Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Brilliant: DHS head Napolitano monitoring Twitter for civil unrest; could just head to #OccupyOakland instead

Let me guess: this little surveillance project will cost billions:

The world has seen a wave of civil unrest sweep across nations this year and as a result the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking measures to prevent any sign of social disturbance from happening within America. One of the measures include monitoring social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, for clues on growing civil disobedience...

...the DHS would create new guidelines to focus on “gleaning information from sites such as Twitter and Facebook for law enforcement purposes.” However, she went on to mention, that the guidelines would be implemented under strict laws “meant to prevent spying on Americans.”

Still, many social media users express concern that the government would track what they do on social sites.

Here's a free, money-saving tip for our beloved baritone DHS head: why not just send an agent to each of the Occupy protests to take pictures of the leftist kooks vandalizing private businesses?

Or, better still, just read the funny papers:

Anti-Wall Street protesters in Oakland have vandalized a Whole Foods store and shattered windows at two downtown banks.

Windows were shattered at a Bank of America branch, where someone also spraypainted "Class War" and "Shut it Down," near Lake Merritt and a Chase bank at 20th and Webster streets.

Police officers on Wednesday afternoon stood outside the Chase bank, where vandals also defaced the ATM machines, spraypainting them black.

"For the Commune," one graffiti message reads.

"Withdraw Only," another reads.

Remember, folks: President Obama, Vice President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and a host of other radical leftists support this civil unrest.

2012 is coming.


Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Say, how are all those government subsidies in health care and higher-ed working out?

For you drones out there: that's a rhetorical question. Turns out that college tuition and health care costs have skyrocketed, thanks to the bloated, unconstitutional federal leviathan that ruins everything it tries to control.

Can any of you liberals tell me when central planning has worked, by the way? That's also a rhetorical question, drones.

When President Obama announced changes to rules on repaying college student loans, he said his goal was to ease the financial burden of getting a degree... But if the history of college financial aid (and other government attempts to protect consumers from costs) is any guide, Obama's plan will likely backfire.

Over the past three decades, financial aid has rocketed up 438% after inflation...

"By providing aid and subsidized loans, the government is trying to protect students, but the effect is perverse," said Jane Shaw, president of the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in Raleigh, N.C. "They increase demand and enable colleges to hike tuitions virtually without restraint..."

...The same phenomenon has occurred in health care, where government for decades has worked to shield consumers from direct costs, fueling health care cost inflation by encouraging demand and giving doctors and hospitals greater license to raise prices.

Today, the government pays directly for over 44% of care, according to data compiled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services... Consumers now pay just 12% of the nation's health care tab out of pocket vs. nearly half in 1960, fueling much of the nation's health care inflationary spiral.

2012 truly represents the final fork in the road for the American Republic.


So Proud: the Food Stamp President Sets a New All-Time Benchmark!

Does the word historic ring a bell?

...here is this month's refresh from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which informs us that in August, a new all time record number of Americans, or 45.8 million, relied on food stamps for sustenance. So for those who are looking for those up and coming states where the population has decided that slowly but surely work of any kind is an anachronism we suggest you move to Alabama, Delaware, Utah, or Washington: all states that have seen at least a 3% sequential increase in food stamp usage...

And, tangentially, confirming that this country's economy is headed straight to hell and won't pass go is the latest news from LPS according to which nearly 40% of loans in foreclosure have not made a payment in two years, and 72% have not made a payment in the past 12 months.

Sweet! Glad to see those billions spent to resurrect the housing industry are working out.

And don't forget: since "not even the USDA knows what people are buying with food stamps"", you can be sure your tax dollars are being used with the utmost efficiency.


Monday, October 31, 2011

Smoking Gun: Document Found That Touched Off the Mortgage Meltdown

The entire Democrat Party hardest hit:

[In 1994] the federal government declared war on an enemy — the racist lender — who officials claimed was to blame for differences in homeownership rate, and launched what would prove the costliest social crusade in U.S. history.

At President Clinton's direction, no fewer than 10 federal agencies issued a chilling ultimatum to banks and mortgage lenders to ease credit for lower-income minorities or face investigations for lending discrimination and suffer the related adverse publicity. They also were threatened with denial of access to the all-important secondary mortgage market and stiff fines, along with other penalties.

