The photo of Jan Brewer pointing at Obama on the tarmac is being used by libtards to prove she’s a racist.
Maybe, they better clean up their own house because Obama must be racist against Americans of Indian descent when he rudely pointed at Bobby Jindals’s face:
I think black trumps Indian under the left’s bizarre PC heirarchy.
Perhaps there are too many Indians who come here to pay lots of taxes working in medicine, engineering, or business. Self-sufficient people don’t endear themselves to the Obamunist welfare state.
The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him president.DTN.
It doesn’t take a genius to garner your implicit wisdom.
Many Christians avoid the Old Testament thinking it isn’t relevant – much like Jews ignore New Testament teachings because they feel it does not bespeak their Messiah.
For Christians, a short read of the Old Testament roller-coaster-ride called the Book of Kings, shows them the consequences of a “multitude of fools and a depraved electorate” on man’s fortune.
I agree, Obama is simply the “Instrument” of evil – the captain, per se, of the Ship of Fools.
Liberals don’t seem to like much and gay liberals like even less.
True, liberals like other libs and defend them at all costs to reason and support everything associated with liberalism but outside of those delights they seem to be extremely discontented people who find little if any real joy in life and tend to react strongly when their illusory balloons are punctured with truth.
Actress Cynthia Nixon recently raised the ire of the homosexual community, including the famously flaming Perez Hilton, when she hurled a spear through the very heart of the gay ethos. Nixon confessed she chose to go lesbian and that her decision was not dictated by any genetic predisposition.
Nixon’s radical admission flies in the face of the fundamental gay mantra that they are “born that way” and don’t become homosexuals due to outside influences such as being momma’s boys or girls rejected by males. Undoubtedly, some are genetically programmed toward their own gender but studies have shown that nurture and not nature is a determinant in many instances.
Best known for her role as Amanda Hobbes on the raunchy “Sex and the City” HBO series and currently appearing as a cancer patient in the Broadway production “Wit,” Nixon in effect supports the nurture theory, contradicting contentions of the Gay Lobby which demands people believe their inclinations are beyond their control.
The award-winning Nixon is nothing if not in control of her decisions and choices.
She had a 15-year heterosexual relationship with English professor Danny Mozes which produced two children and dumped Prof. Mozes of her own volition. She is now engaged to “education activist” Christine Marinoni who gave birth to “their” son last year.
She infuriated gays throughout the planet by being honest about consciously choosing a gay lifestyle, thereby . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=12321.)
As soon as I posted a reply to you I saw your reference to Pamela Geller’s post…I saw that this morning. Yup, I’ve had enough. Unfortunately not enough other people seem to get it.
Don’t know why I’m so biblical tonight (just saw my 18 year-old daughter for first time in three months and I’m a bit introspective and contemplative).
I’m not too worried about the asses willing to rewrite some of Scripture since they can’t be earnest believers, plus Revelation states, “I warn anyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add him to the plagues of this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
My criticisms surely fall well short of that acclamation.
And actually, my beautiful daughter notwithstanding, we should all probably be gravitating back to our biblical foundation since the times, they are a bit foreboding.
PS – my first comment was in response to your 9:28 pm post and this comment is in response to your 9:45 pm post. WTF – I think they conveniently overlap.
The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him president.DTN.
And this is why the economy has to die.
People will get it once their money is worthless and their freedom gone, but not before. Only then will they realize that they could not find salvation in the Massachusetts liberal, the disgraced asshole, or the Marxist punk.
The public perspective will change when the wheels fly off, but not sooner. Already they have the Tea Party neutralized and rallying behind an establishment Beltway archlobbyist.
Our choice is down to a Marxist punk who supports big government and insurance mandates, a Massachusetts liberal who supports big government and insurance mandates, and a disgraced asshole who supports big government and insurance mandates.
I’m sure somebody will be by shortly to tell us our voice still matters.
Personally, I’ll stay with the King James translation of the Bible. It was translated by men who believed in God, believed that miracles were possible, and had faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer.
So when someone wants to suggest changing a bit here and there to either keep up with the times or avoid offending somebody, I’ll say “thanks but no.”
It won’t make a bit of difference in the outcome, but it will register one more voice of dissent against the broken choices being forced down our throats.
“– Romney could not be more forceful in saying he will issue a 50-state waiver to Obamacare his first day in office and then seek its formal repeal. Whether you like a state-wide insurance mandate or not, it’s a world of difference when the federal government does it. Conservatives, having read the Constitution, ought to understand this.
It was on account of the difference between state and federal powers that the Supreme Court overturned the federal Violence Against Women Act. The court was not endorsing rape, but reminding us that states make laws about rape, not Congress.
To act as if Obamacare is the same thing as “Romneycare” is just a word game, on the order of acting like a “gun” has the same properties as a “gunny sack,” or “fire” is the same thing as a “firefly.”
Romney supported the idea of other states doing something along the lines of his health care bill, but always opposed insurance mandates from the federal government (just as I oppose the federal government issuing general laws about rape, but support state laws against rape.)
For those of you who still think Romneycare is the worst possible sin a Republican candidate could commit — even worse than taking money from Freddie Mac as it destroyed the economy — that doesn’t help Gingrich: He supported Romneycare.
(While we’re on the subject, the nation’s leading conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, helped draft Romneycare. Indeed, Bob Moffit, Heritage’s senior fellow on health care issues, can be seen in the picture of the bill-signing ceremony, standing proudly behind Romney.)”
Now personally I don’t like the idea of any state mandating something like purchasing insurance, however, as a state mandate, I can vote with my feet. I couldn’t care less if Massachusetts mandates its citizens buy healthcare. They can go down that road if they want. But when it doesn’t work out, don’t expect me to help bail them out.
I grew up on the King James version but quoted the NIV. I believe we’re saying the same thing – don’t mess with Scripture.
AC
I know you’re the money guy here – your vision of America’s problems are seen more through the lens of a concerned economist than an idealogue, so what do you mean when you say the economy has to die?
Romney is right that Romneycare is constitutional if done by certain states (whose constitutions allow it).
He also thinks it’s such a jolly idea that all states should implement it. He’s a meddling statist, so there’s no telling what he might do.
It would be in his nature to issue a 50 state waiver, then push for Federal matching funds, Federal tax credits, or some other interventionist moonbattery for state-level Romneycare, forcing states to either adopt Romneycare on their own or subsidize those who do.
Romney is a gun grabber who disarmed law abiding citizens. You want to see a return of the Clinton gun ban? Romney thought it didn’t go far enough.
Romney and Gingrich are both so steeped in left wing moonbattery as to render them virtually identical. Besides, with as much flip flopping as they do, how can we be sure what they stand for?
About the only difference is that there is some humility and decency left in Romney the man. Gingrich is just a self-serving, arrogant, know-it-all asshole who needs subjects to boss around.
So should we vote for the giant douche or the turd sandwich?
Personally I’d take Romney over Gingrich, and either over the Dear Leader. I wish Ron Paul was electable.
We don’t have any good choices, therefore, we must rely upon electing more conservatives to congress. I’d also like to see congress start up the impeachment hearings.
Festivus, I agree with you that there won’t be further gun control legislation for the time being, yet a candidate’s stand on the 2nd amendment is a good touchstone to establish whether they respect and will abide by the constitution.
