Obama's Border Anarchy: All Illegals Will Be Permitted to Stay

The White House has clearly created the current extreme border crisis which is beginning to resemble a refugee crisis.  Obama has caused this crisis by making it clear that he will not enforce deportation of young illegals, he is ignoring asylum fraud, and is now even considering bringing young people direct from Honduras.  Essentially, no immigration law will be enforced.   Of course, word of this lax enforcement (or non-enforcement) has gotten out to all of the Central American countries and they are coming in droves.  It's working for them!

All of these illegal immigrants are being released pending court hearings and 97% of them are not showing up.  They are disappearing into the shadows.  Basically, the "system" is completely and utterly broken with the aiding and abetting of our Anarchist President.  

Then he's going around making speeches that it's the Republican's fault in not passing a new immigration law when the president is ignoring all of the existing immigration laws!!  How can voters NOT see that??

The President deserves to be impeached for this alone.  The irresponsibility of this administration is stunning.  What the hell is this idiot trying to do other than create complete anarchy?  Communities throughout the Southwest are being massively inconvenienced, hospitals and schools burdened and our national security is being compromised.  That's why the administration is trying to transport illegals to cities away from the border -- to "spread them around."  Why have a border at all??

Regarding the widespread Asylum fraud, a note from the Washington Times,

 According to the Judiciary Committee’s numbers, 65 percent of unaccompanied children’s asylum applications are approved by the initial asylum officer so far in 2014.

There are no unusual circumstances in Central America that require mass asylum. There are no tyrannical dictators persecuting their peoples. All of these asylum requests are fraudulent. And for asylums officers to approve ANY of them is just another example of lax immigration law enforcement that is CAUSING the massive throngs at our border.

Now the Anarchists in the White House are hatching a plan to bring more people from Honduras due to violence there. From the New York Times, 

The Obama administration is considering whether to allow hundreds of minors and young adults from Honduras into the United States without making the dangerous trek through Mexico, according to a draft of the proposal.

If approved, the plan would direct the government to screen thousands of children and youths in Honduras to see if they can enter the United States as refugees or on emergency humanitarian grounds.

I hate to tell those idiots in Washington, but there has been violence in Honduras, El Salvador and most Central American countries for decades. There is nothing new here. Most of these countries are essentially failed states due to passive and incompetent populations that lead to incompetent governments that bring nothing but poverty and stagnation. Everyone there is ignorant. Corruption is rampant. Law enforcement is a joke. And we suddenly want to bring those people here? Hell, with that rationale, let's allow the entire country of Mexico come here because of the drug cartel violence! What the fuck is wrong with the idiots in Washington?

They all deserve to be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.

It might be a slightly different story if our economy were booming and jobs were plentiful.  But Obama's Ultra-Big Government policies, his policy of ignoring the legislature and no reform of anything, ever higher government regulation and intrusion, including the ruin of our nation's healthcare insurance markets (drastically higher insurance prices)  and higher taxes continue to hurt our country's job market.  Our economy is not creating menial jobs for these people. 

With this backdrop, Obama's creating a huge surge of no-skill or low-skill people into our country-- people that have nearly nothing to offer.  Then, he's arguing that their wage should be $10 per hour when they aren't worth half of that.  These people are being transported around by the Federal Government to communities that don't have jobs for them.  Then, local communities are forced to treat these illegal's visits to local emergency rooms for medical care and, suddenly and without warning,  crowd them into classrooms even though they don't speak a word of English. To hell with local budgets or planning!  Naturally US Taxpayers will be paying the rent for these illegals.  They don't have even a penny.  Could it get any more fucked up?

We are witnessing a trouble-making Communist activist in the White House creating anarchy at our borders, compromising our national security, burdening local communities without consultation and intentionally overwhelming Federal border patrols (who are Federal employees).  All of this is being supported or unopposed by the Democratic Party.  Remember that in November.  Punish them!

ObamaCare Continues to Fall Apart

Every week brings a new setback in the implementation of the Incredibly Shrinking ObamaCare law.   I guess that's what happens when arrogant bureaucrats, who think they are smarter than everyone else, hastily slap together a lengthy, poorly conceived,  unpopular law without reading it,  pass it in the middle of the night, with zero members of the political opposition supporting it -- all to give their 'black' President a single political "victory."  That victory was won at a time when nothing was being done to help the millions of unemployed suffering in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.  At least Bush was smart enough to lower taxes in the face of the dot.com recession. That worked.

Last week, conveniently announced during the latest burst of international chaos, the HHS suddenly found the pretext to grant exemptions for 4.5 million persons from their wonderful law in five territories: American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, and Virgin Islands.   The territories had originally lobbied to be included in ObamaCare coverage.  Then the scope of disaster became real.  Prices skyrocketed and insurers bolted.   In short, it was a total disaster in those territories.

And of course it's essentially illegal for the Obama Administration to ignore enforcement of his own law.  The law is the law!  That it doesn't work is not relevant.  To change the law, the law must be modified by the legislature -- which the President unconstitutionally ignores.  Obama is one fucked-up dude.  One day Obama might find his ass impeached and out of office.  That day might come with a big victory by the Repubs in the Senate.

