FedUpUSA

Archive for August 1st, 2011

Jeffrey Immelt, the head of Barack Obama’s highly touted “Jobs Council”, is moving even more GE infrastructure to China.  GE makes more medical-imaging machines than anyone else in the world, and now GE has announced that it “is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing“.  Apparently, this is all part of a “plan to invest about $2 billion across China” over the next few years.  But moving core pieces of its business overseas is nothing new for GE.  Under Immelt, GE has shipped tens of thousands of good jobs out of the United States.  Perhaps GE should change its slogan to “Imagination At Work (In China)”.  If the very people that have been entrusted with solving the unemployment crisis are shipping jobs out of the country, what hope is there that things are going to turn around any time soon?

Earlier this month, Immelt made the following statement to a jobs summit at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce….

“There’s no excuse today for lack of leadership. The truth is we all need to be part of the solution.”

Apparently Immelt’s idea of being part of the solution is to ship as many jobs overseas as he possibly can.

A recent article on the Huffington Post documented how GE has been sending tens of thousands of good jobs out of the country….

As the administration struggles to prod businesses to create jobs at home, GE has been busy sending them abroad. Since Immelt took over in 2001, GE has shed 34,000 jobs in the U.S., according to its most recent annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But it’s added 25,000 jobs overseas.

At the end of 2009, GE employed 36,000 more people abroad than it did in the U.S. In 2000, it was nearly the opposite.

GE is supposed to be creating the “jobs of tomorrow”, but it seems that most of the “jobs of tomorrow” will not be located inside the United States.

The last GE factory in the U.S. that made light bulbs closed last September.  The transition to the new CFL light bulbs was supposed to create a whole bunch of those “green jobs” that Barack Obama keeps talking about, but as an article in the Washington Post noted, that simply is not happening….

Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China.

But GE is far from alone in shipping jobs and economic infrastructure out of the United States.  For example, big automakers such as Ford are being very aggressive in China.  Ford is currently “building three factories in Chongqing as part of $1.6 billion investment that also includes another plant in Nanchang”.

Today, China accounts for approximately one out of every four vehicles sold worldwide.  The big automakers consider the future to be in China.

Just a few decades ago, China was an economic joke and the U.S. economy was absolutely unparalleled.

But disastrous trade policies have opened up the door for a mammoth transfer of jobs, factories and wealth from the United States to China.

China has become an absolute powerhouse and America is rapidly declining.

Beautiful new infrastructure is going up all over China even as U.S. infrastructure rots and decays right in front of our eyes.

You can see some amazing pictures of the stunning economic development that has been going on in China here, here, here and here.

America is being deindustrialized at lightning speed and very few of our politicians seem to care.

Back in 1979, there were 19.5 million manufacturing jobs in the United States.

Today, there are 11.6 million.

That represents a decline of 40 percent during a time period when our overall population experienced tremendous growth.

We used to have the greatest manufacturing cities on the entire globe.  The rest of the world was in awe of us.

Today, most of those formerly great manufacturing cities are decaying, rotting hellholes.

The following is what one reporter from the UK saw during his visit to Detroit….

As you pass the city limits a blanket of gloom, neglect and cheapness descends. The buildings are shabbier, the paint is faded. The businesses, where they exist, are thrift shops and pawn shops or wretched groceries where the goods are old and tired. Finding somewhere to have breakfast, normally easy in any American city, involves a long hunt. ‘God bless Detroit’, says one billboard, just beside another offering the alternative solution: liquor.

You can see some really shocking images of the decline of Detroit right here.

Our politicians insisted that globalism would not result in a “giant sucking sound” as millions of jobs left America.

But that is exactly what has happened.

Sadly, most American families still don’t understand what has happened.  Most of them are still waiting for things to get back to “normal”.

Millions of unemployed Americans are dealing with incredible amounts of stress right now as they wait for jobs to start opening up again.  But the jobs that have been shipped overseas are not coming back.  In a globalized economy, it doesn’t make sense to hire American workers when you can legally pay workers slave labor wages on the other side of the globe.