The threat was codified in a 20-page "Policy Statement on Discrimination in Lending" and entered into the Federal Register on April 15, 1994, by the Interagency Task Force on Fair Lending. Clinton set up the little-known body to coordinate an unprecedented crackdown on alleged bank redlining.

The edict — completely overlooked by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and the mainstream media — was signed by then-HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, Attorney General Janet Reno, Comptroller of the Currency Eugene Ludwig and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, along with the heads of six other financial regulatory agencies...

...The unusual full-court press was predicated on a Boston Fed study showing mortgage lenders rejecting blacks and Hispanics in greater proportion than whites. The author of the 1992 study, hired by the Clinton White House, claimed it was racial "discrimination." But it was simply good underwriting.

It took private analysts, as well as at least one FDIC economist, little time to determine the Boston Fed study was terminally flawed. In addition to finding embarrassing mistakes in the data, they concluded that more relevant measures of a borrower's credit history — such as past delinquencies and whether the borrower met lenders credit standards — explained the gap in lending between whites and blacks, who on average had poorer credit and higher defaults...

Lenders -- faced with ten federal regulatory bodies, the Attorney General, the President and the HUD Secretary -- quickly fell into line.

[They] threw such a scare into the industry that the American Bankers Association issued a "fair-lending tool kit" to every member. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America signed a "fair-lending" contract with HUD. So did Countrywide.

HUD also pushed Fannie and Freddie, which in effect set industry underwriting standards, to buy subprime mortgages, freeing lenders to originate even more high-risk loans.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Barack Obama can blame George W. Bush, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, and Carmen Electra for the housing crisis. But the real culprits were the social engineers, criminals and cronies in the Clinton administration.

Please read the rest -- and pass it on.


Friday, October 28, 2011

Too Good to Check: Parade Floats From the Dusseldorf Carnival [Papa B]

Papa B:

These floats were part of the annual Carnival Parade in Germany watched by an estimated three million people. With our liberal press, it is interesting to see that German citizens seem to learn more truth about the U.S. political system and environment than the majority of citizens on the streets of America.





It's not just folks overseas.

Even the Associated Press is reporting the uncomfortable truth: "Many Obama donors in 2008 race are a no-show" [sic].


Thursday, October 27, 2011

Hoosiers: it's time to give Dick Lugar a well-deserved pink slip

Indiana is a conservative state. So how Dick Lugar -- a mushy, big government RINO -- has survived this long is anyone's guess. With your help, however, Hoosiers will elect a true conservative to join the likes of Mike Lee, Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Pat Toomey.

On October 21st, FreedomWorks PAC officially endorsed Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock’s primary challenge against six-term incumbent Senator Dick Lugar.

A Republican primary endorsement against an incumbent Senator is not a proposition we take lightly. Our endorsement was made only after careful deliberation over the characteristics we look for in every candidate we evaluate:

  1. Will Mourdock stand and fight for limited government, free markets, and individual liberty? Yes.
  2. Is Mourdock a viable candidate with the campaign and fundraising prowess to win? Yes.
  3. Most importantly, do our Indiana members support Mourdock’s campaign? A resounding Yes.

On Mourdock’s candidacy and conservative credentials, the Washington Post  wrote:

“Richard Mourdock is businessman who won the race for treasurer in 2006, a tough year for Republicans, and [led] the GOP ticket with more than 60 percent of the vote in 2010. He navigated the state through the financial crash and drew the attention of conservatives when he filed suit to try to block the auto bailoutMourdock is a rock-ribbed Republican who lists Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) among those with whom he identifies. He cites Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) for the proposition that what Republicans need is 'quality, not quantity.' They could use both actually, and the opportunity to replace Lugar with Mourdock, who stands a good chance to win in a state the Obama camp has reportedly written off, has conservatives excited.”


If the Washington Post is quivering in fear, he must be good.

Lugar, however, is a disgrace:

...at age 79—after nearly 36 years in the Senate—Sen. Lugar has developed a knack for being routinely reckless with the causes to which he lends his name. That’s how he earned the title of “fourth most liberal Republican in the U.S. Senate.”

