Will The Debt Hamstring Democrat Hopes? Doubtful.
Saturday, October 17th, 2009This dropped yesterday:
The Obama administration has released new deficit numbers, and they are not pretty.
The deficit for Fiscal Year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, came in at a record $1.42 trillion, more than triple the record set just last year.
In addition, future deficits are currently projected to total $9.1 trillion in the coming decade.
Will the reality of massive debt stop Democrats? No. Their answer to debt is to push reality down the road. They have too many big plans they want to pass right now. They know they’ll lose the coming elections, but they hope to get the big programs passed while they can. Let the grown-ups deal with deficit details.
Where Did The Money Go? We Don’t Know…….
Thursday, June 11th, 2009Even the AMA thinks the Obama health plan stinks. Not that they have much leverage. With government run health care, they’ll be forced to participate or else.
And if you haven’t seen this video yet, you need to watch it. Why should we trust the government to run health care? In the video you’ll a bureaucrat at the Federal Reserve not able to answer one question by the good Congressman about where 9 TRILLION off balance sheet dollars have gone. Hmmmm….I dunno, didn’t read the Bloomberg article. Oy vey.
Okay, now, with the current spending, the Fed has no idea where it’s going. It’s time to consider Congress itself. I always get a little amused watching these self-important buffoons lecture some minion about spending. Congress has it’s own problems. Here is a visual demonstration. Stick with this, folks:
Please go to Political Math this great blog I just heard about via the RNC. Yes, the RNC. Anyway, the blog has loads of videos illustrating what spending cuts mean to President Obama. It’s great.
H/T Brutally Honest
“The mess that Obama inherited”
Friday, May 8th, 2009That is the mantra of the Left. Over and over and over broken record style they say it droning like the mindless borg they are. Yep, Republicans who once could be counted on to be fiscally responsible turned out to be big, greedy, disgusting hogs when they were in power.
And now, President Barack Obama is making them look like restrained piglets in comparison. Here’s a picture that explains it.
The Leftists can cram it. Obama’s spending is FIVE TIMES what the worst Republican Congress could come up with and the promised future spending cuts would only bring the spending to the levels of 2x times the worst Republican’s budget. So you guys on the Left can shut the hell up about the mess you inherited. You’re making this current mess. You own it. And it WILL be hung, like a noose, around your special-interest paying off, job-losing necks. You. Own. It.
Speaking of the mess..what is a sane person to do with any extra money he has? What is wisdom? The stock market still looks like a bad idea [read the whole thing, this piece is really, really good]:
So Barack Obama’s policies are antithetical to investment, antithetical to sound business planning, and ensured to kneecap any attempt at recovery that our economy hopes for. If you’re looking for reasons to worry about the future of this economy — looking for justification that this is not a recovery and a bear market rally — you simply have to combine a few facts:
1. Fundamentally, the bull market of the late 90’s and early 00’s was partly due to an extraordinary increase in financial system leverage.
2. This bull market was pumped up by fractional reserve banking and a completely unsustainable rise in asset prices that fueled the above leverage.
3. We are now at a point where leverage is unwinding and asset prices are still declining.
4. Government props have supported a rise in financial sector stocks, but fundamentally the stress tests prove that banks need to raise capital based on even mild financial shocks.
5. Any continued weakness in the economy will skewer this current rally.
6. Asset prices, foreclosures, and jobs data show no signs of getting better, only (at best) signs of slowing their decline.
7. Obama’s financial system meddling (auto bailout, TARP shenanigans, etc) is sure to provide more weakness than expected.Richard Posner, and all the other cheerleaders, believe that if only they keep confidence high, all the fundamental problems in the economy will dissipate and we’ll start a recovery. But the fundamentals aren’t going away. The economy is over-leveraged just like it was in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, and that leverage must unwind before we can reach a recovery, a recovery based on saving and investment rather than spending and debt. Posner thinks the collapse has been avoided by slowing down the decline, but in essence we’ve only delayed and extended the inevitable.
I’m thinking, ironically enough, that real estate is the good investment right now. What do you think? Low property values, low interest rates, tangible asset.
Rick Santelli Rants And You’ll Love It
Monday, February 23rd, 2009Just in case you haven’t seen it yet, I’m sharing with you the sentiment from CNBC host Rick Santelli:
Want to get involved in your city and protest the government’s takeover of ….well, everything, sign up here at the TCOT action committee’s Tea Party group. This Friday, a nationwide protest is being planned.
Conversely, ACORN has decided to break into foreclosed homes in protest: “this is our house now”. Expect more of this, too.
I got this link from Right Wing Video. You need to visit there every day. Good stuff.
Wheeeeeee! America Is Almost Saved!!!!!–UPDATED
Saturday, February 7th, 2009
There is only a couple ways to derail this disastrous legislation: 1. Turn the Republican turncoats like Arlen Specter, Susan Collins and Olympia Snow or 2. Turn the Blue Dog Democrats.
Actually, I think there’s more hope for the second category. Why? Because they have more to lose. They are in more conservative states where this spending bill is wildly unpopular. They will pay a big price for this legislation anyway. They need to be reminded how much.
