Last 2 weeks of News

I have been MIA the last two weeks, to much work and to do at home in the nice Spring weather to spend time on the computer.

1) California Supreme court rules Prop 8 is a “legal” amendment but stating the only the term marriage is what was made illegal for same sex couples in California. This is a ruling I actual agree with. Marriage is a religious term and should be taken totally out of the Governments hands. The government should create a mutual support contract to be filed with a government agency to give the “marriage rights” to any two people who want to enter such a relationship. Also a dissolution of the mutual support contract form and process would be needed. No need for lawyers or courts. Just a notarized form.
A good legal analysis can be found here.

2) Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, A normal far left wing hack job who thinks that they no better than anyone else what is “good” and “just” for all without any regard for the actual law.

3) Government Motors is now bankrupt. Big shock here, a poorly managed company for the last 30 years that has a huge union presence so short and long term costs can’t be controlled. To bad it will result in a motor company which is fascist in nature, supposedly privately owned by run by the government.

4) Obama stumping for his health care plans passage this summer before the bill is even written. The plan is here but there are no specifics. Normal politics, talk, give speech, no substance and rush through a plan in the darkness of night that nobody can read or comprehend since a true debate of the bill will result in it being something a vast majority of US citizen’s do not want.

5) North Korea leaves the peace Armistice, blows up a nuclear weapon and tests some long range missiles, the US response, maybe we can get a harsher worded letter to be considered at the UN but no passed. While this is going on make statements that this is not tolerable and North Korea is a rogue state, yada yada yada, nothing changed in 20 years on this front.

Searching for a silver lining but do not see anywhere that people are being told to be responsible for themselves and live with the consequences of poor decision making. Another couple of weeks on the road to fascism.

Effects of Stimulus Plan

1) As part of California’s attempt to balance its budget earlier this year there was an agreement to reduce some union labor rates that work for the government. Now the federal government (Obama administration) is telling California that unless it recedes the wage cuts, California will loose $6.8 Billion dollars in federal stimulus plan money.
California Officials Question Union’s Role in Federal Stimulus Ruling
Lawmaker angry over federal stimulus money decision

2) Spending the U.S. stimulus: states can’t afford it

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One of the greatest challenges U.S. states face in spending federal stimulus money is funding the burst in bureaucracy that accompanies the funds, a government watchdog said on Thursday, as the Obama administration pledged to give states more help.

Revenue has been dropping in most U.S. states for a year, and many governments have cut staff. But the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act flooded states with money for programs and required them to keep the public and federal government apprised of their spending, all of which requires more workers, said the Government Accountability Office.

“Due to fiscal constraints, many states reported significant declines in the number of oversight staff — limiting their ability to ensure proper implementation and management of Recovery Act funds,” the GAO’s nearly 300-page report on the stimulus plan said.
…………

3) STIMULUS WATCH: Jobs, but not where needed most

WASHINGTON – The billions in transportation stimulus dollars that President Barack Obama promoted as a way to create jobs shortchange counties that need the work the most, an Associated Press analysis has found.

The AP’s review of more than 5,500 planned transportation projects nationwide is the most complete picture available of where states plan to spend the first wave of highway money. It reveals that states are planning to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than in communities with the highest. The Transportation Department said it will attempt to replicate the AP’s analysis as it continues pressing states to dole out money fairly.
……

Results of the stimulus plan, direct political payback to unions that supported the Obama campaign, creating jobs where there is low unemployment and states can’t spend the money due to lack of resources.

As usual, the government is trying to help and puts resources in the wrong spots and the controls decisions which have nothing to do with the original area of concern.

Yup, just the new business as usual from the hopeychange administration.

Why Bank’s should Not have taken Gov’t Money

US to put conditions on Tarp repayment

Strong banks will be allowed to repay bail-out funds they received from the US government but only if such a move passes a test to determine whether it is in the national economic interest, a senior administration official has told the Financial Times.
…………
The official said former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was right to treat all the banks the same way in late 2008 at the peak of the crisis but it was now necessary to differentiate more between institutions.
…………

I hope the banks will learn from this, never trust government, they took the government’s money when some did not want it, now that they want to give it back since they never really did much with it to begin with, the government will not take it back until certain tests are passed.

All Businesses, if you want to be independent, do not take government “loans”. The strings will never be gone and if they want the government will take over your business from you. ( New GM CEO ring a bell.)

Now since the public has gotten more vocal about stopping the insane spending, Congress wants to back out. The government solution is not to let the banks figure it out for themselves. The government will just buy the banks by taking over the bank’s stocks and destroy an individuals common stock value.

U.S. may convert banks’ bailouts to equity share

President Obama’s top economic advisers have determined that they can shore up the nation’s banking system without having to ask Congress for more money any time soon, according to administration officials.

In a significant shift, White House and Treasury Department officials now say they can stretch what is left of the $700 billion financial bailout fund further than they had expected a few months ago, simply by converting the government’s existing loans to the nation’s 19 biggest banks into common stock.

