Obama on jobs, the economy and the middle class--again

November 2009: Meeting with his Economic Recovery Advisory Board, the president says his administration "will not rest until we are succeeding in generating the jobs that this economy needs."

April 2010: Obama goes on a "Main Street" tour, saying "it's time to rebuild our economy on a new foundation so that we've got real and sustained growth."

June 2010: The president declares a "Recovery Summer" to highlight the jobs created by stimulus-funded infrastructure projects. "If we want to ensure that Americans can compete with any nation in the world, we're going to have to get serious about our long-term vision for this country and we're going to have to get serious about our infrastructure," he said.

December 2010: The president tells reporters "we are past the crisis point in the economy, but we now have to pivot and focus on jobs and growth."

August 2011: After lawmakers reach a compromise to avert default, the president vows "in the coming months, I'll continue also to fight for what the American people care most about: new jobs, higher wages and faster economic growth."

February 2013: At the start of his second term, the president refocuses on job creation in his State of the Union address, saying "a growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs--that must be the North Star that guides our efforts."

May 2013: Kicking off his "Jobs and Opportunity Tour," the president says "all of us have to commit ourselves to doing better than we're doing now. And all of us have to rally around the single-greatest challenge that we face as a country right now, and that's reigniting the true engine of economic growth, a rising, thriving middle class."

July 2013: The president says his speech Wednesday is going “to be the kickoff to what is essentially several months of us trying to get Washington and the press to refocus on the economy and the struggles that middle-class families are going through.”

This list was compiled by Mary Bruce, not Norma Bruce.  She works for ABC – or did.  I hope she can keep her job.  Obama doesn’t like having the truth, or even the obvious, come to light.

The fact is, he hasn’t a clue how to fix the economy since he only knows higher taxes, kiss union butts, spread the war resources thinner and wider, spy on American citizens, and blame someone else for his own failures in leadership.

Father Hunger—guest blogger

“In America’s families, much has been made about the effect on boys whose fathers are not around to help raise them, but Dee Louis-Scott, co-chair for the Black Family Technology Awareness Association’s Youth STEM Fair, says the consequences are very tangible in the lives of girls, too.

“Even though my father was in my life until his passing, I did not understand him, and it was always an emotionally distant relationship,” says Louis-Scott, author of “Believe in the Magic,” (www.mattiefisher.com).

“The men I married were emotionally distant; much of my time was spent chasing their love, time and attention. The problem was that I never experienced a true partnership between a husband and wife as a girl.”

New polls suggest “father hunger” is continuing to alter the family structure in the United States. A recent Associated Press poll finds 42 percent of women would consider having a child without a partner. Additionally, more than 24 million daughters and sons in America live in homes without their father, according to the U.S. Census data.

“I know fathers and mothers who are unmarried, yet both are very proactive in their children’s lives and are by all accounts doing a great job with their kids,” Louis-Scott says. “Unfortunately, the number of fathers living outside the home of their children often reflects a lack of participation from most of those fathers.”

A girl’s first love is her father, and if he has abandoned her, she will find herself in romantic relationships that are similarly unhealthy later in life, she says. While writing the book on the extraordinary life of her mother, Mattie Fisher, who was married five times and who didn’t have a relationship with her father until midlife, Louis-Scott realized just how formative a father’s role is in his daughter’s life.

“If a father treats his daughter like a princess, she will demand better treatment in her romantic relationships,” she says. “But if he treats her poorly, she will come to expect that and even seek it out in future relationships.”

For women whose fathers have provided a poor example, Louis-Scott offers these relationship tips for women who want to break the cycle of unhealthy partner-seeking:

• Consider your relationship with your father: Ladies, what kind of chemistry do you have with Dad; do you even have a relationship with him? How might this be influencing your romantic decisions? Take an in-depth look at the relationship between you and your father. A painstaking review will help you avoid sabotaging a current or future romantic bond.The first (and probably the hardest thing to do) is to recognize and define the problem, if any.

• Take time for you: Get up every morning with the thought that you are rebuilding your life. Reward yourself, perhaps with a massage, a good book or a long bike ride. While reflecting in your solitude, think about the role you played in the failure of your relationship. Consider your past relationship mistakes, and be honest. Remember, as long as you make it the other person’s fault, you will remain a victim.

• When you are ready, ease back in to new relationships: Take a little longer than you normally would to get to know someone. Enjoy the dates and learning about each other. See your potential partner as they are and not how you want them to be, because when we are in a low place it’s easy to put a high value on a person’s potential. Trying to change a man is a bad idea; relax and enjoy getting to know more about him to decide whether you’re compatible just the way he is.

