Tag Archives: Economy

Economy, Energy, Media, Politics

What ‘Circling The Wagons’ Looks Like

Oh there I go again, picking on President Obama.  Not exactly. But the media is doing their best to hold him harmless for higher energy prices. It’s just a shame that circumstances beyond his control continue to deal him a losing hand.

On the road to a national energy policy, President Barack Obama is hitting pothole after pothole.

‘On the road to a national energy policy?’ Not only has he taken the wrong turn. He is lost. His idea of an energy policy is to not use it. And by all means, don’t get it. Keep on buying it from the Middle East, Russia, and Venezuela. There’s a plan. Make the cost of gasoline so high that it will cripple the economy. Small price to pay to push technologies that do not yet exist in any practical supply.

First, worries over coal-burning plants’ role in global warming prompted Obama . . .

Worries? What worries? By some divine providence, the media ignored candidate Obama’s thoughts on an energy policy where coal is concerned. Candidate Obama said that his Cap and Trade legislation would make it difficult, if not impossible for coal burning electrical generating plants to operate.

[I]f somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted. That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel, and other alternative energy approaches.

Half of the electricity in the United States comes from coal fired electric plants.

and other Democrats to look more favorably on offshore oil and gas exploration.

Right. That’s why, oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico is still on hold, against court orders to the contrary, nearly a year after the crises that he didn’t let go to waste. And seven months after the Deepwater Horizon leak was plugged. That’s a pothole?

Next came a warmer embrace of nuclear power as part of a possible broad political agreement . . . Now the crisis in Japan is throwing a shadow over nuclear energy worldwide.

Right. And a year before the current crisis in Japan, Obama cut the funding for the only approved site for the disposal of nuclear waste. The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository.

Making matters worse for Obama, a spike in U.S. gasoline prices is angering Americans just as his re-election campaign cranks up. Experts say gas price fluctuations have almost nothing to do with the tragedy in Japan or the Gulf oil spill. But that hasn’t stopped Republicans from lumping various issues together and using them to club Obama.

There’s a really big wagon. Rising gas prices are not his fault. He’s just having a run of bad political luck. Is that what the media, and Democrats, were saying when Bush was in The White House?

In reality, Obama could cause the world market of oil and gasoline to fall overnight, simply on the announcement that he intends to make the United States an oil producer instead of an oil buyer. That would be a part of an energy policy to embrace.

Pointing out the obvious is characterized as taking ‘cheap shots.’ The media takes the Democrat points that, if you point out that stopping oil and gas exploration and development, and if you point out that relying on technologies that are not yet practically available are major factors in rising costs and reasons for instability in the market, then you’re taking a ‘cheap shot’ at President Obama.

“As long as our economy depends on foreign oil,” Obama said, “we’ll always be subject to price spikes.”

So don’t worry. Be happy.

He called for “a comprehensive energy strategy that pursues both more energy production and more energy conservation. We’re working to diversify our entire portfolio with historic investments in clean energy.”

President Obama just said last week that we are using less energy, as if that is a good sign of conserving and using less. Here’s a clue. We are using less because our economy is slowing down. You can’t have both a growing economy and less energy consumption. All the ‘historic investments in clean energy’ are fine, but not at the expense of exploiting our own fossil fuel resources.

The problem here is our President is not the leader America, and the media, had hoped he was. If he were a leader, he would be the one leading America around those potholes, or fixing them and moving forward. Not portraying him, and us, as innocent victims.

Link: Crises In Japan, Gulf Thwart US Energy Accord

Economy

Want To Fix Our Economy?

ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS NEED TO HAVE LASTING ANSWERS  

Farid A. Khavari (Ph.D., Economist)

As the economic woes around the world keep growing, politicians and economists fall back on measures that could only be temporary and give them breathing space, until the next round of compounded escalated and accelerated problems kick in.

The existing economic problems, compounded through rising unemployment rates, soaring food and housing costs, foreclosures, runaway healthcare costs, ruinous education debt and other issues, cannot be offset for long or resolved through conventional economic-political measures.

