Category Archives: News and politics

By Richard E Walrath Democrats are calling a special meeting to rename the Republican Party which looks like it is going down for the third time.  In the future, GOP will stand for Grab Onto Pelosi and hold on for … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson and Richard E Walrath When you allow yourself to be backed into a corner you suffer the consequences in the form of higher prices, and that is basically what has happened to the price of gasoline … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson Senator Obama has repeatedly attempted to put Senator Clinton on the defensive by bringing up her vote on H.J. Res. 114, the Joint Resolution providing President Bush with authorization for the use of Military Force Against … Continue reading →

  Re:  Hillary’s Math Problem  – Jonathan Alter – March 4, 2008 By Richard E Walrath and Patricia L Johnson WE hope Jonathan won’t mind if we Alter some of his math assumptions regarding the remaining primaries. The Slate Delegate … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson   Data Source:  Federal Reserve Board The percentage of household debt dropped from 10.2% in 2006 to 6.8% in 2007.  The decrease in household debt was due to slow growth of home mortgage debt.  Even though … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath and Patricia L Johnson Which will come first?  Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment or a woman president?  Both look a long way off.  The question that must be asked is if the U.S. can ever … Continue reading →

  With Secretary of Commerce and Industrial Development Jaime Serra Puche and President Carlos Salinas of Mexico, U.S. Trade Representative Carla A. Hills, and Minister of International Trade Michael Wilson and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada at the initialing … Continue reading →

This morning the Federal Open Market Committee announced a decrease in the federal funds rate 50 basis points to 3.0 percent and a decrease in the discount rate 50 basis point to 3.5 percent.

By Patricia L Johnson and Richard E Walrath The $150 billion dollar economic growth package was announced by President Bush on January 24, 2008 after a bipartisan agreement was reached with the leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives.  The plan consists of $100 billion in temporary … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson A few months ago my partner and I, Richard Walrath, wrote an article on Income Mobility and a reader recently sent us an inquiry on the subject. After a couple e-mails back and forth it finally occurred to … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath The Democrats shouldn’t waste time on Bush. Get a bill on his desk as soon as they can without tax-cuts for business and the rich.  That’s the most inefficient means of providing stimulus.  They just pocket … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson The U.S. stock markets were closed Monday in observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day but that didn’t stop the Dow Jones industrial average futures from dropping 436 points or 3.6%, following the lead of foreign markets.  … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath So far, you’d think the subprime mortgage crisis affects only houses in the cheap rent districts.  Not so, the next wave is going to hit homes that look like these. FDR declared a Bank Holiday until … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is the organization responsible for calling a recession, "a recession".  They determine when a recession begins based on their definition:  “A recession is a significant decline in economic activity … Continue reading →

  By Patricia L Johnson Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) prepares the Employment Situation Report for the prior month.  This particular report is a big deal because it’s a "market mover" meaning the results of this report have the ability to push … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath People are way over their heads in debt, and have no way out except bankruptcy which the Republicans have made more difficult and more costly to protect their business interests, but bankruptcies are on the rise. … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath The big ‘R" is fast closing in on us, so now we hear about plans for doing something about heading it off.  Hillary Clinton is proposing a $70 Billion stimulus plan for those with lower incomes–that’s … Continue reading →

    By Patricia L Johnson  President Bush requested  an increase of 74,200 Army troops and the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) was published October 2007 indicating the Army preferred Alternative Three.  The intent is to increase the Army’s … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson If nothing else you have to admire the perseverance of this administration.  No matter how bleak the news, the White House continues to put on a happy face and the December 2007 employment report is no … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Starting with George Washington, there have been 43 presidents including the present one, George W. Bush. But how many Treasury Secretaries have there been? Has anybody ever counted them up? Has any president had more than three … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson 122,295,345 votes were cast in the 2004 election for presidential candidates, yet Americans seem content to sit listening to the news and actually care what a few Iowa voters think.  I couldn’t count the number of … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson The question asked during the Manpower Interview of 1Q2008 employment trends was:  “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of March 2008 as compared to the … Continue reading →

      By Patricia L Johnson       You and your significant other pinch pennies until you’re able to set aside enough money to make the down payment then you search and search until you find the right … Continue reading →

