In January 2009, before President Obama had even taken the oath of office, annual spending was set to total 24.9 percent of gross domestic product. Total spending this year, fiscal year 2012, is expected to top out at 23.4 percent of GDP.
Here’s another interesting fact. Taxes today are lower than they were on inauguration day 2009. Back in January 2009, the CBO projected that total federal tax revenue that year would amount to 16.5 percent of GDP. This year? 15.8 percent.
The fact is that Obama inherited a disaster of a federal budget. Eight years prior, when President George W. Bush took the oath of office, there was a $281 billion surplus. By the time Obama was sworn in, he was facing a $1.2 trillion deficit. Inconvenient though it may be for conservatives, THE TRUTH IS THAT SPENDING, TAXES, AND THE DEFICIT ARE ALL LOWER TODAY THAN WHEN PRESIDENT OBAMA TOOK OFFICE.
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
To me, the picture and caption above represents the teapublicans, the evangelinuts, some of the libertarians, many factions of the Republican Party.
Oh, you’ll get the ones that will go onandon about where they donate time and money, go into as much detail as you’ll listen to about their personal sacrifice and great deeds. Yes, it seems they always feel the need to brag. And it always sounds to me like they are better than most — in their own minds anyway.
[sarcasm] You know, there’s the givers and the takers… The takers are lazy, they aren’t as worthy, they obviously are takers by choice. [sarcasm off]
There, but for the Grace of God, go I.
Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Amen……I agree 100%
The Face of Class Warfare
(from the link): Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein came to Capitol Hill this week to call for cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. As Congress and the White House are negotiating a year-end deficit deal, Blankfein sought to “lower people’s expectations” about their retirement and health care. He spoke with all the sympathy for someone struggling to get by on $14,000-a-year retirement that you’d expect from a Wall Street banker paid $16 million last year. “Think about the arrogance of these guys on Wall Street who were bailed out by the middle class of this country when their greed and recklessness nearly destroyed the financial system and now they come to Capitol Hill to lecture Congress and the American people about the need to cut programs for working families,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a Senate floor speech.
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=d3227558-dd10-4c92-ad1a-ad1e1e54543d
Today President Obama is going straight to THE PEOPLE who the republicans want to take away from in order to ensure the wealthiest have the most. THE PEOPLE have already spoken. It’s only the republicans who didn’t hear them.
I’m sure the people understand clearly that the republicans are holding 98% of Americans hostage so they can protect their wealthy donors. Today, they’ll talk this over with their president.
The most important thing THE PEOPLE need to do is send money to those in Congress with whom they agree. If no money, no (real) impact. Sorry to sound so cynical, but absent a national election within the next 30 days, the votes of THE PEOPLE some 23 months in the future do not matter as much as $$ today for reelection campaigns.
I’ve come to the conclusion little to nothing will happen until after January 1, which I believe will be beneficial. Entitlements will not escape unscathed, regardless of what I want. Total reform of the IRC should be on the top of the list, but really won’t be considered. I am 95% sure that the top marginal tax rate will NOT be 39.6% (likely to be in the 37% range). The ultimate deal will be somewhere in the $4 cuts for $1 new revenue range.
Do I hope I’m wrong on this? Maybe; I need to see realistic alternatives (which right now, do not exist) before I come to a conclusion. For example, wouldn’t 4 for 1 be preferable to 10 to 1?
The VoteMaster gives a preview of the 20 Democratic Senate seats up for reelection in 2014. Interesting. If voters don’t turn out, as they didn’t turn out in 2010 midterms, the democrats could lose the Senate majority.
http://electoral-vote.com/
The turnout will probably depend on if these Republicans continue on their quest for voter supression – like they did in 2012.
I think that is probably the biggest factor that got Obama re-elected…
Of course, it certainly helped to have Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock with their ridiculous views on rape – but what they actually said has been in the GOP for a long, long time. These two only committed the cardinal sin of saying it outloud.
But when people are told that they cannot vote – that is when most people will get their back up and say ‘Oh Hell No’…..and then go out and show the voter suppression people what they can do….which is to stand in those long lines, if needed.
But – more than that – what happens in 2014 will largedly depend on what happens in the next two years.
If Obama caves in to the Republicans (who still want to suppress the voters) – then I think the backlash will be seen.
But …I don’t know……if the only other choice is John Boehner and MItch McConnell having even more power by Democrats not turning out to vote……I don’t want to bet on that one.
It will be interesting to watch.
You can bet that if in deed there are cuts to the social programs there will be quite the turn out and it will be for the Democrats in the next elections.
Here is another potential ‘stand your ground’ shooting case in Florida?
But, I fail to understand how the white guy that shot this black teenager was standing his ground if the white guy was the one that told the kids in the car to turn down their music?
Exactly ‘what ground’ was this white guy standing? And – to further complicate this, the white guy shot into a car filled with 4 teenagers because he thought he saw a gun?
Yeah, sure. big eye roll.
But, I wonder how Rush and his lemmings will attempt to make this case into a soapbox for the white man being the one who is victimized?
http://news.msn.com/us/fatal-fla-shooting-over-music-compared-to-martin-case
I told my devout Catholic, Pro-Life, dyed-in-the-wool Republican, Tea Party friend that I would never vote for any Republican as long as their party kept up this incessant 24/7 hatred of the black man in the White House and their obsession that only ‘certain’ Christians are acceptable and all Muslims have to be killed.
And then I committed the worst sin of all – I actually told my friend that Fox News is nothing more than a group of old gossipy church women who love to cackle 24/7 and spew their lies.
You could have heard a pin drop…..but yet this woman still kept forwarding me those ridiculous emails (you know about those emails – don’t you?)
That’s when I started sending these emails back to her with a link to Snopes outling the actual facts.
She stopped for a while – but then I noticed as the election got closer, she started sending me more and more of those ridiculous emails.
I finally sent a personal email to her and told her that obviously she did not think our friendship was anything more than her right to offend me and I was being nice by sending the Snopes facts to her – but she kept sending those emails.
I’ve not talked to this woman – in person – since early summer. And I really have no desire to see her or talk to her – and we have been good friends for the past 15 years.
But….that was before we started talking about religion and politics.
Isn’t it a sad commentary to think that these Teapublicans are so wrapped up in their perception of being ‘right’ and being the only patriotic Americans that they cannot see what their behavior is really doing to other people – this woman has lost me as a friend.
I do not wish anything bad to happen to her – but this woman crossed the boundaries of freindship. I was nice and polite to her and I never forwarded her any of those political emails- so why does she feel she has the right to send them to me?
That is – unfortunately – the current Republican Party. These people truly believe they are nice and God’s chosen favorites – but they treat others like a piece of dirt beneath their feet.
And those who dare to speak against them – are somehow the ‘wrong’ ones.
Yeah, sure…..(big eye roll)