UPDATE: GEORGE WILL AGREES---THERE'S MUCH REASON FOR CONSERVATIVE OPTIMISM
I'LL DO THESE QUICKLY and perhaps come back next year to flesh them out. Hope I'm right on these:
1. OBAMACARE WILL BE RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL IN PART OR IN TOTAL BY THE SUPREME COURT. The ruling will be based on the over-reach of the Commerce clause.
There is nothing more important in current events and to our freedom in the United States today than the reversal of this ill-defined, heavy-handed cobbled together law which most law-makers who passed it have already opted out of.
2. THE GOP WILL WIN THE SENATE AND RE-TAKE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. There are many advantages to this, although President Obama will do many end-runs around the legislative process to hammer though his liberal agenda and remake America.
3. MUCH OF THE OBAMA LEGACY CAN AND WILL BE REVERSED ONCE HE IS OUT OF OFFICE. I do not subscribe to the hysterical theory that our country will be unrecognizable if Obama wins a second term. I believe much of his legacy is reversible and it will be reversed.
4 GLOBAL WARMING ALARMISM IS OVER AND AN ENDANGERED SPECIES, not a minute too soon.
5. KATE MIDDLETON BRINGS IN A NEW FASHION ERA OF elegant, inexpensive and great looking clothes for women.
6.TOO BIG, TOO WHITE TEETH WILL BE EVEN MOREOVER-DONE IN 2012 THAN BIG BOOBS AND BEE-STUNG, SWOLLEN-LOOKING LIPS, as the freak show continues.But the peak of this trend is near. The only thing that may curtail it completely is the economic downturn.
7. TATTOO REGRET WILL CONTINUE, fuelling an industry of tattoo removal shops which charge a high price to reverse the ungodly trend.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Five 2012 Predictions I Hope I'm Wrong About
THE HOUR IS LATE AND I AM ABOUT TO LEAVE THE COMPUTER FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE YEAR, but I want to write down some predictions without much ado. Each one of them I hope and pray I'm wrong about:
1. PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL NARROWLY BE RE-ELECTED TO A SECOND TERM. The margin will not be as narrow if Hillary can be convinced to be the vice-presidential running mate and help win back some disgruntled, unhopeful Democrats. This prediction could be negated if food and gas prices soar next summer and into the fall.
2. NO MATTER WHO WINS THE HOUSE AND SENATE, President Obama will push his liberal, sometimes radical agenda through by presidential executive fiat and through administrative regulatory processes essentially circumventing the Constitutionally intended checks and balances within the three branches of government.
3. THE U.S. ECONOMY WILL CONTINUE to be extremely fragile and volatile in 2012 and taxpayers will bear an unknown gargantuan burden as Fed chairman Ben Bernanke continues secretly loaning European banks untold amounts of our money which will only forestall their inevitable default and collapse. The chickens will begin to come home to roost only after the 2012 presidential elections as the national and global economies will get progressively more dire. While 2012 will see volatility and fear in global markets, it will be nothing compared to what is going to unfold in 2013 and 2014.
4. IRAN WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE ITS UNHOLY ALLIANCES with Northern Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba and the drug cartels in Mexico which will incredasingly threaten world peace and stability as well as the internal fabric of domestic society here in America.
5. MORE AND MORE TAXPAYING CITIZENS with means will look for second homes outside the continental United States in countries like Brazil, Argentina, Panama and Canada as they fear the dominos starting to fall sooner rather than later---by 2013 and beyond---here in America.
1. PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL NARROWLY BE RE-ELECTED TO A SECOND TERM. The margin will not be as narrow if Hillary can be convinced to be the vice-presidential running mate and help win back some disgruntled, unhopeful Democrats. This prediction could be negated if food and gas prices soar next summer and into the fall.
2. NO MATTER WHO WINS THE HOUSE AND SENATE, President Obama will push his liberal, sometimes radical agenda through by presidential executive fiat and through administrative regulatory processes essentially circumventing the Constitutionally intended checks and balances within the three branches of government.
3. THE U.S. ECONOMY WILL CONTINUE to be extremely fragile and volatile in 2012 and taxpayers will bear an unknown gargantuan burden as Fed chairman Ben Bernanke continues secretly loaning European banks untold amounts of our money which will only forestall their inevitable default and collapse. The chickens will begin to come home to roost only after the 2012 presidential elections as the national and global economies will get progressively more dire. While 2012 will see volatility and fear in global markets, it will be nothing compared to what is going to unfold in 2013 and 2014.
4. IRAN WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE ITS UNHOLY ALLIANCES with Northern Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba and the drug cartels in Mexico which will incredasingly threaten world peace and stability as well as the internal fabric of domestic society here in America.
