RNC Video “We’ve Heard It All Before (DNC Edition)”

The Republican National Committee is out with a new video “We’ve Heard It All Before (DNC Edition)” showing how President Obama’s Thursday speech at the DNC was no different than what he’s been saying the last four years. President Obama offered more of the same and was unable to defend his failed economic record.

Web video can be viewed here.

Web video can be downloaded here.

“President Obama does not have anything left except excuses,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.
“He proved at the DNC that hope is fading fast and change is gone. President Obama has no tangible plan to fix our economy. He is offering more of the same failed policies that have not turned our economy around. He continues to recite the same tired excuses for his inability to keep the promises he made to the American people. We need someone with a proven track record of solving problems in the White House, not a fading rock star with nothing new to offer.”

The Big Fail: One Term, Four Trillion-Dollar Deficits

 

“It Estimated That $192 Billion Was Added To The Deficit In August, Crossing The Symbolically Important Trillion-Dollar Threshold.” (Erik Wasson, “CBO Says 2012 Deficit Has Reached $1.17T,” The Hill, 9/10/12)

• “ This Is The Fourth Straight Year That The Deficit Will Exceed One Trillion Dollars, All Under President Obama .” (Erik Wasson, “CBO Says 2012 Deficit Has Reached $1.17T,” The Hill, 9/10/12)

Congressional Budget Office: The Deficit So Far This Fiscal Year Has Reached $1.17 Trillion. “CBO estimates in its Monthly Budget Review that the Treasury Department will report a deficit of $1.17 trillion for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2012, almost $70 billion less than the deficit at the same point last year.” (“Monthly Budget Review,” Congressional Budget Office, 9/10/12)

• Spending Through August Was Two Percent Higher Than This Point Last Year. “Outlays through August totaled $3.4 trillion, $57 billion (or 2 percent) more than spending in the same period last year. As adjusted for shifts in the timing of payments, outlays were 1 percent higher.” (“Monthly Budget Review,” Congressional Budget Office, 9/10/12)

• Spending On Social Security Has Increased Six Percent And Spending On Medicare Has Increased Four Percent. “Social Security-Payments for benefits increased by $39 billion (or 6 percent). Medicare-Net spending was up by $18 billion (or 4 percent).” (“Monthly Budget Review,” Congressional Budget Office, 9/10/12)

Obama Ran The Four Largest Deficits In U.S. History

FY2009: The Federal Budget Deficit Was $1.413 Trillion, The Highest In U.S. History. (“Monthly Budget Review: November 2011,” Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)
FY2010: The Federal Budget Deficit Was $1.294 Trillion, The Third Highest In U.S. History. (“Monthly Budget Review: November 2011,” Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)
FY2011: The Federal Budget Deficit Was $1.299 Trillion, The Second Highest In U.S. History. (“Monthly Budget Review: November 2011,” Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)
FY2012: The OMB Predicts The Deficit For FY2012 Will Be $1.211 Trillion, The Fourth Highest In U.S. History. (Office Of Management & Budget, “Mid-Session Review: FY2013,” The White House, 7/27/12)

Last Week, The National Debt Hit $16 Trillion For The First Time

The Associated Press Headline: “U.S. National Debt Hits $16 Trillion” (Andrew Taylor, “U.S. National Debt Hits $16 Trillion,” The Associated Press, 9/4/12)

• ” The U.S. National Debt Has Topped $16 Trillion As Chronic Government Deficits Have Piled More Than $50,000 Worth Of Debt Onto Federal Ledgers For Every Man, Woman And Child In The United States. ” (Andrew Taylor, “U.S. National Debt Hits $16 Trillion,”The Associated Press, 9/4/12)

• “For His Part, Obama Has Declined To Tackle The Spiraling Growth Of Benefit Programs Like Medicare And The Medicaid Health Program For The Poor And Disabled. ” (Andrew Taylor, “U.S. National Debt Hits $16 Trillion,” The Associated Press, 9/4/12)

ABC News: “As Democratic Convention Opens, National Debt Tops $16 Trillion” (Julie Percha and John Parkinson, “As Democratic Convention Opens, National Debt Tops $16 Trillion,” ABC News , 9/4/12)

• “The New Debt Figures Came Out Just Hours Before The Three-Day Democratic National Convention Kicked Off In Charlotte…” “The national debt has reached an all-time high of $16 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. The new debt figures came out just hours before the three-day Democratic National Convention kicked off in Charlotte, N.C., fueling new GOP attacks against President Obama and his spending policies.” (Julie Percha and John Parkinson, “As Democratic Convention Opens, National Debt Tops $16 Trillion,” ABC News , 9/4/12)

RNC Releases “The Breakup”

The Republican National Committee (RNC) released a new 30-second ad “The Breakup.” It’s been four years and it just isn’t working. President Obama is just not the person you thought he was. Tell us why you’re breaking up with President Obama at BreakUpWithObama.com.

The ad can be viewed here.

The ad can be downloaded here.

“After four years, it is clear that our country is not better off under Barack Obama,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “Whether it’s because of his countless broken promises or failed economic policies, he is simply not what many hoped he would be. America needs a change. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will get our country working again and restore economic security to the middle class.”

