Last year, when T. Boone Pickens was promoting his wind power agenda, the left and the left-leaning media couldn't get enough of him. From Al Gore to Barack Obama and to the Democratic members of Congress, T. Boone's plan was music to their ears. ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS touted the benefits of his plan. The New York Times, Newsweek, the Washington Post and other lefty printed media spared no ink on the topic. All was glowingly and positive for his wind power project. For the lefties, it was the greatest story ever told: An Oil Man Going Green. Who'da ever thought?
So, it's no wonder that hardly anything was even printed or even verbally reported this week when T. Boone announced that he, at the very least, is suspending his wind power plan; if, not, completely abandoning it (See Full Story). You gotta know that the left just hates to report any negative or bad news about America going green. They would prefer to let us all believe that wind power is the only way to go. You know. It will save America money and create all those new jobs. But, here's a self-made billionaire who spent $2 billion in upfront money and can't make a go of it. That should tell us all something.
Because his plan was never really cost effective in the first place and because it was heavily dependent on the deep and dumb pockets of the American taxpayer, the economic downturn has just completely demolished his dreams of making another billion or more in profits for himself. He was hoping that oil would stay high and the Obama Administration would fund all the unfunded and extremely expensive grid requirements that would be needed to make his scheme both work and payoff big-time for him. But the recession changed all that.
Just like my previous report on that EPA Report that contradicted Global Warming and which was buried by Obama and his people, this, too, is another example of how the left hides the truth from Americans in order to promote their ideological agenda.
In the wake of T. Boone's wind power bust, he has now moved on to promoting natural gas to replace gasoline and diesel in cars, trucks, and buses (See Full Story). Apparently, like having a bunch of Brooklyn Bridges to sell us, Mr. Pickens see's big bucks being made by a little company he owns that is called: Clean Energy (See their Website). It just so happens that this company is a leading producer of natural gas in the United States and Canada. They also own most of the natural gas delivery and fueling stations in this country and in Canada. What a coincidence! Now he just needs a "cooperative government" to both mandate and fund natural gas powered cars and refueling stations.
One way or another, Pickens is bound and determined to make some money off all these Democrats who are in charge of government. Wind didn't work; maybe gas will. Let's not forget. The only "green" that Mr. Pickens is really interested in is the green that makes up the color of money.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Mr. President, Nothing Says You've Failed Like The Calls For A Second Stimulus Package!
Have you noticed? Suddenly, there seems to be a chorus of calls for a second Stimulus Package. Those calls aren't coming from Republicans but from Democrats who are apparently quite nervous about the current state of the economy and the fact that the first stimulus isn't working.
Let's face it, when the $787 billion Stimulus Package was passed in early February, the unemployment rate was only 7.6 percent. Now, it's at 9.5 percent and expected to climb above 10 percent to possibly 11 percent by December's reporting.
Since the passage of the stimulus, things have only gotten worse. Besides the climbing unemployment rate, home foreclosures haven't abated. In fact, they are on the rise and a second wave of foreclosures is expected to hit in the 1st quarter of 2010 . Home prices have continued to fall; albeit at a somewhat slower rate. But, then, prices would have to naturally slow down; otherwise, every home in America would ultimately be worth zero. As it is, homes in some parts of the country are now selling for the same price they were selling for in 2001. Literally, 8 years of price appreciation on home values has been lost to this recession.
Except for the most credit-worthy borrowers, lending is still really tight. That fact has seriously effected both the housing and the auto industries. Consumer confidence and spending is falling again after only a brief pause. This is just one of those supposed "green shoots" the Obama Administration had been touting but has since turned brown and died.
GM and Chrysler are belly up and are mere shadows of their former selves. In the wake of that, thousands of dealers have gone out of business and their workers have lost their jobs. Scores of manufacturing jobs are yet to be lost due to the shutdown of further manufacturing operations at GM and Chrysler. In addition, the list of corporations announcing new rounds of layoffs is, once again, on the rise.
At least 8 states, lead by California, are getting close to bankruptcy. And, while the first stimulus supposedly saved teachers, police, and firemen jobs, there are now 33 states that are in the midst of such budget troubles that those jobs will be lost anyway, along with many others; stimulus or no stimulus.
Yes, sir. That stimulus package has really worked. It was so-immediate, so-targeted, and so-effective that my head is spinning. We "were" literally at crisis point and -- you gotta know -- that speed was everything. In fact, speed was so paramount that there was no time to even read the near thousand pages of legislation that doled out that $787 billion in spending.
When Reagan turned this country around from the inherited Jimmy Carter recession, he used massive tax cuts in what is now known as "Trickle Down" economics. What are we supposed to call the Obama plan? Trickle Out Economics!
Right now, the Democrats are fearing voter backlash and they want another stimulus package in the hopes that it could "save" their own jobs. Forget the economy! No one on the left or in the left-wing media is actually saying that Obama failed at reviving this economy. Instead, excuses (aka "spin") are being handed out in machine gun like fashion. The biggest of those excuses is, as always, that we were handed this recession by George W. Bush. But, that excuse is getting quite old and quite tired. With Obama and his cohorts having to constantly revive the blame-Bush excuse, it only speaks to their own failures. I don't believe that the American people are buying the Bush excuse anymore. I think most assume that Obama took responsibility on the day he signed the Stimulus Bill into law.
Just this week, Obama began a different tactic by saying that "the stimulus did it's job". He even repeated that fact this morning while in Ghana(See Full Story). When Bush was seen with a "Mission Accomplished" banner enblazoned behind him, the national press and the left had a field day mocking him. But, not so with Obama when, by saying "the stimulus did it's job", he is repeating that very same Bush mistake.
