The Ghost of History

China Ghost City

The talking heads on the financial channels are blaming China for the recent downdraft in the stock market. China is a real problem; a ticking time bomb.  However, this is not new. They manipulate their numbers, and do not operate efficient markets based on supply and demand principles. China has several ghost cities, for crying out loud, which are well known and truly stunning.

It is the mess created by the US government, with complicit partners on Wall Street and in the mainstream media, that has placed America and her finances in peril.  Every decision that was made in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis was in error, and eroded liberty and freedom for all. Once such action was extending the unemployment coverage for longer periods of time. As famed author Art Laffer once quipped, "when you people not to work, don't be surprised if get a lot of people not working." Got it.

Speaking of the job market, investors hope a strong jobs number Friday morning will held turn the market tide.  But that is a manipulated number as well, as it captures only those who have recently sought full employment, not the high number of those who have given up.  In fact, if the job market was improving, you would see a slight increase in the unemployment rate, as more individuals would enter the capsule of those actively seeking work. The most accurate indicator of the job market can be found in the labor participation rate, painting a dismal snapshot in time sunk at level not seen since the days of Jimmy Carter over 35 years ago.

It is noted that it is most difficult to find any market indicator not flashing a high level of caution. The following excerpt from an excellent piece from Jim Quinn over at The Burning Platform, "Corporate profits are plunging. Labor participation continues to fall. A global recession is in progress. The strong U.S. dollar is crushing exports and profits of international corporations. Real household income remains stagnant, while healthcare, rent, home prices, education, and a myriad of other daily living expenses relentlessly rises. The world is a powder keg, with tensions rising ever higher in the Middle East, Ukraine, Europe, and China."

The experts always claim this time it is different; nothing but financial folly. As noted in the piece, "The reckless herd has been in control for the last few years, but their recklessness is going to get them slaughtered. The lessons of history scream for caution at this moment in time, not recklessness." True.

We warned about the economy and capital market months ago, and our position has not changed. Once again, this time isn't different.

The ghosts know.

 Please see  THIS TIME ISN'T DIFFERENT by Jim Quinn over at The Burning Platform.

Economic Freedom Regression

Given the terrorist acts in Beantown yesterday resulting in the deaths of three American citizens and injuries, some most significant, to potentially hundreds of others, Americans appropriately lost focus on what April 15 is commonly known for; the day individual income taxes are due.

With every American becoming a Bostonian in heart yesterday, the 100th anniversary of the income tax passed without fanfare.  It is hard to fume at Woodrow Wilson when you are on a seek and destroy mission after the ruthless terrorists who aim America harm.

Should the events in Boston not have occurred, the Progressives would have spent the day rejoicing at the ever increasing levels of taxation they have levied on working Americans.  Ronald Reagan once half sort of joked that "Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15."

How true. The Progressives under President Obama, exponentially increasing what was already a bloated national debt upon their election, find nothing that cannot be taxed.

Just in the past week, we find Obama seeking to find ways to tax the 401K accounts of individual citizens and under the Progressive leadership in Maryland, under the false premise of global warming, comes word of a complete absurdity; a rain tax.

The progressive elites claim knowledge superior to the rest of us, but somehow, obviously slept during economics class.  Standard economic theory indicates when you tax something, you get less of it.  As the Progressives seek to continuously raise revenues, oh excuse me, taxes, it is clear every American should have a thorough understanding of The Laffer Curve.

As such, please see the following short tutorial from Prager University:



The Progressives leadership has a fundamental understanding of this, so therefore, their policies are illogical and in full scale violation of basic economic theory.  But why?

The reasons are found in the concepts put forward by Cloward and Piven, basically centering upon crashing the current system to have it replaced by a form of socialism which prohibits individual economic growth and entrepreneurship. Obama is doing a fine job achieving this goal thus far.

When over half the country is dependent upon government assistance, those footing an increasing bill will ultimately collapse, allowing an all too welcoming government to take control.  The individualism of the citizenry is lost when your wages and benefits are not rewards for your hard work and accomplishment but rather controlled hand outs from those in governance, ultimately unelected technocrats.

Increasing taxation is restrictive to economic freedom.  It should be remembered that free market capitalism is the best path prosperity. Always.

Evil An Opponent of Freedom

The History Channel's epic five part mini-series The Bible concluded on Easter Sunday, and I hope you had occasion to watch. It was, in a word, tremendous. Executive producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey preserved and did a fabulous job bringing these stories to life. Additionally, the cast from top to bottom was exemplary, particularly Diogo Morgado, who played the role of Jesus.
Morgado put in a brilliant performance, and is knocking the door to stardom down.

