Debt Has Increased $5 Trillion Since Speaker Pelosi Vowed, ‘No New Deficit Spending’
By Terence P. Jeffrey
When Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave her inaugural address as speaker of the House in 2007, she vowed there would be “no new deficit spending.” Since that day, the national debt has increased by $5 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Read More
Expiring Tax Cuts Hit Taxpayers at Every Level
Associated Press
"Raising taxes on anyone, especially small businesses, is the wrong thing to do in a struggling economy," Boehner said. "On the issue of job killing tax hikes the American people are not going to accept anything less than the vote that they deserve."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wouldn't commit to vote on any tax proposals before the election. She did, however, pledge to address them by the end of the year. Read More
Gallup Finds U.S. Unemployment at Highest Level Since May
by Dennis Jacobe, Chief Economist - Gallup
Underemployment, at 18.6%, is unchanged from August and up from 18.4% at the end of July. Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, increased to 9.4% in mid-September from 9.3% in August and 8.9% at the end of July. This finding makes it far more unlikely that there will be a significant decline in the U.S. unemployment rate prior to the midterm elections. Read More - See Graphs
$111M in Stimulus Saved 55 Jobs
By William Lajeunesse
According to the audit, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works spent $70 million in stimulus funds -- in return, it created seven private sector jobs and saved seven workers from layoffs. Taxpayer cost per job: $1.5 million. Read More
U.S. Poverty Rate Hits 15-Year High
By Cheryl Wetzstein - The Washington Times
Government figures released Thursday provided a new window on the deep pain inflicted by the recession, with the U.S. poverty rate rising to its highest level in 15 years in 2009 and a record 43.6 million Americans officially labeled poor. Read More
President Barack Obama has repeatedly claimed that his budget would cut the deficit by half by the end of his term. But as Heritage analyst Brian Riedl has pointed out, given that Obama has already helped quadruple the deficit with his stimulus package, pledging to halve it by 2013 is hardly ambitious. The Washington Post has a great graphic which helps put President Obama’s budget deficits in context of President Bush’s. Read More
Vice President Joe Biden gave a stark assessment of the economy, telling an audience of supporters, "there's no possibility to restore 8 million jobs lost in the Great Recession."
Obama, GOP Offer Dueling Realities on Unemployment, the Economy
By Kenneth T. Walsh - US News & World Report
Obama and the Democrats have made the economy worse by running up vast deficits, wasting taxpayers' money, and investing too much power in the government, all the while failing to lower the unemployment rate, which has remained above 9 per cent for 16 consecutive months. And things will get even worse if Obama and the Democrats allow some or all of the Bush-era tax cuts to expire, the GOP says. Read More
Consumer Sentiment Weakest Since August 2009
Reuters
Consumer sentiment unexpectedly worsened in early September to its weakest level in more than a year, as distress over jobs and finances intensified among upper-income families, a survey released on Friday showed. Read More
Taxpayers Paid At Least $9 Million for Signs Promoting Stimulus
By Fred Lucas - CNS News
But the cost is probably much higher since the six government agencies that spent stimulus dollars relied largely on sampling to get an estimate of how much money was spent on posting signs near Recovery Act projects.
Most of the signs read, “Putting America to Work,” and they include the ARRA emblem along with the Recovery.gov Web address. While the Obama administration contends the signs provide transparency, Republicans believe the signs amount to taxpayer-subsidized propaganda. Read More
(Reuters) - The United States posted an $82.69 billion deficit in April, nearly four times the $20.91 billion shortfall registered in April 2009 and the largest on record for that month, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.
It was more than twice the $40-billion deficit that Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast and was striking since April marks the filing deadline for individual income taxes that are the main source of government revenue.
Department officials said that in prior years, there was a surplus during April in 43 out of the past 56 years.
The government has now posted 19 consecutive monthly budget deficits, the longest string of shortfalls on record. Read More
