The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government

One of my friends emailed this video to me. It is 3.5 minutes in length and well worth viewing. The subject of the video is a speech by Daniel Hannan to the European Parliament on 03/26/09. Daniel Hannan is a Conservative MEP for the South East of England.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94lW6Y4tBXs

It is encouraging to know there are people willing to stand up and speak the truth and argue for common sense. Daniel Hannan makes so many good points in this brief speech that it is hard to absorb them all on the first viewing. I suggest that you to watch this video more than once.

Cato Institute Climate Change Ad

The following full page ad was run in today’s New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times:

http://www.cato.org/special/climatechange/cato_climate.pdf

Obama Administration’s New Warrantee Commitment Program

The executive branch of our federal government has decided to enter the auto warrantee business:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Warrantee_Commitment_Program.pdf

Our constitution is specifically written to prevent the executive branch of government from creating legislation. It is unconstitutional for the president to create any new spending program without a supporting bill passing both houses of congress.

The following is a link to the national archives US Constitution page:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

It is easy to find the “separation of powers” doctrine that prevents the president from creating legislation it is describe in the first article:

Article. I.

Section. 1.

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Rahm Emanuel and Freddie Mac

The following is a very interesting article about our White House Chief of Staff:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-rahm-emanuel-profit-26-mar26,0,5682373.story?page=1

Some of the highlights from this article:

1. Emanuel earned $16 million in a three-year interlude as an investment banker (hedge fund manager).

2. Emanuel made at least $320,000 from a 14-month stint as a director of Freddie Mac.

3. During Emanuel’s term as director Freddie Mac engaged in accounting fraud.

4. During Emanuel’s term as director Freddie Mac put policies in place that caused the firm to fail and require a Federal bailout.

5. After leaving Freddie Mac Emanuel received campaign contributions from Freddie Mac, and its officers.

6. Now Emanuel is drafting federal government policies concerning the current bailout and future regulation of Freddie Mac and the hedge fund industry.

How to Turn a Recession into a Depression

The following essay by William Niskanen of the Cato Institute is very interesting:

http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v31n2/cpr31n2-1.html

The first paragraph of this essay provides a concise comparison of our current economic policies to those of the 1930’s:

“Four federal economic policies transformed the Hoover recession into the Great Depression: higher tariffs, stronger unions, higher marginal tax rates, and a lower money supply. President Obama, unfortunately, has endorsed some variant of the first three of these policies, and he will face a critical choice on monetary policy in a year or so.”

Obama: U.S. expects "accountability" from Pakistan

The following news article describes our administration’s new policies toward Pakistan:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52S1B120090329?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

According to this report our new president will consult with the Pakistani government prior to attacking al Qaeda or Taliban targets:

“He also said the United States would go after so-called "high-value" targets in Pakistan after consulting with Pakistani authorities, but the main thrust of his policy would be to help Pakistan defeat extremism.”

In the recent news article below US military commanders discuss Pakistan's ISI military intelligence agency:

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE52R03R20090328

The first 2 paragraphs of this article present a paradox to our new Pakistani policies:

“The United States has indications that elements of Pakistan's ISI military intelligence agency provide support to Taliban or al Qaeda militants, senior U.S. military officers said on Friday.

Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Army General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, said the agency must end such activities.”

Based on the opinion of our military leaders, if we consult with Pakistan prior to attacking al Qaeda or Taliban then Pakistan's ISI military intelligence agency will disrupt these attacks by warning the intended targets. Also if we provide money and military equipment to Pakistan it is likely that some of it will be distributed to al Qaeda and the Taliban by the ISI.

He is sorry

Mayor Daley held a news conference on the subject of the latest member of his administration to be convicted of a crime in federal court:

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/03/mayor-daley-says-sorry-for-latest-hiring-fraud-conviction.html

He answered a few questions until the reporters asked about his brother’s involvement. He then had a temper tantrum and left the podium. It is not unusual for the Mayor to become agitated during a news conference.

