A few days ago President Obama delivered his vision of the 2012 budget. It was less than well received:
The Republicans, as expected, weren’t too pleased with it either.
Here it is if you want to watch it before discussing any further:
Now, the main gripe was, as per the norm with Obama, it had no real specifics. He’s going to cut trillions, balance the budget, and tax the rich. No one will lose their job, no one will lose any benefits. Everyone will be happy.
Now, there’s politics as people are used to it. It’s partisan, it’s opinionated. I could quote thousands of opinions real easy from people who supported it, and people who didn’t. That’s easy. It’s also boring and redundant.
Then, there’s the real world reactions.
NASDAQ:
| Date | Open | High | Low | Close |
| 4/13/2011 | 2762.69 | 2772.05 | 2744.85 | 2761.52 |
| 4/14/2011 | 2743.12 | 2762.18 | 2733.68 | 2760.22 |
| 4/15/2011 | 2752.87 | 2769.29 | 2743.75 | 2764.65 |
| 4/18/2011 | 2731.22 | 2737.46 | 2706.5 | 2735.38 |
Down.
S&P:
| Date | Open | High | Low | Close |
| 4/18/2011 | 1313.35 | 1313.35 | 1294.7 | 1305.14 |
| 4/15/2011 | 1314.54 | 1322.88 | 1313.68 | 1319.68 |
| 4/14/2011 | 1311.13 | 1316.79 | 1302.42 | 1314.52 |
| 4/13/2011 | 1314.03 | 1321.35 | 1309.19 | 1314.41 |
Down.
Dow Jones:
| Date | Open | High | Low | Close |
| 4/13/2011 | 12263.73 | 12372.94 | 12203.63 | 12270.99 |
| 4/14/2011 | 12270.24 | 12332.71 | 12137.98 | 12285.15 |
| 4/15/2011 | 12285.45 | 12402.61 | 12238.34 | 12341.83 |
| 4/18/2011 | 12339.71 | 12339.79 | 12093.89 | 12201.59 |
Down.
But the real problem happened last night.
‘AAA/A-1+’ Rating On United States of America Affirmed; Outlook Revised To Negative
Specifically:
- Because the U.S. has, relative to its ‘AAA’ peers, what we consider to be very large budget deficits and rising government indebtedness and the path to addressing these is not clear to us, we have revised our outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable.
- We believe there is a material risk that U.S. policymakers might not reach an agreement on how to address medium- and long-term budgetary challenges by 2013; if an agreement is not reached and meaningful implementation is not begun by then, this would in our view render the U.S. fiscal profile meaningfully weaker than that of peer ‘AAA’ sovereigns.
To put this into perspective, Standard and Poor’s started rating the United States in 1941. Since that time, the US government has maintained S&P’s highest rating. Until yesterday.
Their problem with the next two years is, believe this or not, they have no idea what Obama’s plan is to deal with the exploding debt.
Can you imagine that?
Folks, this is
All that money we expect China and the Middle East to loan to the US government basically with no questions asked, that’s what this affects. It’s saying we’re a little less safe than a LOT of other countries. That’s bad folks. Real bad.
Obama needs, just for once, to be specific. He needs to grow some nads and be the President. Just for once. His penchant for offering flowery generics and liberal talking points has got to stop. He’s got to man-up and tell S&P and the world exactly how he’s going to make this country safe and prosperous again.
Upon retiring the last of the Shuttles, they will be sent to various locations as museum pieces. They are expected to be big draws. Last year Obama allocated $14 for one to be located in Dayton, Ohio. The money and the shuttle were intended to offset the loss of jobs in Ohio caused by mothballing manned space flight. So, in the usual Obama style of promising everyone the Moon and screwing everyone that believed him, these were the final four resting sites:
- Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia
- Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City
- California Science Center in Los Angeles
- Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex in Florida
I don’t see Ohio on that list. According to Sherrod Brown, senior Senator from Ohio, “NASA was directed to consider regional diversity when determining shuttle locations”. This is Charles Bolden’s idea of “regional diversity”":
View Shuttle Locations in a larger map
In spineless Charles’ defense, he does site “input” from the White House. And, from what I’ve seen, those pretty much ARE the only regions in the United States according to Obama. Surprised one didn’t wind up in Chicago. Meanwhile, legislation has been proposed to assist the communities affected by the loss of jobs at the Johnson Space Center near Houston, to the tune of $40 million.
