Only the Consumer Can Save the Economy

Only Government can continue to take more and more money out of the pockets of working people and then sponsors a study, using taxpayer dollars, to study why people aren't spending.

We see this across the globe. In Japan the government has raised the sales tax on consumer goods from 5% to 8% and are now shocked, shocked I say, that the economy is doing worse!

Here in the United States the government’s fingers are in every pie and taking a buck here, $.50 there from every corner of the economy. Your gasoline, your phone bill, your cable bill, gas and electric bill, if you eat out at a restaurant, buy beer, well, everything you spend money on is that much higher because government siphons off a piece of the action.

They just never stop nickel and diming you to death.

There are other costs too. Like the cost of permits, the cost of a driver’s license, a fishing permit in Massachusetts for fresh water is $27.50. Sport fishing is $45.00. To fish in the OCEAN off of Massachusetts is $10.00. 

Hunting with a gun: $27.50. With a bow: $27.50. Trapping: $35.00. These have all gone up recently. The Ocean fishing license doubled from last year. The line of defense is always: The state needs the money to manage wildlife areas. Are they managing the Ocean now too? I can’t tell the difference by looking. What was free 4 years ago is not $10.00. That’s just $10.00 less to put towards something else.

There isn’t enough space on this blog to list all the fees associated with starting and running a small business. And this is combined with taxes and insurance costs. Without small business, the country does not run. Without the ability to start a small business, a nation has three choices: Big business, which, contrary to what some people believe, are not the nation’s largest employer and cannot employ nearly enough people that need jobs. Government: Many people want the government jobs because they have great hours, great taxpayer funded benefits, oftentimes a pension plan and a lot of times pay better now than their private sector equivalent. This is especially the case for public school teachers who make crazy money in comparison to the private sector. And the third choice: Government dependency. This could also be confused with the second choice but in this case there is no return whatsoever for the money spent. This is the public assistance or welfare program.  People collecting relief.

Right now in the U.S. we have working people who qualify for and are receiving food stamps. It is estimated that 44 million people receive this assistance in this country. And it’s all coming out of the pockets of the consumer.

Oh, but spending this money is good, right?

Well, no it isn't really. Spending government money, or money taken or transferred from the taxpayer does not result in a net gain for the economy. You see, the people who transfer this money also draw a paycheck. This is called Overhead and the increased overhead that government adds to the cost of the transfer, reduces the amount of money distributed. As I have mentioned before, government does not produce wealth, it takes wealth for its projects and spending schemes. Only the private sector can produce wealth which comes to them as Profit and the best way for that to take place is to let the private citizen keep more of the money they earn so that they can make that money work for them. It is this Profit Motive that makes the world go around. Why work hard if you don't get to keep the fruits of your labor. Why transfer funds when a consumer to transact person-to-person thus reducing the overhead and saving money that can be used for other things? Why should government decide where that money can be better spent and thus defying market forces and basically just wasting it on wrong decisions? Let the consumer decide what to do with the money they earned.

Places that have done this have thrived. Like the United States itself has done…in the past.

Only the growing, grasping hands of government has interfered with the marketplace and disrupted the marketplace to a point where, after taking so much money from working people in the form of taxes, permits and licenses, they now are compelled to give some of it back in the form of public assistance programs like Food Stamps. This is insane.

Only the consumer can save the economy. Without putting the money back into the pockets of the consumer, the economies of Japan and the United States as well as Greece, Britain and Italy will continue to founder.

This isn't anything new.

Justice Pursues Eric Holder

Almost three years after he should have resigned, Eric Holder has finally seen the writing on the wall.

Although it hasn't been getting any radio airplay that I have heard, a U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates, has turned down a request from the Department of Justice to delay the release of a list of Operation Fast and Furious documents currently under protection since June of 2012 by President Obama's invocation of executive privilege. That's right, for over two years president Obama has been stonewalling the U.S. court system in an attempt to shield the corrupt head of his Department of Justice.

This lawsuit I might add, was not brought by the U.S. Congress, because the mainstream Republocrat Party doesn't have the time to attempt such a thing since they are too busy trying to beat back the Tea Party, but by a government watchdog group named Judicial Watch.

