Obama's Attempts to Turn the U.S. Into a European-Style Welfare State

For decades, western European countries have increasingly become what are known as welfare states.  By that, I mean that most of them use wealth redistribution (taxing the rich) in order to provide hefty and numerous social welfare programs such as universal free healthcare, social security, and welfare pay to those in poverty.  Some countries even provide free tuition for higher education.  Also, there are heavy mandates placed on businesses such as the promotion of collective bargaining and a guaranteed minimum wage.

Now, if all this sounds familiar, it is Barack Obama's philosophy in a nutshell.  Mr. "free" for some but not all.  What he wants is the Europeanisation of the United States.  But, while the President is trying to spend this country in to more and more debt for social programs such as free community college, Europe is trying to extricate itself from the massive debt that these programs have caused.  So, as a result, many European countries are reversing the existence of wide-spread social programs through something they refer to as "austerity".

Lots of social programs are fine until a recession hits. When the Great Recession in the U.S. spread to Europe, it sent its heaviest socialized countries reeling.   Countries, who today, are still in trouble since the recession ended years ago.  Probably, the best indicator of how troubled some of them are is their youth (15-24 years of age) unemployment rates.  After all, they are supposed to be the future of any country.  In Greece, the youth unemployment rate is an astounding 58.4%.  Spain isn't far behind that at 57.3%.  Then, there's Italy at 39.7%;  Portugal 37.8%;  Ireland 26.7%; and, France at 23.7%.  Only Germany is doing well at 7.8%.  In the U.S., youth unemployment is still historically high at 15.8%; though nothing like most of our socialized friends in Europe.

Poverty, too, is high throughout the European Union (EU) and its member states.  While the poverty rate in this country is about 14.5%,  the EU has a collective rate of 16.4%.  And, poverty is on the rise as austerity programs kick in.  Simply, too many Europeans were on the government dole through social programs.  Remove or reduce those programs and more and more people fall into poverty.  Thus, there is a rising backlash against the continuation of austerity programs; resulting in the potential of more European countries become leftist.  A fact that will only deepen debt and dependence on the government.  Except for the rich. Of course!

Basically, Europe is telling us what "not" to do and, Obama and his Democrats aren't listening.  Taxing the rich and giving people a lot of free stuff is putting us at the kind of risk that Europe, now, finds itself in.  In 2014, our top 1% will paid 37% of all taxes; while only earning 19% of this nations wages/incomes.  The top 10% pay 71% of all the taxes.

When recessions hit, rich people also take a hit on their incomes from their investments or companies they may own.   They, also, can lose their jobs as companies go under. As a result, taxes fall and debt increases.  That is what happened in Europe and that is what the President is setting this country up for in the future by making us too dependent on too few rich incomes.  In light of all this, there is an old saying that definitely bears repeating:  "Social programs are a lot like a big red [communist/socialist] wagon.  At some point, you get to a place where there's too many people riding in that wagon and not enough people left behind to pull it."

References:

European social model: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_social_model

Welfare State:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state

The European Welfare State and Its Lessons for America:  http://www.cato.org/policy-report/julyaugust-2013/european-welfare-state-its-lessons-america

Youth Unemployment by Country: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.ZS

Discussion:  Why do Europeans come to the US when college is free over there: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/1129831-why-do-europeans-come-to-the-us-when-college-is-free-over-their.html

Up to 25 million more Europeans at risk of poverty by 2025 if austerity drags on:  http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2013-09-12/25-million-more-europeans-risk-poverty-2025-if-austerity-drags

Europeanisation - Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europeanisation

Enough With European Austerity, Bring on the Stimulus: https://www.google.com/search?q=Enough+With+European+Austerity%2C+Bring+on+the+Stimulus&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

A radical left-wing party that is demanding an end to Greece's painful austerity measures won Sunday's parliamentary elections: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GREECE_ELECTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-01-25-12-09-15

Poverty in Europe: the Current Situation: http://www.inequalitywatch.eu/spip.php?article99

2014 Tax Day Chart: Who Pays the Most?: http://dailysignal.com/2014/04/15/2014-tax-day-chart-pays/

The Rich Are No Longer Recession-Proof - Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/rich-are-no-longer-recession-proof-81901

Only a Third of Americans Work Full Time

In the latest employment report, it was stated that only 119 million people are working full time.  That is only about one third of the nearly 320 million people making up the country's population.

