1. Gerard Lameiro: Will We Be Hit with a Double Dip Recession?

2. Tim Connolly: A Double Dip Recession on the Way?

3. Joy Tiz: Obama’s Housing Clunker

4. James Hirsen: Economist on ‘Bill Maher’ Says Buy Spam

5. Dr. Evelyn Higgins: ‘500 Miles to 50′

Will We Be Hit with a Double Dip Recession?

By Gerard Lameiro

This week an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal discusses the real possibility that we might face a double dip recession.  While many optimists have been claiming that the recession is over and that the economy is looking up, the stock market has been taking investors for a wild ride.  Plus, over 17% of Americans are still unemployed or underemployed.  Is the economy on its way to a healthy recovery?  Or, are we headed instead for a double dip recession?  On the plus side, The Wall Street Journal this week also reports on declining mortgage rates that might fall to 4.5% this summer.  This is great for consumers that need a new mortgage or who might want to refinance their homes.  Interestingly, this mortgage rate drop comes as a result of money from outside the U.S. that is seeking the safety of the U.S. economy.  So, money has been flowing into U.S. bonds.  While America has its own significant economic problems, we still look a whole lot safer than those European welfare state economies on the verge of potential or technical bankruptcy. [more...]

A Double Dip Recession on the Way?

By Tim Connolly

There are now numerous data points that indicate a double dip recession is now on the way for the U.S. First, contrary to most academic thought on how to recover from recessions, the Congress has chosen to raise taxes substantially, via the new taxes for healthcare reform, and now new taxes on capital gains and small business S-corporations that are called for in the new Financial Regulation bill. Don’t get me wrong – we need new controls on banks. There should be capital behind every derivative, banks should be prohibited from using leverage beyond ten times their capital, and taxpayers should never be paying for trading losses.  Bank sponsored trading should be in separate subsidiaries with dedicated capital that is not covered under any FDIC insurance. Last, but not least, derivatives should be publicly traded for complete transparency. [more...]

 
Obama’s Housing Clunker

By Joy Tiz

The antiquated media would have you believe that an increase in home sales in April is a signal that the Obama economy is in recovery.  Not only are they wrong; the worst hasn’t even hit yet.  The recent up-tick in sales was caused not by a better economy, but by the homebuyers’ tax credit, which expired April 30th.  Units under contract by April 30th will still be eligible for the credit, so expect more synthetic numbers to be released during the summer.  There is no possibility of sustaining the current government driven sales numbers as long as unemployment stays high.  [more...]

Economist on ‘Bill Maher’ Says Buy Spam

By James Hirsen

Back in 2005, Nouriel Roubini, a professor of economics at New York University, warned that housing prices in the U.S. were riding a speculative wave that would harm the economy. Roubini was mocked and ignored, and his ideas were dismissed. Not any more. Now he’s considered an economic clairvoyant.

He was a recent guest on Bill Maher’s HBO show, “Real Time with Bill Maher.” He shocked the host and liberal audience with his apparent no-confidence statement on the Obama administration’s fiscal policies. Maher noted that television these days is filled with ads extolling the virtues of investing in gold and asked the economist his opinion on the subject.

“Gold has no intrinsic value,” Roubini said. “If you’re really worried about say inflation rising, I would buy Spam. You know, you can eat Spam; you cannot eat gold,” he explained. Guess if JFK’s White House years are fondly looked back upon as “Camelot,” Obama’s will regrettably be remembered as “Spamalot.” [more...]

‘500 Miles to 50′ with Dr. Evelyn Higgins

On April 7th Dr. Evelyn Higgins left on a 5-week journey to complete a 500-mile trek from Paris to Spain – to create awareness that health is more than simply the absence of disease. She arrived at the end of the journey on her 50th birthday. Call Sandy for Interviews with Dr. Higgins about her amazing journey!  Read about her journey here.

1. John LeBoutillier: Obama Goes Against History

2. Gerard Lameiro: Taxes are Going Up – But Will Deficits and Debt Go Down?

3. Tim Connolly: Should We Ban Offshore Drilling of Oil in the U.S.?

4. Daniel Ruddy’s New Book: History Through Theodore Roosevelt’s Eyes

Obama Goes Against History

By John LeBoutillier

We should all fear a looming disastrous debt-driven new recession. Greece was not an isolated case of a national government living beyond its means. No, that problem – The Consequences of Irresponsible Deficit Spending (CIDS) – is certain to spread first to some of the other PIIGS nations: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain. But now it is thought that England and the United States may also be in for the same consequences: austerity budgets, which cause social dislocation.

