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

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Here's why they call it "Taxmageddon"

Forward, lemmings -- off the fiscal cliff:

There’s some evidence that President Obama would consider letting all the Bush-era tax cuts expire (see [accompanying] chart from Strategas Research) at year’s end, even though that would mean a massive tax hike on middle incomers during a time of economic weakness. (Former Obama economic adviser and deficit hawk Peter Orszag is for doing just that)...


...I wonder if this [is] the Obama view:

– Tax hikes would ding growth, not destroy it.

– Top rates should be raised and tax breaks scaled back.

– Tax hikes would mean lower deficits and less pressure to trim back the welfare state.

And if that is what the president believes, we just might all go right off that fiscal cliff next year.

As a commenter observes, "The $494 billion tax increase above the 2012 expected revenues of $2.468 billion is a federal tax increase of 20%. Taxmageddon."

Of course, the "taxing the rich productive sector" strategy worked out swimmingly in Argentina, so it figures Democrats would copy it.


Monday, April 30, 2012

But there's no GOP Establishment: Ludicrous "Young Guns" Back Dick Lugar Over Tea Party Conservative

If you needed additional proof that our current House "leadership" -- including John Boehner and Eric Cantor -- needs to go, I refer you to Exhibit Z:

...Politico’s Maggie Haberman is reporting that the leadership-affiliated Young Guns Network has sent out mailers asking Democrats to vote for Dick Lugar (not exactly a young gun) in the Indiana Republican primary against Richard Mourdock on May 8. But that’s not all. They are stirring up Democrats by referring to Mourdock as extreme. In what way is he extreme? He wants to eliminate the Department of Education!

Do you want to know what is really extreme? The creation of the Department of Education, after surviving almost 200 years without it. Since the DOE was created, the cost of college tuition has increased over 439% adjusted for inflation! The rate of increase is almost exactly commensurate with the rate of growth of DOE subsidization. As you can see from this chart, the government-induced housing bubble pales in comparison to the government-induced Big Education bubble.

Remember that the Department of Education began operating on May 16, 1980. Imagine how extreme the inflation in education costs would have been had the extremists thwarted the creation of the DOE back in 1980? Come to think of it, what would we have done had Dick Lugar failed to vote to create the Department of Green Energy in 1977? I guess that part was left off the mailer.

This is all economics 101 for Republicans, but I guess they feel they can say anything to an audience of Democrats, as long as they serve the purpose of reelecting an 80-year old liberal. The real irony here, as Bill Kristol points out, is that Young Guns was created to “chart a new course for the center-right movement and the House majority.” Lugar is neither new, center-right, or in the House!

The Department of Education has contributed mightily to the explosion in tuition costs. Just as the government's tampering with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped cause the housing crash, literally every unconstitutional endeavor in which this federal gaggle of bureaucrats has engaged has ended up in failure. Economist Richard Vedder explains:

When someone else is paying the bills, people want to buy more of the good or service in question at prevailing prices than when the customer pays the bills. This means a higher demand for higher education, and other things being equal, higher tuition costs. … Each one dollar in grant aid leads to tuition fees somewhere around 35 cents higher than would otherwise be the case. Just as third-party payments in medicine have led to escalating health care costs, so increased student financial payments have contributed to soaring tuition costs...

So getting rid of the Department of Education is not only rational, it's what I would call "a good start".


Daniel Horowitz accurately calls this madness from Eric Cantor's "Young Guns" treachery. And he's right.

I urge you to support Richard Mourdock for U.S. Senate. It's time someone put their foot down on the GOP establishment. And that foot is us.

To paraphrase Animal House.

And Axelrod Wept: Why Millions of Youth Voters Will Reject Barack Obama and the Failed Democrat Agenda

If a picture is a worth a thousand words, this infographic could be worth five million youth voters who have sadly come to the realization that the Utopian fantasies of Statist oligarchs are actually nightmares.

