February 29, 2012

A Lesson in Socialism

This (and other versions of it) has 'made the rounds' for many years, but it is still oh so relevant:

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on a plan.. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A...." 


After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. 


As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride, too, so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! 

No one was happy. 
 
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that.
 
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.


 

Thought For the Day



Forwarded to me, author unknown:

The problem with public housing is that the residents are not the owners. The people that live in the house did not earn the house, but were loaned the property from the true owners, the taxpayers.

Because of this, the residents do not have the "pride of ownership" that comes with the hard work necessary.

In fact, the opposite happens and the residents resent their benefactors because the very house is a constant reminder that they themselves did not earn the right to live in the house. They do not appreciate the value of the property and see no need to maintain or respect it in any way.

The result is the same whether you are talking about a studio apartment or a magnificent mansion full of priceless antiques. If the people who live there do not feel they earned the privilege, they will make this known through their actions. 


The pictures below illustrates the point:
The Resolute Desk was built from the timbers of the HMS Resolute and was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes. 
 
It is considered a national treasure and icon of the presidency.

 
Mr. Obama, you are not in a hut in Kenya or public housing in Chicago.


 With all due respect, which is more than you have shown,

get your feet off our desk!


 And all of the other furniture on loan to you!
 


February 28, 2012

Obamacare vs the U.S. Military

We're NOT hearing about this from the Mainstream Media, are we:

by Bill Gertz    

The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget calls for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their healthcare, while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits untouched.

The proposal is causing a major rift within the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials. Several congressional aides suggested the move is designed to increase the enrollment in Obamacare’s state-run insurance exchanges.

The disparity in treatment between civilian and uniformed personnel is causing a backlash within the military that could undermine recruitment and retention.
The proposed increases in health care payments by service members, which must be approved by Congress, are part of the Pentagon’s $487 billion cut in spending. It seeks to save $1.8 billion from the Tricare medical system in the fiscal 2013 budget, and $12.9 billion by 2017.

Many in Congress are opposing the proposed changes, which would require the passage of new legislation before being put in place.

“We shouldn’t ask our military to pay our bills when we aren’t willing to impose a similar hardship on the rest of the population,” Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a Republican from California, said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon. “We can’t keep asking those who have given so much to give that much more.”

Administration officials told Congress that one goal of the increased fees is to force military retirees to reduce their involvement in Tricare and eventually opt out of the program in favor of alternatives established by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

“When they talked to us, they did mention the option of healthcare exchanges under Obamacare. So it’s in their mind,” said a congressional aide involved in the issue.

Military personnel from several of the armed services voiced their opposition to a means-tested tier system for Tricare, prompting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey to issue a statement Feb. 21.

Dempsey said the military is making tough choices in cutting defense spending. In addition to the $487 billion over 10 years, the Pentagon is facing automatic cuts that could push the total reductions to $1 trillion.

“I want those of you who serve and who have served to know that we’ve heard your concerns, in particular your concern about the tiered enrollment fee structure for Tricare in retirement,” Dempsey said. “You have our commitment that we will continue to review our health care system to make it as responsive, as affordable, and as equitable as possible.”

Under the new plan, the Pentagon would get the bulk of its savings by targeting under-65 and Medicare-eligible military retirees through a tiered increase in annual Tricare premiums that will be based on yearly retirement pay.

Significantly, the plan calls for increases between 30 percent to 78 percent in Tricare annual premiums for the first year. After that, the plan will impose five-year increases ranging from 94 percent to 345 percent—more than 3 times current levels.

According to congressional assessments, a retired Army colonel with a family currently paying $460 a year for health care will pay $2,048.

The new plan hits active duty personnel by increasing co-payments for pharmaceuticals and eliminating incentives for using generic drugs.

The changes are worrying some in the Pentagon who fear it will severely impact efforts to recruit and maintain a high-quality all-volunteer military force. Such benefits have been a key tool for recruiting qualified people and keeping them in uniform.

“Would you stay with a car insurance company that raised your premiums by 345 percent in five years? Probably not,” said the congressional aide. “Would anybody accept their taxes being raised 345 percent in five years? Probably not.”

A second congressional aide said the administration’s approach to the cuts shows a double standard that hurts the military.

“We all recognize that we are in a time of austerity,” this aide said. “But defense has made up to this point 50 percent of deficit reduction cuts that we agreed to, but is only 20 percent of the budget.”

The administration is asking troops to get by without the equipment and force levels needed for global missions. “And now they are going to them again and asking them to pay more for their health care when you’ve held the civilian workforce at DoD and across the federal government virtually harmless in all of these cuts. And it just doesn’t seem fair,” the second aide said.

