After two years of Obama...


January 2009 TODAY % chg Source
Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S. $1.83 $3.104 69.6% 1
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel) $43.48 $99.02 127.7% 2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel) $38.74 $91.38 135.9% 2
Gold: London (per troy oz.) $853.25 $1,369.50 60.5% 2
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL $3.56 $6.33 78.1% 2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL $9.66 $13.75 42.3% 2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. fob $13.37 $35.39 164.7% 2
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall 7.6% 9.4% 23.7% 3
Unemployment rate, blacks 12.6% 15.8% 25.4% 3
Number of unemployed 11,616,000 14,485,000 24.7% 3
Number of fed. employees, ex. military (curr = 12/10 prelim) 2,779,000 2,840,000 2.2% 3
Real median household income (2008 v 2009) $50,112 $49,777 -0.7% 4
Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10) 31,983,716 43,200,878 35.1% 5
Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10) 7,526,598 9,193,838 22.2% 6
Number of long-term unemployed 2,600,000 6,400,000 146.2% 3
Poverty rate, individuals (2008 v 2009) 13.2% 14.3% 8.3% 4
People in poverty in U.S. (2008 v 2009) 39,800,000 43,600,000 9.5% 4
U.S. rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings 5 9 n/a 10
Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10) 29.9 23.5 -21.4% 11
Failed banks (curr = 2010 + 2011 to date) 140 164 17.1% 12
U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate 89.76 82.03 -8.6% 2
U.S. money supply, M1, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim) 1,575.1 1,865.7 18.4% 13
U.S. money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim) 8,310.9 8,852.3 6.5% 13
National debt, in trillions $10.627 $14.052 32.2% 14

Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the
rest of our entire nation's history. Over 27 times as fast. Metaphorically speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH
and a car rockets past you in the left lane. 27 times faster, it would be doing 7,555 MPH!

Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA;
(6) U.S. Dept. of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11)
The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury


We must give up eating SUGAR to help ...I don't think...

Anyway ..we are going to turn our rubbish into electricty..that should help...but the plant to do it will cost money.
We recyle most of our trash...but that cost money.

Too many fat Cats and exspensive Footballers...

Remember Obama inherited two wars that he pays for on his watch, these wars were never paid for during last administration ,Plus trillions of dollar debt.we are recovering/slow but sure, it is like losing weight it took a long time to add that extra pounds it will take a long time to fix what was broken for eight years of Bush and the years of Reaganomics ..Candy your reporting on America now LOL

The Wars the United States has spent money on through the years in my opinion needed to happen for the security of our country. We had no choice but to spend the money to go to war. Its either that or be destroyed by the enemy in the name of "Peace". Its either kill or be killed. Just my opinion. Some people will argue that war is not the answer to anything, that peace is the answer. Answer to what? Some countries don't want peace, they want to destroy us and anyone that doesn't agree with them. Are we supposed to tell them we want peace and we won't fight you? Americans that think Peace is the answer are self-righteous narrow minded jerks. They don't have to protect anything, they just sit back and spout off "Peace is the Answer". They don't have to make the hard decisions. I would say to them if it wasn't for the wars the United States spend money on to protect you there might not be a United States anymore for you to spout off about. You complain bitch and moan about war when that is the very thing that has protected you up till now. Thank god the presidents we've had don't think like you. We would be destroyed under your administration. Think about it. You are free BECAUSE of the wars. You want to sit back and be walked on and taken over? Bush and every other president has done what they thought best for the security of our nation. I truly believe that.

yes war is necessary in some cases, but the afghan war, and Iraq war ,are not! as the Korean war and viet Nam war wasn't necessary~

I disagree, I think all were necessary. All of them.

We have just paid of our debt to you for WW1 1914..1918 or who ever we owed money to.

No mention has been made about WW2 debt...not that I have read.

Rob Peter to Pay Paul ....wonder if that saying came from the Bible.....like so many saying.

A lot of Shakspear's Quotes came from the Bible .....he was raised in a very Religous atmosphere. 1564

He could translate Greek to Latin and then to English. The bible is made up of different books.
Greek...Hebrew and other languages. (Code of War) The book is known as.
Eye for an eye ect; we still use many of these quotes to-day.
Linton in the 1500's transcribed the King Jame's of Scotland Bible to serve a purpose...the purpose failed.
Not sure how..maybe to save the English language among other things. It was written so the Peasants could understand it.

Kill or be Killed ....We have to defend ourselves....fight the good fight.

runawayhorses wrote:I disagree, I think all were necessary. All of them.

i agree they were necessary, especially Korea, and Afghanistan

one question then I will shut up, why were korean war and afghan war necessary? give a good true answer~ please

Afghanistan . is bin laden still in the caves or is he dead...who knows.

perhaps he did nip over the border to Parkistan...

The Russians tried to have a go...but the terrain is very rocky and mountainous.

(do we only know half!)

very true we know only half,Candy. in the eight years bush should have had bin laden~ if the devil is still alive, we don't know that for sure:)

ok on the Korean war, was fought by US to stop communism, at that point in time it was not stopped by us fighting the Korean war~Afghan war to stop terroism into nine years of war it still hasn't stopped~We need to pull out of all wars and bring our People home~

THE ANSWER is Power and Religion...

