Category Archives: Economy

Red meat…

Posted on 2011/11/26 by

If you follow my writing at all, you will know that I’m against amnesty of any sort. And for that reason you might conclude that Newt Gingrich’s recent immigration policy proposal as outlined in his 21st Century Contract with America might make me a bit queasy. To the contrary, I think it makes sense. The problem always comes when the media jumps the gun and harps the sound bite without the facts.

It is true that the Republicans consider themselves to be the party of the family, (the real family, not the Liberal facsimile). Therefore, it is only logical that we should promote that which we believe. Gingrich is correct when explains that it makes no sense to uproot and destroy a tax paying families which, after having been allowed to enter and stay in this country for 25 years or more by way of the current and failed immigration policy, and those of Administrations dating back to Reagan. If one would take the time to read the proposal, one would see that there would be a number of checks and balances, not the least of which deals directly with those more recent and “untied” to America if you will, being given their collective walking papers. There are even more qualifications that disallow voting rights as a penalty even to some of those who will remain.

The message here is simple. This is not a Rhino flip/flop like those of Candidate Romney, but rather a well thought out plan presented by a seasoned lawmaker who understands that simple expulsion of the almost 12 million illegals currently living in this country, while making for good campaign “red meat”, is simply not doable…

 

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Presidential IQ…

Posted on 2011/11/25 by

While my political differences with President Obama run deep, I have never questioned the man’s intellect. I will admit I’ve made some not so flattering references to his Presidency looking a bit like that of # 39, those were more about where the country seems to be heading as he applies his college thesis to the problems of real life.

To the contrary, Barack Obama is no dummy. He is however the most ideological man ever to sit in the Oval Office, and yes that includes Ronald Reagan. In this man’s eyes, we are but the unwashed masses and would benefit greatly if we would just submit to his wisdom. The problem is “We the People” are beginning to understand, and in greater numbers every day, that this is not about the Presidents cognitive abilities by way of his education, but rather it is about his refusal to accept the concept of an all things to all people view of the federal system is simply unrealistic.

So while the POTUS continues to pour over his Noam Chomsky literature looking for a reason why the economy refuses to turn around despite him having played the Socialist play book by the numbers to include the class warfare standard, the country is slowly slipping away into the always fatal abyss of international insignificance. We are a dying world power.

Now I heard someone talking on the cable news today about a certain Republican Primary candidate “re-making” himself and no longer sounding “apocalyptic”. Thinking about that, I wanted to use this post and its topic to remind my readers of something very important. While “apocalyptic” is not a word I use with any frequency, to categorize our current national predicament with even the slightest hint of complacency would mean your “cognitive abilities” should be called into question. The United States of America, with Barack Obama as President, is in fact changing. The question is, will you accept that change?

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Kerry conundrum…

Posted on 2011/11/22 by

John Kerry reporting for something, not sure what...

John Kerry, “uber rich Democrat” MA, has about as much credibility on the issue of taxes as the Rhode Island General Assembly. That said, if we are to take anything from this silly “Super Committee” experiment, it should be that the argument over our debt is a fundamental one of ideology. The Democrats in Washington are doing their level best to frame the debate in terms of the class warfare argument, but it just doesn’t sound legitimate crossing the lips of a tax and spend hypocrite like John Kerry. The Republicans on the other hand are proposing the simple mathematical equation of “spend only what you have in a time when you’re broke and heavily in debt”. I have an even more simplistic analogy that I think fits the bill. A gambler with a drinking problem is about to go under at a Vegas casino and is asking for yet another rack of credit chips in the hopes that he can win it all back.

I am asking all my Progressive detractors and email buddies to email today with your true intentions. Put aside your disdain and vitriolic hatred for the American way for just a minute and do the math. Stop the silly and counterproductive trip down memory lane, accept what is the political reality of a two party shared blame, and then explain to me how the hell we are going to get out of this hole by simply “taxing the rich”, (or for that matter taking every single dime from every single person or entity making $250,000.00 dollars a year or more). Let me help you out a little in advance. I have already done the work for you, and it is mathematically impossible!! So inevitably, your intentions must be to destroy America as we know it!!

There, you see? Was that so hard? Now let the battle begin….

 

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Call it what it is…

Posted on 2011/11/20 by

I read an editorial in the Providence Journal the other day which focused on why, under Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, the “Affordable” Care Act would eventually be upheld as Constitutional when it is heard this coming summer in the U.S. Supreme Court. After I finished and accepted that the author, who was from Los Angeles and spoke of regulatory constraints in terms marijuana legalized for medicinal purposes, was obviously attempting stretch the Commerce Clause far beyond any discernible measure, I refocused on the battle over the debt raging within the so-called “Super committee” and how the two debates are ultimately related.