The following statement was made by his spokeswomen after he stormed out:

"You can do with his not answering your questions whatever you will," mayoral spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said after the mayor left the podium.

The translation of the statement “You can do … whatever you will” in common parlance is: “Stick it up your ass”.

toxic asset plan

Some of the details of the US Treasury’s latest plan to invigorate the banking industry are listed in the following article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKTRE52M31Q20090323?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

I was shocked to read the following 2 paragraphs:

“The Treasury plans to leverage that money to buy $500 billion worth of toxic assets with financing from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, a U.S. bank regulator, and the Federal Reserve, with the potential to reach to up to $1 trillion.”

“These investment funds could purchase these loans by raising FDIC-guaranteed debt. The agency will offer up to a 6-1 debt-to-equity leverage ratio for these loans. So if investors and the Treasury each contribute $1 billion in equity to a fund, that entity can raise up to $12 billion in FDIC financing to purchase $14 billion in loans.”

It has been my understanding that the FDIC is an independent agency that oversees a depositor insurance program. It has also been my understanding that the FDIC collects insurance premiums from the insured banks to fund its depositor insurance. The most recent annual report for the FDIC is available from this link:

http://www.fdic.gov/about/strategic/report/2007highlight/2007highlight.pdf

On page 1 of this report you will find the following:

“Mission
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency created by the Congress that maintains the stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system by insuring deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions, and managing receiverships.”

Has Congress amended the charter for this organization to reflect the Treasury’s new loan guarantee scheme?

This paragraph from page 34 of the above report is noteworthy:

“A Continuing Record of Prudent Stewardship
The FDIC relies primarily upon interest earned on the investment of the Deposit Insurance Fund for its operations. It is notable that the Corporation has reduced its operational spending even as the interest earned on the DIF (and its predecessor funds) has increased significantly. As a result, the FDIC’s annual spending has dramatically declined as a percentage of interest revenue on the DIF. The combined interest earned by the DIF and FRF grew to $2,696 million in 2007 ($2,540 million for DIF and $156 million for FRF), while combined operating and investment budget spending fell to 37.6 percent of interest revenue, down from 49.4 percent in 2003.”

Like all insurance underwriters the FDIC depends on income from its investments to pay its expenses and claims. According to the above paragraph the total income from investments for FDIC in 2007 was $2,696,000,000. On page 37 the total revenue from all sources (investment income plus assessments from member banks plus other revenue) for the FDIC in 2007 is listed as $3,196,233,000. On page 36 of the above report the total assets of the FDIC on 12/31/2007 totaled $ 53,005,327,000. Therefore the Treasury’s new toxic asset plan would involve an insurance fund with 53 billion dollars in assets and 3.2 billion dollars in income in a program of loan guarantees totaling 500 billion dollars!

I welcome all comments and clarifications that you can provide on this subject.

AIG bonuses

Several of my friends have sent me a variety of articles concerning the AIG bonuses. The following article has some very interesting details:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123741741674677723.html

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd is at the center of the bonus controversy. The following paragraph from the above article describes an reoccurring incident in politics:

“Mr. Dodd was criticized for his role in the matter, a problem considering his already difficult re-election run next year. Mr. Dodd is the top all-time beneficiary of AIG campaign contributions, with a total of $280,000 in donations from the company's employees and fund-raising arm since 1990, according to campaign finance data collected by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. A Dodd spokesman had no immediate comment on the campaign contributions Wednesday.”

If we follow the money flow it is apparent that large campaign contributions have been rewarded with special treatment again. This may give a new definition to the term “too large to fail”. This term is used by politicians and economists to imply that an institution has such a large impact on the economy that the consequences of the firm’s failure would be catastrophic. We now may begin to understand that “too large to fail” actually means that the firm’s political contributions have been so large that its political connections will protect it from failure.

Why South Carolina Doesn't Want 'Stimulus'

One of my friends emailed me this article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123759827524401409.html

There are many interesting details about the state budgeting process in this article. Governor Mark Sanford wants to use part of the federal stimulus money that is allocated to South Carolina to pay down state debt. This use of the stimulus money will require a waiver from the federal government.

