America’s Economic Decline

92 Million Americans are not working. This has nothing to do with having a Black President. It is all about having a president that is incompetent. If this president really believes people don’t like him because he is black, he is mistaken. Americans were proud of the fact that we have moved to a place where the color of a person’s skin has become irrelevant. As Americans we celebrate Martin Luther King today as a testament to his dedication to equal rights not equal outcomes. I just wish the president felt as most of us do toward the American Dream.

This president has very few life skills beyond being a good political campaigner. I would even suggest that he is not really a great campaigner as much as he is the beneficiary of a protective media complex. His campaign mis-steps have been guarded or ignored by the media and if his campaign was given as much scrutiny as the latest Chris Christie “scandal”, he would have lost both campaigns. He would have lost to Hillary in the Democratic Primary, and his re-election campaign.

But I want to talk about the economy or the lack of one. If these statistics continue on this path much longer it will be unsustainable for the working Americans to pay all the bills of the non-working Americans. Some Americans have been taught to be lazy, but most Americans want to work. They have just been fooled to think that the government has a role in creating jobs. The only role government has is to stay out of the way of private business and industry. I guess you could call that a “role” but it is really best for all of us that government bureaucrats be put out of business.

It is amazing that under such suppression of the private sector American business still has the capacity to trudge on. It is a testament to the resilience of the free market capitalist system we have. Even through years of demonization and attempts to kill it off with regulation, the free market finds ways to create wealth for Americans. But it may become even too much for the free markets if this administration is allowed to continue its assaults on this economy.

We are in decline as every economic number suggests. The only exception is the stock market which is flush with money looking for a place to get a return on investment. Once the stock market sees what the 92 million people out of work see then all bets are off.

We will rebound if we do three simple things; elect conservatives in November, repeal Obamacare, and pass a federal budget that cuts funding to at least 30% of all of the bureaucrats in Washington DC. If we do that the decline will become a boom. Guaranteed!

Federal Government: Mind Your Own Business! Free Markets

When the President of the United States makes a claim that “unemployment benefits creates jobs”, it is absolute proof that the federal government must get out of our economic system. The POTUS has absolutely no experience in economic affairs but he is only the tip of the iceberg when you talk about politicians and bureaucrats in the federal government. The statement by the POTUS alone should be enough for most people to agree the federal government is not the right mechanism for growing an economy.

But for the left and the emotional citizen proof may be needed. Every economic “fix” could be termed as “imbecilic” (idea of somebody with low IQ: in a former classification system, somebody with an IQ between 25 and 50 and a mental age of between three and seven years). I use the term because it describes the economic intellect of most politicians and federal bureaucrats.

First, if the government could just create a vibrant economy by passing a law or implementing a government policy wouldn’t they have done it already? The opposite is actually true as we see the more the federal government gets involved in the economy the worse it gets. There are reams of studies supporting this assertion but I know the people that need to read it will not - so I will not waste any time arguing the facts. I offer this as a perfect example: If fixing the economy means people need jobs and higher wages, why not pass a law that everyone be employed and make the minimum wage for those jobs a $100.00 an hour? Why can’t the federal government just mandate jobs and wages? It is called the “laws of economics.”

Economics is very simple, and creating a vibrant economy is even easier. The answer is to allow individuals and businesses to operate without oppressive taxes and regulations. Boom!  Done! The economy will take off. All we need to do is close most of the Federal Government, layoff 75% of the federal bureaucrats, end welfare for capable Americans, tie Social Security directly to the people that contribute, and shut down Medicaid and allow private charities to handle healthcare for the poor, make the federal tax a flat 10% that every working person pays, limit terms for politicians, make congress part time and boom!

If you think that is too aggressive, we can simply start by freezing federal spending and stop the ability for the federal government to borrow or print money. Even that will send the economy roaring.

The laws of free market capitalism are extremely resilient as we have seen over the past 5 years with the way it brushes off the absolute assault that has taken place under the current federal regime. Any system other than capitalism would have collapsed under the pressure! Just imagine if the free markets were actually free like they were under President Regan? Even then there was too much federal intrusion but I would take the 80’s over the past 5 years in a heartbeat.

The economy is being smothered by the federal government. It is why the founders placed so many restrictions (in the US Constitution) on its role in the lives of Americans and their economic pursuits. I wish when it comes to economic policy the federal bureaucrats and “dogooders” would just mind their own business!

Why the Income Gap is a Red Herring

Just say the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and you will find yourself surrounded by liberal and leftists salivating to tell you how bad capitalism is as an economic system. They trace the increase in this gap back to the Reagan years. There is no doubt that the income gap exists but what does it mean, and what are the causes?

If we look at the greatest expansion of wealth in this country for the most Americans ever, you find that expansion during the Reagan years. More people than ever were able to participate in the growing economy because of the massive job growth. This opportunity added to people being able to fund 401K’s, buy homes, drive multiple cars, and in general build individual wealth. Family incomes increased and people were living the American Dream.

During this same period and beyond, many industrious Americans were building companies that created enormous wealth for many individuals. Many became the 1%’s; so often targeted for envy by the left. You see, when wealth creation happens some people do better than others. They are rewarded for their ideas through the market and can accumulate massive wealth which they can then use to create or invest in other economic opportunities. The people that also benefited from this wealth creation were the people that worked at all of these businesses that were created. As employees often do, they saw increases in their pay and may have bought a home and made some investments in their future. Many increased their possessions and chose to spend instead of save. That’s what freedom means, the ability to do what you want with your private property.

So the 1%’s saw huge expansion of their wealth as they chose to continue to invest in the economy. Some won and some lost. You see, the 1%’s are not the same set of people that were there in the 80’s or 90’s. The 1%’s change just like people in the 50% go up and down in income level based on their choices and circumstances.

The income gap is measured by “household income.” So if your household has two working members you are likely to have a higher income. If you are a single parent household, your income level is likely to be less.

The chart in this article shows a reduction in households in the income ranges of $35K - $99K. The lower and upper ranges have grown. So there are more rich and more poor which increases the “gap.” But what it doesn’t show is who is moving where and why.

