BREAKING NEWS! The Recession Is Over

The best of all possible news comes from Don Surber:

The recession is over

Rahm Emanuel: “we rescued the economy from the worst recession.”

The White House chief of staff said it; it must be true.

I am so glad that the recession is over. I was getting bored by the whole thing — looking at the number of jobs lost every week, the unemployment rate rising every month and how dismal 401(k) has gotten.

We were drowning. Obama threw us an anvil, er, a life preserver.

Great. Now we can get back to the business of scraping the unicorn droppings off the floor.

Republican House Leader John Boehner, though, is not convinced that President Obama rescued us from the worst recession.

Boehner said:

“Madam Speaker, American families and small businesses are hurting. The economy has been hurting, but this morning in previewing the President’s speech tonight, our former colleague, the President’s Chief of Staff, said this: ‘we rescued the economy.’

“Now, I’m sure that the 9.5 percent unemployment rate that we have in our country today and from most economic experts on its way up don’t believe that we’ve rescued the economy. The 11.1 percent unemployment rate that we have in Ohio, I’m sure those people are looking up today wondering, wait a minute, the President is going to say we rescued the economy? I don’t think so.

“Not only has the stimulus not worked and the economy not been rescued, the President continues to promote policies that will create more unemployment in America. The national energy tax that went through this House last month will cause millions of Americans to lose their jobs over the next 10 years, at 2.5 million per year. And we’re debating the health care plan, the government takeover of health care, which according to the President’s council of economic advisor’s model will cost five million more Americans their jobs.

“I don’t believe that the economy has been rescued. I yield back.”

Spoilsport.

The video is here.

I for one am feeling much better. Now if President O would just pay my mortgage and put gas in my car…

If it Looks Like Pork And Smells Like Pork...

Drudge has ticked off Ag. Secretary Vilsack by quoting Recovery.Gov:

SPENDING SCARED: WHITE HOUSE PUTS OFF RELEASE OF BUDGET UPDATE...RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $2,531,600 FOR 'HAM, WATER ADDED, COOKED, FROZEN, SLICED, 2-LB'...RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $1,191,200 FOR '2 POUND FROZEN HAM SLICED'...RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $351,807 FOR 'REPLACE AND UPGRADE THE DUMBWAITER'...RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $1,562,568 FOR 'MOZZARELLA CHEESE'...RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $5,708,260 FOR 'PROCESS CHEESE'...RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $16,784,272 FOR 'CANNED PORK'...RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $1,444,100 FOR 'REPAIR DOOR BLDG 5112'...RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $541,119 FOR 'INSTALL TRAFFIC SIGNAL'...

While Vilsack quibbles over whether he paid a good price for ham, the more relevant question is, how is this stimulus and how does it create jobs? It isn’t hard to argue that the Administration is simply ’winging it’. Surely, this is the most expensive OJT in our history.

Crisis and Manufactured Crisis

Via Newser:

Rahm Emanuel famously said, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste." The American people, to their credit, seem unwilling to let the Obama team exploit this crisis as thoroughly as they'd like to.- William Kristol

I doubt that Mr. Emanuel would admit it, but as it happens the American people aren’t nearly as compliant or complacent as the thugs from Chicago had believed. On the other hand, Obama & Co. appear convinced that by extending the crisis that they can wear the public down.

President Barack Obama said his $787 billion stimulus bill “has worked as intended” as he pushed back against Republican criticism that his recovery program has failed to rescue the economy.

Taking the President at his word, 9.5% unemployment is no fluke. So if increasing unemployment is a feature of “the recovery” what is the President’s end game? It seems that every single thing that has come out of Washington since Obama took over has been counter-intuitive to solving the economic crisis. So when he says the stimulus “has worked as intended” it is reasonable to ask, “what were you intending?”

None of the Obama administration’s grand schemes are working, Kristol continues, and even trusted allies in the media are bemoaning the sad state of affairs. “Why such long faces?” Kristol wonders. Because, despite the horror of the Bush years, “the American public hasn't fundamentally rethought their turn in 1980 away from big government liberalism.” Kristol quotes Michael Barone: “Americans seem to be recoiling against big government when it threatens to become a reality rather than a campaign promise.”

The Administration underestimated American’s independent spirit and it has set them back from where they thought they would be at this point. Let’s hope that it is the first of many such setbacks.

How Much Can It Get? Lots.

Via Don Surber:

From Jim Pinkerton at Fox News:

The economy is shaping up to be Barrack Osama’s Katrina. If President George W. Bush was blamed for his slow response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 -- there was plenty of blame to go around, of course, but the disaster was on Bush's watch--then Osama will get the blame for his slow response to the current recession. The difference, of course, is that Katrina afflicted a city and a few states, while the recession afflicts the whole country.

Unemployment is 9.5 percent and rising fast, certain to go higher than 10 percent. And what is the federal government doing about it? Not much. And so House Republican Leader John Boehner makes a good point when he asks, "Where are the jobs?"

On Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden said that the Osama administration had "misread" the economic indicators. So what are they likely to do about it? More of the same--which is to say, not much.

Considering that the administration refuses to rule a second stimulus, more of the same could push this country right over the edge.

“Where are the jobs?” There aren’t any. The stimulus was nothing more or less than political payola. The faithful have been rewarded, on the taxpayer’s dime, and they will remain faithful come hell or high water.

How much, in dollar and cents, is the census worth to ACORN? Beyond that, he who holds the pen writes the numbers. In other words, ACORN puts Obama in office, he gives them the huge census contract and viola(!), despite that fact Obama’s policies have caused the public to become more conservative, the numbers come back to favor the liberals. Granted, I am projecting a bit on the end game, but would you bet against it?

As long as the administration is keeping the (donor) base happy and the (dependent) base dependent, the rest us can be damned. Three and a half years from now Obama will still be using the ‘I’ word, INHEREITED, and the chosen will still be parroting it.

Charlie Crist Should Be Ashamed

Via Memeoradum

I posted earlier at Not One Red Cent that Florida Governor Charlie Crist has been named a finalist in The Club for Growth “Comrade of the Month” contest for May. No small feat when you consider the stiff competition at all levels in the current administration. In bestowing this ‘honor’ on Crist the Club sited:

Crist signed a no-tax pledge when he was running for governor of Florida a few years ago. Now, as the state's top elected official, he has proceeded to break that very pledge by signing a tax hike into law last week as part of the state budget. But Crist didn't stop there. Earlier this week, he signed another tax hike...this time a 20% tax increase on businesses. Crist sure is some "Republican."

During a time of economic crisis Crist is increasing taxes in the state of Florida. Apparently my Governor is unaware that raising taxes is counter-productive to growth. In Taxes: Chasing Out The Rich, I sited a study by Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore on the relationship between state income taxes and the effect those taxes have on states’ budget deficits. Laffer and Moore were able show conclusively that budget deficits increase when taxes increase.

The State of Florida needs to learn a lesson from Florida’s working families-don’t spend what you don’t have. Instead, Crist has tried to plug the budget gap by accepting stimulus money and increasing taxes on Florida families and Florida businesses. Granted, Florida has its share of ‘special interest’ groups crying poor mouth but that is no excuse for our state’s governor to act irresponsibly. Not only is he burdening the state’s citizens but by accepting stimulus money he has also placed a burden on the citizens of those states who have behaved in a fiscally responsible manner.

Being named a “comrade” by The Club for Growth should be an embarrassment to Gov. Crist. As a citizen of Florida, I certainly consider it shameful.