Stimulus Shell Game

I received this from a friend a few weeks ago and have been giving it some thought:

It is the month of August, a resort town sits next to the shores of a lake. It is raining,  and the little town looks totally deserted.  It is tough times,  everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on  credit.

Suddenly,  a rich tourist comes to town.
He  enters the only hotel, lays a 100 dollar bill on the reception counter,  and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick  one.
The  hotel proprietor takes the 100 dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the  butcher.
The  Butcher takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt to the pig  raiser.
The  pig raiser takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt to the  supplier of his feed and fuel.
The  supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the town’s prostitute that in these hard times, gave her “services” on credit..
The  hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 dollar bill  to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she  brought her clients there.
The  hotel proprietor then lays the 100 dollar bill back on the counter so that  the rich tourist will not suspect anything.
At  that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and  takes his 100 dollar bill, after saying that he did not like any of the  rooms, and leaves town.
No  one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt, and  looks to the future with a lot of optimism .
And  that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is doing business today.

Here’s what came to mind:

The rich tourist is actually the consultant hired by the city to help bring business to town.  He was hired because he told a great story and gave hope to the townspeople that he could bring change.  Each business in town had paid $10 into a pot to get the $100 demanded by the consultant.  He promised to spend the money to stimulate business in town (plus pay his modest 50% fee).  Now he has skipped town not having stimulated anything but his fee receipts.  And the bad part is that most of the businesses in town had borrowed the $10 from distant relatives.

Moral of the story (my opinion):

Spending tax dollars that have not yet been collected in order to create economic activity is stupid.  It is borrowing more money to solve problems spent by borrowing and spending beyond our means.  It is a shell game in which the only parties in the transaction who will come out ahead are the government members who will continue life as usual while the taxpayers go deeper in debt.

Scrappleface for County Exec

I rarely make a donation to a political campaign.  I will work for a campaign, make calls, put up signs, etc.  I just hate the monetization of elections.  To me it is just so many dollars to buy so many votes.

Having said that, I realize that the way the world is today, you cannot get elected without significant dollars.  If we are to change the tax, spend, and restrict mentality in our government, we need to take action.  That means running for office.  It also means finding the dollars to do so.

I have great respect for people who will put up with all the BS that goes with campaigning for office.  A blogging friend, Scott Ott (http://www.scrappleface.com/) has decided to put his money where his mouth is.  He is running for County Executive against a well entrenched career politician with a big bankroll.

He needs our help.  Please join me in giving even a token amount to show our support for common sense and restraint in spending.

See his internet support plea here

Though much of Scott’s site is now devoted to his campaign, you owe it to yourself to read Scott’s great political humor.  If you can’t laugh at his stuff,  you should stay away from political discussions altogether.

Don’t Believe Mr. Obama

Mr. Obama spent two years on the campaign trail.  Most of it, he spent telling us of the evils of Washington, the politics, the lies, the broken promises, the unethical behavior.  He promised  ”Change.”  He promised to change the unethical behavior so rampant in ‘Washington.’  I’m not sure if he will ever defend himself by stating, “It depends on your definition of Change.”  I am sure that the change I see is not the one that I believe a majority of voters wanted.  Either we need a new definition of ‘change’ or Mr. Obama needs to stop lying to us.

Change in Washington Ethics, Example One – The day before yesterday speaking on Energy, Cap and Trade, etc., Mr. Obama said,”In the late 1970s, the state of California enacted tougher energy-efficiency policies. Over the next three decades, those policies helped create almost 1.5 million jobs. And today, Californians consume 40 percent less energy per person than the national average–which, over time, has prevented the need to build at least 24 new power plants. Think about that. California–producing jobs, their economy keeping pace with the rest of the country, and yet they have been able to maintain their energy usage at a much lower level than the rest of the country.”    His obvious intent is to convince you that strict energy laws (like the soon-to-emerge-from-Congress Cap and Trade Bill) will have us creating lots of jobs and consuming far less energy.  That is disingenuous at best, probably simple deceit, and may just be lying.  California’s population is concentrated in areas with a very mild climate and as such, most Californians require far less energy to heat and cool their homes.  My guess is that they have always used far less than the national average amount of energy.  Also, during the period Mr. Obama uses in his example, the population of California grew by 14.3 million people.  If his “create almost 1.5 million jobs” happened to be 1.43 million, that would mean one job for every ten people.  Could this be one reason that California has seen a huge exodus of industry and now has the 3rd highest unemployment rate in the country?  If a salesman used this argument on you, you would be upset and would not deal with him.  That doesn’t appear to be a choice in this case.

