Trumponomics: Whats Next for the Economy with Stephen Moore ~ Ep. 1274 ~ The Dan Bongino Show®

From the Dan Bongino Show's description of this episode on youtube.com/Bongino or in his Show Notes:

In this episode, I interview economics advisor for President Trump, and author of “Trumponomics,” Stephen Moore. The book is available here: Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy

Well, first, I have to tell you why you really need to see this episode.  I know that some will falter when it comes to economics.  But even then, you will probably still be able to grasp some of the information that this Episode 1274 will provide to you.  I really hope that you will check this out!

VIDEO: New York's Conflicting Messages

In a new feature here on Blogging In Our Time 2 Escape, this blog will now be including videos that I have recently posted on the johnny2k's America Facebook page!

Post by Johnny2k's America.

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Don't be afraid!

WE the PEOPLE

are the MOB
ONE NATION UNDER GOD

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
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Don't let China pass us up! ~ By Herman Cain

Yes, these are aggressive proposals. It's going to take aggressive leadership in the White House to get it done. It won't be easy. But I don't avoid doing what's right just because it's going to be difficult to achieve. That's not in my DNA.

We can outgrow China because the U.S. is not a loser nation. We just need a winner in the White House. It can happen in 2012.

When the people understand it, they will demand it.

Class is in session!

There was a very complex thought process that went into when I would post this column. Decisions had to be made, and I made them. I had to consider all of the options. Nobody, but nobody - except me, of course - could understand the complete mosaic of possible outcomes...

Never mind. It was just a parody of that historic announcement by the President last Sunday night. If you haven't listened to any radio talk shows in the last few days, you wouldn't understand.

But the whole point was, I was afraid that if I had posted this column by Herman Cain any sooner, it wouldn't receive the full attention it deserves. We just had a welcome diversion from the sad news about our economy and quickly rising gas prices. But I think that it will not be long before people start thinking about the economic news again. It will only take a visit to the gas station to fill your tank, and the cheery thoughts of UBL's body dropping into cold dark waters will dissipate.

So, here comes Herman Cain, writing an excellent column for WND, and it gets no attention. The good news is, Herman's concepts of how to help our economy are not static. These are ideas that could only take place with a different person occupying the Oval Office, and the end of Harry Reid's reign over the U.S. Senate.

Now, class, pay attention, and grasp what Herman Cain would like this country to do. Read this column. It's not just about staying ahead of China. It is about lifting up our country, our spirit, our desire to keep this country free for our grandchildren.

It's really refreshing to know that there is a potential candidate to lead this country back to prosperity with common sense solutions. It's about time that somebody came out with gutsy plans to keep America strong. It has been too long since Ronald Reagan. I'm just sayin'...

Don't let China pass us up!

HERMAN CAIN

By Herman Cain

May 02, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

Many economists have estimated that if China's Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, continues to grow at approximately 10 percent annually, and the United States continues to grow at its anemic rate of 2.5 percent or less, then China's GDP will be bigger than ours in 15 to 20 years.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund released an analysis showing that if the differences in exchange rates between the two countries are factored out (purchasing power parity), then China will surpass the U.S. in economic strength in less than five years!

Neither of these observations sets well with the American psyche, and losing our economic dominance in the world is not who we are. But more importantly, China's economic dominance would represent a national security threat to the U.S., and possibly to the rest of the world.

Look at the facts. China has a billion more people than we do. It aspires to have a greater military might than we do. It currently holds more than 25 percent of our national debt. And it has a different view of human rights and how to maintain peace in the world.

It would be naïve to think that China would not be tempted to flex its worldly might if it were bigger than us economically and militarily. And it would be equally naïve to think we could influence their actions on currency or anything else with diplomacy or two verses of "Kumbaya."

Appeasement is not a strategy. As Ronald Reagan proved, strength is the strategy. Both the Bush and Obama administrations have shown that appeasement just buys the Chinese more time to talk until they can equal us in size and might.

Our China strategy should be two simple words: Outgrow them!

READ MORE at WND.com

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Blame at the pump ~ By Herman Cain

This administration's propensity for moratoriums and prohibitions on oil and natural gas exploration right here at home is dramatically affecting the expectations about global supply and demand. It's that simple.

Announcing a study group to determine if oil speculators are manipulating the market to drive up gasoline prices is ill-informed. It is a diversion from the real problem, which is the lack of a real energy independence plan.

Herman Cain explains how simple it really is: "The problem is supply and demand, and expectations about the changes in those dynamics. That's what drives gasoline prices at the pump."

