Deficit Tops $1 Trillion for Fourth Straight Year Under Obama

To the left is ONE BILLION DOLLARS and those are 100 bills.

Below is ONE TRILLION and those are double stacks of 100 dollar bills. YES, that little speck on the left is the same buy as above.

The U.S. budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, but a modest improvement in economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared with last year.

The Treasury Department said Friday the deficit for the 2012 budget year totaled $1.1 trillion. Tax revenue rose 6.4 percent from last year to more than $2.4 trillion, helping contain the deficit.

The government's revenue rose as more people got jobs and received income. Corporations also contributed more tax revenue than in 2011.

Government spending fell 1.7 percent to $3.5 trillion. The decline reflected, in part, less defense spending as U.S. military involvement in Iraq was winding down.

Barack Obama's presidency has now coincided with four straight $1 trillion-plus annual budget deficits — the first in history and an issue in an election campaign that ends in Nov. 6.

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My thoughts, exactly .... thanks Britt

Following Thursday night’s vice presidential debate, Fox News Channel senior political analyst Brit Hume said the way viewers react to Vice President Joe Biden’s aggressive demeanor will dictate who “won” the debate.

“Well, it all depends on what they think of Joe Biden  and his demeanor,” Hume said. “If you read the transcript, you might conclude that the vice president had a very strong debate, that he had a lot to say, that he was strongly critical of Gov. Romney and his program, that he held his own. But that’s not all there is to it. We had the split screen, much as we did during the presidential debate. And what you saw while Paul Ryan was talking, as others have pointed out was smirking, laughing, smiling, mugging by the vice president.”

Hume said Biden risked coming across as “a cranky old man.”

“My sense was that it was so compelling that people probably couldn't take their eyes off of it. And so, it will come down to whether or not people thought that was attractive or not. Myself, I thought it was unattractive. I thought it was rude. And I have a feeling it will come across to an awful lot of people as rude. It looked like a cranky old man to some extent, debating a polite young man.

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When did it happen?

Many years ago, in Dayton, Ohio, I walked about six blocks to Emerson Junior High School, I walked seven or eight blocks to downtown Dayton to go to the old Ohio theater and watch cowboy movies on Saturdays, and on Halloween, walked many blocks around where we lived and got all sorts of goodies. No dentist offered to buy them, we ate them. One house gave out pennies and we thought they were the richest people in the world.

I used to walk to the old fairgrounds Colosseum on Sundays and watched all sorts of basketball games.

What has changed in this country that makes walking to school so dangerous. Children get kidnapped and killed. Locally, parents were advised to have their children walk in groups, or better yet, take them to school. Where do we put the blame for all of this? Do we just hear more about it sooner, because of our TV sets. We watch crimes as they are happening. Remember OJ and his car chase? Now we even get live shots of wars and riots in process.

Something has caused some people to get "off track."

I guess it all started when we  quit sitting on our front porches, and had no idea who our neighbors were, we used to "look out" for each other, we don't do that any more, best not to get "involved." Maybe it had something to do with no longer "cranking" the old ice cream maker, electricity took over. We are part of a generation who is spending 6 billion dollars to win political offices. Are we great, or what?

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Rare find

In Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, another bizarre find was made Friday: that of an oarfish, which washed ashore on bustling Medano Beach, which features a view of the end of the Baja California peninsula.

Oarfish are deep-water denizens that are rarely seen. But because of their long, slender appearance, and their bright-orange dorsal fins and manes, they helped spawn myths of sea serpents and sea monsters among ancient mariners.

They've been known to reach lengths of 30-plus feet.

Unsuccessful attempts were made to revive the oarfish and return it to the Sea of Cortez, and ultimately it was collected for scientific study.

Oarfish inhabit the world's oceans but are found in the dark depths between about 600 and 3,000 feet. On the rare occasions one is seen on or near a beach--this happens very rarely and sporadically--it's either sick or injured, dying or already dead.

Joe Biden interrupted Paul Ryan 82 times in 90 minutes. The Democrats have become the rude party

No one’s denying that Joe Biden delivered the more energetic performance in Thursday’s vice presidential debate. He interrupted Paul Ryan 82 times in 90 minutes.

