“Covering Up The [Gulf] Oil Spill With Corexit Was a Deadly Action … What Happened In the Gulf Was a Political Act, an Act of Cowardice and Greed”

A Tragedy Our Society Should Never Repeat

Preface: Additional interviews of leading government-affiliated experts concerning the Gulf oil spillhere and here.
As we reported at the time, the EPA allowed BP to dump mass quantities of a highly-toxic chemical into the Gulf of Mexico in order to help BP hide the amount of oil in the Gulf … and to help to cover up what was really going on.
Last month, 60 Minutes made a fantastic exposé on the whole shenanigan.
We contacted Gulf toxicologist Dr. Susan Shaw – Founder and Director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute – for comment. Background on Dr. Shaw’s involvement with the BP oil spill here and here.
Dr. Shaw told Washington’s Blog:

It was refreshing to see such a strong public statement about what really happened in the Gulf of Mexico.
I was the first scientist to dive in the oil slick after the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010. As a member of DOI’s [the U.S. Department of the Interior's] Strategic Sciences Working Group (SSWG) and a TEDx speaker, I alerted federal agency heads and the public about the combined toxicity of Corexit and oil, and predicted much of the terrible human suffering and environmental damage we are seeing in the Gulf today. The Australian 60 Minutes report takes the viewer up close to the victims, Gulf residents and cleanup workers whose health problems are overwhelming and who will not recover, ever. As a public health professional, I interviewed residents of Grand Isle LA (“ground zero”) and experienced first hand what we now call the “Gulf syndrome” – they had blinding headaches, memory loss, heart palpitations, internal bleeding, swollen livers, and skin lesions. Some had been sprayed directly with Corexit, often by planes flying at night. One was a 14 year old school girl who had periodic bleeding from her ears. As a scientist, I was stunned at the depth of suffering, the bewilderment, the loss.
Covering up the oil spill with Corexit was a deadly action that resulted in a tragedy our society should never repeat. For the federal government to make Corexit’s application the standard operating procedure for offshore oil spills is unacceptable. It is outrageous.
Below are links to my previous public statements about the danger and the duplicity of using Corexit to contain oil spills. Scientists know very well how toxic the mixture is.What happened in the Gulf was a political act, an act of cowardice and greed. It is time for Americans to know the truth.

Unfortunately, the government has a habit of covering up disasters – including not only oil spills, but everything from nuclear accidents to financial problems – instead of actually fixing the problems so that they won’t happen again.
Copyright: Global Research

The Bark of Greed

They call us consumers as they consume us. Our time, money, attention, work, all belong to them as they see it. We are born indentured in mind, body and spirit and there most of us remain. Theirs is not to assist us to clear our debts, alleviate our fears, theirs is to pile on more of it, to extract from us our lives, to put a toll on every breath, to tap our beating hearts.
We pay the premiums through the prime-time of our lifetimes and the best we get are doled out installments when we can no longer run jump or sprint. And then they have the gall to call them the “golden years” all that and they may reduce or even stall the installments (due to an issue of their own making!), calculating correctly that every month gained for them brings us closer to our deaths. Money saved is money earned in their book and every book they bother to print.
Sad but true this society is but a series of gill-nets placed in waters we are made to swim. It begins in the crib, staring up at a square ceiling, chipped leaden paint, bluish boys and pinkish girls, brow beaten adults passing it on, sunday schools, superstitions, public schools that value standing quietly in line over creative thinking and expression. Nearly everywhere the honest truth gets the kibosh.
If we are unlucky in our parents, health, smarts, etc, a gill-net may catch us by the throat, and before we can get our bearings straight, they will have drug us aboard for processing; to feed some penciled-in institution that demands a harvest.
When it’s time to fight crime they do it in poor neighborhoods where capitalism at the street level doesn’t look so good. They appear to fight against it, but it is entirely an act of separation, they do it to obscure the view, the poor practice capitalism in its purest form of supply and demand. This is where deregulation and free enterprise exist in all their ravages. The war on the poor has produced a lopsided prison population and perpetuated craters of violence and degradation. To cover their ongoing crimes a PR industry springs forth and runs day and night inflating all manner of bogymen to justify their injustices.

