theCleverBulldog's Blog

Jobs, taxes, and depressions.

2010-07-12T15:33:20Z

Recently some here have posted the novel idea espoused by economic genius Hillary Clinton that taxes are too low and that raising them would revive the economy. Here's a quick look at history.

1926 - Land boom in Florida goes bust.
1929 - Market crashes.
1930 - Smoot Hawley tariff act passed. Hoover pushes pro labor/pro union agenda. Pushes for more regulation of business.
1932 - Raises taxes from 24% to 63%. Enacts huge public spending stimulus plan.
1933 - enacts 'financial reform' bill to break up banks.

Net result? The Great Depression.

2006 - Florida land boom goes bust
2009 - Market crashes. Obama enacts huge public spending stimulus plan.
2010 - Obama pushes pro labor/pro union agenda. Calls for more regulation of business. Talk of tariffs and taxes on imports. Financial reform to break up banks on the agenda.
2011 - Bush tax cuts to expire. Some democrats advocate dramatic increase in rates.

What do we think will be the result this time?
Can people not learn from history? Many lament the decline of our manufacturing base. Yet they seem oblivious to the fact that actions have consequences. We decided clean air and water were important, and created an EPA to regulate business. Now, most would agree that clean air and water ARE important. But what was ignored was the impact these changes had on business. No effort was made to offset these costs, business was simply expected to absorb them. We want absolute product liability. Look at a ladder, it will have at least half a dozen warning labels on it. Each label is the result of some lawsuit, and each label represents lost jobs. More than 70 companies have filed for bankruptcy over Asbestos, many in cases where there was no evidence they harmed anyone. Dow Corning was forced to pay billions over silicone breast implants, even though no medical study EVER showed them to cause any problems. More jobs lost. Read the posts on this site, they are filled with anti business sentiment. Little thought is ever given to the fact that these companies are responsible for employing millions. Somehow the theory is that you can increase a businesses costs with regulations, lawsuits, and higher taxes, and they will respond by hiring more people. History would argue otherwise.

Obama to take NASA in a new direction

2010-07-05T21:44:30Z

You really can't make up stuff this insane! Obama has instructed NASA's new director that his "foremost mission as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world" Not exploring Mars. Or exploring space. Or developing new technology. Nope. We need NASA to focus on the Muslim world to "help them feel good about their historic contribution to science". Our space agency turned into a 'feel good' department. Unbelievable. And he wonders why his poll numbers are dropping.
Read the story here:link

What is wrong with you people?

2010-06-28T19:52:10Z

After reading numerous blogs here, and after recent quotes and actions by Obama and Biden, I have to ask the question: Are all democrats completely clueless about economics? What is it with this overt hatred towards business? Do you not understand that to get people employed there needs to be an employer? With the current environment in this country towards business, who in their right mind would start a company here now? Who would expand production and hire more people with the massive uncertainty caused by recent enacted and proposed legislation? Every day Obama or Biden speaks out in support of some new tax or fee, and then laments the fact that companies are not hiring. They have openly admitted they will do nothing to stop the Bush tax cuts from expiring, so the economy will be hit with massive tax increases at the end of the year, another disincentive to hiring. Don't they get it? Sadly, no, because they have never run so much as a lemonade stand.
If you want jobs, you need to support the job creators. That means make business more profitable not less. Current laws encourage companies to move production overseas. Foreign companies have all sorts of advantages thanks to our idiotic laws. If we don't change this attitude soon, nothing will be made here. And if nothing is made here, there won't be too many people working to make it.

Golf Wars

2010-06-20T11:15:22Z

BP's CEO went sailing Saturday. Obama played a round of golf, after attending a baseball game Friday. Nice to see everyone is focused on the disaster in the Gulf. So far Obama has spent more time on the golf course than he has spent in the Gulf. If only that spill had happened at Augusta National, Obama would be all over it! In fairness to Obama, he has also spent a lot of time going to fundraisers, concerts, and parties, so he has been pretty busy. Too busy to accept those offers of help from foreign governments. Of course, I think we are also at war, somewhere. I don't know for sure because the media never talks about it. I remember when Bush was President how every night they would profile someone who died fighting. I remember the media screaming for access to show returning coffins of soldiers. I just don't remember any of that happening since the last election.

