Tag Archives: Economy

China, Economy, Politics

Climate Politics, Another Loser?

The War On Weather, or if you prefer, Man-Made Global Warming, is not going so well. Not near as good as the War on Terror. What?

  • So far, the pilots have failed to make a noticeable dent in carbon emissions
  • “This is still a market created by policy,” Kong said. “The policy needs to follow the market at some time.”
  • Starting in 2013, China set up the seven pilot markets in the country’s largest cities – Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and Shenzhen – as well as the industrial provinces of Guangdong and Hubei. Since mid-April, the seven markets have traded a total of 31.2 million tons of carbon. The European market in its first year traded more than 10 times that amount of carbon.

And about the time the President was telling the graduates at the United States Coast Guard Academy how man-made climate change was the greatest threat to our country, the CIA shut down its program to use its spy satellites to look at the weather.

Link: China readies national carbon market to fight climate change  | CIA shuts down program using spy satellites to track climate change 

Economy, Politics, Race Relations

A Discussion About Race

Walter E. Williams perfectly elucidates the plight of Blacks today. And it has nothing to do with racism, as he documents. Basically two things, liberal government policies that ease the consequences for poor decision-making, and minimum wages keeping those wanting to start a job from getting a job.

You’ll be shocked to see the social cost of government policies upon the Black community. The numbers he researched tell a story very different from the grievance industry today.

Continue reading A Discussion About Race →

Economy, Europe, Politics

37% Of Americans Not Working

To say that the Obama administration represents Jimmy Carter’s “second term,” is not a stretch. That’s because the labor participation rate hasn’t been this low since the malaise of the Carter era.

The “labor participation rate” is the percentage of people who can work that are working. The labor participation rate for April 2015 is 62.8 percent. More than one-third of the American work force, ninety-three million, are looking for work.

This is what the Obama administration is touting as a recovery. And President Obama readily admits, “there’s more work to do.” Translation; “what I’m doing isn’t working the way you think it should, but you’ll get used to it after a while. Remaking America takes time.”

Here’s how the BLS describes it . . .

 [T]he dynamic demographic, economic, and social forces that once spurred the level, growth, and composition of the labor force have changed and are now damping labor force growth.

To illustrate what 93,000,000 Americans out of work represents, look at it this way. It could represent the populations of Ireland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Hungary, Portugal, Greece, Belgium, and Lithuania combined. Or ALL of Germany, or Turkey, or the United Kingdom, or France, or Italy, and a few million more.

And look at the president’s solution. Grow government and shrink the private sector, raise taxes, raise national debt, and make more people dependent on the dwindling number of taxpayers lucky enough to still have a job. He has a perverse view of economics. He thinks expanding government and spreading the wealth around amounts to economic recovery.

And it’s not because he doesn’t know what it takes to stimulate economic activity to actually grow the economy. It’s because he knows that growing the economic pie would mean shrinking government and its control over the people. And that goes against his goal of remaking America as he sees it. As though we have a new founding father in The White House.

Link: Bureau of Labor Statistics

2016 Election, Economy, Immigration, Politics, Race Relations, Supreme Court

Obama Dumps On Blacks, Minorities, Americans

Minorities, and all American citizens, believe this:

Your job, and family, is not as important to President Obama as illegals being able to vote. And it’s not just an affront to Black Americans, it’s an affront to ALL Americans.

Obama pledges allegiance to his ideology in a way that all dictators do. His allegiance is not to this country or you, a citizen.

Ask yourself this;

  • with a labor participation rate at 62.7%, a level not seen since the malaise of the Carter administration, and
  • 2.6 million people among the long-term unemployed, which is 29.8 percent of all unemployed, and
  • 277,000 more people dropped out of the workforce, gave up looking for work, in March 2015, compared to February 2015,
  • with unemployment rates highest among Blacks, 10.1% for 20 yr old and up, 25% for 16-19 yr-olds. (Whites 4.7 and 15.7% respectively), and
  • average family incomes falling greatest among Blacks

Who do you think benefits most by granting millions of illegal aliens work permits, adding 6 to 12 million more people in the country to compete for the same jobs you are? You, or the Democrat Party you’ve enabled to do this, to you?

Think those numbers are bad? Check this out, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ FAQ, which is in the link below.

2. Are undocumented immigrants counted in the surveys?
It is likely that both surveys include at least some undocumented immigrants. However, neither the establishment nor the household survey is designed to identify the legal status of workers. Therefore,
it is not possible to determine how many are counted in either survey.

But wait, it gets worse. All the bad numbers and statistics above, by the government’s own admission, include illegal aliens. If you are one of the unemployed, the exact number of them doesn’t matter very much does it?

Not only does this administration condone illegals coming here and working, taking jobs from American citizens, it now is in court fighting both Kansas and Arizona to keep them from identifying non-citizens on voter registration forms. The Obama administration is just fine with Mexican and other illegals nullifying your vote and the votes of all American citizens.