Change in Washington Ethics, Example Two – The Obama-Biden plan posted online laid out the changes needed in Ethics in Government.  High on the list was the promise to eliminate pork from our government budget:  ”Slash Earmarks: Earmarks grew from $7.8 billion in 1994 to $29 billion in 2006. Barack Obama is committed to returning earmarks to less than $7.8 billion a year, the level they were at before 1994.”  In the stimulus bill alone, the $7.8 Billion wouldn’t amount to a shadow of the included earmarks (see here and here among many others). Talk about challenging us to believe him!  In the same document, it reads, “Shine Light on Earmarks and Pork Barrel Spending: Obama’s Transparency and Integrity in Earmarks Act will shed light on all earmarks by disclosing the name of the legislator who asked for each earmark, along with a written justification, 72 hours before they can be approved by the full Senate.”  Have you seen that yet?  Maybe Mr. Obama is saving that for his 2nd term.

Change in Washington Ethics, Example Three – Also in the same document and in many speeches, “Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.”  To date, he has broken this promise 5 times and is planning no such ‘Sunlight’ before signing a cap and trade bill.  Breaking a promise once may be forgiven by some.  Breaking it on a regular basis has no defense.  It is pure and simple fraud.

Change in Washington Ethics, Numbers Four through 10,000 will come with the sale of Socialized Medicine, a Value Added Tax, selling a new Associate Justice who was chosen for her race and gender, not her qualifications, etc., etc., etc.  I’m afraid we have only seen the beginning of this ‘change’ (for the worse) in Washington Ethics.

When a Republican President  (Mr. Bush) had a Republican Congress and they proceeded to spend money like drunken sailors, I was highly disappointed.  When a Democrat President (Mr. Obama) plays the ethics card for two years then acts in a blatantly unethical manner to achieve his goals I wonder about our society and our future.

CAP AND TRADE LUNACY – The King’s New Clothes

Sorry to not have posted for well over a week.  I was on a combined business and family trip and have gotten way behind.  While I was gettting behind, Congress was busy railroading through Mr. Obama’s latest emergency legislation:

Email your Senator now.  Tell him or her to stop the lunacy and vote against the hurry-up “Cap and Trade Bill”.  Like almost every other bill on Mr. Obama’s agenda, the Cap and Trade Bill is being rushed through Congress so that critics don’t have time to show taxpayers the flaws.  Mr. Obama’s strategy is clever.  If every bill is done on an emergency basis, there will not be time for opposition to form.  The Cap and Trade Bill is a classic example of a bill that would not have a chance if it saw the light of day.  Hidden in the hurry-up it actually stands a chance to pass and to penalize our country with unilateral sacrifice that will not occur in many other countries.

Cap and Trade is the classic Class Warfare law.  It doesn’t penalize government.  It doesn’t penalize academia. It doesn’t actually accomplish anything significant except to send jobs to countries who laugh at the folly of the thing.  It gives elected and unelected government people the power to further regulate what you do and how you do it.  It is based on several shaky assumptions that its backers don’t want called into question.  It wants you to leave unquestioned the “scientific facts” of “Global Warming.”

