"...and the President laid out no plan...." ( 00:57 seconds)

The President's No Plan (click here)

...And he's laid out a specific plan to do more. (click here) His proposal resolves the sequester and reduces our deficit by over $4 trillion dollars in a balanced way- by cutting spending, finding savings in entitlement programs and asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share.As a result the deficit would be cut below its historic average and the debt would fall as a share of the economy over the next decade.  Just two months ago Speaker Boehner said there was $800 billion in deficit reduction that could be achieved by only closing loopholes and reducing tax expenditures.  So we know we can get this done. Let’s be clear: the President’s proposal to Speaker Boehner is still on the table. Here it is again....

Today, Moody's downgraded Great Britain's Bonds due to their policy of austerity. One has to wonder how President Obama has accomplished so much with so little growth of the USA national debt. President Obama has depth to most issues. He is amazing in that he is as personable to the average person that he is, but, it probably comes from his ability and passion to preach the Bible to others. He likes making that connection. It is my guess it fulfills him personally and adds to his understanding of his purpose in life. When one sincerely reflects on the extraordinary ability of President Obama, we are very lucky to have him.

To save him from being guilty of sainthood, the graph above is a measure of debt to GDP ratio. Some might see that as a cop-out to the real debt problem, however, I would disagree.

Deficits add to the national debt. By every measure President Obama is not adding to the national debt if he can avoid it. He has managed to do two things here. He has prevented adding to the national debt by PAYING for programs. The Democrats have called it "Pay Go." President Obama has demanded payment for any spending whenever possible.

Additionally, the spending has paid off. While President Obama and the Democrats have instituted Pay Go wherever they can, the spending has actually improved the economy. We know the economy is better. It is fairly obvious. He managed to pay for all kinds of incentives to increase the household budgets of Americans. In return, those monies were returned to the economy and the economy expanded. The expansion of the economy is noted in the GDP.

So, a couple of things contributed to the graph above. There was 'paid spending' whenever possible AND the GDP increased. The results are exponential. The spending reduced over time and the GDP increased during that same time frame, hence, the very good news in the graph above. 

If the Republicans can't find the beauty in President Obama's economics then maybe they can at least find his plan and stop lying. What is really scary is that the Republicans actually believe their lies. So, they didn't even bother to look, just accuse. POLITICS. The Rhetorical Republicans practice politics not 'what is the word?' Come on, what is the word? 

There ya go.

GOVERNING

The Rhetorical Republicans practice politics and not governing. This is more proof and if this continues it will be conclusive proof there is no reason to return them to office as they have violated in very blatant ways, The Public Trust.

Billy O'Reilly states Mark Ferrandino's life is about to change for the worse.

"...change for the worse..." was a direct quote he stated in cross talk and a bit under his breath. But, he said it. Irresponsibly as always.

Macho Man O'Reilly is a Gay Basher. He states the USA is becoming a nation of barbarism. Evidently, Jessica's Law didn't pass through the Colorado legislature and now Mr. Ferrandino, who is a gay man, is the reason.

Rep. Ferrandino (click here) has a sterling record of standing up for Colorado consumers and civil rights. He sponsored legislation granting needy homeowners threatened with foreclosure 90 extra days to work with their lenders to come to a good solution. He led the fight to crack down on payday lenders, reducing their exorbitant 300 percent interest rates. He sponsored legislation allowing state employees to designate their unmarried partners as insurance beneficiaries, and he has championed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

I won't worry so much as O'Reilly also is targeting Governor Cuomo as a man to contend with because of the so called weak laws that victimize children. But, Rep. Ferrandino doesn't have body guards. So, he needs to be alerted he is on O'Reilly's hit list and we know all too well what happens to people on O'Reilly's hit list. He is stating Governor Cuomo is going to allow 12 year old girls to receive abortions without asking how they became pregnant and after all it is statutory rape.

There are judicial decisions requiring parents to be aware of minors seeking abortions. I would expect a parent to come forward to law enforcement if the child was raped. Mr. O'Reilly, evidently, wants more of a police state than most legislators seem to be possible.

The precedent governing minors is Casey, 1992 (click here)

(ii) for minors, informed consent of the parents, with a judicial bypass option when the minor could not obtain parental permission;

When is O'Reilly going to be removed from the airways of the USA when he threatened the lives of others in naming them and implicating to the Pro-Life Nut Cases that is the next best target for them.