The income gap can be the result of so many factors but moving to the lower income levels has nothing to do with people moving to the upper income levels. There are simply more people in this country that have not become rich (yet), and the people at the high income level are a very small group of people and not the same people at any given time.

The left wants you to infer that the rich are rich because they are keeping the rest of the people in the lower income category. They have gotten to where they are as a result of screwing other people. There are some of those but they are the people using political power to get and maintain wealth. They are the exception not the rule. This is the left’s attempt to use envy as their weapon to destroy even more wealth.

The income gap proves nothing but the fact that some people have been better at creating wealth in the marketplace. The people moving into the lower income levels have many stories but they also have the opportunity to get back out of that group if the government would stay the heck out of the economy.

What the left wants to do to “fix” the gap is to reduce everyone’s ability to succeed. They want to regulate wages, business opportunity, tax the rich, re-distribute according to the left’s definition of fair. A “fair” that punishes success and rewards poor choices and the invisible hand of the market place.

Taking from the rich, increasing taxes, stealing people’s hard earned retirement, and creating envy among people is evil and needs to be rejected by every American that still believes in the American Dream. There is the greatest gap in incomes where there is the most freedom. The people that are determined to succeed become wealthy. Some people are driven more than others and depending on choices some may be left behind by not creating any personal wealth. This is why freedom is so great and why so many on the left hate it! They hate it because it rewards based on merit. A free market does not care who you vote for, what color your skin is, what heritage you come from, it only cares if you have something everyone else wants. A true free market can’t be manipulated by politics and that’s what the left hates…

Dear Politicians: Its Health Care Not Health Insurance, Stupid!

Can we reset this entire healthcare argument to focus on the real issue here? The issue is healthcare not health insurance! This is driving me nuts. We don’t go to the insurance company to diagnose our runny nose do we? We don’t ask some insurance bureaucrat to reset our lower back due to a tweak we have after lifting a box the wrong way, do we? We don’t go to the insurance office to get a prenatal exam during pregnancy, do we? NO we go to the doctor’s office.

We have been so programmed to deal with insurance companies for healthcare issues that we can’t see the forest through the trees. We should be dealing directly with our doctor to set up our appointments and make payments according to the services provided. Instead we are calling insurance companies to discuss co-pays and coverage of basic services that actually are already affordable.

Now we are on the cusp of adding government bureaucrats into the mix of insurance bureaucrats to get in the way of the relationship between us and our doctor. What are we nuts! The answer is not to empower more useless paper pushing or key banging office people to manage such a simple transaction. Just as you go to the mechanic to fix your car and then you pay the bill, you should be going to the doctor, receive your care, and pay your bill.

The biggest issue that drives the “need” for insurance is the fear of taking ill and needing critical or chronic long term care. The fear of bankruptcy is the biggest driver of insurance. Just like we fear fire and flood destroying our housing investment, in healthcare we fear a heart attack, a cancer diagnosis, or some other illness because if we don’t have insurance it can bankrupt us! What if the issue of going bankrupt from a healthcare issue could be solved? How would that change the complexion of healthcare?

From the service provider side, doctors, nurses, and hospitals fear being sued for mal-practice. They have to carry mal-practice insurance which increases costs and does little for the betterment of healthcare. Actually it has created a “lottery” mentality where any “mistake” is treated as a ticket to Easyville! No doubt there are circumstances where doctors or hospitals are negligent, but lawyers have made an industry of suing doctors for every issue just to get in front of an ignorant jury that award large paydays. Most of the time these frivolous lawsuits are settled to reduce the time and effort it takes to fight the lawsuits. The way to fix it is to have jurists that understand medicine instead of the normal jury process. A “jury of your peers” in healthcare are people that understand healthcare, and I’m not suggesting this to put the fix in for doctors, but to put people on the jury that understand the complex arguments that we just are not educated to understand. It also would reduce the emotional component of “regular” jurists that end up awarding ridiculous amounts for things that are not malpractice. As healthcare professionals know, there is inherent risk in certain procedures. If we don’t address this doctors will stop doing surgeries that have any risk and who benefits from that? What if mal-practice lawsuits were changed? How would that change the complexion of healthcare?

Eliminating insurance from preventative care, removing the fear of bankruptcy due to an illness, and mal-practice reform would be three steps that would change the face of healthcare for the better. If we did those three simple things to start we could then look at the market and see what other issues we could improve through free market principles.

The debate about healthcare should not be dominated by insurance but rather the improved delivery and management of healthcare. Oh and the biggest change of all: get politicians out of our doctor’s office!

A Disaster So Easy to See

“If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it’s free!” Ronald Reagan. In all his wisdom, Ronald Reagan would never suggest he was a man of exceptional intellect. He just used common sense. Albert Einstein never considered himself a genius; he simply was determined to use his God given gifts of intelligent exploration. We are all geniuses in our own right, but why are so many people blinded to the impending disaster of Obamacare?

Is it simply that people don’t want to believe their government could be so incompetent? Do they dis-trust the private sector economy so much that the government seems to be a better choice with something as precious as healthcare? Do people not care? Are people too busy? There are probably many reasons why people are not willing to see this tragedy ahead for our healthcare, freedom, and country, but you don’t need to be a genius to predict the results.

A simple look at history will give you all the reasons you need to be scared to death of centralized government. Especially centralized governments that say they have your best interests at their core. Ask the millions of people slaughtered by Stalin’s government. Oh wait, you can’t. Ask the millions of people killed by Pol Pot in Cambodia. Oh wait you can’t. Ask the millions of people killed by Mao Ze-Dong of China. Oh wait you can’t. And the list goes on. What do they all have in common? They all promised to “take care of the people” from some evil force or something. How could millions of people be fooled to support a government that so obviously has no capacity to take care of anything? What they also have in common is the belief that the “community” is more important than the individual.

Our US Constitution protects the individual from the government. We are an anomaly in the history of the world. The fact that our government is dependent on its power from the people is why we have enjoyed such prosperity and freedom throughout our short history. The fact that the free exchange of goods and services between groups and individuals has been free of government control is why we are successful. It is also why resources are abundant in America unlike the countries that I mentioned above, and the countries that have socialism ( a system that claims to be “fair” to everyone equally) as their government structure, like Cuba.