Scam Email: BBB Complaint

Here's an example of a scam email making it is way around the internet. It is an email supposedly from the Better Business Bureau stating a complaint was placed against you. Do not fall for it.

Is Organic Food Worth the Price?

Interesting Stossel segment on organic food. Is organic food really good for you or just a trend?

Overlapping Disability and Unemployment Benefits Should be Evaluated for Potential Savings

In fiscal year 2010, 117,000 individuals received concurrent cash benefit payments from the Disability Insurance (DI) and Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs of more than $850 million, which is allowable in certain circumstances under current program authority. While these individuals represented less than 1 percent of the total beneficiaries of both programs, the cash benefits they received totaled over $281 million from DI and more than $575 million from UI. One individual GAO selected for further investigation received over $62,000 in overlapping benefits in a year. Based on GAO inquiries, state UI officials are reviewing the person’s UI eligibility because of earnings that may be related to work that makes the person ineligible for UI benefits.

Under certain circumstances, individuals may be eligible for concurrent cash benefit payments due to differences in DI and UI eligibility requirements. Specifically, the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) definition of a disability involves work that does not rise to the level of substantial gainful activity (SGA). In 2010, a monthly income of $1,000 or more for a non-blind beneficiary generally demonstrated SGA. In contrast, the Department of Labor allows states’ determination of “able and available for work” eligibility criteria for UI benefits to include work that does not rise to the level of SGA. Therefore, some individuals may have a disability under federal law but still be eligible for UI under state law because they are able and available for work that does not rise to the level of SGA. Although DI and UI generally provide separate services to separate populations—and thus are not overlapping programs—the concurrent cash benefit payments for individuals eligible for both programs are an overlapping benefit when both replace lost earnings. While SSA must reduce DI benefits for individuals receiving certain other government disability benefits, such as worker’s compensation, no federal law authorizes an automatic reduction or elimination of overlapping DI and UI benefits. As a result, neither SSA nor DOL has any processes to identify these overlapping payments. Reducing or eliminating overlapping or improper payments could offer substantial savings, though actual savings are difficult to estimate because the potential costs of establishing mechanisms to do so are not readily available.

For the full report, click here.

Actor and Accountant Agree to Plead Guilty to Conspiracy Charges in Mortgage Fraud Scheme That Cost Banks $3.8 Million

Actor Tommy Lister, who has appeared in approximately 100 movies, and a San Fernando Valley accountant were charged in federal court with conspiring to commit mortgage fraud in a scheme that led to $3.8 million in losses.

Lister, who is also known as “Tiny” and “Zeus,” a 54-year-old Chatsworth resident, was charged this afternoon in a criminal information with one count of conspiracy.

A second person involved in the scheme—Arcelia Chavez, 48, of Northridge, who is a self-employed certified tax preparer—was also charged today with conspiracy.

In plea agreements that were also filed this afternoon in United States District Court, both Lister and Chavez agreed to plead guilty to the conspiracy charges.

The court documents filed today outline a scheme that ran from November 2005 through June 2007 and involved Lister, Chavez, and several other individuals, including: Sami Sager Sweiss, formerly a mortgage loan officer based in Woodland Hills; Jason Patterson, a real estate agent in Long Beach; J.R., formerly a manager of a Washington Mutual Bank branch in Woodland Hills; and Wanda Tenney, formerly an escrow officer based in the San Fernando Valley.

Lister conspired with these individuals to fraudulently acquire title to four residential properties he could not afford. With the help of these individuals and others, Lister obtained mortgages for the four properties through fraudulent means, including submitting mortgage applications that included inflated income and asset amounts; fabricating bank statements and falsifying other documents to substantiate the fraudulent statements in the loan applications; and falsifying escrow records to deceive lenders into believing Lister had made required down payments.

In addition to fraudulently obtaining the mortgages, Lister and his co-conspirators concealed from lenders the fact that he would receive kickbacks from sellers after the real estate deals closed.

Relying on the fraudulent applications and documents, lenders issued mortgages totaling $5.7 million. Lister subsequently defaulted on the four mortgages, causing those lenders and their successors to lose approximately $2.6 million.

After acquiring title to the four residential properties, Lister obtained fraudulent home equity lines of credit on each of the four properties. Lister drew down a total of $1,146,000 in cash from the four HELOCs but did not pay back any of the principal.

Lister also admitted in his plea agreement that Chavez aided and abetted him in obtaining one of the fraudulent mortgages and a fraudulent HELOC by preparing a false CPA letter, as well as fabricating W-2s and a pay stub. The false CPA letter stated that Chavez had prepared Lister’s tax returns. Chavez separately admitted in her plea agreement that she prepared the false and fictitious documents, actions that caused lenders to lose approximately $1.1 million.

Lister and Chavez will be summoned to appear in federal court in Los Angeles in September.

The charge of conspiracy carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

On July 30, 2012, Sweiss pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count before United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer. As part of his guilty plea, Sweiss admitted that he conspired with Lister, Patterson, Tenney, and Chavez to commit mortgage fraud. Sweiss is scheduled to be sentenced on March 18, 2013.

The charges in this case are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS-Criminal Investigation.