Barack Obama became President of the United States on good timing and a sliver tongue. The good timing was running for office after 8 years of a Republican administration. This country doesn’t like to to keep one party in office too long. The oval office held by one party for longer than 8 years only twice in the 20th century. FDR/Truman held it from 1933 to 1953 (way too long!) and Reagan/Bush held if from 1983 to 1993. Pile on top of that the financial melt down and growing recession and you can come to the conclusion that only a complete Democratic meltdown could have kept them out of office.
His one claim to fame as he marched toward the inevitable was his speeches. I can’t stand his watching him (his heads bounces back and forth between teleprompters like he is watching a ping-pong match), but most Americans think he gives a great speech. It even gives some talk show hosts chills down their legs.
Basically, Barack Obama was elected because he 1) can give a good speech and 2) he is a Democrat.
He is in real trouble. The country has decided that the Republicans are horrible, but the Democrats are worse. As to the first point…he still gives the same speeches, but the country has figured out he is full of crap. By going back on his compaign promises (no special interests, transparency, looking out for the little guy), he has essentially killed his one skill…talking. The more he lies, the more people will tune out while his #1 skill is engaged.
What is a redistributing community organizer to do when people want more than nice sounding words?
Reuters is reporting that unemployment amount young adults is at a record levels. Their solution: government funded jobs program and internships.
Wrong! It’s always more government (and more of your money) with these people. High unemployment among unskilled workers is a direct result of a higher minimum wage. It is true that unemployment has gone up because of the recession, but it has hit unskilled and new workers harder than other groups because of the recent increases in the minimum wage.
A few short years ago, we needed more workers. Illegal aliens were given the excuse that they do the work Americans won’t do. It was a bogus argument. We were at near full employment. They were doing the jobs that Americans wouldn’t do for a low wage. The supply of labor was low and the demand was high. The tide has changed. We are not at 10% unemployment. The supply of workers is far greater than the demand for workers. To increase the demand, we need to let the market operate. We need wages to drop. This may not “feel” fair, but it reduces the cost of doing business and increases employment among those who need experience…and it does it without the heavy hand of government.
What unskilled laborers need is for the price of labor to match the worth of labor. Markets normally take care of this balance, but the progressives in our government want to show how fair and caring they are. Their intentions may be good, but their results and logic is atrocious.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Economics on January 26th, 2010
Two recently released stories highlight what is wrong with our government.
Congress spent millions of dollars (that we don’t have) to fly to Copenhagen (LINK) to work on an issue that is at the bottom of the citizen’s priority list (LINK).
People are upset with the arrogance of Washington. How do you convince a herd of arrogant people that they are the problem?
The unemployment rate in PA increased in December. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 8.9%, up 4 tenths of a point. (LINK)
Looking at the numbers from 2008 to 2009, there are only two sectors that had job increases: “Education and Health Services” and Government. I wonder. Are teacher’s jobs in the “Education and Health Services” sector or government sector? And why is Education and Health Services grouped?
The writers at the New York Times always bemoan big corporations and the profits they make. Like most liberals, they don’t understand that prices are set by a market and not arbitrarily set by evil, greedy capitalist. It may feel like Microsoft can charge anything they want for software, but it isn’t true. There are alternatives to Windows and there are alternatives to Office…and as our video games and phones get more powerful…there are alternatives to the PC. Power in the market is fleeting and the more a big corporation abuses its #1 position, the faster they will fall from the top.
The writers at the New York Times should understand this better than anyone. At one time, they controlled what news was presented. At one time, the Times was at the top…but times have changed. Internet news, FoxNews, talk radio and bloggers have all challenged the times and they are dying the death of a thousand cuts. The New York Times not only lost control over the news that is presented to America, their stock has been declining for years. In a disparate attempt to save their outdated business model, the times is planning on charging for access to their web site. It won’t work. Even their liberal readers aren’t that stupid. There is too much competition now.
So being at the top doesn’t secure business. Companies must give customers what they want at a price they will pay. The New York Times is a classic example of a company that fails when they try to force their customers in a direction they don’t want to go. It amazes me that writers at the times continue to hold their believes while living the example of why their philosophy is dead wrong.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Free Markets on January 20th, 2010
Two men do the same work, get the same pay and the same benefits. They have the same dependents. They are virtual clones, yet one pays more tax than the other because he is not part of “organized labor”. (Is that like “organized crime”?)
In the world of the Progressive, that is “social justice”. That is fair. That is exactly what the Democrats are proposing. They want to give organized labor an exemption on health insurance taxes.
And if you think your insurance isn’t that great and it won’t be taxed…think again. These taxes always start of at one level and inflation brings them to the masses. For instance, the minimum level for filing a tax return was $750 when I was a teenager. It is still $750 even though $750 isn’t nearly what it. Most likely, any “Cadillac” health insurance tax will follow the same pattern. It will soon include even the most basic health insurance plan. After all, it is all about social justice and fairness (snort).
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Common Sense on January 20th, 2010
I spoke with my college room mate today. He is somewhat conservative, but a huge Red Sox fan. I tweaked him about the senate race because I knew he couldn’t stand Ted Kennedy but was resigned to his state always re-electing him.