About Dee Louis-Scott

Dee Louis-Scott is retired after working 30 years as a federal employee. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. Scott has co-chaired the Black Family Technology Awareness Association’s Youth STEM Fair for nine years; its mission is to encourage studies in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math curriculum in urban communities. Twenty years since the death of her heroic mother, Mattie Fisher, Louis-Scott honors her life, which was experienced in a time in American history when it was a double-curse to be a black woman. “

The speech at Knox College

I have rarely heard or seen such a tepid audience.  Even hand picked they’ve heard it all before.

On the road again with Obama

In a speech in 1963, John F. Kennedy (who incidentally cut taxes to goose the economy) said, "a rising tide lifts all boats," and he used that saying several more times. In 2013, President Obama who never met a tax increase he didn't love, denied it.

Obama can't point to a single success in his 5 years in the 21st century, but he can point to the 1950s as the golden era of the middle class. Go Conservatives!

Obama is clueless about the middle class. All his speeches say that (they are reruns). But he's added a new paragraph of blame to add to Bush and the GOP--the sequester. It's the drag, not Obamacare, not over regulation. He's added 7.2 million jobs, and twice that on food stamps.

I’ve never seen less enthusiastic more lack luster audiences than those on this campaign swing.  Some don’t even bother to clap.  The only ones clapping are those that didn’t hear this speech in 2008.

Tip for the president: Homeownership doesn't lift anyone into the middle class. Clinton and Bush tried that and we got the 2007 mortgage melt down. Obama's refinancing of their administrations' defaults have already defaulted. He is economically impotent.

Allen West on Stand your Ground in Florida

“In a sure case of foot in mouth disease, seems US Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking in Florida, may want to study up on Stand Your Ground use in the Sunshine State, my home. Based on data maintained by Tampa Bay Times, approximately one-third of Florida Stand Your Ground claims in fatal cases have been made by black defendants, as a defense with a 55% success rate. Blacks used Stand Your Ground defenses at nearly twice the rate of their percentage of Florida's population (16.6% in 2012). As well, it seems the majority of victims in Florida Stand Your Ground cases have been white. Either Attorney General Holder is incompetent or ignorant, regardless, we all await his clarification, or correction, of his comments before the NAACP in Orlando.”

What does Al Sharpton have against this white family?

They were an automobile accident in Florida.  George Zimmerman came to their rescue and pulled them out of the car.  Now they fear for their lives lest they be targets for the hate Sharpton, Obama, Holder and Jackson have helped whip up.  Sharpton’s campaigns over the years have contributed to many deaths and injuries.

He’s on the campaign trail again

7.2 million more jobs, 15 million more on food stamps than 2009.

It made me laugh

Didn’t know Geraldo was sending pics . . . he’s just one who is the balance on Fox.

Sometimes the New York Times gets it right—calls for Weiner to drop out of mayoral race

"At some point, the full story of Anthony Weiner and his sexual relationships and texting habits will finally be told. In the meantime, the serially evasive Mr. Weiner should take his marital troubles and personal compulsions out of the public eye, away from cameras, off the Web and out of the race for mayor of New York City.
{...}
When the first texts were revealed two years ago, Mr. Weiner lied about it, saying he had been the victim of hackers. Then he owned up, tearfully abandoned his office and retreated into private life. Then he was back, telling the world that therapy and his wife’s forgiveness had turned him around and that he was ready to begin a new chapter. That turned out to be the mayor’s race, which he entered in May. What he did not say then, and what voters did not realize until Tuesday, was that his resignation had not been the end of his sexual misconduct.

The timing here matters, as it would for any politician who violates the public’s trust and then asks to have it back. Things are different now, he insists. “This behavior is behind me,” he said again on Tuesday. He suggested that people should have known that his sexting was an unresolved problem well into 2012.
That’s ridiculous and speaks to a familiar but repellent pattern of misleading and evasion. It’s up to Mr. Weiner if he wants to keep running, to count on voters to forgive and forget and hand him the keys to City Hall. But he has already disqualified himself."

Why they think it’s worse on the internet than in the Oval Office, I don’t know.

Gay marriage

Carlos Danger and wifey Huma Amedin have made the best case for same sex marriage I've ever heard/seen.

Holy Hannah! She’s dense.

Just got an e-mail from Hannah who is urging me to support the Dream Defenders plan to honor Trayvon Martin in Florida, and getting rid of Stand your Ground.

