The State of Employment

8.3% unemployment? Really?

Someone cooked the statistics....

The Government's Bureau of Labor Statistics January to January of the last five years tells a confusing story. Employment declined by 4,663,000 since 2008, yet we are told the unemployment rate is dropping. What's happening?



Abstracted from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at BLS.gov, Not-seasonally adjusted --
Only January is compared to itself in the five year period.

The second column is those actually employed, in thousands. You can see that during the first two years of the Obama administration, American employment dropped significantly, despite a net increase in available labor (column 3). The change in available labor is shown in column 5.

The increase in available labor in 2009 is due to mismanagement by the present administration -- large numbers of people were being dismissed. The people who were dismissed were unemployed for long enough they began to disappear from statistics of available labor. Those are the negative numbers in column 5 for 2010 and 2011. Keep in mind these are numbers for January.

The Republicans were able to block the current administration's "jobs programs" from being enacted in 2011, and the January 2012 statistic reflects this. Nearly a million people were encouraged to re-enter the workforce and try to get a job. The administration's idea of a "jobs program" is really government restriction on who can be employed. With that nonsense was removed, people started going back to work.

The total result is there is a real decrease in recent unemployment, but overall, there is still significant damage done to the working class by the current administration's mismanagement. 4,663,000 American workers have paid the price of Obama's ineptitude

Employment is up, sort of

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 243,000 jobs were added in January 2012. This is an impressive increase in the employment rate, especially considering an increase of only 135,000 was expected. Employment rates reports get revised; in the previous two months, they were revised upwards. Did something go right?

From BLS Household Data Table A-12. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment


From the table, you can see the average length of time a person is unemployed is somewhat longer than a year ago, but better than last month. Under Obama, the employment situation has gotten worse, even though it got slightly better recently.

The BLS reported, "In January, 2.8 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, [but they] wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months."

Ten Thousand Commandments

Command economy stinks. So Obama has issued one economy crushing command after another. There are 242 new pages of rules and notices coming out of the bureaus in Washington DC every working day.

Regulation can crumble an economy.

Why does Obama continue to lie and say his "Stimulus" has made the country recover. It hasn't recovered yet. Obama's own lackeys says unemployment will rise by year's end.

~~~~~~~~

Obama's debt adds to the problem? Even Rasmussen knows it.

"The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) yesterday reported that the federal budget deficit is projected to reach $1.1 trillion in 2012. That number is troubling enough but the reality is much worse. The United States will actually go about $4 trillion further in debt during the year."

Housing prices drop, Federal Reserve to treat deflation

Housing prices drop, the Federal Reserve Board promises to treat deflation

The specter of deflation continues to haunt the Obama Administration. Why do capital prices continue to stagnate or decline when commodity prices have been rising?

The Federal Reserve has promised to treat the problem with more currency expansion. Fed interest rates hover at 0%. Interest cannot go lower than that.

Typical economic analysis indicates capital prices should rise with currency creation, which is why the Fed is doing it. The reasoning is if people expect the currency to devalue, they grab something which won't, like physical property.

But the problem isn't a low interest rate, but a lack of much interest at all. As long as the Obama Administration remains intensely hostile to American business (not to mention Americans' freedom) nobody will be much interested in doing much business in America.

The stagnation and decline in asset prices is a result of people expecting fixed assets to become worth less because of government meddling.

The answer is pretty clear. Stop the government meddling.

What's with Leftist Economics?

Leftist Obamanoids say we are a demand driven economy. They reason the government ought to stimulate demand, darn the deficit, and things will improve.

Since Obama's debt-laden "Stimulus" of 3 years ago didn't work, the Leftists insist Republicans interfered with it, using "trickle down" or voodoo economics. If you question a Leftist closely on this point, they become very vague.

Leftist say Republicans are willing to suffer with a bad economy because they are stupid --- and the Republicans have outwitted Obama's brilliant economics. The Leftists never notice the contradiction.

~~~~~~~~

You've heard of the economics Law of Supply and Demand. It means Supply must equal Demand or the market is out of whack. If we do as the Leftists insist, and stimulate demand while neglecting supply, the economy will be out of whack.