Then, yesterday the nation's 2nd highest court, the Fourth Circuit Court of DC said that: "the ACA unambiguously restricts...subsidy to insurance purchased on Exchanges 'established by the State.'"  That means that the Federal government had no legal right to grant taxpayer subsidies to the 36 states that refused to create a healthcare exchange.  It's a ruling that affects millions of people who think they are getting substantial subsidies.  And 90% of Obamacare enrollees are receiving subsidies.

The law remains as unpopular as ever as it's 2nd rate coverage "options" at astronomic prices turns out to be a hardship for everyone in the nation.  I can't even count the number of exemptions granted by fiat "fiddling" by this administration. Every exemption is an admission that the law doesn't work.  If the law was so good, why is everyone trying to squirm away from it?  If it's so good, why did 36 states not want the healthcare exchanges?  If it's so good, why were employers nationwide given an exemption from providing insurance to their employers?  

Even the individual mandate was sneakily struck down on a late Friday afternoon in March 2014 in an internet posting by the HHS stating that if an uninsured claims a "hardship" in obtaining insurance coverage, he or she is exempt from individual mandate.  No documentation required.  From Fox,

individuals can now qualify for a "hardship exemption" -- meaning they would not have to pay a penalty for not buying insurance -- if they "experienced another hardship in obtaining  health insurance." 

The document does not define what "another hardship" means, and suggests the administration might not be a stickler when it comes to proof either. It says anyone seeking this exemption should "submit documentation if possible."

So, basically all of the mandates (employers and individual) are gone.  The whole law is officially in a state of disaster now since it depends on all people to be covered by a policy since all pre-existing conditions must also be covered by insurers.   Now, we're back to square one where all individuals could avoid buying (and paying for) insurance coverage until they they are sick.  When they need coverage, they can take advantage of the mandated coverage of pre-existing conditions.  Obviously, this can't stand.  It's the entire heart of the law.  Expect fraud galore.  Expect insurance companies, who made the mistake of getting bed with this administration, to get screwed.  But they'll jack up rates ever higher thanks mostly to the Obama administration.

Remember that ObamaCare is the President's only "victory," -- a Pyrrhic victory.  This is no way to run a nation -- unless it's Nigger Nation. 

Blacks -- Mostly Black Men -- Remain a Huge Burden to US

Americans remain relatively ignorant of the still horrific state of Black American 'culture.'  

I don't know why, because every night on our local news, I watch a parade of surveillance clips of black men caught committing nearly all of the crimes reported (that have videos) on our local news.  Usually it's about 75% black perpetrators. Some times, ALL of the criminals shown are black.  The news readers NEVER mention the race of the perpetrators. No news network does. No news network reported "Flash Rob" crimes for example. Maybe it's because they were entirely a black phenomena?  No news network or newspaper reported that the recent spate of "Knockout" crimes were entirely a black phenomena. I'm surprised it got any air time at all. The news syndicates in this country are propagandists in what they fail to report!

But the Bureau of Justice Statistics show that, nationwide, blacks are committing crimes at 7 times the rate of whites. Blacks make up 13% of the population but commit the majority of violent crimes in this country.  It's even worse than that. It's mostly black men who are committing the crimes, so it's only 6.5% of the population doing nearly all the damage.

African Americans, especially African American men, continue to be a huge burden to this country. (Add Obama and Holder to the list). It's true that there has been some progress for African Americans in the past 50 years and that's great. But, much of the propaganda or rhetoric of the "improvement" of black America is not exactly true.  In fact, some of the statistics "documenting" improvement are flawed or exaggerated.  It has to do with the large numbers of black men and young black men in prison/jail that aren't counted. From Becky Pettit in the NYT, "imprisoned black men aren’t figured into most statistics about the standing of African-Americans. The consequence, she says, is an overstatement of black progress in education, employment, wages and voting participation."

Here's some examples showing how the large number of imprisoned are affecting statistics about Black American "culture":

• Reported high school completion rate for blacks of 66% is overstated by at least 10 percentage points since the high numbers of young black men in prison/jail are not being counted. Also 2nd rate GEDs (counted as high school completions?) are also inflating the numbers. There hasn't been any real progress in decades.
• Black male unemployment is reported at 10.7% (4.9% for white males). But about 0.8 million black men are in jail/prison (at huge cost to taxpayers) and are not counted by the BLS. If they were added to the ranks of unemployed, the black male unemployment rate would be about 20% not 10%.
• If inmates were counted, she estimates, the black high school dropout rate would soar to 19 percent and the share of dropouts who are employed would plunge to 26 percent (link)
• The celebrated voter turnout among young blacks in the 2008 election would drop to roughly 20 percent, about where it was in 1980 (link)

Here are other dire statistics detailing the horrible "culture" of African Americans:

• They receive 3 times the benefits given to whites but remain unhappy as 'welfare' just keeps people more comfortable in their poverty.
• Black are committing crime at 7 times the rate of whites (page 11 of link)
• Blacks (mostly black men) committed 52% of all murders, 57% of the gun murders and committed 66% of the drug related homicides (1980 to 2008) or about 7 to 8 times the crime rate of whites. (table 7 at this link)
• Black men comprising only 6.5% of the population, are committing more than 50% of all violent gun crimes. If you want to drastically reduce gun homicides and other gun crimes in this country, seize all the guns from black men!
• From the BJS (page 11), in 2008, the offending rate for blacks (24.7 offenders per 100,000) was 7 times higher than the rate for whites
• By the time they turn 18, one in four black children will have experienced the imprisonment of a parent.
• More young black high school dropouts are in prison or jail than have paying jobs.
• In 2008, one in nine black men was incarcerated on any given day.
• Blacks make up about 40% of prison population but only 13% of the population. Whites are only 34.7% of the prison population but 70% of the population. Blacks are therefore about 7 times more likely to be in prison.
• Comparing all males aged 20 to 34 yrs old, black rates of incarceration in 2010 is 10 times that of white Americans. (link)
• Some 37% of blacks aged 20 to 34 without a high school diploma are in prison right now!
• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that black women accounted for 35.4% of all abortions in 2009 but only represent 12.5% of the population. Abortion rates for black women is 4 times the rate of those for all other women. Sadly, no one wants to adopt black babies.
• Blacks are nearly 70% of new HIV infections or about 7 times the rate for whites (link)
• Washington DC has higher HIV infection rates than most African countries (and DC is only 58% black) (link and here)
• Black gonorrhea infections are 18 times those of whites.
• 72% of newborn black babies are born to a family without a father. (link)
• Over 80 percent of black children have been abandoned emotionally and, usually, economically by their fathers. (NYT)
• No one wants black people on juries.

90% of ObamaCare Enrollees Receive Sudsidies

Never mind that Medicaid, Social Security and Medicare are all in deficit with costs exceeding payroll tax collections by over $1/2 Trillion this year alone. And never mind that all three programs are projected to have even larger deficits for as far as the eye can see. There is no effort to reform these programs since Democrats won't even admit that there's a problem. Democrats continue to hide their heads in the sand about the demographics crisis that has steadily reduced the worker-to-beneficiary ratios.

So, as if that's not enough, Democrats and Obama will worsen an already bad situation. ObamaCare is now subsidizing 90% of it's victims customers at taxpayers expense. In another exposed lie, ObamaCare WILL increase the deficits. Every claim made by Obama to sell ObamaCare are all proven false -- proving once again that liberals impose their agenda by using lies and tricks.

Obama, of course, wants millions more on the Federal Government feeding trough so that those people will vote for the irresponsible Democrats to continue their benefits. But when 90% receive subsidies, who's going to pay the bill? I feel sorry for the top 10% who pay the vast majority of taxes as it is and will also suffer due the drastically higher ObamaCare costs. Obama and Democrats are the most irresponsible people ever.
From the LA Times,

"Consumers who make less than four times the federal poverty level, or about $94,000 for a family of four, qualify for subsidies to offset the cost of their premiums in most places."

That assistance helped lower premiums for consumers who bought healthcare coverage on federal marketplaces by 76% on average...Premiums that normally would have cost $346 a month on average instead cost consumers just $82, with the federal government picking up the balance of the bill.

$94,000 per year is the cut off for subsidies!! It wasn't that long ago that this administration called those people well off!

Now, a family of four making $94,000 needs assistance!! How screwed-up is that? And that's partly because the cost of healthcare insurance rose nearly 40% last year alone!! The cost of ObamaCare IS a hardship to nearly everyone. Thanks Obama, Reid and Pelosi!! With friends like that, who needs enemies? The truth is that they are the enemies.

Obamacare is doubling down on a broken system where everyone is using other people's money allowing high healthcare insurance cost increases. No one has incentive to improve efficiency or conserve resources. It's like everyone is playing with 'funny money.' The result: healthcare costs in the US are MUCH higher than the rest of the world by 3 to 10 fold.

And government spending, on the margin, has been a big driver of cost increases. Now that government will be spending unlimited and unrestrained money on Medicaid, Medicare, and ObamaCare, the gov't will drive prices even higher. Unlike individuals, the government is completely and totally insensitive to prices, and prices WILL go up and the US deficits will continue higher until ruin arrives. It can't have a happy ending because prices will never go down.

Some of the right reforms, instead of ObamaCare were to:

• repeal Obamacare and give uninsured vouchers to cover high deductible policies (rather than ruining the health insurance market and raising costs dramatically!!). 
• block grants of a fixed amount of federally budgeted monies given to the States for healthcare programs -- with restrained increases.  This will help restrain price increases.
• promote health savings plans which allow consumers to buy very high deductible policies which give the consumers some 'skin in the game.' 
• change the tax incentives to shift consumers from their employer's plans to their own plans so that their coverage is portable. Changing jobs won't affect their coverage as is the case now.
• tort reform and expanded high risk pools to cover the few remaining uninsured (after people covered by their employers shift to their own portable policies.

Why Listen To Any Stock Market Analyst?

