Allan Greenspan Won't Go Away!

Allan Greenspan has become the “Go to” sage of the economy. Bloomberg media has interviewed him recently and in this insightful report confirms that Mr. Greenspan believes: The economy remains sluggish.

He also said until companies start spending money and the housing market comes back the economy will remain sluggish.

We had to go to Allan Greenspan for this?

The BBC also has run an interview with Mr. Greenspan concerning the national debt and how both U.S. political parties are ignoring the problem and how the nation is "heading for a fall" to sum up the situation. He sites a lack of "Political Will".

Mr. Greenspan certainly ought to know about a lack of political will; he played a major role in the destruction of the U.S. economy these seven going on eight long years ago with the crash of the American housing market. Had he done his job and stood his ground on interest rates, we would not have crashed and burned the economy in the first place but instead Allan Greenspan, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the protector of the American Banking industry played politics and continued to lower the borrowing rates until they hit the floor and basically just giving away money for loans. To this day we don't know how much money Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has cost the American taxpayer.

And when we hit the wall at 100 mph what did Mr. Greenspan say? "Oh, sorry, my mistake." and took his retirement millions and flew off on a private jet.

But he didn't fly away far enough.

Allen Greenspan failed us. He favored his big business buddies and kept the credit flowing right to the end even though he was warned in 2004 by a Republican committee. Now at 88, what has this guy have to say that anyone will listen to? He has a lot of gall to stand out in the media and preach economic reason. Why would he even show his face after the chaos he has wrought? 

But very much like disgraced plagiarizing historian and National Public Radio & Public Broadcasting Service darling Doris Kearns Goodwin who is still writing and promoting books on history regardless of the fact that nothing in them can now be believed, Mr. Greenspan is still out there attempting to cover his tracks and the national media is still pretending that anybody really gives a shit about what this fraudster has to say about anything.

Why does anybody ask this man's opinion anymore? Is there really no such thing as bad publicity? Will people tune in just to hate the guy? Perhaps but I’d be mindful to be aware of what outfits are advertising on the article and remind myself not to buy anything from them. This is the only power we beleaguered taxpayers have left.

The generalities in which the government media speaks to the public just glosses over the real issues. Sure the housing market is slow because people need good credit again, duh!

There is also a lack of inventory…but WHY?

Because people are WORRIED!

Why are they worried, isn't the economy coming back?

If people believed that, they wouldn't be worried.

But the consumer confidence index has risen!

Says who, the national media?

When people are worried they don’t move. They don’t buy up to a new house, they make do with the one they have. If the housing market is any indication, people aren't moving. Quite the opposite, they're staying put.

If people aren't worried about the future they take risks with their resources. I don’t see much risk taking. There are plenty of empty storefronts that tell me people aren't risking their jobs or finances to start a new enterprise and if you have a job right now, you holding onto it with BOTH hands. I know I am.

If I were to lose my job, I don't have a lot of confidence that I will find another one anytime soon. Nobody's leaving where I work and we don't pay that great for the most part. Nobody I know is seriously looking for another job either.

So, how are YOU feeling?

Exactly.

I do see the costs of doing business continuing to rise. The cost of medical insurance rose. The taxes taken out of our checks this year was far more than last year. Property taxes have risen. My auto insurance has gone up. I received a notice that for the first quarter at least, my gas utilities will cost more.

People have become more expensive to hire in the private sector and the public sector has not decreased at nearly the rate of the private sector. This is bad news.

The public sector does not produce wealth; it spends it and regardless of what Nancy Pelosi says, public sector jobs do not constitute a gain to the economy. They have a negative impact because the money that goes to the public sector first has to be earned privately and then transferred, by other people in the public's employ who also expect a paycheck, to the public "trust". That's called "overhead" and there's a pant-load of that in government. That's Japan's problem and that's our problem. Did I mention the pension benefits?

It stands to reason that for the private citizen to move the economy by their conscious choices in what they purchase, they first must get their money back into their pocket. The government can't make their purchasing choices for them and be successful. Here they have failed by trying to pick our doctors and our schools to name but two things they have dictated to the people. The Public Sector must be cut for the economy to move forward. Right now they take too much but it's just easier politically to keep raising taxes and fees until we're all out in the street.

Right now the only municipalities doing anything about their public sector overhead are the ones which have already declared bankruptcy.

So what is a "job" really? Is it a result of government putting up someone else's money to fund a program? No. It is people risking their own resources to start an enterprise and working to grow it. And from this work, this risk, the government takes a piece of their production and puts it towards their programs.

So, no, that job "created" by the public sector does not add to the economy. The money would have gone farther and done more good had it remained in the pockets of the people who first earned it. Then THEY could support the businesses of THEIR choosing.

This of course would have cut out the "middleman" of government and we can't have that, can we?