Capitalism only exists for us on the ground. The expense of competing, for us, is bourn by us. Where we compete, they collude. Where we labor, they merger. When we get together it is an evil union. When they get together it is a benign association.
We have become their polluted water sinking to its lowest level. We are where these unnatural chemicals have come to dissolve. On and under the skin, through the lungs, eyes and ears, into our hearts and minds. Our bodies are merely vessels for social contamination that is why misery abounds and unsound advice rattles through tinfoil speakers.
The message is clear. If you become a meal, a purse, a pillow, a rug, it is entirely your own doing, the current distribution of things is by natural order in need of only a few minor tweaks now and then, laws elaborated and elucidated by courts supreme merely guide the ship safely through troubled waters, your reward will come later, don’t forget those golden years, just keep kicking the can down the road. And pay no attention to what they do but what might happen if they don’t do what they do. You’ve seen the commercial, advertised bogyman’s bloodlust and penchant for rape and baby massacres knows no bounds.
If we don’t hop-to and kill on demand we are jeered as cowards and traitors, the very thing that they are guilty of, for what is more cowardly than to steal from the people their time, bread, shelter, thoughts. What is more traitorous than digging a trench shoving the people in and saying “You all start here.”
If they think of us at all it is usually as their chattel, cattle, troublesome cows. A herd that must be pushed and prodded. They prefer us locked in the cargo hold while they run the ship. Anyone looking out a porthole can see the ship is hell-bent for the rocks. A seagull’s view of the deck would reveal that their helicopters are packed and ready for lift off. If disaster is averted probability will stand in awe.
They call us consumers as they consume us. They insist that we are the problem. Too many, they say, not enough to go around. This is greed barking through gaping holes.
We give our best years, do our best to avoid the worst of the gill-nets, turn our sorrows into something less sorrowful, with extended arms, opposable thumbs, love, practice the miracle that is life on this good earth that is being trampled by this thing that exhales devastation and calls it living.
Be a loose rivet. Let this thing rattle apart.
Michael McDaeth is a writer and musician living in Seattle. He is the author of the novel Roads and Parking Lots. He can be reached atmmcdaeth@msn.com
Copyright: Counterpunch

$5.25 Million For Senate Hair Care And 21 Other Ways Politicians Are Living The High Life At Your Expense

Michael Snyder
Activist Post

If you want to live the high life, you don't have to become a rap star, a professional athlete or a Wall Street banker.  All it really takes is winning an election.  Right now, more than half of all the members of Congress are millionaires, and most of them leave "public service" far wealthier than when they entered it.  Since most of them have so much money, you would think that they would be willing to do a little "belt-tightening" for the sake of the American people.  After all, things are supposedly "extremely tight" in Washington D.C. right now.

In fact, just the other day Nancy Pelosi insisted that there were "no more cuts to make" to the federal budget.  But even as they claim that things are so tough right now, our politicians continue to live the high life at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.  The statistics that I am about to share with you are very disturbing.  Please share them with everyone that you know.

The American people deserve the truth.

According to the Weekly Standard, an absolutely insane amount of money is being spent on the "hair care needs" of U.S. Senators...

Senate Hair Care Services has cost taxpayers about $5.25 million over 15 years. They foot the bill of more than $40,000 for the shoeshine attendant last fiscal year. Six barbers took in more than $40,000 each, including nearly $80,000 for the head barber.

Keep in mind that there are only 100 U.S. Senators, and many of them don't have much hair left at this point.

But hair care is just the tip of the iceberg.  The following are 21 other ways that our politicians are living the high life at your expense...

#1 According to Roll Call's annual survey of Congressional wealth, the super wealthy in Congress just continue to get much wealthier even though they are supposedly dedicating their lives to "public service"...

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) is the richest Member of Congress for the second year in a row, reporting a vast fortune that in 2011 had a minimum net worth surpassing $300 million for the first time.

McCaul is followed by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who reported a minimum net worth of $198.65 million, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who reported a minimum net worth of $140.55 million. The two lawmakers swapped places since last year's list.

The lawmakers who round out the top five, Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), also flipped positions from 2010 to 2011, with Warner's reported minimum worth rising about $9 million to $85.81 million and Rockefeller's minimum worth rising slightly to $83.08 million.

#2 Amazingly, the 50th most wealthy member of Congress has a net worth of 6.14 million dollars.

#3 At this point, more than half of those "serving the American people" in Congress are millionaires.

#4 In one recent year, an average of $4,005,900 of U.S. taxpayer money was spent on "personal" and "office" expenses per U.S. Senator.