  • Lugar voted for the Wall Street Bailout (TARP).
  • Lugar voted to bailout Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
  • Lugar voted to bailout and nationalize auto manufacturers.
  • Lugar voted for the notorious 2008 stimulus bill.
  • Lugar voted against banning earmarks.
  • Lugar voted to mandate greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Read more of Sen. Lugar’s record here.

If you have a few bucks to spare, visit Mourdock's site and kick in a fin or three.


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Real Wealth Gap

Joan:

Odd Coincidence: Same Democrats Supporting #OccupyWallStreet Have Also Received the Most Contributions From... Wall Street

Stinky, street-defecating, Marxist hippies hardest hit:

Despite their support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, (who, unlike the Tea Party, believe government is the answer to our economic problems), Democrats have enjoyed large paychecks from the industry.

...the President’s funds are much higher. He’s actually raised $3.9 million just this year so far. But, he has raised nearly $12 million in Wall Street donations for the DNC. In total, that’s more than all the Republican Presidential candidates combined have received from Wall Street...

Damn Democrats: they broke my Hypocrisy-Meter again.


Monday, October 24, 2011

Terrifying Chart o' the Day: It Was the Plan All Along

...yesterday, in Denver, I signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will create or save -- (applause.) The act will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years -- including 70,000 right here in Arizona, right here -- (applause) -- doing the work America needs done. And we're also going to work to stabilize, repair and reform our financial system to get credit flowing again to families and businesses.

And we will pursue the housing plan I'm outlining today. And through this plan, we will help between 7 and 9 million families restructure or refinance their mortgages so they can afford -- avoid foreclosure. And we're not just helping homeowners at risk of falling over the edge; we're preventing their neighbors from being pulled over that edge, too -- as defaults and foreclosures contribute to sinking home values, and failing local businesses, and lost jobs. --President Barack Obama, 18 February 2009

Interesting how the media -- not to mention Democrats, but I repeat myself -- never go back and examine the results of their policy prescriptions. Perhaps that's because their consistent track record of failure is demoralizing, humiliating and revealing. In any event, here are the actual results of President Obama's two-and-a-half years of centrally managing the mortgage market.

One word: catastrophic. Despite all of the Soviet-style exercises in central planning, all of the endless tax credits, incentives, and authoritarian lever-pulling of the Left, they've actually made things worse, not better.

Here are some of the programs listed under the government's MakingHomeAffordable.com site (888-995-HOPE):


Not to mention the billions wasted on housing in the "Stimulus" package including the Tax Credit Exchange Program (“TCEP”), the HUD Tax Credit Assistance Program (“TCAP”, and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

Tens of billions of dollars wasted on useless programs that are more payoffs and wealth transfers to political cronies than legitimate functions of a constitutional federal government.

And the President is now proposing yet another foreclosure fix -- opening up the HARP program to everyone. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything this president has touched appears to have turned to fecal matter. Which, if Professors Cloward and Piven can be believed, was the plan all along.


Sunday, October 23, 2011

Bulletin: French President Sarkozy Finds Gaddafi's Will -- Says It Pledged His Entire $200 Billion Fortune to "Save the EU"

Okay, I made that up. The European Union is toast and the only question is when the dominoes fall. If the bond markets are any indication, it won't be long.

I have summarized the fundamentals in this one graphic: the European dominoes of debt. Simply put, there is no way the EU authorities can stop the first domino--Greek default or equivalent writedown of its impossible debt load--from toppling the over-leveraged banks which will be rendered insolvent when forced to recognize their losses...

...That leaves each nation with the politically unsavory option of bailing out its premier banks with taxpayer money, and squeezing the money out of its citizenry via higher taxes and austerity. That assumption of bank debt will in turn trigger downgrades of heavily indebted sovereign nations such as France, moves that will raise rates and make the bailout even more costly to taxpayers, who will also be suffering from reductions of income due to global recession.

Once the banks and bondholders accept a 50%-75% writedown in Greek debt, then the other debtor nations will be justified in demanding the same writedown in their crushing debts. This dynamic leads to estimates that 3 trillion euros will be needed to bail all the players out. Alternatively, total losses will equal 3 trillion euros, wiping out banks and bondholders of sovereign debt.

