"This is not class warfare - it's math" said the President when pushing for the infamous Buffet Rule back in September. He was wrong then, and apparently he has not gotten any better in the ensuing three months!
Just as the fact that the wealthiest 0.1% (or the 1%, 5%, and even 20%) pay a way larger share of their income in federal taxes than everyone else in effective terms eludes the Demagogue-In-Chief, the fact that 2% of $50,000 does not equal $40 per week also does.
Apparently, what is needed most sorely for this incompetent bunch is arithmetic tutors. My seven year old son is available at a nominal rate, Mr. President.
P.S.
My comment at the WH site was: "It means $40 bucks to donate to whoever will kick your sorry Marxist butt out of the White House" I am sure it will not be one of the comments they will be publishing!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
MF Global: A Case Study In How Soros Makes Billions
Here is an interesting article by Peter Brandt, who is a renowned commodity trader, that walks the readers step by step how George Soros has ended up with the money MF Global clients have lost. So this is how progressive causes get funded on the most part! Personally, I think that the corrupt congress does not want to make the connections. Not much of a surprise there either!.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Oh When the Chickens Come Home to Roost....
Yesterday, there was a significant news story that may not have gotten the attention that it deserves. As you may remember from my previous posts, I was highly critical of the 2009 trade tariffs imposed by the Obama Administration on tires being imported from China. Well, it is now obvious that the chickens have finally come home to roost as I fully expected. China, the world's largest automobile market, has just slapped the U.S. with punitive tariffs on auto imports to the tune of 21% which will have an estimated $2.5 to $4.5 billion impact on ailing U.S. auto manufacturers.
Historically, tariffs have never resolved any trade disputes; they did not during the Great Depression as with the over studied case of Smoot Hawley Act (which arguably contributed greatly to turning a recession in to a painful and prolonged depression), or in any other time (remember the Tariff of 1828 and others?) in history. In fact, they have almost invariably always hurt trade and, as a natural extension, prosperity.
Tariffs are punitive, anti-free trade, actions (usually pushed by labor unions) that inevitably lead to retaliatory actions by those countries they are levied against. They destroy the mechanism of free trade that is supposed to keep in place efficiencies (translation: favorable cost structures) enjoyed by nations which hold comparative advantages in either labor, technology, or capital. At the end, although it may look like a victory for local manufacturers, the indisputable loser is the public in general because they lead to higher costs and even shortages of goods.
It took the world, led by the U.S., well over a century to abandon its relatively protectionist stance. Although GATT was established in 1947, it was finally in the post Reagan era that the U.S. fully embraced free trade with establishment of NAFTA and Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. As a direct result, global wealth increased dramatically in those countries engaging in free-trade over the past thirty or so years. Now it seems, after a three decade trade renaissance, we are back to square one. What a shame!
Historically, tariffs have never resolved any trade disputes; they did not during the Great Depression as with the over studied case of Smoot Hawley Act (which arguably contributed greatly to turning a recession in to a painful and prolonged depression), or in any other time (remember the Tariff of 1828 and others?) in history. In fact, they have almost invariably always hurt trade and, as a natural extension, prosperity.
Tariffs are punitive, anti-free trade, actions (usually pushed by labor unions) that inevitably lead to retaliatory actions by those countries they are levied against. They destroy the mechanism of free trade that is supposed to keep in place efficiencies (translation: favorable cost structures) enjoyed by nations which hold comparative advantages in either labor, technology, or capital. At the end, although it may look like a victory for local manufacturers, the indisputable loser is the public in general because they lead to higher costs and even shortages of goods.
It took the world, led by the U.S., well over a century to abandon its relatively protectionist stance. Although GATT was established in 1947, it was finally in the post Reagan era that the U.S. fully embraced free trade with establishment of NAFTA and Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. As a direct result, global wealth increased dramatically in those countries engaging in free-trade over the past thirty or so years. Now it seems, after a three decade trade renaissance, we are back to square one. What a shame!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
A Dangerous Game in the Middle East
Bad news. Don't expect Turkey to be the moderating voice in the Middle East that Bush and Obama administrations foolishly hoped she would be.