Minimum wage
The Democrats have complicated the supply side with new rules and regulation. The very first thing the Democrats did when Obama was installed was increase the federal minimum wage. This had the effect of pricing minimally-able workers out of the market. This is the prime cause of the enduring 8-9% unemployment during the last 3 years.

Environmental Protection Thuggery
The Environmental Protection Agency has gone ape, restricting farm supply, paper supply production, guitar production (which doesn't apply to Democrat guitar makers) and more. The EPA is clearly being used for political purposes, not environmental ones.

The "Supply Side"
The supply side of the economy is the productive side. Producers make stuff the demand, or consumption side needs. In a healthy economy, the two sides are the same people. You make something I want, I make something you want, and we exchange those things in the free market. Supply must equal demand.

The supply side is the side which creates jobs. When Obama cheated on this in 2009 , unemployment shot up. Obama and his Democrats exported American jobs to countries which do not protect their workers from working.

Each of Obama's "Jobs bills" has included punishment for the employer. This brings us to another Leftist fable -- somehow employees don't need employers. In fact, the employer organizes the employees time and effort into production. Employer and employees need each other to work.

~~~~~~~~

More government debt will only break the bank. More government interference will only break the economy. The more the Left sucks around for action plans, the more likely they are to hit upon the scheme of total oppression. America must recover from this attack of big government now. Obama must go.

Obamunism report

Obamanoids decry "trickle down" and supply side economics. They claim government control of the fruits of labor will be more fair and just. Reward for hard work can be stolen from those who dare to work hard and given to those who vote "correctly."

"Tax the Rich" is the war cry. If a taxpayer exceeds one million dollars in income in a year, they ought to be taxed for 30% of it, they say. Obama himself falls short of this rate. Obama has grossed just short of $2 million per year for the last three years. Last year, Obama's taxable income was around $1.75 million per year: He paid tax of $453,770. Obama's pay for being president is $400,000 per year.

If you make big money in America, you ought to be be in the government.

The China Blame Game

What if the U.S. Launches Trade War With China

While the entire world is focused on the debt crisis in Europe, there’s another crisis quietly erupting here in the U.S. that could be just as dangerous. It has the potential to tip the whole global economy back into recession. We’ve seen it happen before, about 80 years ago.

After unemployment soared to 9% back in 1930, politicians were under a lot of pressure to create jobs. So the U.S. government implemented the Tariff act of 1930. This new act raised tariffs on imported goods to protect Americans’ jobs from foreign competitors.

The result? Seventeen countries responded with their own tariff plans. Suddenly, we had a trade war on our hands. That trade war caused a collapse in global trade, and ended up deepening the global depression and increasing unemployment.

Now the U.S. Senate could make the same mistake their predecessors made during the Great Depression. While this would be disastrous to the global economy, it all depends on what Congress does next.

The Bill that Would Guarantee a Global Recession
This past Monday, the U.S. Senate voted to open debate on a bill that would impose tariffs on imports from countries with undervalued currencies, such as China. In response, the Chinese government quickly warned this would lead to a trading war. As the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, this bill “will severely upset China-U.S. economic and trade relations.”

In other words, China is telling us that if we approve the bill, it will retaliate with protectionist measures. This is a fight where everyone loses.

The European debt crisis is getting out of control, and the U.S. is heading into another recession. A trading war between the world’s two largest economies is the last thing the global economy needs right now. But I wouldn’t be surprised if politicians approve the bill. After all, you can always count on them to do the wrong thing.

It’s all China’s Fault

The tensions between China and the U.S. can easily escalate in the months ahead, especially if the global economy continues to slow down. With the U.S. struggling to grow, there’s increasing pressure for politicians here to “do something.”

Instead of implementing the right policies here at home to promote job creation (reducing taxes and regulations), Washington prefers to blame China for our problems. It’s easier to say China is stealing “American jobs” by keeping its exports cheap.

Even Bernanke is now attacking China. This week, our Fed chief told Congress: “The Chinese currency policy is blocking what might be a more normal recovery process in the global economy. It is to some extent hurting the recovery.” After failing to help the U.S. economy with its monetary policies, the Fed is now also blaming China for our problems. Typical.

By Evaldo Albuquerque

~~~~~~~~
When The Shallow "Think"

The sudden interest in assigning blame for this government's failed policies to China is typical of this administration. The Obama Administration and the Democrats in the Senate seem incapable of thinking a problem through, so they blame. We know anything they do will have consequences; blithely ignoring personal responsibility does not reduce the burden the country will bear.

