11 ‘Stunning Revelations’ From a Confidential Economics Memo to President Obama | TheBlaze.com

Columnist Ryan Lizza’s in-depth New Yorker article (“The Obama Memos”) examines some of the strategies and reasoning behind the Obama administration’s handling of the U.S. economy. But unlike most op-eds, his column involves more than just speculation and conjecture. As one of the article’s chief resources, Lizza uses a 57-page, “Sensitive & Confidential” memo written by the economist Larry Summers in 2008.

For those unfamiliar with that name, Larry Summers is the former Director of the United States National Economic Council for President Obama. And although he resigned from this position in November 2010, as the White House’s chief economist he “played a leading role in crafting the administration’s interventions in the economy,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Summers’ influence being understood, this “sensitive and confidential” memo helps explain why certain economic strategies and initiatives have been adopted, and in many cases maintained, by the Obama administration. But it does a little more than that: the memo also sheds some light on why the administration has failed to revive the economy.

Summers’ 57-page memo is “striking for two reasons,” writes Dean Baker of The Guardian. “First, it…showed the economic projections that the administration was looking at when it drafted its stimulus package. These projections proved to be hugely overly optimistic.”

Read more: 11 ‘Stunning Revelations’ From a Confidential Economics Memo to President Obama | TheBlaze.com

The Worst Economic Recovery Since The Great Depression - Forbes

The record of President Obama’s first three years in office is in, and nothing that happens now can go back and change that.  What that record shows is that President Obama, with his throwback, old-fashioned, 1970s Keynesian economics, has put America through the worst recovery from a recession since the Great Depression.

The recession started in December, 2007.  Go to the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research (www.nber.org) to see the complete history of America’s recessions.  What that history reveals is that before this last recession, since the Great Depression recessions in America have lasted an average of 10 months, with the longest previously lasting 16 months.

When President Obama entered office in January, 2009, the recession was already in its 13^th month.  His responsibility was to manage a timely, robust recovery to get America back on track again.  Based on the historical record, that recovery was imminent, within a couple of months or so.  Despite widespread fear, nothing fundamental had changed to deprive America of the long term, world-leading prosperity it had enjoyed going back 300 years.

 
Read more: The Worst Economic Recovery Since The Great Depression - Forbes

Obama’s White House Tea Party - NYPOST.com

It was the tea party the Obamas just couldn’t resist. 

A White House “Alice in Wonderland” costume ball — put on by Johnny Depp and Hollywood director Tim Burton — proved to be a Mad-as-a-Hatter idea that was never made public for fear of a political backlash during hard economic times, according to a new tell-all.

“The Obamas,” by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, tells of the first Halloween party the first couple feted at the White House in 2009. It was so over the top that “Star Wars” creator George Lucas sent the original Chewbacca to mingle with invited guests.

The book reveals how any official announcement of the glittering affair — coming at a time when Tea Party activists and voters furious over the lagging economy, 10-percent unemployment rate, bank bailouts and Obama’s health-care plan were staging protests — quickly vanished down the rabbit hole. 

“White House officials were so nervous about how a splashy, Hollywood-esque party would look to jobless Americans — or their representatives in Congress, who would soon vote on health care — that the event was not discussed publicly and Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged,” the book says.

However, the White House made certain that more humble Halloween festivities earlier that day — for thousands of Washington-area schoolkids — were well reported by the press corps.

Then the Obamas went inside, where an invitation-only affair for children of military personnel and White House administrators unfolded in the East Room. 

Unbeknownst to reporters, the State Dining Room had also been transformed into a secretive White House Wonderland. 

Tim Burton decorated it “in his signature creepy-comic style. His film version was about to be released, and he had turned the room into the Mad Hatter’s tea party, with a long table set with antique-looking linens, enormous stuffed animals in chairs, and tiered serving plates with treats like bone-shaped meringue cookies,” reports the book, which The Post purchased at a Manhattan bookstore.

“Fruit punch was served in blood vials at the bar. Burton’s own Mad Hatter, the actor Johnny Depp, presided over the scene in full costume, standing up on a table to welcome everyone in character.”

Read more: Obama’s White House Tea Party - NYPOST.com

Bill Defunds United Nations If Arms Trade Treaty Is Adopted

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- Congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL-8) on Dec. 7 introduced the Second Amendment Protection Act (HR-3594) with 20 co-sponsors, a measure that would cut off all funding to the United Nations if the United States agrees to any treaty that infringes on the constitutional rights of American citizens.

