Tag Archives: Economy

Economy, Politics

Sen. Harry Reid Wins M.R.I.O.T.D. Award

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said this on the floor of the Senate.

“It’s very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it’s the public-sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that’s what this legislation is all about.”

It is with some reservation that Sen. Reid wins the Most Ridiculous Item Of The Day award. Not because he isn’t deserving of it, but rather that as a conservative, I have some compassion for my fellow-man. He might have some mental health issues for making such a statement and need professional help.

Link: A Moment of Candor From Harry Reid

2008 Election, 2010 Election, 2012 Election, Economy, Politics, Uncategorized

Colorado Proposition 103 Gets A Shellacking

Big news in Colorado. The 2008 election made Colorado a Blue state for the first time in 15 years, Obama 54% McCain 45%, buoyed by the support of the state’s growing Hispanic population, a key demographic to victory in 2012. So you would be surprised to see that 63.5% of the voters rejected Proposition 103 Tuesday.

Prop 103 was a $2.9 billion tax increase in sales and income taxes to be used for schools. I think this marks the first time that the ‘it’s for the children’ excuse has not worked. The people of Colorado feel they are paying enough taxes already and expect the state to do the job with what they have.  A notion contrary to liberal dogma.

“We need to do this for our kids,” said Heath, D-Boulder. “Our kids can’t wait.”

“This is a victory for all Colorado taxpayers,” said Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs. “We can’t help children by bankrupting their parents.”

It looks like ‘it’s the economy stupid’ is paramount in the minds of the people of Colorado and spells trouble in 2012 for an administration that only wants to raise taxes more.

2012 Election, Economy, Media, Politics

Associated Press Behaving Badly

Herman Cain, currently leading polls for the Republican nomination for President, had two big media events today, one day after Politico comes out with an alleged sex scandal involving two un-named women and Herman Cain some 15 years ago when he was CEO of the National Restaurant Association.

The first event was an hour at the American Enterprise Institute where Cain was to speak to his economic policies. That was the topic. After explaining his plan, the moderator stated the ground rules then opened up the floor to let the media ask Mr. Cain questions.

The ground rules were that questions to be about his fiscal policy. Any questions outside of that could be taken at his next meeting an hour later at the National Press Club. That is what the press was told.

Audio: Ground rules of discussion

After two or three questions from reporters, an AP reporter breaks the rules.

This was his question: AP question to Herman Cain

You can hear the moderator telling the reporter that that part of his question was inconsistent with the ground rules.

It’s not hard to figure out why he did it. Thirty minutes later, ABC News leads the 12 o’clock EST national radio news with ‘Herman Cain refuses to answer questions of sexual misconduct with two female National Restaurant Assoc. employees.’

When Bill Clinton actually did sexually assault women, that turned out to be a resume enhancement and the media spent all its time trashing all the women that came forward.

Not only behaving badly, but displaying their usual bias against conservatives.

2012 Election, Economy, Energy, Fair Tax, Media, Middle East, Politics, Race Relations, Supreme Court, War On Terror

Herman Cain At The National Press Club

The Politico article about two un-named women who claimed that Herman Cain directed ‘inappropriate behavior’ at them immediately cast a huge cloud over his possible presidential future.

After addressing that issue today at the National Press Club’s luncheon, it seems to me that Cain knocked it out of the park as a non-issue. Not only did he knock that one out, but he explained his plans for his administration regarding the economy, foreign relations, and everything else very well.

That said, here is Cain’s date with the National Press Club. For walking into the media’s house and answering all the tough questions squarely, I think he handled himself and his campaign chances very well.

As for the actions of Politico, they are just showing their colors.

2012 Election, Economy, Politics

Watch Herman Cain Live, Now

Herman Cain is at the American Enterprise Institute talking about his 9-9-9 plan live and taking questions about it. Here’s the link: http://www.aei.org/event/100493

Date: Monday, October 31, 2011

Time: 9:00 AM — 11:00 AM

Location: Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI

1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036

UPDADTE: If you missed it, here is the entire interview from earlier today.

2012 Election, Economy, Organized Labor, Politics

While You Were Out – Open Thread

1 Comment

In the ‘while you were out’ department, this went on while distracted by the goings on in Libya.

In January, Social Security recipients will get a 3.6% increase for a Cost Of Living Adjustment. But some won’t even notice. That’s because the increase will be eaten up by the increase in their Medicare premiums. Didn’t Obama say that under his plan your premiums would decrease?

And speaking of Obamacare, the CLASS Act was yanked out of it. On Friday afternoon, the Department of Health and Human Services released a report that said there was ‘no viable path forward’ to implementing the CLASS Act, a major — if little-advertised — piece of the administration’s signature Affordable Care Act. The reason it was pulled is that lawmakers could not certify that the Act would be paid for by subscribers. That’s because the number of subscribers they expect to get is nowhere near the figure used to justify it as not only a money-maker, but it was advertised to be contributing a full 40 percent of the funding needed for the Affordable Care Act. The real challenge for the administration is how to play this as no big deal. Especially when President Obama promised the American people that he would not sign the Affordable Care Act if it increased the debt one dime. The good news is, if you believe what President Obama says, he will be making an announcement very soon to ask congress to repeal the whole thing.

Winding down his bus-tour-that-isn’t-a-campaign-fundraising tour, President Obama is having trouble drawing crowds. Especially when his single stop in one city was not open to the public. He had a fundraiser in a union hall in Pennsylvania and couldn’t fill a 100 seat room. And at one of his last stops, touting his son of stimulus bill that he calls a jobs act to a lukewarm reception of  union firefighters, he had to encourage them to applaud. It’s like a human applause sign, and Barack was the sign. Who is it that’s ‘out of touch’ again? Barack Obama has really traveled a long way in the lives of the American people. And I don’t mean how he has put government in control of nearly everything. I mean how three years ago he was in front of huge white Greek columns in a packed stadium during his acceptance speech. Three years later he is trying to fire up a room-full of union members. Unsuccessfully I might add. Sucks to be him.

