WELCOME TO OPINIONS BASED ON FACTS (OBOF)
| Name | Published |
| OVERVIEW | Dec. 28, 2010 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 1 | Dec. 30, 2010 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 2 | Jan. 10, 2011 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 3 | Jan. 17, 2011 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 4 | Jan. 24, 2011 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 5 | Jan. 31, 2011 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 6 | Feb. 07, 2011 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 7 | Feb. 14, 2011 |
| SPECIAL ISSUE | Feb. 18, 2011 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 8 | Feb. 21, 2011 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 9 | Mar. 01, 2011 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY PART 10 | Mar. 07, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 1 | Mar. 14, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 1A | Mar. 21, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 2 | Mar. 25, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 3 | Mar. 29, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 4 | Apr. 04, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 5 | Apr. 11, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 6 | Apr. 18, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 7 | Apr. 25, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 7A | Apr. 29, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 8 | May 02, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 9 | May 09, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 10 | May 16, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 11 | May 24, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 12 | Jun. 06, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 13 | Jun. 20, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 14 | July 05, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 14A | July 18, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 15 | July 19, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 16 | Aug. 03, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 17 | Aug. 15, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 18 | Aug. 29, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 19 | Sept. 12, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 20 | Sept. 26, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 21 | Oct. 10, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 22 | Oct. 24, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 22 EXTRA | Nov. 04, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 23 | Nov. 07, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 24 | Nov. 21, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 25 | Dec. 05, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 26 | Dec. 19, 2011 |
| SS & MORE PART 27 | JAN. 03, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 27A | JAN. 05, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 28 | JAN. 17, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 29 | JAN. 31, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 30 | Feb. 14, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART CL1 | Feb. 21, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 30 EXTRA | Feb. 23, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 31 | Feb. 28, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART CL2 - 59 | Mar. 06, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 31 EXTRA | Mar. 07, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 32 | Mar. 13, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART CL3 - 1 | Mar. 20, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 32 EXTRA | Mar. 24, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 33 | Apr. 10, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART CL 4 - 2 | Apr. 17, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 34 | Apr. 24, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART CL5 - 49 | May 01, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 35 | May 09, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART CL6 - 19 | May 15, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 35 EXTRA | May 18, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 36 | May 22, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 36 EXTRA | May 25, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 36 | |
| EXTRA II | June 01, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 37 | June 05. 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 37 EXTRA | June 07, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 38 | June 12, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 39 | June 19, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 40 | June 26, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 41 | July 03, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 42 | July 10, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 43 | July 17, 2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 44 | July 24,2012 |
| SS & MORE PART 45 | July 31, 2012 |
IN THIS ISSUE
1. Personal note.
2. Republican & Democrat Conventions.
3. Romney in England & Israel
4. Look at facts, not political talk.
5. Examples of misinformation.
6. Republicans - statements out of context.
7. Five Oil Cos. $375 million daily profits.
8. House GOP cuts to Social Security.
9. Parting Thought.
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"VOTE, AN EDUCATED VOTE"
What is an educated vote? It is one that has been made with as much knowledge, based on facts, not misinformation, that an individual can obtain.
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PERSONAL NOTE.
My Son became very ill last Friday. He was in Intensive Care for three days and just very lucky to be able to bring him home today. One reason I'm a little late getting this posting done. He is doing much better now. He is my editor and sees to it that I get punctuation and words right.
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REPUBLICAN & DEMOCRAT
NATIONAL CONVENTIONS
The Republican Convention is first and will be held on August 27-30, 2012 at the Times Forum in Tampa , Florida
The only other information that I have about this convention is that the former President, George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Chaney will not attend the convention.
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The Democrat Convention will be held on September 3, 4, 5, and 6 at the Warner Cable Arena on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th.
President Obama's acceptance speech will be on the 6th, at the Bank of America
Other program notes:
Elizabeth Warren will speak at the convention on September 5th and President Clinton will make the nominating speech on that evening.
Vice President Biden will speak on the 6th and President Obama will give his acceptance speech on the evening of the 6th.
