The Most Disturbing Words in Obama's Hiroshima Speech

To me, the most disturbing words contained within President Obama's Hiroshima ceremony speech are these:

"How easily we learn to justify violence in the name of some higher cause. Every great religion promises a pathway to love and peace and righteousness, and yet no religion has been spared from believers who have claimed their faith as a license to kill."

The implication here, is that the destruction of Hiroshima and/or the war in the Pacific were done in the name of religion.  Obviously, this a backhanded apology.  But, I hardly think that Harry Truman based his decision to bomb Hiroshima on a religious belief.

This isn't the first time that Obama implied that war and murder occurred for religious reasons.  Note this excerpt from his 2015 White House Prayer Breakfast speech:

We see sectarian war in Syria, the murder of Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, religious war in the Central African Republic, a rising tide of anti-semitism and hate crimes in Europe, so often perpetrated in the name of religion.

So how do we, as people of faith, reconcile these realities -- the profound good, the strength, the tenacity, the compassion and love that can flow from all of our faiths, operating alongside those who seek to hijack religion for their own murderous ends?

Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history.  And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.

Essentially, these words seem to expose the President's belief that religion is at the core of  all wars in the world.  He ignores the fact that most wars are a result of either imperialism or hatred.  It was Japan's imperialistic goal to have control over the entire Pacific region that drove them to try and get us out of the way by attacking Pearl Harbor.  Religion had nothing to do with it.  In fact famed Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamotto said it best about Pearl Harbor: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." No mention of religion in those words. And, it was Hitler's same desire to have expanded nationalist rule in Europe that drove his war.  Again, religion had nothing to do with it.  According to British historian Alan Bullock, "Hitler was a rationalist and materialist 'who believed neither in God nor in conscience'".  His goal was simply the creation of a Third Reich with himself as dictator.

In my opinion, Obama's words seem to either expose his deep-seated and unfounded hatred of religion; or perhaps, that he, himself, is trying to hijack religion as a means of explaining his own reticence to go to war to confront the evils in the world such as ISIS or Al Qaeda.

References:

Text of President Obama’s Speech in Hiroshima, Japan: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/world/asia/text-of-president-obamas-speech-in-hiroshima-japan.html

Remarks by the President at National Prayer Breakfast: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/05/remarks-president-national-prayer-breakfast

Religious views of Adolf Hitler: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Adolf_Hitler

The Surge in New Home Sales Is Erroneously Seen as a Stronger Economy

In April, new home sales surged to the highest level since 2008.

Quickly, economists jumped on that fact as a sign that the economy is getting stronger.  Well, maybe.

However, it can also mean that all the talk of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve is causing people to get off the proverbial fence and buy at the current lower rates.  It could also be a result of Obama pushing home sales with dangerously low down-payment rates of just 3% from a norm of 20%. If the latter is true, with increasing home sales, we could be seeing the start of another housing bubble crisis which previously resulted in the Great Recession.

References:

New-Home Sales Surge to Post-Recession High: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2016/05/25/new-home-sales-surge-post-recession-high

Why higher interest rates could actually be good for the housing market: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/toll-brothers-fed-interest-rates-good-housing-stocks-160759168.html 

3% down payments lure first-time homebuyers - USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2015/02/15/3-down-payments-lure-first-time-homebuyers/23424759/

President Obama Explains How FHA's 3%-Down Mortgages Are Great for America: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-08/president-obama-explains-how-fhas-3-down-mortgages-are-great-america-live-feed

Obama 3% Down Plan Setting Up Next Mortgage Meltdown: http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/when-once-is-not-enough-obama-3-down-plan-setting-up-next-mortgage-meltdown/

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Hillary Lies About "Common Sense" Gun Control

In January on the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton said this about gun control:

More than 33,000 Americans are killed by guns each year. It’s time to act. As President, I'll take on the gun lobby and fight for commonsense reforms to keep guns away from terrorists, domestic abusers, and other violent criminals—including comprehensive background checks and closing loopholes that allow guns to fall into the wrong hands.

Of course, to the average person this all sounds very reasonable. That is...until you understand that Hillary Clinton believes that the Supreme Court got it wrong when it found a ridiculous firearm law in Washington, D.C. unconstitutional.

That case, generally referred to as "Heller", overturned the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975, which was passed by the Washington, D.C. city council.  The unreasonableness of this law was widespread; it basically left people defenseless in their own homes.

The law banned any civilian ownership of handguns, automatic weapons, and high-capacity semi-automatic weapons made on or after 1976. In addition, a homeowner must secure a weapon in the home by first unloading it, and then by either disassembling it, or by securing it with a trigger lock.  This is what Hillary thinks is common sense gun control.  In essence, under that law, the only weapons you could own after 1975 were bolt-action rifles and non-repeating shotguns. Further, in order to defend yourself in your own home, you would have to reassemble it, or unlock it, and then load it.   Try asking a home intruder or rapist to wait while you reassemble and reload your gun.  If its a shotgun, you'd better hope there is no more than one or two assailants and that you're a very good shot.

Simply, Hillary's belief that "Heller" was a travesty proves that she doesn't believe in the second amendment, and that so-called common-sense gun control could take all your guns away; including handguns.

Further, she also believes that victims of firearm violence and their families should be able to sue gun manufacturers and dealers out of existence.  If that isn't taking guns away in a backdoor fashion then I don't know what is.  Maybe, when a drunk driver kills someone while driving a Ford, we should sue both Ford and the dealership that sold the car. After all, the logic is the same.

Only an idiot lawyer like Hillary Clinton would think her proposals are common sense gun control.