From high school to grad school, students across the country are preparing to get their diplomas and move into the next phase of their lives. This is always a time of hope and excitement, but there is no denying the obstacles young people face in today’s economy. Many will have to move home to save money. Many will struggle to find work. And those who can strike out on their own often won’t earn what they would have 5 years ago.


You cannot impose ObamaCare, borrow $1 trillion every year, restrict energy production, constantly threaten higher taxes, and still expect entrepreneurs and small businesses to take the same risks and hire the same numbers that they otherwise would. We need a new approach that gets the government out of the way and gives Americans – young and old – the freedom to chase their dreams.


Sources: The Associated Press, TIME, Economic Policy Institute, Pew Research Center

Resist we much.


Saturday, April 28, 2012

Ruh Roh: First Quarter GDP Growth Wasn't Even the Anemic Reported Number of 2.2% - It Was Actually... Zero

Just as it understates unemployment by "disappearing" millions from the labor force, it would appear that the Obama administration has transformed the GDP number into propaganda.

The Advance Estimate for Q1 GDP came in at 2.2%, down from 3.0% in the previous quarter, and below most mainstream media estimates of 2.5%.

The GDP deflator is reported to have averaged 1.2% annualized in the past 2 qtrs. Had the trend rate from '11 persisted, the deflator would have subtracted 2.6% annualized from real GDP, resulting in a 2-qtr. growth of real GDP of 0%.

...Rick Davis at the Consumer Metric Institute makes a similar calculation.

...Once again the BEA has used "deflaters" that will strain the credibility of the public, especially if they buy gasoline. To correct the "nominal" data into "real" numbers the BEA assumed that the annualized inflation rate during 1Q-2012 was 1.54%. As a reminder, lower "deflaters" cause the reported "real" growth rates to increase -- and once again very low seasonally adjusted BEA inflation "deflaters" have been the headline number's best friend. If the raw "nominal" numbers were instead "deflated" by using the seasonally corrected CPI-U calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the same time period, nearly the entire headline growth rate vanishes -- and the resulting growth rate would have been a minuscule 0.08% with "real final sales" contracting.


And real per capita disposable income actually shrank during the quarter shrank at an annualized -0.27% rate (from $32,699 per capita to $32,677 per capita) -- and it remains lower than it was 5 quarters ago. -- even using the BEA's optimistic "deflaters." Real-world households likely felt the pinch even more.


...Doug Short at Advisor Perspectives has some interesting charts in his post GDP Q1 Advance Estimate Disappoints at 2.2%... [The accompanying] chart shows the disturbing trends...

Three years into a recovery, growth (if you believe preposterous deflators) is a mere 2.2% but only 0% if you don't. Moreover, with parts of Europe in an outright depression, with even Germany and the UK in recession, and with China slowing significantly, the odds the US economy decouples for too much longer is now approaching zero.

Given the proclivity of the Obama administration to dispense propaganda, rest assured that the numbers it announces will be utterly disconnected from reality. And Pravda media will lap it up and regurgitate what ever they're told.

One good thing about the Obama economy? It will hasten the demise of the Statist media.


"I'm unemployed, my wife left me and the house is getting foreclosed on, but at least we've got a cool president!"

And they say Journolist is dead? Gee, Bucky, this doesn't appear orchestrated or anything.

Via Investors Business Daily ("It's Cool To Be In The Tank For Obama"), let's explore the latest legacy media talking points, straight from the desk of David "Red Diaper Baby" Axelrod:

The Washington Post, 25 April 2012: "The battle for Cool in this election seems unfairly tilted in President Obama’s favor"

The Daily Beast, 25 April 2012: "Obama’s 11 Most Badass Moments"

• ABC News' George Stephanapoulous, 26 April 2012: "Campaigning for the ‘Cool’ Vote"

ContactMusic, 26 April 2012: "Jimmy Fallon - Obama On Late Night Too Cool For Cool?"

Christian Science Monitor, 27 April 2012: "Obama's cool factor: what Romney can do to counter it (+video)"

Washington Post, 27 April 2012: "President Obama is cool. Mitt Romney isn’t."