Deconstruct the Biden bluster and some of what he said was nonsensical. In the first 10 minutes alone, Joe insisted that the US intelligence community was wrong on Libya but trustworthy on Iran. He claimed that the staff at the Benghazi embassy didn’t want extra security when lots of sources say that they begged for it. He seemed to rule out war with Iran under any circumstances, which would remove America’s one bargaining chip. As political klutzes go, Biden is to talking what Gerald Ford was to walking.

More importantly, Biden was rude. Where Romney was commanding, Biden was just insulting. The most damning moments came when the camera went split screen. On the right was Ryan trying to make a serious point about world peace. On the left was Biden laughing. It’s hard to imagine independents warming to these theatrics.

More from Frank Beckmann

Interesting VP debate.....Biden did better than Obama and Ryan was not as effective as Romney.....But Biden also came across as supercilious, condescending, and rude....Now let's see if he gets called on his outright fabrications about Libya!! He claims "we didn't know" about security concerns at the Benghazi embassy!! Really?? So there's no communication between the White House and State Department, which received the calls for additional security?? That wasn't part of national security briefings?? That's an admission of incompetence!! ....... Frank Beckmann

Arrogance of Failure

Excellent, Jim Madison, the "Arrogance of Failure." I came up with some mundane comments, rude, condescending,   arrogant, pitiful, I think the old VP was told that being disruptive and rude would win him the debate. "Don't worry about being knowledgeable, just be rude."

Remember, old Joe, the president and all his failures are depending on YOU, your performance could mean win or lose, no pressure, Joe, just be yourself. So now we see what he is really like.

"Arrogance of Failure," sums it up James, well done.

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The BIG Debate ...............

A vice-presidential debate ..... the press is really building it up. Joe who? Against who? Have not heard of either one in the last four years, why are they so important now. I personally don't think this debate holds the answer to who is going to be our next president. If elected, their words mean nothing, so what's the big deal.

My guess is the answer is simple, television. Enough advertising and they can make anything sound interesting, even this. Is this debate really going to determine who you vote for, I don't think so. Next, they are going to want us to watch "The View."

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Old soldiers ......................

By Sara Belsole

COLUMBUS, GA - A sad day today for the Fort Benning and Columbus communities. Army legend Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley loses his fight with cancer at age 92.

In the 2002 film "We Were Soldiers," actor Sam Elliot plays Command Sergeant Major Plumley leading troops in the 1965 battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War.

But in 1965, Plumley wasn't reading off a script, he was living it.

"Some soldiers referred to it as the Valley of Death because they knew they were going to be in for a fire fight when they went in there," Frank Hanner, Director of the National Infantry Museum, says.

Plumley's bravery in the Vietnam War was just the last chapter of his 32-year military career. He passed away early Wednesday morning at Columbus Hospice, but his spirit lives on inside the National Infantry Museum.

"It would be such a sad museum if we didn't honor someone of his stature in the museum, he did so much for our country," Hanner says.

West Virginia native Plumley traveled to Fort Benning after he was drafted to train as one of the first army paratroopers in the 1940's.

"He found out he could get $50 extra a month to be on jump status so he joined the 82nd Airborne Division," Hanner says.

He would fight with the 82nd Airborne Division throughout WWII, making four combat jumps.

And when the Korean War began in 1950, Plumely was ready to fight again.

"The Army asked soldiers who had combat experience to volunteer to go over to Korea, and he was one of the first to volunteer," Hanner says.

In Korea, Plumley fought with the 187th Regimental Combat Airborne Team, where he completed his fifth combat jump.

Plumely was awarded dozens of awards for his service, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He is also one of only 325 men to receive the Combat Infantryman Badge Third Award since 1943. It is the army's most prestigious and least given award, reserved for soldiers who served in WWII and more than 30 days of combat in Korea and Vietnam.

After retiring from the Army, Plumely worked at the Martin Army Community Hospital on Fort Benning for 15 years.

Billy Graham

Ahead of a Thursday night campaign rally in North Carolina, Mitt Romney made an impromptu stop to meet with the Rev. Billy Graham and his son, Franklin, at the reverend's home outside Asheville.

