Looking to capitalize on the growing remittance industry, largely fueled by illegal aliens sending money earned through illegal employment in this country, back home, the U.S. Post Office now offers a wire transfer service, but only to countries in Latin America.
The service, called Dinero Seguro (Sure Money) is being advertised in local post offices with posters showing a Latino family, along with the caption “for your wire transfer of funds back home.” More....
Calling the situation in the Gaza Strip "unsustainable," President Obama on Wednesday said the Israeli blockade of the area should be curbed to focus only on weapons and separately announced a new $400 million aid package to help the Palestinian people there and in the West Bank.Besides his presidency being consistent with a full frontal assault on our Constitution & is "unsustainable" to us keeping our rights protected within this contract, BHO is ignoring warnings from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that his out of control spending & the ever increasing federal entitlement programs equal to $53 trillion in unfunded liabilities are also "unsustainable" and has our country barreling down the path to an unrecoverable financial ruin.
Mr. Obama made the comments after meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office, where the two said they discussed how to allow more goods and services into the region, which has been the target of an airtight blockade by Israel aimed at preventing arms shipments.
Mr. Obama faulted the blockade for barring basic supplies from flowing into Gaza, though he acknowledged Israel's interest in keeping rockets out of the hands of the militant Hamas movement. He said that "there should be ways of focusing narrowly on arms shipments, rather than focusing in a blanket way on stopping everything."
It is one thing to send aid to a country. But it's another to pledge aid to an area run by known terrorists. That is exactly what President Barack Obama has done. (Kentucky Democrat Blog)
The drop in the stock market (now about 1,000 pts on the Dow) is a graphic indication of the stark fact that we are entering the infamous double dip of the recession, long feared and predicted.
The economy is not in a V after all (down and then up) but in a W (down, up, down again, and then, finally, up). And the cause of the second dip is not the recession itself, but the cure administered to it by President Obama and the Democratic Congress.
Consider the indications (data provided by New America Foundation, analysis by Sherle R. Schwanninger and Samuel Sherraden):
- GDP growth has only been 2.2%, 5.6%, and 3.2% for each of the last three quarters, well below the rebounds typical in past recessions.
- Total civilian employment has rebounded by only 1% since the depth of the unemployment five months ago. In 1973, at a comparable point, it had rebounded by 7%. In 1981 by 8%. In 1990 by 4%. And in 2001 by 3%. U-6, the broadest measure of unemployment stands at 17.1% and we need 12.8 million new jobs.
- Housing prices have dropped by 30% since 2006 and “many economists expect housing prices to decline at least another 10%” according to Schwanninger and Sherraden.
- While corporate profits are 30.6% higher than one year ago, wages are up by only 1.6%, less than half their rate of increase two years ago.
- Financial sector profits make up 35.7% of all domestic corporate profits. These gains are driven by trading revenue which does not reflect real economic growth. Schwanninger and Sherraden report that “In the first quarter of 2010, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America earned 72%, 45%, and 16% of their net revenue [respectively] from trading profits.”
- Personal savings dropped from a high of almost 6% to 2.7% in March, 2010 so households have cut their debt by just $300 billion since it peaked in 2008. So household debt, which rose from 60% of GDP in 1990 to almost 100% in 2008, has only dropped to 97%. It has a long, long way to go before it goes down enough to free consumers to spend more.
- Meanwhile, retail sales have averaged only a 1.7% increase over the past three quarters, half of which was merely to restock inventories. Schwanninger and Sherraden note that “in a typical recovery, the rebound is closer to 3.5%.” And most of that increase is due to expanding government cash transfer payments which now make up 18.3% of personal income. “Excluding transfer payments, personal income increased just 0.3% since the third quarter of 2009.”
- And stimulus spending, which has failed to generate private sector growth, is now winding down. Only 43% of the tax benefits and entitlement spending remain to be doled out as does 63% of the contracts, grants and loans in the stimulus package.
- The strengthening of the dollar due to the collapse of the Euro will dry upp US export trade. Exports to EU nations account for 21% of American and 20% of Chinese exports. Schwanninger and Sherraden note that “A European slowdown will reduce demand for the two primary engines of world economic growth.”
But this second downturn in the economy will be accompanied by inflation, making it worse than the first recession. With interest rates set to rise (because the fed is no longer massively purchasing securities to keep them down), taxes set to go up (because of Obama’s ideology), and global energy use about to increase sending prices higher (because the rest of the world is recovering), prices have to go up. But with no growth in real personal income and household credit close to all time highs, there is not enough demand to pay the higher prices, so a deeper slump will ensue.
The solution? Cut – don’t raise – taxes. And bring down the deficit through massive spending cuts. Reduce our borrowing needs by slashing our spending. Free up capital to feed job growth.
It should be evident to all that Obamanomics is a disaster. It reminds one of nothing so much as the Medieval practice of bleeding the patient to make him well by expelling the evil spirits that dwelt within. When the patient did not recover, they just bled him more and, when he died, they just said that the spirits killed him. The practice of spending, borrowing, and then taxing to fuel job growth is the modern analogy.
TO GET ALL OF DICK MORRIS' COLUMNS (FREE) , GO TO DICKMORRIS.COM AND SIGN UP.
We can all agree that our current immigration system is broken. Families and communities are being torn apart by raids, fear, and hatred.
The longer Senator Voinovich and others wait to act on immigration reform, the more people suffer and the more the American dream is deferred for millions of people.
This Thursday is your chance to tell Senator Voinovich that the time to end the suffering is now. Supporters will rally by High Street at the Ohio Statehouse at 3 PM this Thursday. Then we’ll march to Senator George Voinovich’s office to demand his support for real immigration reform.
In July, Arizona will begin enforcing a new law that requires law enforcement officers to check someone’s immigration status if they have reason to suspect that he or she is in the country illegally. Do you think this is a good idea? Click here to take poll.
“Keep out Kagan” day
Based on the principles created by the Tea Party Patriots listed above, we are joining various organizations including Eagle Forum and the Young Conservatives Coalition in asking concerned citizens to participate in the "Keep out Kagan" call campaign.
As the Senate decides whether to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, we want to send a clear message to Senators Voinovich and Brown that we deserve an experienced judge who believes in free speech and capitalism.
On Tuesday, June 8th, Please take the time to call the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and tell our Senators to “Keep out Kagan.”