In a letter to his colleagues seeking additional co-sponsors in the House, Walsh noted that “The United Nations has been trying for almost a decade now to move forward with the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). This treaty poses a very real threat to the sovereignty of the United States and to our right to keep and bear arms—and this treaty is now moving forward with the support of the current administration.”

In late 2009, the US State Department reversed prior policy and announced that the US would back launching talks on the ATT. That version of the ATT is now expected to be finalized in 2012.

“The United States should never agree to a treaty that infringes on our constitutional rights, especially one that could implement sweeping gun control measures,” Walsh’s letter notes. “This treaty poses many dangers and could put serious pressure on the US to compromise on personal gun ownership rights. In a 2008 resolution on the treaty–adopted almost unanimously with only the US and Zimbabwe in opposition–the ‘highest possible standards’ of control were called for. “It is time for Congress to act to help ensure this treaty never sees the light of day. While the Senate is tasked with ratifying treaties, we (the House) must send a signal that this treaty is bad for America and bad for US gun rights.”

Almost 40 senators previously had written to the President and Secretary of State to express their opposition to the ATT. However, Walsh’s bill is the first in Congress to put financial brakes on any such treaty.

Bill Defunds United Nations If Arms Trade Treaty Is Adopted

Obama Administration Seeks to Circumvent Congressional Authority to Fix ‘Obamacare Glitch’ | TheBlaze.com

I guess Pelosi wasn't kidding when said you get to read the bill after it passed ...

Here’s an idea: when the Supreme Court holds their five-hour long oral arguments on The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, perhaps they could discuss what Jonathan Adler and Michael Cannon of the Wall Street Journal refer to as ”a major glitch that threatens its basic functioning.”

The two authors even claim that the aforementioned “glitch” is so huge that the Obama administration is trying to fix it by rewriting the bill without involving Congress.

What’s the “glitch”? Adler and Cannon explain:

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act offers “premium assistance”—tax credits and subsidies—to households purchasing coverage through new health-insurance exchanges. This assistance was designed to hide a portion of the law’s cost to individuals by reducing the premium hikes that individuals will face after ObamaCare goes into effect in 2014. (If consumers face the law’s full cost, support for repeal will grow.)

The law encourages states to create health-insurance exchanges, but it permits Washington to create them if states decline. So far, only 17 states have passed legislation to create an exchange.

This is where the glitch comes in: ObamaCare authorizes premium assistance in state-run exchanges (Section 1311) but not federal ones (Section 1321). In other words, states that refuse to create an exchange can block much of ObamaCare’s spending and practically force Congress to reopen the law for revisions.

The Obama administration wants to avoid that legislative debacle, so this summer it proposed an IRS rule to offer premium assistance in all exchanges “whether established under section 1311 or 1321.” On Nov. 17 the IRS will hold a public hearing on that proposal. According to a Treasury Department spokeswoman, the administration is “confident” that offering premium assistance where Congress has not authorized it “is consistent with the intent of the law and our ability to interpret and implement it.”

As the authors point out, the bill‘s supporters shouldn’t be that confident. The text of the law is pretty clear. Furthermore, without Congressional authority, the IRS is impotent in regards to dispensing credits or spending money.

But there’s always the question of “Congressional intent,” right?

“Law professor Timothy Jost suggests that since ObamaCare requires all exchanges to report information about premium assistance, and it would be silly to impose that requirement on federal exchanges if their enrollees were not eligible, that shows Congress could not have intended anything but to provide assistance in federal exchanges,” the Journal reports. “At least, he argues, there‘s enough ambiguity here about Congress’s intent that federal courts will permit the administration to resolve it.”

Contrary to what is stated in the above, Adler and Cannon point out that the Supreme Court has limited such deference to cases where the text of the law, rather than intent, is ambiguous. In the case of the health care bill, the language is quite clear.

 
Obama Administration Seeks to Circumvent Congressional Authority to Fix ‘Obamacare Glitch’ | TheBlaze.com

PJ News Break: Obama Can't Wait For Jobs Bill; GOP Can't Wait For Obama ...

Fran Tarkenton: What if the NFL Played by Teachers' Rules? - WSJ.com

By FRAN TARKENTON

Imagine the National Football League in an alternate reality. Each player's salary is based on how long he's been in the league. It's about tenure, not talent. The same scale is used for every player, no matter whether he's an All-Pro quarterback or the last man on the roster. For every year a player's been in this NFL, he gets a bump in pay. The only difference between Tom Brady and the worst player in the league is a few years of step increases. And if a player makes it through his third season, he can never be cut from the roster until he chooses to retire, except in the most extreme cases of misconduct.