In part three, Satan made an appearance for the first time and a controversy was born.  Many thought the Satan character had a striking resemblance to a very familiar person, President Obama.  In the interest of full disclosure, I immediately saw Obama when Satan appeared.  The producers dismissed any connection between President Obama and the Satan character in the film. The actor who played the role looks nothing like Obama in real life and is appalled to think others saw Obama in his portrayal of the Satan character.  Downey commented she was almost heart broken that the conversation went in this direction as opposed to the actual story being presented.  Good point.

As the controversy emerged, the left went ballistic, wondering how sick someone must be to correlate Obama with Satan.  Among the leaders lowering the level of discourse is a familiar outlet, who finds racism at the core of this, and every, issue.

However, in a recent poll, approximately one in four Americans thought Obama may be the Anti-Christ.

Certainly, Obama is not Satan, or the anti-Christ.  But is it so far fetched to associate President Obama with evil? I contend it is not.

In his association with ACORN, Obama taught Saul Alinsky, which focuses on non civil approaches to achieve goals with the ends justifying the means, no matter whether they violate common moral guidelines.  In fact, Alinsky's book Rules For Radicals, the bible for leftist activists, is dedicated to Lucifer.

The policies enacted by President Obama, policies that restrict freedom and reduce incentives, offer a top down government aimed at controlling the masses through expansion of the welfare state, robbing the individual of free agency

Wealth transformation, simply stated as theft, oppresses those who do the necessary work to achieve greatness enabling those who do not offered in implementation by technocrats and government officials who think they know better.  These oppressive dictator style officials think they alone can dictate markets among the populous, picking winners through crony capitalism exhibiting no respect for the rule of law.

President Obama is set to release a budget this week, a budget that will include significant revenue increases, otherwise stated, tax increases.  Given that almost half of our citizenry pay no income taxes, this another effort at wealth transformation.  Basic economic theory is not a strong suit of this group, as when you increase taxation on something you get less of it.  Prosperity comes to mind.  The economic reality of the point is so simple, it can be written on a napkin. The Laffer Curve is quite illustrative.

Jesus was an opponent of oppressive tax collectors, knowing the government utilized the taxes to oppress the people.  In today's world, although a base of taxation for a limited government to provide basic services for it citizens is necessary, rarely have governments operated efficiently or exercised restraint in spending money the take from those they govern over.  As Lady Thatcher famously said, socialism is great until you run out of everyone elses money.

Governments run by technocrats and dictators who oppress their citizenry through suffocating taxation and regulation house the types of individuals and regimes that brought the wrath of our loving God.  Those in governance who implement restriction of freedom of the people in various forms of oppression are evil and have been since the beginning of time.  The story is told over and over again in the Bible.

Thankfully, The History Channel presented the work of Mark Brunett and Roma Downey in their epic mini series The Bible.  It is hoped that many who may never have had the opportunity can learn of the great news, and recognize that freedom is the key to a peaceful, moral existence in our journey on earth.

Are You Justified?

A recent editorial in The New York Times was quite an eye opener.

The piece, by Steve Rattner, titled Beyond Obamacare, began with the following sentence: WE need death panels.

Are these the death panels Sarah Palin warned us about?  Not necessarily according to Rattner, but as he puts it, "unless we start allocating health care resources more prudently", the costs of Medicare will explode.

Instead of praising Palin for getting it right, which she routinely does, Rattner places blame on her for ranting about death panels which forced their elimination from the bill of a provision to offer end-of-life consultations.

If it were not for Palin, the issue of death panels would have been buried in the 2700 pages elected officials failed to read, otherwise known as The Affordable Heatlh Care Act, or, Obamacare.  Remember, the bill we have to pass to find out what is in it.

Rattner takes the obligatory swipe at Rep. Paul Ryan, (R:WI), who put forth his plan to save Medicare as part of the Ryan Roadmap for American, and praises Obama' efforts in curtailing costs when in actuality, every cost component associated with Obamacare has risen.

As economist and columnist Thomas Sowell of The Hoover Institute, and American jewell, so eloquently put it, “It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer universal health care.”.

Doing an end run around the truth misrepresenting the thought process for seniors as the end of life approaches is immoral and plain evil.  Obamacare does in fact call for a panel of unelected technocrats placed in position to ration health care services to seniors base on a set of criteria "to be determined by the Secretary". 

Will the Obamacare death panels take a similar position to famed playwright and Fabian Socialist George Bernard Shaw where seniors will be required to justify themselves?