It turns out that the blame should not go to oil speculators or big oil companies, but to the government! Though it's really a "no-brainer," Herman explains the situation accurately, and hopefully, there will be many who will be enlightened - with common sense solutions. I'm just sayin' ...


RECENT COLUMNS by Herman Cain:

• Someone tell Obama: Business people aren't stupid!

• Economic common sense left D.C. long ago

• Let foreign profits come home

• Energy independence requires bold goals, leadership
  

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Blame at the pump

HERMAN CAIN

By Herman Cain

April 25, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

President Obama recently said that the economic situation was worse than the administration expected when he took office. That's code for "blame Bush" again for Obama's failed economic policies, which have not stimulated the economy. He has chastised the business sector for sitting on more than $2 trillion in accumulated cash instead of hiring people they do not need. That's blaming the business sector for not making stupid decisions to prop up his failed policies. And now that people are feeling the pain at the pump, he blames oil speculators for high gas prices, which are now double what they were two years ago. Remember, that's about the time President Obama took office. And, he says there is nothing that can be done in the short term to ease the pain at the pump. With all due respect, Mr. President, there is something you could do to ease the pain at the pump. Namely, declare and implement a "drill here drill now" strategy. And remove the ridiculous restrictions on shale oil deposits available out West. The very speculators you are blaming for the run-up in gas prices would quickly retreat if they thought you were serious about an energy independence plan to maximize all of our existing natural resources. The problem is supply and demand, and expectations about the changes in those dynamics. That's what drives gasoline prices at the pump.

READ MORE at WND.com

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Let foreign profits come home ~ By Herman Cain

And when Congress and the president extended the lower tax rates for two years in 2010, they just extended tax uncertainty for two more years, which is bad for business.

Businesses plan their growth based on what they know, and the less they know about what taxes are going to be on domestic and foreign profits, the less they plan to grow. Businesses need and want tax certainty in order to begin to grow aggressively again, which would lead to significant job growth.

The liberals will always fight against such changes in taxation whenever control of people's money is moved from government back to the people who earned it.

Big-government liberals are going to scream "crimes against humanity, old people, children and the poor" because they do not like totally un-taxing anything. They do not want taxpayers to discover that the right kind of tax cuts will actually help the economy and help put people back to work.

Here's the news this morning: New unemployment claims went up to 412,000. The economy is not turning around, and this country faces a debt crisis. What will it take to get our economy back on track? Will Obama screaming, "crimes against humanity, old people, children and the poor," as he basically did in his speech yesterday, along with wanting to raise taxes on the "rich," get the economy back on track? Or, should we be listening to Herman Cain's ideas?

In Herman's column, he discusses the fact that corporations have no incentive to want to keep their investments in the United States. If we were to reign in the amount of taxes that corporations were to pay to do business in the United States, the economy would be booming. And how would we "pay for it?" Our tax revenues would INCREASE as more people are employed, and there would be fewer people that would need government assistance.

There is much more to Herman's column that wasn't included on this page. It is important that you read the entire column. And if you heard Obama's speech yesterday, you will know that Herman Cain has the polar-opposite ideas about what America could and should be.

There is something else that I want to share with you. It would frustrate me to no end if Conservative Republicans don't bother to consider Herman Cain as a viable contender to be the GOP's candidate for President. Just trust me on this. You need to learn about Herman Cain. And if you are like me, and like what you see, let Herman know.

Let foreign profits come home

HERMAN CAIN

By Herman Cain

April 11, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

For decades, Democrats have insisted on taxing profits generated by U.S. companies in foreign countries, because they thought it would force businesses to keep the investments in the U.S.

Wrong!

The unintended consequences were just the opposite effect. A business-friendly environment always works better than force.

President George W. Bush was able to get the repatriated tax rate lowered to 5.25 percent in 2003, and nearly $350 billion came back into our economy. Today, it is conservatively estimated that nearly $1 trillion might come back if we take the tax on repatriated profits to zero.

Yes, zero!

Our economy gains nothing as long as those profits remain abroad. Common sense says we have everything to gain if we let those profits come home without a tax.

Some multi-national businesses might use those profits to expand operations here in the U.S., which would mean more job opportunities for the 15 million unemployed people. Or, maybe companies would increase salaries and wages for their employees, or they might pay a dividend to their stockholders.

And remember, many senior citizens depend on their dividend income, if they have any, as a way to supplement their paltry Social Security checks. With the price of gasoline doubling in the last two years, and expected to go even higher along with the cost of everything else, a dividend increase would be some welcome relief to many seniors.

