So Obama removes having to find work from Welfare rules

[kathyp]

i think you are not paying attention.  there is a focus on all of that. 

i'd be more impressed if that number you post were dropping that much by 2013.  all states need to be doing what Wisconsin did.  all federal jobs and benefits need to be brought in line with their private sector counterparts.  many of those jobs need to go away...and you can start with TSA, EPA, and DOE.  all 3 being totally useless and an impediment to pretty much everything.  oh yeah...the the education department.   they can go also. 

i would have no problem taking spending back to the levels of Clinton...then we could talk about the tax rates under Clinton. 

one of the reasons many of us are disgusted with the current welfare state is that fewer and fewer of us are paying taxes, while more and more are sucking off the system...all the time the left demands we pay more.  have you looked at the number of people filing for disability??  it's pretty staggering.  add those on food stamps, and all the other programs. even if you don't think it adds much to the debt, it adds massively to our sense of outrage.

[luvin honey]

don't know where you paid 2.99 for ground beef.  must have been the high fat stuff.  i just paid almost 4 for the good stuff.

I used to pay $3/lb about 17 years ago. Doesn't seem outrageous to me at all.

And milk prices (to the farmer) are at a steep low right now. Not sure about in the store around here, as I haven't had to buy it for 10 years now.

And as I live in WI, let me say that people are hurting, and hurting badly after what Walker did. My kids are both school aged, and it hasn't help education at all, either. Not sure where it will be long term, but right now people are hurting.

I think every able-bodied person should work, and I haven't read Obama's plan, but I have thought during this recession that we hear an awful lot about how people should find jobs when there simply are not enough jobs to go around.

[kathyp]

funny, i know people from WI who say things are much better....regardless, it will be painful to get things fixed.  people are so used to having government money thrown at everything it will be hard for them to do without it. it's to bad we have gotten to the point where government is the be all, and end all, to every problem.........

I think every able-bodied person should work, and I haven't read Obama's plan, but I have thought during this recession that we hear an awful lot about how people should find jobs when there simply are not enough jobs to go around

the problem is that there is still a recession.  it's not rocket science and it's not theory.  everything that obama has done, has been done and failed before.  recessions are a normal part of economic reality.  we need only look at what has worked before, and what hasn't, to know what to do.  unfortunately, he took everything that hasn't worked, added to that, and made things worse.

[BlueBee]

Seems like a good time for some of our beeks  to look up the definition of Recession….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recession  
Said beeks might also do some research and learn how governments traditionally respond to a recession and why  

[kathyp]

if your point is that we are not technically in a recession, you are correct.  however, ask people how they feel and they feel like we are.  people are more motivated by feelings than by dictionary definitions.

as for how governments react, we do have many examples...which was my point.  obama chose to follow the examples of what doesn't work.

[buzzbee]

Someone once said a recession is when your neighbor is out of work, a depression is when you are out of work.But that was also at a time when the last thing people wanted to do was accept a handout.
But wouldn't it be nice if the current administration put out the true number of unemployed.The rate is closer to 14 percent than the 8 percent stated so often.
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/capitol/the_real_unemployment_rate_Dz8PweHqsH1MVVwgkK51mI
But wrap it all together with the underemployed,these figures are last years but have not changed much:
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-01-24/markets/29974517_1_part-time-unemployment-labor-force
The numbers out of work or not having any steady work is even higher. As stated some of the unemployment numbers look better,but those no longer looking also no longer count as unemployed,thus 'improving" that number.And this is the longest period of this trend ever.
  Perhaps opening the floodgates of money and lessening the burden of finding a job is having the desired effect. It creates a larger class of people dependent on other peoples money. Can you say "redistribution of wealth"?
It is fast running from a hand up to a hand out activity. A safety net is one thing,but remove all risk from not looking for work, and soon you remove all incentive to look for work.