Obama seems to think that the only reason for the Stimulus Package was to extend unemployment benefits. However, we're hemorrhaging the losses of jobs and Mr. Obama seems content in just buying bandaids! You wouldn't need all the extended unemployment benefits if the stimulus package created jobs.
Another tactic by this Administration is to try and make lemonade out of a pile of lemons; but, with nothing but lemons. The Administration has sent "comb-over Joe" Biden to now say that the stimulus, by itself, was never intended to revive the economy. Biden says it was just part of many things that this Administration did to get the economy going. So, I guess we can derive from that comment, that everything Obama did to revive the economy was a failure; not just the stimulus package. I say this because the economy, today, is no better than it was five months ago. In fact, in many ways, it is worse.
All this psycho-babble baby-talk from Joe and Barack and the Obama economic team is just screaming of CYA spin. The more they talk, the more the public realizes that Obama's plan is a complete failure and the only thing it really did is create massive indebtedness for this country. These people really need some adult supervision. At the very least, someone who actually knows how to create jobs should check their work before they say or do anything. From the looks of Obama's rapidly falling approval ratings, the American people aren't buying all that fluff anymore and they are starting to hand out failing grades. Obama is not even close to being another Abraham Lincoln or FDR or JFK. Instead, he's just another Jimmy Carter; but, this time, on steroids!
Good job, Barack! Everyday you are looking more and more like a one-term president.
Just so the people reading this don't think I'm just another complaining conservative, here's what I think should be done to get this economy going again:
Let's face it, when the $787 billion Stimulus Package was passed in early February, the unemployment rate was only 7.6 percent. Now, it's at 9.5 percent and expected to climb above 10 percent to possibly 11 percent by December's reporting.
Since the passage of the stimulus, things have only gotten worse. Besides the climbing unemployment rate, home foreclosures haven't abated. In fact, they are on the rise and a second wave of foreclosures is expected to hit in the 1st quarter of 2010 . Home prices have continued to fall; albeit at a somewhat slower rate. But, then, prices would have to naturally slow down; otherwise, every home in America would ultimately be worth zero. As it is, homes in some parts of the country are now selling for the same price they were selling for in 2001. Literally, 8 years of price appreciation on home values has been lost to this recession.
Except for the most credit-worthy borrowers, lending is still really tight. That fact has seriously effected both the housing and the auto industries. Consumer confidence and spending is falling again after only a brief pause. This is just one of those supposed "green shoots" the Obama Administration had been touting but has since turned brown and died.
GM and Chrysler are belly up and are mere shadows of their former selves. In the wake of that, thousands of dealers have gone out of business and their workers have lost their jobs. Scores of manufacturing jobs are yet to be lost due to the shutdown of further manufacturing operations at GM and Chrysler. In addition, the list of corporations announcing new rounds of layoffs is, once again, on the rise.
At least 8 states, lead by California, are getting close to bankruptcy. And, while the first stimulus supposedly saved teachers, police, and firemen jobs, there are now 33 states that are in the midst of such budget troubles that those jobs will be lost anyway, along with many others; stimulus or no stimulus.
Yes, sir. That stimulus package has really worked. It was so-immediate, so-targeted, and so-effective that my head is spinning. We "were" literally at crisis point and -- you gotta know -- that speed was everything. In fact, speed was so paramount that there was no time to even read the near thousand pages of legislation that doled out that $787 billion in spending.
When Reagan turned this country around from the inherited Jimmy Carter recession, he used massive tax cuts in what is now known as "Trickle Down" economics. What are we supposed to call the Obama plan? Trickle Out Economics!
Right now, the Democrats are fearing voter backlash and they want another stimulus package in the hopes that it could "save" their own jobs. Forget the economy! No one on the left or in the left-wing media is actually saying that Obama failed at reviving this economy. Instead, excuses (aka "spin") are being handed out in machine gun like fashion. The biggest of those excuses is, as always, that we were handed this recession by George W. Bush. But, that excuse is getting quite old and quite tired. With Obama and his cohorts having to constantly revive the blame-Bush excuse, it only speaks to their own failures. I don't believe that the American people are buying the Bush excuse anymore. I think most assume that Obama took responsibility on the day he signed the Stimulus Bill into law.
Just this week, Obama began a different tactic by saying that "the stimulus did it's job". He even repeated that fact this morning while in Ghana(See Full Story). When Bush was seen with a "Mission Accomplished" banner enblazoned behind him, the national press and the left had a field day mocking him. But, not so with Obama when, by saying "the stimulus did it's job", he is repeating that very same Bush mistake.
Obama seems to think that the only reason for the Stimulus Package was to extend unemployment benefits. However, we're hemorrhaging the losses of jobs and Mr. Obama seems content in just buying bandaids! You wouldn't need all the extended unemployment benefits if the stimulus package created jobs.
Another tactic by this Administration is to try and make lemonade out of a pile of lemons; but, with nothing but lemons. The Administration has sent "comb-over Joe" Biden to now say that the stimulus, by itself, was never intended to revive the economy. Biden says it was just part of many things that this Administration did to get the economy going. So, I guess we can derive from that comment, that everything Obama did to revive the economy was a failure; not just the stimulus package. I say this because the economy, today, is no better than it was five months ago. In fact, in many ways, it is worse.
All this psycho-babble baby-talk from Joe and Barack and the Obama economic team is just screaming of CYA spin. The more they talk, the more the public realizes that Obama's plan is a complete failure and the only thing it really did is create massive indebtedness for this country. These people really need some adult supervision. At the very least, someone who actually knows how to create jobs should check their work before they say or do anything. From the looks of Obama's rapidly falling approval ratings, the American people aren't buying all that fluff anymore and they are starting to hand out failing grades. Obama is not even close to being another Abraham Lincoln or FDR or JFK. Instead, he's just another Jimmy Carter; but, this time, on steroids!
