Thursday, December 30, 2010

JOBS

 Have you noticed the trend after each economic slowdown? As the economy starts to recover and then does , it is usually referred to as a " jobless recovery " That is what has been happening and it will continue. When the economy slows businesses  cut back to take a defensive position. They then look for ways to improve productivity. This often results in ways to work smarter which includes better technologies . Then as the economy improves they find that they can grow too but without needing to revert to the employment levels that existed pre slowdown. The result is that business can grow without hiring. This is good for the business and the stockholders but not so for people looking for a job.

  The way for employees to participate is by improving their skills and knowledge but unfortunately we do not have a good national program in place to make this happen and the result is that we get increasing unemployment levels among the less educated . The level of unemployment among high school dropouts is 17 % and it will change little as the economy does improve.As a country we need to increase and improve the level of education of the younger generation but we have a school system that fails them.

 

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

POOR CHARLIE NEEDS HELP ; YOUR MONEY

Poor Charlie has problems. As you recall he was found guilty on twelve counts of ethics violations and this ran up a big legal bill which has not been completely paid off. Now it seems he has to hire new lawyers to defend himself on another charge of using PAC money to partially pay his legal bills from the earlier defense.

  So to get this straight, he broke rules and laws and illegally used Pac,  read other peoples money , to defend himself and now has a legal defense fund , read other peoples money to defend himself for using other peoples money. I guess he has no understanding of personal responsibility but then why should he, he is a congressman.

 If you feel moved to help poor Charlie send your money to   Poor Charlie ,  #6 Irresponsible Way, Government  Criminal Dept. , Defend The Idiot Chairman, Washington District of Criminals USA.

Monday, December 20, 2010

EVERYONE WINS : EVERYONE LOOSES

  We all know that the deficit is a major threat to our future. The new tax bill will only makes it worse.  The bill reduces federal revenues and expands spending and the deficit grows even faster. Yes, the tax bill has something for everyone and will no doubt add a boost to the economy but the resulting growth will not be enough to have a positive affect on the deficit..

  We can not grow out of the problem. If we do not see sweeping moves in the new congress to attack the debt head on, we will stall growth again , our credit will be downgraded, and we will be further down the path to becoming a second rate economy. Think Greece, England, France , Spain ,Ireland . We could end up looking up to them.They have made drastic moves to cut spending. We have not,  yet.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

IT IS ABOUT TIME

  Finally gays can serve openly in the military. Are we seeing a new atmosphere of compromise and cooperation in Washington? Hope so. IT's about time.

Friday, December 17, 2010

BIGGEST LIES EXPOSED

The two biggest political lies of 2010 :

       Obamacare is a government takeover health care.

      "The ethics report exonerates me"    Charlie Rangel

WILL GOD SPEAK TO SARAH ?

  Sarah Palin was asked today about her plans to run in 2012.Her reply was "  it is a prayerful consideration " What does that mean? Maybe she is waiting for a word from God. I have a word from me "Sarah, keep your soap opera out of the political arena "

THANK YOU MAVERICK

   John McCain did us a huge favor. He stopped the omnibus spending bill from going to a vote.This is a major victory for the tax payer.Harry Reid has had all year to get the spending bill through, but waited to the last few days to force it through with lots of pork and wasteful spending. He did not want it to see the light of day. The man has no morals at all.

  Now just maybe, the new congress will have a chance to put forth a new bill that is more frugal and better for our future. Thank you Maverick.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

LETS ROB THE RICH TO HAVE MORE TO WASTE

  The house vote on the tax bill is being held up by the liberal left so that they can voice their outrage at the estate tax. The amount of money involved is only about 10 billion, but they would have you believe it is hundreds of billions. So to them it is outrageous to let the rich keep an additional 10 billion, but they have no problem adding 8 billion in unneeded pork to the spending bill. They have no morals or sense of fairness at all.I wish I could send them some of my outrage with their irresponsible behavior.

OH HOW LOW CAN THEY GO ?

  A new pole today shows that 86 % have an unfavorable view of congress, a 30 year low. This puts them below used car salesmen and BP oil .How can this be, we voted for them.? Sure does not give much weight to the dem.vs rep. blame game . It is the congress , not the left or right that is the problem.

PELOSI VS PALIN

  A new pole today shows that Nancy and The Mad Momma  Bear are tied in the category of high disapproval.  No surprise there . What is surprising is how much influence Sarah has gained since being an unknown not long ago. She has a lot of great one liners but that is as far as it goes. How anyone can use here name and president in the same sentence is beyond me. Maybe it is the power of Dancing With The Stars.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

NUMBER ONE MESSAGE TO THE PRESIDENT

  During the meeting the President had today with 20 leaders of big business concern about the debt was mentioned by the executives . The  well founded fear they have is that our debt is unsustainable and they are worried about how it will be handled and how it will affect our future. In addition to the previously bad relationship between the President and business, fear of the debt bomb , is probably the number one problem inhibiting investment, hiring and growth.

