Hope and Change? Not so much…

President Obama claims that Senate must act now to avoid a catastrophe. Yet, most of the provisions in the pending legislation would not really be in effect for at least 6 months, and would not begin to impact the US economy before the end of the year.

It’s disingenuous for the President to claim such urgency, given the slow implementation these measures will face if and when they are approved. The President, who derided his predecessor for playing “the fear game”, is now, unsurprisingly, playing the very same game. A spending package of this magnitude (nearly 10% of the US GDP) certainly warrants close examination, and therein lies the rub.

Upon examination, the legislation before the Senate contains an immense amount of spending on pork-barrel projects that will do little or nothing to create jobs or stimulate the economy. It’s as plain as day to see that many provisions in the bill are little more than “Thank You” checks written out to Obama supporters, and President Obama is trying to ram the bill through the Senate, hoping no one will notice.

We have noticed, Mr. President, and frankly, while it’s not surprising that “Hope and Change” are conspicuously absent from your current rhetoric, we’re sick of the notion that the government knows better than the people how best to spend their money.

^Z

Bailing Out the Auto Industry is a Horrible Idea

I’m going to ask one simple question — what incentive do the Detroit Three have to become more efficient, if we show them that we’ll pay for their losses? 

The Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act, if it hadn’t been shot down by the Senate, would have put in place a presidential designee, who would have the power to tell the car companies they must produce “a product mix and cost structure that is competitive in the United States market”.  The remove the doublespeak, there would be a government entity that could tell the car companies what cars to make, and how much they can be sold for.  We’ve socialized banks, and now the government wants to socialize the bloated auto industry.  Fantastic.

The Lower Class Middle Class

I encourage you all to add CNSNews.com to your normal circuit of news sites.  They have a bit of a Conservative slant, but they’re not nearly as biased as a large portion of the mostly Liberal mainstream media.  They posted a story today discussing how the Community Reinvestment Act played a pivotal role in creating our housing bubble. [link]

According to Wikipedia [link] (which I acknowledge is not a terribly reliable primary source, however, information that it cites from elsewhere is used here), “the CRA seeks to ensure the provision of credit to all parts of a community, regardless of the relative wealth or poverty of a neighborhood.”  Did you catch that?  Let’s remove the doublespeak.  “parts of a community” = “people”.  “the relative wealth or poverty of a neighborhood” = “their ability to pay back loans”.

Capitalism v. Socialism — The Throwdown

A couple of months ago, I was flipping channels on the TV, and I came across as recorded lecture at the University of Washington.  The punch line of the lecture was “…leads to greater redistribution of wealth.”  And she (the lecturer) said it as if it’s a foregone conclusion that redistribution of wealth is a good thing.  But is it really?  I agree that if we want to claim to be a moral society, we must collectively possess a conscience.  But does it follow that we must provide for the needs of others in order to be moral?  And what are the long term implications of redistribution of wealth?

Quick Fix, or Delayed Disaster?

There has been a lot of talk in the world about our fledgling economy.  I’d like to address some of the things people are saying.  A lot of people just don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, and can’t see past their own wallet.  I’m here to set the record straight.