Four Corners Media: Politico

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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Spending Money Because It's OPM

Spending Money Because It’s OPM

“I remember when liberals were liberal with their own money” is a quote attributed to Will Rogers. Modern day “spend & tax” liberals, such as President Obama are spending the US taxpayers money without restraint because it is “Other Peoples Money”. We’ll tax other people (especially the rich), because a) they have too much money (class warfare), b) we as liberals (in government) know how to spend it better than you, c) if we don’t have it in the US Treasury now, we’ll just borrow more for taxpayers to pay back later. Former US Senator Bill Armstrong (R-Colorado) stated the appetite for US government spending by Congress this way, “Congress is spending money like a drunken sailor, the trouble is, a sailor is spending his own money!”

Even the moderate to liberal Politico is noting the long term and large spending patterns by the Obama Administration. The federal debt held by the public would still nearly double again from $10.1 trillion at the end of 2011 to $18.8 trillion at the end of 2022. For the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, CBO is now projecting a shortfall of $1.3 trillion. In fiscal 2013, the deficit will still hover near the $1 trillion mark — about $977 billion. And while it will fall to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2017, it then begins to grow again to 3 percent of GDP by 2022.

The Heritage Foundation has an excellent link, with the US government revenues and spending graphically portrayed in easy to understand charts:

http://www.heritage.org/budgetchartbook

Under the Obama Administration, Federal spending per household jumped from $25,000 per year (per household) to $30,000 per year. It had moderated under a GOP House of Representatives (where the spending bills originate) to $29,401 per household (per year).

The 30-year average tax burden (Federal tax rate) from 1981 to 2010 has been about 18%. The highest average rate was 20% (in year 2000), just prior to President Bush being elected. The projection for the next decade is for average Federal income tax rates to rise from the historical average of 18% to nearly 25%, if Federal spending and taxation are not constrained by Congress and the elected President.

Presently, the lower (bottom half) of US taxpayers only pay 2.7% of the total income taxes collected by Uncle Sam. Whereas the top 5% of income earner (US taxpayers earning over $159,000 per year) are paying nearly 60% of the income taxes collected. The top 1% of income producers (those who create jobs, wealth and economic activity for our country as a whole) are paying 40% of the income taxes collected.

So let’s tax the rich, as per the “class warfare” manta of President Obama! Not so fast. Our history in modern America would suggest the contrary:

“The most dramatic decline in the top individual income tax rate, from 70 percent to 28 percent, occurred during the Reagan Administration, during which tax receipts remained relatively constant as a share of the economy.” Heritage Foundation

http://www.heritage.org/budgetchartbook/income-tax-receipts

And what will be the result of this overspending, over the next 10 years? The Heritage Foundation projects that our US Federal deficit (if spending is unchecked) will reach 100% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2022. Then it is “Hello Greece, or Portugal or Italy”! http://www.heritage.org/budgetchartbook/national-debt-skyrocket

What can we do? Tell Congress to stop the US government overspending. Back the Paul Ryan budget bills and policy changes. Vote for fiscal conservatives, who have voting records that actually show “stop the brutal spending” votes. President Obama’s budget numbers show the US debt as a percentage of GDP rising from 40.3% to to 87.4% from 2008 to 2020. Sit back and go with the “wasteful spending money” flow, and we’ll watch our beloved America go broke. Or stand up, and vote the "over spenders" out of office. Here’s the whole set of charts:

http://www.heritage.org/budgetchartbook/contents

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Current Events and Newsmaker on Video

Do You Want to Watch a Current Political Video?

In this day of sound bites, 30 second spots, talking points, spin and Twitter, we often miss the full context of statements by an elected politician, an appointed official or even the President of the United States (POTUS). Rather than trying to understand political decisions and what is happening from bits and pieces, you can click through to the Video sections of some key web sites and actually watch the full press coverage, or interview or debate that you are interested in. Politico, YouTube, RealClear Politics all have video and multimedia resources to watch and allow you to receive a full context on news, newsmakers, politicians and elected officials.

http://www.politico.com/multimedia For Politico

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video from Real Clear Politics

For years, we have just waited for the mainstream media (MSM) to pull together sound bites from newsmakers with commentary from news anchors to “see and hear” the news. Or wait a day or two before the local newspaper prints the story or news article. In fact, a 30 minute MSM news program, such as ABC, NBC or CBS, consists of about 12 minutes of news and 18 minutes of commercials. On-line, you’ll see some 15 seconds ad clips, but mostly you can just watch the full context of what is going on, whether it is a speech, interview or debate. In 2010, you can watch and see the newsmaker without commentary, political spin or editing. And you can make up your own mind.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Keeping the Press Happy

As posted in an earlier Four Corners Media blog (January 12^th), the love affair with the legacy media and the Obama “spin the news” team was bound to be tested. The event that had White House orchestrated media control was the reenactment of the President’s swearing in. Only a selected few in the media attended, and no live video or audio was allowed from the press pool. The White House press corps membership is composed of the elite reporters of the Legacy Media, many of them being groomed for featured news anchor jobs or new programs by their news organizations.www.whitehousepresscorps.org

You’ll note that the WHPC site has a window “Obama Administration Twitter Coverage” built into the lower part of the home page.

Here is the view from the Politico www.politico.com on the media frustration with team Obama this first week in office.

A growing media frustration with Barack Obama’s team spilled into the open at Thursday’s briefing, with reporters accusing the White House of stifling access to his oath re-do and giving Obama’s first interview as president to a multi-million dollar inauguration sponsor.   Veteran CBS newsman Bill Plante was one of the most vocal critics, questioning the White House’s handling of Wednesday night’s second swearing in – which was covered by just a four-reporter print pool that didn’t include a news photographer or TV correspondent.   He also asked new press secretary Robert Gibbs why ABC, which paid millions to host the DC Neighborhood Ball, was granted the only inauguration day interview with President Obama – a move he equated to “pay to play.”   “We have a tradition here of covering the president,” said Plante, who is covering his fourth administration.

Later in the day, the Obama team was scrambling to get the dance steps right with the White House press corps. The Prez himself made a surprise visit to the cramped rooms the media works out of reporting on the White House beat.

President Obama made a surprise visit to the White House press corps Thursday night, but got agitated when he was faced with a substantive question.   Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration with a Deputy Defense Secretary nominee who lobbied for Raytheon, Obama interrupted with a knowing smile on his face.   "Ahh, see," he said, "I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here."   www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17831.html

Welcome to Washington DC and your new role as the President of the United States. Team Obama is trying to make the shift from an image building campaign and sanitized press relationship to the rough and tumble of a national press corps looking for stories, not photo ops. If you watched or heard former President Bush’s last news conference, these legacy media reporters play for keeps. And Team Obama is being welcomed into their world.

It is a dance, between the media (4^th estate) and the President (POTUS 44) that is being ironed out and played out in the public eye. Historically, the POTUS and the White House Press Corps have had hot and cold relationships. Each president handles the press differently, including setting up an Office of the Press Secretary that will conduct daily briefings with the media. But every reporter is at the White House to ask questions of the President. That is when the real news happens.

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