The riots in Athens came from people protesting draconian cuts in government pensions. Greece had to make these cuts in order to qualify for the massive almost-one trillion-dollar bailout from the EU and the World Bank. The real story here is that Western European socialism has virtually bankrupted all these countries. Germany and France are ahead of the game; they elected more conservative governments in the past several years and are already economizing, as painful as that might be. [more...]

Taxes are Going Up – But Will Deficits and Debt Go Down?

By Gerard Lameiro

Lots of people have been calling for new taxes and tax increases at the federal, state and local levels.  We also know that Washington will allow the Bush tax cuts to expire soon.  So, taxes are going up – no doubt about it.  But, as our taxes go up and up, will our deficits and debt decline?  A brand new article in The Wall Street Journal sheds some light on this important topic that impacts both jobs and economic growth.

As first thought, it might seem to make sense that we need to increase taxes to cover Washington’s lavish spending spree.  Remember all those costly stimulus bills that failed to bring down unemployment substantially?  Unemployment is still around 9.9%.  It’s actually 17.1% if you count all those people who have given up looking, or all those people who have settled for part-time work because they couldn’t find full-time work.  Washington has spent lots of money following the discredited Keynesian policies of the past. [more...]

Should We Ban Offshore Drilling of Oil in the U.S.?

By Tim Connolly

There is a tremendous amount of concern over the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill; and senators, congressional representatives, and even President Obama have called for the suspension of offshore oil drilling, and its possible termination. Is this possible, or even the right decision for our country? Let’s look at the data provided today from Gibson Consulting Online. All of the oil that comes from the Gulf is used in the U.S. The total current percentage of oil produced in the U.S. for our consumption by offshore wells is 37%. If we only look at the Gulf of Mexico, that percentage is still 32% of all the oil consumed in the USA. Given that during the 1974 Arab Oil Embargo the Middle East provided 37% of the non-communist world with all of its oil, we can easily see the magnitude of disruption in our markets if we eliminated 37% of all oil produced in the USA – long lines, perhaps $150-200 per barrel oil prices, and an economic crash that would make the last two years look tame. [more...]

History Through Theodore Roosevelt’s Eyes

By Dick Morris

In political campaigns, we consultants are always seeking opportunities for our candidate to speak for himself without passing through the prism of editorial and journalistic opinion. We buy ads, we schedule debates, we set up town hall meetings, all to reach and communicate directly with the public without media intermediaries.

Imagine the frustration of a dead historical figure from the past, now able to communicate with modern generations only through the distorted lens of history. If you think journalists are bad, wait until you meet historians!

Now, Daniel Ruddy has freed former President Theodore Roosevelt from these shackles and given him a chance to address us directly, articulating his view of American history without the varnish of modern historical fashion. In his new book Theodore Roosevelt’s History of the United States, Ruddy has mined the words of the great man and organized them into a newly created history of the U.S. up to the time of TR’s death in 1919. [more...]

1. James Hirsen: Comedy Central’s Cartoon Hypocrisy

2. Dr. Elaina George: Is Anyone Seeing a Pattern?

3. Wayne Allyn Root: The Real Obama Economic Plan: Overwhelming the System to Destroy Capitalism and Freedom

4. Joy Tiz: Soros: Don’t Blame Me

Comedy Central’s Cartoon Hypocrisy

By James Hirsen

In releasing info on its slate of new programs, Comedy Central announced that it has an animated show in development with the title “JC.” The show features a cartoon version of the Son of God attempting to escape an overbearing father. The son makes his home in New York City and engages in video games nonstop. The series will be produced by the same group that works on “The Office.” You may recall that Comedy Central is the network that recently edited “South Park” images and references to Muhammad. Guess the network disses the religions it can get away with dissing. It didn’t see fit to edit the show’s depictions of Jesus Christ in the past. Since not enough Christians were heard from, it will now apparently offend on a grander scale with a series that demeans the central faith figure of the vast majority of people in America. [more...]

Is Anyone Seeing a Pattern?

