The Occupy Wall Street crowd has been sympathetic to the Obama administration, but I see a disaster brewing for them. Their little tent cities have the potential to turn into enclaves for the homeless and the jobless. They could become the symbol of a failed presidency as the Hoovervilles if the Great Depression did for President Hoover.
According to Byron York:
On Saturday morning, I met a man who said he was an artist and told me that “the world’s f—ed up” in large part because “Bush took all the money and gave it to the Chinese to pay for the war.” After a while, he told me that he normally lived at a couple of “squats” in other parts of town but that he had met some people from Code Pink who told him they had a tent in McPherson Square. So he came to the park. He’s certainly not alone — there are plenty of other homeless there, he told me — but it’s hard to say how many homeless are part of the permanent Occupy DC contingent.
It reminds me of when we drafted convicts to send to Vietnam to protect our college kids…and we all know how well that worked. One big difference: this is not war and no one is getting killed. They are drafting the homeless to protect our poor babies from being uncomfortable. No wonder they are having a hard time finding a job. Their first instinct is to let someone else to the job when the going gets tough.
A Wall Street Journal poll asks “Do you agree with the views of the Occupy Wall Street movement.” 43% say yes. Only 27% say no. 30% aren’t sure.
I don’t think most people understand the motivation of this mob. It’s a mix of revolutionary socialist, anarchists, and people who want hand outs.
The agenda has been filtered by most of the media, so many Americans think that the movement is a typical American demonstration of petitioning one’s government. But there story is getting old. To stay in the news, the radicals are stepping it up a notch and the violence has begun.
Those of us who have been watching the European left take to the streets are not surprised. We saw it coming, so believe me when I say this is only the beginning. As the Democrats begin to campaign for next years big races, the radicals will get increasingly more belligerent.
Will we see a repeat of Chicago 1968? I hope not, but Obama the Organizer seems clueless to the impending danger.
If this nonsense continues, my guess is that my views about the protest will become the dominant view by Thanksgiving.
One huge problem in America today is a total lack of common sense in the law. Any crank or person with a vendetta can sue, and some dim witted judge will hear the case. Ridiculous decision are common. Even if over turned, the damage from action is multiplied by judges who lack common sense.
Case in point… A Democrat in Ohio was booted from office after one term. He sued for “loss of livelihood” and a judge appointed by Obama has agreed to hear the case. Even if he loses, the damage is already done…and God help us if he wins.
Our judicial system is being dismantled by the geniuses who go to our most expensive universities. So the next time someone waves his sheepskin in your face, laugh in his face and tell him that piece of crap means nothing to you.
President Obama is pitching his new plan to help home owners. As I wrote yesterday, he is side stepping Congress and overstepping his Constitutional authority. Beyond that little detail, it also won’t work.
Make no mistake, this refi plan is an economic stimulus at best, a political play at worst. It will give some relief to a very limited number of borrowers who may have been on the edge of trouble; it does not stimulate home sales, save delinquent borrowers from foreclosure, stop the bleeding in home prices or rid the market of a suffocating number of distressed properties.
Business Insider describes a meeting between President Obama and the countries tech giants. According to Walter Isaacson (Steve Jobs biographer), President Obama was annoyed that nearly everyone at the table wanted to discuss their own self interest. Some wanted a tax holiday on money made overseas so the money could be repatriated back to this country. Others wanted better training for engineers and more H1B visas.
I know Mr. Obama has read Adam Smith, but he obviously does not agree. Mr. President, this is how a free market economy works. Your collective ideas have failed as they have in every other big government experiment ever tried.
In recent years, we have seen how negative to 2 percent growth hurts many, many people, as compared to what happens with 3 to 7 percent growth. So we’re much less willing to adopt policies that will slow down growth not just for a few years but for the indefinite future….Michael Barone
People skeptical of global warming warned that cap and trade would hurt economic growth. The planet saving faithful wouldn’t listen. They were on a crusade to save the planet. It’s amazing how a struggle helps you to rethink your concepts of what is important.