Democrat goes nuts, attacks student - nobody cares

2010-06-14T11:54:35Z

http://www.breitbart.tv/congressman-assaults-student-on-washington-sidewalk/
The video says it all, if this were a Republican, what would you be saying? What would the national media be saying? How many people would not have heard about it by now?

Anchors Aweigh, Baby!

2010-05-05T11:10:17Z

It is estimated that approximately 300,000 mothers each year illegally come to the US solely to have a child born on US soil. Thousands more come legally as pregnant tourists, staying just long enough to give birth in the land of the free. Why? Because according to liberals the 14th amendment grants that baby automatic citizenship. These are the so called anchor babies, because they are the anchor that is used to tie the family here, an end run around the legal immigration policy. A republican congressman, Duncan Hunter, was heavily criticized for suggesting that these babies were not citizens and should be deported. The liberal media ridiculed him and brought forth all sorts of left wing 'experts' to talk about the 14th amendment. They neglected to mention a certain group that agreed with him, however. That would be the US Supreme Court, which ruled in 1884 in Elk v Wilkins that children born of parents that were not under the full jurisdiction of the United States, such as Indians or aliens, were not granted citizenship under this amendment. Because of this ruling in 1924 Congress passed the Indian Citizenship act, to specifically grant citizenship to Indians. They did not include children of illegals. So Mr Hunter was correct, as confirmed by US law, by Supreme Court ruling, and by the debates over the meaning of the amendment when it was drafted. It is clear that US citizenship is not a prize that is awarded for unlawful behavior. It's time to start enforcing the law, and weigh the anchors.

From the people who handled Katrina so well...

2010-05-04T11:00:25Z

The same geniuses who want to run health care, the banks, and the auto companies, the people who handled Katrina so well, comes the incompetent handling of the gulf oil spill. Since 1994 the government plan to handle a spill like this was to burn it in place. Of course in the 16 years since that plan was adopted, the government purchased a total of 0 fire booms to do the job. Estimates are that 95% of the oil could have been contained this way, but the gov't waited more than a week to attempt a test burn, and had to borrow the equipment from the manufacturer.
read more here: link

Gun Show Loophole figment of Bloombergs Imagination

2010-04-21T11:57:33Z

New York's elitist mayor is on a crusade against guns. More accurately a crusade against guns in the hands of ordinary citizens. The billionaire mayor can't understand why everyone doesn't just have a police security detail and extensive private security forces like he and his billionaire friends all do. So since guns are clearly only needed by his professional security staff, he wants to get rid of yours. He has focused for now on closing the 'gun show loophole', a loophole that means that private citizens have the same rights at gun shows as they do while not at gun shows. If you are not a licensed firearms dealer, you are allowed to sell a certain number of guns each year and are not required to perform background checks or fill out 4473 paperwork. This rule applies to anyone, at a gun show or at a flea market or selling a gun in the classifieds. The mayor would like to change this nationwide to be like California, where all transactions require paperwork. California used this as an effective way to ban ownership of various types of firearms, since once registered it is easy to prohibit (you have a list of all the owners). Everyone knows that is what this little fascist has in mind, and we aren't falling for it.

Liberals smear US Military once again!

2010-04-07T14:18:36Z

By now everyone has seen the edited version of the gun camera video showing US forces killing what are claimed to be innocent civilians. What most have not seen are the details that were left out of the video, specifically the photos of AK47s, RPGs, and RPG rounds found among the dead 'civilians'. For those who don't know, possession of an RPG is prohibited and is considered justification to assume the person is an insurgent. Here is a website that has a complete debunking of this story, along with the video and photographic proof:
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/
Of course this won't stop liberals from repeating the lies in an attempt to smear the military. Lying and smearing is what they do best, and they do it often. Even elected members of Congress have reported insurgent propaganda as fact and have called our troops murderers, as Murtha and others did a few years ago. But now part of the record has been set straight.

