2008 Meltdown

CBO: The Long-Term Budget Outlook

Measured relative to GDP, almost all of the projected growth in federal spending other than interest payments on the debt stems from the three largest entitlement programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

via Director’s Blog » Blog Archive » The Long-Term Budget Outlook.

Foreclosures at record high in first half 2009 despite aid – Yahoo! News

U.S. home foreclosure activity galloped to a record in the first half of the year, overwhelming broad efforts to remedy failing loans while job losses escalated.

Foreclosure filings jumped to a record 1.9 million on more than 1.5 million properties in the first six months of the year, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

The number of properties drawing filings, which include notices of default and auctions, jumped 9.0 percent from the second half of 2008 and almost 15 percent from the first half of last year.

“Despite everybody’s best efforts to date we’re not really making any headway against the problem,” Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac in Irvine, California, said in an interview.

via Foreclosures at record high in first half 2009 despite aid – Yahoo! News.

Democrats want to impose “surtax” to finance health care – WSJ.com

A new study by the Kaufman Foundation finds that small business entrepreneurs have led America out of its last seven post-World War II recessions. They also generate about two of every three new jobs during a recovery. The more the Obama Democrats reveal of their policies, the more it’s clear that they prize income redistribution above all else, including job creation and economic growth.

via Democrats want to impose “surtax” to finance health care – WSJ.com.

Average length of unemployment highest since 1948. – WSJ.com

The Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimate for job losses for June is 467,000, which means 7.2 million people have lost their jobs since the start of the recession. The cumulative job losses over the last six months have been greater than for any other half year period since World War II, including the military demobilization after the war. The job losses are also now equal to the net job gains over the previous nine years, making this the only recession since the Great Depression to wipe out all job growth from the previous expansion.

via Average length of unemployment highest since 1948. – WSJ.com.

YouTube – How The Democrats Caused The Financial Crisis: Starring Bill Clinton’s HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo And Barack Obama; With Special Guest Appearances By Bill Clinton And Jimmy Carter

YouTube – How The Democrats Caused The Financial Crisis: Starring Bill Clinton’s HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo And Barack Obama; With Special Guest Appearances By Bill Clinton And Jimmy Carter.

Obama & Crew: Excellence Versus Nothing – HUMAN EVENTS

It is no wonder to me why President Obama believes and does what he does: he has zero experience in the private sector, zero executive experience, and even very limited experience in government.

via Obama & Crew: Excellence Versus Nothing – HUMAN EVENTS.

Get Ready for Inflation and Higher Interest Rates – WSJ.com

It’s difficult to estimate the magnitude of the inflationary and interest-rate consequences of the Fed’s actions because, frankly, we haven’t ever seen anything like this in the U.S. To date what’s happened is potentially far more inflationary than were the monetary policies of the 1970s, when the prime interest rate peaked at 21.5% and inflation peaked in the low double digits. Gold prices went from $35 per ounce to $850 per ounce, and the dollar collapsed on the foreign exchanges. It wasn’t a pretty picture.

via Get Ready for Inflation and Higher Interest Rates – WSJ.com.