Will those who cannot make a compelling case for themselves be denied adequate health care options as their life comes to an end?  Is this part of an effort to decrease population as a vehicle of social and economic justice.  Who will hold the unelected technocrats accountable? Typically, governments exercising these levels of control over the citizenry without accountability have abused power and have unleashed tyranny upon them.

The entire health care system is broke because of governmental interference in free markets.  Certainly, the principles our country was founded upon ask our citizenry to care for those who cannot care for themselves. Many avenues, from private donations to charities to churches, lead the way in this effort.

Individuals should create estate plans, complete with funding, to dictate how they should live their final years, with participation if desired from their family members. Unless the individual seeks governmental assistance, the government should not be involved in determining these end of life decisions.

The public sector can play a role of partnership in many areas of caring for the poor, but when the government seizes control and builds upon expanding entitlements in an effort create a culture of dependency, the residual is alarmingly negative.  Most importantly off the top, the individual is robbed of their identity.  In addition, unless population decreases (perhaps a goal of the progressives), taxes must be raised to accomodate increases in costs, unless of course care is rationed and death panels are insituted.  Raising taxes decreases economic growth and limits excess captial, which would usually leave government with less, as the Laffer Curve demonstrates.

Obama and his team have admitted Obamacare is a step toward a single payer plan. Ronald Reagan warned us that governmental health care was a vehicle to socialism, and he was right.  A glimpse of what happens when governments cannot deliver promised entitlements can be seen live now in Europe.

The way for America to avoid becoming a broken society like we see in Europe is to decrease entitlements and the creation of dependencey of its citizens by employing free market princples, where work is rewarded with fair wages with expanding opportunites for advancement, helping the citzenry regain their independence and identity.

Free market capitalism remains the best path to prosperity.  In an effort return America to prosperity, the first step would be to elect Mitt Romney as our next President, and begin the repeal of Obamacare and the death panels associated with it.

No individaul justification needed.

Buying A Free Lunch

"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand." ~Milton Friedman

Well that about sums it us does it not?
                                                                                                                                                          
Today is a day to celebrate the life of one of the great economic minds of our day, Milton Friedman, on what would have been his 100th birthday.

Friedman, a long time professor at The University of Chicago, won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976 and was an economic advisor to Ronald Reagan.

Advocates of free market capitalism consider Friedman a champion of freedom.  Top economic scholars, inclusive of Don Boudreaux,  Thomas Sowell and Stephen Moore, have strong columns out today in praise of Friedman.  The Heritage Foundation also has presented a commemorative piece, which thoroughly pounds home the work of Friedman demonstrating the economic benefits of free markets.

Those of us non scholars with degrees in Economics studied principles Friedman simplified.  It was Friedman who advanced the theory that there is "no free lunch", a common sense principle that is most demonstrative. Art Laffer famously presented The Laffer Curve on a napkin, because it was just that simple.  Friedman made complex economic theory simple for consumption.

It is too bad Obama did not encounter Friedman if their paths potentially crossed in Chicago, for Obama obviously has no clue on economic theory.

In my view, it seems clear Obama is intent on crashing the system to create socialism complete with a society dependent on government interaction.  Friedman found interaction from outside sources, including governmental stimulus, which can create inefficient markets, should be limited.

In Sowell's column, he quotes Friedman and illustrates the point: This is one of those heads-I-win-and-tails-you-lose arguments. Even if the government spends itself into bankruptcy and the economy still does not recover, Keynesians can always say that it would have worked if only the government had spent more.

Friedman, who I had the honor to meet in his late years, is a giant in economic theory whose free market capitalist principles have proven correct. Please listen to him destroy a young fan of wealth redistribution:



Friedman had a PBS Series titled Free to Choose, in conjunction with his book of the same name.  It is fitting, as our current government leaders aspire to limit your choices across the board. From GM vehicles, to Chick-fil-A to searching for a 64 ounce Big Gulp in NYC, the elites are flexing muscle these days.  As Friedman noted, the loss of consumer choice leads to market contraction, and a loss of economic freedom.

Under Obama, we have pursued Keynesian economic theories, and they have failed miserably. As Reagan said, "Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so."   Reagan followed the theories of Friedman, which lead to unparalleled economic prosperity; complex theories presented so simply by Friedman many could be written on a napkin.

Happy Birthday Milton Friedman!  Wish I could buy you one of those free lunches, complete with plenty of napkins.

Marco Market Magic

Florida Senator Marco Rubio sat down with CNBC's Larry Kudlow to discuss the direction of our country, and the pro growth message to lead our country back into a position of economic global leaderships speaks volumes.