Greece is coming to America and the port of entry is in Rhode Island:
If there isn’t any money, the checks won’t clear. Ultimately, you will have to fire existing workers, stop paying pensions or a mix of both. That is where Rhode Island is now: its economy can’t generate the revenue to support its existing governance system and to pay its pension obligations.
President Obama is working with the the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on “initiatives” to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
Great…except all spending is delegated to Congress. You would expect a “Constitutional scholar” to know this.
What’s next? Seizing companies for the people. We didn’t elect a dictator. The Constitution means nothing to this man.
I read this today…forgot where…but I think it strikes the right chord.
If you peel back the unwashed, the anarchists and the revolutionaries at the Occupy Wall Street generation, you are left with the trophy generation. They went to college and now expect their trophy job.
What they are missing is what employers are well aware of. Their educations may have cost a quarter of a million dollars, but it was worthless. Who cares if you took a course in African Studies, Women’s issues or the history of Gay Latin Americans. You were educated in a world where one side was given a megaphone and the other side was declared “hate speech”. Consequently, you have no ability to think through even the simplest of problems.
It’s funny how the real world doesn’t care what you think you deserve.
Where they stand.
Do you stand with them? I certainly am not ready to scrap a system which has produced the most prosperity in human history for a system that has failed every time it was tried.
Microsoft has $51 billion in cash in foreign banks (mostly in Ireland) and that’s where it is going to stay for the foreseeable future. The money was made overseas and it will not return to the United States because we have the highest corporate tax rate (35%) in the world.
Microsoft and other tech companies are calling for a repatriation holiday, where the U.S. government would temporarily suspend taxes on bringing cash back from overseas. They claim that this would encourage them to invest more money at home, although the last time the government allowed this kind of tax holiday, in 2004, companies returned 92% of it to investors in the form of stock buybacks and dividend payments
As if following up on my earlier post about wishing for income equality, Dennis Prager writes:
Being on the left means that you divide the world between rich and poor much more than you divide it between good and evil. For the leftist, the existence of rich and poor — ” inequality” — is what constitutes evil. More than tyranny, inequality disturbs the left, including the non-Communist left. That is why so many on the left fell in love with Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and, at other times, with every left-wing dictator. Non-leftists see these men as thugs; much of the left sees them as fighters for equality. Yes, leftist dictators extinguish freedom and steal land and businesses from the rich — but none of this disturbs most of the left.
How far will the current strain of American leftist go to impose their ideals? According to polls, 30% of the Wall Street Occupiers would use violence.
President Obama would be wise to steer clear of this group instead of embracing them…but I have never found the president to be wise.
Washington asking for more tax revenue is like an alcoholic asking for more cash before a trip to the liquor store. Even if the alcoholic asked a millionaire for the cash, it doesn’t change the fact that the money’s not being wisely used.
Senator Sessions
The left decries income inequality. That want economic justice…whatever that is. What gets under their skin is that some people are abundantly rich while others struggle. In a lefties ideal world, everyone is equal and shares.
In a thriving economy, the rich get richer. When opportunities are abundant and capital is accessible, those with the drive, knowledge and balls can create unimaginable wealth. This leads to greater inequality, but it’s not a bad thing. Conversely, recessions take a toll on the risk takers and business owners.
Megan McArdle explains it this way:
Crises destroy capital, and top incomes tend to be more tightly linked to capital than those of average workers. If you work for a wire factory that goes bankrupt, you may well have a rough year or two before you find another job, and your income may never fully recover. But if you own that factory, it will be years before you have an income even close to what you enjoyed before–and it’s very possible that you’ll never get there at all.
And this is exactly what we are seeing in our current economic downturn. Here’s a chart to illustrate the point.
I think Bill Gates and Steve Jobs making billions is a good thing. I count myself in the 99% that the Occupy Wall Street crowd claims to represent, but would rather go back to greater income inequality because it is better for me, my family and my neighbors.
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