While this is up from a low of 116 million in January, it is still a very sad statement on the jobs situation.  It means that too few of our people are paying all the taxes necessary to support the multitude of government programs such as Medicare and Social Security, which depend on income taxes collected from those full-time workers.  This is why these two programs are destined to run out of money faster than previously thought.

References:


The Good And The Not- So-Good News About US Jobs In One Chart: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-06/good-and-not-so-good-news-about-us-jobs-one-chart

May Employment (Situation) Report: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm

Monthly number of full-time employees in the United States from May 2013 to May 2014 (in millions, unadjusted): http://www.statista.com/statistics/192361/unadjusted-monthly-number-of-full-time-employees-in-the-us/

Is Detroit The Poster Child Of Failed Union/Democrat Coziness?

Most Americans are well aware of Detroit's fabled nickname  'Motown',  but that city also had the lesser known moniker of  'Union Town'.   It was called 'Union Town' because of all the mid-Western cities, it had the strongest union representation in almost all areas of work and manufacturing, and its city's operations. In 1986, the Chicago Tribune highlighted this supposed strength of Detroit with this glowing reference: `Union Town` Detroit Runs Rings Round Most U.s. Blue-collar Cities.

Today, Detroit is now, arguably, the most decayed major city in the U.S., where abandoned homes and buildings have to be bulldozed into oblivion.  Some homes are actually being sold for as little as one dollar; just so the owners can get out from under the tax burden.  In June, Detroit avoided bankruptcy by allowing itself to be put into administrative receivership where the State of Michigan oversees the operation and expenses of the city.

How Detroit went from a 'Union Town' that "Runs Rings Round Most U.S. Blue-collar Cities" to one that is literally at death's door is probably the worst testament to the symbiotic relationship that existed between the city's controlling Democrats and the Unions.  First of all, the private sector declined because companies, in order to stay competitive and avoid high union wages, moved their operations to non-union, right-to-work states, or overseas.  This resulted in Detroit losing the breadth of its tax base. Secondly, the City's Democratic mayors and city council continually gave into the union demands for higher pay and pensions in order to keep the City running.  So, the combination of declining taxes and higher costs of operations proved to be the bitter end to this once great city.  A lesson that all city managers in America should learn from. 

--- BloombergBusinessWeek: Detroit Council Accepts State Plan to Avoid Bankruptcy: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-04/detroit-council-accepts-state-plan-to-avoid-bankruptcy

Another Obama-funded Green Tech Company Bites The Dust

Yesterday, another Obama-funded solar company went bankrupt. This time it was Solar Trust and they managed to get a $2.1 billion loan guarantee from Obama's Department of Energy. Out of the eight that since failed in the last year after having been funded by taxpayer money, this one is even more laughable than the rest.

The first joke is its name: Solar Trust. Trust what? Trust that they stay in business. Trust that they won't waste taxpayer money. Trust that their technology is sound.

Then, the other joke is Solar Trust's original parent company, was a German company with the name of Solar Millennium. They went bankrupt last December. Wow! Millennium! They could barely stay in business for 13 years; much less a millennium.

Finally, there's the second parent company who took over "Trust" after "Millennium" died. They were another German company named: Solarhybrid. They too went bankrupt just last month; leaving Solar Trust to fend for itself. Of course, we now know that Solar Trust couldn't even survive a month on its own.

Obviously, there's a pattern here that is no joking matter. More than $3.5 billion dollars of taxpayer money has been thrown away on unsound green companies. Yet, neither Obama nor Energy Secretary Chu are being held responsible for this Madoff-equivalent irresponsibility.