House “questions” (and, presumably, carping from rival GM), threatened to rekindle the negative (if accurate) association just when the president wants credit for their positive results and to distance himself from any public downside of his decision.
In other words, where presidential politics and automotive marketing collide — clean, green, politically correct vehicles not included — the president wins and the automaker loses because the benefit of the battle isn’t worth the cost of waging it.
Once again, nothing like the Administration’s Chicago style politics.
Step out of line, and BAM !
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Tags:Ad campaign, Bailouts, Chicago-style politics, Ford
Posted in Autos - Travel, Obama | Leave a Comment »
September 28, 2011
Based on a new Gallup poll, 69% say that Bush gets at least some of the blame for the bad economy … that’s down 10 points from a couple of years ago … as memories fade.
And, for the first time, a majority of Americans (53%) thinks that President Obama has some culpability for the current condition of the economy. Only 25% of Dems think so, but 69% of independents give Obama some blame … apparently, blaming Bush, tsunamis, Arab Springs, etc. is running out of steam.
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Tags:Blame for the economy, Bush, Gallup, Obama
Posted in Economy, Obama, Polls & Surveys | Leave a Comment »
September 27, 2011
Well, well, well.
According to the WSJ: “The SEC has given S&P a so-called Wells notice alleging that S&P violated federal securities laws with respect to its ratings for a collateralized debt obligation known as Delphinus CDO 2007-1”.
Hmmm. About 4 years after the fact … but only a month or so after S&P lower the U.S. credit rating.
Coincidence.
Probably so.
And, here’s another twist: Moody’s was also up to its eyeballs slapping AAA ratings on CDOs.
But, Moody’s isn’t under investigation.
Did I mention that Warren “Please Tax Me More” Buffet owns a big chunk of Moody’s.
Double hmmm.
Probably just a coincidence.
But, it doesn’t smell right, does it?
Gotta love that good, old fashioned Chicago politics.
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Posted in Buffett, Warren, Financial Crisis, Obama | 1 Comment »
September 23, 2011
Headline: Pres. Obama hires, hangs with and pays off folks with “little or no credibility among grassroots businesspeople”
Interesting read with some notable snippets from Forbe’s: How The President Helped Kill Progressivism, Capitalism And Moderation
Obama’s progressivism is shaped by his fellow academics, who have enjoyed unprecedented influence in this administration, as well as closely aligned classes such as affluent greens, urban land interests, venture capitalists and the mainstream media.
Obama’s stimulus … largely missed the recession’s biggest victims: minorities, the working class and the young. The president instead chose to service the needs of organized constituencies such as public sector unions, large research universities and “green capitalists.”
Obama … has surrounded himself not with entrepreneurs but consummate crony capitalists — chief of staff Bill Daley (scion of the Chicago machine family), General Electric‘s Jeffrey Immelt and proposed Commerce Chief John Bryson, who has spent much time as a master manipulator for a large regulated utility.
These figures have little or no credibility among grassroots businesspeople. They are seen as being more adept at working the system than succeeding in the free market.
Ken’s Take: There won’t be a significant economic turnaround until business is on board. Period.
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September 21, 2011
The press were abuzz yesterday debunking O’s key premise that millionaires pay taxes at a lower rate than teachers making $50,000.
Yesterday, we showed that a married teacher with 2 kids who earns $50,000 pays at a 5.5% rate. Even if you add 7.65 in payroll taxes to that, the resulting 13.15% is still less than a millionaire who pays only capital gains taxes at 15%.
That was a micro analysis.
The WSJ presented the macro analysis:
In 2008, the last year for which such data are available, the IRS reports that those who made more than $1 million in adjusted gross income paid an average income tax rate of 23.3%.
That’s slightly lower than the 24.1% rate paid by those making between $500,000 and $1 million, probably because the richest are like Mr. Buffett and earn more from capital gains and dividends.
The rate for a relative handful of the rich — 400 people — fell to 18%.
But nearly all millionaires still paid a rate that is more than twice the 8.9% average rate paid by those earning between $50,000 and $100,000, and more than three times the 7.2% average rate paid by those earning less than $50,000.
