Mr.Obama We Built This Country, Not The Government!

Here's an excellent commentary on Obama's "You Didn't Build It."

129 As a small business owner all I can say is that I think the current sentiment in the small business community is that we didn't sign up for this shit. Y'all can vote for whatever the hell you want but we are not going to be a part of it.

I have seen more owners get out of the business or retire in the past couple of years than ever before and with the ACA on the horizon the jobs these businesses produced will not be replaced. The economics no longer work. This is why unemployment is always so high in socialist countries. What you have to go through to have employees is just brutal.
But here's the thing about what Obama said --- he has it exactly backwards. The government didn't build any of that shit he is talking about --- we built it. We are the ones who paid for it. Not only did we build our businesses we built the schools and the roads and everything else he thinks was generated out of thin air. If you want to get technical about it the businesses and taxpayers that came along before we did built it all and now we are building what comes next.

And not only that, but we did it with the albatross of a predatory, corrupt and overbearing government hanging around our necks at every juncture.
And now we have had enough.

I haven't made more than $50k from my business but one or two years of the past 15. But now that it is time to cash out after providing literally hundreds of jobs I get the stink eye and get castigated for being a member of the 1%. Even though I can remember sitting on the edge of the bed and holding my head in my hands wondering what I had done risking everything I had to create a business and wondering how it would all work out when I had just finished working several days in a row with no sleep... I am the enemy. Even though I didn't take a paycheck for the first year of the business and later skipped other paychecks to meet payroll or to pay taxes I am somehow at fault for the fact that all of these people sitting on their asses or working their cushy government jobs with the large pensions funded by armies of tax collectors and regulators may have to go without.

Well, I already went without so they can bloody well shut the fuck up and take their turn in the barrel! If they want to risk everything they have or work their asses off with no guarantee of success only to be told at the end that they were not responsible for their own success and don't deserve their rewards then they are welcome to go down that path and see what it is like. But the number of people who will pursue the American dream and build the economy from the roots up will be greatly decreased in the current atmosphere and all of these self-entitled idiots will sit around wondering why the government is still going broke and why no one is hiring.

No country can survive socialism. It just doesn't happen. Sooner or later the bill comes due. But before it does you always get demagogic idiots like Obama, or Chavez who try to blame their failures on the only people who are keeping everything afloat. It is not enough they sank the damn ship... they have to come after the people in the life boats too.

That is the sort of mentality we are dealing with.
Posted by: Voluble at August 18, 2012 12:58 PM (qYvEa)

Via Ed Driscoll

Bad Economy Explained: The Democrat Effect

I just read an excellent explaination on just what ails our economy.  It's The Democrat Effect. 

First, there’s “The Democrat Effect,” which is “the rational response by entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and investors to imminent or already present excessive government intervention, overbearing regulation, crippling litigation, and taxation, all of which seriously curtail economic activity to a greater extent than initially estimated.” When Democrats took full control of Congress in January 2007, initially reported economic news started to come in “unexpectedly” bad, and took serious turns for the worse when revised. Then, in the five months or so leading up to the 2008 presidential election, Pelosi, Obama and Reid deliberately frightened the economy’s key players with promises of steep tax increases, wealth redistribution, government control of medicine, punitive regulation, and energy starvation. This led to the almost unimaginable recessionary data declines described above. Perhaps Bush 43 could have done something to stop the madness; sadly, he really didn’t even try.

That's found at the bottom of a post on PJM. It does, however, have it's opposite reaction...remember, for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction?  That's called The Conservative Effect,

For what should be obvious reasons, the flip side of The Democrat Effect is not called “The Republican Effect.” Its proper name is “The Conservative Effect,” which is “the rational response by entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and investors when The Democrat Effect has either ended or is sufficiently reined in, enabling a reasonable level of free-market activity to occur, and causing the economy to perform better than initially estimated.” From 2003 until 2006, the Bush administration’s across-the-board income and investment-related tax cuts enabled The Conservative Effect to take hold in the job market, where initial results routinely and “unexpectedly” beat predictions, and subsequent revisions moved the numbers further upward. Unfortunately, the millions of hours of busywork caused by Sarbanes Oxley, as well as the onerous costs the law added to going public — which caused and continues to cause growing firms which might have gone public in the U.S. before the law’s passage to either decide against it overseas – kept GDP growth, which could have been at least as strong as the late 1990s, at a mostly mediocre level.

and these were created by a guy who writes

Frequent BizzyBlog commenter “JoeC” formulated the foundation of the negative side of what I call “revisionomics” almost four years ago, and worked up the positive side earlier this year.

 Perhaps, after next November, we'll have a good dose of the conservative effect.  Here's hoping for some change, 'cause we're strangling on what hope and change has done to us since 2007.

Good news, bad news?

By JP Bender

Is a double-dip recession looming? Prognosticators are telling us so. I’m telling you “no”.

That’s probably good news to most of you. But you would be wrong. It’s bad news, because we are in fact racing toward a mega depression that will be worse than anything the country has ever experienced. A double-dip recession would be far better by comparison.

I realize that depression is a strong word, but the towering icebergs of local, state and federal debt are about to sink the country into a Titanic dive.

I was educated in top Catholic Universities, owned two successful businesses, and spent the last 25 years of my 70 in journalism. My background, education, training, and living my life to the fullest, have given me the opportunity to live and study key factors that will change my life – factors over which I can have little, if any, control.

The current economic situation has been building for decades and neither political party has clean hands.

When I returned from military duty in Southeast Asia, I quickly realized that this was no longer the world of my father. While I was gone, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson decided to reinvent the United States, within their interpretation of the Constitution, and that made me feel like an outsider.

Nixon, Ford and Carter continued to expand government services, increase government spending, and attempt to control our lives from cradle to grave.

Ronald Reagan first conceived the notion of not going to war to defeat the enemy, but rather outspend the enemy into complete economic collapse. It worked to a point. While succeeding in destroying the old Soviet Union, he lubricated the slippery slope of out-of-control spending, coupled with tax cuts, to achieve a victory that would become self-defeating.

