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Economy Expands, But Why?

Posted by Defend America on Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:25:30 PM

Economy Expands 3.5 Percent in Third Quarter, Biggest Growth in 2 Years

The much-awaited turnaround ended the streak of four straight quarters of contracting economic activity, the first time that's happened on records dating to 1947.

The economy grew at a 3.5 percent pace in the third quarter, the best showing in two years, fueled by government-supported spending on cars and homes.

The Commerce Department's report Thursday delivered the strongest signal yet that the economy entered a new, though fragile, phase of recovery.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/29/economy-grew-percent-quarter/

Now the explanation:

Growth Figures Demonstrate Economy’s Ultimate Resilience    [J. D. Foster]

The initial estimate pegging third-quarter growth at 3.5 percent is good news. That’s the first substantial expansion in two years. It’s also generally consistent with other data (e.g. a stabilizing housing market, reduced rate of contraction in labor markets) suggesting recovery is at hand.

But don’t pop those champagne corks just yet. The fact is the underlying trend growth was much less than the topline figure suggests. For example, car purchases added a full percentage point to the growth rate. Everyone expected the cash-for-clunkers program to artificially pump up third-quarter consumer durable purchases, by filching them from the future. That future is now, and so auto purchases are likely to be anemic well into 2010, especially as unemployment continues to increase.

Similarly, whatever small effect the $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit had on housing, it too served only to pull purchases into the third quarter and reduce such buying well into 2010. Residential real estate swung from subtracting almost 0.7 percentage point to adding 0.5 percentage point. Expect this to strength to evaporate, especially as mortgage rates are now climbing.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjFmNDg4OTQ4YTQ0MzQ1Nzk2OTc0ZDY2ZTU5YjYyNTI=#at
Tags: economy  
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Absentee Ballot Mess in New Jersey

Posted by Defend America on Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:20:07 PM

Democrats Ask New Jersey Secretary of State to Ignore Mismatched Signatures on Absentee Ballot Requests

This year, New Jersey’s registered voters can request a mail-in ballot for any reason. Before 2005, voters needed to provide a reason for why they needed an absentee ballot. The state received about 150,000 absentee ballot applications this year.

On about 2,300 of those applications so far, the signature on the request form did not match the signature on the voter’s registration forms with the state.

In a development that is depressingly predictable, the New Jersey Democratic Party is asking the state to provide provisional ballots for all these voters. Those ballots, could, presumably, be used to overcome any narrow lead by Republican Chris Christie over Democrat Jon Corzine on Election Day.

A mass distribution of provisional ballots, at the request of a political party, would represent a significant change from established law. Currently, when a county clerk rejects an absentee ballot request, they try to contact the voter, through mail, by phone, and in some cases, they make an attempt to contact the voter in person. And a person who has spoken to some of New Jersey’s county clerks says they’re granting wide latitude on signature styles; for them to reject a ballot request because of the signature, it has to be dramatically different from the one on file.

http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTg3YTE5Yjk1Y2Q2NDZiMjQ2ODc1MjY4YmRiYWUyMjQ=#at

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People on the Left Love to Desecrate the Flag

Posted by Defend America on Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:54:53 AM

Organizing for America/BarackObama.com

Democratic fundraising video on Obama's political Web site shows a U.S. flag mural being covered in graffiti and desecrated with slogans about health care reform while a heart monitor beeps ominously.
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All Americans Must Sign Up for Insurance Under PelosiCare

Posted by Defend America on Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:32:10 AM

'Pelosicare' a Trick or Treat?

House speaker to unveil health care bill that would require nearly all Americans to sign up for insurance
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Shocking Story of the Day

Posted by Defend America on Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:30:46 AM
Stimulus jobs overstated by thousands

By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and MATT APUZZO – 6 hours ago

WASHINGTON — An early progress report on President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan overstates by thousands the number of jobs created or saved through the stimulus program, a mistake that White House officials promise will be corrected in future reports.