Millions of good middle class jobs have been replaced by low paying service jobs.  Today there are huge numbers of Americans that are cutting hair or flipping burgers because that is all they can get right now.

Many others are only able to survive because of the safety net.  One reader named David recently left a comment in which he shared his story.  David did everything that the system asked him to do, but the promised rewards never materialized.  Now David is broke, unemployed and he feels deeply frustrated….

A year ago I had a job, we were struggling, but bills were getting paid, and somehow we were getting by. Then I made the mistake of getting sick, one day before my company insurance kicked in. An auto-immune illness almost killed me, if it weren’t for the amazing efforts of my physicians and an emergency spleenectomy, I would not be here.

My wife would have been a single mother,raising two young sons, one of which is autistic. Instead, I pulled through. The disease damaged my liver, leaving me with a chronic condition, and even after a year, it is hard to get up and go some days. My “employer” dumped me as soon as I left the hospital, and I haven’t worked since. It isn’t for lack of looking. There just isn’t anything.

Oh, I get my government cheese money. Here I am college educated, unable to find something that can pay the bills better than the money that we get from the government. It sickens me to be this dependent on the system like this. But the system de-incentivizes work, and makes living on the dole make a perverse economic sense.

I used to have dreams, but I have given up on them. My wife and I have no savings, we have no life raft and if it weren’t for the generosity of her parents and mine, things would have ground to a halt a long time ago.

I believed every thing adults told me. Work hard, I did. Get an education, I did. Find a nice girl and settle down, I did. Two cars, a dog, a cat and couple of kids, a nice townhouse…the american dream. Yep.

I love my country. My heart is broken, broken because I have been betrayed. I did what you asked, I played by the rules. I did what you said to do; I submitted, I conformed, I stopped dreaming. Now what?

I am willing to pay for my faults and transgressions; my failures are my own, I get that. My children should not have to suffer for my failures, they did not do anything wrong. My youngest boy is autistic, we hope he will be able to integrate into society, but the fact is we may have to take care of him for the rest of his life. How do I do this with nothing, and no opportunity in the foreseeable future?

Depression, stress…yep, I’ve got all that. I used to be hopeful and optimistic about the future. Now all I am is afraid.

As the United States continues to bleed good jobs, stories like the one you just read are going to become much more common.

So what are our politicians doing about all of this?

They tell us that we need even more “free trade”!

Barack Obama says that we need more free trade.

The Republicans say that we need more free trade.

In Washington D.C. our politicians do not agree on much, but one thing they do agree on is that we need to keep shipping jobs out of the country.

Until the American people wake up and start demanding an end to the globalization of the U.S. economy, the job losses are just going to continue to get worse.

The United States has lost a staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.  If this trend continues, millions more Americans will soon be surviving on food stamps or living in tent cities.

The American people are deeply concerned about the economy, but they still have not connected the dots on these issues.  The mainstream media and most of our politicians keep telling them that the globalization of the economy is a wonderful thing.

It is so sad that people just do not understand what is going on right in front of their eyes.

Whether you are a conservative or a liberal or a libertarian, you should be against the deindustrialization of America.

Allowing our industrial base to be raped is not a good thing.

Allowing big corporations and foreign governments to pay slave labor wages to workers on the other side of the globe making things that will be sold inside the United States is not a good thing.

Allowing the destruction of our industrial capacity to threaten our national security is not a good thing.

Allowing millions of precious jobs to leave the country is not a good thing.

The biggest corporations are making some extra profits by exploiting cheap labor on the other side of the globe.  Corporate executives love to shower themselves with larger and larger bonuses.

But our current trade policies are not working for American workers.

We need “fair trade”, not “free trade”.

The United States is being taken advantage of, and the Democrats and the Republicans are both laying down like doormats and letting it happen.

If you want to know where all the good jobs went, it is not a big mystery.

They have been shipped out of the country and they are not coming back.

Unless fundamental changes are made, things are going to get worse and worse and worse for American workers.

So what is going to happen next?

It is up to you America.