Good job, Barack! Everyday you are looking more and more like a one-term president.
Just so the people reading this don't think I'm just another complaining conservative, here's what I think should be done to get this economy going again:
- Stop any further and stoppable spending against the current Stimulus Package.
- Stop any legislative action on Cap and Trade and Health Care until the economy can afford to pay for it.
- Convene the best and the brightest in the country who are the leaders in large and small businesses, economics, banking, etc to conduct a round table/ brainstorming session and to come up with some kind of consensus plan. Be sure to involve the leadership of both political parties.
- Implement a plan that is void of politics and any political payback and that truly has bipartisan approval. Let's put the country first; above politics.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Geithner Should Get Out More Often
This morning, Tim Geithner, our all-knowing Treasury Secretary, said that the Stimulus Package is working. His remarks came in his testimony before Congress (See Full Story).
Apparently, the loss of 2 million more jobs since February was all in the plan! Thank God for the plan! It's working!
What was really interesting is the fact that little Timmy seems to think consumer confidence has improved. His comment came on the same day the University of Michigan released their normal reporting on Consumer Sentiment. In that report, consumer sentiment fell by an unexpected and somewhat shocking 6 points from the month prior (See Full Story). This disappointing report follows a similar report on June 30 from the Conference Board that showed that consumer confidence had dropped sharply (See Full Story).
The consumer is an important factor in our recovery because we are primarily a consumer-based economy. Something that little Timmy doesn't seem to understand. He should really get out more often and look at all the the foreclosed-on homes and shuttered businesses. They are easy to spot because they are clearly marked with signs to that effect. Just reading the newspaper or watching TV, he could see all the "going out of business sales" that seem to be choking the ads sections of our media. At the very least, he should read the financial pages so that he would know that consumer confidence is falling. Then, maybe, he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of Congress and the rest of the world by saying dumb things like consumer confidence is rising.
I just keep thinking back to Geithner's appointment when most Democrats and many Republicans, alike, seemed to think that this idiot was the only guy who could be our new Treasury Secretary. Now, I'm starting to think that the only reason Geithner got his job is because he might have some "dirt" on every member of Congress. I certainly can't believe it's because he actually knows what he's doing!
Please Note: Right now there is a controversy surrounding the CIA and whether or not they deceived Congress in their various briefings. As many have noted, it is illegal for anyone to deceive or lie to Congress when giving testimony. Geithner's testimony is, at best, in error and, more probably, a misrepresentation that is intended to deceive both Congress and the American public. Is Geithner, then, subject to punishment for lying to Congress?
Apparently, the loss of 2 million more jobs since February was all in the plan! Thank God for the plan! It's working!
What was really interesting is the fact that little Timmy seems to think consumer confidence has improved. His comment came on the same day the University of Michigan released their normal reporting on Consumer Sentiment. In that report, consumer sentiment fell by an unexpected and somewhat shocking 6 points from the month prior (See Full Story). This disappointing report follows a similar report on June 30 from the Conference Board that showed that consumer confidence had dropped sharply (See Full Story).
The consumer is an important factor in our recovery because we are primarily a consumer-based economy. Something that little Timmy doesn't seem to understand. He should really get out more often and look at all the the foreclosed-on homes and shuttered businesses. They are easy to spot because they are clearly marked with signs to that effect. Just reading the newspaper or watching TV, he could see all the "going out of business sales" that seem to be choking the ads sections of our media. At the very least, he should read the financial pages so that he would know that consumer confidence is falling. Then, maybe, he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of Congress and the rest of the world by saying dumb things like consumer confidence is rising.
I just keep thinking back to Geithner's appointment when most Democrats and many Republicans, alike, seemed to think that this idiot was the only guy who could be our new Treasury Secretary. Now, I'm starting to think that the only reason Geithner got his job is because he might have some "dirt" on every member of Congress. I certainly can't believe it's because he actually knows what he's doing!
Please Note: Right now there is a controversy surrounding the CIA and whether or not they deceived Congress in their various briefings. As many have noted, it is illegal for anyone to deceive or lie to Congress when giving testimony. Geithner's testimony is, at best, in error and, more probably, a misrepresentation that is intended to deceive both Congress and the American public. Is Geithner, then, subject to punishment for lying to Congress?
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The EPA Report Obama Doesn't Want You To See!
When it comes to transparency, you'd better have x-ray vision when dealing with Barack Obama and his gang of ideologues in Washington, D.C. A case in point was proven, just this week, when an issue arose about a suppressed EPA Report on Climate Change and Global Warming.
Apparently, the Obama Administration, swept under the rug, a 98-page report that contested the effects of Global Warming and any immediate need to enforce "carbon footprint" reductions as mandated by the recently House-passed Cap and Trade Bill and the Kyoto Treaty.
(Click here to see a draft of that report that Obama and the EPA didn't want us to see)
The report was authored by Alan Carlin, an economist/physicist at the EPA and was rejected completely by the new EPA head because it was in complete conflict with the views and plans of the Obama Administration (See Full Story). Rather than allow the debate over Global Warming to go forward before pursuing the massive economic and regressive regulatory demands of Cap and Trade, Obama decided to stick that "report" where the sun doesn't shine.
Obama, like Al Gore, seems to think that the supposed cause of Global Warming, man-made CO2, and the solutions to it are a completely settled science. Of course, neither of these two people are scientists, themselves. Additionally, most of those on the United Nation's International Panel on Climate Change aren't either; and, it is obvious that Barack Obama wants to be in lock-step with this highly politically-motivated and primarily left-wing ecology group.