• Kathleen Parker, 27 April 2012: "Obama's cool factor carries the day"

• ABC News, 27 April 2012: "Republicans Look to Undermine the President’s Coolness and Likeability"

• MSNBC, 27 April 2012: "Will Obama's 'coolness' factor work against him?"

Alaska Dispatch, 27 April 2012: "What Romney can do to counter Obama's 'cool factor'"

• CBS News, 27 April 2012: "Can Mitt Romney Make Boring Sexy?"

• Paul Cunningham, 27 April 2012: "Stuck with a socially awkward nominee, Republicans hate it that Obama is so cool"

The Nation, 28 April 2012: "The GOP’s Fear of a Cool Obama"

We Americans don't want a "cool" president. We want a competent one. One who believes in individual sovereignty, personal liberty, free enterprise, a growing and productive private sector, the Declaration and the Constitution. We want a competent president who respects America's laws, its founding, morals and traditions.

And Barack Obama has proven himself, over and over again, to be woefully lacking in each and every one of these areas.


Friday, April 27, 2012

Obama's Third Annual Summer of Recovery™ -- By the Numbers

The Obama "recovery" is just as ephemeral as the media's coverage of Operation Fast and Furious. Which is to say: it sucks.

Here are the critical numbers that you won't see covered in legacy media.

• Strategas Research believes corporate profits may have declined on a quarterly basis for the first time since 2008.

• The U.S. economy grew at an anemic 2.2% annual rate in the first quarter.

• Citigroup and IHS Global believe that the first quarter may represent the best growth we see all year. In other words, that economic growth will dip below 2% for the remainder of 2012.

• The Federal Reserve found that since 1947, if sub-2% growth occurs in two consecutive quarters, there is a 50 percent change of an immediate recession.

• This is the 11th quarter of the Obama "Recovery", during which time the economy has only grown a total of 7 percent. Conversely, during the first 11 quarters of the Reagan Recovery, the economy grew 18%.

• The Obama administration's forecasting skills leave much to be desired. Since 2009, the White House has consistently overestimated its ability at central-planning of the economy:

In 2009 and even after its $800 billion "stimulus", Obama predicted that GDP would grow 4.3% in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

In 2010 the White House said the economy would grow by 3.5% in 2012 and 4.4% in 2013.

In 2011 it forecast 4.0% growth in 2012 and 4.5% in 2013.

• The good news? According to the forecasting model developed by Yale University's Ray Fair, if forecasters are accurate about a continued slowing of the economy, Obama would win only 48.4% of the vote. And that, my friends, would be a crushing loss for America's worst president.


Based upon: "Weak GDP report clouds Obama’s reelection chances", By James Pethokoukis.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Allen West Locates Real WMDs

I would follow Allen West into battle anytime, anywhere.

Freshman Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) on Wednesday evening likened President Obama's preference for higher tax rates to "tax weapons of mass destruction" that Obama is aiming straight at Middle Americans.

"Although he has never served our country in uniform, or risked his life to defend its freedoms and liberties on distant shores, it seems President Obama understands a thing or two about weaponry," West said on the House floor. "But in the president's case … the current weapon of choice is tax policy, and the enemies are small businesses, investors, entrepreneurs and corporations, who seemingly are deemed undesirable.

"President Obama seems determined to punish and wipe out economic success in this country, leveling tax weapons of mass destruction on all taxpayers."

West said Obama favors the expiration of tax cuts on marginal rates, as well as reducing estate tax exemptions and increasing taxes on capital gains and dividends.

"Next year, unless changes are made to the tax code, America will be bombarded with the heavy artillery of the largest tax increase in the nation's history, causing massive economic injury and destruction," West said.

West also criticized Obama's understanding of tax policy, arguing that increased taxes would do little to reduce the deficit, which he said is caused by overspending. He also said people facing higher taxes would react to these taxes, leading to less new revenue than the Obama administration anticipates.

"The American people … want a constitutional republic, not a socialist, egalitarian welfare nanny state," he concluded. "The American people want an economic future so bright that they will have to wear sunglasses."

