Hope and Spare Change!

I was going to blog about Fort Hood, but decided I better avoid the subject until I calm down a bit. Instead, I give you selected headlines from today's news. Click on the links for the full story.

$230,769.23 Spent Per Stimulus Job "Created or Saved"
Reports to be released Friday on the government Web site Recovery.gov are expected to show that the $150 billion in grants and loans made so far under the economic stimulus package have created or saved about 650,000 jobs, White House officials said Friday morning.

Harrison - I still can't figure out how to measure a "saved" job. I wonder how many jobs could be created by your average entrepreneur/business owner with $230,000?

Only a Democrat could waste $230,000 in taxpayer money to create ONE freakin' job and think that is a good thing.


Unemployment Hits Record High - 10.2% In October!
Remember that Obama claimed the stimulus bill would save or create millions of jobs. It didn’t. Remember that the Obama Administration said that the stimulus bill would keep unemployment from rising above 8% and that the bill was too important to take the time to read it? Remember that after a slight dip in unemployment in August Obama claimed that he had “rescued our economy from catastrophe?”

Harrison - The CBO argued it would have been better to do nothing.

10.2% is hardly accurate. The actual number is closer to 17.5%. This is the U-6 category which includes: people who have given up, taken part time jobs, gone back to school etc. Under a Democrat controlled Congress and President Bush, that number was 11.1% last October. It is now 17.5% after a year at the mercy of a Federal government completely dominated by Democrats. Here is the Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Read it quickly before the White House wipes away the evidence.

Democrats have spent taxpayer money we don't have like drunken sailors (no offense intended to my Navy friends). They have nationalized school loans and taken over car companies. They are now openly debating a takeover of health care. All these actions will just delay the natural recovery. If we ever want to get out of this economic funk, we must stop spending, shrink the government and lower taxes. Get DC out of the way of private business and watch the economy roar back to life.

A Rant So Good I had To Post It Here...

I am not an ivy-league educated know-it-all, but I have been in the business world for over 20 years. I may not be an expert in economics, but I have lived history, which is a pretty good road map to the future. I've never seen government spending spur any real economic growth. Tax cuts have always produced economic activity under JFK, Reagan, Bush and just about everywhere its been tried.

You only have to look at what Japan did in the 90s to see that spending money THAT YOU DON'T HAVE on infrastructure does not spur REAL economic activity.

And quite frankly, where is the moral outrage that government is taking money from YOU and giving it to someone else? This is exactly what our founding fathers warned us about. When you allow voters to vote themselves money from the treasury, the country is doomed. Atlas hasn't just shrugged, he's saying screw it, I'm out of here. By the end of Obama's play time in Washington, there will not be any "rich folks" left to tax!

I may be "sophomoric" in my understanding, but I see Democrats, and some Republicans, taking OUR money, that they have yet to confiscate BTW, to give to failing companies, pet projects/causes and to bail out mortgages that were only made under government threats to those that had no business getting them in the first place. And you want me to embrace this!

Again I ask the question. In tough economic times, I have to cut back and spend wisely. When has government ever reigned in THEIR spending?

You have Democrats actively and openly discussing nationalizing banks, carbon taxes and taking over health care. Are we living in Venezuela now? My gosh take off those liberal rose-colored glasses and look at what is happening in Washington today and over the last 100 years of Democrat control. You are seeing the systematic destruction of the US from within before your very eyes. Kruschev would be so proud. Cloward-Piven is working like a charm.

I wonder what is being taught in universities these days when people are defending these types of activities in Washington. But then again, I drank the Kool Aid a few years before I started using my brain.

Maybe when that first Obama tax increase hits your wallet you might change your mind. What's that you say, you don't earn over $250,000 a year? Well guess what, even if you don't make that much your employer, grocer, florist, power company, service station owner, doctor, lawyer all do and they will pass that baby right along to you. You can bet that even if you currently don't pay a dime in taxes, your dollar will not buy as much.

Democrats have been screwing with banking since GSEs were created in 1916. Every banking "crisis" we have had has been very much related to excessive government meddling and "regulating." Do you trust a bunch of ivy-league educated braniacs who have never run a business to understand banking? I sure don't. These guys have never run a business much less a bank.

The nearest Barney Frank has been to meeting a payroll is the male prostitution ring that was run from his apartment. The only experience Christopher Dodd has with banking is getting sweetheart deals from Countrywide and massive campaign donations from Fannie Mae.

Obama was a community organizer and part-time professor before his 150 days as a Senator, Hillary an attorney and First Lady. Half the cabinet and many key lawmakers writing tax code can't even pay their own freakin' taxes. You expect free market solutions from this bunch?

I'm not angry, I'm passionate. I love this country too much to see it destroyed by a bunch of folks unfit for even the most menial tasks at the local fast food establishment of choice.

But I guess if I were more "sophisticated" I would understand the complexities and nuances of economic policy...

819 Billion Reasons To Hate The Stimulus...

Let's suppose that you work a job and are paid hourly. Then suddenly you are informed that your hours will be reduced. What do you do? Do you suddenly decide to spend MORE money, or do you look for ways to cut back and save in preparation for the reduced income.

Probably not the best analogy possible, but it frustrates me that supposedly brilliant people in Washington think that in tough economic times, government needs to spend MORE. Where is this additional money coming from?

Well they will just max out Uncle Sam's credit cards so future generations can deal with it right?

The absurdity of this "stimulus" bill is obvious to the political novice. Even 11 Democrats saw through this and joined every Republican present and voted against it. The final tally was 244-188. The Republicans offered an alternative largely made up of tax cuts - a proven job creator and economic stimulant, the Democrats voted that down 286-170.

So exactly what does $819 billion (over a trillion with interest) buy us? Here are a few choice nuggets:

Digital TV Coupons ($650 Million) - Are there really that many people still using bunny ears for TV reception? If they are that hard up, maybe they should be out finding a job instead of sitting in front of the television.

Gov’t Cars ($600 Million) - Didn't we just "invest" in the car companies already?

Nat’l Endowment for the Arts ($50 Million) - Just what a slowing economy needs, more funding of a crucifix in urine. Oh what would we do without taxpayer funded arts...

Repairs to National Mall ($200 Million, including $21m for sod) - $21 million for sod! I hope you can smoke that stuff.

Prevention of STDs ($335 Million) - If after all the millions spent to teach people to keep their pants zipped hasn't worked, why would another $335 million make a difference? Will the CDC find more creative ways to spend money than transgender beauty pageants and teaching gay men to flirt? I guess this is a TYPE of stimulus...

I could rant on about how ridiculous this is, but the cult of Obama is very strong. And the ignorance of the public schooled masses is strong too. Until the myth of government is the answer is finally broken, we are stuck with yet another long downturn thanks to our dear leader and his liberal army in Congress. Maybe the Senate will neuter this mess? Don't count on it.

The era of Obama's Big Government is upon us.

Here are some other interesting opinions on the subject:
Hundreds of economists disagree with more government spending
You Won't Believe What's in That Stimulus Bill
Good Morning, Suckers
The Democratic Porkfest Bill of 2009
Obama's Bill Hands ACORN $5.2 Billion Bailout
$646,214 Per Government Job