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ROMNEY IN ENGLAND
&
I find it really interesting, that the Republican nominee for President, Mitt Romney, didn't find out what kind of health program England and Israel England
In Israel Israel
Their program is everything that he opposes here in the USA
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LOOK AT FACTS,
NOT
POLITICAL TALK
We have had two Presidents in the last 16 years, before Obama. Which one is very popular now, with a 66% approval rating? Which one had his term end in prosperity, not in economic collapse? Which one balanced the budget? Which one left office with a $236 billion budget surplus and which one left office with a $11.9 trillion debt?
What is said in the paragraph above, tells the story of which party has the right approach. In addition, President Clinton raised taxes in 1993 and corporate American had eight years of doing very well. President Bush cut taxes, seven times, and ran the country in a deep hole.
EXAMPLES OF MISINFORMATION.
Sometime ago, Mitt Romney.com posted this statement. "Federal spending has accelerated at a pace without precedent in recent history." This is wrong. In fact, the Washington
Actually, under President Obama, annualized growth of Federal spending has been the slowest in decades.
Obama 2010-13 1.4%
W. Bush 2006-09 8.1%
W. Bush 2002-05 7.3%
HW Bush 1990-93 5.4%
Reagan 1986-89 4.9%
Reagan 1982-85 8.7%
Spending under President Obama has grown at the slowest rate of any President in last 60 years. All this shows that, the Obama spending binge never happened. The above information was reported by the WSJ Market Watch.
Our President has signed into law spending cuts or deficit reduction measures, amounting to $2 trillion. All of this, by eliminating programs that aren't working. This is part of a balanced plan to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion.
The Congressional Budget Office has determined that Mitt Romney's plan would increase the nation's deficit by as much as $5 trillion. This would occur by the additional tax cuts for the wealthy that would allow an average of $250 thousand per millionaire and billionaire, which Romney has not paid for in his plan.
President Obama has found new ways to cut waste in Washington
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REPUBLICANS TAKING STATEMENTS
OUT OF CONTEXT.
The Republicans are making some in-roads pointing out that the President told businesses that they didn't make it. What he said was correct, the problem, however, is the way that he said it. He was trying to point out that none of us, not one, can accomplish anything by themselves. Anyone has to have help from somewhere.
He was trying to point out that our country is built on a partnership basis and togetherness. His problem was in the way he said it.
What Did He Really Say?
President Obama pointed out that businesses did not build the roads and bridges that help them get their products to markets. He said that in the United States
"There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.
This is not insulting, it is just the way it is."
The statement in red above is the one that the Republicans are jumping on and are making some in-roads with it, as I said before. Now, this is one, that I can't blame the Republicans for. President Obama simply didn't choose his wording right. If he had just added two little words, the Republicans could not have had this quote to paint him so negative about business. If he had said "If you've got a business, you didn't build that by yourself." Just two little words would have stopped all this and would also let him get his main point across.
ROMNEY'S AD BACKFIRES.
Lawrence O'Donnell, on "The Last Word" show on MSNBC, July 30, 2012, showed some of the ads that the Romney camp was running in some states. The ads showed 18 companies who claimed they built their business without any help from anyone. The fact of the matter, according to O'Donnell, was that, 15 of the 18 had, at sometime, received government money. One of the fifteen had received government money for 18 years.
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WHAT FIVE OIL COMPANIES DID WITH THEIR $375 MILLION IN DAILY PROFITS
by Rebecca Leber
Think Progress / News Analysis
Published: Wednesday, 25, July, 2012
“In 60 seconds, these five companies earned $261,000 — more than 96 percent of American households make in one year.”
The Big Five oil companies – BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell – are slated to announce their 2012 second-quarter profits later this week.
We can expect these companies, all of which rank in the top 10 of the “Fortune 500 Global Ranking,” to reveal billions of dollars more in profits, after earning $375 million in profits per day in 2011 ($261,000 per minute). They also, earned $368 million per day in the first three-months of 2012. This brings their combined profits to $1 trillion from 2001 through 2011.
Below is a quick look at just how much these Big Oil companies are making, and where they are spending their billions in profits.
Big Oil’s Big Profits, in 24 Hours.
* The five biggest oil companies earned a combined profit of $375 million per day, or a record $137 billion profit for the year, in 2011, despite reducing their oil production.
