Category: Economy

Democrats Demagog Tax Hike

When I was a sports reporter, I often went to the track to cover horse racing.  A betting window was conveniently located near the press box.  Eventually, I succumbed to temptation and put in, not one, but two modest wagers.    One of my horses came in last.  The other one died – he was literally hauled off to the glue factory.   I learned a valuable lesson.  That was the last bet I ever made.

One could only wish that Democrats would learn from their past mistakes: You cannot tax and spend your way out of a recession.  It’s never happened.  It’s not going to happen.  However, they seem hellbent on betting control of the House and Senate –  and perhaps even the 2012 presidential election –  on their pursuit of these failed polices. Continue reading “Democrats Demagog Tax Hike” →

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. Continue reading “Federal employees: Have a pulse, get a raise” →

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. Continue reading “The real State of the Union” →

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?

Continue reading “The Great Green Jobs Flimflam” →

“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.    Continue reading ““Cash for Clunkers” RIP” →

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. Continue reading “The Marriage of China and the U.S. (Till Debt do us Part)” →

About Your Tax Cut

“A chicken in every pot” is the temptation waved under the noses of voters by politicians of every political stripe. It’s an alluring promise. Little wonder that the average life of a democracy is a mere 200 years.

Americans are smart enough to realize that there is no such thing as something for nothing. Barack Obama was elected on the idea that he was going to reward 95 percent of us at the expense of the top 2 percent, those making more than $200,000 per year. What could be wrong with that?

It was an easy sell to the 95 percent on the receiving end of that promise. Now it’s time to deliver the goods in the form of tax cuts for all but the very wealthy.

So, just how much is that tax cut really worth? Continue reading “About Your Tax Cut” →

All is NOT Lost!

So much for the kind of government promised by Barack Obama where citizens have a full five days to review and comment on all non emergency bills on the White House website before they are signed into law! Not only did “we the people” not have an adequate means or opportunity to review the so-call economic stimulus bill, our representatives in Congress did not have that opportunity. Continue reading “All is NOT Lost!” →

Senate Surgeon takes Scalpel to Stimulus

Just when you thought it was impossible to stop the Obama Administration and Congress from going on an uncontrolled spending spree with our tax dollars, a lowly junior senator with no political aspirations has stepped up to defend us.

While Republicans have offered an alternate to the so-called economic stimulus bill that has zero chance of being enacted, and the infamous gang of 14 moderates (some say 20) is meeting to come up with a pork-lite compromise, Tom Coburn, the only practicing doctor in the United States Senate, is doing what he does best, taking a scalpel to the massive bill in an effort to carve it down to size.

You might say that Dr. Coburn is preforming a spendingectomy. Continue reading “Senate Surgeon takes Scalpel to Stimulus” →