5. MORE AND MORE TAXPAYING CITIZENS with means will look for second homes outside the continental United States in countries like Brazil, Argentina, Panama and Canada as they fear the dominos starting to fall sooner rather than later---by 2013 and beyond---here in America.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
In the End Zone: Over-the-Top Touchdown With Jerome Simpson
WHILE I'M NOT THE WORLD'S biggest nor brightest football fan, even I know a great move when I see it. The video above of the touchdown flip by Cincinnati Bengal's Jerome Simpson Christmas Eve is literally Over the Top!
Lots of people saw this live, but for those who missed it, I post it here for your viewing pleasure and wonderment. But be forewarned, like potato chips, you can't just eat one---if you're like me you'll have to watch it again and maybe again and again!
Give that man a roaring ovation!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Winding Down
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS ARE ALREADY OUTSIDE IN BOXES READY to go into storage. Plates and silverware are sparkly clean, stored and a few gifts have been put into their rightful places. As time goes on, everything about the holidays is pared down yet it never seems to diminish Christmas one bit. I'm not a big stuff person....and start feeling claustrophibic with too many decorations, presents and too much clutter.
I'm not one to drag the holidays on either. If anything I'd rather decorate for Thanksgiving, add a few more lights and creches for Christmas, then take everything down right after Christmas like I did today.
I know there are 12 Days of Christmas and I like that. But I'd rather go through these other days in more solemn, reflective ways. Have a stack of books I've dived into and will be reading non-stop over next few days.
I love the spareness and deep quiet of the next few days and weeks. And relish these long winter nights' sleeps for recharging our mental, physical and emotional batteries for the many challenges ahead.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas!
WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND LOVED ONES A MERRY, WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS! Thanks for coming by!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
The Greatest Arrival Right On Time
HARD TO FATHOM ISAIAH PROPHESIED THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF CHRIST some 600 years before the actual event:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a child is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
---Isaiah 9:6, 7b
Yet it's only one of dozens of Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah. The prophet Daniel prophesied in the 7th century B.C not only the birth of Christ but also the exact timing in relation to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, the birth of the Savior and then the total destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.:
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’[a] are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish[b] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.[c]
25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One,[d] the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing.[e] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’[f] In the middle of the ‘seven’[g] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple[h] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
More explanation
1977 Miracle: Bing and Bowie Make Christmas Music Together
IF EVER THERE WAS AN ODD AND UNLIKELY MUSICAL COUPLING it has to be this one.
Matt Peterson @ Big Hollywood has the rather interesting story.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Brian Lund On Living A Wise Life Of Correcting Big Mistakes Sooner Rather Than Later While Easier To 'Contain'
WALL STREET'S DOUR CHRISTMAS PARTIES
The “Second Mistake” Theory In Trading And In Life.
We are all human and we all make mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes are big and sometimes they are small. Calling the deceased the wrong name at a graveside eulogy leans more toward the “big” end of the scale.
I witnessed this awkward event at the service for my best friend’s mother.
The Priest stood at the head of the casket and started…..
“We are all here to celebrate the life of Mary Ann Anderson. Mrs. Anderson was a lovely woman who cared deeply about her family, her friends, and her faith. Often I would see Mrs. Anderson working long hours at one of our church functions……”
As he continued to speak I watched the priest begin a transformation. He was slowly morphing into a gazelle, like the ones you see on a Mutual of Omaha special, just peacefully standing in the high grass of some majestic African plain. Like that gazelle he had no idea that lions were about to jump up and rip his larynx out.
“….and I would always joke with her when I saw her at the Sunday service. Mrs. Anderson always had the best sense of humor….”
Suddenly all four of her grown daughters leapt up out of their seats and screamed almost in unison;
“HER NAME WAS SANDERS, NOT ANDERSON….MARY….ANN…..SANDERS….SAN-DERS…!!!!!”
The Priest was stunned and went into a moment of shocked silence that seemed to last a lifetime. I studied his face and watched his eyes and I am pretty sure his first thought was “is there room for me to jump in under that coffin”.
Then I saw it. I knew where he was going to go next. And I knew it was going to be bad. Real bad. Vanilla Ice bad.
A sense of empathetic panic gripped me and like a catcher attempting to brush off a bad signal from his pitcher, I tried to telepathically send him the message “don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it…you’re going to get taken downtown…!!!” But he did it.
He started to backtrack and explain how of course he knew her name was Sanders, and that he had just mentioned to someone before the service how he liked “Mrs. Sanders” so much, and that it had been a long week for him, etc., etc.
