What if the Federal government was your household?

U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000

• Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000

• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

• Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

Annual family income: $21,700

• Money the family spent: $38,200

• New debt on the credit card: $16,500

• Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

• Total budget cuts: $385
 
There you have it.  All the rest is noise.  Eventually, somebody is going to have to pay for this mess, and it's going to be business owners.
Ok, but don't we need roads, police, defense, and a courts system? 
Yeah, but that's about it. Instead, we've got..... 

Legislative branch
Agencies within the legislative branch:

Architect of the Capitol
Government Accountability Office
Government Printing Office
Congressional Research Service
Congressional Budget Office
Library of Congress
Office of Compliance
United States Botanic Garden
United States Capitol Guide Service
United States Capitol Police
United States Copyright Office

Judicial branch United States federal courts
Agencies within the judicial branch:

Administrative Office of the United States Courts
Federal Judicial Center
Judicial Conference of the United States
Office of Probation and Pretrial Services
United States Sentencing Commission

Agencies within the Executive Office of the President:

Council of Economic Advisers
Council on Environmental Quality
Domestic Policy Council
National Economic Council
National Security Council
Office of Administration
Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Office of Management and Budget
Office of National AIDS Policy
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Office of the First Lady
Office of the Vice President
President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
President's Intelligence Advisory Board
United States Trade Representative
White House Office

Agencies within the Department of Agriculture:

Agricultural Marketing Service
Agricultural Research Service
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
Commodity Credit Corporation
Economic Research Service
Farm Service Agency
Food and Nutrition Service
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Foreign Agricultural Service
Forest Service
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration
National Agricultural Statistics Service
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Risk Management Agency
Office of Rural Development
Rural Housing Service
Rural Utilities Service

Agencies within the Department of Commerce:

Bureau of the Census
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Bureau of Industry and Security
Economic Development Administration
Economics and Statistics Administration
International Trade Administration
Minority Business Development Agency
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
National Marine Fisheries Service
National Oceanic Service
National Weather Service
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Patent and Trademark Office
National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Technical Information Service

Agencies within the Department of Defense:

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Defense Commissary Agency
Defense Contract Audit Agency
Defense Contract Management Agency
Defense Finance and Accounting Service
Defense Information Systems Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
Defense Logistics Agency
Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Defense Security Service
Defense Technical Information Center
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Missile Defense Agency
National Security Agency
National Reconnaissance Office
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Pentagon Force Protection Agency
United States Pentagon Police
American Forces Information Service
Counterintelligence Field Activity
Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office
Department of Defense Education Activity
Department of Defense Dependents Schools
Defense Human Resources Activity
Office of Economic Adjustment
TRICARE Management Activity
Washington Headquarters Services

Agencies within the Department of Education:

Federal Student Aid
Institute of Education Sciences
National Center for Education Statistics
National Assessment of Educational Progress
Education Resources Information Center
Office for Civil Rights
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
Office of Postsecondary Education
Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
Office of Vocational and Adult Education

List of agencies within the Department of Energy:

Energy Information Administration
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
National Laboratories & Technology Centers
National Nuclear Security Administration
Power Marketing Administrations:
Bonneville Power Administration
Southeastern Power Administration
Southwestern Power Administration
Western Area Power Administration

Agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services:

Administration on Aging
Administration for Children and Families
Administration for Children, Youth and Families
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Food and Drug Administration
Health Resources and Services Administration
Indian Health Service
National Institutes of Health
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Federal Emergency Management Agency
World Trade Center Captive Insurance Company
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
Transportation Security Administration
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
United States Coast Guard (Transfers to Department of Defense during declared war or national emergency)
International Ice Patrol
United States Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Border Patrol
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
United States Secret Service

Domestic Nuclear Detection Office
Office of Health Affairs
Office of Component Services
Office of International Affairs and Global Health Security
Office of Medical Readiness
Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Biodefense
Office of Intelligence and Analysis
Office of Operations Coordination
Office of Policy
Homeland Security Advisory Council
Office of International Affairs
Office of Immigration Statistics
Office of Policy Development
Office for State and Local Law Enforcement
Office of Strategic Plans
Private Sector Office

Directorate for Management
National Protection and ProgramsNational Protection and Programs Directorate
Federal Protective Service
Office of Cybersecurity and Communications
National Communications System
National Cyber Security Division
United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team
Office of Emergency Communications
Office of Infrastructure Protection
Office of Risk Management and Analysis
United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)
Science and TechnologyScience and Technology Directorate
Environmental Measurements Laboratory
PortfoliosInnovation/Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency
Office of Research
Office of National Laboratories
Office of University Programs
Program Executive Office, Counter Improvised Explosive Device
Office of Transition
Commercialization Office
Long Range Broad Agency Announcement Office
Product Transition Office
Safety Act Office
Technology Transfer Office
DivisionsBorder and Maritime Security Division
Chemical and Biological Division
Command, Control and Interoperability Division
Explosives Division
Human Factors Division
Infrastructure/Geophysical Division
Offices and InstitutesBusiness Operations Division
Executive Secretariat Office
Human Capital Office
Key Security Office
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Office of the Chief Information Officer
Planning and Management
Corporate Communications Division
Interagency and First Responders Programs Division
International Cooperative Programs Office
Operations Analysis Division
Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute
Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute
Strategy, Policy and Budget Division
Special Programs Division
Test Evaluation and Standards Division
United States Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentMain article: United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
AgenciesFederal Housing Administration
Federal Housing Finance Agency
OfficesCenter for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (HUD)
Departmental Enforcement Center
Office of Community Planning and Development
Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations
Office of Equal Employment Opportunity
Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
Office of Field Policy and Management
Office of the General Counsel
Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Office of Labor Relations
Office of Policy Development and Research
Office of Public Affairs
Office of Public and Indian Housing
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities
CorporationGovernment National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)
United States Department of the InteriorMain article: United States Department of the Interior
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Land Management
General Land Office
Bureau of Reclamation
Fish and Wildlife Service
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (formerly Minerals Management Service)
National Park Service
Office of Insular Affairs
Office of Surface Mining
National Mine Map Repository
United States Geological Survey
Office for Oil Spills
United States Department of JusticeMain article: United States Department of Justice
Antitrust Division
Asset Forfeiture Program
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Civil Division
Civil Rights Division
Community Oriented Policing Services
Community Relations Service
Criminal Division
Diversion Control Program
Drug Enforcement Administration
Environment and Natural Resources Division
Executive Office for Immigration Review
Executive Office for Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces
Executive Office for United States Attorneys
Executive Office for United States Trustees
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Foreign Claims Settlement Commission
INTERPOL - United States National Central Bureau
Justice Management Division
National Crime Information Center
National Drug Intelligence Center
National Institute of Corrections
National Security Division
Office of the Associate Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management
Office of the Chief Information Officer
Office of the Deputy Attorney General
Office of Dispute Resolution
Office of the Federal Detention Trustee
Office of Information Policy
Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Assistance
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Community Capacity Development Office
National Criminal Justice Reference Service
National Institute of Justice
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Office for Victims of Crime
Office of Legal Counsel
Office of Legal Policy
Office of Legislative Affairs
Office of the Pardon Attorney
Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties
Office of Professional Responsibility
Office of Public Affairs
Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking
Office of the Solicitor General
Office of Special Counsel
Office of Tribal Justice
Office on Violence Against Women
Professional Responsibility Advisory Office
Tax Division
United States Attorneys
United States Marshalls
United States Parole Commission (Scheduled to expire in November, 2011)
United States Trustee Program