Take a look at the graph of corporate earnings estimates from so-called analysts on Wall Street.  Notice, how they routinely spin a happy story until reality intrudes.  It's a bit like economist's estimates of GDP.  Why trust stock market analysts?  Don't!

Chile and 30 Other Countries Run Their Social Security System Better than US

Republicans Steve Forbes in 1996 and George Bush in the 2000 presidential campaign advocated for allowing workers to put their Social Security money in private accounts with more choice in how to invest that money.   Al Gore, repeating Democratic 'talking points,' called it a "risky scheme.'  Climate alarmist Al Gore was another "Mr. Wrong" like our current 'misstra know-it-all' Obama.  Both are idiots.  It is those guys who are members of the flat earth society.

Fortunately, Chile and 30 other countries didn't listen to Al Gore and those countries and citizens are enjoying much more robust retirement programs that provide retirees MUCH higher retirement income with no deficits to burden taxpayers.  Chile and 30 countries privatized pension contributions and now are enjoying investment performance that outperform our system by far.   From IBD,

The study of 28,000 households done by a consultancy affiliated with the Catholic University of Chile, showed that male workers who contributed just 10% of their salaries to their retirements for 40 years or more on average earned retirement checks worth about 87% of their top salaries. No 401(k) account needed.

That's because in 1981 Chile Labor Minister Jose Pinera replaced the country's bankrupt social security system with this famous system of private accounts.   It redirected workers' existing social security taxes to a new market-based system of investing choices that let workers make their own decisions in a program run by private companies.

The study shows Chile's private pensions over three decades have yielded returns six times higher than what workers got under Chile's old social security system — which, by the way, was similar to ours.

In contrast, US social security returns are paltry compared to the amount paid in. Chileans get 6 times the amount of retirement income compared to a system similar to ours. Also, in Chile, the chart below shows that most of the payout of benefits come from investment returns on investments -- not contributions. Even when the market turns down, the pension fund continues to buy investments and, in effect, dollar-cost averages their investment purchases. Notice how the huge financial crisis in 2008/2009 was a temporary blip in profits.

 

But don't expect anything good to happen in the U.S.   Democrats are against all market-based solutions and demagogue the issue by falsely warning that markets are far too dangerous to entrust workers' pensions to them.   As usual, these people are wrong. These are the same people who assured lied to you that ObamaCare would improve your lives.  

These people refuse to acknowledge the power of markets.  Although it's been known for 30 years, Democrats put their heads in the sand and refuse to even acknowledge the reality that there are fewer workers for each beneficiary now and into the future for both SS and Medicare.  Both programs are sharply in deficit forever. 

It's the Democrats that are putting people's retirement security at risk.  Because there is no "lock box" for SS or Medicare, (those monies were spent years ago by your corrupt politicians) these benefits are paid out of current tax revenue.  What happens when there is a future financial crisis and the US Government can't raise money in bond markets (after racking up staggering amounts of debt causing the country's credit rating to collapse)?   Benefits will be paid, but a cup of coffee might cost $500 since the gov't will surely inflate their way out of their own mess.

Citizens in Chile have no such worry.

Stock markets don't go to zero and, in fact, are the ultimate inflation hedge since companies earnings increase with inflation.  Yeah, share prices might go down for awhile, but eventually rise given a long enough time frame.  Privatizing Social Security is threatening to Democrats because it makes the government mostly irrelevant.   That is the Democrats worse fear. 

Why Would Anyone Listen to an Economist?

One chart shows that most economists are useless.  Most are wrong. Take a look at the black line showing shrinking estimates for 2014 GDP.  It's happened every recent year too.


"Of all the economic bubbles that have been pricked, few have burst more spectacularly than the reputation of economics itself." – From The Economist, July 16, 2009

CYNK: A $4B Market Cap But No Revenue, No Product and No Assets

Remember 1999, when investors were piling into any Nasdaq internet stock without discrimination or reason?  Maybe those days are back. 

Cynk Technology has no revenue, no assets and one employee wearing the hats of President, CEO, CFO, Treasurer, Secretary and the entire board of directors.  Investors have piled billions of dollars into this penny stock with reckless and "bubblicious" abandon.  Maybe it's because it has the word "technology" in it's name?  Oh, lest I forget, it has no technology either.

The stock traded at $0.06 per share on June 17. Yesterday, the stock closed at $13.90 per share. That means that in one month the value of CYNK went from $17.5 million to $4.05 billion.  That's about a 23,000% rise in price in one month.  With no revenue. And no assets.

Add this to the latest "tells" showing how the stock market is in bubble territory.  But like in 1999, it could last longer than most expect despite the obvious silliness.   But it all ended in tears.

The BIS Warns Banks and Investors Again

In 2007, the Bank of International Settlements, the BIS, was the only major institution in the world to accurately predict the impending global financial crisis.  The BIS is the central bank of central banks and they are a voice of reason in a sea of fiat money hyper-liquidity.  See my Sept 2103 blog called  "The Man Who Predicted the Last Crisis Says Excesses Worse Now." 