References:

Hillary on Gun Control: https://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+clinton+gun+control&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#eob=m.0d06m5//short

Hillary Clinton Opposes Heller Gun Rights Ruling, Adviser Says: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-20/hillary-clinton-believes-pivotal-gun-rights-ruling-was-wrong-adviser-says

District of Columbia v. Heller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller

Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_Control_Regulations_Act_of_1975

Hillary Clinton wants gun firms liable for shootings - BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34447239

Why Hillary Clinton is wrong on gun liability - CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/26/opinions/keane-gun-liability-hillary-clinton/

Politics, Not Justice, on Display in Baltimore

For the Black Lives Matter crowd, Monday's acquittal of all charges against Officer Nero was, in their minds, a travesty of justice.  How is it even possible that a black judge in a bench trial could have found a white cop innocent in the death of Freddie Gray?

But,  rather than succumbing to the politics surrounding the issue of black men dying at the hands of cops, the Judge did the right thing.  Something that he may wind up getting death threats for.

From the onset, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby made the arrest of 6 officers more about politics and less about justice.  As many legal analysts have noted, attempting to prove  there was an"intent to kill" in this case, is a pretty high hurdle to jump. Instead, Gray's death may have just been a horrible accident.  So far, two trials seem to have proven this. In the first, there was a hung jury; evidently some juror or jurors found the murder charge impossible to buy into.  And now, a fair judge has proven that point again by finding Officer Nero innocent of all charges.

My guess is that, going forward, the remaining defendants will also request a bench trial rather than trusting a potentially biased jury. This may ultimately result in none of the cops being found guilty of murder. If that turns out to be true, where is justice for these police officers? Condemned for risking their lives everyday trying to protect the predominately black residents of that city?  Will they ever be able to work in Baltimore again?

References:

Justice In Baltimore: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/435759/freddie-gray-verdict-just-marilyn-mosby-conduct-shameful

May 2015: Law Professor: Baltimore Officers Were Overcharged, Charges Will Likely Be Dismissed: http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/01/law-professor-baltimore-officers-were-overcharged-charges-will-likely-be-dismissed/

May 2015: Baltimore: Why Marilyn Mosby may not be able to convict police on murder charges in Freddie Gray's death | Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/05/01/baltimore-why-state-attorney-mosby-may-not-be-able-to-convict-police-on-murder.html

Video: "On Tuesday night's The Kelly File, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz says Baltimore's state's attorney Marilyn Mosby, the Freddie Gray prosecutor, acted irresponsibly, politically": http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/05/25/alan_dershowitz_black_lives_matter_is_endangering_the_fairness_of_our_legal_system.html

Judge Barry Williams:  https://www.google.com/search?q=Judge+Barry+Williams&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Hung jury in Freddie Gray case: What's next? - CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/us/baltimore-police-trial-freddie-gray/

The Misogynist's Hatred of Hillary Clinton?

A recent link from the Drudge Report, brought us to a writer/cartoonist for the Sacramento Bee, Jack Ohman, who wrote this:

"In this year of political rage, one aspect that baffles me somewhat is the absolute, electrified, apoplectic, blurred-vision hatred of Hillary Clinton...I can only ascribe this Rage Against the Clinton Machine to misogyny."

Apparently, any hatred of Hillary Clinton by a male, is all because she is a women.  My guess is that we will continue to hear a lot of this same type of reasoning going into the Fall elections.

First, let me say that I'm no fan of Donald Trump.  But, I'm also no fan of Hillary and I have had decades to form that opinion.  So, I am an equal opportunity hater. My dislike of Hillary has nothing to do with her sex.  If a man lied and exaggerated on as many issues as many times as she has, I would harbor the same distaste for him.  Simply, Hillary has no record of accomplishments, and has clearly proven her incompetence.  Her failed HillaryCare healthcare reform in the 1990's is a perfect example.  For sure, our being in Benghazi without the adequate security of a U.S. Marine detail is another sign of incompetence.  And, the fact that we remained in that country after the International Red Cross and the Brits left over security fears is just another example. A failure that needlessly cost the life of an Ambassador and 3 others.

But, the real measure of the hatred directed towards Secretary Clinton is displayed in the poll numbers.  While Trump, admittedly, has high disapproval ratings with women,  Hillary, too, has high disapproval from those of her own sex.  In a recent poll by the National Review, 58% of women disliked Hillary.  So, what word shall we use to replace misogyny if women, too, hate Hillary?

References:

Why all the Hillary haters?: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article79165287.html#fmp

Hillary’s Woman Problem: Most Women Don’t Like Her: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/433596/hillary-clintons-low-ratings-among-women

8 major warnings before Benghazi terrorist attacks | Sharyl Attkisson: https://sharylattkisson.com/8-major-warnings-before-benghazi-terrorist-attacks/

Colonel: Hillary Made Decision Not to Post Marines at Benghazi:  http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2012/09/14/colonel-says-hillary-clinton-made-decision-to-have-no-marines-at-benghazi/

‘Hillarycare’ Failed, but Hillary Clinton Reminds Voters She Tried: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/23/hillarycare-failed-but-hillary-clinton-reminds-voters-she-tried
/?_r=0

Why 'HillaryCare' Failed and 'ObamaCare' Succeeded: http://www.americanhealthline.com/analysis-and-insight/features/why-hillarycare-failed-and-obamacare-succeeded

Mary Anastasia O'Grady: Hillary's Half-Baked Haiti Project - WSJ: https://www.google.com/search?q=Mary+Anastasia+O%27Grady%3A+Hillary%27s+Half-Baked+Haiti+Project+-+WSJ&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Hillary's Bungled 'Reset' Button - CNS News: http://cnsnews.com/commentary/ken-blackwell/hillarys-bungled-reset-button

Feminist Camille Paglia: Hillary Clinton Is ‘Soulless, Incompetent’: http://thefederalist.com/2016/04/18/feminist-camille-pagila-i-think-hillary-clinton-is-soulless-incompetent/

Hillary Struggles To List Accomplishments At State - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMWZeLqwllY

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article79165287.html#fmp#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article79165287.html#fmp#storylink=cpy

The Confounding Mr. Trump

The fact that Donald Trump is now the presumptive winner of the Republican nomination has confounded political experts and political junkies for weeks.  Even the prognosticator extraordinaire, Nate Silver, has had to admit he underestimated "The Donald".  Even so, no one believed that Trump would ever stand a chance at beating Hillary.  After all, the polling was always in her favor against the supposed Muslim-Mexican-women-hating businessman.

