The ICTAMOTS Report

The office of Senator Jeff Sessions, ranking member on the...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:10:48 -0500

The office of Senator Jeff Sessions, ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, sends along this chart, showing that ‘America’s Per Capita Government Debt Worse Than Greece,’ as well as Ireland, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain.

President Obama Defies Congress On Czars, Gitmo

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:48:18 -0500

Huffington Post

In signing the bill to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year, the commander in chief also issued a “signing statement” in which he rejected several provisions of the bill, including attempts to take away his czars.

Buried deep in the $1 trillion measure are four provisions in section 627 that say the White House may not use any of the money to fund salaries or expenses for the head of Obama’s health reform office, his energy and climate adviser, his car czar, or the head of his urban affairs office.

But Friday, Obama essentially said ‘too bad’ in issuing a dense, legalistic statement that explains what he won’t accept in the bill:

Several provisions in this bill, including section 627 of Division C and section 512 of Division D, could prevent me from fulfilling my constitutional responsibilities, by denying me the assistance of senior advisers and by obstructing my supervision of executive branch officials in the execution of their statutory responsibilities,” Obama wrote. “I have informed the Congress that I will interpret these provisions consistent with my constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

So much for checks & balances…

Obama's Mount Gushmore

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:40:29 -0500

by Ken Blackwell, Huffington Post

Well, that didn’t last. President Obama went out to Osawatomie, Kansas, to deliver what the White House told us in hushed tones was a major address. He proclaimed it “the defining issue of our time.” It’s more than that, it’s the “make or break moment for the middle class and for all those struggling to make it into the middle class.”

He invoked Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 speech at Osawatomie. He appealed to that example as his inspiration. And then he went on CBS’s 60 Minutes and compared himself to Lincoln, FDR, and Lyndon Johnson. What happened to TR? What happened to the great Trustbuster? No mention.

Most critics are jumping on Obama, hooting at his claim to be the fourth most consequential president in our history (and for reminding us that he’s only just getting started.) Mr. Obama cited — in a general way — his legislative accomplishments as his basis for climbing onto his own Mount Gushmore.

[Read More]

Photo

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:56:45 -0400

mbrosen: Caption: President Obama used his address to Congress...

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:16:28 -0400

mbrosen:

Caption: President Obama used his address to Congress to highlight government efforts to stoke an economic recovery.

Cleaned out a closet the other day. Had used the paper as packing material.

From February 25, 2009.

Yep…things are really humming along…

Good show, B.

jakke: AAA-rated government bonds are used to back basically...

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:14:09 -0400

jakke:

AAA-rated government bonds are used to back basically all futures contracts, to provide ubersafe assets to big banks and pension funds, to stabilize currency fluctuations, and to serve as totally-safe better-than-cash assets in a whole wide variety of situations. If a government loses its AAA rating, its bonds can’t be used like this anymore, because big institutional investors no longer regard them as 100% safe.

So AAA debt is a really valuable renewable resource to global financial markets. And a big orange wedge on that chart above is currently risking downgrade. If the US Treasury is downgraded, anything that’s backed with US Treasury bonds suddenly becomes a little more risky and a little less valuable, all at once. Through the magic of leveraging, that corresponds to trillions of dollars of outstanding transactions, which would stand to lose billions of dollars in value. And there’s no good substitute to use in the meantime, because there aren’t that many AAA-rated governments and many of them are small countries (like Denmark or Luxembourg) with relatively little outstanding debt.

Hopefully this explains why a potential US downgrade could cause some really serious issues for global markets.

Trump considering a run for 2012. Sure, why not? The comb-over...

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:32:31 -0500

Trump considering a run for 2012. Sure, why not? The comb-over segment is very underserved.

The Oval

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:29:38 -0500

The Oval:

Tracking the Obama presidency

Palin says she can beat Obama

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:27:55 -0500

USA Today has a (new?) feature, The Oval, which tracks the Obama presidency. Today’s scoop? Palin might run in 2012:

When ABC’s Barbara Walters asked the former Alaska governor, “if you ran for president, could you beat Barack Obama?,” Palin replied: “I believe so.”

Palin — tabbed by Walters as one of the “10 Most Fascinating People of 2010” — again said she is weighing a White House bid.

Credit to Palin for staying in the media light, even if it’s a pipedream.

Coming back to bite him

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 06:19:01 -0400

*Health care and the mid-term elections: Coming back to bite him*
http://www.economist.com/node/17259055

"I think when you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody."

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 09:19:37 -0400

“I think when you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody.”

- Barack Obama

Obama beats early retreat on promise to fight pork

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

So much for Hope and Change. In Washington, the Obama administration is business-as-usual.

The AP Wire reports that despite campaign promises to take a machete to lawmakers’ pet projects, President Barack Obama is quietly caving to funding nearly 8,000 of them this year.

“So much for the promise of change,” Arizona Sen. John McCain said in the first of many assaults he is likely to make against pork-barrel spending this year.

Obama is hardly the first president to promise to make Congress change its pork-barreling ways, and he certainly won’t be the last. But he is the first to retreat so quickly, after only six weeks in the White House.

Read the full article here

Pelosi: I Want a Larger Jet

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

CBS News reports that California Democrat Nancy Pelosi is asking for a much bigger jet — a government version of the Boeing 757 that can make the trip between Washington and her San Francisco home without stopping to refuel.

The speaker’s critics have dubbed it “Pelosi One.” Military officials are said to be grumbling about it, and she finds herself on the defensive. Today, she insisted that size doesn’t really matter.

“It’s not a question of size. It’s a question of distance. We want an aircraft that can reach California,” Pelosi said.

The full article can be read online here:Pelosi Jet Request Sparks Debate - CBS News.

How about flying commercial? How is it acceptable for the taxpaper to pick up her tab while simultaneously NOT being acceptable for corporations (employing thousands of hard-working taxpayers) to use them?

Democratic leadership at it’s finest.