Research

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) Says That The President Is Going To Be Judged On The Results Of The Super Committee And Should Be Part Of The Fight For A Solution

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV):  “Well, you know, Mika, it's the leader – if – I was the governor of the state of West Virginia, people relied on me to make, set the tone of what we were going to do and push it through and everybody has a different style. I'm not going to criticize it, but people are going to judge the results we receive, and if we don't get results, we're in trouble. Right now, if the committee of 12 is not able to come to an agreement, we have about 140 members of congress, about 44 senators and about a 100 members of the house that are saying go big, be bold, stand tall, let’s pull out Simpson and Bowles and let's vote on this thing, let's move it forward for the next generation.”

Mika Brezinski:  “Do you want the president – I mean, I'm just looking at your comments made on "Face the Nation" for the president, that ... more

On CNBC This Morning, Warren Buffett Said It Was “An Absolute Tragedy” That Simpson-Bowles Was Ignored

CNBC’S BECKY QUICK: “So is that an argument for a tax code that is stripped down the way Simpson and Bowles laid out?”

WARREN BUFFETT:  “Well it – you go back to what, you know, Kemp-Roth and all that that too that they were working on that. I think what happened with Simpson-Bowles was an absolute tragedy. I mean here are two extremely high-grade people. They have somewhat different ideas about government but they're smart. They're decent. They’ve got good senses of humor, too. They're good at working with people.
They work like a devil for ten months or something like that. They compromise. They bring in people as far apart as Durbin and Coburn to get them to sign on and then they're totally ignored. I think that's a travesty.” (CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” 11/12/11)

Buffett: No Super Committee Would Be Necessary If Simpson-Bowles Was Not Ignored

QUICK:  “Why are we starting over with ... more

Obama Says “We Can’t Wait” But His Stimulus Spending Won’t Kick In For Years

Less Than 8 Percent Of The Obama-Reid Infrastructure Stimulus Bill Would Be Spent This Fiscal Year. (“Budgetary Effects Of S.1769 The Rebuild America Jobs Act,” Congressional Budget Office, 11/1/11)

Less Than Half Of The Obama-Reid Infrastructure Stimulus Bill Will Be Spent By 2015. (“Budgetary Effects Of S.1769 The Rebuild America Jobs Act,” Congressional Budget Office, 11/1/11)

• More Than A Quarter Of Obama-Reid Infrastructure Bill Stimulus Would Be Spent After 2016. (“Budgetary Effects Of S.1769 The Rebuild America Jobs Act,” Congressional Budget Office, 11/1/11)

Stimulus Spending Cannot Deliver The Jobs America Needs Now

“Jobs Are Needed Now – Not In A Few Years,” And Experts Doubt That Obama’s Proposed Infrastructure Spending Can Move Quick Enough To Provide Those Jobs. “With the jobless rate hovering at 9 percent and an uneasy economic recovery, jobs are needed now — not in a few years. But experts ... more

On “Fox News Sunday” this morning, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) was put on the spot over past Democrat dodges over the budget and debt ceiling. Check out the video below:

Durbin Tries To Deflect Question On Why Dems Haven’t Passed Budget

FOX NEWS’ BRET BAIER: “Senator Durbin, why haven't the Senate Democrats passed a budget?”

SEN. DICK DURBIN:  “It's called 60 votes. What it boils down to is this: we have 53 Democrats. But I can tell you when we get through all the procedural tangles that we face getting through this budget resolution, it is not just a matter of finding some agreement, but getting it executed on the floor. The point I want to make is this. This, as I understand it, the negotiation we're talking about will include some budget targets for at least the next fiscal year. So, we won't revisit this kind of crisis politics when it comes to next year.”

Durbin Tries To Deflect Question On Why Dems Dodged Debt Ceiling In December

BAIER: “Let me go back to ... more

On the same day Reuters reported Iran may be capable of arming a missile capable of hitting the U.S. by 2015, The Washington Post’s editorial board has declared the Obama Administration completely “Confused On Iran”:

[T]he public signs of the administration's squishiness about military options are worrisome because of the lack of progress on its two-track strategy of offering negotiations and threatening sanctions. A year-long attempt at engagement failed; now the push for sanctions is proceeding at a snail's pace.

