Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LLCF who wrote (53602)	8/5/2012 4:59:46 AM
From: greatplains_guy	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

You see hypocrisy as a useful tool to obtain power. How Alinsky of you.

To: LLCF who wrote (53602)	8/5/2012 10:21:13 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	3 Recommendations Respond to of 71588

To: LLCF who wrote (53602)	8/5/2012 3:18:59 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Gymnast Gabby Douglas' mom filed for bankruptcy This combination of Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012 photos shows Natalie Hawkins, left, and her daughter, U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Documents filed in January 2012 in the Eastern District of Virginia show Natalie Hawkins filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which allows a person to reorganize their finances and pay down debt over several years. Matt Dunham, Julie Jacobson / AP Photo The Associated Press NORFOLK, Va. -- Court records show that the mother of Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas filed for bankruptcy earlier this year in Virginia. The filing was first reported by TMZ, a day after it was revealed that the parents of fellow U.S. Olympian Ryan Lochte were facing foreclosure in Florida. Documents filed in January in the Eastern District of Virginia show Douglas' mother, Natalie Hawkins, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which allows people to reorganize their finances and pay down debt over several years. Douglas has been one of the most popular athletes at the Olympics in London, becoming the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in gymnastics. The 4-foot-11 16-year-old taken home two gold medals so far and has become an international superstar, winning over fans with her smile and the nickname "Flying Squirrel." The gymnast's agent has fielded hundreds of emails from businesses, talk shows and magazines interested in Douglas, and she's already slated to appear on the cover of a Corn Flakes box. She stands to earn millions of dollars from endorsement deals and other ventures. Douglas has been training for two years in Iowa and hasn't been home to Virginia Beach since then. The bankruptcy filings list Hawkins as having assets totaling $163,706, with a townhouse in Virginia Beach and a 2007 Nissan Maxima accounting for the bulk of it. Hawkins said the bankruptcy filing allowed her "to still be able to live and reorganize my debt in such a way that I could still pay what I owed." "It's my story, it's part of me. I'm not even embarrassed about it," Hawkins said Sunday in London. "It shows that even though I didn't like to have to do it, I'm glad there was something there for me to be able to protect my home." Hawkins also lists roughly $80,000 in debts. The bulk of that is from her mortgage. Hawkins is separated from her husband and lists about $2,500 in income a month, which comes from Social Security disability benefits and child support, according to the documents. Natalie Hawkins went on long-term medical disability in 2009, and there were six months when the single mother of four had little to no income. In addition to mortgage payments for her home, there were expenses for Douglas' training and her other three children. An order issued in March says Hawkins is to pay $400 a month toward her debts over a nearly five-year period. Read more here: miamiherald.com

To: LLCF who wrote (53602)	8/5/2012 3:20:06 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

The filing was first reported by TMZ, a day after it was revealed that the parents of fellow U.S. Olympian Ryan Lochte were facing foreclosure in Florida. Read more here: miamiherald.com are they better off under the odumbo admin. ???????????

To: LLCF who wrote (53602)	8/6/2012 12:54:28 AM
From: greatplains_guy	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 71588