Da-yam. I love this man.

In a completely platonic way.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com.

Ohio Governor Reacts Appropriately to Liberal Media Inquiry

Hot on the heels of President Subprime McDowngrade's visit to Ohio -- during which he attempted to take credit for Gov. John Kasich's stunningly successful fiscal record -- comes the obvious question from a reporter. Obvious, that is, if you're a liberal Statist hack.

The governor's reaction is priceless.


Yes. That was Kasich cracking up.

Over the course of the past year, fiscal conservatives -- led by Kasich -- eliminated an $8 billion shortfall in Ohio's budget. How did they accomplish this feat? By slashing government, constraining spending, and cutting taxes by nearly $1 billion.

Ohio, which was 48th in job creation under Democrat governance, skyrocketed to fifth under Kasich.

And while the United States under President McDowngrade was McDowngraded, Ohio's credit rating was ratcheted up.

Now that Ohio is running a surplus, Democrats are doing what Democrats always do. Which, generally speaking, is trying to steal the taxpayers' money and slather it around. Under Gov. Kasich, at least, they're going to have a much harder time ripping off the private sector.


What's a "Fair Share" for Millionaires and Billionaires?

Although nearly 50% of Americans pay no taxes at all, Democrats believe that raising taxes on the private sector -- primary small business owners -- will somehow grow the economy. To illustrate just how twisted the Left's logic is, they term this despotic insanity "fairness":


The President has been jetting around the country demanding that “millionaires and billionaires” pay their “fair share” of income taxes. Apparently, he didn’t get the memo. As the above graph, based on data from the Heritage Foundation, shows, the 1 percent-ers are already paying a lot more than they should be, 2.18 times as much to be exact. The same goes for the 2-5% (1.47x) and the 5-10% (1.09x). Also notable, the 10-25% group rakes in about 35% more income than the top 1%, but pays less than half as much in taxes.

Put another way, relative to the bottom 50%, the top 1% currently pays over 14 times as much in income taxes for each dollar earned. The president’s solution to this glaring inequity: raise taxes on the top. I may not be a mathematician, but I’m pretty sure that would make the tax inequality gap bigger, not smaller.

Aside from demonstrating the canyon-like tax disparity, the graph also highlights another economic point generally lost on liberals: the 1% may control a vast amount of income, but they still can’t match the income earned by the rest of the country. As rich as the “millionaires and billionaires” may be, the 99% can still outspend them.

No matter: facts, logic, history and reason never get between the Left and their master plans.


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Hide This Chart From the Kids

Democrats and, to a lesser extent, RINO's have perpetrated the greatest act of fiscal child abuse ever seen on Earth:

Runaway spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will drive federal debt to unsustainable levels over the next few decades. Total national debt consists of publicly held debt and intergovernmental debt. Intergovernmental debt is the amount that the government owes to specific programs or agencies, such as the Social Security Trust Fund. Publicly held debt is more relevant to credit markets.


History proves -- beyond a shadow of a doubt -- that no country can survive these levels of debt.

And when thoughtful people propose reforms -- like George W. Bush's 2005 Social Security reform plan and Paul Ryan's Path to Prosperity Budget Plan -- they are demonized and demagogued as "pushing Grandma off the cliff".

Unless we remove the Cloward-Piven Democrats from office -- and force RINOs to hew to the Constitutional line -- this country is headed for collapse, as surely as night follows day.

November is coming.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Road to Freedom, Illustrated

Based upon "The Moral Case - Job Creation", by Arthur C. Brooks


Jobs do more than create wealth. Jobs give individuals the ability to pursue their happiness and earn their success, to find their dreams and turn them into reality. Jobs can bring fulfillment, matching individuals’ skills with their passions in a unique way. For this reason, persistently high unemployment is unfair, particularly to those who have had the fewest opportunities — the young and the poor.