The discussion of Governor Sanford’s waiver request is most interesting:

“Last week I reached out to the president, asking for a federal waiver from restrictions on stimulus money. I got a most unusual response. Before I even received an acknowledgment of the request from the White House, I got word that the Democratic National Committee was launching campaign-style TV attack-ads against me for making it.

Is this the new brand of politics we were promised? Instead of engaging with me and other governors on the merits of our dissent, I am to be attacked in television ads? In the end, I just don't believe a problem created by too much debt will be solved by piling on more debt. This doesn't strike me as an unreasonable or extremist position.”

This is the method used by our new administration and their ardent supporters. If someone questions or wishes to debate your policy then attack them as subversive. A common example of this tactic is the use of the term “denier” to describe anyone who does not accept the dogma of the global warming rabble.

Hugo Chavez

This is the first time that I agree with Hugo Chavez:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE52L19G20090322

This has been a tough week for our new “extended hand” foreign policy. First our new best friends in Iran scoff at our presidents videotaped message and now Hugo speaks unfavorably of our “Dear Leader”. I am convinced that after they get to meet our new secretary of state both Iran and Venezuela will realize we are serious about achieving “peace for our time”.

The last great world power was also convinced that it had achieved this utopian goal. For the details follow this link:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1938PEACE.html

The two photos below are of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938. The first photo is during his meeting with Adolph Hitler. The second photo is of Chamberlain’s return to England after the historic meeting with Hitler. The paper that he is waiving over his head is the document signed by Hitler and Chamberlain that was going to guarantee “peace for our time”.

Why the Worst Get on Top

The following two paragraphs are from Nobel prize winning economist F. A. Hayek's essay “The Road to Serfdom”:

There are strong reasons for believing that what to us appear the worst features of the existing totalitarian systems are not accidental by-products but phenomena which totalitarianism is certain sooner or later to produce.

Just as the democratic statesman who sets out to plan economic life will soon be confronted with the alternative of either assuming dictatorial powers or abandoning his plans, so the totalitarian dictator would soon have to choose between disregard of ordinary morals and failure. It is for this reason that the unscrupulous and uninhibited are likely to be more successful in a society tending toward totalitarianism.

Milton Friedman

These four quotes from Milton Friedman may be more relevant today than ever.

1. A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it ... gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.

2. If you pay people not to work and tax them when they do, don't be surprised if you get unemployment.

3. Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output. ... A steady rate of monetary growth at a moderate level can provide a framework under which a country can have little inflation and much growth. It will not produce perfect stability; it will not produce heaven on earth; but it can make an important contribution to a stable economic society.

4. Only a crisis, real or perceived, produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.

It is our responsibility to keep the ideas of personal freedom and economic liberty alive.

the color of money

It looks like “green energy” is providing a new avenue for our politicians to funnel taxpayer money to friends and family. The following article describes the City of Chicago’s purchase of carbon credits:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-daley-green-power-bd22-mar22,0,6177898.story

Based on the details in the above article it is obvious that Chicago is sending money to a producer of electricity in another state and receiving nothing in return. I have not researched this transaction but based on my knowledge of Chicago politics I would expect to find that the trader that handles these transactions and the utility that ultimately is receiving the money are somehow connected to local Chicago politicians.

This is a small example of what to expect from our federal government’s proposed “cap and trade” system.

in Europe too

It appears that even politicians outside of the USA are willing to lie to get elected:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7956610.stm

“But week of riots erupted when he revealed on a leaked tape in September 2006 that he had lied about the nation's poor finances to win re-election.”

"gotten away with murder"

The details of the following article leads me to the startling conclusion that political corruption is not limited to Chicago and Los Angeles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/nyregion/21rangel.html?ref=business

Lets follow the money flow:

1. Representative Charles B. Rangel Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has received $110,000 in campaign donations from A.I.G.