The German economy is simply not big enough to fund a 3 trillion-euro bailout... ...It has recently come to light that in the worst-case scenario (i.e. reality), "solving" Greece's debt crisis would absorb the entire EFSF Rescue Fund's 400 billion euros. By all accounts, every estimate of Greek tax revenue is overstated, and every estimate of its expenses understated; Greek GDP is collapsing. In all probability, the reality is worse than anyone is willing to confess...

I have an ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach that the European debt debacle will make Lehman's failure look like a frolic in the park.


The Genius of Chicago Politics: Top Aide to Rahm Emanuel Enacts Rule to Award Herself a $65K/Year Pension

Isn't a massive, unchecked, Democrat-controlled bureaucracy awesome?

Mayoral Chief of Staff Theresa Mintle helped enact a special early-retirement plan at her former employer—the Chicago Transit Authority—that entitled her to a $65,000 annual pension she wouldn't have qualified for otherwise.

...Ordinarily, Ms. Mintle, 47, would have needed 11 years of service to qualify for a pension at the CTA, a milestone she wouldn't have reached until 2014. But in 2008, she was involved in the approval and possibly the design of an early-retirement sweetener for agency executives containing two separate clauses that, together, allowed her to buy extra service credits and lock in her pension in exchange for leaving her job by mid-2011.

After days of avoiding questions from Crain's and the BGA, Mr. Emanuel's office said late Friday that Ms. Mintle has decided to forgo the CTA pension... News of Ms. Mintle's role in the pension deal comes at an awkward time for both Mr. Emanuel, who has been calling for big cuts in benefits owed to rank-and-file city workers, and for the CTA, where President Forrest Claypool last week proposed balancing his 2012 budget with tens of millions of dollars in concessions from CTA employee unions. In Chicago and across the state, pressure is building for cuts in public- employee retirement plans that have left governments with pension-funding shortfalls in the tens of billions of dollars.

...According to the CTA, Ms. Mintle joined the agency's government relations unit in 2003 at a salary of $105,000. A cousin of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, she rose quickly in pay and status, becoming chief of staff to Ms. Brown in 2007. Among the duties she picked up was serving on the boards of both the CTA's regular pension plan and its supplemental pension plan for top agency managers... CTA sources are sharply divided on exactly who came up with the idea for the plan and who wrote its terms. The agency refuses to release internal papers and memos detailing those matters.

...CTA officials say the early- retirement program was meant to replace more expensive veterans with lower-paid newcomers. But it didn't turn out that way in Ms. Mintle's case. Joan Coogan, her successor as chief of staff, gets the same annual salary Ms. Mintle got: $175,000.

Now you know a little bit more about the city where President Obama cut his teeth: the capital of government corruption and taxpayer abuse.


Update: Chicago Tribune: 2 teachers union lobbyists teach for a day to qualify for hefty pensions

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Occupy Wall Street's latest popcorn-passing hilarity: protesters occupy Obama crony Jeff Immelt's front lawn

I can just see General Electric's CEO now, screeching from his porch: "Don't you know who I am???"

Occupy Wall Street protesters took a field trip from Zuccotti Park on Saturday morning, all the way to the wealthy suburban enclave of New Canaan, Conn., where they took their anger at income and tax disparity to GE CEO Jeff Immelt’s front lawn.

“In the land of the free they tax me but not G.E.!” read the invitation to protesters to take an hour bus ride to Immelt’s family home. “General Electric made billions last year; they paid no taxes, outsourced thousands of jobs, and got over $3 billion in tax refunds! Join us on a free bus trip to G.E’s CEO’s front lawn to see how our friends in the 1% live.”

...A crowd of about 100 protesters, both from New York and local offshoot Occupy New Haven, spent the afternoon standing outside Immelt’s 6-bedroom, 10-bathroom, $5.25 million home. Photos from local news site New Canaan Patch show a police officer guarding Immelt’s gates while protesters hold placards reading “Mr. Immelt, Meet the 99%” and “Jobs Not Bailouts”...

GE's CEO is one of President Obama's biggest supporters and the current poster-child for crony capitalism. From Chevy Volts, to Obamacare, to selling critical aircraft technologies to Red China, Immelt's been at the heart of it all.

Oh. And Immelt "actually came out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement last week at a Thomson Reuters event in New York."