The Wall Street protesters are of the same mind set. A complete and thorough understanding of the situation would help them formulate useful policy, which would probably be to go home. Things are the way they are for a reason. Until you develop a sound understanding, anything you do will make the situation worse. But they appear to believe they can overcome problems by wishful thinking and ignoring them. Choruses for revenge for imagined wrongs is not helpful. The marchers mean nobody any good.

They are perfect suckers.

The long staircase

The economy is still spiraling down. This is a direct result of Obama's continuing attempt at Big Government take over of market functions.

Obama managed to eradicate trust in the American system of wealth generation. Without trust, there will be no wealth coming out from the free market system. So Obama will be able to take over economy based on him being the last man standing. Obama's system is being based on the thug's old reliable - force.

Obama's banking overthrow
People remember the “Democratic” Party's law to buy voter approval by complicating banks collection of their own money on home loans in default. (Canceled debt may be taxable) Similar law enacted to inhibit collection on unsecured credit cards in default.

Banks were prohibited from collecting the money they lent... often the same money they had borrowed from their depositors. Although sticking it to the banks is politically appealing, it is wrong. Obama is unfair. How can the banks trust this government to help them regain their property? With no recourse, bank loans became harder to obtain. Financial liquidity dries up.

Result: A marked increase in insolvency among banks. The Obama Administration got to take over quite a few small banks, thus clearing the way for a direct takeover of large national banks by the Party corruption machine.

Obama's attack on Trust
The breakdown in trust has made banks very cautious about making new loans. The banks can never tell when the Obama government might move in and declare the banks loans "noncollectable."

Inflation is significant. We the People cannot trust our dollars. Our currency is getting devalued via government sponsored inflation. When using the Bureau of Labor & Statistics, please remember the BLS calculation basis has been shifted to remove the impact of several CPI inflators. The net effect is, just when we need to be able to rely on our money retaining value, it doesn't. The administration wants it that way.

Trustworthiness is vital in economics. Without trust, the whole free enterprise system seizes up and stops working. Therefore, trust has been one of the Obama's administrations primary targets.

Obama's attack on Manufacturing
Everyone knows about the seizure of health care, but do you realize how much the EPA has been used to control economic functions? The EPA can invent an environmental impact result and quash the activity of any company Obama wishes to smash. The destruction of Gibson Guitar Inc. and its American jobs is one example. The feds seized Gibson Guitar property despite the fact that there are no charges filed. The administration is clearly abusing their power under law.

Update: Gibson Guitar And Martin Guitar use woods from the same sources. Only Gibson was raided. The reason? Gibson's CEO is a donor to the GOP. Martin's CEO is a Democrat. This is a criminal abuse of power by the Obama administration.

Restricting food supplies
Under Obama, creating food shortages has fallen to the EPA. For two years now, the EPA has conducted close inspections of a Lancaster County watershed farms operated by the Amish. Farmers in general are getting the putz by Obama's use of the EPA. Farmers are becoming reluctant to risk even putting seed in the ground for fear of expensive federal intrusion.

Control of labor
The Left continues to sideline workers by jobs control. This is a three pronged effort on its own. One is restricting access to jobs through union control. Two is the 2009 increase in the federal minimum wage to prohibit appropriate pay for entry level positions. Three is the ever-extending unemployment compensation - which is used to finance extended furloughs of workers while the workers forget the job they used to know. All of these regulations sound like compassion on the surface -- If so, why don't they work?

Obama's madcap government debt accumulation But of course
Obama's mad spending spree and the $4.4 Trillion in new debt. Ape-snot government spending is one of the things which got us into this mess in the first place. Another debt-laden "Stimulus" bill of any sort, and the country is sunk.

