Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Following Up

Following up on observations and commentary made in recent posts on specific topics or in the daily Quick Hit's - we have some additional information to consider...

In yesterday's Quick Hits, I featured Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaking from the Senate floor that 'millionaire job creators are like unicorns...' in what I called one of the most vapid arguments made from the Senate floor.  Today, Fox Business News' John Stossel takes Harry Reid to task in his commentary titled 'Job Creators Fighting Back'...
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says, "My job is to create jobs."


What hubris! Government has no money of its own. All it does is take from some people and give to others. That may create some jobs, but only by leaving less money in the private sector for job creation.


Actually, it's worse than that. Since government commandeers scarce resources by force and doesn't have to peddle its so-called services on the market to consenting buyers, there's no feedback mechanism to indicate if those services are worth more to people than what they were forced to go without.
The only people who create real, sustainable jobs are in private businesses --if they're unsubsidized.

This is the articulation of the differences in visions between those of the Anti-Business / Big Government Progressives and the Pro-Capitalism / Limited Government advocates.

The differences in vision and agendas is going to be central to the November 2012 election, not only at the Presidential level, but also for control of Congress. In the Senate, currently controlled by the Democrats by a 53 - 47 margin (including in the Democrat total the 2 independents who caucus with the Democrats), the Democrats are defending 23 seats while the Republicans only are defending 10. A real prospect of a Republican majority is possible, particularly if the momentum and direction from the 2010 midterms remains.

As referenced in yesterday's 'wargaming' of the 2012 election, the President is in real trouble in the critical dozen swing states. The American Spectator has an opinion piece today that links the vision and the challenges the President faces in his re-election campaign - 'Our Marxist Wizard of Oz'.


This political cartoon highlights not only the class warfare rhetoric that the President intends to leverage in his re-election campaign, but some of the economic and historical gaffes / misstatements that President has uttered during his time in office. 

Given the challenges and crisis that the Eurozone is facing, I remain dumbfounded by the President's ideological lock towards not only following hard in their footsteps, but working to do so at a considerably faster rate.  Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal all remain on the verge of defaulting on their national debt - a default that will have repercussions across the Banking sector as well as damaging other countries in the zone.  In each of these countries, they have a debt to GDP ratio of over 115% - ranging to nearly 160% in the case of Greece.  Their governments continue to spend irresponsibly primarily towards massive 'social justice' entitlement programs.

Under President Obama, this country has, for the first time in it's history, not only have annual budget deficits of more than $1 Trillion, but increased the national debt by $5 Trillion in less than 4 years.  All of this while Obama continues to blame the previous Administration for their $5 Trillion added to the national debt over 8 years and their 'massive' annual deficits. 

This President has also has enacted massive programs towards achieving 'social justice' either via legislation rammed through under the January 2009 - January 2011 Democrat Congressional majority or via regulations and executive fiat out of the Executive branch of government. 

All of this is similar to what those troubled nations in Europe have embraced.  Today, we are at about 100% in our own Debt to GDP ratio.  We are looking at annual deficits exceeding $1 Trillion for at least the next 4 to 5 years - and are on pace to spend over $40 Trillion in the next decade.  At this pace, we are likely to be at a Debt to GDP ratio of 150% in 5 years - and a national debt obligation of over $25 Trillion by 2020.

Based on 2009 tax data, the 'wealthy' in this country currently pay (Top 5% - those with adjusted gross incomes >$155,000) 58.66% of the total federal income tax receipts.  The top 50%, those with adjusted gross incomes over $32,396, pays 97.75% of the total taxes and ~49% of taxpayers pay no taxes at all.  This is a system that is defined by the President and other progressives as 'unfair'.  It is....but not for the reasons that they are proclaiming.  Today, for every taxpayer who is paying their taxes to the Federal Government, there is a person who doesn't pay any Federal Income Tax...and we have 48% of those in America getting an entitlement from the government.


In 2009, Newsweek proclaimed the direction and the vision of the Administration had achieved one aspect of the 'fundamental change' that Barack Obama promised during his campaign. 

This is the vision that the President wants to continue if he is re-elected to a second term.  If so, we will be the new 'Greece' before the end of that term....broke and bankrupt.

To achieve this, the President will continue to misrepresent history, his 'accomplishments', demonize his opposition, and cheat on a scale far beyond that done by the President and his supporters in 2008.  Only the ideologues who subscribe to the intellectually bankrupt progressive ideology and the gullible will fall for this campaign.

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