I love the smell of blue-on-blue napalm in the morning (or evening, in this case).


Thursday, October 20, 2011

Five Months

Before conservatives get too cocky about the prospects of booting President Subprime McDowngrade out of office in 2012, I'd like them to consider the following Gallup chart:

Just five short months ago, Barack Obama's favorability-to-unfavorability ratio was essentially the opposite of what it is today.

Which shows how quickly public opinion can shift.

Especially with a compliant legacy media.

Hoping that Obama's failed policies will simply materialize as electoral victories for conservatives is begging for disaster. Marshal your friends, your family members and your co-workers, because 2012 is coming.


Exclusive First Look: New Democrat Ad Sells the Obama Jobs Bill

Hey, folks, I'm Vice President Joe Biden speaking to you today about the importance of passing President Obama's jobs bill.

As I speak to you, the President is busy traveling the country, telling folks like you about the urgency of passing this bill.

He's working tirelessly to get the message out.

Look, folks, Americans simply cannot get work without this new bill!

We need bridges and roads and bike paths. It's a big f***in' deal!

The number one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S.

Jobs for cops and teachers, dues-paying cops and teachers.

In fact, if you don't support this bill, more women like this one will get raped.

So call your representative today and tell them to say "no" to Republican rape-supporters and "yes" to the Obama jobs bill.

No to rape. Yes to jobs. Paid for by the Solyndra Political Action Committee, La Raza, Obama-Biden 2012, the AFL-CIO and the Soros Foundation to Advance One World Government 'n' Stuff.


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Germany and the End of the Euro

A commenter ("AbelCatalyst") on ZeroHedge offers the following theory concerning Germany and the Euro:

The following “Black Swan” theory is quite plausible, yet, very few have really discussed it because it feels too “out there,” which makes it the perfect Black Swan event.

The Black Swan Theory: Germany is about to go back to the Mark and there are overwhelmingly compelling reasons for Germany to do so:

1. Germany has a ton of debt, close to 80% of GDP, which they can inflate away without experiencing the chaos of hyperinflation

As in the US and most developed countries, the only way the debt is going away is either by default or inflation. Germany has a very unique opportunity as they can inflate away their debt and not experience the consequences of hyperinflation. Think about this for a moment. If Germany drops out of the Euro, then that currency goes into a death spiral while the Mark increases in value. All of their debt is in Euros so they can say bye-bye to their mountain of debt almost immediately. This is a unique opportunity for Germany at a very critical moment in time. It may not be wise to underestimate the power of self preservation. This is why German continues to appear to play nice, but is doing absolutely nothing (see German Endgame below).

2. Germany is deathly afraid of hyperinflation, but knows it needs inflation to wipe out it’s debt

As with almost every other developed country, inflation is needed, but the consequences are severe and civil unrest would surly follow. Most countries are between a rock and a hard place – no painless solution exists. However, Germany has the perfect solution looking them in the face. They can experience all the benefits of hyperinflation, while pushing the pain onto their neighbors. Again, this is a situation that is unique only to Germany because they are singlehandedly holding up the Euro while having all their debt in Euros. The pull to go back to the Mark must feel incredibly tempting, and I’m not sure they can resist.

3. Germany MUST keep their AAA rating

If Germany stays with the Euro they will lose their AAA rating, and their current debt will become totally unmanageable (just like every other developed nation). The difference is Germany has the unique opportunity to print Marks and inflate their debt away with virtually no negative consequences.

4. The benefit of being in the Euro is quickly coming to a close

Germany has been the number one beneficiary of the Euro as they let PIIGS nations borrow at low rates to buy their exports. While Germany’s exports and economy has done well, the catalyst for growth has been debt. This is the same for all developed, debtor nations; however, Germany has a very unique exit strategy. As it relates to this theory, many of the benefits to being in the Euro is quickly diminishing, which makes Germany’s exit from the Euro far more compelling at the present time.

The Endgame for Germany

The Endgame is easy for Germany. The Euro needs to fall apart before they can make their move so they’re just sitting back and waiting patiently for the opportunity. If Greece goes bankrupt and the dominoes begin to fall, watch for Germany to go back to the Mark.