These documents are therefore due to come out well before the November midterm elections.

This is why Eric Holder resigned.

In his interminable way-to-long tenure at the Department of Justice, this evil racist of a man sought to usurp the U.S. Constitution at every opportunity. Ignoring statues one day and inventing statutes the next. Holder intervened where he didn't belong and never lifted a finger in matters that were his responsibility. His selective action on the law were his most glaring insult to the American taxpaying public. His attempts to achieve “equality” of result by inaction and favoring one group over another ran counter to reason and the law.

His job was to uphold the law and in this he is a FAILURE. Blind justice indeed.

Holders actions alone during the Fast & Furious gun walking scheme meant to discredit defenders of the 2^nd Amendment and to further the Obama Regime’s onslaught against legal gun ownership has killed more people that even former DOJ head Janet Reno under the Carter administration. You will recall Ms. Reno gave the go ahead for the action that killed 68 men, women and children at the Branch Davidian enclave in Waco, TX in 1993. An incident that motivated Timothy McVeigh to bomb the Oklahoma Federal building two years later killing 168 people. If Waco didn't happen, neither would have Oklahoma City. 

Mr. Holder has come close to beating Reno's official record. In addition to the scene of the killing of boarder agent Brian Terry, American arms had also turned up at crime scenes in Mexico. The Mexican government estimates that 211 people had been killed in that country by Fast and Furious arms. This includes Luis Lucio Rosales Astorga, the police chief of Hostotipaquillo in the west-central Mexican state of Jalisco and his bodyguard. This estimate could be under counted.

It is estimated that 2000 guns crossed the border and only about 710 were every recovered.

It is fitting that Holder presented Janet Reno with the Justice Award on April 17, 2009 which, among other things, recognizes her ensuring equality under the law during her time at Justice. How absurd.

These killers hiding behind the shield of American Justice should be pursued to the grave. They should never rest comfortably knowing the pain and suffering they caused for the reason of political gain and fleeting power. It never lasts and now that he is out, I hope Holder can live with it. And live with it he shall. He should never have a moment’s peace and everyone he meets should ask him about how he sleeps at night or how can he stand to look in the mirror. 

America will live to rue the day this trailer trash masquerading as scholars ever gained power in this country and Eric Holder is the regimes poster boy.

Now that he has resigned, justice will find Mr. Holder.

And after it does, he can go to Hell. 

Scotland Should Secede

Isn’t this what Mel Gibson was fighting for way back in 1995, a free Scotland?

Sure England is no longer the England of old where they held onto power on the island by slaughtering and starving everybody who opposed them but it would be great to see Scotland have a home of their own that they can administer the way they desire.

The right to self-determination is not given by governments; it is bestowed at birth. And yet so few of us get the chance these days to exercise this right that when we see someplace else getting it, we go all wobbly. Sorta like the Crab Pot mentality that psychiatrists are so fond of pointing to. To me it’s just another example of making the slaves love their slavery. They won’t want to give up the comfort of having no responsibility towards how their lives are run. It is easier to have everything laid out for you, isn’t it?

For all the hand-wringers, nothing would change much if Scotland should vote itself back into an independent state. All the infrastructure, the navy bases, the oil platforms and such would stay right where they are. The only difference would be that England or whoever else that would use them would now have to pay Scotland for the use of them. What’s the big deal? Oh yeah, England would have to pay rent on that big old castle in Edinburgh that the Queen uses twice a year. They’ll probably have to sign a 100 year lease or something and if they do then Scotland should run a credit check.

Of course there are going to be issues, pains and expenditures but it will all be worth it.

It is funny how the wags come out and try to put down such a wonderful idea of having Scotland go back to its people.

Since this subject came up, I can think of a few more places that should be given back to the people who were there first.

Hawaii: This is a no-brainer. The history of the United States taking Hawaii from the organized and civilized people who ran the place is indisputable The Hawaiians haven’t been the same since. We can restore the pride of their civilization by giving back their autonomy over the island. It isn't like they aren’t going to let anybody come over and spend money there. The only downside I can see to this is that we would have a devil of a time arranging 49 stars on the flag.