I know you’re the money guy here – your vision of America’s problems are seen more through the lens of a concerned economist than an idealogue, so what do you mean when you say the economy has to die?
It’s on life support now…….what are you saying?
Basically two reasons:
First, our politicians, many businessmen, and the public at large have become completely ignorant about capitalist economics. People cling to their pet projects, interventionism, crazy ideas, falsehoods, and self-serving rhetoric. Maybe 1 in 100 people on the street anymore has even a halfway decent clue of what contributes to society’s capital stock and what depletes it. The ignorance is so widespread because, for so many years, ignorance was considered tolerable. We printed, borrowed, and spent our way to an illusion of prosperity, all the while corroding our economic foundation and feeling good about doing so because the nightly news told us the policies and ideas which corroded it were actually good things. The ignorance will not change until reality rises up and smacks these people in the face. Nothing else will command attention based on reason, instead of emotion.
Second, we’re in the terminal stage of a Ponzi economy. The marginal return on debt is now negative, despite the continued debt expansion being necessary to keep things funded at status quo levels; i.e., we’re making ourselves sicker with more debt, but it’s our only choice to pay the debt we have. Prices are so distorted and economic flows so dislocated. We took our infinite growth paradigm past a tipping point in a world of finite resources and declining EROEI, using a constant expansion of debt to mask our diminishing gains in actual capital. Malinvestment flourished and price signals have become hopelessly confused. The system badly needs to liquidate. The Fed’s response, epitomized by Alan Greenspan, is that the system must never be allowed to liquidate. The Fed sweeps problems under the rug until it can’t, at which point it buys a bigger rug.
We’re past so many tipping point pairs.
Examples:
If we cut Federal spending enough to stop bankruptcy, we’ll go through a depression due to the contraction from the layoffs of the useless parasites. If maintain the spending to keep artificial economic activity going, we’ll go through bankruptcy and currency collapse due to the debt.
If we let interest rates float to a market level to ring out malinvestment and stop inflation, then the Federal government goes broke from the interest expense. If the Fed manipulates interest rates at a level the Treasury can afford, then malinvestment and inflation wreck the economy.
The crash can be a bit easier under Ron Paul. He won’t make the problem worse. Furthermore, a deflationary liquidation tends to favor entrepreneurs and capital preservation, whereas hyperinflation and redenomination tends to tear society apart from the inside and squander the capital stock in the process. Waves of deflationary default mean a lot of people end up shorted imaginary paper promises which could never be fulfilled. Hyperinflation means all sorts of craziness breaks out as capital is abused and gutted in the name of survival and wealth preservation.
The problems can’t be overcome in time, but we have to take our pain. The pain-free panacea promised by politicians does not exist.
The gun issue is just nonsense. There’s not going to be any gun control legislation.
You mean just like Boehner was going to cut Nancy Pelosi’s budget, then turned around an increased it?
Who said anything about gun grabbing being strictly limited to legislation? The Executive Branch’s authority is immense, the ATF heavy handed, and the UN Small Arms Treaty still lurking out there.
Sam Adams is right. Politicians who do not believe in the Second Amendment do not believe in the Constitution and do not believe in the American people. Romney is a statist elitist who has no use for things which get in his way, like the Constitution, or an independent and self-reliant citizenry.
First they’ll come for the class III, and most people will say nothing, because they don’t own class III.
I have seen and heard on video, with my own senses, Mitt Romney declaring that anything semi-automatic, automatic, or with a high-capacity magazine has no place in society. How on Earth can I vote for somebody who says something like that, knowing full well it means most of my collection would be gone?
As a strong proponent of concealed carry, how can I support someone who denied the right to his subjects?
How many of you here own something which isn’t MA legal? He engineered those laws. That is his vision of the Second Amendment.
The fundamental question, AC, is wither Romney is better than Obama?
The only thing that Romney has going for him is the fact that he spend 20 years in the private sector, cutting overhead, instituting better management practices, and making companies profitable again. With the economic problems that we face, it may be that no one is better prepared to face them.
Romney said in 2008 that he thought there was enough gun control law already in place and that he didn’t support anything additional.
I know you don’t trust him but since the SCOTUS just struck down the DC ban (i.e., affirming the second amendment), I think it’s even less likely anything will be coming down the legislative pipe on gun control.
It’s just not going to happen with a republican congress.
Now, if BO was to somehow pull a second term out of his ass, then, yes, I’d be concerned that he might try to do something administratively by Executive Order or some other device.
In yet another effort to suck up to Latinos by pushing the so-called “DREAM Act,” a euphemistic acronym for the proposed law attempting to win votes by granting Latinos permanent residency in the United States, President Barack Hussein Obama has shown he is far more interested in re-election than in a commitment to the nation’s territorial integrity.
The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act has been kicking around Congress for a decade and has been repeatedly rejected primarily since it rewards illegal aliens for an alien invasion.
The DREAM Act would ostensibly reward children of alien invaders ”of good moral character” with permanent residency if they have lived in the U.S. for five years, graduated from an accredited high school, and attended college for two years.
Or, illegals up to age 35–far beyond the status of “children”–may qualify if they had “served in the armed services for at least 2 years and, if discharged, received an honorable discharge.”
The stated rationale for the proposed legislation? Extending America’s gracious hand to people who are already in residence, who we can’t figure out how to get rid of, and who haven’t committed crimes they have been caught committing. The effective result? The Democrat Party adds up to 2.1 million grateful Latino voters to its ranks.
Florida Republican Rep. David Rivera, reasoning that, “If somebody is willing to die for America, then certainly they deserve a chance at life in America,” wants to change the DREAM Act to the ARMS Act, the Adjusted Residency for Military Service Act.
He proposes scrapping the college feature in favor of restricting the path to citizenship to those who serve in the military. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=12329.)
Thanks for the comments AM..
________________________________
AC,I agree,the wheels have to fly off and the gravity of financial truths will make that happen.
Your points are spot on,Deep cuts lead to contraction and BAMM…throwing more money at it causes debasement and BIFF….Our current debt to GDP ratio is 100%…How long can we run a ZIRP?Throw a 2to3oo bassis point increase…WHAMMO.(i think it will be MUCH bigger)
Whomever takes the helm next year is trapped.The ponzi music WILL stop one day.Buy chairs(pm’s)now.
The gov.can’t grow their way out of this,they won’t default,so what’s left….They will debase our currency to pay back the debt.Or worse.ONE DAY,AFTER THE DECLARED A BANK HOLIDAY,THEY WILL TELL YOU TO EXCHANGE YOUR OLD CURRENCY FOR OUR NEW ONE AT A 10 to ONE CORNHOLING…and if that happens the fires will be burning quite bright by then.
Pain is coming.
Gross Federal Debt Debt Held by Public
FY 2012 $16.7 trillion $10.8 trillion
FY 2011 $15.5 trillion $9.9 trillion
FY 2010 $13.5 trillion $8.2 trillion
FY 2009 $11.9 trillion $6.8 trillion
FY 2008 $10.0 trillion $5.3 trillion
Thanks for the effort putting your views together so fast in such cogent fashion. Kudos.
Before I address your answer, let me ask you a quick question regarding your post at 11:29 pm.