Not unlike the gazelle, having been mortally wounded and flailing about in its death throes, his reaction just brought more attacks.
Her sons and then grandsons got into the mix, loudly shouting their justified outrage. I think the only reason things did not get completely out of hand is the fact that beating up a priest pretty much takes you right to front of the line for admission to Hell.
The priest made a mistake to be sure in using the wrong name, but the fatal mistake was how he reacted when he realized his misstep. A deft and perhaps humorous comment acknowledging his mistake, while reaffirming his intimate relationship with Mrs. Sanders, could have saved the day and negated any ill effects his gaffe produced.
Sometimes our reaction to a mistake can’t negate it’s bad effects, but can at least contain them.
Read the whole piece as he gets personal with big mistakes he made, then compounded by ill judgment.
It's called digging ourselves deeper into the grave.
Hat Tip: Josh Brown
We are all human and we all make mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes are big and sometimes they are small. Calling the deceased the wrong name at a graveside eulogy leans more toward the “big” end of the scale.
I witnessed this awkward event at the service for my best friend’s mother.
The Priest stood at the head of the casket and started…..
“We are all here to celebrate the life of Mary Ann Anderson. Mrs. Anderson was a lovely woman who cared deeply about her family, her friends, and her faith. Often I would see Mrs. Anderson working long hours at one of our church functions……”
As he continued to speak I watched the priest begin a transformation. He was slowly morphing into a gazelle, like the ones you see on a Mutual of Omaha special, just peacefully standing in the high grass of some majestic African plain. Like that gazelle he had no idea that lions were about to jump up and rip his larynx out.
“….and I would always joke with her when I saw her at the Sunday service. Mrs. Anderson always had the best sense of humor….”
Suddenly all four of her grown daughters leapt up out of their seats and screamed almost in unison;
“HER NAME WAS SANDERS, NOT ANDERSON….MARY….ANN…..SANDERS….SAN-DERS…!!!!!”
The Priest was stunned and went into a moment of shocked silence that seemed to last a lifetime. I studied his face and watched his eyes and I am pretty sure his first thought was “is there room for me to jump in under that coffin”.
Then I saw it. I knew where he was going to go next. And I knew it was going to be bad. Real bad. Vanilla Ice bad.
A sense of empathetic panic gripped me and like a catcher attempting to brush off a bad signal from his pitcher, I tried to telepathically send him the message “don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it…you’re going to get taken downtown…!!!” But he did it.
He started to backtrack and explain how of course he knew her name was Sanders, and that he had just mentioned to someone before the service how he liked “Mrs. Sanders” so much, and that it had been a long week for him, etc., etc.
Not unlike the gazelle, having been mortally wounded and flailing about in its death throes, his reaction just brought more attacks.
Her sons and then grandsons got into the mix, loudly shouting their justified outrage. I think the only reason things did not get completely out of hand is the fact that beating up a priest pretty much takes you right to front of the line for admission to Hell.
The priest made a mistake to be sure in using the wrong name, but the fatal mistake was how he reacted when he realized his misstep. A deft and perhaps humorous comment acknowledging his mistake, while reaffirming his intimate relationship with Mrs. Sanders, could have saved the day and negated any ill effects his gaffe produced.
Sometimes our reaction to a mistake can’t negate it’s bad effects, but can at least contain them.
Read the whole piece as he gets personal with big mistakes he made, then compounded by ill judgment.
It's called digging ourselves deeper into the grave.
Hat Tip: Josh Brown
Monday, December 19, 2011
Duchess Dazzles, Diverts Us From Collapsing Currencies, Botched Bailouts
YEAH HE SAID IT
WORST PERFORMING STOCKS OF 2011
TRULY A BREATH OF FRESH AIR.
More on Kate's sensational look tomorrow.
MEANWHILE, here's Rick Perry as linguist, historian, current events curator, soon-to-be erstwhile GOP candidate and political stand-up comedian:
Perry Botches Kim Jong-Il's Name
At this point, Rick Perry's general knowledge of history and current events is just laughable. The GOP Presidential hopeful had yet another "oops" moment today, this time referring to the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il as "Kim John the Second." Perry made the gaffe in an email which was posted on his website, then subsequently corrected. Interestingly enough, Perry incorrectly referenced his name three times, but then used the correct "-Il" once. Another interesting observation is that Perry wrote in the email that he was "a vicious dictator," but then referenced him three times as though he were a monarch.
Could be about time for Perry to head on back to Texas and stay there?
Source
WORST PERFORMING STOCKS OF 2011
More on Kate's sensational look tomorrow.