  I really hope the president and congress get the message loud and clear because even if business and government become best buddies, not much growth will result without a real and serious plan to reduce deficit spending.If we do not, the credit markets will force a very painful change that will be bad for everyone.

IS THE WAR OVER ?

     I am referring to the war between the white house and corporate America. Since the election the relationship between the two has been hostile . I have been saying that one of the reasons that our economy has been stuck is the bad relationship between the white house and some of the liberal left of congress with corporate America.Corporate America will not invest and hire under an environment of uncertainty and part of that has been the attitude of the president towards corporate America. In the past he has stated that profit [ greed] is evil and the pursuit of profits is a less honorable than public service.

  Today the president met with 20 members of American industry to make peace and to find a way to work together to promote investment and jobs. Yes the 20 representatives invited were mostly friendly to the administration, and those most hostile were not invited. However those who attended were quite upbeat about the meeting and this could be really good news for the economy.The big difference from previous meetings is that this time " the  president listened , did not lecture , and really seemed engaged."

 If the president is sincere,and I hope he is, this could be a new beginning of government and private business working together to point us in the right direction. After all, government does not create jobs, private business does, and it needs the government to create an environment conducive to creating jobs. Maybe just maybe this will happen and we will all benefit. 

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

HELP WE NEED $120 MILLION ; FOR OUR BEAVERS ;REALLY

 One bit of pork added to the omnibus spending bill is 120 million dollars for beaver management in North Carolina. Really, that much for beavers?

  I know firsthand that we in North Carolina have a good working relationship with our beavers. When the beavers get out of line , we deal with it ourselves, legally, and do it for no charge . What in the world are they going to do with 120 million dollars to manage beavers.? Home improvement possibly?

INSULTING ;OUTRAGEOUS BEHAVIOR

 The lame duck congress is winding up business .Today they are trying to push through what is called an omnibus spending bill which is to fund the cabinets for the next budget year which actually started in october without a budget. This bill is 1900 pages , which means no one knows the entire contents.It is for 1.27 trillion in spending compared to total revenues of 2.5 trillion.The outrageous part is that it also contains 8 billion in earmarks. Yes the things we have heard the  " new " congress will eliminate.Most came from the left , the same people who debated so vigorously about tax cuts. The rest came from lame duck idiots.

  So to get this straight, Congress spends months debating tax cuts and DODT , then wants to pass in a day or two a huge spending bill which will consume half their revenue, which no one has read ,the public has not seen , should have been done months ago, by people who add special add ons ,which they said they would not do anymore,for projects few want and voted on by people will be out of office in a week or two.

  Is this a sensible way to run a country?Is there no shame?

Monday, December 13, 2010

YES WE CAN CUT DEFENSE SPENDING

     We all know the cold war is over but does the military? Look at foreign troop deployment.

      Afghanistan             100000

      Korea                         40000

      Japan                          50000

     Germany                     60000  [ 21 bases ]

     Italy                             10000

     UK                              10000

     Kuwait                         11000

     That is 281000 troops stationed off shore . Why? The cost of this is maybe 300 billion a year , more if you count the cost of the bases. What is happening here is that the US taxpayer is subsidizing the defense budgets of the above listed countries.

  The most glaring outrage is the 11000 troops in Kuwait which are there for only one reason and that is to protect Saudi.So a country that can not afford it, is protecting a country that can. Yes we are generous and crazy.

US CREDIT DOWNGRADED

 Moody is a highly political company that rates debt of all types. It currently has the US debt  ie treasuries, rated as AAA ,its highest rating.Moody stated today that it may be forced to reduce US debt ratings due to the current unsustainable debt level and the affects of the tax deal in congress.It anticipates reducing the rating in a year or so.This means treasury rates will go up.They already have in the past week to the highest level in six months.This in turn makes the cost to finance the debt higher,forcing yet higher debt levels.

 To figure out what this really means conceder the source.Remember Enron? Just before it collapsed, stock analysts were rating it as a strong buy, a must own stock.Moody is no different than the stock analysts. Just before the financial collapse they had a AAA rating on the credit default swaps.

  So if Moody says it might have to downgrade US treasuries in a year, it really means that treasuries are actually downgraded now. This means higher interest rates, higher taxes and higher unemployment are almost a certainty.



