Tag Archives: China

China, Economy, Politics

aSide Order

Isn’t it amazing how the politicos in Washington get their shorts in a wad over uniforms for the U.S. olympic team being made in China? Too bad they aren’t as concerned when it comes to borrowing their money.

While the economy slows down, and unemployment is at record levels for a record amount of time, President Obama’s message is revealing more and more of his Marxist philosophy and fascist economic model tendencies when he says  that small business owners did not make their business or make them grow. “If you’re successful in business, you didn’t get there on your own,” he said. That “someone else” he suggests is the government. A defeatist attitude for free-market capitalism and, for America as we know it. And particularly dangerous coming from our president.

As an aside from the debate in Washington about whether or not to raise the debt ceiling, spend less, or balance the budget, there is something else just as ominous to the country and future generations that you should know about.

We all understand that borrowing money has a direct cost to it, the interest rate. Interest rates now are at all-time lows. No problem. When interest rates go back up, big problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdbqjiIiQLQ

Sen. Tom Coburn expounds on the “Debt Bomb.” “The problem isn’t that we haven’t agreed, the problem is that we’ve agreed way too much,” explained Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) in a recent interview with The Heritage Foundation. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have trillion-dollar deficits, $16 trillion in debt, and unfunded liabilities of $113-131 trillion.”

 

 

China, Egypt, Iran, Middle East, Politics, Religion, Russia, United Nations, War On Terror

Another Diplomatic Disaster For The Unites States

Leave the upcoming military confrontation with Iran aside for a moment. And put Russia and China on the back burner as countries hostile to humanity for condoning Syria’s murdering of their own citizens. Which at the same time highlights the uselessness of the United Nations and its Security Council.

Set that aside for now so you can concentrate on how Muslim Brotherhood-controlled Egypt is sending 19 American NGO (non governmental organization) workers to trial for ‘crimes’ like promoting democracy and human rights and for receiving funds to support them and their mission.

The Muslim Brotherhood used the NGO’s to help overthrow former President Hosni Mubarak. The ‘democracy’ that got rid of Mubarak is no longer needed. Now, they are holding 43 of them prisoner and moving to the oppressive Sharia law.

One of the Americans held captive is Sam LaHood, the son of Secretary of  Transportation Ray LaHood. Sam LaHood is the head of the Egypt office of the Washington-based International Republican Institute.

I don’t attribute any of that as, like Joe Biden had warned, that President Obama will be tested on the international stage. This is a result of a combination of his inexperience, naivety, and his pre-occupation with transforming the United States into some form of government-controlled society where the federal government makes all decisions for you.

Three years ago, then Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) said . . .

Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.

And they have not stopped.

Makes one wonder if Biden made that statement because he knew what would follow when the top of the ticket is clueless on any subject besides ‘social justice.’

Link: Egypt sends American workers to trial

China, Economy, Energy, Politics

Where Is The Green Energy Market?

To say that there is no green in the so-called green energy sector is indicative of why that is. It is not because people don’t want a low-cost, in terms of dollars and efficiency, solution to their energy needs. It is because there is no practical market for it yet. Not for Solyndra. Not for BrightSource Energy either.

If Solyndra’s bankruptcy was not a sign of no market in this industry, all you have to do is to look at BrightSource Energy’s registration statement for going public. In their own words, without government money, they can not survive.

We depend heavily on government policies that support renewable energy and enhance the economic feasibility of developing solar energy projects.

They can’t even say that what they want to do can even be done.

Our proprietary technology has a limited history and may perform below expectations when implemented on utility-scale projects.

We use proprietary technology that has not been previously implemented on utility-scale projects of the size and complexity of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, or Ivanpah, and Ivanpah may experience technological problems that neither we nor any of the third-party independent engineers that have reviewed our projects are able to foresee. The systems that we will implement on utility-scale projects include a solar field with heliostats controlled by advanced software systems that concentrate sunlight onto a receiver to produce high-temperature steam. If the implementation of our proprietary technology is unsuccessful, it could negatively impact the successful operation of projects using our systems and may result in additional payments, deductions or defaults under key project documents, including our PPAs or other financing arrangements.

The company’s registration statement is as dismal as anyone could imagine. Scaring away any private-sector investor with no expectation of a government bailout. Except for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s. venture capital company,  VantagePoint Partners, the largest investor in BrightSource Energy. BrightSource received a $1.4 Billion loan guarantee from Obama’s Department of Energy.

The lesson to learn is that just because it sounds like a good idea, doesn’t make it worth throwing good money after bad. Regardless of the size of political contributions made to the administration. That, and government can not create a market because it wants to. Markets are created when companies make something they can sell at a profit that customers want.

Contrary to what Obama may think, he is not creating jobs in this country (China, yes) by gambling with the taxpayers money on green energy. With every dollar Obama removes from the private sector, he is killing them.

