Category Archives: Uncategorized

Is Currency Devaluation Coming?

That’s what the group of global financial egg-heads like Timothy Geithner are looking to avoid. The group of 20, G-20, ended their two-day meeting in South Korea Saturday with nothing to show for it but words that express a need for some way to prevent that from happening. On the positive side, there seemed to be more faith in a free market than a government manipulated one to manage the global economy.

The grouping, which accounts for about 85 percent of the global economy, said in a statement that it will “move towards more market determined exchange rate systems” and “refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies.”

The agreement comes amid fears that nations were on the verge of a “currency war” in which they would devalue currencies to gain an export advantage over competitors – causing a rise in protectionism and damaging the global economy.

Funny how Geithner’s position on free markets changes when he goes abroad. Considering the negative attitude that Geithner and his boss have over free markets here, is there any doubt that we are looking at our future with headlines like these?

Group of 20 vows to avoid currency devaluations and G-20 Vows to Avoid a Currency War

With our debt sitting squarely on the shoulders of future generations of Americans, much of which is owned by China, it’s time for a new dynamic. Something that will maximize business opportunity and job growth. Something that will grow the private-sector economy. Given that the devaluation of the dollar is not a matter of if but of when, the imperative has to be growing the economy, not government.

That new dynamic is a bold replacement of our current tax code. The current tax code taxes work, investment, and productivity, everything we want, to one that only taxes consumption. It is called the FairTax.

Implementing the FairTax does not increase the debt. Aside from being progressive in nature, it will attract new international business and bring back trillions of dollars of business capital that has fled this country because of the current tax code. Putting $10-15 Trillion to work in the United States, in other words, letting the market drive the economy instead of politicians in Washington, is the best way to hedge against the devaluation and hyper-inflation that may follow.

And speaking of the FairTax, Gov. Huckabee challenges anyone in Washington to a debate about the merits of it.

France’s Sarkozy, Making The Hard Choices

Doing what every nation in Europe needs to do (and the United States is no exception), French President Nicolas Sarkozy has the guts to do what needs to be done to prevent France from becoming another Greece. The European economies are over-run with debt and unsustainable pension plans, retirement plans, employment laws, and social welfare plans that they can no longer afford. It is to the point that reform means ‘taking away.’

We have the same problem here. It is just as serious, but not as bad. For now. But that will change in a few short years.

Labor unions like the SEIU know all about it. They don’t want to give up anything in Europe, and are fighting tooth and nail in this country, with the help of the Obama administration, to find a way for the government to bail them out of their un-sustainable pension and benefit plans. The plan here is to just nationalize industry, then the union’s problem becomes our (the taxpayers’) problem. And you see  how well that’s working out in France.

The amazing thing is that, having lived under socialism for over 60 years, Europe is trying to get away from it while President Obama and his advisors are rushing us towards it.

Links: The State of the Welfare StateSarkozy defies French strikers on pension reform |  And closer to home: Public Sector Pension Funding Just Became Three Times More Fun

Joe Bonamassa At The Saenger

This is BIG. Just last year he played in Royal Albert Hall, and recently won best blues guitarist of the year. And now, my favorite blues guitarist ever, after finishing his latest European tour, IS COMING TO PENSACOLA’s Saenger Theater on December 1, 2010. Get your tickets early. It’s gotta be sold out soon.

Here he is performing ‘Stop’ at Royal Albert Hall.

And here’s a studio recording of the ‘Ballad of John Henry.’

This is just the tip of the iceberg of this guy’s talent. Uh, see you there!

Links: Saenger Theater, PensacolaJoe Bonamassa

Mayor Rizzo’s 1980 Cadillac Sells In Wildwood

The late and great mayor of Philadelphia, Frank Rizzo’s 1980 black Caddy sold at the Wildwood Classic Car Auction on Saturday, September 25, 2010. Mayor Rizzo was the kind of guy who you either loved or hated. And when he retired after 8 years as mayor of Philadelphia in 1980, he successfully cleaned up the city’s crime problems. Which accounts for why he was either loved or hated. According to his son, Philadelphia Councilman Frank Rizzo, the proceeds of the sale would be used to take care of maintenance of his father’s statute that stands outside the Municipal Services Building long after he is gone.