Sunday, December 12, 2010

ESTATE TAXES ; WHY THE UPROAR?

    The number one objection that the far left has to the tax compromise is the estate tax issue. In 2009 the estate tax exemption was 3.5 million dollars . The new compromised bill raises that to 5 million dollars, which is effectively 10 million for a family if handled properly.The left has been all over the news complaining about this , but it is just posturing . The impact on the budget is minor . They want us to think that this is a sweetheart deal to a few rich people that will drive us broke.

   The fact is that the total revenue from estate taxes is about 1 to 2 % of total federal revenues.Over half of of estate tax revenues come from estates over 10 million dollars. So the bottom line is that the compromise on estate taxes will have an impact on federal revenues of 12 billion dollars . Not exactly a budget buster as some would have you believe. This could easily be paid for simply by eliminating the Amtrack and corn ethanol subsidies [ about 10 billion combined  ].

  I say let the moderate rich keep their hard owned money.They worked hard to earn it. Get rid of things that make no sense and waste everyone's money.

  

Thursday, December 9, 2010

grandpa timmies political / economic views: JUST THINK ABOUT THIS ; VERY SCAREY

grandpa timmies political / economic views: JUST THINK ABOUT THIS ; VERY SCAREY: " We spent 440 billion to service our debt this year. We also spent about 1 trillion for defense. Total spending about 3.2 trillio..."

JUST THINK ABOUT THIS ; VERY SCAREY

  We spent 440 billion to service our debt this year. We also spent about 1 trillion for defense. Total spending about 3.2 trillion about 1.2 trillion borrowed. If the current proposal for taxes and unemployment is passed we got a real problem . In just nine years the the interest on the debt will go close to 900 billion.How in the world are we going to pay for it? What do you mean ,don't touch my social security or medicare ? We will be fortunate just to pay the fuel for Air Force One. Interest rates are going up.

POLITICAL PAYBACK IN THE EXTREME ; WE LOOSE CHINA WINS

  Why is a big wind farm in texas a bad idea? This is complex and maddening. First the contracting will be done by a Chinese co. The three hundred turbines will be made by A-Power. This company is new ,has never made a turbine , and got it's technology from GE.A-Power is in China !!!.

   The wind farm , Spinning Star, will be 51 % owned by four business men who will have put up no investment. They are working to get loan guarantees from the Dept. of Energy [taxpayer ]and 450 million in our stimulus money!!!

  So how is it possible that the taxpayer spends 450 million dollars to import products from China , guarantees a loan over one billion dollars for four men who own half the business and have no financial stake? It is political payback again.These four men have been among the top donors to the democratic party. Two have spent many nights in the Whitehouse. Their spearhead to get this done is , you guessed it, Harry Reid.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

CORPORATE TAXES GOOD OR BAD ?

   Those on the left love to attack our corporations accusing them of being greedy at the expense of the working man. They love to punish them with the second highest corporate tax rates in the world then criticize them for moving off shore. Ask yourself, if you lived in an abusive family, and had the means to do so, would you stay or leave?

  When we use punitive taxation we only hurt ourselves. First the tax on US companies is just added onto the price we pay on their products sold in this country , so in essence we just increase our own taxes. Second the corporations are much more likely to put new facilities in other countries where they are welcomed with lower tax rates.

  So , does big business take jobs offshore or does our government push them offshore?

Sunday, December 5, 2010

TAXPAYER/CONSUMER SCREWED AGAIN

  In an effort to promote energy independence our government decided to blend corn ethanol with gasoline. Good idea , bad consequences. We spend 9 billion a year to subsidize ethanol. Ethanol is not energy efficient when made from corn and consumes 40 % of the corn crop, driving up food costs. To protect the corn farmer we have a 0.45 cent per gallon tax on imported ethanol from Brazil where it can be made more

  The result,we waste more energy,are less energy independent,pay more for food and throw away 9 billion a year. Corn farmers win, we all loose.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

POLITICAL PAYBACK; EXTREME HYPOCRISY

    Harry Reid does it again. Now he is trying to get a bill through the lame duck congress to legalize on line poker , with restrictions that allow only his constituency to benefit. The biggest donors to his campaign [ MGM $182000 ] are the biggest winners. It is bold political payback, a case of buying congress.

   Hypocrisy in the extreme. Harry is a mormon. Mormons do not drink,smoke or gamble.

Friday, December 3, 2010

RICH VS POOR

  I get very upset when the poor claim that they are poor because the rich get richer. The reasoning seems to be that the pie is only so big and if the rich get richer ,then they get more of the pie so therefore there is less for the poor. But it doesn't work that way. Our free economic system has the capacity to make the pie grow in size so that all can get a bigger piece.