Remember, the government will change the rules whenever it wants to keep control.

Stopping this type of government behavior is the real root of the tea parties last weak. The government needs to get out of the way and stop trying to prevent some failures and preventing all from succeeding.

Obama Runs General Motors

This is such a terrible precedent but what does a private business expect when it looks to government to help.

GM Chief to Resign at White House’s Behest

The Obama administration has forced the longtime head of General Motors to resign and said yesterday that it would withhold additional federal aid to the auto industry unless the ailing companies undertake changes they so far have been unwilling or unable to make.

As badly as GM has been run over the last 30 years this is a horrendous event for those of us who want a limited government. As I have stated before GM should have gone into bankruptcy protection to change its long term prospect for success.

This is a sad day in America and is the culmination of decades of effort by communist/socialists to destroy the free markers. Welcome to the inefficient government run unionized auto company that will cost tax payers untold trillions of dollars.

Welcome to the Socialist States of America dominated by a strong federal government, week state and local governments, the end of personnel liberty which is exactly the opposite of the principals on which America was founded.

Good-Bye Capitalism, welcome socialism comrade.

Saturday’s cartoons – politics

from townhall.com

Obama Plans to increase debt by 2.3x by 2019

Yes, if you are reading this, you heard that right. The current national debt is ~ $10 Trillion. It took 220+ years to accumulate this debt. Under the very rosy economic growth in the Obama forward looking budget the debt in 2019 will be $23 trillion dollars.

Obama launches message war

The White House on Sunday began harnessing every part of the Democratic Party’s machinery to defend President Obama’s budget and portray Republicans as reflexively political, according to party strategists.
At a time when Capitol Hill has begun to resist the sweep and cost of his agenda, Obama’s aides used the Sunday interview programs to launch an aggressive case that his bold budget for health care and other issues will help fuel an economic recovery
………
The Obama grassroots network—now known as Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee—has launched an e-mail pledge drive on MyBarackObama.com in which supporters sign their e-mail address to the statement: “I support President Obama’s bold approach for renewing America’s economy.”
The pledge drive was announced with a video called “Ready for the Fight.” Plouffe e-mailed supporters over the weekend with a challenge labeled “The next few weeks”: “In the next few weeks we’ll be asking you to do some of the same things we asked of you during the campaign—talking directly to people in your communities about the President’s ideas for long-term prosperity.”
This is not an easy message war for Democrats. Obama’s budget calls for the largest deficit in U.S. history and a doubling of the national debt to $23 trillion in 2019.
………..

Read the entire article, the plan is clear, destroy anyone who actually wants to talk about the issue of fiscal responsibility by painting them as an obstructionist and politically motivated.

I am not sure about anyone else but how does one cut the annual deficit by 50% in the next 4 years while spending more money than every before an adding more to the national debt than the total accumulated in the history of the country.

Spend, spend, spend until debt free.
Change,Hope,Hope, Change, etc…

Market drops again as the Federal Government Grows more Socialist

The problem with the economy today is that the government is to heavily involved.

This is not an Anti-Democrat concept, it is an anti-big central government, reduction of capitalism and personnel liberty issue.

Bush was a failure when it comes to financial policies his entire 2 terms as I stated previously: Why republicans lost in 2006 and 2008 and George W Bush, The 1st American Socialist President.

Here is a very timely editorial at IDB, Is It Any Wonder The Market Continues To Sink?.

Last Oct. 13, in trying to explain why the market had sold off 30% in six weeks, we acknowledged that the freeze-up of the financial system was a big concern. But we cited three other factors as well:

• The imminent election of “the most anti-capitalist politician ever nominated by a major party.”

• The possibility of “a filibuster-proof Congress led by politicians who are almost as liberal.”

• A “media establishment dedicated to the implementation of a liberal agenda, and the smothering of dissent wherever it arises.”

No wonder, we said then, that panic had set in.

Today, as the market continues to sell off and we plumb 12-year lows, we wish we had a different explanation.
…….

Someone needs to stop saying that everything is a crisis and then go off with a little information and make bad decisions. I want a president who will make rational decisions in times of crisis and not appear overwhelmed. Americans are in deep trouble as spending continues to dramatically outpace any economic growth.

Money managers can see this, you can’t spend trillions of dollars more than exist and expect everything to be OK in the long run.

Today’s drop I think is directly related to the comments about cutting the deficit in half by 2013 that came out today. The market looks at this and says why does the progress on deficit reduction always occur after the current president is no longer on office or at the beginning of the second term. The press announcements are wrong and shows how stupid the present administration and media thinks Americans are.

By the president’s account, the administration inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit for the current fiscal year from the Bush administration – that’s the figure Obama says he’ll cut in half – and the stimulus law, coupled with rescue efforts for ailing automakers, the financial industry and beleaguered homeowners will raise this year’s red ink to $1.5 trillion.

