Long Term Economic Weakness A Near Certainty

February 1, 2013 10 Comments

The economy is a mess as the numbers we’ve seen lately tell us. Earlier this week it was reported that fourth quarter GDP dropped 0.1%. Back in 2007 the AP declared a quarter of economic decline was a sign of a recession. These days the AP whines that economic “jitters” are competing with Obama’s progressive agenda. Yesterday the government reported an increase in new unemployment claims of 38,000. Reuters tried to soften the number claiming it’s within a range for “job growth.” It’s a pretty substantial gain over the previous week to believe we’re looking at any kind of serious job growth. January unemployment increased to 7.9% with 157,000 new jobs. As usual during the last four years, not enough jobs to cover population growth.

This is all the Republicans fault of course. The media, Democrats and Obama administration all blame the GOP for poor economic news. They’ve done away with blaming Bush, now it’s just generic “Republicans” that are to blame. Harry Reid bloviated that the GOP needs to stop “bad mouthing” the economic recovery. Citing statistics is a sign of “bad mouthing” in the world of Democrats. We can’t have any of that because it might undermine the ability of the left to force through gun control and amnesty for illegals in the next 24-48 hours.

Everything Obama wants to do has to be done immediately, or so he’s been arguing. The less debate the better for him. Bad economic news ruins his ability to force though his progressive agenda, perhaps as much as Republican opposition in the House. None of this economic news is particularly surprising, which is why Obama is pushing so hard right now. His second administration is likely to be dominated by the economy. Obama’s tax increases on 80% of Americans is having a profoundly negative effect on the economy. Obamacare kicks in soon with the cheapest acceptable plan costing $20,000 per family according to the IRS. Can’t afford that? You’ll be taxed around $2,000.

We have massive economic problems and we don’t have a President or a Congress capable of tackling them. We have a mounting national debt that is projected to hit $20 trillion by the end of Obama’s term. We continue to have $1 trillion annual budget deficits. Taxes are crippling the economy, making it more difficult for middle class Americans to be upwardly mobile. The President and his party were re-elected by an underclass of people dependant on government for just about everything in their lives. Obama pays lip service to getting the long term unemployed back on the payrolls, all while increasing the number of people on social security disability more than any other President in history. It pays to have a dependant underclass when you’re a Democrat.

Our nation is facing a bleak economic future. Britain is entering a third dip recession, Europe generally is slowing down. China is slowing down. The US is facing its slowest economic recovery since the Depression. So slow, it’s not even a recovery anymore. Obama has no real economic plan, he lives in a fanciful world where he plays dictator to business, Congress and the masses of Americans. It’s a dream world that doesn’t exist but one that results in Obama offering nothing to fix the problems we have. We have a Congress that can’t deal with the lunatic in the White House and can barely deal with each other. As a group, Congress doesn’t have any solutions either. We’re in for a rough four years. One wonders if the American dream of upward mobility really is dead.

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Harry Reid’s Super Secret Mitt Romney Tax Information

August 2, 2012 17 Comments

A little birdie has spoken in Sen. Harry Reid’s ear and told him that Mitt Romney didn’t pay income taxes for a decade. According to Reid, a Bain investor told him these “facts” about Romney. Reid won’t name the investor and won’t tell anyone how exactly an investor has information about Mitt Romney’s private tax returns. That of course hasn’t stopped Reid from spouting this nonsense from the floor of the Senate. We used to believe it was wicked to bear false witness. We used to believe that people were innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately Democrats no longer believe this.

Reid doesn’t have the slightest bit of evidence that Romney didn’t pay taxes. That a Bain “investor” told him this really calls into question Reid’s credibility. Anyone could claim to be a Bain investor. Just because someone is a Bain investor doesn’t mean they’re privy to any tax information concerning private individuals working at Bain. In fact, tax returns are private. Unless someone steals Mitt Romney’s tax returns, they would have no idea how much he paid in tax. Let’s also keep in mind that Romney hasn’t worked for Bain since 1999. So what 10 years are we talking about here? Surely not the period between 1999-2009 when Romney wasn’t even working for Bain Capital.