'Jessica's Law' fails again before Colorado lawmakers (click here)

9-year-old Jessica Lunsford raped, killed in 2005

...Jessica's Law would make it a minimum 25 years in prison for a sex assault against a child younger than 14, if the suspect is seven or more years older. It also requires monitoring of the person after they're released from prison....

Currently, Colorado has a 4 year sentence for child rape as a mandatory sentence. Twenty-five years is a long time for a first time offender. This is child rape and not murder. Jessica was murdered by her kidnapper. I realize her father has a profound purpose for his life and his daughter's memory, but, there are many murderers of child and otherwise that sometimes get 25 years for their crimes. 

If Colorado continues to push back against Jessica's Law, it might be reviewed by other states. I am sure the Lunsford organization does not want that to happen. Every state is different. Colorado must have it's reasons, but, it sincerely has no relevance to the gay community in that state. 

Mr. Lunsford weakens his legitimacy by having Mr. O'Reilly seek victimization of a gay legislator rather than building a greater consensus in the community of Colorado to move the law forward. 

This is a difficult time to build consensus for longer prison terms, too. State budgets are stretched and adding prison populations is not at the top of anyone's list. I suggest Mr. Lunsford use his organization to study the reason why Colorado has repeatedly refused to pass Jessica's Law and seek to over come it. I wish him well. I am sorry about the death of his daughter. I am sure he was the light in his life.

Add to the agenda is religious hatred. He specifically lied about the University of Missouri recognition of religious diversity of Christian vs Muslim vs Pagen/Wiccan. It is an past time of Mr. O'Reilly to espouse hatred of religious diversity at every turn and of course it plays right into the Barbarism theme of the lack of Jessica's Law.

It is the policy (click here) of the University of Missouri-Columbia to respect the diversity of our students. The faculty is reminded that students might want to observe religious holidays and days of special commemoration and is encouraged to accommodate students who have a conflict with a class period, test or activity because of these obligations. Approved by the MU Faculty Council on October 21, 2010. Amended by the MU Faculty Council on April 21, 2011. Approved by the MU Faculty Council on October 6, 2011.

It is a very standard academic calender which also provides a link 'off campus' highlighted as 'religious holidays.' On that page if one clicks on 2013 (click here) there are innumerable holidays of every diversity conceivable. There are plenty more holidays for Christians than seven. The lies of FOX News that promulgates hatred is significant. Why is this allowed in the USA? A cable news network uses hatred on a regular basis including hatred of individuals to the point they are targets of assassination should never be a part of the media culture in the USA.

This segment of the ? show ? was nothing but lies and of course the audience had no clue unless they bothered to research it afterwards.

Hanford is leaking.

The Hanford site in eastern Washington is considered one of the most contaminated locations on Earth.

That is the Columbia River. The picture is looking south along the river.

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News
The leaking of radioactive liquids (click here) at the Hanford, Wash., Nuclear Reservation is more extensive than previously reported, with six storage tanks affected, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday.

In a conference call with reporters Friday after a meeting with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Inslee disclosed that six of the 177 tanks were leaking at the nuclear facility in Richland, in eastern Washington about 50 miles southeast of Yakima.

Inslee said Chu told him that evaluation system of the tank levels wasn't used correctly, raising the prospect that there may be even more leaks. But he said he was told that there was no immediate threat....

Polluted groundwater (click here) from Hanford seeps into the Columbia River in the Hanford Reach.  Federal and state agencies are undertaking major efforts to prevent the movement of contaminated groundwater to the Columbia River.  Black Rock reservoir will leak into the groundwater, and could create pressure on natural groundwater, increasing the movement of groundwater toward the Hanford site.

This is Hanford Reach (click here) which was designated as a National Monument by President Clinton in 2000.

The dark line at the top third of the picture divides the land open to the public. That dark line is the Columbia River. The area north (designated by arrow to the right) is open to the public. It is considered the north shore of the monument. The area south of Columbia River (the dark line) is closed to the public. The area closed to the pubic is where the nuclear mess is managed or perhaps better stated, was managed.

This is what bothers me, The public access area is about 30 miles north of the nuclear facility. It is always believed the contamination into the aquifer will never migrate anywhere but south. I am not convinced of that. 