Obama - Avoiding blame – The political game
The old-line Left (and their puppets in the press) portray the themselves as victim of dark and sinister Republican forces. Its hard to imagine the Republicans, who are presently airing each others dirty laundry, as dark or sinister. Republicans are disorganized political neophytes – not ready to take on the power-at-any-cost “Democratic” Party.

~~~~~~~~
Tell me it ain't so
Last month, the FDA moved to expand its regulation of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to include cigars. If the FDA gets its way, new “cigar-killing” regulations could be put into effect as early as October.

I don't even smoke.

~~~~~~~~
The US has suffered so much incompetence and neglect seasoned with so much indifference, it will take years to recover. Let-them-eat-cake Obama is by far the least caring of any president ever.

Japan

The earthquake which shook Japan is one of the biggest recorded in history. Aftershocks have been as big as the Northridge earthquake which did so much damage to California a few years ago.

Predictably, liberals and other humanity haters have come forth about how the Japanese people deserved the earthquake for building nuclear reactors. (One Yahoo poster went so far as to say Mother Earth was punishing the Japanese for mistreatment. Sheesh!)

People of good will around the world are sending aid and comfort to the Japanese. Be careful that your donations go through a known site. Unscrupulous people will try to profit from the goodwill of others by setting up fake charity scams. I haven't vetted all the sites yet, but you are safe making donation to the Red Cross. Yahoo suggested some organizations you can donate to, to help out Japan.

There is always prayer. God listens.

The ghastly earthquake in Japan has repercussions around the world.

The US stock market is already in correction mode, so investors will give a lot more weight to every scrap of negative news. It's truly not surprising that the apocalyptic images of destruction in Japan put US investors in a sour mood Monday. This has us just under Dow 12,000 once again.

Even gold is diving. This is also to be expected. The Japanese people delight in the metal. Now many are selling their gold in order to help family and friends recover. Such a large influx of "fresh" gold has temporarily depressed the world price.

From an economic perspective, these events have been generally good for the local economy and their major trade partners. How's that? This will require a big national stimulus plan to rebuild the destroyed areas of Japan. This puts a ton of fresh money in the economy, people back to work and a new sense of pride and purpose.

That bodes well for the lagging Japanese economy and major trade partners like the US, China and South Korea. Long story short, yesterday's negative view of these events will evolve into a positive over time.

Lets pray Japan will have not have another serious earthquake for centuries to come.

blue remarks from Zacks

Chinese, the dollar and inflation

The Chinese announced last Tuesday they are reducing their exposure to the the US dollar. Since November, China has visibly edged away from the dollar in favor a new world system which has yet to emerge, but doubtless will feature the yuan.

For the last 13 years, and especially in the last 24 months, the American government has beaten us up with a steady erosion of the international value of our currency. The Chinese are wisely stepping out of the way.

Inflation is a US government approved tax on your purchasing power. Inflation is not caused by grocers, banks or workers getting more than they deserve (or similar nonsense).

Inflation is not caused by cheap Chinese labor or NAFTA. It is a dilution of your purchasing power by government fiat. The government uses the Federal Reserve to print dollars, creating fake currency out of thin air.

Adjusted for inflation, the DOW Industrial average has increased only 2% since 2000.

~~~~~~~~

Examples of inflation since 1998

• An average house cost $129,000. Now it’s $172,000 (33% increase)…and that’s after the real estate market crashed.
• A gallon of gasoline was $1.15 and now it’s at $3.15 - 274% higher, almost three times what it was.
• A loaf of bread was $1.26. It’s now $2.79 (121% higher).
• A dozen eggs cost 88 cents, now $2.89 (228% higher).
• A postage stamp was 32 cents - in 2011, 44 cents (38% higher).

What can we thank for the higher prices?

Well, as strange as it sounds in this current post-recession, still deflationary environment, inflation stole your dollar’s value over the last decade.

Inflation – especially over the years – is so subtle that most people don’t notice.

