Economists Love Deficit Spending

When you hear someone tell you that we should encourage deficit spending, the hair in your ears become just a little more sensitive--as if to say, did I hear you correctly?

Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and liberal Keynesian journalist for the New York Times suggests in his most recent New York Times column America has just the right amount of debt, maybe not enough.

Here is his article.

To put things into perspective, America will take in $2.3 trillion in taxes and fees this year. We will spend $5 billion. Now it doesn't take a Nobel Prize to realize is unsustainable.

What Krugman fails to realize is the ongoing transition from a capitalist, free market economy to a centralized command and control economy where profits are the property of the state, not the people.

In the new world order, a large portion of our GDP is generated by government spending, not from private industry. If we continue to have a growing population base, with even a stable or worse yet, declining GDP, we are in fact dying as a nation. It will not take long for the percentages Krugman talks about to turn on a dime. 

My point is this. If I have a stable, production oriented economy, with a stable, healthy population, it is reasonable to have a higher percentage of debt. However, if you have a declining, consumer oriented economy with a growing, graying population, it is not reasonable to have a higher percentage of debt.

To further illustrate my point. Medicare, at one time had 6 workers for every one retiree. Today, we have 3 workers for every one worker. In twenty years, we will have one worker for every retiree. If our GDP is designed from consumption, but all of our income in taken in taxation to pay for Medicare, a high level of debt will crush our country.

Tomorrow, I will create a more lucent, coherent thought on this subject. Just know for now that if it sounds crazy, it generally is. Paul Krugman's theory is crazy.

The Real Unemployment Rate Just Isn't Discussed Much

It is a rare public official that talks about the real economy and realistic numbers. Public officials understand that confidence in the system is "created" by putting a positive spin on the every story. Unfortunately, this positive spin sometimes masquerades as outright lies and deception.

This story talks about the real number of unemployed. The actual number, he claims is closer to 16%, not the public number of 9%.

No wonder people have a hard time believing politicians.

Thoughts on Senator Kennedy Passing

I want to extend my sympathies to the friends and family of Senator Kennedy at this difficult moment in their lives.

It is in their honor, that I will not talk about the absolute destruction the most liberal member of the Senate has brought to this country. Further, I will not mention my utter disgust with the notion that a career politician should be honored for devoting his entire life to "public service." The phrase, "public service," makes it sound like people in government are public stewards of the future of America. Unfortunately, career politicians too often look to protect their own electability with the notion that government can make the lives of some of it's citizens better by taking from the efforts of another.

Senator Kennedy should be honored appropriately as passing away at a time when the Federal Government is completely broken and facing bankruptcy. We should honor Senator Kennedy by making him a symbol of the failure of career politicians to adequately balance the desires of people wanting more government and people's ability to pay for it. We should hold Senator Kennedy up as a symbol of spending $2.5 trillion more than we take in.

Finally, I will hold my tongue about the idea of passing a bad health care bill to honor Senator Kennedy. It is ironic that a career politician--Senator Kennedy has been a US Senator his entire adult life--has passed away while the nation debates a health care bill that will push our country further into bankruptcy.

May Senator Kennedy rest in peace.

Green Jobs Campaign Began as Radical Communist Program

For those of you who think going green is a pro-American movement, you need to watch this video about the new Green Czar appointed by President Obama.

We have a lot of things to worry about in this country, but stop and think for just a moment about who is behind the radical change going on in our country. It almost feels like there is a revolution going on this country. 

There is. And we don't even know it.

Obamacare Based on Broken Maine Health Care Model

It never ceases to amaze me how people believe government can give thousands or millions of people free stuff and think government can do it without raising taxes. Even richer is the idea that government can do all this more efficiently than any other organization. 

Here is an article about the failure of the Maine Health Care system. Maine tried to provide universal health care and now their system is out of money and on the brink of failure. Ironically, the Obama health care plan is based on the Maine model.

Why do Democrats think government is always the answer? I suppose people just don't realize the hierarchy of inefficiency. Based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, here is Neal's hierarchy of efficiencies-from highest efficiency to lowest efficiency.

1. The individual. 

2. A collection of individuals

3. A small business owner to provide services directly to individuals

4. A local government with limited responsibilities

5. A medium sized privately held business with less than 3 layers from owner to consumer of goods

6. A large privately held business with less than 5 layers from owner to consumers

7. A state government with limited responsibilities

8. A local government with unlimited responsibilities

9. A large publicly held business with more than 5 layers from shareholders to consumers

9. A state government with unlimited responsibilities

10. A federal government with limited responsibilities

11. Any organization with a strong union that pays people not to work

12. A federal government with unlimited responsibilities

Why would someone even want to compile a list like this? Competition runs the world. Every individual must work in a competitive environment to be the most efficient. The more people in an organization working in a non-competitive environment, the more inefficient the organization will be.