In addition to lost happiness, unemployment brings financial hardship, which hits far more than the pocketbook. When times are hard, individuals put off marriage, starting a family or pursuing education. Our current policy path of regulatory uncertainty coupled with burdensome taxation keeps entrepreneurs on the sideline. This delays job creation and keeps millions dependent on the state for their survival rather than on themselves for their success and fulfillment.

Three core principles should be the center of any major job reform:

• The government has no role in picking winners and losers in the economy. The stimulus spending tried to do just this, and failed miserably.
• It is unfair for the government to steer public dollars toward favored industries or well-connected unions and corporations. When special interests cozy up to the government, job creation always suffers.
• The government should keep its payroll to a minimum. Clearly there are numerous important jobs for government to do, but the government should not grow beyond what is necessary to perform its basic functions.

Burdensome regulation has grown over the last few decades, and exploded with the recent health care and financial reforms. The uncertainty created by these regulations keeps businesses from hiring. The entire U.S. regulatory structure should be examined. Some regulation is necessary for a thriving society, but many of today’s rules have little benefit but massive cost, and should be repealed. Taxes should also be lowered and loopholes closed to reward productive businesses, not politically active ones.


Government spending also dampens job creation, as taxes and debt rise to pay for the spending. The federal workforce should be cut to only what is necessary for a well-functioning government and federal spending should be curtailed. Also, government should not endorse higher union membership. While unions can and do serve important functions, they also drive up labor costs and reduce hiring. It should be left to individual citizens to decide when union membership or union contracts are appropriate, not the federal government.


Based upon: The Moral Case for Job Creation", by Arthur C. Brooks.

Good News: Feds Look Seriously at Attacking the Deficit. Bad News: They're Targeting Retirement Accounts.

There are really no depths to which Democrats won't stoop in order to keep their unconstitutional Ponzi schemes running, are there?

Uncle Sam, in a desperate attempt to fix its $16 trillion-plus deficit, is leering over Americans’ retirement nest egg as its new bailout fund.


Capitol Hill politicians are assessing tax changes that could let the Internal Revenue Service lay claim to a portion of the $18 trillion sitting in 401(k) accounts and other tax breaks used by middle-class workers, including cutting the mortgage tax deduction... as one way to prevent government bankruptcy.

I love the term "tax breaks", don't you? As if it's the government's money, and not yours.

Besides 401(k)s, other possibilities include the mortgage-interest deduction on second homes, as well as benefits from employer-provided health insurance, which are untaxed now.

And once the mortgage-interest deduction is removed for second homes, it won't be much longer until all mortgage deductions are eliminated. Because when the Constitution no longer constrains government, the leviathan becomes insatiable.

And all of these Rube Golberg contraptions should do wonders for the housing market, don't you think?

Last week a group of retirement industry experts went to Capitol Hill to criticize these proposed changes in retirement-plan rules. “These changes could have unintended consequences,” warns Lynn Dudley of the American Benefits Council (ABC).

Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee about the proposals, Randolf Hardock, of ABC’s board of directors, said, “[The idea] could seriously undermine the retirement savings system.”

Jack VanDerhei, research director of Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), believes either of the two proposed 401(k) changes under review would have a “catastrophic” effect on the current retirement saving system.

Unintended consequences indeed.

How about a really crazy idea? Like the federal government slashes expenses until it's spending only what it takes in? Oh, that's right -- we have a president addicted to trillion-dollar deficits. Forget I mentioned it.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Graph o' the Day: The United States of France

Funny, you don't look like a European socialist welfare state:

What can Americans learn from the French presidential election? Certainly that France seems to be experiencing the politics of denial. A vote for François Hollande is a vote for fiscal denial... With debt near 90% of GDP, France needs to sharply reduce the size and scope of government. What’s more, a 2010 ECB study found that overall, the EU is about maxed out when it comes to taxes...


...Would a vote for Barack Obama also be a vote for fiscal denial? Well, consider the following:

• The president has offered no comprehensive tax reform plan.

• The president has offered no comprehensive, long-term debt reduction plan.

• The president’s budget will, at best, only stabilize debt at historically high levels. (Better pray we don’t have another recession or financial crisis in the next decade or so.)