~~~~~~~~

Against the US dollar, 1998 – Present Day

• Japanese yen: Up 57%
• Aussie dollar: Up 51.9%
• Swiss franc: Up 51.4%
• Canadian dollar: Up 44%
• New Zealand dollar: Up 31%
• Norwegian krone: Up 26%
• Euro: Up 22%
• Swedish krona: Up 19%

Technical data adapted from Sean Hyman at Currency Cross Trader

Gold Sores

Sorry about that....

Gold is the “anti dollar” and that's why it is wildly popular now. As Zoellick put it, “Although textbooks may view gold as the old money, markets are using gold as an alternative monetary asset today.”

If any proof is needed of that statement, gold closed at records last Friday and Thursday but the precious metal has scored 17 record highs in less than five weeks in September and October. The latest string of records came after the Federal Reserve’s decision to start another round of U.S. bond buying, pumping out an inflationary additional $600 billion over eight months.

The European Market Speaks - Obamanomics Stinks.

The dollar was unable to gain any traction in Europe on Thursday and remained under pressure through much of the day. Underlying sentiment remained extremely negative following the Federal Reserve decision to boost quantitative easing the previous day.

The dollar continued to suffer from a lack of yield support and there were heightened fears over a persistently weaker currency in the medium term as a side-effect of the aggressive Fed action to support the economy.

The US economic data did little to improve sentiment as jobless claims rose to 457,000 in the latest week from 437,000 previously, although the underlying measures were more resilient. The latest payroll data will be watched closely on Friday, although the impact may be less than seen in recent months given that the Fed has already made the quantitative move. A stronger than expected figure could trigger a covering of short positions and there may be some scope for investment inflows which would provide support, but it will be difficult to secure a more durable rebound in dollar confidence.

~~~~~~~~
We spoke - We'd rather be free

Its a relief the "Democratic Party" lost so much authority in the recent election. They precipitated all this economic damage in their attempt to bring their sour hope and vile change to the country. Fortunately, it looks like their hate-fest has ended.

Happy National Cost of Government Day

By Brett Davis, Evergreen Freedom Foundation

It's not a holiday or anniversary that one would find on a calendar, but today is national Cost of Government Day — the day the average American finally stops working to pay for all the expenses of government at all levels, including regulatory burdens. ... Besting last year’s dubious honor, this year’s Cost of Government Day falls later than any year since it was first tracked in 1977.

What this means in practical terms is that it takes 231 days out of the year for the average worker to meet all the costs imposed by government. Given that “stimulus” funding is still ongoing and the passage of health care “reform” earlier this year, is it any wonder the cost of government consumes a staggering 63.41 percent of national income?



~~~~~~~~

Government is the problem
by Bob Qat
The AP story on the current economy proved they are a captive press organ of the "Democratic" Party. Their story on the economy leads off with "Layoffs are back, and that's bad news for the fragile economic recovery."

It is not the layoffs causing the problem. The layoffs are the result of governmnet hyper spending. Lighten the burden of government and businesses will be able to hire more people.

Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform president, put the depressing figures in context: "Two years ago Americans worked until July 16 to pay for the cost of government: all federal, state and local government spending and regulatory costs. That government was too expensive and wasteful. Two years later, we work until August 19 for the same bloated government. We have lost an additional full month of our income to pay the cost of government in just the last two years."

~~~~~~~~

Government debt
inspired by Eric Roseman

The old adage "Don't fight the Federal Reserve" is one with which investors mostly can't go wrong. However, with the Fed now buying up Treasuries, perhaps a better warning would be, "Do as they say, not as they do."

Today's Treasury looks a lot like the German Weimar Republic of the early 1920s when ballooning debt turned into hyperinflation. Recall images of folks carrying their cash in wheelbarrows. They couldn't fit enough of that inflated paper in their wallets when a loaf of bread ran 3 Billion marks.

Sovereign credit risks are real, and dangerous. But more risk equals more reward, right? Not in US bonds --- not now. Yet investors snap them up at record rates.

Are investors crazy? Probably not. It just this government has got them scared.

The Free Market & Taxes

High tax rates are a part of the Left's desire to control the American economy. This essay explores why that is a bad idea and why we must elect politicians who will seek to control us less. Its our freedom.

The Obama Administration has seized control over much of the American economy. Health care is to be centrally administered, even though the administration admits costs will probably increase. Some companies will be considered too big to fail, thus they will always face the prospect of government taking away their independence. We the People will always face the prospect of bearing heavy financial burdens in order to bail out some failed business or a failed homeowner because the politicians wish to influence the economy.

The Left insists on government control of the natural economy despite history showing clearly how utterly government fails at that. Governments screw up. The free economy creates more wealth for everybody. Government only consume, so governments can only allocate poverty. Humans will always seek to escape misery. The pity for America is the present rush into it.

But what if American Leftists may genuinely think the free economy needs to be tamed under government control? Let me suggest a rhetorical question for those Leftists, to give them some insight into a good understanding of the economic importance of the free market.

Which is better for the environment -- A wild lion left to freely roam the savanna, or for the lion to be locked up in a zoo? Why?

The answer is Humans cannot fit a lion into a zoo without doing some harm to the environment, and great harm to the lion. Human understanding is inferior to the natural world.

So it is with natural economics. An economist will tell you we understand a great deal about how economy works. But its certain we are no nearer to controlling the economy than we are to controlling the weather. Nevertheless, some Leftist economists smugly insist they know how to control economy. Their hubris is a clue they don't have the answers.

~~~~~~~~

More fun

The U.S. is in recession. Still.

Consumer spending and economic activity is down due to uncertainty about government policy. This uncertainty perpetuates the recession and perpetuates high unemployment.

The Bush tax cuts will expire Dec. 31, 2010. The "Democratic" Party controlled Congress will use the only tool they like: Higher taxes. Income taxes will increase:

35% bracket which will increase to 39.6%
33% bracket which will increase to 36%
28% bracket which will increase to 31%
25% bracket which will increase to 28%
10% and 15% will all pay 15%

No matter your income tax bracket:

Capital gains tax will increase from 15% to 20%
Dividends tax will increase from 15% to 39.6%

If your taxes will increase, the economy will decline.

The Democrats in control of Congress ought to abandon their desire to control the economy and let the poor beast recover. They will blather on about fairness and planning, but expect them to screw up. Its the Democrats --- its what they do.

The economy is still sputtering...

A dry discussion of economics of Leftist ineptitude.

Employment is down. Private spending is down. What happened?

Private spending is down because of missteps in the credit formation regulation. These missteps happened when the Democrat Party took over the Congress in 2006 and began to enact bad law. The Congress restricted new money creation rules, drying up all the bank cash. Then banks began to fail.

To be fair, this crunchy regulation may have been done in response to the sense too much credit was created. Far more likely it it was because of criminal clumsiness in the House Banking and Finance Committee and its new chair, Barney Frank.

When credit is damaged this way, the right thing to do is sponsor more private credit creation. The Obama government did exactly the wrong thing by going into the private market and borrowing trillions of dollars for pet projects rather than letting the people who needed to borrow money borrow it. All the paste on aid to distressed borrowers is not going to help if the government completely offsets it with elimination of credit.

Is it mere clumsiness or something else? Mr Obama has entered the credit market several times to eliminate credit and scare banks with new regulations. What the party controlled press spins to sound like nifty updating of banking practice regulation has in fact been piles of new reports and micromanagement.

Given that Mr Obama is hostile to free enterprise like the ghost of GM, the defunct Chrysler, soon to expire US Steel, banks of all flavors... this bodes poorly in the near term for large companies in the US. Except for Mr Obama's pets like General Electric.

At this time, the worst thing the Government could do is enact a tax. A tax would suck more money out of the pockets of the people when they need it most. So that is exactly what the Obama Government will do. The Carbon Tax, cap and trade, is a horrific tax increase in the neighborhood of a quarter of a trillion dollars. Around $227,000,000,000.

This reflects Mr Obama's mistrust of individual people and their ability to make sound financial decisions. This mistrust is the essence of Leftism. The Leftist believes people should have no say in their daily lives, so government should regulate every aspect of personal freedom. Mr Obama's policy proposals have all reflected this viewpoint so far. There is no reason to expect he will change.