#5 Once they leave Washington, former members of Congress continue to collect huge checks for the rest of their lives...

In 2011, 280 former lawmakers who retired under a former government pension system received average annual pensions of $70,620, according to a Congressional Research Service report. They averaged around 20 years of service. At the same time, another 215 retirees (elected in 1984 or later with an average of 15 years of service) received average annual checks of roughly $40,000 a year.

#6 Speaker of the House John Boehner would bring home a yearly pension of close to $85,000 if he left Congress when his current term ends in 2014.

#7 At this point, quite a few former lawmakers are collecting federal pensions for life worth at least $100,000 annually.  That list includes such notable names as Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Trent Lott, Dick Gephardt and Dick Cheney.

#8 The U.S. government is spending approximately 3.6 million dollars a year to support the lavish lifestyles of former presidents such as George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

#9 Nearly 500,000 federal employees now make at least $100,000 a year.

#10 During one recent year, the average federal employee in the Washington D.C. area received total compensation worth more than $126,000.

#11 During one recent year, compensation for federal employees came to a grand total of approximately 447 billion dollars.

#12 If you can believe it, there are 77,000 federal workers that make more than the governors of their own states do.

#13 When Joe Biden and his staff took a trip to London, the hotel bill cost U.S. taxpayers $459,388.65.

#14 Joe Biden and his staff also stopped in Paris for one night.  The hotel bill for that one night came to $585,000.50.

#15 When Biden and his staff visited Moscow for two days in 2011, the total hotel bill came to $665,445.00.

#16 During 2012, the salaries of Barack Obama’s three climate change advisers combined came to a grand total of more than $370,000.

#17 Overall, 139 different White House staffers were making at least $100,000 during 2012, and there were 20 staffers that made the maximum of $172,200.

#18 It is estimated that the trip that the Obamas took to Africa cost U.S. taxpayers about 100 million dollars.

#19 The Obamas only have one dog named "Bo", but the White House "dog handler" reportedly makes $102,000 per year and sometimes he is even flown to where the Obamas are vacationing so that he can take care of the dog.

#20 There is always at least one projectionist at the White House 24 hours a day just in case there is someone that wants to watch a movie.  Apparently turning on a DVD player is too much to ask.

#21 In one recent year, more than 1.4 billion dollars was spent on the Obamas.  Meanwhile, British taxpayers only spent about 58 million dollars on the entire royal family.

So who pays for all of this extravagance?

The American people do of course.

Unfortunately, what most of our politicians fail to understand is that most families are struggling tremendously right now.

This week, Yahoo featured the story of a 77-year-old former executive that is now flipping burgers and serving drinks to make ends meet.  He says that he now earns in a week what he once earned in a single hour, but he is thankful to have a job in this economic environment...

It seems like another life. At the height of his corporate career, Tom Palome was pulling in a salary in the low six-figures and flying first class on business trips to Europe.

Today, the 77-year-old former vice president of marketing for Oral-B juggles two part-time jobs: one as a $10-an-hour food demonstrator at Sam's Club, the other flipping burgers and serving drinks at a golf club grill for slightly more than minimum wage.

While Palome worked hard his entire career, paid off his mortgage and put his kids through college, like most Americans he didn't save enough for retirement. Even many affluent baby boomers who are approaching the end of their careers haven't come close to saving the 10 to 20 times their annual working income that investment experts say they'll need to maintain their standard of living in old age.

So many Americans are barely making it from month to month at this point.  Most people work very, very hard for their money, and it is very discouraging to see our politicians waste our hard-earned tax dollars so frivolously.

Fortunately, there are signs that the American people are starting to get fed up with all of this.

According to a stunning new Gallup survey, more Americans than ever before (60 percent) believe that the federal government has too much power.

So what do you think?

Do you think that the government is too big and too wasteful?

Please feel free to share what you think by posting a comment below...

This article first appeared here at the Economic Collapse Blog.  Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.

Emergency Alert, Please Stand By – US Is Headed Towards the Second Great Depression!

The al-Qaeda Kenya Mall terrorist attack is now over and the situation is under control. Many have called this one of the most sophisticated attacks since 911. Government officials are now scaring and warning the American people that it is highly possible that this new stronger al-Qaeda lone wolf groups are going to attack the US soon. This propaganda build up is for the next false flag event that will push the next war to start with Iran and Syria and eventually it will turn into WWIII.