Such non-working measures include stimulus packages, handouts, subsidies, rising wages, grants and reduced tariffs on imported goods. When politicians decide to balance the budget or cut the budget, those economic-political measures will be economically detrimental. Using these contractive measures only compounds the problems even more, making a bad economic situation even worse! Here are a few examples:

According to The Economist (March 12, 2011, Page 32):

“To buy off economic discontent, the Arab governments are introducing new handouts. The commonest is the old-fashioned wage rise. Saudi Arabia is boosting public-sector pay by 15% as part of a $36 billion spending splurge. Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Oman and Syria are all raising wages and benefits for public employees, though whether the 150% pay rise for Libyan civil servants will actually be paid is another matter.”

“Fuel subsidies are bigger. In 2009 they amounted to roughly $150 billion in the Middle East and North Africa. Oil then cost over $60 a barrel. It is now almost double that, so if prices were to stay at the same level regional fuel subsidies would rise to almost $300 billion this year. That is 7.5% of the area’s GDP, a vast amount. The only way to prevent such a jump would be to increase domestic fuel prices. But no countries have been brave enough to risk that except Qatar and Iran.”

Of course, this may buy the beleaguered rulers of these countries some time, but it cannot be a lasting answer, to the economic problems from which the people of those nations suffer. Similarly, the United States suffers from the same inept, shallow and shortsighted economic policies when ineffective and costly stimulus packages or the economically fatal and destructive measures of balancing budgets or arbitrary budget cuts are implemented.

Balancing budgets or budget cutting is only attractive and can only be considered viable when the economy enjoys full- or over-employment. In this case, extra employees are removed from the governmental agencies through increased productivity, and these labor forces are then integrated into the private sector. It would be an unlimited act of stupidity and ineptness to reduce governmental employees in order to cut the budget or to balance the budget in an economy that is suffering from high record unemployment rates. The government would then be creating additional unemployment costs, as well as adding to growing criminal and social costs of all types, while also adding to the economic misery of that economy as a whole.

WHAT ARE THE SOUND AND LASTING ANSWERS?

Despite the grave economic problems, a solid and sound economic plan would be to include these three goals:

1) To create income for all Americans with the creation of  new jobs in the private sectors of the economy;

2) To reduce the cost of living of all Americans;

3) To help Americans accumulate and protect true wealth for retirement.

It must be noted that in an economy based on these three goals, decreasing the cost of living has the same effect that increased salaries or wages do. Even when wages remain the same, purchasing power increases, when the cost of living goes down and when the living cost falls below wages, there is money remaining for savings.

This is the foundation of the Concept of a Zero-Cost Economy. For more details, please visit www.zerocosteconomy.com.

HOW TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS?

In order to create jobs, we must realize that in a saturated economy like the one we have in the United States, we must stimulate demand in those manufacturing sectors whose products would help in reduce the cost of living. There are endless products of these types. Decentralized solar and wind energy systems belong to this category.

Further, we must create a public-friendly financial system, providing low-cost loans and mortgages to private households and small businesses. A financial system that is built to benefit the people and small businesses, within the communities.

Last, but not least, we must cut the cost of healthcare insurance by increasing the productivity in the healthcare delivery system along with rigorously cutting recurring cost and eliminating fraud.

Economy, Florida

North Dakota Is Booming

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Interesting article showing how North Dakota is not participating in the Obama recession. Their population, and jobs, are growing by the tens of thousands a year.

One obvious omission to the USA Today article is the economic engine that’s been running in North Dakota for nearly the last 100 years. That made everything else possible. It was something that Independent candidate for governor of the State of Florida, Farid Khavari, ran on. The state bank of North Dakota.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, please take note!

Link:  North Dakota economy booms, population soars

 

Economy, Politics

Who’s Driving This Car Anyway?

January of 2009. Hope was in the air, but more importantly, gas was under two dollars a gallon. Since then gas prices, have gone up 67 percent and it’s an ominously upward trend. Interestingly enough, the Heritage Foundation also took a look at the first 26 months of Bush’s presidency — gas only rose 7 percent during that time frame.