What would happen if an elite group of capitalists (leaders of large companies and industry groups) proposed a “cap and trade” law limiting social security and healthcare benefits for all those who worked for government agencies or universities?  It could go something like this:  Since salaried government employees and college professors don’t actually produce a direct benefit or add value (like a farmer or a welder or a miner or a builder) they would only get between 10% and 20% of the Social Security Benefit of the “productive class.”  How well would that sit with the ruling elites?  That’s about the effect this bill will have on those who are not in the protected classes, like government and academia.

No questioning of the key premise is allowed – “Man and his industrial activities are at the root cause of ‘Global Warming’”.  No one is allowed to question if the King is really naked or if he truly has magic clothes.  Anyone who brings up evidence contrary to the religion of Global Warming is silenced or at least discredited.  It takes true bravery for anyone in government or the scientific community to question Global Warming.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal told a story of a person with just such unbelievable guts.  A longtime advocate of the Al Gore position that humans are the cause of Global Warming, he actually admitted that the ‘Global Warming Deniers’ may have some science on their side and it might make sense to look at it.

According to the article, “The collapse of the “consensus” has been driven by reality. The inconvenient truth is that the earth’s temperatures have flat-lined since 2001, despite growing concentrations of C02. Peer-reviewed research has debunked doomsday scenarios about the polar ice caps, hurricanes, malaria, extinctions, rising oceans. A global financial crisis has politicians taking a harder look at the science that would require them to hamstring their economies to rein in carbon.  Credit for Australia’s own era of renewed enlightenment goes to Dr. Ian Plimer, a well-known Australian geologist. Earlier this year he published “Heaven and Earth,” a damning critique of the “evidence” underpinning man-made global warming. The book is already in its fifth printing. So compelling is it that Paul Sheehan, a noted Australian columnist — and ardent global warming believer — in April humbly pronounced it “an evidence-based attack on conformity and orthodoxy, including my own, and a reminder to respect informed dissent and beware of ideology subverting evidence.” Australian polls have shown a sharp uptick in public skepticism; the press is back to questioning scientific dogma; blogs are having a field day.”

We didn’t stop the folly of a 1200 page “Stimulus Bill” passing without having been read by those who voted on it.  Maybe we can slow this bill down and take the time to open our minds and see if their really is solid scientific evidence backing the extreme measures this bill proposes.  our economy and our energy future depend on it.

Once again, by crying “Emergency,” Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Congress are trying to have their way without allowing desent.  It appears that closed minds are ruling the day and we will all be worse of for it.  If the Administration and Congress had an ounce of integrity, they would debate this bill like any other and give it a few months to be polished by the people, the press, and yes, even the opposition party.

Rush to Cover the Flaws – Selling Healthcare Reform

Mr. Obama is trying to sell his Plan for Healthcare Reform.  He knows that much of the public is wary of various parts of his plan and that it will not be a slam-dunk sale.  How do I know this?  By observing Mr. Obama and his actions.

A Salesperson with a good product has two basic tasks that must be performed in order to successfully sell the product.  First, he must identify his target market.  Second, he must give that market the opportunity to understand the value of the offering.  A sales person with a good product never lies and always under-promises and over-delivers.

If Mr. Obama had a good product, he would not feel the need to scare us to rush into healthcare reform.  If he had a good product, he would identify the market and give it the opportunity to see the value of his product.  When you have a product to sell, you always emphasize the strong points and try to gloss over the weak ones.  One of the best ways to cover the weak points of your product is to rush the buying decision.  Ever hear the phrase, “This offer is only good until End of Business Today” or “We only have one left at this price.”?  Why the rush?  What is the ‘good-for-today-only-offer’ hiding?

This reminds me too much of the Stimulus Debate.  We were told that we needed to pass legislation, even without first reading it, because if we didn’t, we would sink into a Depression so deep that only Big Government could address it.  The result was what Mr. Obama had hoped for: the opportunity to address the problem the way he wanted without public debate.  Billions are being spent (with few controls) and on more pork than any previous bill ever passed by Congress.  It was a brilliant strategy to take advantage of the Presidential Honeymoon.  Would this have happened if the debate had been extended?  if the Congress and the people had been able to read the bill before it was passed?  I think not.