Spokesmen for the Defense Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not respond to requests for comment on the Tricare increases.

The massive increases beginning next year appear timed to avoid upsetting military voters in a presidential election year, critics of the plan say.

Additionally, the critics said leaving civilian workers’ benefits unchanged while hitting the military reflect the administration’s effort to court labor unions, as government unions are the only segment of organized labor that has increased in recent years.

As part of the increased healthcare costs, the Pentagon also will impose an annual fee for a program called Tricare for Life, a new program that all military retirees automatically must join at age 65. Currently, to enroll in Tricare for Life, retirees pay the equivalent of a monthly Medicare premium.

Under the proposed Pentagon plan, retirees will be hit with an additional annual enrollment fee on top of the monthly premium.

Congressional aides said that despite unanimous support among the military chiefs for the current healthcare changes, some senior officials in the Pentagon are opposing the reforms, in particular the tiered system of healthcare.

“It doesn’t matter what the benefit is, whether it’s commissary, PX, or healthcare, or whatever … under the rationale that if you raise your hand and sign up to serve, you earn a base set of benefits, and it should have nothing to do with your rank when you served, and how much you’re making when you retire,” the first aide said.

Military service organizations are opposing the healthcare changes and say the Pentagon is “means-testing” benefits for service personnel as if they were a social program, and not something earned with 20 or more years of military service.

Retired Navy Capt. Kathryn M. Beasley, of the Military Officers Association of America, said the Military Coalition, 32 military service and veterans groups with an estimated 5 million members, is fighting the proposed healthcare increases, specifically the use of mean-testing for cost increases.

“We think it’s absolutely wrong,” Beasley told the Free Beacon. “This is a breach of faith” for both the active duty and retiree communities.
Congressional hearings are set for next month.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars on Feb. 23 called on all military personnel and the veterans’ community to block the healthcare increases.

“There is no military personnel issue more sacrosanct than pay and benefits,” said Richard L. DeNoyer, head of the 2 million-member VFW. “Any proposal that negatively impacts any quality of life program must be defeated, and that’s why the VFW is asking everyone to join the fight and send a united voice to Congress.”

Senior Air Force leaders are expected to be asked about the health care cost increases during a House Armed Services Committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Congress must pass all the proposed changes into law, as last year’s defense authorization bill preemptively limited how much the Pentagon could increase some Tricare fees, while other fees already were limited in law.

Tricare for Life, Tricare Prime, and Tricare Standard increases must be approved, as well as some of the pharmacy fee increases, congressional aides said.

        Current law limits Tricare fee increases to cost of living increases in retirement pay.

February 27, 2012

Hillary: Motor Mouth Moron. Still

 
Hillary Clintoon Clinton, current U.S. Secretary of State, a post that is supposed to be non-political, told a foreign audience:
"to 'not pay attention' to the rhetoric coming from the Republican presidential primary race."
She then added that the audience should:
"watch what President (Barack Hussein) Obama says and does."
"He's our president. He represents all of the United States, and he will be reelected president ..."
Yes. He is our president. Unfortunately for us.

Yes. He does represent the United States. Unfortunately for us.
So did George W. Bush. As president, did he receive the same level of support from Hillary?

And as for Obummer being reelected?
That remains to be seen, Hillary the Oracle's prediction/assumption notwithstanding.




February 26, 2012

Combat Barbie


Corporal, British Army

- and -
Miss England 2009


She signed up at age 17 after her older brother challenged her to join the army.
After basic training she reported for duty "wearing kitten heels, false eyelashes and with her clothes in a pink suitcase, earning her the nickname Combat Barbie."

 She rose to fame after it was reported in the British papers in 2005 that she had earned a commendation for her bravery while serving with the Royal Anglian Regiment in Iraq for wrestling two rifles from a prisoner following a road traffic accident and then flooring him with her bare hands - thus saving lives of her comrades. She was promoted to Lance Corporal.


Cpl. Hodge returned to active duty in the Army, September 2010 and deployed to Afghanistan in early 2011.

You Go, Girl! 

Junk Mail

As I was checking my e-mail the other day, a message pops up telling me that a message has been placed in the Junk mail folder.  

So I checked and guess what! 

It was an e-letter from my U.S. senator who is up for re-election.

How apropos.


February 22, 2012

Moochelle Obama

I'm sorry to say that this highly descriptive nickname for Mrs Barack Hussein Obama was not mine.
 
 It must be credited to commenter atommc who wrote:
Moochelle's 2012 campaign slogan: "Free at last, Free at last.. everything in this country is free.. at last!"
Does it fit?
 
The Barack Hussein Obama family has taken 16 extended vacations in 3 years.
 
