Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday that the cuts in defense proposed by President Barack Obaama will create “risks” in America’s “capability to respond” to threats.
“The risks come with the fact that, you know, we will have a smaller force,” Panetta said a t a Pentagon briefing. “As we said, it’s larger than we had prior to 9/11, but obviously it will be a smaller force, and when you have [a] smaller force there are risks associated with that in terms of our capability to respond.”
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed Panetta’s assessment, while pointing out that when the admnistration’s cuts in defense are implemented there will be risk that the U.S. military will not be able to do as much as quickly as it can do now
The force structure shifts I’ve outlined today entail some risk to be sure, but to manage that risk we will ensure that we can mobilize, surge, and adapt our force to meet the requirements of an uncertain future,” Panetta said.
“To that end, the Army will retain more mid-level, mid-grade officers, and NCOs [non-commissioned officers]–these are the guys who have the experience–and they will maintain them even as their overall strength decreases to ensure that we have the structure and experienced leaders necessary to re-grow the force quickly if we have to,” he said
“On Tuesday at the State of the Union, I laid out my vision for how we move forward,” President Obama said at a campaign event in Las Vegas, Nevada. “I laid out a blueprint for an economy that’s built to last, that has a firm foundation. Where we’re making stuff and selling stuff and moving it around and UPS drivers are dropping things off everywhere.”
“That’s the economy we want. An economy built on American manufacturing, with more good jobs and more products made here in the United States of America,” he also said.
If you really must, our wizard of smart made this video for you … hey you paid for the giant penis bird to fly out there so you may want to watch it anyway … the video is here.
Here is a message for you voters, don’t vote for simpletons who talk like this … or your economy will look like this.
A candidate for public office in any contemporary democracy may have to consider what, if anything, to do about “global warming.” Candidates should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not true. In fact, a large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed.
In September, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ivar Giaever, a supporter of President Obama in the last election, publicly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) with a letter that begins: “I did not renew [my membership] because I cannot live with the [APS policy] statement: ‘The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth’s physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.’ In the APS it is OK to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?”
In spite of a multidecade international campaign to enforce the message that increasing amounts of the “pollutant” carbon dioxide will destroy civilization, large numbers of scientists, many very prominent, share the opinions of Dr. Giaever. And the number of scientific “heretics” is growing with each passing year. The reason is a collection of stubborn scientific facts.
More proof of global warmingclimate change global climate disruption has been seen with this latest snowstorm in Seattle.
Readers may recall this story from 2008 from where the mayor even refused to bring out salting/snowplowing for fear of environmental damage to Puget Sound.
Two feet of snow has never before been seen in Seattle, it dwarfs the SUV in the photo.
Fitch just cut the long-term issuer ratings of 5 EU sovereigns:
Belgium: AA+ to AA
Spain: AA- to A
Italy: A+ to A-
Cyprus: BBB to BBB-
Slovenia: AA- to A
Ireland’s BBB+ rating with a negative outlook.
While Fitch says that it supports EU leaders actions to address the crisis so far, a lot more has to happen before these countries are out of trouble:
In Fitch’s opinion, the eurozone crisis will only be resolved as and when there is broad economic recovery. It is evident that further substantial reforms of the governance of the eurozone will be required to secure economic and financial stability, including greater fiscal integration.
In particular, Fitch suggested that large-scale purchases of sovereign bonds by domestic banks after the European Central Bankconducted its first LTRO in December has not helped matters:
Rising “home bias” in the allocation of capital, the divergence in monetary and credit conditions across the eurozone, and near-term economic outlook highlight the greater vulnerability to monetary as well as financing shocks faced by these sovereign governments.
The company, Ener1, received a $118 million grant from DOE [Department of Energy] in 2010 as part of the president’s stimulus package,” writes the Heritage Foundation’s Lachlan Markay. “The money, which went to Ener1 subsidiary EnerDel, aimed to promote renewable energy storage battery technology for electrical grid use.”