The larger point is that the claim that CEOs are routinely paying lower tax rates than their secretaries is Omaha hokum.
I think the President should modify his Buffett Rule to read: anybody who earns more than $1 million … and who has accumulated wealth greater than $25 billion … and who plans to bequeath practically all of his estate to a pal’s “foundation” shall pay an effective income tax rate of 90% … unless he /she whines that they’re being coddled, in which case the tax rate escalates to 100%.
My real recommendation: limit the charitable estate exemption to $1 million so that Buffet has to fork about half of his estate over to the government … that’ll keep him from bring coddled in the grave.
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Tags:billionaires, Buffett, Buffett Rule, millionaires, Taxes
Posted in Buffett, Warren, Obama, Taxes | 1 Comment »
September 16, 2011
No surprise, but the President’s Son-of-Stimulus plan seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
According to Gallup, after a week of selling the plan, Obama’s approval rating is back below the 40% political Mendoza line …
I guess the attempted political coup of serving up a plan that stood no chance of being passed didn’t fool folks.
Hot surprised …
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September 13, 2011
Punch line: Obama performance is now approved by about 1 in 3 whites and only 1 in 2 Hispanics … still holding strong with blacks.
According to Gallup …
“President Barack Obama earned the lowest monthly job approval rating of his presidency to date in August, with 41% of U.S. adults approving of his overall job performance, down from 44% in July.
He also received term-low monthly job approval ratings from both Hispanics (48%) and whites (33%) and tied his lowest rating from blacks (84%).
Note: All data is pre-jobs speech.
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September 9, 2011
Simple.
The GOP-led Congress should draft and pass the “Barack Obama Stimulus Act of 2012 (aka. “American Jobs Act”) containing substantially all of the program that the Presidential teleprompter channeled through Obama.
Why?
First, let’s acknowledge that the money will be a complete waste. There’s no reason to expect that Son-of-Stimulus will be any more successful than its predecessor.
And, I’m assuming that the price tag really is $450 billion – chump change in this era of reckless spending that rewards irresponsibility and mortgages the future…. especially since the President promised that it would be paid for (yeah, right).
The biggest political downside (to the GOP and the country) is that Obama will have a $450 billion election year slush fund to sprinkle across his constituencies – unions, blue-state governments, etc.
But, passing Stimulus Deux would clearly put the economic recovery — or lack thereof — on Obama’s shoulders.
If it turns the economy around, Obama gets the credit. That’s fair.
If it bombs, Obama loses his major campaign pitch: the GOP tied my hands.
He’d be left with the silly claim: “woulda been worse, I saved you from Armageddon again”.
I say pass it and sit back.
If it works, we have an economic burst.
If it fails, we get a president who understands business and economics.
For the country, it’s a win either way.
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Posted in Economics, Employment - Jobs, Obama | 2 Comments »
September 6, 2011
How many lectures had the President given Republicans on civility?
Usually, it follows one of his name-calling, accusatory hissy fits..
Well, here’s one for the books.
While warming up the crowd for President Obama in Detroit, Michigan on Monday, Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa said:
“We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party.
And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war.
The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what?
They’ve got a war, they got a war with us and there’s only going to be one winner.
President Obama, this is your army.
We are ready to march.
Let’s take these son of bitches out …. “
No surprise, no reprimand from Obama when he started speaking.
I expect that the jobs speech on Thursday will include another call for civility…. selectively applied, of course.
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September 6, 2011
Punch line: You be an inspirational leader by simply making excuses and ducking blame. Period..
Excerpted from Wash Times: “From ‘yes we can’ to ‘it takes time’”
Pres, Obama’s is now having difficulty finding the right inspirational tone for his stump speeches — making the transition from blameless candidate to culpable leader.
“He’s having his own teachable moment between campaigning and experienced governing.”
First, he blamed the Bush administration, then he blamed Congress, … and now he’s saying [to voters], ‘It’s your fault for (not spending) and for expecting too much of me.’”