The Taliban dissagreed....and so war ensued.

Bush did not need us in the Irak war..he just wanted us on his side as a back-up.

Now Soldiers in Irak are being transferred to Afganistan.

and so it goes on...

(Can Have that Degree in Politics now please...)

Oh! No Not Korea...North and South divide.

One of them is very secretive...What the hell are they up to?

gypsy wrote:in the eight years bush should have had bin laden

Could another president have done better at capturing Bin Laden? Could another president issued other orders better than Bushes to get Bin Laden?? Is Obama getting it done better? Has he got him yet? No.

Bush or any other president relies solely on Military Intelligence to get Bin Laden. or anyone else. The President doesn't go out there and capture anyone himself for cryin' out loud, he gives orders to get it done. Its not Bushes fault. You are grasping at straws trying to discredit Bush. We all know you dislike him, but putting the blame on him for not capturing Bin Laden is absurd.

gypsy wrote:one question then I will shut up, why were korean war and afghan war necessary? give a good true answer~ please

well i could study it but this is off the top of my head, we may have had a treaty to protect south korea, but im not sure, but if that war was not fought, there would be no south korea. we fought to what the 38 parallel. as a buffer, north korea is broke and the people suffering, and starving, south korea has a booming economy, kia , hyundai cars plant developed there , and now even have plants in my state, and who know what they manufacture, im sure the ppl of south korea were glad we came to their aid, for the life of me i dont understand north korea, they are so poor, and all they have to do is look south to the thriving south korea. korea war was fought so south korea is now free and not communist. and like i said a modern thriving country.. it was not fought to stop communism everywhere only in south korea. and it worked.
as for Afghanistan, the taliban which was in control was letting the terrorist use the country for a training grounds for learning their business. afganistan is a no brainer.
vietnam was a mistake , or letting politicians fight the war was a mistake, and hamstringing the military,

My very last words, we get to involved in other countries affairs, we need to take care of our suffering ,starving, poor, here first~~ one reason we are in the shape we Are in, the wars for others~ I hate war unless absoulutely necessary.ok! I vented..! we did not win that war, north Korea is still a danger.

gypsy wrote:My very last words, we get to involved in other countries affairs, we need to take care of our suffering ,starving, poor, here first~~ one reason we are in the shape we Are in, the wars for others~ I hate war unless absoulutely necessary.ok! I vented..! we did not win that war, north Korea is still a danger.

We won't have any suffering, starving poor people in this country as well as rich, healthy and fat people either if we don't analyze every situation in every country. There won't be a country if we don't keep our guard up and fight back. The "wars for others" is Jesus like. God wants people to help others. Its the right thing to do. The Devil wants us to turn our backs on the suffering, to forget about them and only think about ourselves. That is not the way this country wants to be and is not Christian. War is sometimes the only way to stop bad people from hurting innocent good people. WE try to help others. I'm trying to put this in a way you can understand. The presidents we've had of the US are more informed than anyone else in the US about whats going on in the world. People think they know the whole story and what is going on, but they don't. They don't know the inside story. The president has to keep some things confidential. That's why I support the president's we elect becuase they know more than we ever will. You have to trust there judgment becuase you don't know what they know and they can't tell you for security reasons.

The United States has built up such a large and strong military and our tech is so overwhelming better than others that if we wanted to we could take over the world and defeat everyone. All countries that stood against us. That's how big we are militarily. But of course we would never do that. That is something Hitler wanted to do but he didn't have enough power militarily to pull it off. They were strong but not strong enough. They tried but failed. The US would never consider such a thing and we never will. But its interesting to note that if we wanted to we could, but we don't. That would go against everything we believe in and live by. We built the strongest military in the world, because we knew it helped to secure us and protect us and allow us to defend other countries as well who's intentions were good. Its necessary to be more powerful than everyone else.

All these wars we've been involved with lately as well as other countries wars they are fighting between themselves we could put a end to if we so chose to use all our power. Nuclear power to take out entire countries and the tech to pull it off. Its doable. But we don't becuase we are not like that. WE fight wars without using the full capabilities we posses. WE could end all wars in a day if we wanted.

Tyler I definitely understand,you don't have to talk down, or condescending to me,I am not a child, and I Like helping people,and I like the thought of us doing this, I know
God wants us too, but sometimes enough is enough. especially in a no win situation,we cannot win in Afghan neither did we win in Iraq in fact more destruction was created with that war than help! all the stealing equipment, halibuton's devious ways the list goes on, I am sorry for answering again I will now hush.

gypsy wrote:Tyler I definitely understand,you don't have to talk down, or condescending to me,I am not a child, and I Like helping people,and I like the thought of us doing this, I know
God wants us too, but sometimes enough is enough. especially in a no win situation,we cannot win in Afghan neither did we win in Iraq in fact more destruction was created with that war than help! all the stealing equipment, halibuton's devious ways the list goes on, I am sorry for answering again I will now hush.