Anyone who can perform the most basic mathematical equations must conclude in large part that our current fiscal ditch was dug primarily with an entitlement shovel. Spending beyond our means and outside of our Constitutional responsibilities has resulted in the fiscal breakdown of government from the cities and towns to the federal black hole. Consequently, I want to leave the question of Constitutionality off the table for a moment and sprinkle a little common sense on this dilemma. In view of how almost every government entitlement program has wound up (in debt and insolvent), why in the name of God would anyone ever think of adding more to that already bloated and foundering ship by way of yet another tax and spend initiative? In beating to death the question of whether we can, many on Capitol Hill have not even bothered to ask if we should.

I would submit to all of you the fundamental problem in Washington today, is born not of a lack of intelligence, reason or capability, but rather reflects simple irresponsibility in the face of overwhelming truth. It is this foolhardy and blatant disregard for our children’s America that will be our undoing, not some silly deal to cut a lousy 1.5 trillion dollars over ten years from a debt number that will swallow that much long before 2021.

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Balancing act…

Posted on 2011/11/18 by

My wife and I sat today as we often do, and discussed money coming in and money going out. It is a discussion that in this day and age is all the more critical. As a side note, the discussion involved taxes on everything from my cell phone bill, to gas, to the utility delivery apparatus for my house. So the next person I hear say they would be willing to pay more taxes, I will give them mine. (Or would this be considered a loophole)?

Getting back to our household budget, the mathematical equation is actually quite simple. Money going out should not exceed money coming in. This is a struggle sometimes I understand. But fiscal discipline my wife and I agree is as important as or more so today than at any time in recent memory. That said, I understand and can sympathize with the notion of succumbing to the impulse to buy that hot new phone or flat screen. But in the end, my son’s future dictates a balanced budget and it must be done.

Why then is this concept so foreign and/or difficult for our government and to those to whom we have entrusted it? Why have we allowed them to use “federal plastic” in so reckless a manner for so extended a period of time? Why have we allowed the culture of special interest politics to burden our great-grandchildren? And why now does the congress scoff at the idea of a “balanced budget amendment” on behalf of our posterity. When I think about the answer, it causes me to believe there is no hope. I cringe and will not allow this however. I will not believe that “the entitlement free ride”, as promoted and financed by the Progressive Left, has finally crippled our nation beyond repair. And I will not believe that “We the People” have signed off on the American dream and the individual freedom necessary to achieve it.

I will say though that every step we take away from common sense and every ounce of leverage we forego in the name of political expediency is another step toward an America we will not recognize when all is said and done.

The Wall Street folks should quit stifling the Manhattan business economy, and should be yelling shame at those who voted against our children’s future today in Congress when they voted against the proposed balanced budget amendment. Shame! Shame! Shame!

 

 

 

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The coming storm…

Posted on 2011/11/17 by

Is there anyone out there who believes that the so-called “Wall Street Protests” haven’t morphed into a chaotic, unprincipled and frankly public threat? If so you should pull your head out of your posterior post-haste.

The age of Obama...

I’m sorry Juan Williams, Bob Beckel and Chris Matthews, the blood and facts are there for all to see. This is no longer a viable demonstration or protest as much as it is an incoherent uprising by a small but vocal and even violent bunch of 60’s anarchists, homeless, misguided college kids, drug addicts and law breakers. Any message that may have been brought to the table by way of the “people’s voice” has been co-opted and massacred to reflect only anger and felony violence against any who oppose their view of the world, including law enforcement attempting to restore normalcy. It has become what we of the “common sense doctrine” knew it would.

The question is what will come of this mess? What will the message be now, or is this simply the beginning of something even more diabolical and devastating for our wounded nation?

Ah, the age of Obama…

 

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Lazy day…

Posted on 2011/11/15 by

Let’s face it, we all have our moments when we are less than motivated. You know, those times when we just want enjoy the beautiful day, or a late afternoon adult beverage (or two)on the deck, or even play hooky occasionally from the office. I’d have to say these distractions are the things we often take for granted when we forget how truly blessed we are in this world.

Having this in mind however, I take great umbrage when a politician refers to the American institution as “lazy”, especially a Liberal one. On a personal level, I see our President for what he is, a college cling-on who has never really experienced the working man’s side of this life in any meaningful way, but rather has “elected” to exist primarily in the reality vacuum which is the political dynamic in our country. His “efforts” have been focused on changing America first, as opposed to bettering the nation’s proven philosophy in order to promote its Constitutional ideals for all.

I think it is this “disconnect” many did not see back in 2008 when they voted for the change they believed would come within the framework we all understand is America. They were blindsided by the glitz, nuance and teleprompter skills of our first (half black) President and missed all the warning signs. They embraced the remarkable evolution of our young nation unmatched in the world, but failed to truly listen to what Barack Obama was actually saying.