If we follow the logic of Obamacare, does it look like a system that would be more comfortable in a communist/socialist country? Or in America where we have always believed in the free exchange of goods, services, and ideas between individuals?

Obamacare is about controlling cost, services, access, pricing, and delivery of healthcare. If a program is so good for the people it is supposed to serve, why does the government have to force people to join? Why is the government forcing doctors and hospitals to accept their payment schedules? Why is the government threatening people with fines and liens if this is supposed to be a system that helps the people? Things that are designed to help people don’t need to force people under penalty of law to comply.

A truly effective healthcare system relies on the choices of individuals to utilize the services they believe are best for them. An effective healthcare system starts with doctors and hospitals creating services at a price people need and can afford. Healthcare is no different than shopping around for any other product or service we need. The cost of healthcare should be driven by what people can and are willing to pay without third party assistance. Third party payers are what have been driving up healthcare costs over the years. Costly and tightly controlled Medical Schools, the threat of mal-practice lawsuits, regulations that impede the free exchange of services have all played a role in driving up costs. And in every instance it is either government regulation or third party payers that are impacting costs negatively.

Doctors should get paid fairly for their services; hospitals should operate under their own business models, because in the end they need patients to pay their bills. The healthcare industry like every other industry needs to compete for the individuals business. Then and only then will prices reflect the true value of the service. We need more doctors and hospitals and fewer government programs, IRS agents, and laws that utilize force and coercion.

If we lose sight of the individual over the community, the individual becomes expendable. Group think is responsible for millions upon millions of tragic horror stories throughout history. Don’t believe it can’t happen in America because it will. When demand increases, supply is short, lines are long and doctors are few, who do you want determining whether or not you receive medical treatment, you or some government agent? Under Obamacare you will be expendable and that will be a tragedy.

If healthcare is given the freedom to operate in a free market, demand will level, supply will be abundant, lines will be non-existent, and you and only you will decide what healthcare services you need and want. We have a choice and the choice is clear. Even Albert Einstein and Ronald Regan could make this choice. It doesn’t take a genius…

Single Payer Will Never Work…

We are now hearing the true intentions of Obamacare as a “single payer” system. What that really means is the government becomes the only “insurer” of healthcare. Ultimately the government becomes a monopoly for approval of services provided, and the payment for those services to medical professionals which are doctors and hospitals.

The reason it can’t work is basic economics. Supply and demand will create two systems: one will be for people that can’t afford to pay out of pocket, and those that are willing to pay out of pocket. I will describe the two systems and you tell me which one is likely to prevail.

Single Payer: Under this system the government becomes the insurer and will decide how much the premium will cost, what health services it will cover, and how much it will pay the provider (doctor/hospital) for the service. There is no competition to the government so premiums will continue to rise whether it is through individuals being forced to pay more or some kind of increased tax to subsidize individuals. The individual will only be able to get healthcare that is covered. This is where the death panels come in. In order to contain skyrocketing costs because now everyone thinks healthcare is “free” (demand increases to unsustainable levels), hip replacements for example, will be subject to a government bureaucrat’s approval. If you are 80 years old in marginal health, do you think the replacement will be approved? Long lines, doctor shortages, and poor care will be the results of this system. Doctors and hospitals will create a separate system in order to make more money.

Free Market Care: This system will develop because of the inefficiency, corruption; wait times, lack of doctors and hospitals, and fundamental collapse of the government single payer system. Doctors and hospitals will limit the care they provide to the government system or completely drop out of the single payer system, and start an all cash system. This system will work on all of the free market system principles and thrive. People that can afford to pay will pay out of pocket. They will get excellent care, short wait times, and will get any service based on their willingness to pay. Doctors and hospitals will charge what the market, (people willing to pay a price) keeping them incentivized to provide the service. This is the same principle every business works under in a free market system. This is the system we should be embracing now but we have too many people that think the government is a good alternative, especially leftists.

There will be some attempts by the government to make laws that force doctors to provide service to their patients, and laws that make it illegal to set up private practices, but this will create a revolution of types and most likely will be termed slavery, therefore unconstitutional.

“Single Payer” is code for government controlled, socialist healthcare. The healthcare system can’t sustain itself with the government in control. It will destroy itself under the weight of incompetence. We already have every entitlement the federal government controls now on a path to bankruptcy. Taking on healthcare will exponentially reduce the time it takes to get there…

Income Inequality Morally Wrong?

In President Obama’s latest speech, he promised to place all of his efforts on building, supporting, growing, helping, whatever, the “middle class.” The problem is that this president doesn’t understand how the “middle class” becomes a middle class. A quick side note: we fought to end a class system so I like to call it the “opportunity class.” But that aside, let’s look at why we in the US have more people in a position to live a comfortable life.

We are the only nation in the world that was founded on economic freedom. Individuals that created things, provided services, and followed their dreams and desires were able to interact with others without being encumbered by government. Throughout most of our early history we had what was often referred to as “Laissez Faire” economic policy. Basically, people could trade and barter between each other to create wealth. This economic freedom is the reason so many Americans had the opportunity to live a productive life rather than a life of subsistence as was, and still is, the way of most of the rest of the world.

Economic freedom within the rule of law is the reason we have an opportunity class. The people that created stuff needed people to work for them. The people working for them learned trades and craft and often went out and started something of their own to create more wealth. Millions of economic transactions between people without the meddling of government allowed for wealth to be created and therefore an opportunity class formed. It is not a stagnant class of people. People move in and out of the opportunity class.

Some people move to an ownership opportunity and amass wealth that enables them to live an even more comfortable existence often supporting charities and people who are less fortunate. Other people of the opportunity class squander their wealth and have to start over because of bad choices or circumstances. But the main point is people working in this free environment have an incentive to keep trying in order to move up or stay put.

When this president talks about a “middle class” what he sees is a class of people that are victims of circumstance. They take jobs and their opportunity is determined by some “rich capitalist.” He comes from a school that subscribes to people needing the help of government to succeed. Without the government to take the wealth created by others, these people would starve or remain in poverty. This system and this president don’t believe in the people to take care of themselves even though it is the reason we are so wealthy. So when he talks about growing the middle what he means is that by taking from the opportunity class is the only way to make it fair. To this president re-distributing income is how you grow the middle and punish those greedy capitalists. That is the exact formula for destroying opportunity for the most people.