  Click here to Link to Hurdles remain for new stem cell technique – Cloning and stem cells- msnbc.com   By Richard E Walrath The original story in the Columbus Dispatch announcing this "breakthrough" got a banner headline.  The original story on MSNBC … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath It’s customary to give the new president a brief honeymoon period.  It’s going to be really brief for the next president.  How to un-do and re-do everything in the last eight years is an awesome task.  … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath When the Cheney Gang and the Bush Bunch are finally gone on January 20, 2009, we hope, the books will start coming out on how bad things have been for the last eight years–the worst president and … Continue reading →

by Patricia L Johnson and Richard E Walrath "On paper, it appears the Treasury Department has managed to analyze income mobility inside out and backwards to come to the conclusion the poor are jumping up the income quintile ladder by … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath If we didn’t have such a muddled mess in this country, the objective would be to provide health care to everybody.  Then you wouldn’t need health insurance or insurance companies, but we’re too far in the … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Listening to Nathan Dungan, founder and president of Share Save Spend®, makes me wonder if he has even the slightest idea of what he’s talking about.  Saving in this as well as every other country, as … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson The Score is in – -0-  President George W. Bush -1-  People of the United States of America After seven years in office Congress finally said "NO" to President Bush and they said it loud and … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath and Patricia L Johnson David Broder, who writes for the Washington Post, recently had a column about Social Security. If you can find it, it’s worth a look–not for what it says, but for what it … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Right now on the Republican side, Mitt Romney is way ahead in the Iowa polls while Rudy Giuliani is way out in front in national polls.  What the media and the political pundits ought to be talking … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath If you live in Columbus, OH, you buy all your electricity from AEP.  Why?  There’s nobody else selling it.  So guess what?  AEP is all for deregulation.  Why?  So they can bump up their prices.  Funny … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath There’s a lot of talk about regulation, but I don’t see a lot of evidence of it.  More of it in the food industry, especially imports, would please me.  People who buy toys think there should … Continue reading →

  By Richard E Walrath Liquid CO2 has been discovered on Mars and on the closest thing on earth to Mars – Antarctica. Where was it first?  Or, where did they discover it first?  I don’t know the answer to … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath "Why Osama Is the Best Choice for the Democrats in 2008" By  George W. Bush There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that the above op-ed piece was submitted by gw (guess who) to the … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson Sometimes I read articles and am totally flabbergasted at the utter stupidity of suggestions made. In the latest edition of Hightower Lowdown, edited by Jim Hightower and Phillip Frazer, the author(s) is suggesting a general work strike by … Continue reading →

  By Richard E Walrath Does anybody remember the "Triangle of Terrorism" and the "Axis of Evil?"  The first term, Triangle of Terrorism was dr0pped because nobody could figure out how to make a triangle out of the three countires, … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson and Richard E Walrath Republicans point to the back-to-back terms of President Ronald Reagan as a huge success for supply-side economics. Reagan received much applause from supply-siders because of his tax cuts for the rich, and … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath My own personal opinion is that we can’t get universal health care soon enough.  Truman did his best sixty years ago to pass it, but the country wasn’t ready yet. I don’t know that it’s ready … Continue reading →

  By Richard E Walrath All I’m reading about is the million Armenians the Turks killed in 1915 and whether or not this was genocide.  There’s no question that it happened–not even too much of a dispute about how many.  … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath I can’t find a report anywhere on the Republican debate that makes even an attempt to check out what Romney and Giuliani actually did about taxes and spending. They both could not be telling the truth.  … Continue reading →

  By Richard E Walrath The Fred Dalton Thompson express roared out of the starting gate like a herd of crippled turtles, and then faltered. If you aren’t sure of who to vote for, and you’re a Republican, vote for … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath and Patricia L Johnson Since 1913, almost a hundred years now, this is the first time that we have had back-to-back elected presidents of opposing parties who have served two full terms. Being able to compare … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Since 1913, almost a hundred years now, this is the first time that we have had back-to-back elected presidents of opposing parties who have served two full terms. FDR died on April 12, 1945 after having … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath The Dow settled down somewhat but still finished up for the day and the week.  I can’t make any sense of it–maybe Goldilocks can.  The money heads are always talking about the Goldilocks economy.  Maybe she has … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath The employment figures for September came out, and everybody just loved them.  Why, I don’t know.  To start with, the August numbers were adjusted or revised, as they say.  Instead of losing 4000 jobs in August, … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath What do most companies do for their employees? Health insurance is a good example.  For years, employees thought and were told that health insurance was in addition to their pay.  Then they were told it was part … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Bush is now talking about eliminating the budget deficit by 2013, as he continues to add billions of dollars to the National Debt, not to mention that his term is up, finally, in 2009, we hope. … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath  Billions of dollars for the Bush National Debt and the Bush war – but no dollars for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. This morning President Bush vetoed the State Children’s Health Insurance bill.  It doesn’t matter if … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson No trial, no ‘innocent until proven guilty’, no incarceration for crimes committed, just here today – DEAD tomorrow. Military.com is reporting that during the period from June of 2003 through August of 2007, we have killed 18,832 … Continue reading →