By Dr. Elaina George

Since the passage of health care reform, there has not been a lot of talk about the role that hospitals will play. What no one talks about is the fact that there has been a quiet movement or shift of doctors from private practice to hospital employees. Many smaller community hospitals and doctor-owned hospitals have gone out of business because they could not afford to keep their doors open. In addition, there has also been a quiet consolidation of hospitals. For example, in Atlanta, groups of specialists have become hospital employees.  With the movement of various specialists, hospitals have now become specialty centers for specific patient care. Health care reform is the latest piece of the puzzle to be put in place. If you add this to what has happened in the financial and the banking industry a bigger picture begins to emerge. With the proposed financial regulations, there seems to be a movement towards the consolidation of power in a few institutions, systematically removing free competition, setting up the ‘too big to fail’ phenomenon, thereby giving people less choice that will ultimately cost everybody more in the long run. [more...]

The Real Obama Economic Plan: Overwhelming the System to Destroy Capitalism and Freedom

By Wayne Allyn Root

It’s time to stop mincing words. Obama is not a fool; he is not incompetent. He is not a madman. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He is purposely overwhelming the U.S. economy to create systemic failure, economic crisis, and social chaos – thereby destroying capitalism and our country from within. But the bonus is brilliant… as he destroys and taxes business owners to death, he also cripples his political opposition. Rahm Emanuel cynically said, “You never want a crisis to go to waste.” It is now becoming clear that the crisis he was referring to is Obama’s Presidency. As Glenn Beck correctly predicted from day one, Obama is following the plan of Cloward & Piven, two professors at Obama’s alma mater. In 1966, they outlined a plan to socialize America by OVERWHELMING the system with government spending and entitlement demands. Add up the clues I outline here today – taken individually, they’re alarming. Taken as a whole, it is a brilliant, Machiavellian game plan to overwhelm the system, wreck the U.S. economy, and damage or destroy the free market, in order to turn the U.S. into a socialist/Marxist state with a permanent majority that desperately needs government for survival. [more...]

Soros: Don’t Blame Me

By Joy Tiz

Ed Lasky at American Thinker explains how Obama’s Puppet Master, unrepentant Nazi collaborator, George Soros, enjoys the benefits of liberal hypocrisy as well as America’s misery.  Soros maintains a super secret hedge fund, the Quantum Fund, which is held overseas.  As Democrats posture about how they care for the little guy, they take great care to protect Soros and his hedge fund investors. We keep hearing a lot of commotion about the need to regulate hedge funds, but very little has been done. There is no requirement that hedge funds domiciled overseas (as is Soros’s) disclose the identities of investors. Lasky warned in February that the next caper would be an assault on the Euro. [more...] 

1. James Hirsen: Obama Meeting With Bono While Gulf Oil Spills

2. Gerard Lameiro: From Bullish to Bearish in a Flash!

3. Joy Tiz: BP: Obama’s Favorite Oil Company

4. Ryan Mauro: Is Osama Bin Laden Enjoying a Safe Haven in Iran?

Obama Meeting With Bono While Gulf Oil Spills

By James Hirsen

Even The New York Times is criticizing President Obama for the White House’s slow response to the crisis in the Gulf Coast. Hey, the president was busy. He was having an Oval Office meeting with U2 lead singer Bono. The White House confirmed that the rock star met with Obama and members of his national security staff to address the concern of U.S. foreign aid and the use of technology to increase economic growth in Africa.

But as one of our key sources of domestic oil here in the U.S. was spilling into the ocean, threatening the precious environment, vital industries and already floundering economy, it is astonishing that Obama would be sitting around chitchatting with the Irish rocker about anything. He should have been devoting every available moment he had to try to avert, or at least mitigate, the catastrophic circumstances we now must suffer through. I wonder what newspeak the administration and its media friends will cook up to reframe this one. [more...]

From Bullish to Bearish in a Flash!

By Gerard Lameiro

The stock market went from bullish to bearish in a flash!  The Dow was down about 1,000 points at one point during the trading day, closing at about 347 off for the day.  All 30 Dow component stocks were down, Bank of America was down around 7%.  What happened?  Why so fast?  What’s going on? Those who run the market will likely check for technical or programming glitches.  These might be a contributing factor.  But, it appears that the larger issue is simply FEAR.  But fear of what?  Fear that the problems of Greece will spread to Europe and to the rest of the world, including America.  Ultimately, it’s really a fear that welfare state socialism will lead to economic bankruptcy.  In my book, America’s Economic War, I wrote several times that socialism always leads to economic bankruptcy. [more...]