2. For decades, Mr. Rangel has been a close friend of Maurice R. Greenberg, the chief executive of A.I.G. until 2005, and until recently one of the company’s biggest shareholders. Mr. Greenberg has sponsored fund-raisers on Mr. Rangel’s behalf, and in 2007, a foundation controlled by Mr. Greenberg gave $5 million to the school, the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York.

3. As recently as last year, Mr. Rangel was trying to woo the company to donate $10 million to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York (named in his honor). And while A.I.G. officials mulled the request, Mr. Rangel supported a provision in a tax bill that saved the company millions of dollars.

For more on Charles B. Rangel see the following website:

http://www.nlpc.org/

closed to the press

One of my friends emailed me the news article below. This one is too strange to comment on:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/03/obama-newspaper.html

deficits

There are many interesting comments in this news article:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_BUDGET?SITE=OHWIL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I think that the answer to the following dilemma is obvious:

“The dismal deficit figures, if they prove to be accurate, inevitably raise the prospect that Obama and his allies controlling Congress would have to consider raising taxes after the recession ends or else pare back his agenda.”

Of course they will choose to raise taxes. As we know this is the only way to “spread the wealth”.

Back taxes

Apparently several of the corporations that received bailout money from the Federal Government owes back taxes:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BAILOUT_DELINQUENT_TAXES?SITE=OHWIL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

My suggestion, use the bailout funds to pay the back taxes. Problem solved.

saving the planet

One of my friends sent me the following article:

Czech President Blasts Global Warming

Czech President Vaclav Klaus says many global warming advocates are more interested in money than they are in climate change.
Speaking at the opening session of the Second International Conference on Climate Change last week in New York, Klaus — who is also President pro-tem of the European Union — warned that politicians have “succeeded in creating incentives which led to the rise of a very powerful [profit]-seeking group.
“These people are interested neither in temperature, CO2, competing scientific hypotheses and their testing, nor in freedom or markets. They are interested in their businesses and their profits — made with the help of politicians.”
They will profit, he said, from trading the licenses to emit carbon dioxide, and from constructing unproductive wind, solar and similar equipment able to generate electricity only with high levels of subsidies.
They will also make money from doing research, writing and speaking about global warming.
At the New York conference, sponsored by the Heartland Institute and attended by more than 700 scientists, Klaus declared that “there is no fixed and stable relationship between measured temperature and CO2 emissions.
“The believers in this hypothesis are not able to explain why the global temperature increased from 1918 to 1940, decreased from 1940 to 1976, increased from 1976 to 1998 and decreased from 1998 to the present, irrespective of the fact that people have been adding increasing amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere.”
He said global warming alarmists “want to change us and our behavior. Their ambition is to control and manipulate us.”
The global warming debate “has not made any detectable progress and the much needed, long overdue exchange of views has not yet started. All we see and hear are uninspiring monologues.
“It reminds me of the frustration people like me felt in the Communist era. Whatever you said, any convincing and well prepared arguments you used, any relevant data you assembled — no reaction. It all fell into emptiness. Nobody listened.
“They didn't even try to argue back. They considered you a naive, uninformed and confused person, an eccentric, a complainer, someone not able to accept their only truth. It is very similar now.”
Recalling his experience at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he said he spent three hours at a closed session with about 60 people - heads of state and “experts” like Al Gore, Tony Blair and Kofi Annan.
“It was a discouraging experience. You looked around in vain to find at least one person who would share your views. There was no one.
“All the participants of the meeting took man-made global warming for granted, were convinced of its dangerous consequences, and more or less competed in one special discipline — whether to suggest a 20, 30, 50 or 80 percent CO2 emissions cut as an agreed-upon, world-wide project. It was difficult to say anything meaningful and constructive.”
Newsmax reported earlier that during the Davos conference in January, Klaus said: "I'm very sorry that some people like Al Gore are not ready to listen to the competing theories. I do listen to them.
"Environmentalism and the global warming alarmism is challenging our freedom. Al Gore is an important person in this movement."
Klaus concluded in New York: “The environmentalists speak about ‘saving the planet.’ From what? And from whom? One thing I know for sure: We have to save it - and us — from them.”

