Category Archives: Economy

Economy, Politics

Spend More, Cut Little

The House has an important vote today that directly affects your wallet and those of future generations, again. Apparently, all the new cuts and freezes that Obama is talking about requires raising the debt limit another $1.9 trillion.  That amounts to $6,000 for every U.S. resident. Already, the accumulated debt amounts to $40,000 per person. What is important about today’s vote is that if the House does not pass this increase, then there’s not enough borrowed money to implement the budget that Obama just presented to Congress.

The nut of Obamanomics is for the government to spend its way into prosperity and borrow its way out of debt. So in order to say he wants to cut spending and freeze spending (by less than 1%), he first needs to borrow and spend another $1.9 trillion, raising the cap on federal borrowing to $14.3 trillion. It’s obvious that neither Obama or his advisers are economic geniuses, but rather tax and spend idealogs where increases are cuts and up is down.

Related links: FOXNews.com – House Faces Tough Vote on $1.9T More Debt. | Obama’s Economic House Of Cards

Economy, Politics

Obama's Economic House Of Cards

It’s a good thing the President has a handle on the economy now. I mean, after all, the deficit he inherited from the Bush administration was enormous. Last year’s deficit surged to $1.42 trillion, more than three times the record of the previous year. So Bush’s last year budget deficit was $454.8 billion. Obama’s budget deficit last year was $1.42 trillion. That’s nearly $1 trillion more that he added to it in fiscal 2009. This business that he “inherited a $1.3 trillion budget deficit” is a lie. It’s a lie through and through. He has added $1 trillion.

Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) went on MSNBC today to put the lie to what Obama had said at the retreat in Baltimore to rest. Hensarling . . .

If you look at the 12 years when Republicans controlled the Congress, the average annual deficit was about $104 billion. I’m not proud of that number. That’s too high. But in the three years that Democrats have controlled Congress, the average annual deficit is now $1.1 trillion. Do the math. What used to be an annual deficit under Republicans has become a monthly deficit under Democrats.

But he’s got a grip on it, or us, now. Now, his budget is built on a house of cards that takes the deficit to between $8-15 trillion dollars (depending on whose numbers you want to use) in the next 10 years. And that is dependent upon Congress voting to raise the debt ceiling another $1.9 trillion. In just this past year, his budget is a mere 35% greater than they said it would be 12 months ago. Imagine how their estimates for health care and all the other government-building spending they propose will be?

The President asked for ideas from us serfs during his SOTU speech. Here’s one. Repeal the drug program that you criticize Bush for creating, the one you voted for as a Senator. The one that you said couldn’t be paid for. OK, so kill it. Now. Viola, look how much of the deficit you just ‘saved.’

Do you get the impression that this administration doesn’t care how much they spend as long as they reach their goal of destroying the economy so as to reduce it to a socialist utopia via his facist economic policies? I do.

The house of cards, which I call this budget, is based on tax increases, it is based on the economy growing, it is based on taxes from cap and trade, it is based on costs of health care decreasing. Essentially, this budget buster is based on receiving trillions of dollars from from programs that are not in place and based on the most optimistic of projections. It is the definition of ‘smoke and mirrors.’

Here’s something else to ponder about our economic circumstances. At the current interest rate on bonds, which is at 3%, a historic low, in 5 years the interest on our debt will be nearly a trillion dollars a year. That’s over a third of our GDP and about equal to all the money raised by income taxes. What happens when China stops buying our debt, which it is already signalling it intends to do, and interest rates rise? The interest on this debt, and by this debt I mean the debt we’ve got right now. That’s not including the debt that Obama wants to pile on. When interest rates go up further, the interest payments on this debt will be more than our GDP. The only way out then is hyperinflation, the devaluation of the dollar.

After taxing the rich, the spending programs will end up taxing the rest in increase cost all the way down the scale. So what’s left for the government to get their hands on when all else is maxed out? Your retirement plans, your 401K’s, your IRA’s. Whether this happens before or after hyperinflation kicks in is just a matter of timing. They’ve already got their eyes on the trillions of dollars Americans have managed to save for themselves. If only the government ran its business like you and I have to, we wouldn’t be in this precarious economic condition.

Best bet now is to salvage what you have left before the government takes it and gives you an IOU like they did with your Social Security. Asset protection now means cashing in your retirement funds and investing it somewhere where the government can’t get its greedy little hands on it.

You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth repeating. You can’t spend your way into prosperity, nor borrow your way out of debt. Sir Winston Churchill

Updated: 9:43
link: Big bang gives way to busted budget

Economy, Energy, Politics, Race Relations, United Nations

aSide Order

A note on man-made, man-ajustable,  climate change.

UN scientist admits unverified data used for politics…
India, China won’t sign Copenhagen Accord…
Calls for UN climate chief to resign…
Scientists using ‘selective temperature data’…

‘Whites only’ basketball league announced

And in the ‘you gotta be kidding’ category, except that it doesn’t look like they are, some idiot thinks its a good idea to have a whites only basketball league.

