Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010


...but I've got eyes...

(*WINK*)
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15 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jeremywarner/100008581/china-may-be-bigger-economy-than-us-within-two-years/

According to the Conference Board, a highly respected economic research association, China will overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest economy by 2012, or within two years.

[I]n terms of purchasing power parity, according to the Conference Board’s latest world economic outlook, China is already nearly there, and by 2020 will have reached a size of output which is nearly half as big again as the U.S.

[I]n PPP (perchasing power parity) terms, the Conference Board’s projections show China as 24.1% of world output by 2020, and the US at just 14.8%.

[M]any in the West don’t yet seem fully to appreciate the speed with which economic and geopolitical power is shifting. This is a truly seismic change.

* IT'S CALLED "REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH" FOLKS - INTERNATIONALLY - WHICH IS A KEY COMPONENT OF THE OBAMA AGENDA. THAT'S NOT "CONSPIRACY TALK" - THAT'S THE OBAMA/JOE THE PLUMBER EXCHANGE OF 2008.

November 10, 2010 at 11:49 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/11/10/uk.protest/index.html?section=cnn_latest

London, England (CNN) - A group of demonstrators broke into the headquarters of Britain's governing Conservative party in London Wednesday, spray-painting anarchy symbols and setting off flares before being forced out of the building.

They went on to set fires outside the building.

* BUY GUNS, PEOPLE. GET TRAINING. BE PREPARED TO PROTECT YOURSELF, YOUR FAMILY, AND YOUR PROPERTY. IF IT NEVER COMES TO THAT... (*SHRUG*)... WHAT HAVE YOU LOST, A FEW HUNDRED BUCKS...?

The National Union of Students said 40,000 "demonstrators" were on the streets.

* FOLKS...

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

November 10, 2010 at 11:57 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-11-10-1Afedpay10_ST_N.htm

The number of federal workers earning $150,000 or more a year has soared tenfold in the past five years and doubled since President Obama took office, a USA Today analysis finds.

* HMM... LET'S SEE... OVER FOUR OF THE PAST FIVE YEARS DEMOCRATS RAN BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS... (I'M SURE IT'S JUST A COINCIDENCE...) (*SNORT*)

* THANKFULLY, ON THE HEELS OF THE REPUBLICAN MID-TERM ELECTION VICTORIES...

[S]ome lawmakers are planning to use the lame-duck session that starts Monday to challenge the president's plan to give a 1.4% across-the-board pay raise to 2.1 million federal workers. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who will head the panel overseeing federal pay, says he wants a pay freeze and prefers a 10% pay cut. "It's stunning when you see what's happened to federal compensation," he says. "Every metric shows we're heading in the wrong direction."

* I'M WITH CHAFFETZ!

National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley counters that the proposed raise "is a modest amount and should be implemented" to help make salaries more comparable with those in the private sector.

(*SNORT*) AGAIN, FOLKS... FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES MAKE ROUGHLY DOUBLE WHAT PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEES DO IN TERMS OF WAGES AND BENEFITS. MS. KELLEY IS SIMPLY A LYING PIECE OF GARBAGE. FRANKLY, SHE SHOULD BE FIRED SIMPLY BECAUSE IT'S OBVIOUSLY BAD POLICY TO HAVE CIVIL SERVANTS ON THE PAYROLL WHO WILL SO EASILY AND DELIBERATELY LIE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

Top-paid staff have increased in every department and agency. The Defense Department had nine civilians earning $170,000 or more in 2005, 214 when Obama took office and 994 in June.

The biggest pay hikes have gone to employees who have been with the government for 15 to 24 years. Since 2005, average salaries for this group climbed 25% compared with a 9% inflation rate.

* NICE, HUH...?

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

Federal workers earning $150,000 or more make up 3.9% of the workforce, up from 0.4% in 2005.

* NOT ONLY IS OBAMA EXPANDING THE BUREAUCRACY BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, HE'S ALSO MAKING IT MORE TOP HEAVY!

Since 2000, federal pay and benefits have increased 3% annually above inflation compared with 0.8% for private workers, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

* SO GOVERNMENT WORKERS ARE THE "HAVES" AND PRIVATE SECTOR SCHMUCKS ARE THE "HAVE NOTS." GREAT... (*SMIRK*)

* WELCOME TO DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM, FOLKS. YES... THE ACCELERATION BEGAN IN THE "AGE OF BUSH," BUT CLEARLY IT ACCELERATED DURING THE "AGE OF PELOSI/REID" AND SINCE OBAMA HAS TAKEN OFFICE... THEY'VE REPLACED "GASOLINE" WITH "ROCKET FUEL!"

November 10, 2010 at 12:16 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.suntimes.com/business/2877726,CST-NWS-SEARS09.article

Sears will open on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in its 124-year history, opening stores from 7 a.m. to noon on Thanksgiving Day.