  I know we have a progressive tax system that attempts to redistribute wealth but it is not very successful. Do the poor really think that if the rich get poorer, that they will get richer? Will taxing the rich put more riches in the hands of the poor? It just does not work that way.

  We hear that the middle class is shrinking and this is not good for the country.This is not because the rich took from the middle class. My guess is that some of the middle class moved up to the rich status. And, some fell from the middle class because they do not have the the education or skills to keep pace in todays economy. This is no longer an economy where a high school dropout , nor a high school grad  can reach the middle class without special skills or training. And of course there are those who can earn a middle class income but will remain poor because they can not manage their money. If you are poor , do not blame the rich,they will still be rich and you will be poor.Get yourself an education and manage your resources and you too can improve your status.



                                            

ARE WE A WELFARE STATE?

  Since Bill Clinton reformed welfare very successfully, we have far less people living on welfare and none making it a career as in the past. Therefore we would not be considered a pure welfare society.

  The current number of Americans living below the " official "poverty level is 14.3%. Compared to the wealthy, they are indeed poor. However, their standard of living is equal to or even slightly better than the average European  [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States ]

  Given that 14.3 % live in poverty and 47% pay no federal income tax it looks like we are indeed a welfare state.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

FLY HOME IN YOUR OWN 767

   For some reason the house speaker has exclusive use of an Air Force 767. This is a very big jet. Last year Nancy Pelosi used it 38 times to go home to California. Talk about a waste of money. But what about the carbon footprint from a cap and trader, it is pure hypocrisy. That jet burns up $60000 in fuel per trip :that is 2.28 million dollars last year. How many tax payers does it take just to pay her fuel bill?

  There is good news though. Now the keys to the jet have been given to new speaker Boehner. He is going to fly commercial and try to get rid of the jet.It may be political but at least he will quit the waste of fuel. Nancy did not.

TAX AND SPEND ?

  Here are the numbers :

    Let the Bush tax cuts expire for the rich only   -   Tax revenue increases 70 billion per year.

    Let all Bush tax cuts expire                              -    Tax revenue increases 370 billion per year


   Neither option makes a difference unless congress cuts spending.Any increase must be tied to spending cuts or the increased revenue will just be spent / wasted and the tax payer gets screwed.


  

SIMPLE QUESTIONS ; NO ANSWERS

  Simple questions Why does congress treat themselves like they are above the law, better than us.? How is it that congress can pass laws that we must follow but they do not.?Why must we pay social security taxes and congress gets a much better retirement than we do? How can congress pass a healthcare bill for us and they have their own , special healthcare program. How can congress break laws and not be treated like we are?. How is that congress can sell their votes to special interests and say they did not? How can congress give special breaks to companies in their district and not apply them to all similar companies in all districts.?What ever happened to "by the people and for the people"?

  These people are not our representatives. They are the self anointed elite who have the power to affect all of our lives. Yes we have the power to vote them out of office, only to be replaced by more of the same.How do we win?

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

REPLY TO ANNOYMUS

   It may seem like a conspiracy by the gas companies but I doubt it. There is no shortage of gasoline today. The main reason prices go up and down a lot is because the value of the dollar fluctuates so much.

  People love to target big oil as the enemy. Yes they make a lot of money because we buy a lot of gas. They must make a good profit to be able to finance the exploration for more oil which we demand at a cheap price , while we tell them where they can not explore. The fact is that the profit as a percent of sales for the oil industry is actually lower than it is for many industries.

I LOVE THIS TAX

    The deficit commission has proposed a gas tax increase.People will complain about it no doubt.But.

  We are spoiled rotten and our government is broke. We have the best road system in the world,but need four wheel drive and big vehicles ,usually  with one occupant. I know, a better public transportation will help. We also pay some of the lowest fuel prices in the non producing world. US gas about $2.60 versus Europe at about $7.50. And we send about a billion dollars a day to producing countries.

  A higher gas tax, say $1.00 per gallon makes good sense. The part that is most appealing is that it is a semi voluntary tax. We have some choice in the matter. We can buy more fuel efficient cars, take public transportation,car pool,consolidate trips,etc. It is also better for the environment.It will help speed the conversion to natural gas which is more friendly to the environment and abundant in our country which creates more jobs here and keeps more US dollars at home. A $1.00 tax per gallon will generate about 150billion dollars to a broke government which can put it towards debt reduction.

  What is the reason this has not been done already? Our politicians are too afraid to upset the spoiled electorate.