Weeks after climate-gate breaks the man-made global warming farce, or from their perspective, the man-made global thermostat adjustment plan, the focus turns to Copenhagen. All this as the Marxists of the world see their last best chance to cripple capitalist societies (mainly the United States of America) about to come tumbling down around them.
Delegates converged Sunday for the grand finale of two years of tough, sometimes bitter negotiations on a climate change treaty, as U.N. officials calculated that pledges offered in the last few weeks to reduce greenhouse gases put the world within reach of keeping global warming under control.
. . .
despite unprecedented unity and concessions, industrial countries and emerging nations need to dig deeper. “Time is up,” de Boer said. “Over the next two weeks governments have to deliver.”
Translation, all the non-industrialized countries are doing fine in their pledge to reduce emissions, now all the UN needs is hundreds of billions of dollars out of the rest of us.
Other highlights of the upcoming conference are . . .
Some were arriving to the summit on trains splashed with a green stripe to symbolize efforts to reduce the convention’s carbon footprint. One train carried 450 U.N. officials, delegates, climate activists and journalists from Brussels and more trains were leaving from other European capitals.
Environmentalists have warned that emissions commitments were dangerously short of what U.N. scientists have said were needed to keep average temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees C (3.6F). {emphasis added}
It’s not just a matter of the scientists getting political or being influenced by this environmental movement. It’s that the genesis behind the so-called environmental movement as pertains to ‘man-made,’ and ostensibly man-correctable, ‘global warming’ is the anti-capitalist Marxists left over from the Cold War. Well, that other people that think that, for the right price, they can lower sea level and global temperature.
Things like that are best left to the Almighty. And I don’t mean Barack Obama.
I think the person who obtained and leaked those emails should get the Nobel Peace Prize for Science next year for all the lives he will have saved by stopping this global transfer of wealth from happening.
If the peoples’ welfare were their paramount motivation, then they would be calling for the spreading of freedom around the world, replacing the despots and dictators that feed off of their people.
Remember how the home mortgage crisis became the reason the Obama administration wanted to apply $350 billion to, allegedly, provide a financial bailout, rescuing the economy and the suffering homeowners who fell (as the story goes) victim to Wall Street? That represents the second half of TARP that Bush started, and Obama continued in a re-branded form.
Only about 20% of that $700 billion of that ‘stimulus’ money has been spent, and only a fraction of the $785 billion ‘economic stimulus’ package that followed has been spent, creating instead a slush fund that would make Bernie Madoff jealous. But back to the mortgage ‘crisis.’ $75 billion was to be for solving that problem. To date, only a fraction of that has been spent, and what has been spent has gone to . . . Wall Street. Not main street.
The ‘cure rate’ for the troubled mortgages is getting worse, not better. And there are more foreclosures to come. Way more. Now there is another alleged ‘stimulus’ program coming to do what the first stimulus didn’t. They want to give more money to Wall Street.
Somewhere along the line, I missed the part where the administration admitted that what they’ve done has not worked. No, that won’t happen. Doing so would not exactly exude public confidence about the administration’s ability to control health care, almost 20% of the private sector economy. How many times must we hear the President say how saving these homeowners is his top priority before we start laughing at him?
None? Out of 651,000 “trial” modifications none have turned into a permanent repayment plan?
What’s worse, Bank of America has only 14% of their “eligible” loans in a trial modification. Citibank has 40% under trial, and JP Morgan/Chase 32%.
All in all, only 20% of those “eligible” have been offered, accepted, and are in a trial but zero percent – zero – have actually turned into a permanent loan modification that the homeowner can count on.
The administration program requires banks that received federal aid from the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, as well as mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lower monthly payments for borrowers at “imminent risk” of default.
That’s some “requirement” eh? Zero percent completion from June to October? That’s five months, and the “trial” period is supposedly 90 days, so this means that either (1) nobody did anything for the first two months, or (2) not one borrower successfully completed a trial between June and now.
If the Obama Administration and Treasury was serious about this “help” they would be seeking indictments.
There are only two States in the United States that are not operating in a deficit, if not technically bankrupt. Montana because of their rich oil resources, and North Dakota, because of their implementation of a State Bank, the Bank of North Dakota.
Because most people are not economists and may well just fall asleep trying to read up on it, you can learn in this post and in one podcast all you need to know to understand why and how part of Dr. Farid A. Khavari’s platform as Governor of the State of Florida, the Bank of the State of Florida (BSF), will work.