Today's unemployment figures matched the highest unemployment figures in 26 years. That unemployment rate was caused by the Carter Malaise. Already, Mr Obama's government has equaled the worst, most careless, previous president in history. And Mr Obama's answer is for more of the same.

The question is, how much will we take? When do we say enough! and find some way to rebel. Sooner will be better than later. The sooner we stop the madness, the sooner we can begin to restore the world.

~~~~~~~~

Why do these Leftists suffer such bloated egos? Why do they think there little cadres of elitists can plan to promote general welfare better than the general public. Its a question of incentive. Who has more interest in whether you do well, you or I? Who will be charged up to do a better job of seeing to your own interest? You. Naturally. But in the Leftist mindset, you are too Stupid, Rank, Uninformed, Illiterate, Disinterested, and plainly Despicable to be trusted to hold up your end of the bargain. So they feel no qualm about screwing you.

Big Government micromanagement is always a bad idea. Government screws up. There is no incentive to get it right the first time, since government runs on taxes, not sales. The best a government can do is waste. Some functions, like military, are naturally suited to government: Military is designed to kill people and break things. That character is innate to government. A micromanaging Big Government will kill us with health care and break our economy.

The Farce Goes On

This is dismal.

The American economy sputters, unemployment roles continue to increase, despite government's playful attempt to stem the swelling ranks of the jobless. Government has always made a lousy employer for the same reason that monopolies make for lousy markets.

A monopoly occurs when a single source is the sole supplier of a product or service. The monopoly produces only enough to maximize return to the single source, i.e. profit, and curtails production at that rate.

There is a similar case for a sole consumer or user of a product or service, which more accurately depicts government behavior. The sole consumer case is called monopsony. Monopsony will consume only enough to maximize return to the monopsonist.

Government consumes like a monopsonist. From this fact alone we can conclude only enough economic recovery will be allowed in order to maximize return to the government, not the people.

Further, government consumes what government wants, not what the people want. Governments buy stuff like public housing projects which promptly become infested with criminals. Under the Obama administration, government also buys things like "development research" from GE because that is a slick way of handing wads of money to administration buddies like Mr Immelt. No one really want this "research," or else a consortium of private developers would band together and spend their own money buying the research.

Governments are funded by taxation, which is a drag on the people. The American government discovered it can tax future generations (who cannot vote) by borrowing. The Obama administration presently seeks to borrow from the Chinese.

Another way government can tax is to inflate the currency. Technically, inflation occurs when a government prints more money. In the US, inflation concerns us only if it results in consumer price increases.

This matters because the US has inflated the dollar by 15.9% over last year yet consumer prices are down 1.3%, and unemployment up nearly 4% over a year ago. The economy is shrinking. American industrial output is off 12.8% from 1 year ago. Real Gross Domestic Product is forecast to be off 3.9%. If nothing else, this proves the Obama administration's economic plan of inflation is not a remedy. Inflation is only a tax and a drag.

Incidentally, inflation taxes the poor the hardest. Consider that you might invest in a house or education. The poor are not so. Because they have so little they must keep most of their wealth in cash. So when the value of their currency goes down, they have no escape. The government has succeeded in taxing the poor.

Thus we have a situation where politicians who will not pay the bill are buying stuff no one really wants and we get shafted. Big Government is at best a drag on the people.

(All figures according to the Economist)

~~~~~~~~

Its the (insert foreign name here) fault!

Mr Obama slickly tried to blame American problems on international trade, thus blaming our current economic problems on your new, made-in-China television. But the current trade imbalance is is only $711 billion, or roughly half the size of the increase in the national debt during the current administration.