Link: A real car guy’ buys Rizzo’s Cadillac

aSide Order

Happy to announce that my most favorite blues guitarist, Joe Bonamassa, has been named Best International Artist at the British Blues Music Awards Sept 11, 2010. His latest album is a get-together with Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian. This group, known as Black Country Communion, put down a classical hard rock album, coming out Tuesday Sept. 21.  (Do they still call them albums nowadays?)

Sample below.

From Bonamassa’s website . . .

Fresh off a brief break from a grueling world tour and recording his next album in Santorini, Greece, Joe Bonamassa was in New York City last week rehearsing with Black Country Communion. The band (Joe Bonamassa, Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian) also found the time to stop by the Sirius-XM studios to share stories and tracks from their upcoming album on Eddie Trunk’s Boneyard show. Getting all four rock superstars in the same room at the same time is no easy feat, particularly with Jason Bonham gearing up for his highly-anticipated Led Zeppelin Experience in October.

Though Black Country Communion’s tour has yet to be announced, Bonham’s 30-date Led Zeppelin Experience kicks off this fall to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his father’s death. Though the full details of the band have not been released, the multi-media experience begins October 8th in British Columbia.

Bonamassa is no stranger to the influence of Led Zeppelin (evidenced by his rendition of Zepp’s “Tea for One” from the album You & Me and the immensely crowd-pleasing interpretation of Jimmy Page’s “Dazed and Confused” solo he effortlessly infuses into his live show’s cover of ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid”), and Black Country Communion’s raw, intricate guitar riffs, hard-driving percussion and high octane vocals bring Zeppelin’s previously-unmatched power and artistry into a new generation.

Black Country Communion’s self-titled debut album is out on Sept 21. Eddie Trunk’s show with Black Country Communions airs September 20th 6-10pm ET on Sirius-XM.


aSide Order

Man Fatally Stabs Friend, Drinks His Blood

Authorities in central Florida have arrested a 42-year-old man accused of stabbing a friend to death and then drinking his blood.

Authorities say Lopez returned later and stabbed him to death. She told police Lopez left with a plastic cup in his hand that appeared to hold blood. She said he drank from the cup in a strange ritual from their native Mexico.

He should have had a V8 instead.

INTERNET WARNING:

If you get an email titled “Nude photo of Nancy Pelosi,” don’t open it ….

It contains a nude photo of Nancy Pelosi.

A man is watching a game of golf on TV. But he keeps switching channels

to a sexy movie featuring a lusty couple having raucous sex.

“Man, they are really gettin’ it on! I don’t know whether to watch

them or watch the game”, he says to his wife.

“For Pete’s sake,” his wife says. “Watch them!

You already know how to play golf!”

Want More? Tax Less. Tax More? Get Less.

That about sums up the one an only truism about taxation. That politicians become drunk with power once they have the ‘tax hammer’ in their hot little hand is another. But that is more of a moral issue than an economic one. I came across this publication from the U.S. Treasury called The History of the U.S. Tax System. It’s something that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner should read. As Congress and the Obama administration seem to be on a mad dash to tax us into prosperity and borrow our way out of debt, this piece from the Treasury Dept. should be required reading.

Lower marginal tax rates were ‘essential to a strong economy.’ Meddling with the system with that ‘tax hammer’ can make it worse.

The economic boom following the 1982 recession convinced many political leaders of both parties that lower marginal tax rates were essential to a strong economy, while the constant changing of the law instilled in policy makers an appreciation for the complexity of the tax system. Further, the debates during this period led to a general understanding of the distortions imposed on the economy, and the lost jobs and wages, arising from the many peculiarities in the definition of the tax base.

History demonstrates, whether you want to learn from it or not, that taxing business excessively, ‘over-reaching,’ leads to collapse.