Reagan’s successors, Bush 41, Clinton and Bush 43, followed suit. They got away with fiscal irresponsibility because America had recovered so quickly from its previous insane spending spree, and no one complained, as our leaders shoveled billions out to special interests.

Many Americans realized that this type of economic self-destruction couldn’t last forever so they foolishly had bought into the 2008 campaign promises of hope and change. But neither hope nor change was defined. The mere phrase of “hope and change” resonated with pro-Clinton followers and anti-Bush bashers.

President Obama quickly established an agenda to create change. But he never really offered any solid packages. Instead, he allowed Democrat congressional leaders to write the bills, line up the support and champion the causes, all the while taking bows. Predictably, Obama’s radical agenda of higher taxes, out-of-control spending, and massive government overreach, created an out-of-control government.

He of course was the figurehead, while Congress were the grunts in the field; they set the course, they provided the numbers, they provided the votes, and in a way it was a dual presidency. It is important to remember this because when it all collapses (and it will), there will be a lot of finger pointing. And don’t worry; there will be enough blame to go around for every elected official – federal, state and local.

The late Senator from Illinois, Everett McKinley Dirksen, was fond of saying, “a billion here – a billion there – pretty soon we are talking about real money.” He would use that line when talking about the wild spending of Congress. I wonder what he would think today about the trillions that we now spend – and owe?

How far we have sunk when the national debt is measured in multi-trillions and we have no clue when or how it ever can be paid off.

Taking a long hard look at today’s economy, I can see nothing but gigantic economic hurricanes ahead. These storm clouds are ominous and deadly. There are no shelters to offer protection or safe havens. If you think that Congress, the President, financial planners, or institutions will be the guiding lights, remember that they are the problem – not the solution.

When we don’t like what OPEC says, we silently say, “Let them drink their damn oil.” When we don’t like what the Arabs say, we silently say, “Let them eat their damn sand.” We say those things because we’re offended that they’re taking advantage of us.

When we falter and head into the largest and deepest depression in the history of the world, we will be unable to pay even the interest on our debt, much less the principal. Then the Asians will get stiffed, and they will be offended because we are taking advantage of them. It’ll be their turn to say about us, “Let them eat their damn money, and screw their democratic principals of freedom of religion, press and gun ownership.”

We laugh at Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned. But Americans are fiddling, wasting valuable resources debating Roe v. Wade, gay rights, civil unions, and immigration reform, when we should be balancing the federal checkbook.

If the madness doesn’t stop really very soon, the unlimited U.S. credit card will be cancelled, open lines of credit will be closed, and international trade will crumble. With what will we buy the oil to which we have become addicted? The dollar will be only somewhat more valuable than useless.

From where I stand and from what I can see, this massive depression could last 15 years or longer and there will be no World War or willing lenders to bail us out. Economic collapse will cause massive domestic foreclosures, lawlessness and skyrocketing crime, 25-35 percent unemployment, widespread starvation, escalating suicide rates, and untold numbers of killings.

Of course the rest of the world will not be immune to the U.S depression. It will soon spread to every nation and hamlet on the globe, further exacerbating existing tensions, insults and vendettas. The radicals will attack to further their insane agendas, and we won’t have the assets to counter. But that’s okay, because we will welcome them in the name of diversity.

The day of reckoning approaches.

Nancy Pelosi Is An Idiot

Nancy Pelosi is an idiot...For 10 years I worked as a cabinetmaker. I wasn't a great one, but rather a pretty good one. Unfortunately, when the construction industry floundered in the summer of 2008, for the first time in my life, I had trouble looking for work. In October, 2008, the company I was working for laid me off.

I've spent the past year and a half working in restaurants for half of what I was making prior to the start of the recession. About the only good thing is that I've been given the time to re-educate myself on some basic economic theory. Stuff I've not taken a look at since college (many moons ago-and promptly forgot back then).

When you see stuff like this being spouted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, you really begin to question the intelligence of our political leadership.



I originally posted this a few days ago...but just read an article that made me want to repost it, because it reminded me that our political "elite" basically know less about economic and economic theory than I do. That's a scary thought because these are the people who have control of the direction the country is going. If they know less than I do, why in the hell are they running things?

The Democratic party contains some pretty smart people. Many of them have studied economics...but like most people, they tend to ignore that which disagrees with their view on life. A recent study by the Harvard Business school shows that government spending actually DECREASES jobs. You'd think that this would have gotten greater notice in both the press and government circles...it didn't. Another study from UCLA concluded that FDR's Keynesian economic policies extended the Great Depression by nearly 7 years. There have been a number of other studies whose conclusions match these, but have been utterly ignored by the left leaning mainstream media complex since they don't support the conventional wisdom that massive government spending and increasing taxes are the key to ending economic decline.

But...if you take a look at the solutions that worked in previous period of economic decline, you come to realize that Mr. Obama's approach, like that of FDR is disastrous. In the early 1960's, JFK & Johnson used reductions in tax rates to quickly pull the country out of a short recession. Richard Nixon, on the other hand, tried price controls and spending...which didn't work. Jimmy Carter tried the same thing, and failed as well. Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all used broad reductions in the general tax rates as well as (for the most part) cotrolling government spending (each to a greater or lesser degree). G. H. W. Bush attempted follow much the same path, but the short recession following the 1991 Gulf War, in which he felt forced to raise taxes, instead of controlling/reducing spending caused his loss in the 1992 election. (Read my lips "No New Taxes"...sank him).

They ushered in the longest period of economic growth this country has ever seen. What was the root cause of the current economic downturn is to be found in 1998 when Fanny May/Freddie Mac were forced by Congress to begin giving mortgages to those who...frankly, couldn't pay for them. In the early part of this century, this course was doubly encouraged when it was changed to "no down payment and 125% of the value of the property". This increased the pressure to loan money...which wasn't paid back...When George W. Bush along with Sen. John McCain attempted to end this practice 2003, their effort was lambasted by both the Democrats and their supporters in the mainstream press, thus failed.

