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Why political journalists are liberal Obama Democrats
Why the media are Obama Democrats and encourage Divider-in-Chief/Liar-in-Chief Obama:
Ethics • Trust • Media • Magazines • Newspapers • Quality • Permalink
Sen. Mark Udall bloats Defense Dept. spending with green energy mandates
Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) is a leading spend and tax environmental extremist who is bragging about inflating the Defense Dept.'s budget with an amendment that will force it to waste billions on uneconomic green energy.
In a letter to constituents, he wrote:
Last week, the U.S. Senate voted 62-37 in favor of my amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, authorizing the Defense Department to continue its efforts to develop and use alternative fuels. I worked across the aisle to secure this bipartisan victory. Passage of this amendment, when signed into law, will ensure that our military has the resources it needs to develop and use advanced alternative fuels that bring down costs, improve mission capabilities and reduce the strategic vulnerabilities associated with a reliance on foreign fossil fuels.
Udall's up for re-election in 2014. Sadly, the GOP doesn't seem to have a strong challenger in the wings. So Udall can safely promote unwise government spending and higher taxes to pay for that spending.
Colorado • Elections '14 • Energy • Legislation • Politics • Congress 112th • Taxes • Permalink
Time for Moocher Nation Obama Democrats to pay the price of going over the fiscal cliff
The greedy Moocher Nation voted for Divider-in-Chief Obama. Now he is signalling that he is taking them over the fiscal cliff. If Obama takes us over the cliff, way less than 47% of Americans will not pay income taxes. And most of those who will write income tax checks for the first time in years will get what they voted for. Going over the cliff will cost most of us a lot of money. So be it. Downsize government. Tea Party II will win in 2014.
The "monied suburbs" voted Obama. Let them pay for their Moocher Nation greed.
Gallup: Most Democrats are socialists, Republicans are capitalists
As Jennifer Rubin reports, a Gallup poll confirms that most Democrats are socialists and most Republicans are capitalists.
For Democrats, profits are all about greed. That's because the people who believe this in general have never risked anything or lost anything in their efforts to make profits. They think there is a straight line from startup to profitability and that once profitable, you've got it made.
Not so. Most new ventures lose money, sometimes for years. Sports Illustrated lost money for decades before turning profitable. Amazon still is basically a dark hole because it's plowing all of its positive cash flow into building the company. Its socialist customers applaud its small profit margins. When and IF it starts to make money, Amazon's customers will be very angry. Discounted books and stuff are a right for them.
As for profitability, look at Hewlett-Packar, Nokia, Dell and some of their suppliers like AMD, the chip maker. They're on the ropes due to changes in technology and consumer demand (iPads v. laptops). Socialists overlook the hard times that businesses and investors go through when markets change and they make mistakes.
Successful companies weather their bad days while they restructure. See GE, IBM, CAT, Goldman Sachs, Macy's, etc. Unsuccessfull businesses go into chapter 7 bankruptcy. See Hostess, Borders, etc.
Emily Lambert’s “The Futures, the rise of the speculator. . .” is disappointing
During the 60s and 70s I wrote hundreds of stories and weekly columns about the futures markets, the Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Options Exchange and several of the characters mentioned in "The Futures, the rise of the speculator and the origins of the world's biggest markets," by Emilly Lambert, a Chicago-based reporter for Forbes.
Agriculture • Futures Markets • Books • Speculation • Permalink
Filibuster: Mark Udall, Mike Bennet for Chicago-style corrupt government
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the incompetent and extremely partisan majority leader, will try next month to eliminate or sharply curtail the power of the minority Republicans to filibuster against bills and presidential appointees.
Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet are all for this power grab, which would allow the majority Democrats to pass bills with 51 instead of 60 votes. As long as the GOP controlled the House as it does now, nothing passed by the Democrats in the Senate and opposed by the House Republican majority would be enacted. But if Democrats or Republicans get control of both houses and the White House, party discipline would allow the majority party the power to totally change the country's laws on behalf of their favored few campaign contributors.
As Coloradans have seen when we've had one-party GOP or Democratic rule, bad, corrupt things happen fast. And that's what we face in 2013 and 2014 with Democrats in charge of the state Senate and House and governor's mansion.
