GDP Grows in 4th Quarter of 2010

I know it is hard to believe the economy is growing a steady pace with Democrats in charge. Republicans say it isn't so. But the facts tell another story. Real GDP, the total amount of goods and services produced in the country, grew at a 3.2 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year, the sixth straight quarter of positive growth. For 2010 as a whole, GDP rose 2.9 percent, the fastest since 2005.

Here is a chart demonstrating the dramatic turnaround in the GDP since President Obama took office:

The Health Care Repeal Nonsense -- Summarized

Steven Pearlstein from the Washington Post sums up exactly what is going on here. This is a great place to start if you are looking to pen a Letter to the Editor:

"[T]he next time you hear some politician or radio blowhard or corporate hack tossing around the 'job-killing' accusation, you can be pretty sure he's not somebody to be taken seriously. It's a sign that he disrespects your intelligence, disrespects the truth and disrespects the democratic process. By poisoning the political well and making it difficult for our political system to respond effectively to economic challenges, Republicans may turn out to be the biggest job killers of all." (Link)

Since the health care bill was signed into law, 1.1 million jobs have been created in the private sector, and over 200,000 of them have come in the health care field. So how to Republicans like Congressman Renacci say the bill is a job killer. By LYING. Really, it's that simple.

Does Congressman Renacci Believe Child-Labor Laws are Unconstitutional?

We ask this question, not to sensationalize, but to see whether the freshman congressman from Ohio's 16th district agrees with the position that newly-elected Republican senator from Utah Mike Lee has taken. That position is that child-labor laws are unconstitutional. This same line of thinking also believes that programs like Social Security, student loans, the minimum wage and civil rights are also unconstitutional. A passage from a letter President Eisenhower (a Republican) wrote his brother in 1954 shows us how far gone the modern Republican party has become:

Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid. (Link)

Ultra-Liberal Forbes Magazine Touts Success of ObamaCare

Virtually all of the media is "liberal," so I guess this isn't news that a columnist from a major business magazine would tout the success of the health care law, but here it goes anyway:

The first statistics are coming in and, to the surprise of a great many, Obamacare might just be working to bring health care to working Americans precisely as promised.

The major health insurance companies around the country are reporting a significant increase in small businesses offering health care benefits to their employees.

Why?

Because the tax cut created in the new health care reform law providing small businesses with an incentive to give health benefits to employees is working.

Read more ...

Wayne County Young Republicans Elevate the Political Discourse

We had a previous post about the childishness of the Wayne County Young Republicans, and I guess we can't expect them to behave in the adult manner that their older counterparts in Washington will be doing the next couple of years, but still, some of their Twitter comments need to be examined a little more closely:

Oct. 25, 2010: "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." (Link)

I don't think they would even know what socialism is, or could define what is bad about it. But since labels are things better used for school-aged children to better understand the world rather than some sort of enlightened political observation, we will just let the numbers speak for themselves.

Sept. 20, 2010: "Come take a bite out of Porkulus! Saturday 6-10 @ Lamplighters in Wooster! $5 per person, portion of proceeds benefit Every Woman's House" (Link)

It's nice they held an event with proceeds going to charity, but again, they couldn't help themselves with the name calling. The "Porkulus" as they call it saved us from another Great Depression -- which would have been the creation of Republican policies. Of course, not only did the stimulus save the economy, it has created million of jobs.

July 27, 2010: Liberals...hard on babies, soft on terrorists. (Link)

Maybe the Young Republicans should check in with President Bush's Director of National Intelligence, Vice Admiral Mike McConnell (ret.), who told CNN that President Obama has been "as aggressive, if not more aggressive" in pursuing terror threats.

July 20, 2010: "Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they already have it." -Ronald Reagan (Link)

Looks like the Young Republicans need a little history refresher. Tax rates under President Reagan for the top income bracket were significantly more than what President Obama proposed. President Reagan also tripled the national debt. Looks like Reagan was more familiar with Socialism than Republicans want to admit.

July 15, 2010: Cheney has heart device implanted...Biden still on waiting list for a brain... (Link)

Young Republican sense of humor.

July 3, 2010: Happy Independence day to one and all! We said no to tyranny then and we still say no to it now! All you liberals - take note. (Link)

Here the Young Republicans make veiled threat that they will use force to keep down the tyranny of liberals. You know, since the Founding Fathers were Republicans, as are all veterans (trying to bring a little humor to this abhorrent comment).

June 15, 2010: Obama's Cap & Trade scam will prevent future oil spills in the same way that Obamacare will prevent syphilis... (Link)

Tried to come up with a response to this ignorance, but it's hard talking with people who think 2+2=5.

June 13, 2010: Tuesday @ 6:30 pm - Come to Three Amigos in Wooster and celebrate the Arizona immigration law!!! (Link)

I wonder if they had the guts to tell the owners of the restaurant this is what they were celebrating. If they wanted to celebrate the law, they should have found the nearest private prison, since their lobbying group wrote the law.