I suppose I should be happy the 2008 election finally facilitated the challenge I have been writing about for years now, a moment in time when Americans would have to wake up and choose a way forward. For it is the moments when this President’s true motivations and thought process are on display, such as on his latest Southeast Asian swing, that we swallow hard and say to our collect selves, “oh boy, what is happening here”? We listen with anxiety as our nation’s leader goes on foreign soil and diminishes and insults the greatest work force and ethic of any people in all of recorded time, and we cringe as we listen to our history being flattened and ridiculed by the same person who was elected on the notion he would bring some sort of collective unity at home and abroad.

Sadly, it is Barack Obama the man that we see up on that podium. It is the real deal Socialist with disdain in his heart for a people who cannot see or understand his “superior intellect”. It is the closet revolutionary whose real loyalties lie with those who would remake our nation in the vein of a failed European experiment. And it is only “We the People” who stand in his way. Stand tall America…

 

 

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“Super Committee Crunch”…

Posted on 2011/11/12 by

I think that in view of what seems to be happening within the so-called “Super Committee”, we can clearly see it is unlikely there will be compromise in Washington anytime soon. And if by some miracle there is bipartisan agreement on how to reduce our enormous national debt, any measures employed to accomplish that goal will be severely scrutinized by one side or the other. I seem to remember the POTUS and others talking way back when, about how this would be a “painful process for all”, yet he seems laser focused on making damn sure it comes at the expense of one group in particular. Notwithstanding the Presidents propensity to play the class warfare card at every possible juncture these days, we are now hearing folks like Leon Panetta crying foul as he sees the catastrophic damage which would result from proposed military budget cuts if an agreement on the debt is not reached. He has even gone so far as to suggest those cuts would at the very least, create an international environment which would embolden our enemies to take action against us. This is all in addition to the very obvious consequences for our economy as world banks and credit reporting agencies will surmise we are ill-prepared or even unwilling to get our fiscal house in order. We can also be sure that any direct cuts to entitlements which go forward without the aforementioned agreement, will be met with the most vile and hateful response imaginable from the Progressive side of the aisle.

So as we watch and wait on the response from the “Occupy” folks out on the West Coast who have been told to end their protest because of incidents of extreme violence and disruption, and who are now allegedly preparing for additional violence against the authorities in the event of any planned dispersal, we can only wonder how all of this “divisiveness” our President and his party have promoted of recent, will play out domestically and even in the view of other nations and “entities”.

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Jobs, Jobs, Jobs…

Posted on 2011/11/10 by

There is some good news to report today in that applications for unemployment fell to a seasonally adjusted 390,000, the third decline in four weeks. This comes as economic growth ticked up a bit as well. Economists are still worried however, that consumer spending rose only as household revenues decreased indicating people are using credit again making less money. With crude on the rise again and gas prices soon to follow for the holidays, Wall Street is “sketchy” at best in its forecasts, though the Dow did manage to hold on to modest gains today after yesterday’s plunge. This is probably due in part to some possible stability being reported from overseas within the last 24 hours.

Truth be told, our economic prognosis is still grim at best considering businesses are hedging their bets to make certain they survive. Additionally, and in the absence of any real growth spurring initiatives by this Administration, and with a national debt that looks only to climb dramatically over the next five years, job creators in America are simply looking to outlast the bad times and emerge on the other side. This understandable consensus is only aggravated by the lack of any level of confidence that might be instilled by the current political climate in Washington. Regrettably, I see these infinitesimal upward movements as only the gasps of a grievously wounded economic engine in need of immediate, tangible and “real” stimulus.

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Green snow job…

Posted on 2011/11/09 by

Vice President Joe Biden is one of the more mellow dramatic politicians to come down the pike in the past two decades or so. And while I’m inclined to sympathize with Biden the man and the traumatic loss which defined his life after his election to Congress in 1992, I cannot sympathize with Biden the politician and the often off the cuff and baseless brand of Liberalism he brings to the discussion. This cagy Washington insider is as much or more the partisan hack as his boss at any given moment on any given day. He has been and continues to be an enthusiastic promoter of the politics of national division to say the least.

Moreover, it appears that he was elbow deep in the push to bring green energy out of the closet before its time and at the expense of everything common sense. Emails recently turned over to the House Committee investigating the Solyndra debacle appear to cast the Vise President and Energy Secretary Steven Chu as its biggest cheerleaders. And while we are still searching for a clear smoking gun, it is obvious based on the email content, that high ranking folks at the WH were aware of a possible appearance of impropriety, and even suggested phraseology to be used if they were ever questioned on their role.

Now look, the Democrats in DC crying Republican foul or witch hunt on the matter of $500 billion dollars of tax payer money going down the toilet, is akin to Bernie Madoff bad mouthing Michael Milken, especially when the job creation they’re yacking about was supposed to have come from these “green energy companies”. Instead, and under the Obama watch I might add, the “venture capitalists” allegedly despised by the Left will most likely be paid through the bankruptcy court first, with everyday investors like you and I taking the pipe. Worse yet, what about all the folks who lost their new “green jobs” at the Solyndra plant itself?

Transparency?

I’m not sure I want to know anymore….

 

 

 

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