However, once again, Trump is defying gravity.  In two separate polls, just days apart,  Rasmussen and Fox News found he is beating Hillary Clinton nationally.  By 5 points in the Rasmussen poll; and by 3 points in the Fox poll. Now, the latest ABC/Washington Post has him 2 points ahead. Thus, Trump now leads in 3 of the last 5 polls.

Click on Image to Enlarge

The real question then becomes: Is Trump's lead more about the acceptance of Trump or more about the weakness of Hillary?  Given Bernie Sanders' good performances in the primaries against her, I think the latter is probably true. Simply, she was a weak
candidate against Obama; and, now looks to be weakening against Trump. Don't ever underestimate Hillary's ability to lose.

References:

Nate Silver: How I Acted Like A Pundit And Screwed Up On Donald Trump: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-i-acted-like-a-pundit-and-screwed-up-on-donald-trump/?ex_cid=538twitter

NATE SILVER: Screwed up on Donald Trump - Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/nate-silver-pundit-donald-trump-2016-5

Rasmussen Reports: White House Watch: Trump 42%, Clinton 37%: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2016/white_house_watch

Fox News Poll: Trump tops Clinton, both seen as deeply flawed candidates: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/05/18/fox-news-poll-trump-tops-clinton-both-seen-as-deeply-flawed-candidates.html

Polls: Clinton vs. Trump: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_clinton-5491.html

RealClearPolitics - Election 2016 — Democratic Delegate Count: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/democratic_delegate_count.html

The Adverse Affects Of Obama's Salaried Overtime Rule

Set to go into effect on December 1 of this year, the Obama Administration announced a new wage ceiling for the salaried overtime rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Under the new ruling, salaried workers making $47,476, who work more than 40 hours in any week, are eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay. And, the Department of Labor estimates that this will result in 4.2 million workers getting a raise;  or, that's how the media is reporting it.

The reality, is that this new overtime rule will do more damage to jobs and wages than benefit more than 4 million workers.

First of all, like raising the minimum wage, this ruling makes it more expensive to start a business in this country.  It is already extremely difficult for startup businesses to survive. 25% of all new startups fail in the first year and 50% fail in the first four years.

Secondly, applicable workers might find themselves simply reclassified as hourly and will then find themselves punching a time clock.  As a result, they will lose any bonus pay and surely lose work hour flexibility that they may have enjoyed as a salaried employee.  For example, as any hourly worker, they could be docked for coming in late, or for taking a longer lunch hour in order to get other things done.

In addition, people at or near the new ceiling may see their incomes raised to slightly above the ceiling so that companies can avoid the overtime rule.

Some may see their jobs converted to outsourced, freelance positions. A disturbing trend as employers try to sidestep regulations like this and ObamaCare.  And, those close to the ceiling may get a little bump in pay in order to avoid the overtime rule all together.  Currently, 53 million workers are contract laborers; up from just 10 million a decade ago.

However, the biggest losers will be the those making more than $47,476 a year.  The money that will be paid for more overtime will reduce the amount of money for wage increases for those working above the overtime pay ceiling.

Lastly, no one who makes $47,476 should think they will automatically be eligible for overtime pay.  This is because, under FLSA overtime rules, there are a number of exemptions.  For example, it does not apply to outside personnel such as sales persons.  Nor, does it apply to someone who:

1. regularly supervises two or more other employees, and also
2. has management as the primary duty of the position, and also,
3. has some genuine input into the job status of other employees (such as hiring, firing, promotions, or assignments).

Once again, the tampering with the workforce by the Obama Administration will result in the continued weakening of the middle class by focusing in on lower level wages.  A country cannot be strong without a strong middle class.  

Also understand that the President fears fallout from this change.  That is the reason for the odd implementation date of December 1.  It insures that it is after the November elections but, still close enough to have positive electoral impact.   A more normal effective date would have been January 1, 2017.

References: 

Millions more Americans to be eligible for overtime pay: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/05/17/overtime-pay-eligible-employees-workers/84504890/ 

Exempt and not Exempt Workers: Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): http://www.flsa.com/coverage.html 

53 million Americans are freelancing, new survey finds: https://www.google.com/search?q=53+million+freelancers&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 

Paying Bonuses Instead of Salary Increases: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/paying-bonuses-instead-salary-increases-34786.html 

Startup Business Failure Rate By Industry – Statistic Brain: http://www.statisticbrain.com/startup-failure-by-industry/

Hillary Is Playing a Whole Deck of Women's Cards

In another attempt to garner the women's vote, Hillary recently announced another multi-billion dollar program.  This time to make child care affordable by capping its cost at just 10% of a family's income.  Since the average cost of child care is $11,666/year, the program could wind up being quite expensive; especially when you consider that it could be applied to multiple children in some low income families.  For example, a family with an income of $30,000 a year would only pay $300/year for childcare.  The taxpayers would pick up the remaining $11,366. 

At the same time, she would raise the wages for child care workers; making the current average of $11,666 much higher thus making the cost of the program even more expensive.  In addition, she would have the taxpayers pay for social worker visits during pregnancies.

If you go through Hillary's "Issues" page, much of her existing agenda is aimed at women voters.

