Where do you think cuts in spending need to be made?

Since there are going to be round the clock negotiations to hammer out a compromise on reducing the debt this weekend. I thought I would summarize the results of my Mini Poll here. Remember all this drama is going on in order for the Republicans to get concessions for their votes to raise the Debt Ceiling. It is clear how folks think these trade-offs should be made. Here's the question and their Vote:

Where do you think cuts in spending need to be made?

Answers and Percent in Favor of the choice
1. Everything, no exclusions. 39%

2. Increase taxes on just the wealthy. 33%

3. Increase taxes on everyone. 7%

4. Cut mainly from Defense. 13%

5. Cut mainly from Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security 6%

6. Don't need to cut anything or raise taxes. 3%

So 39% are in favor of cutting everything and 33% say they would choose adding taxes on the wealthy. That's a 72% majority.

Market and political comments for July 7th, 2011

Weekly Initial Jobless Claims data came in at 418K compared to last week's data of 428K and an expectation of 425K. This was better than an expected number of 425K and clearly better. The big question is can we get down below 400K again? The answer to that is not if, but when.

According to CNN Money today, " ADP numbers showed a gain in Manufacturing jobs in the Private sector for June of 157,000 new jobs. This is 4 times the number of jobs gained in May. Smaller businesses led the charge in June. Small businesses, defined as those with fewer than 50 workers, added 88,000 jobs in June. Medium-size businesses, defined as those with between 50 and 499 workers, gained 59,000.

Larger businesses, with 500 or more workers, added 10,000 jobs last month."

All US market Futures are up this morning in premarket. It looks like we are making a final push to the previous high of 12,800 before we correct. Clearly a "W" pattern, or Head and Shoulder pattern is forming and may be the last necessary ingredient before the market has its correction. But I have been waiting for that for far too long and I know it.

It looks like the President Obama is blinking by setting a precedent and putting both Social Security and Medicare changes on the table to negotiate with Republicans. This was not a good move at this time as it sets up future hostage situations when the debt ceiling must be raised, as inevitably it will. I am very disappointed in this man on some things and this is one of them. He doesn't seem to have any backbone in him. Very upsetting for Progressives in the Democratic Party. He doesn't have to negotiate on this, when almost 80% of Americans favor leaving both programs alone and untouched. That type of tinkering is best left until after the 2012 election.

To use a biblical reference, he is willing to cut the baby in half. He seems more interested in negotiating that in principles. I hope to God we never are in a situation with this President when we are looking at a military situation where surrender is an option the other side puts on the table.

Healthcare: The argument!

I have been seeing this unfold now for the past 6 months to a year. Because we have a huge budget deficit we all know we must cut spending. I have also argued here that we need to increase taxes on the wealthiest 1% of our population. Today, Republican Rep. Paul Ryan came out with his major spending cut proposal which focused on getting rid of Medicare as we know it in favor of a voucher system for the elderly to purchase health insurance. The Democrats are already out there saying the Republicans want to kill Medicare, funding for Planned Parenthood and PBS and aren't even considering taxing the wealthy or cutting subsidies for the Oil companies and Banks.

I wouldn't be surprised that a compromise might be proposed, whereby Democrats agree to some cuts in Medicare, while Republicans agree to small tax increases on the wealthy. But I am afraid that this will not be enough to close the gap in our debt. We can't use the argument that taxing the wealthiest will cost jobs as they will have less money to help grow and invest in America. They aren't really helping now nor have they through the entire time they have had the Bush tax cuts.

Why haven't the Teabaggers complained about the High Court taking away Miranda rights? Because the Teabaggers are really a fraud!

This is the reality of the Tea Bag movement which formed since Barack Obama was elected President. Their claim is that they have risen up to fight and stop President Obama and his Administration's attempt to take away their Constitutional Rights. They are worried he is going to take away their right to bear arms, even though he has never said that or implied that. They say he and his Administration are against free enterprise and want to make this a Socialist Country, because he bailed out the large Banks and the Auto Industry. These Teabaggers act purist but are anything but.

This morning there was an article on Yahoo.com about the High Court and their decisions over the last 10 years to limit Miranda rights. The title of the article is, "High court trims Miranda warning rights bit by bit." In the article the following is excerpt:

The Supreme Court made major revisions to the now familiar Miranda warnings this year. The rulings will change the ways police, lawyers and criminal suspects interact amid what experts call an attempt to pull back some of the rights that Americans have become used to over recent decades.

The high court has made clear it's not going to eliminate the requirement that police officers give suspects a Miranda warning, so it is tinkering around the edges, said Jeffrey L. Fisher, co-chair of the amicus committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
"It's death by a thousand cuts," Fisher said. "For the past 20-25 years, as the court has turned more conservative on law and order issues, it has been whittling away at Miranda and doing everything it can to ease the admissibility of confessions that police wriggle out of suspects."

The court placed limits on the so-called Miranda rights three times during the just-ended session.