MEANWHILE, here's Rick Perry as linguist, historian, current events curator, soon-to-be erstwhile GOP candidate and political stand-up comedian:
Perry Botches Kim Jong-Il's Name
At this point, Rick Perry's general knowledge of history and current events is just laughable. The GOP Presidential hopeful had yet another "oops" moment today, this time referring to the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il as "Kim John the Second." Perry made the gaffe in an email which was posted on his website, then subsequently corrected. Interestingly enough, Perry incorrectly referenced his name three times, but then used the correct "-Il" once. Another interesting observation is that Perry wrote in the email that he was "a vicious dictator," but then referenced him three times as though he were a monarch.
Could be about time for Perry to head on back to Texas and stay there?
Source
Drudge Dreary Headline, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, Praise God!
TEBOW: TOO BIG TO FAIL?
FEW THINGS have disgusted me more than that snippy little headline at Drudge this morning which read "GOD LOVES TOM BRADY TOO."
It was in regard to last night's playoff game between the winning New England Patriots starring quarterback Tom Brady and Denver Broncos with evangelical quarterback Tim Tebow. Let me say at the outset, of course God loves Tom Brady as Tim Tebow. Clearly, winning or losing a football game or season doesn't signify loving either more or less. Irregardless, to over-religiousize the game, this game, like over-politicizing every culture issue is puerile and sign of the time. We should idolize neither quarterback or make any team too important. Both men command our respect at this point for their hard work and excellence and lack of scandal. So far. Both men absolutely have feet of clay.
.
Drudge is better than that.
Unfunny. Unclever. Uncalled for. Stupid. And tomorrow I'll tell you what I really think.
I left the page and didn't come back until a few minutes ago. Interesting, tonight there's no sign of it anywhere to be found, even by scrolling down. I could have missed it, but it does appear someone removed it.
Good riddance.
FEW THINGS have disgusted me more than that snippy little headline at Drudge this morning which read "GOD LOVES TOM BRADY TOO."
It was in regard to last night's playoff game between the winning New England Patriots starring quarterback Tom Brady and Denver Broncos with evangelical quarterback Tim Tebow. Let me say at the outset, of course God loves Tom Brady as Tim Tebow. Clearly, winning or losing a football game or season doesn't signify loving either more or less. Irregardless, to over-religiousize the game, this game, like over-politicizing every culture issue is puerile and sign of the time. We should idolize neither quarterback or make any team too important. Both men command our respect at this point for their hard work and excellence and lack of scandal. So far. Both men absolutely have feet of clay.
.
Drudge is better than that.
Unfunny. Unclever. Uncalled for. Stupid. And tomorrow I'll tell you what I really think.
I left the page and didn't come back until a few minutes ago. Interesting, tonight there's no sign of it anywhere to be found, even by scrolling down. I could have missed it, but it does appear someone removed it.
Good riddance.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Pastor Peter Scazzero Interviews A Trappist Monk On the Contemplative Life
AND WHY EVANGELICALS CAN USE IT TOO, THOUGH MANY ARE FRIGHTENED BY THIS MOVEMENT, AS THE DESERT FATHERS (MONKS) STARTED OUT OF THE (NON-REFORMED, PRE-REFORMED) CATHOLIC CHURCH
CONTEMPLATION, OR CENTERING PRAYER, IS A FORM OF DEEP PRAYER. The desire and calling to come to God in silence and stillness for His sake, rather than just practicing intercessionsary prayer in which we ask God for our or other's needs, is a gift from the Holy Spirit and a spiritual discipline. Here Pastor Pete Scazzero of New Life Fellowship in Queens interviews William Meninger, a Trappist monk, on leading more of a Mary life in a non-stop Martha world.
This is well worth a listen if you're so inclined. This practice for me is in addition to daily Bible study and prayer. It's adding a silent time alone and quiet with God---something I've neglected over the past six years, but now am quietly, slowly coming back to.
Besides being the pastor of New Life, Scazzero has written several well-known books including Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, It's Impossible To Be Spiritually Mature While Remaining Emotionally Immature.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Justin Taylor On the Death And Atheism of Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)
UNBELIEF is one of the most common spiritual diseases in these latter days. It meets us at every turn, and in every company. Like the Egyptian plague of frogs, it makes its way into every family and home, and there seems no keeping it out. Among high and low, and rich and poor, in town and in country, in universities and manufacturing towns, in castles and in cottages, you will continually find some form of unbelief. It is no longer a pestilence which walks in darkness, but a destruction which wastes at noonday. Unbelief is even thought clever and intellectual, and a mark of a thoughtful mind. Society seems leavened with it. He who avows his belief of everything contained in the Bible, must make up his mind in many companies to be smiled at contemptuously, and thought an ignorant and weak man.