Her promise to cure Alzheimer's by 2025 is primarily a women's health issue because women are often the caregiver to a husband or mother with Alzheimer's. She also promises to end campus sexual assaults.  In addition, she would have universal, federally paid, pre-K education for 3 to 5 year olds.  Essentially, this would be another form of childcare.  She would "Protect women’s access to reproductive health care, including contraception and safe, legal abortion" and insure continued funding of Planned Parenthood."  Then there's paid family leave that would primarily pay women for up to 12 weeks of pregnancy leave.  And, I'm sure not finally, she would erase the supposed gender pay gap, even, though the 1963 Equal Pay Act makes it a federal crime to intentionally underpay women; solely on the basis of their sex.

In my opinion, all this shows desperation in her attempt to get the women's vote.  In recent polling, 58% of women had an unfavorable view of Hillary.  This is certainly better than Trump's 68% disapproval in the same group; yet, you would think that the chance to elect the first woman president would automatically give her a stronger advantage than she's showing.  Her favorability among women is not as strong as it should be, and she knows it.  That's why she's playing one woman's card after another trying to shore up her weak showing.

References:

Clinton to propose plan to cap child care costs at 10% of family income: http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/10/pf/hillary-clinton-child-care-costs/

Hillary on the Issues: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/

Average Cost of Child Care: https://www.google.com/search?q=average+cost+of+childcare&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Why Alzheimer's disease is a women's health issue: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9240002

April 4, 2016: Hillary’s Woman Problem: Most Women Don’t Like Her: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/433596/hillary-clintons-low-ratings-among-women

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What the Obama's Aren't Saying in Commencement Speeches

Michele and Barack Obama have each given commencement speeches this year.  Both have injected politics into those speeches.  However, what neither of them are saying to these newly minted college grads, is that thanks to the bad economics under this presidency, the chances of getting a good paying, college-level job right out of college, aren't too great.

In fact, even though the actual unemployment rate is 5%, this country's underemployment rate sits at 14.5%.  In other words, we have 22-1/2 million people working below their skill and education levels and/or working part time when wanting full time positions.  The pre-recession rate of 2007 was around 8%, and usually, it is below 10%.

So, here's the truth as Newsweek puts it: "Millennial College Graduates: Young, Educated, Jobless".  That's what is really facing this year's 1.8 million bachelor-degreed graduates.

References:

Michelle Obama Injects Politics Into Commencement Speech: http://collegeinsurrection.com/2016/04/michelle-obama-injects-politics-into-commencement-speech/

Obama swipes at Trump in commencement address - PressReader: http://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-washington-times-daily/20160516/281578059886674

Millennial College Graduates: Young, Educated, Jobless: http://www.newsweek.com/2015/06/05/millennial-college-graduates-young-educated-jobless-335821.html

Current Underemployment rate: https://www.google.com/search?q=underemployment+rate&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Underemployment rates 1994 to 2010: http://www.economytrack.org/underemployment.php

Fast Facts:  Education enrollment and graduation numbers: http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372

Out-of-Work Coal Miners and Hillary's Caracol, Haiti Project

Hillary Clinton lost West Virginia because she blurted out that she was going to put a lot of coal miners out of work.  Then she tried to soften it by saying that she had a plan to budget $30 billion to create small businesses and retrain the unemployed of Appalachia and elsewhere.  At the same time, she would use that money to protect the coal miners pensions and health benefits.  That's asking a lot from just $30 billion. To be fair though, this sounds better than what President Obama promised.  In his case, he simply told them to "take welfare".

But, if you're a soon-to-be-unemployed coal worker, I wouldn't count on Hillary to do much about it and I would certainly take Obama's advice.  One only needs to look at Hillary's failed Caracol, Haiti project for an example of her incompetence at job creation.

Following the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010, around 40% of that nation's 4+ million workers became unemployed.  That's about 1.7 million. Then, Secretary of State Clinton toured the rubble as she and her team put together a plan to spend millions in U.S. aid to build a nice new industrial park just north of a remote, tin-roofed fishing village called Caracol.  The target was to create a total of 65,000 jobs in a country where 1.7 million were unemployed.  Again, we can already see the lack of competence.

In order to build the park, 640 acres were needed and hundreds of subsistence farmers were "coaxed" off the their land in order to provide the required acreage.  The park was also too remote for access to the power grid, so a power plant was built.  Today, 95 percent of the vacated land is still vacant.

By 2015, Caracol had been open for 3 years.  Only 11,300 of the promised 65,000 jobs were created.  A $70 million expansion of the park by 2018 may add another 6,800 jobs.   Oh, and Bill Clinton and the Clinton foundation managed the project for which it and he were well compensated. Of course, Bill Clinton is the person who Hillary claims she will put in charge of jobs and the economy, if she is elected President. God help us all!  Of course, this is also an obvious admission that the economy has been horrible under Obama's watch.

The sad and simple truth is that Hillary is inept and has little knowledge of how jobs are created.  Nor does she understand the coal business, and how entire towns exist only because of coal. No amount of job training or small business creation is going to put those towns back on their feet.  Again, she has no idea what she was doing; just as in Caracol, Haiti.  

References:

Fact Check: Hillary Clinton And Coal Jobs: http://www.npr.org/2016/05/03/476485650/fact-check-hillary-clinton-and-coal-jobs

Obama Costs Miners Their Job — Tells Them Take Welfare: http://www.libertynewsnow.com/obama-costs-miners-their-job-tells-them-take-welfare/article1446

A glittering industrial park in Haiti falls short: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/10/a-glittering-industrialparkfallsshortinhaiti.html

Hillary’s Half-Baked Haiti Project: https://www.google.com/search?q=Hillary%E2%80%99s+Half-Baked+Haiti+Project&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Hillary Clinton says she'll put Bill 'in charge' of fixing economy: http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/16/news/economy/hillary-bill-clinton-economic-job-growth/

The Obama Created Student Loan Mess

In 2010, President Obama began a program of federalizing student loans in order to eliminate the banks, whom he saw as merely expensive middlemen, from the process.   However, instead of saving money, as he implied this would do so, student debt has zoomed up 71% since he took office; going from $0.7 trillion to $1.2 trillion.  In the same time period, inflation rose only 10%.

