Obama on cleaning up

From LMAObama:
Our President is likely referring to this mess:
Obama either doesn't understand or doesn't care that it will take generations to pay off the debt that he will have accumulated in just four years.

How much debt is Obama piling up? Following Obama's projected budget, the debt, as a fraction of GDP, is shown here in red:
For reference, a national debt of 100% of GDP or more is generally considered a danger sign. Under Obama's plan, Social Security and Medicare will soon run out of money. Rep. Ryan has proposed an alternative plan under which the deficits decline as shown in green. Democrats, of course, find his plan outrageous.

Chevy Volt: building a better tomorrow

Here is a running total of how much Obama's bailout of GM has cost American taxpayers (source: bailoutcost.com):


PREVIOUSLY on Obamanomics and how it differs from economics:
•Germany moves to the supply side
•The Obama first term debt: $70,000 per family
•Obamanomics: maximize the uncertainty
•Obamanomics: its intellectual foundations explained
•Strangling business is no way to create jobs
•CEOs to Obama: Get out of the way!
•Survey of CEOs: Obamanomics is still the problem

•A CEO explains how Obama's policies damage the economy
•CEO: businesses are "frightened to death" of Obamacare and Obama's regulatory overreach

•Obamanomics and the prolonged recession
•How to lie with statistics
•3M: “Politicians forget that business has choice"
•Obamacare: Corporatism in action
•Obama 0, Germany 1:
•Medical insurance prices rising due to ObamaCare
•Laws of Economics 1; Obama 0
•Why Liberal economics fails: redistribution does not create wealth (Illustrated)
•Obamacare endangers student health
•Why business isn't hiring
•Dodd-Frank finance "reform" bill stops bond market cold
•Why unemployment insurance must be extended (illustrated)
•Obamanomics still failing, Washington Post discovers
•Russia goes supply-side
•Study: Liberals are economically illiterate

Occupy Wall Street analyzes the Greek debt problem

At OccupyWallStreet.Org, they are outraged by the unpopular austerity measures being forced on the Greek government:

Wages are to be cut by more than 20 percent, thousands of civil servants will be laid off, and vital social programs will be severely cut. These laws punish the Greek 99% to repay the debts of the ruling class. The government has sold out sovereignty, the poor, and the working class in the interest of foreign creditors and the demands of the 1%. Bankers continue to make millions and corporations pay fewer taxes. The rest of society, having done nothing wrong, is being punished for the failures of the market. [Emph. added]

Is Greece bankrupt because of "the debts of the ruling class"? No. It is bankrupt because of the debts of the Greek government. What has the Greek government been spending its money on? You can find the data (in English fortunately) at the Greek Ministry of Finance. Their 2009 budget is here (PDF). On page 10, there is a helpful pie chart (click on the chart to enlarge):

Greece is bankrupt because it has been spending money that it doesn't have on "health and social policy," "education," and all the other things that left-wing governments spend money on. It is bankrupt because it is a socialist government and it has run out of "other people's money" to spend.

Occupy Wall Street is too busy hating on the "1%" to realize that Greece's problems were caused by politicians buying votes from the "99%".

Democrats and their kool-aid

Ed Driscoll reminds us today of the 909 people who died ("drank the kool-aid") in Guyana on November 18, 1978, at the direction of Rev. Jim Jones. Before moving to Guyana, Rev. Jones preached in San Francisco where, as documented here, he was celebrated for his active support of the Democrat party. Below, for example, is a photo of SF Mayor Moscone and Rev. Jim Jones greeting then VP-candidate Walter Mondale at the airport in 1976:
Rev. Jones was a strong supporter of Moscone and, some say, instrumental in his election as mayor in 1975. Walter Mondale later wrote praise for Rev. Jones.

And here is Rev. Jim jones with another politician he supported, Gov. Jerry Brown:

Obamanomics: its intellectual foundations explained

Then: Joe Biden explains (via Instapundit) how he and Barack Obama developed the economic plan for their administration:

I literally picked up the phone and called Jon Corzine and said 'Jon, what do you think we should do?' The reason why we called Jon is because we knew he knew about world markets, about how to respond. . . . We trusted his judgment.

