Dude, Where is our Recovery?

[GeronL]

Factory orders down by most in 15 months.

[FastEddy]

There are more than 1.4 Million living in the USA on "just" $2 per day ... USAToday and MSM run stories like this all the time, trying to squeeze sympathy from anyone living on "more" ... after all, government IS charity.

There are whole villages of "retired hippies" living thus ... by choice.

The sad truth is that government is putting the squeeze of these folks ... Inflation is the cruelest tax of all.

[David]

Biggest drop in factory orders, shipments in more than a year

SOURCE

[GeronL]

Originally Posted by FastEddy

There are more than 1.4 Million living in the USA on "just" $2 per day ... USAToday and MSM run stories like this all the time,

20% of those on welfare are getting total benefits worth more than $30,000, they are better off than those paying their way

[FastEddy]

Originally Posted by GeronL

20% of those on welfare are getting total benefits worth more than $30,000, they are better off than those paying their way

... and the underground economy is never mentioned. Check out any flea market, eBay, Amazon ...

BTW: I have been negotiating with international small businesses to transact in Gold = no applicable taxes on either end of these transactions unless and until the Gold is converted to the local cash (as capital gains).

[David]

Big drop in consumer confidence reported today. Gas and grocery prices taking a toll. Happy days are not here again.

[schaabdl]

And remember - gas and food is NOT part of the inflation index.

[GeronL]

Of course not. Just like those who give up looking for work are no longer unemployed.

[FastEddy]

business purchasing / inventories up a paltry 2.2% ... pundits projected better than 3% ...

[GeronL]

US now has highest corporate taxes on Earth, Japan cut theirs.

That should attract a lot of investment. not

[David]

Is the Wimpy Recovery Morphing into a Recession?

Read more: http://business.time.com/2012/04/03/...#ixzz1r1dEg0Kp

[David]

Jobless Claims Stay Elevated as Labor Market Gains Stall.

Plus: “Last week’s 386K number was revised to 389K, meaning the massive miss relative to expectations of 370K last week just got even worse. This is the 10th week in a row of misses to the weaker side and the 16th of the last 18.”

[David]

Economy slowed to 2.2% growth rate in Q1

[David]

25 Horrible Statistics About The U.S. Economy That Barack Obama Does Not Want You To Know

SOURCE

[FastEddy]

This is important:

"#1 The percentage of Americans that own homes is dropping rapidly. According to Gallup, the current level of homeownership in the United States is the lowest that Gallup has ever measured.

#2 Home prices in the U.S. continue to fall like a rock as well. They have declined for six months in a row and are now down a total of 35 percent from the peak of the housing bubble. The last time that home prices in the United States were this low was back in 2002.

#3 Last year, an astounding 53 percent of all U.S. college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.

#4 Back in 2007, about 10 percent of all unemployed Americans had been out of work for 52 weeks or longer. Today, that number is above 30 percent.

#5 When Barack Obama first became president, the number of "long-term unemployed workers" in the United States was 2.6 million. Today, it is 5.3 million.

#6 The average duration of unemployment in the United States is about three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.

#7 Despite what the mainstream media would have us to believe, the truth is that the percentage of working age Americans that are employed is not increasing. Back in March 2010, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2011, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2012, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. So how can Barack Obama and the mainstream media claim that the employment situation in the United States is getting better? The employment rate is still essentially exactly where it was when the last recession supposedly ended.

#8 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#9 In 1962, 28 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs. In 2011, only 9 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs.

#10 In some areas of Detroit, Michigan you can buy a three bedroom home for just $500.

#11 According to one recent survey, approximately one-third of all Americans are not paying their bills on time at this point.

#12 Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the price of gasoline has risen by more than 100 percent.

#13 The student loan debt bubble continues to expand at a very frightening pace. Recently it was announced that total student loan debt in the United States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.

#14 Incredibly, one out of every four jobs in the United States pays $10 an hour or less at this point.

#15 Household incomes all over the United States continue to fall. After adjusting for inflation, median household income in America has declined by 7.8 percent since December 2007.

#16 Over the past several decades, government dependence has risen to unprecedented heights in the United States. The following is how I described the explosive growth of social welfare benefits in one recent article....

Back in 1960, social welfare benefits made up approximately 10 percent of all salaries and wages. In the year 2000, social welfare benefits made up approximately 21 percent of all salaries and wages. Today, social welfare benefits make up approximately 35 percent of all salaries and wages.

#17 In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, more than 46 million Americans are on food stamps.

#18 Right now, more than 25 percent of all American children are on food stamps.

#19 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, today 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives some form of benefits from the federal government.