Rubio recognizes job creation and a return to pro-growth free market principles are the roadmap to recovery. Meanwhile, Rubio is correct in noting the current administration is smothering small business and job creators with excessive regulation and taxation, understanding the simple but rock solid merits of the Laffer Curve.

America can get back on the right track, embracing a comprehensive energy policy and contracting entitlements while lowering taxes and loosening the regulatory arm of the government. A step in that direction is the debate on raising the debt ceiling. Rubio is on board with Reagan, that government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem.

Kudlow noted there are few people more articulate than the gifted Senator Rubio in the promotion of a strong pro-growth message. Rubio is right in stating the future of America is bright if we follow him on the path to prosperity. Leading the way on what has the look of a magic carpet ride to 1600 in a decade or so is Rubio.

Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal is already on board! Rock On!

Economic Imbeciles

The economy is a major disaster, and although the arrogant rhetoric coming from the Obama administration says we are in recovery, we are not. Check this out from American Crossroads:



This cast of characters under BHO are not fixin a hole, they are continuing to dig it while burying us in it. They would not know the Laffer Curve if it rang the front doorbell.

Families are hurting. Many are getting booted from their homes, and the backlog of foreclosures is lengthy, postponing the return to a normalized real estate market. The dollar is extremely weak, and as we know from Reaganomics, sound money inclusive of a strong dollar is necessary for a healthy economy.

Investors do not know where to turn, although my bias in real estate wonders if a return to a tangible asset other than gold is appropriate.

Currently, sound thinking Americans and investors fear our government. DOW 20,000 and a strong wave of prosperity awaits a return to free market principles by a government that fears the people. Coming in November 2012.

Reagan Revolution Repeat

These are troubling times. Which side are you on?

I was with the Reagan Revolution and continue to Ride with Reagan!



Reagan was right, in spades. Our country is barrel rolling down the wrong path. A clear blueprint to put Uncle Same back on the path to peace and prosperity can be found by reviewing Reagan and his policies.

Get Art Laffer on the phone! It is a time for choosing, and time for a repeat of the Reagan Revolution!

Stop Spending

Every weekday morning while wrestling my bowl of cinnamon flavored oatmeal, I am monitoring the financial markets with the gang on CNBC's Squawk Box, sick twisted freak that I am. There have been some historic moments on Squawk, most notably with Rick Santelli's shout heard round the world , and the discussion today was along those same lines as America has a choice to make. Take a listen:



Although Joe Kernen and Rick Santelli have fun slapping Steve Liesman around, the choice America has economically is between the Keynesian economic theory regrading the issue of governmental stimulus in the marketplace (Obama) versus the supply side theories of very limited governmental intervention by lowering costs of production and helping to lift the entrepreneurial spirit of free market capitalism, which then trickles down benefiting everyone (Reagan).

New York Times economist Paul Krugman is in the forefront of those promoting the Keynesian theories, and recently wrote that due to a failure to spend enough, the United States is preparing to enter a third depression. Investors Business Daily takes him to task on that thought.

One of my readers alerted me to a piece blaming George W. Bush for all the deficits we are now experiencing. While the Bush administration did expand the deficit, due primarily to events in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, it is the current policies of governmental interference, in the form of increased regulation and taxation, the assault on small businesses across the fruited plain and the uncertainty of the playing field going forward that has hindered investment, placed meaningful growth in a stranglehold and exponentially bloated the federal deficit. In fact, the governmental stimulus in the public sector further crowds out private investment, where most of the jobs are created.

Explaining the poor decisions the current administration is making is Robert Mundell and Art Laffer, who joined CNBC's Larry Kudlow recently for a frank discussion.

The Obama administration has engaged in a level of governmental stimulus never before seen, and our economy has little if anything to show for it. Foreign countries that engage in this type of socialist activities have run out of other peoples money, causing the civil unrest we have witnessed. Uncle Sam will be dealing with these same issues if we don't change course quickly.

There are a few politicians emerging that understand the severity of the issue, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) and Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan (R). For our economy to improve, outside of a sweeping change in November, the government should do just as Rick Santelli suggested, and that is to stop spending immediately.

Left Looney on Economics

The James Madison Institute reports on the Economic Literacy of Progressives and finds exactly what you might expect, a train wreck.

George Mason University Professor Daniel Klein and Zogby researcher Zeljka Buturovic surveyed 4,835 American adults on eight questions about basic economics. They also asked each of the respondents about their political leanings, grouping them into six categories: progressive/very liberal; liberal; moderate; conservative; very conservative; and libertarian. They wrote about their findings in The Wall Street Journal.