---J.C. Ryle
**********
TAYLOR WRITING AT THE GOSPEL COALITION:
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS DIED on Thursday night at the age of 62, after a 18-month battle with esophageal cancer.
He was a brilliant and entertaining man. He was enormously gifted, and in his final years he took those gifts and used them to mock God, using his considerable wit and sharp tongue to convince as many people as possible to do the same.
Read the whole thing, watch the video of Hitchens with Doug Wilson.
You may know Christopher had a younger brother, Peter, who authored the book The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led me to Faith.
---J.C. Ryle
**********
TAYLOR WRITING AT THE GOSPEL COALITION:
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS DIED on Thursday night at the age of 62, after a 18-month battle with esophageal cancer.
He was a brilliant and entertaining man. He was enormously gifted, and in his final years he took those gifts and used them to mock God, using his considerable wit and sharp tongue to convince as many people as possible to do the same.
Read the whole thing, watch the video of Hitchens with Doug Wilson.
You may know Christopher had a younger brother, Peter, who authored the book The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led me to Faith.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Ambushed By Jolly, By Golly!
BRING OUT BOUGHS OF HOLLY
WHEREBY CARLSON HAS INSTANTLY BECOME THE BEST KNOWN management school in the country, maybe the world....
Priceless.
Yes It Tis!
HT M Perry
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Amazing 3D Illusions of Eduardo Relero's Street Art
John Tamny: Obama's Economics Reach New Low of (Mis) Understanding; He Needs To Go!
HAYWOOD: PRESIDENTIAL PRETTY PLEASE POLITICS
IN AN ECONOMICALLY THEMED speech last week in Kansas, President Obama revealed for all to see just how divorced he is from reality, and why his departure from the White House in 2013 is essential. It's not that we can't recover from another Obama term - that's the easy part - but that as a serious nation we can't have a president who possesses such unserious views. Call it a pride thing.
Though Obama acknowledged up front the certain wonders of free markets, he only threw out the initial bouquet to decry those same unfettered markets. As he put it, "the free market has never been a free license to take whatever you can from whomever you can," as though those who participate in the marketplace on the way to great fortune somehow took from others in doing so. Really?
When I read about the members of the Forbes 400, I'm made aware of extraordinarily driven individuals who not only worked very hard to achieve their fortunes, but who also worked very smart. In doing so, and as evidenced by their grand wealth, they've made the lives of millions much better.
To list but a few members of this most exclusive group, I find Michael Dell whose eponymous computer company has made the once elusive and expensive personal computer cheap and ubiquitous, and then Amazon's Jeff Bezos, whose online retail innovations have animated the PC. I see Patrick Soon-Shiong, whose pharmaceutical genius has made the scourge that is cancer more survivable, and then I see people like Michael Milken whose financial wizardry opened democratized access to capital for the kind of entrepreneurs just mentioned.
The skeptical may well argue that Obama was targeting the rich Americans whose fortunes were somewhat maintained by the bank and auto bailouts of three years ago, not to mention the profligate individuals who purchased homes they couldn't afford only to be saved on the backs of prudent Americans who didn't commit such egregious errors. As Obama put it himself back in 2008, "Part of why our debt crisis is so bad is that some folks are making reckless decisions - racking up big credit card bills by purchasing flat-screen TVs and other luxury goods that they know they can't afford."
There Obama would have a point, but then it was the political class of which he's a prominent member that made the ghastly decision not long ago to excuse the mistakes of rich and poor alike, all of this paid for by the taxpayers. As Obama put it in explaining his support for TARP in 2008, "Today I fully support the efforts of Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke. What we're looking at right now is to provide the Treasury and the Fed with as broad authority as necessary to stabilize markets and maintain credit."
Translated, it was when politicians like Obama led our retreat away from free markets that politicians (and presidential candidates in Obama's case) gave themselves "license" to take from others. As the word "free" in free markets makes plain, the very unregulated markets that our president mocks ensure that no one is coerced; instead consenting individuals choose to transact with those offering them the best deal. The greater the profit the greater the unmet need fulfilled, and the Forbes 400 is full of bright business types who removed a great deal of unease from the lives of their customers and clients.
But rather than embrace the certain achievements of the rich in our midst whose wealth mirrors our betterment and constantly rising standards of living, Obama last week resumed his call for increasing the tax penalty levied on those whose innovations serve us. Supposedly raising the price of work for the rich will strengthen the middle class, but apparently not understood by Obama is that most of the members of the Forbes 400 were once firmly part of the middle class; their path out of the middle a function of their past ability to access capital from the very 1 percenters whose income the president would like to take more of.