Of course, there’s more to the story. Available HERE. As for who is driving this car? His name is Hope.

Link: Hope and Change: Gas Prices Have Gone Up 67 Percent Since Obama Became President

Economy, Media, Politics

‘Two Americas’ And Oil

Remember those ‘two Americas’ that John (the Breck girl) Edwards was talking about in the 2004 presidential campaign? The rising prices of crude oil, now north of $104 per barrel, and gas at the pump north of $3.50 (and 9/10) a gallon, and rising by about a dime a week got the attention of the New York Times with this front page analysis.

The highlights . . .

 

  • Rising Gas Cost Finds the Nation Better Prepared.
  • The increase in energy prices is beginning to resemble the rise in 2008. But this time, the American economy may be better prepared for higher fuel costs.
  • While the latest surge in energy prices is likely to cause some pain and slow the recovery from the recession, economists say the spike is unlikely to derail the rebound unless prices rise a lot further.
  • One big reason is that consumers and businesses have learned lessons from the last oil shock. … Industries like airlines and trucking, which are most severely affected by fuel prices, have passed on their higher costs almost immediately instead of waiting for the price increases to hammer profits.
  • And much of the rest of the United States economy is far less dependent on oil than it used to be.

    A fascinating and in-depth analysis of the high gas prices that took the combined efforts of five reporters. So you know it must be complete and comprehensive.

    Harken back to the high gas prices under the Bush administration which, according to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), was blamed on the Bush administration and the fact that there were ‘two oil men in The White House.’ Today, it is apparent from the New York Times that the cost of crude and gas have nothing whatsoever to do with Washington.

    There’s your ‘other’ America.

    Link: U.S. Economy Is Better Prepared for Rising Gas Costs | ‘Two oil men’ to blame for high gas prices, Pelosi says

    Economy, Politics

    Obamanomics Setting Records

    According to preliminary numbers from the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government posted its largest monthly deficit in history in February at $223 billion.

    Put into perspective, it is the 29th straight month the government has run in the red. A modern record. This one month federal deficit is nearly four times as large as the spending cuts House Republicans have passed in their spending bill, and is more than 30 times the size of Senate Democrats’ opening bid of $6 billion.

    And after hundreds of billions, trillions, of dollars of so-called stimulus spending, unemployment continues to worsen. Despite President Obama’s hooting the unemployment rate drop below 9 percent last week, the drop was not a result of more people getting jobs, which is what the community organizer would have you believe. No, the drop was a function of fewer people looking for work, a smaller pool of people looking for jobs that have given up looking for work is what made the unemployment rate drop.

    Analysts say an increase in the unemployment rate would indicate that the unemployed, those who have given up looking for work, would share the confidence in the economy that Obama says he has and are actively looking for work again. But that is not whats happening.

    Links:

    Economy, Organized Labor, Politics

    It’s Not A Story About Wisconsin

    Often the truth comes out when you think no one  else is listening. Take the Ring of Fire radio show for example. Last week host Mike Papantonio, still high on Koch (rhymes with coke), in a discussion with co-host Sam Seder about the Wisconsin Governor and government labor unions, Papantonio confirmed the symbiosis between Democrat leaders and Big Labor and exactly what the controversy for them is all about.

    Contrary to what they say in public, Progressives could care less about ‘the workers,’ or taxpayers for that matter.  ‘The workers’ are the tools for their political and ideological agenda.

    Making no distinction between private  and government unions, nor any legal or constitutional justification as to why, Sam Seder asserts ‘Unions do need government support.’

    Papantonio’s response . . .

    It’s not a story about just Wisconsin. It’s a story, look, here’s the chain.

    You take away collective bargaining. Once you take away collective bargaining, the union then, because they have no power, they’re not able to raise money. They’re not able to collect dues. If they’re not able to collect dues, if they don’t collect dues they can’t hire lobbys, they can’t do advertising. They can’t answer the Koch brothers on the television and the newspaper.