Therefore, the credit/banking industry collapsed when the number of foreclosures exceeded their ability to withstand. That caused the "credit crunch." This was hugely exacerbated when Congress BORROWED almost $3,000,000,000,000.00 in order to bailout the banking industry, the domestic automobile industry and then the "stimulus package". That had the effect of literally sucking the life out of the loan market. That money would have, could have been used far more profitably in the private sector as loans, first to the manufacturing business, and then to the construction industry (both of whom literally thrive on easy credit). Both need credit to purchase materials/property in which to build/make things. Without easily obtainable credit, those sectors slow down...

The next basic concept in economics is that if you reduce taxes, broadly, all the way across the spectrum, you encourage not just investment, but you encourage businesses to begin producing goods and services. At the moment, with the Bush tax cuts set to expire at the end of this year, contrary to popular myth, more than just the wealthy will be affected. The expiration of those cuts will have an impact that will rebound across the economy. Already business who are leery of hiring more workers this year, have decided to wait until they know the impact of tax increases next year. Mr. Obama with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the Senate Majority leader, have consistently declared that they will raise taxes along with their vast increase in spending. This has had a decidedly chilling effect on the economy as a whole, and Walls Street investment in particular with the Dow Jones Industrial average dropping nearly 2000 points in the past several months.

By enacting a broad based tax cut, one that affects, not just the wealthy, but reducing the amount of the tax burden on business (The US whose business tax rate is 35% or so in this country, as opposed to Taiwan who just reduced theirs to 17% in order to compete with Singapore) would vastly encourage industry and small business to begin hiring new workers. BUT,  ObamaCare with it huge raft of taxes, fees and fines, must be repealed. Many companies are not hiring new workers because, despite Mr. Obama's repeated promises "If you like your health care, you can keep it", 51% of health insurance provided by companies doesn't meet ObamaCare guidelines (and thus, NO YOU CAN'T KEEP IT!). The State of Massachusetts model upon which ObamaCare is based is failing miserably to contain costs or provide more/better care. It has had the opposite effect, with rates raising roughly 33% since it was implemented. This is what we have in store...but that's an area for another post.

At this point, only by reducing government descretionary spending to that which is covered by taxes, and reducing taxes across the board will be end the current recession.  That's what the Germany and Sweden are doing (those paragons of Socialism are moving away from their historical economy models and turning to less regulation to encourage economic growth).  It works, but we have to change the political environment in Washington DC to do it.  That means we must elect Congressmen and Senators who will do what needs to be done...and not business as usual...

Obamanomics, Explained

A very good video on Obamanomics and crony capitalism, Democrat style.

It's The Economy Stupid, Part 2

This past year this administration has focused on everything but what is important to the nation. Last spring is was a "stimulus package" that did everything but actually stimulate the economy. Then starting in April, seizure, or rather "nationalizing" the health care system was the priority. In late summer, this administration dithered over Afghanistan for more than 3 months. After Thanksgiving, this administration decided that finally, jobs would be the focus.

Mr. Obama decided to hold a "jobs summit" and develop a new policy...what that policy is no one outside of Washington, DC has yet to discover as there has been very little substance to follow up. Since last fall, the official unemployment rate has continued to top 10%. But, the unofficial rate is much higher, especially if you count those who are underemployed as well as those who have stopped looking for work. That moves the unemployment rate well over 17%, despite the "green shoots" this administration's enablers in the financial media have propagandized about.

Media interests have attempted to attempted to shore up the Obama Administration from the very beginning, firstly by refusing to vet him in the same manner as the other candidates running for president. Secondly by excusing every misstep made. The $800,000,000,000.00 "stimulus package" was a huge mistake. It was nothing but a payoff to every single Democratic constituency on the books. Additionally, instead of forcing those states whose over spending has caused their financial woes, the pork laden package merely postponed the heartache to come.

Those states, California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, among others, have utterly failed to do the belt-tightening necessary to fend off bankruptcy. Those states are now leading the call for more "stimulus" or frankly bailouts so they don't have to face the fact that 40 or more years of poor planning and overspending. To make matters worse, many analysts had predicted that for the first time in nearly 2 years, job losses would be around 8,000, instead the figure was more than ten times higher: 85,000.

Thus, unemployment has stayed above 10%, not because of any stabilization of the employment market, but rather it reflects that millions of Americans have simply ceased looking for work, and thus aren't counted as being "unemployed. That's political correctness run amuck. Don't count 'em cause they just don't count any more...it's not because they don't want work...there just isn't any jobs out there. Employers have sharply reduced their workforce in order to stave off the tax increases they are facing due to arrive with the socialization of health care. They will be forced to pay substantial fines for not providing insurance, but those fines will be less with fewer workers on their payrolls, therefore, stagnation.
On the other hand, it is proof of the mounting hopelessness in vast stretches of the United States – especially in those states, such as California, southern New England and the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes States, where cities are being hit hardest by a federal auto-industry "bailout" that only encourages those companies to close factories in U.S. cities or simply move production to Mexico and China where labour is much cheaper. .

You would think that this would get the attention of the political leadership of the Democratic Party in Washington, DC. Yet, so far it has not. They are too focused on seizing one sixth of the economy in their very false hope that this is what the country desires. This as congressional approval rates plummet into the low 20 percentiles. This Congress has been (nearly criminally) neglectful of this, the most serious problem facing the country.

A few leaders in the controlling party have attempted all last year to gain the attention of their party. As Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who has been battling his party leadership to turn their attention toward this problem, said Friday: "Today's jobs report underscores the need for Congress and the Obama administration to make jobs an immediate priority. The report shows that employment continues to lag so swift action is needed."

With the start of a new year, the country enters the most volatile midterm election in the past 50 years. The only time that comes close is the 1980 election wherein Ronald Reagan gained control of the White House...though the GOP didn't gain control of Congress until 1994. Much as in that time, our political "elite" is worried more about foreign policy issues, while the electorate is considerably more concerned about the economy. The Democratic leadership are now facing the prospect of serious losses in state and federal races this fall, because they (like the GOP for the most part) are facing a genuine disconnect between the direction they desire to take the country, and what those voters want. Unemployment is a terrifying experience and increasingly realistic possibility as the economy further stagnates. This greatest threat to their political survival.