Romney didn't officially land the elder Graham's endorsement, but he came pretty close. The famed evangelist told Romney he would do whatever he could to "help" the GOP presidential candidate, according to a readout from the Romney campaign.

The vow came at the end of a 30-minute meeting between Romney and the Grahams, who talked about issues including Afghanistan, religious freedom and the growth of the Graham ministry in places like China, Sudan and North Korea.

Photographers and a television crew were allowed in during the final minutes of the meeting, where Graham was overheard asking Romney, "What can I do for you?"

"Prayer is the most helpful thing you can do for me," Romney replied.

According to Mark DeMoss, a senior Romney adviser who was at the meeting, Graham then led a prayer for Romney after the cameras left the room. Graham also told the former Massachusetts governor, "I'll do all I can to help you. And you can quote me on that."

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Biden debate prep photos

Danville, Kentucky (CNN) - CNN has obtained exclusive pictures showing Vice President Joe Biden practicing for the vice presidential debate against Rep. Paul Ryan in the Sheraton Hotel in Wilmington, Delaware where Biden spent the last four days in an intensive debate camp.

This look at Biden's practice set up shows the lengths his team went to replicate the debate conditions he will experience tonight as he squares off in his only debate against his Republican opponent at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

Our president's ring ................

NEW YORK – As a student at Harvard Law School, then-bachelor Barack Obama’s practice of wearing a gold band on his wedding-ring finger puzzled his colleagues.

Now, newly published photographs of Obama from the 1980s show that the ring Obama wore on his wedding-ring finger as an unmarried student is the same ring Michelle Robinson put on his finger at the couple’s wedding ceremony in 1992.

Moreover, according to Arabic-language and Islamic experts, the ring Obama has been wearing for more than 30 years is adorned with the first part of the Islamic declaration of faith, the Shahada:
“There is no god except Allah.”

Guess who and what is says ............

Where are we headed?

Good question. How do we really know in what direction this country is headed? We are obviously in financial trouble, much of our country and its natural treasures are owned by countries from abroad. That can't be a good thing.  Do we really know how much of our country is not ours anymore?

I get the feeling, at times, that many of the citizens that inhabit this country, have a veil over their heads, and are like the animal who keeps its head buried in the sand. They shut their eyes to what is going on around them and just let the world go by. Everything will be alright with the eyes shut, you can't see what is going on around you.

I always think back to Germany in the 30's and 40's. The populace just kept their eyes closed to what was going on around them. When they opened them, it was too late, their country was gone. Are we in a situation like that?

We are living in a country where we have a homeless problem, economic problems of  gigantic proportions, our children are getting a second rate education, thousands, maybe millions, go to bed hungry each night,  people by the millions are out of work, losing their homes, yet, 6 billion dollars is being spent, by candidates, who are seeking offices that pay a fraction of that amount. Anyone, with any intelligence, has to question the rational of that.

If history repeats itself, and it does, we are heading for disaster.If we stay on the course we are on, our days are numbered, historically, that can be proven.

WHY are tires black?

I got two new tires put on one of our cars today. I sat in the waiting room while they were putting them on. I was surrounded by tires, all black tires. Then I got to wondering, WHY are tires black?

The guy at the desk didn't seem to know, one thought it was because of oil they used, but no one really seemed to know why. Why not put green tires on green cars, or red tires on red cars, always black tires.

So I Googled, "Why are tires black?"

The first car tires were white! One tire manufacturer wanted his tires to look more distinguished than other tires. He asked the Peekskill Chemical Company in Peekskill, New York, to see what they could do to make a tire that was a silver gray color.

Joseph Binney had founded the Peekskill Chemical Company in 1864 and specialized in producing black and red colors and paints. The red he created was used on barns all across the American countryside and was made with the same red iron oxide that the cavemen had used to make their red paint. The Peekskill chemists succeeded in creating a darker color for the tire manufac turer. More importantly, they discovered that by adding carbon black as an ingredient to the rubber they not only got a darker tire, but one that lasted four to five times longer than white ones!

And from there you know how this story ends, except for one little detail. The Peekskill Chemical Company later became known as Binney & Smith, the makers of Crayola Crayons!