Let's face the truth about this alternate reality: The on-field product would steadily decline. Why bother playing harder or better and risk getting hurt? 

No matter how much money was poured into the league, it wouldn't get better. In fact, in many ways the disincentive to play harder or to try to stand out would be even stronger with more money. 

Of course, a few wild-eyed reformers might suggest the whole system was broken and needed revamping to reward better results, but the players union would refuse to budge and then demonize the reform advocates: "They hate football. They hate the players. They hate the fans." The only thing that might get done would be building bigger, more expensive stadiums and installing more state-of-the-art technology. But that just wouldn't help.

If you haven't figured it out yet, the NFL in this alternate reality is the real -life American public education system. Teachers' salaries have no relation to whether teachers are actually good at their job—excellence isn't rewarded, and neither is extra effort. Pay is almost solely determined by how many years they've been teaching. That's it. After a teacher earns tenure, which is often essentially automatic, firing him or her becomes almost impossible, no matter how bad the performance might be. And if you criticize the system, you're demonized for hating teachers and not believing in our nation's children.

Inflation-adjusted spending per student in the United States has nearly tripled since 1970. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, we spend more per student than any nation except Switzerland, with only middling results to show for it.

Read more here: Fran Tarkenton: What if the NFL Played by Teachers' Rules? - WSJ.com

E-Mails Reveal Early White House Worries Over Solyndra - NYTimes.com

Even before President Obama’s visit last year to Solyndra, the now-bankrupt solar equipment manufacturer, White House officials expressed concern, saying they were worried that Solyndra might soon collapse, newly disclosed e-mails provided to Congressional investigators show. 

“I am increasingly worried that this visit could prove embarrassing to the administration in the not too distant future,” one official at the Office of Management and Budget wrote, according to a memo prepared Monday by House Democrats describing the e-mails provided by the White House and the Department of Energy.

A seven-page report based on the new documents reveals that top White House officials recognized early that the company faced potentially crippling business problems and that the government’s generous investment could backfire on the Obama administration. And they knew this before the president paid the company a visit in May 2010. 

The new documents show a private investor in Solyndra questioning why the federal government, back in September 2009, agreed to put up so much money — $535 million — to help the company expand given the questions about its financial future. 

“One of our solar companies with revenues of less than $100 million (and not yet profitable) received a government loan of $580 million,” the investor, Brad Jones, an executive at Redpoint Ventures, wrote in December 2009 to Lawrence H. Summers, then the president’s chief economic advisor, referring to Solyndra. “While that is good for us, I can’t imagine it’s a good way for the government to use taxpayer money.” 

The investment, Mr. Jones said, demonstrated broad problems with the government loan program.

“The allocation of spending to clean energy is haphazard; the government is just not well equipped to decide which companies should get the money and how much,” Mr. Jones wrote.

E-Mails Reveal Early White House Worries Over Solyndra - NYTimes.com

Candidate Obama on the Campaign Trail with New Black Panthers

Why is all the important news only covered by bloggers....

New photographs obtained exclusively by BigGovernment.com reveal that Barack Obama appeared and marched with members of the New Black Panther Party as he campaigned for president in Selma, Alabama in March 2007.

The photographs, captured from a Flickr photo-sharing account before it was scrubbed, are the latest evidence of the mainstream media’s failure to examine Obama’s extremist ties and radical roots.

In addition, the new images raise questions about the possible motives of the Obama administration in its infamous decision to drop the prosecution of the Panthers for voter intimidation.

The images, presented below, also renew doubts about the transparency of the White House’s guest logs–in particular, whether Panther National Chief Malik Zulu Shabazz is the same “Malik Shabazz” listed among the Obama administration’s early visitors.

Tomorrow, J. Christian Adams, the Department of Justice whistleblower in the New Black Panther Party case, will release his new book, Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department (Regnery).

The book exposes Obama administration corruption far beyond the Panther dismissal, and reveals how the institutional Left has turned the power of the DOJ into an ideological weapon.

Adams’s book also describes, in detail, the Selma march at which then-Senator Obama was joined by a group of Panthers who had come to support his candidacy.