Liberals will argue that there's no guarantee that those "evil corporations" would do any of these things if they were to get such a windfall in cash. They are right, but it's their money and their choice. It's not the government's money or the government's choice to make. I trust businesses and business leaders to make the right choices for their owners and customers, not the government.

We live in a global economy in an age of global information. Global businesses are constantly looking for countries that are business-friendly, tax-friendly and labor-friendly. And contrary to what liberals would have you believe, businesses do not always jump to the country with the cheapest labor. Lower taxes and growth potential are usually at the top of the priority list.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

The problem isn't the lack of tax revenues. It's spending without a way to pay for it, especially after we EAT the RICH. My thanks to the IOWAHAWK blog that led me to this video!

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johnny2k's Tea Party Gear!

Who needs their oil, anyway? ~ By Herman Cain

A revitalized and responsibly unleashed energy sector could be a significant economic stimulus to our economy right here at home.

Working families can't afford to spend more of their discretionary income on gasoline and energy costs, especially in a stalled economy.

America can't afford to continue spending billions of dollars to buy something that we can produce right here at home if we stop sitting on it. We must stop making other countries rich at our expense.

It's not just economic. It is common sense and a matter of national security.

This column will tell you what Herman Cain's energy policy would be if he was President of the United States! Wait, did I say that? Of course I did, because it is no secret that Herman Cain has an exploratory committee set up to determine if he should run for President.

The brilliance of this article is in helping people to understand that when energy prices increase, it ripples through the economy. Energy prices are directly related to the prices you pay for groceries and the number of jobs that are available. So, isn't it just common sense to develop our own energy in America, create jobs, and avoid having to purchase energy resources from countries that don't like us?

Who needs their oil, anyway?

HERMAN CAIN

By Herman Cain

March 28, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

In the early 1970s, America's dependence on foreign oil was a little over 20 percent. Today, our dependence on foreign oil is over 65 percent. We have become more and more energy dependent because we have never had a serious energy independence strategy, and we still do not have one.

Energy independence is within our grasp because we have plenty of energy natural resources. We have billions of barrels of oil, plenty of natural gas reserves, more coal than any other country in the world, lots of places we could build dams for hydroelectricity and some of the safest nuclear power technology in the world.

Wind and solar energy development is not going to get us to energy independence. Studies such as the Department of Energy's "Billion Ton Study" have shown that those two sources could at best provide 5 percent of our energy needs combined.

But by maximizing all of our other domestic energy resources, we could become energy independent. This would not only help to keep down the cost of gasoline and the cost of nearly everything we buy, but it would also be a boost to our economy and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. But most importantly, energy independence would keep us from being vulnerable to the current instability in the Middle East or the whims of OPEC.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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johnny2k's Tea Party Gear!

Please stop 'helping' us ~ By John Stossel

When will the political do-gooders realize that the most vulnerable people in society can't take any more of their kindness? (John Stossel, from this column)

John Stossel explains how the law of unintended consequences has affected lower income people with the passage of the CARD Act. When Congress passed the CARD Act, it made it more difficult for many people to get credit, and thus they turn to other sources for emergencies, and end up paying by far more in interest for their money. Todd Zywicki, law professor at George Mason University, says the following to the credit card reformers:

"In the 1960s, the second-biggest revenue source of organized crime was illegal lending. Is that the world we want to go back to, where we get rid of payday lending, and we're so morally outraged that we're going to put people in the hands of the leg-breakers and the loan sharks? They charged an interest rate that was well over 1,000 percent, and their collection techniques were a lot tougher than your local pawn shops."

Please stop 'helping' us

JOHN STOSSEL

By John Stossel

December 29, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

Last year, Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act. It was supposed to really end the alleged abuses perpetrated by the credit-card companies. The law forbids some penalties and interest-rate increases on existing balances.

It is one of President Obama's proudest achievements.

"Enough's enough," he said. "It's time for strong, reliable protection for our consumers."

Reform, he said, would not come at the expense of honest businesses. "Unless your business model depends on cutting corners or bilking your customers, you've got nothing to fear."

Finally! Protection! A new bureaucracy will stop greedy credit-card companies from unfairly penalizing you. And it won't threaten the credit business. Yippie!

How has it worked out?

Not so well. George Mason University law professor Todd Zywicki points out that the new restrictions hurt more consumers than they help.

Since the Card Act passed, mortgage and Treasury bill rates have dropped a little, but credit-card interest went up – from 13 percent to nearly 15 percent. Some banks also stopped offering credit to some people. JPMorgan Chase cut off 15 percent of its customers.

