Dear President Obama,
You sure can speak well. You just talk and talk about hope and change and FEAR. You tell us that if we don’t get that stimulus passed, we’ll lose more jobs and slide into a catastrophe. If we pass this stimulus bill, we’ll get more jobs. However, Mr. Obama, this is no longer the campaign trail and rhetoric is no longer the full scope of your job. Your job is now about results. So, Mr. President, I would like to ask you a question. How? How is this stimulus bill supposed to create jobs?
The CBO (staffed with primarily democrats, mind you) says the bill result in a long-term net loss to the American economy. Sounds kind of like you want to give America its own lost decade like Japan had. I would prefer that not happen. But that’s just me. Perhaps you think it is a fair exchange to sacrifice the long-term economic success of our country in exchange for socialist-reminiscent policies the American people wouldn’t support if they knew what you were actually proposing. If this is indeed what you believe, perhaps you should first tell the American people about your plan to screw them over. I mean, it’s only fair since it is their tax money being used and their kids’ futures being mortgaged.
Also, Mr. President, you joked that a spending bill is a stimulus bill and you don’t get what the Republican’s objection to your current bill is. Well, Mr. President, I fear you might actually be an idiot. You see, money come from somewhere, so when you spend with one hand you take it out the other. If that other hand has a higher multiplier result for its spending patterns, then by taking it you are actually causing a net loss to the economy. Sir, you see, all spending is not the same. The fact that you somehow believe it is all the same is very worrisome to me and I am going to ask you to go ahead and read some books on economics. Even Keynes would call that statement stupid.
In your multiple personality disorder like quest to name your prior President mentor, you temporarily landed on JFK. Now, you didn’t stay long, and this is probably for the best since I am pretty sure JFK would have hated you. You see, JFK cut taxes because he knew it is proven to help the economy. He also got us into Vietnam, but that is another story.
Of course, then you moved onto FDR. Of course, you couldn’t stay with him, because the lessons from his story wouldn’t allow you to sneak it your payoffs to interest groups and secret advancements of your ideology. You know, that ideology you try to hide from the American people by misnaming things and stating falsehoods? Like calling tax credits tax cuts and blaming Bush’s deregulation policies when he didn’t deregulate anything. You know what isn’t proven to help the economy, and you might have learned this if you actually studied FDR and the Great Depression? Government spending does not seem to have a strong immediate impact on quickly reviving the economy. Otherwise, the Great Depression wouldn’t have lasted so long. There is thing called the crowding out effect. You may want to look it up. You know what else? Protectionist trade policies real hurt the economy in the recession. Both Hoover and FDR could tell you that. But I guess this is a lesson you didn’t want to learn, so you moved onto a new idol.
Good old Mr. Lincoln. First, he was a Republican, in case you didn’t know. He also violated the constitution to save it. He would likely not have favored your decisions regarding Gitmo and he also wouldn’t likely favor your decision to release terrorists. He was a president in a time of war and great societal upheaval. I wonder if that is what you want for this country. Are you hinting that you want to bring about a new civil war? I’m not really in favor of that and I really don’t think anyone else it. Oh, by the way, your opposition is the gun rights party, so they are probably going to kick your butt. Maybe you like Lincoln’s divided cabinet. But that divided cabinet created a whole mess of problems, which is why Lincoln didn’t always listen to them. Perhaps, that is why you favor Lincoln. You want have historical support for you decision to not listen to anyone. I know you ego is big, Obama, but you know nothing about the economy, so you might want to listen to some people who do.
There are a lot of articles out there of late discussing the complete lack of stimulus spending in this stimulus bill (what is it, 12% - 24% could qualify as stimulus spending), and, Mr. President, it may be time to listen. You see, Mr. President, the Republicans are stubborn and they will let you and your party sink you own ship. They will let themselves be viewed as playing partisan politics if it means saving this country from the catastrophe you are trying to force upon us.
You speak of preventing catastrophes, Mr. President, but you are about to create one. Perhaps it is time you grew up a bit and starting thinking about the consequences of your actions. No amount of pretty speeches will save you if you pass this bill and it tanks the economy.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
How to get out of this Economic Mess
1. No unnecessary government debt (if it doesn’t help revive the economy, get it out of the stimulus bill). If I have to buckle down so does the government. Not that I don’t think the government should help. It helped create the mess after all.
a. I should add as caveat that I am not a big Keynes fan, especially since the private enterprise multiplier is bigger than the government spending multiplier and doesn’t result in massive debt for future generations or indebtedness to foreign countries like China.