I think so.

Read On:


With the economy on its knees, many American families have had to forgo their annual holiday just to make ends meet. But barely a month after returning from a luxury Christmas break in Hawaii Michelle Obama is on holiday again - this time at the exclusive Colorado ski resort of Aspen. It's her 16th holiday since her husband took office.
-  and  - 
And last year Mrs Obama took Sasha and Malia to Vail and Beaver Creek last Presidents' Day just days after the President tried to sell his cost-cutting budget to the American people by asking them to stay at home.

Mrs Obama also raised eyebrows when for the second year in a row she left earlier than her husband for their annual Christmas holiday in Hawaii, incurring additional expenses of an estimated $100,000. The 17 day holiday is estimated to have cost taxpayers $4 million.

All total, with Christmas and summer holidays included, the Colorado jaunt is trip number 16 for Mrs. Obama since the family moved to the White House.
-  and  -
   
       Moochelle, the First lady of Luxury Travel:
SPAIN: AUGUST 2010
  • Michelle Obama and 40 of her friends paid for personal expenses, such as hotels and meals themselves.
  • But the U.S. taxpayer would have paid for the 68-strong security detail, personal staff and use of presidential jet Air Force Two.
  • Payment for the secret service team ran at around $281 each - nearly $98,000 for the duration of the summer break.
  • Use of Air Force Two comes in at $149,900 for the round trip, not including time on the ground.
  • Mrs Obama's personal staff, of which there were an unknown number, should also be taken into account
HAWAII: DECEMBER 2010
According to the Hawaii Reporter the costs were:
  • $63,000 on an early flight bringing Mrs Obama and the children to Hawaii ahead of the President
  • $1,000,000 on Mr Obama’s return trip from Washington on Air Force One
  • $16,000 to rent nearby homes for Secret Service and Navy Seals
  • $134,000 for 24 White House staff to stay at the Moana Hotel
  • $251,000 in police overtime
  • $10,000 for an ambulance to be on hand at all times
SKI TRIP TO VAIL: FEBRUARY 2011
  • Michelle Obama and her daughters stayed at the Sebastian hotel on Vail Mountain, where rooms cost more than $2,400 for multi-bedroom suites.
  • The family appear to have flown there on Air Force Two.
  • They were escorted to the resort by about a dozen vehicles, including 15 state and local law enforcement officers.
MARTHA'S VINEYARD: AUGUST 2011
  • The Blue Heron Farm estate, where the Obama family stayed, rents for about $50,000 a week.
  • Michelle, Sasha and Malia Obama flew to the estate just hours before the president to make the most of the holiday - again, incurring extra flight costs.
  • According to U.S. News and World Report, the Coast Guard was required to keep ships floating near the property. The presidential helicopter and jet remain at the ready and security agents will be on 24-hour duty.
HAWAII: DECEMBER 2011
According to the Hawaii Reporter the costs were:
  •  $63,000 on an early flight bringing Mrs Obama and the children to Hawaii ahead of the President but add security and personnel for a total of about $100,000
  • $3,271,622 on Mr Obama’s return trip from Washington on Air Force One
  • $151,200  to rent nearby homes for Secret Service and Navy Seals
  • $72,216  for 24 White House staff to stay at the Moana Hotel

 Read on:

 Accounting for trips out of Washington for several days, the total number of vacations Washington Secrets tabulated is 16, 10 where the family was together, such as for Christmas and summer vacations, one by the president and five by the first lady.

  Not included were Camp David visits or trips like the first family’s New York City date night in May, 2009.

- and -
 
 The First Family of Vacations
- President’s Day 2012, Michelle and the first daughters in Aspen, Colorado to ski.

          - Christmas 2011, the first family in Hawaii for an extended vacation.

- Summer 2011, in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., for the annual beach break.

          - June 2011, the first lady, her mother and daughters traveled to South Africa and Botswana.

       - President’s Day 2011, the first lady and first daughters travel to Vail to ski.

       - Christmas 2010, in Hawaii.

- August 2010, the first family traveled to Panama City Beach, Fla., for some sun and fun at the beach.
- August 2010, Obama spent the weekend alone in Chicago for his 49th birthday bash.
- August 2010, the first lady and daughter Sasha traveled to Spain for a mother-daughter vacation.
- August 2010, summer vacation again at Martha’s Vineyard.
- July 2010, the first family went to Mount Desert Island, Maine.
- May 2010, the first family had a four-day trip to Chicago.
- March 2010, first lady and daughter spend Spring Break in New York City.
- Christmas 2009, Hawaii again for the annual break.
- August 2009, at Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon for a short vacation.
- August 2009, their first summer vacation as first family at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

*Be sure to read the comments following each article



February 17, 2012

Two Alligators

Two Alligators were sitting around talking when the smaller Alligator turned to the bigger one and said, 'I can't understand how you can be so much bigger than me. We're the same age; we were the same size as kids. I just don't get it.'