The Democratic leadership's idea is to mount another "stimulus package" which will mean another huge increase in deficit spending. This idea is extraordinarily unpopular with the mass of voters who don't see spending more money the country doesn't have as a solution.

Instead of spending money we, as a nation don't have, voter's would rather Congress reduce taxes across the board as well as reduce spending on programs that are not working. What voters really want is to return all unspent TARP funds as well as those in the original "stimulus package". By cutting taxes and returning unspent funds, will reduce both the deficit as well as the national debt, which Congress recently had to raise above $12,000,000,000,000.00. Of even more important to voters is Congress ceasing their seizure of health care. This is seen as a relatively unimportant matter in the present economic mess.

Unfortunately, I don't think that the leadership of either party has the sense to head any of this. They will continue blithely down the path of economic destruction they have chosen to take.

UPDATE: The various states that are the least likely to stop their huge deficits are in deep trouble and are hoping to pass the trouble onto the Federal government:

Taxpayers, prepare to be extorted and robbed. If the first two state-of-the-state speeches Wednesday are any indication, we are in for it. Fiscal mismanagement leaders California and New York opened the hunting season on taxpayers. Forty three other state legislatures convene soon to deal with the fiscal carnage they wrought through political profligacy and false promises to dedicated state workers during recent bubble years.

As of December, the National Conference of State Legislatures fiscal survey found: “Thirty-six states already report another round of gaps since FY 2010 began. The total now hit $28.2 billion, and the fiscal year for most states doesn’t end until June.” They already are in the hole despite raising taxes, cutting spending, squandering “rainy day” funds and using federal debt and accounting tricks to close $146 billion in cumulative budget gaps.

Those shortfalls pale against the lurid reality of unfunded promises to retirees, deferred public works projects and years of accounting tricks hiding true deficits. Compounding all that is the fact that $248 billion in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds stop Dec. 31, halfway through most states’ fiscal years. And, according to the National Governor’s Association “Fiscal Survey of States” released last week, “the $87 billion in Medicaid funds and the $48 billion in state stabilization funds … allowed states to offset planned budget cuts and tax increases,” meaning that’s another $135 billion they are going to have to take from somebody next year.

Most of these states will only raise taxes or hit the Federal government for more funds (i.e. another stimulus package, instead of making those spending cuts that will be necessary to bridge the deficits they are encountering. This will only make the recession worse, instead of better. Democrats control nearly all of those states that are in the worst financial difficulties and will only pass on to their citizens the debts they have incurred.

Health Care Seizure Not So Important After All?

There are now credible reports that Congress will, at the behest of the President, put of the reconciliation process until after the State of the Union Address in Late January. Instead he will ask that a second "stimulus package" hidden behind the facade of "jobs bill" be taken to the fore...

So, the Democratic led Congress will borrow upwards of $500,000,000,000.00 to create jobs...isn't that what the original "stimulus package" was supposed to do? Isn't this throwing good money after bad? The Democrats in Congress blew $800,000,000,000.00 on pork "to keep unemployment below 8%." That failed so they are going to do it again.

The basic premise of insanity is that you continue to do the same thing over and over again, getting the same result time after time...yet expecting things to change. That's crazy...yet here we are again for the fourth time, going to save jobs with a stimulus bill...

1st: TARP supposed to keep banks from collapsing...failed, many regional banks have failed (300+ so far have been taken over by the government...failed.
2nd: "Stimulus Package", supposed to keep unemployment below 8%...failed
3rd: Health Care Seizure...supposed to "save" money (just like Medicare is)...failed
4th: "Jobs Bill"..will keep unemployment below 8%...failure in the making.

Eventually, the entire country will be in the same boat as California, New Jersey and New York (all are very close to bankruptcy). Our great grand children will surely thank us for turning the richest country in history into a 3rd rate nation...sure they will. Our children will now face having a much lower standard of living than we have now...WE will face having a lower standard of living than we have now...thanks Barack, Harry & Nancy...the ends sure justify the means.

A Moderate's Plan for America

I have several ideas for Moderates in this country to fend off the Democratic Party's socialist agenda. These strategy ideas won't be easy to implement, because the socialist party will fight stiffly against any changes to their already implemented program.

The Obama administration has already extra-legally taken control of the third largest auto manufacturer (Chrysler--and forced it's sale--and swindled bond holders out of monies owed to them) and have a large minority interest in the largest (GM--and turned effective control over to their union allies).

The Troubled Assets Relief Program--TARP was supposed to be used to bailout banks and other "too big to fail" investment companies (AIG being at the heart...which by the way manages Congress's retirement funds). Instead it has morphed into a catchall slush fund that is being used far beyond the purpose it was intended for. It is being used to continually bailout Chrysler, as well as being funneled through AIG to companies such as Goldman, Sachs, GMAC (GM's auto/mortgage loan arm).

Much of those funds have been diverted to executive bonuses, or executives learning of "loans" going to companies, have purchased stock in advance of proposed bailouts (Stephen Friedman a member of the Goldman Sachs board was forced to resigned as the chair of the New York Federal Reserve after reports surfaced that he had bought 37,000 Goldman shares and that he did so on learning that his company would be getting paid back at 100 cents on the dollar for its toxic assets insured by AIG. Mr. Friedman made more than $5 million on that insider information.

The passage of the huge $800 billion dollar special interests bill, inaptly named "stimulus package" that was in effect a political payoff of constituent special interest groups. The bill's purported purpose was to stimulate the economy but instead allowed the Democratic majority to provide huge subsidies to political contributors and groups whose support allowed the socialist party to take control of Congress with a much larger majority that previously held. As unemployment rises, the public's ire has risen as well as distrust in the Democratic majority's aims and economic policies.