  By Richard E Walrath Former Senator John Edwards recently announced he will accept public financing for his campaign.  What does that mean? Campaign contributions are private funding from individuals, groups, PAC’s, firms, unions, and so on.  Public financing is … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath There are about as many, 160,000 "independent contractors" in Iraq as there are troops.  When they start withdrawing troops, do they withdraw the same number of independent contractors? Do they get paid out of the defense budget … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath People just can’t get their minds off the war in Iraq. I think they’d like to.  I think they want to. They realize there are many other really pressing problems, but what to do about Iraq?  … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath The purpose of the Kyl proposal, of course, is to give Bush some cover if and/or when he attacks Iran which seems more and more likely each day.  The resolution, in final, form doesn’t says this–the wording … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson The September 26, 2007 Senate vote on the amendment (Kyl Amdt. No. 3017 as Modified) to S. Amdt. 2011 to H.R. 1585 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008) certainly has created a bit of a stir.  … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath As a general rule, economic numbers are inflation adjusted when you see them.  If you are given "raw" numbers and don’t know what the inflation rate is, you don’t know what the increase or decrease is. If … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath How long ago was it that United Nations inspectors were on the ground in Iraq and the United States had over 100,000 troops stationed in Kuwait all alive and well? How much would it have cost … Continue reading →

A new article by Richard E Walrath and Patricia L Johnson     "The next time you read or hear those glowing numbers about the economy, just ask yourself these three questions — " Click the following link to read … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath   Wouldn’t it have been terrible when Rudy was addressing the NRA if he had forgotten the name of his third wife when she called to remind him to take out the garbage when he got home? … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have adversely affected  Army and Marine Corps units – ground forces are burning out and there is both an increase in mental health issues and a decrease in retention rates … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson Senator Ken Conrad, Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget, requested the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, to estimate the potential costs associated with maintaining a long-term military force in Iraq. The costs were projected using … Continue reading →

  By Richard E Walrath Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) should talk to each other more often.  Reid came out with his statement about how he was glad Bush was offering up somebody the Senate could confirm. … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Greenspan may be early in his new book which throws water on the Bush handling of the economy.  But where is the story of how the Bush economy went from a forecast of a surplus "as … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Although the $2 billion only represented 4% of its deposit base, thousands of customers withdrawing their savings from UK’s fifth-biggest mortgage lender, Northern Rock, looked like a scene from the Jimmy Stewart movie, "It’s a Wonderful Life". If depositors knew … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath If the Democrats can’t pick up a bunch of seats in the senate next year, they never will.  They have states like New Hampshire, Virginia and, I think, Minnesota where they should have winners.  I can’t … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Bad news for Amurka.  Higher oil prices just in time for the winter heating season.  Adjusted for inflation, oil is still cheap.  A barrel of oil that cost $38 in 1980 would now bring $96 – … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Last night on the news, I switch around a lot, but I think it was MSNBC’s "Tucker" 6:00 p.m. EDT, which is anchored by Tucker Carlson.  He’s dropped the bow tie, wears lots of make-up, parts his hair … Continue reading →