I previously wrote about the Erdogan government and the prevailing anti-America/anti-West sentiment in my native country of Turkey, and its potential role in a catastrophic break-down of relative peace in the Middle East.
As I noted in my post, Turkey's relations with Israel have been deteriorating rapidly over the past few years. This is not welcome development since Turkey sways major influence in the region as a strategically located G-20 country as well as the most powerful military outside of Israel. The complicating factor in this development is the anti-western public sentiment that has been escalating over the past decade.
Turkey is a study in societal contrasts. The ultra modern and the devout Islamists coexist uneasily side by side, united in their distrust - and at times distaste - for the West, especially the United States. These Islamists and progressive leftists have formed an unholy alliance to undermine the free society that Ataturk envisioned eight decades ago. As such, Turkey is travelling on the same road that countries experiencing Arab Spring (spearheaded by similar coalitions of Islamists and Marxists) like Egypt and Libya are: a road that leads to disaster and terrible consequences that may well reach well beyond Turkey's borders.
Now comes the report that Erdogan government is intending to give Hamas $300 million - yes, you read right, Hamas the internationally recognized terrorist organization!
Here are the facts (as uttered by Erdogan and not by speculation) that give credibility to the report. First, we know of his government’s involvement and approval of the Gaza flotilla debacle last year. Second, Erdogan said to Charlie Rose in an interview that to regard Hamas as a terrorist organization is to disrespect the Palestinian people. He made it abundantly clear by saying “Hamas is not a terrorist organization”. That is quite a puzzling conclusion on his part since, not only Hamas’ charter calls for destruction of Israel but they are responsible for killing thousands of innocent Israeli civilians as you well know. Erdogan also said that he was very pleased that Hamas and Fatah had joined forces.
Finally, for those thinking this is an Israeli plot to isolate Turkey, further adding to the credibility of the story is that it was published in IMEMC, a Palestinian organization.
So, here we seem to have the symbol of so-called moderate Islam supporting radical Islam not only in words but in deed.
I'd like to think that there is no substance to this outrageous story but having seen the current AKP government in action over the past couple of years, I am more convinced than ever that Erdogan, who is shrewd and perhaps overly ambitious, is out to have himself declared leader of the Islamic world.
This is a very dangerous game, indeed. One that requires utmost care by the U.S.........
Oops, I forget..... our leadership over here supports the Islamist/Socialist Arab Spring whole heartedly too, don't they?! It seems, once again, we are at the mercy of outside forces thanks to a lack of vision that is worthy of a super power.
2012 just can't get here soon enough!
I previously wrote about the Erdogan government and the prevailing anti-America/anti-West sentiment in my native country of Turkey, and its potential role in a catastrophic break-down of relative peace in the Middle East.
As I noted in my post, Turkey's relations with Israel have been deteriorating rapidly over the past few years. This is not welcome development since Turkey sways major influence in the region as a strategically located G-20 country as well as the most powerful military outside of Israel. The complicating factor in this development is the anti-western public sentiment that has been escalating over the past decade.
Turkey is a study in societal contrasts. The ultra modern and the devout Islamists coexist uneasily side by side, united in their distrust - and at times distaste - for the West, especially the United States. These Islamists and progressive leftists have formed an unholy alliance to undermine the free society that Ataturk envisioned eight decades ago. As such, Turkey is travelling on the same road that countries experiencing Arab Spring (spearheaded by similar coalitions of Islamists and Marxists) like Egypt and Libya are: a road that leads to disaster and terrible consequences that may well reach well beyond Turkey's borders.
Now comes the report that Erdogan government is intending to give Hamas $300 million - yes, you read right, Hamas the internationally recognized terrorist organization!