With his regulations and drilling moratorium, and pipeline rejection, he is killing even more jobs. Kind of makes you wonder about President Obama’s priority. Is it jobs in a free-market economy or jobs in a government controlled economy?

China, Economy, Energy, Europe, Organized Labor, Politics

Stimulus Spending, For What? For Who?

With the economy still in recession, and the President still touting his American Jobs Act, Americans are becoming more skeptical about what all the stimulus spending has done for them. And the news about questionable stimulus spending and special deals is beginning to bubble up to the surface. Some new, some old.

Old news that is coming around again is the Fisker Automotive  (now Tesla Motors) luxury electric sports car that Vice President Al Gore invested in. That company got a half billion dollars for so-called green jobs. It is an electric car. It is a luxury car with a 50 mile range in total electric mode. Big investment for no market. But it did create jobs, in Britain and Finland.

The Fisker Karma sedan is priced at $87,400, with buyers eligible for a $7,500 credit on their Federal income tax returns.

Want one? Call them up and put down your $25,000 deposit. They’ll let you know when it is ready. Sell price? $87,400 to over $109,000.

So we subsidize a car company whose target market is “millionaires and billionaires,” then we give them $7,500 more of our tax dollars to incentivize them to buy it. All that from the guy that calls himself a ‘warrior for the middle class.’

Then there is the Solyndra scandal (Solar-Gate?) that wasted another half billion taxpayer dollars. That solar panel company declared bankruptcy not long after receiving your half billion dollars. Another big investment in an industry where there is no market. Officers of that company are big-time campaign fundraising bundlers for President Obama. Now those green jobs went directly to China. And Solyndra’s execs are pleading the 5th in Congressional hearings about it.

Are you seeing a pattern here of connected democrats and Big Labor being on the receiving end of millions and billions of your (and your grandkid’s) tax dollars? All in the name of stimulus and green jobs.

China, Iran, Middle East, North Korea, Politics, Russia, War On Terror

Mr. President, What Are We Doing In Libya?

Peggy Noonan wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal that perfectly lays out what Americans are thinking.

I cannot for the life of me see how an American president can launch a serious military action without a full and formal national address in which he explains to the American people why he is doing what he is doing, why it is right, and why it is very much in the national interest.

The absence of such a statement from our President, the Commander In Chief, is especially puzzling when you consider his previous position on the use of our military.

“I don’t oppose all wars … what I am opposed to is a dumb war.” – Barack Obama, 2002

For the first time, Obama is the Commander-in-Chief of a war that he authored rather than inherited. And the man who a decade ago anointed himself the arbiter of intelligent warfare is leading the U.S. into a conflict that is questionable on its merits and incoherent in its execution.

The blatant in-over-his-head behavior of our president is embarrassing. Certainly causing belly laughs in Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia.

Links: The Speech Obama Hasn’t Given |  Libya: Confusion, by Committee

China, MRIOTD, Politics

Hu News That China Won’t Hear

The talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Obama had some give and take on the economic front. The ‘human rights’ front was another issue. Hu pretty much excused his human rights atrocities as nothing more than growing pains.

Hu said China is a developing country with an enormous population facing challenges in economic and social developments. He said human rights must be viewed under those circumstances.

Pains like his communist government can not handle, manage, or feed its huge population. So some executions here, forced abortions and sterilization there, and other population control measures, imprisoning political dissidents and Nobel Peace Prize winners is just something they have to do while working to, get this, ‘improve the lives of our people and promote democracy and rule of law.’ {emphasis added}

At the risk of jumping the gun on this one, The Lunch Counter is holding back awarding President Hu Jintao the Most Ridiculous Item Of The Day award. The clincher will be when it is learned that no one in China will hear or see those words. You can bet the ranch that Hu’s statement was for U.S. consumption only. It was the bone President Obama wanted to make the visit look ‘productive.’

China, Immigration, Media, North Korea, Politics, Russia, Venezuela

Hugo Chavez, Dictator For A Year

In a lame duck session that upstaged (as in much worse) our lame duck session here in the United States, the Venezuelan lame duck session just gave Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (the hemisphere’s idiot) the power to make laws by decree for one year. As in, without the input from the legislature. This action totally undermines the newly elected legislature set to take over in three weeks. A legislature with enough power to put the brakes on some of Chavez’s socialist initiatives.

First on his agenda is to get control of the internet, having already taken over broadcast media. Saying that his government should protect citizens against online crimes. In his little communist mind, an online crime would be disagreeing with him and/or his policies. Like this blog post for example.

Chavez’s congressional allies are considering extending the “Social Responsibility Law” for broadcast media to the Internet, banning messages that “disrespect public authorities,” “incite or promote hatred” or crimes, or are aimed at creating “anxiety” in the population.