They are back in 2014 with stark warnings against investor complacency, central bank policy errors and the potential for bursting bubbles.  From the BIS (thanks to Zero Hedge),

The Bank for International Settlements has warned that "euphoric" financial markets have become detached from the reality of a lingering post-crisis malaise, as it called for governments to ditch policies that risk stoking unsustainable asset booms.

While the global economy is struggling to escape the shadow of the crisis of 2007-09, capital markets are "extraordinarily buoyant", the Basel-based bank said, in part because of the ultra-low monetary policy being pursued around the world. Leading central banks should not fall into the trap of raising rates "too slowly and too late", the BIS said, calling for policy makers to halt the steady rise in debt burdens around the world and embark on reforms to boost productivity.

 In its annual report, the BIS also warned of the risks brewing in emerging markets, setting out early warning indicators of possible banking crises in a number of jurisdictions, including most notably China.

 "Particularly for countries in the late stages of financial booms, the trade-off is now between the risk of bringing forward the downward leg of the cycle and that of suffering a bigger bust later on," it said.

Financial Crises in Bulgaria and Portugal

This note is a warning of financial stress in periphery countries in the house of cards that is known as Europe.  Stress typically starts in the periphery and works it's way to the core.  I've commented before that European bank capital levels still make the European financial system a systemic risk.  It was just a matter of time before kicking the can didn't work anymore.

In Bulgaria in the past two weeks, there were outright bank runs (mass depositor withdrawals) at First Investment Bank AD and Corporate Commercial Bank AD, the country’s third- and fourth-largest lenders by assets.    The most ridiculous thing is that the IMF issued an all-clear on Bulgaria's financial system just a month ago saying that, among other things, that Bulgarian banks are “stable and liquid.”

A full-fledged financial crisis emerged this morning in Portugal with the suspension of share sales of Espirto Santo Financial due to their substantial ownership of bankrupt bank Espirito Santo SA.   The highly incredible IMF said reassuringly this morning that

*IMF: POCKETS OF VULNERABILITY REMAIN IN PORTUGAL BANKING SYSTEM
*IMF SAYS IT DOESN'T COMMENT ON INDIVIDUAL FINL INSTITUTIONS
*IMF: PORTUGUESE BANKING SYSTEM ABLE TO ENDURE CRISIS

Maybe this is nothing to worry about, but with bubbles brewing everywhere -- especially in China and sputtering economic growth in the entire world, this may be the beginning of the end of a long period of "extend and pretend" by governments and their liars spokesmen.  Debt is sky high now everywhere, business is contracting and the financial systems in Europe and Asia (with few exceptions) are houses of cards.  The US is the cleanest "dirty shirt" in the world when it comes to the banking system.

How UK Socialists Kill Their Golden Goose

The EIA, the US Energy Information Administration, has given the UK Socialists a blistering drubbing for imposing confiscatory taxes on oil and gas companies which will further ruin their already declining domestic energy production.  The UK Socialists try to ignore the Laffer curve as higher taxes will actually hurt government tax revenue and their balance of trade.  Oil and gas revenues used to be the UK's golden goose in the 70s and 80s when the UK was an oil exporter.

Socialists, who eventually run out of other people's money, are desperate for revenue and have ratcheted-up taxes on the (formerly) prosperous offshore oil and gas business with tax rates up to 81%.   Worse, this tax rate goes up and down too often creating policy uncertainty thereby hurting long-term business confidence.

To give you some reference, the US Federal government royalty rates (tax rate) on all offshore field production is 18.75% and has been steady for years.  Stability of policy, including tax policy, is a recipe for success.  Unsteady and shifting policies are not.

Back to the UK, here's some commentary from the Energy Information Agency,

Recent increases in tax rates for the oil and gas sector, coupled with technical issues, have contributed to sharp declines in UK oil production. Higher tax rates have made the UK fields less competitive, which were already strained by high operating and decommissioning costs.

Since 2011, there have been a number of tax changes that affected production (or investment) in the United Kingdom [...] The tax rate for fields that are subject to petroleum revenue tax (PRT) increased to 81% of their profits (from the previous 75-percent rate), and fields that are not subject to PRT now pay a 62-percent tax (compared with the 50-percent rate in the past).

As a result of the significant increases in taxes, the UKCS projects have become even less competitive. Increases in operating costs coupled with higher taxes have resulted in decreased investment in both brownfields and new exploration. Even without the increased taxes, operating costs in the UKCS were prohibitively high, exacerbated by the high decommissioning costs of old facilities, which also discourage investors.

Almost immediately after the new tax rates were implemented, development on several start-ups was suspended, including Statoil's Mariner and Chevron's Bressay fields. In addition, Centrica launched a review of all of its exploration activities, as many projects were deemed uneconomical under the new rates

The UK used to be a big petroleum exporter since the 1970s, but that has gone away as the big fields declined and more expensive marginal fields have come on line.  The UK has been a net oil importer now since 2005 and that is set to further worsen with the higher taxes.  Because of less attractive economics for the smaller fields, the UK should be LOWERING taxes, not RAISING them.

Indeed, former Wood Group chairman Sir Ian Wood said investment is likely to fall by half later this decade, and called for a complete overhaul of the tax and regulatory regime.