Everyone must understand that individuals must work under risk and reward, cause and effect decision making. An individual is best suited to know exactly what he or she needs. They have the most likely ability to change their situation through hard work and perseverance. Individuals, acting and weighing decisions in a thoughtful way can enjoy the most amount of freedom, but must act within a prism of responsibility. If an individual knows a decision is risky, and they determine they can survive by taking that risk, they are able to proceed. In this, they are acting responsibility. 

The more complex the organization, the less responsibility each person in the organization has. It is for this reason, a small business can change faster than a big business. While big business has more ability to raise capital and reach more consumers, change happens more slowly in a big business because too many people have to be involved in the decision to change. The investors of a publicly traded company is less aware of the entire organization, and it is easier to lose control of the individuals working in that corporation.

A large federal government is the least efficient system of all, because there is no incentive to change or modernize. The individual workers are a part of a monolith system that discourages risk as decisions are made out of fear of risk, not a desire to improve. The money that is received through the budgeting process does not come from the consumers voluntarily by a good or service that is purchased, but rather by a free service that is rendered to everyone equally. Consumers don't bear the true cost of the service provided in any government program.

Why isn't there a desire to change in government? Because the workers look at their job as permanent. There is no metrix that measures a good employee from a bad employee, except whether the person puts in the proper number of hours. There is no reward for taking risks or changing the system. The only incentive is to spend the entire budget so that next year they can ask for more money. There are no money saving incentives in government or by government employees. 

It is for this reason, a big government is the least effective and most inefficient organization every created by man.

Canadian Doctors Say Canadian System is Broken

As Obama tries to change the American Health Care system, it should be noted that Canadian doctors are on record of saying the Canadian system is unsustainable.

Here is an article that point out the error of the Canadian system.

The Ascent of Money--Phenomenal

This is going to be a short post, because you are going to need 4 hours to watch this video about the history of money and the rise of the global financial system.

Every person who votes should be required to watch this PBS video entitled "The Ascent of Money" by Niall Ferguson, a Harvard Professor and financial historian.

This is an amazing show.

Whole Foods CEO Proposes Health Care Alternatives

Whole Foods provides fresh fruits and vegetables to a liberal clientele in major cities. The CEO of Whole Foods has angered some of his patrons with this amazing opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal against socialized health care. 

The reactions to his piece are found here as people are wanting to boycott his stores because of his opposition to the Obama health care plan.

I suspect that for the few liberals he loses with his public stance, he will gain followers like me, who see value in what he is saying.  We will see.

Four Months to Save The World

I really get a kick out of Barrack Obama talking about his opponents use of fear to beat his initiatives.

But he doesn't ever use fear to sell his whacky ideas. Here is an article that talks about the end of the world coming if we don't pass global climate change in...four months!!

I guess Obama doesn't think the fear of the end of the world compares to his critics charges that providing health care insurance to 46 million people will cost a lot of money, and will most certainly lead to budget deficits, and that when there is no money available, the government will have to try to contain costs by restricting services.

Read the apocalyptic warnings of the end of the world here...

Whooheee! Free Money

"Free Money. Thank God for Obama." 

Really. That is the quote. Obama and his friends are giving away other peoples money for free. Now I am sure this is something that will make people in South Dakota happy. Yes, Mrs. Herseth Sandlin, are we going to get our "fair share?"

Read this article.

Illegal Immigrants Counted In Census

As if the Democrats weren't doing  enough to turn their backs on average Americans, they have made sure illegal immigrants are counted in the census in order to gain Democrat seats in Congress. 

It is hard to imagine, after Cap and Trade, Forced Unionization, Universal Health Care, and all of the other economic foibles of hoisted on us by Obama and Pelosi, they would try to pull this. But they have. For America's sake, I wish it wasn't happening so fast, but Democrats just can't help themselves but to offend hard working, honest, taxpaying Americans.

You can read all about it here.

Poor Herseth Sandlin--so many things to defend

Nancy Pelosi is a walking IED. Whoever crosses her path is bound to get blown up.

How can any member of Congress continue to defend these arrogant actions. Read this and you will see what I mean. Nancy Pelosi must go...

A Random Thought

Most love and marriages are built on popular culture values.

Pop culture, like fashion, is always and ever changing. What is in today is out tomorrow. What is popular today is unpopular tomorrow. In the world of popular culture and  fashion, the only thing reliable is change. How can anything last if it is built on change?

