Loss of competitiveness

It should not surprise anyone that the erosion of the manufacturing base in the US has been caused by all the reasons mentioned in this piece:  regulations, labor costs, taxation, to mention the most obvious.  For years, over 50, the two parties have been constructing the grand administrative state in which corporations, and the banking system have been subjected to a tsunami of regulations and controls in keeping with the liberal governing philosophy that seeks to put more and more control of society in the hands of the state.  The next election will determine if the erosion in manufacturing continues or if we begin to roll back the administrative state and see a competitive and vibrant U.S. once again.  This chart shows how weak and impotent this recovery has been.  Failure to snap out of this recession soon means a further loss of competitiveness.

Is he a natural born citizen or not?

The controversy over Obama's eligibility status to run for POTUS just will not go away.The latest flare up is the lawsuit in the state of Georgia which is described and explained in this this article.  Most of the charges brought in this suit have been made in other non legal venues but his is the first time they have been brought before a judge in a bonafide legal proceeding.  It's unimaginable where3 this all ends up since all the information is now in an official record available to any and everyone to read.  Since Obama played coy about his birth certificate for several years before producing an extract (not the original) and in the meantime experts have weighed in on the authenticity of the document, the DNC or some official source that can plausibly speak for the DNC will have to comment in some manner or the other.  There does exist the possibility that the judge will throw the case out on some grounds, however based on this article its hard to imagine on what grounds he could take that action.  This will surface during the general campaign in one form or another and will likely bedevil the Obama reelection effort.

ADDED:  Since this post another "challenge" to Obama's birth certificate has surfaced.  This time it's Sheriff Arapao from Arizona.  The sheriff, a hardliner on illegals whom he first locks up and then promptly returns to Mexico, has been under fire from the open borders crowd (all Obama supporters) who g the Justice Department to harass the good sheriff into backing off his stand.  Obviously the sheriff has decided to take the offense against the Obama forces by starting an investigation into the authenticity of his birth certificate.  And who could name him.  He's up against the most corrupt administration in the last 100 years, more corrupt even than FDR and Nixon.  Wish him well.