Government Causes Income Inequality

Whenever there is a really big problem in our country, rest assured that the Government is the cause of that problem.  Only the government is big enough to create the really big problems.  And the idiots in Washington, especially Democrats, never seem to learn their lessons or remember history and continue with more attempts at "central planning."  The ObamaCare debacle is a great example.

Another example,  take one of the problems that "progressives" always talk about:  income inequality.  The problem is that the government itself creates this inequality.  Obama, an economic illiterate,  would love to raise taxes on the so-called "wealthy" to "even things out." The top 10% pay 70% of the income taxes already (or about 23% effective rate). But, if he actually succeeded, the economy would stagnate further and unemployment of poor people would rise even further.  Already black American unemployment is some 15%---twice the average.  It's true that before income taxes were instituted in 1913, that there were fabulously wealthy people, but the economy grew faster before 1913 than after. 

Various government programs (over about 5 administrations and both parties) caused the housing bubble and the resulting bust which left millions of people underwater on their mortgages.  Now the Fed has vowed to create housing inflation again to "rescue" these people.  Except, the Fed can't just inflate housing--it must inflate everything---which hurts the bottom 90%.  Furthermore, we are once again rewarding people who go into debt!  Ugh, people never learn.

More examples:

• The last mortgage debt crisis, leading to a financial bubble, was promoted and essentially caused by the Fed and Gov't policies (mortgage interest deduction, no capital gains tax on housing).  The subsequent bursting of that bubble and debt hangover has caused an anemic economy for 5 years and counting. That hurts everyone--100% of us. 

•  The Federal Reserve bond buying program (QE) puts Trillions of dollars into the hands of the top 1% or 0.1%, not the bottom 99.9%. 

•  The Federal Reserve has vowed to help the stock (and bond) market with their bond buying program. This helps the top 1% and top 10%, not the bottom 90%.

Totalitarian US Government Shuts Down Secure Email Services

If you ever needed evidence of the totalitarian, thuggish nature of your Federal Government, then look how they strong-armed secure email services to shut-down.  The list of affected services is piling up:  Silent Circle, Lavabit and TorMail (shut down by Irish authorities).   

No one is allowed any email privacy by our US Stasi apparatus. (Stasi is the nickname of the famously thuggish East Germany Ministry for State Security.)  

I've warned you of Government Tyranny before.  Also see my blog: Gestapo Tactics From Obama Administration talking about IRS targeting abuses.  Also relevant is my blog:  Next Will Be Federal Takeover of your Medical Information.

The recent news is that Lavabit, the secure email service used by Edward Snowden, has shut down after harassment by the Gestapo apparatus of the Federal government, probably the secret FISA court.  From the NewYorker,

In a cryptic statement posted on the Web site, the service’s owner and operator, Ladar Levison, wrote, “I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks, even though I have twice made the appropriate requests.” Those experiences led him to shut down the service rather than, as he put it, “become complicit in crimes against the American people.” Lavabit users reacted with consumer vitriol on the company’s Facebook page (“What about our emails?”), but the tide quickly turned toward government critique. By the end of the night, a similar service, Silent Circle, also shut down its encrypted e-mail product, calling the Lavabit affair the “writing [on] the wall.”

And none of the targeted companies can speak either. They are bound by gag orders.  Wonderful huh? Freedom of speech is another casualty of so-called "national security."  This must end!

The HuffPost also ran an article talking about the shut-down of Silent Circle.  Also see a Washington Post article.   The service shut down to protect it's email customers from the potential intrusion of Federal Government. They could see the writing on the wall from the LavaBit shutdown.  It's a good example of the chilling effect of even a threat of government "involvement."  From the Huff Post article:

Lavabit founder Ladar Levinson also mentioned the U.S. government when noting why he closed his site, though his commentary on the matter was more strident than Janke's. "I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit,"

All of this happening while Obama speaks out on Friday, August 9, 2013, in a news conference trying to reassure Americans that all is well and that the government is really your friend.  This from a actor man who would dearly love to take your guns and presides is a paid spokesman for a near-totalitarian security apparatus that clearly wants to eliminate privacy in your communications. 

With friends like that, who needs enemies?  I have got to get out of this country!

ObamaPhone Fraud Now Costing $2.2 Billion

In my blog of September 2012, 1 Million ObamaPhones in Ohio, I was complaining that the Obama administration was blatantly buying votes in the crucial state of Ohio by using a huge phone giveaway program.

Last night, I saw a reporter on Lou Dobbs named Jillian Kay Melchior who described how, even though she was completely honest about her income and employment status, she was able to get 3 shiny new cell phones.  See her story "Me and My ObamaPhones."

When I wrote my blog in Sept 2012, the program was costing $1.5 Billion and only 8 months later it's reported to be costing $2.2 Billion.  Worse, the monthly phone bill for every phone given away goes to the Federal Government!  Oh God!

