Economics And Such

This note focusses on a variety of items that expose the weakness of our economy which, in large measure, is a result of ill-advised government actions.  Please, time permitting, read any items that may be of interest to you.  For its own reasons too many in the media either ignore, do not investigate or attempt to fully inform us of things we deserve to know about.  One of their primary functions is to keep the government honest by their investigations and reporting of findings.  While there are exceptions more than not reporting of its activities is confined to parroting what the government wants us to know.  If time limited please at least read the first four paragraphs.

Think of what this will do to our kids, grandkids and further.  Our government's spending and borrowing is out of control.  Take a look at the chart in this item to see the ever increasing tax burden we are allowing our government to pass along to them.  http://dailysignal.com/2015/03/16/how-much-will-each-americans-share-of-the-national-debt-grow-to-be/?  By the way here is an interesting tax item.  Do you know who pays the most taxes?  This item shows the spread of taxation across the population.   http://dailysignal.com/2015/03/18/the-top-1-percent-pay-35-percent-of-federal-income-taxes/? 

Government meddling in the private economy causes untold problems. Quote: "A fundamental tenet of socialist economic theory is the nationalization of production. That means more government control over the means of economic activity advancing more public and less private sector investment, ingenuity and innovation concept that government can provide services better and be a fair competitor with the private sector. That of course is a horrible misconception. First, government does not have to raise capital, it simply raises taxes – or it can print money to fund its programs. Government does not have to pay for advertising its “product,” it uses unlimited taxpayer funds. Government does not have to produce a superior product, it can use the legislative process to “mandate” – we call it coerce – behavior, forcing acceptance."    http://townhall.com/columnists/allenwest/2015/03/20/government-and-the-private-sector--a-case-study-n1973543/page/full

This analysis provides an excellent example of the negative consequences resulting from government meddling in the private economy.  The analysis is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Quote: "This direct evidence strongly indicates that Obamacare, as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is more popularly known, has directly led to a decline in the quality of life of American consumers since its passage, as American consumers are now much less able on average to consume other goods and services to the same extent they were prior to the passage of the law."  http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2015/03/31/a-direct-cause-of-the-declining-quality-of-life-for-americans-n1978483/page/full 

Quote: "If you only looked at the data on the national level, you would never have seen the formation of this recessionary trend that explains the U.S. economy's current state of malaise as it has entered what might best be described at this point as a hidden recession. At the very least, this data confirms that the U.S. has entered into a period of microrecession, which depending upon how the scope, severity and duration of these contractionary forces evolve, could mark the beginning of an official period of recession as might be determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research."     http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2015/04/07/new-jobless-claims-and-the-hidden-recession-n1981507?

Quote: "A new study from the Center for Immigration Studies found that more than 18 million new immigrants have entered the United States either legally or illegally since 2000, while only 9.3 million jobs were added over the same period of time. That represents two new immigrants for every job created in the past 14 years."   https://www.numbersusa.com/news/study-93-million-new-jobs-and-18-million-new-immigrants-2000   Do you still think this illegal alien thing is a good deal for America and American job seekers?  Before you respond, read this.  For the first time in history  CNS News reports that more than 93 million eligible workers are out of the labor force.  Yet the administration and supportive pundits say our unemployment rate is just 5.5% and improving.  How can that be? Assuming a population of 310 million the real number is pushing a unemployment rate of around 30 percent.   http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/americans-not-labor-force-exceed-93-million-first-time-627-labor-force  And the President wants to add illegal aliens to that list???

Current market volatility is not a good sign.   http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/236395-graham-threatens-to-withhold-un-funding   And it is safe to say that despite repeated promises that the Obamacare employer mandates would not hurt jobs, the facts tell a different story.  Quote: "The picture of what’s happening to our nation’s economy is clear, though no one in the Obama administration would ever admit to it. Obamacare is not just an ill-conceived plan, it’s a direct attack on the private sector. We are moving further and further away from true economic freedom, and capitalism cannot sustain itself when regulations push businesses out of the marketplace. That’s no problem for Obama and those like him; they would love nothing more than to see us replace capitalism with a planned, socialist economy. It’s entirely possible that the ACA was designed to fail from the start, all in the hopes that from its ashes could rise true universal healthcare."   http://totalconservative.com/survey-shows-devastating-toll-of-employer-mandate/

Here is an example of executive branch over-reach.  The EPA is notorious for such efforts and this case is before the Supreme Court.  Quote: "The EPA’s proposed regulations are expected to cost the coal industry a whopping $9.6 billion, but only offer a meager $500,000 to $6 million in public health benefits."     http://townhall.com/columnists/ilyashapiro/2015/03/29/more-executive-overreach-this-time-from-the-epa-n1977499/page/full

Quote: "Beginning last August, and continuing through the start of this year, Southern California Edison (SCE) is laying off 400 of its tech workers, so they can be replaced with foreign guest workers on H-1B visas. The company expects another 100 workers to be affected. The displaced workers are receiving support from both local unions and some in Congress, including Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)."   https://www.numbersusa.com/news/members-congress-and-union-rally-support-workers-laid-h-1b-hires  And yes a Republican is in the middle of the whole fiasco.  He should either resign or be fired by his constituents.

Do you really think the government is working in behalf of American workers?  Quote: "A week ago, the Center for Immigration Studies made public some government statistics it obtained through a Freedom Of Information Act request from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS' data show that since 2009, the executive branch has issued 982,000 new work permits to citizens of other countries who were in the United States illegally. The government statistics also show that 470,000 work permits have been issued to aliens here on tourist visas. During this time, work permits were issued to aliens in multiple visa categories that are not eligible for U.S. employment by law. In all, USCIS issued approximately five and a half million work permits "outside the limits set by Congress" according to the report."  https://www.numbersusa.com/blog/govt-statistics-related-dhs-funding-debate-go-unreported-mainstream-media   Be sure to note how the mainstream media treats the topic.

A welfare state is an economically unstable state.   http://eaglerising.com/15944/deadly-welfare-state/   Moreover, this item provides substantiating facts that obviate notions commonly held about inequity. For, example consider this quote:  "The question is not whether people start out life in homogeneous circumstances, he adds. "The question is whether government policies that try to fix this actually make things better or worse." Worse, in most cases. Government "help" encourages poor people to be dependent and passive. Dependent, people stay poor. Also, most government handouts don't even go to the poor. They go to the middle class (college loans, big mortgage tax deductions, Medicare) and the rich (corporate welfare, bailouts to banks "too big to fail")." http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2015/03/11/whats-fair-n1968503/page/full   and this item addressed the shortcomings of the minimum wage. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/236395-graham-threatens-to-withhold-un-funding

There is a movement afoot to bind the United States to an international Climate Change court.  That is a very, very dangerous move and would prove to be an economic disaster for our country.  Please read this item to gain insight into the history of past such efforts and current ones led by President Obama and his administration.  Quote: "Now we actually have a Kyoto court and the president saying ratification has proven to be a problem. We’ve seen that when our system causes him obstacles, he decides he doesn’t have any use for our system...It will be stacked with people who style themselves as climate jurists seeking climate justice, which as we’ve seen in recent years, means pretty much any grievance there is, climate is an excuse to force a wealth transfer to remedy it."   http://www.wnd.com/2015/03/will-obama-force-u-s-to-submit-to-climate-justice-tribunal/

None of the above bode well for our country's future.  Worse yet these are just some of the things our government is doing that, despite the evidence that its meddling in the economy is ruinous, they continue to do so...  One really does have to wonder what they are thinking, doing and why.

George Burns