The Misery Index rose to its highest since 1983. The misery index — which is the sum of the country’s inflation and unemployment rates — rose to 13.0, pushed up by higher price data the government reported on Wednesday. The last time the misery index was at current levels was in 1983. And speaking of price data, have you noticed that whenever the government quotes inflation that they do not include food and energy prices in the mix? For example . . .

While the misery index rose in September, many economists expect some respite in coming months, driven by softer inflation.  Wednesday’s price data showed inflation outside food and energy rose at the slowest pace in six months in September.

So if you throw food and energy out, inflation is no big deal. After all, we don’t need to eat and we don’t need to get anywhere.  So it’s not a problem.  Everything’s looking rosy.

Then there’s the Department of Energy caught covering up records pertaining to Solyndra and SunPower. According to Andrew Stiles, National Review Online: “It appears as though the Obama administration has been caught red-handed trying to cover up evidence in relation to the ‘green’ loans programs that helped finance Solyndra. CNBC reports that a number of press releases posted by the Department of Energy have been retroactively altered to remove the name [of] a solar company thought by many to be the next ‘green’ failure:  The changes occurred in two press releases from the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program — the same program that has been the center of controversy surrounding the failed solar company Solyndra.  Both were changed to remove the name of a company that has received negative press attention in recent days, SunPower, and replace it with the name of another company, NRG Energy.”

Last but not least, five-term Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California says he won’t seek re-election next year, blasting what he calls “the increasingly harsh tone in American politics.” Who can argue that Obama’s ‘new tone’ is nothing short of divisive politics at its worst?

2012 Election, Economy, Fair Tax, Media, Pensacola, Politics

Phase 2, The FairTax

If the mainstream media could ignore Herman Cain’s economic plan any more, I can’t imagine how. From the questions asked at the Bloomberg so-called debate about economic plans, you would think that Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan was just a nine percent tax. When in real life, the 9-9-9- tax plan is the bridge to converting to the FairTax.

We get there in two stages. Phase one is the 9-9-9 taxing structure, which also ends the payroll tax, capital gains tax, the death tax, and the elimination of double taxation of dividends. And by the stroke of a pen, it also eliminates the fear, uncertainty, and doubt caused by our current tax policies and the politicians in Washington. The economic impact is immediate, and sets the stage for the permanent, more stimulative, and more progressive ‘FairTax’ method of funding the government.

That there are two stages is out of necessity. The FairTax requires more time to educate the public of its benefits to them and to the country. It is Phase One that will get us going sooner than later, and in due course it will be replaced by the FairTax.

The FairTax is the best long-term solution to funding the government in a business friendly, pro economic growth, pro job growth environment than anything ever tried in the United States. It is the bold reform that we need.

Update: 10/16/2001

2012 Election, Economy, Energy, Politics, Race Relations

aSide Order

Rev. Al Sharpton tells listeners of the Tom Joyner Morning Show that blacks should hop on to this ‘Occupation Wall Street’ (sic) bandwagon because it is all about redistributing the wealth. Don’t sleep through this revolution, he says.

So if you are a black American, Massa Sharpton says you need to get in line on the ideological plantation. Show up Saturday, 10 a.m. at the Lincoln Memorial and demand a job.

I think their time would be better spent if they went to The White House instead.

Well, the race to The White House is over for Gov. John Huntsman. Did you know as Utah governor he was the chief architect of the Western Climate Initiative, a regional cap-and-trade program? And that he was part of a group that pushed Congress to pass cap-and-trade legislation?

His story now is that ‘economic circumstances have changed so it’s no longer relevant.’

Sorry Gov. Huntsman, what has not changed is your view that climate change is due to man, and that man can change the climate. That necessarily makes you no longer relevant.

This could be the shortest hold-up ever.

2012 Election, Economy, Organized Labor, Politics

Love Affair With The Wall Street Protesters

Democrats in Washington are just aching to attach themselves to the Occupy Everywhere protests. Pelosi is in love with them. Democrats want so badly their version of the Tea Party (which isn’t a real political ‘party’) to help advance their agenda. I wish them luck with that. They are fomenting chaos, enabling and stoking the useful idiots, most of which are anti-capitalists and socialists. Big Labor doesn’t care which way it goes. They’re in the government money laundering scheme no matter what happens to the country.

Oh, now I get it.

Any other political party would distance themselves from these mobs (some of them paid to be there) rather than condone their shameful behavior.

But not these three Democratic leaders:

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Yes, I think people are frustrated and, you know, the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works.

The scary thing is that they believe that crap. They are dumb enough to not blame you, Mr. President, for the laws and regulations that mangled our financial system.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CA, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: God bless them for their spontaneity. It’s — you know, it’s an independent people coming. It’s young, it’s spontaneous, it’s focused, and it’s going to be effective.

This begs the question for former Speaker Pelosi, at what is it going to be effective? In her case, I can see why Nancy Pelosi holds a special bond with the protesters. Neither of them have a clue.

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The core is the American people do not think the system is fair or on the level. That is the core of what you’re seeing on Wall Street.

The ‘system’ isn’t fair? Where on earth did they get that idea? The Divider in Cheif? And who thinks it is the job of government to distribute fairness?

Link: Political Influence of ‘Occupy Wall Street’?