Missed by Obama is that to penalize the success of the rich with taxes is to reduce the amount of investable capital for tomorrow's entrepreneurs who aspire to join the 1 percent. After that, and considering the tautological reality that the U.S.'s economic success is the certain result of the individuals who comprise the top 1 percent, is it a good idea when the economy is struggling to put more weights on the men and women with the greatest economic skills? If the previous question is hard to understand, readers might ask if the NFL would be better off economically if tomorrow Roger Goodell decreed that Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger had to throw with their left hands.
Further on Obama argued that rebuilding the economy "will require American business leaders to understand that their obligations don't just end with their shareholders." Nice rhetoric if you're a community organizer, but very much beneath a president whose stated objective is to improve the economic outlook. To put it very simply, the only obligation business leaders have is to please shareholders precisely because without shareholders there are no companies and there are no jobs.
Apparently Obama missed the above memo as evidenced by easily the most frightening part of his speech in which he noted that, "Over the last few decades, huge advances in technology have allowed businesses to do more with less, and made it easier for them to set up shop and hire workers anywhere in the world....Steel mills that needed 1,000 employees are now able to do the same work with 100, so that layoffs were too often permanent, not just a temporary part of the business cycle....If you were a bank teller or a phone operator or a travel agent, you saw many in your profession replaced by ATMs or the Internet." Missed by our most economically illiterate of presidents is that the very definition of the productivity that attracts the investment necessary for company formation and job creation is the process whereby companies figure out how to produce more with less in the way of labor inputs.
After that, would President Obama prefer that U.S. business remain static, and free of innovation? Can he name one economically successful country in the history of the world that grew to be that way by virtue of shielding itself from technological advancement? The personal computer has arguably destroyed more jobs than any technology in the history of mankind, thus begging the question of whether Obama would prefer that it not exist.
At present Obama rightly decries the lack of opportunity within our limping economy, but rather than look in the very mirror that would reveal his policies to be the problem, he continues to blame his admittedly hopeless predecessor, and then when that doesn't work, he fingers the rich and their allegedly low rates of taxation as the source of our economic ills. As Nietzsche once said, "No one is such a liar as the indignant man."
What's funny and sad at the same time is that Obama doesn't realize how easy he has it. To understand true difficulty, it's worthwhile to consider Germany in the aftermath of World War II when, after losing a generation of human capital along with nearly its entire infrastructure, many Germans were reduced to living in caves. Having inherited this spectacular disaster that made the hand that Obama was dealt look positively grand, Ludwig von Erhard slashed spending and taxes, then pegged the country's currency to a gold-defined dollar. Within three years a once destroyed country could claim one of the most powerful economies in the world.
In Obama's case he too has had three years, yet the economy that he inherited is in many ways much worse today. Looked at through the von Erhard prism, Obama did the opposite on the policy front with predictably negative results. In short, the economic ill health that Obama properly bemoans can be directly correlated with the policies he's foisted on all of us. Obama's policy failures are our unemployment lines, and because they are, it's essential that voters relieve him of his presidential duties.
LINK
John Tamny is editor of RealClearMarkets and Forbes Opinions, a senior economic adviser to H.C. Wainwright Economics, and a senior economic adviser to Toreador Research and Trading (www.trtadvisors.com). He can be reached at jtamny@realclearmarkets.com
IN AN ECONOMICALLY THEMED speech last week in Kansas, President Obama revealed for all to see just how divorced he is from reality, and why his departure from the White House in 2013 is essential. It's not that we can't recover from another Obama term - that's the easy part - but that as a serious nation we can't have a president who possesses such unserious views. Call it a pride thing.
Though Obama acknowledged up front the certain wonders of free markets, he only threw out the initial bouquet to decry those same unfettered markets. As he put it, "the free market has never been a free license to take whatever you can from whomever you can," as though those who participate in the marketplace on the way to great fortune somehow took from others in doing so. Really?
When I read about the members of the Forbes 400, I'm made aware of extraordinarily driven individuals who not only worked very hard to achieve their fortunes, but who also worked very smart. In doing so, and as evidenced by their grand wealth, they've made the lives of millions much better.
To list but a few members of this most exclusive group, I find Michael Dell whose eponymous computer company has made the once elusive and expensive personal computer cheap and ubiquitous, and then Amazon's Jeff Bezos, whose online retail innovations have animated the PC. I see Patrick Soon-Shiong, whose pharmaceutical genius has made the scourge that is cancer more survivable, and then I see people like Michael Milken whose financial wizardry opened democratized access to capital for the kind of entrepreneurs just mentioned.