There is no evidence that I have seen that shows that throwing money at our economic problems has done more good than harm.    I fear the same will be true of Healthcare Reform.  Not having seen what Congress is preparing, I can’t say I am for or against ‘The Plan.”  I can say that I am against rushing something as important as this.

Let’s have the debate.  Let’s start by defining the problem.

Healthcare – The Problem(s)

Noted Writer and Editor, Dorothea Brande once penned, “A problem clearly stated is a problem half solved.”

I’m not sure I have yet read anything coming from Washington, D. C. that clearly states the Healthcare problem in the United States.  At least I have not read anything that convinces me that we need a massive Government Intervention to solve the problem described.  It seems that the politicians point out different problems with our healthcare system depending upon who their audience is and what their objective is in pointing to problems with healthcare..

The first issue I hear described as the problem is that not everyone has access to healthcare.  The above picture shows a large group of people who have obviously concluded that this is the problem.

Next most often, I hear that Healthcare in America is too expensive. 

Third on the list (my list, my opinion) is American Healthcare emphasizes fixing problems rather than preventing them.

The Quality of U.S. Healthcare is falling is the next problem I hear.

Fifth on the list is, Access to Healthcare is tied to employment.  If you lose your job, you lose your healthcare.

6th is , ‘if you are sick, you can’t get health insurance.’  If you have a preexisting condition, the insurance companies won’t insure you.

Next, the Health Insurance Industry has injected huge costs into the system to support their profits.

8th is, Medical Malpractice lawsuits.  They are driving up the price of liability insurance for Doctors and therefore driving up the price of healthcare for all Americans.

‘The quality of care is dependent upon how much money you have,’ is a problem I hear.

Tenth (this is as far as I will go) is that ‘undocumented aliens are utilizing the system in a way that increased costs for all of us.’

We need to reduce this list to a clear statement of the problem.  Then we will be able to evaluate the costs and benefits of the different proposed solutions.

Can anyone give me a clear statement of the Healthcare Problem?  Just post a comment with your statement of the problem.  If I don’t get one in the next few days, I will take my stab at it in a coming post.

Headlines from 2029

A friend (an ex-Californian) sent this to me today.  I got a chuckle out of it (before I started to think about it too much).  Hope you do, too.

HEADLINES FROM THE YEAR: 2029

Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia, formerly known as California .

White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia’s third language.

Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.

Baby conceived naturally!  Scientists stumped.

Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.

Iran still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years be fore radioactivity decreases to safe levels.

France pleads for global help after being taken over by Jamaica . No other country comes forward to help the beleaguered nation!

Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.

George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.

Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89=2 0and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.

85-year $75.8 billion study: Diet and exercise is the key to weight loss.

Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs. 

Global cooling blamed for citrus crop failure for third consecutive year in Mexifornia and Floruba.

Japanese scientists have created a camera with such a fast shutter speed they now can photograph a woman with her mouth shut.

Senate still blocking drilling in ANWAR even though gas is selling for 4,532 Pesos per liter and gas stations are only open on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Massachusetts executes last remaining Conservative.

Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights..

Average height of NBA players is now nine feet, seven inches.

New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2030.

IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.

Floruba voters still having trouble with voting machines.

Fannie Mae Again?

Have We Learned Nothing?

Just got out of my car returning from the Post Office.  While driving I heard an advertisement that said that So-and-So Mortgage Company has money at the lowest rates since 1915 (or some such stupid claim).   The ad clearly said that Fannie Mae was now guaranteeing loans up to $700,000 and that they can finance up to 105% of the value of your property with the guarantee.

Isn’t this a big part of what got us into this mess?  I thought for sure I had heard Mr. Geithner say that the Bush Administration had caused our plight by not watching Fannie and Freddie and that he (Geithner) was going to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so this could never happen again.*

*note to Mr. Geithner – You can’t just blame others.  You actually have to do something to fix the problem.  Continuing to let Fannie Mae lend money with collateral less than the amount of the loan is not the way to fix a problem that was started by lending money with collateral less than the amount of the loan.