Now: Politico reports on the bankruptcy of Jon Corzine's firm, MF Global:

The brokerage firm run by former New Jersey governor and senator Jon S. Corzine is being investigated by federal regulators after the discovery that hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money has gone missing, according to reports.

A federal official said on Tuesday that an MF Global executive had admitted that the firm used clients’ money as troubles mounted over bad bets on European sovereign debt, according to the AP.

Taken all together, it is not surprising that America's finances resemble MF Global's.

Occupy San Francisco!

When they aren't getting arrested blockading Wells Fargo's headquarters, the Occupy San Francisco protesters live in this camp near the San Francisco Ferry Building:
The red flag in the center shows Che Guevara, the left's favorite mass murderer. When asked what he felt about living under a flag honoring a murderer, a kind resident explained that he didn't know who Che was. However, he enjoyed the free food.

In the above photo is a sphere with sign taped on it which further clarifies the political philosophy of these protesters. A close up of this sign is below:

The sign reads "we need affordable housing, rent stabilization, no more slum lords, livable wages, [and] 30 hours a week." That makes sense: if you are going to get all that free stuff, why work 40 hours a week?

San Francisco already has rent stabilization (see the SF Rent Board) with anti-landlord policies and the highest minimum wage in the nation. So, shouldn't the protesters celebrate living in this worker's paradise? Must not have worked out like they would have hoped.

Here are two more signs. I'll leave it to you to work out what their policy implications are:
Below is the encampment's kitchen, which appeared well stocked with boxes of apples and bread:
Left-wing protesting seems to generate an extraordinary amount of trash that overflows all the provided trash containers. This view is from just off the kitchen and you can see the Che flag in the background:
Living in a park for months at a time with trash always overflowing is not always popular. The protesters blame the police:
Managing these protests is a lot of work. Below is the org-chart for the Occupy-SF protest:
Note that they have volunteers in charge of "gender issues" and "arts + culture" but, unsurprisingly, no one has volunteered for "sanitation."

Also note that no one has volunteered for the "finance" post. Would you volunteer for that post if you lived in a camp that demonized bankers?

Many ask: are corporations people? The sign below on the left tries to answer that:
It reads:

"I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one! -- I am the 99%"

Of course, corporations are executed, mercilessly, all the time: it is called Chapter 7 (liquidation).

Note the green sign in the center above. It was left by a Republican who brought it for today's anti-UN protest (see the post below). Is it out of place here? Will they notice?

PREVIOUSLY, you have seen this same park on this blog as the site of a Tea Party protest:
•To protest Obamacare, San Francisco holds a sick-in (Nov. 15)

PREVIOUSLY on Occupy Oakland:
•Occupy Oakland protesters are committed Marxists

RELATED: In Atlanta, the Democratic Mayor wants to clear the park of Occupy protesters. OWS protesters "don't want to restrict anyone's behavior" unless the anyone is driving to work in which case they are happy shut down the road. Zombie has an excellent photo essay on Occupy Oakland.

PREVIOUSLY on Tea Parties in the San Francisco area:
•Long Strange Trip: Hippies defend establishment; Tea Party protests (Jul 18)
•A Tea Party greets Obama in San Francisco and the left is not happy about it
•Collected photos of this year's San Francisco Tea Party events
•Minutemen vs. May Day protesters in San Francisco
•A tax day Tea Party breaks out in San Francisco's Union Square
•A tax day Tea Party breaks out on the San Francisco Peninsula
•3 in 10 Californians identify with tea party protests
•To protest Obamacare, San Francisco holds a sick-in (Nov. 15)
•A Tea Party greets Obama in San Francisco (Oct. 15)
•Videos of the October 15 San Francisco Tea Party
•San Franciscans speak to Nancy Pelosi (Aug. 14)
•The San Francisco Tax Day Tea Party Protest in Pictures (Apr. 15)
•Farmers protest in San Jose (Nov. 21).
•Tea Party breaks out in Palo Alto (Nov. 21)

Mission Accomplished!

Is it really "mission accomplished"? That would depend on what Pres. Obama's mission was. Also, did he think the mission through from beginning to end? I see no evidence that he had a mission or that he thought through the consequences.

Related: Libyan rebels have Al Qaeda links.

UPDATE: Al Qaeda flag flies above Libyan courthouse.