Whether or not they will admit it, the folks in Washington have a huge problem with Chavez and his band of gypsies and anti-capitalists. With his proclaimed disdain for the Unites States, supporting the world’s worst regimes and making way in Venezuela for a combination of a hostile Russia, Cuba, Iran, China, and North Korea in our own hemisphere does not portend for a peaceful (by any measure) future. Toss in an extra boost for the drug lords, al-Qaeda, and a lack of border security at home, and we are looking at a future of unrest and tumult.

Links: Venezuelan legislature grants Chavez decree powers | Chavez defends plan for Internet regulations

China, Economy, Energy, Florida, Media, Pensacola, Politics

Florida’s No-Energy Policy Is No Energy Policy

It’s not surprising that the St. Petersburg Times would come out with an editorial supporting the President’s about face on opening up 25 million acres of land off of Florida’s coast to oil exploration. They also thought that shutting down ALL oil drilling in the entire Gulf of Mexico by ALL oil companies was a good idea too! It reflects the knee-jerk reaction to pressure from the environmentalist lobby who, last I checked, does not produce energy.

Critics of the plan, like State Senate President Mike Haridopolos, are right to say that the Florida ban will cost jobs. It is preventing jobs from being created. Forget that ‘saved or created’ nonsense. This, like the rest of Obama’s economic policies are preventing jobs from being created and the economy from recovering.

Out of the lost wages and earnings, all of which BP is responsible for replacing, the Times did not give a number of jobs lost due to the leak. And didn’t BP put thousands of people to work (because of the leak) all over the Gulf coast to do the cleanup work? Sorry to say, but devastating hurricanes create jobs and work too! This is no more a justification for lax safety procedures than a hope for another accident. Point is, we can recover from accidents and disasters.

The jobs lost by extending this Florida waters moratorium another 12 years is real. Likewise, the jobs lost from our president and Ken Salazar putting the drilling moratorium in effect for all drilling in the Gulf in the wake of the 4/20 BP rig explosion was ignored by the St. Pete Times. But, that is to be expected of them.

It’s been 15 years since the Clinton administration put the kibosh on ANWR development, which would have long been producing energy by now had that not happened. Now we’re to wait twelve more years for Florida and the Eastern U.S. to use its resources?

Time is long overdue for an energy policy that gets some. In every area. How many new nuclear generating plants have opened in the last 20 years? How many new refineries have been built in the last 20 years? Did you know that 57% (that’s more than half for those of you educated in government schools) of our electrical energy comes from coal? How many new coal-fired electrical generating plants have been built in the last 20 years? So President Clinton made our nation’s only low sulfur coal reserves (the largest in the world) off-limits, handing China a monopoly. And banning oil development off our East and Gulf coasts, leaves OPEC to profit. Buying coal from China and oil from OPEC is not good for national security, nor is it a good energy policy.

Long story short. Unless you expect the energy industry to make environmental guidelines, don’t expect the environmentalists to make energy policy.

Link:    Shelving expanded gulf oil drilling is responsible course |  Oil spills kill jobs

China, Economy, Energy, Politics, United Nations

Climate Change Conference ‘Going Backwards’

That’s the good news. Frustrated by the competition to play God, the big U.N. climate talks in Cancun are ‘going backwards.’

They are arguing over adjusting the imaginary global thermostat down 2 degrees or 1.5 degrees. While the world’s two biggest polluters, China and India, feel it is unfair that they be forced to participate, don’t want anything to do with it. They haven’t signed on to the Kyoto Protocol either.

Then there’s the rift as to who would manage the $100 billion per year fund that they say they need in order to meet their goal. The World Bank or the United Nations? No matter who it would be, you know it would be nothing more than a slush fund for dictators and despots around the world, helping them to play God while the United States mostly foots the bill for their folly.

Meanwhile, environment ministers began flying in Saturday, hoping to put new life in the U.N. talks. Don’t you wonder about ‘the cost’ that their carbon footprint places on our green earth?

Link:  Plodding climate talks stepping up to higher level

Economy, Europe, Politics

Obama Leaves Country, Currency War Looms

It was two weeks ago when the G20 met to pretend that global inflation or a currency war was not going to happen. The media was pre-occupied with helping Democrats get elected so they didn’t make a big deal of it. As it turns out, they weren’t too successful. Neither was the G20.

It was only yesterday that The Lunch Counter called your attention to the consequences of the Federal Reserve (Ben Bernake) fiscal action of monetizing the country’s debt. All done as a last-ditch effort to save an economy that isn’t being saved by President Obama’s economic policies.

If today’s headlines don’t give you cause to worry, then I don’t know. How about not voting in a federal election ever again until you figure it out?