Agencies and BureausBureau of International Labor Affairs
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (DOL)
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Employment and Training Administration
Job Corps
Mine Safety and Health Administration
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Veterans' Employment and Training Service
Wage and Hour Division
Women's Bureau
BoardsAdministrative Review Board
Benefits Review Board
Employees' Compensation Appeals Board
OfficesOffice of Administrative Law Judges
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy
Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Office of the Chief Information Officer
Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs
Office of Disability Employment Policy
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Office of Labor-Management Standards
Office of the Solicitor
Office of Worker's Compensation Program
Ombudsman for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program

United States Department of State
Bureau of Legislative Affairs
Office of the Legal Adviser
Reporting to the Deputy Secretary for Management and ResourcesExecutive Secretariat
Office of the Chief of Protocol
Office of Civil Rights
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Office of the United States Global AIDS Coordinator
Office of War Crimes Issues
Policy Planning Staff

Reporting to the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International SecurityBureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation

 Reporting to the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global AffairsBureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

Reporting to the Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural AffairsBureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for ManagementBureau of Administration
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS)
Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)
Office of Foreign Missions (OFM)
Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)
Bureau of Human Resources
Family Liaison Office
Bureau of Information Resource Management
Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations
Bureau of Resource Management
Foreign Service Institute
Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing and Innovation

Reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs
Bureau of African Affairs
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
Bureau of International Organization Affairs
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public AffairsBureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Bureau of International Information Programs
Bureau of Public Affairs
Office of the Historian
Office of Policy, Planning and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
Permanent Diplomatic MissionsUnited States Mission to International Organizations in Vienna
United States Mission to the European Union
United States Mission to the International Civil Aviation Organization
United States Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
United States Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
United States Mission to the Organization of American States
United States Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
United States Mission to the United Nations
United States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome
United States Mission to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva
United States Observer Mission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
United States Permanent Mission to the United Nations Environment Program and the United Nations Center for Human Settlements

United States Department of Transportation
AgenciesBureau of Transportation Statistics
Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Highway Administration
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Federal Railroad Administration
Federal Transit Administration
Maritime Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
Surface Transportation Board

United States Department of the Treasury
Agencies and BureausAlcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Bureau of the Public Debt
Community Development Financial Institution Fund
Federal Consulting Group
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Financial Management Service
Internal Revenue Service
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Office of Financial Stability
Office of Thrift Supervision (being abolished in 2011)
United States Mint
OfficesOffice of Domestic Finance
Office of Economic Policy
Office of International Affairs
Office of Tax Policy
Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
Treasurer of the United States

United States Department of Veterans Affairs
AgenciesNational Cemetery Administration
Veterans Benefits Administration
Veterans Health Administration
 Boards and OfficesBoard of Veterans' Appeals
Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Center for Minority Veterans
Center for Veterans Enterprise
Center for Women Veterans
Office of Advisory Committee Management
Office of Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication
Office of Survivors Assistance
Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
Veterans Service Organizations Liaison
Independent Agencies and Government CorporationsAdministrative Conference of the United States
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
African Development Foundation
Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation)
Central Intelligence Agency
Commission on Civil Rights
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Corporation for National and Community Service
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Public Broadcasting Service
Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
Election Assistance Commission
Environmental Protection Agency
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Export-Import Bank of the United States
Farm Credit Administration
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Election Commission
Federal Housing Finance Board
Federal Labor Relations Authority
Federal Maritime Commission
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
Federal Reserve System
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
General Services Administration
In-Q-Tel
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Inter-American Foundation
International Broadcasting Bureau
Merit Systems Protection Board
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
Office of the Federal Register
National Capital Planning Commission
National Council on Disability
National Credit Union Administration
Central Liquidity Facility
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
National Labor Relations Board
National Mediation Board
National Science Foundation
National Transportation Safety Board
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
Office of Compliance
Office of Government Ethics
Office of Personnel Management
Federal Executive Institute
Office of Special Counsel
Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Panama Canal Commission
Peace Corps
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Postal Regulatory Commission
Railroad Retirement Board
Securities and Exchange Commission
Securities Investor Protection Corporation
Selective Service System
Small Business Administration
Social Security Administration
Tennessee Valley Authority
U.S. Trade and Development Agency
United States Agency for International Development
United States International Trade Commission
United States Postal Service
United States Sentencing Commission
Universal Service Administrative Company
Pending Government CorporationCorporation for Travel Promotion

Boards and commissionsAdministrative Committee of the Federal Register
American Battle Monuments Commission
Appalachian Regional Commission
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (United States Access Board)
Arctic Research Commission
Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Interagency Coordinating Committee
Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation
Broadcasting Board of Governors
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
Chief Acquisition Officers Council
Chief Financial Officers Council
Chief Human Capital Officers Council
Chief Information Officers Council
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
Commission of Fine Arts
Commission on International Religious Freedom
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (United States Helsinki Commission)
Commission on Wartime Contracting (Will sunset sixty days after issuing final report)
Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Defense Acquisition University
Delaware River Basin Commission
Denali Commission
Endangered Species Committee
Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board
Federal Advisory Committees
Federal Executive Boards
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
Federal Financing Bank
Federal Geographic Data Committee
Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds
Federal Interagency Committee on Education
Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy
Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer
Federal Library and Information Center Committee
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation
Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor Commission
Indian Arts and Crafts Board
Interagency Alternate Dispute Resolution Working Group
Interagency Council on Homelessness
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin
J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
Japan-United States Friendship Commission
Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries
Joint Fire Science Program
Marine Mammal Commission
Migratory Bird Conservation Commission
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Mississippi River Commission
Morris K. Udall Foundation
National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare
National Indian Gaming Commission
National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
National Park Foundation
Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Northwest Power Planning Council)
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board
Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
Presidents Management Council
Presidio Trust
Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
Regulatory Service Center (Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs)
Social Security Advisory Board
Susquehanna River Basin Commission
Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Veterans Day National Committee
Vietnam Educational Foundation
White House Commission on Presidential Scholars (Presidential Scholars Program)
White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance
Quasi-Official AgenciesLegal Services Corporation
Smithsonian Institution
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
National Symphony Orchestra
State Justice Institute
United States Institute of Peace
Private Regulatory CorporationPublic Company Accounting Oversight Board
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
Self-Regulatory BoardsAmerican Medical Association
American Bar Association
CME Group
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
NASDAQ
National Futures Association
North American Electric Reliability Corporation
[edit] Government EnterprisesFederal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac)
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)
Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae)
NeighborHood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks America)
Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae)

The Ron Paul warning on 9-11

We have ignored Ron Paul on the national debt, we've ignored him on inflation, we ignored him on the Federal Reserve. 
We ignored him on the actions that would likely lead to a terrorist attack. 

So.... Do you feel lucky?  Is there anyone else on the political landscape whose warnings and policies have been so totally validated and vindicated for the last 20 years? 

Why Rick Perry is wrong - Social Security is not a Ponzi Scheme

For years, I've mistakenly thought of Social Security as a Ponzi Scheme.  I was wrong.   
What's a Ponzi Scheme, you ask? 

Here's the U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission's answer:

A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors.