2. Tax cuts for everyone (and I mean actual tax cuts not Obama’s definition which is essentially welfare for the working – Obama, tax credits are not tax cuts, just in case you wondered). Especially tax cuts for manufacturing companies that employ Americans. Their very existence makes stimulus spending have a greater impact.
3. We need to improve our infrastructure so I approve spending on dig ready projects. Otherwise, keep it out of the stimulus bill.
4. Let companies do their thing. Now I know we are bitter about the wallstreet collapse and want to blame wallstreet CEOS. Well, actually I think democrats and left-wingers want to blame CEOs because it gets them off the hook for all their government programs and government backed entities (Fannie, Freddie, Hannie) that helped get us into this mess. But besides all that we should remember that workers have jobs because companies employ them, so we should be a little nicer to companies. Otherwise there are no jobs. Just in case you didn’t grasp the whole worker/employer dynamic.
5. Also, call out unions when they get ridiculous. No union should own a multi-million dollar private golf course (hear that big three union bosses – you should probable unload that). And no union worker should earn hourly more than an attorney does.
6. Shrink Fannie and Freddie so this never happens again. Somehow this whole mess makes me think of the titanic, “a ship too big to sink.” And we still haven’t learned a thing.
7. The markets work. Let me show you an example. Oil prices have dropped. That means input costs are going down. That means companies can sell goods for cheaper. That means more people can buy them. That means demand for the product will go up. That means companies can increase supplies. That means they can hire more workers. That means unemployment will go down as long as we maintain low input costs – miracles of miracles. Companies are already expressing gratitude at lower input costs and the fact that it will help them lay off les workers. Therefore, if anyone mentions a tax on gad (Obama) tell them to stop being an idiot. Considering the re-occurring nominee with tax problems theme going on right now, you may just want to tell Obama that as a matter of course.
a. Another example. House prices have dropped. House sales are again going up. And at the last report they were going up quicker than predicted. It’s nice how market corrections work. The market is in the bottom stages of recovery already.
b. Let me give you a counter example. During the Great Depression FDR thought keeping workers wages high would get us out of the depression because workers would have more money to spend. He imposed various policies to encourage this. This meant input costs went up. This meant goods cost more. This meant that less were purchased. And it also meant that employers couldn’t afford sufficient workers so less workers were employed. It also meant the whole lot of them went bankrupt. This helped, along with other really bad policies like increasing taxes, driving out private industry from the market so the government could run things, and of course Hoover’s Smoot-Hartley, the Great Depression last a decade. Obama, you may have heard of the Smoot-Hartley bill. It’s what Europe just reminded you of.
8. Do not cap executive pay. That is just stupid. All the smart guys and girls will stay away from wallstreet and go to other industries where they can make more money. I could maybe understand bonuses (not support a cap, but understand the argument). Pay caps just mean you have no idea how companies work. Is this where the Obama = idiot line comes in again?
9. Tell people to depend on themselves. Be innovators. Work hard, stop bitching and dig in. That is what our country was founded on. It was not founded on Hollywood actors and sports stars or crazy global warming zealots who want to push us back into the dark ages. It was founded on the premise of the individual. That the individual is mightier than the government. We rejected the European inheritance of feudalism and the concept of a ruling elite that needed to look after the unwashed masses. We started our country with the premise that we all are created equal. We are all the masses and as individuals we are all great. We founded our country on self-reliance. On the belief that a limited government is good. That government should always be a little distrusted. After all the power to do a lot of good is also the power to do just as much bad. We were not a country founded on reliance on the government. We were founded on reliance on ourselves as individuals. It made us a great country. This new theory of relying on the government just drags us away from the very foundation that made this country great and leads us perilously close to mediocrity. It spits in the face on all the great achievements the individuals in this country have attained. It devalues the very heart of the founding principles of our country. So Obama, Pelosi, I reject your argument. I do not want to accept your progeny of feudalism. I will embrace individualism and capitalism and limited government and rejoice in all the great things it has brought us.
a. I should add as caveat that I am not a big Keynes fan, especially since the private enterprise multiplier is bigger than the government spending multiplier and doesn’t result in massive debt for future generations or indebtedness to foreign countries like China.