Recommended Reading-Inflation,Union Debt and Healthcare

Yesterday, Arthur Laffer wrote an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal that should run chills down the spine of every American.  The gist of the article is that inflation is coming and it will be much like in the Carter years only it will last longer.  The reasons are are many but high on the list are the huge unfunded pension liabilities in Medicare/Medicaid, Pension Benefit Guarantee Trust, Social Security, and Government and Military Retirement plans (thanks, Congress!).  Next on the list are all the new liabilities for Auto Companies, Banks and everything else in Mr. Obama’s shopping bag.  Read it and weap.

Also yesterday,and also in the Wall Street Journal the article on Unions in Debt is fascinating. The short description of the article is that Unions have spent all their resources getting Mr. Obama and a Democrat Congress Elected.  Now with lower income from credit card royalties and union dues, they are heavily in debt with no quick solution in sight.   Why has the press not, until now, said anything about this?  You would think an investigative reporter would have made hay out of this long ago.  It is not surprising if you have read my post on the press.

Investors Business Daily had an article yesterday on healthcare that should be read by everyone who wants our government to take over healthcare in the US.  It discusses rationing of healthcare and the politicization of care.  The procedure with the biggest lobby will go to the top (sex related = sex change, ‘male performance’, etc.) while essential procedures without a lobby will end up on the bottom and unavailable (liver cancer, cracked ribs, broken toes, etc.).

All three articles are disturbing.  I only hope they will lead some Liberals to think about these subjects and help Conservatives reign in the spending and the controlling legislation.

The Press is Sleeping (or Aiding and Abetting)

Mr. Obama promises that by further increasing the spending on his Recovery Plan that his Administration will “create or save” 600,000 jobs this summer.  The press dutifully reports this without so much as a “How do you count jobs saved, Mr. President?”  Fact is that no organization has come up with a way to count saved jobs.  The Labor Department has no measure.  Who is it that will confirm that this is not just a “feel-good lie” being foisted on us by the President?  

By the way, Mr. Obama claimed that his $787 Billion  Stimulus Plan had already “created or saved” over 150,000 jobs just since March.  Did anyone in the press ask for some background to that statistic?  Had Mr. Bush, or any Republican said anything that silly and indefensible, would the press have hounded him?  You bet.  Why not Mr. Obama?  Is he like “Global Warming”?   Is this too dangerous a political “fact” to challenge in front of our dumbed-down populous?  Does anyone wonder why the press is held in such low regard?

Here are some questions the press might want to ask Mr. Obama.  Put another way, here are some questions the press has avoided asking Mr.Obama.

1. Can you describe in detail how you come up with the figures you give us on “jobs saved”?  

2. Once the Stimulus funds are gone, what is your plan to keep all employed who have newly created temporary jobs (in make-work projects) funded by the Recovery Act?  

3. Will there be a need to dump another $787 billion into a similar ’stimulus’ every 2 years?

4.  Do you have an exit strategy?  How do you get out from under the ownership of banks, automobile manufacturers, etc.?

If you are wondering why the press does not report on matters like this, or, you don’t trust that the press is willing to give you the whole story in fear it may hurt Mr. Obama, you are in good company.  The majority of Americans do not believe the media.

According to “the findings of a WE media Global Forum poll on media bias.  The poll, which surveyed 10,230 adults in the UK, U.S., Brazil, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, and South Korea, finds that, as RedState writes “Americans gave their own media the worst score in the world on the question concerning “Reports all sides of story.” A whopping 69% of Americans disagreed that the media reports all sides. Only the UK (at 64%) comes close to harboring this sentiment.”  Overall, among the nations polled, Americans turn out to be the most skeptical about the accuracy and fairness of their media organizations

Even the liberal thinkprogress blog agrees that  the media is not to be trusted.  

Is the press just sleeping or is it sleeping with the President?