In 2014, the Federal student loan debt went up 517%, to over $740 billion dollars under Obama.  This means that he was able to federalize 62% of all student loans in that year.  No data yet on how much the federal government was carrying in 2015. But, beyond federalizing loans, it appears that the default rate on those loans has risen to 27% after falling for decades to lows under 6% in the years 1999 to 2006.  With default rates as low as 4.5% in 2003 and 4.6% in 2005.  Also,  27% is the highest rate that this country has seen since 1987 when in 1990 default hit a record 22.4%.

The reality here is that the private sector was doing just fine in managing student debt.  The restrictions they placed on borrowing resulted in less debt and less defaults.

The President's free-wheeling federalization of debt has produced the opposite effect because, as usual, the last entity you want involved in managing money is the federal government, who can't even manage its own massive debt problems.  Just think about that when you hear Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders touting debt-free, tuition-free college.

References:

Chart Source: Fortune.com: Obama's Economy in 7 Charts: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: http://fortune.com/2016/01/12/obama-economy-charts/

Obama's Balloon: Federal Student Loan Debt Up 517% in 5 Years: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/obamas-balloon-federal-student-loan-debt-517-5-years

Obama’s $1.2 Trillion Student Loan Program Is Falling Apart: http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/obama-student-loan-program-is-falling-apart/

Study: 27% of Student Loans in Default: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/15/study-over-27-of-student-loans-are-in-default/

Student-Loan Defaults Are Still Soaring Thanks to Washington's Neglect: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/10/student-loan-defaults-are-still-soaring-thanks-to-washingtons-neglect/280158/

Venezuela: Another Socialist Utopia Falls Asunder

Socialists always believe that government is the best way to control the destiny of mankind. They believe that without complete government control over people's lives, income inequality will rule and that the rich will get richer and the poor, poorer.

Such was the case in Venezuela.  Hugo Chavez in 1998 -- when elected President -- was to turn Venezuela into a socialist utopia with the working class and the poor finally enjoying a better life in a country he felt only served the rich.  All of this would would be based on a revolutionary movement that he founded in 1982 called the "Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200".

Properties were seized and given to the poor.  He took control of the media and the supreme court to insure that there was no insurrection while he did what he needed to do to bring Marxism to his country.  He even managed to make himself "El Presidente" for life. Even though Chavez died young in 2013, his dream was continued by his successor President Maduro -- his former Vice President.

Today, Venezuela is an economic mess.  There is no food on store shelves. Even toilet paper is in short supply. Inflation is completely out of control, and this year is expected to exceed 700%; well up from last year's 180% and 172%.  That means that prices went up 1000% in just 3 years.  Not exactly the ideal inflation rate of 2 to 3%.  Because the country is so dependent on oil export revenues, the extreme fall in oil prices has further crippled its economy.

On top of everything else, electricity is in short supply because they were too dependent on hydro-electric power, This, in a country that is awash with oil.  In order to conserve electricity, government workers have recently had their workweek cut to two days -- Thursday and Friday.  As it is, the country's 2 million government workers had already had the workday slashed to 6 hours.  This latest move by Maduro means that the government workers will only work 12 hours a week.  This simply means that the country will fall into more turmoil as government services are even more severely curtailed. 

Once again, this proves that Socialism does not work.  And, I believe that Venezuela will again see another upheaval that will overturn the Chavez-designed Marxist government; and, it could be a violent revolution. The truth is, it may be too late to do anything to fix the country since it has been damaged so much in the last 18 years.  The legacy of Hugo Chavez is that Venezuela may wind up being the poorest country in South America.  Just the opposite of his original utopian dream.

References:

Hugo Chavez: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez

Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Bolivarian_Movement-200

Nicolas Maduro: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Maduro

Shortages in Venezuela - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortages_in_Venezuela

Venezuela Inflation: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/venezuela/inflation-cpi

IMF Sees Venezuela Inflation Rocketing to 720 Percent in 2016: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-22/imf-sees-venezuela-inflation-rocketing-to-720-percent-in-2016

Venezuela enforces public sector leave on three weekdays: https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-enforces-public-sector-leave-three-weekdays-230119339.html?ref=gs

U.S. concern grows over possible Venezuela meltdown - officials: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-idUSKCN0Y42MT

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The Obama Con Game

It wasn't even two years ago that we found out from the ObamaCare architect, Jonathan Gruber, that the healthcare law was sold based on the belief that the American voter was stupid.  To that point, here are a few quotes from Gruber:

"Lack of transparency is a huge advantage. And basically, you know, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever. But basically that was really, really critical to getting the thing to pass."

"It's a very clever, you know, basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter..." 

"...if you made it explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed.

Now, thanks to a profile that appeared in the New York Magazine, we find out that the Iran deal was predicated on stupidity as well.  This time the media was preyed upon as being a bunch of 27-year-old-somethings that knew nothing.

For the last 7+ years, Barack Obama and his minions have been telling us lies gift-wrapped as plausible truths and, the media and the voters have accepted them.  Hopefully, in retrospect, some intelligent future historian will sort through those deceptions for all of us to see.