Tibet: China walked in and took over. There was some uneasiness about it and a few nations said something but that has all faded into the background. The Chinese ran a rail line into the region and is flooding the place with Chinese nationals and pushing out the Tibetans. The Chinese police literally kick protesting Tibetans to death in the streets and leave them there. These days only the exiled Dali Lama is making a public stink about it. All just an annoyance at this point.

Kurdistan: The Kurds should have their own country. They’ve earned it. They fought for it and they’re still fighting for it. Turkey was against it since they were afraid that their Kurdish population would want to secede to the new state but now they seem to be joining forces with them against the Islamic radical element from whom they see a greater threat. All they have to say is anybody who wants to join the new Kurdish state can LEAVE. That keeps Turkey being Turkey. This would also provide a market for Turkish goods with a stable neighbor.

It must be very exciting to be a Scot right now. There is optimism, fear, trepidation and great anticipation. It is something many in Scotland never dreamed of happening before. But the dream can be made real through their own hands if they wish it to be so. It is Democracy in action.

Wish we all could do that.

U.S. War Machine Rejoices at New Military Target ISIL

“They marry ideology, a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess, they are tremendously well funded. This is beyond anything we have seen.” – U.S. Secretary of Defense: Charles “Chuck” Hagel

“New intelligence assessment estimates that the Islamic State group can muster between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters across Iraq and Syria, up from a previous figure of 10,000” – CIA spokesperson.

"This country should not make any mistake on this, nor anyone in Congress — this is a threat to our country," Chuck Hagel

And it couldn't come at a better time to perhaps boost President Obama's sagging, no, TANKING job approval numbers leading up to the crucial mid-term elections. The Nobel Prize winning peace maker has again become the War Officer.  The climate seems right to strike... a deal with the U.S. Military Complex for the hearts and minds of the American public in an election cycle. Hell, it worked for Bill Clinton. 

 

And this time the U.S. War Machine has “found” another threat to the safety of U.S. citizens. Is it Al-Qaeda? No. Is it Hamas? No. Is it the Tea Party? Well, no.

Stop me if you've heard this one before but it’s yet another Middle Eastern Muslim group.

But this time it’s SERIOUS!

ISIL is sophisticated, well-funded and use a strict interpretation of the Koran to live by. Wait, I HAVE heard this one before. AND they wish to set up a Religious Caliphate in the region. How unique!

President Obama has now proposed a bold new initiative: Arm the opposition groups. 

It’s Deja vu all over again.  This time the lucky recipients of U.S. arms and training will be...envelope please... The Syrian Opposition. This is probably because they are the only group left in the Middle East we HAVEN'T armed yet. 

What can possibly go wrong?

Back in the 1860s, during the war of U.S. Succession also known as the Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army was the best equipped army in the South. Why? Because General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, the opposing force, was the best equipped army in the North. That’s where Lee got most of his weapons. This is the same of ISIL. What we've shipped over there, they've got. When we bomb ISIL tanks, we are bombing our tanks, when we blow up a stash of shoulder fired rockets; we are blowing up our SFRs. That’s how it works. But don’t worry, we’ll make more.

As long as we keep arming "opposition groups" in the Middle East with the latest weapons, the U.S. war machine will always have a Boogie Man to make the American public jump through a hoop for. After 13 years of mostly meaningless warfare, they're ready to jump back on the war wagon. It may take ten years to finally defeat ISIL said President Obama. I'll bet there were many war factory executives creaming their jeans over that statement. And ten years down the road, when nothing is accomplished but more physical destruction of the landscape and the American taxpayers footing the bill, I predict there will be a new threat to take the place of ISIL. 

The train just keeps on rolling. 

Having an external enemy that our government can “protect” us from is one way the Federal Overlords can consolidate and hold on to power. Heaven forbid that Peace should break out.

But no worries there since this isn't likely to happen any time soon. After all, we've kept this latest “conflict” going now for 13 years and just when things looked like the United States was going to leave, surprise, a new threat to America, it’s children and it’s overfed dogs and cats has emerged out of, where else, the desert sands of the Middle East. What a coincidence.

So our Middle Eastern proving grounds has yielded more target practice but just enough so they’ll stick around for our next generation smart weapons. Who knows, perhaps we’ll get to test our newest satellite laser or some such futuristic diabolical device that, if successful, we can then sell to Kuwait.