So a viable reason for the "Sluggish" economy could be: Fear of the future.

"Oh, but Wal Man, you have such a Pie in the Sky approach to this issue, there is no Utopia you naive Son of a Bitch!"

No there isn't but since things have gone SO WELL the way it’s been going, we might as well stick with what the government is doing, yes?

You don't see what COULD HAVE been done or created had the money remained with the taxpayer. All you get to see is what government did with it and for the most part, they have squandered it inefficiently amongst their pet vote-buying projects like the drug war, foreign interventions and welfare give-a-way programs that help nobody in the long run.

It’s certainly time for a different approach.

I wish Greenspan could have said this but would anybody have believed him?

How can we miss you Mr. Greenspan if you won't go away?

Nine Myths About Libertarianism

Myth #1 Libertarians are Isolationists.

This is trotted out every single time some radio wag is asked to comment on either Ron Paul or Libertarians in general. Libertarians are decidedly not isolationists. What they call for is Free Trade and Non-Intervention in sovereign nations. How can you trade with another country if you isolate yourself? You can’t. It is apparent that the current regime that has been in power in the U.S for decades always wants to either buy influence or intervene overtly (militarily) or covertly (politically) with any country they choose to as a matter of policy. Libertarians find this to be a really bad idea in the long run and history proves this to be true.

Myth #2 Libertarians are Anti-War Peaceniks

Another fib boasted mostly by right-wing hawks. Libertarians believe in a time to fight and a time for war. Was it not that noted founding Libertarian; Thomas Jefferson himself who sent the Marines to smash the Barbary Pirates of Tripoli in 1804? Yes it was! Why did he do it? To stop them from interfering with U.S. shipping and commerce, that’s why. That’s the free trade part of Myth #1 for those not paying attention.

The difference is that Thomas Jefferson did not want to make an industry out of war which has been the case for the last oh, 50 years! I don’t know who made any money on Korea but the US armament factories have reaped a bundle ever since. The U.S. exports twice as many weapons of war as the second place country (Russia). Anybody born after 1956 will tell you that we as a nation have been in a virtual state of war since they’ve been alive: Korea, Vietnam, Iran, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Panama, Gulf War I, Gulf War II, the Arab conflicts and now Libya and beyond. No price can be put upon the agony these endless military conflagrations have caused. 

These wars never end. They are no longer meant to be won. Libertarians see this as a colossal waste of lives and national resources. Free trade and non-intervention would have caused many of these conflicts never to be started. The U.S. has 700 military bases world wide. Why? Can’t Greece, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Europe take care of themselves? Libertarians think that it’s about time these countries take an interest in their own defense.

Yes, Libertarians prefer peace but if it comes time to fight, it will be time to win and the full force of a United States of America should be felt. Without the will to win, a war should not be undertaken.

Myth #3 Libertarians Want to Legalize Drugs

This is no myth. The Drug War is a pronounced and utter failure which has turned our inner cities into hell-holes and has corrupted our system of government. Nobody believes that it is working; nobody believes that we are better off since the drug war began (with the exception of FOX’S Sean Hannity). Time to legalize them and instead of paying Billions of dollars to government corrections and enforcement, we should instead turn this massive amount of money to treatment and education. I have a more detailed rant in the archives of this blog. It’s worth a look.

Myth #4 Libertarianism Have Visions of Utopia

We all know Utopia is not an option. There is no perfect world there is no perfect system. But neither is the welfare state! Libertarians know that welfare isn’t about compassion or helping people when they’re down. It’s about State Control. The State taxes, transfers and decides who gets the money. Welfare is a disincentive to work.  Self-Reliance is self-fulfillment. The people on the left are well aware of this yet they continue with this policy. Why? 

Now we’ve always had to pay somebody for protection, either the King, the Overlord or whoever was in power at the time. These “taxes” paid for the protection of the “taxpayers” by the overall power of the Feudal Lord/State so nothing has really changed in that regard.

The problems come when the State becomes unwieldy, over bureaucratized, ineffectual at it’s basic functions and takes too much money out of the economy so that the people who pay start to falter. Libertarians believe that government has its hands in too many pies and is using taxpayer money to buy the vote. This is something to be stopped.

Myth #5 Libertarians are Anti-Tax, Anti-Government Nut-Jobs

Although I’ve met a few ah, “Overly Committed” folks who describe themselves as Libertarians, I can’t say there are any more of them than there are of Left-Wing Welfare State Loving Nut-Jobs or Right-Wing Warmonger Nut-Jobs. Probably less since Libertarians are a smaller group that the previously described. They do seem to stand out in a crowd though since they tend to dress in fatigues and either carries a big flag or “Don’t Dare Take My Gun” sign. God love ‘em. But by and large, Libertarians are just regular working people who are educated and in tune with how our current system of government is working. Libertarians know that wealth does not come from government and they tend to see the issues a little differently than those on the Left or Right side of the political spectrum. There is another way of looking at things.