BP: Obama’s Favorite Oil Company

By Joy Tiz

BP, whose blown oil rig is currently spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years. The number one recipient of their largesse – Barack Obama.  You remember him, the demonizer of oil companies who would never, ever take money from one of those evil cabals. [more...]

Is Osama Bin Laden Enjoying a Safe Haven in Iran?

By Ryan Mauro

The average commentator thinks that Osama bin Laden’s trail has gone cold and that there is no credible eyewitness testimony as to where he is located. The only available public testimony is that a member of the Taliban arrested in Pakistan claims his colleague met bin Laden in Afghanistan in the first two months of 2009 – important information, but second-hand and unverifiable. The truth is that there have been credible leads, and these leads point to Iran. [more...]

1. John LeBoutillier: Illegals: Top Issue for Next GOP Candidate

2. Joy Tiz: All Politics is National Now

3. James Hirsen: Jay Leno Faces Tough Crowd at White House Dinner

4. Gerard Lameiro: Will the Financial Overhaul Bill Nationalize America’s Financial Sector?

Illegals: Top Issue for Next GOP Candidate

By John LeBoutillier

Illegal immigration is a huge issue that just again surfaced when Arizona enacted and then adjusted a bill making life uncomfortable for the 450,000 illegals living in Arizona. Indeed, this issue – the influx of up to 30 million illegal aliens who have surreptitiously crossed our southern border – is one of the most important issues in every state even though the so-called mainstream media does not want to talk about it. Hospital ERs, public schools and local law enforcement are often overrun by illegal aliens. Budgets are stretched during a tough economy. Jobs are lost and given to below-market illegals who get paid under the table and do not get benefits. This is happening everywhere. Big Business – and the rich – often love this cheap labor. Thus George W. Bush and now his ambitious-to-be-the-third-President Bush, Jeb, embrace amnesty-for-illegals before our southern border is sealed up tight. [more...]

All Politics is National Now

By Joy Tiz

Tip O’Neil was not exactly prescient when he claimed that “all politics is local.”  As we learned from Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts (referred to by the president as Massatoosits – this from the ‘great orator’ who can recite the Muslim call to prayer in perfect Arabic) all politics is national now. Americans who have never cared about politics are now fully engaged.  One of the few positive side effects of the Obama presidency is the emergence of new citizen candidates getting involved in their local governments.  This, by the way, is precisely what our Founding Fathers had in mind – the citizen legislator.  As opposed to what we have now, a ruling oligarchy of thoroughly corrupt lifetime politicians. [more...]

Jay Leno Faces Tough Crowd at White House Dinner

By James Hirsen

At the recent White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Jay Leno quipped that he was worried that when Barack Obama was elected “the comedy well at the White House” would dry up. Then he thanked the president for “picking Joe Biden.” Pretty funny stuff. But the assembled media and celebrity crowd responded with the kind of tepid laughter that makes comics cringe. Leno remarked that it was a “tough crowd.” The late-night host perceived the audience correctly since they only responded with gusto to the jokes that were at the expense of Sarah Palin, the GOP, and folks in Arizona. Leno had a well-prepared routine with lots of multimedia material including a photo montage of Obama eating junk food, a new educational program called “Cash for Flunkers,” a video that made fun of the fawning coverage that Obama receives from the press, some hilarious footage of Obama appearing on “The View,” and clips that poked fun at Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton. [more...]

Will the Financial Overhaul Bill Nationalize America’s Financial Sector?

By Gerard Lameiro

Rather than eliminate bailouts of companies that are “too big to fail,” the current bill being debated in the Senate gives vast new powers to the government to regulate whatever companies it chooses to regulate; to determine how to regulate those companies; to determine what companies to give bailouts to; to determine what companies to close down entirely; to determine what creditors to pay; and, to determine how to pay the favored creditors.  Talk about power!  Talk about control! With the proposed, new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the government also would essentially gain control over credit allocation across the economy.  In effect, the government would control the terms and conditions of financial products and services.  It could also decide certain practices were “abusive” and shut them down.  That’s tremendous control.  That’s incredible power over companies and consumers! [more...]

Fourth Annual GI Film Festival Returns