As Klein asserts, “The left has trouble squaring economic thinking with their political psychology, morals, and aesthetics.”

If you are like me, you run into this thinking everyday. If you take for example our current economic crisis, spearheaded in large measure by decades of socialist programs, most with good intentions, which are geared to assist fellow citizens, you find governmental initiatives that end up being entitlement programs that are drowning our financial system and placing Uncle Sam at the doorstep of bankruptcy. Going green, presented as a worthwhile effort to protect the environment masquerading as a global transfer of wealth, is a prime example of this. Current legislation proposed as the cap and trade bill, if voted into law, will likely be the event that does bankrupt the ole USA.

“We must face the fact that the preservation of individual freedom is incompatible with a full satisfaction of our views of distributive justice"
-F.A. Hayek

We recently had an example of a progressive politician, who really demonstrated what the study identified. Get a load of this recent interview on FOX News Neil Cavuto and Vermont Representative Peter Welch, and must I qualify that he is a Democrat:



That was brutal. Cavuto finally recognized that the progressives are lost in an economic sea. The Congressman simply cannot comprehend what the elimination of the dividends of British Petroleum (BP:NYSE) and other oil related companies would do to the pensions to most Americans.

So with a handful of economic idiots running things in Washington, what can we expect going forward in the marketplace? The worst is behind us according to President Barack Obama. Dr. Arthur Laffer, former economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan, penned an article for The Wall Street Journal that is raising quite a few eyebrows among those on the periphery of the investor community. Art Laffer's colleague, Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal, weighs in and you better sit down for this one.



Dr. Laffer has put this conclusion forward for a few months now, and when you couple the Gulf Oil Spill, an economic and environmental of unmeasurable magnitude, you put in some sell stops. You may still have some time for trades, but you have been warned.

Supply Side Fuels Economic Growth

The transformation of The United States of America is in full scale operation, from passing legislation our elected officials have limited knowledge of the contents of to shifting language that skirts the truth and evades transparency while implementing legislation our founding fathers would fight against. It is appalling.

Remember no family will making over $250k annually will see their taxes go up? Lie or deception? Obama claims the worst of the economic downturn is behind us due to his administrations activities. Don't bet on it.

Taxes are going up substantially, which curbs economic growth. With that being said, two economic titans recently visited with CNBC's Larry Kudlow to discuss tax rates and their impact on our economy going forward.



The economic activity of the Obama administration is going to prolong the economic crisis we are in (not behind us) and the aftermath will be painful if things are not overturned in November.

Credit markets are not in good shape, and yesterday we saw a big spike in the VIX, a measure of volatility. Pigs don't fly, and the financial stability in Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain remains in critical condition. Canary if the coal mine for the US six months from now? How far will the dominoes fall? Will California follow suit?

In the end, while the stock market is up after companies have beaten dramatically reduced earnings estimates and reduced inventories have been restocked, I remain convinced another downturn is coming. With our irresponsibly expanding and unsustainable debt, we a high fastball to face from real trouble, but then again, that may be the emergency the administration is looking for to further transform our once great economic system and country.

As always in this Obama era, watch the other hand.

CAT Got Your Tongue?

In promotion of the stimulus package, President Barack Obama said that in many ways you can measure America's bottom line by looking at Caterpillar's (CAT:NYSE) bottom line. Here you go:



The Presidents appearance at Caterpillar was quite sketchy to begin with, as the CEO of Caterpillar, Jim Owens, was not supporter of the bill but felt pressured to play along. The Heritage Foundation labeled the visit as an "ambush". Caterpillar had just laid off approximately 20,000 workers just weeks before the visit.



Speaking of pressure, Representative Aaron Schock, (R:IL), who was invited to fly out on Air Force One only to be set up to be lobbied for his vote, got called out on national television. Schock did not appreciate it one bit, and did not support the legislation.

The stimulus package was and is a colossal failure for the entire nation in addition to large corporations like Caterpillar, who has continued to shed jobs. Rather than focusing on a hemorrhaging job market, Obama has focused on saddling future generations with another abusive entitlement package in the form of Health Care reform. Sadly, the legislation was only masked as health care reform but is in reality a vehicle for the transfer of wealth.

The ink has failed to dry on the legislation and already several major corporations, who since they are publicly traded must disclose any known adverse factors that can negatively influence earnings, have come out and said they will take sizable charges, including AT&T (T:NYSE), 3M (MMM:NYSE), AK Steel (AKS:NYSE), Verizon (VZ:NYSE), Medtronic (MDT:NYSE), John Deere (DE:NYSE) and our old friend from Peoria, Caterpillar.