This notion that we are entitled to see Presidential candidates tax returns is absolutely ridiculous. No one seemed to care about Obama’s tax returns before he became President. President’s Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton and Bush 43 didn’t release any of their tax returns prior to becoming President. So why exactly do we need to look at Mitt Romney’s? In fact since the income tax was created in 1913 Presidential candidate tax returns have never been an issue until 2013. Make no mistake we’ve had candidates richer than Romney over the last century. If it hasn’t mattered to Americans before, why do tax returns suddenly matter now?

Obama’s historic course of action against his opponents is to smear them personally to the point that he becomes the only alternative. In 2004 he smeared his Senate opponent in the Democrat primary having information about his sealed divorce records leaked to the press. In the general election the Obama team got a California judge to unseal his Republican opponent’s child custody records. In both of these cases Obama’s team forced the unsealing of private records, none of which showed anything particularly negative about his opponents.

But that didn’t stop Obama’s surrogates from complaining that there was something in the records. Obama’s team is trying to do the same thing to Romney. They don’t have any divorce records to demand, in fact they don’t even have any lawsuits to demand a peak at. So they’re going to pretend like there’s something in Romney’s tax records that prove he really is a bad guy. Romney is innocent until proven guilty. If it means that Harry Reid has to make up stories on the Senate floor so be it.

Harry Reid is lying about Mitt Romney. He has absolutely no evidence that Romney didn’t pay taxes for a decade. If he has such evidence, by all means he should come forward with it so Romney can be indicted and prosecuted for tax evasion. But of course Reid doesn’t have any evidence. He’s lying or in the alternative he’s repeating a lie. Here in America a man is innocent until proven guilty. We don’t get to simply accuse people of committing crimes or even of doing things that present them in a bad light without evidence. Reid simply doesn’t have any evidence Romney didn’t pay taxes. There is no Bain investor with super secret information and if there is he should come forward with it. Until then, Reid should stop bearing false witness against Mitt Romney.

UPDATE: Obama and Reid might not be able to prove Romney committed a tax crime but they do have his high school report card. Yeah, that’s right, the media is running around with Mitt Romney’s high school report card. Could it get more ridiculous?

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Harry Reid Fact Checked But It Won’t Change Faulty Worldview

December 27, 2011 4 Comments

Forbes had a big splash over the weekend fact checking Sen. Harry Reid’s ridiculous assertion that millionaires don’t create jobs. Using the government’s own data, Forbes surmised that most millionaires do in fact create jobs and that of the 250,000 who earned a million or more in 2009 only 16,000 or so of them were the hedge fund managers and lawyers that Reid cited as being the only millionaires. Forbes rightly points out that even if Reid was correct about hedge fund managers and lawyers being the only millionaires, it’s not like they don’t hire secretaries and other staff to work for them. Thus they create jobs.

The problem here is that Forbes misses the boat completely. They’re allowing facts to cloud a worldview. The pesky facts, which any fool could have come up with, were never going to side with Reid on this issue. It is absurd to suggest that those who earn a million or more a year don’t create jobs. Especially in light of the fact that this income group earned $600+ billion. They either created jobs with their wealthy or they’re swimming in gold coins like Scrooge McDuck. Don’t laugh, there are liberals out there who really believe the millionaires and billionaires out there are swimming in gold coin money bins, Harry Reid is one of them.

The real problem though is that Reid is a progressive and as such he doesn’t believe the private sector creates jobs. He believes government creates jobs. This goes right in line with Obama’s top down approach to the economy. Decisions are made in Washington and the government is directly responsible for any and all job creation. If jobs are lost, the progressives in government whine about evil hedge fund managers and greedy lawyers and businessmen. This is one reason why Obama spent the better part of his first two years claiming the government “saved or created” millions of jobs. It’s because the progressives really believe it.