    Once you have that, you then have people just saying ‘Well just what does the union do? If they don’t do me any good why should I pay anything?’ Even though, if they really really analyze what the union does for them with collective bargaining, it’s huge.

    So, when that happens, what’s next thing that happens, the money for progressive ideas dries up. I mean the market of progressive ideas disappears. Because it is drowned out by the FOX News entity.

    Economy, Organized Labor, Politics

    Jumpstarting A Vibrant & Stable Economy In The United States

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    JUMPSTARTING A VIBRANT & STABLE ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES
    by Farid A. Khavari

    The most devastating problem in the United States has been the high unemployment rates that are prevalent, along with the economic problems currently seen. Despite the efforts of pumping hundreds of billions of dollars of stimulus monies and implementation of other economic-political measures, nothing has turned out to be effective, but instead, devastating. The economic system has gone awry. The impression that is given is that the United States is currently in the process of dismantling its own economy, either intentionally or by accident. Americans are noticeably confused or possibly mis-guided by the economic problems that we are currently under. Have Americans given up on our nation, believing that the powers that be will do whatever they feel without hearing our common voices on the economy? Americans should not think in terms of the elite controlling our nation and in turn our economic destiny. We as Americans do have solutions.  The following is an attempt to provide some clarifications to those solutions that are pragmatic, under the motto: What’s good for America, it is good for all Americans!

    Continue reading Jumpstarting A Vibrant & Stable Economy In The United States →

    Economy, Media, Organized Labor, Politics

    Mt. Obama’s Arrogance And Audacity Is In Your Face

    In what would otherwise hands-down qualify for the M.R.I.O.T.D. award, what President Obama said today about congress continuing to fund what he deems as his government goes way beyond ridiculous into the absurd.

    In a statement Wednesday, the president called for immediate budget negotiations between Congress and the White House, with Vice President Biden, Chief of Staff William Daley and Budget Director Jack Lew playing a role.

    “I’m pleased that Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together and passed a plan that will cut spending and keep the government running for the next two weeks,” he said. “But we cannot keep doing business this way. Living with the threat of a shutdown every few weeks is not responsible, and it puts our economic progress in jeopardy.”

    Mt. [sic] Obama said a long term agreement “should cut spending and reduce deficits without damaging economic growth or gutting investments in education, research and development that will create jobs and secure our future.”

    “This agreement should be bipartisan, it should be free of any party’s social or political agenda, and it should be reached without delay,” he added.

    President Obama must be suffering from an early onset of Alzheimer’s or that’s not tobacco in his cigarettes, because this entire issue of pressing for CR’s to avoid a government shutdown was caused by him. His lack of leadership in pressing his Democrat-controlled congress last summer to propose a 2011 budget is why we are where we are today. He is really the one to talk about not being responsible, and of putting ‘economic progress’ in jeopardy. Do you see any economic progress?

    Calling for a meeting with Joe BFD Biden, William Chicago Daley, and new Budget Director Jack Lew about his budget mess is his way of making an empty suit look like there’s something in it. Calling meetings and committees to ostensibly solve problems is no substitute for leadership. You can be assured that the media will not notice.

    All this, and then some, could have been avoided if congress and the president had done their job last year. But it is no accident that a 2011 budget was not submitted last year. Had he submitted a budget that included doubling the size of government like he has done and increasing the debt like he has done and is planning to do, the mid-term elections would have included a new majority party in the senate as well.

    To be fair, there are a couple possibilities for why there was no 2011 budget. One is gross incompetence on the part of the president and the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives under Speaker Pelosi. The other is that it was a political calculation to not have one, which would have shown Obama’s cards for what he had in store in 2011. I’d go with the latter. Unrestrained by a budget, spending like there’s no tomorrow to prop up Big Labor and kill the economy by burdening future generations with debt becomes much easier.

    Neither possibility is good. Not for them or America. You might expect it of a community organizer, but not the President of the United States. Which one works for you?

    Link: Obama signs bill to head off government shutdown