Patricia L Johnson and Richard E Walrath  The Associated Press article  U.N.: U.S. workers are world’s most productive [1] was recently published by MSNBC and contains the following comments: "The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson Recession definitions (and fears) are running amuck.  Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © 2007 Microsoft Corporation. 1. decline in economic activity: a period, shorter than a depression, during which there is a decline in economic trade … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Hind-sight is a wonderful thing.  It looks like the Fed has fallen behind the curve.  Look for a rate cut very soon–maybe even before they meet on September 18.  The jobs report is bad enough to … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson We’ve all heard the disappointing news by now – instead of adding jobs in the month of August, the preliminary numbers are in and total Nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 4,000, from 138,041,000 to 138,037,000. That, … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath It’s beginning to look like Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) is going to make as much trouble for the Republicans as Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has for the Democrats.  I don’t think Larry Craig is going anywhere and the Larry … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath The Center for Retirement Research (CRR) recently concluded, based on results from the National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) “nearly 45 percent of Americans will be ‘at risk’ of being unable to maintain their standard of living in … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath January 5, 2008 is the new date for the Wyoming Republican party conventions – just 10 days prior to the new proposed date for Michigan’s primary – January 15, 2008. State law requires New Hampshire to hold … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson and Richard E Walrath Do robberies increase just before a recession?  Can you predict a recession by tracking the number of robberies?  Is there a correlation between the unemployment rate and the number of robberies?  We … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath I want to get gas–that’s why I go to the gas station.  All I want to do is walk in, hand the clerk my card, and go out and fill up.  When I’m done, I want … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath and Patricia L Johnson "The female-to-male earnings ratio of 0.77 in 2006 was not statistically different from the 2005 ratio…" That is a direct quote from the recent "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Keith Olbermann, MSNBC Countdown, did a reenactment on his newscast last night about Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) using the MN police report as the basis.  I think the Republicans have got it all together now.  They can say, "Vote for Us in … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath Prices are too high–if they were about half as much on everything or I had twice as much money, that would be just about right.  I’m sure most people feel the same way.   Technorati tags: … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath United States now ranks 42nd in life expectancy–I hope they move up pretty soon.  I don’t have that many years left to wait. 45 million without health insurance, and the myth that the United States health … Continue reading →

  By Richard E Walrath As far as I can see, there’s been a big hub-bub about increasing liquidity to relieve the pressure on creditors.  The ones who are really in dire straits and need the help are the debtors–the … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath David Cay Johnston’s August 21, 2007 New York Times article 2005 Incomes, on Average, Still Below 2000 Peak talks about "average" incomes which in 2005 were below 2000 peak. Average?  That’s not the half of it!  As the story … Continue reading →

By Richard E Walrath and Patricia L Johnson New Residential Sales for month of June 2007 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 834,000 [22.3 percent below the June 2006 estimate of 1,073.00] while preliminary estimates of Existing Home Sales … Continue reading →

By Richard E. Walrath Yes, that is right–two in the state of MO. The only state out of 50 that has not one but two Federal Reserve Banks. Back in 1913, Missouri was considered to be a really up and … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson Click on the following link to read a primer on the Federal Reserve [Banking] System of the United States of America. http://www.ArticlesandAnswers.com/The%20Big%20Pig.htm

By Patricia L Johnson   2,245,189 is the number of prisoners in Federal, State or local jails on June 30, 2006 – an estimate of 497 inmates for every 100,000 U.S. residents. How many do you think would be willing … Continue reading →

Two US Army (USA) Military Police (MP) escort a detainee, dressed in his new orange jumpsuit to a cell at Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay Navy Base, Cuba. Camp X-Ray is the holding facility for detainees held at the US Navy … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson        Are you registered to vote?  The first step in the voting process is registration for new voters, and reporting name or address changes for existing voters.  If you’ve moved or changed your name, notify your county … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson Just finished reading an article on the Ohio 2004 election where the writers use the following words to describe the loss of unused ballots; stolen, criminal, fraudulent, absurd and pathetic. The article babbles on about ballot … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson Do you feel the same way about our Flag that you did before this administration took office?  I wish I could say I do, but that would be a lie.  I used to have the utmost love … Continue reading →

By Richard Walrath       There was a time when the American flag stood for peace, protection, help, security, truth, justice, liberty and freedom. That’s just my list. Yours is probably much longer. People all over the world felt the same way … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson   While reading an article today, I came across the following – what do you think?  Is the statement the author made an accurate representation of the facts? Author comment "Right-wing economists like Greg Mankiw, the former … Continue reading →

By Patricia L Johnson Do you believe everything you read in the papers?  I think most people do – they consider certain members of our news media to be ‘experts’ of sorts and have a tendency to listen very closely … Continue reading →