How Floridians can have 2% fixed rate 15 year mortgages and how the State of Florida can make billions by providing them
A cornerstone of the economic plan is to create a Bank of the State of Florida. We will put the power of modern banking to work for the people of Florida, not for Wall Street.
Over the years, interest has been the biggest cost most families had. When you pay interest to the bank, that means less money for your family. Reducing interest costs can save a family hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Let’s take a $100,000 mortgage, for example. With a 30-year fixed rate 5.5% mortgage, your monthly payment is $567.79 and you will pay $104,404.40 in interest on that loan.
With a 2% fixed rate 15-year mortgage, your payment would be $643.51, the total interest would be only $15,831.80 – and the mortgage would be paid 15 years sooner! You save 88,572.60 in interest. If you then make 15 years of payments to yourself with 5% interest from the Bank of the State of Florida, you will have more than $160,000 after taxes in your account—just by having your mortgage from the Bank of the State of Florida.
How can we do this? It’s called “fractional reserve banking” and this is how all the banks do it. If you have $100 in reserves, you can loan out $900 or more. That means you collect interest on $900 but you pay interest on only $100 at most. If the bank pays you 2% for your CD and lends it at 5% on 9 times as much money, you can see this is a really good deal – for the bank.
Now our Bank of the State of Florida does not need to be greedy. It is not going to get involved in shenanigans like bundling and selling mortgages, taking out weird insurance policies and general practices that have caused the mess we are in today. When we make a mortgage, that asset remains right on our books and the paperwork is right there on file. We are going to pay good dividends and the highest rates in the market for long term deposits. We are going to loan out 9 times our reserves. And we are going to make billions of dollars for the State Treasury while we save Floridians a trillion dollars—and that trillion dollars becomes many trillions in Florida’s economy.
Let’s say we pay 5% for our $100 and loan out our $900 at 2%. We pay out $5 in interest, and we take in $18 in interest. Can we make money at that? You bet we can.
We could make the $3.6 billion we are short this year on just a couple of million 2% mortgages. We can do even better on 3 – 4% commercial financing and vehicle loans.
And all the money the bank earns goes directly into the State Treasury, to work for Floridians, not to Wall Street.
Where do we get the reserves? The State of Florida has billions invested with Wall Street. 5 or 6% guaranteed looks pretty good these days compared to a 50% decline in the stock market. Look at what long-term bonds are paying, look at CD’s—we will have no problem attracting all the long-term deposits we need to get started, simply by paying good rates.
Now look what happens. With a 2% fixed rate 15-year loan, the buyer has paid off over 11% of the principal within 2 years. That means we have more than enough reserves to make a new mortgage for someone else, without having to pay interest for the reserves! (In comparison, a 5.5% 30-year loan takes 7 years to pay 11% of the principal).
Now some people might think that low interest rates will just raise the price of homes. That would be true if the 2% loan was for 30 years. But the payment on the 2% loan for 15 years is a little bit higher than the payment for 5.5% 30 years, so this tends to hold prices down. It also tends to eliminate speculation that messes up the market every time. As long as prices are stable, we can offer mortgages with low down payments, so home ownership can be as easy as paying rent.
What the Bank of the State of Florida does is transfer hundreds of billions of dollars away from Wall Street directly into the pockets of Floridians by reducing interest costs… and it puts hundreds of billions into the State Treasury, too. We will have stable, fair prices for homes and take 15 years of slavery out of the process of owning a home.
Consumer financing is another area where Wall Street and the big banks are costing us way too much. Banks charge huge interest on credit cards, for example, where the cost of money to the bank is really zero. If a family has $10,000 in credit card debt at 25% interest, that’s over $200 per month in interest alone. At 6%, the monthly interest is only $50. This family could reduce monthly payments by $50 and pay off the debt years sooner. The State earns billions of dollars per year while saving Floridians billions and billions more.
The Bank of the State of Florida will earn billions of dollars per year for the taxpayers of Florida, not Wall Street fat cats. At the same time it will reduce interest costs and save Florida families hundreds of thousands of dollars per family. Who needs that money more? You or Citibank?
The Bank of the State of Florida can handle checking accounts and ATM’s too. The other banks will have to become competitive, and there is no reason why they cannot.
Couldn’t the federal government do the same thing? Actually, the federal government could do even better and they could do it immediately at huge benefit to the U.S. Treasury. Do you think we should wait around for them to do it? We can have this program in effect in Florida within a year, at no cost to the State.
The U.S. Dollar is at a 14 year low. Investors bailing for the Yen.