Government Reform #4: Education

Amazing technological advances are taking place in education. But not so much in unionized American Public Schools. 

Unions protect the past, not reinvent to meet the needs of the future. Here is a video highlighting the advances in Sweden, by no means a conservative mecca. They have adopted to encourage competition in schools and have had meaningful results.

Watch this video of the voucher program in Sweden.

But in America, the educational system has seen amazing changes. Unfortunately, those changes are not adopted by the public school system because it breaks the power structure of the unions.

Technology has been implemented by an unlikely subset of the educators in America. Turns out homeschooling parents are adopting technology faster their public school brethren. Studies show the average homeschooler attends 1/3 the number of hours of schooling per day and are several grade levels ahead of their peers.

Am I saying the future is homeschooling? Not necessarily. I still believe in school sports, socialization skills, etc., but the advancements in individual pace learning curriculum has allowed these students to learn 100% of the material before moving on to the next lesson plan, has allowed well-thought out and well-prepared lesson plans, and immediate testing and understanding of results. Many of these programs even require students to redo the questions they got wrong.

Some people think they don't want parents who don't have expertise to be teaching children, but with the advances of technology, students are learning from polished, professionals. Often times, these professionals are the best of the best in their area of expertise. Imagine if you were able to take classes from a Nobel Prize winning mathmetician instead of a fresh student right out of college? Imagine if the program was tested and perfected for presentation, and maximized for optimum results. These lesson plans become an advantage, not a disadvantage to the homeschool curriculum.

If people don't know what I am talking about, compare the 4 years of foreign language classes that are offered at public schools, and Rosetta Stone, a web or cd based learning system that is used by businesses and military personnel around the world. They claim you can be proficient in a foreign language in 6 months. That sure beats 4 years of sleeping through Mrs. Lundbergs lecture's.

Another area of reform that should be encouraged is to create schools where parents sign a petition to waive the right to file a lawsuit against the teachers. Teachers would then be encouraged to discipline the children to encourage the most effective learning environment. Eliminating the need for costly lawsuits, and ridding the system of victims claiming their rights were violated would increase the efficiency of the school system. 

Another area of reform I would like to pursue is the financial incentive of parent participation in their children's education. Parents who are involved in their children's education would receive a rebate check at the end of the year. 

Stupidity of a Democrat Congressman

Read this article, then I will tell you why this Congressman is not very bright...

www.politicsdaily.com/2009/08/05/why-a-doctor-in-congress-has-no-health-insurance/

This Democrat Congressman doesn't have health insurance. I understand that he is making a point. While he makes a very good point that people should negotiate with their health care providers, his overall message is terrible for everyone with whom he comes in contact.

Two things come to mind that tells me that this guy isn't a good role model for anyone. First, he is letting his 28 year old nurse practitioner daughter in Miami go without health insurance. I believe it is the responsibility of family to take care of their family. Currently, the government or the hospital system picks up the tab for people like his daughter, even though she hails from a family of wealth and privilege. When government takes care of people, there is no incentive for family to take care of their own. This is a real problem. 

(On a related point--12 million illegal aliens are considered in the 46 million uninsured, but how many of these are sending cash back to their relatives in Mexico, instead of buying health insurance?)

Second, the point he is highlighting by going without health insurance, is actually showing millions of other people that it is possible to go without health insurance. Every day, millions of healthy people think health insurance is optional and makes a financial decision to spend their disposable income on cable tv, cell phones, and alcohol, instead of health insurance. This Congressman (and his daughter) are included in the 46 million uninsured number, pushed as a reason for health care reform.

(on a related note--24 million of the 46 million uninsured Americans are between 18-32, or make more than the poverty rate)

I don't know the situation of his daughter, but having insurance is just as important as having food, clothing and shelter. But millions of healthy Americans don't think about health insurance as their responsibility. Why?

The answer is simple. Millions of Americans (although a small minority of the larger population) have a perceived safety net called the United States Government and it's bankruptcy laws. The safety net creates the large number of uninsured as healthy people make a choice to buy a big screen television instead of a health care policy, of which they will not need unless they become unhealthy.

How many people are out there that fit into this category? I don't know, but every able bodied, uninsured person who has cable and a cell phone could reprioritize their life and purchase a catastrophic, high deductible policy. If his 28 year old daughter is working as a full time nurse practitioner and is having a hard time paying the bills, I would like to look into her spending habits. Does she smoke? Does she drink? Does she have a nice new car? Does she live alone in a nice apartment instead of with a roommate in a less posh neighborhood? Does she own a $200 pair of jeans?  

I find it hard to believe that his daughter "couldn't afford" health insurance. Instead, I believe she "chose" not have health insurance.

