With government, "change" almost always means a change to more government.

And "bringing new ideas to Washington" means new ideas for how to spend your money.  Bush's budgets were horrific, of course, but Obama has definitely made things worse (particularly note that large increase in aggressive war -- er, defense -- spending):

Click on the image for a larger view.

College graduates' loan debt climbs to record levels

For students in Oregon (and around the country) times aren't good.  Debt and tuition are up; job opportunities are down:

More than 60 percent of Oregon's 2008 graduates in public and private colleges took loans averaging $21,029. That is the 22nd highest debt rate in the nation, and just slightly lower than the national average – a record high of $23,200.

Aggravating the problem is their difficulty in finding jobs that enable them to pay off their loans. National unemployment rates  for college graduates ages 20 to 24 rose from 7.6 percent in 2008 to 10.6 percent this year....At the same time, tuition has gone up significantly.

Peter Schiff has an explanation for the first two problems (well, and the third, but that's another blog post):

 It's the government's fault for handing out so much money through loans and grants.  No government bailout, Schiffian logic goes, no inflated tuition.

"College should not be so expensive. It's the biggest recession since the Great Depression. How could college prices go up?" Schiff asked...

Read the rest here.

Oh Thank Heaven for 7-11

During President Obama's trip to China, he was questioned about the cost of the healthcare reform that he is pushing through by Chinese journalists (Hard questions for the president are something refreshing, especially from somewhere like China. It's also a bit hypocritical that he lectured them on censorship when he censors his own questions and when US press censorship runs rampant). The Chinese were rightfully concerned about the cost of this new proposal as they are, by far, the number one buyers of US debt. Despite the phony numbers being thrown around by the left, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services delivered a "deathblow to Obamacare" showing that costs will increase and people will lose insurance, among many other travesties. 

With increasing pressure from Beijing to stop the reckless spending, the US is quickly running out of options. Paying all of the debt back would require massive tax hikes and drastic cuts in governmental programs (something which I certainly do not object to). If nothing is done soon, the US will be forced to repudiate its debt. This would leave China terribly angry and the US government with hardly a speck of credibility. 

Unfortunately, I think we're well past this point. The only question now is, chapter 7 or chapter 11?

Cost of Obama's Presidency? $9 Trillion

From the Washington Post:

The nation would be forced to borrow more than $9 trillion over the next decade under President Obama's policies, the White House acknowledged late Friday, bringing their long-term budget forecast in line with independent estimates.

The new projections add approximately $2 trillion to budget deficits through 2019. Earlier this year, the administration had predicted that Obama's policies would require the government to spend $7.108 trillion more than it collects in tax revenue over the next decade.