References:

The guy who thinks voters are 'stupid': http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/13/opinion/cupp-gruber-obamacare/

Ben Rhodes Reveals How Obama Duped America Into The Dangerous Iran Deal: http://thefederalist.com/2016/05/09/ben-rhodes-reveals-how-obama-duped-america-into-the-dangerous-iran-deal/

Is Obama a Serial Liar: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2011/05/is_obama_a_serial_liar.html

Serial LIAR: Video Of Obama Blatantly Lying 36 Times: http://www.infowars.com/serial-liar-video-of-obama-blatantly-lying-36-times/

Obama: Serial Liar | Frontpage Mag: http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/190091/obama-serial-liar-daniel-greenfield

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Where Were All of Hillary's Ideas When She Was a Senator?

If you look at Hillary Clinton's campaign "Issues" page, she lists all types of proposals that she would implement to solve what she perceives as problems in America.  She calls it "her vision for America".   Unfortunately, much of it is merely political pablum dished out only to get elected and which will never happen.

My problem with Hillary is that she has never been a leader.  When Bill Clinton was President, he appointed her to drive healthcare reform through Congress.  It was a disaster, and never happened.  ObamaCare did happen because Obama and the Democrats learned from her mistakes by making sure all the bad that their healthcare reform act  would bring was  kept hidden.  Today, the term HillaryCare is considered to be a derogatory comment pointing to Hillary's failure.

However, I think the best example of Hillary's lack of leadership skills is that, in her 8 years in the Senate, there where only 3 bills that were singularly submitted by her and passed into law:

• S. 1241: A bill to establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in the State of New York. Bush signed the bill Dec. 3, 2004. 
• S. 3613: A bill to name a post office the "Major George Quamo Post Office Building." Bush signed the bill Oct. 6, 2006. 
• S. 3145: A bill to designate a highway in New York as the Timothy J. Russert highway. Bush signed the bill July 23, 2008. 

I do not think a monument, Post Office, and highway naming constitutes real leadership. Where were all the bills that would cure Alzheimer's, or stop sexual assaults on campuses, and all the other problems that she says she will accomplish as President? 

Hillary is a phony.  But, people who support her seem to think she will, in fact, do all the things she promises during this campaign.  Fat chance!

References:

Hillary on the Issues: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/

Did Hillary Clinton have her name on only three laws in eight years as Jeb Bush says?: http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/jun/23/jeb-bush/did-hillary-clinton-have-her-name-only-three-laws-/

The Not-So-Grand, Grand Old Party

There are those in the media that see the GOP as being in complete disarray with the nomination now assured for Donald Trump.  There are some that think the party will cease to exist altogether.  Others believe that it will morph into three entities:  The Trump Party (perhaps the America Great Party), The Tea Party, and/or the traditional Republican Party; whatever the latter ever really was.   Each group would then nominate its own candidate for President; something that would surely give Hillary Clinton the presidency.

The reality is that Trump has created an amalgam of political ideas from both the political left and the political right that appear to have a large following, but not large enough to be any type of majority.  Also, his trash-talk behavior won't appeal to the nation as a whole and will only serve to make the GOP into even more of a minority than before.  As Pew Research found, 48% of the population considers themselves either Democrat or leans Democrat.  While only 39% align themselves with the Republican Party.

All of this points to a simple fact: Hillary Clinton will win; assuming she isn't indicted for jeopardizing national security.  In my opinion, the only way Trump can be the victor is if the economy falters and goes negative in the two quarters prior to the election.   Just my opinion.

Reference: Pew Research: Party Affiliations: http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/07/a-deep-dive-into-party-affiliation/

Because of Obama and Reid, We Need Two New Constitutional Amendments

If there is anything we have learned by having Barack Obama in office for the last 7-1/2 years, it is that any rogue President can sidestep the balance of power -- as now theoretically outlined in our Constitution -- through the use of executive orders and memoranda.   At the same time, Harry Reid's blocking of any legislation sent over from the House, while he was the Majority Leader, also exposes another problem.

For these reasons, I believe we need to fix these holes in the Constitution with two new amendments.

The first should clearly restrict the power of the President to legislate from his office.  Any executive orders and memoranda that modifies any past legislation should be time limited to several months and not renewable. This way, Congress can either choose to pass legislation to sustain the President's executive action or, simply, let the President's actions expire.   Additionally, prosecutorial discretion needs to stop or, at the very least, also be time limited to, say, six months, and not renewable.

Similarly, another amendment is needed to insure that legislation passed in either the Senate or the House be brought to a vote in the other congressional body within some specified time frame.  If not, that legislation would automatically be sent to the President for signature.  This would stop majority leaders like Harry Reid from sitting on legislation that he thinks may be politically embarrassing for either his party members or his President.

I believe that both the House and the Senate, now controlled by the Republicans, could act on this almost immediately after being seated in January; assuming a Republican President is elected and congress still remains under the control of Republicans.  At that time, the offenders -- Reid and Obama -- will no longer be on the scene.

References:

Definition: Prosecutorial Discretion: https://www.google.com/search?q=procecrutalbe+disgression&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#safe=off&q=prosecutorial+discretion

The Constitutional Amendment Process: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution/

Average Wage Growth Below 1% Again for 2016 ?

From 2000 to 2008, the Houston Chronicle reported that average wages grew from between 3.8% and 4.4% across the United States.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation reports, in the first four months of this year, the average weekly salaries rose just 2.6 tenths of a percent from $878.49 in January to $880.79 in April.  When annualized, this means that we are on track to have a wage growth of only 7.8 tenths of a percent over the next 12 months.  This less than 1% annualized growth, is just 20% of even the worst growth of 3.8% in the years from  2000 to 2008.