We build these groups up so we can knock 'em down. This is because, here in the U.S. ,war is an industry and to win such things is not the true objective. The real objective is to study, analyze and then to develop new arms to counter the arms we just sold.

U.S. arms salesman: “Oh, so you have the SX879.9 death machine? That’s a good one but that’s last year’s model. We just put out the Model SX880 which not only has 3x the killing power but can neutralize the older SX879 on the battle field. Yes, it’s a little bit more but it’s worth it! AND it comes with 24/7 365 tech support. Plus, I guarantee the Chinese don't have one yet. Now, how many can I put you down for?”

So now we've got another "war" on our hands and it looks like it will achieve everything it is intended to accomplish: Mainly keeping Obama's Amnesty for illegal aliens, U.S. open boarders policy, ObamaCare, NSA spying, Justice Department gun running, Bengazi and a myriad of other lies and subterfuges that the Obama government has pulled to destabilize the economy and demoralize the citizenry. 

 

As G.W. Bush used to say: Mission Accomplished!

Japan Continues to Get It Wrong

Japan's economy contracted 7.1% this past quarter.

How can a country with so many smart people have no clue about what makes an economy grow or is it more about the politics of keeping the status quo vs economic reality?

Is the government so concerned with not wanting to anger the public sector that it is willing to sink the entire country rather than deal correctly with the public debt? Is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe so afraid of the political fallout of making what will be an unpopular decision in the public sector that he just won’t do the right thing ever? This is the way it’s looking.

Since raising the national sales tax to 8% with an option to raise it to 10% in 2015 isn't a popular decision in the private sector, Mr. Abe and his political cronies had no problem with that decision.

It boggles the mind that economists think raising the sales tax, a tax on purchasing manufactured goods, is a good way to stimulate the economy. These people should not only be FIRED from their cushy jobs but have “Idiot” branded on their forehead so that nobody with any sense would ask them another serious question ever again.

Here’s a quote from that Leftist  Propaganda Outlet, the Associated Press from a guy named Junko Nishioka, a so called economist from RBS Japan Securities in Tokyo:

“Theoretically, there should be no impact from the consumption tax increase on corporate spending or long-term corporate planning, but a large number of Japanese corporations seemed to see a large impact from the hike on final demand”.

And why not? What theory is this guy relying on? The theory of drawing a paycheck for saying stupid shit I’d say. Kill this man!

So in light of the recent contraction, Mr. Abe is now having misgivings about raising the sales tax another 2% to a whopping 10% in 2015! That’s $.10 of every dollar spent, a dollar more for every $10.00. And consumption theoretically shouldn't be curtailed? How out of touch is this way of thinking?

This is the same old “the government can make money happen” theory that fails every time it is tried. Government can only transfer money, it cannot produce wealth. On the contrary, like we are seeing with Japan, the government can only siphon off money from production and thereby curtail growth. The government has too much overhead and in Japan, overhead is the 1000 lb gorilla in the room.

Japan’s public sector is mostly work for work sake. Their private businesses are streamlined and efficient and their public services are in the dark ages and are people heavy.

I was in Tokyo earlier in the Summer and went to the post office. You can’t even mail a letter yourself. There is no box to put the letter in. You have to go to a clerk and he will give you the stamps. Now Tokyo is a city that has 5 million vending machines. That’s right, hot and cold drinks, peach soda, coffee in a can everything…except stamps. What post office in the U.S. doesn't have a stamp machine? They all have a stamp machine. You can buy your own stamp, put it on your letter and put it in the mailbox yourself. In Japan I couldn't do that. I had to give it back to the clerk. Why? Because he needs a job.

If Japans government wants to address their public debt, then they have to address it directly. They have to cut the waste. Their bloated public works system is loaded with waste and is hemorrhaging money. They should deal with that before they go back to the already over-taxed private sector for more money.

Government has a responsibility, they never live up to it but they do, and that is to run the public sector as efficiently as possible as to be less of a burden on the taxpayers because the taxpayers ARE the economy. If they don’t have enough money to purchase goods because it has been siphoned off by government taxation then the economy will sink. The more they tax the less and less they will take in as consumption decreases which btw affects big corporate earnings because people aren't buying what they’re selling.