A very impressive political ad

Yet another "green" disaster

In July, the National Park Service proudly announced the completion of a solar energy system at Yosemite. From the National Park Service press release:

Yosemite National Park Superintendent Don Neubacher led a ribbon cutting ceremony today, July 27, to dedicate the El Portal Photovoltaic Project. Neubacher was joined by representatives from the offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Congressman Jeff Denham (R-19th), Mariposa County Supervisor Lee Stetson, contractors, and National Park Service staff. The event dedicated the largest grid-connected photovoltaic system within the National Park Service (NPS).

. . . . The park estimates saving approximately $50,000 per year on electricity purchased off the grid . . . .

. . . . The project was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment act and cost $5.8 million. . . .

It costs $5.8 million and only saves $50 thousand per year! Not counting interest costs, that means is pays for itself in 5,800,000/50,000 = 116 years, on the unlikely assumption that it lasts that long. No business would touch such a bad deal. It was paid for with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (A/K/A Porkulus) funds and various "rebates".

Hat tip: Don Surber and Coach.

The Federal budget problem, clearly explained

(Warning: contains vulgar language)

Hat tip: Greg.

President Obama: the Movie

From Rush, Obamageddon and Barackalypse Now:
From Instapundit, Downgrade (which apparently features a sinking ship):

The answer depends on where you are looking

As explained by master cartoonist Michael Ramirez:

Obamacare: the revenge

Last year, support from AARP was critical to passage of Obamacare as AP reports:

The 40 million-strong AARP represents people 50 and older, including retirees on Medicare and Social Security. Its endorsement of health care overhaul came at a critical time last year, days before a close vote on the House floor.

This year, AARP is telling its own employees that their health insurance costs are going up because of Obamacare while, at the same time, AARP must increase their co-pays and deductibles to avoid the future "cadillac plan" tax.

May all the Obamacare shills suffer similarly.

PREVIOUSLY on the subject of ObamaCare:
•Obamacare forcing Boeing to cut back employee healthcare coverage
•Special privileges: McDonald's and 29 other companies get waivers from Obamacare
•Obamacare threatens health coverage for fast-food workers
•ObamaCare threatens child-only insurance
•Medical insurance prices rising due to ObamaCare
•Obamacare endangers student health
•Obama's health care and economic policies explained
•Obamacare may raise insurance costs by 54%
•Harvard economist explains why Obamacare will raise premiums
•HHS says Obamacare will cause costs to go up and cause employers to drop coverage

A reminder of how we got here

While Pres. Obama wants to blame Bush for everything, it was the Democrats who blocked the reforms of the government mortgage enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that could have prevented the mortgage bubble and therefore prevented this recession, as these video retrospectives clearly show:

and more (hat tip: Roger Kimball):

As the reporter notes at the close of the above video, when it was time to stand up and be counted on mortgage reform, Sen. Obama was silent.

Still more:

PREVIOUSLY:
•Rep. Speier rewrites history
•Financial crisis in review
•Barney Frank and the collapse of housing prices
•How we got in this economic mess
•Those who do not learn from history

The Obama administration plans for the future, illustrated

From Michael Ramirez:

Too little, too late: Dems turn on Pelosi

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Swing-district Democrats, fighting for their political lives, are beginning to turn on Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), one of the most powerful House speakers in decades but also one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. politics. . . .

A half-dozen Democratic candidates have aired advertisements seeking to draw distance from the speaker, including one released Friday by long-time Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas. . . .

Thirty-one House Democrats rebelled this week against her position on former President George W. Bush's tax cuts, signing a letter calling for all of the cuts to be extended, not only those for households earning less than $250,000.

It is too bad those those Democrats did not found their voices before Porkulus and Obamacare. If they had, we wouldn't be in the fix we are in now.

PREVIOUSLY on the subject of Speaker Pelosi:
•San Franciscans rally against Pelosi
•Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Feinstein: how their husbands benefit from government contracts
•Speaker Pelosi's deep thoughts on giving Miranda rights to terrorists.
•San Franciscans speak to Nancy Pelosi (Aug. 14)

Bob Hope's greatest movie line

Partial transcript:

Geoff Montgomery (Richard Carlson): It's worse than horrible because a zombie has no will of his own. You see them sometimes walking around blindly with dead eyes, following orders, not knowing what they do, not caring.
Larry Lawrence (Bob Hope): You mean like Democrats?

