Obama thinks Americans making less than $250K grow their own food?
October 22, 2009
Obama’s administration plans to give the FDA sweeping new powers to over see the safety of the food supply. Everyone thinks this is a good idea. I think safe food is good. How are we going to pay for it? Half of the expanded FDA will be paid for by a new $500 tax on facilities that make food. The other half will come from deficit spending – ug. I seem to recall that Obama promised not to raise taxes on Americans who make less than $250K. Unless everyone who earns under $250K grows their own food they will be paying more for food. This is on top of the higher prices the poor and middle class are having to pay for tires due to Obama’s tax on inexpensive imported tires from China (the ones that are on inexpensive cars). I guess Obama is keeping his promise, but is he keeping the spirit of his promise? Everything we consume is costing more – food, tires and health care – is this good for America? Can we afford the higher costs?
Why government should run businesses
Imagine a future where Major League Baseball is in trouble. Three of the top teams are about to fail, but the new president is a huge baseball fan and decides to offer a bank-style bailout to the Yankees, Red Sox and Rangers. The teams are able to stay solvent and the season is able to continue. The government hopes to get its money back if the teams do well enough to attract fans and new investors. Along the way Congress decides that any team that is using federal dollars should have a salary cap of say $200,000. This is below the union contract, but the rules don’t apply to Congress. Do you think the Yankees will be able to keep their best players? Will the fans keep showing up? Will investors be interested? The easy answer is NO. The government will decimate each team rendering them completely worthless.
This is what the government is doing at the banks that owe us (taxpayers) billions of dollars. Annual salaries are being cut by 90% over last year, with total comp dropping by about 50%. I think the folks responsible for the mess we are in should be terminated and we should hire the best and brightest (and pay them handsomely) to fix these companies. I don’t know any CEO worth his salt who would sign a SOX compliance statement for $200K – not a single one.
Government’s Good Intentions: Inverted Incentives
October 21, 2009
The government has been offering first time home buyers and $8,000 incentive when they buy a home. On its face it seems like a good idea that might help the real estate market. But this $8,000 bonus is helping first time home buyers – i.e. people without a history of repayment or default – buy homes they might not be able to afford. This is very much like the sort of legislation that got us in this mess in the first place. Congress wanted ALL Americans to be able to afford the American dream and as a result pressured banks to make loans to people who simply couldn’t afford to repay them. Good intention, bad idea.
Wouldn’t it make sense to offer a n $8,000 incentive to anyone who hasn’t had any delinquencies on their existing mortgage for the past 48 months? The problem with the $8,000 first time home buyer incentive is that it creates demand for homes on the low end, but doesn’t help anyone currently in the low end upgrade to a better home. They might be able to sell their existing home, but they won’t get any help from the government to buy something newer or bigger. If we offered the incentive to anyone who has proven they can manage their finances well enough NOT to have had a delinquency we would free up existing homeowners to buy and sell homes unlocking equity that is tied up in houses all over the US.
Don’t punish the troops for political failure
October 19, 2009
Afghanistan has been a failed state for my entire lifetime. They have no history of democracy and their current leadership was installed by our government. From all accounts the most recent election was evidently a massive failure – fraught with fraud and malfeasance. Obama and his team are using the failure to put any military decision on hold until the government has legitimacy. All the while Obama’s generals are begging for more troops. The generals have told Obama that he can’t wait to decide. If we do the war will be lost. My opinion is that we should substantially reduce our troops strength and focus on a ’skynet’ approach. The worst option is no decision at all. Leaving our troops in theater without the support they need is unconscionable. Despite that fact, Rahm Emanuel explained that any troop decision would have to wait until the Afghans could be an effective partner. Either give them the tools to win or let them get out – don’t defer the decision until the Afghans get their sh*t together. They never will.
On a side note, my eight year old was listening to NPR with me last week during a report on the war in Afghanistan and suggested that the war would be over when the Taliban runs out of IEDs. Out of the mouths of babes. The sad part is that he is right, but what he couldn’t understand was that they will never run out of IEDs. I tried to explain that they would not run out because they could always buy more; Ethan didn’t why people would sell them explosives if they knew they were going to use them to kill people.
Obama’s Hope Built on a Lie
October 17, 2009
When Shepard Fairey created Obama’s ‘Hope’ poster he stole the work of Mannie Garcia, the owner of a small freelance photography company. When confronted by authorities Shepard claimed that he did NOT use Mannie’s photo, but more recently he has admitted to perjury as well as destruction and fabrication of evidence. His lawyers have indicated they can no longer represent him. The irony of the situation? After the AP confronted Shepard about the photo, asking for compensation, Fairey sued the AP. Yes, the guy who stole Mannie Garcia’s work had the gall to sue the AP for asking for compensation. Wow.
At the end of the day, this situation is ironic. Obama’s plan for America requires that property be taken from one group and given to another (and he is going to take the credit). For example, last week Obama announced he would be making a cash payment to senior citizens of $250. This plan will cost $12 billion and is being touted as part of a ’second stimulus’ to create jobs. You can create a boatload of jobs with $12 billion, but if you divide it up and give $250 to each senior you can’t create a single job. The administration is ‘hoping’ that seniors will go out to Best Buy and buy something. We need to start making investments – investments that are worth MORE tomorrow than they cost to build today. Build a building, build a nuclear power plant, built a road – all of these are examples of capital assets that a) create jobs near term and long term and b) will be worth more tomorrow than they are today. Assets appreciate. Cash payments to seniors make the situation worse.
Just as Shepard blamed the victim, Obama blames us – the small business owners who try to create jobs. He calls us ‘fat cats’, ‘whiners’ or unruly teenagers who don’t know what is good for ourselves. I have hope for America – but my hope is not invested in Obama or our government – instead my hope is invested in the people of America.