Oh course there's not a shred of oversight in Washington DC.  Everyone in Washington has their heads up their you-know-what---from the top on down.  It's time to bring back tar and feathering for all of the criminals up there!

Are you aware that AT&T has a $10 per month basic plan?  You have to specially ask for them, but they have it.  It's designed for poor people to cover their most basic and emergency needs, so the entire ObamaPhone program is not necessary.

In her report, Jillian mentions reporting in the Wall Street Journal that the program

"has become infamous for rampant fraud and abuse. There have been news reports about recipients flaunting dozens of subsidized phones. And in February, the Wall Street Journal reported on an FCC audit of the top five Lifeline providers, which found that “41% of their more than six million subscribers either couldn’t demonstrate their eligibility or didn’t respond to requests for certification.”

Hmm.....sounds familiar.  41% of the subscribers didn't have to meet the programs eligibility requirements!   Well, in my blog  ObamaCare Doubles-Down on a Broken Medical System, I mention the awful thing that Obama has, by himself, unilaterally decided to waive checking of eligibility requirements for the biggest giveaway of them all: ObamaCare!! America, Obama is giving away YOUR money!  Wake up!  You and your kids are on the hook for this fraudulent spending!

Bring back Tar and Feathers!

Another Al Sharpton Race Baiting Case

Al Sharpton and his fellow race-baiters have had a long history of inciting race issues even when there aren't any.

In my blog The Corrupt World of African American Politicians, I quote Booker T. Washington who described to a tee our current generation of black race-baiters:

"There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs - partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose their grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs."

Tawana Brawley was a 15 year old black girl who feigned an entire case of rape in 1987 and falsely accused 3 white 'assailants' of rape.  She accused white police officers and a prosecutor named Steven Pagones of the "rape."  The case was investigated and a grand jury found no evidence of any crime having been committed.  In summary, it was shown that the case was a bunch of lies.

Wikipedia has a great summary of the case.  Here's a couple of passages:

Brawley's claims in the case captured headlines across the country. Public rallies were held denouncing the incident. Racial tensions also climbed. When civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, with attorneys Alton H. Maddox and C. Vernon Mason, began handling Brawley's publicity, the case quickly took on an explosive edge. At the height of the controversy in June 1988, a poll showed a gap of 34 percentage points between blacks (51%) and whites (85%) on the question of whether she was lying.[10]

Sharpton, Maddox, and Mason generated a national media sensation. The three claimed officials all the way up to the state government were trying to cover up defendants in the case because they were white. Specifically, they named Steven Pagones, an Assistant District Attorney in Dutchess County, as one of the rapists, and a racist, among other accusations.

The case reminds me of the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman case.  There was a rush of black support, accusations of racism all over the place.  Al Sharpton made lots of noise in front of TV cameras to try to incite racist sentiments.  That case wasn't about race despite the entire black community, including the President, trying to make it so.  The whole case showed who the real racists were.

Back to the Tawana Brawley case.  Some of the accused sued back.  Maybe they didn't like to be falsely accused?  (Imagine that?)  In 1998, Pagones won $345,000 for damages from 'defamation of character' suit against Sharpton and the two lawyers that represented Brawley.  Pagones also sued Brawley herself and won a judgement of $185,000.  One of the quack lawyers was also dis-barred.

Fast foward to August, 2013, and Fox News reports that Brawley has only now begun to make payments to Pagones.  Due to back interest charges, she owes him $600,000 now.  That'll teach ya.

Apparently no amount of public embarrassment can stop Sharpton from jumping on the race-baiting bandwagon. Race baiting is his job because he probably can't do anything else.  Al Sharpton and all of the black leadership in this country are discredited beyond belief.   I hope George Zimmerman sues Sharpton and the other black racists.

It's Time to Legalize Marijuana

In my blog, Principled Conservatism Will Save This Country, I mention that The States should be the incubators of public policy.   I specifically mentioned that Colorado has legalized marijuana and California, with their "medical" marijuana law has, in reality, legalized marijuana use (since it's easy to get a "prescription").  I also mention in that blog that principled conservatism should adopt a "live and let live" attitude toward issues that are about an individual choices that do not hurt anyone.

If this country wants to strike a blow against the Mexican drug cartels, then we should rapidly move forward to legalize and regulate marijuana use, production and retail sales.  Regulate it and tax it.  Growing marijuana will become a boom business for a time and would displace imports from Mexico.  It would remove a huge amount of power from the criminal cartels.

I'm reading this morning that Uruguay is on the verge of passing laws to create a legal, regulated framework for marijuana production, distribution, taxation and sales instead of the old "prohibitionist" approach.