'Well,' said the big Gator, 'what have you been eating?'

'Democrats, same as you,' replied the small Gator.

'Hmm. Well, where do you catch them?'

'Down the other side of the swamp near the parking lot by the Capitol.'

'Same here. Hmm. How do you catch them?'

'Well, I crawl up under one of their Lexus cars & wait for one to unlock the car door. Then I jump out, grab 'em by the leg, shake the shit out of 'em and eat 'em! '

'Ah!' says the big Alligator, 'I think I see your problem ... you're not getting any real nourishment.  See, by the time you finish shaking the shit out of a Democrat, there's nothing left but an asshole and a briefcase.'


February 16, 2012

Anthony Amore, Right On!

 
Very big kudos to  Anthony Amore  
 who wrote this terrific piece:

 
Last Friday, Osbrany Montes De Oca, a Lance Corporal in the United States Marines, set out to begin his patrol in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. As he was walking out of his base, his girlfriend said, he was ambushed by Taliban forces who shot and killed the 20 year old mortarman from New Jersey.

Lance Cpl. Montes De Oca was barely through his first year in service to his country when he made the ultimate sacrifice. But this young man's passion for his country is the stuff from which legends are made. Born in the Dominican Republic, he left behind a beautiful young girlfriend--"the love of my life" he called her--to enlist in the greatest volunteer force the world has ever known on a mission to bring stability to a country still suffering the ravages of Islamist fanaticism. 

His patriotism was shared by his twin brother, Osmany. The Star-Ledger reported that the brothers joined the Marine Corps after graduating high school, telling family members that they wanted to serve their country and fight those who would harm it. The twins' commitment to service was so great that it actually rubbed off on their older brother, Sandro, who followed the lead of his kid brothers and enlisted as well.

America lost one of its best and brightest on that Friday in Afghanistan. But you'd hardly know it from following the news. Why? Because on Saturday another child of New Jersey, Whitney Houston, died.

Houston was born into a successful family that one might even call privileged. Her father (a former serviceman) was an entertainment executive. Her aunt was Dionne Warwick. Her godmother, Aretha Franklin. Houston grew to become one of the most awarded entertainers in history -- and one of its biggest failures. Watching the last decade and a half of Houston's life was tantamount to watching a car crash. Watching her husband's reality show, Being Bobby Brown, was like rubbernecking from the couch. Houston went from being a beautiful young singer and actress to a drug-addled mess. She was a mockery of her former self.

So when she died on Saturday, the word "tragedy" was thrown around like penny candy. By the following Tuesday morning, a Google search of the terms "Whitney Houston" and "tragedy" resulted in 148 million hits.

Meanwhile, a search for the term "Osbrany Montes De Oca" resulted in under 800 hits. As a Marine, that probably would be fine with Lance Cpl. Montes De Oca. He'd see himself as part of a unit, as a member of the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. And that's exactly what makes him a hero.
But no one mentioned Lance Cpl. Montes De Oca during the Grammys. There was no moment of silence or prayers for him. While CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News all broke from their regularly-scheduled programming to deliver non-stop coverage of the singer's death, barely a word was said about the soldier's. The love and adulation and respect were all offered to Whitney Houston. 

Maybe we as a nation ought to spend more time being grateful for people like him, instead of paying incessant tribute to yet another dead celebrity.
And THAT says it all!

   And Kudos also to Huffington Post for posting it.

     (Never thought I'd say that!)

Fallen Hero: LCpl Osbrany Montes De Oca, USMC



Lance Cpl. Osbrany Montes De Oca, 20, of North Arlington, N.J. (born in the Dominican Republic), died Feb. 10 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C., and was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal less than two weeks before he was killed.


Montes De Oca joined the Marine Corps with his twin brother Osmany in December, 2010, after graduating high school.

According to the 2d Marine Division Public Affairs office, he was awarded the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal during his service.

Osbrany is one of four brothers, and one of three Marines in the family. Sandro Moreta, his older brother, and Osmany, his twin, are also Marines.  Franklin, the youngest brother, is a high school student.

Requiescat in Pace, Marine



This Nation Will Remain The Land Of The Free 
Only So Long As It Is The Home Of The Brave
  - Elmer Davis

February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day




And to my very own HoneyBunch:

  I loved you then, I love you now, I'll love you all the tomorrows we have!


