Under Water (The New Economy)

Yup, the final results of 1st Quarter Economic Growth are in and...
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We're under water.
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Here's a headline for you:
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Reuters:  U.S. economy collapses in first quarter, but growing again
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy contracted at a much steeper pace in the first quarter than previously estimated, turning in one of its worst-ever non-recession performances, but growth already appears to have rebounded strongly.
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The Commerce Department said on Wednesday gross domestic product fell at a 2.9 percent annual rate, the sharpest decline in five years, instead of the 1.0 percent pace it had reported last month.
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The economy was held back by an unusually cold winter, the expiration of long-term unemployment benefits and cuts to food stamps, which curbed consumer spending. It was also weighed down by a slowdown in the pace of restocking by businesses.
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All these temporary factors have since faded, lifting growth early in the second quarter.
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The government's gauge of first-quarter growth has been lowered by 3.0 percentage points since the first estimate in April showed the economy expanded at a 0.1 percent rate, and revision between the May and June release was the largest on records going back to 1976.
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But hey, don't worry!  Why?  Because the same Econometric Wizards who told you at the end of 1st Quarter that the economy GREW at the rate of .9% (and then found out it actually SHRANK at almost 3% are relatively, fairly, pretty darn sure that everything is okay for the Second Quarter).
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Got that?  It's all gooooooooood.  The only problem was that in Q1 - 2014 was that for some reason they can't explain, God was angry with America and send us some really bad weather.  It was NOT the fault of the Obama Administration's policies, the fact that the 'Obama Recovery' has been dragging along the bottom of the economic growth chart like an anchor dragged across a lake bed by a boat torn lose from its moorings during a storm, but rather because, of the weather.  (See Obama's infamous 'Red Line' on chart which follows) 
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The Economists (and authors of the piece) also gleefully tossed in a few words about reducing Unemployment benefits and food stamps (heck, everyone ought to get THOSE!) to help explain the 'General Malaise' but mostly, yeah, it was the W-E-A-T-H-E-R.  And even President Obama can't do a gosh darn thing about the weather.
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Okay, so if the 1st Quarter's negative growth was a by-product of the Bad weather, the reduction in payout of 'perks' to the unemployed and poor, what will the 2nd Quarter numbers look like?
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You know, the weather around here has been pretty nice the past few months.  Perhaps Americans will take the time to relax, invest, and even, spend some time in, and around, the pool.

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Yes, if the Economy falters a second time, blame it on the weather, the pool, and in general, shrinkage...

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It won't be long until we know if we're underwater again for a second quarter.  This, of course, will mean that the Economy is once again...  In Recession. 

That'd mean a 'Double Dip' Recession...

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Poor Democrats - And Yet, They Are So Full of Love...

 

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A day late to the party, Joe Biden has recently jumped into the, "I'm poor like YOU!", pity-fest being sponsored by the DNC in DC.  Kicked-off by that down-to-Earth-girl-next-door-look-at-me-I'm-so-poor Hillary Ramrod Clinton, crazy Uncle Joe has tossed his tattered hair (um, sorry, I meant to say, 'hat') into the "I'm poorer than most people I know" ring saying (honestly, he SAID this)...
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“I don’t own a single stock or bond, and I have no savings account.” - Joe Biden, D, Vice President of the United States
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Yeah, just let the quote above just lay there on your desktop, or mobile device for just a moment.  S-A-V-O-R it before continuing deeper into the post which follows...
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Okay?  Can we proceed now?  Well, I'm going ahead, you catch up when you get a chance.
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Perhaps Joe Biden is so poor because he wants to 'belong' to some group (other than the Hair Club for Men)?  Since he and his co-conspirator took over 'Care and Feeding' of the United States of America, there are many, many, many more poor people than there use'ter be.  Not only this, but BONUS! the National Debt has increased from about $10 TRILLION when they took office to over $17 TRILLION in fewer than six years.  

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Folks, we are all poor now!  Yay.
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However, in defense of the lunatic policies of Washington, DC, I do not feel so...  'Alone' any more.  
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There are many many more people just like me!  I know there are because as I walk down the littered, dirty, abandoned, and heroin-ravaged streets of Binghamton, NY, and I ask a passerby, "Hey, how are you doing?", they look at me with the same haunted look I see when I dare glance at my own haggard reflection in any flat, shiny surface around the home.  It's not despair, exactly, but perhaps more a look of grim resolution.  It's the flat stare that says it all, "Yeah, I know it sucks, but I don't know what to do about any of it...  We're pretty much on our own here, aren't we?"
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But, hey, wait a minute, I forgot!!!  Joe Biden is 'down and out' just like...  ME!!!  
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Time to turn those frowns upside down and get happy because Joe Biden is just like YOU too!!!  
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After all, it's what he said...

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From Bloomberg.com, June 24, 2014:  Biden, a self-styled up-from-the-bootstraps politician, a Democrat from Delaware who has spent most of his adult life on the payroll of the U.S. Senate, appeared at a White House Summit on Working Families yesterday.