During the recent Republican debate, Texas Governor Rick Perry made a stir by declaring that Social Security was a Ponzi scheme.  Lamestream Media outrage immediately blanketed the earth.  Animal shelters were working overtime because of the MSNBC Talking Heads having multiple litters of kittens all over their desks.  If I remember correctly, Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews stood and ceremonially tore their garments and dipped their foreheads in hot vats of black ashes.  (I've got it Tivo'd at home, and will correct the names if necessary.)  Mitt Romney, in a white heat to look like the responsible adult in the room, rushed to the program's defense.  New York Timesians have gathered to reconcile their faith with the inconvenient evidence of Ponzi-ism. 

I laughed and laughed.  I shouldn't have. 

According to Reason magazine, my current source of infallible doctrine, Social Security isn't a Ponzi scheme.  Here's why:

1)  Ponzi schemes take money from new suckers and use it to pay older suckers.  Social Security collects money from new victims, uses some of it to pay previous victims, and spends the rest on stimulus packages, Cash For Clunkers, TARP, wars, prisons, slop, slush, and kickbacks to supporters and government drones.  Trillions of dollars from the Social Security Lockbox have been looted in this manner. 

2) Ponzi schemes attract their money through fraud and lies.  Social Security funds are collected at gunpoint.  If you disagree with that statement, try not paying for Social Security. 

3) When Ponzi schemes run out of suckers, they collapse.  When Social Security starts running low on suckers?  The men with guns simply raise your rates.  Here's the Cato Institute:

In fact, Social Security taxes have been raised some 40 times since the program began. The initial Social Security tax was 2 percent (split between the employer and employee), capped at $3,000 of earnings. That made for a maximum tax of $60. Today, the tax is 12.4 percent, capped at $106,800, for a maximum tax of $13,234. Even adjusting for inflation, that represents more than an 800 percent increase.

In 1950, every retiree had sixteen Social Security victims working to support him.  We now have only three suckers working to support every retired sucker.  In 2030, it'll be only two suckerw working to support every retired sucker.  Look for the men with guns to increase your rates. 

So.... according to Reason magazine, Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme (in the Bernie Madoff sense of the word). 

It is something much, much worse. 

I regret my previous error. 

The vintage poster came from here. 

A reaction to the Jobs Speech

I didn't get to listen to Obama read his Jobs Speech.  I've read most of the transcript. 

Libertarians generally believe that the purpose of the Democrat and Republican parties is to ladle massive amounts of pork to their supporters. 

They've done it for so long that our debt level is killing the economy.  Entrepreneurs are worried about starting anything new, not in this climate of debt and inevitably higher taxes.  Nobody from anywhere else on the planet is very interested in starting a business here. 

The purpose of the Democrat and Republican parties is to ladle massive amounts of pork to their supporters.  They'll always find a good reason to do so. 

Judged by that standard, Barack Obama, because of Porkulus, Cash For Clunkers, multiple wars, spending levels that make Imelda Marcos look like a medieval hermit, and this latest appeal for more slop to be dumped into the communal troughs, I'm preparted to say that....

BARACK OBAMA IS THE GREATEST PRESIDENT EVER. 

We will never see another one like him, and we should enjoy this while it lasts.  We are like beginning musicians getting to watch Beethoven compose symphonies, or amateur artists watching Van Gogh paint.  Because you are lucky enough to be alive at this moment, you can tell your grandchildren that you got to watch Barack Obama hand out money. 

A reminder for all Human Resource and Personnel Managers

Are you prepared to hire millions of people tomorrow?  Barack Obama's Jobs Speech will be read live from the teleprompter tonight, and millions of new workers are going to be required at your companies to meet the pent-up customer demand for your goods and services following this essay by a community organizer. 

Or it could be that consumers are going to be scared shitless again by the prospect of having to come up with, say, another 300 billion dollars to finance these boondoggles.  In that case, never mind. 

 The "Are You Ready" poster came from here. 

LateBlogging the Republican Debate. September 7, 2011 - total failure at pretending to be interested

If it weren't for Ron Paul, I wouldn't be doing this. 
I usually liveblog interesting debates.  This one won't be interesting.  I didn't even get home in time to liveblog the thing.  Thank you, Tivo. 

Ok, here we go. 

Mitt Romney and Rick Perry just finished a little argument over who created the most jobs as governor.  Perry claims that Michael Freakin' Dukakis created more jobs as Massachusetts governor than Romney did.  Romney claims that George W. Bush created more jobs as Texas governor than Perry did. 

Who gives a rip?  You know who isn't here at this debate?  Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson.  He's wasn't invited to this thing because he's a libertarian-ish sort.  Johnson claims (truthfully) that he didn't create a single job as New Mexico governor.  He just got the government out of the way and let the private sector take care of it.  Can you imagine anyone at MSNBC letting that cat out of the bag to run around on this stage, making a mockery of the proceedings? 

The MSNBC moderators (and the rest of the lamestream media) ought to show how many government employees were on the payroll before and after the Romney and Perry administrations.  That's what matters. 

Michele Bachmann just ripped ObamaCare a new one. 

Brian Williams just asked Ron Paul how the world would survive without government regulations.  Ron Paul just gave a somewhat rambling answer, but got to the point.... we don't need the government to do it.  "But who would keep the airplanes from dropping out of the sky?"  Paul shoulda said "follow the Canadian model and privatize it.  Canadian Air Traffic Controllers don't fall asleep on the job."  But he just said, essentially, let the Free Market handle it. 

Why is there an airplane hanging over the audience? 

MSNBC, like most left-wing organizations, is having a hard time making things work properly.  They can't coordinate their video clips with the debate moderators' questions. 

The debate moderators are trying to hang the Massachusetts RomneyCare model on Mitt Romney (where it belongs).  Romney is dodging the question, and talking about what he would do in the future. 

These people are talking about jobs as if they're the goal of a business.  Jobs are not the goal.  They are a by-product.  Lordy. 

Michele Bachmann is claiming that she's the only person with the legislative experience to repeal ObamaCare. 

Gingrich is trying to get some party unity going, claiming that all of his brothers in pork are against ObamaCare, and he's not going to put up with MSDNC trying to get Republicans fighting with each other. 

Herman Cain, after multiple appearances on Stossel, Freedomwatch, and debates that I've seen, finally cut loose a rip on ObamaCare that I could agree with. 

God help me.  Rick Santorum just answered a trick question on welfare, using words that I could have possibly written.  I think the entire world, after the last 3 years, is now leaning Libertarian. 

Bachmann says that "energy" is one of the greatest opportunities for job creation that we have.  Bullshit.  Outlawing "energy" and digging ditches with spoons would create the most jobs.  But that's not the point.  We'll have good job creation when we allow entrepreneurs to get filthy stinkin' rich.  Jobs are merely a by-product of that process. Deal with it.  Thank you. 

They just asked Ron Paul if eliminating the minimum wage would create more jobs.  He answered that it would.  Didn't even think about it.  Why?  Because it would. 

Ron Paul just scared the shit out of me.  I thought he'd lost it.  He said he could create a gallon of gas for a dime.  Yes, for a dime.  But yes, if you have an old-school silver dime, it's now worth $3.50. 

Brilliant.  Freakin' brilliant. 

Now Perry is attacking Paul for quitting the party, and writing an anti-Reagan letter.  Paul says Reagan taxed too much and spent too much.  Yep.  Until Obama came along, more debt was rung up under presidents named Reagan and Bush than all other presidents combined.  Look it up.  Hit the Ronald Reagan label at the bottom of this post. 

