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Posts Tagged ‘000’

Facebook Group Started 3/15/2010 Opposing Obamacare Reaches 1,000,000 Fans

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

A Facebook Group Started Just 11 Days Ago To Oppose Obamacare Passed 1,000,000 Members This Evening

In a nod to the strange new world of online activism, Americans who oppose President Barack Obama’s health care reform package, known as Obamacare, formed a Facebook page entitled:

I bet we can find 1,000,000+ people who disapprove of the Health Care Bill

The page was started on March 15, 2010, and just 11 days later at approximately 11:45PM eastern time, the 1,000,000 person signed on as an opponent of Obamacare.   This kind of flash online activism by everyday Americans who oppose the massive government health care program just passed by Congress and the President could pose a major obstacle to Obama’s efforts to “sell” his health care package to the country in the next week with multiple rallies at various places in the United States.  Here’s how organizers described their page:

This Group was started on March 15, 2010 to send a substantial message to those in Washington who are not listening to their constituents.

The purpose of this Group is to serve as an outlet and organizational platform for those that believe in health care reform, but believe that such should be bipartisan, fiscally responsible, minimize role of government and be approved through a legislative process true to the intent of our Constitution. We welcome people of all party affiliations.

Since the bill was passed, this group has had phenomenal – record setting growth of 200-300 new members per minute. Our title says 1,000,000+ and we well expect millions to join us in this fight.

We will continue to serve as a basis for information, ideas and a platform to mobilize action to repeal this law. Our fight will remain focused, civilized and non violent and will continue until our goal is achieved.

Here is their brief message announcing the crossing of 1,000,000 Obamacare opponents signed up:

*********ALERT********
CONGRATULATIONS ON FIRST 1,000,000 at 11:45 PM Fri March 26, 2010.

The ability to add 100,000 people a day on average to a Facebook page animated solely by its opposition to the massive Obamacare package is an indication of the high level of grassroots energy in America that is presently mobilizing against the President’s signature initiative. Many Democrats and establishment media types have been claiming that Obamacare is rising in popularity with the public since its passage last weekend, but sites like this one provide some evidence of the opposite effect: a rising tide of activism objecting to the passage of the massive bill.

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New Home Sales “Unexpectedly” Fall 2.2% To 302,000 Units, Lowest Since 1963

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

New Home Sales Fell to a Fresh Record Low of 302,000 Units in February 2010, a decrease of 2.2%

In another distressing example of the weakness of the US economy, Reuters just reported that “New Home Sales Unexpectedly Fell in February”, declining another 2.2% in February 2010 to 302,000 units, a fourth straight month of declines and a fresh all-time low since records began in 1963:

Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes fell for a fourth straight month to a record low in February, a government report showed on Wednesday, heightening fears of renewed weakness in the housing market.

The Commerce Department said sales fell 2.2 percent to a 308,000 unit annual rate from an upwardly revised 315,000 units in January.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected new home sales to edge up to a 320,000 unit annual pace from January’s previously reported 309,000 units.

The data came on the heels of report on Tuesday showing existing home sales fell for a third straight month in February and a jump in the supply of houses on the market.

Sales have barely responded to the extension and expansion of a popular tax credit, which boosted purchases in the second half of 2009, raising concerns over the fragile housing market’s recovery just as a key pillar of support is being dismantled.

The vaunted crew of American “economists”, as polled by Reuters, “expected” a 3.6% increase, as noted by AP:

The Dow rallied to its highest level since September 2008 on Tuesday after the National Association of Realtors said a drop in sales of existing homes last month wasn’t as big as forecast. The housing market will be in focus again Wednesday when the Commerce Department reports on new home sales.

The housing report is expected to show that sales rose 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 320,000 last month, bouncing off a record low seen in January, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters. The report is due out at 10 a.m. EDT.

A recovery in the sector has been slow and uneven. Reports showing improvement or stabilization in the housing market have regularly been met with buying on Wall Street, such as Tuesday’s big gains.

It appears the prognostication powers of the average American economist is falling fast and one could perhaps be better off guessing about the direction of the housing market than listening to the economists with the fancy PHD’s. One certainty is that the American housing market continues to spiral downward, despite the many interventions of the Obama Administration into the market, and the overall supply of housing on the market continues to rise because of foreclosures:

The number of new homes on the market last month increased 1.3 percent to 236,000 units. February’s weak sales pace left the supply of homes available for sale at 9.2 months’ worth, the highest since May, from 8.9 months in January.

All told, the housing market continues to look like a slow motion train wreck, with no end in sight.  With continued high unemployment leading to another surge in foreclosures, the housing market looks certain to continue to stumble until new job creation returns to the United States.  Considering the uncertainty and concern that many small and big business managers are feeling regarding the Democratic agenda in Washington, DC, the timing of any return of substantial job creation in this country is an open question.

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