Those that disagree with this are ignoring the fact the people who want to smoke marijuana are already smoking it.  Most would agree that we are giving power and money to the criminal Mexican cartels.  I don't use marijuana but it's not a big deal, it's not addictive and it doesn't lead to stronger drugs unless you have an addictive personality.  If you have an addictive personality, you're already using whatever you want because various drugs are available despite the drug "war."

Prosecutions against marijuana users and growers does feed our legal prosecution "machine" and our lawyer "industry," clogs our prisons, and makes criminals of people who shouldn't be.  The damage to people's lives is extreme when we jail them for minor offenses.  It's time to stop that nonsense. 

Think of all the people in prison for growing, smoking or distributing marijuana.  They will inevitably emerge extremely damaged and have a criminal record that ruins their lives.  For what?  So that other people can "feel" better about something that don't know anything about?   Free the marijuana possession offense prisoners too.  They don't belong in prison!

This country has already lost the extraordinarily expensive "drug war" since people are already smoking and taking whatever drugs they want.  Meanwhile we spend billions upon billions to fight a losing battle.  We also have a bloated and expensive intelligence and law enforcement "jumble" of agencies costing over $100 billion per year.  This has lead to more incarcerated people than any other country in the world.  See my blog, Prison America: US has 50% of the World's Lawyers.  Let people smoke what they want!  Let law enforcement work on something else more serious or trim those budgets (which never happens).

The drug cartels have won with our current approach.  But they will be seriously hurt if we reverse course on marijuana production and use.

Arab Civilization Collapsing As We Speak

I don't know why the media labeled the unrest in the Middle East in 2011 as the "Arab Spring" because I knew immediately that things would only get worse not better. Now, of course, Arab hell has arrived.

Lt. Colonel James G. Lacey wrote an article entitled "The Impending Collapse of Arab Civilization" in 2005 and made a prescient prediction about the end of Arab Civilization. That was well before the outbreak of turmoil and death that broke lose across North Africa and into the middle east starting some 6 years later. Things have only worsened. Egypt is again tilting toward Civil War as tyranny of one type is replaced with yet more tyranny.  Syria is in a civil war. Turkey recently saw an outbreak of civil unrest due to the increasingly autocratic Islamist Erdogan.

Colonel Lacey said that it's Arab culture, not Islamic culture, that is undergoing collapse. I disagree somewhat with this assertion because it's hard to separate the two.  In a way, Arab culture IS Islamic culture. For instance, the authoritarianism of Islam is mirrored by the autocratic Arab dictators. Also overpopulation is found in every Islamic country.  Arab countries, dominated by Islam, have made the systematic choice to teach religion rather than teach math, science and technology.  Islam's ideas about women has meant the widespread failure to educate women. 10's of millions of women are illiterate. Repression, dictators, and ignorance have led to economic stagnation, falling living standards, few economic opportunities, and repressive and corrupt governments. No wonder democracy has failed to take root there! Democracy depends on an educated electorate.

Colonel Lacey made the point that Arab culture is a very young population due to exploding population growth --also due to "Islamic" culture. But this group finds itself without any economic opportunities. True to his prediction, this group is the very population that exploded into the streets in recent years.

Arab population is young because in "Islamic" culture, it's quite common for families to have 10 to 12 children. Children are the "social security" system for Islamic families. I've seen this for myself in Indonesia. Because there are few job opportunities (for the reasons mentioned above), the overpopulation drives down wages that impoverish everyone. It's not only a social time bomb and an economic disaster but an environmental disaster as well.

Arab youth frustration has upended dictators but other dictators emerge. Fundamental reforms of institutions have proven impossible because of corruption and a serious lack of intellectual capability. The economies of these countries are amazing poor. From Lacey,

In economic terms we have already commented that the combined weight of the Arab states is less than that of Spain. Strip oil out of Mideast exports and the entire region exports less than Finland.....Per capita GDP is $1500 or less than in the 1970s.

For decades, the only way that Palestinians have survived is due to world-wide provided "welfare."  Now, after the Morsi ouster, Egypt collected a cool $12 billion in aid from Saudi Arabia and other countries. So now Egypt is completely dependent on welfare too.  If and when oil prices decline precipitously, the rest of the dominoes may fall.

While Arab Muslims are groveling in a cesspool of hell, the Jews are working on their 159th Nobel Prize.

US Heart Bypass is 70 Times More Expensive Than in India

ObamaCare is on track to further ruin, not reform, the US medical system. No real effort has been made to reduce costs (See my blog Ideas to Reduce Medical Costs), doctors will flee the industry,  the AMA continues to restrict the number (supply) of medical students/doctors, US drug companies are shielded from competition from low cost world-wide providers, hospitals "make up" pricing based on nothing and the law sanctifies drug and hospital companies "cartel" status. 

In other countries, there are serious efforts to reduce medical costs. From Bloomberg, meet Devi Shetty, a cardiologist and entrepreneur, who has opened some 21 medical clinics in India, has reduced the cost of heart bypass procedures to $1,521 and aims for $800 in the years ahead.  The same procedure in the US costs up to $150,000.