Also dampening the mood was the slumping dollar, which weakened to a new 14-year low below 85 yen, dragging down shares of Japan’s exporters like automaker Nissan and electronics maker Sharp.
“Investors were searching for shelter against the increased volatility and falls in risky assets,” Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist for SJS Markets in Hong Kong, said in a note. “Many chose to opt for the Japanese yen.”
But look how well ‘our image around the world’ has improved.
In a continuing effort to inform Florida voters about the only person running for Governor of the State of Florida who has an economic recovery plan, one that does not include more borrowing and taxing, meet Dr. Farid Khavari. The beauty of his plan is that it represents a blueprint for long term economic prosperity instead of a pothole patch.
And, it is a plan that other states can also benefit from. Economic security is not exclusive to Florida. Expect other states to catch on to this Bank of the State of Florida concept too! More information about his platform is on his website and in his latest book, Toward a Zero-Cost Economy, available in stores or for free download at his website, www.khavariforgovernor.com.
Please share this press release from the Khavari campaign.
Khavari: The era of commercial banks is over; state banks are the future.
Miami, FL Nov. 23 — Noted economist Farid Khavari, a Democratic candidate for Florida governor, has gained national and international attention for his plan to create a state-owned bank in Florida.
“Not since the Great Depression has it been so clear,” said Khavari. “We need banks that work for the benefit of the people, not people working for the benefit of the banks. There is no mystery why we are facing another depression: the banks got greedy and stupid, and now they are making us pay for it.
“The economy is collapsing due to lack of demand. The economy needs money, but the banks are cutting credit, and then sucking all the cash out of the economy by raising interest rates to make sure no one has any cash left at the end of the month. The cost of interest is built into the cost of everything. People already work ten years of their lives just to pay interest in one form or another. The Bank of the State of Florida will end that for Floridians. And this model will work for every state.
“We can start the BSF at no cost to taxpayers. We can pay 6% interest on savings. Using the same fractional reserve rules as all banks, we can create $900 of new money through loans for every $100 in deposits. We can loan that $900 in the form of 2% fixed rate 15-year mortgages, for example, and the state can earn $12 every year for every $100 in deposits. That means Floridians can save tens of billions of dollars per year while the state earns billions making it possible for them.
“2% fixed-rate mortgages will create a thousand times more jobs than any so-called stimulus can. By reducing the total interest cost on a home by over 85%, the average family will save hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that money stays in Florida,” Khavari said.
“State and local government budgets will balance without higher taxes when the BSF cuts interest costs,” Khavari said. “6% BSF credit cards will save people billions per month, money that stays in Florida instead of going to the big banks—and the state will make huge profits on that, too. Saving billions in interest costs will create millions of jobs without subsidies just by keeping those billions circulating in Florida. Eventually the state will earn enough to reduce and eliminate state and local taxes while every Floridian has economic security in a recession-proof Florida.”
Asked whether a state-owned bank is socialism, Khavari smiled. “Are public schools socialism? Public roads, police and fire protection, municipal water? Socialism is where everyone works for the state. In these cases, and with our Bank of the State of Florida, the state is working for everyone. I call that general capitalism.”
Farid A. Khavari, Ph.D. is an economist and author of nine books, including Environomics.His latest book, Toward a Zero-Cost Economy, is available in stores or for free download at his website, www.khavariforgovernor.com.
On Saturday, November 21, 2009, the Senate of the United States voted to move health insurance reform (the Democrat version) to the floor for debate. This represents to the ‘T’ what Rahm Emanual meant when describing the political strategy he called ‘rule one.’ Which is “Never allow a crisis to go to waste, they are opportunities to do big things.”
So for now and the coming weeks, the American people will be able to see one side trying to get support to pass this takeover of one sixth of the private sector, clearly and obviously without any Constitutional authority to do so, and one side trying to stop it. That is our only choice since the GOP’s plan to reform health care within the private sector and without a government takeover is off the table.
What we can expect to see if this bill passes the Senate with zero chance that Obama will veto it, is this:
New taxes on everyone that consumes medical care from a health care provider that is not ‘government’ approved.
New taxes on those that buy health care insurance if your policy in not ‘government’ approved.
New taxes on those that choose not to buy health care insurance. And the IRS will see to it that you will pay. Or, go to jail. How’s that for Choice and Competition?