June 8, 2010: Bobby Jindal has already done more than Obama to try and mitigate the oil spill. (Link)

No matter how much Republicans want to wish it so, President Obama's handling of the Oil Spill was spot on, while Governor Jindal made a fool of himself.

May 31, 2010: Obama - quick to criticize BP but slow to give honors to our nation's fallen. (Link)

Apparently nothing is off limits for the Young Republicans. Talk about no respect for the Office of the Presidency.

May 12, 2010: Cap & Trade criminalizes the act of breathing. (Link)

I wonder if the Young Republicans are comfortable telling Sarah Palin, John McCain, first President Bush, President Reagan, etc., they are criminalizing the act of breathing. Again, study up on history.

April 12, 2010: Being a liberal means smoking dope while complaining about tobacco company CEOs. (Link)

This was either written by a 12-year old or someone smoking dope.

March 31, 2010: Wherever you find rampant crime there you shall find a permissive, liberal government. (Link)

Sounds good, except that it is completely wrong. But then again, facts don't matter, just a nice soundbite. Of course we won't mention how within the first year of that tough-conservative government that President Bush oversaw we saw the largest successful act terrorism ever on American soil.

March 21, 2010: I'd take a chill pill about the passing of Pelosi-Care but the government would deny my Rx... (Link)

Must have lost their talking point notes that day, calling it "Pelosi-Care" instead of "ObamaCare."

March 11, 2010: The only smart thing 1960’s era liberals ever said was, “Question authority.” Too bad their drug-addled minds have lost that principle. (Link)

They seem unusually obsessed with drugs here, sort of like Rush Limbaugh.

March 9, 2010: When the feminists shouted, “Keep your laws off of my body,” did that include ObamaCare??? (Link)

They've gone from mocking liberals and the '60s (the birth of the feminist movement) to speaking for them.

Nov. 18, 2009: Urban Dictionary's 2nd definition of Obama is "The Messiah for brain-dead Democrats." Goodbye Webster....Hello Urban Dictionary! (Link)

Last but not least, nothing like creating a label (Messiah) then using it as a criticism of the President, as if he or any of his supporters ever thought or called him that.

Game, Set & Match To Republican & Teabaggers' No. 1 Talking Point

President Obama is a socialist who is bad for employment, bad for business, bad for growth and bad for America, right? That's what Republicans and their brethren the Teabaggers would have you believe. Heck, even our new congressional representative Jim Renacci (R), continually went to the "uncertainty" in the economy talking point that amazingly was uttered by every Republican in the country last year. I wonder what their response would be to this graph?

Read more of what should be a devastating and total rebuke of the Republican Party, but then again this information isn't secret, yet people voted for Republicans anyway.

Obama's 2010: By the Numbers

At any given point during the past two years, both Republicans and Teabaggers (and sometimes the media) have criticized the President for both working too hard and not enough; for taking too much vacation but forcing Congress to work too hard; too not being accessible enough to the media and the public, etc. Well, CBS News detailed, in numbers, pretty much everything President Obama did in 2010, and it is very impressive. While they don't provide equivalent numbers for President George W. Bush, I imagine they far surpass the efforts he made in this area:

Speeches, statements and remarks: 491

-Since taking office: 883

News conferences and press availabilities: 27

-Formal, solo White House Press Conferences: 6

-Since taking office: 69 total, 11 WH.

Town hall meetings: 17

-Since taking office: 40

-Backyard chats: 7

Domestic trips: 65 spanning 104 days

-Since taking office: 111 spanning 176 days

States visited for the first time: 9

-Since taking office: 38

Vacation trips: 6 (all or part of 32 days)

-Since taking office: 10 spanning 58 days

Foreign trips: 6 trips to 8 countries spanning 22 days.

-Since taking office: 16 trips to 25 countries spanning 70 days.

Flights on Air Force One: 172

-Since taking office: 328

Flights on Marine One: 196

-Since taking office: 386

Unemployment Rates:

-January 8 2010: 10 percent.

-December 3, 2010: 9.8 percent.

National Debt in 2010: Up $1.56-trillion

-January 1, 2010: $12.311-trillion

-December 28, 2010: $13.871-trillion

Bills signed in 2010: 203.

-Since taking office: 329.

Cabinet meetings: 6

-Since taking office: 12

Visits to Camp David:

-In 2010: 4 visits, 8 days.

-Since taking office: 15 visits: 35 days.

Recreation:

-Golf: 29 rounds in 2010

-Since taking office: 57 rounds.

-Basketball: 20 basketball outings.

-Since taking office: 28

Interviews: 107 in 2010

-Since taking office: 254

Meetings with foreign leaders: In 2010, President Obama had face-to-face meetings with 61 foreign leaders, 30 for the first time.

Days of no appearances: 24

-Since taking office: 45

Presidential pardons: 9

-President Obama granted the first and only pardons of his presidency on Dec 3, 2010.