Here are the facts (as uttered by Erdogan and not by speculation) that give credibility to the report. First, we know of his government’s involvement and approval of the Gaza flotilla debacle last year. Second, Erdogan said to Charlie Rose in an interview that to regard Hamas as a terrorist organization is to disrespect the Palestinian people. He made it abundantly clear by saying “Hamas is not a terrorist organization”. That is quite a puzzling conclusion on his part since, not only Hamas’ charter calls for destruction of Israel but they are responsible for killing thousands of innocent Israeli civilians as you well know. Erdogan also said that he was very pleased that Hamas and Fatah had joined forces.
Finally, for those thinking this is an Israeli plot to isolate Turkey, further adding to the credibility of the story is that it was published in IMEMC, a Palestinian organization.
So, here we seem to have the symbol of so-called moderate Islam supporting radical Islam not only in words but in deed.
I'd like to think that there is no substance to this outrageous story but having seen the current AKP government in action over the past couple of years, I am more convinced than ever that Erdogan, who is shrewd and perhaps overly ambitious, is out to have himself declared leader of the Islamic world.
This is a very dangerous game, indeed. One that requires utmost care by the U.S.........
Oops, I forget..... our leadership over here supports the Islamist/Socialist Arab Spring whole heartedly too, don't they?! It seems, once again, we are at the mercy of outside forces thanks to a lack of vision that is worthy of a super power.
2012 just can't get here soon enough!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Barack the Bad Ass Assasin
In response to the GOP presidential candidates calling him an appeaser, Obama said "ask Osama Bin Laden or any one of the other dead Al Qaeda leaders if I am an appeaser".
Isn't it like the progressives to make a straw man argument in order to misrepresent who they really are? It is a little like the police chief whose town is unsafe to walk around saying "ask the jay walkers we have been ticketing at a record pace if we are soft on crime".
This Administration has done nothing but appease: they have appeased the Russians by giving up our missile shield; they have appeased the Palestinians by abandoning our ally Israel (remember the 1967 borders debacle?); they have appeased the radical Muslims in Iran by turning their backs on Iranian protesters and allowing them to be slaughtered just for a chance to sit at the table with Ahmedinejad; they have appeased Muslims here at home by calling the Fort Hood shootings a case of "work place violence" and the shooting of the Army recruitment center in Little Rock as "a random act" - both by Muslims who have indicated their devotion to Jihad -; they have appeased every little tin pot dictator from Venezuela to Honduras to you name the banana republic; the list is too long to go on but you get the point.
Yes, the President has succeeded in assassinating senior Al Qaeda leaders but that is where his bravado ends. Otherwise, Barack the assassin has only succeeded in assassinating one other thing: Our prestige and influence around the world.
Isn't it like the progressives to make a straw man argument in order to misrepresent who they really are? It is a little like the police chief whose town is unsafe to walk around saying "ask the jay walkers we have been ticketing at a record pace if we are soft on crime".
This Administration has done nothing but appease: they have appeased the Russians by giving up our missile shield; they have appeased the Palestinians by abandoning our ally Israel (remember the 1967 borders debacle?); they have appeased the radical Muslims in Iran by turning their backs on Iranian protesters and allowing them to be slaughtered just for a chance to sit at the table with Ahmedinejad; they have appeased Muslims here at home by calling the Fort Hood shootings a case of "work place violence" and the shooting of the Army recruitment center in Little Rock as "a random act" - both by Muslims who have indicated their devotion to Jihad -; they have appeased every little tin pot dictator from Venezuela to Honduras to you name the banana republic; the list is too long to go on but you get the point.
Yes, the President has succeeded in assassinating senior Al Qaeda leaders but that is where his bravado ends. Otherwise, Barack the assassin has only succeeded in assassinating one other thing: Our prestige and influence around the world.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
The Speech That Betrayed The Chameleon
Those who are on the far left of the political spectrum, like Robert Reich and the NYT editorial staff among others, have called the President's Kansas speech the most important of his presidency.
