The morning after one of the meanest presidential campaigns marked by threats of violence including Bill Maher, an HBO show host, telling viewers, “Black people know who you are and they will come after you,” (no consequences for Maher, by the way), it’s probably important to remember:
•There are still 1.1 million fewer people on non-farm payrolls today than when President Obama took office, the first time.
•Through August of this year, the unemployment rate remained above 8 percent for 42 consecutive months. The longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression. (Sept. was 7.8 and Oct. was 7.9, not much improvement).
•There has been an increase of 18 million people receiving food stamps since 2008, with an accompanying 122 percent increase in food stamp spending ($40 billion in ’08, $89 billion this year).
•More than 1/3 of the U.S. population now receives some form of welfare (107 million).
•Federal expenditures for ObamaCare will total $2.3 trillion, a $1.4 trillion increase from initial projections (under which the program was passed).
•$2.3 Trillion looks like: 2,300,000,000,000.
•Federal spending per household reached $29,691 in 2012, a 29-percent increase (adjusted for inflation) from $23,010 in 2002.
•The federal government only collected $20,293 per household in taxes in 2012.
•For every $6.80 collected by the federal government in taxes in 2012, it spent $10.
•Congress has not passed a budget since April 29, 2009. It has, during that time, spent more than 11.2 trillion dollars.
•The Democrats controlled Congress and the White House from 2008 up until Jan 2011.
•The U.S. Department of the Treasury warned in a Oct. 31 press release that it expects the government to hit the debt limit before year’s end.
•In August of 2011, just 15 months ago, President Obama signed a deal to increase the debt limit to $2.4 trillion.
•As of Nov. 6, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has failed to respond to inquiries by Senate Finance Ranking Member Orrin Hatch and Senate Budget Ranking Member Jeff Sessions about the debt ceiling limit and the “extraordinary measures” the press release says the Treasury will need to take to relieve it.
•As the press release states,
“The debt limit places a limitation on the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments.”
•On January 1, 2013, $494 billion in tax hikes take effect, including:
-families with average income of $70,662 will see average increase of $4,138.
-filers with average income of $24,757 will see tax increase of $1,207.
-filers with average income of $23,917 will see tax increase of $1,099.
-retirees with average income of $42,553, will see tax increase of $857.
We’re not so sure Republicans should try and compromise with this administration as so many people are opining today. Already Democratic leadership is signaling that it won’t entertain cuts in spending unless Republicans agree to yet more tax increases. At some point, someone needs to say, stop.
At least here in North Carolina, we got the vote correct. Hopefully, with a fiscally conservative governor at the helm, our state legislature can work to offset the punch in the gut we’re all about to receive.
Maher’s got it wrong. The real concern is that Uncle Sam knows who you are. And he is coming after all of us for four more years.
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