However, there are more than 31,000 scientists -- not politicians like Al Gore, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi -- in America, alone, who have put there names on a petition that begs the United States government to reject the false scientific claims of the global warming community (See Full Story). That, to anyone, cries out to the world that the science of "climate change" isn't even close to being settled.
Lately, any Republican criticism of the House of Representative's Cap and Trade Bill has been countered by the Democrats saying something like: "At least the Democrats have proposed something to fight Global Warming. Where is the Republican's proposal?"
This kind of argument is a red herring. By saying "Where's the Republican proposal?", the whole issue of whether or not global warming is even man-made is being completely skirted. In doing so, it implies that the science of global warming is settled; and, therefore, the Republicans should just fall in line and approve the Democrat's bill to fight the fight of global warming. End of discussion!
However, day by day, the people of this country and many of the people around the world are becoming more and more skeptical about global warming and its cause; as noted by this excellent article, "The Climate Change Climate Change", written by Kim Stassel of the Wall Street Journal. Even the proposed Cap and Trade Bill that was just passed by our one-sided House of Representatives had so many political concessions that the Congressional Budget Office found it to be totally ineffective. If the CO2 argument was truly a settled science and an important and valid fight, concessions would "not" have had to be made in an attempt to pass this bill because it would be seen by all as an important and valid cause for immediate and massive legislative action. But instead, there was significant dissent; especially from so many Democrats, themselves. They needed to be bought-off in this bill with both exclusionary language and with dedicated funding; attached as a 300-page addendum to the already 900-page piece of legislation.
As I have written before in this blog, the push for climate control is purely driven by an ideological belief and not based on any real or sustainable science. In fact, just last week I wrote: "The Truth About Cap and Trade" that covers this very topic. Everyday, the examples that the "greens" have used in support of controlling CO2 levels have begun falling apart. Take, for example, this article on the previously false belief that the Antarctic ice cap is melting away: "Report: Antarctic Ice Growing, Not Shrinking". Actually, most of the ice cap has been growing since 1993. Another fact that the "greens" don't want us to know and that their friendly mainstream media in this country has conveniently hidden from our sight. Then, too, the fact that the earth has been cooling, not warming, over the last decade has really hurt the climate-control movement.
Whenever scientific fact proves that those climate change ideologues are way off base, the ideologues fight back by suppressing the facts -- as in the case of Alan Carlin and as in the case of the Antarctic ice sheet gains. I actually heard one Democrat try to marginalize Mr. Carlin by saying that he wasn't a scientist; and, therefore, his report can't be taken seriously. He's just an economist. Well, apparently they don't know that Mr. Carlin obtained a degree in physics before he ever became a trained economist. That's why the EPA found him to be an important economist in their organization over the last 30 years; at least until Barack Obama took over the reins of the EPA. Apparently, that same standard is "not" being applied to Al Gore when everybody on the left seems to goes ga-ga over his words. Then, nobody questions the fact Al Gore only has a "civics" degree.
Anytime that the proponents of a policy or a program are afraid of being scrutinized, there's something that is being hidden from the light of day. Mr. Carlin's report exposes the lies of the climate change community and it is being suppressed because the eco-lefties of this country cannot really defend themselves against what that report is saying.
Sadly, Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Al Gore are each trying to treat us all like mushrooms. And, like the old saying says: Mushrooms are maintained by keeping them in the dark and by feeding them bullshit!
Apparently, the Obama Administration, swept under the rug, a 98-page report that contested the effects of Global Warming and any immediate need to enforce "carbon footprint" reductions as mandated by the recently House-passed Cap and Trade Bill and the Kyoto Treaty.
(Click here to see a draft of that report that Obama and the EPA didn't want us to see)
The report was authored by Alan Carlin, an economist/physicist at the EPA and was rejected completely by the new EPA head because it was in complete conflict with the views and plans of the Obama Administration (See Full Story). Rather than allow the debate over Global Warming to go forward before pursuing the massive economic and regressive regulatory demands of Cap and Trade, Obama decided to stick that "report" where the sun doesn't shine.
Obama, like Al Gore, seems to think that the supposed cause of Global Warming, man-made CO2, and the solutions to it are a completely settled science. Of course, neither of these two people are scientists, themselves. Additionally, most of those on the United Nation's International Panel on Climate Change aren't either; and, it is obvious that Barack Obama wants to be in lock-step with this highly politically-motivated and primarily left-wing ecology group.
However, there are more than 31,000 scientists -- not politicians like Al Gore, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi -- in America, alone, who have put there names on a petition that begs the United States government to reject the false scientific claims of the global warming community (See Full Story). That, to anyone, cries out to the world that the science of "climate change" isn't even close to being settled.
Lately, any Republican criticism of the House of Representative's Cap and Trade Bill has been countered by the Democrats saying something like: "At least the Democrats have proposed something to fight Global Warming. Where is the Republican's proposal?"
This kind of argument is a red herring. By saying "Where's the Republican proposal?", the whole issue of whether or not global warming is even man-made is being completely skirted. In doing so, it implies that the science of global warming is settled; and, therefore, the Republicans should just fall in line and approve the Democrat's bill to fight the fight of global warming. End of discussion!