You state, “It would be in his (Romney’s) nature to issue a 50 state waiver, then push for Federal matching funds, Federal tax credits, or some other interventionist moonbattery for state-level Romneycare, forcing states to either adopt Romneycare on their own or subsidize those who do.” Is this a fact, or is it conjecture? Is this an assumption, or do we know this is carved in stone? It seems to leave no quarter if it is an assumption. If Romney actually became president, wouldn’t it follow that the Senate would probably fall also, and with Congress remaining Republican, any Romney attempt to dictate from the left would be dramatically shot down?
As far as your answer, I agree and appreciate it to the degree I understand it. I am a conservative Christian independent businessman who lives in the lower third of the 99% (I’ll add, I support the 1% because they have hired me for forty years). I actually see us all as 100%.
I deal with problems best personally, and I understand your answer clearly in personal terms as far as debt, borrowing, spending, dimishing gains, et al.
I’m printing out your response so I can read it tomorrow in depth, but I basically understand what you say (I get hung up on ‘deflationary default’ and ‘EROEI’) which I’ll look at tomorrow.
While my understanding of the problems are less than erudite and my view of the solution very basic, I clearly see the need to cut spending, lower the debt, stop printing phony money, and invest.
I have been forced, like many others, to learn and live this in my own life so I’m getting a first-hand lesson in economics 101. Thanks to you Econ 102.
Two things: (1) Does any hope of a solution ONLY come from Ron Paul? And, (2) You say the problems can’t be overcome in time…..which seems to make (1) moot. So what’s the answer? Chaos, meltdown, anarchy? If we’re doomed, why vote for anyone?
Alpha, AC is a long-time quality contributer to Moonbattery and someone for whom I have a lot of respect.
That said, however, he is also something of a negative Nellie and doomsayer. I mean no disrespect to AC, but his predictions haven’t always panned out.
Not so evident due to the total MSM blackout, BO logs in with yet another impeachable offense.
Under the Constitution, an actual (genuine) POTUS is sworn to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” A2S3.
BO has instructed his attorneys to ignore a subpoena issued by the state of GA. A subpoena directed at a citizen means that the citizen has an obligation under the law to respond to the court.
The reason for the media blackout is that BO’s eligibility to appear on the GA 2012 ballot is in question.
And when the question of ‘eligibility’ is associated with BO, republicans and conservatives run screaming out of the room. It would be unseemly apparently, to be labeled a “birther” which seems to have gained the same protective status as being called a “Nazi” or a “racist”.
However, this time the law that BO flaunts represents a line crossed that steps on the constitutional obligation he has under to uphold the law. By that logic, he is (again) impeachable.
BO merely had to have an attorney appear at the court, who could then have simply objected to the proceedings, or cite executive privilege. ( or better yet, ask for mercy)
But no.
BO in his supreme role as dictator finds it irrelevant that when he himself is challenged, should then have any concern about the appearance of gross disrespect by the Office of the Presidency for the law of the land.
.
In this, for now, he appears to be joined by the majority.
“”A tiny revolutionary fold-up car designed in Spain’s Basque country as the answer to urban stress and pollution was unveiled Tuesday before hitting European cities in 2013.
The “Hiriko,” the Basque word for “urban,” is an electric two-seater with no doors whose motor is located in the wheels and which folds up like a child’s collapsible buggy, or stroller, for easy parking.”
Basque region is famous for explosions. Wonder if this one catches fire and blows up if you exceed 40 mph.
“Alpha, AC is a long-time quality contributer to Moonbattery and someone for whom I have a lot of respect.
That said, however, he is also something of a negative Nellie and doomsayer. I mean no disrespect to AC, but his predictions haven’t always panned out.”
Actually you should say “haven’t panned out yet.” We are headed for a very big cliff and it is hard to see a scenario that doesn’t involve a lot of destruction and pain. Plan for the worst; hope for the best.
You state, “It would be in his (Romney’s) nature to issue a 50 state waiver, then push for Federal matching funds, Federal tax credits, or some other interventionist moonbattery for state-level Romneycare, forcing states to either adopt Romneycare on their own or subsidize those who do.” Is this a fact, or is it conjecture? Is this an assumption, or do we know this is carved in stone? It seems to leave no quarter if it is an assumption. If Romney actually became president, wouldn’t it follow that the Senate would probably fall also, and with Congress remaining Republican, any Romney attempt to dictate from the left would be dramatically shot down?
It started out “It would be in his nature…” so I would call it an educated guess.
He’s on the record as a fierce defender of Romneycare in principle.
He wants Romneycare in every state.
RINOs have a long history of using matching funds or tax credits. With regard to health care, see McCain in 2008.
Huge tax credits are a form of a shadow mandate. Either you buy the insurance and get some of your money back, or you’re paying for your neighbor’s insurance through higher taxes on yourself, while getting no service in return. A huge tax credit makes even poor value insurance plans worthwhile on an individual level.
Romney is a statist and has already decided that he wants everybody to have insurance meeting his guidelines. How he achieves that might be different from Obama, but make no mistake, he wants to get it done.
I’m printing out your response so I can read it tomorrow in depth, but I basically understand what you say (I get hung up on ‘deflationary default’ and ‘EROEI’) which I’ll look at tomorrow.
Deflationary default = A contraction of the money supply which leads to waves of bankruptcies. Right now, there is so much debt, we have become accustomed to servicing that debt by taking on more debt. In a deflationary default, the money supply stops expanding and bad debts are liquidated. Yes, it’s a painful process, but a necessary one if we are to stop throwing good money after bad (look at housing).
–
EROEI = Energy Return on Energy Invested. This is a measure of how much energy we receive in return for every unit of energy we expend producing energy. A high EROEI ratio is very conducive to economic growth. Think of it as the difference between oil gushers on Texas praririe back then and needing to drill the Deepwater Horizon today. Think of it as the difference between digging up coal by the dump truck full and installing small solar panels on roofs.
Because capitalists maximize the time value of capital, easy sources of raw materials are used up first. We pick gold nuggets out of creeks before we dig a mile and a half underground to get to low ore grades. We drill oil gushers at Spindletop before we drill them in a mile of water in the Gulf of Mexico.
As the marginal cost of resources increases, especially with regard to energy, our economic growth is stunted.
Our economy was built on cheap and abundant oil. Even today, we discover cheap oil, but it isn’t abundant, and the abundant oil we discover isn’t cheap.
That doesn’t mean we’re going to run out, it means we have to put a lot more in these days for every unit we get out. The Hubbert peak is a function of economics; we don’t wake up one day to find the oil is gone. Rather, the price continues to rise as lower productivity uses are priced out of the market. The oil will be there, if we can afford it, however not being able to afford it deprives our economy of the growth-generating properties of oil.
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Two things: (1) Does any hope of a solution ONLY come from Ron Paul? And, (2) You say the problems can’t be overcome in time…..which seems to make (1) moot. So what’s the answer? Chaos, meltdown, anarchy? If we’re doomed, why vote for anyone?
1. There is no easy solution, even with Ron Paul. Politicians like to promise that if voters would only elect them then they can make our problems go away by merely waving their hands and saying the magic words.
When I talk about an easy solution, it is the sort of thing which fixes the problem, without requring deep and painful changes. This crisis could have been averted if a balanced budget amendment, entitlement reform, and monetary reform had been enacted back in 1994.
Now, we’re running short of options. Our current choice is the nature of the pain and what we’ll be doing to bounce back from it. We can cut the spending and restore free market capitalism now, or we can kick the can and pay the piper later.
