We've hit the proverbial first milestone in the Obama Presidency, 100 days. I've complied a bit of information on the Presidents policies and how successful he's been. Most of this will focus on economics as this is the number one concern of Americans right now.
U.S. Economy: Unemployment Rate Reaches 25-Year High
The U.S. unemployment rate jumped in March to the highest level since 1983 and service industries shrank at a faster pace, indicating the economy remains trapped in what’s likely to be the longest recession since the 1930s.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amufTZ_b7O40&refer=home
Mass Layoffs
April 23, 2009
In March, employers took 2,933 mass layoff actions involving 299,388 workers, the highest levels on record.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm
Obama to raise taxes during recession
The last time this was done was by Herbert Hover, and it lead to the Great Depression. Here is a list of the Obama tax hikes.
$338 billion - Bush tax cuts expire
$179 billlion - eliminate itemized deduction
$118 billion - capital gains tax hike
$17 billion - Reinstate Superfund taxes
$24 billion - tax carried-interest as income
$5 billion - codify "economic substance doctrine"
$61 billion - repeal LIFO
$210 billion - international enforcement, reform deferral, other tax reform
$4 billion - information reporting for rental payments
$5.3 billion - excise tax on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas
$3.4 billion - repeal expensing of tangible drilling costs
$62 million - repeal deduction for tertiary injectants
$49 million - repeal passive loss exception for working interests in oil and natural gas properties
$13 billion - repeal manufacturing tax deduction for oil and natural gas companies
$1 billion - increase to 7 years geological and geophysical amortization period for independent producers
$882 million - eliminate advanced earned income tax credit
With all those tax hikes we still see...
Obama budget calls for record US deficit
United States President Barack Obama unveiled his administration's 2010 United States federal budget on Thursday. The budget calls for
a record US$3.6 trillion in spending.
The new budget will use a $1.75 trillion deficit, which would be nearly four times greater than any previous deficit and is $250 billion larger than what was projected just days ago due to a proposed new spending for another bank bailout.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Obama_budget_calls_for_record_US_deficit
So to help pay for all this massive spending...
US Treasury in plans for record debt sale
The US Treasury on Wednesday opened the floodgates of government bond issuance, revealing plans for
a record debt sale in February and more frequent auctions in the months to come.
The announcement came amid growing fears about US government deficits and sent the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 2.95 per cent, up from just over 2 per cent at the end of December.
The rise in Treasury yields has been pushing mortgage rates higher, complicating efforts to revive the economy. The US Federal Reserve said last week it was “prepared to” buy Treasuries if that would be a “particularly effective” way of reducing private borrowing costs.
“The Fed has to be troubled by the fact that mortgage rates have been rising and the buying of Treasuries by the Fed may come sooner than the market expects,” said William O’Donnell, UBS strategist.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2178985/posts
Only the largest buyer of US debt is starting to balk at Obama's fiscal ineptness...
China 'worried' about US Treasury holdings
BEIJING (AP) - China's premier expressed concern Friday about its holdings of Treasuries and other U.S. debt, appealing to Washington to safeguard their value, and said Beijing is ready to expand its stimulus if economic conditions worsen.
Premier Wen Jiabao noted that Beijing is the biggest foreign creditor to the United States and called on Washington to see that its response to the global slowdown does not damage the value of Chinese holdings.
"We have made a huge amount of loans to the United States. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I'm a little bit worried," Wen said at a news conference following the closing of China's annual legislative session. "I would like to call on the United States to honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets."
Analysts estimate that nearly half of China's $2 trillion in currency reserves are in U.S. Treasuries and notes issued by other government-affiliated agencies.
Washington is counting on China to continue buying Treasuries to fund its massive stimulus package. Last month, visiting Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to reassure Beijing that government debt would remain a reliable investment.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96T2TT81&show_article=1
And this chart shows the astronomical rate with which we are now printing money, the last time this was done was in the Weimar Republic, and we are surpassing that ten fold. Please make notice of the gigantic spike at the end.
And here we go with the obvious result of such fiscal ineptness...
Dollar Declines Most Since 1985
The dollar dropped the most against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners since the Plaza Accord almost a quarter-century ago as the Federal Reserve’s plan to purchase Treasuries spurred speculation that it’s debasing the greenback.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNdu22y30zwc&refer=worldwide#
Cap-and-trade program would raise electricity prices
Posted: Apr. 1, 2009
Proposed federal efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through "cap-and-trade" programs would raise electricity prices for Wisconsin customers, a group of Midwestern utilities said Wednesday.
Under one scenario, rates could jump by as much as 63% from 2012 to 2030...
President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers advocate cap-and-trade, while some Republicans have denounced it as leading to sharply higher energy prices.
http://www.jsonline.com/business/42281387.html
So who still supports Obama's policies? Higher taxes, Higher electric bills, massive record deficits, begging foreign nations to finance our deficit spending, a spiraling dollar. Granted he ran an inspiring campaign that gave people hope, however his actual governance is going to cause serious, detrimental long term damage to this country. So who's still in Obama honeymoon mode, and who's looking clearly at the policies? If you support President Obama, then why? What is it about his policies you support? If you don't and I've missed something, speak up, if you have something to add, speak up!
