Category Archives: Opinion

WHAT FREE MARKETS? NOT HERE.

Posted on October 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

When Sen. Dick Durbin stood up in the Senate chamber and told the American public not to do business with a bank he didn’t like, he threatened the free market system.  When the President of the United States confirmed and added to the senator’s condemnation, the free market system ceased to exist.

Free is free.  Half free is not free.  What we have is coercive capitalism, a form of fascism where private ownership of the means of production of goods and services is allowed, but where management is not free to follow the dictates of the market.  This, along with crony capitalism has been described by some as the new face of socialism in America.

John Hinderaker at Power Line has written an excellent piece that begins “Nice Bank You Have Here…, a shame if anything should happen to it… The Democrats took gangster government to a new level today…”  It’s an excellent post and falls into the category of required reading.  Don’t miss it.


Socialist leaders have long realized the challenge of establishing the Marxist form of socialism in a democracy like the United States is an insurmountable one.  A strong and prosperous middle class would never willingly accept a government that would appropriate ownership of private enterprise.  The alternatives are to employ force with a violent revolution (a very bad choice) or to allow private ownership but control it.

Control comes in many forms.  Durbin-Obama coercion is just one of them.  Other means of control include appointing czars to oversee various industries, misuse of executive orders, outright flaunting of established law and the passing of bills that are vague, thereby leaving the specifics to be set by the whims of the bureaucracy as dictated from above.  Go along get along becomes a near necessity.  Those who do more than go along, get along even better.  From Solyndra to GE, this is the new face of socialism in America.

Leave a comment

Posted in News, Opinion, Political polemics, Regulation, Videos

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

The COLUMN Sept 30, 2011

Posted on September 30, 2011 | Leave a comment
John Stossel

Image via Wikipedia

Quote of the day
”The truth is we have too few jobs today because government stands in the way.  If I’m an employer, why would I want to hire someone when Congress and the Labor Department have so many rules that I might not be able to fire that person if he can’t do the job?  Why would I take a risk on an investment when still-to-be-written rules about Obamacare, financial regulation and the environment could turn my good idea into a losing venture?”  John Stossel

From the You-Can’t-Make-This-Stuff-Up Department
The State of Oregon was a five million dollar gold star by the Obama administration for putting more people on the Food Stamp program.  This is not to cover the cost, mind you; it’s a cash bonus for performance.  What’s next, a ten million dollar reward to New York if they increase the crime rate?

Grease
The skids are being Greeced and the European Union will slip by without breaking up – this time.  That’s our opinion, but it’s a squeaker.  It certainly wasn’t conservative policies of spending within your means or rule of law that got the European nations into their mess.  But it’s conservative policies that will get the public blame.  The left will see to that.  Sarkozy of France and Merkel of Germany are in big trouble with the voters already and the final deal is yet to be signed.

Leave a comment

Posted in News, Opinion

Tagged , , ,

SUPREME COURT HEARINGS on OBAMACARE and the ARIZONA BORDER

Posted on September 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Two highly significant issues are being prepared for presentation before the Supreme Court.  One is the United States Government vs. the State of Arizona.  The argument put forth by the Obama administration is that the federal government is given exclusive power to regulate immigration.  The question then is what power does a state have to protect its own people when the federal government imperils the states citizens by failing to enforce its own laws.

The second significant item is the constitutionality of Obamacare.  No case has actually been filed as yet but one is fully expected.  At one count, 38 states had joined or were considering joining in a suit to argue the health care plan is unconstitutional.  The issue here is the “individual mandate”.  The plan requires everyone to carry insurance or pay money to the government for failure to do so.  The crux of the argument lies in the characterization of that money.  Is it a tax or a penalty?

If it is a tax, Obamacare is more likely to be found constitutional under the clause that gives the federal government to levy tax for the national welfare of the people.  However, if it is a penalty, Obamacare is more likely to be found unconstitutional under the interstate commerce provisions which give Congress the power to regulate, but not to mandate interstate commerce.

The states will argue that the money is a penalty.  The Obama administration will argue it is a tax.  It would be interesting if President Obama were to be called to testify about his assertions to the American people that his plan would actually save money and therefore no new taxes would be required to pay for it.  That won’t happen, of course.

Leave a comment

Posted in News, Opinion

Tagged , , , , , ,

DAVID BROOKS and THE LOST DECADE

Posted on September 27, 2011 | Leave a comment
David Brooks

Image via Wikipedia

Give the devil his due and the devil’s domain too.  When they’re right, they’re right.  David Brooks has an excellent Op Ed piece in today’s New York Times.  The title belies the content.  The article is better than its label.

Brooks points out that “Roger Altman, a former deputy Treasury secretary, is arguing that America and Europe are on the verge of a disastrous double-dip recession”.  Republicans and Democrats are stuck in their own one cure solutions.  Democrats say government needs to spend more to jump start the economy. They always say that.  Republicans say the government needs to tax less and get out of the way, and then the recovery will begin.  They always say that.