So the real result of this "consumer" regulation? "Hundreds of thousands of people can't get cards who used to be able to have cards, and all the rest of us now have to pay more," Zywicki said.

But maybe the people who can't get credit cards are better off because they couldn't handle credit wisely?

"Just to say they don't have a credit card doesn't mean that they don't have credit," Zywicki retorts. "They'll just go to more expensive places – the local payday lender or the local pawn shop."

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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When the facts don't help, pound the table ~ By David Limbaugh

Commentary from WorldNetDaily. Yet again, this morning, another columnist gives us the good news: The American people aren't buying it. (Oh, the audacity of us lowly voters!)

But despite all of Obama's assaults on America and its solvency during the past year, we have witnessed one encouraging development: The American people aren't buying his propaganda anymore – so let him keep talking.

By David Limbaugh

Posted: February 19, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

When you're president of the United States and your primary claim to fame is your economic prowess, but your economic record fails by all objective measures, what do you do? You call on your skills as a virtuoso propagandist.

With the perceived catastrophic economic crisis of 2008-09, President Barack Obama captured the presidency at the perfect time in America's modern history for him to unleash his grandiose socialist policies – policies so ambitious that the American people would never have tolerated them under any other circumstances.

With the nation in near panic over the impending doom of the economy, Obama presented his now-infamous "stimulus plan" to artificially create government demand by spending more than $800 billion of borrowed money to "jump-start the economy."

Being a die-hard Keynesian, Obama probably believed his program would create jobs. But given his attitude about the wealthy being undeserving of their good fortune, he probably wasn't risking too much in the event it didn't work. The funds would redistribute wealth to those less fortunate and whom society, in Obama's view, has cheated. It would also force allocations of money to "green" enterprises that would never be pursued if left to the sanity of private-sector consumer demand, further expand the public sector in general and provide ample slush money to reward unions and other supporters to shore up his re-election efforts.

According to Keynesian theory, as I understand it, it doesn't matter much where the government spends other people's money – just as long as it spends it. Once the money is injected into the economy (never mind that an equal amount is taken out of the economy from the private sector), a multiplier effect unfolds to stimulate economic growth and jobs.

But just to hedge his bets, Obama was careful in choosing his words in predicting the coming prosperity. He said he would "save or create 3 million jobs" – or whatever number suited his purposes at the particular speech he was giving. Reasonable people said at the time that this was a bizarre formulation – that it would be impossible to prove or disprove such a claim – but the media dutifully ignored the skeptics.

But Obama wasn't always disciplined in his message. Sometimes he allowed his exalted opinion of himself to seduce him into projecting that his plan would guarantee that unemployment would not exceed 8 percent.

A year later, with employment still about 10 percent, Obama has dispatched his minions to tout the enormous "success" of his plan, without which, he claims, we would have suffered a depression. It's no accident that he included "audacity" in the title of one of his books.

By every reasonable measure, his stimulus plan has been an abject failure. When you examine the empirical evidence, you'll find there is an inverse relationship between the monies he spent and employment; as more money was spent, there was less employment. The chart doesn't lie.

READ FULL STORY >

Job creation, not gimmicks ~ By Herman Cain

Commentary from WorldNetDaily

The citizen activist movement that is growing across this country is no gimmick. It is getting bigger and bigger, and promises to produce even more election surprises in November of 2010 similar to what happened recently in New Jersey and Massachusetts.


Maybe then they will get it.

By Herman Cain

Posted: February 15, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

The president, his administration and most members of Congress still don't get it! So let's try to explain job creation another way. You stimulate the creation of jobs by reducing an employer's cost to keep people employed (less taxes) and then by reducing the cost of a business to grow their business (less regulations). If these two things happen, then jobs will be created.

Job creation is not a complicated phenomenon, but the president and the Democrats have been convinced that less taxes is bad, and more regulations are good. It's just the opposite, and there is plenty of historical evidence to prove it.

The Economic Report of the President was released last week by his Council of Economic Advisers. According to the Wall Street Journal, "the report offers few new policy prescriptions or economic forecasts." In fact, the administration still believes it can rebuild the economy through health-care legislation, clean-energy initiatives, infrastructure projects and small-business tax breaks.

Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., gave the most laser-like description of the report. "The Obama Administration's report is full of blame for the policies of years past, praise for its own failed policies of the past year, and promises about their ideological agenda to grow government."

Translation, the report is 400-plus pages of repackaged propaganda.