And it’s the poorest of the working class that are affected by sales taxes. Taking money out of the pockets of people who produce and putting it into non-productive public sector should not pass as sound economic policy nor a means to save a flailing economy, and Japan's economy is certainly that.

No, the Japanese government has had this all wrong for well over a decade now. The solution is to cut the public sector workforce and reduce the costs to taxpayers. Then cut the corporate tax rate probably in half so these now out of work people can find private sector jobs and then cut the sales tax back to 5% so people will have money to spend to buy goods and services that the companies can provide.  

It is obvious that government is too big and takes too much money out of the economy. That is the reality of the situation. Now having the BALLS to deal with it is something else again. Who is going to tell it like it is in the Japanese government. Obviously not Mr. Abe who would rather go along with a stimulus policy that has already been TRIED and has FAILED in every country it has been implemented. Look at the damage the stimulus has wrought in the United States: High public debt, increased taxation that equals reduced consumption, wage deflation, minimal job creation, stagnation and little hope a full seven years after the crash of 2007. And this is the plan that SAVED the United States from bankruptcy? Not yet it hasn't.

Cut the taxes and the public sector burden or eventually it will cut itself in the form of economic collapse. The economy can either be brought under control or it will hit the wall. Right now there is still a choice.

  

So which will it be Mr. Abe? 

Welfare States Weaken World Economies

Smoke and mirrors will only get you so far.

The European welfare state is finding that raising taxes and thereby raising the cost of doing business isn't getting them anywhere. Now there’s a shock.

By favoring big business, global governments ignore the real engine of the economy and innovation: Small business.

Microsoft didn’t start as a multinational conglomerate. Neither did IBM, NCR or Apple. They all started small as people armed only with an idea.

As I drive through my town, Obscurity, Massachusetts, and see empty strip malls and empty storefronts, I am reminded that there is no recovery here in the United States either. It’s all just borrowed money and eventually it will need to be paid back and when the person who is last in line puts their hand out and the person who is supposed to pay them has nothing to give them, this whole house of cards will come crashing down.

What we are finding out, like we needed to live through this again to know, is that a Welfare State is a weak state. People without work are people without purpose. Government can give people sustenance but they can’t give people purpose. Only a job can do that, a livelihood.

We have almost 100 million people receiving some kind of public assistance in this country and that is an obscenity to the American Dream. Does anybody else find it strange that government taxes people into dependence on the State and then gives them enough to get by? Had they left their money in their own pockets would they not be better off? But no, the money has to come from Government. You can’t just make it on your own. You NEED them and they will fulfill your needs.

It is a downward spiral of dependancy, despondency, drugs and violence.

Is it any wonder that the youth of our inner cities would trade their subsidized existence for the harsh terrain of Iraq or Afghanistan to fight for the new Islamic State? What do they have here to look forward to? They have substandard government schools, they have substandard government housing and they have substandard subsidies for food. 

What difference does it make to these lost souls of the welfare state? Would they rather die out on the streets in a drug turf war or flock to the Iraqi Caliphate where at least they die fighting for something. A Purpose. A purpose in life is something the welfare state cannot give them.

A welfare state is a weak state.

Take a look at the world’s largest welfare states in the world today. They are all in a prolonged state of stagnation. Their economies are either contracting or growing at a pace that would be considered no growth in decades past. Their bureaucracies have become unwieldy and take too much from the people who actually produce. There is no glad talking this situation or fudging the numbers since one only has to drive down the street to see the reality of the situation. We are all approaching our individual “Lost Decades”. 

When government becomes the arbiter of success, there is little success. 

Millions of aimless people languishing in the welfare states means too many idle hands.

Will Islam finally accomplish what the old Bolsheviks of the last century had hoped for? Establish an Islamic state of their own and inspire like-minded people around the world to revolt against their governments, overthrow them and have the world become united in an Islamic Caliphate?

Why not? What is any of these governments offering today’s youth? You don't have to guess, I’ll tell you the answer: NOTHING. Nothing but debt and no means to pay it off. What our young people see is a slow, purposeless existence of the welfare state.