It takes extremists like Udall and Bennet to back Reid's grab for power. They are showing a total disrespect for Republican and independent voters in Colorado, not just in the U.S. Senate. America's political history of compromise in Washington means nothing to them.
They want Washington to operate like Chicago, New York, California and Illinois. In Chicago and those states, Big Government breeds corruption, and single-party rule makes corruption accpetable.
That's where Udall and Bennet are. Can Colorado Republicans do anything about it in future elections? Given the fact that the Colorado GOP is ruled by Rick Santorum, Bill Armstrong, Bob Schaffer and Ken Buck Republicans, I doubt it.
LINKS:
GOP warns of shutdown over filibuster, Politico.com, 11.25.2012
Lindsey Graham, Saxby Chambliss: Hike tax revenues, cut entitlement spending, hold defense spending
Monetary economists say monetary policy, not fiscal policy, affects the health of the U.S. economy. Now we have Keynesian Republicans like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) saying they'd raise taxes or cut tax deductions and cut entitlement spending if that would be good for the country.
Would cutting entitlement spending, raising tax revenues and holding defense spending near current levels help or hurt the economy? Or would all of the "doing something" churning in Washington do nothing but roil the stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities markets and put more people out of work? Would all of this affect the budget deficit or national debt?
LINKS:
Lindsey Graham: I would violate Norquist's pledge, By Tim Mak, 11.25.2012
Why the fiscal cliff matters, By Diana Furchtgott-Roth, 11. 23.2012
Larry Summers signals Obama wants new carbon, sweets, fat foods taxes after fiscal cliff tax hikes
Because he's so political and intellectually corrupted by power, it's hard to believe anything former Obama economic adviser, Larry Summers, says. But one thing he's saying probably signals Obama's plans to impose carbon and sweets taxes after using the fiscal cliff to hike taxes and cut defense spending. Nanny state Obama Democrats always are looking for new opportunities to tax, but it won't happen as long as Republicans control the U.S. House of Representatives.
LINKS:
Hispanic votes wouldn’t have given victory to Mitt Romney
Reporters and pundits are figuring out that even if Mitt Romney had sharply increased his Hispanic votes in Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin and other swing states, he would have lost to President Obama. And Byron York quotes Charles Murray as saying that his sociological studies show that there are no reasons to believe Hispanics are "natural Republican" voters as some delusional Republicans and the Wall Street Journal claim. Question: How many non Hispanics voted for Obama in sympathy with Hispanics? Millions, I'd guess.
Also, how long will it take HIspanics to "forgive" Tom Tancredo Republicans? Blacks still are mad at President Hoover and grateful to FDR. Hispanics still are mad at former California Gov. Wilson about Prop. 187, which was very tough on illegal immigrants. Political memories can be very long.
LINKS:
Amnesty won't magically make Hispanics more Republican, By W. James Antle III, 11.16.2012
The GOP shouldn’t count on tapping latent Latino conservatism, By Charles Murray, 11.20.2012
Assessing how pivotal the Hispanic vote was to Obama's victory, By ALLISON KOPICKI and WILL IRVING
York: Hispanics favor Dems but didn't decide election, By Byron York. 11.22.2012
The GOP turnout myth, By Kimberley A. Strassel, 11.23.2012
Fiscal cliff: Would Obama tax hikes mean end of 47%, more pay taxes, end of GOP?
President Obama wants to kill the Republican Party by getting the House GOP to renege on its 20-year-old pledge to not raise taxes. There is a 25% to 35% chance he may get them to commit political suicide. If the House GOP caves on the fiscal cliff, a lot of economic conservatives will stay home in 2014. But there are some interesting questions about the fiscal cliff and what would happen if we went over it next year.
1. Whose tax credits, tax loopholes, depreciation schedules, government contracts and government subsidies is Norquist protecting?
2. If we go over the cliff, what percent of working Americans will NOT pay income taxes? 47%, 35%, 30%, or what?
3. If we go over the cliff, wouldn't it advance future tax votes if more Americans had to pay the increased taxes and pressed Congress to NOT raise taxes again?
4. If defense is cut another $500 billion, what welfare programs, health benefits, retirement benefits and pork for contractors would be cut first?
5. What kind of security threat would it take to get Congress to reinstate most defense spending? Isn't the Middle East mess enough as it is?