Federal Spending Has Brought Economy to a Halt The 4% Solution: America Needs Growth 4/18/2012 @ 1:20PM \|17,625 views Rich Karlgaard, Forbes Staff This article originally appeared in the May 5, 2012 issue of Forbes magazine. Name a problem facing the U.S.—government debt, joblessness, rising racial tensions, broken politics, etc. Will any of these improve with sluggish 1% to 2% growth? No. Each will get worse with slow growth. America, therefore, needs urgently to return to 4% growth. Is it possible? Of course. The U.S. economy has averaged 3.3% annual growth since the end of World War II. But this period also saw 11 recessions. Two of them (1973–74 and 2007–09) sank the country’s confidence to generational lows. Both dips left Americans worried that the good times would never return. Here’s a fact that’s often missed: When the American economy is not in recession, 4% growth is the norm. This year, if the U.S. grew at 4% instead of the expected 2%, the country would add $600 billion more in economic activity. That would mean a lot of jobs, a lot of hopes restored. It is a moral imperative to get the U.S. back to 4% growth. President Obama talks often about fairness, rarely about growth. He’s missing the big picture. His lapse could—should—cost him the election. Mitt Romney has a golden opportunity to talk about the stark differences between 2% and 4% growth. Let’s hope he grasps it. We already know where 2% will take us: mounting debts, high rates of joblessness, zero-sum thinking, political rancor, a sense of national decline. How can the U.S. get back to 4% growth? • Cut government spending. In the half-century between 1950 and 1999 the federal government’s spending averaged about 19% of GDP. It crept up to 21% under George W. Bush and is now 24% under Obama. Optimal growth—4%+—occurs at 18%, according to First Trust Advisors economist Brian Wesbury and many others. Think about it this way: The difference between 18% in federal spending and 24% may not seem radically different, but the consequences to growth are huge. Growth rates fall off a cliff when federal government spending exceeds 20%. It is vital that we trim government spending to below 20%. • Simplify the tax code. Our complex tax code is ruinous on so many levels it’s hard to know where to start. Every page of this magazine could cite the code’s follies and distortions. Here’s one: Tax preparation for individuals and corporations is a $300 billion industry. This is good for CPAs, bad for the country’s productivity. • Drill and dig. Few factors correlate to robust growth as much as affordable and reliable energy. This is especially true for such blue-collar industries as mining, manufacturing, construction and shipping. Loss of good-paying blue-collar jobs has been a national disaster. The brass hats of Wall Street, Washington, Hollywood and Silicon Valley are immune to the devastation caused by Washington’s anti-fossil-fuel campaign. They live in a world apart and feign ignorance. One of my favorite pranks is to ask a Tesla Roadster owner how he likes his coal-fired car. The owner always gasps, as if kicked in the shins. But the truth is coal supplies 42% of America’s electricity. No electricity, no electric cars. No movies, computers, smartphones or Internet, either. • Import the skilled. If the U.S. were to design an immigration policy from scratch that would most hurt growth, it would look much like our current one. It would favor the uneducated, unskilled and undocumented over the educated and skilled. It would make no demands for language assimilation. It would grant easy access to welfare. At the same time it would send ambitious college graduates back to their native lands. • Let technology transform education and health care. Google’s driverless car has accumulated 200,000 miles. It can now navigate mountain passes. The genius behind Google’s car is Sebastian Thrun. These days Thrun teaches a course in artificial intelligence at Stanford. He also makes the course available online. More than 150,000 students have signed up. Thrun says some of the highest-performing students in this AI class are online students, not Stanford students. The health care revolution will also be an “outside-in” thing, driven by consumers armed with smartphones. Sequence your DNA for $200, put it on a social network and let high-powered analytics quantify your health risks and offer solutions. Scan your moles with an iPad camera and e-mail to a dermatologist. If Americans could be healthier and smarter for less money, what do you think would happen to productivity and growth? I think they would spike. Four percent, here we come! forbes.com

To: LLCF who wrote (53602)	8/6/2012 1:36:45 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	2 Recommendations Respond to of 71588

A check-list against Obama If you: Don't have a 401k that you want to retire on. Don't invest in stocks that you want to see grow. Own a home that isn't underwater. Aren't trying to sell a home you've invested your life into. Want to remain on unemployment insurance. Want to remain on public assistance. Want to remove restrictions from applying for public assistance. Believe in same-sex marriage. Believe there's a war on women. Want to eliminate immigration laws. Want higher taxes. Don't care if your health care costs go up and the actual care goes down. Don't mind being forced by the government to buy something. Don't care if we go so far in debt that we can't possibly get out of it. Believe that denigrating others makes you look better. If you accept spun truth "Chicago style." Believe that more restrictive regulations and controls are a good thing. Believe that unions belong in the government sector. Believe that capitalism should be abolished. Don't care how much it costs to fill up your tank. Actually think Joe Biden could be President as second in line, "Come on man, I'm serious." Re-elect President Obama