Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category
Federal employees: Have a pulse, get a raise
When you are forced to deal with an agency of the federal government, you expect to stand in line or be placed on hold for hours on end, only to be “helped” by a worker who is grumpy, bored, or has “an attitude.”
I’m generalizing, to be sure, but there is a reason that you get a knot in the pit of your stomach before dialing or visiting a branch of the federal government. It’s not a pleasant experience. It’s on my list of least favorite things to do, somewhere between going in for a colonoscopy and having a root canal. Read the rest of this entry »
The real State of the Union
The national debt, now stands at $12,300,000,000,000 and change, and it’s growing by the second. That’s about $40,000 for every American. More important, it represents $113,000 for each and every taxpayer.
The federal deficit in 2009, the amount we added to the nation’s credit card, was a record $1.4 trillion, which was our largest, as a share of our Gross Domestic Product, since the end of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
The Great Green Jobs Flimflam
Some people learn from their mistakes. It appears Barack Obama is not one of them.
Immediately, after assuming the office of president of the United States, Obama began clamoring for an unprecedented $787 billion dollar stimulus package. It was necessary, he told us, in order to put Americans back to work and arrest the rising rate of unemployment at eight percent.
A year later, the unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent, but when you add to the list the number of discouraged workers or those working only part time, the rate is a staggering 17.3 percent.
What went wrong?
“Cash for Clunkers” RIP
The Cash for Clunkers program has come and gone and if you think RIP stands for Rest in Peace, think again. It’s just plain old “rip” as in rip-off, a reverse Robin Hood, a giant hoax perpetrated on we poor saps known as taxpayers.
The final data is in. Some 690,114 cars were sold that were subsidized by “we the people” to the tune of $2.877 billion dollars plus the cost of servicing the additional debt. Our country is broke, remember?
The Obama Administration called the program “wildly successful.” There is something seriously wrong with this picture. Read the rest of this entry »
The Marriage of China and the U.S. (Till Debt do us Part)
It’s like a bad marriage. The U.S. and China are tied to each other in more than a trillion ways. For the time being, both endure this partnership for the sake of their dependents and their own well-being.
The two countries will make nice today at the World Economic Summit in London. They will smile at each other through clenched teeth, but the dislike and distrust between the two are painfully obvious. They fool no one. Read the rest of this entry »
