No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Archive for November 17th, 2009

It’s over 9,00…er, 1,000,00…er, $12,000,000,000,000

by @ 21:15. Filed under Economy, Politics - National.

That’s right; at the end of the business day on November 16, 2009, the national debt topped $12 trillion for the first time in history. Things only get worse when one looks at the growing rate of the debt:

  • Over his first 300 days (209 business days at the Treasury), Obama presided over a $1,404,422,137,377.00 increase in the national debt. That’s right; 11.67 cents of every dollar of debt is on him.
  • Speaking of that $1.4 trillion increase in debt on Obama’s watch, that is a 13.22% increase over that 300 days, or 14.38% on an annual basis.
  • On a year-to-year basis, the 163 biggest increases of the debt in absolute dollars since January 1993-January 1994, and 144 biggest increases of the debt in percentage terms, had 2009 ending dates, including a high of $2.167 trillion (22.76%) between 9/16/2008 and 9/15/2009, with Obama responsible for $1.207 trillion of that.
  • On a quarterly basis, the 1st ($427 billion, 3.99% increase), 2nd ($418 billion, 3.76% increase) and 3rd ($365 billion, 3.16% increase) quarters of 2009 were the 3rd, 4th, and 5th-largest increases in absolute size, and 3rd, 4th and 7th-largest increases in percentage terms, of the debt since 1993. They trailed, in order, the 4th quarter of 2008 and the 3rd quarter of 2008, with 2nd quarter of 2003 and the 4th quarter of 2003 having the 5th and 6th-largest percentage increases. Do remember that, while Obama was not in the Senate for No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D, he was there to vote for TARP.
  • On an absolute basis, six months (February, March, April, June, July and August) had increases in the debt that were in the top 10 since 1993.
  • Perhaps the scariest bit of news – the debt is almost certainly higher than total personal income. The Bureau of Economic Analysis pegged personal income at $11.956 trillion in the third quarter of this year and declining, while the debt stood at $11.910 trillion on 9/30/2009. While the debt is still barely under the $14.302 trillion the GDP was estimated to be in the third quarter, it is also catching that.

No wonder why Obama is bowing, groveling, and otherwise licking the boots of any foreign leader perceived to have money.

Revisions/extensions (9:35 pm 11/17/209) – For more reading, head on over to Hot Air, where Allahpundit caught a whiff of the ultimate expiration date/red lips moment trial balloon of repealing every last Bush tax cut which, with all the other non-PlaceboCare tax hikes, would represent a $3 trillion/10 years tax hike (assuming, of course, that the money doesn’t just vanish). I wonder if the White House is paying attention to my last point of confiscating every last dime every last American makes in a year not eliminating the debt.

Also, stop on in CBS News’ Mark Knoller’s place, as it was his Tweet that launched my lenghty math exercise. I do have a math lesson for Mark – Bush’s $4.899 trillion increase in the debt was over 8 years, which makes that an 8.03% annual increase. Even the second term increase of $3.014 trillion represents only a 8.70% annual increase, far less than Obama’s 14.38% annualized rate. It is, however true, that Bush’s last-year increase of $1.438 trillion, which was a 15.65% annual increase, does top Obama’s current annualized rate (just wait for PlaceboCare to hit for that score to change).

Well, How Does It Feel?

It didn’t start with the Obama administration but it has accelerated to warp speed under their watch.  What am I referring to?  Well, the government trying to tell you how to live your life, of course.

  • Smoking Bans
  • CFL light bulb
  • Banning or taxes on sugar items
  • Forced health insurance purchases
  • Carbon restrictions
  • Salary caps
  • Car manufacturing

These are all examples of where the government has stuck their nose into places they shouldn’t be or have proposed doing the same. 

If health reform and cap and trade were to pass, it’s hard to imagine an area of our lives that government wouldn’t have influence, if not the potential for dictatorial control over.

It turns out that we mere citizens are not the only ones feeling the weight of government oversight on our shoulders.  James Pethokoukis reports that China is asking detailed questions about the impact of health care reform on the US economy and deficits.  Wow, that’s got to be uncomfortable to have another nation question you on issues that should be only the business of your nation?  What ever happened to national sovereignty?  Probably the same thing that is happening to our personal liberties.

So how does it feel President Obama?

Political Jihadist

by @ 5:52. Filed under Obama worship, Politics - National.

There used to be a time where wars were fairly predictable. I don’t mean the length or who would win the war. I mean that ultimately, a war would end when one of the two sides determined that the “price” of continuing the war became higher than the one side could tolerate. Look back over the history of the US and you’ll see this is true.

The Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and even the Cold War ended when when one of the combatants decided that the continuation of the war was not the best investment of its economic or human assets.

The notion of war and winning it, has changed with the advent of terrorists or jihadists such as Al qaeda. The loss of economic or human assets are no longer relevant except in the absolute sense. Al qaeda and its ilk are willing to fight until their last dime or human life. To compound the problem, much of Al qaeda believes that dying for their cause is no concern; they relish it.

While it sounds loony, the participation of groups like Al qaeda has made war much more complicated. How do you prevent a war if the group who has declared war on you has no fear of complete annihilation and believes that anything short of a complete acquiescence to their ideology makes you an enemy to be fought to the death? It doesn’t provide much of an opportunity for discussion, compromise or a “meeting of the minds.”

So why am I giving you these observations on the history of war?

I keep wondering how, with the significant public push back Pelosi, Obama and to a lesser extent, Reed can continue to push issues like Placebocare and cap and trade? Are they that politically deaf that they don’t understand the ramifications of “full student body left”, on the elections just past or those coming next year? Even Bill Clinton after being rebuffed from his early leftward moves, ultimately found his “happy place” and became the preeminent political pragmatist. With regards to Obama, Pelosi and Reed, the only thing that makes any sense is the notion of a Political Jihadist.

I’ve come to conclude that Obama and Pelosi believe that there is no bill too far left that will cause their political death. Obama believes that his persona and personality will carry him through any storm. Pelosi believes that representing the country’s most far left district will protect her. They believe they are protected by the political allah if you will. Beyond that, I think these two believe that if they succeed in accomplishing their far left agenda but die politically, their political death would bestow on them some political version of 72 virgins. By continuing to press left, even their political death would be worth it as they would be “martyred” and enshrined.

If my take is right, all the talk from Pelosi and Obama about “hearing Republican ideas” and bipartisanship is just as valuable as sitting down with Al qaeda to discuss the coexistence of Islam and Christianity. While that should be firmly fixed in every Republican’s mind, the group at higher risk are the Democrats themselves.

Like other jihadists, Obama and Pelosi don’t mind death, in their case, political death. Unfortunately, like other jihadist groups, the leaders easily talk about welcoming death for their cause but, when talk moves to actions it’s rare that the leaders of the movements are found with the proverbial bombs strapped on.

Don’t expect to see the jihadist leaders, Obama and Pelosi, give up on their leftward push. Do expect to see a whole lot of political bodies. When it comes to jihadist ideology every body is dispensable. Well, every body except for those of the leadership.

[No Runny Eggs is proudly powered by WordPress.]