Among those appearing with Obama was Shabazz, the Panther leader who was one of the defendants in the voter intimidation case that Attorney General Eric Holder dismissed. Also present was the Panthers’ “Minister of War,” Najee Muhammed, who had called for murdering Dekalb County, Georgia, police officers with AK-47’s and then mocking their widows in this video (7:20 – 8:29).

Injustice includes a disturbing photo of Shabazz and the Panthers marching behind Obama with raised fists in the “Black Power” salute.

Read more here: Candidate Obama on the Campaign Trail with New Black Panthers

Another Federal Foreclosure Prevention Effort Fails - Daniel Indiviglio - Business - The Atlantic

 Another failure by the Obama administration....

For some reason, the government just can't seem to figure out how to aid struggling homeowners. First, its Making Homes Affordable program -- meant to prevent several million foreclosures -- continues to struggle to reach even one million. Then, its long-awaited principal reduction effort was completely shunned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which significantly limited its potential effectiveness. Another mortgage-aid effort ends Friday, which intended to help 30,000 underemployed Americans avoid foreclosure. Instead, it may not reach even 15,000. What went wrong this time? 

The "Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program" was a little different from some of the efforts that preceded it. It wasn't designed to prevent foreclosures for any homeowner facing foreclosure. It was specifically aimed at underemployed Americans -- those who are struggling to keep their homes because they lost their jobs or are forced to work part time. It provides interest-free loans of up to $50,000 to pay mortgage debt for up to two years. The program was provided $1 billion in funding from last July's financial regulation bill. It will probably leave about half unspent. 

A Few Months Work?

Cara Buckley at the New York Times reports on the problems that plagued the program. One issue was timing. Remember, the bill that gave birth to the program was passed in July 2010. Buckley says that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) dragged its feet:

Yet the department did not begin the program until this June, and set an original application cutoff date of late July. Across the country, nonprofit housing groups and mortgage counselors who had been chosen to work with applicants rushed to meet the deadline, which ended up being extended several times.

So the program would run for... two months? Is it even possible to spend $1 billion in such a short time period? It must have been like a scene out of Brewster's Millions at HUD this summer. Although, if anyone is good at spending oodles of money, it's the government. Maybe HUD should have recruited some Solyndra execs to help spend so much in such a short time. 

But kidding aside, it took HUD about a year to ramp up this program. That's an incredibly long period of time to put a program into effect with the word "emergency" in its title. Over the period, thousands of potential participants who were unemployed likely lost their homes through foreclosure. This delay is absurd.

Of course, we could also place a little bit of blame on the shoulders of Congress here. Why it force the program to end in September? In retrospect, a more sensible timeline might have been to give HUD one year from the time the program began to spend the money.

 
Another Federal Foreclosure Prevention Effort Fails - Daniel Indiviglio - Business - The Atlantic

Oops, Obama touts his jobs plan today at an Ohio bridge that won't qualify - latimes.com

By Andrew Malcom 

You know all those rusting bridges that President Obama wants to spend billions more dollars repairing to allegedly stimulate the economy?

He's headed out to one today which he's described as a "bridge that needs repair between Ohio and Kentucky that's on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America." It is on a busy trucking route, spanning the Ohio River between Covington, Ky., and Cincinnati.

It's the Brent Spence Bridge. It doesn't really need repairs. It's got decades of good life left in its steel spans. It's just overloaded. The bridge was built to handle 85,000 cars and trucks a day, which seemed like a lot back during construction in the Nixon era.

Today, the bridge sort of handles more than 150,000 vehicles a day with frequent jam-ups.

So, plans are not to repair or replace the Brent Spence Bridge. But to build another bridge nearby to ease the loads.

But here's the problem, as John Merline graphically notes here, that could screw up all those envisioned photo op shots of the Democrat and the traffic:

The president's jobs bill is designed for "immediate" highway spending.

And the new $2.3 billion Cincy bridge is not scheduled to even start construction for probably four years, long after Republicans have scheduled the Obama presidency for completion.

And without delays, it wouldn't be finished until 2022, when no one will be counting Obama's rounds of golf.

Politicians hate these kinds of messy distractions when they pick a place to make a symbolic statement. But Brent Spence was so tempting linking, as it does, the home states of GOP House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

But there is some possible good news for President Obama: The $447-billion jobs bill that he wanted passed "right now" back in early September is stuck in a legislative traffic jam in the Senate.

Fellow Democrat Harry Reid, the majority leader who can run that place like a school principal whenever he wants, is aware of opposition to the measure among some of his own caucus members.