There is no way we can simply return to business as usual by changing leadership. Business as usual will change, one way or the other. The pressing question is whether we change it ourselves, in a way which promotes growth in the future, or whether the can is kicked until it can be kicked no more, and the dire situation asserts itself and takes control.
Paul can fix the long term structural problems, but we still have to drastically slash spending and liquidate malinvestment. That process will be painful, but it must be done to avoid more pain, with interest, after years more of kicking the can.
You might compare it to the choice faced by a child being told to take bad tasting medicine.
–
2. I worded that second bit poorly thanks to the late hour. I’m still not fully awake, so bear with me. What I meant to say was that we can’t wait the problems out, or “grow our way out” as politicians like to say. In essence, there is no way to change course to avoid hitting the iceberg – we’ve already hit the iceberg, whether or not all of us know it, or not.
There will be pain.
Problems and pain of this magnitude can’t be avoided, but they can be put behind us with the right policies. If we take our lumps and recommit to spending restraint and free market capitalism, then growth and progress will eventually reemerge.
Soviet socialism followed by a hyperinflationary collapse failed to snuff out entrepreneurship in Russia. Today, their economy is growing rapidly thanks to their flax tax and pro-production policies. During the last days of Gorbachev, there was no combination of policies to leave behind the rot of the USSR without a painful transition.
At this point, it’s about degrees of meltdown. A sudden stop to the deficit spending and monetary expansion will not be pleasant, however the alternative will be worse.
That said, however, he is also something of a negative Nellie and doomsayer. I mean no disrespect to AC, but his predictions haven’t always panned out.
…yet.
Some were spot on, some were delayed, but none of been outright wrong like Comrade Chairman on the stimulus.
They can put an economic implosion off an awful long time as long as they keep printing money, sweeping problems under the rug, and being the healthiest horse in the glue factory (given the worse problems in Europe).
Paul can stop a descent into hyperinflation and socialism, but he won’t be elected.
His plan would result in the depression currently swept under the rug emerging. His plan gets the pain out of the way and gets the economy back to work.
Right now, the problems are so large we cannot choose a pain-free course. Our choice right now is the form of our peril, not whether to have peril or not. Even the best of thoughts still gets us an 80 foot Stay-Puft marshmallow man.
AC, one I recall was in June of 2010, I think it was, when you were saying the sky is falling over gold futures contracts coming due in July without sufficient inventories to cover them. How’d that one turn out again?
The COMEX paid substantial premiums to those who exercised their delivery options to reconsider. In effect, kicking the can and sweeping the problem under the rug. The raid stopped once they paid the greenmail.
The physical gold inventories are still woefully insufficient to cover the oversold paper gold market.
If I weren’t right then PHYS wouldn’t trade at such a healthy premium to NAV.
Eventually, redemption requests will overrun the exchange’s ability to make people reconsider.
The Occupy Seattle wackos have been married to Capitol Hill for years.
Voices like Dori Monson and Michael Medved add at least some sanity to the conversation.
Todays news: Seattle is vying for San Francisco visitors. Might as well come here, with today’s legislative session we’re looking just like SF – except we have better beer and coffee.
AC
Thanks for the time and effort – it clarifies a lot. I was up late too. I see the picture clearly in layman’s terms and definitely understand the immediacy of getting our fiscal house back to some level of sanity, I’m just not able to put it in Econ professor vernacular quite yet.
I’m an eternal optimist. As soon as the Head Lemming is gone I’m hoping the direction of the narrative will change, and too, the rush to the cliff. A drop-off here or there we can tolerate, and I’m buckling for it, but hopefully not a free fall. You say 1 in a 100 doesn’t know how dire, but thanks to you more people are learning.
I’ve actually been coming to this site for years (just ask Van Blount) and have written some stuff for American Thinker and Dave Ross. Since Obamalinsky’s fiscal policies have been so drastic, the general tone has gone from his underground political agenda to more focus on economics.
That’s why people like you – and others on this site – who know so much about economics, are now guiding the narrative to where it needs to go – and hopefully steer us away from the cliff.
As for me, I’m off to work to help pay down my debt.
At the risk of being labeled a “birther” how about a small compromise? All attempts at impeachment in regards to birth status are removed and in exchange bammy has to meet the requirements of the most stringent state in order to be placed on any ballot. No lawyers, no tricks, just a simple production of the documents establishing birth as defined by the laws of whichever state is toughest, regardless of red/blue/purple. Same for the GOP/Libertarian/etc candidates.
It was bad enough that Rep. Allen West had to resign his Army commission because he valued the lives of soldiers under his command over an Iraqi jihadist. He should have known that political correctness reigns supreme in America’s military today.
It was bad enough that West went on to become the first black GOP congressman elected in Florida in 134 years. He should have known that African-Americans have no business being Republicans.
It was bad enough that West is a patriotic, conservative American aware of the Islamic terrorist threat and fed up with leftist politics but now he has really gone off the deep end, telling liberals where to go, and it isn’t to Bimini or to any of their other retreats where libs go to dust off their constituents’ detritus.
In a Saturday address at the Palm Beach County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner, West told Washington’s Democrat liberals to go to hell with their liberalism.
As he bluntly said, ”Take your message of equality of achievement, take your message of economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else. You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America.”
Unlike most politicians who pull their punches, West specifically named the Democrats who he thinks should vacate the premises: President Barack Hussein Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
He added that he will not allow Barack Hussein Obama to destroy the nation he, his family and friends have served and if his words meant he will be targeted by the Democrat Party, “Bring it on, baby.”
He could easily have included dozens of other Democrats who should “get the hell out” as well as the entire Occupy movement which, like their political counterparts, is less involved in working to correcting America’s flaws than in destroying, disrupting, and dismantling our country.
Unfortunately, the chances of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and other leftists complying with West’s order are minimal but we can always hope. Unfortunately, too, Republican presidential hopefuls are currently too immersed in fratricidal warfare to recognize that their divisive bickering will only insure the nation will go to hell when Obama is re-elected in November.
Allen West has indicated he would not be averse to running for the vice presidency. I wonder if he would consider the presidency?
(http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=12353)
Under Dodd-Frank, that’s a baker’s dozen.
The photo of Jan Brewer pointing at Obama on the tarmac is being used by libtards to prove she’s a racist.
Maybe, they better clean up their own house because Obama must be racist against Americans of Indian descent when he rudely pointed at Bobby Jindals’s face:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/03/us/03spill_337-395/03spill_337-395-popup.jpg
That was also on the tarmac.
Eye bleach: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9048122/Agent-Provocateur-sales-boosted-by-US-First-Lady-Michelle-Obama.html
I think black trumps Indian under the left’s bizarre PC heirarchy.
Perhaps there are too many Indians who come here to pay lots of taxes working in medicine, engineering, or business. Self-sufficient people don’t endear themselves to the Obamunist welfare state.
The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him president.DTN.
LOVELY:
http://www.atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/
HAD ENOUGH YET ? ? ?
Whose pointing fingers at whom?
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2012/01/29/flashbook-2007-nbcs-brian-williams-wags-finger-president-bush
wingmann
It doesn’t take a genius to garner your implicit wisdom.
Many Christians avoid the Old Testament thinking it isn’t relevant – much like Jews ignore New Testament teachings because they feel it does not bespeak their Messiah.