The last thing voters want to hear are excuses or whining.
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August 31, 2011
When Press Secretary Carney was asked for specifics re: Obama’s job plan, he brushed of the question by saying that Obama hasn’t finished conjuring his new jobs plan.
Carney said. “He is still having conversations and meetings and looks to finalize his plan next week, so the answer is no, he’s not complete with that process. The process is continuing, aspects of it still need to be decided.”
When asked if Obama’s speech will be scored by the CBO, he answered: “Don’t expect specifics from the White House on the jobs plan, like how much it will cost.”
Full text
* * * * *
Obama’s mystery jobs plan is certainly a gift that keeps on giving.
Didn’t he ”pivot to jobs” a couple of years ago … and aren’t jobs the first thing he thinks about in the morning and the last thing he thinks about at night?
Geez.
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August 26, 2011
It’s reported that Warren Buffett is hosting a fund-raiser for Obama’s re-election, billed as an “economic forum,”
According to the NY Post:
Tickets for the event at New York’s Four Seasons restaurant on Sept. 30 start at $10,000 a head, with VIP tickets a budget-boosting $35,800.
Guests get an hour of “Q&A moderated by one of President Obama’s closest economic advisors, Austan Goolsbee.”
What will be discussed is Buffett’s recent highly publicized claim that the wealthy should pay higher taxes.
As one invitee reportedly sniffed, “Nothing like advocating tax equality when you are charging $35,800 a ticket.”
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August 24, 2011
Lost among the news about Libya and the east coast earthquake …
Yesterday, President Obama’s approval rate dropped to a new low … now. Gallup says that only 38% approve of the job he’s doing.
Fortunately, the drop didn’t phase the vacationer-in-chief … though, it was reported that the earthquake was felt in Martha’s Vineyard and almost jiggled the President’s ice cream out of its cone.
“Let them eat ice cream …”
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August 19, 2011
The sign over the door to my high school’s football locker room reminded players that “excuses are for losers”.
Obviously, Pres. Obama didn’t play football for the Maple Heights Mustangs … or, I imagine, any of the thousands of HS or college teams that paste the slogan in their locker rooms.
Why is that a safe bet?
In “Did Bo (Obama’s Dog) Eat The Recovery?”, IBT has a nice recap of the people and events that te President wants to blame for the bad economy
In his inaugural address 2 1/2 years ago, President Obama called for a “new era of responsibility.” Yet lately, his main goal in life seems to be escaping any responsibility for the lousy economy.
It’s getting so you have to keep a list of everyone and everything Obama wants to blame for the anemic economic recovery.
So far, it includes:
• President Bush: Obama continues to blame Bush for the mess he inherited, despite the fact that the recession had pretty much bottomed out by the time Obama took office and was officially over a mere four months after he was sworn in.
• ATMs: In June, Obama blamed automated teller machines and airport check-in kiosks for the lack of jobs, saying that “businesses have learned to become much more efficient, with a lot fewer workers.”
• Republicans: On Monday, Obama said that because “some in Congress would rather see their opponents lose than America win, we ended up creating more uncertainty and more damage to an economy that was already weak” — a thinly veiled attempt to blame the GOP for the economic malaise.
• Gridlock: Obama goes after partisan impasses. What he’s really complaining about is that lawmakers haven’t enacted his latest “stimulus” plan — spending hikes, gimmicky tax breaks and a massive tax hike — that has already been tried and failed.
• The media: In July, Obama said the “splintered” press was in part to blame for Washington’s failure to boost the economy. “If you never even have to hear another argument,” he said, “then over time you start getting more dug in into your positions.”
• Businesses: Obama has often blamed companies needlessly sitting on massive piles of cash. In May, he insisted that firms should “step up” and start hiring.
• Misfortune: “Over the last six months, we’ve had a string of bad luck,” he said at a town hall on Monday, citing the Arab Spring, the Japanese tsunami and Europe’s debt crisis. “So there were a bunch of things taking place over the last six months that were not within our control.”
At a press conference this summer, Obama said: “I’m not interested in finger-pointing.”