You can listen to President Vaclav Klaus’s speech (25 minutes) by following this link:

http://www.heartland.org/bin/media/newyork08/audio/Tuesday/klaus.mp3

If you have been toying with the idea of dual citizenship the Czech Republic has a lot going for it: Personal Freedom, Economic Liberty (and great Beer).

audacity

One of my friends emailed me the following article concerning the new administration’s proposal to change combat wounded veterans’ health care benefits.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123734281713065367.html

It is hard to understand how combat wounded veterans could be considered targets of the “share the wealth” doctrine. If you believe in the “share the wealth” doctrine shouldn’t combat wounded veterans be recipients of this wealth?

Top 1%

One of my friends sent me this article from the Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB123681860305802821-lMyQjAxMDI5MzE2NzgxMTc4Wj.html

Redistribution of wealth is the theme of our new administration. The “Top 1%” is the argument used to justify these new policies.

There is a very good discussion of the “Top 1%” argument in this article:

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009398

Article. I, Section. 9

We have heard many members of congress express their intent to retrieve the recent bonuses paid to the employees of AIG Insurance. Most of the proposed remedies involve new legislation changing the tax code to effect these AIG employees.

I am not surprised to learn that these congressmen and senators are ignorant of constitutional law.

The Constitution of the United States, Article. I, Section. 9.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

A bill of attainder is an act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial.

An ex post facto law (from the Latin for "after the fact") or retroactive law, is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences of acts committed or the legal status of facts and relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law.

Civil society will never arise until the members of congress are able to read and understand our Constitution.

Los Angeles has corrupt politicians too

One of my friends pointed out to me that Chicago does not have a monopoly on corruption. He forwarded me the following news article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123682571772404053.html

Lets follow the money flow in the above story.

1. Ms. Waters and her husband, Sidney Williams, were investors in two African-American owned California banks that merged with other lenders in 2002 to form OneUnited. Congressional financial-disclosure forms show Ms. Waters acquired OneUnited stock worth between $250,000 and $500,000 in March 2004, as did Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams joined the board of OneUnited that year.

2. Mr. Williams also received interest payments from a separate holding at the bank, also worth between $250,000 and $500,000.

3. OneUnited's executives have donated $12,500 to Ms. Waters's election campaigns.

4. In January, Ms. Waters acknowledged she made a call to the Treasury on OneUnited's behalf. The bank's capital, which was heavily invested in shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was all but wiped out with the federal takeover of the two mortgage giants, and the bank was seeking help from regulators.

5. OneUnited eventually secured bailout funds under the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Maxine Waters as a member the House Financial Services Committee, helped create federal lending laws and regulations that allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to dominate the home mortgage industry. At the same time OneUnited a bank in which she is a major stockholder - and that her husband is a director of - was building its investment position in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Part of the dividends and capital gains that OneUnited Bank earned from investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are paid to Maxine Waters as dividends and capital gains from her stockholdings in OneUnited Bank. Her husband also collects dividends, capital gains and interest from OneUnited Bank. She also collects campaign contributions from OneUnited's executives and the source of these contributions are the proceeds of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investments. Now that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have collapsed Maxine Waters will collect from the TARP payments too.

In case you missed the last paragraph in the news article I will repeat it below:

In October, regulators demanded that OneUnited raise fresh capital and name an independent board. The bank was ordered to stop paying for a Porsche used by one of its executives and its chairman's $6.4 million beachfront home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., a luxury enclave between Malibu and Santa Monica.

By the way, Maxine Waters is not only an expert on banking she is also an authority on the subject of energy production as you will see in the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUaY3LhJ-IQ

in the children's playroom?!!