You see if the Teabaggers were really serious about preserving their rights, they would have been marching against the assault on our Constitutional Rights regarding unauthorized domestic Wire Taps without FISA Court approval, as was started in the Bush/Cheney Administration and continued carried by the Obama Administration. Instead, many in the Tea Bag movement are still questioning whether President Obama was elected legitimately, since they claim he was not born in the U.S. They complained they didn't want Government involvement in their Healthcare, even though many love their Medicare. They complained about Death Panels, even though no such thing was ever considered. You see, much of what they seem to stand for is fraudulent to the original Tea Bag movement on taxation without representation. We have the lowest taxes we have ever had as a country and that is why we are broke. They want the Bush Tax cuts to stay in effect, even though it will represent over 30% of the deficit we have as a country, and when you add in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars spending, it adds up to virtually the entire Budget Deficit for the next 10 years.

Looking at the chart above from an article by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, you can clearly see that the Bush Tax cuts are responsible for a significant portion of the deficit in the coming decade. And do you think Tea Baggers want these tax cuts to continue? You bet they do. Just ask former Republican Representative from Texas, Dick Armey, one of the founders of the Tea Bag movement. Oh, and by the way, it was the same Dick Armey that was in favor of open Immigration across our borders and also favored a Free Enterprise System of little, if any, or no regulation. You see they are frauds. If nothing else, their positions are inconsistent, as are also the Republican leaders of the Senate. Their entire game plan is to deny President Obama (and the country) any success out of the messes they have helped create in the first place.

United Healthcare gains 17.1% in just 8 days. I wonder why?

I had to post another chart and comment on the Health Insurance companies and how far their stock price has advanced. I am not going to repeat myself here so if you want the background read the previous several posts. But in summary, United Healthcare's stock has advanced 17.1% since the company knew the Public Option was going out of the Senate Bill on Dec. 6th and then the option to have people 55 and older get a chance to buy in to the Medicare program died on Dec 14th. Can you imagine a stock gaining 17.1% in just 8 days!!!! Unbelievable! And the volume went up a factor of 2.5 times to 3 times the previous 20 days. So this move up is for real and not just a blip on the charts.

I also was keeping track of Wellpoint to see how their stock moved. Well the verdict is in, Wellpoint has gained 10.4%. Now you know how the Insurance companies view this legislation. It is a boon for them and their shareholders and it is going to hurt the average American and the country as Healthcare costs are going to rise for the country.

All I can say is that this is disgusting.

How will the Healthcare legislation work for the average American? Watch the stock price!

Well, several days have passed since I posted about the Healthcare Bill that the Senate committee of 10 approved and that we are waiting for the CBO scoring on the idea. Remember I said, the word has already been leaked to their patrons, the healthcare company execs and they know how it will affect them. I said we had no clue as to whether the new compromise to kill the Public Option vs. expanded Medicare for those age 55 and above w/o any insurance, was good for the average American. But I said to watch the stock price of the Heath Insurance companies to get a read. If the stocks went up, then it was bad for the average American, but good for shareholders and if the price of their stocks went down, it was bad for shareholders and good for average Americans. Well, the data is in on at least the past 4 days when the healthcare Insurance bill has been announced, even though we don't know any details.

Looking at the charts above for the last 4 data points, what do you conclude? To me it is obvious but I would like you to state it clearly here. For example, United Healthcare has gained 10.2% since the deal was known 4 days ago. Wellpoint gained 6.8% in those same 4 days. Do you have ANY stocks which have gained that amount in just the past 4 days? I doubt it! It's because many see the healthcare insurance companies still able to reap big profits, at the expense of average Americans. They like not having competition. The Public Option would have given them good competition. Now there isn't any.

Thanks for any comments posted.

Dick Armey's FreedomWorks wants freedom. Where were they during the Bush years?

I watched Dick Armey on Meet the Press yesterday and his defense of his aims to get government out of healthcare. His belief is that we shouldn't even have Medicare as he is against it, as well. He believes in "Freedom" from government intervention of any kind. So where was he when President Bush was spying on Americans using wiretaps? Where was he when President Bush was wanting to go into Iraq? Where was he when President Bush was spending like crazy and raising the debt of this country to historic proportions under a Republican Congress? I'll tell you he and his group were no where to be found nor heard from during the debate.

What if the surge works? Contemplating the spin

So what are Democrats going to say if the surge works? Are they going to take credit for any part of this? Is President Bush going to get a reprieve from the critics? Is Cheney going to emerge a stronger figure, if that's possible, in this Administration and can say, "I told you so!"? This situation that has us focusing on the next few months and reports daily from Baghdad from such distinguished media anchors as Brian Williams, of NBC, has presented a situation where neither Republicans or Democrats know for sure the outcome. Hence, the politics of this is worth noting. I can see 2008 Presidential candidates more cautious in their pronouncements before the media and in their speeches. And my guess is that this period will be marked by all candidates and elected officials focusing on such things as Healthcare, Immigration reform, Medicare, Social Security and other domestic issues. Why, because they are safer to discuss in a period where the outcome is uncertain. But this is all good news because it means for the first time after the successful invasion of Iraq the American people can see the possibility of a glimmer of hope. No one wants to say that yet because somehow stating it might give cause to it disappearing. Dare we dream of a breather in Iraq. God I hope so.

I have found myself being pessimistic for far too long and anyone reading my Blog can site chapter and verse as to where to support their evidence. But anyone that truly knows me knows I hold out always a 1% possibility that maybe there is some hope of a change.

Then again maybe I’m feeling particularly in a good mood today and this too will pass.