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EducateWorthington.org

The 912 Project - Glenn Beck

912 Group of Central Ohio

Please let me know if you'd like your link added

[new figure is considerably smaller than original estimates]

Deficit Falls to $205 Billion

The nation's budget deficit will drop to $205 billion in the fiscal year that ends in September, less than half of what it was at its peak in 2004, according to new White House estimates.
President Bush planned to discuss the figures in an afternoon appearance.

The new figure is considerably smaller than original estimates. In February, the White House predicted that this year's deficit would be $244 billion because of stronger-than-expected revenue collections. The deficit hit a peak of $413 billion in 2004 and was $248 billion last year.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8...&show_article=1

FYI, the GDP = 13 Trillion, or 13,000,000,000,000 so 200,000,000,000 = 200/13,000 = 1.5% of GDP. Basically, we have a balanced budget in any practical sense. This is far more impressive than the Clinton/Gingrich Balanced Budget because President Bush had to fight 2 wars, create the Dept of HL Security, and expanded entitlements with the Medicare Drug Benefit. Clinton inherited peace and prosperity and had the Republicans forcing him to make good decisions.

The greatest economic boom ever
A lot could go wrong. And it may not feel like a day at the beach to most Americans. But for your average globetrotting Fortune 500 CEO, right now is about as good as it gets, says Fortune's Rik Kirkland.
By Rik Kirkland, Fortune
July 12 2007: 9:46 AM EDT


(Fortune Magazine) -- Just how red-hot is the current worldwide expansion? "This is far and away the strongest global economy I've seen in my business lifetime," U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson declared on a recent visit to Fortune's offices.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/for...on=money_latest

The economy must create 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with the adult populations growth.

The economy must create 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with the adult populations growth.

And just what is the Democratic Congress' plan to do that? Raise taxes? Pass trade barriers? Just what is the Democratic Plan? Increase regulations? Fight Global Warming?
 

That's the spirit -- blame the Democrats. It's the Democrats that can't get anything right.

The Republicans are infallible and omniscient.  We should say, Republicans such as AdamSmith are infallible and omniscient.


 --- My gosh you forgot to blame Bill Clinton. Maybe you're not infallible after all.


This is just part III of the original Clinton Recession.  

That's the spirit -- blame the Democrats. It's the Democrats that can't get anything right.

Blame the Democrats for what? Try Credititing Bush for:

1) near record low inflation
2) near record low unemployment
3) near record low interest rates
4) solid economic growth even with a burp in the housing market
5) near record stock market, record set just 2 months ago
6) masterful management of the economy out of the Clinton Recession
7) record homeownership
solid wage and compensation growth for educated NON-Union workers
9) record productivity
10) growing Manufacturing base


BTW, if all you can point to is a weakness in the sub prime lending and real estate markets, both sectors that have been in a multi year boom and need a rest, you don't have much to complain about.

This is just part III of the original Clinton Recession.

Clinton did start this "rolling" bubble with is "king dollar" policy that started this all these booms and busts (remember Pets.com, Y2K, etc). He deliberatly distorted the markets to maintain a strong dollar and keep inflation low during a period of solid growth. Bush was left to mop up the mess caused by corporate malfesence under the Clinton Era and 911 which wouldn't have occured if Clinton had done his job.

Federal Deficit Running Lower This Year
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8...&show_article=1

US Budget Deficit Drops to 5-Year Low
Thursday October 11, 6:30 pm ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer  
US Budget Deficit Falls to $162.8 Billion in 2007, Lowest Level in 5 Years


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration reported Thursday that the federal budget deficit fell to $162.8 billion in the just-completed budget year, the lowest amount of red ink in five years.
The administration credited the president's tax cuts for helping generate record-breaking revenues but warned of an approaching "fiscal train wreck" unless Congress deals with unsustainable growth in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071011/budget_deficit.html?.v=17

Gap between rich, poor seen growing
Income disparity reaches highest since 1920s, paper reports, with recent Wall Street boom partly to blame.
October 12 2007: 9:56 AM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The income gap between the wealthiest and poorest Americans grew to its widest level since the 1920s, according to a report published Friday.

Citing Internal Revenue Service data, the Wall Street Journal reported that the wealthiest 1 percent of all Americans earned 21.2 percent of all the nation's income in 2005, up from the previous high of 20.8 percent in 2000.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/12/news/econo...sion=2007101209

People who want more government income redistribution programs often sell their agenda with the lament, "The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer," but how about some evidence and you decide? I think the rich are getting richer, and so are the poor.

According to the most recent census, about 35 million Americans live in poverty. Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector, using several government reports, gives us some insights about these people in his paper: "Understanding Poverty and Economic Inequality in the United States".
 
In 1971, only about 32 percent of all Americans enjoyed air conditioning in their homes. By 2001, 76 percent of poor people had air conditioning. In 1971, only 43 percent of Americans owned a color television; in 2001, 97 percent of poor people owned at least one. In 1971, 1 percent of American homes had a microwave oven; in 2001, 73 percent of poor people had one. Forty-six percent of poor households own their homes. Only about 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. The average poor American has more living space than the average non-poor individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens and other European cities.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/WalterE..._getting_poorer

[A Treasury study refutes populist hokum about "income inequality."]

Movin' On Up

A Treasury study refutes populist hokum about "income inequality."

If you've been listening to Mike Huckabee or John Edwards on the Presidential trail, you may have heard that the U.S. is becoming a nation of rising inequality and shrinking opportunity. We'd refer those campaigns to a new study of income mobility by the Treasury Department that exposes those claims as so much populist hokum.