The Economic Collapse

The latest example of political hyperbole is that the U.S. Treasury is ready to default on its debt. An actual examination of the underlying facts is that the relative purchasing value of the currency has long ago swindled debt holder in U.S. Bonds of their promised returns. A default defined under this definition is part of the equation. Repudiation of the entire debt obligation is the real fear. Contrary to all the public scare tactics that the financial world will stop turning, the Federal Treasury has ample revenue to pay the interests on bonds and notes that come due. The essential issue is whether the new bond lenders are willing to roll over the debt that is coming due and keep the shell game going.

The late conservative journalist, Robert Novak’s favorite president was Calvin Coolidge, he is known for saying, The Business of America is Business.

The real statement comes from a speech by Calvin Coolidge called “The Press Under a Free Government” which was given before the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington, D.C. on January 17, 1925. The quote is really: “After all, the chief business of the American people is business.” However, Coolidge goes on to say that, “Of course the accumulation of wealth cannot be justified as the chief end of existence.” He discusses journalism and the thought that the business interests of newspaper owners should not taint reporting. He continues, “American newspapers have seemed to me to be particularly representative of this practical idealism of our people.”

A seminal truth about governments is that they do not function as a business. Every commercial enterprise eventually needs to pay their bills, since limitless borrowing is not an option for lenders. Bankruptcy is a favorite technique for repudiating debt, just ask the General Motors bondholders. Every survivor of the 2008 meltdown knows the rules of the game are now a moving target.

The media invariably seeks to blame the Congress for bringing the country to the brink. Most narrow in on the Republican Tea party freshmen as unreasonable. Little criticism is directed towards the intransigent Democratic leader Senator Reid. The reporting by the press no longer mirrors the standards of 1925 journalism, and the government no longer represents the practical idealism of the people.

Compare the recent settlement of the National Football League lockout with the drama of the Beltway National Theater. Both purports to have a countrywide audience, but only the NFL has avid fans. The government maintains their league through fear and phony promises. Football plays a man’s sport by dedicated lovers of the game. Presidents, Senators and Congressmen prepare their playbook to defeat their opponents, the citizens that elect them to office. The NFL is a business rewarded because of fan support. The Feds are a systemic extortion racket that forces its edicts upon a depressed and financially depleted citizenry.

The reason why the NFL players and owners settled their disputes, agreed to a decade era of labor peace, and anticipated prosperity is based upon the business nature of the conference. The reality why the Federal Government refuses to end the culture of deficit spending is based upon the dictatorial appetites of egomaniacs that serve their financial masters and deceive the public in an endless cycle of staged elections. As long as the State ignores the intrinsic nature of business principles, the social government will grow the welfare dependent society, as a way to dominate their subjects.

Tragically, many people know more about the free agency signing in the NFL, than the political positions of their own representatives. No one should be surprised about this development. Government is the ultimate monopoly and does not depend upon a free market of choice. Officials see spending as growth. However, the bigger a bureaucracy becomes, the more the financial lifeblood of business prosperity diminishes.

The will to correct this core failure is nonexistent, within the federal despotic fraternity. Their talent lies in designing new transfer programs to crony colleagues and constituents, funded by taxpayer levies or inventive exotic debt instruments.

No, wonder why so many American have totally given up on the political system. Unfortunately, that withdrawal of consent alone does not eliminate the treachery of career government officials. The GOP is poised to compromise and accept a dramatic rise in the debt ceiling. Their explanation will offend the most serious and sincere reformers. How else can the incessant spending end, unless the credit card is taken away from the addicted shopaholic?

The formidable financial sage, Paul Craig Roberts uses a political argument, when he warns about the response Obama might use to defeat sound business practices, in his article; The Unintended Consequences of Debt Ceiling Intransigence.

“The US dollar could plummet in exchange value and lose its role as world reserve currency. The US would no longer be able to pay its oil bill in its own currency, and as its balance of payments is heavily in the red, the US has no foreign currencies with which to pay its oil import bill. Or its manufactured goods import bill, or any other bill.

We are talking about a crisis beyond anything the world has ever seen. Does anyone think that President Obama is going to just sit there while the power of the US collapses? He doesn’t have to do so. There are presidential directives and executive orders in place, put there by George W. Bush himself, that President Obama can invoke to declare a national emergency, suspend the debt ceiling limit, and continue to issue Treasury debt. This is exactly what would happen.