Of course, some of the establishment Republicans are zombies too.

Hat tip: Rob H.

PREVIOUSLY on the humorous side of our present predicament:
•If Pres. Obama was "amused" by the tea parties....
•Comedy in the tragedy
•Obamacare, illustrated
•Seeing the humor in a disaster
•Obamacare and trillions of dollars of unfunded mandates
•Where has the laughter gone?

Obamacare and the trillions of unfunded liabilities

Hope and Change explains the long term meaning of Obamacare:RECENTLY on Obamacare:
•The fraud of Obamacare, as seen from the left
•Pelosi: Pass Obamacare so artists can quit their day jobs
•How many House Democrats would be vulnerable this fall because of Obamacare?
•Britain's Obamacare: Hospital patient dies of thirst as nurses ignore his pleas for water
•Nobel Laureate economist explains why socialized medicine always fails
•Rep. Ryan explains the dishonesty of Obamacare economics
•Obamacare 2.1 and its discontents (illustrated)
•Pushing a losing agenda

A Nobel Laureate economist explains why Obamacare will lead to disaster

Back in 1978, Milton Friedman presciently explained the problems that government-funded medicine causes:

Hat tip: Ingo.

PREVIOUSLY on Obamacare:
•Rep. Ryan explains the dishonesty of Obamacare economics
•Obamacare 2.1 and its discontents (illustrated)
•Pushing a losing agenda
•The Obama enigma
•An encounter with the Ideologue-in-Chief
•Democrats' stealth plan to resuscitate Obamacare
•Those who want to go done with the ship: Obamacare Dead-enders
•Obamacare may raise insurance costs by 54%
•Harvard's Dean of Medicine opposes Obamacare
•How good is Canadan health care?
•Rahm Emanuel explains that they are not even trying have Obamacare make sense
•Harvard economist explains why Obamacare will raise premiums
•HHS says Obamacare will cause costs to go up and cause employers to drop coverage
•To protest Obamacare, San Francisco holds a sick-in
•Polls say majority of voters oppose Obamacare
•Obama wants to kill your mother!
•VP Biden offers medical advice
•"The Post Office, with scalpels"
•Dems oppose affordable medicine
•Socialized medicine in Japan: Baby dies after 8 hospitals refuse to admit mother
•The Canadian health care collapse
•Canadian official: "the system is imploding"
•Canadian MP flies to US for treatment

Pushing a losing agenda

After he sounded moderate during his State of the Union address, polls showed a sharp rise in Pres. Obama's popularity. Now that he is once again pushing Obamacare, the post-SotU address bounce has disappeared:Rasmussen says that Pres. Obama's current, as of Sunday, net approval (strongly approve minus strongly disapprove) is -19%, the second lowest on record. The only lower number, -21%, was from last December 22 just as the Senate was about to force through, on a pure party-line vote, its health care takeover bill.

UPDATE: As of Monday, 22-Feb-2010, the net approval remains unchanged at Sunday's -19.

SEPARATELY, John Hinderaker reports that the Obama administration is considering, as a way of financing their deficits, a government takeover of your 401(k).

PREVIOUSLY on Obama's unpopular agenda:
•The Obama enigma
•An encounter with the Ideologue-in-Chief
•Democrats' stealth plan to resuscitate Obamacare
•Those who want to go done with the ship: Obamacare Dead-enders
•Obamacare may raise insurance costs by 54%
•Harvard's Dean of Medicine opposes Obamacare
•How good is Canadan health care?
•Rahm Emanuel explains that they are not even trying have Obamacare make sense
•Harvard economist explains why Obamacare will raise premiums
•HHS says Obamacare will cause costs to go up and cause employers to drop coverage
•To protest Obamacare, San Francisco holds a sick-in
•Polls say majority of voters oppose Obamacare
•Obama wants to kill your mother!
•VP Biden offers medical advice
•"The Post Office, with scalpels"
•Dems oppose affordable medicine
•Socialized medicine in Japan: Baby dies after 8 hospitals refuse to admit mother
•The Canadian health care collapse
•Canadian official: "the system is imploding"
•Canadian MP flies to US for treatment