With the near certain passage of the government's seizure of the health care industry, that an average of 55% of likely voters strongly opposes is merely one more step in the Democratic Party's and Obama administration's efforts to enact European style socialization of the American Economy. The back room deals that shut out the Republican party have been characterized by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as, "unsavory process to get 60 votes – which included, he said, giveaways such as the 'Cornhusker kickback,' the 'Louisiana purchase,' the 'Florida flim-flam' and all of the other kinds of dealing that went on – will be seen as 'very distasteful' by the American people."

Michael Barone a syndicated columnist in the of the Washington Examiner describes as the 21st Century Kansas-Nebraska act. "[The] Kansas-Nebraska was an attempt to settle a fundamental issue by legislative legerdemain and political trickery," says Michael Baone,. "The Democrats' health care bills are an attempt to settle a fundamental issue by partisan maneuver and cash-for-cloture. As Stephen Douglas learned, such tactics can work for a while, but the country -- and the Democratic Party -- can end up paying a heavy price."

One Democrat and Atlantic blogger (and Obama voter) Megan McArdle writes, "We aren't done talking about health care. We haven't even really started. Our budget problems are as big as ever, and we just used up both political capital, and some of our stock of tax increases and spending cuts, to pay for something else."

These then are the major issues that now face the country. We have the highest unemployment rate this country has face in more than 25 years. Yet the Obama Administration has attempted to use Keynesian solutions to these problems. The major issue with that is that Keynes economics has never proven to work in the past.

Herbert Hoover attempted to use some proto-Keynesian policies after the the economic meltdown that caused the Great Depression of the 1930's. Mr. Hoover created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in an attempt to bail out troubled banks. Furthermore, he engaged in deficit-finance relief expenditures. And his Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon supported those effort. Federal spending rose precipitously under Hoover, most of the increase financed through deficit spending. All of those efforts failed miserably.

It's well documented that FDR used many more Keynesian methods to counteract the effects of the Depression. However, the nascent recovery of 1934-35 sputtered out under the weight of many of the New Deal tariffs and regulatory measures enacted at the time. FDR's policies didn't end the Great Depression, the advent of a worldwide conflict in 1939 did.

Now, in the present time if we genuinely desire to mitigate the effects of this recession we as a nation must urge our politicians to take a number step immediately. The first step toward recovery would be to use the remaining TARP funds to pay down the burgeoning national debt. A debt that has ballooned in the past year with Congress having to yet again raise the debt ceiling.

The second step would be to take the remaining stimulus funds and expend them solely on infrastructure projects. That would allow the construction industry to recover far more quickly than is presently the case. Unemployment in blue collar industries is roughly 40%, by far the hardest hit sector of the economy. This is what China and Germany have done and thus have weathered the crisis in much better shape than the US has done. An alternative would be to use the to once again pay down the debt

An additional use for $50 Billion dollars from this fund would be as a basis of small business loans. This will have the effect of freeing up funds that small business needs in order to conduct their operations. Additionally, by allowing small business those funds, they will increase their hiring. It costs small businesses an average of $330k to create full time positions. Under the stimulus, the government has spent $2.4 million each to create temporary positions that will need to be refunded every year. That's an 8-1 spending ratio, not cost effective in the long run.

A third solution would be to reduce taxes across the board, better yet, overhaul the "progressive" (or rather the REGRESSIVE) income tax system with a flat income tax rate for all individuals, businesses and or corporations. End any and all federal tax breaks for business. Tax all businesses equally with no exceptions. Do the same for individuals. The ONLY exception on individual taxes would be for those who earn below X dollars (i.e. the poverty line).

Reign in government spending by eliminating those departments which are merely jobs programs in disguise. Education, for one, combine HHS, HUD and vastly reduce their mandate. Eliminate Labour. Use the money saved to pay off the debt, return those workers to the public sector where they could be producing wealth instead of sucking off the government tit. Additionally, end the extra-constitution practice of adding earmarks to budgetary bills. Furthermore, we need to permit localities and states to grant genuine incentives to those who wish to build manufacturing concerns so that we can rebuild our manufacturing base. A base that is rapidly siphoning off to Mexico, China and India.

Unfortunately, the Obama Administration has decided that governmental seizure of health care is a crisis. In the opinion of voters, it surely isn't, but if you have to absolutely have to interefere with the system, there is a way within the present framework to modify the system that will increase health insurance coverage far beyond what it is now. By institution portability, which means to remove employment as a means of health insurance. Allow the 1300 companies to offer insurance regardless of state lines. This will allow genuine market competition.

Another must is Tort Reform. Lawyers have boosted the costs medical coverage by 20% or more (some say 30%). It should not be a gigantic crap shoot. Limit damages to actual loss, and only with gross negligence. Loser pays for all the winner's costs and fees. Make health costs 100% tax-free. By allowing portability between states and permit ALL of the health insurance organizations to provide insurance regardless of state lines.

Force the Pharmaceutical companies to sell to other countries at the same rate as they charge their biggest customers here. They will then pay more, and we'll pay less. This will institute immediate savings, because America presently permits other countries to provide drugs at a vastly reduced rate, while we foot the full bill plus the difference they pay.

The final problem that must be face soon is Social Security/Medicare/Medicade. Rollback the retirement age back to 65 as a minimum for eligibility for Medicare. Vigorously prosecute all fraudulent disability claims. Tack on a 1-2% national sales tax to pay for it. This will eventually end the Ponzi scheme, while honoring the obligations that we previously.

These are some reasonable solutions that would be effective to the major problems this country faces. Unfortunately, no politicians worthy of the title would ever settle for simple solutions to complex problems. Especially when such solutions would reduce the role that government would play in our daily lives, and thus, the Democratic Party would never adopt them as they are hell bent on adopting European Socialist systems wherein government controls most aspects of our lives. The Republican Party on the other hand has become "Democrat Lite." It was under their watch in the early and mid-portion of this decade that unrestrained earmarks became the norm. It remains to be seen if the Tea Party can rise out of the ashes of the present mess. It's certainly possible.

Keynesian Economics Does Not Work

Watch the video.

The Wisdom of Plato

The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is that they end up being ruled by men worse then themselves.