For Christians, a short read of the Old Testament roller-coaster-ride called the Book of Kings, shows them the consequences of a “multitude of fools and a depraved electorate” on man’s fortune.
I agree, Obama is simply the “Instrument” of evil – the captain, per se, of the Ship of Fools.
Cynthia Nixon Riles Gays with the Truth
Liberals don’t seem to like much and gay liberals like even less.
True, liberals like other libs and defend them at all costs to reason and support everything associated with liberalism but outside of those delights they seem to be extremely discontented people who find little if any real joy in life and tend to react strongly when their illusory balloons are punctured with truth.
Actress Cynthia Nixon recently raised the ire of the homosexual community, including the famously flaming Perez Hilton, when she hurled a spear through the very heart of the gay ethos. Nixon confessed she chose to go lesbian and that her decision was not dictated by any genetic predisposition.
Nixon’s radical admission flies in the face of the fundamental gay mantra that they are “born that way” and don’t become homosexuals due to outside influences such as being momma’s boys or girls rejected by males. Undoubtedly, some are genetically programmed toward their own gender but studies have shown that nurture and not nature is a determinant in many instances.
Best known for her role as Amanda Hobbes on the raunchy “Sex and the City” HBO series and currently appearing as a cancer patient in the Broadway production “Wit,” Nixon in effect supports the nurture theory, contradicting contentions of the Gay Lobby which demands people believe their inclinations are beyond their control.
The award-winning Nixon is nothing if not in control of her decisions and choices.
She had a 15-year heterosexual relationship with English professor Danny Mozes which produced two children and dumped Prof. Mozes of her own volition. She is now engaged to “education activist” Christine Marinoni who gave birth to “their” son last year.
She infuriated gays throughout the planet by being honest about consciously choosing a gay lifestyle, thereby . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=12321.)
wingmann
As soon as I posted a reply to you I saw your reference to Pamela Geller’s post…I saw that this morning. Yup, I’ve had enough. Unfortunately not enough other people seem to get it.
Don’t know why I’m so biblical tonight (just saw my 18 year-old daughter for first time in three months and I’m a bit introspective and contemplative).
I’m not too worried about the asses willing to rewrite some of Scripture since they can’t be earnest believers, plus Revelation states, “I warn anyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add him to the plagues of this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
My criticisms surely fall well short of that acclamation.
And actually, my beautiful daughter notwithstanding, we should all probably be gravitating back to our biblical foundation since the times, they are a bit foreboding.
PS – my first comment was in response to your 9:28 pm post and this comment is in response to your 9:45 pm post. WTF – I think they conveniently overlap.
And this is why the economy has to die.
People will get it once their money is worthless and their freedom gone, but not before. Only then will they realize that they could not find salvation in the Massachusetts liberal, the disgraced asshole, or the Marxist punk.
The public perspective will change when the wheels fly off, but not sooner. Already they have the Tea Party neutralized and rallying behind an establishment Beltway archlobbyist.
Florida AG Pam Bondi lets the cat out of the bag regarding Romney’s National Healthcare plans
Romneycare in every state.
Our choice is down to a Marxist punk who supports big government and insurance mandates, a Massachusetts liberal who supports big government and insurance mandates, and a disgraced asshole who supports big government and insurance mandates.
I’m sure somebody will be by shortly to tell us our voice still matters.
Personally, I’ll stay with the King James translation of the Bible. It was translated by men who believed in God, believed that miracles were possible, and had faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer.
So when someone wants to suggest changing a bit here and there to either keep up with the times or avoid offending somebody, I’ll say “thanks but no.”
AC, you’re voting Tuesday, right?
It’ll all be over by the time I get a chance to cast a ballot.
Yes, I’ll be voting for Paul.
It won’t make a bit of difference in the outcome, but it will register one more voice of dissent against the broken choices being forced down our throats.
I think Ann Coulter summed up the case well for Romney stand on ObamaCare: http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2012-01-25.html
“– Romney could not be more forceful in saying he will issue a 50-state waiver to Obamacare his first day in office and then seek its formal repeal. Whether you like a state-wide insurance mandate or not, it’s a world of difference when the federal government does it. Conservatives, having read the Constitution, ought to understand this.
It was on account of the difference between state and federal powers that the Supreme Court overturned the federal Violence Against Women Act. The court was not endorsing rape, but reminding us that states make laws about rape, not Congress.
To act as if Obamacare is the same thing as “Romneycare” is just a word game, on the order of acting like a “gun” has the same properties as a “gunny sack,” or “fire” is the same thing as a “firefly.”
Romney supported the idea of other states doing something along the lines of his health care bill, but always opposed insurance mandates from the federal government (just as I oppose the federal government issuing general laws about rape, but support state laws against rape.)
For those of you who still think Romneycare is the worst possible sin a Republican candidate could commit — even worse than taking money from Freddie Mac as it destroyed the economy — that doesn’t help Gingrich: He supported Romneycare.
(While we’re on the subject, the nation’s leading conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, helped draft Romneycare. Indeed, Bob Moffit, Heritage’s senior fellow on health care issues, can be seen in the picture of the bill-signing ceremony, standing proudly behind Romney.)”
Now personally I don’t like the idea of any state mandating something like purchasing insurance, however, as a state mandate, I can vote with my feet. I couldn’t care less if Massachusetts mandates its citizens buy healthcare. They can go down that road if they want. But when it doesn’t work out, don’t expect me to help bail them out.
South Park’s take on this miserable election, obviously NSFW.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/episodes/s08e08-douche-and-turd
Sam Adams
I grew up on the King James version but quoted the NIV. I believe we’re saying the same thing – don’t mess with Scripture.
AC
I know you’re the money guy here – your vision of America’s problems are seen more through the lens of a concerned economist than an idealogue, so what do you mean when you say the economy has to die?
It’s on life support now…….what are you saying?
Ann’s right, of course.
Romney is right that Romneycare is constitutional if done by certain states (whose constitutions allow it).
He also thinks it’s such a jolly idea that all states should implement it. He’s a meddling statist, so there’s no telling what he might do.
It would be in his nature to issue a 50 state waiver, then push for Federal matching funds, Federal tax credits, or some other interventionist moonbattery for state-level Romneycare, forcing states to either adopt Romneycare on their own or subsidize those who do.
Romney is a gun grabber who disarmed law abiding citizens. You want to see a return of the Clinton gun ban? Romney thought it didn’t go far enough.
Romney and Gingrich are both so steeped in left wing moonbattery as to render them virtually identical. Besides, with as much flip flopping as they do, how can we be sure what they stand for?
About the only difference is that there is some humility and decency left in Romney the man. Gingrich is just a self-serving, arrogant, know-it-all asshole who needs subjects to boss around.
So should we vote for the giant douche or the turd sandwich?
The gun issue is just nonsense. There’s not going to be any gun control legislation.
You’ve got a better chance of moon base legislation, frankly.
(that ain’t gonna happen either)
Personally I’d take Romney over Gingrich, and either over the Dear Leader. I wish Ron Paul was electable.
We don’t have any good choices, therefore, we must rely upon electing more conservatives to congress. I’d also like to see congress start up the impeachment hearings.
Festivus, I agree with you that there won’t be further gun control legislation for the time being, yet a candidate’s stand on the 2nd amendment is a good touchstone to establish whether they respect and will abide by the constitution.