Heart Bypass Operation In India is 70 Times Cheaper

From Zero Hedge is a graph comparing various costs of heart bypass surgery.  They wouldn't dare put the cost of such a procedure in Thailand, because it probably would be much lower still. (click image to enlarge)

Dems Agree That ObamaCare Panel Will Not Work

So, Sarah Palin was right all along, the ObamaCare IPAB (Independent Payment Advisory Board) won't work.  It will hurt and possibly kill people.

This 'board' is an unworkable "medical rationing" committee which will make pronouncements about medical spending for large categories of persons (with no knowledge of each individual situation) to try to "save" costs.   An unelected, unaccountable panel of 15 persons can't do squat except cause millions of problems!  It's totally unworkable!  It's like a Soviet-style "politburo" trying to preside over the health care of 100s of  millions of persons. What a joke!  Can you imagine the contempt that will emerge from doctors?

Even Howard Dean, a physician and former Governor of Vermont, agrees.  From the WSJ, an article by Howard Dean called The Affordable Care Act's Rate Setting Won't Work:

One major problem is the so-called Independent Payment Advisory Board. The IPAB is essentially a health-care rationing body. By setting doctor reimbursement rates for Medicare and determining which procedures and drugs will be covered and at what price, the IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them.

However, rate setting—the essential mechanism of the IPAB—has a 40-year track record of failure. What ends up happening in these schemes (which many states including my home state of Vermont have implemented with virtually no long-term effect on costs) is that patients and physicians get aggravated because bureaucrats in either the private or public sector are making medical decisions without knowing the patients. Most important, once again, these kinds of schemes do not control costs. The medical system simply becomes more bureaucratic.

I believe the IPAB will never control costs based on the long record of previous attempts in many of the states, including my own state of Vermont. If Medicare is to have a secure future, we have to move away from fee-for-service medicine, which is all about incentives to spend more, and has no incentives in the system to keep patients healthy. The IPAB has no possibility of helping to solve this major problem and will almost certainly make the system more bureaucratic and therefore drive up administrative costs.

 But Dean still supports the legislation!! 

Why We Can't Borrow and Spend Our Way to Prosperity

The following charts go a long way to explain why the US can no longer create prosperity by deficit spending and pushing more debt into the economy/population.  The charts show the diminishing returns to national income (GDP) for each additional dollar of debt creation.  They are extrapolated to show that the year 2015 is the year where an increase in debt gives no increase in GDP.

The charts help explain what we've all witnessed in recent years; that after trillions of deficit spending and money printing, that the economy has been extremely lackluster.  It may be because of the diminishing returns of debt.

If so, it's also a dagger in the hearts of the Keynesians who live, breath and die espousing their belief that MORE and MORE deficit spending is the right prescription. The charts show that their 'prescription' is still true,  but it would now involve HUGE amounts of additional debt for very paltry return.  Remember the 2009 stimulus that created (or saved) 1.5 million jobs at a cost of over $500,000 per job ($790 billion divided by 1.5 million)?  It's the same phenomenon.  If the charts are true, then at some point debt accumulation might even be detrimental to GDP growth. 

 

Spanish High Speed Train Derailment Caught on CCTV

The tragic Spanish high-speed train wreck was caught on CCTV. The train was traveling at over 190 km/h or 118 mph and over double the speed limit.  The speed limit was only 50 mph.  Some 79 people on board were killed and 178 injured.

Here's the clip:

Obama: If I Had a City, It Would Look Like Detroit

In my blog post Detroit, Obama and African American Failure, I detail how the combination of 'progressive' liberal Democrats, the failure of US automakers, the big labor unions, the decay/collapse of African American 'culture', and the corruption of the local (black) politicians have resulted in the burned-out hulk known as Detroit.

Democrats and Obama are all about uncontrolled spending, huge debt, unsustainable entitlements, public employee unions and big government.  It will bring America down just as it has in Detroit.

And don't rationalize and blame Detroit's decline just on the decline of the automakers either.  Pittsburgh also suffered the same 55% population decline as Detroit with the complete loss of steel making.  And Detroit didn't completely lose the automakers and 'benefited' from a recent auto bailout. 

Blaming Race is Just An Excuse Now

The only widespread racism that I'm seeing regarding the Zimmerman trial is from black people---not white people.  After all, it was TRAYVON who called Zimmerman a "creepy-ass cracker."   Zimmerman never made such a comment.

The black race-baiters like Al Sharpton and Quanell X are trying to play the race card that mostly doesn't exist anymore. They are the only racists now.

Large majorities of white Americans are not racist.  Barack Obama was elected, after all, by comfortable margins.  I think that proves the point to a great extent. Our culture has been bending over backward to give black people a fair shake and this has been true for decades now.