 

Calm Before The Storm As The World Heads Into 2nd Meltdown

With continued uncertainty in global markets, today acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb warned King World News that what we are seeing right now is the “calm before the storm” as the world heads dangerously into a second “meltdown.” Below is what the acclaimed money manager had to say in this candid interview.

Leeb: “In Europe, despite Merkel’s overwhelming victory, she still has to bring together a coalition. There are great concerns inside Germany about how much money Germany has lent out in order to support the weaker economies. Also, there is concern about what the long-term effects of that lending will be.

So, the prognosis for the euro is not particularly good….

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/9/24_Calm_Before_The_Storm_As_The_World_Heads_Into_2nd_Meltdown.html

 

Peter Boockvar: “There Is 0% Chance That This Ends Smoothly”

The entire 5 minutes were a perfect reflection of the battle in the markets of the last few years – that of market wisdom and the facts versus the blind optimistic ignorance of watching (and trusting) a ‘market’ number (in this case the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index) rise day after day and not caring why – until – as Peter Boockvar so eloquently notes you have your 401(k) cut in half twice in a decade.

Well worth taking the time to witness the cognitive dissonance of believing the market strength is unrelated to the Fed and yet a Fed unable to Taper even a few billion for fear of repercussions… as Boockvar notes, “there is 0% chance this ends well.”

 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-24/peter-boockvar-there-0-chance-ends-smoothly

 

Consumer Confidence Drops Most In 6 Months To 4 Month Low

Is consumer confidence set to turn?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-24/consumer-confidence-drops-most-6-months-4-month-low

 

REALIST NEWS – This fake recovery is now 100% dependant on bond buying and QE

The al-Qaeda Kenya Mall terrorist attack is now over and the situation is under control. Many have called this one of the most sophisticated attacks since 911. Government officials are now scaring and warning the American people that it is highly possible that this new stronger al-Qaeda lone wolf groups are going to attack the US soon. This propaganda build up is for the next false flag event that will push the next war to start with Iran and Syria and eventually it will turn into WWIII.

Calm Before The Storm As The World Heads Into 2nd Meltdown
With continued uncertainty in global markets, today acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb warned King World News that what we are seeing right now is the “calm before the storm” as the world heads dangerously into a second “meltdown.” Below is what the acclaimed money manager had to say in this candid interview.
Leeb: “In Europe, despite Merkel’s overwhelming victory, she still has to bring together a coalition. There are great concerns inside Germany about how much money Germany has lent out in order to support the weaker economies. Also, there is concern about what the long-term effects of that lending will be.
So, the prognosis for the euro is not particularly good….

Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/emergency-alert-please-stand-by-us-is-headed-towards-the-second-great-depression/#jusmGmFqQGVgyyhe.99

The al-Qaeda Kenya Mall terrorist attack is now over and the situation is under control. Many have called this one of the most sophisticated attacks since 911. Government officials are now scaring and warning the American people that it is highly possible that this new stronger al-Qaeda lone wolf groups are going to attack the US soon. This propaganda build up is for the next false flag event that will push the next war to start with Iran and Syria and eventually it will turn into WWIII.

Calm Before The Storm As The World Heads Into 2nd Meltdown
With continued uncertainty in global markets, today acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb warned King World News that what we are seeing right now is the “calm before the storm” as the world heads dangerously into a second “meltdown.” Below is what the acclaimed money manager had to say in this candid interview.
Leeb: “In Europe, despite Merkel’s overwhelming victory, she still has to bring together a coalition. There are great concerns inside Germany about how much money Germany has lent out in order to support the weaker economies. Also, there is concern about what the long-term effects of that lending will be.
So, the prognosis for the euro is not particularly good….
http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/9/24_Calm_Before_The_Storm_As_The_World_Heads_Into_2nd_Meltdown.html

Peter Boockvar: “There Is 0% Chance That This Ends Smoothly”
The entire 5 minutes were a perfect reflection of the battle in the markets of the last few years – that of market wisdom and the facts versus the blind optimistic ignorance of watching (and trusting) a ‘market’ number (in this case the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index) rise day after day and not caring why – until – as Peter Boockvar so eloquently notes you have your 401(k) cut in half twice in a decade.
Well worth taking the time to witness the cognitive dissonance of believing the market strength is unrelated to the Fed and yet a Fed unable to Taper even a few billion for fear of repercussions… as Boockvar notes, “there is 0% chance this ends well.”

Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/emergency-alert-please-stand-by-us-is-headed-towards-the-second-great-depression/#jusmGmFqQGVgyyhe.99

The al-Qaeda Kenya Mall terrorist attack is now over and the situation is under control. Many have called this one of the most sophisticated attacks since 911. Government officials are now scaring and warning the American people that it is highly possible that this new stronger al-Qaeda lone wolf groups are going to attack the US soon. This propaganda build up is for the next false flag event that will push the next war to start with Iran and Syria and eventually it will turn into WWIII.

Calm Before The Storm As The World Heads Into 2nd Meltdown
With continued uncertainty in global markets, today acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb warned King World News that what we are seeing right now is the “calm before the storm” as the world heads dangerously into a second “meltdown.” Below is what the acclaimed money manager had to say in this candid interview.
Leeb: “In Europe, despite Merkel’s overwhelming victory, she still has to bring together a coalition. There are great concerns inside Germany about how much money Germany has lent out in order to support the weaker economies. Also, there is concern about what the long-term effects of that lending will be.
So, the prognosis for the euro is not particularly good….
http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/9/24_Calm_Before_The_Storm_As_The_World_Heads_Into_2nd_Meltdown.html

Peter Boockvar: “There Is 0% Chance That This Ends Smoothly”
The entire 5 minutes were a perfect reflection of the battle in the markets of the last few years – that of market wisdom and the facts versus the blind optimistic ignorance of watching (and trusting) a ‘market’ number (in this case the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index) rise day after day and not caring why – until – as Peter Boockvar so eloquently notes you have your 401(k) cut in half twice in a decade.
Well worth taking the time to witness the cognitive dissonance of believing the market strength is unrelated to the Fed and yet a Fed unable to Taper even a few billion for fear of repercussions… as Boockvar notes, “there is 0% chance this ends well.”

Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/emergency-alert-please-stand-by-us-is-headed-towards-the-second-great-depression/#jusmGmFqQGVgyyhe.9

Buy CDS on J.C. Penney debt, says Goldman

By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Goldman Sachs recommended buying credit-default swaps on several of J.C. Penney Co.’s outstanding debt just before the stock dropped to more than 12-year lows on Wednesday, hit by reports that the retailer is shopping for additional cash.

Decliners

J.C. Penney JCP +8.10%  slumped 15%, trading at levels not seen in more than 12 years. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs recommended buying 5-year CDS, commonly used as insurance against possible delinquency, on J.C. Penney debt. “Although we are comfortable with the collateral value at the top part of the structure, in our view, the company’s term loan could experience downside if the company were to tap the debt markets for incremental liquidity,” said Kristen McDuffy at Goldman Sachs in a report. She also initiated coverage of three tranches of J.C. Penney’s debt maturing in 2017, 2020 and 2036 at underperform.

Bloomberg Enlarge Image

J.C. Penney falls to 12-year low.

CDS spreads on J.C. Penney widened 154 basis points to 1195 basis points, according to Markit Wednesday.

On Monday, Michael Binetti at UBS said fresh funds could help to stabilize J.C. Penney’s liquidity position, but concerns remain over the slow recovery of the department store’s key metrics, including same-store sales, gross margins and cash flow.

“In our view, another potential capital raise suggests that JCP is still struggling to win back its wayward consumer—and could signal that 3Q traffic & [same-store sales] trends have not improved much despite a return to traditional merchandise & heavy couponing,” he said.

J.C. Penney is talking to banks and institutional investors to secure more capital in the form of both debt and equity, according to Reuters last week.

The stock has been in a steady decline since Sept. 10 except for a brief rebound on Sept. 17. So far this year, the struggling retailer’s shares have shed about half of their value. 

Baxter International Inc. BAX +0.06%  slid 6.4%. Last week, the drug and medical-device maker said it is recalling two lots of Dual Luer Lock Caps due to the presence of “loose particulate matter” in the packaging. The caps are used to protect access ports on medical devices when not in use, Baxter said.

Carnival Corp. CCL -0.03%  shares fell 5.3%. The cruise-line operator faced a wave of analyst action, with a downgrade from Morgan Stanley and price-target cuts from J.P. Morgan and Susquehanna, a day after the company forecast lower-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings.