The wife may have grounds to be angry over this one:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/03/cops-wont-drop-prostitutes-from-police-report.html

"better than nothing"

The mayor of Chicago is giving us another look into the inner workings of politics:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-daley-stimulus-projects-13mar13,0,5875583.story

This paragraph is very telling:

Daley has talked about a wish list of projects he wanted to pay for with the federal stimulus money, but he declined to say Thursday whether all those wishes were granted. The mayor repeatedly declined to release the original list, saying the media would rip it apart.

Since the first discussions in Washington about stimulus packages Daley has refused to divulge how the money would be spent when Chicago received it. This ushers in a new era of openness in government given that the Obama administration would not divulge how the stimulus money would be spent when it asked for congressional approval. We have created a politician’s paradise, federal spending with no oversight distributed to state and local governments with no oversight. Unfortunately Rod Blagojevich is no longer in office to allocate spending for Illinois.

back taxes

“In less than three weeks in office, Obama has collected more than $550,000 in back taxes…just from cabinet appointments.” - Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford

He should be worried

China is giving the USA a lecture on economic policy:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_US_TREASURIES?SITE=WIJAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

This paragraph says it all:

China's premier said Friday he is worried about the safety of the enormous holdings of U.S. Treasuries and other debt and called on Washington to maintain a credible economic policy.

Credible economic policy? This statement comes from the leader of a country with a centrally planned economy. These are strange days indeed.

Unionfacts.org

To appreciate the debate over the “Employee Free Choice Act” and the influence organized labor exerts over federal, state and local government I recommend the following website:

http://www.unionfacts.org/

I found the ads that they have produced very interesting: http://www.unionfacts.org/ads.cfm . I remember seeing one of these ads (“Thanks union bosses!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAGoBjrCnqc ) on local TV during a trip to Las Vegas. Below is a print ad that is also very concise.

The influence that organized labor holds over elected politicians (staring everyone’s favorite governor) is highlighted on this page:
http://www.unionfacts.org/articles/seiuPayForPlay.cfm

Michelle Obama at soup kitchen

News article about Michelle’s visit to a homeless shelter soup kitchen:
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/03/at_soup_kitchen.html

Photos of her visit:
http://www.jamd.com/image/g/85260706

See photo below:




Two bothersome journalistic questions about this news photo:
If this unidentified meal recipient is too poor to buy his own food, how does he afford a cell phone?
And if he is homeless, where do they mail the cell phone bills?

The Employee Free Choice Act

Naming congressional bills has become a marketing ploy. The Employee Free Choice Act is described in the news article below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/03/09/daily30.html

The name of the act would lead one to believe that Employees are being given more freedom or protection of existing freedoms. This bill would of course do just the opposite. It eliminates the right of employees to vote for union representation.

This provision is even worse:

“Even more troubling for many businesses: The legislation compels employers to bargain with the newly formed union. If no agreement is reached, a government arbitrator would dictate a binding contract that determines wages, benefits and working conditions at the company.”

This gives socialists the power that they have always desired, the ability for government to dictate wages, benefits and working conditions.

The Service Employees International Union is spending $50 million this year to promote its top legislative issues. The centerpiece is the Employee Free Choice Act. This Union was the single largest contributor to Obama’s campaign.

Ponzi Scheme

One of today’s top news stories has the following headline: “Madoff to Plead Guilty in Largest U.S. Ponzi Scheme”.

I submit that this headline is incorrect. The largest Ponzi Scheme in U.S. history was perpetrated by Franklin D. Roosevelt and is known as Social Security.

The commonly accepted definition of a Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from profit.

Ebony Experiment

Should other racial groups follow this example? What would be said about me if I tried to support my race using this “social activism campaign”?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-buying-black-09-mar09,0,5889126.story

http://www.ebonyexperiment.com/

Would you be willing to lose?

The following link contains an article by Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina:

http://www.cato.org/pubs/catosletter/catosletterv7n1.pdf

When I read the passage about “would you be willing to lose? (page 4)” I was struck by the elegance with which he describes a concept that I have struggled to enunciate.