Though President Obama claims all options are on the table when it comes to dealing with Iran, the paths left open to the administration continue to dwindle.  As the editorial board goes on to note, “the administration has so far shrunk from supporting sanctions, such as a gasoline embargo, that might heighten popular anger against the regime.”  Even using the military option as an intimidation tactic seems to be off the table.

With the growing specter of a nuclear Iran, ... more

This morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Austan Goolsbee, a member of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, declared that the Obama-Dodd financial regulation bill outlawed bailouts:

The thing is, it's crazy. I'm sure that if i call up the staff from Senator McConnell's office and show them where it outlaws bailouts … They'll stop saying that once they determine that it is specifically outlawed in the bill.

We suggest that Goolsbee read the bill because it does in fact continue bailouts. The language in the bill is very clear:

• On page 35, a new “Financial Oversight Council” would determine which firms are “too big to fail”: “The Council, on a non-delegable basis and by a vote of not fewer than 2⁄3of the members then serving, including an affirmative vote by the Chairperson, may determine that a U.S. nonbank financial company shall be supervised by the Board of Governors and shall be subject to prudential standards, in accordance with this title, if the ... more
  
  

If the Obama-Dodd financial regulatory reform bill is supposed to put the hammer down on Wall Street, why are big Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs endorsing many of the provisions in the Obama-Dodd financial regulation reform bill? Let’s start with all of the money from big banks that helped build the current Congressional Democrat majority and Obama’s election to the White House. Since 2005:

• Obama took in over $24 million from financial services companies
• The DNC took in over $30 million from financial services companies
• The DCCC took in over $19 million from financial services companies
• The DSCC took in over $35.6 million from financial services companies
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) took in over $1.4 million from financial services companies
• Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) took in over $1.8 million from financial services companies

(And for Dodd, that wasn’t all: he received sweetheart mortgage discounts from Countrywide, despite denying it ... more

Yesterday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Obama’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner repeated the administration’s claim that their so-called “fee on banks” will “cover any losses” associated with the bank bailouts. But on Friday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) told Congressional Quarterly [subscription required] that this tax on Americans’ savings will be used to pay for Obama’s binge spending, in an aptly titled story, “Bank Tax Seen As Potential Cushion For Cost Of Other Bills”:

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus is adding a $90 billion bank tax proposal to the mix of potential budgetary offsets for upcoming legislation … How the money will be used depends on whether and how quickly lawmakers can coalesce around a version of the tax that can become law. “The Senate’s hungry for offsets” Baucus said. “Whichever [bill] comes along first tends to soak it up.”

Baucus’s comments mirror that of Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) who said back in January that Obama’s savings tax will be used to raise ... more

Is Obama’s binge spending putting us in imminent danger? That’s what Rudolph Penner of the Urban Institute says in today’s San Francisco Chronicle:

“In my judgment, a crisis could occur next week or 10 years from now,” said Rudolph Penner, an Urban Institute economist who co-chaired a huge budget report sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Public Administration. “I don't really think we can go much beyond 10 years.”

We’ve already seen signs that Obama’s binge spending is causing problems in the economy.  Previously we’ve highlighted the fact that investors are becoming increasingly leery of buying U.S. treasurys as concerns about our debt grow. As a result, the yield on U.S. treasurys has been increasingly rising, with the ten-year note hitting 4% today.  The Wall Street Journal explains why this is cause for concern for Americans:

The yield on the 10-year Treasury is a basis for calculation of mortgage rates, and higher yield leads to higher ... more

President Ronald Reagan once joked, “The 10 most dangerous words in the English language are, ‘Hi, I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.’”  Well, in today’s Wall Street Journal, Obama Commerce Secretary Gary Locke does his best attempt to deliver those 10 words with a straight face with “Don’t Believe The Writedown Hype:”

President Obama began his campaign to reform the American health-care system focused on three goals: protecting Americans' choice of doctors and health plans, assuring quality and affordable health care for all Americans, and reducing costs for families and businesses.

The new comprehensive health-care legislation meets these goals, and will significantly benefit American businesses by slowing and eventually reversing the tide of crippling premium increases washing over our nation's employers.

The reality is, unfortunately, that Sec. Locke’s words are rightly delivered on April Fools’ Day, because they are an attempt to fool the American people into ... more