#20 Over the next 75 years, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars. That comes to $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

#21 During the first quarter of 2012, U.S. public debt rose by 359.1 billion dollars. U.S. GDP only rose by 142.4 billion dollars.

#22 At this point, the U.S. national debt is rising by more than 2 million dollars every single minute.

#23 The U.S. national debt has risen by more than 5 trillion dollars since the day that Barack Obama first took office. In a little more than 3 years Obama has added more to the national debt than the first 41 presidents combined.

#24 The Federal Reserve bought up approximately 61 percent of all government debt issued by the U.S. Treasury Department during 2011.

#25 The Federal Reserve continues to systematically destroy the value of the U.S. dollar. Since 1970, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 83 percent of its value. ..." - From David's link just above.

When writing your letters to the editors, these are the talking point ...

[David]

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. factory orders fell at the sharpest pace in three years in March, a sign that demand is slowing amid an uneven economic recovery. Orders for manufactured goods declined 1.5% to $460.46 billion, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That matched expectations of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. Factory orders over the previous month were revised down, as well, to a 1.1% increase from an initial estimate for a 1.3% gain.

[FastEddy]

Here is the second dip of the double dip recession. It started last December with weak Christmas sales for brick and mortar retail and diminished 4th Q. technology sales (except for Apple cell phones).

Unless the consumer markets rebound before July 1 (if or when the Supremes discount BummerCare), small business in North America will continue to contract across the board with few bright spots.

Taxes on and regulations of small business continue to rise. "... government is not the solution, government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan in His First Inaugural Address

---

On the snooze this AM: 15,000 government employees lost their job(s) this month while the private sector generated only 130,000 new jobs = net gain of 115,000 new jobs.

"April jobless rate 8.1%...
+115,000; Sluggishness...
Labor Force Participation Lowest Since 1981...
Disability applications soar...
Judges barred from using Internet, FACEBOOK when investigating claims...
REPORT: 29.7M unemployed...
STOCKS TUMBLE..."

- Drudge Headlines today ...

[David]

Poll shows Americans' pessimism on economy growing


SOURCE

[FastEddy]

Recovery? It Ain't Happenin' !:

"Stopping the Largest Tax Hike in History" - Heritage Foundation News Letter

"The largest tax hike in history is due to strike the United States on January 1, 2013. Known as "Taxmageddon," it would impose $494 billion in higher taxes on the American people in the first year. So terrible would be its impact that yesterday Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Senate Democrats that the country is headed toward a "fiscal cliff" and that Congress must deal with the impending tax nightmare.

On Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced that his chamber will take up the issue before the November election. Knowing Washington's general reluctance to do anything of substance in an election year, Boehner's announcement was welcome news given the disastrous ramifications the threat of such a massive tax hike is already having on the economy. That's according to Mohammed El-Erian, CEO of Pimco, the world's largest bond trading firm. El-Erian argues a "prolonged political inaction is likely to postpone building plants and purchasing equipment and to discourage them from hiring." And that is only an inkling of the blow that would strike the economy if these tax hikes actually took effect.

How could nearly half a trillion dollars in higher taxes hit the American people so fast? What hath prior Congresses wrought? Heritage's Curtis Dubay explains that the tax hikes come from a series of expiring tax cuts and the imposition of even more new taxes. And Heritage's J.D. Foster writes that Americans can expect to see the following tax consequences starting next year:

- Income tax rates shoot up, [For everyone, not just the rich!]

- The child credit is cut in half, [Solomon's dilemma?]

- The marriage penalty roars back, [That would be gay marriage, too!]

- The capital gains tax rate goes up, [and even more multi-nationals will seek the double Dutch sandwich.]

- The dividend tax rate soars, [Apple, Berkshire, GE, Google ... splits instead of dividends?]

- The payroll tax rate jumps two percentage points, [G'ment "worker" wages, too!]

- The death tax is restored to its punitive past, [Kill off Grandpa this year, not next?]

- The Alternative Minimum Tax relief expires, and [Again! But now even congress critters have to pay? Betting not!]

- A uniquely pernicious additional payroll tax hike from Obamacare takes effect. [OMG! BummerCare taxes too!!]

Taxmageddon not the only tax problem. A consensus is coalescing in favor of fundamental tax reform, and many members of Congress understandably want real progress. Fortunately, there's a solution if Congress gets its act together and decides to take action. ... [more]"

Suddenly! Suddenly? Even Bennie? If Bennie is running scared all of a sudden and if he thinks it is critical, well, he must have had an epiphany overnight! It looks like more than just CYA ... A Half a Trillion in Tax Hikes = doom!

Oh Bummer: Let the purges begin!

[David]

weeklystandard ‏

If it Wasn't for Bad News ...: Consumer confidence falls to four month low. http://bit.ly/LCyUov