Of course the president restated his commitment to job creation, but most of the chatter from his administration and Congress about a new jobs bill is just another bunch of gimmicks that will do nothing to stimulate new job creation.

Just as "Cash for Clunkers" was a gimmick that did not work, the current offering of a $5,000 tax credit to employers who hire an unemployed worker, plus a limited-time suspension of part of their payroll taxes are just propaganda gimmicks.


READ FULL STORY >

Sowellian economics ~ By Ellis Washington

Commentary from WorldNetDaily

By Ellis Washington

Posted: February 13, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.

~ Thomas Sowell

Intellectual, economist and Hoover Institute Senior Fellow Thomas Sowell has made many magnificent contributions to the marketplace of ideas to which few others in American history can compare. For example, in his 1981 book, "Knowledge and Decisions," Sowell made this prescient observation: "Historically, freedom is a rare and tragic thing. It has emerged out of the stalemates of would-be oppressors. Freedom has cost the blood of millions in obscure places and historic sites ranging from Gettysburg to the Gulag Archipelago."

There is so much to learn from Sowell. A leitmotiv I find in many of his works is his cost-benefit economic paradigm applied to culture and society. Sowell delineates a trenchant critique against self-poverty-generating decisions, some of which include joining a gang, having a baby out of wedlock, getting married before becoming intellectually mature and economically secure, being easily deceived by the rhetoric of poverty pimps and civil-rights charlatans and, most importantly, foolishly thinking someone owes you anything because you don't have something (or everything). Such approaches the essence of the mind of Thomas Sowell.

Sowell is one of my intellectual mentors. I have followed his career for many years. In 1988, I changed my worldview from liberalism to conservatism during my first year at Harvard's graduate school and law school and began reading Sowell religiously in a newspaper called "The Conservative Chronicle." In the early 1990s, I remember sending him some of my earliest manuscripts I had written on political philosophy and constitutional law, asking for his assistance on getting published. He sent me a form letter of sources I should review on writing … Ouch!

In many of Sowell's works, economics, race and politics are juxtaposed with the knowledge, choices and decisions of ordinary citizens under a moral and cost-benefit paradigm – evaluating tradeoffs where limited resources have alternative uses, as opposed to relying on patronizing rhetoric from progressive academics, political hacks and community organizers.

For example, in his two classic books on economics, written in 2004, "Basic Economics" and "Applied Economics," Sowell outlines the fundamentals of the discipline so that the layman can understand them along – with his insightful way of using economic models to avert cultural and societal pathologies like crime, ignorance and promiscuity. Sowell's tutelage may sometimes be cruel, but his remedies will liberate all those wise enough to free themselves from the galling chains of socialism.

Sowell's "transactional" approach to social and economic policy is one of the hallmarks of his oeuvre. For example Sowell writes:

Lofty talk about "non-economic values" too often amounts to very selfish attempts to impose one's own values, without having to weigh them against other people's values. Taxing away what other people have earned, in order to finance one's own fantasy ventures, is often depicted as a humanitarian endeavor, while allowing others the same freedom and dignity as oneself, so they can make their own choices with their own earnings, is considered to be pandering to "greed." Greed for power is more dangerous than greed for money and has shed far more blood in the process. Political authorities have often had "revolutionary values" that were devastating to the general population.

Placing Sowell's ideas in a historical context, for the past 120 years since the advent of the progressive movement in the early 1890s, progressives, politicians, academics, scientists, activist judges and so-called intellectuals of the left have made a cottage industry of deifying non-economic values and forcing them via public-policy dictates and activist court opinions down the throats of the American citizens. These onerous policies and addictive government remedies have only aggravated the plight of society, especially America's most vulnerable citizens (i.e., blacks, Appalachian whites, Hispanics, Indians).