If a drop of dark ink is dropped into a puddle with an exit into a trickle of rain water, it doesn't simply run in one direction. The ink spreads throughout the puddle while it also runs toward the exit into the trickle. My guess is that the Hanford management is underfunded. It is just one of those things that is under the pubic radar. Those in the area know it is there, but, it isn't a focus of concern. The darn thing has been a problem for so long, it is assumed it is contained and managed. 

If Secretary Chu is re-running tests and finding new conclusions, there is a good chance the management in the past has been flawed. That is just me, but, I would be remiss not to mention it.

This isn't the first interview with President Obama by Reverend Al.

President Obama met with civil rights leaders including Rev. Al Sharpton and others on 2/21/2013 in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. They discussed issues critical to the African-American and civil rights communities

This may have been the first time Civil Rights Leaders were together with President Obama.

Reverend Sharpton has a great relationship with President Obama. I found the radio interview extremely truthful and revealing. The two should do this every six months to clear the air with media rhetoric.

The part of the interview/conversation regarding the upcoming debt cuts took place here. (click here 00:44 seconds begins the topic upto 3:01 minutes)

This is the link to "The Al Sharpton Show" radio program (click here)

This is the entire interview. (click here) I liked it. It was not at all confrontational. They may as have been sitting at the kitchen table. I found it warm and informative. The President has a great deal of depth. He leaves no stone unturned. There are honest answers. No half truths. No rhetoric. I loved it.

On Thursday morning, the Rev. Al Sharpton interviewed President Barack Obama for his radio show, “Keepin’ It Real With Al Sharpton,” on what Black History Month means to him, rising out of the Great Recession, and the seriousness of the sequester.

Secretary LaHood is not playing around. The USA does not want to bailout the airlines yet again.

...“We are beginning today (click here for video) discussions with our unions to likely close more than 100 air traffic control towers at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations per year,” LaHood said....

Recently, US Airways and American Airlines announced intentions to merge. The CEOs stated they would keep all flights in operation and would not be cutting any from their schedule. With announcement by Secretary LaHood, all airlines need to rethink their flight schedules beginning March 1st and they need to do that now rather than risk unhappy passengers.

The End of Cheap Airfare (click here)

The US Airways/American merger will mean fewer flights, higher prices, and worse service. But that’s OK.

By Matthew Yglesias|Posted Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, at 2:47 PM

...American Airlines is a much larger company than US Airways, yet it’s in effect being acquired by the smaller company. That’s because the larger company was bankrupt. The new firm will be owned by a blend of US Airways shareholders and American Airlines creditors, and run primarily by US Airways’ top management. US Airways itself was the product of a similar merger back in 2005. It had filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and then again in 2004, and found itself de facto taken over by the smaller America West Airlines. That merger saw America West’s brand subsumed under the better-known US Airways, but it was America West’s CEO Doug Parker who ran the merged entity and who now, with the American merger, will be CEO of the country’s largest airline....

American Airlines is already bankrupt. The USA is not going to bailout an industry always in contention of their own profitability.

The airline industry needs to put the announcement by Secretary La Hood into practice to prevent 90 minute delays by narrowing their number of flights to eliminate congestion at the airports that remain open. They also need to move any and all fights into airports to be closed after March 1st off their schedules. There won't be any Air Traffic Controllers there to even land a jet in an emergency.

There is a lot to be rearranged and it is time for the airlines to do that now. March 1st is just around the corner. I remind, January 1, 2014 will bring additional reductions in spending and additional contraction of the industry. The only reason this is happening on March 1, 2013 is because Congress instituted a delay last year.

Advanced planning will cause a reduction in the amount of liability to the airlines for accommodating passengers held over when their flights are delayed. One of the problems of the airline industry is that they hand out meals and lodging when their flights are postponed and/or cancelled. 

One other thing, if Secretary La Hood is stating there will be 90 minute delays; that is at one airport. That means a jet leaving NYC flying to Los Angels in a non-stop flight will be delayed 90 minutes. At Los Angels it will be delayed again 90 minutes when it receives new passengers on a return flight to NYC.

For a flight having many stop overs and passenger changes, which tend to be the venues of the smaller airlines, their delays will be compounded by 90 minutes every time they land and take off again. Follow? The delays and costs will be exponential. So, the CEOs need to get their act together. The cuts in funding will not be met with bailouts.

United Airlines - Flight 232, DC-10, Soux City - the crash was due to a crack in the jet turbine.

Don't even try to lie about this wayward program.