I wrote back:

"Let’s honor the lives of all those killed during the trial that never got any publicity. Let’s examine the factors that whipped up racial hatred by our politicians. Let’s look into the story of the guy in a hoodie who came in the convenience store in Dearborn during your riots, killed the male clerk, kidnapped the female manager, then killed her. Has that been on the national news? Lots to investigate here. Illinois has tougher Stand Your Ground than Florida—strengthened by a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Barack Obama."

Maybe she'll take me off her list--I think they scoop up every dot edu and assume they're mush brains for liberal causes.

Pathologizing childhood

CDC claims that 20% of children and adolescents in the U.S. have a mental disorder. (JAMA, v. 310, no.1) Wow. So I skimmed the article. 2/3 of those were hyperactive/attention deficit, about 1/6 were behavior problems, and 1/6 alcohol or drug problems. Talk about pathologizing childhood! This is a gift to Big Pharma to push legal drugs on your kids. But it gets worse. The "health care" costs? $247 billion. No wonder our health care costs exceed those of other industrialized nations if this is how it is figured.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1707733

http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/medications.html

From a mother who was talked into drugging her child:  If “accelerated” has become the new normal, there’s no choice but to diagnose the kids developing at a normal rate with a disorder. Instead of leveling the playing field for kids who really do suffer from a deficit, we’re ratcheting up the level of competition with performance-enhancing drugs. We’re juicing our kids for school.

We’re also ensuring that down the road, when faced with other challenges that high school, college and adult life are sure to bring, our children will use the coping skills we’ve taught them. They’ll reach for a pill.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/raising-the-ritalin-generation.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/health/22KIDS.html?_r=0

Al Sharpton, race agitator who never accepts responsibility

From Wikipedia, with sources.

In 1995 a black Pentecostal Church, the United House of Prayer, which owned a retail property on 125th Street, asked Fred Harari, a Jewish tenant who operated Freddie's Fashion Mart, to evict his longtime subtenant, a black-owned record store called The Record Shack. Sharpton led a protest in Harlem against the planned eviction of The Record Shack.^[37][38][39] Sharpton told the protesters, "We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business."^[40]

On December 8, 1995 Roland J. Smith Jr., one of the protesters, entered Harari's store with a gun and flammable liquid, shot several customers and set the store on fire. The gunman fatally shot himself, and seven store employees died of smoke inhalation.^[41][42] Fire Department officials discovered that the store's sprinkler had been shut down, in violation of the local fire code.^[43] Sharpton claimed that the perpetrator was an open critic of himself and his nonviolent tactics. Sharpton later expressed regret for making the racial remark, "white interloper," and denied responsibility for inflaming or provoking the violence.^[15][44]

School choice for the poor; private schools for the rich

The Obamas send their daughters to a toney private school, as do many politicians who come to Washington.  It’s their choice—they love their kids and want the best for them.  However, in 2012 he dropped that same choice (charter schools) for other Washington, DC families, mostly black.  It’s not that he doesn’t care that black children succeed (because they do in those schools), he’s just more afraid of the unions who helped elect him.

The Opportunity Scholarship Program offers vouchers to low-income students to attend private schools. A 2010 study published by Patrick Wolf of the University of Arkansas found that the scholarship recipients had graduation rates of 91%. The graduation rate for D.C. public schools was 56%, and it was 70% for students who entered the lottery for a voucher but didn't win.

Because the president's teachers union allies are opposed to school choice for poor people, Mr. Obama ignores or downplays these findings. He repeatedly has tried to shutter the program, even though it is clearly advancing his stated goal of increasing graduation rates and closing the black-white achievement gap.

http://www.federationforchildren.org/articles/651

http://www.timesdispatch.com/opinion/their-opinion/cantor-let-s-expand-opportunity-for-all-kids/article_c656e8fa-d423-5d56-be66-6d5c0b157d8a.html

Feeling crabby?

LOUISIANA HOT CRAB DIP

Ingredients:
1/2 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, free of shells
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons minced green onions (white and green parts)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine all of the ingredients in a casserole dish and gently stir until thoroughly mixed. Adjust seasoning to taste. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until lightly golden on top. Serve hot.
Serve hot, with hot sauce on the side for those who like it spicy.
Makes about 1 1/2 cup

Because we all need a break from Obama’s scandals.

Weiner wags again

"New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner admitted on Tuesday to sending additional explicit photos and texts to a woman he met online — correspondence she says began months after he resigned from Congress for similar behavior." (WaPo).

Happy now?

Not all Obama's independent and Republican supporters were voting from white guilt--some were tired of war in 2008 and apparently had missed history class on how to spot a socialist.  Well, not only do we have the two he was handed, he's expanded them to other middle eastern countries and Africa, and added uncountable scandals then lied about them.  Happy now?