Specter will hopefully pay a price, namely by losing his seat, in 2010. Snowe and Collins are in a Blue State that feels good about saying they elect a Republican. They are safe because the alternatives are socialists.
Michelle Malkin lists the roll-call votes, but laments the lack of the updated bill. I’ll post when I get it.
Here’s the list of Friday’s Roll Call Votes. Of note: Sen. Vitter’s amendment to ban ACORN funding failed 45-51. More:
· Coburn #176 (no bid contracts) passed 97-0
· Coburn #309 (wasteful spending) passed 73-24
· Graham/Conrad #501 (foreclosure prevention) failed 39-57
· Grassley #297 (FMAP) failed 47-49
· Cantwell #274 (energy tax incentives) motion to waive budget act passed 80-16
· Vitter #107 (no $ for ACORN) failed 45-51
· Bunning #531 (capitol loss) failed 41-55
· Thune #538 (tax rebate) motion to waive the budget act failed 35-61
Great. Where we stand is that you need to call.
UPDATED:
Via GayPatriot via Club For Growth:
Diane Feinstein “Reserves The Right To Vote Against” Stimulus Bill–UPDATED
Friday, February 6th, 2009Is Diane Feinstein an obstructionist?
It occurs to me that Barack Obama campaigned in language that made him sound like a small government guy. No wonder people hate the Stimulus Bill. Of course, for Feinstein, there isn’t enough taxpayer dough given out.
UPDATED:
American Pundit has far more coverage.
Where are the grown-ups?
Who is going to turn, now? Collins, Specter and Snowe wobble and will ruin the Republican brand and their fellow Republican’s careers over this.
Allah has the full Feinstein clip. Too many tax cuts, not enough spending. Told ya.
Seeing Robert Gibbs in action, Moe Lane asks if you pine for the Bush administration yet. Well, for more than a couple reasons, yes.
Axis of Right reports that North Carolina’s Kay Hagin (D–remember her? The “Satan-worshiper” who unseated Liddy Dole. Uh, yeah. North Carolina isn’t the most lib of states. Her power might be short-lived if she is perceived as a big spending Leftist.)
Ace weighs in and in and in (go follow him), he’s all over this:
Snowe and Collins need calls. Michelle Malkin calls Specter the ringleader — not sure if he’s gettable. Maybe just call him an asshole.
The Atlantic Megan McArdle
Thursday, January 29th, 2009Those Nasty Investment Bankers
Paid taxes. Now, they don’t. NY suffers.
The Financial “Crisis” Produces An Unwelcome Shift In Power
Monday, January 26th, 2009The Davos summit is going on–you know the place where self-important celebs fly in on their private jets and lecture the little people about incandescent light bulbs. In past years, the important people had the luxury of talking about such silliness. Now, the economic situation is serious and the maneuvering at this summit has huge implications for you and me.
Here’s what’s happening via the International Herald Tribune:
Politicians, not corporate titans, are poised to be the big draw this year, echoing the broader power shift away from the free market as one government after another tries to prop up its sinking economy.
This time, the prototype of the jet-setting “Davos Man” may well be Gordon Brown, the dour British prime minister, who spent last week staving off another round of bank failures in London.
And with much of the financial system in Britain and the United States edging toward a possible government takeover, the 2009 agenda at Davos, “Shaping the Post-Crisis World,” seems to have concentrated minds on the here-and-now more than past themes like climate change and globalization.
“The pendulum has swung and power has moved back to governments,” said Klaus Schwab, the German-born economics professor who founded the World Economic Forum in 1971 and has been its impresario ever since. “This is the biggest economic crisis since Davos began.”
I have written before both here and for Pajama’s Media that global warming and dealing with climate change is a luxury. That is, when everything is going relatively well, those in power need to create a crisis of some sort in order to feel useful. Climate Change is an indulgence both financially and emotionally. It distracts from real, existential issues before us–like the Iranians sending a ship full of bombs to Hamas on inauguration day.
So banks teeter on collapse! Debt is at unprecedented levels! The government wants to help! The sky is falling! Only problem is that the millions they want to spend to get us out of the mess is not going to help. The stimulus package will stimulate nothing besides funding leftist groups like Acorn that Obama intends to pay off.
But really, this panic is about seizing control. While the U.S. isn’t bankrupt, it does need to right the ship. Not that Congress or the unions or even bailed out banks (this link will get your blood boiling) are acting like any change is necessary.
Essentially, the government wants to take tax payer dollars and give it to companies who have been irresponsible. And businesses have lost any sense of pride and are lining up with hands out. But more than that, the ones getting pay-offs are the ones who have bought influence before. So money is being taken from those who have little influence and given to those who do.
There has been a shift in power, alright. Since money equals power, power is now concentrated in the hands of government. Individuals and businesses with little in the way of influence get nothing. Big companies who can afford to buy favor grovel before their new masters. You and I sit on the sidelines, helplessly.
Obama is turning out to be different alright. He’s even more consumed with consolidating power and wielding it to make the little guy submit. But that’s okay, right? He’s a Democrat and a liberal so he’s only doing what is necessary.
Cross-posted at RightWingNews.com