New taxes on everyone that provides medical care to Medicare patients. To the tune of $500 billion in cuts in payments to Medicare providers. And that is over and above the discount rates the government currently demands from them. An exodus of doctors in the profession and more people to cover means long waiting periods, lower quality health care, and rationed health care. All that good stuff.
New taxes on those that find cures, both therapeutically and otherwise, like pharmaceutical and medical technology companies.
New taxes on all who use certain medical devices. Like your father’s pacemaker and grandmother’s stint and your wife’s or girlfriend’s new breasts.
New taxes on businesses with over 50 employees that don’t offer health insurance. Now there’s a job creator. Not.
Expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor, to include tens of millions more dependents and including illegal aliens. Without increasing the debt and without decreasing the quality of health care?
Expansion of government subsidies for the poor and even middle-income people to help them ‘pay’ for it all. Subsidies for a plan that was supposed to decrease premium prices? Instead, we will have more people dependent on government. All without increasing the debt one dime?
The plan would give states the option not to participate. This does not include an option not to pay for it. Just not to participate in it. Make any sense to you?
Insurance companies would be barred from excepting pre-existing conditions. (Probably the one and only problem sick people have that the government needs to be involved with, and accounted for in the GOP alternative.) Barred from interstate competition. Barred from offering customer-based insurance policies. Raising insurance premiums for everyone. But this plan was suppose to decrease premiums.
You will be forced into the government health insurance plan (you can’t keep yours if you want to) whenever you make any change in your current plan, like adding a dependent or changing your deductible, or changing your coverage in any way.
A government-run insurance company, with artificially lower rates than private-sector carriers (see pre-requisites above) that will eventually cause that private sector industry to rot on the proverbial vine.
ultimately leading to the SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE SYSTEM that Obama wanted. Before he didn’t want it.
So, despite 60 years of history of the American people rejecting the notion of turning over their power and responsibility of health care to the federal government, most recently in 1993 with Hillary-care, we have come to this point. This is a hit right between your eyes. A hit on freedom and liberty, a hit on the Constitution, and a hit on your family’s health and finances for generations to come. The days of incrementalism are over. If this bill becomes law, there’s nothing except the next election that can restrain this power grab in Washington. And no industry will be safe from government control.
The health bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing to a vote (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages. Here are some of the details you need to know.
What the government will require you to do:
• Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a “qualified plan.” If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a “grace period” to switch you to a “qualified plan,” meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there’s no grace period. You’ll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit.
{Despite what President Obama says, you can’t keep your plan if you like it. This is how the private insurance industry will rot on the vine. In this respect, this new plan is the same as the old plan, H.R.3200}
• Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a “qualified plan” covers and how much you’ll be legally required to pay for it. That’s like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later.
Protestors wave signs in front of the Capitol on Thursday.
On Nov. 2, the Congressional Budget Office estimated what the plans will likely cost. An individual earning $44,000 before taxes who purchases his own insurance will have to pay a $5,300 premium and an estimated $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, for a total of $7,300 a year, which is 17% of his pre-tax income. A family earning $102,100 a year before taxes will have to pay a $15,000 premium plus an estimated $5,300 out-of-pocket, for a $20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-tax income. Individuals and families earning less than these amounts will be eligible for subsidies paid directly to their insurer.
• Sec. 303 (pp. 167-168) makes it clear that, although the “qualified plan” is not yet designed, it will be of the “one size fits all” variety. The bill claims to offer choice—basic, enhanced and premium levels—but the benefits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you and your employer are footing the bill.
• Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) says that when you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.
{Seems Joe Wilson was right after all.}
• Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that employers must provide a “qualified plan” for their employees and pay 72.5% of the cost, and a smaller share of family coverage, or incur an 8% payroll tax. Small businesses, with payrolls from $500,000 to $750,000, are fined less.
Eviscerating Medicare:
In addition to reducing future Medicare funding by an estimated $500 billion, the bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions.
• Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what’s called a “medical home.”
The medical home is this decade’s version of HMO-restrictions on care. A primary-care provider manages access to costly specialists and diagnostic tests for a flat monthly fee. The bill specifies that patients may have to settle for a nurse practitioner rather than a physician as the primary-care provider. Medical homes begin with demonstration projects, but the HHS secretary is authorized to “disseminate this approach rapidly on a national basis.”
A December 2008 Congressional Budget Office report noted that “medical homes” were likely to resemble the unpopular gatekeepers of 20 years ago if cost control was a priority.
• Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients.
• Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. This will reduce payments for care (and by implication the standard of care) for hospital patients in higher cost areas such as New York and Florida.
• Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors). Advantage plans have warned this will result in reductions in optional benefits such as vision and dental care.
• Sec. 1402 (p. 756) says that the results of comparative effectiveness research conducted by the government will be delivered to doctors electronically to guide their use of “medical items and services.”
Questionable Priorities:
{Gimme a A. Gimme a C. Gimme a O. Gimme a R. Gimme a N. Enter ACORN?}
While the bill will slash Medicare funding, it will also direct billions of dollars to numerous inner-city social work and diversity programs with vague standards of accountability.
• Sec. 399V (p. 1422) provides for grants to community “entities” with no required qualifications except having “documented community activity and experience with community healthcare workers” to “educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities” aimed at drug abuse, poor nutrition, smoking and obesity. “Each community health worker program receiving funds under the grant will provide services in the cultural context most appropriate for the individual served by the program.”
These programs will “enhance the capacity of individuals to utilize health services and health related social services under Federal, State and local programs by assisting individuals in establishing eligibility . . . and in receiving services and other benefits” including transportation and translation services.
• Sec. 222 (p. 617) provides reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services. This program will train health-care workers to inform Medicare beneficiaries of their “right” to have an interpreter at all times and with no co-pays for language services.
• Secs. 2521 and 2533 (pp. 1379 and 1437) establishes racial and ethnic preferences in awarding grants for training nurses and creating secondary-school health science programs. For example, grants for nursing schools should “give preference to programs that provide for improving the diversity of new nurse graduates to reflect changes in the demographics of the patient population.” And secondary-school grants should go to schools “graduating students from disadvantaged backgrounds including racial and ethnic minorities.”
• Sec. 305 (p. 189) Provides for automatic Medicaid enrollment of newborns who do not otherwise have insurance.
Forget about the money. China has it. One thing they don’t have that we do is President Obama. And right now we’re in need of some leadership.
Right now, two of the most important challenges the President is saying he faces are the economy, to which he has inextricably tied health insurance reform, and, the safety of our troops fighting overseas, particularly in Afghanistan.
It is difficult to believe him when he says those things are tops on his list when he continues to do fundraisers around the country, takes time for golf and recreation, and uses his bully pulpit to berate private industry and groups like the Chamber of Commerce who happen to disagree with his policies, instead of showing the leadership required to make the tough choices that he needs to make.
That making a decision whether to support his generals in the war zone, one of which is heading the NATO forces there, or support his political far-left base represents a tough choice is at the same time frightening to me and revealing of him. But apparently it is because we’re quickly approaching 60 days since Gen. McChrystal asked for more troops to carry out his mission in Afghanistan and still no decision. It’s not like this war was sprung up on him or anything. It has been ongoing for all of the 9 months he has been Commander in Chief. But, since he has only met with the general twice in that length of time, it is also hard to believe that even he thinks it is important, let alone tops on the list.
For President Obama, economic recovery now means health insurance ‘reform.’ Never mind those trillions and trillions of debt owned by China, and those stimulus packages that failed to stimulate the economy or fix what they were supposed to fix. Let’s just focus on health insurance reform. Obama’s other top concern for the country.
Where is his leadership on that? Why is he not using his bully pulpit to lay out his plan, telling us and Congress what he wants instead of beating up on his detractors? It’s a rhetorical question. It’s because there still isn’t a plan. One day it’s this, the next day it’s that. One day it’s public options, next day it’s consumers choice. It’s the Baucus bill, no it’s the house bill, no, it’s the Kennedy bill. And oh, did I mention that all of those bills have one thing in common. They aim to ultimately take control of what private sector health care remains (17- 20% of the private sector economy) after they absorb the rest of it into Medicare, which is already bankrupt. But never mind those silly details, just pass the bill. There’s no need to see it in writing first.
This isn’t leadership. This is his attempt at community organizing on a national, and global scale. Coming from someone who was touted to be, despite all the evidence to the contrary, so experienced and the right man for the job (after Hillary that is), what we see is not much different than a circus barker. And empty suit. Not a leader at all.
After nine months as President, and nearly two months since receiving a request from the General on the ground, the man who, according to his campaign, had all the answers on how to fight the war, is showing just how indecisive he is when it comes to the most important and serious problems we face. Too busy remaking America, exacerbating our economic problems, to handle this one?
So how could Americans have elected such an empty suit? You’ll have to ask the entity Hillary and McCain ran against. The media.
Hearken back to March 2008 when candidate Hillary Clinton made her famous 3a.m. ad. Mr. wishy-washy don’t-block-my-shot Wesley Clark was supporting Hillary at that time.