Indeed, one might conclude — after listening to the president — that the key to a growing economy and a fiscally sustainable government were higher taxes on the superrich (the Buffett Rule) and blunt Medicare cuts to healthcare providers (IPAB). That’s the politics of denial.

As Europe enters a new and more ominous phase of its recession, one can't help but think of the Weimar Republic and the rise of totalitarianism.

And, it would seem, this is the kind of failing society that President Obama and the Democrat Party wants to emulate.


Monday, April 23, 2012

Ben Bernanke and the Pyramid of Doom

Tyler Durden reintroduces The Denninger Exter Pyramid, which offers a compelling hierarchy of asset survivability:

This morning, a vastly expansive essay by Lew Spellman of the University of Texas in Austin titled "Warren Buffett and the New Calculus of Gold" is making the rounds, and while the narrative is largely defensive of gold, and its role as the only true safe collateral in a world rapidly depleted of the latter (as we have been arguing for the past two years) as proven over and over by the fact that the entire modern system now relies more on re-re-re-rehypothection of existing collateral than on spending money for CapEx purposes and to replace an aging asset base, we wonder: is this realization really just now being grasped by the world?

Are the forward thinkers of the world only now understanding that in a world with hundreds of trillions of imaginary collateral whose ultimate owner will never be tracked down, and a daisy-chained bankrupt domino collapse will come before anyone finds out who owns what?


...Because one can spend 30 minutes reading the Spellman essay, or... cast a quick glance at the picture [above] to understand the true value of everything in a world in which the monetary fabulation of the past 99 years is finally unwinding.

One picture in this case is absolutely worth well over a thousand words.

I'm no Paul Krugland, mind you, but I've read enough history to predict what happens to a society that engages in massive, unchecked money-printing operations.

Think Weimar and Zimbabwe.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Change! 1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed

I'm no Charles Rove, but methinks the Obama Get Out The Vote effort will have a tad more difficulty this year than in 2008.

The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.

Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs -- waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example -- and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

An analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press lays bare the highly uneven prospects for holders of bachelor's degrees...


...Taking underemployment into consideration, the job prospects for bachelor's degree holders fell last year to the lowest level in more than a decade.

...About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields.

Obama 2012
Hey, Kids! We're pretty sure more class warfare will work if you just give us another four years!



Cartoon: TobyToons.com.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Forget Taxmaggedon: here's the tax hike exemption card you were promised by Barack Obama!

The Washington Post calls the panoply of 2013 Obama tax hikes "Taxmageddon":

If you thought paying your taxes was painful this year, get ready for more heartache next year, when taxpayers could be on the hook for almost $500 billion in higher taxes... That's the size of "Taxmageddon."

Taxmageddon is the tax hike set to slam the economy and taxpayers on Jan. 1, 2013. It's made up of seven different categories of tax cuts set to expire, and six tax hikes from the health-care law set to kick in, as soon as the ball drops on New Year's Eve.

Fortunately, you and I are exempt from the Obama tax hikes thanks to his 2008 campaign promise!

A couple of years ago, Americans for Tax Reform offered to ship taxpayers their own, valuable tax hike exemption card for a nominal contribution. Here's the way it worked:

If you make under $250,000 a year and find yourself confronted with any of the taxes highlighted on the Heritage Foundation website or the ATR site ("Tax on Indoor Tanning Services," "Medicine Cabinet Tax," "Special Needs Kids Tax," etc.) simply follow these instructions:

How to use the card:

Step 1: Present the card to merchants, employers, and tax authorities like the IRS.

Step 2: If challenged, pleasantly ask: "How dare you, sir? Are you calling President Obama a liar?"

“I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”

--Candidate Barack Obama, Sept. 12, 2008

“If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime.”

--President Barack Obama, Feb. 24, 2009

“The statement didn’t come with caveats.”

--Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, April 15, 2009, when asked if the pledge applies to healthcare

Which should be extremely helpful when the Bush tax cuts expire*.


Hat tip: Amalaur.