However, day by day, the people of this country and many of the people around the world are becoming more and more skeptical about global warming and its cause; as noted by this excellent article, "The Climate Change Climate Change", written by Kim Stassel of the Wall Street Journal. Even the proposed Cap and Trade Bill that was just passed by our one-sided House of Representatives had so many political concessions that the Congressional Budget Office found it to be totally ineffective. If the CO2 argument was truly a settled science and an important and valid fight, concessions would "not" have had to be made in an attempt to pass this bill because it would be seen by all as an important and valid cause for immediate and massive legislative action. But instead, there was significant dissent; especially from so many Democrats, themselves. They needed to be bought-off in this bill with both exclusionary language and with dedicated funding; attached as a 300-page addendum to the already 900-page piece of legislation.
As I have written before in this blog, the push for climate control is purely driven by an ideological belief and not based on any real or sustainable science. In fact, just last week I wrote: "The Truth About Cap and Trade" that covers this very topic. Everyday, the examples that the "greens" have used in support of controlling CO2 levels have begun falling apart. Take, for example, this article on the previously false belief that the Antarctic ice cap is melting away: "Report: Antarctic Ice Growing, Not Shrinking". Actually, most of the ice cap has been growing since 1993. Another fact that the "greens" don't want us to know and that their friendly mainstream media in this country has conveniently hidden from our sight. Then, too, the fact that the earth has been cooling, not warming, over the last decade has really hurt the climate-control movement.
Whenever scientific fact proves that those climate change ideologues are way off base, the ideologues fight back by suppressing the facts -- as in the case of Alan Carlin and as in the case of the Antarctic ice sheet gains. I actually heard one Democrat try to marginalize Mr. Carlin by saying that he wasn't a scientist; and, therefore, his report can't be taken seriously. He's just an economist. Well, apparently they don't know that Mr. Carlin obtained a degree in physics before he ever became a trained economist. That's why the EPA found him to be an important economist in their organization over the last 30 years; at least until Barack Obama took over the reins of the EPA. Apparently, that same standard is "not" being applied to Al Gore when everybody on the left seems to goes ga-ga over his words. Then, nobody questions the fact Al Gore only has a "civics" degree.
Anytime that the proponents of a policy or a program are afraid of being scrutinized, there's something that is being hidden from the light of day. Mr. Carlin's report exposes the lies of the climate change community and it is being suppressed because the eco-lefties of this country cannot really defend themselves against what that report is saying.
Sadly, Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Al Gore are each trying to treat us all like mushrooms. And, like the old saying says: Mushrooms are maintained by keeping them in the dark and by feeding them bullshit!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Three Simple Questions For the Global Warming Alarmists
Over the last decade, the earth has been cooling down and not warming up. That is a fact. That is not some desk-jockey theory or some computer projection. At the same time, CO2 levels have continued to rise at an even a faster rate than in the prior decade.
For those who believe that the earth is being warmed by man-driven CO2, I have some simple questions.
For those who believe that the earth is being warmed by man-driven CO2, I have some simple questions.
- Why is it that no Global Warming projection, either current or over the last 10 years, was able to predict the cooling period that we are now going through? Even the UN's International Panel on Climate Change projections of just a couple of years ago doesn't reflect this change in our climate's direction!
- Why is there cooling in light of higher and higher levels of CO2 if CO2, alone, is the driver of global warming?
- Because of the above, why should we believe in the validity of any of these pro-global warming studies? When, to do so defies all logic or, even, common sense!
Friday, July 3, 2009
The Ripple Effect Of High Unemployment Going Higher
Yesterday's jobs report clearly showed that this recession still has the legs to continue on for a long time to come (See Full Story). Before yesterday's numbers were announced, all those "green shoots" proponents that thought this economy was about to turn around had said that the number of jobs being lost for the month of June would only amount to about 363,000; with an unemployment rate of 9.6%. Well, the number of jobs being lost last month was much worse than expected with 467,000 workers becoming unemployed in June. Further, May's previously bad numbers were also adjusted upwards from the prior month's report with the addition of another 15,000 workers hitting the streets. However, the somewhat perplexing part of yesterday's unemployment report was the fact that, despite a worst-case number, the unemployment rate only went up by one-tenth of one percent to 9.5%.
Anyway, the Friday's Stock Market looked at those numbers and reflected backwards on some other pretty sour numbers over the last two weeks and sold off by 223 points on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. That sell off to me, as a practicing stock market technician, seems to indicate that we are well on our way to a retesting of the multi-year market lows of 6470 that were seen in just March of this year. That means that the stock market rally, for the mean time, is probably over. If we do go down to 6500 or below on the "Dow", that will be a loss of about 1800 points from where we are right now. The stock market is, in effect, saying that the recession is far from being over. This is especially true if you believe in the old adage that the stock market has a track record of predicting changes in the economic conditions of this country that are at least 9 months ahead of time. If that is the case, it means that we probably won't see a recovery until at least the second quarter of next year; depending on whether or not the stock market stops falling below 6500. That also means that we probably won't see the economic recovery in this quarter that Team Obama had predicted only 4 months ago and has consistently repeated; even as of last week. But, then, they also said that if he Stimulus Package wasn't passed, unemployment would go above 8% this year. With unemployment now a 9.5% percent, that says a lot about their "economics" prowess and their ability to give this country true economic direction and stability.
Normally, you could say that, in economic terms, unemployment is a lagging indicator and that the economy will have turned around long before the unemployment rate starts to improve again. However, for that to be a reality, it is essential that unemployment stabilizes and doesn't just keep rising. Yesterday's report shows that unemployment is still on the rise. Before anyone can be comfortable about the direction of this economy, we need to see a few months where the unemployment rate remains somewhat constant or even starts falling. Only, then, can the it be said to be truly a lagging indicator. But, this continued rise in the unemployment rate makes unemployment reporting a real-time, and not lagging, indicator. And, that fact should worry everyone.
The problem with high, going higher unemployment levels is that it has a ripple effect on the economy.