February 10, 2012

Global Warming = Weak Science

Well, well, well.
The truth, as they say, will out.

  Fritz Vahrenholt: "The fear mongers are still shaping the political debate. According to the German Advisory Council on Global Change, environmentally minded countries should forcibly bring about reduced consumption for the sake of protecting the climate. This takes us in the direction of an environmental dictatorship. And the fear-mongering is also beginning to take effect. When I was in a restaurant recently, I overheard a woman at the next table telling her children that it's wrong to eat an Argentine steak -- because of the climate. That's when I ask myself: How could we have come to this point?"


 In Germany, where the global warming dogma has been very deeply entrenched, one of the founding fathers of Germany's environmentalist movement, Professor Fritz Vahrenholt, has converted into a global warming skeptic and is promoting his views in a new book and a series of article in Bild, a major German newspaper. 
What caused the change? According to one account:
Vahrenholt’s skepticism started when he was asked to review an IPCC report on renewable energy. He found hundreds of errors. When he pointed them out, IPCC officials simply brushed them aside. Stunned, he asked himself, “Is this the way they approached the climate assessment reports?”

Vahrenholt decided to do some digging. His colleague Dr. Lüning also gave him a copy of Andrew Montford’s The Hockey Stick Illusion. He was horrified by the sloppiness and deception he found.





Who are you gonna believe:  a respected scientist or some global warming alarmist-bullshit artist-former political fool?




February 08, 2012

Obummer: Class-less Act

It's hard to top the classless act of speaking during the playing of the British national anthem while standing next to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, but Barack Hussein Obama has done that:

Another illustration of presidential hubris involved the Bush family. The White House put out a picture of a private meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 27 that included former President George H.W. Bush and his son, Jeb, the former governor of Florida.

The Bushes were in town for the annual black tie dinner the next night at the Alfalfa Club, a gathering of business and political elites. The two featured speakers, both intended to be brief and humorous, were Obama and Jeb Bush. The president spoke to good reviews. He left before Bush spoke.

Obama hates such dinners. Some of his aides, in particular his political adviser David Plouffe, urged him not to spend an evening mingling with the 1 percent. Yet he chose to go, and attendees said it was the first time they could recall a speaker leaving before the other side had its fun. In addition, Obama’s 87-year-old predecessor was present.

Imagine the criticism five years ago if President George W. Bush had walked out on a dinner before Hillary Clinton spoke, with Bill Clinton in the audience.
 
Imagine that indeed: 
 
The INDIGNATION of the Liberal Left, The FURY of the Blogosphere, The FRENZY of the Barking Mad Moonbats.


H/T Weasel Zippers:  Class act Obama walks out on Jeb Bush

The New American Dream




Too bad this will never happen.

Despite saying 3 three years ago (in reference to 'fixing' the economy), and only 10 days into his presidency, 
 
 “If I don’t have this done in three years, 
then it’s going to be a one-term proposition
 
the Campaigner / Vacationer-in-Chief thinks he deserves another term.

 
Apparently he's not finished destroying America's economy.
 

February 02, 2012

Remarkably ... Stupid


"In the last three years, we've worked hard to get out of this mess and we've made some remarkable progress."
Remarkable, yes.     
$15 TRILLION + and counting  is VERY remarkable. 

Progress?  Only if you consider crushing debt and high unemployment as progress.
"You’re here because you know that we stand at a fundamental crossroads for our country. You’re here because you know that in less than a year from now, we are going to make a choice that will impact our lives for decades to come."
Oh, yes, if this guy manages to get re-elected it will impact our lives for decades, no lie.  Barack Hussein Obama will not be 'fettered' by having to worry about yet another re-election campaign, nor present himself as being for American people anymore. He will no doubt spend the next four years cramming social programs through Congress while thoroughly debilitating the military... and ruining this country with debt.

  Then she added that her husband is "very cute and he can sing, go figure." 

Oh well, that makes all the difference in a president. 

I would rather have a president who is decisive, competent, and a leader rather than a shirker.
  

 
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Figures on government spending and debt (last six digits are eliminated). The government's fiscal year runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. 

Total public debt subject to limit Jan. 3015,313,699
Statutory debt limit 16,394,000
Total public debt outstanding Jan. 30 15,356,140
Operating balance Jan. 30     158,596
Interest fiscal year 2012 through December       62,662
Interest same period 2011       56,780
Deficit fiscal year 2012 through December     321,735
Deficit same period 2011     368,960
Receipts fiscal year 2012 through December      555,437
Receipts same period 2011     531,797
Outlays fiscal year 2012 through December     877,173
Outlays same period 2011     900,757
Gold assets in January       11,041