Investigators discovered (click here) an impurity and fatigue crack in the disk, and traced this defect all the way back to the initial ingot formation in 1971. Titanium when melted reacts with air which creates impurities; to prevent this, the ingot which would become the fan disk was formed using a "double vacuum" process: the raw materials were melted together in a vacuum, allowed to cool and solidify, then melted in a vacuum once more. Afterwards, the ingot was shaped into a billet, a sausage-like form about 16 inches in diameter, and tested using ultrasound to look for defects. Defects were located and the ingot was further processed to remove them. However, some contamination remained.

The manufacturing of any type of engine is exposed to stress and fatigue. It doesn't matter that the jets don't have the exact engine. It is the metal comprising the engines. The F35 was NOT due for refitting of engines until 2020.

General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136

Rolls-Royce has developed the engine, but, is in production with General Electric.

22 FEBRUARY 2013

The Pentagon on Friday (click here) suspended the flights of all F-35 fighter planes after a routine inspection revealed a crack on a turbine blade in the jet engine of an F-35 test aircraft in California.

The F-35 program office said it was to early to know the fleet-wide impact of the engine issue, but it was suspending all flights until an investigation into the issue was completed.

It said it was working closely with Pratt & Whitney, the United Technologies Corp unit which builds the engine for the fighter, and Lockheed Martin Corp, the prime contractor for the radar-evading warplane, to ensure the integrity of the engine and return the F-35 fleet to flight as soon as possible.

The engine to the F35 was suppose to become a part of the ADVENT program with the USA military. The ADVENT program seeks higher fuel efficiency in their operations and assets. If the F-35 continues to be a part of the USA military we would be throwing good money after bad. It is not reasonable to continue this program. The overruns will extend into the next decade and add huge financial burdens to the USA people. The F-35 contracts need to be closed and ended.

It is over for this aircraft!

Stick a fork in it, it is done.

Rolls-Royce: F136 survival is key for major F-35 engine upgrade (click here)
09:03 11 Jun 2009

By:   STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) could be the beneficiary around 2020 of a major engine upgrade if the F136 is not eliminated, a Rolls-Royce executive tells FlightGlobal.com

The F-35's propulsion system has become the main target for the Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (ADVENT) engine competition managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), replacing the postponed next generation bomber (NGB).

"I think we do have a first point of entry [for ADVENT] identified regardless of what happens with NGB, and that is JSF," said Dennis Jarvi, president of Rolls' defence business in North America....

Rolls is currently a junior partner to General Electric for developing the F136 alternate engine for JSF. Meanwhile, GE and Rolls-Royce are competing for a Phase 2 contract by AFRL for the next round of ADVENT funding.

ADVENT technology, which promises a 25% increase in fuel efficiency or a corresponding boost in thrust, "would fit very nicely into something like F136," Jarvi said....

Don't blame the pilot, he/she was simply doing their job. Pilots know what they go through during aerial combat. It is a requirement they come back alive.

It is more than immigration reform.

What the Republican party does not appreciate is the fact Hispanics have many problems other than just immigration. Not that immigration is not important, it is vitally important, but the majority of Hispanics fall into the Middle Class and actually Lower Middle Class.

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance (click here)

$37,759
The median income of Hispanic households in 2010.

26.6%
The poverty rate among Hispanics in 2010, up from 25.3 percent in 2009.

30.7%
The percentage of Hispanics who lacked health insurance in 2010, down from 31.6 percent in 2009

The point is come 2014 and 2016, the GOP is not going to slide by the issues that still beset the Hispanic population in the USA by addressing immigration reform.

As a matter of fact, as the Hispanic population in the USA takes their place among voting citizens they will demand the disparity between the rich and poor in the USA be addressed.

Why won't the citizens, including Hispanics, address topics such as Chained CPI? Are you joking? With loopholes in the income tax structure that chronically reward the wealthy for purchasing personal gratification items rather than investing in the American workforce? 

Here again the lower income Americans are asked to sacrifice their consumer price index increases to benefit the wealthy.

The answer is no. 

There needs to be income tax reform, too. It has to be meaningful and it has to stop victimizing the poor and lower income citizens in the USA. That is where the majority of Hispanics live. If the Republicans are going to impress these minority Americans, they have to move past immigration reform to making life reasonable for all Americans.

Close the loopholes and take another look at increasing taxes on people earning over a quarter million to a half million a year. The Republicans need to get serious and mean it. Capital Gains needs to be looked at again, too.