The Obama administration is arming Syrian terrorists. The groups within the rebels are squabbling with each other, but we know who will come out on top—al-qaeda.  Christian Syrians are being killed by the rebels, not Assad’s forces. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey said, "It is no less than an act of war."

“House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers said Monday that his panel agreed to the administration's plan for military aid despite reservations about its chances for success.

"After much discussion and review, we got a consensus that we could move forward with what the administration's plans and intentions are in Syria consistent with committee reservations," the Michigan Republican said.”

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/23/politics/us-syrian-rebels

I’m disappointed in the gutless Republicans who seem to think if someone says “war” they need to fund it.

        

Violent crime drastically reduced since 1993, many African-American lives saved

Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011 according to the Department of Justice.  About 50% of those not killed were young, black males.  There were over 1.5 million firearm non-fatalities in 1993 compared to about 478,000 in 2011. Let’s assume over half of the non-fatalities were also black.  School related homicides also declined from about 29 a year to 20 a year. 

Violent victimization rate per 1,000 persons, by annual household income, location of residence, and region, by race/Hispanic origin of victims was higher for poor whites and Hispanics than for poor blacks. 

There was a huge outcry in the late 1980s and early 1990s about black on black crime, and tougher measures were taken in response. The decline in violence came about because of improved policing and tougher sentencing which took hardened criminals off the streets.  It resulted from more drug busts, and more illegal guns removed from the streets.  Also, the baby boomers were aging, and homicide tends to be a crime of young males.   Since 93% of blacks were being killed by other blacks, if the killer were arrested, over half the people being  tried and imprisoned were also black.  That might please the victims’ families, but now the poverty pimps and racialists are crying out over the disparities among the races in prison populations. 

         

Source of graph: U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics, Wikipedia

So which do they want?  More blacks killed by leaving criminals on the streets or out early, or their assailants in prison?

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/bvvc.pdf

http://www.centerforhealthandjustice.org/foj%2011-10.pdf

http://www.indystar.com/article/20130508/NEWS19/305080040/Erika-D-Smith-Federal-crackdown-gun-crime-black-neighborhoods-unfortunate-necessary

http://tpj.sagepub.com/content/91/3_suppl/87S.abstract

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p10.pdf

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324448104578616333588719320.html

8 lbs, 6 oz of hypocrisy

Our media lauds a woman’s “right” to kill her baby—right up to term, yet fawns over one who is in line to be king.

Maybe it’s not hypocrisy, but just a way to keep from talking about all the scandals of this administration, any one of which is worse than Nixon’s Watergate. And he at least had the decency to resign.

The economy isn’t exactly a scandal anymore—it’s just same ol’ same ‘ol.  Huffington Post reports, "The address Wednesday at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., will be the first in a new series of economic speeches that White House aides say Obama intends to deliver over the next several weeks ahead of key budget deadlines in the fall." Except it won't be "new"--it will be the same speeches he gave before he was elected and during his first term. What can he say? Tax the rich more; pass more regulations; it's all the GOP's [Boehner] fault (the Bush meme got old); the children are hungry. It's the summer rerun season—no wonder it’s fun to watch for a baby.

Paula Priesse on the quacking IRS scandal

“The White House appoints only two IRS positions, the commissioner and the IRS chief counsel, currently William Wilkins. In 2008, Wilkins defended the tax-exempt status of Jeremiah Wright’s church and did so pro bono. What a guy, no wonder O gave him the IRS gig! So check out this timeline from the IG report in the Daily Caller today: 1) April 23, 2012 - Wilkins meets with O in the WH. Arrived 3:54pm, departed over 7 hours later. 2) April 24, 2012 – IRS Commissioner Shulman meets with O. 3) April 25, 2012 – Wilkins sends IRS official Lois Lerner & former IRS lawyer Carter Hull “additional comments on the draft guidance” for accepting or denying Tea Party applications. So we have Lerner taking the Fifth, Cincy agent Liz Hofacre & Carter Hull testifying that denials of DC involvement are pure BS and now this. Forget walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, this has been a duck since day one. And this big fat duck is starting to point directly to O! The media’s reaction? Oh goody goody gumdrops, Kate had a boy!!! P” [from her Facebook wall]

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/19/Chief-IRS-counsel-bailed-Jeremiah-Wright-s-church-out-of-IRS-probe-in-2008

http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/19/retiring-irs-lawyer-fingers-obama-appointee-in-testimony/