Category Archives: Socioeconomic

Now what, Mr. President…

obamacare-cartoon-2-aPelosi: “We have to pass the health care bill so that you can find out what is in it”. Do you all remember that shameful moment in American politics when a sitting member of Congress embarrassed herself and her Democratic colleagues with that revelation? Well it turns out that her party did ram that bill through, (The “Affordable” Care Act), and there is apparently little about it that’s “affordable”. In fact, long-time Washington player Senator Max Baucus likens the coming implementation of some of the main components of the new health care law to a “train wreck”.

From the fight over who exactly is to pay for the so-called exchanges from state to state, to the plethora of tax increases associated with the law, and as doctors are walking out of meetings in protest of what they say is a lack of discernible forethought in terms of the implementation of the five-year roll-out plan, “Obamacare” looks to be just as Baucus suggested, a “train wreck”.

For those of us who predicted this very nightmare scenario, there is some vindication in the knowledge that when you allow a government bureaucracy to be involved in what should be left to the private sector to hash out, it will always go badly. Regrettably however, there will also and always be victims of ill-conceived and unrealistic legislation like this.

Not sure where we go from here on out, but the road ahead looks bumpy to be sure, and will no doubt be far more costly than Candidate/President Barack Obama was ready to admit when he sold us this bill of goods.

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“Barely above stall speed”…

042613_Imus_MacedoGDP growth came in at about 2.5 percent in the first quarter, shy of the expected 3.0 percent, and well below what most credible economists see as a number necessary to promote real job growth. Oddly, consumer spending ticked up again which I believe is related to the rise in consumer debt. A lot of folks are simply “charging it” again.

Scary as that may sound, it pales in comparison to a piece of news I heard today regarding how the fed will now measure the nation’s economic size and strength. Apparently, Beyonce’s album sales, and a host of “research and development” spending will now be added to our overall economic picture to show some size, if you will. So not only do we have to swallow the “pie in the sky” wishful economics of our “Professor in Chief”, but our government is actually going to  factor in a whole bunch of phantom numbers to disguise our obvious fiscal malignancy. Great…

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Biden, “over the pond”…

You got a license for that finger Mr. Vice President???

You got a license for that finger Mr. Vice President???

Hypocrisy in one form or another seems a permanent detriment in the modern political arena. I suppose one could cite voter apathy as a cause. In fairness, it’s not exclusive to either party, though this Administration seems to have opened significant inroads in terms of “do as I say, not as I do”. That aside, is the Vice President of the United States dumb, or do he and his staff simply have the utmost contempt for “We the People”.

Watching the President’s wife live the jet-set life in financially crippled Spain last year was bad enough, but Biden’s overseas hijinks on the tax-payer dime recently, all the while allegedly drowning in a sea of tears for sequestration, is borderline nauseating.

At the end of the day, over a million dollars spent on transportation, staffers, security and five-star hotels for two nights in London and Paris, is a bitter pill to swallow for those still struggling in an ever-shrinking American work force.

Now for all you apologists who would try and validate the VP’s ability to accomplish anything of substance over in Europe, (or anywhere else for that matter), I have some simple math for you:

Biden’s trip + the “Tiger Woods Presidential Golf Extravaganza” = 1/2 of the yearly cost of White House tours. Moreover, if the “First Family” would kick back just 1/5 of their vacation cost to taxpayers last year, we could cover a whole year of tours, and some change for popcorn too… Nah, I hear Michelle doesn’t vacuum…

Hypocrisy or elitist contempt, you make the call…

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It’s the labor force stupid…

Dept_-of-LaborListening to the “lame Stream Media” hype the latest jobs numbers would be laughable if weren’t so damn irresponsible. Well as I always say, let’s look at “the numbers within the numbers”.

CNS did a very good job hashing it all out so we can see the very real and troubling disparities plaguing our economy and labor force. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough respectable journalists willing to put aside their “Obama-love” for just a minute and report the truth. And so that task falls to those of us willing to embrace the facts, and they are pretty much these:

– the number of Americans designated as “not in the labor force” in February was 89,304,000, a record high, up from 89,008,000 in January, according to the Department of Labor. This means that the number of Americans not in the labor force increased 296,000 between January and February, (and there goes your jobs added last month…)

– The fact is that the labor participation rate in our country remains at a record low 63.5%. Just to put that into perspective, when Barack Obama took office, the labor participation rate was 65.7%.

– The U6 unemployment rate, which measures those who are unemployed and underemployed, is 14.3%.

– The jobs that are being added to our economy are part-time, rather than full-time jobs. According to the Household Survey, the number of full-time jobs declined by 77,000 from 115,918, to 115,841 while the number of part-time workers rose from 27,467, to 27,569, or 102,000 jobs.

