Welcome to the Hatbox! My name is Stephen Hatfield, and this is my personal blog, where I talk about things that interest me. The site is built using Expression Engine, and the template was designed by Simon Collison etc.
Gingrich Statement About Food Stamps Was Correct
In the most recent presidential candidate debate, Newt Gingrich stated that more people have been put on food stamps than under any other president in history. White House spokesman Jay Carney said that was “crazy”. Well, here are the facts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2008, 28.2 million people received food stamps totaling $37.6 billion. In 2011, 44.7 million people received food stamps at a cost of $75.3 billion. Explain to me how that indicates we are in an economic recovery from the recession?
CBS stated correctly that the percentage increase under Bush from 2001-2008 (63 %) was higher than the percentage increase under Obama (44.5 %). Let’s look at these numbers a little more closely. The increase of 63% over 8 years works out to an annual increase of 7%. A 44.5 % increase over three years works out to 13.1%. That rate is nearly double the rate under Bush. Let’s look at the numbers another way, increase in people applying for food stamps. Under Obama there has been an increase of 18 million people, 6 million per year. Under Bush there was an increase in 10.9 million or 1.6 million per year. That rate is nearly 4 times the rate under Bush.
What Happened To Our Constitution And Laws?
A president makes a recess appointment when there is no recess. A president and Senate do not submit a budget for over two years when required by law to do so. We the people need to start holding these people accountable.
Cancer Death Rates Compared
In 2009, the death rate from breast cancer was 52% higher in Germany and 88% higher in the United Kingdom than it was in the United States. The death rate for prostate cancer is 6 TIMES higher in the UK than US. The death rate for colorectal cancer is 40% higher in the UK than US. In Canada, patients can wait for up to a year for radiation treatment for cancer. Food for thought.
Monopoly Prevention
If you are not going to allow AT&T to buy t-mobile to prevent a monopoly, you can’t allow Google to buy Yahoo. Right?
Fisker Loan
The Department of Energy loaned $529 million to a car startup, Fisker. OK, I am for alternative energy for powering cars but the car they will eventually build in the US (they are building their first model in Finland) will cost $47500. You do get a tax credit of $7500 when you buy one. Let’s see. How many people will be able to afford that car? So if they don’t sell, we will see another half a billion dollars of our tax money go down the drain. Can you say Solyndra anyone?
Harry Reid And Jobs
Yesterday on the Senate floor, Harry Reid said the following when talking about jobs in support of the latest stimulus bill submitted by Obama, the supposed jobs bill: “It’s very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it’s the public-sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that’s what this legislation is all about.” Huh? What an idiot.
Supporting Both Sides At The Same Time
The following two quotes are from a Washington Post editorial. I think these people went to the same school as those who say the the 4 in10 people in the US that hate math are a majority.
“On Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the department had decided to pull the plug on CLASS [a major provision of ObamaCare]. ‘I do not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time,’ she wrote in a letter to congressional leaders. This is the right conclusion. Although Republicans were quick to leap on the move as an illustration of the unworkable nature of the health-care law, that is an unfair dig. The CLASS program was conceived as a separate, standalone measure.”—editorial, Washington Post, Oct. 18
“At the time the measure was being debated, the Obama administration insisted that it could be implemented in a workable fashion. The administration was also happy to count premium revenue from the CLASS Act—it brings in money in the short term but pays it out later—as part of the projected “savings” of the health-care law. The CLASS Act accounted for $70 billion of the $143 billion in deficit reduction projected during the first 10 years.”—same editorial
Campaign Reform
It is definitely time for campaign reform. The incumbent president makes campaign trips using our tax money for transportation and expenses. All other candidates have to pay with their own campaign money. Here is a place we can cut government spending. I don’t care who is president. I don’t want to pay for their campaign.
Bumper Sticker
On Monday I saw a bumper sticker that made me chuckle. “Anyone else in 2012.”