Gainers

• Breaking-news alerts: Get free email alerts the instant news breaks

First Solar Inc. FSLR +0.15%  shares added 3.5%. Short interest in First Solar fell to 10.78 million shares as of Sept. 13. The most recent position represents 15.3% of the company’s float, said financial news website 24/7 Wall St.

Seagate Technology PLC STX -1.55%  shares added 5% although it was not immediately clear what sparked the rally. The stock is up about 44% year-to-date.

Genworth Financial Inc. GNW +2.67%  shares gained 3.9%. The insurer said Tuesday that it will request premium increases for certain Privileged Choice and Classic Select policies.

Gannett Co. GCI -1.09% shares rose 3.6%. Belo Corp.’s BLC +0.02% shareholders on Wednesday approved the $2.2 billion merger with Gannett.

Mako MAKO -0.03%  shares soared 82% on news that the medical-device maker will be bought by Stryker SYK -0.96%  in a $1.65 billion deal. Shares of Stryker fell 2.9%.

Trending Tickers

$FB: Facebook Inc. FB +2.04%  advanced 2.1%. The social network reached an all-time closing high on Tuesday of $48.45. Facebook was initiated at a buy rating and a price target of $60 by Canaccord Genuity. The stock was upgraded to a buy rating from neutral by Citigroup, which also increased its price target to $55 from $32.

$AZO: AutoZone Inc. AZO -0.90% said Wednesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose to $371.2 million, or $10.42 a share, from $323.7 million, or $8.46 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were $9.76 a share and net sales rose to $3.1 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $10.34 a share, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. AutoZone shares gained 2.6%.

$NE: Shares of Noble Corp. NE -0.59%  climbed 1.8%. The company said Tuesday it received authorization from its board of directors to split into two offshore-drilling companies.

Sue Chang is a MarketWatch editor in San Francisco. You can follow her on Twitter at @SueChangMW. Saumya Vaishampayan is a MarketWatch reporter based in New York. You can find her on Twitter @saumvaish.

Canadian billionaire predicts end of US Dollar as world's reserve currency - Ned Goodman lecture

Food Stamp Growth 75X Greater than Job Creation

With the latest jobs report, it is now the case that "Under Obama, Food Stamp Growth [Is] 75 Times Greater Than Job Creation," according to statistics compiled by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee. "For Every Person Added to Jobs Rolls Since January 2009, 75 People Added To Food Stamp Rolls."
Here's a chart detailing the growth:

Since January 2009, as the chart shows, a net of 194,000 new jobs have been created. During that same time, 14.7 million have been added to the food stamp rolls.
"Simply put, the President’s policies have not produced jobs. During his time in office, 14.7 million people were added to the food stamp rolls. Over that same time, only 194,000 jobs were created—thus 76 people went on food stamps for every one that found a job," says Senator Jeff Sessions, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee. "This is a product of low growth. Post-recession economic growth in 2010 was 2.4%, and dropped in 2011 to 1.8%. This year it has dropped again to 1.77%. Few, if any, net jobs will be created with growth of less than 2%."
The Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee put the job growth into perspective:
 

In January 2009, there were 133.56 million Americans with jobs and 31.98 million on food stamps. Today, there are 133.76 million Americans with jobs and 46.68 million on food stamps. The employment rolls have thus grown by 0.15 percent and the food stamp rolls have grown by 46 percent, meaning that for every one American who found a job, 75 Americans signed up for food stamps.  Meanwhile, during that time, our nation’s debt has risen $5.63 trillion. Total spending on food stamps is now more than $80 billion annually, a fourfold increase from 2001. Total spending on federal means-tested welfare—food stamps, public housing, social services, cash aid, etc.—is now approximately $1 trillion. That amount is enough, if converted to cash, to send every household beneath the federal poverty line an annual check for $60,000.

Welfare spending is projected to remain permanently elevated; for instance, at no point in the next 10 years will fewer than 1 in 9 Americans be on food stamps. In fact, the Administration has actively sought to boost food stamp spending and enrollment, including through a partnership with the Mexican government to advertise benefits to foreign nationals, as well as materials that teach outreach workers how to “overcome the word ‘No.’” USDA even goes so far as to argue that the program is “the most direct stimulus you can get.”