We in the GOP need to be careful not to fall into this trap. Bush spent his entire administration claiming he created millions of jobs. Lots of conservatives like to point to Reagan, claiming he created tens of millions of jobs. Bush, Reagan and the government did no such thing. Government doesn’t create private sector jobs. Private sector jobs are created by investors who foresee demand for certain services or products or by demand itself.

Government can only create conditions that are good or bad for job creation. But at the end government doesn’t create the jobs, the market does. High taxes and heavy regulation, both supported by Obama and the progressives, hinder job growth. It creates conditions that make the c0st of hiring overly expensive and thus risky. On the other hand, lowering taxes and reducing regulations can have the opposite effect. Lower taxes and lower costs create ripe conditions for job growth. But at the end of the day, it isn’t an act of government that creates a job. It’s businesses that create the job.

We conservatives need to be careful about giving to much credit to government concerning job creation. We to easily fall into the progressive trap by claiming that Rick Perry created a million jobs in Texas or that Jon Huntsman created jobs in Utah. Those men and all other Republican governors and presidents did no such thing. They may have created conditions that were good for job growth by reducing taxes and regulations. But they didn’t create the jobs, the private sector did. By falling into the progressive trap, to many Republicans falsely believe that government creates jobs. This is how the left wins and shifting the country ever leftward. Let’s not continue falling into this trap.

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Obama’s Speech Proves Who Isn’t The Adult In The Room

July 26, 2011 Leave a comment

The adult President gave yet another primetime address last night. Since cable television and the internet the power of these addresses has been diminished. Less than 20% of the country watches these addresses, so the ability of any President to direct debate in the country is reduced compared to 20+ years ago. In any event, Obama’s address was more campaign rally than actual policy address. He called on Americans to call their Congressman to complain and told us he wouldn’t bore us with plan details. I guess we just aren’t smart enough to understand Obama’s plan but the drones are capable of picking up the phone and annoying Congressional staffers and interns.

The fact is that Congress already has two plans out there that have bipartisan support. Neither includes tax increases. Harry Reid has agreed to cut $2.7 trillion in spending in exchange for a debt ceiling increase that will put this issue to rest until after the 2012 election. Speaker Boehner has a plan for a $1 trillion debt ceiling increase coupled with $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and a committee to investigate and recommend an additional $1.8 trillion in cuts. Reid’s plan would likely pass the House, at this point Boehner’s plan would likely pass the Senate.

That leaves the President to decide whether he wishes to veto what a bipartisan Congress has passed. For all of Obama’s talk about bipartisan cooperation last night, if he vetos what anything that comes out of this Congress he is the one who will look like an ideologue. For all of Obama’s whining about House Republicans, he is ignoring bipartisan efforts taking place in the Senate. He said yesterday he opposed Reid’s compromise bill because it doesn’t include tax increases.

Speaking of tax increases, Obama trotted out the corporate jet tax again yesterday. He must think that plays well in the ears of the average American but his corporate jet tax has already been proven to be a meaningless political ploy. As of nearly three weeks ago, it’s been proven that his jet tax would only bring in $300 million a year and likely would cost jobs in the airplane manufacturing sector. Obama must think the American people are so stupid that they can’t get online and read all about this issue.

The President must also think the American people are to stupid to figure out that the top 2% (who barely make $250,000 a year) account for 40% of consumer spending in this country. They also pay the lions share of Federal taxes. Any tax increase on this group will result in two things. First consumer spending would decrease, which would negatively affect the middle class in both the service and manufacturing sectors. Second, investment would decrease which would result in loss of job creation.

President Obama is attempting to do what Congressional Democrats and President Bush did in 1991. Bush agreed to tax increases in exchange for some nominal spending cuts. The problem is that the tax cuts killed the economy and resulted in increased unemployment. As a result, more Americans went on welfare, food stamps and medicaid. The cost of having more Americans on these programs more than off set the spending cuts. Obama is playing a game here. He doesn’t want any reduction in Federal spending and he knows he won’t get one if there are tax increases.