If you weren’t aware that Obama’s ideology is his primary motivation behind his need to “fundamentally change America,” it should be crystal clear now. He has set the stage, laid the foundation. He’ll be gone by 2016, but his agenda, the Democrat Party’s agenda, will lead us down the same path, if America would be reckless enough to put a Democrat in The White House for a third consecutive term.

Links: THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION —MARCH 2015  |  Mark Levin: Obama fighting to keep states from identifying NONCITIZENS on VOTER REG FORMS

Economy, Europe, Immigration, Politics

Learning From Mistakes

Speaking of learning from mistakes, Thomas Sowell takes that theme and covers a range of teachable moments. From anti-trust laws to lawlessness, economics, immigration, and more.

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We all make mistakes and some of us learn from them. What is even better is to learn from other people’s mistakes, where they pay for those mistakes while we learn free of charge.

Many Americans who say that we should learn from other people, especially Europeans, mean that we should imitate what they did. That may make those who talk this way feel superior to other Americans. But let us never forget that the most disastrous ideologies of the 20th century — Communism, Fascism and Nazism — all originated in Europe. So did both World Wars.

More recently, Europe has been belatedly discovering how unbelievably stupid it was to import millions of people from cultures that despise Western values, and which often promote hatred toward Western people.

Maybe that is a mistake that we can think about when Congress finally decides to do something about our open borders and our immigration laws that we refuse to enforce.    . . . . more

2016 Election, Economy, Politics

Rand Paul, Not The Maverick He Appears To Be

In foreign relations, Sen. Paul has shown the ability to change his mind. Good thing, given the global mess the current  occupant of The White House has created, if not allowed to melt down.

Economically speaking? Not so much.

2016 presidential candidate Kerry Bowers explains how Paul has a ways to go when it comes to turning this country around. His press release below.

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Kerry Bowers Says Senator Opening New Doors to Cronyism

Henderson, NV, 7 April 2015 – The Kerry Bowers for President Committee released the following remarks from the Committee’s candidate in response to Senator Rand Paul’s presidential candidacy announcement.

“Today, I welcome Senator Rand Paul as the anticipated 57th Republican to register with the Federal Election Commission as a presidential candidate for the election year 2016. It is my hope that he will rise to the standard of specificity I have incorporated into my platform as he begins to lay out his plans to achieve the vision he has briefly described for America. I am, however, greatly disappointed with his campaign announcement remarks in which he either directly states or implies the intent to continue the IRS, income taxes and corporate taxes; these in addition to newly proposed avenues for cronyism and tax discrimination that he calls ‘economic freedom zones.’ What I am hearing in his remarks is not a focus on the restoration of government’s federal character nor that of State sovereignty as I have called for in my platform, but a continuation of the governments’ monopoly over the States through a heavy-handed national character that, among other undesirable consequences,  decides who shall and shall not benefit from the labors of all Americans. I look forward to the possibility of debate with the Senator and the other candidates in the ever-expanding field of Republicans as we move forward to the primaries.”

Candidate Website: www.KerryBowers.com

2016 Election, Economy, Fair Tax, Politics

2016 POTUS CANDIDATE CHALLENGES SENATOR CRUZ ON FEDERAL TAXES

Republican Kerry Bowers Says Senator Supports Contradictory Tax Plans

Henderson, NV, 23 March 2015 – The Kerry Bowers for President Committee released the following remarks in response to Senator Cruz’s recent actions and statements specific to federal taxation.

“On 19 March, I applauded Senator Cruz’s 10 March addition to the list of cosponsors for Senate bill S.155, the Fair Tax Act of 2015, which is a companion bill to HR 25 introduced in the House of Representatives. The Fair Tax is a national retail sales tax that abolishes all forms of income, payroll and corporate taxes and replaces them with a sales tax, one that includes a family consumption allowance to reduce or eliminate the regressive effects of a sales tax. The bill also abolishes the IRS and includes a ‘sunset’ title requiring repeal of the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution within 7 years else the Fair Tax is repealed. The companion bills today have more combined congressional sponsorship than any other proposed tax reform or replacement measure introduced to both houses of the 114th Congress.

I then learned that the Senator on 17 March, in an appearance on the MSNBC show, ‘Morning Joe,’ stated the following: “The perfect, the ideal and what I intend to fight for is a simple flat tax, where every person can fill out his or her taxes on a post card, which would enable you to abolish the IRS.” The senator, when queried by host Joe Scarborough what the tax rate would be, offered; “we’re still working the numbers.”