There is no free lunch, as I think most everyone learned in high school economics class, and there is a huge cost to be paid to give 30 million new folks health care coverage. One way the federal government aims to pay for this is through additional taxes, but we should have also learned that when you tax something, you get less of it. If goods or services cost more to produce, hindered by excessive taxation and regulation, less will be produced leading to a limitation on choices for the consumer. Perhaps it would be prudent to review the Laffer Curve?

The Health Care reform legislation many are cheering will strangle major corporations and small businesses, kill jobs across America and limit choices for the consumer, not only in health care where private sector providers will be crowded out, but in every sector. Unfortunately, Caterpillar won't be the only business loading up equipment on the hauler, a victim of those who seek wealth transformation and oppose free market capitalism. Our economic situation is unsustainable, and it will be We The People, particularly our children and grandchildren, who will take the biggest hit.

I AM A SHAREHOLDER OF VERIZON AND AT&T.

Ride With Reagan

Happy Birthday Mr. President. If only you could ride in and help us sideswipe the looming catastrophe (yes, Dick Morris was right) the current administration is leading us toward. If only those in charge would look, you provided us the playbook on most current issues from healthcare to stimulating economic growth.

While there are those who are demeaning your legacy, including left wing economist Paul Krugman, it is quite clear your ideologies across the board helped put this country on very sound footing.

Famed economist Arthur Laffer described the four pillars of Reaganomincs: sound money, taxation, regulation and the role of the United States economy in the global economy. After reviewing them, ask yourself how we are doing in these areas today? Well, our borderline uncontrollable debt is unsustainable and the dollar is very weak. The administration is raising taxes all over the place in the midst of a horrific economic climate while expanding entitlement programs and placing untold regulatory constraints on industries, corporations and small business owners. We are embracing protectionism and placing trade barriers up, which of course limits economic growth.

Look around. I'll take my BS in Economics and saddle up with Reagan and Laffer and leave Krugman in the dust heap of history!

Laffer & Moore Unplugged

I had trouble sleeping the other night and while surfing YouTube, I came across video of a very interesting recent dinner party in Chicago which had famed economists Arthur Laffer of Laffer Investments and Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal discussing our current economic issues. Laffer and Moore, in promotion their outstanding book The End Of Prosperity, covered a wide range of issues.

Perhaps you are also having a hard time nodding off, or you appreciate sound economic discussion as I do (Oh, I do recognize I have issues)? If so, sit back and take a half an hour to become knowledgeable on the economics of the day, which include taxes, regulation and important proposed legislation such as health care and cap and trade.



Although I have had occasion to visit with Steve Moore recently, I would jump at the chance to throw some beers together and host an event such as this down here in Orlando. Should that come to pass, I'll invite all my readers.

A Farce of a Job Summit

On Thursday, President Obama will holding a jobs summit at the White House. Over a hundred invited movers and shakers will convene to brainstorm and help shape policy moving forward to help government create jobs and move the country forward.

Don't be fooled. This is a political event to make the public fell the administration cares about them and is working on the problem. The truth is, they are creating the problem, overwhelming the system and hoping you turn to them for help out of despair.

Aside from the incorrect mindset by this administration that government creates jobs, it is actually the private sector that does. Fixing the job problem is not particularly challenging, but the mechanisms to get the job done go against the policies of this administration. In an effort to be of assistance, here are a handful of ideas.

1. Uncertainty. Investors, small business owners and corporate America are paralyzed as the amount of regulation and taxes seem poised to increase substantially in the short term. Markets and forecasting HATE uncertainty and the high level of it that exists now must be eliminated.

2. No Free Lunch. Remember Peggy Jospeh? Transferring wealth from successful Americans to those who take no risk, are unable due to secure long standing employment due to lacking skills is the equivalent to exercising a tax on those who create jobs and provide an avenue for those on the low end to build and enhance their skills.

3. Energy Policy. Vice President Joe Biden attempted to throw Sarah Palin under the bus quipping "it is more than just drill baby drill". Not really. Get serious on this this afternoon.

4. Minimum Wage. It was just increased. It should be eliminated. The free market should dictate wages based on demand for the service and the abilities of the workers.

5. No new programs. Cap & Trade and the Health Care Plan will cost businesses untold and unpredictable dollars, which is money that could and should be spent on business expansion.

6. Bush Tax Cuts. Obama will not continue them, which is the wrong move. Recall from economics class when you tax something, you get less of it.

7. Cut Corporate tax. Businesses need to be free from excessive taxation and regulation to conduct business, which leads to increased tax revenue and, oh yes, expansion in employment.