Plato, 428-348 BCE

I've never run into this quote before...but it strikes me as being VERY pertinent in this day and age. I've just finished reading an interesting article from the London Daily Mail, newspaper, wherein those who lived through World War 2 have become deeply disenchanted with how British society has become twisted over the past 60 years.

The title of the article says it all: "'This isn't the Britain we fought for,' say the 'unknown warriors' of WWII" and is based upon a book by Tyneside writer, 33-year-old Nicholas Pringle. He began gathering letters and surveys from men and women in their 80's and 90's and lived during the war. What he found astounded him. In total, he received a few more than 150 letters that detailed the thoughts and feelings of these men and women about the turn that British society has taken.

When you look at the letters themselves there is a simple truth that quickly emerges, and that is these men and women have the government.

They feel, in a word that leaps out time and time again, 'betrayed'.
New Labour, said one ex-commando who took part in the disastrous Dieppe raid in which 4,000 men were lost, was 'more of a shambles than some of the actions I was in during the war, and that's saying something!'
He added: 'Those comrades of mine who never made it back would be appalled if they could see the world as it is today.

'They would wonder what happened to the Brave New World they fought so damned hard for.'

Time after time, letter after letter, this contempt for Political Correctness and Multiculturalism rises to the fore. But it is in the comments section where the disgust for the turn of the government away from traditional English/British/UK values really shines through. Here is a sampling:

"'Our country has been given away to foreigners while we, the generation who fought for freedom, are having to sell our homes for care and are being refused medical services because incomers come first.' Her words may be offensive to many - and rightly so."

In Heaven's name, WHY is that offensive?
- Ray, Birmingham, UK, 21/11/2009 5:06
Click to rate Rating 994Report abuse

My dad died some years ago - funny, I was saying just the other day that if he came back now he just wouldn't recognise this country. Not only that, he'd be furious, indignant, disgusted and above all bewildered. A profoundly decent bloke, like many of his generation, he would feel betrayed by modern Britain's obsession with triviality, lies, filth and smut. What a contemptible nation we have become.
- John, Halton, England, 21/11/2009 4:48
Click to rate Rating 754Report abuse

These brave men and women won't be around for much longer - much to the governments pleasure. The path will then be clear to complete the population replacement from 3rd world countries without their generations dissent.
- Bob McKenzie, London, UK, 21/11/2009 4:47
Click to rate Rating 723Report abuse

I feel more at home here (France) than in my homeland ENGLAND!!! Can anyone here explain why Britain, especially England, had to become multi- culti? Why???
- ed, france, 21/11/2009 4:46
Click to rate Rating 661Report abuse

.We are losing our National identity and are being bullied into submission by those in power. They know there is nothing that we can do. It is too late. We slavishly adhere to the various EU dictats, most of which are ignored on mainland Europe. We dutifully sort out our recycling items, putting them into the correct containers, whilst those paid to do the job, watch. H&S regulations and greedy, US Insurance giants are killing off traditions such as Bonfire Night. Police do nothing, or have their hands tied, when it comes to dealing with the yobs who roam the streets. The so called Human Rights Act is nothing but a sham. Another stick to beat us with. The only people that are protected by the equality Law are those from different ethnic backgrounds. Our titles, Mr.Mrs,Miss are no longer used, lack of respect again. society has been levelled according to the lowest common enominator. An elderly gentleman in our street always greets me by touching his cap. Manners.
- andrea m preston, glastonbury uk, 21/11/2009 4:39
Click to rate Rating 633

Multiculturalism is a failed experiment, and sadly, only the people who once knew a homogeneous Britain seem smart enough to understand that. But carry on, Britain, carry on putting your own native people in jail for thought crimes and wondering why Orwell's 1984 has come true on your very streets. Keep on getting laughed at by your own Government and by the legions of unappreciative immigrants who come to your country to specifically sit on the dole. Maybe when sharia law is instituted, you'll finally understand what the people in this article were talking about. A nation fit for kings, how did it come to this?
- Fenria, USA, 21/11/2009 3:06
Click to rate Rating 221

How right are these comments. The war veterans are not the only age group with these sentiments; believe me, there are lots of us out here. What to do about our country? The mainstream politicians are a sorry bunch who will not tread outside party lines or they will be deselected. This is the sad truth - individual thinkers not allowed. Some of our greatest leaders of the 20th century would definitely not be selected now. Winston Churchill? Forget it, he wouldn't even get to the interview stage these days. If we want our country to at least take some steps to repair the damage, then think very carefully who we vote for.

Don't vote along your traditional party lines - we will just elect another robot. Listen to exactly what our candidates are saying. Study their body language and sincerity. Are they in it for their own gain or do they really care? If things get much worse the British will rise up, and you know what suppressed anger is like when it finally bursts.
- Roger, London, England, 21/11/2009 1:52
Click to rate Rating 158

It's no wonder that the British National Party (BNP) won a surprising number of seats in the EU parliament this year. I suspect that in the coming election that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been attempting to postpone in order to hang onto power just that much longer will be a shock to many people in the British political elites. I suspect that the BNP will win at least 20, but perhaps as many as 40 seats...that may not sound like a lot, but it will see them getting at least one ministerial portfolio as they will be the natural alliess of the Tory Party (conservatives).

How does this apply to the United States, you ask...ours is the first generation that has not demanded that recent immigrants become absorbed by our society. In the past 40 or so years, the "multi-kulti" has become the dominant theme. In the past, during the period of colonization, our fore bearers saw themselves as Englishmen first, Americans second. It was following the French & Indian Wars that there emerged the concept of being Americans first. The entire basis of our separation from England was that we, as a country, were being denied our basic rights as Englishmen. That we were not being allowed a voice in the general running of the then colonies. That period is the emergence of the concept that we were Americans FIRST! and not in fact Englishmen.

Now, with the leftist concept of multiculturalism, minorities/immigrants used to be polish-AMERICANS, italian-AMERICANS, with the emphasis on being AMERICAN. Now, we have completely reversed that concept: AFRO-americans, HISPANIC-americans, ASIAN-americans. This is having the effect of a general breakdown of social values, with the concurrent breakdown of "family-values". Our children are now being taught that there is nothing special about "America" and what it means to be an American. That in fact, America is the root of all the worlds ills...this despite the simple fact that many people around the world desperately want to come here and better themselves and the lives of their children.