Every time a person loses their job, that is one less person who will be paying any state and/or federal income taxes. Sales tax revenues will also suffer as that idle worker cuts back on their non-essential spending. In fact, almost every newly unemployed person will then become eligible for unemployment insurance and will start feeding off the State's coffers instead of contributing to them in the form of taxes. As the number of the unemployed grows, then, too, does the State's deficits as tax revenues decrease. Eventually, as the unemployment rate rises to another new tipping point, the State legislatures must raise taxes or let people go to compensate for the substantial loss in tax revenues. When a state is forced to raise its taxes, most everyone loses some part of their disposable income. That loss of disposable income will ultimately result in less money being spent to buy the things that would normally fuel the economy. Then, too, more people will begin losing their jobs. And, unless that cycle is broken, it can just keep going on forever. That's why tax increases are so punitive and so destructive to any economy.
Furthermore, every unemployed worker will impact the economy by buying less of almost everything that is outside of their need for food staples and other essential living expenses. That means that, as unemployment rises, businesses will continue to lose business. That, then, results in more workers being laid off and, again, less tax revenues. And, so the cycle of more jobs being lost continues.
Another consequence of higher and higher unemployment is greater losses of home values. From studies, we know that about 45 percent of those mortgages that fall into foreclosure are a direct result of employment. So, as unemployment continues to rise, so will the house foreclosure rates continue to rise. Bankruptcy rates will also go up. As the foreclosure rates rise, the value of homes will continue to fall. This has a psychological impact on the consumer and the consumer will continue to pull back and save rather than spend. Again, as consumer spending retracts, unemployment rates rise as businesses are once again forced to let people go in order to adjust to lower sales. Some marginal businesses will just fold and go out of business completely. As before, State tax revenues will again fall and, ultimately, taxes will have to be raised and some number of government workers will have to be let go.
In essence, every job that is lost has a serious ripple effect on the economy. The Obama Stimulus Package was supposed to break this cycle. But, to do so, it should have impacted this economy on an immediate basis so that the spiral of unemployment was, at the very least, slowed. Sadly, this $787 billion Stimulus Package was really only slated, from its inception, to spending 20% of its funds to create any jobs. The rest was purely for social engineering programs. Worse yet, most of that funding was actually backloaded to be spent next year with only limited spending this year; when it was truly needed. Also, the actual spending has be extremely slow. Only about 10 percent of the Stimulus Package money has even been applied to this economy as most of those so-called shovel-ready jobs have been languishing in the mud of state and federal bureaucracies, mismanagement, and political-payback stupidity. Subsequently, every day that goes by, this economy becomes even more broken. As a result, the impact of any stimulus money becomes less and less effective. It truly is a situation where you either pay me a little now or pay me big-time later on. Think of it like a cavity in a tooth. If that cavity is taken care of when it's small, the cost to fill it will be relatively inexpensive. Allow it to expand to where a "cap" is needed or to where that tooth becomes abscessed and it will cost thousands to repair.
Lastly, there was one other very disturbing and important number in yesterday's jobs report. This was that the average number of hours, in a worker's week, had fallen once again. This time, the average work week fell to 33 hours. This means two things. Hourly employees are working less and, subsequently, getting less pay. It also means that full time jobs are being filled by part-time workers. Both of these facts mean that less consumer spending is flowing into the economy and there is an increasingly smaller tax base for the Federal and State governments.
This economy should have been immediately shored up back in January when the unemployment was only 7.6%. Now, at 9.5% and well on its way to at least 10%, it is becoming apparent that this economy is more like a tooth abscessing and becoming a lot more costly to fix. That means the the cost to turn this economy around is going up by the day and that is why you are now hearing a chorus of calls for a second stimulus package. But, the real fix for the economy is to shut down the current useless waste of unspent Stimulus monies and create a new package that is more broadly targeted to get this economy back on track. Let's stop the political payback to the Teacher's unions and the other unions like the Police and Firefighters and focus on the broader issues of getting the larger base of non-union workers back to work (See the Video of Obama's equivalent of Bush's "Mission Accomplished" statement that was said at his Town Hall Meeting of this week. He seems to think the Stimulus Package has done its job!)
Only when federal money is actually targeted to stem the rising rate of foreclosures will consumer sentiment rise and consumer spending resume. We need bigger tax breaks than the $13 a week that this current Stimulus package gives the consumer to stop saving and start spending. We need to stop Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) from letting their rates keep adjusting upwards so that the rate of foreclosure stops rising. The existing toxic assets like those worthless Credit Default Swaps need to be taken off the Bank's books so that our banks stop failing and stop having to be taken over the FDIC.
All the problems that existed before the passage of Obama's Stimulus Package still exist and still aren't really being addressed. What's worse, we now have states, lead by California, that are seriously close to bankruptcy. Protecting policemen, firemen, and teachers is useless if a state has to shutdown most of its fire, police stations, and schools because it can no longer pay its bills. Would someone please tell Obama that!
Not one person on Obama's economic team has ever really created a job; and, it shows! We need business leaders to come together to formulate a true plan of action. We don't need a bunch of liberal, former-lawyers who are now ideological Democrats in the House and the Senate to spend billions so that they can guarantee getting votes in the next election by paying off those groups who got them elected in this last one. If this economy keeps tanking, all that money being spent on political pay-back will only be wasted when all those Democrats, who voted for this failed Stimulus Bill, are thrown out of office.