* Thanks in part to the ludicrous John McCain -- of McCain-Feingold, Amnesty for Illegals, the Gang of 14, and numerous other affronts to the Constitution.

The One Graphic You Need to See for 2012

Spotted at Reaganite Republican, via BadBlue, is the ultimate 2012 graphic:


This president has set the country on a course for fiscal apocalypse -- and that is no joke.


Friday, April 20, 2012

Breaking: A.G. Eric Holder aggressively pursuing rampant food stamp fraud on Twitter. Just kidding. He's not.

A follow-up to this morning's "Chart illustrating the uncanny resemblance of the federal government to an organized criminal operation":

It's not enough that tens of billions of dollars are wasted each year on food stamp fraud. One would assume that it's done surreptitiously and cautiously, away from the public eye. And one would be wrong.

Because it turns out, as Twitchy discovered, that criminals are openly buying and selling food stamps on the social networks.

Food stamps aren’t just a hot topic on Capitol Hill and among presidential candidates. They are also a much-discussed topic on Twitter... According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food stamp trafficking is illegal ... Yet many Twitter users openly discuss the purchase or sale of food stamps:


Gee, government is such an outstanding steward of our hard-earned money, ain't it?


And I'll bet they'll put those extra funds confiscated by "The Buffet Rule" [sic, intentionally] to good use. Those damn rich people. They don't deserve their money!

Because if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that a massive, bloated, authoritarian, extra-constitutional and centralized government knows how to spend our money better than you and I do.


Image Credit: JanetAirlines.com.

Good news! Joe Kennedy the 12th wants to end 'cheap oil'

Joe Kennedy the 19th believes he has a royal right of inheritance to Barney Frank's seat. No, I mean his Congressional seat. How else to explain this idiocy:

Ever since he entered the race for Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District, Joseph Kennedy III has been facing criticism for avoiding discussing any substantive issues. Even left-leaning blogs have pointed out that his website lacked an issues page.


Well, Kennedy finally stepped up this week and gave the voters some idea about where he stands on the issues:

Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama — they’ve all talked about the same thing: the need to wean ourselves off our debilitating dependence on foreign oil.

The cycle that allows cheap oil to trump tough choices has to stop. Forty years is enough.

- Joe Kennedy III, April 17, 2012, "A Note From Joe"

So our problem is cheap oil. Who knew?

I'm sure that comment gives a lot of comfort to the residents of Massachusetts, many of whom are dependent on heating oil each winter.

So I created the following bumper-sticker:


Feel free to spread it around. I know Joe Kennedy is often described as "out of touch". That's a monumental understatement.

Update: Bonus sticker!



Related: Support Sean Bielat.

Chart illustrating the uncanny resemblance of the federal government to an organized criminal operation

Remember the charges of racism leveled by the Left after Newt Gingrich called Barack Obama "the Foodstamp President"?

How about "The Disability President"?

A record 5.4 million workers and their dependents have signed up to collect federal disability checks since President Obama took office, according to the latest official government data, as discouraged workers increasingly give up looking for jobs and take advantage of the federal program...


...Since the recession ended in June 2009, the number of people who've signed up for disability benefits is twice the job growth figure. In just the first four months of this year, 539,000 joined the disability rolls and more than 725,000 put in applications.

As a result, by April there were 10.8 million people on disability, according to Social Security Administration data released this week. Even after accounting for all those who've left the program — mainly because they hit retirement age or died — that's up 53% from a decade ago.

I'm sure many of you also recall this disturbing chart:


It illustrates the number of Americans dependent on (or simply abusing) the Food Stamp program.

Not only is Barack Obama intentionally growing an entire underclass dependent on government largess, but he is also facilitating corruption and fraud on a scale unseen in American history. Whether it's disability, food stamps, Medicare, or Medicaid, this government is supporting tens of billions of dollars in fraudulent wealth transfers.

Whether this administration has undisclosed ties to organized crime -- or whether its naked incompetence is simply facilitating organized crime -- is a question best left as an exercise for the reader.