– The number of Americans out of work for more than 27 weeks rose in February by 89,000, going from 4.7 million to 4.8 million.

Now don’t take my word for it, and save your ridiculous rhetoric. Get off your behinds and do the numbers yourselves. I know it’s easy to simply attack the messenger and believe the lie, but what good does that do our kids???

This message brought to you by someone who actually gets it…

Source – http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Source – http://cnsnews.com/news/article/record-89304000-americans-not-labor-force-296000-fewer-employed-january

Source – http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-08/february-multiple-jobholders-rose-record-full-timers-dropped-part-timers-increased

 

 

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Sorry, we’re closed…

Sorry kids, we're closed...

Sorry kids, we’re closed…

In my notes from yesterdays article, I mentioned that if you call the White House (Media Events and Visitors Office) you will hear a recording telling you, “Due to sequestration and resulting staffing reductions, tours of the Executive Mansion have been suspended”.

Really?

This is what I mean when I write about the inexperience and flat out immaturity of the Obama Administration. They are the college debate team taking their ball and going home because they were made the fools for their distortions and misrepresentations during the sequestration battle. Regrettably, their lack of depth and understanding of our Republic and its creed, are trumped only by their elitist and irresponsible application of their responsibilities to “We the People”. For what does it say of this so-called recovery, when the President of the United States would spite a bunch of wide-eyed school children and not advocate for their futures by doing his job.

Unnecessary and unbecoming of the office to say the least Mr. President.

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The Dow and a few notes…

untitledThe Dow closed at its highest level ever today, and true to form my in-box exploded with praise for Obama and company. Well far be it from me not to dampen the little Lefty illusion with a soaking dose of reality. Ultimately, (and as usual), a quick lesson is necessary in that the stock market is not the economy and vice versa. They are very different entities with very different points of reference and influence. I’m no financial advisor however, so I won’t attempt further instruction. That said, let’s look at some numbers.

When we examine this “paper tiger” economy the President is touting as a success, we see a sputtering engine, beleaguered by inexperience and ineptitude at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and struggling for the fuel only a confident free market can provide. The last time the stock market was close to these numbers, the United States economy was in a far different place. It was 2007 and a gallon of gas was around $2.50. Americans were making about $6000.00 a year more, and there were around seven million folks unemployed compared to thirteen million today. There are twice as many people on food stamps today than in 07, our debt was nine trillion and consumer confidence was at 99 percent as opposed to 69 percent today. Additionally, much of our so-called economic growth in the last five years, has come bolstered by the Fed printing capital and restraining interest rates at dangerously low levels.

Bottom line is, don’t break out the champagne just yet. The stock market will correct, and the effects of this administrations failed college application will continue to contract an already weakened and hollow economy. Regrettably, the worst is still ahead of us…

Late Note: The Socialist South American dictator, arguably responsible for the deaths of many in the Venezuelan opposition, as well as the theft of billions in civilian property, is dead. I’m sure Joe Kennedy and Sean Penn are grieving this very minute.

Note 2: According to the answering service, White House tours have been cancelled due to “sequestration”. The President of the United States is throwing a tantrum. Childish, unnecessary, and inexcusable.

Note 3: In acknowledgement of the recent movement by college students/campuses around the country to divest in fossil fuel companies, will all students please turn in all electronic equipment manufactured and operated by way of fossil fuels immediately. Better yet, you may send all Apple notebooks, iPads and iPhone 5’s to my business address. Thank you.

Wake up kids, before it’s too late!!!

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Rush and Bill…

Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh

I think there’s an interesting debate to be had over Rush’s latest comments regarding how he sees our nation. That said, I always preface my comments about Rush by reminding everyone he’s a radio personality, albeit an extraordinarily popular one.

Look, when we have a man running the country who I frankly wouldn’t give a second job interview to, doing a pretty damn good job convincing American’s that shaving 1 penny off each dollar spent in Washington will bring about end times, it does say something about whether or not folks are doing their homework. I argue every day with people who are simply unable to move past their ideological prejudice to the facts. I literally find myself managing my time away from folks who are just too far-gone to partake of a legitimate debate. I can’t even imagine being on Limbaugh’s level, (though I wouldn’t mind that paycheck).

 

Bill O'Reilly

Bill O’Reilly

Nevertheless, I think Bill O’Reilly’s analysis is a bit closer to the actual reality than Rush’s, or at least I hope so. He thinks more and more people are just plain selfish. For my part, I’m concerned the proverbial clock is ticking while this battle for the soul of our country, which I predicted some years ago, rages on. Moreover, I remain convinced the President of the United States is a narcissistic ideologue first, who means to leave this nation humbled in the wake of his time in office. To that, I believe Americans would do well to wake up and smell the political coffee.