Basically two reasons:
First, our politicians, many businessmen, and the public at large have become completely ignorant about capitalist economics. People cling to their pet projects, interventionism, crazy ideas, falsehoods, and self-serving rhetoric. Maybe 1 in 100 people on the street anymore has even a halfway decent clue of what contributes to society’s capital stock and what depletes it. The ignorance is so widespread because, for so many years, ignorance was considered tolerable. We printed, borrowed, and spent our way to an illusion of prosperity, all the while corroding our economic foundation and feeling good about doing so because the nightly news told us the policies and ideas which corroded it were actually good things. The ignorance will not change until reality rises up and smacks these people in the face. Nothing else will command attention based on reason, instead of emotion.
Second, we’re in the terminal stage of a Ponzi economy. The marginal return on debt is now negative, despite the continued debt expansion being necessary to keep things funded at status quo levels; i.e., we’re making ourselves sicker with more debt, but it’s our only choice to pay the debt we have. Prices are so distorted and economic flows so dislocated. We took our infinite growth paradigm past a tipping point in a world of finite resources and declining EROEI, using a constant expansion of debt to mask our diminishing gains in actual capital. Malinvestment flourished and price signals have become hopelessly confused. The system badly needs to liquidate. The Fed’s response, epitomized by Alan Greenspan, is that the system must never be allowed to liquidate. The Fed sweeps problems under the rug until it can’t, at which point it buys a bigger rug.
We’re past so many tipping point pairs.
Examples:
If we cut Federal spending enough to stop bankruptcy, we’ll go through a depression due to the contraction from the layoffs of the useless parasites. If maintain the spending to keep artificial economic activity going, we’ll go through bankruptcy and currency collapse due to the debt.
If we let interest rates float to a market level to ring out malinvestment and stop inflation, then the Federal government goes broke from the interest expense. If the Fed manipulates interest rates at a level the Treasury can afford, then malinvestment and inflation wreck the economy.
The crash can be a bit easier under Ron Paul. He won’t make the problem worse. Furthermore, a deflationary liquidation tends to favor entrepreneurs and capital preservation, whereas hyperinflation and redenomination tends to tear society apart from the inside and squander the capital stock in the process. Waves of deflationary default mean a lot of people end up shorted imaginary paper promises which could never be fulfilled. Hyperinflation means all sorts of craziness breaks out as capital is abused and gutted in the name of survival and wealth preservation.
The problems can’t be overcome in time, but we have to take our pain. The pain-free panacea promised by politicians does not exist.
Festivus
Oxymoron: Republican gun control.
I agree. Can’t happen. Moot point.
No guns on the moon though.
You mean just like Boehner was going to cut Nancy Pelosi’s budget, then turned around an increased it?
Who said anything about gun grabbing being strictly limited to legislation? The Executive Branch’s authority is immense, the ATF heavy handed, and the UN Small Arms Treaty still lurking out there.
Sam Adams is right. Politicians who do not believe in the Second Amendment do not believe in the Constitution and do not believe in the American people. Romney is a statist elitist who has no use for things which get in his way, like the Constitution, or an independent and self-reliant citizenry.
First they’ll come for the class III, and most people will say nothing, because they don’t own class III.
I have seen and heard on video, with my own senses, Mitt Romney declaring that anything semi-automatic, automatic, or with a high-capacity magazine has no place in society. How on Earth can I vote for somebody who says something like that, knowing full well it means most of my collection would be gone?
As a strong proponent of concealed carry, how can I support someone who denied the right to his subjects?
How many of you here own something which isn’t MA legal? He engineered those laws. That is his vision of the Second Amendment.
The fundamental question, AC, is wither Romney is better than Obama?
The only thing that Romney has going for him is the fact that he spend 20 years in the private sector, cutting overhead, instituting better management practices, and making companies profitable again. With the economic problems that we face, it may be that no one is better prepared to face them.
Just my $0.02.
Romney said in 2008 that he thought there was enough gun control law already in place and that he didn’t support anything additional.
I know you don’t trust him but since the SCOTUS just struck down the DC ban (i.e., affirming the second amendment), I think it’s even less likely anything will be coming down the legislative pipe on gun control.
It’s just not going to happen with a republican congress.
Now, if BO was to somehow pull a second term out of his ass, then, yes, I’d be concerned that he might try to do something administratively by Executive Order or some other device.
Romney? No way.
An Alternative to the DREAM Act
In yet another effort to suck up to Latinos by pushing the so-called “DREAM Act,” a euphemistic acronym for the proposed law attempting to win votes by granting Latinos permanent residency in the United States, President Barack Hussein Obama has shown he is far more interested in re-election than in a commitment to the nation’s territorial integrity.
The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act has been kicking around Congress for a decade and has been repeatedly rejected primarily since it rewards illegal aliens for an alien invasion.
The DREAM Act would ostensibly reward children of alien invaders ”of good moral character” with permanent residency if they have lived in the U.S. for five years, graduated from an accredited high school, and attended college for two years.
Or, illegals up to age 35–far beyond the status of “children”–may qualify if they had “served in the armed services for at least 2 years and, if discharged, received an honorable discharge.”
The stated rationale for the proposed legislation? Extending America’s gracious hand to people who are already in residence, who we can’t figure out how to get rid of, and who haven’t committed crimes they have been caught committing. The effective result? The Democrat Party adds up to 2.1 million grateful Latino voters to its ranks.
Florida Republican Rep. David Rivera, reasoning that, “If somebody is willing to die for America, then certainly they deserve a chance at life in America,” wants to change the DREAM Act to the ARMS Act, the Adjusted Residency for Military Service Act.
He proposes scrapping the college feature in favor of restricting the path to citizenship to those who serve in the military. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=12329.)
Thanks for the comments AM..
________________________________
AC,I agree,the wheels have to fly off and the gravity of financial truths will make that happen.
Your points are spot on,Deep cuts lead to contraction and BAMM…throwing more money at it causes debasement and BIFF….Our current debt to GDP ratio is 100%…How long can we run a ZIRP?Throw a 2to3oo bassis point increase…WHAMMO.(i think it will be MUCH bigger)
Whomever takes the helm next year is trapped.The ponzi music WILL stop one day.Buy chairs(pm’s)now.
The gov.can’t grow their way out of this,they won’t default,so what’s left….They will debase our currency to pay back the debt.Or worse.ONE DAY,AFTER THE DECLARED A BANK HOLIDAY,THEY WILL TELL YOU TO EXCHANGE YOUR OLD CURRENCY FOR OUR NEW ONE AT A 10 to ONE CORNHOLING…and if that happens the fires will be burning quite bright by then.
Pain is coming.
Gross Federal Debt Debt Held by Public
FY 2012 $16.7 trillion $10.8 trillion
FY 2011 $15.5 trillion $9.9 trillion
FY 2010 $13.5 trillion $8.2 trillion
FY 2009 $11.9 trillion $6.8 trillion
FY 2008 $10.0 trillion $5.3 trillion
U N S U S T A I N A B L E .
AC
Thanks for the effort putting your views together so fast in such cogent fashion. Kudos.
Before I address your answer, let me ask you a quick question regarding your post at 11:29 pm.
