****
Rolling Stone: The Obama Hope And Change Index: 6 Years Of Progress, By The Numbers
Peak unemployment, October 2009: 10 percent
Unemployment rate now: 5.9 percent
Consecutive private sector job growth: 55 months
Private sector jobs created: 10.3 million
Federal deficit, 2009: 9.8 percent of GDP
Deficit in 2013: 4.1 percent of GDP
Average tax rate for highest earners 2008: 28.1 percent
Average tax rate for highest earners 2013: 33.6 percent
Banks regulated as too big to fail, 2009: 0
Banks regulated as “systemically important financial institutions” — a.k.a. too big to fail — 2014: 29
Billions returned to consumers by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement: $4.6 billion
Americans compensated for being swindled by banks, lenders and credit card companies: 15 million
Dow Jones close, inauguration day 2009: 7,949
Dow Jones yesterday: 16,719
Required MPG (miles per gallon) for cars when Obama took office: 27.5
Required MPG for light trucks/SUVs when Obama took office: 23
MPG requirement by 2016 for cars, light trucks/SUVs: 35.5
MPG required by 2025: 54.5
Gigawatts of wind power installed when Obama took office: 25
Gigawatts of wind power installed through end of 2013: 61
Peak summertime solar power generation June 2008: 128 gigawatt hours
Peak summertime solar power generation June 2014: 2,061 gigawatt hours
Coal burned in electrical generation 2008: 1 billion short tons
Coal burned in electrical generation 2013: 858 million short tons
Reduction: 14.2 percent
EPA-proposed CO2 reductions for power sector by 2030: 30 percent
Pell grant funding 2008-2009: $18 billion
Pell grant funding 2013-2014: $33 billion
Adults gaining insurance under first year of Obamacare: 10.3 million
As a percentage of the uninsured: 26
Annual cost for birth control prior to Obamacare: Up to $600
Annual cost for birth control under Obamacare-compliant policies: $0
Prescriptions now required to obtain emergency contraception: 0
2009 projection for Medicare going broke: 2017
2014 projection for Medicare going broke: 2030
Troops in Iraq, inauguration day 2009: 144,000
Troops in Iraq today: 1,600
Osama bin Ladens alive 2009: 1
Osama bin Ladens alive 2014: 0
Troops in Afghanistan, day, 2009: 34,400
Troops pledged in Afghanistan by end of 2014: 9,800
Guantánamo detainees inauguration day 2009: 242
Gitmo detainees today: 149
Crack vs. Powder cocaine-crime sentencing disparity when Obama took office: 100:1
Crack vs. Powder disparity today: 18:1
Drug offenders eligible to seek early release under new sentencing guidelines: 46,000
More here
****
White House.gov
:-)
Good job, Gail!
Thanks 57! Now I’m about to go back to keeping my nose to the grindstone :-)
Y’all carry on!
Congrats Gail :)
Excellent post, NW!!
Thanks, Bob.
I agree with Bobfr, NW. Excellent post. Thanks.
Thanks, Betsy.
Thanks Bob!
Hey Now! I lucked up on a goooooaaaal :D :D
2nd!
I love that “playing President/Being President”. Thank you President Barack Obama for showing us what a REAL President does for his Country.
My favorite as well. This is an iconic comparison/contrast.
Wow…..What a Fantastic Post to walk in to………Ms Nerdy Wonka.
I am tickled beyond Pink ;)
Wow. Brilliant Post. >-I Thanks NW.
Congrats to GGail for your Au :star:
Now, I will try to go back to catch up.
Hello TOD! Happy Thursday!
Thanks, Nena.
Thanks Nena!
Oh…..Obrigado, Mr. President!
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
Good afternoon, all!
Nerdy, as always, THANKS for the outstanding thread!
Thank you very much, Alycee.
gunnite folks.
excellent recap, ut.
fact
fakt/
noun
plural noun: facts
a thing that is indisputably the case.
“she lacks political experience—a fact that becomes clear when she appears in public”
synonyms: reality, actuality, certainty; More
antonyms: lie, fiction
used in discussing the significance of something that is the case.
noun: the fact that
“the real problem facing them is the fact that their funds are being cut”
a piece of information used as evidence or as part of a report or news article.
synonyms: detail, piece of information, particular, item, specific, element, point, factor, feature, characteristic, ingredient, circumstance, aspect, facet; information
“every fact was double-checked”
LAW
the truth about events as opposed to interpretation.
“there was a question of fact as to whether they had received the letter”
Origin
late 15th century: from Latin factum, neuter past participle of facere ‘do.’ The original sense was ‘an act or feat,’ later ‘bad deed, a crime,’ surviving in the phrase before (or after) the fact . The earliest of the current senses (‘truth, reality’) dates from the late 16th century.