And, well, darn it, wouldn't you know, Reid just can't seem to find a place for Obama's jobs bill in the chamber's overloaded schedule. As a result, as of right now Obama's "right now" jobs bill won't come up until later in the fall, possibly much later.

In a way the scheduling doesn't matter. Since the Democrat in the White House would rather have Republican opposition to it than any of its job-creating provisions, so he can have obstructionist charges for next year's campaign.

But if Congress works the way it usually does, maybe the bridge-repair money will be delayed a few years until the president's photo op Brent Spence Bridge enhancement bridge project is actually shovel-ready.

Oops, Obama touts his jobs plan today at an Ohio bridge that won't qualify - latimes.com

Hilarious: Obama Moronically Waves During Picture With World Leaders At UN Event…- Weasel Zippers

(MSNBC) — NEW YORK — SEPTEMBER 20: U.S. President Barack Obama waves while standing with other leaders during the Open Government Partnership event at the United Nations September 20, 2011 in New York City. The United Nations General Assembly kicks off September 21, with leaders from around the world attending. (Photo by Allan Tannenbaum-Pool/Getty Images)

Any guesses what the woman in the black dress is thinking?

Obama’s Solar Power at Yosemite Natl Park Will Pay for Itself — in 2088

Another green jobs boondoggle paid with your money. The blogger is actually being generous when he states that the panels will begin paying for themselves in 2088. Since the National Parks are well part of the federal government giving them a tax credit of $700,000 is total BS so the real year is 2102. 

by Kevin “Coach” Collins

Yosemite National Park has installed the largest solar energy system in the whole United States National Park System. The system will provide 672 kilowatts, which is 12 percent of the park’s yearly electric power requirements. The system installed by Suntek (doesn’t that name make you just want to hug a tree?) consists of 2,800 solar panels “tastefully” integrated into the existing architecture of Yosmite’s  administrative and maintenance compound.

A 500 kilowatt solar canopy covers the parking lot. A 100 kW rooftop section serves as a collection system on top of the warehouse, and an additional 72 kWs wrap the building’s outer walls.

Before you jump up and shout “Holy renewable energy!” consider the dark side of this “money and energy saving green policy.”

Read more here:Obama’s Solar Power at Yosemite Natl Park Will Pay for Itself — in 2088

Griffith Questions Officials About Solyndra and the DOE Loan Guarantee P...

Obama “Jobs” Bill To Hit Municipal Bonds : Stop The ACLU

by William Teach

What do municipal bonds have to do with Obama’s American Jobs Act? Well, according to Barron’s

Municipal bonds have always been synonymous with tax-free income. That would end if President Obama gets his way.Under the jobs bill the President sent to Congress Monday, high-income individuals and families would no longer receive interest from state and municipal bonds free completely from federal income taxes, beginning in 2013. The legislation would also reduce the value of tax deductions for taxpayers in the highest bracket.

Kind of a back door tax increase designed to pay for his $447 billion spending bill as we go down the road. It’s sure not paid for now.

As a result, upper-income investors would suffer the dual blow of lower after-tax income and capital losses from their muni-bond portfolios.That could severe repercussions for the muni market, which only in recent months has recovered from the so-far errant prediction of hundreds of defaults totaling billions of dollars from analyst Meredith Whitney.

“In my opinion, this will have a negative effect on the muni market and could start another wave of heavy withdrawals from muni-bond funds, even though many investors in these funds will be minimally affected,” says Ken Woods, who head Asset Preservation Advisors, an Atlanta manager of bond portfolios specializing in high-net-worth individuals. “The muni investor’s thought process will be, ‘the government’s next step could be the complete elimination of the [tax] exemption.’”

So, those evil rich people would not invest as much in municipal bonds, and could pull some of their money out. Which means there would actually be less money raised from the taxation change. Wow, good plan, Mr. Obama!

 
Read more here: Obama “Jobs” Bill To Hit Municipal Bonds : Stop The ACLU

Obama 'star' of Palestinian ad - Mackenzie Weinger - POLITICO.com

Unlikely....he has a higher Q rating and voter approval rating in the Gaza Strip then he has here in the United States. Backup plan if he loses the election is to run for President of the World where he wins by a landslide thanks to ballot stuffing at the point of an AK.

President Barack Obama is the unlikely star of a new Palestinian media campaign.