READ FULL STORY >

Next up: Obama wants your retirement money ~ By Roger Hedgecock

Commentary from WorldNetDaily

By Roger Hedgecock Posted: January 25, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2010 Trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see are not going down well with voters. The president has plans for even more big spending. The Chinese have said there's not enough money in the world to finance U.S. debt. Already, the annual federal deficit is being financed by selling 80 percent of the Treasury notes and bonds – to the Federal Reserve! Obama needs lots of real money, and he needs it now. According to the Labor and Treasury Departments, draft federal regulations will be published for public comment as soon as next week which would "promote" the conversion of 401(k) and IRA accounts to annuities. Make no mistake here: Obama is after your retirement money. The "annuities" will "invest" not in the familiar packages of bond and stock mutual funds but in the Treasury debt! The biggest pool of real money left in the U.S. (more than $4.7 trillion) is in 401(k) and IRA "defined contribution" accounts. Created by Congress, these saving for retirement devices allow millions of working Americans in more than 700,000 private plans to defer federal income tax on annual contributions to the account. During working years (the accumulation phase), the account is invested mostly in private companies. These retirement accounts are the lifeblood of capitalism. In retirement, tax is paid on the amount withdrawn from the account. Many retirees choose to buy private annuities with all or part of the 401(k) locking in guaranteed (lower) return. The annuity allows further tax deferment because only a portion of the payout is return of principal. Private annuities also presently invest mostly in private companies although they are permitted to also invest in Treasury debt. Now the feds want to "regulate" the inclusion of tax-deferred annuities into already tax-deferred retirement accounts of still-working Americans. As stated this week by Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, recent stock losses to retirement accounts mean that the feds must protect workers with safer "lifetime income options." And what could be "safer" than Treasury bonds with principal and interest guaranteed by the U.S. government? READ FULL STORY >

When elites make our decisions for us ~ By Walter E. Williams

Commentary from WorldNetDaily

By Walter E. Williams Posted: December 02, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 The ultimate constraint we all face is knowledge – what we know and don't know. The knowledge problem is pervasive and by no means trivial as hinted at by just a few examples. You've purchased a house. Was it the best deal you could have gotten? Was there some other house you could have purchased that 10 years later would not have needed extensive repairs or was in a community with more likable neighbors and a better environment for your children? What about the person you married? Was there another person who would have made for a more pleasing spouse? Though these are important questions, the most intelligent answer you can give to all of them is: "I don't know." Since you don't know the answers, who do you think, here on Earth, is likely to know and whom would you like to make these decisions for you – Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, George Bush, a czar appointed by Obama or a committee of Washington bureaucrats? I bet that if these people were to forcibly make housing or marital decisions for us, most would deem it tyranny. READ FULL STORY >

Weapons for the GOP punditocracy ~ By Ilana Mercer

Commentary from WorldNetDaily

By Ilana Mercer Posted: November 20, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is advancing on the country with an $848 billion health-care bill in hand, which he hopes to bring to the Senate floor before he and cohorts go on holiday. Yet the swiftest arrow in the Republican punditocracy's Obamacare quiver remains this: If the government can't pull off the Cash For Clunkers scam, how will it handle health care? Or this: If government can't manage the gallery of the grotesque – Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – how will it run a sixth of the economy? When all else fails to persuade, they galvanize the argument from Hitler. Taking their cues from Rush Limbaugh, it is not uncommon for Republican commentators to pair B. Hussein's health care with Hitler's hobby horses: smoking bans, abortions, euthanasia and eugenics. Hitler and the mismanagement by government of Medicare and Medicaid (but not of the military) – this is the Republican commentariat's repertoire of riffs. Anything but First Principles, with which the GOP has an oil-and-water relationship. Republicans are clearly more exhausted than engaged. The same goes for the targets of their message. If the polls are anything to go by, most Americans are unimpressed by anti-government rhetoric when emanating from former Bush acolytes. According to a CNN poll, "49 percent of those questioned would vote for the Democratic candidate in their congressional district, with 43 percent supporting the Republican." At an approval rate of 55 percent, Bush's successor is still beloved. [CLICK HERE TO READ MORE]

More White House economic baloney ~ By David Limbaugh

From WorldNetDaily

By David Limbaugh Posted: November 13, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 Of the many thoughts I had watching President Barack Obama's umpteenth speech on the economy yesterday morning, the most troubling was his refusal to accept responsibility for his disastrous policies. With unemployment having soared to 10.2 percent, wouldn't it have been reasonable to expect that any Obama speech on the economy would at least acknowledge that his "stimulus" plan didn't come close to achieving the results he promised, starting with his claim that unemployment would peak at 8 percent? Even a fallible leader would be humbled by this failed performance, but enjoying messianic stature, the expectations bar is rightfully much higher for Obama. Yet instead of showing contrition, he took to the microphone in a surreal, boastful mode, as if calculating that assuming an offensive posture would fool people into ignoring reality. He bragged about the "bold steps" he had taken "to break the back of this recession." He said he'd prevented "responsible homeowners from losing their homes ... cut taxes for middle-class families ... and created and saved more than a million jobs." But, "We all know that there are limits to what government can and should do, even during such difficult times." Let's examine his claims. Bold actions to end the recession and "created and saved more than a million jobs"? Well, he has engineered massive spending and debt explosions, but many weren't even calculated to stimulate the economy, especially in the short run. [CLICK HERE TO READ MORE]