H.R.286 — Johnson Space Center Workforce Stability Act of 2011 (Introduced in House – IH)
HR 286 IH
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 286
To direct the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Commerce to create a job training program and an economic stability program to stabilize the workforce and promote economic growth in the Johnson Space Center region.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 12, 2011
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas (for himself and Mr. OLSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Commerce to create a job training program and an economic stability program to stabilize the workforce and promote economic growth in the Johnson Space Center region.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Johnson Space Center Workforce Stability Act of 2011′.
SEC. 2. JOB TRAINING.
(a) Program Authorized- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall create a job training program to assist any affected worker in the Johnson Space Center region to transition to a new job. Such program may include a one-stop career center tailored to the needs of affected workers in the Johnson Space Center region.
(b) Duration- The job training program created under this section shall terminate 2 years after its creation.
SEC. 3. ECONOMIC STABILITY.
(a) Cooperative Agreements Authorized- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Economic Development Administration of the Department of Commerce (referred to in this section as the `EDA’), shall enter into cooperative agreements with eligible recipients in the Johnson Space Center region to help stabilize the workforce in such region and to promote economic growth.
(b) Application- An eligible recipient that desires to receive funds under this section shall submit an application that contains a comprehensive economic adjustment strategy to the Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such additional information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
(c) Uses of Funds- The EDA, acting through a cooperative agreement with an eligible recipient, shall use funds authorized to carry out this section for activities to help stabilize the workforce and promote economic growth in the Johnson Space Center region, which may include–
(1) providing financial and technical assistance to eligible recipients to help implement the comprehensive economic adjustment strategy, which may include efforts such as infrastructure upgrades, establishing entrepreneurial networks, and establishing skill training facilities; and
(2) analyzing whether other methods for economic adjustment that have been successful in similar situations may be effective in the Johnson Space Center region, and if so, implementing such methods, which may include–
(A) supporting efforts to start new technology ventures based on the specific skills of dislocated engineers;
(B) providing technical assistance to guide public officials, management, and affected workers; and
(C) providing additional oversight through visits to the Johnson Space Center region.
(d) Duration- The cooperative agreements entered into under this section shall be for a 2-year period.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
(a) Johnson Space Center Region- The term `Johnson Space Center region’ means the locality surrounding the Johnson Space Center that contains affected workers.
(b) Affected Worker- The term `affected worker’ means any employee of the Johnson Space Center or any individual who works for a contractor of the Johnson Space Center whose job stability is impacted by the programmatic changes to the space exploration program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(c) One-Stop Career Center- The term `one-stop career center’ means a comprehensive office dedicated to helping individuals who are unemployed find new employment that offers training referrals, career counseling, job listings, and similar employment-related services.
(d) Cooperative Agreement- The term `cooperative agreement’ has the meaning given the term in chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code.
(e) Eligible Recipient and Comprehensive Economic Adjustment Strategy- The terms `eligible recipient’ and `comprehensive economic adjustment strategy’ have the meanings given the terms in section 3 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3122).
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General- There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act–
(1) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; and
(2) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2013.
(b) Allocation- Of the amounts appropriated to carry out this Act for each fiscal year–
(1) the Secretary of Labor may use not more than $10,000,000 for the job training program; and
(2) the Secretary of Commerce may use not more than $30,000,000 for the economic stability program.
Anyone else get the idea where I’m going with this?
Now, Obama is saying he’s serious in fighting the debt. He’s going to raise taxes.
What do you think about all this?