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“Sequestration 2013″…

CONGRESS-articleLargeAs I look at “sequestration” and the intense political drama playing out in advance of the issue, it appears President Obama may just get his wish after all. In essence, the whole idea of sequester was put forth in order to create a sense of urgency over our critical debt, as well as the spending on both sides of the aisle which created it. In reality though, why the heck would anyone need to be motivated to act on something so potentially catastrophic as nearly $17 trillion in bad debt.

Now Libs in Washington have done a great job of dressing up this monster pig as something less than the death knell it and “Obamacare” will be for our economy, but the truth is coming to the surface like so much “you know what” in a clogged bowl. However, if nearly $1 trillion in interest a year by 2020 isn’t enough to get Nancy Pelosi to admit we’re spending entirely too much of our grandchildren’s money, than I don’t know what is.

At the end of the day, I am of the mind this sequester, (as the President has proposed), should go forward in order to force the debate over how Washington is spending taxpayer money. Moreover, if our elected officials do not have the intestinal fortitude to advocate on behalf of our posterity, and in spite of their own selfish and ideological shortcomings, than all may indeed be lost.

 

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“Skin in the game”…

Dr. Benjamin Carson is the kind of man we should be sending to Washington. If not for the fact he is a doctor (a pediatric brain surgeon no less), and we are in such short supply of doctors because of Obamacare, I would start a petition today to draft him for a political run. Why do I say this, you ask?

175974_5_I caught just a bit of his remarks at the recent National Prayer Breakfast where he lectured and President on healthcare and then schooled him on tax reform. This man has two things which are clearly in short supply in Congress these days, character and common sense. His basic premise on taxes (as described in his book, “America the Beautiful”),  is a “flat tax” for all, very much like a “religious tithe”, would dramatically simplify the tax code and solve most of Washington’s spending vs. revenue issues. It would also go a long way to rooting out the political evil which now presides over our finances. Simply put, an across the board percentage of one single and mutually agreed upon “denomination” would be applied to every working American (and collecting one). Obviously, if you have some “skin in the game”, you are naturally more inclined to be concerned with how “your” money gets spent. Moreover, the incentive to better ones fiscal position, is reinforced by the notion that you are treated no differently than any other tax payer. The flip side of that coin of course, is that you should expect no different accommodation.

The videos and web page below are about as sensible an approach as I have heard in some time. There is no dark political objective, and no prevalent ideology with the exception of that which is our cultural, and undeniable national origin. I must agree, a “flat tax” would be the single best solution to our financial troubles to come along in over eighty years, and would return our nation to its Constitutional foundations. Politicians take note, “We the People” are gonna get this message eventually. Unfortunately, the rest of what Dr. Carson has to say is only for those who love and appreciate their country.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-a-budget/282211-dr-ben-carsons-tithing-wisdom

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2161630388001/does-the-bible-endorse-a-flat-tax

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4fkBb3_E_g

 

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Rubio Response…

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)

In the face of sequestration which will devastate our military while our enemies strengthen theirs, and as our debt laden economy teeters, a mere shadow of its former vibrancy, propped up by reckless spending and foolish ideological rhetoric, the President of The United States will speak to Congress and the nation tonight and tell us we are on the mend. The truth is this country is obviously demoralized. It has been successfully re-defined by a small but highly effective minority. This “new norm” is a carefully cultivated mediocrity, devoid of effort and ripe with folks content with the status-quo. Fading fast are the days of risk and reward, hard work and success. Our country now seems held together by false “safety nets” and excuses, generational theft and selfishness.

No nation on planet earth is perfect to be sure, but we are special, unique, our creed and founding rooted in the God-given freedom to succeed of our own effort, each according to his or her own talent and drive. In turn and unfettered, those successes breed a collective spirit and national success unmatched in human history. That spirit and desire to be better and to live better, are what have defined the U.S. for generations, and held us together through many a hellish challenge.

Mr. President, this is not a time to divide a nation already “taxed” and pummeled by misinformation and demagoguery. We need a leader who believes in the real America, not someone who will remake the culture and traditions which built America. Consequently, I look forward to hearing the Republican response, articulated by a man who understands that “We the People” will only succeed as “one nation under God” if we are truly “one nation under God”.

For Conservatives who know the POTUS will come out passive aggressive and predictably partisan tonight, seizing on every opportunity to run the class warfare playbook against his political opponents, Senator Marco Rubio represents an almost JFK moment. He’s a breath of fresh air, and a “real” son of immigrants. A true American success story, Rubio is poised to enter the history books as a pivotal player in our nation’s future, and I will be watching and listening to him closely…

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