It is why we continue after 5 years of this policy to see poverty rise and opportunity diminish. So the question to this president is how is income equality fair? Why keep growing government when what we need is more economic freedom? Government is a necessary evil. The people in government are not necessarily evil, but the function of government always ends up spreading evil. Poverty, ignorance, hunger, homelessness are the result of government intrusion in our economy. Making everyone equal in poverty is immoral…

Building the Economy “from the middle out”?

If you are confused by the title of this post, don’t feel bad, you should be. It is the most recent statement on economic policy by President Obama. A President that has next to nil experience in the private economy of the United States, not even a lemonade stand. He is an agitator, and a very good one. He agitates many Americans with statements like this.

Let’s look at and analyze the suggestion of “building the economy from the middle out, not the top down.” If you look at this statement from a purely political perspective, he is attempting to divide Americans by class and agitate people to blame the “top.” The top being the “rich”, the rich being the people that create the jobs. This president has no problem with the rich that donate to his campaign, and the rich people he gives our tax dollars to for businesses he supports, like solar companies, but the rest of the “rich” he despises. The people that actually create jobs from the “top down.”

“Top down” job creation is actually not top down; it is from “nothing to something” job creation. It is people that take an idea and put it into action which attracts customers to purchase that idea, and then it grows, and the person that started from nothing has something that they need help to keep growing. Whew! Did you follow that? That is where the person that took “nothing to something” now hires people and like magic you have job creation. These people are to be celebrated, not demonized or ignored as the president wants to do in his newest transformation as a job creator from “the middle out.” Creating jobs from the middle out?

How do you create a job from the middle out? In the real world the only way that happens is that a worker leaves the current company they work at and start their own company. If the person from the “middle class” steps from that job to take the risk of opening a business, they have now become the “top down.” They are the owner, entrepreneur, CEO, sole proprietor, etc…, and no longer are in the middle. Starting a business puts you at the top. That’s how I see it and how any sound business person would interpret the President’s message of “middle out”. But we would be wrong!

What the president is suggesting is that we need to grow the “middle” without the “middle” stepping out and creating new companies. He is saying that the government must “invest” (tax dollar confiscation from the “top”) to add people in the “middle” without the “top” creating new jobs. The only way you can do that is to transfer wealth from some other source. There are two choices: the taxpayer and the “top.” Both of these choices creates nothing new and destroys the wealth creation you already have. The pie doesn’t grow it just gets sliced up in a different configuration. The pie actually gets smaller because the “top” leaves and finds a better country to do business or just stops doing business because they are punished for their success.

This is economics 101 and a class the President obviously failed or skipped to hang out with his fellow agitators at Harvard. Actually it is part of the left, liberal, social democratic plan to destroy the wealth of this nation and put government in control of a failing economy. It is all about power, envy, and contempt for our capitalist, constitutional republic. It is because the left despises freedom, free markets, and limited government intrusion in our lives.

This President is an economic genius for the political philosophy he embraces. He is a failure to the people that love and believe in this country. His term can’t end fast enough. I just hope our economy can absorb another three years of this president’s attempt to destroy it…

Determination Should be Unleashed & Protected

The economy and the markets have shown exceptional resilience in the headwinds of an out of control spending tornado that is Washington DC and the federal government. Imagine if we had an administration in Washington that wanted the economy to thrive? We would be in the greatest economic recovery in history right now.

Why is it that we continue to limp along instead of steam rolling down the economic highway? Burdensome regulations and an expanding amount of money being drained from productive uses. The current administration has a strong belief in the “goodness” of government and sees its primary role as wealth distribution. The evidence is in the numbers. Welfare programs have exploded, taxes have been raised on the most productive in our society, and the new healthcare law is not about health but rather an effort to make healthcare a right so that everyone gets the same fair but poor care from providers. This government believes our problems are a result of free markets instead of understanding free markets are the solution.

Small and big business alike are managing to squeeze out more productivity from their current operations even with all of this effort to undermine them. So I come back to the point that if we reduced our government footprint and let business and individuals decide where to spend their own money, our economy would be on fire!!

This country is blessed with so many people that are determined to succeed. Most of us have been brought up to work hard and take care of ourselves and our families. If we have a little extra we show our compassion through donations. But we have a generation that has been exposed to the idea that fairness is more important than self-determination and free markets. They have been told that community is more important than individual freedom. They have been told government = community. That equation is dangerous and false. Communities thrive when individuals are free to decide their own fate. Government is not a community it is a necessary evil. Everything government does has unintended and often bad consequences to our individual liberty and economic viability.

We still have a generation that is determined to protect individual rights but I am afraid that the next generations are being wooed to place that determination in government mandates. We must teach individual determination and reject government as a community if we hope to survive as the greatest Nation on earth… We owe that to our posterity…

It’s Time To Call Stupid, Stupid!

The economy has been stagnant for the last 3 years and the excuse continues to be that we are still digging out of an economic collapse rivaling the great depression. We believe that excuse? The reality is the economic collapse was caused by government interference. The government forced lenders to reduce or remove income requirements that people actually have the means to pay back the mortgages they agreed to. In order to convince the private sector to go along with this scheme to increase home ownership at any cost, the federal government guaranteed these loans so that there was no risk to the private institutions. The federal government is the root cause of this market meltdown.

The domino effect of these federal mandates to loan money to anyone and everyone impacted the overall economy, and sent the fragile auto industry into crisis. The economic crisis was compounding the fact that the auto industry had embarked on union contracts that were unsustainable. Add to that the years of regulations that have added costs to the production of cars by the federal government, and you have a cost model to produce a product that was sure to collapse. Instead of letting the companies go through bankruptcy, which has always proven to be the best method of restructuring, the federal government stepped in to take over GM and Chrysler. The federal government took tax payer dollars, saved the unions, and fired nonunion workers. Even though they say this was a “success”, it has hampered the auto industries comeback. Ford who refused the bailout is actually the healthiest car company today. The taxpayers are going to lose billions of dollars once the final tally is counted.