You state, “It would be in his (Romney’s) nature to issue a 50 state waiver, then push for Federal matching funds, Federal tax credits, or some other interventionist moonbattery for state-level Romneycare, forcing states to either adopt Romneycare on their own or subsidize those who do.” Is this a fact, or is it conjecture? Is this an assumption, or do we know this is carved in stone? It seems to leave no quarter if it is an assumption. If Romney actually became president, wouldn’t it follow that the Senate would probably fall also, and with Congress remaining Republican, any Romney attempt to dictate from the left would be dramatically shot down?
As far as your answer, I agree and appreciate it to the degree I understand it. I am a conservative Christian independent businessman who lives in the lower third of the 99% (I’ll add, I support the 1% because they have hired me for forty years). I actually see us all as 100%.
I deal with problems best personally, and I understand your answer clearly in personal terms as far as debt, borrowing, spending, dimishing gains, et al.
I’m printing out your response so I can read it tomorrow in depth, but I basically understand what you say (I get hung up on ‘deflationary default’ and ‘EROEI’) which I’ll look at tomorrow.
While my understanding of the problems are less than erudite and my view of the solution very basic, I clearly see the need to cut spending, lower the debt, stop printing phony money, and invest.
I have been forced, like many others, to learn and live this in my own life so I’m getting a first-hand lesson in economics 101. Thanks to you Econ 102.
Two things: (1) Does any hope of a solution ONLY come from Ron Paul? And, (2) You say the problems can’t be overcome in time…..which seems to make (1) moot. So what’s the answer? Chaos, meltdown, anarchy? If we’re doomed, why vote for anyone?
Alpha, AC is a long-time quality contributer to Moonbattery and someone for whom I have a lot of respect.
That said, however, he is also something of a negative Nellie and doomsayer. I mean no disrespect to AC, but his predictions haven’t always panned out.
Your Hippie Progtard Name
Note to intern!
Delete!
Again Delete!!
Urgent
Not so evident due to the total MSM blackout, BO logs in with yet another impeachable offense.
Under the Constitution, an actual (genuine) POTUS is sworn to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” A2S3.
BO has instructed his attorneys to ignore a subpoena issued by the state of GA. A subpoena directed at a citizen means that the citizen has an obligation under the law to respond to the court.
The reason for the media blackout is that BO’s eligibility to appear on the GA 2012 ballot is in question.
And when the question of ‘eligibility’ is associated with BO, republicans and conservatives run screaming out of the room. It would be unseemly apparently, to be labeled a “birther” which seems to have gained the same protective status as being called a “Nazi” or a “racist”.
However, this time the law that BO flaunts represents a line crossed that steps on the constitutional obligation he has under to uphold the law. By that logic, he is (again) impeachable.
BO merely had to have an attorney appear at the court, who could then have simply objected to the proceedings, or cite executive privilege. ( or better yet, ask for mercy)
But no.
BO in his supreme role as dictator finds it irrelevant that when he himself is challenged, should then have any concern about the appearance of gross disrespect by the Office of the Presidency for the law of the land.
.
In this, for now, he appears to be joined by the majority.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/media_blackout_in_obama_georgia_ballot_eligibility_case_comments.html#disqus_thread
Prescient, yes?“The next generation at the rate we’re going” – 1938
M’Chel Antoinette closes off Madison Avenue for $50,000 shopping spree.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9048122/Agent-Provocateur-sales-boosted-by-US-First-Lady-Michelle-Obama.html
THIS IS WAR: If They Succeed in Forcing a Romney Nomination On Us, The Republican Establishment Must Be Destroyed
Latest in MOONBAT TECH – you think the Smart Cars are funny?
Get a load of this. Get yer fold up car here!
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/fold-up-car-of-the-future-unveiled-for-europe.html
“”A tiny revolutionary fold-up car designed in Spain’s Basque country as the answer to urban stress and pollution was unveiled Tuesday before hitting European cities in 2013.
The “Hiriko,” the Basque word for “urban,” is an electric two-seater with no doors whose motor is located in the wheels and which folds up like a child’s collapsible buggy, or stroller, for easy parking.”
Basque region is famous for explosions. Wonder if this one catches fire and blows up if you exceed 40 mph.
That film that has CAIR in an uproar? The Third Jihad?
It was made by muslims !
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/of_films_and_fear_e8UbGROFizSTvSELdLAbBL
Festivus says:
January 30, 2012 at 1:31 am
“Alpha, AC is a long-time quality contributer to Moonbattery and someone for whom I have a lot of respect.
That said, however, he is also something of a negative Nellie and doomsayer. I mean no disrespect to AC, but his predictions haven’t always panned out.”
Actually you should say “haven’t panned out yet.” We are headed for a very big cliff and it is hard to see a scenario that doesn’t involve a lot of destruction and pain. Plan for the worst; hope for the best.
It started out “It would be in his nature…” so I would call it an educated guess.
He’s on the record as a fierce defender of Romneycare in principle.
He wants Romneycare in every state.
RINOs have a long history of using matching funds or tax credits. With regard to health care, see McCain in 2008.
Huge tax credits are a form of a shadow mandate. Either you buy the insurance and get some of your money back, or you’re paying for your neighbor’s insurance through higher taxes on yourself, while getting no service in return. A huge tax credit makes even poor value insurance plans worthwhile on an individual level.
Romney is a statist and has already decided that he wants everybody to have insurance meeting his guidelines. How he achieves that might be different from Obama, but make no mistake, he wants to get it done.
Deflationary default = A contraction of the money supply which leads to waves of bankruptcies. Right now, there is so much debt, we have become accustomed to servicing that debt by taking on more debt. In a deflationary default, the money supply stops expanding and bad debts are liquidated. Yes, it’s a painful process, but a necessary one if we are to stop throwing good money after bad (look at housing).
–
EROEI = Energy Return on Energy Invested. This is a measure of how much energy we receive in return for every unit of energy we expend producing energy. A high EROEI ratio is very conducive to economic growth. Think of it as the difference between oil gushers on Texas praririe back then and needing to drill the Deepwater Horizon today. Think of it as the difference between digging up coal by the dump truck full and installing small solar panels on roofs.
Because capitalists maximize the time value of capital, easy sources of raw materials are used up first. We pick gold nuggets out of creeks before we dig a mile and a half underground to get to low ore grades. We drill oil gushers at Spindletop before we drill them in a mile of water in the Gulf of Mexico.
As the marginal cost of resources increases, especially with regard to energy, our economic growth is stunted.
Our economy was built on cheap and abundant oil. Even today, we discover cheap oil, but it isn’t abundant, and the abundant oil we discover isn’t cheap.
That doesn’t mean we’re going to run out, it means we have to put a lot more in these days for every unit we get out. The Hubbert peak is a function of economics; we don’t wake up one day to find the oil is gone. Rather, the price continues to rise as lower productivity uses are priced out of the market. The oil will be there, if we can afford it, however not being able to afford it deprives our economy of the growth-generating properties of oil.
–
1. There is no easy solution, even with Ron Paul. Politicians like to promise that if voters would only elect them then they can make our problems go away by merely waving their hands and saying the magic words.
When I talk about an easy solution, it is the sort of thing which fixes the problem, without requring deep and painful changes. This crisis could have been averted if a balanced budget amendment, entitlement reform, and monetary reform had been enacted back in 1994.
