Living In The Shadows

A Drag
Government payrolls grew in the early part of the recovery, largely because of federal stimulus measures. But since its postrecession peak in April 2009 (not counting temporary Census hiring), the public sector has shrunk by 657,000 jobs. The losses appeared to be tapering off earlier this year, but have accelerated for the last three months, creating the single biggest drag on the recovery in many areas. (NYT, 6/19/2012)


So to stimulate the economy the government hires more public sector workers who then receive both above-private market wages and also long-term health and pension benefits which tax-payers which eventually are on the hook for.


Pants On Fire
In his memoir, Obama describes how his grandfather, Hussein Onyango, was imprisoned and tortured by British troops during the fight for Kenyan independence. But that did not happen, according to five associates of Onyango interviewed by Maraniss. Another heroic tale from the memoir about Obama's Indonesian stepfather, Soewarno Martodihardjo, being killed by Dutch soldiers during Indonesia's fight for independence also is inaccurate, according to Maraniss.


The president explains in his memoir that some of the characters in his book have been combined or compressed. (Huffington Post, 6/20/2012)


The president goes on to explain that in some instances "I just made stuff up."


Q And A
Does President Obama have any top fund-raisers among Wall Street executives?


...Robert Wolf, a top UBS executive in New York, is among President Obama’s leading fund-raisers, bundling more than $500,000 for his re-election so far this year. (NYT, 6/20/2012)


Does President Obama have any connections to billionaire George Soros?


Mr. Wolf and Mr. Obama met in late 2006 at a reception held at the offices of the billionaire investor George Soros. (NYT, 6/20/2012)


Star Light
Whatever that may mean, more interesting is the Obama counter-theory found here, what he calls "our North Star—an economy that's built not from the top down, but from a growing middle class."


There is no theory anywhere in non-Marxist economics that says growth's primary engine is a social class. A middle class is the result of growth, not its cause. (Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 6/20/2012)


The best line in a good piece from Henninger. Note the phrase "non-Marxist economics." 


Invocation
The committee’s Republicans had essentially one answer to all of this: agent Terry. By the end of the session, his name had been invoked no fewer than 54 times. “An agent was shot and killed and left to bleed out in a desert,” said Rep. Patrick Meehan (Pa.). Using the what-did-he-know-and-when-did-he-know-it language of Watergate, Meehan added: “That is the essence of what we have to get to the bottom of.” (Dana Milbank, washington Post, 6/20/2012)


Liberals are always asking for bi-partisanship (when they are losing the debate). RedStateVT waves a white flag in front of Milbank and how does he respond? With this drivel about the Fast and Furious scandal. Milbank thinks it is unfair of Republicans to raise the issue of a dead border patrol agent.