Big government, excessive regulation, welfare, welfare dependency and bloated government costs paid for by high taxes on the prosperous has ruined many a country.  The results are a stagnated economy, limited employment opportunities and limited upward mobility.  This is how Socialism ruins societies.  They soak the "rich"-- those who have the wherewithal to build businesses that create employment and growth.  This is also the story of the poor performing economies in Western Europe.

This, of course, is the direction that Obama and Democrats want to go.  When will people see that they need to be run out of town on a rail?

All You Need to Know About the Immigration Crisis

US Healthcare Cost Highest in the World

Thanks to Obama and ObamaCare, healthcare insurance costs (individual plans) rose by about 39% last year alone.  They rose another 38% in the period of 2005 to 2013 too -- most of that time was under Obama.  See my blog article.  Hefty policy price hikes are in the pipeline for next year.

Of course, this fits into the President's goal to force everyone into the arms of government for healthcare insurance subsidies.  Never mind the Federal Budget can never be balanced again as this new entitlement and existing entitlements leak red ink for as far as the eye can see.  Obama doesn't give a rat's ass about that.  He is the most irresponsible President ever (and is clearly the worse President in 70 years according to recent polls).  America, you have elected an enemy of our Republic and you might have to fight to get it back!  (So, don't give up your guns to the very people that you might have to fight!!  They did in Germany prior to Hitler!!)

US health insurance costs are far higher than the rest of world's.  It's sad because it's 3 times the cost of the 2nd highest market (Australia).   US healthcare policies cost is 10 times higher than in SE Asia. You can get a healthcare policy for $70 per month in Thailand with fairly low deductibles. That's $840 per year versus $6,000 here.   Just remember most of the damage is due to Obama and his attempt of "remake" (ie., ruin) the healthcare insurance market.  Insurance premiums began rising within days after Obama started flapping his lips about taking control of the insurance markets back in 2009.

My US healthcare premiums have gone from $100 per month to $500 per month (ACA compliant) since Obama was elected.  That's about 40% inflation per annum!!   Who can afford those premiums??  Who can afford the premiums PLUS the deductible monies??    You can thank big government idiots for completely ruining everything from health care costs to college tuition costs to defense costs to grocery bills.  After the Fed Reserve is done jacking-up housing prices back to bubble levels, how will the next generation afford homes?   From Zero Hedge,

Obama Worst President Since WWII, Reagan Best By a Landslide

Results from a Quinnipiac University poll as reported by USAToday, Obama is the worst president in the past 70 years.  Reagan is the best -- by a landslide.

After all, name one thing that has gotten better for the US under Obama.  Sorry, everything has worsened.  It's amazing that trickster Obama got re-elected in 2012 but he hid the Obamacare disaster until after the election.  Also remember all of the other things hidden before the election: 1) Al Qaeda was on the run and ISIS was nothing to worry about.  2) The Benghazi tragedy and the fact that the commander-in-chief was AWOL was completely hidden. 3) Iraq wasn't yet in a new collapse.  4) The President hadn't yet flubbed his Syria strategy. 5) He hadn't secretly loosened sanctions against Iran yet.  6) Putin was assured by his best buddy in whispered communications that he would get more "flexibility" once re-elected.7)  The US Supreme Court hadn't yet stuck down the Administration unamimously 13 times.  The smearing of Romney and Republicans with the help of the shameful lapdog media was a complete success.  This is how tyrants and ne'er do wells are elected.

Since Obama is clearly an enemy of America, I give him the title of worst president in 225 years. 

The Boiling Frog Syndrome: America's Decline Might Be Sudden

A chain of events leading to sudden political and economic upheaval in America is conceivable and not entirely out of the question.  Questionable US monetary policies, our political weakness at home and in the world, and the alienation of our traditional allies like Saudi Arabia could have a sharp and sudden impact to this country.  Idiots like John Kerry and Barack Obama will never see it coming (or are they really enemies of this country?).  The US might be like that metaphorical frog sitting in a pot of water on the stove.  The water slowly gets hotter and the frog is supposedly boiled alive.

Obama Administration's Weakness Creates a US Power Vacuum in the World

Well before the recent public "deal" with Iran's Rouhani, Obama was already removing the highly effective sanctions that forced Iran to the bargaining table.  See my blog on the topic. This is appeasement in every sense.   It is very likely that Obama's "reset" with Iran will end in disaster just like his entirely discredited Russian "Reset."  In fact, he is reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler in the 1930s.  Liberals like Obama, who are immune to facts and reality, are dangerous and their policies lead to failure if not war.  They never see the truth to the "peace through strength" finally and well-proven by Ronald Reagan.   War may come again to US shores.

Recent events in Syria and now Ukraine has shown the "Russian reset to be a complete and utter joke of a "policy."  Russians thugs are continuing to invade Eastern Ukraine as we speak, in part, because of the weakness and naivete of Obama that has already been proven in Syria.  Apart from the Syrian debacle, Obama has ill-advisedly left Iraq with no American presence and it is re-collapsing in failure meaning more Iranian and ISIS influence is guaranteed.  Obama is about to completely retreat from Afghanistan too.  In such a vacuum, Russia, terrorists and Iran are gaining in influence and power. 

