An Interview with Jerry Taylor

Igor Sadovyi of Stockyard has an excellent interview with one of my favorite Cato scholar's--Jerry Taylor. Taylor is as informative and knowledgeable as ever.

Is the economy heading for another dip?

After reading depressing articles this morning like the following, I fear that it may be possible: Housing and manufacturing slow down.

German Health Care Costs Rise

The Bismarckian model revered by Democrats and liberals alike is facing stiff deficit issues.

I hope this does not come to pass

Twelve depressing reasons the unemployment rate will rise to at least 12% according to economist David Rosenberg.

Chrysler Nixes Electric Car Program

Sooo, after Chrysler lured taxpayer funds from the hands of our elected representatives, they have since decided to axe the "Green" cars that they marketed as payment for government aid. Of course, Barack Obama was quick on the draw to give aid to Chrysler partly based on its newly found "Green" conversion. That didn't last long. Once again, the taxpayer ends up being a sucker.

The Tax Credit Pay Back

According to the L.A. Times:

For more than 15.4 million people, the Making Work Pay tax credit enacted as part of the $787-billion economic stimulus package could turn out to be a Making You Pay Back tax credit.

The problem: In order to maximize the credit's stimulative effect on the economy, withholding changes for taxpayers kicked in within days of Obama signing the legislation and taxpayers started seeing the changes in their paychecks in April. In essence, the credit was "advanced to taxpayers through their wages by a decrease in federal income tax withholding" for the 2009 and 2010 tax years, according to the report by the Treasury Department's Inspector General for Tax Administration.

The government giveth, the government taketh. There is no such thing as a free lunch, folks.

NPR vs. Cash for Clunkers

I've been listening to NPR's Planet Money podcasts lately in an attempt to seek out different points of view on economics and the economy . While I find that this podcast tends to deliver the usual left of center interpretation of economic news found just about everywhere you look these days. I will say that occasionally the podcast does ask some very good fundamental questions about the economy and economics.

The latest podcast is a good one. It tackles the issue of the viability of the Cash for Clunkers program with Jeremy Anwyl of Edmunds.com. Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com, explains his company's recent report stating that the Clunkers program was a big ole failure. This, of course, has rankled the White House to no end. A rather terse interview with White House Keynesian hack, Austan Goolsbee, illustrates concretely how much this administration despises any questioning or criticism regarding their economic programs---even from left leaning journalists from NPR no less. But most importantly, how this administration goes to such great lengths to spin data that doesn't support their view with the usual "glass half full to your glass half empty" argumentation.

Big government cable makes private cable competitive?

Hmmm...sounds like the "public option" to me.

20 Years ago--The Fall of Communism

Blue Staters running to Red States...and fast!

From Forbes:

For the past decade a large coterie of pundits, prognosticators and their media camp followers have insisted that growth in America would be concentrated in places hip and cool, largely the bluish regions of the country...This narrative, which has not changed much over the past decade, is misleading and largely misstated. Net migration, both before and after the Great Recession, according to analysis by the Praxis Strategy Group, has continued to be strongest to the predominately red states of the South and Intermountain West.

This seems true even for those seeking high-end jobs. Between 2006 and 2008, the metropolitan areas that enjoyed the fastest percentage shift toward educated and professional workers and industries included nominally "unhip" places like Indianapolis, Charlotte, N.C., Memphis, Tenn., Salt Lake City, Jacksonville, Fla., Tampa, Fla., and Kansas City, Mo.

The overall migration numbers are even more revealing. As was the case for much of the past decade, the biggest gainers continue to include cities such as San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. Rather than being oases for migrants, some oft-cited magnets such as New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago have all suffered considerable loss of population to other regions over the past year.

It seems that the "smart and hip" like low taxes, jobs, and livable surroundings just like the hicks that they constantly vilify. One last point from the article:

Virtually all the top 10 economies that have withstood the recession come from outside the "youth-magnet" field: San Antonio; Oklahoma City; Little Rock, Ark.; Dallas, Baton Rouge, La.; Tulsa, Okla., Omaha, Neb.; Houston and El Paso, Texas.

I may be needing a change of scenery if employment doesn't improve around here.

The Pain Goes On

The national unemployment rate is now at 10.2%--highest since 1983. If the Obama regime believes that it is going to reflate the economy out of this recession without any consequences, they are going to have a rude awakening.

In other news, the state of California has started, on November 1st, withholding 10% more in taxes from workers to shore up the state's deficit. No debate amongst the public and little news about this in local papers. Another perfect example of how government looks out for itself and how it will always try to expand its power at all costs. So much for representative government.

You can kiss $2.3 Billion bye-bye!

I’m surprised that this didn't get more coverage. Tax dollars just wasted away. Sigh.

