Looks Like We've Seen Everything the Stimulus Has to Offer
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The news that is not White House approved...
Job Well Done
The Obama administration has strung the American people along by making big promises about what the $787 billion stimulus will bring, saying at some point in the future it's going to do this:
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PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: And what makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years including 60,000 plus here in Colorado. It's that we're putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done. Work that will bring real and lasting change for generations to come.
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Well, the chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers Christina Romer let the cat out of the bag Thursday and told Congress that the stimulus has pretty much run its course:
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CHRISTINA ROMER, CHAIRWOMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Most analysts predict that the fiscal stimulus will have its greatest impact on growth in the second and third quarters of 2009. And by mid 2010, fiscal stimulus will likely be contributing little to further growth.
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Ouch.
The third quarter of 2009 ended in September, so I guess we pretty much have seen everything the stimulus has to offer.
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You can mark it down as one of the greatest wastes of your taxpayer money in recent history.
Ditching Deeds
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds appears to be headed for a loss in the key swing state of Virginia. His Republican opponent Bob McDonnell is leading in the polls by a wide margin, and with his chances in serious jeopardy, Deeds is now coming under fire from the White House.
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Senior administration officials hammered Deeds in The Washington Post Friday, claiming that he ignored the advice of White House political aides until it was too late.
Credit goes to The Post for pointing out that this is clearly an effort to distance the president from what looks to be a major loss for the Democratic Party.
Another great example of when the going gets tough, the White House sounds the retreat.
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Carbon Pawprint
The Meltdown is brought to you by your pet -- no kidding! A new book argues that the family dog may pose a greater threat to the environment than your run-of-the-mill SUV.
Yes, keeping a medium-sized dog leaves the same carbon footprint as driving about 6,000 miles a year than one of those gas-guzzling SUVs.
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I wonder if the war against puppies is going to be the next battle of the environmental movement?
That movement by the way is facing an uphill battle in large part because fewer Americans believe global warming is real. A new Pew poll shows that the number of Americans who believe global warming is a serious problem has declined from 44 percent in April of 2008 to just 35 percent today.
And that skepticism holds true across both parties. Pew found that the number of global warming believers among Republicans, Democrats and independents has declined steadily since 2006.
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It looks like Americans are waking up, which means Al Gore may be looking for a brand new cause of hysteria.
Gitmo Goofs
Some left-wing musicians are not happy that President Obama has yet to fulfill his campaign promise to close Gitmo.
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Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam are among the artists who announced that they have joined a group known as the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo.
But shutting Gitmo's doors is not their only goal. They have also filed a request to gain access to the list of songs that were used during the interrogation process at the facility. According to the AP, the musicians want to find out if any of their songs were used.
I guess they're just looking for their royalties.
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