We, on the opposite end of the spectrum, agree whole heartedly. This was the landmark speech as far as shining the light on who Mr. Obama really is. The snippets of video and various infamous quotes from his books as well as radio by the President made it clear for those with intellectual honesty that we had elected our first Marxist wannabe president in 2008. His actions in office - particularly the anti business, pro labor ones - cemented that view while the left was disingenuously complaining that he was "too Bush like". A likely tactic. Distracting the public by making false allegations, setting up straw arguments, applying Alinskyite tactics,........it is all part of what the progressives must do to advance their agenda.
Yes, the speech was pivotal and it probably cemented the support of the President's base: those who make up the 21% of the electorate who self identify as progressive liberals. It, however, lost everyone else who was paying attention to it. And that, provided that enough independents were paying attention, is a losing strategy.
At the end, it was his own words (or, likely, his speech writers) that did the chameleon in. I will disect the speech later.
We, on the opposite end of the spectrum, agree whole heartedly. This was the landmark speech as far as shining the light on who Mr. Obama really is. The snippets of video and various infamous quotes from his books as well as radio by the President made it clear for those with intellectual honesty that we had elected our first Marxist wannabe president in 2008. His actions in office - particularly the anti business, pro labor ones - cemented that view while the left was disingenuously complaining that he was "too Bush like". A likely tactic. Distracting the public by making false allegations, setting up straw arguments, applying Alinskyite tactics,........it is all part of what the progressives must do to advance their agenda.
Yes, the speech was pivotal and it probably cemented the support of the President's base: those who make up the 21% of the electorate who self identify as progressive liberals. It, however, lost everyone else who was paying attention to it. And that, provided that enough independents were paying attention, is a losing strategy.
At the end, it was his own words (or, likely, his speech writers) that did the chameleon in. I will disect the speech later.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Obama Scandals and Other Outrageous News Update
Just a short post to keep up with developments in the ongoing Obama scandals (though I missed some recent items due to timing constraints) and other outrageous news items:
A new Reuters story talks about the staff mutiny at Solyndra in the days leading to Obama's infamous visit to the plant.
In other news, as Obama keeps on running from his radical past, more and more indications of his true colors surface. Here is one more tie between him and the Marxists:
When Marxists everywhere, from the CPUSA to the labor unions, are lockstep behind you, how can anyone deny that you are not sympathetic to their ideology?
---
Another Obama campaign cash bundler who has benefited from the Obama crony cash machine has surfaced. Abound Solar backed by bundler/investor Pat Stryker is the latest addition to a long list highlighted by Solyndra, SunPower, Evergreen, etc., etc. This time, the amount is $400 million. What is a few hundred million here and there among friends, right?
---
Congressional Republicans are pushing hard to eventually defund NLRB (Craig Becker's outfit that sued Boeing on behalf of the labor union for moving an assembly facility from the union friendly state of Washington to the right to work state of S. Carolina). The push back by union friendly Democrats has started.
Workers of the world, unite! Ooops, I forgot...they are all busy with Occupy whatever!
---
The inner workings of the incredibly radical - not to mention corrupt and inept - Obama Administration is highlighted once again. Based on the Obama administration’s latest document dump of visitor logs, convicted fraudster and community organizer Robert Creamer (architect of the Democrats’ political strategy for imposing Obamacare) has visited the White House sixty times since January 2009–five times in August 2011 alone. Creamer’s efforts this fall to promote the Occupy Wall Street movement and to target Bank of America in particular makes one wonder how involved is the Administration in directing the Occupy movement. Remember as well that the labor unions, especially AFL/CIO (head of which have been visiting/conferencing with the White House almost on a weekly basis) are the main influence behind the movement.
---
Finally, on the economic front, the Commerce Department cut its estimate of third quarter GDP growth from 2.5% to 2%.