The consequences would be that the power of the purse would transfer from Congress to the President. It would be the end of the power of Congress. Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, have already given away to the President Congress’ Constitutional right to decide whether the country goes to war. Now Congress would lose its power over debt, taxes, and the budget itself.”

Any sober reader should consider Roberts’ insights. Yet, what else can be done within the constitutional Federal system of separation of powers to stop the spending binge? The house of cards can no longer support the burden of the public financing through the fractional reserve fraud used by the Federal Reserve.

The alternative is for the Treasury to issue government bonds directly to the market. All interested paid to the banking elites that own and control the private Federal Reserve needs to take a thunderous haircut. This is the only solution to eliminate the curse of compound interest paid to a criminal cartel, which holds our country hostage.

The insane spending is unnecessary. No one who rationalizes that the federal budget is sustainable can be trusted. Anyone who refuses to cut and eliminate entire agencies is perpetuating an illegitimate bipartisan regime of coercive corruption.

The convoluted mechanics that will emerge to justify a higher debt limit will be just one more insult to the hard working citizens that conduct business on Main Street. The total disconnect of the government class from the most simple requirements of authentic wealth creation is at an all time high. The reason the Tea Party movement spontaneously erupted over the unbearable taxation demands demonstrates that common sense still lives in the minds and hearts of real Americans.

The socialistic mentality that relies on government to supply physiological reinforcement for their personal inadequacies and diminished mental capacities is no excuse for national betrayal. The Capitol Dome is the most distinctive landmark in this country. The weight of the burden from all government debt is undeniable. Even a mainstream newspaper like USA Today admits that the U.S. funding for future promises lags by trillions.

“The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.

“The (federal) debt only tells us what the government owes to the public. It doesn’t take into account what’s owed to seniors, veterans and retired employees,” says accountant Sheila Weinberg, founder of the Institute for Truth in Accounting, a Chicago-based group that advocates better financial reporting. “Without accurate accounting, we can’t make good decisions.”

Isn’t that lack of financial reporting, let alone accountability, the forestay of the political class? Do you really think that a sensible leader in the Calvin Coolidge tradition can be elected today? America is no longer a country that conducts business. The international banksters, who peddled the debt drug to a spending addict, own the global empire. The globalists are stealing any wealth that remains in a country of junkies. The political pimps that pump you full of dependency are masters of the delusion. The overdose leads to a terminal condition. Endure the withdrawal shock now, before it is too late.

Get your own house in order. Learn how to do business without debt. There is no signing bonus in this masochistic league of the establishment’s lie and steal game. The only sport left is to cheer for an early repudiation of the illegitimate public debt.

SARTRE

Democrats are unhappy about alleged cuts to social programs. Republicans are unhappy about alleged cuts to military spending. With everyone seemingly unhappy, including President Obama, is the deficit bill a good compromise?

Before deciding, please consider a few choice comments regarding budget cuts from  Debt and spending deal picks up momentum in Senate

• Sen. John McCain conceded as much, saying he’d have to “swallow hard” to vote for it because of cuts in defense spending. But the Arizona Republican said lawmakers had little choice in the face of the specter of default.
• Fellow Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he was a no vote. “Simply stated, it locks us into more debt, bigger government and most devastating of all, a weakened defense infrastructure at a time when we face growing threats.”
• Rep. Elliot Engel, a liberal Democrat from New York, said he was leaning no because the plan could lead to cuts to Medicare and other benefit programs.
• “This deal trades people’s livelihoods for the votes of a few unappeasable right-wing radicals, and I will not support it,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.

Whip Count Quotes

Here are some more quotes from WHIP COUNT: House leaders in both parties seek votes to pass debt-limit deal

• Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) – Head of the Congressional Black Caucus called it a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”
• Donna Edwards (D-Md.) – On Sunday, she tweeted, “Nada from million/billionaires; corp tax loopholes aplenty; only sacrifice from the poor/middle class? Shared sacrifice, balance? Really?”
• Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) – Co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus has ripped deal, saying on July 31 that it was crafted for “right-wing radicals.”