This is the message that our friend, the Democrat Congressman should be talking about, first to his daughter, then to his constituents.

And since he doesn't and choses to make a point by pandering to people and their bad decisions, I call his actions stupid...

By the way, the reason conservatives are frustrated about people that don't adequately plan for the future, is that we understand that life requires us to save for the future  requires huge amounts of sacrifice. We are tired of being asked to pay for people that make bad choices and don't sacrifice.

More Revolt: Steny Hoyer gets a dose of common sense

Probably the greatest line I have heard about the health care bill is in this clip.

An individual in the audience asks the question,"why would you want to shove down our throats a health care bill in 3 weeks when the President took six months to determine what kind of a dog to buy his kids?"

You can see it here...

Here is a good article on Mike Ross (D, AR), a blue dog democrat. He is getting to hear from his constituents about Obama and Pelosi

The War of The World

People think I am crazy because I see the end of modern America ahead. I am really at peace with that, because crazy is simply the easy explanation of the ignorant and uninformed.

If that doesn't get your attention, nothing will.

Massive redistribution of wealth, zero economic growth , and environmental policies to eliminate the use of natural resources are the goals of the extreme left.

Here is an article about the grand plan of the people on the radical left--the same people who have assumed power under the mantle of "change."

You make the call...

Government Reform #3: Health Care

Our whole system of government is broken and incapable of solving complex problems. Therefore, the system must be reformed before it can be capable of solving problems.

Our government is designed to make changes slowly and eliminate drastic, radical changes at one time. This is a good thing. 

The House and Senate is trying to radically change entire industries (energy, health care, etc.) at one time. This does not work in our current system. What ends up happening is that every possible solution is debated and thrown into a massive health care bill. The entire health care bill becomes so complex that it is bound to have terrible provisions within the bill. People understand this.

A more reasonable approach is to change the process in the House and Senate. Instead of having a massive bill, the Congress should look at passing, and signing into law, ideas that both parties could agree upon. Here are several issues we could agree on...

1. Making health care insurance portable (take it from state to state)

2. Creating incentives for every person to invest in individual health insurance policies

3. Creating efficiencies in electronic medical records

4. Creating incentives for people to control their usage of medical services

5. Creating incentives for healthy living

6. Controlling excessive litigious liability costs

Each of these categories is complex enough. To bunch them all together creates too complex of a bill. Further, people will actually be able to follow the discussion through a transparent discussion. Right now, everything is leaked out at a snails pace and nobody is able to understand the radically complex legislation. 

The current system is designed to create divisions and harsh political rhetoric. A more measured approach to simply address the issues we could agree on would eliminate the radical changes that destroy the decorum of political debate.

Government Reform #2: Earmarks

The biggest problems in government is that Senators and Congressmen buy votes by providing money for projects in their home state and district. This empowers lobbyists in Washington and an unfair advantage to incumbent Congressional leaders (they get reelected 96% of the time).

In order to eliminate this unfair power grab for lobbyists and incumbents, I propose a new system of allocating money.

1. The previous government reform rules apply

2. The state legislature will prioritize their list of demands and will submit it to their congressional delegation to bring it to Washington. This list must be made public, and all organizations on that list must show complete financial information, just like a bank loan.

3. All funding priorities should be included on this list including Medicaid funding, health care funding, roads and bridges, water projects, and all other projects.

4. Money will be fought for as a block, and that block money will come back to the state for allocation to the list by the legislature. The money is recommended to fund the highest priorities first, but it is up to the discretion of the state.

5. Voters will vote on the priorities list of their local and state elected officials, thereby bringing power back to the people and away from the power of the incumbent Congressional Delegation.

Government Reform Proposal #1

Any money given to Americans or organizations from other Americans should come with these strings attached...

1. Must publish complete income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement to the public...

2. Must prove that no money is spent on alcohol, drugs, nicotine, gambling, dining out, sporting events, airline travel, cable tv, cell phones and any other pursuits that is deemed excessive or destructive. No money donated or volunteering for Democrat Party (or Republican) activities in any form is allowed.

3. All welfare payments and direct payments will be considered loans. Any money that is given by the government will be considered a loan, not a gift, and this loan follows the estate until death. Money is returned to the government first before any other parties named in a will, etc.

4. Roads and Highways are considered a national investment. Swimming pools and water systems will be considered a local issue. The federal government shall remove all mandates on local issues and also stop paying for local projects.

5. The Federal Government is bankrupt and every dollar spent must meet these criteria. The Federal Government will no longer be used for social engineering and checks will no longer be written directly to individuals without meeting the above criteria

6. In the Federal Government does give money to individuals, they recognize they must provide 1 hour of service for every $7 of benefits to their local government by mowing, daycare, elderly care, hospital, road building, etc...There will no longer be unemployment benefits. Nobody is entitled to free money again. There will be a trade of services at minimum wage.