But that’s all he’s been doing for months.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Obama instead were to live up to his inaugural credo and start his own “era of responsibility” by admitting his role in the country’s economic slump?
As the sign says “excuses are for losers” …
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August 17, 2011
Punch line: The President can count on 90% of the African-American vote in 2012. Regardless …
Add to that 100% of union members and he has a 20 point tailwind going into the election.
GOP beware.
Excerpted from The Daily Beast …
The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, hosted a discussion Monday on “The African American Vote in 2012 and Beyond.”
One of the questions before the panel was this: With persistently high unemployment and continuing economic woes within the black community, is there room for the right to make inroads?
The general consensus was that Obama could be confident of the support of more than 90 percent of African Americans.
African Americans won’t desert Obama
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August 14, 2011
Geex, what a way to start a vacation.
Just before leaving for his midwest bus trip and Cape Cod, the President gets some new survey results from Gallup: Only 39% approve of the job he’s doing as president.
In baseball, the Medoza line (i.e. the line between poor and bad performance) is a batting average of .200.
I think it’s fair to say that 40% is the presidential approval equivalent.
Note: the score comes from left-leaning Gallup, not right-leaning Rasmussen.
Source
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August 12, 2011
Great archival find by Drudge …
This week, Carney (Obama’s press secretary said: “No one begrudges the President some time off now.”
Back in 2001, Carney had a different view of Presidential vacations.
A Vacationing Bush Works Hard for His Photo-Ops
By Jay Carney Thursday, Aug. 16, 2001
Back in July, when they were planning what the President should do during his month-long vacation (as part of their effort to persuade the public that he wasn’t actually on vacation in the generally accepted sense of what vacation means — i.e., having fun and not working), the image-makers hit upon a clever idea.
Make it seem as though the President were engaged in some concentrated activity of presidential purpose, they would name the entire series of trips — together with his down time at his ranch in Crawford, Texas — the "Home to the Heartland" tour.
Classic examples of that much maligned but ever-reliable staple of political activity: the "photo-op."
The President’s most glaring weakness is the public’s perception that he is pro-business.
Given the high marks he’s getting for his overall job performance , some might even say it’s his only weakness.
The question now is whether a few photo-ops will fix the problem — or just make it worse.
The Bigger Point: Drudge placed emphasis on the hypocrisy re: Presidential vacations.
I think the bigger point is that President Obama’s press secretary thinks that being pro-business is a weakness.
Oh, really.
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August 11, 2011
Earlier this week the HomaFiles said:
My family often recounts the stories of our family vacations being interrupted or cut short when a business crisis cropped up.
That was a price to be paid as a biz exec.
So, I shake my head in wonderment.
Might have expected that the President would call the Congress back from their August vacation for an emergency session to attack the debt-downgrade crisis.
Not so.
And, there doesn’t seem to be any public outrage.
Why?
I may scream later this month when Obama heads off for his annual Hyannis Port vacation.
Here’s the final straw:
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will vacation with his family in Martha’s Vineyard at the end of this month as he’s done in years past, the White House said Wednesday, despite the weak economy and negotiations on the nation’s debt problem.
Press secretary Jay Carney defended Obama’s plans to take a break even as he’s pledged urgent action on those issues.
“I don’t think Americans out there would begrudge that notion that the president would spend some time with his family,” Carney said.
For the record, I begrudge our Slacker-in-Chief taking time off during this financial crisis.
I repeat: when I was in business, I had many vacations (and holidays) interrupted, shortened or cancelled when crises (or time-sensitive opportunities) cropped up.
It was simply part of the job description and responsibilities.
And, suffice to say, none of the crises that cost me vacation days were were anything close to the magnitude of what Obama has created and is facing now.
So, as I promised, I’m SCREAMING !!!
And, I may scream again when I see …
This would be no way to run a business … and, certainly, no way to run a country.
But, he wouldn’t know that I guess … since he’s never run anything.
