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