Memo to Obama: Cars are not like pizzas ~ By Herman Cain

From WorldNetDaily

By Herman Cain Posted: November 02, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 In my commentary last week I mistakenly referred to the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, growth rates as quarterly for 2009, instead of "rolling four quarters" of negative growth rates of 1.9, 3.3 and 3.8 percent, respectively, which they were. My apologies for the error! But when you use the latest released GDP for the third quarter of a positive 3.5 percent, the latest corresponding rolling four quarters growth rate is a negative 1.4 percent. The chairperson of the president's economic advisers, Christina Romer, said this "jolt to the economy" was caused by the $194 billion already spent from the "stimulus bill." You can call it a jolt, but it is not an economic "turnaround" or an end to the recession as some analysts are claiming. Here's why: Cars and houses are not like a pizza promotion. Even though the administration claims great success with Cash for Clunkers, and the new homebuyers' tax credit, the promotions merely caused some of the sales to happen sooner rather than later, but they do not generate repeat sales. Every business person knows that, but maybe that's the problem. In the pizza business (remember, I used to run a pizza company), a good promotion would stimulate trial purchases, and if the customers loved the product, they would be back within the following two weeks to make a repeat purchase. People do not buy cars and houses every two weeks. [CLICK HERE TO READ MORE]

When politicians are clueless about economics ~ By Thomas Sowell

From WorldNetDaily

By Thomas Sowell Posted: October 13, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 Back in the days of the Soviet Union, two Russian economists who had never lived in a country with a free market economy understood something about market economies that many others who have lived in such economies all their lives have never understood. Nikolai Shmelev and Vladimir Popov said: "Everything is interconnected in the world of prices, so that the smallest change in one element is passed along the chain to millions of others." What does that mean? It means that a huge increase in the demand for ice cream can mean higher prices for catcher's mitts, among other things. When more cows are needed to produce more milk to make ice cream, then fewer cows will be slaughtered and that means less cowhide available to make baseball gloves. Supply and demand mean that catcher's mitts are going to cost more. While this may be easy enough to understand, its implications are completely lost on many people in politics and in the media. If everything is connected to everything else in a market economy, then it makes no sense to have laws and policies that declare some given goal to be a "good thing," without regard to the repercussions, which spread out in all directions, like waves that spread across a pond when you drop a rock in the water. Our current economic meltdown results from the federal government, under both Democrats and Republicans, declaring home ownership to be a "good thing" and treating the percentage of families who own their own home as if it was some sort of magic number that had to be kept growing– without regard to the repercussions on other things. We are now living with those repercussions, which include the worst unemployment in decades. That is the price we are paying for increasing home ownership from 64 percent to 69 percent. [CLICK HERE TO READ MORE]