The government's first accounting of jobs tied to the $787 billion stimulus program claimed more than 30,000 positions paid for with recovery money. But that figure is overstated by least 5,000 jobs, according to an Associated Press review of a sample of stimulus contracts.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMNoef6xDenBbHWO0Im6rIjDmAgAD9BKKBIG0
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October 29th in American History

Posted by Defend America on Thursday, October 29, 2009 8:41:06 AM

October 29, 1777

Hancock resigns as president of Congress

John Hancock resigns his position as president of the Continental Congress, due to a prolonged illness, on this day in 1777. Hancock was the first member of the Continental Congress to sign the Declaration of Independence and is perhaps best known for his bold signature on the ground-breaking document.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=51331

October 29, 1901

McKinley assassin is executed

On this day in 1901, President William McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz, is executed in the electric chair at Auburn Prison in New York. Czolgosz had shot McKinley on September 6, 1901; the president succumbed to his wounds eight days later.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=51408

October 29, 1929

Stock market crashes

Black Tuesday hits Wall Street as investors trade 16,410,030 shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors, and stock tickers ran hours behind because the machinery could not handle the tremendous volume of trading. In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great Depression.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=7065


1940 - The first peacetime military draft began in the U.S.


1969 - The U.S. Supreme Court ordered an immediate end to all school segregation.
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Just Another Reason to Not Vote for Scozzafava

Posted by Defend America on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:16:55 PM
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45 Years Ago Today Ronald Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" Speech

Posted by Defend America on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 6:07:23 PM
Tags: Reagan  
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October 28th in American History

Posted by Defend America on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 5:52:55 PM

October 28, 1775

British proclamation forbids residents from leaving Boston

The new commander in chief of the British army, Major General Sir William Howe, issues a proclamation to the residents of Boston on this day in 1775. Speaking from British headquarters in Boston, Howe forbade any person from leaving the city and ordered citizens to organize into military companies in order to "contribute all in his power for the preservation of order and good government within the town of Boston."

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=51330

October 28, 1886

Statue of Liberty dedicated

The Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States, is dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=7064

October 28, 1919

Congress enforces prohibition

Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. The Volstead Act provided for the enforcement of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, also known as the Prohibition Amendment.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=5476

October 28, 1962

The Cuban Missile Crisis comes to an end

The Cuban Missile crisis comes to a close as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agrees to remove Russian missiles from Cuba in exchange for a promise from the United States to respect Cuba's territorial sovereignty. This ended nearly two weeks of anxiety and tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union that came close to provoking a nuclear conflict.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2467


1976 - John D. Erlichman, a former aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon, entered a federal prison camp in Safford, AZ, to begin serving his sentence for Watergate-related convictions.
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October 27th in American History

Posted by Defend America on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 5:48:22 PM

From yesterday:


1787 - The first of the Federalist Papers were published in the New York Independent. The series of 85 essays, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, were published under the pen name "Publius."


October 27, 1962

The United States and Soviet Union step back from brink of nuclear war

Complicated and tension-filled negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union finally result in a plan to end the two-week-old Cuban Missile Crisis. A frightening period in which nuclear holocaust seemed imminent began to come to an end.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2466
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Obama Signs Bill with Hate Crime Measure Attached

Posted by Defend America on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 4:47:27 PM
Tags: obama  
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AIG and the NY Fed

Posted by Defend America on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 3:29:24 PM

N.Y. Fed pushed AIG on contracts

After federal bailout, insurance giant lost its leverage with banks

By David Cho Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday that it had no choice but to instruct American International Group last November to reimburse the full amount of what it owed to big banks on derivatives contracts, a move that ended months of effort by the insurance giant to negotiate lower payments.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/27/AR2009102703963.html?hpid=topnews'%5C
Tags: Bailout  
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Corzine in Lead in New Quinnipiac Poll

Posted by Defend America on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 3:27:40 PM
October 28, 2009 - Corzine Up 5 Points In New Jersey Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Governor Tops Christie On 'Honesty' Score

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine leads Republican challenger Christopher Christie for the first time in their five-month slugfest, on top 43 - 38 percent among likely voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Independent candidate Christopher Daggett has 13 percent, with 5 percent undecided.

This compares to a 41 - 40 percent Christie lead, with 14 percent for Daggett, in an October 14 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1284.xml?ReleaseID=1389&What=&strArea=;&strTime=0
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Baucus Has Doubts on Senate Global Warming Bill

Posted by Defend America on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 3:26:23 PM

Baucus Has 'Serious Reservations' With Senate Climate Bill

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN of Greenwire
Published: October 27, 2009

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus said today that he has "serious reservations" about a major global warming bill and warned fellow Democrats to water down the measure in hopes of getting it through the Senate.

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/10/27/27greenwire-baucus-has-serious-reservations-with-senate-cl-30810.html
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San Francisco Gets to Do Whatever They Want

Posted by Defend America on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:03:57 AM

San Fran Upholds 'Sanctuary City'

Board approves measure to keep police from turning over minors to immigration unless a felony is committed

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