8. Global Climate Change. Although encouraging everyone not to pollute is great, this global warming deal is a hoax and in reality represents a vehicle for the global transfer of wealth. Until completely exposed, and given our main stream media this could take some time, it acts a tax on business, which is passed along to the consumer. That is money that could be used for business expansion, and, jobs.

9. Immediate suspension of stimulus package. Only about 25% rolled out (given the level of unemployment you would think this would be on the fast track), it is already apparent that it is not working (who knew?) and it should be stopped.

10. Reduce corporate taxes. This will help businesses, get this, generate business, and therefore jobs and tax receipts for the government. Instead, Congress and the Obama administration are looking for ways to add to the tax burden, from inheritance tax to war taxation. Increasing taxes in various ways is not good, and one could refer to the Laffer curve for review.

11. Eliminate the Czars. In America, we actually currently have a pay czar. This is far from helpful.

12. Government Interference. A striking example of this is the government takeover of the car companies, and Uncle Sam screwing the bond holders. This was a very bad precedent and possibly illegal.

So there you have it, a dozen items. I doubt Obama will hear any of these thoughts at the summit today, since small business is not invited. Labor unions, SEIU, Academics, government officials and companies involved in global warming are among those participating.

The following chart gives you an idea of the real story in Washington:

Morris Details The Obama Catastrophe

Former Clinton advisor turned political pundit and author Dick Morris joins Sean Hannity on FOX News Hannity to discuss his new book, Catastrophe, detailing the catastrophe that is the Obama Administration.

Say what you will about Dick Morris, the information he puts forth in this book is a must read for the American citizenry, and I think it is right on target. Please take a few moments to hear the case from Morris in the following two part segment:





From the assault on prosperity, also outlined in the fine book The End of Prosperity by Arthur Laffer and Steve Moore, to the thuggery involved in the takeover of businesses and the breaking of contract law to the naive foreign policy which leaves our country extremely vulnerable; from the power grab by the executive branch to the massive deficits are grandchildren will be saddled with, this is in fact a catastrophe.

Sura Sets To Dunk On GM

Former Florida State basketball standout and NBA veteran Bobby Sura has filed a lawsuit against General Motors.

Sura co-owns a GM Saturn dealership in Tallahassee and contends in the suit that GM's announcement that the brand was for sale devalued the brand and rendered the dealership worthless.

Look for other dealerships to follow the lead of Sura, including GM's Pontiac dealerships and Chrysler dealers who have been strong armed by the Obama administration. What has happened to General Motors and Chrysler is criminal as is the role our government has played in the whole saga.

Conservative Patriot Kemp Throws Last Pass

Supply side conservative and NFL All Star quarterback Jack Kemp has unfortunately passed away due to the insidious disease of cancer.

Although I never met him, I always appreciated him and his story. Kemp was cut several times and traveled a lengthy road en route to his legendary football career, never giving up and persevering. He was league MVP while with the Buffalo Bills of the AFL.

Kemp was also part of the Reagan Revolution, co-authoring the Reagan tax cuts which ignited the greatest bull market in history. By all accounts, he was a neat guy.







An American conservative patriot, Kemp will be sorely missed. Maybe Ronnie will have a beer waiting for him. Meanwhile, Cancer must be stopped and you can help by visiting HERE.

UPDATE 5-4-09

CNBC's Larry Kudlow, who knew Kemp for some 35 years from their days working under Reagan, penned a wonderful column on Kemps contributions. Kudlow also got together with Art Laffer and Robert Rahn, former Reagan economic advisers, and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, to remember Jack Kemp. It is worth your time:

A Criminal Enterprise?

The TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) is already, albeit very quitely, out of hand. Larry Kudlow of The Kudlow Report on CNBC has very interesting discussion of the subject with famed economist Arthur Laffer, co-author of The End of Prosperity, former FDIC chair Bill Seidman and Peter Morici, economics professor at the University of Maryland.

For those who are arm chair quarterbacking this whole bailout thing, this would be a great discussion to wet your whistle. It also illuminates the basis of the what would generate the tea parties, highlighting how the governmental strong arm takeover of the banks is not behaving as it was indicated to us taxpayers it would.

The discussion also touches on Detroit, and how the "takeover" of GM will provide a vehicle for government to issue some sort of mandate for the company to produce cars the government want us to drive, not those we want to drive. This will quickly make this lifelong GM guy ask himself if he has driven a Ford lately?

Can you imagine fraud in the Congress? The discussion also questions an editorial in the Baltimore Sun, where it is outlined that some 20 criminal probes concerning TARP have been opened.