* DISGUSTING. DISRESPECTFUL AND YET ANOTHER SIGH OF A NATION IN DECLINE.

November 10, 2010 at 12:33 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/books/perry_touts_new_book_in_san_antonio_107002198.html

Gov. Rick Perry stopped off in the Alamo City on Tuesday for a bite of barbecue and a bit of promotion for his new book - and called for completely repealing President Barack Obama's health care legislation while he was at it.

In his 12-minute speech at Augie's Barbed Wire Smokehouse Bar-B-Que near Brackenridge Park, Perry took on the federal government, from health care reform to Social Security. Perry pushed for a repeal of Obama's health care legislation “in its entirety.”

“You can't go through this piece by piece. You need to repeal it in its entirety,” he said. “Then let's have them start anew from the premise that the states can better handle these questions.”

* YES... BUT WITH THE CAVEAT THAT THE LIB STATES - LIKE NY - HAVE TOTALLY SCREWED UP INSURANCE COMMISSIONS.

* WHAT'S REALLY NEEDED FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS TO OVERRULE STATE LAWS THAT RESTRICT INTERSTATE INSURANCE MARKETS.

Perry criticized President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and an early 20th-century “progressive era” movement that “gave the federal government access to our wallets via taxation.”

Calling the New Deal “a glut of federal programs,” Perry said the creation of the Social Security system did very little to end the Great Depression.

* IT'S A TRAGEDY - AS WELL AS A CONSPIRACY IN THE SENSE THAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS DELIBERATELY FAIL TO EXPLAIN THE HISTORY AND WORKINGS OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAM - THAT MOST AMERICANS KNOW LESS ABOUT HOW SOCIAL SECURITY FUNCTIONS AND IS SUPPOSED TO FUNCTION THAN THEY DO ABOUT MANAGEMENT DECISIONS BY THEIR LOCAL PROFESSIONAL SPORTS FRANCHISES!

“Unfortunately, the New Deal has essentially become the third rail of American politics that indiscriminately kills the political careers of any leader bold enough to criticize it or any program it created,” he said.

In a post-speech news conference, Perry further attacked Social Security as he did in his book “Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington” and said he did so to create a “national dialogue.”

* NOTICE THE USUAL PRESS BIAS? "ATTACKED?" BULL! TELLING THE TRUTH ISN'T AN "ATTACK."

“I want people to be afraid not to talk about that Social Security is bankrupt and is a Ponzi scheme and if you've got a young 20-something-year-old, they know for a fact that they're not ever going to see that,” he said. “So let's fix it.”

* AND SOCIAL SECURITY IS BANKRUPT AND IS A PONZI SCHEME!

November 10, 2010 at 12:33 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-10/deficit-reduction-panel-s-plan-would-seek-to-cut-social-security-medicare.html

A presidential commission’s leaders proposed a $3.8 trillion deficit-cutting plan that would cut Social Security and Medicare, reduce income-tax rates and eliminate tax breaks including the mortgage-interest deduction.

* I'M CERTAINLY IN FAVOR OF CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY (OR AT LEAST NOT ALLOWING IT TO GROW) AS WELL AS ELIMINATING TAX BREAKS INCLUDING THE MORTGAGE-INTEREST DEDUCTION. AS TO INCOME-TAX RATES... YOU FOLKS KNOW WHERE I STAND; I WANT A FLATTER, FAIRER TAX CODE. FOR THE (APPROXIMATELY) 49% OF AMERICANS WHO CURRENTLY END UP PAYING NO FEDERAL INCOME TAX EACH YEAR... THEY'D GET A TAX INCREASE. EVERYONE MUST PAY A SHARE! NO FREELOADERS!

The co-chairmen of the panel appointed by President Barack Obama suggested reducing Social Security spending by raising the retirement age to 68 in about 2050 and 69 in about 2075.

* WELL... (*SIGH*)... RIGHT THERE YOU KNOW THIS IS A FRAUD. LOOK AT YOUR CALENDAR - IT'S 2010. THESE BOZOS ARE TALKING "REFORM" STARTING IN... 2050... 40 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD? PLEASE! THESE BASTARDS SHOULD PROBABLY BE DRAGGED OUT OF THEIR TAXPAYER FUNDED OFFICES AND SHOT.

The plan also would slow the rate at which benefits grow. The savings would come between 2012 and 2020.

* I'D CAP BENEFITS RIGHT NOW - TODAY!

“This country’s out of money and we better start thinking,” said co-chairman Erskine Bowles.

* ONE MORE TIME: 2050...??? 2075...??? BOWLES IS A FRAUD.

None of the proposals would take effect next year to [...er...] avoid disrupting the economic recovery.

(*SNORT*)

The proposal would attempt to slow health-care costs by paying doctors participating in Medicare less...