This week on TheREALjohnny2k - 10/04 to 10/10/09

By John Kubicek I managed to only upload six videos to the TheREALjohnny2k channel this last week, thanks to having a down day last Tuesday with a flu-like stomach affliction. But, at any rate, this week's wide variety of video segments range from the frightening, to the inspirational and heartfelt encouragement, and finally to even a little humor. There was something else that I learned during the course of this last week that could be of great value down the road. In my youtube channel account information and settings, there is a feature called "Insight." I discovered the awesome power of the what I could learn from the demographics of the people watching the videos on my channel. Being that I have had this channel for several years, and have uploaded over 300 videos, with over 2 million views, there is a very large data sample now, which adds to the power of the data that can be analyzed by age, gender, country, and even by state in the U.S. In fact, I can see which videos are the most popular by state! What I found out did not surprise me too much, as certain videos were much more popular in some areas of the country than in other areas. And then it hit me. In last week's edition of this series, I mentioned how uploading the videos to my youtube channel was becoming more than a hobby. With what I just mentioned above, I realize now that there may be even more truth to that than I had imagined. I could be sitting on a "virtual gold mine!" There certainly has to be a great amount of value for this information to somebody out there, whether it is a marketing organization, a political candidate or even an investigative journalist. Yes, I need to get on that, it's at the top of my priorities for the coming weeks! Okay, enough about my thoughts for the day. Let's get to it, there's six great video segments for you to see today. Get busy! Oh, and don't forget, WE are the MOB! October 04, 2009 - What are the options? How patient should we be? We have to wonder if negotiations alone can help us avoid a world war. We're on a tight rope. Trying to negotiate our way out of this mess may not work, as it could allow Iran time to build a nuclear weapon or more. And on the hand, a preemptive strike on Iran could mean having to engage either Russia or China or both. How long should we be patient? Should we believe anything that Iran tells us? October 05, 2009 - A Journey For Life, with a Big Surprise for Alane Being the son of a cancer survivor, this news segment meant a lot to me. It was very inspirational to see what Alane had completed, which was a 226 mile bike ride with a lot of big hills. And then, the good part, with a total surprise for Alane at the end of the segment. Uplifting video such as this will be added to this channel now and then. We need to keep in mind what the human spirit is capable of accomplishing. And it proves that not everything we see in the news has to be doom and gloom, death and destruction, or partisan politics as usual. It's awesome to see the courage that people have to overcome overwhelming obstacles in life. And it is wonderful seeing the rewards at the end of a difficult journey. October 07, 2009 - Glenn Beck's Realist View of America's Survival This is a clip from Glenn Beck on 10/06/09, within his first segment. This is about "We the People." We must not ever give up. We must be realists, and then be optimists, that if we keep on fighting, we can win! October 08, 2009 - We can't afford the debt, and We the People say, "No more!" This segment is from October 7, 2009, and is the perfect sequel to the previous segment I uploaded here on youtube.com from Beck on Fox News Channel from the October 6th show. Glenn riled me up, and I'm sharing this video with you to rile you up, which only means that this is information to be taken seriously, but has nothing to do with taking any kind of violent actions. October 09, 2009 - Lanny Davis didn't even have a chance Here is a great Fox & Friends segment from Thursday, Oct. 8, '09, where Michelle Malkin and Gretchen Carlson take on Lanny Davis, and poor Lanny didn't have a chance. Michelle and Gretch rock! It was a great example of true "social justice," but not in a progressive meaning. Lanny never had a chance. Lanny's teleprompter obviously failed him. Too bad it was only programmed to regurgitate left-wing talking points... I don't think that Lanny was very convincing when it came to showing what a solid decision maker Our Dear Leader is. In fact, for what Lanny Davis was able to spew, I wouldn't have believed him even if he told us that the President had once decided on the Happy Meal from a Micky-D's menu. October 10, 2009 - Pelosi's Eye Roll; the body language that spoke volumes Harry Reid succeeds at getting an expression on Nancy Pelosi's face. I do believe that qualifies as a miracle! That alone speaks volumes, but in the context of the scenario, Nancy could not go without making the far leftist statement we all know she would say if her lips moved.

The great escape from responsibility ~ By Thomas Sowell

From WorldNetDaily

By Thomas Sowell Posted: August 25, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 Many of the issues of our times are hard to understand without understanding the vision of the world that they are part of. Whether the particular issue is education, economics or medical care, the preferred explanation tends to be an external explanation – that is, something outside the control of the individuals directly involved. Education is usually discussed in terms of the money spent on it, the teaching methods used, class sizes or the way the whole system is organized. Students are discussed largely as passive recipients of good or bad education. But education is not something that can be given to anybody. It is something that students either acquire or fail to acquire. Personal responsibility may be ignored or downplayed in this "non-judgmental" age, but it remains a major factor, nevertheless. After many students go through a dozen years in the public schools, at a total cost of $100,000 or more per student – and emerge semi-literate and with little understanding of the society in which they live, much less the larger world and its history – most discussions of what is wrong leave out the fact that many such students may have chosen to use school as a place to fool around, act up, organize gangs or even peddle drugs. The great escape of our times is escape from personal responsibility for the consequences of one's own behavior. Differences in infant mortality rates provoke pious editorials on a need for more prenatal care to be provided by the government for those unable to afford it. In other words, the explanation is automatically assumed to be external to the mothers involved, and the solution is assumed to be something that "we" can do for "them." [READ ENTIRE COLUMN]

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, Calif. He is the author of 28 books, including "Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy."

Next on the statists' menu: Health care ~ By David Limbaugh

David writes about the economic principles that guarantee the failure of socialized medicine. Increased consumption and reduced production will mean a shortage of quality care. The scarcity will lead to waiting-lists, increases in illnesses and death from the inadequacy and untimeliness of care. The motivation is not compassion, but control. read more | digg story

Parasites and promises ~ By Franklin Raff

Parasites derive their powers without consent, so they must be very sneaky. They must be encouraged: The parasite must speak to the host in bold, patriotic tones. They must speak of industry, of hope and change and the American way, and freedom. They must whisper, always: "Keep fighting. We're all in this together. Your success is our success...." read more | digg story