The skeptical may well argue that Obama was targeting the rich Americans whose fortunes were somewhat maintained by the bank and auto bailouts of three years ago, not to mention the profligate individuals who purchased homes they couldn't afford only to be saved on the backs of prudent Americans who didn't commit such egregious errors. As Obama put it himself back in 2008, "Part of why our debt crisis is so bad is that some folks are making reckless decisions - racking up big credit card bills by purchasing flat-screen TVs and other luxury goods that they know they can't afford."
There Obama would have a point, but then it was the political class of which he's a prominent member that made the ghastly decision not long ago to excuse the mistakes of rich and poor alike, all of this paid for by the taxpayers. As Obama put it in explaining his support for TARP in 2008, "Today I fully support the efforts of Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke. What we're looking at right now is to provide the Treasury and the Fed with as broad authority as necessary to stabilize markets and maintain credit."
Translated, it was when politicians like Obama led our retreat away from free markets that politicians (and presidential candidates in Obama's case) gave themselves "license" to take from others. As the word "free" in free markets makes plain, the very unregulated markets that our president mocks ensure that no one is coerced; instead consenting individuals choose to transact with those offering them the best deal. The greater the profit the greater the unmet need fulfilled, and the Forbes 400 is full of bright business types who removed a great deal of unease from the lives of their customers and clients.
But rather than embrace the certain achievements of the rich in our midst whose wealth mirrors our betterment and constantly rising standards of living, Obama last week resumed his call for increasing the tax penalty levied on those whose innovations serve us. Supposedly raising the price of work for the rich will strengthen the middle class, but apparently not understood by Obama is that most of the members of the Forbes 400 were once firmly part of the middle class; their path out of the middle a function of their past ability to access capital from the very 1 percenters whose income the president would like to take more of.
Missed by Obama is that to penalize the success of the rich with taxes is to reduce the amount of investable capital for tomorrow's entrepreneurs who aspire to join the 1 percent. After that, and considering the tautological reality that the U.S.'s economic success is the certain result of the individuals who comprise the top 1 percent, is it a good idea when the economy is struggling to put more weights on the men and women with the greatest economic skills? If the previous question is hard to understand, readers might ask if the NFL would be better off economically if tomorrow Roger Goodell decreed that Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger had to throw with their left hands.
Further on Obama argued that rebuilding the economy "will require American business leaders to understand that their obligations don't just end with their shareholders." Nice rhetoric if you're a community organizer, but very much beneath a president whose stated objective is to improve the economic outlook. To put it very simply, the only obligation business leaders have is to please shareholders precisely because without shareholders there are no companies and there are no jobs.
Apparently Obama missed the above memo as evidenced by easily the most frightening part of his speech in which he noted that, "Over the last few decades, huge advances in technology have allowed businesses to do more with less, and made it easier for them to set up shop and hire workers anywhere in the world....Steel mills that needed 1,000 employees are now able to do the same work with 100, so that layoffs were too often permanent, not just a temporary part of the business cycle....If you were a bank teller or a phone operator or a travel agent, you saw many in your profession replaced by ATMs or the Internet." Missed by our most economically illiterate of presidents is that the very definition of the productivity that attracts the investment necessary for company formation and job creation is the process whereby companies figure out how to produce more with less in the way of labor inputs.
After that, would President Obama prefer that U.S. business remain static, and free of innovation? Can he name one economically successful country in the history of the world that grew to be that way by virtue of shielding itself from technological advancement? The personal computer has arguably destroyed more jobs than any technology in the history of mankind, thus begging the question of whether Obama would prefer that it not exist.
At present Obama rightly decries the lack of opportunity within our limping economy, but rather than look in the very mirror that would reveal his policies to be the problem, he continues to blame his admittedly hopeless predecessor, and then when that doesn't work, he fingers the rich and their allegedly low rates of taxation as the source of our economic ills. As Nietzsche once said, "No one is such a liar as the indignant man."
What's funny and sad at the same time is that Obama doesn't realize how easy he has it. To understand true difficulty, it's worthwhile to consider Germany in the aftermath of World War II when, after losing a generation of human capital along with nearly its entire infrastructure, many Germans were reduced to living in caves. Having inherited this spectacular disaster that made the hand that Obama was dealt look positively grand, Ludwig von Erhard slashed spending and taxes, then pegged the country's currency to a gold-defined dollar. Within three years a once destroyed country could claim one of the most powerful economies in the world.