Obama, who has stumbled and equivocated for years has helped to create a perception of a US power vacuum in the world. I say it's intentional as Obama is an enemy of our country  Putin (and China and Iran) have been filling this vacuum.  Saudi Arabia is in shock at the parade of incompetence.

Be Careful of the Allies That You Alienate, Especially Saudi Arabia

By playing "nice" with the murderous Iranians in an effort to have a foreign policy "victory," Obama has thoroughly annoyed our allies of Saudi Arabia, Israel, and many others.  But it's the Saudi's that could unleash real disorder for US if ignored.

The Saudi's hate the Iranians and have watched the Iranians (and Russian) interests advancing in the region due to the incoherent and mindless American administration. 

I hear word is that Saudi is about ready to completely throw up their hands with the US as we conclude an ill-advised agreement with Iran.   I understand that they have signaled a meeting with the new and real power broker in the world, Vladimir Putin.  After all, vacuums will be filled.

Could it be that the inadvertent (or is it?) aiding and abetting of Iran, and the loss of another long-standing alliance with Saudi Arabia, combined with the US policies of money printing and dollar debasement, might lead to a dollar (and economic) crisis for the US and world?  It's possible.

The Nuclear Option That Could Begin the Breakdown of the US Dollar Reserve Status

Even though it's unlikely for now, the potential chain of events might start with Saudi's willingness to accept other currencies for oil payments rather than just dollars.  Accepting all currencies for payment, rather than solely dollars, is hardly a radical concept.  (In fact, it would be normal except for the Saudi's leadership in 1975.)  Iran, China and Russia are already making deals for oil bypassing the US dollar in an effort to displace and diminish US power.  If Saudi made a change, Iraq would quickly follow suit since they are increasingly aligning themselves with Iran (thanks to the US power vacuum).  Egypt is hardly sympathetic with the US these days too.  Libya could jump on the bandwagon too.  China would renew calls for a new reserve currency again at that moment.

The breaking of the petrodollar's status is a nuclear war without the nukes.  If Saudi makes such a move and it is followed by other oil exporters in the region, the demand for the dollar could fall significantly.  Demand for treasury notes and bonds would also drop (due to less petrodollar recycling) leading to a fall of the dollar and/or  rising US interest rates.   Confidence is a delicate thing.  Loss of US dollar reserve status would be a huge blow for the US and cause a test of our ability to run huge trade budget deficits forever. 

The economic and political decline of America could become apparent literally overnight.  Suddenly, US citizens might wake up one morning and find themselves significantly poorer vis-a-vis the rest of the world due to a decline in the dollar.  They can't say that they weren't warned.  Ron Paul, for one, has warned of this possibility for many years now, although he couldn't have predicted the chain of events.  The US might be compared to a frog sitting in a pot of water on a stove and suddenly finding itself cooked.

Anglophones Invented Freedom; But African Americans Don't Get It

The USA is the greatest and most successful experiment in political and economic freedom in the history of the world.

It's largely because English-speakers developed the fundamental foundations of civilization like rule of law, representative government, and religious and economic freedom. And those ideas flowed into the magnificent US Constitution that set in motion the truly exceptional economic and political history of this country. 

You could say that it's the Anglophones who invented freedom.  In addition to the political ideas from England, our Constitution, and the influx of Northern Europeans with a strong work ethic and intelligence made this country great. The primacy of self-reliance, family, community and church/temple used to be the backbone of society -- not dumb-ass bureaucrats in far off Washington.

Sadly,  Africans and African Americans are against this intellectual heritage and these fundamental ideas.  They don't embrace Anglo values that bring freedom and prosperity.  They don't see it.  They don't get it.  They fight against it.  They might as well be from planet Pluto politically, they are so out of touch!

It's because there is no racial history of liberty, guaranteed rights and freedoms in the history of Africans or African Americans (and Latinos too to a large extent).  They mostly know tyranny and poverty (and slavery).  Theirs is a history of poorly-educated peoples, failed governments, failed states,  tyrannical and irrational leaders, poor economies, poverty, and suffering. That continues to this very day.  Even when there is nominal democracy, voters fall for the false siren songs of populist politicians that ultimately bring ruin to their countries.  It's the most obvious thing in the world.  Just survey the continent of Africa (and Latin America).  Just look at African American communities and the cities where African Americans are a majority.  Not much has changed.

Blacks have embraced, and will continue to embrace, Democratic politicians who make nice-sounding promises but who only line their own pockets and ultimately hurt their own people and country.  They'll even re-elect known criminals.  Detroit is a 60 year history of this behavior.  Ruin is the result.  Many of these people might be nice and well meaning but they vote for ruinous politicians and continue to do so despite continued failures.   Black politicians are mostly ignorant, corrupt and dishonest and have bought you the likes of Detroit and the crime-ridden cities like Washington DC and Memphis.  All are Democrats!