Today, Ener1 announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Despite the generous federal support Ener1 received (Vice President Biden even visited Ener1, January 26, 2011, the day after the President pledged in his State of the Union address to put “one million advanced technology vehicles on the road by 2015” with the help of taxpayer funding), and like several other now-bankrupt energy companies, Ener1 was “racked by problems.”
See the Vice President mistakenly, but appropriately, refer to the bankrupt company as “Enron one”:
“In October, NASDAQ delisted the company due to non-compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission filing requirements. A month later, the company’s president, chief executive, and top financial officer were fired,” Markay writes.
One of the contracts the company “won” was a contract for batteries for the new upcoming “hybrid Humvee”. Now if that isn’t stupid I don’t know what is.
Mitt Romney, for example, argues that “over the past three years, Barack Obama has been replacing our merit-based society with an entitlement society.”
Newt Gingrich has taken to calling Obama “the best food-stamp president in American history.”
Obama, in contrast, says the government must play an increasing role — what he likes to call “shared responsibility” — to ensure a society that is fairer.
So is Obama turning the country into a welfare society and away from one focused on opportunity?
While it’s true that the country has been headed in this direction for many years — with the explosion in entitlements since the 1960s and the aging of the population — Obama has, in fact, greatly accelerated the trend. Examples:
Mitt Romney was finally forced to play some serious defense over his support for Massachusetts healthcare reform law tonight, in the face of a surprisingly fiesty — and effective — attack from opponent Rick Santorum.
Santorum came out with guns blazing, hammering Romney for supporting “government-run, top-down medicine” and demanding that the former Massachusetts Governor clarify how his state’s version of the individual mandate is different from the one in President Obama’s healthcare reform bill.
Romney was visibly rattled by the exchange. In past debates, Romney’s opponents have struggled to effectively pin him down on Romneycare, but Santorum totally nailed it.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Think about what that means going up against Barack Obama, who you are going to claim, ‘well, it doesn’t work and we should repeal,’” Santorum said, addressing the audience. “He’s going to say, ‘Wait a minute, Governor. You said it works well in Massachusetts.’ Folks — we can’t give this issue away in this election. It is about fundamental freedom.”
This line of attack is particularly effective because it speaks to one of Republican voters’ greatest concerns — that they elect the nominee who is most capable of beating Obama. Rather than go after Romney’s ideology or conservative record, Santorum simply pointed out his opponent’s greatest general election weakness.
Ultimately, Romney managed to fend off the attack, but not before Santorum laid into him for about three whole minutes of smackdown. If Romney gets the nomination, expect Democrats to gleefully replay this clip over and over this fall.
Sales of new single-family homes fell 2.2% to an annual rate of 307,000 in December, putting the annual average at 303,000 units. The tally of sales of new single-family homes in 2011 is the lowest on record (see Chart 1).
On a quarterly basis, sales of new homes (see Chart 2) have been nearly flat for 2 years
The median price of a new single-family dropped to $210, 300, down sharply from a year ago. The inventory of unsold single-family homes at a 6.1-month supply mark is close to the historical average of 6.3-month supply. The absence of robust hiring and strict mortgage loan underwriting keep homes out of the reach of potential buyers. The record low reading of the number of houses for sale bodes positively for future construction (see Chart 3).
Real GDP increased 1.7 percent in 2011 (that is, from the 2010 annual level to the 2011 annual level), compared with an increase of 3.0 percent in 2010.
The increase in real GDP in 2011 primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from state and local government spending, private inventory investment, and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
Not exactly a barnburner.
The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, but a strong rebuilding of stocks by businesses and weak spending on capital goods hinted at slower growth in early 2012.
U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, a sharp acceleration from the 1.8 percent clip of the prior three months and the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2010.
It was, however, below economists expectations for a 3.0 percent rate.
As always, these are early estimates, always wait for the final revisions …
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