Myth # 6 Libertarians are Racists

Libertarians love anybody with a job or who is looking for a job. As a matter of principle, they are decidedly color-blind. In fact, Libertarians feel that highlighting race at all in the way government functions ie: inquiring about race on government forms or societal segregation or the awarding of benefits based on race is bad policy. It is as Martin Luther King has said: “Judge not a person by the color of their skin but by the content of their soul.” Time to walk the talk like MLK did. I swear some of the scenes of our inner cities and the people who profit by “speaking for my people” should have MLK spinning in his grave at 100,000 rpm. Just like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Neither side has taken any steps at ending this practice when they had their chance to do so.

Conclusion: Libertarians have well defined principles but individuals interpret them as they see them. Libertarianism is not really a party since it is made up of individuals in the pursuit of their own dreams. When there is commonality, there is consensus. We all want the same things: The pursuit of happiness, safety in our homes and businesses, to raise our children in a safe and open environment, to have a level playing field for business and to have equal opportunity for all to prosper. We cannot guarantee results or success but people deserve the best chance to succeed without government intervention.

 Myth #7 Libertarians are for Big Business and are Anti-Environment

There is a big difference between free-enterprise and the collusion of large businesses with government to artificially procure for themselves a larger market share over their competition. Libertarians regard this collusion, as seen most recently with Bank of America, CitiBank and General Motors as Un-American and would be illegal in a Libertarian governed United States. Libertarians do not believe in Stimulus or Bail-outs. In fact, there would be no GBEs (Government Business Entity) in a Libertarian administration like Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. These were doomed to fail from the start since there was never any incentive to curb lending since the government guaranteed all mortgages they purchased. We still have yet to find out just how much Fannie & Freddie has spent in public funds but the final tally will be staggering.

Libertarians believe that by putting money back into the pockets of the people to spend the way they wish will we as a society have the opportunity to achieve the things we want in life. Not utopia, just better.

As far as the environment goes, we have had government watchdogs for decades and still the environmental disasters continue. Libertarians believe that what is bad for the environment is bad for business. Libertarians are as environmentally conscious as anybody else out there perhaps a bit more so since our natural resources are linked to our individual pursuit of happiness. But we also acknowledge that resources, especially renewable resources like trees are to be used and harvested. The setting aside of lands and forests to not be used or to prohibit the clearing of brush for the purpose or fire-roads and fire-breaks is counter productive. Nobody is for cutting old growth forest but trees are being cut down and replanted all the time. Excessive fees and over regulation of any industry will lead to illegal and unregulated activity such as wildcat clear-cutting of forest and illegal dumping in wildlife areas. We’ve all seen it. Libertarians believe that by making it easier to recycle materials and waste will the environment stay clean.

Myth #8 Libertarianism is a Cult

Although Ron Paul seems to have a cult-like following, so does President Obama. Is Liberalism therefore a cult? It’s hard to shake a person’s beliefs but at the very least Libertarianism is about the individual and not the collective. If I want what you have, I’ll work for it. I will not petition the government to pass a law to make you give up what you have for me. If belief in the individual’s ability to achieve and in the right of personal ownership is a cult then yes, Libertarianism is a cult. It is a cult of self reliance instead of the reliance on the State. It is freedom or at least the closest belief system to freedom. Libertarians believe they can provide for their own retirement better than the government can. They believe that they themselves know better than government what to do with the money they earn.  If the economy is indeed 75% consumer driven, then how come government is always taking money out of the hand of the consumer?

Contrary to popular belief, people got along just fine for centuries in this country without a Social Security system or a Graduated Income tax. You cannot get married today without permission from the State. The church can’t just marry you. That would be illegal.

Myth #9 Libertarians Are Against Assisting the Poor

There is more than one way to assist the poor. You can hand them a fish in the form of Welfare or you can really help them by having a job for them to go to.

Unemployment used to last 26 weeks when I started working. When did you get a job? When Unemployment ran out! Well now Unemployment never seems to run out. Some have been on extensions for 3 years. When’s that person going to find a job? When Unemployment runs out!

Libertarians also know there are many charities that help the poor. The biggest and most efficient in the United States is The Salvation Army. But they don’t give out checks. They give you three hots, a cot and work. You still have to earn it. The Salvation Army is by far more efficient with the money they take in than the government. And therein lies the answer.

Without the government confiscating so much of our cash, we would be free to give to the charity of our choice. Americans already are the most giving people in the world but with private charities we have the best way to get help to those who truly need it on a more intimate community level rather than a nameless, faceless state that doesn’t know who’s money they’re throwing around.