The Great Recession Blame Game

The above title comes from the WSJ, an article by Phil Gramm and Michael Solon.  The recession of 08-10 was caused by the “government policy to promote housing ownership and regulators who chose to promote that policy over their traditional mission of guaranteeing safety and soundness.”

HRC has just announced that the potential first husband will be in charge of the economy, hmmmmm. It was he who threw gasoline on a smoldering fire through the regulators, his speeches, Fannie and Freddie, etc.  You can see how bubbles grow, we will be in for another one.

I wish someone in Hollywood would make a movie about that.

Bernie misleads about tax rates, no, really?

Lowell McAdams, CEO of Verizon responded to Senator Bernie Sanders naming Verizon as a “Non fair payer of taxes” in early April, 2016. In fact he states Verizon has paid $15.6 Billion in taxes in the last two years at a rate of 35.6%.

Senator Sanders also said Verizon doesn’t benefit America.  Mr. McAdams noted Verizon had invested $35.6 Billion in the U.S. and paid $16 Billion in dividends.

Exactly how much more is required to be on the Bern’s good list, all of it? An old fart ranting and raving, what have we come to?

Our tax rates for corporations are the highest in the world, our tax structure invites companies and individuals to find ways to reduce tax bills (Like buying solar panels, hybrids and thousands more ways), and higher taxes are proven to reduce actual revenue-see France over the last few years.

Reduce tax complexity, reduce regulations, invite business to repatriate cash, etc., this will goose our growth, thus creating jobs, increasing tax revenue, reducing our social spending, etc.

The Anti-Israel Poisoning Starts Young

The title above is from the WSJ of May 18, 2016 by Micah Lakin Avni.  A heartbreaking story of a “kind, dedicated teacher”, his father Richard Larkin, who emigrated to Israel from the U.S. and taught English to Arabs and Jews. He was 76 when two men boarded the bus he was on and started killing all they could. He passed later while in the hospital.

Mr. Avni offered to share his fathers’ life and purpose at the elementary school where the father of one of the assailants had just spoken, praising his sons’ killing of Jews. His offer was refused. So those children were not given the opportunity to listen to a story of love and service, instead the story of hate and violence.

Richard Larkin told his son, “I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.”

Revenge, hate, et al, produce nothing. Loving produces good. May Mr. Larkin rest in peace and Mr. Avni continue to love as the Abrahamic tradition teaches us all.

Want an Increase in Wages? Lower Corporate Income Taxes!

Lawrence Kudlow put forth the above proposition very well in an April, 2016 article in IBD.  His premise is the U.S. pays the highest corporate income taxes in the world (among developed countries) and penalizes global companies taxing them twice, thus they leave profits outside our country. No wonder companies move overseas, it isn’t the evil capitalists, it is the federal government’s lousy policies.

President Obama has given lip service to lowering these barriers but as usual has not led.

“Numerous studies have shown that the biggest beneficiaries of corporate tax cuts is the middle-income wage earners,” states Mr. Kudlow.

But let’s not look at the data, let’s create a bogey man to blame and hate. That is the refuge of poor leaders, of which we have an abundance on both sides of the aisle.

Lincoln didn’t demonize his opponents, only persistently stated his positions with reason, and love for all.  Washington did the same. We have seen leaders do this well, let’s all pray for another few to come to the front.

Someone is Killing 1,800,000 birds each YEAR-WHO?

Robert Bryce reports in the 16 May, 2016 WSJ that 1.8 million birds are being killed each year.  Three oil companies were just criminally indicted for killing six ducks and one phoebe, INADVERTENTLY by the way, CRIMINALLY INDICTED. As well they should be, by the way a Phoebe is, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_(bird).

So who is going to Guantanamo for killing 1.8 million, uhhhh, NO ONE. Huh?  What gives?

Windmills kill this many each year, and by 2030 that number will triple, that is 5,400,000 birds.  Golden Eagles to the 3 ounce Phoebes.  The Wildlife Society Bulletin has given us the data.

Who will stand up for the 5.4 million, who?  My goodness, a moral and ethical dilemma for the progressives, what shall they do?

Less Free Market, More Suffering, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, et al

Brazil’s Senate just impeached Dilma Rousseff, she left office and her Vice President was sworn in as she awaits her trial. This is the result of major corruption eruptions involving the state owned oil company and other issues.

Ms. Rousseff and her party have “..dreamed their whole lives of converting Brazil into a Cuban paradise” per an article in the WSJ today by Mary Anastasia O’Grady.

“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” Margaret Thatcher.

It appears socialism has resurfaced as the Bern’s success seems to indicate. HRC has moved left (at least in her statements, she was never comfortable with Bill’s policies anyway) to obtain her life dream. Trump has certainly issued statements that indicate his lack of free market ideals, eminent domain being one.