He is saying that it is going to take 4 years to get to a $650 billion dollar debt. If that is a linear decrease for the annual debt, the total debt will be increase by [1.3 Tril - 1/4 650 bil + 1.3-1/2 of 650bil +1.3 trill - 3/4 of $650 billion + 650 billion] = (1.13 Tril + 0.975 Tril + 0.813 tril + 0.650 Tril)= $3.65 trillion more will be added to the national debt during the Obama Administration. That is adding >33% of the current national debt after 232 years. Just think of that America is going to be 35.6% more in debt in 2013 than when George W Bush left office. This is why the financial geniuses on Wall street are saying business will not have profits or anything of value in the foreseeable future.

Oh for the days of the responsible Bush administration financial policies, those where the days of efficient, inexpensive federal government (sarcasm intended) when the debt only went up by $1.54 trillion dollars in 6 years. Obama will have that passed before the mid-term elections in 2010. Wow, that is change which will result in everyone being prosperous.

Government intervention = failure

A couple of quotes in this article just make me chuckle and really wonder if the elected officials really understand anything.

Dow slips nearly 300 points

……………
“The administration is great at floating the rumors, but we need concrete plans to back that up,” said Ryan Larson, head equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management. “Without any further concreted details, the market’s really left to wonder. And in this environment, they wonder the worst-case scenario.”
…………..
There is also fear among investors that more banks across Europe will require capital injections from governments. In Britain, the focus has been on Lloyds Banking, which has been hobbled buy its forced merger with the stricken mortgage lender HBOS. Lloyds was off 3.2 percent Tuesday, having shed 8.1 percent Monday and 32.5 percent Friday………….

The politicians of the world, think they no better than anyone else what is best since the majority of them could not excel at anything but speaking a lot and never saying anything.

Just saw a sign in the background of a TV show that reminds me of the fell-good, do what I say not what I do, I am not responsible for my own actions society that exists today.

When all is said and done, more is said than done.

Economy – Flushing down the toilet

Started surfing a little at lunch time today and I think we are watching the collapse of America state by state as to much government spending runs themselves out of money and finally some are taking a stance over to much government.

California about to implode and Kansas not able to pay its bills as the Dow drops 3+% again today.

As the stock market looks to the future it sees nothing but failure and losses. Since Obama was elected the Dow has gone down over 2000 points. If the market felt there was hope in the next year or two the market would be flat to rising despite the reports of what has occurred in the past.

As Obama’s reverend stated, America’s Chickens have come home to roost. We are reaping the rewards of government excesses of the last 50-70 years as the bills are coming due. People and businesses have followed the government’s example, living above one’s means for the last 20+ years.

Evolution it reality, even for humans, the heard needs to be thinned, the weak do not survive and are taken by the predators. The correction is inevitable and necessary for survival of the species. Evolution and nature are cruel. It is the reality of life.

US Government spending will bankrupt the world

The US federal government is in the process of bankrupting the world as accounting practices that the federal government does not allow private companies to use are used to hide the real government debt. This cuts across party lines and the end of liberty and personnel freedom in the world.

The total economic of the world based on the ponzi scheme known as government spending is close (if not already beyond) the tipping point. Paper currency will be virtually worthless since the governments that print them have no possible way to back their value.

Government spending is the problem and drastic government spending cuts (real cuts not decreasing the rate of increase) of 50 to 90+% in some cases are required.

Federal obligations exceed world GDP, Does $65.5 trillion terrify anyone yet?

As the Obama administration pushes through Congress its $800 billion deficit-spending economic stimulus plan, the American public is largely unaware that the true deficit of the federal government already is measured in trillions of dollars, and in fact its $65.5 trillion in total obligations exceeds the gross domestic product of the world.

The total U.S. obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits to be paid in the future, effectively have placed the U.S. government in bankruptcy, even before new continuing social welfare obligation embedded in the massive spending plan are taken into account.

The real 2008 federal budget deficit was $5.1 trillion, not the $455 billion previously reported by the Congressional Budget Office, according to the “2008 Financial Report of the United States Government” as released by the U.S. Department of Treasury
…………

………….
“The federal government is bankrupt,” Williams told WND. “In a post-Enron world, if the federal government were a corporation such as General Motors, the president and senior Treasury officers would be in federal penitentiary.”

Assuming 330 million Americans, 65.6 trillion debt is equal to $198,484 per American. This is on top of any state, local or personnel debt.

If you want to really understand the what the future holds and the consequences read the A Citizen’s Guide published by the treasury department.
It would be nice if government would live by this motto in the report.

Using the government accounting methods that if any private business used, the CEO, CFO and board of directors would be in jail, here are some tables from the report on future predictions.

These projects do not take into account the money spent since Oct 1, 2008. TARP and the new stimulus plan are on top of this staggering debt.

Americans need to hold our employees the elected government officials responsible. New blood is needed.