“One of the most important duties of the President is ensuring the safety of the American people,” said retired General Wesley Clark of the commercial. “Inevitably, another national security crisis will occur. And when it does, voters shouldn’t have to wonder whether their President will be ready. As President, Hillary will be ready to act swiftly and decisively.”
In response, candidate Barack Obama aired his own ad. From The Fix blog on the Washington Post . . .
The commercial touts Obama’s “judgment and courage” in opposing the Iraq war from the start and his clarity to see that the war distracted the country from rooting out terrorists in Afghanistan. “In a dangerous world, it’s judgment that matters,” says the ad’s narrator.
I can’t argue with that. Judgment does matter. What we need is an adult in The White House instead of an empty suit.
You know where it is going. And you know who is in it. Don’t you?
Days after our President and Commander in Chief is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which even he cannot justify receiving, let’s assess the state of affairs here and around the world and see how the ‘hope and change’ is working.
Neither the economic stimulus nor the bank bailouts are working. Unemployment is up (over the 8% promised), and rising. Higher taxes for 100% of Americans (not the 5% promised) to pay for ‘public option’ health insurance and ‘cap and trade’ legislation is coming. The effects of nationalizing parts of the private sector and the hostile tax climate is depressing business, not stimulating it. The Federal Reserve is monetizing the debt, which is growing exponentially. And China, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in the world are talking about dumping the dollar as the world’s trade currency. None of which bodes well for the economic well being of Americans and businesses in the United States.
The so-called stimulus package has only stimulated government control. Business is down, and as a result, so are tax revenues. What is Obama’s economic wizards’ plan to remedy this? Increase the debt and increase taxes. What? Did you expect anything different from a presidential candidate, now President, and a Cabinet that have no experience in running a business or making a payroll, let alone the largest economy and military on the face of the earth?
We have had a war on terror going on long before Sept 11, 2001. But we didn’t start fighting back until after 9/11. After eight years of fighting this war, and nearly two months after receiving a request for more troops in Afghanistan from the general he picked, the Commander in Chief is consulting politicians on how, or whether, to win. He made it clear he does not fancy the word ‘victory’ when it comes to the war in Afghanistan. Morale of the troops in Afghanistan is going sour.
Excerpts from COMISAF’S INITIAL ASSESSMENT, General Stanley McChrystal’s report to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates . . .
We face not only a resillient and growing insurgency; there is also a crisis of confidence among Afghans — in both their government and the international community — that undermines our credibility and emboldens the insurgents. Further, a perception that our resolve is uncertain makes Afghans reluctant to align with us against the insurgents.
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Unique Moment in Time
This is an important — and likely decisive — period of this war. Afghans are frustrated and weary after eight years without evidence of the progress they anticipated. Patience is understandably short, both in Afghanistan and in our own countries. Time matters; we must act now to reverse the negative trends and demonstrate progress.
Considering that this report was written August 30, 2009, it must depend on what the definition of ‘now’ is because Obama is just now beginning to do meetings on the subject. Despite the General’s emphasis that time is of the essence. Do you get the impression that, for Obama, prosecuting the war is a distraction to expanding governmental power at home?
What is important to the President is appeasing the gay community in repealing a ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy in the military. He is the Commander in Chief. Maybe he doesn’t realize he could do it in a single statement or directive. He doesn’t need Nancy Pelosi’s advice to do it. Some in the gay community aren’t buying it. But the ones he spoke to the other night apparently did.
Obama, who was referring to the policy prohibiting openly gay people from serving in the U.S. military, was seeking to shore up his support among gays and lesbians who backed him strongly during last year’s presidential campaign.
Not surprisingly, the signal being sent to teenagers of recruiting age isn’t encouraging either. Liberals always have wanted a draft. By no accident, his policies, inaction and indecisiveness may just require it now.
Islamic extremists are gaining ground in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. The equivalent of our Pentagon in Pakistan was raided last Saturday by this enemy, and took hostages. Pakistan has a nuclear arsenal. Iran is working toward a nuclear arsenal. And in Somalia, after we cut and run in the 90’s, these very same Islamic extremists have virtually taken over the country and are making plans to attack Kenya. And they are making headway in several other African nations. Their safe havens are no where near eliminated, on either continent.
The apology tour, which weighed pretty heavily on the minds of the Nobel committee, hasn’t had any affect on the enemy. Makes one feel pretty safe and secure doesn’t it?