Anyway, the Friday's Stock Market looked at those numbers and reflected backwards on some other pretty sour numbers over the last two weeks and sold off by 223 points on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. That sell off to me, as a practicing stock market technician, seems to indicate that we are well on our way to a retesting of the multi-year market lows of 6470 that were seen in just March of this year. That means that the stock market rally, for the mean time, is probably over. If we do go down to 6500 or below on the "Dow", that will be a loss of about 1800 points from where we are right now. The stock market is, in effect, saying that the recession is far from being over. This is especially true if you believe in the old adage that the stock market has a track record of predicting changes in the economic conditions of this country that are at least 9 months ahead of time. If that is the case, it means that we probably won't see a recovery until at least the second quarter of next year; depending on whether or not the stock market stops falling below 6500. That also means that we probably won't see the economic recovery in this quarter that Team Obama had predicted only 4 months ago and has consistently repeated; even as of last week. But, then, they also said that if he Stimulus Package wasn't passed, unemployment would go above 8% this year. With unemployment now a 9.5% percent, that says a lot about their "economics" prowess and their ability to give this country true economic direction and stability.
Normally, you could say that, in economic terms, unemployment is a lagging indicator and that the economy will have turned around long before the unemployment rate starts to improve again. However, for that to be a reality, it is essential that unemployment stabilizes and doesn't just keep rising. Yesterday's report shows that unemployment is still on the rise. Before anyone can be comfortable about the direction of this economy, we need to see a few months where the unemployment rate remains somewhat constant or even starts falling. Only, then, can the it be said to be truly a lagging indicator. But, this continued rise in the unemployment rate makes unemployment reporting a real-time, and not lagging, indicator. And, that fact should worry everyone.
The problem with high, going higher unemployment levels is that it has a ripple effect on the economy.
Every time a person loses their job, that is one less person who will be paying any state and/or federal income taxes. Sales tax revenues will also suffer as that idle worker cuts back on their non-essential spending. In fact, almost every newly unemployed person will then become eligible for unemployment insurance and will start feeding off the State's coffers instead of contributing to them in the form of taxes. As the number of the unemployed grows, then, too, does the State's deficits as tax revenues decrease. Eventually, as the unemployment rate rises to another new tipping point, the State legislatures must raise taxes or let people go to compensate for the substantial loss in tax revenues. When a state is forced to raise its taxes, most everyone loses some part of their disposable income. That loss of disposable income will ultimately result in less money being spent to buy the things that would normally fuel the economy. Then, too, more people will begin losing their jobs. And, unless that cycle is broken, it can just keep going on forever. That's why tax increases are so punitive and so destructive to any economy.
Furthermore, every unemployed worker will impact the economy by buying less of almost everything that is outside of their need for food staples and other essential living expenses. That means that, as unemployment rises, businesses will continue to lose business. That, then, results in more workers being laid off and, again, less tax revenues. And, so the cycle of more jobs being lost continues.
Another consequence of higher and higher unemployment is greater losses of home values. From studies, we know that about 45 percent of those mortgages that fall into foreclosure are a direct result of employment. So, as unemployment continues to rise, so will the house foreclosure rates continue to rise. Bankruptcy rates will also go up. As the foreclosure rates rise, the value of homes will continue to fall. This has a psychological impact on the consumer and the consumer will continue to pull back and save rather than spend. Again, as consumer spending retracts, unemployment rates rise as businesses are once again forced to let people go in order to adjust to lower sales. Some marginal businesses will just fold and go out of business completely. As before, State tax revenues will again fall and, ultimately, taxes will have to be raised and some number of government workers will have to be let go.
In essence, every job that is lost has a serious ripple effect on the economy. The Obama Stimulus Package was supposed to break this cycle. But, to do so, it should have impacted this economy on an immediate basis so that the spiral of unemployment was, at the very least, slowed. Sadly, this $787 billion Stimulus Package was really only slated, from its inception, to spending 20% of its funds to create any jobs. The rest was purely for social engineering programs. Worse yet, most of that funding was actually backloaded to be spent next year with only limited spending this year; when it was truly needed. Also, the actual spending has be extremely slow. Only about 10 percent of the Stimulus Package money has even been applied to this economy as most of those so-called shovel-ready jobs have been languishing in the mud of state and federal bureaucracies, mismanagement, and political-payback stupidity. Subsequently, every day that goes by, this economy becomes even more broken. As a result, the impact of any stimulus money becomes less and less effective. It truly is a situation where you either pay me a little now or pay me big-time later on. Think of it like a cavity in a tooth. If that cavity is taken care of when it's small, the cost to fill it will be relatively inexpensive. Allow it to expand to where a "cap" is needed or to where that tooth becomes abscessed and it will cost thousands to repair.
Lastly, there was one other very disturbing and important number in yesterday's jobs report. This was that the average number of hours, in a worker's week, had fallen once again. This time, the average work week fell to 33 hours. This means two things. Hourly employees are working less and, subsequently, getting less pay. It also means that full time jobs are being filled by part-time workers. Both of these facts mean that less consumer spending is flowing into the economy and there is an increasingly smaller tax base for the Federal and State governments.
This economy should have been immediately shored up back in January when the unemployment was only 7.6%. Now, at 9.5% and well on its way to at least 10%, it is becoming apparent that this economy is more like a tooth abscessing and becoming a lot more costly to fix. That means the the cost to turn this economy around is going up by the day and that is why you are now hearing a chorus of calls for a second stimulus package. But, the real fix for the economy is to shut down the current useless waste of unspent Stimulus monies and create a new package that is more broadly targeted to get this economy back on track. Let's stop the political payback to the Teacher's unions and the other unions like the Police and Firefighters and focus on the broader issues of getting the larger base of non-union workers back to work (See the Video of Obama's equivalent of Bush's "Mission Accomplished" statement that was said at his Town Hall Meeting of this week. He seems to think the Stimulus Package has done its job!)