How many times do we have learn the lesson that the bigger the organization the less effective they are allocating resources. This especially applies to governments as they have no profit/loss accountability.  In some cases a P&L analysis is not appropriate but it is in most cases.  What were the results of our investment, did we get what we expected.

Ms. O”Grady goes on, ..”But along with state ownership, the heavy regulatory burden has been a drag on growth. Protection increased under Rousseff, which added Brazilian content rules and ship building, oil drilling, etc.”  Let’s see, lets’ protect American workers by renegotiating trade deals, erecting barriers, punishing unfair traders.  Sounds like BOTH of our presumptive nominees and the remaining self described Socialist in our presidential race.

GOOD GRIEF Charlie Brown!

 

Investors’ Business Daily, May 16, 2016. “Embracing Socialism”, an editorial, details the most recent results from countries who decided that evil free market capitalism should be trashed.  Great data! France, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina. Even more interesting is to go back in time and read the quotes by progressives about how wonderful all those countries are by implementing polices that have beggared their populace. How’s this for prescient thinking, “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” Winston Churchill
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/socialism.html

Taxes, the Rich Need to Pay More! Dammit!

Yeah, the rich get off easy say the progressives, and even Trump.  Sanders proposed plan raises taxes for all, ALL, the poorest families taxes would go up $165. The Tax Policy Center has put out data, http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/.

Today 88% of income taxes are paid by 20% of households, 12% by the rest and 45% of income earners pay NO income taxes.

Bernie Sanders and his wife pay an effective rate of 13.4% on their income of $206,000. The average “wealthy” income earner pays and average of 23.4% in income taxes. This is not including medicare, FICA, state income or sales taxes.

So what is “fair?” Some would say an equal, flat tax is fair. Some would say a VAT, or tax on all sales is fair. France tried to levy a 90% tax on millionaires, upon lots of threats to leave they backed off. Some would say let’s spend and borrow the deficit is fair, an eternal question about pros and cons (Fact, if interest rates go up 1%, the federal debt service goes up $180 BILLION a year.)  Fair is such a lousy word, very relative to each speaker. What is fair to you may not be to me. Paying taxes is patriotic, Joe Biden, I agree. What we don’t agree on is how much and how well are our dollars spent.

All of this walks past the root cause, not enough economic growth to fund the governments’ policy decisions. Meaning, the folks we elect spend more money than they take in, and we actually pay them $170,000 a year to do it!

Solution. 1. Stop spending so much. 2. Get out of the way of the economy so it can grow (tax rates-regulations-F.U.D. (fear-uncertainty-doubt)).

 

Free Speech 1, Kamala Harris 0

The above title is from a WSJ article editorial. Ms. Harris is the attorney general of California and has been trying to sue non profits to obtain lists of donors.  The case ended up in Federal court and the judge, Real-a LBJ appointee-ruled against the states’ case.

It was shown that on numerous occasions the privacy of donors, as promised by the state, was violated in their Schedule B’s.

The progressives are hot, how dare the court rule against them in what they think is “right.”  Well, a judge who applied the law, thank goodness.

May 16, 2016

The WSJ editorial page today, “The IRS’ Donor List” talks more about this, especially focusing on the right to privacy and a bill that has come out of committee prohibiting the IRS from collecting the data.

Five Big Truths about Trade

The above title is from an article in the WSJ by Alan S. Blinder. He states five truths. 1. Most job losses are not due to international trade. (Five million jobs are created and lost each MONTH. Mostly a net gain. Trade is a minor part of this volume) 2. Trade is about efficiency-and hence wages-than about the number of jobs. (When items can be made more efficiently elsewhere there is disruption and change in our labor structure. Instead of resisting it and losing in the long run, we should prepare for it so to take advantage of the change, not yell about it). 3&4. Bi Lateral trade imbalances are inevitable and mostly uninteresting. He states trade deficits mean nothing if our economy is growing, we were mercantilist for well over a 100 years. 5. Trade agreements barely affect a nations’ trade balance. (He states that populist talk from Trump, Sanders and Clinton is just that,not based on fact.)

Without healthy trade deals we would pay more for the stuff we consume every day, impacting the less well off significantly.  We can’t make T Shirts cheaper than Vietnam. Do we need fair trade deals, certainly, whatever than means. Should we do a better job of assisting workers affected by trade, certainly-Congress and administrations from both parties have not done well here.

But to color international trade as bad is just plain stupid.

An Update, The weekly Investors’ Business Daily had an editorial on the same subject, “A Lost Chance On Free Trade” on May 16th also echoing the above but also citing a YouGov.com survey that shows the largest support for global trade is among millennials, 48%.  The older you are the less support you give for trade, I think supporting the argument that trade is good, but the support for those affected must be reasonable.