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“I don’t own a single stock or bond,” Biden said. “I have no savings account.”

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That’s not what his official financial disclosure states.
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The form the vice president signed May 12 shows calendar year 2013 holdings ranging from $1,001 to $15,000 in a U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union joint savings account, and the same in each of two checking accounts at Suntrust and M&T Bank. (MTB) It also shows a joint holding of less than $1,001 in a M&T Bank checking account. 
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Well, he probably forgot about this account, he's so busy helping deplete OUR accounts - can you blame the guy for his savings and checking accounts slipping his mind?  He's got bigger fish to fry.
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Plus, hey, he's one of US!  We're not alone any more!!!  He and his wife are just simple servants our the Nation - they are just like US!!!
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And then, I continued reading - sigh...
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The vice president’s report shows his spouse’s holding of $50,001 to $100,000 in a Wilmington Savings Fund Society certificate of deposit, and $50,001 to $100,000 in a State of Delaware Deferred Compensation Fidelity Freedom Fund.
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It shows his spouse’s holdings in a tax-sheltered annuity, with $1,001 to $15,000 invested in each of several funds: Invesco VI Global Health Care, Dreyfus IP Technology Growth, Guggenheim Investments High Yield, Janus Aspen Enterprise, Janus Aspen Janus Portfolio, Legg Mason Western Asset Variable Global High Yield Bond, MFS VIT Utilities, Guggenheim VT Styleplus Mid-Growth. It shows the same in each of three separate small-cap, mid-cap and all-cap Guggenheim funds and a Commonwealth of Virginia Cash Match Fund.       

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And here I thought he wouldn't lie about being 'Just like me'...

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Okay, all kidding aside.  I don't believe it's a good strategy for any politician to plead poverty and then tell Americans that they'll... 
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'Do for America what I've done for myself!'  
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Which is?  Um?  What - exactly?  They are telling America that they managed to live a taxpayer-subsidized life without accumulating any wealth?  That they failed to plan for future life outside of the government dole?  Or that they expecting to live no more than three days after retiring from whatever over-paid government job they have on their resume'?    
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Yeah, you go ahead and tell folks that that's 'What you're all about'...  I need to get some of the 'laugh lines' re-etched into my face.

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This may play well with the Millions of Americans who have lost sight of any hope of a brighter future.  Heck, it'll even make the uber-rich feel good about paying their increased 'fair share' of the tax burden (excluding the money they've shielded overseas, that is) by helping other 'poor Americans', you know, the poorest among us, like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden...
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As for me, I've got my eye on a few investment properties outside of the Binghamton area.  I'm scoping out TEN major cities right now that offer unique foreclosure opportunities on distressed properties.  I was going to ask Hillary Clinton for a loan, but it seems that she's quite strapped at the moment.  Maybe she should have gotten more than the $16 Million advance on her book deal?  Looks like I'll have to borrow the money from some rich Republican / Conservative type since these evil people have ALL the money... 
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The odd thing is that each of the ten cities I'm looking at investing in have a common attribute, they were each managed into poverty by 'Poor Democrats' without a penny to their name, or a clue as to how to elevate anything, or anyone.  
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All they know how to do is to drive people, places, and Nations into ruination.
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But heck, at least they are consistent...

In Washington, All Questions have a Single Answer...

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Thank goodness that Nancy Pelosi took a few moments from her busy day to answer the question which many Americans (with a pulse) have been asking themselves, "So, like, hey, what's up with those IRS e-mails regarding 'TEA Party targeting' being 'lost' due to multiple hard drive crashes, failures, and shredding of the aforementioned drives?  Huh, what's up with that?"
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Okay, not the exact question, but the response which follows WAS her actual response...
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“What it convinces me [of] is that they need a new technology system at the IRS.  They need to upgrade their technology, get it right, so that there’s no suspicion about what agenda anyone may have on that.”

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TRANSLATION:  "IRS computer systems are outdated and insecure.  We'll need YOUR money to fix them because up until this moment in time we didn't even know there was a problem.  Now that we do, we'll need tons of money because these same outdated and insecure data systems will be managing your Health Care tracking and billing, um, once we figure out how to track and bill premiums... "
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You can read the complete report here found on the National Review Online:   LINK TO STORY  
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I would like to thank former Speaker of the House Pelosi for answering the question I've asked myself for years,  "How do you fix Washington, DC?"
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To her credit, she has answered my question honestly for, according to her, we must, "Throw more money at whatever the problem is because what we have today is fundamentally broken / flawed."
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Gee, thanks Speaker Pelosi, I'll be sure to remember this valuable lesson in my personal life.  Only problem is, of course, is that when I want a new car, I can't just take the money from someone else and force them to buy it for me.  Sometimes I just have to make due with what I have.
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Maybe that's a lesson folks in Washington knew once, but have forgotten since they've been in office?  Perhaps we can 'help them out' by sending them back home again so they can remember what they can't seem to remember today?
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