Wind the clocks back to Sept. 18, 2008, for a moment.
Here's then-presidential candidate U.S. Senator Barack Obama:
"Senator McCain's first answer to this economic crisis was - get ready for it - a commission. That's Washington-speak for 'we'll get back to you later.'
"Folks, we don't need a commission to spend a few years and a lot of taxpayer money to tell us what's going on in our economy," he continued. "We don't need a commission to tell us gas prices are high or that you can't pay your bills. We don't need a commission to tell us you're losing your jobs. We don't need a commission to study this crisis, we need a President who will solve it - and that's the kind of President I intend to be."
OK, cool.
Fast forward to Wednesday and a little item on CBSnews.com
"President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is meeting today as part of its efforts to craft recommendations by December on how best to address America's red-ink problem.
"Mr. Obama established the commission in February, saying debt and deficits can 'hobble our economy' and 'saddle every child in America with an intolerable burden.'"
The deficit commission is one of at least four commissions set up by President Obama - oil leak commission, nuclear power commission and a commission to determine the potential for creating a museum of the American Latino.
The president appears to have softened his stand on the establishment of government commissions.
Just sayin'.
*****
Portland, Ore., cops have re-opened the investigation into a 54-year-old masseuse who says former Vice President Al Gore sexually assaulted here in a hotel room in 2006.
Massage therapist Molly Haggerty says Gore "pinned" her and assaulted her.
"Further investigation into this matter will only benefit Mr. Gore," Kalee Kreider, Gore family spokeswoman said. "The Gores cannot comment on every defamatory, misleading, and inaccurate story generated by tabloids. Mr. Gore unequivocally and emphatically denied this accusation when he first learned of its existence three years ago. He stands by that denial."
The masseuse claims she has a key witness, hotel video surveillance and - eeeuw! - DNA evidence. (Remember Monica Lewinski?)
What's up with these sexual accuser people? Don't they do laundry?
*****
Some interesting, albeit sobering - news items came out this week regarding the economy.
The federal debt will represent 62 percent of the nation's economy by the end of this year. That's the highest percentage since just after World War II.
This info, reported at usatoday.com, came from a long-term budget outlook released today by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
Hmm. That's not good.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that fears the economic recovery is fizzling grew after the government and private sector issued weak reports on a number of fronts.
Unemployment claims are up, home sales are plunging without government incentives, manufacturing growth is slowing and construction spending is down.
Meanwhile, 1.3 million people are without federal jobless benefits now that Congress adjourned for a weeklong Independence Day recess without passing an extension.
Hmm. None of that is good.
"This is clearly pointing to a double-dip recession," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets told CNBC. "The market's attempts at a rally were on life support until this housing and construction data came out. That life support was pulled out on the effort to close higher on the first day of the quarter."
U.S. share prices fell to 10-month lows, with the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index dropping 16 percent from its recent April peak.
The selloff comes after the Dow Jones Industrials ended the second quarter on Wednesday down 10 percent, the worst quarter since the first quarter of 2009 - and the first quarterly decline since then.
The dollar tumbled against the euro and hit a seven-month low against the yen.
Hmm. That's not so good, either.
Meanwhile, President Obama was in Racine, Wisc., this week as part of his administration's "Summer Recovery Tour," promising to keep the economy moving forward.
Here's a part of what he had to say:
"Now the economy is headed in the right direction, but I know that for a lot of Americans - for Racine and many other communities - it's not headed there fast enough."
Associated Press reported the president spent an hour Wednesday afternoon, speaking to and taking questions from people who packed Racine Memorial Hall for the town hall-style meeting.
He assured those in attendance that, while slow, the economy is getting better."The problems we face aren't going to go away overnight. No president or politician has the power to make that happen. There will be some who tell you that the closer to Election Day. But the fact is, some of these challenges have been building up for decades."
He touted the benefits of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act - you know, the stimulus thing.
"All of those infrastructure investments and R&D investments not only put people back to work short-term to help plug that hole that had been created but it also lays the groundwork for long-term economic growth."
Sigh ... If only it was all true.
But you know what?
Maybe I'll give the president a pass here. I mean, after all, everything is relative to your point of reference.
On Pluto, for example, minus 100 degrees fahrenheit is hot.