Once again, this proves that we are creating jobs and not increasing wages under the Obama administration.  I, for one, am tired of his constant touting of job growth.  As if having a job is more important that having one that pays well.  In 7 years, wages under  have only risen 7% or about 1% per year.  When you subtract the 27%+ increase for the top 1%, the bottom 99% had an average increase of only 4.3%. Raising the minimum wage in 29 states has not produced wage increases.  Nor has Obama's raising of the salaried overtime rule by double, produced higher wages.   Instead, low wage growth is indicative of how weak this economy is.  The proof of that came in the first quarter when Gross Domestic Product (GDP) only grew by 5 tenths of a percent; just one-eighth of the normal non-recessionary growth rate of 3.79% since 1790.  Assuming growth is still slack throughout the year, Obama is on track to have the fourth worst presidential average of just 1.55% growth in his 8 years in office.

References:

What Is an Appropriate Annual Salary Increase?: http://work.chron.com/appropriate-annual-salary-increase-16035.html

The Employment Situation - April 2016 - Bureau of Labor Statistics (Table B-3): http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

The Employment Situation - January 2016 - Bureau of Labor Statistics (Table B-3): http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_02052016.pdf

Obama touts job growth, asks Congress to take action on tax evasion: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/05/06/obama-economy-money-laundering/84017722/

State Minimum Wages | 2016 Minimum Wage by State:  http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

Obama overtime rule could raise wages for 5 million: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/obama-overtime-rule-wage-raise-119566

U.S. economy slows, with GDP growing 0.5% in first quarter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/28/u-s-to-release-data-showing-gdp-growth-for-first-quarter/

Barack Obama's Sad Record on Economic Growth | RealClearMarkets: http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2016/02/01/barack_obamas_sad_record_on_economic_growth_101987.html

State of the Union: Obama's Economy in 7 Charts - Fortune: http://fortune.com/2016/01/12/obama-economy-charts/ 

America's Cities In Decline

On Monday, May 1st, Atlantic City avoided a default on its debt payment by the hair of its
mayor's chinny, chin, chin.  They may not be so lucky the next time around.

With a third of its casinos now shuttered, the city is struggling to survive, as shown by this graphic from the Wall Street Journal:

With per-person debt at double that of Detroit and Chicago, Atlantic City looks as if it will  soon be joining Detroit in bankruptcy.  Raising taxes isn't going to do the trick unless you tax everyone an average of 26% against their $26,936 incomes.

Then, there was a story from CNBC that said that 34% of the San Francisco Bay residents surveyed wanted to leave that area due to the cost of living, traffic, poverty, crime, and homelessness.

Add to that the story in Bloomberg News which showed that 20 cities in 2014 -- one-fifth of the top 100 cities -- saw their populations decline.

The point about all this is that declines in populations lead to struggling economies for all too many American cities because the people who do manage to move away are those who can afford to do so.   The ones left behind are generally the poorer and can't afford to move.  As a result, city revenues fall, debt increases; and bankruptcy isn't far behind.

The bottom line is that we have too many population centers in this country that are dying due to high taxes, crime, no jobs, low pay, decaying infrastructure, traffic, record poverty, and homelessness.  The lackluster economic growth of the last 7-1/2 years of the Obama administration have done nothing to correct this urban decay.

References:

Atlantic City, America’s Worst-Rated Town, Stares at Default: https://www.google.com/search?q=Atlantic+City%2C+America%E2%80%99s+Worst-Rated+Town%2C+Stares+at+Default+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Atlantic City makes debt payment as mayor averts a default: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-atlantic-city-683c0ab6-1084-11e6-a9b5-bf703a5a7191-20160502-story.html

Survey says: 34 percent of Bay Area residents are ready to leave: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/02/survey-says-34-percent-of-bay-area-residents-are-ready-to-leave.html

These Are the Top 20 Cities Americans Are Ditching: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-22/these-are-the-top-20-cities-americans-are-ditching

Obama Whines About Lack of “Credit” for Economy as it Tanks: http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2016/04/28/obama-complains-lack-credit-economy-growth-sinks/

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What Is So Disturbing About the ADP Employment Report

Every month, and only 2 days before the federal employment report, a large private payroll processing company, ADP, releases their own version. The latest report, issued yesterday, was a big miss; showing that only 156,000 jobs were created in the month.   This was far short of the projected gains of 196,000 workers.

And if a 25% miss in job growth wasn't bad enough, the internal numbers showed that small businesses (those with less than 50 employees) added the bulk of the 156,000 with a total of 93,000 new jobs.  Large businesses, with 500 or more employees, only added 24,000 jobs. The problem with small business job growth is that they pay, on average, only 66% of what larger businesses paid in the report in 2011.  However, the Washington Post article that this statistic comes from, also noted that the disparity in salaries between large and small businesses has been growing for years.  For example, in 2001, it was only 78%.

The fact is, that under Obama, we have created too many low wage jobs.  The middle class, as a percentage of all classes, has reached a 50 year low. This is also why I cringe when Hillary Clinton claims she wants to be "The Small Business President". This ADP report just proves that employment in this country is going in the wrong direction.  To reverse this, we need to lower the corporate tax rates and reduce regulations that are interfering with all business growth; especially large businesses.  And, we need to allow over $2 trillion dollars in overseas profits to be brought back here without being taxed so that companies may consider building more manufacturing here than sending jobs to Mexico and elsewhere.

References:

Private sector adds 156,000 jobs in April vs. 195,000 expected: ADP: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/04/private-sector-payrolls-april-2016.html

Big firms pay 50 percent higher wages than small businesses, study shows: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/big-firms-pay-50-percent-higher-wages-than-small-businesses-study-shows/2012/11/28/e24a1f58-3970-11e2-a263-f0ebffed2f15_story.html

Middle Class Pay Hits 50 Year Low Under Obama - Breitbart: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/01/21/middle-class-hits-50-year-low-on-president-obamas-watch/

Video: Small Business President | Hillary Clinton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDBHD7cKvhQ

Collapse of U.S. Growth Puts Business Tax Cut At Center of the Election: http://www.nysun.com/national/collapse-of-us-growth-puts-business-tax-cut/89565/

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The Saudi's Are Responsible for 9/11

Recently, there has been a lot of chatter about 28 missing pages in the Congressional Report on 9/11.  The speculation is that those pages would reveal that Saudi Arabia financed the attack and that it has been intentionally hidden by both the Bush and Obama Administrations so as to not offend the Saudis.