“Too many people connected to the world of politics will only pick issues on which they can win, and that’s tragic. I would ask you to be willing to lose—to support candidates who very well may lose, to support causes that might lose—because we desperately need more fresh ideas in our political system.”

When people ask me why I am a Libertarian they usually include comments about wasting my vote or never winning a major political office. Until now I usually respond to those comments by saying that a small group of dedicated individuals can change the world. I often finish my case by saying that there were only 12 people present at the last supper, but that did not restrict the growth of Christianity. Now I will include Governor Sanford’s speech to help answer this question.

Governor Sanford is also correct about a much broader topic. Each one of us can make a difference. We need to have the courage to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.

bottled water, a new criminal activity

It won’t be long before this type of law is common in the US.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/08/Canadian_group_targeting_bottled_water/UPI-36201236539449/

move on (again)

Once again we are told to give the politicians what they want and just “move on”.

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0839615020090308

privatization

Many people have been wondering who holds the most influence over our new president. My opinion is that organized labor commands the real power in the white house.

Labor unions have always opposed outsourcing and privatization of government services. The following article describes the end of a successful outsourcing project at the IRS.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRS_DEBT_COLLECTORS?SITE=WIJAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I find the following two paragraphs in the above article are most interesting:

“The program brought in more money than it cost to operate, but it had become a political headache for the IRS.”

“At the IRS, Schulman said he expects to hire more than 1,000 workers this year to increase collections. He encouraged workers from private collection agencies to apply.”

A Presidential Memorandum was issued on 3/4/09 tilted: “Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, Subject: Government Contracting”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Memorandum-for-the-Heads-of-Executive-Departments-and-Agencies-Subject-Government-Contracting/

There are many sections of this memorandum that on face value would appear to be good policy that will save tax dollars. However the real intent of this memorandum is contained in the following section:

“However, the line between inherently governmental activities that should not be outsourced and commercial activities that may be subject to private sector competition has been blurred and inadequately defined. As a result, contractors may be performing inherently governmental functions. Agencies and departments must operate under clear rules prescribing when outsourcing is and is not appropriate.”

This memorandum will bring about the end of privatization and is a huge victory for organized labor.

Blagojevich has book deal

Yes, the book will be out in time for Christmas!

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/03/agent-says-ousted-gov-blagojevich-has-book-deal-will-talk-senate.html

I am sure that signed copies of this great piece of literature will be available for a reasonable price (cash only).

climate change

The following is a long but very insightful discussion of global climate change.

http://www.marshall.org/pdf/materials/629.pdf

In case you are not familiar with the acronym IPCC: The IPCC is a scientific intergovernmental body set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

I have an affinity for any discussion that includes 2 references to George Orwell’s novel 1984 (on pages 5 and 6) . Besides the Orwell quotations Dr. Happer makes several brilliant comparisons. I especially like the comparison between CO2 and Prohibition (on page 2). I also was impressed with the comparison to the Aztec use of human sacrifice to control the weather (on page 4).

Another important point that Dr. Happer makes is on page 9, “what is correct in science is not determined by consensus but by experiment and observations.”

coal, congress, and your money

Here is a news article on a subject that I find of great interest.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CONGRESS_POWER_PLANT?SITE=OHWIL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

This story has many interesting details but I find the section below most significant:

Recognizing this dead end, just last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., wrote the Architect of the Capitol with another recycled idea: convert the plant entirely to natural gas.

While four times more expensive than coal, natural gas produces about half as much carbon dioxide.

Referring to the facility as a shadow hanging over efforts to make Congress more environmentally friendly, the leaders said the conversion would demonstrate Congress' willingness to deal with global warming, energy independence and the use of finite fossil fuels.

According to this story Congress is willing to spend 4 times more for fuel by switching to natural gas. Also in the last sentence we learn that Congress is considering solving the problem of using a finite fossil fuel by switching from coal the fossil fuel that is most abundant to natural gas another fossil fuel which has a much lower quantity of known reserves.