* In 60 seconds, these five companies earned $261,000 — more than 96 percent of American households make in one year. These five oil companies received $6.6 million in federal tax breaks every day. In 2011, the three largest domestic public oil companies spent $100 million of their profits each day, or over 50 percent, buying back their own stock to enrich their board, senior managers, and largest share holders.
The entire oil and gas industry spent on average $400,000 each day lobbying senators and representatives to weaken public health safeguards and keep big oil tax breaks, totaling nearly $150 million.
* Each CEO of the Big Five companies received an average of $60,110 in compensation per day last year. On average, their pay jumped 55 percent in 2011. Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson’s compensation came close to $100,000 per day last year.
Millions in Political Contributions and Lobbying
* Despite ranking as some of the most successful companies in the world, big oil and gas companies continue to receive $4 billion in tax breaks each year.
* The oil and gas industry has already given over $30.5 million in federal campaign contributions this year, with a whopping 88 percent going to Republicans.
* Big Oil has spent an additional $37 million on lobbying Congress this year, with the top spenders being Exxon, Shell, Chevron, Koch Industries and BP.
* Their efforts are paying off. This is the most anti-environment Congress in history, with the House of Representatives averaging one anti-environment vote per day, or a total 247 votes through mid-June. The biggest beneficiary of these votes has been Big Oil. The House voted to enrich the oil and gas industry 109 times, a total 44 percent of its anti-environment votes.
* The House is on track to collect a record amount of oil industry contributions this cycle, having already reached 2008 and 2010 levels. And these are direct donations only — it does not include Super PAC spending or other campaign assistance.
Outside Interests and Big Oil Allies Spending Tens of Millions More to Influence the Energy Debate
* Fueled by Koch Industries and other Big Oil interests, the industry is spending hundreds of millions to fund false ads in this year’s elections. According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center
* Pro-Romney outside interest groups spent $24.6 million on energy ads through June 24, according to Kantar Media CMAG data. This is more than ten-times the amount spent by pro-Obama groups, which spent $2.3 million on energy spots.
* American Energy Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, American Future Fund, and Crossroads GPS – the top outside pro-oil and pro-Romney interest group spenders – have spent a total $24.9 million on deceptive ads, many of them energy-related, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center.
* Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity has devoted more than 90 percent of its ad spending to energy ads. Two of the Americans for Prosperity ads pushed patently false claims — roundly debunked by fact checkers — that the stimulus funded jobs overseas.
* Fact checkers have thoroughly debunked these anti-clean energy ads. Both Politifact and the Washington Post Fact Checker have given the ad their worst ratings of “pants on fire” and four Pinocchios, respectively. Politifact found all three examples used to be false, with the ad stringing together “alarming” soundbites that are “ultimately ridiculous.”
~~~
HOUSE GOP'S CUTS TO
SOCIAL SECURITY COULD COST TAXPAYERS ALMOST $6 BILLION.
by Travis Waldron
Think Progress/News Report
Published Friday, 27, July, 2012
A House Republican plan to slash funding for a Social Security program would cost taxpayers far more than it would save, according to a letter from Social Security’s chief actuary. The Republican plan, which is focused on a program meant to ensure that beneficiaries are not overpaid, would cut more than $800 million below the level agreed to in the Budget Control Act, the spending agreement passed during last year’s debt limit negotiations.
According to Social Security chief actuary Stephen Goss, however, the cuts will cost taxpayers between $5 billion and $6 billion, Talking Points Memo reports:
In a Thursday letter responding to inquiring House Democrats, Social Security’s chief actuary Stephen C. Goss concludes that cuts will cost taxpayers “between $5 billion and $6 billion more over the lifetime of those who would not be reassessed due to the reduced funding.”
The cut would hamper the highly-effective program that roots out waste, fraud, and abuse in Social Security — according to Goss, such reviews produce between $6 and $9 in regained savings per dollar spent. While the analysis only covered the impact on the program this year, future cuts would likely have a similar impact on the program.
House leadership isn’t likely to give the Labor, Health, and Education appropriations package that contains the cuts a vote before the full House, but the plan keeps up the GOP’s disturbing trend of targeting social safety net programs that largely benefit the lower- and middle-classes.
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PARTING THOUGHT.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in you sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
~~~
If the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise, I'll talk with you again on Tuesday August 7, 2012, if not before.
"God Bless all of you
&
God Bless the United States of America
Floyd