Cuts? Where the Hell are the Cuts?

Republicans and democrats alike are screaming about cuts. I would like to know where those cuts are.

When a Cut is Not a Cut

Ron Paul has the answer in When a Cut is Not a Cut

One might think that the recent drama over the debt ceiling involves one side wanting to increase or maintain spending with the other side wanting to drastically cut spending, but that is far from the truth.  In spite of the rhetoric being thrown around, the real debate is over how much government spending will increase.

No plan under serious consideration cuts spending in the way you and I think about it.  Instead, the “cuts” being discussed are illusory, and are not cuts from current amounts being spent, but cuts in projected spending increases.  This is akin to a family “saving” $100,000 in expenses by deciding not to buy a Lamborghini, and instead getting a fully loaded Mercedes, when really their budget dictates that they need to stick with their perfectly serviceable Honda.  But this is the type of math Washington uses to mask the incriminating truth about their unrepentant plundering of the American people.

In reality, bringing our fiscal house into order is not that complicated or excruciatingly painful at all.  If we simply kept spending at current levels, by their definition of “cuts” that would save nearly $400 billion in the next few years, versus the $25 billion the Budget Control Act claims to “cut”.  It would only take us 5 years to “cut” $1 trillion, in Washington math, just by holding the line on spending.  That is hardly austere or catastrophic.

A balanced budget is similarly simple and within reach if Washington had just a tiny amount of fiscal common sense.  Our revenues currently stand at approximately $2.2 trillion a year and are likely to remain stagnant as the recession continues.  Our outlays are $3.7 trillion and projected to grow every year.  Yet we only have to go back to 2004 for federal outlays of $2.2 trillion, and the government was far from small that year.  If we simply returned to that year’s spending levels, which would hardly be austere, we would have a balanced budget right now.  If we held the line on spending, and the economy actually did grow as estimated, the budget would balance on its own by 2015 with no cuts whatsoever.

We pay 35 percent more for our military today than we did 10 years ago, for the exact same capabilities.  The same could be said for the rest of the government.  Why has our budget doubled in 10 years?  This country doesn’t have double the population, or double the land area, or double anything that would require the federal government to grow by such an obscene amount.

In Washington terms, a simple freeze in spending would be a much bigger “cut” than any plan being discussed.  If politicians simply cannot bear to implement actual cuts to actual spending, just freezing the budget would give the economy the best chance to catch its breath, recover and grow.

Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are complaining about cuts to military. Bear in mind the US spends more on defense than the rest of the world put together.

The US has troops in 140 countries. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are “supposed” to end, yet various Republicans bitch about “non-cuts” to military spending.

“Sugar-Coated Satan Sandwich?”

The quote of the day goes to Emanuel Cleaver, Head of the Congressional Black Caucus who called the deal a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”

Cleaver is exactly correct, but 180 degrees wrong as to why. This deal does not cut a damn thing. It is an illusion.

Republican hypocrites screaming about “excessive cuts” are a pathetic sight to behold.

Mike  “Mish”  Shedlock

Democrats are unhappy about alleged cuts to social programs. Republicans are unhappy about alleged cuts to military spending. With everyone seemingly unhappy, including President Obama, is the deficit bill a good compromise?

Before deciding, please consider a few choice comments regarding budget cuts from Debt and spending deal picks up momentum in Senate

• Sen. John McCain conceded as much, saying he’d have to “swallow hard” to vote for it because of cuts in defense spending. But the Arizona Republican said lawmakers had little choice in the face of the specter of default.
• Fellow Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he was a no vote. “Simply stated, it locks us into more debt, bigger government and most devastating of all, a weakened defense infrastructure at a time when we face growing threats.”
• Rep. Elliot Engel, a liberal Democrat from New York, said he was leaning no because the plan could lead to cuts to Medicare and other benefit programs.
• “This deal trades people’s livelihoods for the votes of a few unappeasable right-wing radicals, and I will not support it,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.