According to the Chronicle, Lewis said he wants to emphasize “fundamental basketball” instead of “street ball” played by “people of color.”

“There’s nothing hatred about what we’re doing,” Lewis told the paper. “I don’t hate anyone of color.”

Lewis pointed out recent incidents in the NBA, including Gilbert Arenas’ suspension for bringing a gun into the Washington Wizards locker room, and said, “Would you want to go to the game and worry about a player flipping you off or attacking you in the stands or grabbing their crotch?”

The misguided premise here is that whites are better behaved than non-whites. Would cleaning up the NBA’s act kill the NBA, or make it better? Or, would wanting to clean up the NBA’s act be construed as some sort of bigoted or ‘racist’ motivation? Is it about the sport of basketball, or is it about franchises and money?

Excuse me, but where are my fries?

2010 Election, Economy, Politics, Russia, Venezuela

The White House Compass Points To Centralize Control

After one year in The White House, and after the Massachusetts special election, the President applies to his party the only thing he knows to do to the country, centralize control.

Campaign setting, complete with props in the background.

It is becoming more obvious to the American people that there’s more to running a country, and fixing economic problems than campaigning on how bad things are and blaming Bush for it.

As Mr. Obama prepares to deliver his State of the Union address on Wednesday and lay out his initiatives for the second year of his presidency, his decision to take greater control of the party’s politics signals a new approach. The White House is searching for ways to respond to panic among Democrats over the possible demise of his health care bill and a political landscape being reshaped by a wave of populism.

Improving tactical operations addresses only part of his challenge. A more complicated discussion under way, advisers said, is how to sharpen the president’s message and leadership style.   {emphasis added}

It was a wave of populism that carried Obama into The White House. He has lost that advantage now. Now it is working against him and his agenda. No doubt his advisers have an undaunting task. How to make a community organizer appear presidential and as a leader at the same time? According to the New York Times . . .

The White House intends to send Mr. Obama out into the country considerably more in 2010 than during his first year in office, advisers said, to try to rekindle the relationship he developed with voters during his presidential campaign.

His first big chance will come when he delivers his State of the Union address. Rather than unveil a laundry list of new initiatives, advisers said, Mr. Obama will try to reframe his agenda and how he connects it with public concerns.

Instead of the campaign-style pep rally in Ohio last week, wouldn’t you rather have seen the President behind his desk in the oval office, telling Americans what his plan is to fix the economy and create jobs? And to justify why he needs a second stimulus package when, after one year, only 30% of the first package has been used while unemployment continues to rise?

Be aware of the community organizer’s tactic. When Obama speaks of the need for greater accountability, what he really means is greater government control. You don’t have to look very far to see how he has held sections of the private sector ‘accountable.’ It has been by taking them over. Could it be that a strong centralized government like that of Chavez or Putin is not really what Americans want?

What, or who, is missing in this picture?

related links:

Economy

Why Economic Recovery Is About Taxes

2 Comments

Had a liberal encounter of the tax kind the other day. Addressing the Left’s refusal (or possibly inability) to understand why increasing taxes are not the way to go if you want to stimulate economic activity. It started over a proponent of the administration’s taxing those financial institutions that had paid back the ‘bailout’ money that they were given.

In the liberal mindset, if you oppose that, then you’re in the pocket of Wall St.. Forgetting for a moment the Robin Hood aspect of the tax, and the unequal application of the tax, I answered that logic with a short quiz. The guy’s, or girl’s, name was Anonymous.

Anon. Below are some multiple choice questions to consider.

Income is generated by:

1. Private enterprise

2. Government

Along the same line. The money that government gets via taxes comes from:

1. Private enterprise

2. Government

When government takes money out of the private sector via taxes, what effect does it have?

1. Takes money from their business.

2. Puts money into their business.

The economy is boosted when:

1. The government takes money out of the economy via taxes and spends it as it sees fit.

2. The government leaves as much money as possible in the private sector to be used by the private sector to spend as it sees fit.

Money generated by businesses belongs to:

1. The business owners and investors.

2. The government.

And one TRUE/FALSE:

Capitalism pays for Socialism: T/F

Depending on how you answer these questions should explain why it is always taxes, taxes, taxes that effect, either negatively or positively, economic activity, AND whether the form of economic system you prefer is free-market capitalism or some form of socialist/fascist amalgamation.

If you prefer the latter, then there is this thing called the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that must first be abolished.

Economy, Florida, Media, Pensacola

Don’t Ignore Small Business

The article in the Pensacola News Journal showing the decline in business investment “Top 10 sales fall to $80M” painted a pretty good picture of slowing economic conditions and increasing uncertainty surrounding business investments.

Multi-million dollar projects are one thing. Businesses with those kinds of assets have people, if not departments, to tend to the details. But small business, really small business, the mom and pop venture, is one sector that can benefit with just a little assistance from local government. And the assistance I’m speaking of does not cost a dime.