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Numbers

Wow, today is 10/11/12 that must mean something to "numbers" people.

Imported Food We Eat and Junk We Buy

Green Giant frozen vegetables are from China, as are most of Europe’s. Best. Arctic Gardens are OK.

NEVER buy the grocery store garlic unless it is clearly marked from the USA or Canada. Most everything else is stuff grown in people poop (even worse than the chicken poop below)!. China is the largest producer of garlic in the world. The U.S.is next.

Buy only local honey; again, most honey is shipped in huge containers from China and re-packed in the US. You probably won’t find that on the label!!

Cold-FX is grown and packed in China and is full of fecal bacteria. Doesn't work anyway, big scam. If the country of origin is not clearly marked beware.

If you aren't sure about produce, ask an employee. Watch out for packages which state "prepared for", "packed by" or "imported by". The country of origin should be clearly shown on the item. Buy as much as you can from local farmers markets in season and keep a wary eye open the rest of the year.

How is it possible to ship food from China cheaper than having it produced in the U.S or Canada?

For example: the "Our Family" brand of mandarin oranges says right on the can it’s from China.  Just look at the label - The MORE we purchase from China, the cheaper it becomes for them to ship it all to the US in huge container ships!

For a few more cents (literally!) you can buy several other brands. Gold brand or Dole comes from California. Beware, Cosco sells canned peaches and pears in a plastic container that come from China.

All "High Liner" and most other frozen fish products come from China or Indonesia. The package may say "pacific salmon" on the front, but look for the small print, usually on the back of the package near the bottom. Most of these products come from fish farms in the orient where there are no regulations on what is fed to these fish. (Recently The Montreal Gazette had an article by the Canadian Government on how Chinese feed the fish: They suspend chicken wire crates over the fish ponds, and the fish feed on chicken poop. Then YOU get to eat the fish!) If you search the internet about what the Chinese feed their fish that they import all over the world, you'll be alarmed at the pictures and the articles. (It’s nauseating reading!)

Never buy any type of fish or shellfish that comes from these countries: Vietnam, China, Philippines. Again, you can find a myriad of articles on this on the internet without having to dig very far!

Steinfeld’s Pickles are made in India – just as bad!!! Another example is in canned mushrooms: No-Name brand comes from Indonesia.

Check those little fruit cups.  They used to be made in Canada in the Niagara region until about 2 years ago. They are now packaged in China! Look at the label!

While the Chinese export inferior and even toxic products, dangerous toys and goods to be sold in North American markets, the media wrings its hands and criticizes the Obama Administration and the Harper Government for perceived errors. Yet 70% of North Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended!!

Well, duh. Why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges? Simply do it yourself!!!   Buy only Canadian or US products!!

Read the labels of what you buy! If it says 'Made in China ' or 'PRC' (that now
includes Hong Kong ), choose another product, or none at all. You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products and how YOU are furthering their invasion into our food supply as well as taking jobs away from US citizens by buying their products!

 If 200 million North Americans refused to buy just $20 each of Chinese goods, that's a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our favor...fast!! The downside?  Some Canadian / American businesses will feel a temporary pinch from having foreign stockpiles of their inventory. But we, as Americans, HAVE to show them that we do NOT want Chinese products or they will keep buying from China. We are the end user and we must change this because they won’t.

If just one month of trading losses hit the Chinese, it would account for 8% of their North American exports. That's "less" coming in, not "more"! At least it's a start! Even slowing down the amount they get into this country helps.

PLEASE - Forward this to everybody you know, and keep sending it so it continues to go around. WE have to make the difference.

Better than nothing ...... I guess

The American Institute for Economic Research, a private think tank, estimates Social Security checks will increase between 1.5% and 1.7% in 2013.

The Labor Department will release its September inflation reading on Oct. 16, which is the final of 12 readings used to calculate the cost of living adjustment made annually to benefits. The Social Security Administration will announce the 2013 benefit increase at that time. Benefits increased by 3.6% in 2012, when inflation was higher.

Steven Cunningham, director of research and education for AIER, said that the increase will not be enough to cover the actual rise in costs faced by many seniors, who receive the overwhelming majority of Social Security benefits.

Multiple Streams Of Income By Allen, Robert G.