Overall, in the last four years, the United States’ gross federal debt has increased 53 percent, food stamp enrollment has increased 46 percent, and the number of employed persons has increased just 0.15 percent. This picture, however, is even more ominous than it looks. While only 194,000 net jobs have been created since 2009, the working age population has increased by approximately 5 million—almost 25 times that amount. In other words, a shrinking share of working age adults have or are even looking for a job. The real unemployment number (U-6), therefore, is 14.6 percent.

To put this month's job creation in historical perspective, in October of 1984, 286,000 jobs were created—67 percent more—at a time when the U.S. working age population was 26 percent smaller than it is today.

Over time, these trends, if not reversed, spell economic disaster for the United States and its citizens.

 

Malloy Says Shutdown Could Undercut Recovery

By JON LENDER, jlender@courant.com

HARTFORD — Spurred by the threat that a congressional showdown over Obamacare will shut down the federal government, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget director asked heads of state agencies Tuesday for contingency plans by Oct. 1 on how to maintain federally funded services to the public.
Budget chief Benjamin Barnes said in the memo that at Malloy's request, his staff was "undertaking to work with Connecticut state agencies to plan for the potential of a federal shutdown or default in the coming months."
"In the aftermath of the Great Recession, our state's economy — like that of the other states — has seen steady recovery," Barnes wrote. "Unfortunately, the governor and I are both deeply concerned that the United States Congress, particularly the House, may take reckless actions in the coming weeks that will undermine the improvement that we have seen, and threaten our fiscal condition in the months to come."
The memo was immediately blasted by state Senate Minority Leader John McKinney as a "political document."
McKinney, who is seeking his party's gubernatorial nomination to run against Malloy next year, said that the memo was "filled with erroneous information" and "intended to scare people of the state of Connecticut, and … to influence the debate over what's happening down in Washington."
"For example, he says our state's economy has seen a steady recovery. Well, it hasn't," McKinney said. "Connecticut was the only state to see its economy shrink in 2012."
President Barack Obama said in his weekly address on Saturday that a federal government shutdown could result from Congress' failing to pass a new budget by next Monday, the end of the federal fiscal year. Some, such as U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4thDistrict, say they expect a government shutdown to happen.
The Republican-controlled House is refusing to extend federal government funding past next Monday without first de-funding the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate and Obama are not expected to go along with that, and no resolution to the impasse is in sight.
A preliminary vote on a proposal by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to defund the Affordable Care Act is expected in the Senate on Wednesday.
McKinney said that Malloy and Barnes, rather than making "partisan accusations" about Republicans in Washington, should be urging Obama to make some compromise that would address legitimate concerns about Obamacare. "Businesses and people all across Connecticut are afraid of what is going to happen when Obamacare takes effect," he said, adding that something should be done to either "correct or repeal" the program.
However, Brendan Sharkey, the Hamden Democrat who is speaker of the state House of Representatives, issued a statement saying: "Washington Republicans are playing chicken with our economy. It is time for them to start acting like adults or the results could be disastrous across the country."
Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn, the president pro tempore of the state Senate, added that "a federal shutdown will hurt Connecticut's economy and resources for seniors, education and transportation. We can only hope that reason will triumph over extremism in Washington for the sake of our state and the nation."
Barnes, in his memo, told state agency commissioners and directors that "in the event that the federal government fails to reach an agreement to avoid a shutdown or default, there could be a significant impact on both your operations (especially staff and programs that rely on federal funding), and on the overall economy."
The "most significant" effect could be on the state's Medicaid program, which relies on federal funds to assist poor people, Barnes wrote. "The state's exposure may include responsibility for paying the salaries of state employees working on federally funded programs, covering the federal share of entitlement programs such as Medicaid, and potentially entering into short-term cash flow borrowing if revenues and/or federal reimbursements significantly lag state outlays."
"Accordingly," Barnes told the agency heads, "please provide, by October 1st, a written assessment of the potential impact on your agency's programs and operations as well as recommended steps for mitigating any risks."
"It does no good for anybody to have the federal government paralyzed and not functioning," said Sharon Langer, senior policy fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of low-income children and their families who benefit from federally financed programs such as Medicaid.
But Langer said it was her understanding that even in event of a federal shutdown, programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare "would continue" and "the money would still be there" for some time. "When we've had government shutdowns" in the past, she said, "the longest they lasted was a few weeks."