The strategy is obvious: Germany simply appears to be supporting the Euro as aggressively as possible without taking any actual action. Does this sound familiar? Float roomers, suck up to the French, agree to bailouts as long as there is a long list of strings, have their high court subtly undermine Germany’s participation in bailouts, and sit back and wait for the collapse. It’s important to understand that it is in Germany’s best interest for the Euro to fall apart because they will end up with the strongest currency with virtually no debt.

I’m not sure why people have not seen this, but it seems fairly obvious. Each country will ultimately act in their own best interest when the SHTF and this will be the best option for Germany – is there any doubt? What country in such a unique situation would not do the same? Do you think the US would do this if presented with the opportunity? You bet they would!

If you look at all the evidence through the lens of this Black Swan Theory, then all the recent actions (or lack thereof) begin to make perfect sense! And as a final note, a recent very credible source said that Germany is already in the process of printing Marks!

When it comes to the tangled spaghetti-wiring that is the Eurozone, the concept of an "orderly default" strikes me as an oxymoron.


Another classic from James Taranto

Uncle Ben points us to this gem:

If you don't laugh out loud at this New York Post report, you have no heart:

Occupy Wall Street protesters said yesterday that packs of brazen crooks within their ranks have been robbing their fellow demonstrators blind, making off with pricey cameras, phones and laptops--and even a hefty bundle of donated cash and food.

"Stealing is our biggest problem at the moment," said Nan Terrie, 18, a kitchen and legal-team volunteer from Fort Lauderdale.

"I had my Mac stolen--that was like $5,500. Every night, something else is gone. Last night, our entire [kitchen] budget for the day was stolen, so the first thing I had to do was . . . get the message out to our supporters that we needed food!"


Oh heavens no! Krugman's Army has been infiltrated by people who don't believe in property rights!

Or, to paraphrase Ed Driscoll: "Wealth Redistributors Freak When Their Wealth Redistributed!"


Just Two More of the Filthy One Percent

The "99 percent versus the one percent" may make for a good populist slogan but it has no basis in fact.

Five separate studies by liberal economists reveal that "income inequality is a myth."

In fact, no less a leftist icon than Jason Furman -- deputy director of President Obama's National Economic Council -- wrote in 2006 that every segment of American society has become wealthier since the Reagan revolution.

Remember when even upper-middle class families worried about staying on a long distance call for too long? When flying was an expensive luxury? When only a minority of the population had central air conditioning, dishwashers, and color televisions? When no one had DVD players, iPods, or digital cameras? And when most Americans owned a car that broke down frequently, guzzled fuel, spewed foul smelling pollution, and didn’t have any of the now virtually standard items like air conditioning or tape/CD players?

Free enterprise, the market system and -- dare I say it -- capitalism -- have created the most magnificent society ever seen on the face of the Earth.

But put all of the studies and common sense aside (easy for the Occupy Wall Streeters, to be sure) -- and simply consider two of Obama's hated "one percent".

Twelve years ago, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were students at Stanford. They were then members of Obama's oppressed "poor". Page grew up in this house, hardly the lap of luxury.

Less than ten years later, Page and Brin were worth a combined $36 billion as the founders of Google.

What the Left's economic illiterates can't or won't understand is that wealth disparity is wonderful. It allowed Page and Brin to invent, innovate, and construct a radically wonderful company from whole cloth, employing tens of thousands and producing thousands of other millionaires. Many of these new millionaires invested, spent, created other new companies without having their money stolen by the government and delivered to their political cronies (*cough* Solyndra *cough*).

Now, of course, Brin and Page are among the vile "rich" -- to be demonized as somehow oppressing the poor.

But if you take more money from the business owners, you get less venture capital, less investment, less business growth and -- ultimately -- fewer jobs.

You see, drones, what's important is not wealth disparity, it's income mobility. That is, the ability to move between economic classes is what makes America unique.

Of the top ten wealthiest members of the Forbes 400, six are self-made billionaires.

But apparently this is too difficult for the economic illiterates behind Occupy Wall Street. They want the rich to become poorer, so they'll invest less, spend less and hire fewer people.

In fact, I'd call the OWS crowd dumber than a bag of hammers, but that unfairly impugns the usefulness of hammers.