How to cure health care - a view from the right

2010-02-27T17:10:55Z

The problem with the current health care 'debate' is that it focuses too little on the root of the problem, the uncontrolled escalation of prices. To be effective, one must address the root cause of high health care prices. Everything is governed by the law of supply and demand, and health care is no different. Increase the supply and prices will decline. Allowing insurance companies to sell product across state and even national borders will increase the supply of available insurance. Increasing the enrollment at medical schools and modifying licensing and immigration rules will increase the supply of doctors. Allowing pharmacists and nurse practitioners to handle routine services will decrease demand for doctors. Eliminating malpractice lawsuits will directly remove cost from the system, and will reduce the amount of 'defensive medicine' that serves only to inflate costs. With it goes malpractice insurance, which would be unnecessary. On pharmaceuticals, eliminate lawsuits since the FDA approved the drugs, as long as there was no fraud in the application/testing process. Reduce government red tape that delays development and increases costs, and increase patent protections so that costs can be recovered over a longer time frame. End the subsidization of Canada and Europe by forcing them to pay the fair cost of drugs instead of passing them of to the US consumer.
With these measures, you would have increased the supply of doctors, lessened the demand for their services, and lowered their operating costs. You would have eliminated unnecessary procedures, increased competition for insurance, lowered costs to develop drugs, and distributed those costs more fairly. Of course lawyers will oppose because they will make less money (Edwards personally imposed a $50 million tax on health care through his bogus lawsuits) , Insurance will oppose it because they will lose the malpractice business and face more competition, and doctors won't like the increased competition. So none of this will happen.

Hypocrisy caught on video

2010-02-24T16:53:38Z

Here is a video montage of Obama, Hilary, Reid, Biden, Schumer, Dodd, et al talking about the importance of the filibuster and how passing legislation with just 51 votes violates the intent of the constitution, how it would be an arrogant power grab, etc. Biden prayed that democrats would not be so arrogant should they ever take power. The republicans of course backed down and did not resort to the 'nuclear option' , but these same democrats are now saying that doing so to pass HCR is just fine.

video here

Canadian Premier goes to US for treatment

2010-02-23T17:44:38Z

Yes, summing up everything that is wrong with a single payer state run health care system in one short article.
Full story at:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5h0QC7bditrEb3wYz_6_b-gsGGDxA

"This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.

"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."

Yes, for the best care possible, come to the U.S., because choices are limited in Canada:

"His doctors in Canada presented him with two options - a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would've required breaking bones, he said."
And then there is the waiting list problem:
"I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said.
Long wait times, limited choices, outdated procedures, but on the plus side it's all "FREE" - you just have to pay 55% income tax, plus GST and PST.

Homeland Insecurity

2009-12-28T02:12:58Z

"This was one individual literally of thousands that fly and thousands of flights every year," Napolitano said. "And he was stopped before any damage could be done. I think the important thing to recognize here is that once this incident occurred, everything happened that should have."
Yes, Napolitano, the idiot in charge of DHS actually thinks the system worked perfectly. Apparently the system relies on defective detonators and passengers subduing terrorists,as opposed to putting suspected terrorists (whose own parents have informed the government of their intent to commit terrorism) on no fly lists and actually screening passengers for explosives. Proving that important positions such as the director of homeland security or director of CIA should have more experience than the average mall security guard. Too bad for us Obama and the Senate didn't think so.

$100 billion a year wasted

2009-12-17T12:40:46Z

Clinton has just announced that the US will join in with the Copenhagen crowd to raise $100 billion a year to fight global warming. We spend a total of $5 billion to fight cancer - $200 million for lung cancer, $70 million for pancreatic, $600 million for breast cancer, and so on. $5 billion. Yet we are now willing to waste $100 billion per year (more actually, that is just for one small aspect of the GW funding. Increased energy costs from cap and trade will equal our yearly cancer budget also.), all squandered to fight a non existent problem. People will die because the money that could have saved them was wasted on the junk science of global warming. So the next time someone says we should spend the money even though the case for GW is far from proven, because it can't hurt to do so, tell them to stop by a cancer ward and tell it to the dying.

Another Wall St. Bailout needed?

2009-12-14T13:33:24Z

Citigroup (NYSE C) just announced the repayment in full of the TARP funds received, $20 billion. The government still holds $25 billion in C stock, and has made a $5 billion PROFIT on it at this point. (Had the gov't sold a few months back profit would have been closer to $8 billion). So the gov't received millions in dividends, plus a $5 billion capital gain for 'bailing out' Citigroup. All the major banks except WFC have now repaid the TARP, and the gov't has made a nice profit. Expect Obama's team to stop blaming Bush for the 'bailouts' and start taking credit for them soon.