Brooks is more disposed to the idea of throwing out the bath water, throwing out the baby, throwing out the tub, throwing out the towels, the soap, the powder, the whole ball of wax.  Then he would start anew with a flat tax.  He doesn’t say it but he describes it.  Brooks would give the whole international banking and monetary system the Ron Paul treatment and start from scratch.  But he calls it the holistic approach.  Read it if you want to see David’s solutions.

[David, did I read you right?]

Roger Altman, a former deputy Treasury secretary, is arguing that America and Europe are on the verge of a disastrous double-dip recession

Leave a comment

Posted in Economy, Opinion, Political philosophy

Tagged , , ,

RANDOM THOTS on WARREN BUFFETT and PALESTINIAN SUPPORTERS

Posted on September 27, 2011 | 2 comments

Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett’s salary is $524,000.  That would put him squarely in the 35% tax bracket; however he chooses not to pay it.  Instead he peals off some of his Berkshire Hathaway stock and gives it to his Buffet Foundation.  The market value of the shares qualifies as a charitable contribution which he can deduct from his taxable income.

The maximum deduction he can take in any one year is 30% but that’s not 30% of his salary; it’s 30% of his adjusted gross income.  We don’t know what that is because he won’t release his tax returns.  So we don’t know how much of his income he protects from being taxed by the money he gives to his foundation.

What he is doing may not be all that bad but we wish he would be up front about it.  By giving directly to charitable causes through his foundation, Buffet is avoiding the middle man, the U.S government.  There is much abuse in the foundation world but there is no indication of it in the Buffett Foundation.  He, not the government, decides where the money goes, what to support and what not to support.  The bureaucratic slippage is less and, presumably, none of the money is lost to corruption.

By the way, Mr. Buffett did not say he paid less tax than his secretary, as we often see quoted.  What he said was he pays at a lower rate.  His secretary could pay at a lower rate too, if she gave 30% of her income to charity.

The Palestinian cause
Israel gives Palestinians a voice in the Israeli government.
Not one single Arab nation gives one single Jew a voice in their government.

Thousands of suicide bombers have killed thousands of Jews.  They blow people to bits in public markets, schools and on buses.  In some cases they target children intentionally.
Have you ever heard of as much as one Jewish suicide bomber killing one Palestinian?

If the Arabs laid down their arms, there would be peace.
If Israel laid down its arms, there would be no Israel.

Palestinians teach their children that mass murder, even of non Jews, is an honorable act provided that some Jews are included in the intended death toll.


–0O0–

It is hard to conceive how an honorable person can lend support to such atrocities, regardless of the cause.  And please don’t tell me you support the cause but not the tactics.  That’s not possible.  Lending support to the cause while theses tactics are being employed encourages continuation of the tactics.

Palestinian supporters, you have blood on your hands.

 

2 Comments

Posted in News, Opinion, Randoms

FREEMAN IS LOOKING THROUGH RACE COLORED GLASSES

Posted on September 24, 2011 | 1 comment

Black actor Morgan Freeman had this exchange on the Piers Morgan show: (click here for the video)

FREEMAN: Mitch McConnell. Their stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term. What’s, what does that, what underlines that? “Screw the country. We’re going to whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here.”

PIERS MORGAN: But is that necessarily a racist thing?

FREEMAN: It is a racist thing.

PIERS MORGAN: Is it not Republicans, wouldn’t that say that about any Democrat president?

FREEMAN: No…

Early in his presidency, Barack Obama promised his stimulus bill would bring down unemployment.  He warned unemployment could rise as high as 8% if his bill did not pass Congress.  It passed quickly and easily.  Unemployment soared to over 9% and is still there.  Particularly hard hit are black Americans with rates over 20% in some districts.

Obama promised the first thing he would do is close Gitmo.  Gitmo is still open.  He promised to bring all of our troops home quickly from Iraq.  Troops are still there.

Obama promised unprecedented openness in government.  He said he would open the doors wide for CSPAN to cover debates on every important issue and then he shut them out of coverage on the health care bill.  We got less openness, not more.  Obama promised he would require every bill presented to him to be published on the internet for 5 days of public comment before signing it.  And then even Senators and Congressmen weren’t given copies of the bill, if they were Republicans, until 3 days before they had to vote on it.

When Barack Obama assumed office the country was dangerously in debt.  Instead of proposing steps to bring the debt down to safe levels, he campaigned incessantly for dramatic increases in spending to the point where our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in history.

Obama submitted a budget that was so out of line with realities that not even one single Democrat would vote for it.

He has alienated our friends, coddled our enemies and pointed out our shortcomings in speech after speech made abroad.  Black Caucus members have recently expressed their dissatisfaction with the President.

Mr. Freeman, don’t you suppose, just suppose, that some people might object to Obama’s presidency, not because of his color, but because of what he has done?