Whip Count Quotes

Here are some more quotes from WHIP COUNT: House leaders in both parties seek votes to pass debt-limit deal

• Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) – Head of the Congressional Black Caucus called it a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”
• Donna Edwards (D-Md.) – On Sunday, she tweeted, “Nada from million/billionaires; corp tax loopholes aplenty; only sacrifice from the poor/middle class? Shared sacrifice, balance? Really?”
• Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) – Co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus has ripped deal, saying on July 31 that it was crafted for “right-wing radicals.”

Cuts? Where the Hell are the Cuts?

Republicans and democrats alike are screaming about cuts. I would like to know where those cuts are.

When a Cut is Not a Cut

Ron Paul has the answer in When a Cut is Not a Cut

One might think that the recent drama over the debt ceiling involves one side wanting to increase or maintain spending with the other side wanting to drastically cut spending, but that is far from the truth. In spite of the rhetoric being thrown around, the real debate is over how much government spending will increase.

No plan under serious consideration cuts spending in the way you and I think about it. Instead, the “cuts” being discussed are illusory, and are not cuts from current amounts being spent, but cuts in projected spending increases. This is akin to a family “saving” $100,000 in expenses by deciding not to buy a Lamborghini, and instead getting a fully loaded Mercedes, when really their budget dictates that they need to stick with their perfectly serviceable Honda. But this is the type of math Washington uses to mask the incriminating truth about their unrepentant plundering of the American people.

In reality, bringing our fiscal house into order is not that complicated or excruciatingly painful at all. If we simply kept spending at current levels, by their definition of “cuts” that would save nearly $400 billion in the next few years, versus the $25 billion the Budget Control Act claims to “cut”. It would only take us 5 years to “cut” $1 trillion, in Washington math, just by holding the line on spending. That is hardly austere or catastrophic.

A balanced budget is similarly simple and within reach if Washington had just a tiny amount of fiscal common sense. Our revenues currently stand at approximately $2.2 trillion a year and are likely to remain stagnant as the recession continues. Our outlays are $3.7 trillion and projected to grow every year. Yet we only have to go back to 2004 for federal outlays of $2.2 trillion, and the government was far from small that year. If we simply returned to that year’s spending levels, which would hardly be austere, we would have a balanced budget right now. If we held the line on spending, and the economy actually did grow as estimated, the budget would balance on its own by 2015 with no cuts whatsoever.

We pay 35 percent more for our military today than we did 10 years ago, for the exact same capabilities. The same could be said for the rest of the government. Why has our budget doubled in 10 years? This country doesn’t have double the population, or double the land area, or double anything that would require the federal government to grow by such an obscene amount.

In Washington terms, a simple freeze in spending would be a much bigger “cut” than any plan being discussed. If politicians simply cannot bear to implement actual cuts to actual spending, just freezing the budget would give the economy the best chance to catch its breath, recover and grow.

Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are complaining about cuts to military. Bear in mind the US spends more on defense than the rest of the world put together.

The US has troops in 140 countries. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are “supposed” to end, yet various Republicans bitch about “non-cuts” to military spending.

“Sugar-Coated Satan Sandwich?”

The quote of the day goes to Emanuel Cleaver, Head of the Congressional Black Caucus who called the deal a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”

Cleaver is exactly correct, but 180 degrees wrong as to why. This deal does not cut a damn thing. It is an illusion.

Republican hypocrites screaming about “excessive cuts” are a pathetic sight to behold.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock

Global Economic Analysis

Deal?  What deal?

Cut spending?  Uh, no.  There’s no spending cuts, only claims of reducted increases.  More debt?  Yes, and lots of it.  Balanced budget?  Never.

The economics are clear – unless this gets fixed, and soon, we will start down the gravity well inside the escape radius, and get to choose only between spiraling into the singularity and hitting it head-on.  Incidentally, both end the same way.

http://blogtalkradio.com/marketticker

I hope you like higher taxes.

Much higher taxes.

Last night I couldn’t figure out at first blush how Boehner/Reid managed to get their “numbers” to work.  Well, when I looked at it again this morning, it snapped into focus, along with a backhanded comment and, yes, math.

Ok, ok, not really math.  It was just a calendar.