Obamacare is mandating insurance coverage, forcing doctors to take ridiculously low fees to see government funded patients (Medicare), increasing taxes on medical devices and innovative companies trying to make the industry more productive, forcing patients to tell the IRS about their personal healthcare matters, and people are surprised that the cost of healthcare is rising and the quality is going to be impacted as well. What do stupid people think will happen?

The EPA and the president stop the energy production of fossil fuels including the Keystone pipeline, put tax payer money into sustainable energy companies whose business models are unsustainable, and people wonder why gas prices average $3.50 a gallon. What do stupid people think about this?

The intrusion of the federal government into our markets and lives is destroying the wealth and health of this country and we applaud this president for “caring” about the “common guy.” Tax the rich because they make so much anyway!! It doesn’t matter that the people that are wealthy have created most of the jobs in this country, or the fact that rewards improve the likelihood people will risk their money to start a business, but we are too stupid to figure this out. Stupid people want to punish the people that create jobs as companies announce layoffs. What did the stupid people expect?

The federal government has not presented the country with a budget for 3 years. We accept it and chalk it up to politics. Chalk it up to people too stupid to hold their government accountable.

If we don’t take back our educational institutions from the incompetent people in charge, we are doomed forever. Our kids are not taught about our founding, constitution, the power of capitalism and free markets or how to think analytically, and we wonder why people are stupid enough to vote for more of this policy chaos?

  Stupid is what stupid does…

Taking Credit for America’s Engine?

The only reason we have any infrastructure in this country is because of the American business man and woman. There is no credit that can be given to the government for the creativity and ingenuity it takes to start, implement, maintain, and grow a successful business. 

How and why do roads and bridges get built? First the why. In most communities across the nation roads and bridges are supported by business people in the community that believe if we build the bridge it will add value to the community from an economic standpoint. Whether it is a local development where developers build the roads and bridges or a regional project to bring a mall to the area, businessman and woman begin the efforts. If we left infrastructure up to the people in government we would still be rowing across the Hudson and Mississippi Rivers. Bureaucrats don’t come up with the ideas, the private sector does. Bureaucrats simply slow down the process.

The how? Roads and bridges are designed in most part by private engineering businesses through contracts awarded by the government. The money used to build the bridges is tax dollars created in the private sector by the businesses that pay taxes. The government again is a middle man often slowing down or impeding the process. So without the taxpayer, ideas from the private sector and the blood sweat and tears of the private sector nothing gets done.

Teachers, firefighters, police, although important are not the reason for private business success. If  any of these services were taken away, the private sector could easily fill in and create a system that could replace the current one. That is my point, we the private citizen are responsible for creating and funding the services we need to support the communities we build. To suggest there is some central brain in the government is ludicrous. It is an oxymoron.

The “system that enables success” is the US Constitution which is designed to LIMIT the government’s role so we can prosper. Our founders knew that the government was an inherent “evil” that needed to be kept small in order to ensure freedom and prosperity for all Americans.

So as the president attempts to take credit where no credit is due, I suggest you analyze the reason he feels that way and take that conclusion right to the ballot box.

This president has no idea how America works and why it is great. It has nothing to do with the creativity of government. It has everything to do with the creativity of the private sector. Without the private sector there is no prosperity only misery. This president has never bought into the American Dream because he spent so little time getting to know it. Now he is trying to destroy the American Dream we all know and love and so many have died to protect. Maybe it’s time to show him the door so he can get a firsthand experience of living in the private sector.

Unfortunately, the government benefits he will receive when he leaves office will insulate him from the need to participate in a real economy and job. That’s good news for the president, after all it’s hard to participate and succeed at something you have no knowledge of in the first place…

Definitions that Deceive…

The fight for a free and prosperous nation means understanding the words and meanings used to secure your vote. It is also important to look at the results and consequences of implementing policies that are often sold using deceptive labels.

“Community” is the term often used by the left as a tool to support big government. “We are stronger together than we are separate” is one of the many variations of the mantra they use to equate a good quality with a big government fix. Communities can be a source of good but only in the sense that the community is organically created and not contrived. For example, a church community is a community made up of people voluntarily coming together to worship and support people of need through the programs they create- like donating time, food, and shelter in a crisis.

The “global community” on the other hand is a very dangerous community to accept or become a part of. This fictitious community is used to garner good feeling about friendliness and holding hands and common causes we share. The most common use of “global community” is the extreme environmentalist groups that are really a conglomerate of groups that hate capitalism and freedom. The major problem with this “community” is there are no mutual common goals any of us share. We may think the world wants clean air and water for example but all you have to do is visit China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, and you understand this is not true. Most non capitalist countries are the most egregious polluters in the world. The governments that are the most dictorial and not democratic are the biggest polluters in the world, and we are lead to believe we all share a common future. We don’t. So when people try to sell an idea by playing to your sense of “global community” there is no such community. As a famous politician once said, “all politics is local.” This same concept should be applied to “communities” as well.

Any government supported “community’ is compulsory and is a danger to our freedom and prosperity. The healthcare debacle that was just deemed constitutional is being argued that it is good for Americans because it takes care of the poor, minority, uninsured, place the group here “community.” The problem is it destroys the individual. Government “communities” impose their will, rules and regulations on every individual, and we can’t escape the government community. So in reality it is not a community but a prison.

“Fairness” is another term often leveraged by the big government types to implement more government agencies to decide what is fair for everyone. So, what is fair for everyone? Should we all make the same amount of money no matter what our job is? What is a fair wage? Is it fair that some people live in a bigger home? Own a boat? Own a business? What is a fair? And most important who decides?

“The “rich” should be made to pay their fair share.” What is the fair share? Who decides what is rich? Is $30K, $50K, $75K, $100K, etc… rich? For someone making minimum wage $75K may seem rich but who are they to decide? You see it all becomes arbitrary and someone must decide the rules. Is that the government “community”? Is it fair to tax a man more because he works harder and becomes more successful? If we continue to tax success will we get more or less of it?