I couldn’t resist, Google defines ‘fact’, good morning y’all!! <3
Morning all.
Hail to the chief! mitt can be on all the “revitalization tours he wants, but he was creamed by our president, has has the results to prove it!
A quick Correction, please pardon me.
Yesterday, I wrote that in SD, Tom Daschel was supporting Pressler and Harry Reid was supporting Weiland
I was mixed up. Weiland was Sen Tom Daschel’s former aide. So it Weiland that Mr. Daschel is supporting and Senator Reid is supporting Pressler……a 3rd term US Senator, a former GOPer who endorsed Sen Obama in 2008 and pres Obama in 2012. Dems gave up on SD. Weiland has been working hard for over 12 months. Pressler is a newer candidate for that race.
Pardon me for the mix-up.
Now, Dems are beefing up support for Weiland, but they are not going after Pressler. All their attacks are on Rounds……the GOPer current Rep and SD former Gov.
Mentioned you and Jovie on the last thread, since both of you mentioned SD Senate race yesterday.
Take a look at this article, which I think provides better background on that race, though it refers to Kansas as South Dakota’s “neighboring state” (Nebraskans would probably not agree).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Independent candidate, Larry Pressler:
“former moderate Republican now sounds more like a Democrat. He voted for Barack Obama. He supports balancing the budget in part by raising taxes on millionaires, a new gas tax and the elimination of some corporate deductions. He wants to raise the minimum wage and teacher salaries, supports gay marriage, and says the U.S. should pare back its military spending. ‘I’m not an isolationist,’ he adds. “I know we have to do some bombing.”
Thanks for this article, Arapaho415 ;)
You are my favorite teacher today, Nena!
For once in years….I partially agree with GeraldoR.
But Only in this order:
Uninsured.
Poor.
Foreigner.
25% of TXans are uninsured.
Pigmentation.
So oil stocks are tumbling and so does rest of Dow Jones???
Now, my question is this: with all the turmoil in the ME, why are oil prices sinking? I’d think the opposite would be the case.
I read somewhere late last night the projected demand is expected to fall again in coming reports. Good for the environment.
Ah, that makes sense.
What is good for the consumer is bad for the oil companies. The precise reason why Wall St. interests don’t sync with Main St. interests.
PBO has leveled the playing field with increased U.S. production precisely for this point: so that we can better weather ME turmoil. Unfortunately, that has angered the environmentalists and many of us who question fracking and other methods.
If we could only run a car with a solar cell. Hey, why can’t we?
Agree, 57F.
That’s one reason I don’t get overjoyed when DJIA surges or reaches new heights.
It’s another casino designed to enrich the rich.
Meanwhile, those on fixed incomes can look forward to less than 1% return if their life savings is invested as federally-insured deposits.
I saw my sister-in-law’s retirement turn to dust because “everybody should be their own investment banker.” All that did was shovel tons of money to the Wall St. gamblers, who lost it all.
I want a return to the days when there were safe investments that grew slow and solid. And people could retire with confidence.
Exactly.
I think it’s because the finance journalists are so young, they don’t realize that before deregulation (1978) banks were required to offer 5% on regular savings (unlimited in person withdrawals) while Savings and Loans could offer 5.25%. Term (certificates of deposits) offered higher rates for committing your funds for longer periods of time, up to 8%.
This is something we need for a thriving middle class, not casino crapshoot investments.
We are back to the boom and bust financial Wild West of the 1800’s. And you’re absolutely right: there is an entire generation that has no idea how things used to be stable. And because of RWNJ’s taking over school boards and local governments, they are no longer learning the history of those turbulent times and why regulation was critical to the stable economy after the Depression. Sigh.
Here is a partial answer that may interest you, LL:
The large investment banks— in this case let’s call them “speculators” have full tankers of oil floating around the world waiting to be sold when the prices are high.
So lower oil prices + dropping stock market makes perfect sense.
ME turmoil is another dimension and I have no idea how that figures in.
Wall Street is doing their level best to spook the electorate…….No GOPer wave in 2014.
SCOTUS is doing their level best to deny Voters, their right to cast votes.
The Media is doing their level best to distort, poll badly and then attack pres Obama and Dems 24/7.
The Corporate Media and the Wall Street who fund them are plotting to steal the elections for the GOP.
But like Willard Mitterrand Romney, the Voters would speak in Nov.
Agree Nena. And as we were saying yesterday, the pundits are trying to set up a situation that will blame PBO if Dems lose Senate and will proclaim that Dems won in spite of the President when we actually do win.
