Magic Bullets Part IV – Jobs

President Obama and his top economic advisors are flummoxed by the high unemployment rate. Puzzled, baffled, confused they are at joblessness which has been building since 2007 and has accelerated under this president to 10.2%. (See this dramatic animated map for the full effect: http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html )

In order to nip this situation in the bud once and for all, the Obama administration has mobilized it’s best and brightest and is taking bold concrete decisive steps by……calling for a meeting…..a “Jobs Summit”!

Save your breath guys, here’s how government can create jobs:  stop destroying them!

That’s right, President Obama and the Democrats are destroying jobs in unprecedented numbers and unlike the “saved or created” ones, these are in real congressional districts. The truth is, government can’t create jobs or economic activity of any sustainable kind - all it can do is shuffle things around and misallocate resources. Every penny spent by government must be coerced away from the populace one way or another. There can never be a net gain, despite what partisan academics might tell you (remember the “Keynesian Multiplier”?), and this is what the framers knew when they designed a “limited government” focused only on the essentials of the state. The magic bullet for jobs is simple: stop destroying jobs; then and only then, can government save a single one.

The natural state of things is essentially full employment. The economist Adam Smith pointed out in 1776 that ancient hunter gatherers were essentially at full employment. Every member of society was busy running around getting food, making clothes, fashioning tools, defending the clan, etc.; just doing what they could to make it to the next day. The equilibrium in a healthy modern society is different from that of cave-dwellers, but the logic holds: it takes an imbalance to screw things up. So what has changed recently which could cause such an imbalance?

In November 2006 (3 years ago already!) we had an election and put both houses in the hands of the anti-growth, high-tax, big-spending Pelosi/Reid Democrats. Of course, they won the job thanks to Republicans who had lost their way, but the Democrats actually ran on a job killing platform: raising taxes, imposing huge new costs on doing business, and re-distributing wealth. Oh, and they also wanted to “roll-the-dice” on Fannie and Freddie (remember that one?)!

Then along came candidate Obama and his agenda of Unprecedented Uncertainty. One example:  First he said he’d raise the Capital Gains Rate from 15% to the same as ordinary income (soon to be 45% ish).  Then he reversed that a bit and dialed it back to 28% ish.  I think the latest plan is around 20% but I can’t keep up and that’s just the point; no one can! Much of the Credit Crisis of 2008/09 was about uncertainty and what would Obama really do? The markets didn’t actually tank until after the conventions and polls showed “Obama-The-Uncertain”, the clear leader.

That’s how you destroy jobs; raise uncertainty, raise regulation, raise inflation, raise taxes, and raise insecurity. This just about describes the Obama agenda! Stop the agenda, and jobs will be created. But as anyone paying attention knows, economic strength is not even on this President’s radar; no, he’s interested in the re-distribution of wealth, not its creation.

Don’t despair though, there actually is one politician creating jobs today and Barack Obama and the Democrats could learn a lot from this economic powerhouse. The one politician who has emerged as a one-person national job-creation machine is none other than bestselling author Sarah Palin.  Drill Baby Drill!

Report from NJ's 14th Congressional District

(Thanks to the phantom congressional districts and jobs cited on Obama’s 18million dollar boondoggle known as recovery.gov, several cynics have announced candidacies for fake congressional districts. I don’t have the patience for a campaign so I have appointed myself to the 14th Congressional District of New Jersey and the following is a progress report, or State of the District Address.)


"I want to offer my sincerest thanks to the people of The Fourteenth Congressional District of New Jersey. Thank you for putting your faith in me and choosing me to represent you in the 110th Congress. I will never let you down. Since being seated in January, I have worked hard to accomplish the agenda we laid out during the campaign and the following is a partial list of accomplishments saved or created since taking office.

1. 50,000,000 jobs have been saved or created in the 14th Congressional District and most of them have been good green jobs. This number is verified by every single economist and jobs expert in the district. In fact, there has not been a single person in the 14th Congressional District of NJ who has even disputed this number.

2. Unanimous support for Obama/Reid/Pelosi Healthcare legislation has been saved or created. Every single person, doctor, and insurance company in the district is 100% for the bill. I speak for all of us in the district when I say we look forward to passing this historic new free entitlement which will save money and create lower deficits.

3. Global Warming solved as lower temps are saved or created. Temperatures in the 14th district have been cooler than average and in some cases have even broken records that stood for years. Just today, the temperature dropped significantly from 4PM to 8PM!

