Posts

Showing posts from January, 2013

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR MCDONNELL'S ROAD FUNDING PROPOSAL

  Here is an op-ed that was published today in The Virginia Gazette, a Tribune Paper. I should note that Gov. McDonnell is a good governor and gets national attention for being so. I've known  him for 20+ years, but I cannot simply support policy reflexively. I want to support his initiatives, but I have been on the opposing side of the issues mentioned up front in this op-ed and now on the new tax plan. JAMES CITY COUNTY VIRGINIA: Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposal to fund roads with increased sales tax while canceling the gas tax is as incomprehensible as previous proposals. The first proposal — to sell the ABC operations for a fraction of their value for incremental road funding, while losing $47 million annually from the general fund — was canceled when the true economics were revealed. The second proposal — to sell our crown jewel ports to such as Goldman-Sachs — was dropped, partly because of arguments that the ports would end up in foreign hands as Gol

DEBT-TO-GDP -- STILL REPORTED MISLEADINGLY

ON NATIONAL DEBT-TO-GDP: After I, and a couple others, beat the drums for identifying all of the national debt correctly, even those in the media who finally got it right have slipped backwards. $16.4 trillion of debt and $15 trillion GDP is ~109% Debt-to-GDP. Charles Krauthammer, whom I respect immensely, reported it as ~70% a while ago and didn't respond to my e-mail correction. Today, a Fox News reporter quoted 73%. WHY? Government number crunchers/managers have bought into the Keynesian nonsense that debt owe to ourselves is not real debt. So, the $5+ trillion owed to Social Security trust fund isn't debt at all, yet it is borrowed from our payments. As I wrote in a blog earlier, the government has no intentions to pay that back from general funds. This now takes on very special signficance since Obama threatens to not pay social security retirement if he doesn't get his demands on the debt ceiling. I invite you to go to my blog and enter into the search block, top le

OBAMA -- DEBT CEILING 2006 VS. 2013

OBAMA' POSITION ON DEBT AND THE CEILING HAS CHANGED SINCE 2006 US Senator, Barack Obama in a speech on the Senate floor March 16, 2006 Mr. President, I rise today to talk about America's debt problem. The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government can't pay its own bills. It's a sign that we now depend on financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal policies. Over the past 5 years, our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is a “trillion” with a “t.” That is money that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers. And, over the next 5 years, between now and 2011, the President's budget will increase the debt by almost another $3.5 trillion. Numbers that large are sometimes hard to understand. Some people m

SSI -- FEEDERS ON THE FEDERAL TREASURY --a true experience

SSI – FEDERAL TREASURY TROUGH FEEDERS – MY EXPERIENCE For many years I thought about not signing up for Social Security Retirement. I was told I was being foolish and worse, and maybe I was. Some aspects of life changed, including health. Frankly, maybe I wised up a bit also as I thought more carefully about Social Security -- who benefits and who pays. I decided to sign up. When I went to the SS office, I got a real lesson. What I witnessed was astounding -- disturbing. In my assessment it was a sign of the degradation of American society – a vivid example of the dependent class that has grown to excessive numbers. What I witnessed was the best example yet of how the safety net for the needy and helpless few has become overburdened by the irresponsible and greedy many. It is the sign of the times and it's gotten much worse under President Obama. Frankly, this group is now one of his assured voter blocs for Democrats. There were 28 of us in the room to sign up.

GUN CONTROL -- EXECUTIVE ORDER

OBAMA MAY ISSUE AN EXECUTIVE ORDER ON GUN CONTROL  As Obama contemplates an executive order on gun control, according to Biden and news pundits, I can only think of how wrong this would be in that it abrogates the constitution and ignores the wishes of the masses of Americans. But, Obama is totally capable of doing so without hesitation and without thought of its total effect. If he makes the order, it may become the worst Executive Order of all time. As I write this, I am compelled to think of another executive order that resulted in the collapse of America's economy and created structural problems that will long remain....even though our government representatives, including President Obama, are either ignorant of it or, truthfully, haven't the integrity to admit it. I lost all respect for Bill Clinton during the 2012 election as he campaigned on "the failed policies of the past," yet one of his orders was the key to economic collapse in 2008. Yes! Clinton

MEDIA BIAS -- OBAMA NOT HELD ACCOUNTABLE

<img src="http://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=8428426&cv=2.0&cj=1" /> Both the broadcast media and the print press are utterly irresponsible and derelict in doing what they are historically charged with doing -- "holding our elected officials accountable." Obama apparently has never been held accountable in his life....not even now as president. WHY? Reprinted from The Weekly Standard The Four-Year Honeymoon Will the press ever give Obama tough coverage? Fred Barnes January 14, 2013 , Vol. 18, No. 17 President Obama never disappoints. When the monthly unemployment rate fails to drop, forget it. What’s important is the number of jobs created. But when the rate actually does drop, forget the growth (or lack of it) in jobs. It’s the rate that matters. And don’t blame Obama for the persistence of slow economic growth and high joblessness. That’s the “new normal.” As for the millions of dropouts from the job market, that’s no big

NATIONAL CRITICAL ISSUES -- One reality check of many to come. Debt.

http://www.ntrc.info/doorbell.html This e mb lematic   of many reality checks I plan to publish as we a na lyze the nation 's critical issues that go unresolved with the most dysfunctional govern ment of my lifetime and probably for America's lifetime. With Pre sident Obama no w the patron saint of those whose philoso phy is derived from the radical 60s, we are witnessing initiatives that would seem design ed to destroy America, not resolve her problems. The national debt, which many (Obama and most of his supporter s) believe is of no importance , is foremost among these issues. Do they not know what the consequences of default mean? Do they care? Seems not.   

MEDIA BIAS AGAINST GUNS FOR PROTECTION

 HAVE YOU SEEN THIS IN ANY OF THE MAJOR BROADCAST MEDIA OR PRINT MEDIA? On Sunday December 17, 2012, 2 days after the CT shooting, a man went to a restaurant in San Antonio to kill his X-girlfriend. After he shot her, most of the people in the restaurant fled next door to a theater. The gunman followed them and entered the theater so he could shoot more people. He started shooting and people in the theater started running and screaming. It’s like the Aurora, CO theater story plus a restaurant!   Now aren’t you wondering why this isn’t a lead story in the national media along with the school shooting?   There was an off duty county deputy at the theater. SHE pulled out her gun and shot the man 4 times before he had a chance to kill anyone. So since this story makes the point that the best thing to stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun, the media is treating it like it never happened.   Only the local media covered it. The city is giving her a medal next week