2. Tax cuts for everyone (and I mean actual tax cuts not Obama’s definition which is essentially welfare for the working – Obama, tax credits are not tax cuts, just in case you wondered). Especially tax cuts for manufacturing companies that employ Americans. Their very existence makes stimulus spending have a greater impact.
3. We need to improve our infrastructure so I approve spending on dig ready projects. Otherwise, keep it out of the stimulus bill.
4. Let companies do their thing. Now I know we are bitter about the wallstreet collapse and want to blame wallstreet CEOS. Well, actually I think democrats and left-wingers want to blame CEOs because it gets them off the hook for all their government programs and government backed entities (Fannie, Freddie, Hannie) that helped get us into this mess. But besides all that we should remember that workers have jobs because companies employ them, so we should be a little nicer to companies. Otherwise there are no jobs. Just in case you didn’t grasp the whole worker/employer dynamic.
5. Also, call out unions when they get ridiculous. No union should own a multi-million dollar private golf course (hear that big three union bosses – you should probable unload that). And no union worker should earn hourly more than an attorney does.
6. Shrink Fannie and Freddie so this never happens again. Somehow this whole mess makes me think of the titanic, “a ship too big to sink.” And we still haven’t learned a thing.
7. The markets work. Let me show you an example. Oil prices have dropped. That means input costs are going down. That means companies can sell goods for cheaper. That means more people can buy them. That means demand for the product will go up. That means companies can increase supplies. That means they can hire more workers. That means unemployment will go down as long as we maintain low input costs – miracles of miracles. Companies are already expressing gratitude at lower input costs and the fact that it will help them lay off les workers. Therefore, if anyone mentions a tax on gad (Obama) tell them to stop being an idiot. Considering the re-occurring nominee with tax problems theme going on right now, you may just want to tell Obama that as a matter of course.
a. Another example. House prices have dropped. House sales are again going up. And at the last report they were going up quicker than predicted. It’s nice how market corrections work. The market is in the bottom stages of recovery already.
b. Let me give you a counter example. During the Great Depression FDR thought keeping workers wages high would get us out of the depression because workers would have more money to spend. He imposed various policies to encourage this. This meant input costs went up. This meant goods cost more. This meant that less were purchased. And it also meant that employers couldn’t afford sufficient workers so less workers were employed. It also meant the whole lot of them went bankrupt. This helped, along with other really bad policies like increasing taxes, driving out private industry from the market so the government could run things, and of course Hoover’s Smoot-Hartley, the Great Depression last a decade. Obama, you may have heard of the Smoot-Hartley bill. It’s what Europe just reminded you of.
8. Do not cap executive pay. That is just stupid. All the smart guys and girls will stay away from wallstreet and go to other industries where they can make more money. I could maybe understand bonuses (not support a cap, but understand the argument). Pay caps just mean you have no idea how companies work. Is this where the Obama = idiot line comes in again?
9. Tell people to depend on themselves. Be innovators. Work hard, stop bitching and dig in. That is what our country was founded on. It was not founded on Hollywood actors and sports stars or crazy global warming zealots who want to push us back into the dark ages. It was founded on the premise of the individual. That the individual is mightier than the government. We rejected the European inheritance of feudalism and the concept of a ruling elite that needed to look after the unwashed masses. We started our country with the premise that we all are created equal. We are all the masses and as individuals we are all great. We founded our country on self-reliance. On the belief that a limited government is good. That government should always be a little distrusted. After all the power to do a lot of good is also the power to do just as much bad. We were not a country founded on reliance on the government. We were founded on reliance on ourselves as individuals. It made us a great country. This new theory of relying on the government just drags us away from the very foundation that made this country great and leads us perilously close to mediocrity. It spits in the face on all the great achievements the individuals in this country have attained. It devalues the very heart of the founding principles of our country. So Obama, Pelosi, I reject your argument. I do not want to accept your progeny of feudalism. I will embrace individualism and capitalism and limited government and rejoice in all the great things it has brought us.
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