Pres. Obama inherits a two front war in the Middle East.  A weakened economy full of scandal and turmoil that directly effects the falling employment rates.  Many people from around the world will be  looking to the Leader of The Free World for guidance.

So to spare you the obvious problems that face America lets take a look at days gone by with information from the United Steelworkers Rapid Response.  Only history will tell the legacy of Former George W. Bush today’s stats are dim and perhaps indicative of how history will be written.

The Legacy of George W. Bush

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	When Bush Took Office	Today
Unemployment Rate	4.2%	7.2%
National Debt	$5.7 trillion	$10.6 trillion
Manufacturing Jobs	17.2 million	13.0 million
Americans without Health Care Coverage	40 million	46 million
Employers Offering Some Type of Insurance Coverage	69%	63%
Annual Premium Cost for Family Coverage	$6,230	$12,680
Americans in Poverty	31.6 million	37.3 million
U.S. Trade Deficit	$362 billion	$688 billion
Cost of College6 Public Private	$3,766 $17,377	$6,585 $25,143

1. U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics Survey, Manufacturing Employment, 2000 & 2008.
2. Kaiser Family Foundation, Employer Health Benefits, 2008 Annual Survey.
3. Kaiser Family Foundation, Employer Health Benefits Surveys.
4. U.S. Census Bureau, most recent available data is for 2007.
5. U.S. Census Bureau, data is from a 12-month period of December-November for both timeframes.
6. College Board, Trends in College Pricing, data is for tuition and fees only.

Image from Counton2.com
Statistics eblast original source for USW.org

In my opinion – I can’t think of any worse guest to have on a show.  She is the most uncompassionate person and has even been on the record saying terrible things about surviving parents and families of fallen soldiers.  The things she says absolutely horrid. She is known for jumping in on the defensive and blast people without all the facts.  TV characters try to be cordial to her and she goes on in an outrageous way.

Watch this bit from CNN and tell me what you think about Ann Coulter:

[sniplet ann-coluter]

I have never bought her books and would certainly disgourage anyone else to. What do you think?  Will you be buying her books?

[sniplet Bush-Shoe-Throwing]

Officials report US missile strike in Pakistan

By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer Munir Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A suspected U.S. missile strike hit a village well inside Pakistani territory Wednesday, killing at least six alleged militants in an attack that could raise tensions between the anti-terror allies, officials said.

The missile struck a house in Bannu district, which is a part of northwest Pakistan where al-Qaida and Taliban have found refuge, but does not directly border Afghanistan.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said their agents reported foreigners from Central Asia were among the dead. The intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

The U.S. is blamed in around 20 missile strikes in northwest Pakistan since mid-August against al-Qaida and Taliban militants blamed for rising attacks against foreign forces in Afghanistan.

The missiles are believed fired from unmanned planes launched in Afghanistan, where some 32,000 U.S. troops are fighting the Taliban and other militants.

Pakistan has loudly protested the strikes as violations of its sovereignty, but the attacks have not stopped, leading to speculation by some analysts the two nations have a secret deal on the attacks.

All the attacks since August have been in villages in north and South Waziristan, two semiautonomous tribal regions where the government has a very limited presence.

Bannu is considered a “settled area”, which means it falls under the control of the regional government, and as such Monday’s attack could provoke more anger among by Pakistan’s leaders. It begins roughly 18 miles from the frontier.

Pakistan has insisted it does not get advance warning of such attacks and has demanded the U.S. share intelligence and let Pakistan go after targets on its own.

The United States rarely confirms or denies the strikes, which are believed to be carried out by CIA.

Even as the strikes have picked up, U.S officers in Afghanistan have stressed improved day-to-day Pakistani cooperation in squeezing militants nested along both sides of the lengthy, porous border.

U.S. military officials said troops in Afghanistan coordinated with Pakistan on Sunday in shelling insurgents inside Pakistan who were launching rockets at the foreign troops. Pakistan’s official statement on the matter referred only to militant activity in Afghanistan.

In the past month, NATO and Pakistan also have cooperated in so-called Operation Lion Heart — a series of complementary operations that involve Pakistani army and paramilitary troops, and NATO on the Afghan side, said Col. John Spiszer, U.S. commander in northeast Afghanistan.

“What we have done is worked very hard to refocus our … intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance assets to do everything we can to identify transiting across the border,” he told a Pentagon news conference in Washington on Tuesday.

Commanders hope pressure on both sides of the border will eventually mean militants will be “running out of options on places to go,” Spiszer said.

U.S. officials also have praised Pakistani military offensives against militants in its border region, including an operation in the Bajur tribal area that the army says has killed more than 1,600 alleged insurgents.

Besides questions of sovereignty, Pakistani officials say the U.S. missile strikes are counterproductive because they often kill civilians and deepen anti-American and anti-government sentiment along the border.

But U.S. Gen. David Petraeus has defended them, saying at least three top extremist leaders, whom he did not identify, have been killed in recent months in the attacks.

I found this video at I’m Voting Republican.
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As the political season heats up expect more politics from me. Though I will probably be biased towards making a better America I will post some humor from all angles. If you notice the title of post as “I’m Voting Republican” that is part of the joke. I have not yet made my decision who I am going to vote for. The media and the parties haven’t figured out who is going to be running for president! I have and still don’t know who to vote for. As the political campaigns ramp-up and more campaign jobs open up and me looking for jobs I might be on the campaign trail myself.

Campaign Organizers and Job Recruiters

So for all the campaign job recruiters out there looking for talent. Check out my interactive portfolio. As an expert in social media and web technologies I can really help your candidate online. Remember in 2004 the lines used by the broadcast media networks after political debates, “Broadcasting Live from the Blog Cafe”? How about really leveraging that coverage for gain everyday? Social Media has grown exponentially since 2004 and reaches more and more everyday.

Until next time this is Chris Estes on This and That