4. Voter registration is at an all time high as fresh voters are saved or created. Here in the 14th Congressional District, we have partnered with our friends at ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and managed to create 50,000,000 new voters. Not only that, but turnout has been running 120% of registered voters in every election since partnering with ACORN.

5. We’ve been holding the line on taxes and spending thus saving or creating billions in revenue. Taxes and spending in the 14th Congressional District of NJ have actually gone down since I took office. I made a pledge and I’ve kept it.

6. Higher housing prices have been saved or created in the 14th District! Housing prices in the 14th have bucked national trends and thanks to our efforts, have actually gone up!

That’s it for now. I’ll save or create more accomplishments as I serve my term as your Congressman from the 14th District of NJ!"

Magic Bullets Part III – The Health Care Gecko

Here’s a question for you; why is there no healthcare Gecko? Wouldn’t it be great if 15 minutes could save you 15% or more in health insurance? For that matter, where is the Progressive girl with the red lipstick selling health insurance? Is it possible that this is the real problem with healthcare? In other words, is it possible that the real problem with healthcare is that there is no such thing as a true individual market? The fact is, only 5% of the insured buy their own health insurance. 95% get insurance from the government or their employer. For car insurance, the numbers are reversed and there is no similar crisis in car insurance. The difference is the Gecko. Give us a healthcare Gecko, and the crisis dissolves like magic.

Now I know what you’re saying, “Healthcare is way more expensive than transportation so there is just no comparison.” Consider this; Americans spend on average four times more on transportation than they do on healthcare. (Source: US Government, BLS)  Is your car more important than your life? Given this, why is there no demand for a public option in car insurance? Simple. There is a functioning free market (although regulated to the gills) in car insurance. Ever hear of Warren Buffet? He is a car insurance capitalist among other things; a slick profiteer making obscene amounts of money off the backs of innocent Americans who just need a little car insurance mandated by their government. Now I don’t buy into the tone of that last sentence, but that’s what the rhetoric about health insurance companies amounts to. It’s nonsense and it’s leading us down a Marxist class-warfare path.

Here’s the magic-bullet way out led by the Gecko, and the best part is, it is cost-neutral to employees, employers, and the government: Eliminate the deductibility of health insurance for employers and offset the difference with a reduction in payroll taxes. That’s it. Employers would instantly transfer their health insurance plans to employee ownership and increase wages to offset the costs. Tax implications for all parties would be neutralized by lowering payroll taxes across the board. End of story. It’s simple to explain and would set in motion all the other market forces like portability, availability, and cost which will solve this government-made crisis. Shouldn’t we try this before re-making one sixth of the economy in the image of the IRS and your local DMV? The only difference is there will be a healthcare Gecko within hours of this magic bullet. In Gecko we trust. Maybe Warren Buffet could explain this to the President?

(Remember, we’d still have a nifty public option called Medicaid for those unable or unwilling to “Go Gecko”.)

Arrogant Association of Retired Persons

I attended the health care rally in Washington on Thursday where some 10 to ?  thousand people showed up, and stood in the bright sunshine cheering and waving signs as an endless parade of speakers came to the microphones in opposition to government-run healthcare.  The rally was pretty amazing on several levels but for me the most amazing thing was what I over-heard on the train ride home.  Sitting across from me was a woman who apparently worked at AARP which had just held a press conference announcing their support for the 2000 page bloated house bill and she was explaining to the person on the other end of the phone -venom dripping from her tongue- about how "those tea party people" were in Washington sucking oxygen from the AARP.  I couldn't help wondering how many of the thousands at that rally, many of whom were of an advanced age, do business with the AARP and are dues paying members.  If only they could see the arrogance and condescension of the very organization purporting to represent them...

Margin of Fraud?

Honest elections are so rare in New Jersey that we refer to close polls as being within the "Margin of Fraud".  Well, not that close - 5%! 

Again I have to remind anyone who sees this post, (both of you) that your tax dollars are funding this fraud through groups like ACORN, which are blatantly political but somehow recieve massive amounts of federal money.  If you agree with the agenda and tactics of these groups, pay your taxes.   If you disagree with ACORN's agenda and pay taxes, know that they are stealing your precious right to vote - with your money.

Ouch...

"There is no means of avoiding a final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved." -Ludwig Von Mises
Why do I think we are going to get both? 