If this trend continues, this country will be a very different place that what we were even 20 years ago. I don't think that this is a good thing. The "Hope & Change" that Mr. Obama is attempting to do is to merely make our country a mirror of Europe...along with all that entails...a much expanded government interference in the lives of the citizenry as well as a huge increase in taxation to pay for those who no longer are productive members of the work force.

It's the Economy Stupid

Unfortunately for the country, they Keynesian economic model this president is following failed in the 1930's to end the great Depression. WW2 ended the Depression. As time slowly ekes away, this president is gaining the appearance of Jimmy Carter 2...Spending tremendous amounts to end a recession can only work if you actually spend the money wisely.

The economic stimulus package that was passed last spring, was unfortunately targeted as a pay off to Democratic constituencies. None of the money has gone to the kinds of big ticket job producing infrastructure projects that would provide long term jobs. Additionally, this new transparent way of running the country had to bribe a Senator from Louisiana with $300 million just to get her to vote to CONTINUE debating a health care bill that a majority of the populace doesn't want. "Just shut up and get out of the way" isn't how this country works.

ITS THE ECONOMY STUPID, jeez, even SNL gets that much. You don't try and make over 1/6th of the economy in a period of economic crisis. The CBO has said that both of the health care seizure plans presently under consideration will end up costing hundreds of billions of dollars. We can't afford that. There are far more cost effective ways of doing this within the current framework.

Health Care
If you have to absolutely screw around with the system, here's a way within the present framework to modify the system that will increase health insurance coverage far beyond what it is now.

1. Portability, remove employment as a means of health insurance. Allow the 1300 companies to offer insurance regardless of state lines. This will allow genuine market competition.
2. Tort Reform, lawyers have boosted the costs medical coverage by 20% or more (some say 30%). It should not be a gigantic crap shoot. Limit damages to actual loss, and only with gross negligence. Loser pays.
3. Make health costs 100% tax-free. Additionally, by allowing portability between states and permit ALL of the health insurance organizations to provide insurance regardless of state lines. The moment you do this, people go out and join co-ops and get great rates. Places like the Elks, Kiwanis, etc... were all set up originally for the purpose of allowing their members to get group health discount rates.
4. Force the Pharmaceutical companies to sell to other countries at the same rate as they charge their biggest customers here. They will then pay more, and we'll pay less. This will institute immediate savings, because America presently permits other countries to provide drugs at a vastly reduced rate, while we foot the full bill plus the difference they pay.
5. Fix SS/Medicare. Move the retirement age back to 65 as a minimum for eligibility for Medicare. Vigorously prosecute all fraudulent disability claims. Tack on a sales tax to pay for it. This will eventually end the Ponzi scheme, while honoring the obligations. We have to stop adding people to the roles.

JOBS
Fixing the economy is difficult because quite simply no one understands how it works. It's become such a complicated area of expertise, that no one can possibly master it. On the other hand there are a few simple solutions that do seem to work well.
1. Return the unspent Stimulus Funds. If Congress can't keep their greedy hands off of it, then at the very least it should be used as small business loans with fairly low interest rates. This will have the effect of freeing up funds that small business needs in order to conduct their operations. Additionally, by allowing small business those funds, they will increase their hiring. It costs small businesses an average of $330k to create full time positions. Under the stimulus, the government has spent $2.4 million each to create temporary positions that will need to be refunded every year. That's an 8-1 spending ratio, not cost effective in the long run.
2. Reduce taxes across the board, better yet, overhaul the "progressive" (or rather the REGRESSIVE) income tax system. My preference would be for a flat income tax rate for all individuals, businesses and or corporations. End end any and all federal tax breaks for business. Tax all businesses equally with no exceptions. Do the same for individuals. The ONLY exception on individual taxes would be for those who earn below X dollars (i.e. the poverty line).
3. Reign in government spending by eliminating those departments which are merely jobs programs in disguise. Education, for one, combine HHS, HUD and vastly reduce their mandate. Eliminate Labour. Use the money saved to pay off the debt, return those workers to the public sector where they could be producing wealth instead of sucking off the government tit.
4. Permit localities and states to grant incentives to those who wish to build manufacturing concerns so that we can rebuild our manufacturing base. A base that is rapidly siphoning off to Mexico, China and India.

Political Reforms
1. End ALL EARMARKS. Stop spending money outside of the constitutionally required framework.
2. Support a balanced budget amendment.
3. Seriously revamp the bureaucracy to make it easier to terminate those who are inefficient.
4, Hire managers who will run the government as if it is a business and not a jobs program.

There in simplistic terms is my prescription for fixing "things" I doubt anyone of importance is listening but I can always hope for change, right? After all look what "hope and change" got us so far...

What Do Democratic Leaders Really Want To Do?

The present wrangling in Congress over "Health Care Reform" (what I call Health Care Seizure) isn't about health care at all. It's about a radical restructuring of the American economic system. Those who lead the Democratic Party desire, first and foremost, to institute European (or Venezuelan, look how well that's working there, 25% inflation rate) style economic "reforms". What that boils down to is government direction (i.e. direct control) of the means of economic production as well as a more intrusive (or pervasive) involvement in the lives of the populace, just as the socialist governments in Europe and Asia do.

Unfortunately, that system doesn't work very well as a very high unemployment rate (above 8%) is considered normal. Rates that high are virtually unknown in a healthy economy here in America. It's only during periods of economic down turn that we have unemployment rates that exceed 5-6%. Additionally, the European socialistic model also requires vastly higher tax rates in order to pay for all those services that intrusive government requires. European average tax rates exceed 40% of the total income of workers.

This burden is so heavy that the economic fabric of those successful socialist states such as Sweden, for example, are now beginning to fray as the number of unemployed/unemployable workers has risen beyond the means to provide those blanket services that they have become accustomed to. Many of those governments are now considering reducing taxes and services in order to maintain those "core" services that are considered vital. Sweden, this year, has reduced taxes for the first time in 70 years as a means to jump start their economy and encourage businesses to hire more people. Unfortunately, neither the Obama Administration, nor this Congress understand the severe consequences of that which they are attempting to achieve.