All African American Leaders are Socialists and Communists and Against America

Remember nearly all US black leaders support the likes of far-Left Hugo Chavez and communist Fidel Castro as if those people were some kind of saviors.   Hollywood and black "leaders" continue to admire Chavez despite the fact that Venezuela is in ruins.  And Castro was welcomed in Harlem in the early 90s with thunderous applause of all the black "leaders."  Even Martin Luther King was a Socialist.  They are all against the philosophy of the founding fathers.    Leftists everywhere bring ruin to their countries.  And basically there are no political success stories at all in Africa.  And black people in America have shown nearly no ability to learn.

Just look at how Obama is completely incapable of learning or adjusting.  He is supposedly educated but shows no sign of it.  He is really an enemy of America. Name one thing that he hasn't made worse -- whether it's domestic policy or our international standing.  Obama is an enemy of America. 

African Americans will continue to burden and hurt the the USA for as far as the eye can see.  There is no sign that they will ever "get it."   They can't embrace political freedom because too many of them are completely and utterly incompetent, ignorant and they can't handle freedom.

English-Speaking Peoples Invented Freedom

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.--RONALD REAGAN 1964

The foundation of the British Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of ignorance and suspicion but in an epoch when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any other former period. --GEORGE WASHINGTON, 1783

English-speaking people invented political freedom. They also invented religious freedom, rule of law and personal liberty. There is a long history of Anglo ideas dating from Pre-Norman times to the Magna Carta that ultimately found their way into the exceptional US Constitution. And that set the foundation for the most successful and vibrant political and social "experiment" ever seen in world history: the USA.

British writer Daniel Hannan has written a history of those ideas in Inventing Freedom: How English-Speaking People Made the Modern World (also A New Road to Serfdom - A Letter of Warning to America.)

A few quotes from Inventing Freedom:

1) "Elected parliaments, habeas corpus, free contract, equality before the law, open markets, an unrestricted press, the right to proselytize for any religion, jury trials: these things are not somehow the natural condition of an advanced society. They are specific products of a political ideology developed in the language in which you are reading these words. The fact that those ideas, and that language, have become so widespread can make us lose sight of how exceptional they were in origin."

2)  "What, after all, do we mean by Western Civilization?…There are three irreducible elements:

First the rule of law.  The government of the day doesn’t get to set the rules. Those rules exist on a higher plane and are interpreted by independent magistrates. The law, in other words, is not an instrument of state control, but a mechanism open to any individual seeking redress.

Second, personal liberty: freedom to say what you like, to assemble in any configuration you choose with your fellow citizens, to buy and sell without hindrance, to dispose as you wish of your assets, to work for whom you please, and, conversely, to hire and fire as you will.

Third, representative government. Laws should not be passed, nor taxes levied, except by elected legislators who are answerable to the rest of us. Now ask yourself how many countries that are habitually labeled Western have consistently applied those ideals over, say, the past century. How many have an unshakable commitment to them even today?"

3) "Anglo-Saxon values are a meme rather than a gene. They can be transmitted without any genetic vehicle. They explain why Bermuda is not Haiti, why Singapore is not Indonesia, why Hong Kong is not China (and, for that matter, not Macau).

These precepts had their genesis in the earliest Anglo-Saxon settlements, in the dark years, violent and unchronicled. From that era came three interrelated concepts that were to transform humankind. First, the idea of personal autonomy, including in contract and property rights; second, the notion that collective decisions ought to be made by representatives who are answerable to the community as a whole; third, the conception of the law as something more than a projection of the wishes of the ruler, as a folkright of inherited freedoms that bound the King just as surely as it bound his meanest subject.

Anglo-Saxon values made possible the transformation of our planet over the past three centuries, allowing extraordinary numbers of people to enjoy an unprecedented standard of living. Nowadays, those values are so widespread that we can easily think of them as an inevitable outcome of human development. It takes a major effort of will to imagine how revolutionary they must have seemed when first proposed."

Some 70% of people polled say the nation is on the wrong track, but too many of those think that government should do more. They are dead wrong. The truth is that national government should do less and end the large number of failed "adventures" both here and abroad. Devolving power back to the States is the correct answer.

Domestically, the absurdity of "ObamaCare" should be the clearest warning. That half-witted bureaucrats have the audacity to believe that they could manipulate an entire health insurance marketplace with 10,000 pages of regulation and "improve" it is proven FALSE! The design was deeply flawed. It's a sorry excuse for "choice." It's limited options are one-size-fits-all and an inferior product at nearly double the price. It raised insurance costs nearly 40% in one year alone! (those prices will never drop!) All of the promised benefits were lies. Everything got worse, not better. It's probable that it will hurt more people than it helps especially since it's pushed medical costs sky high. Since it's passage, a large majority of people are not happy with it but we're told that this failure can't be reversed!! If you don't like it, lump it! But pay-up you will.

So, in summary, it was IMPOSED on you by Liberal lies and promises whether you like it or not. And you're told that you have to tolerate it! Add the irresponsibility of Obama and his enablers in creating a vast new entitlement when all of the other entitlements are financially underwater for as far as the eye can see. How much more do I have to say?

This is what happens when dumb people come to power.