(Nod - I lifted the Mises quote from a comment on a Bruce Bartlett Forbes piece.)
http://rate.forbes.com/comments/CommentServlet?op=cpage&sourcename=story&StoryURI=2009/10/29/depression-recession-gdp-imf-milton-friedman-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html&com=92267

Clearinghouse

When Bill Clinton strayed too far from the principles on which our country was founded or acted like an ass, criminal, or dunce, he had a compliant pop-media to cover for him with few exceptions.  Chief among the dissenters was Rush Limbaugh who fulminated for 3 hours every day on national syndicated radio to millions of listeners.  I'm sure Limbaugh was a thorn in Clinton's side, but he was not as effective as he could have been due to his sometimes offensive style.  Even when I agree with Rush, I have a hard time getting past the pointless self promotion, unnecessary bravado, and dark moods.  I'm sure this acts as an impediment to "closing the sale" with fence-sitters. 

I won't even elaborate on Bush 43's situation since he had no compliant pop-media and critics in every corner on the right.  (See: Steel tarrifs, NCLB, Medicare Part D, Immigration, Meyers, Patriot Act, etc. and that doesn't even get to the war issues!)

Now we get to President Obama who is by all appearances leading a vigorous Marxist Coup in Washington in broad daylight with the willing consent of the pop-media, his own ruling party, the powerless Republicans, and a good chunk of the American Sheep Herd.  Standing in his way is talk radio including the aforementioned Rush Limbaugh, an enlivened Fox News, and the Wild Wild Net.  One Fox commentator, Glenn Beck,  has stood above the rest and acted like a clearinghouse for all the pieces of the puzzle which together prove the case that we are living through a Marxist Coup the likes of which have never been seen before in America.  And he's doing it artfully, humbly, sincerely, emotionally, and with a methodical approach which builds the case brick by brick, night after night.  Moreover, he is building a cadre of feeder sources from the Net and others which provide him the leads which comprise his wall of evidence.  He's become the most powerful, articulate, entertaining, and effective spokesman and clearinghouse for exposing this Marxist Coup.  No wonder Obama is lashing out like a cornered bully. 

In retrospect, Bill Clinton had it soooo much easier...

Corruption in New Jersey?

Is this even possible?  Corruption in New Jersey?
What next...

Corruption Sting Hits NJ Democrats

Just for once I'd like to see systemic fraud be bi-partisan.  I mean, if it's always one party fighting against voter IDs, electronic voting, signature checking, fraud detection, absentee ballot anti-fraud, ACORN registration supervision, etc., one could get the idea that there is a political party that actually SUPPORTS fraud!  I for one would much prefer neither party support fraud, but if one party insists, what are the risks of unilateral disarmament???

Microwave Government

Ever try to cook a steak in a microwave oven? Most likely you’ll end up with a ghastly grey slab that has the consistency of shoe leather and is about as appealing as road kill. Some things are better done the simple way; slowly over an open fire. Consider the case of our federal government: We declared independence in 1776 but didn’t ratify a constitution until 1788. That document was debated ad nauseum by it's authors in voluminous print before the colonies voted it in.  Wasn't that effort worth the time to get it right? Now Washington votes on major legislation running 2000 pages long which radically transforms the very essence of our republic that not a single member of the legislature has even taken the time to read.  Moreover, these bills are comprised almost entirely of venal political favors and payoffs. We are cooking all our laws including those concerning banking, health care, business, energy, environment, and defense in a giant dirty microwave oven. Supper anyone?

Optional Option???

Now that the so-called "public-option" is "optional" what's not to like?  Oh, I don't know, maybe all of it?   Let me get this straight; the helpful folks in Washington who have bankrupted Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Amtrak, The US Post Office, and every other entity they have ever meddled in, are going to avoid making the same mistakes by socializing medicine but allowing states to "opt-out" of this wonderful benefit?  Is Harry Reid serious?  Have you ever heard of a federal tax that you could "opt-out" of?  In other words,  the taxes and devalued currency to pay for this boondoggle will be mandatory for all Americans, but not-to-worry, the subsidized benefit is strictly optional.   Think of it like Mafia thugs coming to you and shaking you down for "protection money".  To stop the beatings, you pay up and as they are leaving, they wink and inform you that the payments must continue but you have the right to "opt-out" of the "protection" part of the deal.  Hey, "That's the Chicago Way"...