Ok, the airplane hanging over the audience is Reagan's Air Force One plane.

Shortly after hitting Ron Paul with an anti-Reagan question, they're acknowledging Nancy Reagan in the audience and giving her a round of applause.  Nice. 

Rick Perry is saying good stuff about Social Security being as broke as The Ten Commandments, and that anyone who promises money to today's young workers is lying. 

Mitt Romney, bless his Mormon heart, is defending Social Security.  Let's see two workers support one retiree.  That's where we're headed. 

Rick Perry, bless his perfect hair, is calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme.  Because that's what it is. 

Herman Cain, bless his thick crust, just suggested that we go to the Chilean system for retirement plans.  Go here for info. 

The moderators have now taken us off into inoculations.  I bet fluoride in the water supply will be next. 

Ron Paul just hit a home run on a TSA question.  Now Brian Williams is going after him on FEMA.  Paul asks him back "What happened before 1979 when we didn't have FEMA?"  Let the states handle it.  Doh. 

Herman Cain wants to fix FEMA and fix Homeland Security.  Good luck, Herm. 

Jon Huntsman is bleating about what he did for job creation. 

I can't watch any more of this.  With the possible exception of Ron Paul, I can't drink enough beer to imagine any of these people being willing to cut out a single cabinet-level department.  I can't imagine MSDNC asking the question. 

If something happens that's remotely interesting, I might expand on this thing.  Dull, dull, dull.  Talking points, talking points, talking points.

Good night !!

If you're disappointed in this blog post, I apologize. Here's a fun video:

Some clarification on the remarks of Jimmy Hoffa, Jr.

Jimmy Hoffa Jr., made a big fuss during an Obamessiah campaign event.  (That's Jimmy Hoffa the current Teamsters Union president, not the elder Jimmy Hoffa who was convicted of fraud, jury tampering, and bribery.)

He told his union audience:

That’s what we are going to tell America…..When he sees what we are doing here, he will be inspired, but he needs help. And you know what? Everybody here has got a vote. If we go back, we keep the eye on the prize, lets take these sons-of-bitches out and give America back to America where we belong.


There was an earlier reference in his speech to The Tea Party, and if you're willing to skip about 4 paragraphs of other stuff, Jimmy Jr can be interpreted as saying that it's time to take The Tea Party sons-of-bitches out. 

(You can already buy T-shirts.)

I believe Hoffa meant that it is time to take generic sons-of-bitches out, not necessarily Tea Party sons-of-bitches.  And who are these generic sons-of-bitches?  Anyone who opposes Hoffa, the unions, or The Teleprompter Jesus, perhaps.  Here's some clarification:

Hoffa describes the combatants in his “war” as “workers” on the one hand and “the Tea Party” on the other. But of course he isn’t interested in workers in general, only those who belong to unions–a group that, after decades of private-sector union decline, largely consists of employees of government, government contractors and government bailout beneficiaries such as General Motors and Chrysler. “The Tea Party,” meanwhile, is a dysphemism for taxpayers.


A dysphemism, in case you're wondering, is a substitution of a more offensive or disparaging word or phrase for one considered less offensive.  For instance, my preferred phrase "Fascist Union Thug" instead of "Teamsters President" is a dysphemism. 

Hoffa was not calling Tea Party members "sons-of-bitches" as far as I can tell.  He was calling taxpayers "sons-of-bitches". 

I hope this clears up the matter, and that we can all move forward. 

BTW, for everyone who works in shipping, freight, warehousing and logistics....  Did you know that UPS is a Teamsters Union outfit and that FedEx is not?  And that part of every dollar you spend with UPS goes to Jimmy Hoffa, and part of that money goes to support The Teleprompter Jesus and all his works? 

Remember, you have choices.  Money spent with FedEx doesn't go to Jimmy Hoffa, Jr.  Let your UPS sales rep know what you think about being called a son-of-a-bitch.   

Why Herman Cain should not be elected president

....because if he didn't throw himself between us and this abortion of a campaign ad, he's not fit to do the job of president.   
Lord have mercy.

Somebody please tell Maureen Dowd that Maureen Dowd is the Maureen Dowd that Maureen Dowd has been waiting for

Maureen Dowd, disappointed and feeling jilted, is surprised that Barack Obama is still the same guy with the exact same faults that she wrote about here. These blurbs are from a 2007 editorial about Obama's debate performances:

But often he reverts to Obambi, tentative about commanding the stage and consistently channeling the excitement he engenders....

In the South Carolina debate, Senator Obama was — absurdly — taken by surprise when Brian Williams asked the requisite Dukakis question designed to elicit manly passion: How would he respond if Al Qaeda hit two American cities?

In the New Hampshire debate Sunday night, Mr. Obama again missed his chances. Hillary is the one he needs to unseat, but he treads gingerly around her....

Mr. Obama let the opportunity for a sharp comment pass....

He missed another chance when Hillary said at the beginning of the debate that she believed “we are safer than we were” before 9/11, even though the Democrats won Congress with the opposite argument last fall, and even though the Iraq war has clearly made the world more dangerous than ever.....

And now, to prove that leopards don't change their spots, here's M. Dowd's editorial from earlier this week:

The leader who was once a luminescent, inspirational force is now just a guy in a really bad spot....


 As James Carville acerbically noted, given a choice between watching an Obama speech and a G.O.P. debate, “I’d watch the debate, and I’m not even a Republican.”


The White House caved, of course, and moved to Thursday, because there’s nothing the Republicans say that he won’t eagerly meet halfway.

No. 2 on David Letterman’s Top Ten List of the president’s plans for Labor Day: “Pretty much whatever the Republicans tell him he can do.”


MSNBC’s Matt Miller offered “a public service” to journalists talking about Obama — a list of synonyms for cave: “Buckle, fold, concede, bend, defer, submit, give in, knuckle under, kowtow, surrender, yield, comply, capitulate.”


And it wasn’t exactly Morning in America when Obama sent out a mass e-mail to supporters Wednesday under the heading “Frustrated.”


It unfortunately echoed a November 2010 parody in The Onion with the headline, “Frustrated Obama Sends Nation Rambling 75,000-Word E-Mail.”


“Throughout,” The Onion teased, “the president expressed his aggravation on subjects as disparate as the war in Afghanistan, the sluggish economic recovery, his live-in mother-in-law, China’s undervalued currency, Boston’s Logan Airport, and tort reform.”


You know you’re in trouble when Harry Reid says you should be more aggressive.


If the languid Obama had not done his usual irritating fourth-quarter play, if he had presented a jobs plan a year ago and fought for it, he wouldn’t have needed to elevate the setting. How will he up the ante next time? A speech from the space station?


Republicans who are worried about being political props have a point. The president is using the power of the incumbency and a sacred occasion for a political speech.


Obama is still suffering from the Speech Illusion, the idea that he can come down from the mountain, read from a Teleprompter, cast a magic spell with his words and climb back up the mountain, while we scurry around and do what he proclaimed.


The days of spinning illusions in a Greek temple in a football stadium are done. The One is dancing on the edge of one term.


The White House team is flailing — reacting, regrouping, retrenching. It’s repugnant.