There’s no better motivation to start a small family business than to find yourself unemployed. Current unemployment figures show there is plenty of opportunity for a new start-up for someone with a passion for a business or product for which there is market demand. Employed or not, you have way more potential to succeed than you know. Being unemployed may be all it takes to make up your mind to jump in with both feet to start your own business. Been there, done that. And there’s no greater satisfaction that I’ve experienced in the workplace than when the workplace is your own.

Depending on the business you have in mind, you may need more than one license, permits, and inspections along the way. You’ll have to comply with city, county, and state laws not only from the financial angle, but also from details like building codes, fire codes, and ADA compliant features that may be required. There are tax issues, federal, state, and local. There are insurance issues if you have employees. Having prior knowledge of these will save you time and money.

Let’s assume that after losing your job, you don’t have a boatload of cash to take your time in getting something going. You cannot afford to start paying rent for months on end while getting things ready. Inspections by various departments and jurisdictions may be required. Some of them must happen in a certain order. Learning this the hard way will cost you something that you can’t replace, time. And you can’t afford the financial setbacks you’ll incur for failing to comply with necessary details, beginning with the loss of business for not being able to open when you expected to.

So you have an idea of what you want to do. Maybe you took the extension courses offered by the University of West Florida on starting your own business? They are good, and inexpensive. For me it was like a college refresher course condensed into a few weeks. Maybe you’ve already run a business, but it wasn’t your own? Maybe you have a college degree in business or management? Those courses are helpful in a general sense, but do not cover the mechanics of what you will need to do in a legal sense, and in what order, before you can open your door for business.

You have a site selected that would be conducive to your business plan. But where do you start? Where do you go locally to get the ‘official guide to opening a business?’ That’s where the city and county can help. And there’s not been a greater need for this kind of help in decades.

Attracting big businesses/employers to the area is fine. Something the government should try to do. But let’s also try to develop the small business potential that is already here.

link: Top 10 sales fall to $80M

Update 1/24/2010: This post was reprinted in the Pensacola News Journal on the opinion page as a Viewpoint: Right time to promote small business growth

Economy, Politics

Open And Honest? Who Knew?

Watch out America. In the name of openness and honesty, Democrats in Washington are poised to show how much smarter they are than you, and the founding fathers.

It never was about stimulating the economy. If it was, they never would have done what the did. That’s why it didn’t take but about 3 months for the Obama administration to tie economic recovery to government-controlled health care-turned-health-insurance ‘reform.’ And the dumb masses bought it.

That was then. Now a majority of Americans are rejecting not only that premise but also are rejecting the extent that government will be controlling our lives  under Obamacare. Those that believe that the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights still mean something would call it restricting personal liberty and freedom through an ever-growing and more powerful central government.

Centralized power is all important. So much so that what you want no longer matters. They are representing The One instead of The People and are prepared to do anything to get there. And if they’re willing to deceive you to get there, then you have to think they’ll do anything to stay there, keeping their majority status for generations and turning America into just another second class European socialistic regime.

There could not be a better example of how, on this issue, Democrats are putting their political agenda ahead of the will of the American people, who they are supposed to be working for.

How could they do that, you ask? What they could do would be to go to reconciliation where only 51 votes are needed instead of 60. And what could they do if Brown (R) should win the senate seat over Coakley (D)?

Massachusetts’s top election official says it could take weeks to certify the results of the upcoming U.S. Senate special election. That delay could let President Barack Obama preserve a key 60th vote for his health care overhaul even if the Republican who has vowed to kill it wins Democrat Edward M. Kennedy’s former seat.

According to Coakley, currently Mass. Atty. General, ‘Until a new senator is sworn in, Sen. Kirk is the senator.’

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) sort of gets it. He said ‘If Scott Brown wins, it’ll kill the health bill.’

I’ve got news for you Barney. If this bill makes it to the President’s desk, it’ll kill America.

Related links:

2010 Election, Economy, Media, Organized Labor, Politics

As Not Seen On CSPAN

Labor union leaders from the SEIU, AFL-CIO, and the UAW met in Washington yesterday to (one could only guess) threaten to withhold support for Democrats in the 2010 election if the President went through with his wanting to levy a tax on people who have a good health insurance policy.

President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats stand within days if not hours of striking final deals on historic health care legislation after key labor unions won concessions and pledged their support.

What we could not see is the smoke and mirrors accounting they are applying to mask the cost to appease big labor. Taxing those policies was supposed to be part of paying for this plan. Absent that, there’s  more snake-oil on the health insurance menu.

Unfortunately, we could not see this ‘negotiation’ in action like the President said when he was a candidate. We couldn’t see who was representing who, like the President promised he would do, and on this very subject. The negotiations weren’t on either of the two CSPAN channels I get. Did you see it?

link: Health talks in overdrive with Obama pushing