Democrats Lose Sequester Battle

 

A clever idea boomerangs on Obama. Real cuts ahead?

The whole sequestration gambit has failed, to the point where even the Washington Post’s Ezra Kleinadmits that “the Democrats have lost on sequestration.” The idea was that even the comparatively minor cuts in spending caused by the sequester would be so painful that voters would demand higher taxes rather than endure cuts in spending.

Problem was, when the spending cuts came, nobody noticed. This led the Obama administration to try to up the pain by focusing cuts in places where people might feel the pain: canceling White House tours for schoolchildren, or furloughing air traffic controllers.

That didn’t work either. The tour-canceling just looked mean, and the problem with targeting air travel is that members of Congress, and their top donors, fly a lot. Huge bipartisan majorities in Congress thus quickly passed legislation forcing the FAA to make cuts elsewhere instead.

More here …

 

With Love, Thanks …

I bet you didn’t know how generous you were. Where do you think the Boston marathon bombers got their cash to live on? Why you of course.

Tsarnaev family received $100G in benefits

The Tsarnaev family, including the suspected terrorists and their parents, benefited from more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded assistance — a bonanza ranging from cash and food stamps to Section 8 housing from 2002 to 2012, the Herald has learned.

“The breadth of the benefits the family was receiving was stunning,” said a person with knowledge of documents handed over to a legislative committee today.

The state has handed over more than 500 documents to the 11-member House Post Audit and Oversight Committee, which today met for the first time and plans to call in officials from the Department of Transitional Assistance to testify.

 

SESSIONS: IMMIGRATION BILL GIVES AMNESTIED RESIDENTS ‘IMMEDIATE’ ACCESS TO WELFARE

Marco Rubio, you’ve been duped.

Breitbart reports:

“The Gang of Eight made a promise that illegal immigrants will not be able to access public benefits,” Sessions said in a statement to Breitbart News. “We already know that, once granted green cards and ultimately citizenship, illegal immigrants will be able to access all public benefit programs at a great cost to taxpayers. We have, however, identified a number of loopholes that would allow illegal immigrants to draw public benefits even sooner than advertised.”

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) uncovered this loophole in the bill and many others, and he will circulate a memo detailing the gaps in the bill on Tuesday. Breitbart News exclusively obtained a copy of the memo before its public release.

Don’t forget your food stamps, aisle to the left.

Dumbo

Black and Hispanic Families Lost Most Wealth Under Obama

It’s always the poor that are hardest hit under liberals.

But they think they are helped the most, what’s that all about? Math is hard.

Despite their overwhelming support for radical Barack Obama, blacks and Hispanics lost the greatest percentage of wealth during the Obama years.

You could add “what recovery”?

The New York Times reported:

Millions of Americans suffered a loss of wealth during the recession and the sluggish recovery that followed. But the last half-decade has proved far worse for black and Hispanic families than for white families, starkly widening the already large gulf in wealth between non-Hispanic white Americans and most minority groups, according to a new study from the Urban Institute.

“It was already dismal,” Darrick Hamilton, a professor at the New School in New York, said of the wealth gap between black and white households. “It got even worse.”

Given the dynamics of the housing recovery and the rebound in the stock market, the wealth gap might still be growing, experts said, further dimming the prospects for economic advancement for current and future generations of Americans from minority groups…

…The dollar value of that gap has grown, as well. By the most recent data, the average white family had about $632,000 in wealth, versus $98,000 for black families and $110,000 for Hispanic families.

All in all, Hispanic families lost 44 percent of their wealth between 2007 and 2010, the Urban Institute estimates, and black families lost 31 percent. White families, by comparison, lost 11 percent of their wealth.

Europe’s Unemployed

European unemployment just broke above 12% for the first time ever and European youth unemployment remains miserably above 24%. And while 1-in-4 under-25s unemployed is a bad enough statistic in terms of likely emergence of social unrest, the individual countries are in general deteriorating once again at a faster rate. French youth unemployment has risen for 13 months in a row to a record 26.5%; Spain (at 57.2% of under-25s unemployed) is catching up fast to Greece’s stunning 59.1%; but perhaps the most concerning for the broader economies is the fact that Italy’s youth unemployment has now topped that of Portugal at 38.4%.

The only nation to see a drop in its youth unemployment was Ireland – which fell back modestly to January levels. Not a rosy picture, but then again, it doesn’t matter… 12% unemployed, total.

And then there is this, as you dig deeper. It’s even worse for the youth.

Euro-Zone under 25, 1 in 4 are unemployed.

 

History’s Lessons

History teaches

 

Worked for them … Actual billboard, by anonymous person.

Big brother to switch off your fridge: Power giants to make millions – but you must pay for ‘sinister’ technology

The English always have such clever technologies to make life so much more convenient. Obama is watching.

The things you can do to your peasants, but can’t do to armed free people.

The Daily Mail writes:

• Computer chips will take control of home appliances when energy is low
• Sensors will detect spikes in demand for power and when grid struggles to meet it, will temporarily shut off appliances
• Can shut down supply without warning – or your consent

Fridges and freezers in millions of British homes will automatically be switched off without the owner’s consent under a ‘Big Brother’ regime to reduce the strain on power stations.

The National Grid is demanding that all new appliances be fitted with sensors that could shut them down when the UK’s generators struggle to meet demand for electricity.

Electric ovens, air-conditioning units and washing machines will also be affected by the proposals, which are already backed by one of the European Union’s most influential energy bodies. They are pushing for the move as green energy sources such as wind farms are less predictable than traditional power stations, increasing the risk of blackouts.

Fisker’s Green Madness

Green Madness: Fisker Spent $660,000 On Each $103,000 Electric Car

‘Fisker Automotive Inc. spent more than six times as much U.S. taxpayer and investor money to produce each luxury plug-in car it sold than the company received from customers, according to a research report. Last week it filed for bankruptcy’

Flashback: Consumer Reports: Fisker Karma the Worst Luxury Sedan

The only problem who wants a $125k golf cart, apparently no one.

Housing Bubble 2.0

It was just seven short years ago that the prices at the epicenter of the housing bubble, Los Angeles, CA rose by 50% every six months as the nation experienced its first parabolic move higher in home prices courtesy of Alan Greenspan’s disastrous policies: a time when everyone knew intuitively the housing market was in an epic bubble, yet which nobody wanted to pop because there was just too much fun to be had chasing the bouncing ball, not to mention money. Well, courtesy of the real-time real estate pricing trackers at Altos Research, we now know that the very worst of the housing bubble is not only back, but it is at levels not seen since the days when a house in the Inland Empire was only a faint glimmer of the prototype for BitCoin.

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