After pushing and shoving and caving to get on TV, the president’s advisers immediately began warning that the long-yearned-for jobs speech wasn’t going to be that awe-inspiring.


“The issue isn’t the size or the newness of the ideas,” one said. “It’s less the substance than how he says it, whether he seizes the moment.”


The arc of justice is stuck at the top of a mountain. Maybe Obama was not even the person he was waiting for.

Hey, folks, we're Americans.  We're not sheep.  We're not supposed to be waiting on anybody.  We need political "leaders" like we need testicular cancer.  You are the one you're waiting for.  I'm the one I'm waiting for.  Maureen Dowd may have been waiting on Obama to lead her to some New York Holy Timesian Promised Land, but she should be the exception.  We have a great system of government, but The Founders didn't put enough safeguards in place to save us from people who want to save us. 

 Hell, can you imagine Thomas Jefferson rolling out proposals for economic growth?  John Adams worrying about saving or creating jobs? 

Heck, Libertarians think a lot of Ron Paul, but we generally don't think refer to him as He Who The Prophets Foretold, or the One Who Will Bring Balance To The Force (except in jest).  We simply believe that he really would take a chainsaw to government.  Nothing too special about it. 

(Actual Campaign Poster)

The Libertarian Party awaits your support.  We want to march on Washington and demand nothing.  We envision a system of government so small, so inconsequential, that the major TV networks would never dream of televising our debates about Afghanistan, or our speeches on the economy.  

Afghanistan and the economy are none of our business.  Or Barack Obama's. 

Becker, Krugman, and spending other people's money

Nobel Prize winning economist Gary Becker has some more to say about Warren Buffett's assertion that Warren Buffett is undertaxed.... (Buffett is currently in a dispute with the IRS about how much he owes in back taxes, BTW.) 

Warren Buffett has persuaded 68 other billionaires to follow his example and promise to give at least half their wealth to charities. But why hasn’t Buffett proposed also that the very rich make large gifts to the federal government to offset what he considers ridiculously low taxes on their incomes and wealth? My guess is that he and the others who pledged to give away their wealth to charity would have little confidence in how the government would spend such gifts. Buffett, for example, is giving most of his wealth to the Gates Foundation, not to the federal government, and is relying on how this foundation will spend his vast gift. Given this reluctance to make large gifts to the federal government, why should anyone have confidence that the federal government will spend additional tax revenue in a sensible way?

Go here to read Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman's assertion that we need to either print, borrow, or steal enough money to give the government so they can't crank out another stimulus package. 

Can anyone out there name a single instance of wisely spent stimulus money?  Anybody?  Anybody at all? 

Here's a highlight from Krugman's editorial:

Although you’d never know it listening to the ranters, the past year has actually been a pretty good test of the theory that slashing government spending actually creates jobs. The deficit obsession has blocked a much-needed second round of federal stimulus, and with stimulus spending, such as it was, fading out, we’re experiencing de facto fiscal austerity. State and local governments, in particular, faced with the loss of federal aid, have been sharply cutting many programs and have been laying off a lot of workers, mostly schoolteachers.

And somehow the private sector hasn’t responded to these layoffs by rejoicing at the sight of a shrinking government and embarking on a hiring spree.

O.K., I know what the usual suspects will say — namely, that fears of regulation and higher taxes are holding businesses back. But this is just a right-wing fantasy. Multiple surveys have shown that lack of demand — a lack that is being exacerbated by government cutbacks — is the overwhelming problem businesses face, with regulation and taxes barely even in the picture.

No, no, no, no, no.   The United States government is going to spend more this year than it did last year.  They're going to spend more in 2012 than in 2011.  They're going to print or borrow the money to do this. 

ObamaCare is not yet repealed. 

Card Check is not yet dead and buried. 

Our government has not yet taken the suggestions of The Libertarian Party, and gotten the hell out of the economy.  And our government is really, really crappy at intervening in the economy. 

That's enough to make the U.S. a crappy place to do business, or hire people. 

I'm betting that Paul Krugman has made some good investments in his day.  If Congress passes another stimulus package, someone should challenge Krugman to "invest" in the same companies that Pelosi/Boehner/Reid pick for stimulus spending. 

Seriously, can you imagine someone saying "My broker is Barack Obama...and when Barack Obama talks, people listen !"  (This is a 1980's reference.  Sorry for the obscurity.) 

The Little Pink House, Kelo v. New London, stealing stuff, and government incompetence

In 2005, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Kelo v. New London, using the powers of eminent domain to seize property from one private owner and hand it over to another private owner -- a developer who promised more than 3,000 new jobs and $1.2 million in tax revenue.

In other words, someone's campaign contributor wanted some land, but didn't want to sell at the price the contributor wanted to pay.  Favors were called in.  Strings were pulled.  Stuff was stolen.  Nothing more to it than that. 

This is from the Gideon's Trumpet blog:

As regular readers of this blog know, the redevelopment project that gave rise to the wretched U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. New London, never came about. In spite of the city’s boasting about the quality of its plans, nothing was ever built on the Fort Trumbull site from which the city displaced an entire unoffending, well maintained lower middle-class neighborhood. Though the formal taking took place in 2000 and the U.S. Supreme Court gave its approval to it in 2005, the city’s project has been a failure, with 91 acres of waterfront property sitting there empty and overgrown by weeds.

Now, we learn from the local newspaper, The Day, that following the hurricane Irene, the city has designated the Fort Trumbull redevelopment site as a place to dump vegetation debris. For a video of locals dumping that stuff on the site, click here.

Connecticut taxpayers have thus been soaked tens of millions of dollars, not just for nothing, but for making things worse — for transforming a nice local neighborhood into a dump.

Here's a video of citizens hauling their post-storm crap to what was once a nice little neighborhood:

The best book on the Kelo vs. New London case is Little Pink House. 

Here's a summary, from Amazon.com:

Suzette Kelo was just trying to rebuild her life when she purchased a broken-down Victorian house perched on the waterfront in New London, CT. The house wasn't particularly fancy, but with lots of hard work Suzette was able to turn it into a home that was important to her, a home that represented her new found independence.

Little did she know that the City of New London, desperate to revive its flailing economy, wanted to raze her house and the others like it that sat along the waterfront in order to win a lucrative Pfizer pharmaceutical contract that would bring new business into the city. Kelo and fourteen neighbors flat out refused to sell, so the city decided to exercise its power of eminent domain to condemn their homes, launching one of the most extraordinary legal cases of our time, a case that ultimately reached the United States Supreme Court.

In Little Pink House, award-winning investigative journalist Jeff Benedict takes us behind the scenes of this case -- indeed, Suzette Kelo speaks for the first time about all the details of this inspirational true story as one woman led the charge to take on corporate America to save her home.

I'll never understand what makes voters believe that their city councils, governors, state reps, congressmen, or presidents have a clue about economic development.  Why?  Because they don't have a clue. 

And even if they did, it wouldn't justify theft.  Here's some John Mellencamp, on the joy of owning a Little Pink House, and not having to worry about Fascists stealing it. 

This means you, Jerry Jones. 

Dr Ralph has thrown in the towel. But that doesn't change anything.

My friend Dr. Ralph has apparently given up on The Teleprompter Jesus.  We're sitting at my favorite bar, The Corporate Image, having finished an acoustic guitar jam.  The good Doctor was kind enough and gracious enough to direct me to this post. 