OK, "hokum" is our word. The study, to be released today, is a careful, detailed piece of research by professional economists that avoids political judgments. But what it does do is show beyond doubt that the U.S. remains a dynamic society marked by rapid and mostly upward income mobility. Much as they always have, Americans on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder continue to climb into the middle and sometimes upper classes in remarkably short periods of time.

The Treasury study examined a huge sample of 96,700 income tax returns from 1996 and 2005 for Americans over the age of 25. The study tracks what happened to these tax filers over this 10-year period. One of the notable, and reassuring, findings is that nearly 58% of filers who were in the poorest income group in 1996 had moved into a higher income category by 2005. Nearly 25% jumped into the middle or upper-middle income groups, and 5.3% made it all the way to the highest quintile.

Of those in the second lowest income quintile, nearly 50% moved into the middle quintile or higher, and only 17% moved down. This is a stunning show of upward mobility, meaning that more than half of all lower-income Americans in 1996 had moved up the income scale in only 10 years.

Also encouraging is the fact that the after-inflation median income of all tax filers increased by an impressive 24% over the same period. Two of every three workers had a real income gain--which contradicts the Huckabee-Edwards-Lou Dobbs spin about stagnant incomes. This is even more impressive when you consider that "median" income and wage numbers are often skewed downward because the U.S. has had a huge influx of young workers and immigrants in the last 20 years. They start their work years with low wages, dragging down the averages.

Those who start at the bottom but hold full-time jobs nonetheless enjoyed steady income gains. The Treasury study found that those tax filers who were in the poorest income quintile in 1996 saw a near doubling of their incomes (90.5%) over the subsequent decade. Those in the highest quintile, on the other hand, saw only modest income gains (10%). The nearby table tells the story, which is that the poorer an individual or household was in 1996 the greater the percentage income gain after 10 years.

The rest at: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/fe...ml?id=110010855

Good read.  
The conclusion cites that some politicians are using the notion of income inequality to propose raising taxes.

One of the notable, and reassuring, findings is that nearly 58% of filers who were in the poorest income group in 1996 had moved into a higher income category by 2005. Nearly 25% jumped into the middle or upper-middle income groups, and 5.3% made it all the way to the highest quintile.
 

Using this quote, would they point out something like...."42% of Americans in the lowest income category, were still in the lowest income category 10 years later, and another 28% of them had moved only into the second lowest income quintile?"

or

Of those in the second lowest income quintile, nearly 50% moved into the middle quintile or higher, and only 17% moved down.

They might say, "Of those in the second to lowest quintile, half did not rise at all, and 17% dropped to the lowest income quintile."

Just playing devil's advocate for a second.


 

Retailers See Strong Holiday Start

Nov 25 05:54 PM US/Eastern
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP)  

The nation's shoppers set aside worries about higher gas prices and a slumping housing market and proved their resilience over the Thanksgiving weekend, giving what the nation's merchants wished for—a strong start to the holiday shopping season.
Stores and malls opened the season as early as midnight, drawing bigger-than-expected crowds Friday for discounted flat-panel TVs, digital cameras and toys such as all things related to Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana." Strong sales continued through Saturday, according to one research group that tracks total sales at retail outlets across the country.

Clearly, the biggest draw was electronics, benefiting consumer electronics chains like Best Buy Co. and discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. Popular-priced department stores including J.C. Penney Co. and Kohl's Corp. drew in crowds with good deals. Toy stores like Toys "R" Us Inc. fared well too. Still, apparel sales appeared to be mixed at mall-based clothing stores, though a cold weather snap helped spur sales of outerwear and other winter- related items.

"This was a really good start. ... There seemed to be a lot of pent-up demand," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks total sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets. ShopperTrak reported late Sunday that sales on Friday and Saturday combined rose 7.2 percent to $16.4 billion from the same two-day period a year ago.

Total sales on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, rose to $10.3 billion, up 8.3 percent from the same day a year ago. Martin had expected increases no greater than 5 percent.

Meanwhile, Internet research firm comScore Inc. reported a 22 percent gain in online sales on the day after Thanksgiving compared with the same day a year ago and estimated online sales would exceed $700 million online Monday, the official kickoff to the online shopping season.

complete article

Q3 GDP Growth Unrevised At 4.9%, In Line With Estimates



(RTTNews) - The Commerce Department released its final report on gross domestic product in the third quarter on Thursday, showing that the pace of GDP growth for the quarter was unrevised compared to the preliminary estimate.

The report showed that GDP increased at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the third quarter compared to the 3.8 percent growth seen in the second quarter. Economists had expected GDP growth to remain unchanged at 4.9 percent.

The GDP growth in the third quarter marked the fastest pace of growth since the third quarter of 2003, when GDP surged up 7.5 percent.

The acceleration in the pace of GDP growth compared to the previous quarter primarily reflected accelerations in exports, consumer spending, and private inventory investment.

At the same time, an upturn in imports, a larger decrease in residential fixed investment, and a deceleration in nonresidential structures partly offset the acceleration.

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStor...playsymbol=9999

The economy must create 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with the adult populations growth.

If that was true, you would see the unemployment rate increasing. Not everyone in the population is in the labor force, remember many more people are retiring, and because Bush has been so good for the economy, simply choosing not to work. Unemployment has been falling, and I beleive the labor force participation rate has been as well, meaning that people are retiring or choosing to not work. It is ahrd to argue for discouraged workers because the unemployment rate is so low and fast food pays well above min wage.