I understand. And yet hearsay is not fact. And how Americans grumble about their personal situations has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that deficit spending is down.

Americans were polled by Bloomberg on whether the deficit was getting bigger, staying the same, or getting worse. Like Shane, only 6% of Americans got the right answer . . . that the deficit is smaller. What is important in the poll is the revelation that so many Americans are completely in the dark when it comes to the real numbers. While there is much to discuss in the debate over deficits and the ongoing debt, that discussion can only take place in an intelligent and meaningful way if Americans actually understand the numbers and engage in the debate based on actual facts.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickung...deral-budget-deficits-are-actually-shrinking/

It is a mistake for people to assume that their personal perceptions make the actual facts invalid. Again, what does this have to do with the fact that deficit spending is down?

I should stop reading right here, because debate based on emotion versus debate based on facts is pointless.

What policy did Obama enact that caused you to pay more in groceries? What does it have to do with the decrease in deficit spending.

I feel for you, but that is not my experience. Me and several friends were talking during the baseball game last night, that our portfolios are all at an all-time high. I know my income is also higher than ever despite my semi-retirement. My neighbor grumbles that he can no longer contribute to his Roth IRA this year, which tells me that he is now making over $131K. Incomes are going up, it's a fact. And inflation is low.

You only have to look with an open mind. Did all of these problems start with Obama and will disappear when he goes away? Of course not.

What "upper hand" do the Saudis hold over us. Zilch. China and the rest of the world are all eager to buy American bonds precisely because they are so solid and dependable, but America owns most of its own debt.

America is in an ideal economic and political position for the future. Far better than Russia, China, the EU, and the third world. There is a very good book on international geopolitics that I'd like to recommend to you. The Accidental Superpower: The Next Generation of American Preeminence in the Coming Global Disorder by Peter Zeihan. We have very good reasons to be optimistic about the future.

And our deficit is shrinking. It's a fact.

Wrong. Are you sure you know what a signature strike is?

"But the president also said that he was going to explore "other options for increased oversight," and that he'd signed "clear guidelines" for "oversight and accountability" just the day before. "Before any strike is taken," he declared, "there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured -- the highest standard we can set."

Though signature strikes were not mentioned, some assumed language like "near certainty" and "highest standard" meant they were no longer going to be used." -- Huff Post​

It does not mean that collateral casualties cannot happen. We cannot fight a war against terror if we fear to take action because of this. You would be the first to complain if Obama decided to stop hitting the terrorists hard wherever we can find them.

Oh, this is great. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 which mandated ethanol in American gasoline was enacted by a Republican Congress and signed into law by George W. Bush. If this is your example of an Obama policy that made the price of food go up . . . try again, amigo.

Incidentally, I am not a fan of Ethanol subsidies to corn farmers. Sugar cane has even more sugar than corn. Why aren't we making ethanol out of sugar cane? We subsidize our sugar farmers so that they can compete with south american competition for food sugar when we could be using it for ethanol and just buy cheap foreign sugar for our coffee. But the corn farmers have a huge lobby and the politicians work for the best-funded special interests.

I hear he likes corn bread. Off with his head.