He believes that one of the bluest states in the union will pick a Republican because of “anti-Obama-care sentiment”. If it happens, I’ll have to stop calling the people in his state Mass-holes. Let’s pray for a miracle.
The United Nations receives billions of dollars from the United States. With a national disaster in Haiti, the U.N. now tells us they need emergency food rations. What they do have, they have no way of handing it out.
So they can’t stop war, they can’t keep the peace and their failure to respond to an emergency (remember the vocal critics during Hurricane Katrina) is followed by pleas for more money.
What a bunch of useless princes. If the U.S. were to stop the funding for the U.N., it would fade away like the League of Nations (which is not a super hero cartoon series).
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Common Sense on January 16th, 2010
Barack Obama has socialist goals. He knows it. I know it. Most engaged Americans know it. What he can’t do is argue for his socialist policies on what he views as the merits because then the rest of America will know it too.
If you can’t convince people based on the merits of a rational argument then you must find a way to persuade them that your policies are necessary. President Obama preferred method seems to be to create villains. The first villain was the AIG bonus getters. They are still his favorite target and the excuse for new taxation on banks. To smooth the way for health care “reform”, our President told us that doctors cut off feet and removed tonsils just to make more money, he has vilified insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies and claims that only government has pure motives (really). When it comes to global warming, producers of electricity and gasoline are the villains. And of course, he always has a fall back villain…the Bush Administration.
I argue for reform to health care by opening up competition across state lines and personal health savings accounts. I can argue all day the merits of these positions without once making someone out to be evil.
I can argue global warming is a hoax on scientific terms and not once mention that the proponents are lying pieces of crap who have received billions of tax payer dollars to push the global crisis dijour.
I can point out the merits of keeping terrorist in Guantanamo by stating that we are at war with an unconventional enemy without once mentioning that our President and Attorney General live in a fantasy world were world opinion turns into something tangible.
Our president learned his trade in the “civil rights” movement in Chicago. I quote “civil rights” because he was no better then Jesse Jackson. He used civil rights to promote one thing…Barack Obama. He used civil rights to argue for things that didn’t make sense. Take a look at the South Side of Chicago. Did our chief community organizer attain any significant civil rights victories for the people there? Has he turned them around and set them on a path for success or is it the same depressed area it has always been?
Look for the pattern: Demonize instead of argue the merits.
During the last campaign, Harry Reid said Barack Obama had
with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one
I’m not going to get all hyper-sensitive and hypocritical. I don’t know why that word is offensive to some. It is a word with a long Spanish history. Why is that word any more offensive the Caucasian? What it does tell me is that Harry Reid is old and out of touch. I haven’t used the word “Negro” used since my grandmother died.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Congress on January 12th, 2010
The Gallup poll I mentioned 11 days ago is finally starting to catch attention. I think most conservatives are misreading it. The Power Line Blog questions why is a nation that is conservative ruled from the left. That is an easy question to answer if you look past your hope that the country shares your conservative values.
What I think this poll misses is that most liberals think of themselves as being mainstream and conservatives as being crazy right-wing nuts. I bet a large percentage of people who believe in liberal policies positions consider themselves “moderate”. They have little knowledge of history and how far their philosophies are out of step with the founding fathers. They have little use for facts and logic. They base their decision on how they feel…and they feel like they have “moderate” positions.
In 2007, 30% of adults couldn’t tell you that Dick Cheney was the vice president (link). How many people who are that out of touch can accurately label where they stand in the political spectrum.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in polls on January 8th, 2010
NCTC director Michael Leiter remained on ski slopes after Christmas Day airline bombing attempt
The top official in charge of analyzing terror threats did not cut short his ski vacation after the underwear bomber nearly blew up an airliner on Christmas Day, the Daily News has learned.
Remember back to 2000. The Democrats wanted to count every vote (in Democratic precincts). They didn’t care what the law said or what the rules were. They sat down and inspected each ballot with a magnifying glass looking for voter intentions to add to the tally. When that didn’t work, they wanted more time to find more votes. The rules were not important. The only thing that was important was that every vote was counted.
Then remember back to 2008. Democrats again played fast with the rules so that nasty Al Franken could replace Norm Coleman.
But now in Pittsburgh, the Democrats have a new mantra.
I am sympathetic to the voter, but the law is the law.
That was the response from Jane Braunlich’s lawyer, Patricia McGrail. Jane Braunlich won an election for councilwoman by one vote. Except there is a wrinkle. A misplaced absentee ballot was found days after the election. That created a tiebreaker…that the Democrats lost. That ballot belong to a National Guardsman in Afghanistan. A judge recently ruled that our soldier’s vote didn’t count because the Judge of Election opened it improperly. Read more…
WHAT?!?!?!??! His vote doesn’t count through no fault of his. It doesn’t count because of the Judge of Elections didn’t follow procedure.
Democrats are pitiful. They want to invent votes from dimples on unnamed ballots, yet they will ignore a clear vote from a soldier because “the law is the law.”
NOTE: For those of you who don’t know, the Judge of Elections is a volunteer who agrees to oversee the election. They are not highly qualified and have very little training. It can be difficult to find a volunteer for Judge of Election in many precincts because it pays little (taking time away from work and family) for a very long day.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Election on January 6th, 2010
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