It doesn't say anything about the failure of Obama's Keynesian economic policies, just the defeats and failures on the topics nearest and dearest to Dr. Ralph's heart. 

Be sure to read the Doctor's last sentence.  It can be summed up as follows: 

Dr. Ralph has approved this message.  He now wants the world to know (now) that he was a Hillary delegate in 2008. 

I can't quite swing him over to the Ron Paul camp. Dr. Paul is too dang honest for Dr. Ralph's taste.  Dr. Ralph respects the fact that "Dr. Paul has removed the filter from his mouth and brain".  That's a direct quote from Dr. Ralph.

Dr. Ralph has approved this message. 

According to Uncle Sam, I can't employ alcoholics. Or fire them.

The U.S. Department Of Transportation is rolling out a program called CSA 2010 (Compliance, Safety, and Accountability - 2010).  They're having problems implementing the program because doing this kind of thing requires basic competence, which they ain't got.  People with a sense of humor now call it CSA 2011.  The Department Of Transportation has had some structural problems with the program. 

CSA 2010 is the most comprehensive driver safety program ever imagined on this, or any other planet.  Here are the rules on Alcohol Testing:

The FMCSA regulations require alcohol and drug testing of drivers, who are required to have a CDL. The DOT rules include procedures for urine drug testing and breath alcohol testing. Urine drug testing rules were first issued in December 1989. In 1994, the rules were amended to add breath alcohol testing procedures. In the years following the implementation of the drug and alcohol testing requirements, a number of factors including changes in testing technology, and the issuance of a number of written interpretations, required OST to review and revise the rules. Blah blah blah blah blah, you're not really reading this, are you?  In December of 2000, OST published final rules that incorporated these factors, as well as input from the public sector, into the existing drug and alcohol testing regulations. In August of 2001, the FMCSA revised modal specific drug and alcohol testing regulations published in 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 382 to reflect the revisions made by OST.

Why would drivers need to occasionally pass a sobriety test?  Well, to see if they're driving drunk. 

I recently had to attend a one-hour seminar on Drug and Alcohol Awareness.  The goal was to train me to detect if a driver was drunk, or had been drinking.  I've got to sit through it every year, despite the known fact that I don't pay my drivers enough for them to purchase alcohol.  

This CSA 2010 thing is a big big deal.  I'm plagued every week by consultants, seminar providers, and software salemen who have kits and programs that will help me cut through the confusion that is built into the program.  (We've purchased a good one, BTW.) 

 

But hold on a minute.  Not everyone in Washington has gotten the message.  This is from the Heritage Foundation website.  The EEOC has declared that Old Dominion Freight Lines cannot fire alcoholic drivers. 

The federal government has sued a major trucking company for its firing of a driver with an admitted alcohol abuse problem.

Alcoholism is classified as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the suit maintains, and therefore employees cannot be prohibited even from driving 18 wheelers due to their histories of abuse.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed the suit against the Old Dominion Freight Line trucking company on August 16, noted that while “an employer’s concern regarding safety on our highways is a legitimate issue, an employer can both ensure safety and comply with the ADA.”

So how does an employer ensure safety and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act?  Maybe the driver has gotten into a program and cleaned up.  But if he has a relapse and Old Dominion doesn't know about it, Old Dominion will still be liable if they let this guy drive and he drives the big rig into a school bus. 

Here's a suggestion....  Let's trim it all back to the bare bones.  Let's nuke the CSA non-programs.  If Old Dominion employs an alcoholic driver who hits the school bus, Old Dominion can be taken into court and sued for every penny they've got.   That's the program we need. 

Old Dominion's hiring and firing decisions should be left up to Old Dominion.  If they purchase alcoholic labor, they're going to have safety problems and they should be held responsible.  OD should be free to make that purchasing choice, just like you have a choice in where or how to purchase groceries, gasoline, education for your children, dog food, TV sets, light bulbs, or clothing. 

On Ron Paul and FEMA

Ron Paul is catching hell from the Statists and their Mainstream Media allies for saying that the U.S. should abolish FEMA.  (For the benefit of people in other countries reading this, FEMA is our Federal Emergency Management Agency.  And congratulations on having less debt than us BTW.)

But every now and then, in order to make the Bush administration look worse, someone slips up and publishes the truth.  For instance, this is from The New York Holy Times:

Far from deferring to state or local officials, FEMA asserted its authority and made things worse, Mr. Broussard complained on "Meet the Press."

When Wal-Mart sent three trailer trucks loaded with water, FEMA officials turned them away, he said. Agency workers prevented the Coast Guard from delivering 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and on Saturday they cut the parish's emergency communications line, leading the sheriff to restore it and post armed guards to protect it from FEMA, Mr. Broussard said.

If you have to put armed guards in place to protect your phone lines from a federal government agency, it is time to defund that federal government agency.  Leave disaster preparedness to the states. 

Amen. 

A list of proposed regulations for households. Yours in particular.

Several posts ago, I commented on some of the insane legislative crap coming out of California.  The latest example being the potential requirement that babysitters get 15-minute breaks, meal breaks, workers comp, etc. etc. etc.   

I had often tried to use babysitters as an example of what would happen to hiring in the babysitting field if government got involved.  People would stop hiring babysitters.  I thought it was a totally ridiculous analogy, but of course, there's always California.  California wants to do all of the above, complete with forcing you to bring in a "substitute caregiver" to cover for Babysitter #1's smoke breaks. 

The Coyote Blogger has taken it to a new level.  What would happen if a household had to abide by ALL of the same arbitrary, for-your-own-good, batshit crazy rules that a business has to consider every day?  Would you consider running a household under these terms?  Here's The Coyote: 

I have decided this is exactly the kind of thing California needs. I am tired of average citizens passing crazy requirements on business without any concept of the costs and injustices they are proposing, and then scratch their head later wonder why job creation is stagnant.

I want to propose that California do MORE in this same vein. Here are some suggestions:

• Every household will have to register for a license to conduct any type of commerce, a license to occupy their house, and a license to hire any employees. Homeowner will as a minimum have to register to withhold income taxes, pay social security taxes, pay unemployment insurance, pay disability insurance, and pay workers comp insurance.
• Households should have to file a 1099 for every payment they make to contractors
• All requirements of Obamacare must be followed for any household labor, including payment of penalties for even part-time labor for which the homeowner does not provide medical insurance
• No alcohol may be purchased by any individual without first applying for and receiving a state liquor license
• No cigarettes may be purchased by any individual without first applying for and receiving a state cigarette license
• No over the counter drugs may be purchased by any individual without first applying for and receiving a state over the counter drug license
• No eggs may be purchased by any individual without first applying for and receiving a state egg license
• Any injuries of any type in the household must be reported to OSHA
• Form EEO-1 must be filed once a year to catalog the race and gender of anyone who did any work in the home
• Any time one has a dispute in court with another citizen or an employee, they will now be treated the same as businesses in California, which means that the presumption, irregardless of facts, will be strongly in favor of any employee and against the homeowner, and in favor of any other party in any dispute whose net worth is perceived by the jury as less than the homeowner’s.
• At least once a year the home’s kitchen must be inspected and certified by both the fire marshal and the health department. Any deficiencies must be immediately repaired before the kitchen can be used. All code requirements for commercial kitchens will apply to household kitchens, including requirements for a three-basin washup sink, separate mop sink, and fire extinguishers
• All homes will be inspected once per year for ADA compliance. All parts of the home must be wheelchair accessible, even if there are currently no handicapped residents in residence. Homes more than one-story tall will require an elevator. All counters must be of the proper height, and all bathrooms must have ADA fixtures.
• Each home will be required to prominently display all its required licenses as well as state and federal information posters for workers.
• All homes will be audited at least once every three years to ensure that use taxes have been filed and paid on all out of state Internet purchases
• Material Safety Data Sheets must be on file for all household cleaning products and other chemicals and available for inspection by the fire marshal
• All gas tanks (car, lawnmower, portable 5-gallon) will be treated just like commercial gasoline storage tanks, and require monthly leak / loss reporting. Annually, a complete spill prevention plan must be filed with the state.
• A stormwater discharge plan must be filed annually with the state
• Any dropped thermometer or CFL bulb will require homeholder to call out (and pay disposal costs) of a state hazmat team
• Lifeguards are required at all home pools during daylight hours
• Households should file property tax returns in the same way that businesses must, listing individually every single piece of personal property they own, from their car to their lawnmower to the pink flamingo in the front yard.
• Homeowner must track the number of days any guests stay in their house so they can file and pay lodging taxes on a monthly basis
• Any homeowner who hauls a boat or trailer on US highways must register with the Department of Transportation and receive a DOT number. They must keep full driver logs and maintenance records available for DOT audit and inspection, and every driver must be drug-tested at least once per year.
• All food on pantry shelves must meet all state labeling laws
• At each entrance to the house, a sign warming those entering must be posted warning that certain cancer causing chemicals may be present

Finally, after spending the entire day complying with these rules, the homeowner must read at least 3 posts each day from progressive blogs explaining why anyone who complains about such rules as unreasonable is just a reactionary who doesn’t really know how to run his business very well, and they could certainly do better.

Postscript: Every single item on this list is something my company has been required to do. I am sure I left a bunch out.

Well said, sir.  Well said. 

The Coyote Blog.  Worth reading every day. 

Helpful Advice

Never go online to ask for proof...

If you really don't want something to be proven. 

On the joy of spending other people's money on people that you really like

If an entrepreneur is about to start a new business, he investigates every possible thing that can go wrong. 
If an investor is about to throw some money into a new enterprise, he investigates every possible thing that can go wrong. 
After all, these two hypothetical guys have something at stake: their money or their reputations. 

Would you invest in an entrepreneur's project if he had nothing at all at stake in the business?  If he didn't have any of his own money in the project? 

Here's Barack Obama at a plant/factory called Solyndra back in May of last year.  He's making a victory lap in front of the Solyndra employees, having succesfully shat $530,000,000.00 of taxpayer money into the business.  We'll never know why.  He didn't put any of his and Michelle's money into the place, as far as we know. 

There was apparently nothing special about Solyndra.  They were a good candidate for the Green Jobs scam of the last two years.  Their primary business was solar panels, but it could just as well have been Bottled Fairy Farts.  It was politically expedient for Obama to squat over Solyndra and bury the company with unearned dollars. 

Here's the great Milton Friedman on the 4 types of spending:

There are four ways in which you can spend money.

1)  You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money.

2) Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. 3) Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch!

4) Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government. And that’s close to 40% of our national income.

So what's the big deal?  Obama took a massive stimulus dump over a solar panel factory.  Jobs were "created".  Here's NBC:

President Obama faces political catastrophe in the form of Solyndra -- a San Francisco Bay area solar company that he touted as a gleaming example of green technology. It has announced it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. More than 1,100 people will lose their jobs.


During a visit to the Fremont facility in spring of 2010, the President said the factory "is just a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world. "


It's not his statements the administration will regret; it's the loan guarantees. The President was celebrating $535 million in federal promises from the Department of Energy to the solar startup. The administration didn't do its due diligence, says the Government Accountability Office. "There's a consequence if you don't follow a rigorous process that's transparent," Franklin Rusco of GAO told the website iWatch News.


The President touted the federally back money as a way to create jobs. The President's opponents immediately jumped on the deal as Solyndra made its first layoffs.


Republican Congressman Cliff Stearns of Florida warned, "I am concerned that the DOE is providing loans and loan guarantees to firms that aren't capable of competing in the global market, even with government subsidies."

Another critic, Fred Upton of Michigan: "The unfortunate reality is that loan guarantee highlights many of the systemic flaws associated with the stimulus in the mad dash to spend hundreds of billions of dollars."

Why the Republicans shouldn't change the time of their debate

Somebody has scheduled The Teleprompter Jesus to make a very, very, very important jobs speech on Wednesday, September 7.  Obama is going to roll out his new plan to create jobs.  Very, very important. 

By accident or by design, this speech clashes with the Republican Primary debate to be held on the same date. 

Republican Speaker John Boehner, who apparently has the imagination of a potted plant, has actually asked The Teleprompter Programmers to schedule Obama's speech for a different time !!!!

The Republicans shouldn't dare push for a different time for Obama to read his jobs speech.  Opportunities like this one are rare.   

Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary, came very close to the best solution.  Carney suggested that the Republicans postpone their debate by an hour. 

Close, but not quite good enough. 

Here's what the Republican Party oughta do.  (I'm in the shipping and freight industry, and that qualifies me to make these suggestions.....)

The Obama jobs speech should be allowed to roll, uninterupted, on a mega-screen onstage at The Reagan Library, somewhere to the left or right of the debaters.  Let Obama's speech play for about 5 minutes.  This will allow Obama's programmers to blame Bush, blame the earthquake, blame what all he inherited, blame the Japanese Nuke Meltdown, blame the moon for being in the cusp between Virgo and Libra, and all of the usual Barackaganda that we've come to know and love.  None of that mess deserves a rebuttal any longer.   

When those 5 minutes of Presidential Throat-Clearing have run their course, each candidate for the Republican nomination will be handed a remote control that will allow him or her to freeze Obama's speech for 45 seconds.  Whoever hits "pause" first would get 45 seconds to destroy whatever Statist lunacy our president has proposed.  Green Jobs, another stimulus, tax credits for behaving nicely, indebting unborn fetuses, investing in education, or whatever.  Rip it to shreds.  If someone wants to take a whack at, say, borrowing more money from China, he too can hit the pause button. 

The video could be programmed to ration one minute of Obama's Keynesian fantasies to every three minutes of Republican attempts at rebuttal, no matter how many candidates have hit the pause button.  After all, it's gotta end sometime.  I don't believe any responses but Ron Paul's would be worth listening to, but it would be some great freakin' television.  And if The Programmers know that the words they'll put in Obama's mouth are going to be ravaged in real time, it could possibly save the nation a few trillion dollars.  Who knows what could happen? 

One other question about this debate.... Why is the Lamestream Media's favorite Republican, Jon Huntsman, allowed to participate, while New Mexico's Libertarianish former governor Gary Johnson not allowed onstage? 

Just when I think I've created the dumbest analogy ever....

For the last few years, I've used the following analogy when trying to get people to understand how regulations and government involvement can discourage businesses from hiring employees:

When you hire a babysitter, do you look forward to withholding and paying her taxes? Do you feel obligated to provide for her health insurance? Do you believe that babysitters should be unionized, without benefit of a secret ballot election, and that you should then be forced to hire ONLY union babysitters? Would collecting taxes, providing healthcare, and paying more for union babysitters cause you to hire more or less of them?

