Good video on our republic and other forms of government:
Government 101
March 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Minimum Wage Madness
February 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Do minimum wage laws help or hurt?
Once again Democratic politicians want to increase the dosage of a popular but extremely toxic form of public policy snake oil. In his State of the Union message Tuesday President Obama proclaimed,“Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on earth no one who works full time should have to live in poverty, and raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour. We should be able to get that done.” Pat Quinn, the governor of Illinois, last week proposed raising his state’s minimum wage from the current $8.25 an hour to $10 an hour.
[snip]
Most people, especially college freshmen and sophomores, feel that minimum wage laws are beneficial. When discussing the topic I would ask, “If a minimum wage of $8 is better than one of $5, why skimp? Why not make the minimum wage $10, or $20, or $30?” Passing minimum wage laws is relatively easy. If eliminating poverty is that easy, why not go all the way? Why be so miserly? It’s not your money you’re spending. Go big or go home!
Most people realize that a minimum wage of $30 or $50 an hour would not work or be a good idea. They recognize that employers simply could afford to hire far fewer people at such wages. Most people can appreciate that not everyone is worth $30 an hour. Minimum wage laws at those levels would do major damage to the economy. Less obvious is the fact that virtually any minimum wage does the same kind of damage.
Read the rest at The American Spectator:
Obama’s Pirate Politics
February 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Continuing the plunder:
Everything in this column will be established by logical proof, as in geometry. There will be no name calling, or mere assertion.
You probably heard again last night that President Obama still thinks “the rich,” a crass term implying low class social envy, do not pay their “fair share.” He has been barnstorming America saying precisely that for his more than four years in office now. But the indisputable facts from official government sources say otherwise.
[snip]
President Obama’s belief that “the rich” still do not pay their fair share can only be explained on the basis of Marxist principles. To a Marxist, the top 1% earning anything more than the middle class is not fair, no matter how they earned it, fairly or not. So “the rich” are not paying their fair share as long as they are left with more than they “need,” as in a true communist system. This is the only logical explanation of Obama’s rhetoric, and it is fully consistent with Obama’s entire background, and his own published writings.
Notice that Obama kept saying that “the rich” don’t need the Bush tax cuts. That rhetoric follows the most basic Marxist principle, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
Read the rest at The American Spectator:
Obamacare Recession?
February 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Should we all be surprised?
To the shock of many, U.S. GDP shrank in the fourth quarter of 2012 by 0.1%. Immediately, however, economists and commentators flooded the media with reassuring explanations. Super Storm Sandy reduced economic activity in the areas it ravaged; worries about the fiscal cliff and sequestration dampened business spending and government defense spending; businesses let inventory levels dwindle. Even the Federal Reserve commented that the GDP drop was the result of “weather-related disruptions and other transitory factors.” All this is true, to some extent. But none of the reporting I saw even mentioned the elephant in the room that not only depressed economic activity in the fourth quarter of 2012, but will continue to depress economic activity through 2013 and beyond. That elephant is the “Affordable Care Act,” aka “Obamacare.”
Read the rest at The American Spectator:
Is it Time For Word Control?
January 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Derek Hunter at Townhall wonders if this nation is truly serious about about ending violence:
There’s an epidemic in this country, something that has or will affect all of us in our lives. And the government needs to act to protect us from those who may do us harm. This plague is particularly felt in schools. The children must be made safe.
President Obama, bravely speaking out against this horror, said, “We have an obligation to ensure that our schools are safe for all our kids.” Amen, Mr. President. Amen.
[snip]
I’m talking, of course, about the First Amendment, about words.
Every year, thousands of people, many of whom are children, are bullied by words. They’re made to feel bad for being overweight, having acne, braces, or messy hair. The list of things about which people are made to feel badly about is endless.
What’s worse is all the accidental bullying that takes place each year. People can build up a thick skin against drive-by “lard-assing” or an occasional swirly, but the accidental bullying that takes place through someone having more than you do or winning a game against you is hard to handle. These are the silent victims who don’t grab the front page of newspapers.
Read the rest at Townhall:
Kill the Rich Says head of Teachers Union
January 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Have we really moved this far to the Left? From Thomas Lifson over at American Thinker:
In a December 2nd speech just recently made public, Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, placed mass murder on the table as a political tactic for union movement. Carefully steering clear of actually calling for violence, Ms. Lewis noted that in the past, union leaders had not shied away from advocating killing the rich. She also noted that conditions today, in her view, are reminiscent of that same era. But the time is not ready, yet.
Read the rest at American Thinker:
Slavery Abolished 150 Years Ago
January 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
You’ve heard about this anniversary right? MSM…..crickets…..
Kevin Jackson and Thomas Lifson remind us of this little milestone over at American Thinker:
A sesquicentennial is a really big deal! A century and a half ago, something happened that affects us today. So why was the abolition of slavery in the United States (if that isn’t a big deal, what is?) worthy of almost no attention when it marked its sesquicentennial on January first, 2013?
In the words on MLK, Jr, “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last,” yet there were no celebrations of freedom in the black community. No PSA from Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx, Beyonce or any other black notables recognizing this important date when the United States Government officially declared that slavery was finished in the United States.
Read the rest at American Thinker:
Time To Reform Public Education?
January 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Some food for thought by Daren Jonescu over at American Thinker:
If public education is allowed to survive, all efforts to resuscitate the inert husk of modern civilization will fail. It is time to unravel the most wasteful and destructive entitlement program of all. Cancer cells do not divide into healthy cells. A corrupted, power-intoxicated political class will not willingly raise a freedom-loving, self-reliant populace. Governments must no longer be allowed to pre-determine their nations´ fates, by mass producing the populace that serves their interests.
Read the rest at American Thinker:
Reagan’s 25 Year Boom
December 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Mark Levin read from these two excellent articles on his show yesterday. History shows what really works. Please take the time to read both:
When President Reagan entered office in 1981, he faced actually much worse economic problems than President Obama faced in 2009. Three worsening recessions starting in 1969 were about to culminate in the worst of all in 1981-1982, with unemployment soaring into double digits at a peak of 10.8%. At the same time America suffered roaring double-digit inflation, with the CPI registering at 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980 (25% in two years).
And the result of Reagan’s policies:
These economic policies amounted to the most successful economic experiment in world history. The Reagan recovery started in official records in November 1982, and lasted 92 months without a recession until July 1990, when the tax increases of the 1990 budget deal killed it. This set a new record for the longest peacetime expansion ever, the previous high in peacetime being 58 months.
During this seven-year recovery, the economy grew by almost one-third, the equivalent of adding the entire economy of West Germany, the third-largest in the world at the time, to the U.S. economy. In 1984 alone real economic growth boomed by 6.8%, the highest in 50 years. Nearly 20 million new jobs were created during the recovery, increasing U.S. civilian employment by almost 20%. Unemployment fell to 5.3% by 1989.
There is so much more so read the rest at Forbes:
Setting the record straight on the Clinton tax increases and the Bush tax cuts:
Despite evidence to the contrary, President Obama and his supporters insist that a tax increase will not impede economic recovery. They claim that the Clinton tax hikes spurred the boom of the 1990s and that the subsequent Bush tax cuts hurt the economy. Members of Congress must reject this faulty notion—and reject the President’s call for burdening Americans with higher taxes and an even slower economy.
Read the rest at Heritage