In my opinion, the Senator revealed he has no detailed plan or serious commitment to effectively and permanently change one of the most obstructive, destructive and liberty-infringing mechanisms imposed upon the American people. He has taken a position, as reflected in his statements, indicative of yet another income and payroll tax system, one contrary to the Founder’s vision for appropriate federal taxation as evident in the original Constitution and addressed in great detail in the Federalist Papers. This stated position stands in stark contrast to his eloquent speeches in which he implies his intent to restore the ideals imparted by the Founders in the nation’s framing documents.

I also believe it is disingenuous for the Senator to say that the IRS would be abolished under a flat income tax since the tax will require continued oversight of the 165-plus million individual tax filers and 20-plus million businesses. The Fair Tax, on the other hand, will require only businesses to file reports and make remittances; the administration and collection of the sales tax will be reserved, principally, to the States and done so on a voluntary and reimbursement basis. That last point is advocated in the Federalist Papers as a measure to avoid unnecessary redundancies in tax agents for the collection of impositions on items taxed by both the federal and state governments.

Perhaps an even more important aspect of the Senator’s flat-tax proposal, but not addressed by him, is the preservation of every avenue through which Congress may, and again, change a simple income tax system into the same discriminatory, incomprehensible and tyrannically-imposed system the American people endure today. One of those avenues that should be addressed as ‘dangerous’ and eliminated is the 16th Amendment which, as the debt continues to grow, could be used to seize personal assets to cover the nation’s financial obligations. Such seizures could occur under numerous disguises, including additional taxes imposed on every American’s accumulated wealth and the seizure of retirement funds for subsequent replacement with a government-controlled annuity.

The American people need to be truthfully advised too by those who promote a flat income tax that the peoples’ idea of a simple, single-rate tax is not what Congress will likely impose upon them. It will be either a multiple-rate system, like that recently proposed in the Lee-Rubio plan, or a single-rate system replete with wage-determinant deductions and exemptions designed to achieve the same result as a multiple-rate tax system. The people should also be reminded that payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, which most workers pay double or more than what they pay in income taxes today, will remain in effect under a flat income tax.

Bottom line, the Senator’s conflicting positions are troubling and especially so in these extraordinary times.  We are at a pivotal point in our nation’s history and one that will require extraordinary leadership with extraordinary plans to alter the course upon which we are embarked. The proposition of another income tax does not meet the requisites to effect a suitable and sustainable course correction.”

Economy, Energy, Politics

What’s Another $3 Billion Down The Drain?

It was four years ago that President Obama, through the US Export-Import Bank, extended $3 billion credit to Brazil to finance infrastructure projects and offshore oil drilling. See, he really is for offshore drilling. Just not in his own country.

The money was for Petrobras, Brazil’s state-owned oil company. Essentially, it was for Brazil’s top politicians.

In today’s news, four years later, Petrobras can’t borrow money for a used car. Their credit rating is junk. And it all began four years ago with bribes and kickbacks.

Everything he touches turns to . . . No, it’s not gold. Another Solyndra, another Arab Spring, a new Libya, fall of Iraq, rise of ISIS, jobs for terrorists, nukes for Iran. You name it. And that’s just over there. Over here there is chronic long-term unemployment and falling family incomes. Obama’s wealthy donor friends excepted.

And to think we still have two more years with this wrecking ball in The White House.

Links: US Export-Import Bank extends $3 billion credit to Brazil to finance infrastructure projects and offshore oil drilling  |  State Oil Firm’s Scandal Scrambles Brazil’s Offshore Dreams  |  Brazil Petrobras scandal: Top politicians accused

Economy, Media, Obamacare, Politics

Democrats, Poor, Caught By Surprise?

As a Democrat legislator, how can you be caught by surprise by the fine that Obamacare levies on taxpayers for not buying a government-approved health insurance policy when, it was all Democrats and only Democrats who voted for it?

It is obvious that they did not read their own law that they voted for.  It is also obvious that the sheeple in their party followed them blindly down the same path.

It is obvious too that there would have been no surprise about the tax penalty if the media had done its job.

All this could have been avoided if they opened their eyes and maybe, read this, Obamacare Fines, For Poor People Only, from October 2013.

Links: Obamacare Fines, For Poor People Only  |  Democrats are bracing for another Obamacare backlash

Economy, Politics

View Of Success Differs On Food Stamps

In a report submitted to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights on Friday, the U.S. State Department is boasting that there were “46.5 million” people on food stamps in the United States last year and that a quarter of all Americans received government “food assistance.”

Nearly double the 26 million recipients there were when Obama was elected in 2007. Given the success of the Obama’s economic policies this should come as no surprise. A result of the rising unemployment rate (U-6) and falling family incomes.

A perfect illustration of the consequences of the socialist mindset of big government Democrats. They view success by how many people are on government assistance.  Conservatives view success by how few people need government assistance.

Some charts here offer food for thought.

Link: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)  |  U.S. Brags to U.N.: We Have 46.5 Million on Food Stamps