See, the Bush Tax Cuts and the FICA holiday expire at or before the end of 2012.  And guess who’s going to be President then – either having just been re-elected or much worse, as a lame duck?

That’s right – Obama.

So Republicans, and most-importantly “Tea Partiers” – how many of you want to keep your jobs?  Because if you do, you had damn well better not allow this piece of crap from Reid/Boehner to pass!  If this bill passes then every Republican who votes for it needs to face a primary challenge and every Democrat needs to be ejected from office.

In other words, we have to eat our peas, and we have to do it now.  The history on this path is clear: Whenever the Congress claims they will both cut spending and raise taxes, the tax increases always happen but the spending cuts never do.

We cannot fix what ails our economy in terms of artificial economic support which cannot last forever until and unless we balance the Federal budget.  It’s really that simple, although nobody wants to say it.  The economy has undergone a roughly 10-12% artificial “stimulus” from deficit spending over the last three years and yet as time has gone on the impact of this in GDP reports has dissipated but not only does the debt remain the deficits are remaining too!

This is the slippage that inevitably comes from longer-term stimulative efforts.  “Pump priming” can work because of the surprise factor – it causes people to alter behavior.  But once it becomes “not a surprise” then the behavior is no longer altered, it’s now ingrained and the artificial support means that people no longer have a desire to strive forward – they instead suck on the offered “free tit” and get fat.

For those who think I was too subtle up above, let’s spell it out: The Bush Tax cuts, and the FICA cut, both will expire at the end of 2012.  President Obama, and he will be President on that day, will veto any attempt to extend them.

In fact, the Reid/Boehner “deficit reduction” plan that was “agreed to” last night expressly expects the expiration of all of these cuts, as does the CBO’s scoring.

How do I know this?  This little line in the CBO ditty:

As requested by the House and Senate leadership, CBO also calculated the net budgetary impact of the plans if the discretionary savings are measured relative to CBO’s January baseline projections.

The CBO’s January baseline included expiration of both the FICA credit and the Bush Tax Cuts, as the CBO as a general rule, unless instructed otherwise, uses the state of the current law to produce it’s baseline scenarios – not “what if” possible changes.

For those who say there are “no revenues” in this plan, and that there is no plan to “raise taxes”, you’re lying.  There are monstrous revenues (tax increases) starting in January of 2013 – depending on who’s numbers you use they amount to somewhere around $400 billion annually.  Despite this we’re still going to add close to $10 trillion in new debt to the system over the next ten years under the “Boehner/Reid” plan because there are also no actual spending decreases!

Boehner is a lying sack of used dogfood.

Well here’s Boehner’s “compromise”; what it does is:

• Lie once again about “cutting spending.” It does no such thing.  It increases spending – every year.  Bogus and outright-fraudulent “baseline budgeting” means that if they intended to boost spending $300 billion but only increase it $200, that’s a $100 billion “cut.”  If you ran your household like this you’d be broke in a week.  For the US, it will take a bit longer.
• No tax increases. That’s nice, but let’s not forget that while the Democrats scream about the “Bush Tax Cuts” the FICA tax cut was theirs.  Obama signed it.  You cannot keep reducing income and increasing spending forever.
• The cuts, fraudulent though they are, aren’t even real anyway – and not binding either. There’s nothing before 2013, which means a downgrade is almost certain.  Further, raising the debt ceiling now for the whole among but allegedly finding the “cuts” over 10 years is an outright fraud by a ratio of 10:1.
• A 2013 timeline for actual changes means nothing, since the next Congress is not bound by what this one does. Period.
• Sequesterization didn’t work in 1997. It won’t work in 2011 either.
• We failed to get to $4 trillion. That’s what S&P said they needed, and they said they needed to see that within the next three years. Now we find out if S&P has any balls.

We also get to find out if the so-called “Tea Party” is worthy of the name.  Yeah, I posted that my opinions change when facts do, and they appeared to.

Boehner needs to be ejected from Congress in the next election, and the remaining “mainstream” Republicans must go with him, along with any claiming to be “Tea Partiers” who vote for this abortion.

All of them.

In the meantime, kill this bill and by doing so balance the budget in three days.