By Susan Duclos
Seriously???? I truly thought when I read the CNS News headline this was an April Fools prank, but it isn't.
Barack Obama has issued a Presidential Proclamation - National Financial Capability Month, 2013.
Let's break this down:
All Americans deserve the chance to turn their hard work into a decent living for their families and a bright future for their children. Seizing that opportunity takes more than drive and initiative -- it also requires smart financial planning. During National Financial Capability Month, we recommit to empowering individuals and families with the knowledge and tools they need to get ahead in today's economy.
Talk of smart financial planning from a man who is late submitting his own budget to Congress by two months. From a man that has submitted four out of five budgets Congress late, meaning after the legal deadline as to when it was supposed to be submitted. Obama's last budget submitted did not receive one single vote when it went to the floor of the Senate after failing 414-0 in the House.
My Administration is dedicated to helping people make sound decisions in the marketplace. Last year, we partnered with businesses and community leaders to roll out new public and private commitments to increasing financial literacy. We released a new financial capability toolkit to help schools and employers as they launch their own initiatives. And with our College Scorecard and Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, we are working to give families clear, transparent information on college costs so they can make good choices when they invest in higher education. Together, we can prepare young people to tackle financial challenges -- from learning how to budget responsibly to saving for college, starting a business, or opening a retirement account.
Budget responsibly.
CNS News takes this one:
When Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, the total debt of the federal government was $10,626,877,048,913.08. As of the close of business on March 28, 2013, the total debt of the federal government was $16,766,988,432,792.62—an increase of $6,140,111,383,879.54 since Obama took office.
That means that under Obama the federal debt has increased $53,377 for each one of the 115,031,000 households the Census Bureau says there are now in the United States.....
Debt has increased by over $6 trillions since Obama took office in January 2009. The nation's deficit has been over a trillion for four straight years and he dares talk about budgeting responsibly?
Making sound decisions in the marketplace?
This from a man that decided to gamble taxpayer money on 34 companies that have gone bankrupt or laying off workers or heading for bankruptcy.
Heritage provides a list of those companies and how much Obama's administration lost with his "sound decisions."
This list includes only those companies that received federal money from the Obama Administration’s Department of Energy and other agencies. The amount of money indicated does not reflect how much was actually received or spent but how much was offered. The amount also does not include other state, local, and federal tax credits and subsidies, which push the amount of money these companies have received from taxpayers even higher.Next:
The complete list of faltering or bankrupt green-energy companies:
*Denotes companies that have filed for bankruptcy.
- Evergreen Solar ($25 million)*
- SpectraWatt ($500,000)*
- Solyndra ($535 million)*
- Beacon Power ($43 million)*
- Nevada Geothermal ($98.5 million)
- SunPower ($1.2 billion)
- First Solar ($1.46 billion)
- Babcock and Brown ($178 million)
- EnerDel’s subsidiary Ener1 ($118.5 million)*
- Amonix ($5.9 million)
- Fisker Automotive ($529 million)
- Abound Solar ($400 million)*
- A123 Systems ($279 million)*
- Willard and Kelsey Solar Group ($700,981)*
- Johnson Controls ($299 million)
- Brightsource ($1.6 billion)
- ECOtality ($126.2 million)
- Raser Technologies ($33 million)*
- Energy Conversion Devices ($13.3 million)*
- Mountain Plaza, Inc. ($2 million)*
- Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsen’s Mills Acquisition Company ($10 million)*
- Range Fuels ($80 million)*
- Thompson River Power ($6.5 million)*
- Stirling Energy Systems ($7 million)*
- Azure Dynamics ($5.4 million)*
- GreenVolts ($500,000)
- Vestas ($50 million)
- LG Chem’s subsidiary Compact Power ($151 million)
- Nordic Windpower ($16 million)*
- Navistar ($39 million)
- Satcon ($3 million)*
- Konarka Technologies Inc. ($20 million)*
- Mascoma Corp. ($100 million)
Our history shows that there is no economic engine more powerful than a thriving middle class. Reigniting that engine means giving ordinary citizens the tools to find prosperity, including strong financial capability. To learn more about managing money and navigating the 21st-century marketplace, visit www.MyMoney.gov and www.ConsumerFinance.gov, or call 1-888-MyMoney.Once again CNS News addresses this point:
Listed among the “popular topics” on MyMoney.gov is “Managing Debt and Credit,” which includes a link to a page on the Federal Reserve’s website called “Getting the most from your credit card.” Tip 2 on that page is: “Stay Below Your Credit Limit.”
Stay below your credit limit says a site that Obama's proclamation points to, yet Obama prepares once again to demand Congress raise the debt limit, meaning the amount of money he can borrow to cover the overspending the nation does.
The Republicans position:
House Speaker John Boehner said he plans to negotiate from a principle that any increase is matched dollar-for-dollar with spending reductions and reforms, although he downplayed the risks he is willing to take in negotiations.
Obama and Democratic leaders position:
But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Boehner’s hard line on the debt limit is “a road to poverty” and House Democrats will continue to demand a clean debt limit increase.
The last person who should be talking about financial capability, budget responsibility, sound decisions in the marketplace, and financial planning, is Barack Obama.
It reads like an April Fool's day joke, yet it isn't.