However, you don't need those missing pages to know that the Saudi's have been financing terrorism for decades through their funding of Madrasas schools around the world that teach a type of fundamental Islam called Wahhabism.  A prime source of intolerance and terrorist beliefs.  It's time the world wakes up to that reality.  No matter how much oil that country has.

References:

28 Blank Pages: Washington’s Cover-Up Of The Saudi Role In The 9/11 Terrorist Attack Continues: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-10/28-blank-pages-washington%E2%80%99s-cover-saudi-role-911-terrorist-attack-continues

How Saudi Wahhabism Is the Fountainhead of Islamist Terrorism: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf-butt-/saudi-wahhabism-islam-terrorism_b_6501916.html

'Tsunami of money' from Saudi Arabia funding 24,000 madrassas in Pakistan: http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/tsunami-of-money-from-saudi-arabia-funding-24000-madrassas-in-pakistan_1850559.html

The Saudi Connection: Wahhabism and Global Jihad: http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/saudi-connection-wahhabism-and-global-jihad

Analyses - Wahhabism | PBS - Saudi Time Bomb: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/analyses/wahhabism.html

Hillary Panders to the Latinos with Soft Stance on Illegal Immigration

In stump speech after stump speech, Hillary Clinton has criticized Donald Trump's promise to build a wall on our southern border.  By contrast, she believes that, instead of building walls, we should "build bridges".  She also said in a victory speech: "We should be breaking down barriers, not building walls". So, what does all that mean?  One big fat bridge across the Rio Grande River, and other places, so that illegals can freely walk into this country?

In a recent speech in Phoenix and in front of a predominately Latino crowd, she specifically called out Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio for arresting and jailing illegal immigrants, saying this is treating “fellow human beings with disrespect and contempt.”  As if someone coming  here illegally is not a crime.

So, in those three statement, you are immediately left with the impression that Hillary would allow the free flow of illegals; never fearing arrests.  That's not the policy in Mexico, where the immigration laws are even stricter than ours. Entering and staying in Mexico is a crime punishable by 2 years in prison.  So is document fraud or marriage fraud.  And, if you return after being deported, you get 10 years.  Even if you are able to get legal permission to stay, the Mexican government has the right to boot you back home without notice or cause.  How's that for treating “fellow human beings with disrespect and contempt.”

While most illegals are here to only find work that isn't afforded them in Mexico and other countries, there are those who would do this country harm.  Gang members such as MS13. Or, even terrorists.  Hillary needs to wake up to that fact.  We have one of the most generous immigration systems in the world.  Because of reasonable and logical quotas, some must wait years before entering our country.  For Hillary and all too many Democrats, they believe it is fair that some should bypass the legal immigration process so that she can garner votes from other Hispanics in the U.S..  She would place our safety and security in jeopardy; just as she did with her private email server.

References:

Hillary Clinton Criticizes Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Immigration Proxy for Donald Trump: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/21/hillary-clinton-criticizes-sheriff-joe-arpaio-immigration-proxy-for-donald-trump/

Read: Hillary Clinton’s victory speech was a turn to the battle against Donald Trump: http://www.vox.com/2016/3/15/11242690/read-hillary-clinton-victory-speech

How Mexico Treats Illegal Aliens: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/229641/how-mexico-treats-illegal-aliens-michelle-malkin

MS-13 gang killings linked to immigrant surge: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/21/ms-13-gang-killings-linked-to-immigrant-surge/

Hillary Touts Bill Clinton's Wage Growth

Yesterday, I briefly caught a Hillary Clinton stump speech in Indiana, in which she stated  that the last time there was wage growth in this country, was when her husband was President (1993 to 2001).  Then, she said it all stopped when a Republican replaced him.  And, yes, if you look at the following chart, she would be correct.

Click on Image To Enlarge

Neither George Bush nor Barack Obama have been able to get the real median household income back to the 1999 peak that occurred during Bill Clinton's presidency.  However, what is also true, is that wage growth under Clinton was all due to the largest increase in income inequality, with the top 1% of incomes generally patterning the peaks and valleys of the chart above (as noted in the following chart).

Click on Chart to Enlarge

At the same time, the bottom 90% (the bottom line on that graph) improved very little under her husband's years in office.

The truth is. that Bill Clinton was in office  during a time when more millionaires were created than ever before.  It was the core years of the dot-com and the Internet revolution.  What is also true is that, as seen above, the top 1% recouped their losses quickly after the Great Recession.  On the other hand, it shows that despite these gains, median incomes continued to fall through 2012.  Thereby implying that 99% had substantially greater losses in income through 2012.   Of course, that doesn't speak well for the current Democrat in office, now does it? 

One last note.  Growth in wages stopped a year before Bush got into office because the dot-com bubble burst; sending the stock market reeling.  Contrary to Hillary's assertion, George Bush had nothing to do with that, or 9/11, which also caused incomes to fall until they bottomed out in 2004. Then they continued to rise again until the Great Recession hit.


References:

Real Median Household Incomes: https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/MEHOINUSA672N

This chart shows why Hillary Clinton wants to ‘topple’ the 1 percent: http://fusion.net/story/123719/hillary-clinton-income-inequality-topple-1-percent/

 Dot-com Bubble: https://www.google.com/search?q=dot+com+bubble&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8