Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, February 28, 2012


I just hope Santorum beats Romney in Michigan!

2 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46554315

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods fell in January by the most in three years as demand fell across the board from machinery to aircraft, suggesting the economy started the year on weaker footing than expected.

* THEN EXPECTED BY WHO...?! NOT EXPECTED BY ME! (*SNORT*)

Durable goods orders dropped 4%, the biggest drop since January 2009 when the country was still mired in a deep recession...

* UHH... FOLKS... WE'VE STILL MIRED IN A DEEP RECESSION. WE HAVE BEEN ALL ALONG. WE ALL KNOW THAT THE TECHNICAL DEFINITION OF "RECESSION" DOESN'T EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE THE REALITY OF THE AGE OF OBAMA.

Economists had forecast orders falling 1%.

* SHOULDN'T THAT BE "INCOMPETENT, KNOW-NOTHING ECONOMISTS" HAD "WRONGLY FORECAST AGAIN?" (RHETORICAL QUESTION BY THE WAY.) (*SMILE*)

William R. Barker said...

http://freebeacon.com/trashing-tricare/

* REMEMBER THAT NEWSBITE ABOUT TRICARE CUTS I POSTED YESTERDAY - THE ONE WHERE I BASICALLY PRAISED OBAMA FOR HAVING THE BALLS TO ACTUALLY CUT GOVERNMENT EXPENSES? WELL, FOLKS... LOOKS LIKE I MAY HAVE JUMPED THE GUN ON GIVING OBAMA CREDIT. (READ ON...)

The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget calls for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their healthcare...

* SO FAR, SO GOOD... BUT... HERE'S WHAT I WASN'T AWARE OF:

...while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits untouched.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

The disparity in treatment between civilian and uniformed personnel is causing a backlash within the military that could undermine recruitment and retention.

* HERE'S THE DEAL: I'D NEED TO COMPARE APPLES TO APPLES WITH REGARD TO MILITARY VS. CIVILIAN DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL BENEFITS BOTH PRIOR TO THE PROPOSED CHANGES AND AFTER IN ORDER TO MAKE A JUDGMENT ON WHETHER THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSAL IS FAIR OR NOT.

Administration officials told Congress that one goal of the increased fees is to force military retirees to reduce their involvement in Tricare and eventually opt out of the program in favor of alternatives established by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare.

* DOESN'T SOUND GOOD, FOLKS... (*SIGH*)

* ARE CIVILIAN DOD RETIREES BEING PUSHED IN THE SAME WAY...???

[C]ritics said leaving civilian workers’ benefits unchanged while hitting the military reflect the administration’s effort to court labor unions, as government unions are the only segment of organized labor that has increased in recent years.

* THIS HAS BEEN SOP FOR THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ALL ALONG... (*SHRUG*)

Military service organizations are opposing the healthcare changes and say the Pentagon is “means-testing” benefits for service personnel as if they were a social program, and not something earned with 20 or more years of military service.

* AGAIN, FOLKS... UNDERSTAND MY POSITION: I BELIEVE THE BENEFITS ARE OVERLY GENEROUS ALL AROUND, BUT, IF SERVICE PERSONNEL ARE PROMISED SOMETHING WHEN THEY SIGN UP OR DURING THEIR ENLISTMENT THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO KEEP THAT PROMISE.

* AGAIN, FOLKS... SOP FOR THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION - NO RESPECT FOR THE RULE OF LAW... PARTICULARLY CONTRACT LAW. (REMEMBER WHAT THEY DID TO THE CHRYSLER BONDHOLDERS!)