Part of a speech Obama gave in 2010 to the United Nations General Assembly is featured in an ad aimed to rally support for the Palestinians upcoming bid for statehood at the United Nations on Sept. 20, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

“When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel,” Obama said in the 2010 speech in the clip that is played in the radio ad.

The Palestinians use of the remarks is at odds with the Obama administration’s current all-out push to stop the Palestinians from pursuing their statehood bid. U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East David Hale is set to hold talks Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to urge him to reconsider the statehood effort and instead return to direct negotiations with Israel.

Obama 'star' of Palestinian ad - Mackenzie Weinger - POLITICO.com

Barack Obama Cannot Get Congress To Pass Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants So Now He Is Just Going To Ram It Down Our Throats Any Way That He Can

If you are an illegal immigrant and you have not been arrested for committing a crime, the odds that you will ever be deported have now gone way, way down.  With the Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, Barack Obama knows that he simply is not going to be able to get amnesty for illegal immigrants passed by Congress.  But instead of giving up, Obama has decided to ram amnesty for illegal immigrants down our throats any way that he can.  The head of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, has announced that there will now be a case-by-case review of all deportation cases involving illegal immigrants.  Those involving "criminals" will be prioritized and almost all the rest will be thrown out.  In essence, this is "backdoor amnesty" for illegal immigrants and it also represents a stunning admission by the Obama administration that it is simply going to refuse to enforce our immigration laws.

Yes, deportation cases for criminals should be moved to the top of the list, but openly announcing that almost all other illegal immigrants will not be deported is just going to encourage millions more illegal immigrants to come pouring in to this country.

 

Government officials have now been given a list of 19 factors to use when deciding whether to use "prosecutorial discretion" in deportation cases.

Essentially, what is going to happen now is that illegal immigrants are going to get to stay in the United States if any of the following apply....

-arrival in the U.S. as a young child

-actively "pursuing an education"

-serving or served in the U.S. military

-spouse of someone in the U.S. military

-18 years old or younger

-"elderly"

-pregnant or nursing

-victim of a "serious crime"

-serious disability or health problem

-caring for a family member with a serious disability or health problem

As you can see, these categories are so broad that almost all illegal immigrants will be able to fit into at least one of them.

Read more here: Barack Obama Cannot Get Congress To Pass Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants So Now He Is Just Going To Ram It Down Our Throats Any Way That He Can

Obama Tour Bus Made in America? Not Entirely - ABC News

Another case of do as I say not as I do...
Obama Tour Bus Made in America? Not Entirely - ABC News

Obama Increased Debt More in 4 Days Than Truman and Eisenhower Did in 10 Years | CNSnews.com

In just four days last week, President Barack Obama’s administration increased the national debt by more in inflation-adjusted dollars than the administrations of Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower increased the national debt over the entire decade of the 1950s.

At the start of business on Tuesday, Aug. 2, according to the Daily Treasury Statement, the national debt subject to the legal limit was $14.293975 trillion. Obama signed legislation that day lifting the limit by as much as $2.4 trillion—with an initial and immediate increase in the limit of $400 billion. By the close of business on Friday, Aug. 5, according to the Daily Treasury Statement, the national debt subject to the limit had grown to $14.536130 trillion.

Over just four days, the debt had jumped $242.155 billion.

By contrast, according to the Bureau of the Public Debt, over the ten-year period from the end of fiscal 1950 to the end of fiscal 1960, the national debt grew from approximately $257.36 billion to approximately $286.33  billion—an increase of approximately $28.97 billion.

Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator, $28.97 billion in 1960 dollars equals $220.92 billion in 2011 dollars.

Thus, the $242.155 billion in 2011 dollars that the Obama administration increased the debt between last Tuesday and last Friday is more in inflation-adjusted terms than the combined debt increases of the Truman and Eisenhower administrations in the ten-year period from the end of fiscal 1950 to the end of fiscal 1960.

Obama Increased Debt More in 4 Days Than Truman and Eisenhower Did in 10 Years | CNSnews.com

Job Losses Prove Stimulus Worked and "created a whole bunch of jobs"

Three days after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the national unemployment rate had ticked up from 9.1 percent in May to 9.2 percent in June, President Barack Obama said that the loss of jobs in the public sector is "evidence" that his $830-billion economic stimulus legislation worked.

"Now, without relitigating the past, I'm absolutely convinced, and the vast majority of economists are convinced, that the steps we took in the Recovery Act saved millions of people their jobs or created a whole bunch of jobs," Obama said at his Monday press conference.