On Friday, however, there was what seemed - at first glance - to be some good news. The nation's unemployment rate has gone down from 9% to 8.6%. Before you get overly excited, however, let me point out that:
1) Seasonal (and temporary) hiring starts around mid October. Come February, many of those new hires will be let go.
2) The U3 data does not include those who have dropped out of the labor force. Despite 120K new jobs, the reports indicate that over 315K workers dropped out (thus stopped being counted as unemployed). The translation is that U6 probably increased by a few tenths of a percent!
---
...And the Obama disaster chugs along!
A new Reuters story talks about the staff mutiny at Solyndra in the days leading to Obama's infamous visit to the plant.
The company had received a $535 million federal loan guarantee in 2009 and was held up by the Obama administration as an example of how it could help create green jobs.---
Behind the scenes, Kaiser's Argonaut Private Equity was trying to right the flailing company. "To put it bluntly our poster child of private equity is acting up something fierce," a senior official from the George Kaiser Family Foundation said in an internal e-mail dated May 8, 2010, warning Solyndra's long-term business plan was in jeopardy.
The new emails highlight how the government backed a company that was in trouble from its early stages, giving more fuel to critics who believe the government threw good taxpayer money after bad.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu's top adviser on stimulus projects brushed aside White House questions about financial red flags ahead of Obama's May 25 visit.
In other news, as Obama keeps on running from his radical past, more and more indications of his true colors surface. Here is one more tie between him and the Marxists:
While addressing a gathering of the international communist front World Federation of Democratic Youth, in Lisbon Portugal, November 10, 2011, Young Communist League USA organizer Lisa Bergmann, boasted of communist leadership in the US “Occupy” movement and their desire to harness the movement to the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama.
When Marxists everywhere, from the CPUSA to the labor unions, are lockstep behind you, how can anyone deny that you are not sympathetic to their ideology?
---
Another Obama campaign cash bundler who has benefited from the Obama crony cash machine has surfaced. Abound Solar backed by bundler/investor Pat Stryker is the latest addition to a long list highlighted by Solyndra, SunPower, Evergreen, etc., etc. This time, the amount is $400 million. What is a few hundred million here and there among friends, right?
---
Congressional Republicans are pushing hard to eventually defund NLRB (Craig Becker's outfit that sued Boeing on behalf of the labor union for moving an assembly facility from the union friendly state of Washington to the right to work state of S. Carolina). The push back by union friendly Democrats has started.
Speaking at a forum sponsored by the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said efforts to defund the labor board and reduce its power amount to an attack on workers’ rights.Also, on Wednesday, the NLRB voted to change the rules to benefit labor unions.
Workers of the world, unite! Ooops, I forgot...they are all busy with Occupy whatever!
---
The inner workings of the incredibly radical - not to mention corrupt and inept - Obama Administration is highlighted once again. Based on the Obama administration’s latest document dump of visitor logs, convicted fraudster and community organizer Robert Creamer (architect of the Democrats’ political strategy for imposing Obamacare) has visited the White House sixty times since January 2009–five times in August 2011 alone. Creamer’s efforts this fall to promote the Occupy Wall Street movement and to target Bank of America in particular makes one wonder how involved is the Administration in directing the Occupy movement. Remember as well that the labor unions, especially AFL/CIO (head of which have been visiting/conferencing with the White House almost on a weekly basis) are the main influence behind the movement.
---
Finally, on the economic front, the Commerce Department cut its estimate of third quarter GDP growth from 2.5% to 2%.
On Friday, however, there was what seemed - at first glance - to be some good news. The nation's unemployment rate has gone down from 9% to 8.6%. Before you get overly excited, however, let me point out that:
1) Seasonal (and temporary) hiring starts around mid October. Come February, many of those new hires will be let go.
2) The U3 data does not include those who have dropped out of the labor force. Despite 120K new jobs, the reports indicate that over 315K workers dropped out (thus stopped being counted as unemployed). The translation is that U6 probably increased by a few tenths of a percent!
---
...And the Obama disaster chugs along!
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