Corporate Jets And Air Force One
I suspect most of us remember when the CEOs of the big three car manufacturers went to Washington to ask for bailout money and flew there in their private corporate jets. Most people were shocked and mad. But where were those people when Obama took Air Force One for a 10 minute trip to Virginia? And oh, by the way, us taxpayers footed the bill for that one. And oh, by the way, Obama could have gotten there faster in a limo and at a significantly lower cost. Shouldn’t we be just as mad at that? Well, I am.
More On Occupy Wall Street
The OWS group says they represent the 99% of people who make less than the top 1%. What yearly salary is the minimum to put you in the 99%? $506,000. Hmmmm. Just so you will know, to be in the bottom 1%, you need a yearly salary of $2500 or less.
Solyndra
What smells as fishy as fish dead for 3 days in the sun? Solyndra. Funny how the liberal media are saying nothing about this scandal. Apparently losing more than $500 million of US taxpayer funds is not an issue. And let’s face it. If Bush were still president and this was happening to him, the liberal media would be all over this. Here are some facts about Solyndra that should have people looking at lot closer at this fiasco.
Green Source is reporting that several of Obama’s
biggest fund-raisers had close ties to Solyndra,
including billionaire George Kaiser, who worked
on Obama’s 2008 election, and was a major investor
in the failed solar company.
Steve Spinner who worked closely with Obama during
his campaign, and took a top job at the Energy
Department was chiefly responsible for pushing
for the loan, while his wife worked for the law
firm representing Solyndra.
Spinner’s wife’s law firm Wilson Sonsini, collected
$2.4 million in federal payments for legal work
related to Solyndras federal loan.
Some Facts About Fannie And Freddie
What president pressured Fannie and Freddie to begin offering mortgages to less than qualified persons? Bill Clinton (1999)
What president said repeatedly that more supervision of Fannie and Freddie was needed? George Bush (first in 2001)
What party controlled Congress when TARP was passed? Democrats
Who blocked proposed reforms to the operation of Fannie and Freddie in 2007 and 2008? Barney Frank and Chris Dodd
Which political party received the most contributions from Fannie and Freddie in 2008? Democrats
Polling The OWS Protesters
A random poll of 200 of the Occupy Wall Street protesters yielded the following information.
(1) 52% have participated in a political movement before
(2) 98% support civil disobedience to achieve their goals
(3) 31% said they would use violence to advance their agenda
(4) 85% are employed
(5) Overwhelming majority voted for Obama in 2008
(6) 51% disapprove of Obama now
(7) 44% approve of Obama now
(8) 48% say they will vote for him in 2012
(9) 32% call themselves Democrats
(10) 33% say they represent no political party
(11) 65% say the government has a moral responsibility to guarantee all citizens access to affordable health care, a college education, and a secure retirement, no matter the cost
(12) 77% support raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans
(13) 22% don’t support raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans
(14) 58% oppose raising taxes on everybody
(15) 36% were in favor of raising taxes on everybody
(16) 49% felt the bank bailouts were necessary
(17) 51% felt the bank bailouts were not necessary
In case you were wondering, 41% of Americans self identify as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. It appears to me that the OWS group do not represent any kind of majority of American people.
Federal Gov Spending For Fiscal 2011
The Congressional Budget Office announced spending for fiscal 2011, a mere 3.6 trillion, surpassing the 3.52 trillion spent in 2009. The information included below is from the Wall Street Journal. Anyone who said Bush’s tax cuts led to the current problems should look at how close we came to balancing the budget in 2007. The source for this information is the Congressional Budget Office.
Year Receipts Outlays Deficit Deficit as share of GDP
2007 $2,568 $2,729 $161 1.2%
2008 $2,524 $2,983 $459 3.2%
2009 $2,104 $3,520 $1,416 10.0%
2010 $2,162 $3,456 $1,294 8.9%
2011 $2,303 $3,600 $1,298 8.6%
Amounts are in billions of dollars.