What I try to do is convince people that if they had to provide babysitter healthcare, rest breaks, retirement plans, 401K's, tax withholding, and the like, they would simply hire fewer babysitters.  People probably wouldn't hire any babysitters. 

I use this example because in my mind, providing babysitter benefits is the most unlikely, stupidest proposal that I can think of. 

But I forgot about California. 

How will parents react when they find out they will be expected to provide workers' compensation benefits, rest and meal breaks and paid vacation time for…babysitters? Dinner and a movie night may soon become much more complicated.


Assembly Bill 889 (authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, will require these protections for all “domestic employees,” including nannies, housekeepers and caregivers.


The bill has already passed the Assembly and is quickly moving through the Senate with blanket support from the Democrat members that control both houses of the Legislature – and without the support of a single Republican member. Assuming the bill will easily clear its last couple of legislative hurdles, AB 889 will soon be on its way to the Governor's desk.


Under AB 889, household “employers” (aka “parents”) who hire a babysitter on a Friday night will be legally obligated to pay at least minimum wage to any sitter over the age of 18 (unless it is a family member), provide a substitute caregiver every two hours to cover rest and meal breaks, in addition to workers' compensation coverage, overtime pay, and a meticulously calculated timecard/paycheck.


Failure to abide by any of these provisions may result in a legal cause of action against the employer including cumulative penalties, attorneys' fees, legal costs and expenses associated with hiring expert witnesses, an unprecedented measure of legal recourse provided no other class of workers – from agricultural laborers to garment manufacturers. (On the bright side, language requiring an hour of paid vacation time for every 30 hours worked was amended out of the bill in the Senate.)

Unfortunately, the unreasonable costs and risks contained in this bill will discourage folks from hiring housekeepers, nannies and babysitters and increase the use of institutionalized care rather than allowing children, the sick or elderly to be cared for in their homes. I can't help but wonder if that is the goal of AB 889 – a terrible bill that needs to be stopped.

No matter how far I try to stretch reality, no matter what dumbassed imaginary example I create, they always find a way to outdo me.  Unbelievable. 

Go here to read the entire bill. 

An interesting letter from Rick Perry, on Hillarycare

Here's a 1993 letter that Rick Perry wrote to She Whose Name Is Not Spoken. 

Hmmmmm..........

Robert Reich is a racist

Robert Reich was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. 

As best I can tell from his Wikipedia entry, he's never done anything but teach school, practice law, or help screw up the country as a government employee.  I don't think he's ever manufactured anything but regulatory burdens. 

Reich recently came up with a list of things that The Teleprompter Jesus could do to create jobs.  Half of the suggestions were the standard "give employers a tax credit for doing things that their Lords And Masters like".  The other half were the standard "take money from one group that I don't necessarily like (rich people, unborn fetuses, banks, etc.) and give it to another group". 

But the tenth proposal perfectly reflects the lunacy to which we've all descended, and that's the one that got my blood boiling.  Here goes:

10. Impose a "severance fee" on any large business that lays off an American worker and outsources the job abroad.

Before I unload on this Statist sonofabitch, let me get in some full disclosure.  I'm proud to work for an American manufacturer.  We make things in the United States, which, considering the regulatory environment, is just about impossible.  We also outsource some work to China.  We're warehousing some stuff in Canada.  We're about to get something big going with a manufacturer in Brazil. 

But in addition to bringing things in from other places, I routinely ship our American-made (and outsourced) products to stores all over the world.  Before my vacation this past week, we loaded out 5 full-sized shipping containers of freakin' fruitstands to Chile.  Yeah.  Fruitstands.  You can make fruitstands anywhere, but people in Chile like ours.  So do our customers in Mexico, Canada and Colombia.  "Trade" works both ways. 

Before we started bringing some of the simpler products in from China, our company had 300 employees in the United States.  And less than a decade after "outsourcing these jobs", in Reich's phrase, to China, we had....

600 employees. 

Yep.  We started making some things in China and this allowed us to double our U.S. workforce.  (We've cut back to around 500 since our peak a couple of years ago, but then, there's a madman in the White House.) 

To what degree should we be punished?  And who will decide how much we should have to pay for sending work to Chinese People and then hiring more American People in the United States as a result of our increased efficiency? 

Let's get to the next bit o' goofiness in Reich's proposal...   I once spent a phenomenally dull Spring welding these weld nuts into 7 3/4 lengths of steel tube. 

Before long, we had doubled the size of our metal shop, and instead of 4 employees, we had 8.  Somebody else welded those things into the steel tubes.  Then 3 people welded them.   

Next thing you know, we've got 3 shifts and 90 people working in our metal shop.  We don't have room to breathe. 

But at the same time, customers decided that they didn't want any more weld nuts tacked into 7 3/4 lengths of steel tube.  Instead of 3 people welding the things, we cut back to just one person doing the job.  Then, for a brief period of time, we occasionally set up a robotic welder to do it. 

Now we order a couple of thousand of the things from China a couple of times a year. 

How is the law firm of Reich, Rodham, and Reid going to determine what "severance fee" we should pay?  And to whom?  Especially since the metal shop has grown to 150 employees since we sent the simpler stuff to China and since no one purchases enough of them to keep an American busy full-time? 

I bet Uncle Sam would have to hire 5 Regulatory Gremlins to monitor our company alone, which is probably the goal of Reich's proposal.  Who knows.  Moving on....

Let's assume that we're succesful in our attempt at manufacturing fruitstands in Brazil.  Let's also assume that Robert Reich persuades The Teleprompter Jesus to slap a "severance fee" on any company that manufactures anything overseas. 

Do you really think that our customers in China, Colombia, Chile, Canada and Mexico will be able to continue ordering things from me at the same price?  Or will their governments turn around and slap a "severance fee" of some sort on manufacturers who purchase my component parts and complete products?

Remember, Robert Reich was educated/indoctrinated at Oxford and Yale.  He's one of the brightest and best.  God help us all. 

Next, put yourself in a company owner's position.  If there was even a remote chance that a new product could be made in China, would you ever consider making it in the U.S. if doing so meant you might one day be required to pay a "severance fee"? 

Hell no, you wouldn't. 

You would keep your U.S. workforce on your old product line.  The new product would be made exclusively in China from Day One so no one at Reich, Rodham, and Reid could ever accuse you of laying off someone and sending that job to China.  

Finally, let's get to the racial issue.  We recently put up a new Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall in D.C.  Here's a quote from the base of the statue:

"our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective."

Yeah.  What King said. 

I don't give a rip about the lines of latitude and longitude where something is manufactured.  Robert Reich wants to take that into account when HE decides what HE will allow in and out of what HE thinks of as our little cage.

I don't care about the nationality of the people my employer sells to, or the arbitrary borders on a map that show where they were born.  The ones I've met have been good folks, almost without exception.  I can say the same thing about the people oversease who we purchase from.  Robert Reich thinks that nationality matters more than "the content of their character".   

I don't give a rip about the skin color of the people making my fruitstands.  Robert Reich appears to be obsessed with it.  I wonder if Reich is disturbed that the MLK statue was outsourced to a Chinese dude....

I see no other explanation than to say that I believe Robert Reich is a racist of the worst possible sort.  (And an economic idiot.)  

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