In Obama's case he too has had three years, yet the economy that he inherited is in many ways much worse today. Looked at through the von Erhard prism, Obama did the opposite on the policy front with predictably negative results. In short, the economic ill health that Obama properly bemoans can be directly correlated with the policies he's foisted on all of us. Obama's policy failures are our unemployment lines, and because they are, it's essential that voters relieve him of his presidential duties.
LINK
John Tamny is editor of RealClearMarkets and Forbes Opinions, a senior economic adviser to H.C. Wainwright Economics, and a senior economic adviser to Toreador Research and Trading (www.trtadvisors.com). He can be reached at jtamny@realclearmarkets.com
Friday, December 9, 2011
Weekend Silent Advent Retreat
THOUGHT I'D GET BACK TO THE COMPUTER SOONER BUT FAR TOO MUCH GOING ON. Now leaving for a weekend of silence and prayer up on Monteagle mountain. I need it. Will be back Sunday, God willing.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Jon Stewart on Herman Cain Dropping Out, Donald Trump Dropping In
WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES, OFTEN A BIG MOUTH OPENS
BEEN AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER enjoying cooking and entertaining the last few days. Have consumed more sugar since Sunday than all year long (something I rarely do). Fortunately have now gotten all the pumpkin pie and apple crisps either eaten or out of the house. Going to bed early. Hope to be back Thursday.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Monday: Obama On Hotel California Congress On SNL
JOE BIDEN JOKES ABOUT U.S. SENDING MILLIONS OF OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO BAILOUT GREECE @ ZERO HEDGE....YES, THIS JOE BIDEN
IF ONLY IT WEREN'T SO TRUE!
IF ONLY IT WEREN'T SO TRUE!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Sunday Quietwalk, Selfishness In All of Us
TODAY'S READING FROM James 4: While selfishness produces conflict, humility produces submission to God.
INSIGHT
SELFISHNESS IS THE FOUNDATION FOR ALL CONFLICT. When two hearts want different things - and neither is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the other - conflict arises. Selfishness is the cause of war, crime, and interpersonal conflict. By looking out for ourselves, we think we can get what we want from life. In contrast, the Lord teaches us that humility, not selfishness, results in satisfaction in life. Promote yourself, and wars and conflict result. Even God is against you (v. 6). But live in humility and wars and conflict cease, assuming all parties participate. And the Lord will lift you up.
PRAYER
Praise the Lord because He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble:
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name (Psalm 100:1-4).
INSIGHT
SELFISHNESS IS THE FOUNDATION FOR ALL CONFLICT. When two hearts want different things - and neither is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the other - conflict arises. Selfishness is the cause of war, crime, and interpersonal conflict. By looking out for ourselves, we think we can get what we want from life. In contrast, the Lord teaches us that humility, not selfishness, results in satisfaction in life. Promote yourself, and wars and conflict result. Even God is against you (v. 6). But live in humility and wars and conflict cease, assuming all parties participate. And the Lord will lift you up.
PRAYER
Praise the Lord because He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble:
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name (Psalm 100:1-4).
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Cain To Turn Out the Lights Soon
FRIDAY PM UPDATE: CAIN TO MAKE A 'MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT' SATURDAY
HERMAN CAIN'S BID FOR PRESIDENT is over for American voters, if not yet for Herman Cain. No conservative I know takes pleasaure in his implosion, but there are far too many allegations attending his past liasons now, for him not to go and go soon. I find him less savory and credible as a candidate by the minute.
I believe Herman Cain, rather than vast left-win or right-wing conspiracies, set Herman Cain up notwithstanding many diehard apologists to the contrary (see above). I think the allegations of sexual harassment and extramarital liason(s) are probably true---true enough at this time for me to completely lose interest in Cain as a candidate. And yes, we may never know for sure the veracity of the charges.
All this on top of numerous foreign policy slip-ups that I won't go into here again.
It's time for Cain and the country to move on.
HERMAN CAIN'S BID FOR PRESIDENT is over for American voters, if not yet for Herman Cain. No conservative I know takes pleasaure in his implosion, but there are far too many allegations attending his past liasons now, for him not to go and go soon. I find him less savory and credible as a candidate by the minute.
I believe Herman Cain, rather than vast left-win or right-wing conspiracies, set Herman Cain up notwithstanding many diehard apologists to the contrary (see above). I think the allegations of sexual harassment and extramarital liason(s) are probably true---true enough at this time for me to completely lose interest in Cain as a candidate. And yes, we may never know for sure the veracity of the charges.
All this on top of numerous foreign policy slip-ups that I won't go into here again.
It's time for Cain and the country to move on.