Republicans need to hold firm. This President doesn’t have a plan of his own and as a result he will be stuck with whatever Congress passes. The fact that Obama doesn’t want to bore us with plan details shows us just how disingenuous he is. Obama will not commit to anything and has already shown us he’s willing to move the goal posts. Speaker Boehner needs to hold firm, even if it means going along with Reid’s plan. Let Obama veto a bipartisan bill.

Filed under economy, John Boehner, Obama, Politics, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Obama Overplays Debt Ceiling Cards As Reid Caves

July 25, 2011 Leave a comment

Joseph Curl of the Washington Times wonders whether the President is a pathological liar. I am reluctant to accuse anyone of lying unless it can be absolutely proved. While I won’t call the President a liar concerning the debt ceiling negotiations, yet, he certain has shown what a poor negotiator he is. Obama takes a very elementary school approach to the Presidency. He’s like a 7 year old who thinks the President gets to boss everyone around and get his way no matter what. It of course doesn’t work like that.

The President misled the American people when he declared that Speaker Boehner walked away from the negotiating table last week. Boehner was about to agree to nearly $800 billion in new taxes before the President suddenly demanded $400 billion more. He moved the goal posts, despite the fact that he was about to get the Republicans to break a major campaign promise.

Obama’s move to demand even more tax money was perhaps rooted in his loss of liberal support in the polls. In the end it will cost the President dearly. Sen. Harry Reid is set to cave to the Republicans, agreeing to $2.7 trillion in cuts without any tax increases. The President has declared his opposition to the plan supported by Reid. But if this were to pass a bipartisan Congress, Obama would have almost no choice but to sign the bill. A Presidential veto may make the far left happy but it will ensure Obama’s defeat next year.

It didn’t have to be this way for the President. He had Boehner right where he wanted him. The Speaker was set to agree to nearly $800 billion in new taxes until the President got greedy. Obama could have beaten the Republicans over the head with such a deal, they would have broken their campaign pledge of 2010. But the President chose to cater to the far left and demand even more taxes, in the end he may very well end up with nothing. Meanwhile weaking John Boehner, moments from caving to $800 billion in tax increases, comes out the hero.

Why would President Obama do this? There are two theories that come to mind. First, Obama was a two year Senator (yes, he served four years but the last two were largely spent campaigning for President) and as such he came into office with very little negotiating experience. During his first two years, the President largely ignored Republicans and because of Democrat super majorities in Congress he never had to negotiate with Republicans. As a result, the President doesn’t know how to negotiate a major bipartisan deal. His missteps during this entire debate suggest he doesn’t know what he’s doing. After all if the President wanted more revenue so badly why did he extend the Bush tax cuts just six months ago?

It’s hard to believe though that this President is so naive as to not be able to handle negotiating a deal. Obama may be a socialist, but he’s not an idiot. He’s doing all of this intentionally. Whether he believes that he’ll score political points if a deal isn’t done or if he his ties to radical socialism have poisoned Obama to the point where a debt default would be good for his long term vision of socialism I don’t know. If the President believes the country will blame Republicans for a default he has another thing coming if he veto’s Reid’s compromise bill. If he believes default will create conditions for socialist revolutionaries to gain power, he’s sadly mistaken. The country won’t move to the left if Obama causes a default, the country will move to the right. This, after all, isn’t Europe.

President Obama is leading the nation towards debt default by refusing to seriously negotiate a deal. The President has been inconsistent and all over the place during the entire debate. He has yet to offer his own plan. He over played his political cards last week and it is going to cost him big. Whether he’s lying and whether he has some ulterior motive for all of this remains to be seen. What we do know is that the President over played his cards and he’s set himself up to take the blame when and if there is a default.

Filed under John Boehner, Obama, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

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