The 1986 Tax Reform Act was roughly revenue neutral, that is, it was not intended to raise or lower taxes, but it shifted some of the tax burden from individuals to businesses. Much of the increase in the tax on business was the result of an increase in the tax on business capital formation. It achieved some simplifications for individuals through the elimination of such things as income averaging, the deduction for consumer interest, and the deduction for state and local sales taxes. But in many respects the Act greatly added to the complexity of business taxation, especially in the area of international taxation. Some of the over-reaching provisions of the Act also led to a downturn in the real estate markets which played a significant role in the subsequent collapse of the Savings and Loan industry.

The power trip, aka tax hammer, became addictive for the politicos. It never occurred to them to quit increasing government spending. Only how and where and what to raise taxes on.

Between 1986 and 1990 the Federal tax burden rose as a share of GDP from 17.5 to 18 percent. Despite this increase in the overall tax burden, persistent budget deficits due to even higher levels of government spending created near constant pressure to increase taxes. Thus, in 1990 the Congress enacted a significant tax increase featuring an increase in the top tax rate to 31 percent. Shortly after his election, President Clinton insisted on and the Congress enacted a second major tax increase in 1993 in which the top tax rate was raised to 36 percent and a 10 percent surcharge was added, leaving the effective top tax rate at 39.6 percent. Clearly, the trend toward lower marginal tax rates had been reversed, but, as it turns out, only temporarily.

The tax code becomes a vehicle for spending programs. Wielding the tax hammer for social engineering increases public debt. Lesson not learned here is that money doesn’t grow on trees and, stop increasing the spending. But it’s OK if you can use the tax code to buy votes. What? This is where the class envy/class warfare tactic, as connected to the tax code, was taken to a higher level.

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 made additional changes to the tax code providing a modest tax cut. The centerpiece of the 1997 Act was a significant new tax benefit to certain families with children through the Per Child Tax credit. The truly significant feature of this tax relief, however, was that the credit was refundable for many lower-income families. That is, in many cases the family paid a “negative” income tax, or received a credit in excess of their pre-credit tax liability. Though the tax system had provided for individual tax credits before, such as the Earned Income Tax credit, the Per Child Tax credit began a new trend in federal tax policy. Previously tax relief was generally given in the form of lower tax rates or increased deductions or exemptions. The 1997 Act really launched the modern proliferation of individual tax credits and especially refundable credits that are in essence spending programs operating through the tax system.

“There’s no difference at all in terms of the effects on the federal deficit,” says Roberton Williams of the Tax Policy Center. “It’s perfectly equivalent. It’s just easier to say, ‘I cut your taxes’ as opposed to ‘I created a new federal program to send money to people.'”

Reducing taxes helped, not hurt, economic recovery.

The 2001 tax cut will provide additional strength to the economy in the coming years as more and more of its provisions are phased in, and indeed one argument for its enactment had always been as a form of insurance against an economic downturn. However, unbeknownst to the Bush Administration and the Congress, the economy was already in a downturn as the Act was being debated. Thankfully, the downturn was brief and shallow, but it is already clear that the tax cuts that were enacted and went into effect in 2001 played a significant role in supporting the economy, shortening the duration of the downturn, and preparing the economy for a robust recovery.

One can only hope that the next generation of political leaders will have learned something from the past and not repeat that which has failed before. Here’s hoping that the next chapter in The History of the U.S. Tax System describes unprecedented economic recovery after abolishing  the current income-based tax system and going to the consumption-based tax system called the FairTax.

Links: History of the U.S. Tax SystemThe Income Tax System Is Broken

Florida Primary Election Registration Ends Today

If you are not registered with the political party whose primary election you want to vote in, today is the last day you can register. Florida uses closed primaries. That means only registered republicans can vote in a Republican primary, democrats in Democrat primary.

There is no primary contest for NPA, No Party Affiliation, candidates. Those candidates will go straight to the ballot for the general election.

If you’re not already registered, or want to change your party affiliation in order to vote in a primary election, you can register or change your registration in person or online.

The ‘put up or shut up’ time begins now. Please, get involved.