Only when federal money is actually targeted to stem the rising rate of foreclosures will consumer sentiment rise and consumer spending resume. We need bigger tax breaks than the $13 a week that this current Stimulus package gives the consumer to stop saving and start spending. We need to stop Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) from letting their rates keep adjusting upwards so that the rate of foreclosure stops rising. The existing toxic assets like those worthless Credit Default Swaps need to be taken off the Bank's books so that our banks stop failing and stop having to be taken over the FDIC.
All the problems that existed before the passage of Obama's Stimulus Package still exist and still aren't really being addressed. What's worse, we now have states, lead by California, that are seriously close to bankruptcy. Protecting policemen, firemen, and teachers is useless if a state has to shutdown most of its fire, police stations, and schools because it can no longer pay its bills. Would someone please tell Obama that!
Not one person on Obama's economic team has ever really created a job; and, it shows! We need business leaders to come together to formulate a true plan of action. We don't need a bunch of liberal, former-lawyers who are now ideological Democrats in the House and the Senate to spend billions so that they can guarantee getting votes in the next election by paying off those groups who got them elected in this last one. If this economy keeps tanking, all that money being spent on political pay-back will only be wasted when all those Democrats, who voted for this failed Stimulus Bill, are thrown out of office.
Monday, June 29, 2009
On Honduras: Castro, Chavez, Ortega & Barack Stand Together!
Contrary to some reports, Honduras is not necessarily on the brink of civil collapse (See Full Story).
What happened in Honduras has all to do with a leftist President, Mel Zelaya, who thought he could circumvent the Honduras Constitution and give himself extraordinary, Chavez-like powers to remain in power on an indefinite basis and control many other aspects of Honduran life. According to their Constitution, only the Congress of Honduras could, by majority Congressional vote, set up general elections for the people to vote to modify their own Constitution.
However, Zelaya, unable to get the required Congressional approval, decided to do an end-around to the Constitution and print up his own ballots -- vis-a-vis help from his dictatorial left-wing buddy, Hugo Chavez, in Venezuela -- and take the vote directly to the people; bypassing both Congress and the Constitution. The Honduran Supreme Court nullified Zelaya's actions by declaring them unconstitutional and illegal. The Honduran military enforced that illegality by arresting Zelaya and seizing all the ballots. The Honduran Congress has since appointed an interim President (as per their Constitution) and declared that a new, permanent President would be elected in fall elections (again, as directed by the Constitution).
All that was done in Honduras was to enforce the laws of their country as outlined in their own Constitution. Now, our own leftist President, Barack Obama, seems to think that this was done illegally; completely ignoring Zelaya's attempted power-grab. This is the same President who thought, initially, that Iran's election was all on the up-and-up and who was totally reluctant to decry the violence in that country that stemmed from what was obviously a bogus election to keep Ahmadinejad in power. Obama said that he didn't want to meddle. Now, with a leftist and possible dictator being removed for violations of the Honduran law, Obama has decided to "meddle" by declaring those actions, certified by the Honduran Supreme Court, as being "illegal" (See Full Story).
Does anyone see a pattern here? Which side does Obama always seem to take in these international situations? Just think back to last year when the then-campaigning Obama called for "restraint" on the part of both Russians and the Republic of Georgia when, in fact, Russia was both the invader and the aggressor in that international situation (See Full Story). In doing so, Obama, as in the case, now, sided with the anti-democracy Russia and completely ignored their aggression and violation of international law.
In this hemisphere, the loudest voices against what has happened in Honduras are: Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega and Barack Obama. Need I say anymore?
What happened in Honduras has all to do with a leftist President, Mel Zelaya, who thought he could circumvent the Honduras Constitution and give himself extraordinary, Chavez-like powers to remain in power on an indefinite basis and control many other aspects of Honduran life. According to their Constitution, only the Congress of Honduras could, by majority Congressional vote, set up general elections for the people to vote to modify their own Constitution.
However, Zelaya, unable to get the required Congressional approval, decided to do an end-around to the Constitution and print up his own ballots -- vis-a-vis help from his dictatorial left-wing buddy, Hugo Chavez, in Venezuela -- and take the vote directly to the people; bypassing both Congress and the Constitution. The Honduran Supreme Court nullified Zelaya's actions by declaring them unconstitutional and illegal. The Honduran military enforced that illegality by arresting Zelaya and seizing all the ballots. The Honduran Congress has since appointed an interim President (as per their Constitution) and declared that a new, permanent President would be elected in fall elections (again, as directed by the Constitution).
All that was done in Honduras was to enforce the laws of their country as outlined in their own Constitution. Now, our own leftist President, Barack Obama, seems to think that this was done illegally; completely ignoring Zelaya's attempted power-grab. This is the same President who thought, initially, that Iran's election was all on the up-and-up and who was totally reluctant to decry the violence in that country that stemmed from what was obviously a bogus election to keep Ahmadinejad in power. Obama said that he didn't want to meddle. Now, with a leftist and possible dictator being removed for violations of the Honduran law, Obama has decided to "meddle" by declaring those actions, certified by the Honduran Supreme Court, as being "illegal" (See Full Story).
Does anyone see a pattern here? Which side does Obama always seem to take in these international situations? Just think back to last year when the then-campaigning Obama called for "restraint" on the part of both Russians and the Republic of Georgia when, in fact, Russia was both the invader and the aggressor in that international situation (See Full Story). In doing so, Obama, as in the case, now, sided with the anti-democracy Russia and completely ignored their aggression and violation of international law.
In this hemisphere, the loudest voices against what has happened in Honduras are: Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega and Barack Obama. Need I say anymore?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