* LAST I CHECKED, SLAVERY HAD BEEN ABOLISHED IN THIS COUNTRY. AT A CERTAIN POINT DOCTORS REFUSE TO TREAT PATIENTS FOR WHOSE TREATMENT THEY'RE NOT BEING PAID. IT'S HAPPENING NOW.

* WAGE AND PRICE CONTROLS HAVE NEVER WORKED...!!! (MY GOD... THE IGNORANCE OF THESE PEOPLE...)

Discretionary spending cuts in the plan include reducing congressional and White House budgets by 15%, freezing federal salaries and cutting the federal workforce by 10%. The discretionary reductions of $1.4 trillion would be split equally between defense and domestic programs, Bowles said.

* YES. BY ALL MEANS CUT SPENDING. AND YES... BY ALL MEANS CUT MILITARY SPENDING. HOWEVER... THIS IS YET ANOTHER POLITICAL COP-OUT. WHATEVER THE OVERALL PERCENTAGE BUDGET CUT, IT'S UP TO THE SITTING PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO PRIORITIZE AND MAKE THE TOUGH DECISIONS. THIS WHOLE "SPLIT EQUALLY" STUFF IS BULL!

The plan would cut the deficit to 2.2% of gross domestic product by 2015, from the current 9%, exceeding Obama’s goal.

* HOW'BOUT CUTTING THE DEFICIT TO ZERO PERCENT - OR BETTER YET, CREATING SURPLUSES THAT WOULD BE USED TO START PAYING DOWN THE NATIONAL DEBT?!

November 10, 2010 at 3:30 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20101110/D9JD8K7O1.html

Ireland's financial troubles loomed large Wednesday as investors - betting that the country soon could join Greece in seeking an EU bailout - drove the interest rate on the country's 10-year borrowing to a new high.

The cost of funding Irish debt has risen steadily since September, when the government admitted its bailout efforts of five banks would cost at least €45 billion, equivalent to €10,000 for every man, woman and child in Ireland.

That gargantuan bill, in turn, has made the projected 2010 deficit rise to 32% of GDP - the highest in post-war Europe.

Bond traders increasingly believe that Ireland soon will be forced to tap Europe's emergency fund for euro-zone nations facing a threat of bankruptcy. The 16 nations of the euro zone created that €750 billion backstop in May as the EU and International Monetary Fund provided an emergency €110 billion loan to Greece.

Another bailout would send more shock waves through the currency union, which has struggled to find ways to keep individual governments from overspending and threatening the currency's value.

* WHICH IS WHAT I'M HOPING AND PRAYING FOR PRIOR TO MY UPCOMING SPAIN TRIP! (*WINK*)

November 10, 2010 at 3:30 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101110/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill

The Interior Department's inspector general says the White House edited a drilling safety report in a way that made it falsely appear that scientists and experts supported the idea of the administration's six-month ban on new drilling.

The inspector general says the editing changes resulted "in the implication that the moratorium recommendation had been peer reviewed." But it hadn't been. The scientists were only asked to review new safety measures for offshore drilling.

* AND YET... NO ONE WILL BE FIRED, LET ALONE ARRESTED, TRIED, CONVICTED, AND JAILED.

The inspector general's report, which was originally requested by Louisiana Sen. David Vitter and Rep. Steve Scalise in June, said the administration did not violate federal rules because the executive summary did not "say" the experts approved the recommendations...

(*SMIRK*)

...and the department offered a formal apology and had publicly clarified the nature of the expert review.

* AFTER THEY GOT CAUGHT...!!!

(*SNORT*)

November 10, 2010 at 3:31 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/WBT014236.htm

The United States will give an additional $150 million to the Palestinian Authority...Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.

* WE ARE STILL BROKE... RIGHT...??? RUNNING HUGE DEFICITS... INCREASING THE NATIONAL DEBT BY STAGGERING PROPORTIONS...

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

* I'VE GOT AN IDEA! IF HILLARY RODHAM FRIGG'N CLINTON WANTS TO GIVE THE TERRO... er... PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY $150 MILLION... WHY NOT WRITE A PERSONAL CHECK?! HEY... HOLD FUNDRAISERS! SELL ONE OR TWO OF YOUR MANSIONS!

November 10, 2010 at 3:46 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703523604575605273596157634.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_tech

Moving to plug the defection of staff to competitors, Google Inc. is giving a 10% raise to all of its 23,000 employees, according to people familiar with the matter.

* GOOD FOR GOOGLE! (HEY... WHEN THERE'S GOOD NEWS I NOTE IT AS SUCH!)

The across-the-board raise comes after Google last month posted strong third-quarter results.

* AS LONG AS WE'RE TALKING PROFITS (AND NOT SIMPLY STOCK GAINS) THEN GOD BLESS GOOGLE!