Which we will.
Great post, NW. I see evidence every day that the Hopey Changey thing is working. Especially when I enroll long term medically neglected people into the expanded Oregon Health Plan (expanded Medicaid under ACA).
Thanks, Bill.
From yesterday…
The reason AriF is freaking out on CNN today about SS and the WH.
WTG Jay Carney.
Spoiler alert: it’s @GovernorOMalley.
From the article:
“Martin O’Malley, the two-term governor of Maryland, has headlined more than 80 Democratic fundraisers since last year. He’s rallied the party faithful at over 40 campaign events and Jefferson-Jackson Dinners in Democratic strongholds like Massachusetts and in reliably-red states like Mississippi and Kansas.”
snip /
“O’Malley’s itinerary looks like something out of the Democratic National Committee travel office.”
She annoys the shit out of me, but she has been campaigning a lot. And hasn’t put her foot in her mouth that I’ve heard. Which is a miracle.
Of course O’Malley is trying to rebuild American progressive ideals and a re-set of of the Democratic party that can fix the country’s problems. Hillary cares about Hillary.
HRC hasn’t needed to put her foot in her mouth because she has had her minions out doing just that - Panetta, Andrea Mitchell, Grimes, Bill Press, etc.
You are absolutely right, hf. I had to leave for work early this morning and my day, which already had been off to a rocky start, was ruined by Bill Press and his Obama-hating guests. I wanted to SCREAM.
Now, Count Von Knoller is an observant fella, once in a year ;)
Did you see this (from earlier threads:
This is what I meant to post, some crazy russian anti ship missiles.
Is this not crazy???? I do not get this fear at laGuardia at all.
I didn’t read the post because the dKos diarist is delusional but the title caught my attention: Apparently the good-paying jobs in the last jobs report are BAD because poor people can’t do them. How twisted do you have to be to come to that conclusion?
Am I dumb? Who is Pressler?
SD, and you are not dumb. This is nonsense. Angus King is a pain in the neck. He says he will caucus with whoever wins. Not a principle to his name. All camera hogging ego.
Expect to hear the meme: what a good idea to have an “Independent” running the Senate.
They have conveniently forgotten the true definition of an “independent:” “I’m too lazy to actually think through issues and take a stand.”
Since the 2000s, Indy senators have worked with Dems more.
Sanders. Jefferies. Even awful Lieberman. Angus. Voted with Dems more.
Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Murkowski, have claimed to be independent. Murlowski was elected as Independent…..but she Votes GOP party line more often than none.
Yes. But I don’t trust King. He truly has no principles.
Sanders is certainly Left. Jeffers was completely discouraged by the direction of the GOP. A true moderate for whom there is no longer a place in the GOP. Snowe and Collins never ran as Independents. And here is my opinion on the later GOP who claimed to be more “independent” (as a definition, but certainly not party affiliation): anyone who still claimed to be GOP as the sea shifted, were true GOP. Snowe left. What has Collins done that isn’t the same as any other RWNJ?
Lieberman was the most odious. He got pissed because them libruls cost him the Dem nomination. He was as awful as McCain on WAR! and turned from his OWN suggestion of Medicare for over 55 when he found out that them damned libruls liked it. A miserable human being. Lieberman started the Lieberman Party, for God’s sake.
Murkowski, like Lieberman is not an “independent”, but someone who didn’t secure her party’s nomination and called herself independent. She’s cast a few decent votes, though.
Pressler is the former senator from SD from 1979-1996 or so. He is a former GOPer too. He endorse then Sen Obama in 2008 and Pres Obama in 2012.
No you are not dumb.
SD politics is generally not a national attention grabbing state. In 2002 and in 2004……..Johnson the current senator was running for his election…..he had been a placement holder. He won. In 2004, Rove and GW Bush zeroed in on SD to defeat Senator Tom Daschel. A 1st, and in an unspoken Rules over the years of the Two Parties……(Dem and GOP…to lay off their leaders)…..GOP broke that rule in order to unseat a Dem Majority Leader. Thunne(sp) won and has been in office since then.
Thank you for the history lesson. I do remember what they did to Daschel in 2004.
How about we get through the election first.
For 57 and others in Illinois. https://twitter.com/quinnforil/status/520281503822258176
I’ve had a really bad day, but you know I’ll watch it. We’ll see if Rauner has given any thought to policy or governance.
Just posted below: he tested negative.
here’s what drives me crazy: no one knows how to adequately judge “risk”. We will hear cries that everyone should be tested for a disease that is difficult to catch in the U.S. but do nothing about gun deaths or access to health care. It’s insane.