It can all seem fair as long as you are not targeted by the “fairness community.” That is why the constitution, capitalism, and the free markets are so effective. The constitution protects the individual from oppressive government. Capitalism rewards individuals who work hard and success is subject to the laws of the market. The market is colorblind, gender blind, sexuality blind, and has no interest in your title, resume, or past accomplishments. It is a mechanism that holds the individual or company accountable to their customers every day. There is no government bureaucrat picking winners and losers based on politics. Hard work, merit, reputation, and quality drive success. You can’t legislate success no matter how much you want to help others. Individuals must choose to be successful, communities can’t impose it.

Community and fairness can sound really good but they don’t work in the context of government. What is so hard to understand?     

What is Obama’s Business Record?

A new ad is about to be released of a failed steel mill in Kansas MO that Bain Capital took over in 1993. Bain tried to turn it around and after 8 years of effort the steel company went bankrupt. First of all, companies go bankrupt in a free market economy. Second, the fact that people lost jobs is something we need more of in the federal sector. If the department of energy has failed in its mission to make us energy independent then the federal bureaucrats need to lose their jobs just like the people in the steel mill did.

The circumstances around the steel mill need to be vetted to determine if the unions had anything to do with the failure. Was the factory outdated and being beaten in the market by new plants and technology? What were some of the financial legacy costs? These are a few of the business questions that need to be addressed. I would like to hear the President’s assessment of the failure?

That brings me to the main point: What is the president’s experience in the private/business sector? Based on his record so far he has shown no propensity for understanding basic business fundamentals. He is strictly a political animal. He has never held what most Americans would consider a real job. So when he criticizes Mitt Romney and his extensive business experience I think he needs to give us his recommendation for what he would have done beside go into debt and print more money.

This is an easy argument for Mitt if he plays offense. My answer to this would be simply; in the private sector sometimes businesses fail even with the best of efforts. I would like to hear the president’s ideas for helping businesses to succeed so we can start creating jobs again in this country. So far the president and his party have failed to even provide the most basic framework, a budget, to assess how to improve the climate for business to start thriving again. He has not even a basic understanding of how to assess and implement the most basic reforms for improvement.

This president is a failure with no hope of ever grasping the issues necessary to turn around our private economy…

Can We Agree on Freedom?

Democrats and Republicans are more polarized than ever. I sometimes think it is simply, if I say black, you say white. We are no longer thinking through the results of who we elect. I have a question for all Americans of every political stripe: Is freedom still important to you?

If the answer is yes as I expect, we have our first point of agreement.

Individual freedom requires individual accountability, and the willingness to allow for failure as well as success. Can we agree that people are better off when they are accountable for their own actions including getting and education that results in a job? Can we agree that if an individual chooses not to work that the result should be they are not rewarded for not working? Can we agree that if an individual succeeds that we should celebrate that success and not punish them by limiting their ability to create even more success?

Freedom includes the opportunity for individuals to conduct business between each other with limited action by the government. The government action is in the law. The law is the guideline but should definitely play only one role: make the playing field level. Not the outcomes but the opportunity. Can we agree that when business invests in people and capital that they should be able to decide who they hire and how much they pay them? Can we agree that it is in businesses best interest to pay people the wage that gets them the best people? Can we agree that the market is the best mechanism to control businesses behavior? If a business is polluting or pillaging the consumer, the consumer will punish the business by going to a competitor. The more government inflicts its “solutions” the less free a market becomes? Can we agree that when businesses thrive and hire people it is good for everyone even if the owner (s) get rich?

Can we agree that when individuals go to work every day, the paycheck they earn is theirs? Can we agree that no American has a right to someone else’s private property? Can we agree that private property is a good thing that supports individual freedom?

Can we agree that politicians work for the people? Can we agree that free speech and religious freedom are fundamental to our individual freedom and we need politicians that support and defend the constitution? Can we agree freedom is protected by having a military that is ready to defend it from foreign enemies?

Can we agree that churches and private charities should be free to take care of the poor and that they are much better at it than the government? Can we agree that giving people a choice of where they go to school is a choice that will result in more freedom of opportunity?

Can we agree that the bigger the government gets the less freedom we have as individuals?

Capitalism is Compassionate…

The most compassionate nation in the world is the United States of America. We are not compassionate because we have special DNA or are some special form of human species, we are compassionate because of capitalism. Capitalism has given us the gift of excess goods, services, and resources that we share with the rest of the world.

At the heart of capitalism is the ability of individuals to produce and create wealth for their own personal use and their family. As human beings, we first must take care of ourselves by producing food, clothes, and shelter. It is the nature of survival that is first and foremost in the human condition. In most economies prior to the capitalist system of the United States, goods and services were assumed to be owned by some ruling class. Production was stifled because the people producing wealth for others is much harder to manage than a system that allows for individuals to keep what they produce for themselves.

Capitalism rewards the hard work of individuals and is destroyed by the policies of taxation or confiscation without due compensation. It is a simple premise that is rooted in human nature. As we create our own wealth beyond the basic survival needs, we create additional wealth that allows us to become more compassionate. Whether that is on the personal scale of donating food to the local food pantry or the on the corporate scale of creating foundations that help other nations climb out of poverty, it can only happen when we create excess wealth. Excess wealth only happens in a capitalist economic system.

There are people and companies that abuse the system but on the whole most people and companies in the United States are a great example of how capitalism is the only system that works is a free society. As the government tries to regulate business and the capitalist system they impede freedom, freedom of individuals, and freedom of markets to conduct business. This limits wealth, reduces freedom, and smothers compassion.

So as you listen to all of the political posturing in 2012, remember capitalism is the most compassionate economic system in the world. It produces both winners and losers. The losers often come back into the market to become winners. But that can only happen when the government keeps its hands out of the arena. Any business or business person breaking the law should be punished. But any business or business person that fails in the market must be allowed to fail and not bailed out by the government.

If the government continues to distort the market capitalism is dead. Once capitalism is dead so is wealth and compassion. It’s that simple…

Government Intrusion Making us Sick…

Pfizer recently announced reducing its budget for the research and development of new life saving drugs by a whopping $2 billion dollars. Even if the money and jobs doesn’t concern you because you hate big “Pharma”, evil corporate executives, and capitalism in general, the new drugs that may have been developed to save your life one day are on life support.