Government spending is government telling the economy what to be. The problem with the American economy is government interference, not something Chinese or too much free market.

~~~~~~~~

Distributing misery

Redistribution of wealth is revealing itself in the slaughter of Chrysler and GM and WaMu and so on. If you try to say G. Bush is to blame, shall I mention this catastrophe started after the 2006 elections? Shall I point out the Democratic control of Congress, where the laws are made?

All they have to do is leave us alone, then we will make lots of money which they can tax and feather their nests. But no. they say they don't want to see money earned fairly, but distributed "fairly." Some poor schnooks will benefit and be loudly trumpeted.

Of course they take control of our ability to make a living. This can only make us miserable. They will make themselves and their political buddies rich. And the authoritarian elitists will behold the widening gulf between the politically connected rich and the politically unconnected and smugly smile. The commoners are suffering, Hooray for Elitism!

~~~~~~~~

The real remedy

Government ought to get out of the way of individuals who know how to build capitalist economies. Naturally, an authoritarian like Mr Obama desires to impede free markets, or anything free.

How close are we to the time when we must re-establish our constitutional government and re-assert the people's right to govern themselves? Are we willing to take along our hanging rope?

~~~~~~~~

Take Action

These same screwed-up twerps are going to bring us environmental policy and (Heaven help us!) health care.

Contact your congresspeople. Tell them to stop messing with us.


For the Senate, http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

For the House http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

Budget = $3,6 trillion

$3,6000,000,000,000. That's more than $10,000 for each of us. What on earth are we getting that is supposed to be worth that kind of money?

During the campaign, in remarks about abortion, Obama said that he didn't want his daughters punished with a baby. This man would rather destroy his own grandchildren, his own flesh and blood, than see his children embarrassed or inconvenienced with responsibility for their decisions.

This illuminates what we we get with the Obama budget, a wasting of future generations, and destruction of our own value as human beings.

~~~~~~~~

China is trying out the strength of capitalism and abandoning the failure of socialism. The politicians in control of America head us toward the catastrophe of socialism, and abandon and confound the productive strength of our capitalistic system. The best we can hope for is mass devastation.

~~~~~~~~

America no longer has the vast, fertile plains. Those have long since been paved over for housing development. What is left, the politicians want to preserve under the banner of Green Economics. All these politicians seem to seek is massive privation.

~~~~~~~~

Obama said its better when you spread the wealth around. He spreads the wealth around the same way a bug hitting the windshield spreads its guts around. The destruction is almost complete. Satisfied, Mr Obama?

The Moral Economy - A Fable

There was a man who had no family. He had enough belongings, but no company. One day, he found a little lamb. He bought the lamb and brought it home to keep as a pet. The man greatly prized his little pet lamb.

One day, his neighbor, who was a powerful member of the government, had an important visitor. The visitor said he had a hankering for some lamb stew. Because the visitor was so important, the government official seized the little lamb and cooked it.

Are you angry yet? The powerful government official was so unfair.

Every time you vote to take from one person to give to someone else, you are that unfair person.

The United States is entering economic hard times. If we are going to recover, it will be only because we establish truly moral law. We must forget the idea that it is okay to steal from someone just because he has more of something than we do. The idea of taxing the rich just because they have money is morally bankrupt.

If the voters decide that stealing by majority vote is okay, then we are going to be in this hard time for a long time. Everyone will become much worse off (except a few government officials). Only when we become moral, will we begin to recover.

Wealth is created

Wealth is created when people are free to do business with each other. A government can tax some of that activity and take away a part of that wealth. (That makes taxes sound like legalized stealing, doesn't it?). But the wealth creators are "rich," which means they have more than you think they should have.

Recently what happened is that the American government thought to take away too much of the wealth. So the people stopped doing more business than what is required for survival. Wealth indices tumbled worldwide. Now, the wealth creating people are scared, and worldwide wealth suffers even more. The depression gathers steam. All of this because the American government got greedy.

You partisan fools should note the Democrats and Republicans get no mention. The problem is not solely political party based, but caused by a general attitude among the people that big government should do it, whatever "it" is. The people think someone else should pay. Take from the wealthy. But there is no big pot of golden money waiting. The productive people just stopped doing business beyond their own survival and the rest of us will be in want because of it.

Wealth is no longer being created. There is nothing for the Kleptocratic politicians to "spread around." We all fare worse when the wealth creators get pissed on. It is in our interest to get off their backs and let them get rich again, so we can all do better and get out of this mess.