1 Comment

Posted in Economy, Opinion, Political polemics, Videos

Tagged , , , ,

EXPLAINING BERNANKE’S TWIST

Posted on September 21, 2011 | 2 comments

When an economy needs a little boost, the lowering of interest rates spurs consumer big ticket buying and encourages businesses to expand by lowering the cost of anything that is financed.  However, with short term interest rates already near zero, this tool is no longer in the Federal Reserve’s toolbox.  So Bernanke’s move is to lower long term rates in the hope that that will encourage companies to expand and consumers to increase their purchases of automobiles and homes. That’s the Bernanke Twist.

Tell me, with short term rates near zero and long term rates at 1.94%, the lowest in more than a half century, how much more likely is it you will buy a car if long rates go from 1.9 percent to perhaps 1.7 percent?  How much more likely is it the owner of the tire store in your neighborhood will open another outlet now that he can borrow for a few pennies less?  None. 

Corporations are not lacking money.  Consumers are not holding back because of interest rates.  The Fed is pushing on a string — again.  It is not the cost of money or the lack of money in the system that is holding back a recovery.  It’s executive government policy that’s crippling the economy.  The tire shop owner may be ready and anxious to open another store, but first he must know how much it will cost to take on the new employees.  He also needs to know what the latest regulations are and how much it will cost to comply with them.  But none of this is knowable given the complexities of Obamacare and the vagueness written into many of the new laws.  So we sit.

What this country needs is not a good 5 cent cigar or lower interest rates.  What this country needs is a presidential election year.  Let’s hope the voters don’t make the same mistake twice.

2 Comments

Posted in Economy, News, Opinion, Regulation

Tagged , , , , ,

A FEW YOUNGSTERS STAGE “DAYS OF RAGE”

Posted on September 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

Headline. September 19, 2011

Police Set Barricades as ‘Days of Rage’ Protesters Target Wall Street

Rile them up, stir up some anger, get them mad at someone then boldly tell them that you are the answer.  It doesn’t matter who.  It doesn’t matter what.  It’s not about solving any problem; it’s about gaining power.  It’s in Saul Alinsky’s book, Rules for Radicals.  It’s the Chicago style of government.  Even more, it’s the Obama style of government.  He knows no other.

Fortunately, enough of the American people see it for what it is.  Those that don’t, never will.  Police estimated today’s ragers numbered about 350.  Have no fear; it’s not enough to get a community organizer re-elected.

Leave a comment

Posted in News, Opinion

Tagged , , ,

OBAMA’S BUFFETT PLAN FOR TAXES

Posted on September 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

“It’s confoosin but not amoosin.”  Lil Abner

From the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is expected to seek a new base tax rate for the wealthy to ensure that millionaires pay at least at the same percentage as middle income taxpayers.

The federal income tax rate for payers with taxable income of 379,150 or more, which obviously includes millionaires, is 35%.  What does the AP mean by “middle income”?  If they mean people with taxable income between 34,500 and 83,500, their rate is 25%.  Is Obama proposing that millionaires who are now taxed at 35% should pay at least 25%?  That can’t be.

The AP says that on Monday, Obama will announce what he will call the “Buffett Rule” for the rich.  Perhaps we will know what it is after he proposes it.  At least that’s better than having to wait until Congress passes it.

The AP explains:

“The measure would be in addition to $447 billion in new tax revenue that Obama is seeking to pay for his short-term spending and tax cutting plan to jump start the economy.”

How’s that again, a $447 billion “spending and tax cutting” plan?  I’m confoosed.  I didn’t know spending was a tax cutting measure.

As I understood it, Barack Obama’s most recent jobs plan calls upon Congress to appropriate another $447 billion that the President and his administration can spend as they see fit to create some jobs.  But the President did say in his speech that he would “cut payroll taxes in half”, temporarily.  Payroll taxes are those deductions from your pay that go for Social Security and Medicare.  Obama also said it is time to “raise middle class taxes”.  Aha!  I think I’ve got it.  If we raise middle class taxes to 35% that will “ensure that millionaires pay at least at the same percentage as middle income taxpayers”.  Now that is amoosin!  But I’m still confoosed.

Leave a comment

Posted in Humor, News, Opinion

Tagged , ,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE, GO BIG

Posted on September 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

36 Senators, more than a third of the entire senatorial body, joined hands on Thursday and held a press conference to send a bipartisan call for serious cuts in the federal budget.

When you develop your expenditure cutting plan “Be bold, be brave, go big”.  These are the words of exhortation given by Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

Conrad’s remarks were officially directed to the bipartisan panel charged with presenting a bill by November 3rd cutting 1,500,000,000,000 (1.5T) from the federal budget.  However, Steven Hayward, writing for Power Line, sees the Senators’ pledge as a message intended for Barack Obama.  Hayward calls it Obama’s Last Chance. He may be right.  The President is getting very little support from his party.

Leave a comment

Posted in News, Opinion

Tagged , ,