6. Since the fiscal stimulus bill of 2009 and ObamaCare upped spending some $1 trillion over 10 years, maybe $2T, wouldn't it be easy to cut spending under sequestration?
7. If Sequestration made Obama stop picking energy winners and losers with his crony capitalism spending on his favored few ethanol and wind tower makeris, wouldn't we see revivals in petroleum exploration and coal? Wouldn't markets work?
8. With sequestration, would infrastructure spending increase and use up the increased tax revenues? Or would the need to pay down the debt, House refusals to spend on infrastructure unless defense spending was increased again cause more gridlock and help reduce all spending?
9. While stock markets might drop 5% or so if we went over the cliff, would there be enough certainty for businesses to begin investing and hiring again as the economy recovered?
If we go over the cliff, I blame Obama more than the GOP. Obama Democrats are so greedy for political power that they'll do anything to win it, including putting lots of Americans out of work in the process. Obama Democrats are just like the Hostess union leaders who fund them.
The problem is that few trust or believe Obama Democrats or Republicans. That makes it hard to get anything done. The markets have to clear out the dead wood in a bunch of markets before there can be a recovery.
Democrats elected an extremist in Obama, but a Republican extremist can’t make it to the White House
Because Republicans ran weak and incompetent candidates in 2008 and 2012, Democrats elected a liberal extremist, Barack Obama, president. But there is no way a conservative extremist will make it to the White House. And the GOP extremists already are stumbling into oblivion:
Jindal's denial of the Moocher Nation makes him toast before he leaves the bakery.
Christie's toast because he re-elected Obama.
Rubio's toast because he denies evolution.
Ryan's just personhood toast.
Santorum's burnt toast because he's Rick Santorum.
Jeb Bush not only is a Bush, but he's an easily demonized anti-women, anti-gay Bush.
Everyone of these guys is a Big Intrusive Government Republican who can be beat by any mediocre Democrat, I fear.
LINKS:
Republicans, 2016: In full swing, Politico 12.21.2012
What should Republicans be for?
What should Republicans be for, I've been asked by a prominent Colorado Republican. In addition to sending him the reply below, I posted it on my Facebook page.
I think Republicans lost in 2008 and 2012 because the Rick Santorum social issues folks scared independents, young men and women and Hispanics to death. It's time to reassure, not scare voters.
Here's what's practical, if not politically possible: GOP governors, legislators and other officials should take social issues such as abortion and marriage off their political agendas. Small government's stay out of our personal lives. They enforce fair tax laws. They encourage private investment and job creation and they ensure national security and a safe and healthy environment.
Small Government Republicans should make sure that laws and regulations apply to all regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual preferences or citizenship (other than voting). Anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage laws violate the civil rights of women and men alike.
Eliminate crony capitalism and government tax credits, subsidies, grants and contracts for the favored few industries, companies, universities, hospitals, charities, unions and other contributors to political campaigns.
Messages for voters that Republicans should be using include:
!. Women, young and old: We will invest in teaching school board members and school administrators how to run better schools. We want schools that will help you and help you help your kids be more academically successful and prosperous.
We respect your ability to make decisions about you and your family that are best for you and everyone you love. A small government's job is to make your environment, you and what you consume as safe and comfortable as possible, not to tell you what to buy, do or believe. Everyone is entitled to her or his beliefs, but no one should have the power to use the government to impose her or his beliefs or values on others.
2. Hispanics. Republicans want to help all Hispanics and all Americans educate their kids, get good jobs, enjoy being Americans and prosper. We do this by limiting governmental interferences in your lives, jobs and businesses and by making sure that you enjoy the best infrastructure, safety, schools and health insurance markets in the world.
Republicans want Hispanics—immigrants as well as American born—to feel at home in the United States. We support applying to everyone all laws and regulations regardless of ethnicity, place of birth, race, income, wealth, or spiritual beliefs.
We will ensure that tax credits, tax incentives, government subsidies and government grants are available to all citizens and to those who have applied for citizenship.
A path to citizenship should be available to everyone who is in the country upon the date of the enactment of an immigration reform law. That law must ensure our border security and create a fair immigration system and a fair path to citizenship for future legal immigrants.