[Wonga]

Hey Kathyp,
here's a (genuine) question from Australia re your pending Presidential election. We have compulsory voting in our elections - all of them, Federal, State or municipal, but I know your voting is mostly optional. Do you think conservative voters will stay at home/abstain from voting for Romney, because he is not a mainstream Christian, thus delivering a win to Obama? Or will they get out and vote on the issues?

 good luck in November, Wonga

[kathyp]

wow, ok...i'll try to give you the best answer i have without going into the weeds to much   

while it is true that the majority of the so called evangelical Christians tend to be conservative and vote republican, it does not follow that the majority of conservatives are evangelical Christians.  that's one small point....
another thing to note is that the majority of Mormons tend to be conservative...with some very notable exceptions like Harry Reid.

in the last election there were a lot of republicans who didn't vote.  they couldn't stand McCain and didn't think Obama would be that bad.  the rest of us just sucked it up and voted for McCain. 

this time, knowing what a mistake was made last time, i don't think people will skip voting.  + Obama seems to take delight in poking sticks in the eyes of all who are not in line with his Marxist thinking.  if you aren't on welfare, or some other kind of public assistance, or you are not a loony leftist begging to be punished for your success, you are his target.
i think everyone with any sense has had enough.

[Wonga]

Thanks, KathyP,

I hoped it would be like that, and I do realise that Republicans are not automatically conservative Christians, I just thought it would be a damaging bloc of voters to turn their backs on Romney, if they did.

Like your quote from Coolidge too, I might borrow it myself. Same thing happens here with welfare, conservative side tighten up the rules and the socialists relax them again, backwards and forwards.

[tryintolearn]

buzzbee...read your post about Reagan's lack of super majority and thought out loud....if the republicans ever do get the supper majority they will only do the right thing...which is look for a bipartisan answer...i just wish they would go at it like the dems do not worry about it looking onesided...

[beemaster]

I had a thought, since 15 trillion seems to not be an issue - a number that is inconceivable considering no matter what plan to reduce the deficit is forumulated, nothing nears even a trillion...

So I propose that we create SPECIAL MONEY equal to the nations debt and equally distributed to all LEGAL AMERICANS of 18 years and older. Each receives a bundle of this special cash that is monitored and only viable to purchase products that make a qualified list of 100% USA MADE Companies.

I believe it would spur companies to search out and find or create other USA companies that manufacture products solely made here.

The profit from earnings of these monies would be taxable on the sales end NOT the purchase end) and directly pay toward the $15 trillion deficit. the dollar amount (did the math at the Census dept) would be $10.8 Trillion, bring us up to roughly 25 trillion in debt but (as us Fed Employees hear frequently when trying to get a new wire brush or screw driver) we can't buy it, even though there is half a million available "It is OTHER MONEY".

So 10.8 billion would be OTHER MONEY, special money that can only be used for made in USA, sold in USA, bought in USA. Consumers would not pay tax on US Made products, but growth of business in the US would spur, and hopefully beyond the ten trillion. If consumer tax needed to be paid, it should be paid in regular US Currency and THAT used to pay of the deficit.

So what do you think would happen?  I'm hoping it would go well beyond the initial phase where businesses and jobs are created, well beyond the taxation from profit of sales. I would like to think MADE entirely in USA would be a paradigm shift of business.

The special money, tracked electronically to help reduce exploitation and fraud would encourage the proper use.

Could this happen? would it help? Is there anything that could spur growth of US MADE ONLY products? What if the $50K was in an interest bearing account which went toward the deficit and the money withdrawn as was approved for qualification?

Is there any way we could spark internal growth that was sustainable - tax-free purchases using standard free currency for qualifying products and services? Anything?? Is there a way to pump money into the citizens and it spur economic growth? I t seems to me if none of that could work either, then we are truly doomed. I believe we are doomed any way, I don't think this is cyclical and Greece is not the big issue on the International playing field, Spain is - they are a month from bankruptcy.

Their is no President that can fix our problems, I don't think any idealism can either. We are global and global is a pot of clam chowder than has been peed in. No matter how many clams we throw into it, it's now pee chowder and the only place to get rid of it is down the toilet.