OK. be silent now, you seen to be intent on doing so, or so you say. What good that does I have no idea.

Yes, I do have to talk down to you, sometimes that's the only way to get through to you. You say you believe in the Bible and God, so I used that to get my point across to you. You either support your beliefs thoroughly or you don't.

Quite frankly I don't know why you would consider that being "talked down to" if that is the way you believe. You respect the words I'm saying but still feel talked down to. Doesn't make any sense. Perhaps you don't believe as much as you think you do and you are now feeling talked down to even when your own beliefs are thrown back at you. The reality is too much it would seem.

No you are wrong, God doesn't want his children to ever give up helping people. That is the Devil's way of thinking.

God doesn't give up, and neither did Jesus. Enough is NOT enough.

Yes, those are words you can understand.

gypsy,,u said we did not win the korean war, because n korea is still a danger, that statement does not make sense, that war was 60 years ago,,there about, there have been things happen. but the south koreans live in peace and prosperity. what do u think it would be like if we had not fought that war? u baffle me, to the point i will not respond again, some wars are necessary. ur an isolationist, we cant survive unless we defend out interest around the world.. but im done on this subject we all know ur feelings, no more need to be said.

No Problem Rosco ,Tyler, you misinterpret my point, but Whatever, nothing more said period.
war and politics~I will never respond again,I thought airing our opinions~was good.. Have a wonderful day/night

gypsy wrote:No Problem Rosco ,Tyler, you misinterpret my point, but Whatever, nothing more said period.
war and politics~I will never respond again,I thought airing our opinions~was good.. Have a wonderful day/night

i understand ur point and always have, as for airing ur opinions, u have aired it a thousand times over , over the years,on past presidents and war, and the current president . we know how u feel. and have for along time. nothing wrong with it. and i think u understand mine and probably tylers also, but i dont mean to speak for him, but i think enough has been spoken. there is not that much to our opinions on either side, its basically simple to understand and no need to run on 2 pages, i have known ur feeling for years. and u are entitiled to them. just know we know them. its the old stuff we grow tired of, as for new events world wide,that happen day to day, or week to week or month to month. everyone welcomes an opinion.

Oh yes!! Old Stuff//your right Rosco~~ on both sides of the aisle/now when you point at me in that fashion
!! back at you, then don't run on two pages ,I know your points also~ heard them for years ,its a GOTCHA YA!!!

But just to prove a point/cause I never give up LOL

http://www.omaha.com/article/20101128/NEWS01/711289876ublished Sunday November 28, 2010
N. Korea threat beyond neighbor

By David Hendee

A firsthand look
World-Herald staff writer David Hendee spent six days in Korea earlier this month.

Hendee, a staff writer for 34 years, accompanied a group of American veterans returning to Korea on a Military Historical Tours trip to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. The South Korean government hosted the group, and President Barack Obama was part of a Veterans Day ceremony the veterans attended.

This article is part of the newspaper's ongoing coverage of the war's anniversary, starting with a Memorial Day special section commemorating the start of the war in June 1950.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's threat of war against South Korea is part of a strategy the communist military regime has used to its advantage repeatedly since fighting ended in the Korean War nearly six decades ago.

North Korea's deadly artillery shelling of a South Korean island last week and its warlike rhetoric aimed at today's planned U.S.-South Korean military exercises are the latest examples of the threat faced by the about 30,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

The troops, a deterrent to renewed aggression by the North, are part of an alliance dating to the Korean War. The front line on this last Cold War frontier is 33 miles north of Seoul at the Demilitarized Zone. The DMZ is a 156-mile-long strip of land, 2½ miles wide, that has marked the border between North and South Korea since the end of fighting in 1953. Despite its name, the DMZ is considered the most heavily fortified border in the world.

Wire fences topped with concertina wire and elevated observation posts manned by guards armed with rifles line the freeway along the Han River north of Seoul to the DMZ. Military checkpoints and concrete barricades filter traffic into the buffer zone. Guards wear combat gear.
was less than a year ago~You can read the rest.click on link

Oh! I change my mind I am fighting for the downtrodden,in MY country first,,like the unions going on in several states,this is the heart of America!our working class

:We won't have any suffering, starving poor people in this country as well as rich, healthy and fat people either if we don't analyze every situation in every country. There won't be a country if we don't keep our guard up and fight back. The "war (your quote Tyler. but we still do

War with other countries problems/ Do not solve ours,like trickle down wealth,Reaganomics does not solve the now problems.,poor will keep getting poorer.wealthy keep getting WEALTHY!
where do the middle class come in? doing away with collective bargaining and the unions
puts us back to suffering in the 20"'s 30" Rosco I don't think u want that/plus woman's right look at the complete picture The Republicans want to return to this forum/1920'" 30th"s

I change my mind,I will not hush!

on the Vietnam war.what a tragedy to our fighters.if you were lucky enough,or rich,powerful enough to not have to serve//you have no idea of the horrors,I had one brother,brother in law,many friends,who served in Vietnam/they don't talk much/but the treatment they got/when they returned was sad.so in that war/nuff said, unless you serv..
yes Rosco this is old,but should be a lesson//are we listening?