On the other hand, the (nebulous) "people" understand a shell game when they see it. Mr. Obama ran as a moderate who would be willing to work with both parties. Unfortunately, once he was elected he reverted to his political Chicago roots and moved far to the left. The last election was the greatest bait and switch ever perpetrated on the American electorate. Thus, the growing unpopularity of many of the far left proposals now being considered by Congress and this administration.

What the Democratic leadership in this country are trying to do now is to enact those sweeping changes that they have long dreamed of while they still control both the Congress and the Presidency.Eventually, an election will come along and they will be swept out of power. Their main agenda is to enact huge entitlement programs while they have the opportunity, and hope that they won't be dismantled later (to date NOT 1 entitlement program, no matter how dysfunctional has ever been repealed). After all, Medicare, which has exceeded it's funding mandate more than 10x's it's predicted cost is still with us, despite those "triggers" that were emplaced.

UPDATE: This post started out as a response (#4) on http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/is-health-care-reform-popular-the-democrats-and-the-polls-disagree/ and then mutated into this post...some interesting comments there

12 Reasons Why Unemployment Will Top 12%

via James Pethokoukis & http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis

Gluskin Sheff economist David Rosenberg, formerly of Merrill Lynch, thinks the unemployment rate is going to at least 12 percent, maybe even 13 percent.

1. For the first time in at least six decades, private sector employment is negative on a 10-year basis (first turned negative in August). Hence, the changes are not merely cyclical or short-term in nature. Many of the jobs created between the 2001 and 2008 recessions were related either directly or indirectly to the parabolic extension of credit.

2. During this two-year recession, employment has declined a record 8 million. Even in percent terms, this is a record in the post-WWII experience.

3. Looking at the split, there were 11 million full-time jobs lost (usually we see three million in a garden-variety recession), of which three million were shifted into part-time work.

4.There are now a record 9.3 million Americans working part-time because they have no choice. In past recessions, that number rarely got much above six million.

5. The workweek was sliced this cycle from 33.8 hours to a record low 33.0 hours — the labour input equivalent is another 2.4 million jobs lost. So when you count in hours, it’s as if we lost over 10 million jobs this cycle. Remarkable.

6. The number of permanent job losses this cycle (unemployed but not for temporary purposes) increased by a record 6.2 million. In fact, well over half of the total unemployment pool of 15.7 million was generated just in this past recession alone. A record 5.6 million people have been unemployed for at least six months (this number rarely gets above two million in a normal downturn) which is nearly a 36% share of the jobless ranks (again, this rarely gets above 20%). Both the median (18.7 weeks) and average (26.9 weeks) duration of unemployment have risen to all-time highs.

7. The longer it takes for these folks to find employment (and now they can go on the government benefit list for up to two years) the more difficult it is going to be to retrain them in the future when labour demand does begin to pick up.

8. Not only that, but we have a youth unemployment rate now approaching a record 20%. Again, this is going to prove to be very problematic for employers in the future who are going to be looking for skills and experience when the boomers finally do begin to retire.

9. The gap between the U6 and the official U3 rate is at a record 7.3 percentage points. Normally this spread is between 3-4 percentage points and ultimately we will see a reversion to the mean, to some unhappy middle where the U6 may be closer to 15.0-16.0% and the posted jobless rate closer to 12%. This will undoubtedly be a major political issue, especially in the context of a mid-term elections and the GOP starting to gain some electoral ground.

10. But when we do start to see the economic clouds part in a more decisive fashion, what are employers likely to do first? Well, naturally they will begin to boost the workweek and just getting back to pre-recession levels would be the same as hiring more than two million people. Then there are the record number of people who got furloughed into part-time work and again, they total over nine million, and these folks are not counted as unemployed even if they are working considerably fewer days than they were before the credit crunch began.

11. So the business sector has a vast pool of resources to draw from before they start tapping into the ranks of the unemployed or the typical 100,000-125,000 new entrants into the labour force when the economy turns the corner. Hence the unemployment rate is going to very likely be making new highs long after the recession is over — perhaps even years.

12. After all, the recession ended in November 2001 with an unemployment rate at 5.5% and yet the unemployment rate did not peak until June 2003, at 6.3%. The recession ended in March 1991 when the jobless rate was 6.8% and it did not peak until June 1992, at 7.8%. In both cases, the unemployment rate peaked well more than a year after the recession technically ended. The 2001 cycle was a tech capital stock deflation; the 1991 cycle was the Savings & Loan debacle; this past cycle was an asset deflation and credit collapse of epic proportions. And economists think that the unemployment rate is in the process of cresting now? Just remember it is the same consensus community that predicted at the beginning of 2008 that the jobless rate would peak out below 6% this cycle.

All this is what I've been saying for a while...that the unemployment rate is going to climb higher, if not far higher. I believe that it will hit 12.5% or perhaps 14% by the middle of next summer. I believe this because I don't think Mr. Obama really has a clue about "how things work". I hold to this because quite honestly, he's never really run ANYTHING before, and his grasp of economic is purely theoretical. He only knows what he's been told since college and all of his theorists have been...socialists, or communists. So...he really has no clue on what to do, in his heart of hearts, does he desire to "grow" the economy via traditional means. His desire is only to grow government, not realizing that government growth is a huge break on the economy.

Larry Kudlow On More Government Regulation of the Economy

Mr. Kudlow makes a great point. Heavy government regulation was tried in several parts of the world. The Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact are excellent examples of where Mr. Obama and Barney Frank are heading. I only ask, where are the governments of those countries now? More recently, take a long hard look at Venazuala...how strong is the economy there? What is unemployment like? How strong is the agrarian sector? NOT!

Take a look at the video and it will go a long way to explain in only a minute and a half, why this country had a 26 year long boom. That period was marked by only 2 mild and short recessions (economic corrections actually). Then call your Congressmen and Senators...do it now.