Thanks to SMH for feeding the lead & the pic
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August 9, 2011
From the most recent CNN Poll ,,,
Obama’s approval rating has slid 10 points to 44%
Only 1 in 3 approve of his handling of the economy … down 20 points from high water mark.
Ken’s Take: Don’t you wonder who those 1 in 3 are?
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Posted in Obama, Polls & Surveys | Leave a Comment »
August 8, 2011
I’m officially tired of the White House spinners.
Rather than admitting what everybody else already knows – that Obama wanted the debt deal to run until 2013 so it wouldn’t get raised again until the election – they continue to say that the debt ceiling had to be raised to reduce uncertainty for businesses … and extended to 2013 to – you guessed it – reduce uncertainty and get businesses back to hiring.
The reality – based on my casual chats with biz execs – is that the only uncertainty that matters to them is whether Obama gets reelected or not.
If he does, then they’ll have certainty … certainty that ObamaCare and anti-business rhetoric and policies will be in place for an additional 4 years … dragging any hope of a real recovery out to 2016.
If he doesn’t get re-elected, hiring can start again in 2013.
But, nobody wants to talk about the donkey in the middle of the living room, for fear that they get the tanning salon treatment from the Administration.
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Posted in Obama, Recession | Leave a Comment »
August 1, 2011
When marketing and politics collide …
* * * * *
tweet, Tweet, TWEET … please !
Widely reported:
On Friday, with time running out, President Barack Obama urged Americans to “tweet” their members of Congress to seek a compromise on a debt ceiling deal.
The President first begged for tweets in his primetime address to the nation last week. I thought enough people ridiculed the plea that he’d shelve it. Not so.
Maybe I’m old-school, but I think stirring up tweets is un-presidential – and diminishes the office,
What next? The too cool President calling for a flash mob on the Capitol Hill steps?
* * * * *
Drill baby, drill
I’m a big fan of analytics and data-driven marketing, but …
The WSJ’s Peggy Noonan reported a hiring notice from the Obama 2012 campaign.:
The “Analytics Department” is looking for predictive Modeling/Data Mining specialists to join the campaign’s multi-disciplinary team of statisticians, which will use predictive modeling to anticipate the behavior of the electorate.
We will analyze millions of interactions a day, learning from terabytes of historical data, running thousands of experiments, to inform campaign strategy and critical decisions.
Noonan’s observation: It reads like politics as done by Martians.
* * * * *
My brand’s been hijacked !
Bumper sticker that’s popping up …. combines tweeting and brand image … probably not sanctioned by the Obama campaign.
Click to order your’s
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Posted in Internet - Soc Networking, Laughs, Obama | Leave a Comment »
July 28, 2011
I rarely agree with lib-pop-biz-observer Thomas Friedman, but he struck a chord in his op-ed “Can’t We Do This Right?” by saying:
There is only one thing worse than Republicans and Democrats failing to agree to lift the debt ceiling, and that is lifting the debt ceiling without a well-thought-out plan and with hasty cuts totaling trillions of dollars over a decade.
What business do you know — that is still in business — that would operate this way: making massive long-term cuts, negotiated by exhausted executives, without any strategic plan?
It certainly wouldn’t be a business you’d expect to thrive.
First, the obvious: There are virtually no people with serious business experience sitting in on the negotiations. And, the “CEO” has neither business experience nor apparent business instincts.
So, why would anybody expect the gov’t to run like a world-class business?
Following on to Friedman’s points, what well run business …
Operates with no budget? With no contingency Plan B’s?
(Note: Geithner said Sunday that there was no contingency plan … either there isn’t one or he’s a liar. Either way, we lose.)
Creates 10 year financial plans with all the savings materializing in the out years? (Note: well-run businesses might look out 5 years in op planning – longer for capital planning – but will stack the savings in the “in” years to make sure they happen.)
The reality is that none of these Washington jabrones would cut muster as a corporate CEO – with hard metrics and accountability.
As a CEO buddy once told me : “Given his resume, I couldn’t get Obama approved to sit on my Board”.
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Posted in Debt - Deficit, Obama | 1 Comment »
The Homa Files 