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Just caught Bob answering a question on the recent "Are you better off than you were four years ago poll." His answer went something like this: "Look, four years ago was June, 2000. In June, 2000, the economy was doing well." Not remembering what year it is might be a sign to cut out the martini breakfasts, Bob!

Facing a slew of economic bad news, President Obama said Friday the private sector is doing just fine but blamed Republicans for not helping out-of-work teachers and other public-sector employees – an analysis pounced on by GOP leaders. “The private sector is doing fine,” the president said during a White House press conference. “Where we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. … If Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is how do we help state...

President Obama has shelled out more in federal spending than the five presidents that came before him. A new chart by the Comeback America Initiative (CAI), a non-partisan group dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility by policymakers, shows federal spending by president as a percentage of GDP, and it doesn't reflect well on Obama. "There has been a dramatic increase in spending under the Obama administration," David Walker, Founder and CEO of CAI, told Whispers. "Most of it is attributable to year one of his presidency and the stimulus... but President Obama has continued to take spending to a new level."Federal...

49.1%: Percent of the population that lives in a household where at least one member received some type of government benefit in the first quarter of 2011. Cutting government spending is no easy task, and it’s made more complicated by recent Census Bureau data showing that nearly half of the people in the U.S. live in a household that receives at least one government benefit, and many likely received more than one. The 49.1% of the population in a household that gets benefits is up from 30% in the early 1980s and 44.4% as recently as the third quarter of...

Vice President Joe Biden offered a sharp defense of President Barack Obama's friendship to Israel and leadership in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons in remarks to a Jewish group in Atlanta today. And Biden blamed the Bush Administration for the foreign policy challenges Obama inherited — specifically the lack of international pressure on Iran. "When we took office... we were the problem," referring to the way America was viewed in the world at the time. "We were diplomatically isolated in the world, in the region, in Europe.” Shouting at times, Biden said voices in the Jewish community who say...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Economic growth cooled in the first quarter as businesses cut back on investment and restocked shelves at a slower pace, but stronger demand for automobiles softened the blow. Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.2 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its advance estimate, moderating from the fourth quarter's 3 percent rate.

In 2007, then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama missed two votes on the student loan interest bill that he now wants Congress to extend. Obama twice skipped the Senate vote on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act when the bill came to the Senate floor first in July and again in September of 2007, according to public records. The bill, introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and signed into law by President George W. Bush, first cleared the Senate in July on a 78 to 18 vote, with Obama as one of only four senators to abstain. Obama did not cast...

"Not since the days of Franklin Roosevelt had so much fallen on the shoulders of one president. Now when he faced his country who looked to him for answers, he would not dwell in blame or dream in idealism," narrator Tom Hanks said in the Obama biopic "The Road We've Traveled."

"So do not tell me that we're not drilling. We're drilling all over this country. There are a few spots we're not drilling. We're not drilling in the national mall. We're not drilling at your house. " http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/03/15/obama_do_not_tell_me_that_were_not_drilling_were_drilling_all_over_this_country.html

Not long ago Barack Obama accused Republicans of playing politics with gas prices: “Only in politics do people root for bad news, do they greet bad news so enthusiastically,” Obama said before a crowd of students. “You pay more and they’re licking their chops. And you can bet since it’s an election year, they’re already dusting off their three-point plans for $2 gas,” Obama said. “I’ll save you the suspense: step one is drill, step two is drill, and then step three is keep drilling. “We heard the same line in 2007 when I was running for president,” Obama said....

President Barack Obama's budget has about as much chance of passing the Republican-controlled House as a proclamation applauding JCPenney for standing by Ellen. Since its unveiling, Obama's political opponents have been lining up to denounce the plan that projects a $901 billion deficit for fiscal year 2013. House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan declared that "instead of an America built to last, this is a plan for an America drowning in debt." Presidential candidate Mitt Romney called it "an insult to the American taxpayer." Romney was thinking of himself here since Obama is proposing the "Buffett Rule" that would double...

President Obama: I’m going to win reelectionBy Amie Parnes - 01/26/12 07:07 PM ET President Obama said in no-uncertain terms on Thursday that he will win his re-election campaign in November. Asked by ABC News’s Diane Sawyer if he was going to win, Obama replied: “Yes.” He also told Sawyer he would "fight with every fiber of my being" for a second term. "How much do you want it?" Sawyer asked Obama in the interview. "Badly," Obama said. "Because I think the country needs it." Just a few months ago Obama described himself as an underdog in the 2012 election....

"First of all, I don't put people on food stamps. People become eligible for food stamps. Second of all, the initial expansion of food-stamp eligibility happened under my Republican predecessor, not under me. Number three, when you have a disastrous economic crash that results in 8 million people losing their jobs, more people are going to need more support from government."

There's a curious thing going on in the GOP primary race for the presidential nomination. A few people have remarked on it, but mostly it's gone unnoticed. When looked at from a historical viewpoint, it's remarkable, but when looked at in specific, it's normal. It confirms what we pretty much already knew. Where's George W. Bush? The most recent ex-president is usually perceived to be a power broker in his party. His opinion is sought; his endorsement is desired. He works behind the scenes to promote one candidate or another. Bill Clinton, although leaving office under a cloud (a cloud...

(CBS News) Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday it was "irresponsible" for former President George W. Bush to set a withdrawal date from Iraq, and that President Obama should have re-evaluated that date upon taking office. Cain, in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," said that a "responsible Commander in Chief" would have consulted military commanders on the ground and asked, "Should we continue with this or should we modify it?" "Look, President Obama changed a lot of other things that Bush started, so I don't believe that he's doing it because it was in the Bush doctrine,"...

Sources tell ABC News that the president will announce today that US troops in Iraq will draw down to zero by the end of the year. A White House official says that at approximately 11:30am today, President Obama convened a secure video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to talk with him about this news.

As the Congressional hearing on the failed solar energy manufacturer Solyndra gets under way, it's already clear that the Obama administration is prepared to fall back on a tried and tested strategy: blaming Bush. In prepared testimony released ahead of the hearing before the House Energy and Commerce committee, the director of the Department of Energy's loans office, Jonathan Silver, emphasizes that the program that eventually granted a $535 million loan guarantee to the troubled firm was created during the Bush administration. Not only that, Silver says,

CBS White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell said President Obama displayed his engagement to the federal government's response to Hurricane Irene by returning a day early from vacation and meeting with the head of FEMA. O'Donnell says the administration wanted to make sure no comparison to the government's handling of Katrina was made. "I think it's important to note too that the Obama administration was really determined to avoid any comparisons to the failed federal government response to Hurricane Katrina. So, President Obama made a very public display of his engagement on this issue. He returned from his vacation a day...

CARSON CITY – The jobless rate in Clark County has climbed for the fourth consecutive month, hitting 14 percent in July, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported today. “It’s clear that unemployment figures are moving in the wrong direction and that is especially troubling for the thousands of Nevadans seeking employment,” Gov. Brian Sandoval said. Statewide unemployment rose from 12.4 percent in June to 12.9 percent in July with 169,400 out of work.

Barack Obama is setting a record-setting number of records during his first year in office. Largest budget ever. Largest deficit ever. Largest number of broken promises ever. Most self-serving speeches ever. Largest number of agenda-setting failures ever. Fastest dive in popularity ever. Wow. Talk about change. Just one year ago, fresh from his inauguration celebrations, President Obama was flying high. After one of the nation’s most inspiring political campaigns, the election of America’s first black president had captured the hopes and dreams of millions. To his devout followers, it was inconceivable that a year later his administration would be gripped...