Capitalism is simple; investment is made when rewards can be realized. The rewards are profits that can be used to pay people to develop more products to make more profits. The outcome is jobs, investment, charity, and overall economic growth. The reason the company has made this decision is based on the reality of the FDA’s over bearing regulations that will most likely make any of these investments into new drugs a total waste of time. The company does not believe any drugs in the future will be approved by the FDA. So the investment being made is unlikely to be realized. In the real world what that means is an assault on our system; capitalism.

Obama talks about innovation and corporate “responsibility” as he enters campaign mode, but what he has created behind the scenes is a bureaucratic nightmare. Obama talks about a “partnership” between the private sector and government. There is no such thing. The only responsibility of the government is to insure commerce moves between the states in a regular fashion. The federal bureaucracy is out of control and now trying to regulate us to prosperity. You can’t regulate the economic prosperity by being the gate keeper of new drugs into the market place. The process to get drugs to market has become so burdensome that it is no longer worth it to make those drugs. That is what the government has done as a “partner”.

The rule of law needs to be enforced in a free market place. That is the role of government. It is not the role of the federal government to micro manage as a “partner” in the private sector. That is a complete distortion of the free market economy. This president has NEVER created a job in the private sector. He has never worked in an industry that had to innovate and develop a product to survive. He is completely ignorant of the free market and is creating an atmosphere that is stifling American ingenuity. Why do you think companies are moving offshore? It is not simply lower wages; it is because they are looking for places that still respect the free market.

Companies do not exist for the sake of creating jobs and investing in communities although that is the result of successful companies. Companies exist to make a profit. If they can’t make a profit here in America they will go where they need to or go out of business. The government’s role is to stay out of the way unless laws are broken in the process. Less regulation and intrusion will fuel economic prosperity.

Pfizer is just the beginning and the effects will be felt for years to come if we don’t reign in this out of control federal bureaucracy. The future drugs that may have prevented or cured common diseases of today have been stopped by the FDA. One day we will look back and wonder why our mortality rate has rescinded. This administration and philosophy is making America sick…

Honoring the Chinese Dictator Hu?

Does anyone really believe we should honor anything about the brutal communist dictatorship called China? The Chinese people are brutally subdued into compliance with government laws that deny free speech, free markets, and basic liberty. To treat as an honored dignitary, the leader of the Chinese communist party is a slap in the face to everything we stand for as a people.


The Chinese economy is a house of cards because it is built on deceit and lies. The only thing propping it up are greedy corporations looking for cheap labor to exploit. Corporate officers turn their heads on the atrocities but their heads should truly be bowed in shame. By investing in China without human rights reform is to reward evil. The Chinese government is evil.

Free market economists argue by investing in a country’s economy we lift up the lives in those economies. For some of the lucky few that may be correct, and there is probably an argument that you plant the seeds of freedom, but how long do you allow complete oppression of a people before demanding reform from that government?

It does not surprise me that Obama is the first president to hold a State Dinner for the Chinese. I would speculate that he is envious of the Chinese leader’s ability to avoid the messy process of a representative republic governed by a constitution. How easy it would be if one man or administration could decide what was best for all. How much more we could do if we would all just work together for the good of the collective state. If we could just shut up the critics at will, our problems could be solved. The government is so much more effective at determining what is good for its citizens. That is the left in a nutshell.

Obama is honoring Hu because he envies Hu. The left would much rather live in a world they control than all of this “We the People…” stuff. The food we eat, the cars we drive, the amount of electricity we use, the size of our house, the education we receive, the medical care we have access to, would all be so much better if we had an all empowered government to watch over us. We wouldn’t have to worry about climbing the corporate ladder or providing for our future. All of that would be handed to us and decided by government officials. The paradise we are depriving ourselves is only a constitution away.

There isn’t an American citizen stupid enough to want to trade their US citizenship to become a Chinese citizen. The Chinese are using capitalism to fund a power structure so they can expand their communism when necessary in the future. We are funding their plans to one day dominate the global economy. We are funding the communist government’s destruction of human decency and freedom. We are funding the most polluting country in the world. We are funding child labor and labor camps. We are funding our greatest enemy both physically and philosophically. The Chinese people deserve better from the United States of America. The Chinese people deserve an ally in the fight for freedom not an adversary that is funding their greatest oppressor.

Shame on us and shame on Obama…

The Financial Sky is Falling…

Just like Chicken Little, the political class, bankers and investors are warning that fiscal responsibility will destroy our economy and send us into political chaos. We can’t maintain the borrowing ceiling or the government will default on our debt these people warn. We will have to bail out the municipal and state bond holders or the result will be a downgrade of the “full faith and credit of the United States” shout the Chicken Little’s to the uninformed minions.

The reality is there are many avenues to fend off bankruptsy beside more borrowing and spending. The simple fact is that the representatives of this country have chosen to expand government beyond sustainability. The solution is to cut the federal, state and local budgets to the level tax payers are willing to support.

Federal state and local municipalities need to end all union membership. Civil service is already protected by law and does not need a third party to represent them. The unions are simply a political tool used to increase taxes and spending to fund the employees in the government and their union coffers. The pensions and healthcare benefits need to be indexed to the private sector. The pay of beauracrats need to be tied to private sector wages and the police and fire fighters need to be scaled to a schedule similar to the federal wage system and the expectation of wage growth needs to be known so anyone entering these professions understand there is ultimately a cap on wages when a certain level is reached.

Every federal agency needs to be targeted for cuts of 40% over the next 5 years. The military and VA should be excluded but still need reform. We need to help the VA reflect the true values of our nation. It is one of the few constitutional responsibilities of the federal government, and we have failed miserably in our treatment of Veterans.