Venture Capitalists Falling Out of Love with Obama
October 15, 2009
All my friends in the venture capital industry (and I mean all) backed Obama in the 2008 election. They loved his plans for government investment in technology, research and development. Tim Mullaney from Bloomberg explains that venture capitalist are having a “Lovers’ Quarrel” with Obama over his new tax proposal. Specifically his “plan to double some taxes on venture firms’ profits and a Treasury Department proposal for tighter regulation would hurt innovation without raising significant revenue.” Ouch. This is on top of the administration’s plan to regulate financial institutions including venture capital firms.
The Nobel Peace Promise?
October 9, 2009
You should have heard by now that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I am not sure what he is winning for. The promise that he will one day be worthy of the prize? The only 9-month act worthy of a Nobel prize is the act of childbirth and the last time I checked Obama didn’t have a baby. Alfred Nobel’s will instructed that the ‘Peace’ prize should be awarded “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” Has Obama had enough time to “work for fraternity among nations?” Has he abolished our standing army? Has he held a peace congress? What has he done to deserve this honor?
The submission deadline for Obama’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize was 12 days after he became president. Prior to those 12 days Obama had not served a single term in the Senate and his biggest accomplishment (admittedly it was pretty big) was getting elected president of the United States. Since being elected Obama has served 9 months in office – his biggest accomplishment was nominating a Supreme Court Justice. Obama’s plans for the United States and the world are very big indeed, but at this point they are just plans. Will Obama eventually be worthy of the Nobel Prize for Peace? Perhaps, but the Committee has cheapened the award, making it all but meaningless when they awarded it to someone with such a limited body of work.
Handouts aren’t Stimulus
October 7, 2009
Thousands of Detroit residents lined up yesterday for $3,000 stimulus checks from the Obama administration. Turns out they were confused. Instead of receiving checks, the residents were asked to complete an application explaining their need. Detroit was granted $15MM by Obama to help residents pay their bills and rent.
These sort of direct handouts aren’t any sort of stimulus for the economy. Now I am not arguing these people couldn’t use the money, but government handouts never work. Helping you make rent payments for the next couple of months won’t create a single job. They will simply defer reality and add to our ballooning national debt. Our unemployment rate, the real one, is 17%+ – this approaches depression era levels. Of course it doesn’t include those working for SIGNIFICANTLY less than they did just a year ago. HP/EDS cut wages across the board between 30-40% this summer. I am not sure, but if someone cut my monthly income by 40% I might have problems sustaining my lifestyle. How about you? Video of the thousands of Detroit residents lining up for their checks.
Where are the stimulus projects that create jobs?
Failure we can’t afford. . .
October 6, 2009
Obama is back from Europe where he staked our national prestige on a bid to win the Olympics for Chicago. The world voted, overwhelmingly, against Obama and America. While Obama was risking his international political capital on games that won’t occur until after he leaves Washington, the world was also voting against the Dollar and ultimately turning its back on America. This change by both our allies and our enemies is unacceptable and a major failure for Obama and America – a failure we can’t afford.
As a result of Obama’s inaction and Congress’ insane deficit spending, our ‘allies’ in the Middle East, Japan and France along with our ‘enemies’ China, Russia and Brazil have agreed to replace the dollar with a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new unified currency from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar. Obama knew of the high level meetings going on in Europe that would dictate the future of the Dollar, but Obama decided not to attend, not to send an envoy, not to pressure our allies. Wouldn’t it have been impressive if Obama fought for the Dollar? for America? Would he have succeeded? There is no guarantee, but showing up would have sent a message – a serious message.
The stakes could not be higher, but Obama doesn’t seem to agree. Unless we act fast the Dollar, as we know it today, will be gone in nine years. The global financial system contemplated by the Bretton Woods agreements after the second World War is being dismantled. According to Robert Fisk, “Chinese financial sources believe President Barack Obama is too busy fixing the US economy to concentrate on the extraordinary implications of the transition from the dollar in nine years’ time. The current deadline for the currency transition is 2018.”
Unfortunately, the Chinese are both wrong and right, Obama is NOT busy fixing our economy – instead he is VERY busy working on climate change and health care bills. Obama’s focus is 180 degrees out of sync with our present realities – the real unemployment rate in the US is 17% – our debt is soaring out of control – our states are insolvent – our entitlement programs (SS, Medicare, Medicaid) are insolvent – the FDIC is insolvent – the Dollar is under attack. Don’t take this as a partisan attack – I don’t think Bush would have acted either. Regardless of which party you are with – we all need to be Americans once more and fight for our country and our way of life. If we don’t the implications will be dire. A Chinese banker explains, “These plans will change the face of international financial transactions. America and Britain must be very worried. You will know how worried by the thunder of denials this news will generate.”
Another Czar-uption over underage gay rape?
September 29, 2009
Literally, you can’t make this crap up. The latest news on yet another Obama Czar with problems is Kevin Jennings the ’safe school czar’. The Washington Times is reporting that Mr. Jennings, as a high school teacher, learned a 15-year old student was having sex with an “older man”. At the time, the law required that he report the incident – at the very least the student was the victim of statutory rape. Jennings described the event to another teacher explaining “the 15-year-old boy met the “older man” in a “bus station bathroom” and was taken to the older man’s home that night.” Jennings’ peer begged him to report the incident and when Jennings’ refused the teacher called his failure to report the statutory rape “unethical”. Jennings’ threatened to sue the teacher for defamation claiming he had no evidence any sort of sexual act took place. However, according to the Times story, Jennings clearly knew the student was having intercourse with the older man in his book, “One Teacher in 10″ and then in various speeches the latest of which in 2000 to the Iowa chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. Is this the best guy we could get for this job? Who is in charge of vetting these people?