Take ten minutes out of your day to listen to Kudlow lead this worthwhile discussion with three top notch guests:

Clinton Rewriting History Again

While his lovely and gifted wife Hillary is over in Tokyo apologizing on behalf of The United States to the Muslim community ( I am quite puzzled why she would be apologizing to them for anything), former President Bill Clinton hit the dazed and confused staff over at CNN with some kind of revisionist history. In an interview with John Roberts and an appearance on The Larry King program, Clinton made commentary that must not go unchallenged.

You may think that few if anyone would be watching Larry King, and you are right. But, back in the early days of cable and late night radio, King was a force. Subsequently, many of our elder citizens still tune in, and these are the folks who may no longer has the intellectual knowledge of the political climate to question his erroneous comments. So, I will.

CLINTON ON OBAMA'S FIRST DAYS

When asked about Obama's performance in the early going, Clinton said Obama "was off to a good start". Oh my!

To begin with, Obama's cabinet selections have been saddled with tax issues (Geithner, Solis, Daschle), potentially criminal conflicts of interests (Richardson) and a much maligned Attorney General (Holder)who pardoned a tax evader on the FBI's most wanted list in Marc Rich at the end of Clinton's second term and today called most Americans "essentially cowards". He is still looking for a Commerce Secretary after his second choice, Judd Gregg (R:NH), withdrew after Obama, lacking the transparency he promised, stripped the Census Bureau from Commerce to The White House. Bush holdover Robert Gates is good to go.

Obama also promised on the campaign to allow five days for a Bill to be reviewed before he would sign it. Rut Row? The emergency spendulous bill, sent to lobbyists before congress, was voted on before the congress could even read it in it's entirety. Not good!

I will not even mention the DOW is down 2000 points since his election, but even the Kool-Aid drinkers have got to admit Obama's start has been shaky at best.

CLINTON ON THE ROOT OF THE HOUSING CRISIS



Famed economist Arthur Laffer was a two time supporter of President Clinton and a fan of his economic policies, and I think economically speaking, Clinton did a fair job, mostly following the policies of GB41. But, for him to dodge any responsibility for this housing crisis is mind boggling.

He did not do anything to curb the derivatives market, and neither did George W. Bush, although Bush asked Congress to investigate it and was shut down by Democratic opposition. Clinton did sponsor The Community Reinvestment Act, and without proper oversight and tainted with fraudulent organizations like ACORN, this program no doubt contributed heavily to the problem. And under Obama, not surprisingly, ACORN will be recipients of part of the stimulus package. Good Grief!

THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IF CLINTON AND HIS TEAM WERE STILL IN CHARGE

From CNN: Asked his perspective on how the country fell into such economic hard times, Clinton responded in an NBC "Today" show interview by asking rhetorically: "Did any of them seriously believe that if I had been president and my economic team had been in place the last eight years, that this would be taking place." Take a listen:

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Yeah, I seriously believe it! Forgetting the economic cycles and bubbles bursting going back to the tulip scandal in Holland in the 1600's, Mr. Clinton is out of his mind. One of the major elements of the crisis is the demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with Fannie Mae being led by former Clinton Budget Director Franklin Raines. I suspect this incompetent CEO, who walked out of Fannie with 90 million in compensation amidst accounting fraud at the company, would have been front and center in Clinton's team. Today, jail seems appropriate, but he is an advisor on the Obama team. Hope and Change! And then there is Robert Rubin, Clinton Treasury Secretary, who while calling the shots at Citigroup (C:NYSE) oversaw the subprime lending practices that have led Citi, and our capital markets, to life support.

Mr Clinton, although not his fault, left GW Bush with a recession caused by an exhausted business cycle, which you may know of as the dot.com boom. Mr. Bush was then blindsided, as we all were, by the terrorists attacks of 9-11. The attacks were a crippling blow to our economy, and through the FED's efforts of attempting to quickly lead the economy back from this period, monetary policy was loosened. This added fuel to the fire of the housing crisis, with homes and real estate being a welcomed tangible asset in an environment of future uncertainty.

Mistakes have been made, but it is sad to hear Mr. Clinton dodge any responsibility and like Obama, simply say it was because of the past eight years. Translation, it was the fault of Bush. Although no doubt hampering his presidential aspirations, I never heard Obama raise any commentary anywhere about the derivatives market, a potential housing bubble, the antics of book cooking by those running Fannie and Freddie, or anything for that matter during his responsibilities as a US Senator. Meanwhile, Bush does not dodge responsibility, again, employing the demeanor and class one should expect form a former Commander in Chief.