Obama's Numbers from Fact Check org

Obama's by the Numbers report for October 2014 on factcheck.org

Word of the Day - Amorphous

a·mor·phous

əˈmôrfəs/

adjective

1. without a clearly defined shape or form.

   "amorphous blue forms and straight black lines"

   synonyms:

   shapeless, formless, structureless, indeterminate; More

   • vague; ill-organized; unclassifiable.

     "make explicit the amorphous statements"
   • (of a group of people or an organization) lacking a clear structure or focus.

     "an amorphous and leaderless legislature"

A perfect example of amorphous projects is the current GOP attacks on President Obama. There is no real goal to them, and they seem to be based on the erroneous idea that if Obama is weak, then they are strong -- which is absurd. The President is the First man. He is US, the citizens of the United States. He is the Commander and Chief of every Military Service man, and Veteran who have fought to keep this country free. To attack him, is to attack everyone in this country -- it is to make you resented and the target of animosity. We may not like what the President is doing, or what he says all the time. We may not agree on some of his agendas -- but no matter what, he is still the President. The office is important, even sacred. 

So, the GOP (whose approval rating is currently 12% and falling) doesn't really have a firm plan or goal on why they attack or why they obstruct instead of supporting the president. It is an amorphous  objective that they tend not to look at too closely. 

Hello Edward Quince - Nice to Finally Meet You

Current Congress 12% Approval Rating 

Furthermore, a Fed spokeswoman, who confirmed Mr. Bernanke’s use of the pseudonym, wouldn’t say why he was using an alias. She said the name didn’t have any particular significance.

Edward Quince doesn’t exactly seem like the type of name you pull out of a hat, but it’s hard to tell what the significance might have been.

Hmm, let's see: Edward Quince.... Quince, Edward.... QE....?
Nope. No significance at all
.

QE - Google Search

Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional monetary policy used by central banks to stimulate the economy when standard monetary policy has become ineffective.

TCTA Legal Department -- Blaine Thoughts

Four years ago, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) adopted new standards, known as TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills), for social studies textbooks in the state’s schools. The process ignited an international media storm. When it was done, even the explicitly conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute gave TEKS a D, on the grounds that it amounted to political and cultural indoctrination, a dash of mindless inclusivity, and brute memorization.  

Koch Unhidden in Michigan

No Ninja Points for the Koch Brothers in Michigan ... and it looks like they are dead on the mark with the info as well. 

Wednesday reader's view: Imposing values

Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 10:00 am

By the Midland Daily News

To the editor:

The billionaire Koch brothers are bent upon imposing their values on the United States in general, and Michigan in particular. They want, among other things, to eliminate taxes on big corporations, dismantle public education, destroy unions, weaken environmental regulations, eliminate the middle class and restrict voting rights.

To accomplish their goals, they make “campaign contributions” to Michigan legislators through nonprofit front organizations such as “Americans for Prosperity” and the tea party. In order to have exactly the kind of laws they want, they created the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC creates templates so their lawmaking “members” can fill in the blanks, more or less, while they appear to have written the laws themselves.

Rep. Kevin Cotter’s voting record is closely aligned with the Koch brothers’ goals. Cotter has voted to defund public education, fought health care reform, gutted unions by voting for Right to Work (for less), given tax breaks to corporations while raising taxes on the middle class and restricted voting rights.

These are Koch and Cotter values, not Michigan values. Your vote on Nov. 4 will decide whether the Koch brothers continue to influence our laws through Kevin Cotter, or whether laws will be based on Michigan values. I’ll be voting for Michigan values, and I hope you will too.

Timothy Caldwell

Mount Pleasant

Climate Change: Key Data Points from Pew Research

http://www.pewresearch.org/key-data-points/climate-change-key-data-points-from-pew-research/

The American public routinely ranks dealing with global warming low on its list of priorities for the president and Congress. This year, it ranked second to last among 20 issues tested. 

There are substantial partisan differences over the importance of dealing with global warming, according to our  survey conducted Jan. 15-19. About four-in-ten (42%) Democrats cite it as a top priority compared to 14% of Republicans and 27% of independents.

When we asked about climate change again in a survey conducted in Feb. 2013, only 34% of the public viewed new climate change policies as something that was essential for the White House and Congress to tackle last year.

Fewer Americans cite global climate change as a major threat to their country than most publics around the world.

In a poll of 39 countries conducted March through May. 2013, a median of 54% of those surveyed cited global climate change as a major threat to their countries, putting it at the top of the list of items tested. In contrast, 40% of Americans said climate change was a major threat.

Two-thirds of Americans say there is solid evidence that the earth has been getting warmer over the last few decades.

A survey conducted in October, 2013 found that 67% of Americans believe there is solid evidence that the earth has been getting warmer over the last few decades, a figure that has changed little in the past few years.

There are sharp partisan divides about whether there is solid evidence of warming.

In 2009, 35% of Republicans, 53% of independents and 75% of Democrats said there was solid evidence of rising temperatures on earth. Today, half of Republicans (50%), 62% of independents and 88% of Democrats say this, according to our October, 2013 survey.

Among Americans who believe there is solid evidence of global warming, more attribute it to human activity than natural patterns. But there is a big partisan gap on this question.

Currently, 44% say there is solid evidence of global warming and it is mostly due to human activity; 18% say it is mostly because of natural environmental patterns, according to our October, 2013 survey. Two-thirds of Democrats (66%) say that warming is mainly because of human activity, up nine points from earlier this year. Fewer independents (43%) and Republicans (24%) than Democrats say that human activity is the primary cause of global warming.

Nearly two-thirds of the public favors stricter emissions limits on power plants.

A September, 2013 survey found that 65% of Americans favor stricter emissions limits on power plants, including 74% of Democrats, 67% of independents and 52% of Republicans.