Steps have to be taken now or this will end badly.

The taxmen of the U.S., like Europe, lays a heavy hand on the populace and sucks the life out of our economies. Because of the government "safety net" here is no incentive to work. The national systems that the first world nations impose upon their people are wasteful, full of fraud and are without transparency. They answer to no one. This increases people’s powerlessness but also leads to their disenfranchisement.

Government must stop it's wasteful practices, get out of the healthcare, education and lending businesses, cut taxes, de-regulate business and put money back into the people’s pockets and end their controls or disorder will ensue. We will all pay a high price.

The welfare state has to be ended and people must learn to fend for themselves. The slaves have learned to love their slavery but no nation can continue to give services and taxpayer money away for free to anyone with a want.

Just as a union shop cannot compete with a non-union right-to-work business, a  welfare state cannot compete with an economy based on self-reliance and personal achievement.

Money should be earned. And money earned is the property of the person who earned it. Without the work/reward system, the world stops turning.

The evidence is everywhere.

New Obama Strategy: Arm Everyone in Middle East!

“This really will solve a lot of problems.” 

So says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. “This way, everyone in the region has a chance to defend themselves from radical Islam.”

Mr. Kerry elaborates, “Since ISIL is now the best armed military force in the region thanks to the Iraqi military running away and leaving their U.S. supplied tanks, shoulder-fired rockets and other nefarious high-end devices of death to be picked up by this latest radical militant group, the United States has no choice but to now give EVEN BETTER weapons to somebody else in the hope that they can stop their advance. It's just common sense."

"It doesn't matter who we give weapons to really. All anyone has to do is take a pledge not to use them against U.S. troops in the future and it's “Here you go, boys!”.

Have a laser guided Hellfire missile installation! Here, take a couple of trunks full of night vision goggles! We were only going to give them to the Day County South Dakota police department anyway so that they could intimidate people who cross the street in the center of town against the light.” Says Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, “We just have so much of this war stuff lying around, it would be a waste not to use it for SOMETHING.”

U.S. State Department spokesperson Marie Harf sums up the situation, “First the U.S. arms the regime of Bashir Assad. Then Assad falls out of favor so the U.S. government was forced to arm all the different opposition groups trying to overthrow Assad. In this manner the U.S. also is arming ISIL opposition groups even though they too are radical Muslims. We supplied military arms to the opposition groups in Libya who were working to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi too. Unfortunately, these were the same people who attacked the U.S. Embassy building there, killing ambassador Christopher Stevens along with agents Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, but those are the chances you take when you are try to win the war on terror, right?”

John McCain, U.S. Senator from the state of Arizona had this to say about his full endorsement of the new Obama military policy, “Since these radicals have very sophisticated weapons now, it is the obligation of the United States to keep arming opposition groups. What these groups are actually opposed to is not the point. As long as they are opposed to killing people, they are the people to arm and hopefully they will only kill for peace.”

Whitehouse Chief of Staff Denis McDonough explains the implementation of the new strategy, “With so many splintered groups opposing not only ISIL, Assad and Al Qaeda, the Pentagon has just decided to drop weapons into the desert and let whoever finds them form their own opposition group. They’re just going to shoot somebody anyway.” 

“And why wouldn't ISIL want U.S. weapons?” asks the rhetorical U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, “We make the most sophisticated weapons in the world. Nobody is even close, except maybe for China but you have Bill Clinton to thank for that. Just think about it, we can hover a heavily armed drone above your house for 20 hours a day almost anywhere in the world so when you eventually come out to walk the dog, Blamo! You never even know what hit you! How cool is that?”

Mr Holder goes on, “It’s not important who gets killed by these weapons but that somebody is putting them to use. Weapons are a big export of the United States and as long as somebody is using them, we can make more. It’s good for the economy. Hell, we've been giving them away to Mexico for years.”, he states proudly.

Vice President Joe Biden adds, “What’s the difference if people in the Middle East are killing each other with knives or top-of-the-line high powered sniper rifles? They’re just as dead, right?” In this part of the world we see a niche and we work to fill it, that’s what we do!

President Obama hopes to just declare this new strategy the law anytime now.