Ron Paul on Larry King

I'm back! And my first post is about Ron Paul. I saw him on Larry King commenting on health care, corporatism, and capitalism. He was as sharp as always. Before Dr. Paul came on, King had liberal economist Michael Moore vomit more of his worn out welfare-statist ideas. I guess his movie isn't doing all that well.

On Vacation till November 2nd.

I will be on vacation for 2 weeks. So, no posting for me till November 2nd. I will continue to post from time to time on some of my favorite blogs (you know who you are!) until I get back home. Cheers!

Obama wants to cut a $250 check to seniors

Since the Social Security Administration won't be adjusting it's payout upwards due to negative inflation, President Obama proposes a one-time payment of $250 to senior citizens. First thought, does he really think $250 is enough? I mean, that's less than 5 bucks a week...that's hardly enough for a gallon of milk. Secondly, now that the value of a dollar has started to slide (partly due to our massive deficit spending) and commodities have started to rise in response because of inflation fears, the $250 bucks amount will essentially amount to squat by the time the bill for it gets through Congress. Thirdly, the funds for this "one-time payment" has to come from somewhere: It's going to come from borrowed funds ("The White House put the cost at $13 billion.") that will have to be paid back with interest. This "one-time" payment is going to be royally expensive and not very effective in reducing economic pain for seniors. Of course, the propaganda from Democrats and the White House is going to be in full tilt for this one. There's nothing like feigning compassion for a powerful voting bloc by granting them funds that is taken from some other group. It works like a charm and it's difficult to argue against.

This leads me to believe that this may be a political ploy by Democrats and the WH to try to pin Republicans (who may resist this one-time payment idea) as being cold, angry, and anti-senior citizens. The timing is interesting because of the health care fire that's dominating Washington right now. And afterall, some of the "brown shirted thugs" at the town hall protests were grandma and grandpa, what better way to win some of their support than to grease their palms with "compassion" bucks. Never underestimate the power of an emotional argument.

Oh, they must be kidding!!

The Saudi's say that they may want to be compensated for any drop in their oil revenues due to the U.S. adopting any alternative energy uses to combat "Global Warming." While I think that the whole Cap and Trade scheme is a wealth destroyer, the Saudi's really need to get a grip. Adapt or die, nimrod's!

One Tax Hike Everted...For Now

Major American businesses were able to fight back a tax hike that was proposed by Barack Obama. The big question is for how long can they keep the potential job killer at bay. From the article, I get the sense that many business leaders that supported Obama in the Presidential campaign are experiencing buyer’s remorse.

Pelosi is open to a Value Added Tax

Don’t you worry dear citizen, there are more taxes on the way! Hang tight because the next 12-14 months are going to be a real rocking good time.

Obama wins Nobel Prize for Peace!!

I thought that this was a joke when I saw it this morning. Strangely, it's not. When the Nobel committee gave the award to Al Gore, I commented that the Nobel Prize for Peace had at last become politicized. This latest move seals it.

Here are some worthy people that I think should have received this award and that are certainly far better picks that Barack Obama: Burmese monks whose defiance against, and brutalization at the hands of, the country's military junta captured the attention of the Free World several years ago and continue to bravely resist their government. The prize should have been awarded to Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and other Zimbabwe opposition leaders who were arrested and in some cases beaten by police back in 2007 while protesting peacefully against dictator Robert Mugabe. The Prize should have gone to Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest in Vietnam arrested in 2007 and sentenced to eight years in prison for helping the pro-democracy group Block 8406. The prize should have gone to Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Uyyouni, co-founders of the League of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive Cars in Saudi Arabia, who are waging a modest struggle with grand ambitions to secure basic rights for women in that Muslim country. The prize should have gone to the people of Iraq, who bravely work to rebuild and reunite their country amid constant threats to themselves and their families from terrorists who deliberately target civilians. And finally, if the Nobel committee had any real moral rectitude, it could have awarded the prize to the people of Iran who resisted and protested against a corrupt voting process in their country.

It is pathetic that the Nobel committee chose to give the Peace price to someone who has done nothing to deserve it.

A 70-80 Percent Tax Increase!!!

Economist Greg Mankiw of Harvard University took a long hard look at Max Baucus' healthcare bill and has concluded that it is a massive tax increase (close to 80%!!) for a very large portion of the American working population. While I am not surprised by Mr. Mankiw's overall assessment, I am very concerned that his analysis will be spun as right wing political noise. You can bet that most in Congress that want "reform" at all costs will not be debating this expensive conclusion.

Lost jobs may be gone forever

This is quite depressing as our national unemployment rate continues to rise.

(Graph is from the Wall Street Journal.)

Downsizing The Government

The Cato Institute has a new blog dedicated to cutting down the size of government. Lot's of great information, graphs, and data.

Is school choice making some ground?

Listen to Overpaid Celebrities

This video is a response to Will Ferrell's stupid MoveOn.org video.