—————————-
James Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has withheld approval of the funds in his chamber, saying that it would add demands on a defense budget already stretched thin.
A spokeswoman for Inhofe said Thursday that there is no change in his decision after approval from the other committees.
Staff members of the Senate panel are hoping Inhofe will change his mind.
———————————-
Excerpt on James Inhofe belongs with the Sam Stein tweet below.
More Hope and Change……in WVa of all places.
—————————
James Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has withheld approval of the funds in his chamber, saying that it would add demands on a defense budget already stretched thin.
A spokeswoman for Inhofe said Thursday that there is no change in his decision after approval from the other committees.
Staff members of the Senate panel are hoping Inhofe will change his mind.
——————————-
These bastards keep hurting US and are Never held accountable.
OK is as Red a state as they come.
That wicked fool took an oath to protect and serve, yet all they do these days is to HURT, HARM and CRIPPLE the Fed Gov’t……Hence, decimating US Citizens.
I really have to do some research on what libraries are like in Israel. Every time I tell a new Israeli patrons that our cards are free, you can check out books for 3 weeks, and that you can have up to 50 checkouts at a time, they look at me like I’m speaking of a land of amazement.
Isn’t that the point of a library? Am I missing something?
Apparently we both are.
The public library - the greatest equalizer in all of civilization. I grew up in libraries. We had to get on two buses to get to the closest library, but that’s where I would spend my summers. In those days of yore, you could only take out three books at a time, for two weeks. But in the summer it was unlimited. I have such fond memories of my brother and I taking that bus when I was 10 years old. We checked out Shakespeare, The Iliad and the Odyssey and the Canterbury Tales. Reading became literature to me that summer. What a memory……
It’s a month in Ventura County, has been for at least 30 years. :)
There used to be a limit on the number of books on a single subject, but now I think there’s no restriction on the number of books checked out. :)
Since I am an old codger, my local library checks me books for 3 weeks, but if I don’t get them back on time, there are no late fees. If I keep one over 2 months, then I can’t check a book out until I return the overdue one, but still no late fees. Only time that happened was when my teacher son asked me to check one out for him that wasn’t in his local library for him to use in class. I totally forgot about it, and had to yell at him to get the book back to me ASAP. I would probably kill myself if I didn’t have access to a library.
NW, this compilation is wonderful; I have it bookmarked as more ammunition to use to fight the doubters, the ignorant, and the plain old mean.
That “hopey-changey thing” is looking great and improving lives here and abroad. S. P. has been relegated to a very small footnote in history under the heading of failed distractions.
Thanks, CEB.
Thanks for the wonderful Hopey Changey round-up, NW! My two votes for this man have been excellent investments indeed.
As were my two votes! Love the job he’s doing for the American people. And during his second Inauguration when he kept repeating the phrase, “We … the people … ” ~ as NW highlighted on this post ~ well, he was definitely speaking for us! #ForwardTogether
Thanks, PJ.
It’s supposed to weaken before it hits Japan (because of cooler water temps):
From the article:
“The most powerful storm on the planet so far this year, Super Typhoon Vongfong, is churning in the Pacific and is forecast to strike mainland Japan before Monday.”
But it’s the other typhoon, Hudhud [twice a Paul Newman movie?], threatening India’s east coast that is the cause of panic buying.
“Media reports from the state [Odisha] on Thursday described scenes of panic buying, sending prices of essential food items up 50 percent, ahead of expected evacuations of coastal villages.”
Tell Mark Knoller we’re on to his bullshit of using the wrong reference points. And even so, the same Quinnipiac had PBO leading Willard by 12Pts. PBO actually won by 5 pts higher. So in October of 2012, Quinnipiac underestimate both Dem candidates by 5pts (President) and 13pts (Senator) respectively!
Moral of the story: Most current media polls including Quinnipiac, seriously UNDERESTIMATE Dem votes, and polls don’t mean a damn thing if people get their butts out to vote come election time.
Other than polling corporations and media…who cares about polls.
I would bet if the man on the street is asked who is leading in their State , they could not answer.
NerdyW,
Comment awaiting moderation upthread. :(
New post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/10/09/hospitals-will-save-5-7b-thanks-obamacare/
DOW went total Bonkers for what again?
Dropping 334 points.
The Schizophrenic Wall Street strikes again…..to gin up Fear before the elections……Shame.
Another Newsy Info
Thanks Nerdy W. for your beautiful work as always. Keeping us going, for sure. I will continue to do all that I can to keep our great president’s back. HZ
Love, Love, Love this thread…Thank you NW!