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Odd: Democrats claim to be for the little people, yet "non-profits bear burden of Illinois' unpaid bills"

Society's weakest and most vulnerable hardest hit.

When the owner of a southern Illinois child care center didn't get the state funding he was promised on time and faced laying off employees and cutting service to low-income children, he borrowed money from family members to get by.

...And when an Elgin domestic abuse program was left stacks of unpaid bills and no sign of when the money would come from the state, workers took four weeks of unpaid furlough days, especially difficult for entry level employees earning $25,000 a year.

They are among the thousands of community groups and charities making up Illinois' system for providing human services: the state contracts out the work and agrees to make reimbursements. But as Illinois' budget crisis worsens and the state lags further behind in paying bills, those that serve the state's neediest are forced to make dire decisions and at-times heroic sacrifices to pick up the slack.

...Illinois ranks first nationwide when it comes to nonprofit groups reporting late payments from the government... More than 80 percent of Illinois groups say their money doesn't come on time.

The state's health services function alone has yet to pay 31,000 bills totaling $425 million.

Democrats in Illinois have prioritized payments, however: the top 100 public pensioners alone are estimated to pull in a guaranteed $887,925,790 over their retirements.


California Teachers' Pension System Gets Good News and Bad News. The Good: It's Not $50B In the Hole. The Bad: It's Actually $150B.

Looks like generally accepted accounting principles are anathema to Democrats. But we already knew that.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System already faces a funding gap of $56 billion – the difference between the money it expects to have on hand over the next 30 years and what it will need to pay out in benefits during the same period.

The [GASB or Governmental Accounting Standards Board] proposal would triple the gap – on paper – to around $150 billion...

Right now, funds base their calculation on a forecast of how their investments will do. CalSTRS, for instance, says it will earn an average 7.75 percent a year on stocks, bonds and other investments...

...But because public pensions are guaranteed by taxpayers, conservatives and some academics contend pension funds should use a rate comparable to a super-safe investment like Treasury bills – something on the order of 4 percent.

The state teachers' pension system is just one of several immense public pension liabilities facing California's taxpayers. A 2010 Stanford University study put the state's combined public pension liabilities at well over half a trillion dollars.

As you might expect in the battle between sensible fiscal policy and Democrats, Governor Moonbeam is backing -- that's right -- the unions, not the taxpayers:

The Los Angeles Times summarized the Brown signing and veto flurry with this headline: “Gov. Jerry Brown is giving unions most of what they seek.” As the news story reported, “When the dust settled on Gov. Jerry Brown’s first legislative session in nearly three decades, no group had won more than organized labor, which heralded its largest string of victories in nearly a decade.” Union leaders were crowing with delight.

For instance, the governor signed a bill that makes it nearly impossible for municipalities to declare bankruptcy, forcing them instead to go through a mediation process that is dominated by union supporters who would oppose bankruptcy at all costs. Salaries and benefits are consuming such a large portion of city budgets that officials have no choice but to shut down parks and lay off workers.

The unions won’t budge on benefits, so their goal is to make it impossible to abrogate those overly generous union contracts that are the source of the problem.

Isn't letting Democrats run wild in your state fun?

Of course, it's not much fun if you're a beleaguered taxpayer in California. That breed of productive citizen is an endangered species, what with all of the easy access to welfare, open borders and millions of pages of regulations.


Good News: OWS Organizers Now Sporting Neo-Swastikas

One of the world's best protest reporters -- Looking at the Left's "El Marco" -- was perhaps the first to notice the troubling iconography of the Occupy Wall Street crowd.

...An Occupy Denver community organizer [led] the bizarre chanting ritual. Never have I seen anything that comes as close to a mind-control exercise in a free society. The orange tape insignia on this woman’s arm indicates that she is a leader. I was told that any questions I had could be addressed to someone with this type of insignia.

When I first saw this militant-looking marking, it reminded me of the Order of the Double-Cross, made famous in the Charlie Chaplin movie, The Great Dictator.”

"Charlie Chaplin, with raised fist. comically portrays a famous mid-20th century socialist dictator speaking out against Jewish bankers and capitalists in general."

Kinda like Occupy Wall Street.


Via: Another of the world's best protest reporters: Zombie.