However, it's not one they'll boast about during next fall's mid-term elections. ABC News reported that the October federal budget deficit came in at $176.4B. To provide an appropriate context, here's a visual comparison of Bush vs. Obama (projected) annual deficits based on projections last March published on heritage.org:
Image courtesy of heritage.org
Economic Forecasts Not Promising Heading into Mid-Term Elections
The Wall Street Journal's periodic survey of dozens of economists reveals that whereas they expect continued economic growth at just over 3% over the coming year, they expect anemic job growth to be more than canceled out by new workforce entries, and they believe that the Federal Reserve will need to start raising rates (in order to control for expected inflation) by next September. I'm more of a problem solver than a political warrior, and I would prefer to see a more robust economy, even though I fully expect Obama to take full political credit for any accidental advances on his watch, despite his job-destructive agenda. But during the progressives' frantic pace to pass unaffordable health care and climate control initiatives, they seem to have forgotten Carville's dictum during the 1992 campaign: "it's the economy, stupid!" You do not help job creators by raising their tax rates, creating uncertainty in the marketplace, or imposing new costs directly (by taxes) or indirectly (by mandates and other regulations).
Magician Obama Pulling "Created/Saved" Jobs out of His Hat
A recent Fox News Special Report political grapevine summarized a number of news reports questioning some of these created or saved job numbers--the Wall Street Journal reporting at least 2000 of claimed jobs don't exist, USA Today noting one case where hours worked under stimulus money (not number of employees) were counted as "created jobs", and the Department of Health and Human Services and the Head Start program counting employees getting pay/benefit raises (at taxpayer expense, of course) as "saved jobs". When reporters pressed for an explanation, the government bureaucrats argued it was a fudge factor to make up for "real" saved jobs they had failed to count elsewhere. Yeah, right...
FHA to Play "Oliver": Please, Uncle Sam, Can I Have Some More (Taxpayer Money)?
I paid special attention to the FHA reserve crisis in last month's post on Hannity vs. Moore. The Wall Street Journal reports that the already anemic FHA loss reserve has shrunk by almost 75% over the past year alone to about a half percent. With sticky high unemployment and slow economic growth, does anyone really doubt a Congressional bailout is all but guaranteed over the coming year?
Political Cartoon
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Chicago (Transit Authority) Tune
Did Chicago ever cut a bad song? I didn't think so. I remember "Color My World" being played at one of my sisters' wedding receptions. "Saturday in the Park" is infectious, just the right touch to a carefree summer day. "Love Me Tomorrow"... But my absolute favorite is "Old Days": the driving percussion, the arrangement, the brass, the lyrics, the vocals... It does take me back to the days of Howdy Doody and the Mickey Mouse Club, playing cards in bike spokes, singing Beatles' tunes through a box fan, Saturday afternoon matinees, playing catch with my brother, trips to the beach, and picking out penny candy...