November 10, 2010 at 5:17 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/11/10/boehner-flying-commercial/

Rep. John Boehner, the [Republican] House Speaker-to-be...said he plans to continue commuting on commercial flights from his district in Ohio to Washington... [in contrast to] ...current [Democrat] Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has flown on military aircraft during her four years running the House.

November 10, 2010 at 5:18 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703805004575606793870558632.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

A government survey said one in 10 U.S. children has ADHD...

(*SNORT*) (*ROLLING MY EYES*) (*SMIRK*) (*SNICKER*)

ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, makes it hard for kids to pay attention and control impulsive behavior.

(*MORE SNORTING*) (*MORE ROLLING MY EYES*) (*MORE SMIRKING*) (*MORE SNICKERING*)

Scientists don't have clear answers about why there was such a significant increase.

* YOUR'S TRULY HAS A CLEAR ANSWER: THE PARENTS ARE COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT!

* DR. BILL'S PRESCRIPTION FOR ADHD: AGSKITA - A GOOD SWIFT KICK IN THE ASS!

November 10, 2010 at 5:18 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703805004575606723624688814.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEADNewsCollection

The U.S. started fiscal-year 2011 with a monthly budget deficit of $140.4 billion in October, the Treasury said Wednesday...

(*SIGH*)

Spending for interest on government deb...$18.34 billion...

* THAT'S ONE MONTH'S WORTH OF INTEREST PAYMENT'S FOLKS; THAT'S $18.34 BILLION - WITH A "B" - SIMPLY PISSED AWAY... NOT BUYING ONE SINGLE SOLITARY ASPIRIN FOR A PATIENT IN THE VA OR ONE SLICE OF BREAD FOR THAT SAME PATIENT.

The latest figures come on the heels of a nearly $1.3 trillion budget deficit the government posted for fiscal-year 2010...

* HEY... REMIND ME... DIDN'T THE DEMOCRATS CONTROL BOTH THE HOUSE AND SENATE DURING FISCAL-YEAR 2010...??? WASN'T BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR ALL OF FISCAL-YEAR 2010...???

Federal spending has been outpacing income for more than two years, and 2010 marked the second consecutive year the U.S. budget deficit topped $1 trillion. The government's fiscal-2009 budget deficit came in at a record $1.42 trillion.

The U.S. is expected to post a budget deficit of more than $1 trillion again in fiscal 2011.

* I HOPE CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT DR. NAN HAYWORTH IS READING THIS PARTICULAR NEWSBITE.

* I WANT THAT GODDAMNED BUDGET DEFICIT - AT A BARE MINIMUM - CUT TO BELOW A BILLION DOLLARS FOR FISCAL-YEAR 2011.

November 10, 2010 at 5:18 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-10/obama-lawyers-back-military-don-t-ask-don-t-tell-gay-ban-at-high-court.html

The Obama administration said the U.S. Supreme Court should let the military continue to bar openly gay people under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, arguing that a change in the law should come from Congress, not the courts.

(*SNORT*)

* SO IN ESSENCE BARAK OBAMA IS OFFICIALLY PUTTING THE WEIGHT OF HIS OFFICE BEHIND "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL."

* BOY, OH, BOY; WOULD I LOVE NOTHING BETTER THAN TO QUESTION THE PRESIDENT ON HIS CONCEPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND HOW THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT RELATE TO IT IN TERMS OF WHAT'S CONSTITUTIONAL AND WHO SHOULD DECIDE.

(*SMIRK*)

Obama reiterated the day after the Nov. 2 election that he wants to end the gay ban.

(*SMIRK*)

Even so, his administration has fought against a court-ordered repeal, saying the military needed time to put a new policy in place. The Defense Department is scheduled to complete a study of the issue by Dec. 1.

* ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS, MY FRIENDS...

November 10, 2010 at 7:13 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69541420101110

Oil prices soared to the highest level in 25 months on Wednesday, rising for the seventh time in eight sessions...

U.S. crude for December delivery settled $1.09 higher at $87.81 a barrel, the highest close since October 8, 2008. In the eight-day stretch, U.S. crude has gained $6.38, or 7.8%.

U.S. December heating oil ended up 3.52 cents at $2.4419 a gallon, a two-year high. Heating oil has advanced eight straight sessions, gaining 22.18 cents, or 10%.

* THANK GOD NONE OF US NEED NEED TO FUEL OUR VEHICLES OR HEAT OUR HOMES... OTHERWISE THIS NEWS WOULD WORRY ME!

(*SMIRK*)

* FOLKS... UNDERSTAND... THIS IS WHAT OBAMA WANTS - FOR YOU TO PAY MORE SO YOU'LL BE "FORCED" TO... er... CONSERVE.

November 10, 2010 at 8:49 PM

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