3. Gays and Lesbians. We will make sure that government enforces the civil rights of all Americans and keeps politicians out of your bedrooms and weddings. Whether you're married or not and whom you marry is none of the government's business. Limited government means equal treatment in tax and welfare laws, employment and education laws and regulations of all Americans regardless of whether they're married, single, straight or gay.
4. Non Christians and non religious. Republicans believe Americans should learn to respect and live with their neighbors, co-workers, employers, educators, health care providers, insurers and competitors regardless of their religious beliefs and practices.
5. Young people. Republicans want equal opportunities for all to make the most of their talents and ambitions as cost effectively as possible. We want you to have big dreams and to live your dreams.
Republicans believe schools should be reformed to ensure that they graduate students who are functionally literate in the basics—reading, writing, math, risk taking and learning. Once students have proved their mastery of the basics, they should be taught civics, history, science and healthy living.
We want school reforms that give children more high-quality learning hours in school, more small class time for students who find one of the basics difficult and the best educational materials available in all schools.
Upon graduation from high school, we want young people to feel that if they want, they can and should be helped to afford to get advanced educations in colleges, trade schools, the military and in other training environments. All schools should be for the students.
LINKS:
Anti-abortionists will re-elect Obama and give him the power to turn Supreme Court hard left, By Donald E. L. Johnson, 6.19.2011
'12 President • Colorado • Politics • Immigration Reform • Permalink
How to cut Medicare, Medicaid entitlement costs, expenditures
Congress and the Obama administration are fighting over how to fix entitlements, especially Medicare and Medicaid. Even Democrats disagree among themselves, according to today's Wall Street Journal. Some Democrats want no cuts, others want cosmetic cuts. Republicans want real reforms, but good luck with that.
Here are some ideas for fixing Medicare and Medicaid that I've made over the years and are even more relevant today:
1. Take free physician office visits out of ObamCare. They waste physicians' time and create tremendous wait times for sick Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries, which increases costs.
2. Require patients with minor symptoms to see nurse practitioners and other allied providers before wasting the time of the shrinking number of primary care physicians.
3. Eliminate coverage of the most wasteful primary care and allied providers.
Health insurance • Fraud and Abuse • Medicaid • Medicare • Permalink
Mitt Romney may have tough time raising money for November election
Mitt Romney may have a tough time raising enough money to be competitive in the general 2012 election. (Nov. 20, 2012 update: Romney wasn't able to raise enough money after the primaries to fight Obama's successful character assasination ads. He raised billions later in the campaign, but spent the money on lousy ads and a dumb campaign strategy. And he turned out to be a weak campaign strategiest and candidate. As predicted below, he turned off young women. And he turned off young men. The social issues libertarians and the Moocher Nation won.)
His potential contributors are
'12 President • Health insurance • Health Insurance Reform • Read More
Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital and the private equity and venture capital industries
Since the attacks on Mitt Romney by Obama Republicans like Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman began, several writers who've worked with and at Bain and in the private equity industry have written about how Bain and private equity companies turn around struggling startups and companies that are headed for failure. See the links below:
4. Get hospitals out of the doctor business. Their overhead is too high, and they demotivate physicians with all of their rules, red tape, etc.
5. Breakup so called integrated health care systems that are local monopolies and horribly distort local provider and health insurance markets.
6. Eliminated incentives for physicians/hospitals to practice very expensive defensive medicine.
7. Raise premiums for Medicare beneficiaries by 25% on coverage of primary care and drugs, and allow them to spend what they want on the kind of supplementary care they want.
8. Repeal the laws that keep Medicare beneficiaries from opting out of Medicare, especially the primary care coverage, which is a waste of money most of the time.
9. Invest in real fraud and abuse law enforcement.
10. Hire private insurers whose administrative costs per patient, not per enrollee, are 20% to 30% of the administrative costs of Medicare and Medicaid.
None of these reforms will be attempted because AARP, health workers' unions, HCA, the American Hospital Assn., the Catholic Health Assn. and the Federation of American Hospitals will fight them.
LINKS:
13 ways to cut Medicare costs, by Donald E. L. Johnson, 8. 3.2011
Cutting physicians’ incomes wrong way to cut Medicare costs and expenditures, By Donald E. L. Johnson 8.2.2011