We give away our tax dollars to foreign nations, we encourage dependence, we subsidize failing and politically connected corporations, and pour billions into a failed education bureaucracy which all need to be slashed. There is so much waste fraud and abuse at the federal level and 40% may not be enough but it’s a start.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid all need to be reformed. We need to start with the SS accounts being out of bounds for our politicians. We need to transition the money leaving our pay checks and place them in accounts with our names on them. A percentage of the SS tax will need to support current retirees but each year more and more will go into our own accounts and the ponzi scheme will become history. Medicare needs to be market driven just like the rest of our healthcare needs a market based overhaul. Medicaid needs a complete overhaul and transitioned into a charitably supported non profit model.

By focusing and eliminating the waste, fraud, and abuse, the benefits that go to non citizens, foreign countries, and bloated corporations we can bring our financial house in order. By reducing government on all levels with clearly defined plans the market can plan for and understand, they will react to and reward this move to fiscal responsibility. The Chicken Little’s are the people making money off of our government tax dollars. Many of these Chicken Little’s reside and hide under a guise of free market private sector organizations but they have been siphoning off the treasure of the United States by electing officials and garnering political favor. They are the big corporations that have made bad choices and must be allowed to fail.

If the market and the people see a true move toward fiscal responsibility and constitutional government the sky will not fall, it will shine bright with hope. Hope that we have finally turned a corner to return the opportunity to all Americans to achieve the American Dream…. On their own without government interference…

Net Neutrality Isn’t Neutral at All…

People are being hoodwinked into thinking that the government getting involved regulating the internet is a good thing. Who could be so gullible? People that read headlines instead of analyzing what the consequences will be once government gets involved; less access, more expense, and intrusion into the free market and best frontier for small businesses to compete. That’s right, the same people the advocates are pretending to protect (the small business and individual) is the same person that will be crushed by the FCC. The law of unintended consequences will rear its ugly head.

The reason people are concerned stems from concerns of bandwidth usage by content providers like Netflix. This type of content gobbles up bandwidth and impacts the performance of ISP’s, and has forced ISP’s to consider charging their customers more for this bandwidth service or not offering these services at all. Either choice for the ISP will be an issue for their business. But to have the federal government get involved is the wrong answer.

There is a red herring argument as well being used that large companies will dominate and control the information people seek on the internet. For example, large ISP’s could restrict other ISP’s services or access to them. Here’s the rub; they haven’t so far because they know if they do customers will flee to another provider. The market has worked and all of these people using the class warfare and evil corporation arguments are speculating and underestimating the power of the market to control itself. The same people that don’t think individuals can take care of themselves are the same people pushing net neutrality. All of the most liberal organizations are supporting this hand over of control from private companies to the FCC to our peril.

What if all the ISP’s and large players on the web got together and decided to block usage of one particular service? That is already protected under monopoly laws. We have seen a similar fight in the browser markets already. We have seen no evidence to date that we need the FCC getting involved. The free market will reward and punish the behavior it (the market/me and you) deem inappropriate.

People that are supporting the government’s intrusion say it is not “fair” for them to pay more for higher usage. And the providers of this content like Netflix say it is not “fair” that they will not have access to these ISP customers. It sounds like a perfect opportunity for another player in the market to compete. Asking the federal government to “solve” a market issue is dangerous, and is a great opportunity for the camel’s nose (FCC) to get under the tent.

The government at every level, local, state, and federal is trying to get its nose into the pockets of every aspect of the internet. The reason the internet has boomed is because there is little current regulation. The market has prevailed to keep entry costs low and competition fierce. That will change with net “neutrality”. Besides ISP’s either raising prices on everyone or getting out of the market, the regulation of content and taxation of individual websites and Blogs is high on the FCC’s priority list.

The federal government is also trying to introduce a version of the “Fairness Doctrine” on news outlets they don’t like; like everything conservative. Conservative news outlets and Blogs have exploded in popularity on the web because the market has chosen to subscribe, read, and listen to these outlets. The left hates the fact they can’t compete in the arena of ideas, and the only way to “compete” is to limit your access or shut down the outlets by forcing these outlets to provide an opposing view to their views. Huh! There are a billion opposing views on the internet and to force a conservative or liberal outlet to give their competitor a voice is already happening.

It is a guise to ruin the most popular networks like the “evil” Fox News, Drudge, and so many others that have outlets on the web... It made for really bad radio until Ronald Reagan ended it, and it will crush free speech on the web if the feds get their way with net “neutrality.”

There is nothing neutral about this really bad idea. Congress has defeated the bill but the FCC is going to move forward without authority. This is lawlessness by the FCC to move forward without the vote from congress. These unelected bureaucrats are changing rules against the will of the people. I can’t believe most thinking Americans can support this effort.

When people see the facts my guess is the will not…

Without the “Rich” Who Pays?

This endless assault on the rich is pure ignorance. The rich aren’t selfish or greedy or taking anything from you; most rich are paying their share and more. Most of the people that complain about the rich are frustrated under-achievers that think the world would be better off if we all suffered the same together in poverty.

Most rich people get that way because of a brilliant idea, the willingness to risk, and a lot of sweat and tears. Rich people create the jobs most Americans usually work at. Name me a person that has created a job by sitting around and complaining about the rich? Bill gates created tens of thousands of jobs as well as countless millionaires that toiled in the beginning in humble surroundings for very little pay. Sam Walton created tens of thousands of jobs and countless millionaires by changing the way retail works. And despite the BS you hear about Wal-Mart putting small business out of work, the evidence is exactly the opposite. Wal-Mart puts lousy monopolistic businesses out of business that only survived because there was no competition. Today thousands of businesses flock to shopping centers where Wal-Mart is the anchor.

The money that pays for the government programs comes from the very people under assault. Maybe we should be thanking the rich instead? What a novel concept; gratitude! The definition of rich for the loudest complainers is “anyone making more than THEY think should be ENOUGH to live on”. I have news for them; it’s their money to keep, not the governments. If you want more go and work more. Come up with an idea people are willing to pay for. Risk everything to start your own business and then decide if you are rich after you have invested the time, energy, and resources to succeed.

Gimme, gimme, gimme; instead maybe it’s time to return to the concept of earning your own keep. Maybe the critics can find an idea rather than criticizing the people that make their lives more comfortable. Maybe it’s time to return to the principles outlined in our constitution; life, liberty, and the freedom to PURSUE happiness…