Community Organizing with the Local Mob Boss

A gangster government? Doesn't that sound extreme? It does for those of us in South Dakota, but it isn't so far from reality. In fact, it is already taking place.

Don't offend your local Democratic elected official if you want to keep your business. To them, it really isn't yours, you are just allowed to be the caretaker of it for a while. Your financial investment, your time commitment, your life savings, can be taken away in a flash.

...but if you have strong political connections, you too, can be protected. 

It sure does sound like the local party boss in Chicago or New York to me... For those of you who think this is hyperbole and inflated rhetoric, think again. You will be next...

Here, Michelle Bachman (R,MN), tells the story on the floor of the House.

Gitmo Problems Revealed

President Barrack Obama wants to prosecute enemy combatants in the US legal system. Let's look at this policy and see if you agree with their reasoning...

First, there are hundreds of millions of enemy combatants engaged in actions against the United States. 

Second, the average trial in the US costs hundreds of thousands of dollars for each defendant.

Third, a trial record is open to the public.

Fourth, in order to try these people, evidence must be collected and presented in an methodical, miranda rights driven trial.

Fifth, if procedure is not followed, the enemy combatant is released on the outside of the courthouse doors.

Sixth, the evidence might have been gathered using secretive, and sometimes unseemly means. These methodologies will be revealed to our enemy combatants.

Finally, we are not safer because of this program.

See this article about the newest Obama Administration plan to try Gitmo detainees in New York City.

Health Care Protests: People are mad and Democrats are afraid

Just as I predicted many months ago, the Democrats overreached in their true desire to reengineer the entire economic system. 

The big difference between Democrats and conservatives is that Democrats believe they can create efficiencies in an economy by removing profit and risk-taking thereby creating a better, more efficient system. See, this is how Democrats really think; if only you didn't have multiple companies delivering health care, they could remove all of the spending on marketing, advertising, and duplicitous administrative costs. 

Further, they believe that they can create more effective services through a government program. They believe that a government organization can "manage" a $2.1 trillion health care system. They think the bigger the government control, the more they can control the costs of the health care system.. 

What they don't realize is that it takes people to implement their policies, and people are motivated by rewards. Government employees are motivated by collective bargaining and continually work for a shorter work week, more benefits and more time off. Any time spent in a government organization will show you that the biggest desire of a government employee is not to take risks, but to cover their own rear end. 

But common sense is left out of a big government system. If a doctor isn't driven by profits, there will be no desire to work 60-70 hours per week. Doctors will no longer be driven to go to school for 8-12 years, sacrificing large portions of their life in the pursuit of income. If a business isn't driven by profits, there will be no desire to invest large amounts of capital to create a newer drug, or better medical device.

Look at the Democrat way of looking at business. They believe that business is evil. Every industry is demonized. Big oil, big pharmaceutical, big auto, big everything. Democrats are out for the worker, but they don't understand that the worker must provide a product and service that must be sold for a profit, therefore, the cost to produce that product must be lower than the cost the product is sold.

This principle is not understood by big government bureaucrats.

Conservatives, by contrast, understand human nature and common sense. We understand there must be rewards for risk. We understand there must be penalties for safety. We understand that failure and losing is a significant part of a free market and competition based system. 

Conservatives also understand that if a government program gives a product away for free, their would be no desire to pay for it in the future. Further, other people that are paying for that same product, will be encouraged to qualify for the free government program.

The protesters in the following videos inherently understand what a bunch of bureaucratic policy wonks will never understand. Big government solutions are doomed to failure because they rely on the services of risk averse government bureaucrats instead of risk taking entrepreneurs...

The more the government provides the basic necessities of life, the sooner the government runs out of money...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOLs7Cybnqw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-Bpshk5nX0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8UjY3YDlwA

Barrack Obama on record supporting single payer health care

He can deny it, he can say he doesn't want it, but here is a video of Obama vocally supporting the pathway to single payer health care...

You just can't hide your true colors for long...

Education: Teachers Unions Are the Problem

It pains me to say this, but with Democrats in universal power, we finally see their true colors showing through, and the seeds of hope for conservative values are finally showing distinct contrasts. As different as day from night, and black from white, the conservative, common sense values are in stark contrast to the big government, social engineering coming from Democrats.

Here is an article which perfectly highlights the values of teachers unions. 

Universal Health Care = Single Payer

Universal Health Care and a single payer system...

See the video that will end the political careers of many Democrats here.