Now, we’re running short of options. Our current choice is the nature of the pain and what we’ll be doing to bounce back from it. We can cut the spending and restore free market capitalism now, or we can kick the can and pay the piper later.
There is no way we can simply return to business as usual by changing leadership. Business as usual will change, one way or the other. The pressing question is whether we change it ourselves, in a way which promotes growth in the future, or whether the can is kicked until it can be kicked no more, and the dire situation asserts itself and takes control.
Paul can fix the long term structural problems, but we still have to drastically slash spending and liquidate malinvestment. That process will be painful, but it must be done to avoid more pain, with interest, after years more of kicking the can.
You might compare it to the choice faced by a child being told to take bad tasting medicine.
–
2. I worded that second bit poorly thanks to the late hour. I’m still not fully awake, so bear with me. What I meant to say was that we can’t wait the problems out, or “grow our way out” as politicians like to say. In essence, there is no way to change course to avoid hitting the iceberg – we’ve already hit the iceberg, whether or not all of us know it, or not.
There will be pain.
Problems and pain of this magnitude can’t be avoided, but they can be put behind us with the right policies. If we take our lumps and recommit to spending restraint and free market capitalism, then growth and progress will eventually reemerge.
Soviet socialism followed by a hyperinflationary collapse failed to snuff out entrepreneurship in Russia. Today, their economy is growing rapidly thanks to their flax tax and pro-production policies. During the last days of Gorbachev, there was no combination of policies to leave behind the rot of the USSR without a painful transition.
At this point, it’s about degrees of meltdown. A sudden stop to the deficit spending and monetary expansion will not be pleasant, however the alternative will be worse.
More spookery outta Philly:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120130_Thugs_whup_up_on_cabbie__passenger.html
…yet.
Some were spot on, some were delayed, but none of been outright wrong like Comrade Chairman on the stimulus.
They can put an economic implosion off an awful long time as long as they keep printing money, sweeping problems under the rug, and being the healthiest horse in the glue factory (given the worse problems in Europe).
Paul can stop a descent into hyperinflation and socialism, but he won’t be elected.
His plan would result in the depression currently swept under the rug emerging. His plan gets the pain out of the way and gets the economy back to work.
Right now, the problems are so large we cannot choose a pain-free course. Our choice right now is the form of our peril, not whether to have peril or not. Even the best of thoughts still gets us an 80 foot Stay-Puft marshmallow man.
15 year old Occucommie murders both his parents and hides bodies in family car
The new “Forever” stamp, right?
By the way, have you read “The Harbinger” yet? Read that and you will realize that the 2012 election is totally irrelevant.
Media Blackout in Obama Georgia Ballot Eligibility Case
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/media_blackout_in_obama_georgia_ballot_eligibility_case.html#ixzz1kxTR5SnV
Santorum hypocrisy: Santorum pushed to limit malpractice awards but sought larger payout for wife
He took $500,000 from a chiropractor, $350,000 of which was for pain and suffering, despite proposing a $250,000 cap on MedMal suits.
AC, one I recall was in June of 2010, I think it was, when you were saying the sky is falling over gold futures contracts coming due in July without sufficient inventories to cover them. How’d that one turn out again?
The COMEX paid substantial premiums to those who exercised their delivery options to reconsider. In effect, kicking the can and sweeping the problem under the rug. The raid stopped once they paid the greenmail.
The physical gold inventories are still woefully insufficient to cover the oversold paper gold market.
If I weren’t right then PHYS wouldn’t trade at such a healthy premium to NAV.
Eventually, redemption requests will overrun the exchange’s ability to make people reconsider.
OK, AC…
In other news, the state of marriage is alive and well here in Washington.
Cocaine shipment found at United Nations in fake diplomatic pouch.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/26/cocaine-shipment-found-at-united-nations-in-fake-diplomatic-pouch/#ixzz1kxxKitrL
Disgraced teacher is worth $10M, makes $100,000 a year, does nothing, & refuses to leave
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/dud_of_the_class_V94XccuHkAS9OKOVaTtWMK#ixzz1kxxVcmdl
There was a run on inventories, there was a risk of an exchange default, and the exchange bought it off.
The risk is still there.
Had it defaulted the result would have been pandemonium.
There is still a risk of default because there is such an excess of paper gold to physical gold.
See the NAV premium disparity between PHYS and GLD.
Festivus
The Occupy Seattle wackos have been married to Capitol Hill for years.
Voices like Dori Monson and Michael Medved add at least some sanity to the conversation.
Todays news: Seattle is vying for San Francisco visitors. Might as well come here, with today’s legislative session we’re looking just like SF – except we have better beer and coffee.
AC
Thanks for the time and effort – it clarifies a lot. I was up late too. I see the picture clearly in layman’s terms and definitely understand the immediacy of getting our fiscal house back to some level of sanity, I’m just not able to put it in Econ professor vernacular quite yet.
I’m an eternal optimist. As soon as the Head Lemming is gone I’m hoping the direction of the narrative will change, and too, the rush to the cliff. A drop-off here or there we can tolerate, and I’m buckling for it, but hopefully not a free fall. You say 1 in a 100 doesn’t know how dire, but thanks to you more people are learning.
I’ve actually been coming to this site for years (just ask Van Blount) and have written some stuff for American Thinker and Dave Ross. Since Obamalinsky’s fiscal policies have been so drastic, the general tone has gone from his underground political agenda to more focus on economics.
That’s why people like you – and others on this site – who know so much about economics, are now guiding the narrative to where it needs to go – and hopefully steer us away from the cliff.
As for me, I’m off to work to help pay down my debt.
At the risk of being labeled a “birther” how about a small compromise? All attempts at impeachment in regards to birth status are removed and in exchange bammy has to meet the requirements of the most stringent state in order to be placed on any ballot. No lawyers, no tricks, just a simple production of the documents establishing birth as defined by the laws of whichever state is toughest, regardless of red/blue/purple. Same for the GOP/Libertarian/etc candidates.
Obama: The most polarizing president. Ever.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/obama-the-most-polarizing-president-ever/2012/01/29/gIQAmmkBbQ_blog.html
Feds: ‘Poor’ Consume Like The Rich
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/feds-%E2%80%98poor%E2%80%99-consume-rich/348206
Obama-Funded “Green” Energy Company Amonix Lays Off Two-Thirds Of Its Workforce…
http://weaselzippers.us/2012/01/30/obama-funded-green-energy-company-amonix-lays-off-two-thirds-of-its-workforce/
SEIU Thanks Democratic Socialists of America For “Fighting To Bring Economic And Social Justice”…
http://weaselzippers.us/2012/01/30/seiu-thanks-democratic-socialists-of-america-for-fighting-to-bring-economic-and-social-justice/
New Academic Study Confirms that Lower Tax Rates Are the Best Way to Reduce Tax Evasion
http://biggovernment.com/dmitchell/2012/01/30/new-academic-study-confirms-that-lower-tax-rates-are-the-best-way-to-reduce-tax-evasion/
Rep. Allen West for President!
It was bad enough that Rep. Allen West had to resign his Army commission because he valued the lives of soldiers under his command over an Iraqi jihadist. He should have known that political correctness reigns supreme in America’s military today.
It was bad enough that West went on to become the first black GOP congressman elected in Florida in 134 years. He should have known that African-Americans have no business being Republicans.
It was bad enough that West is a patriotic, conservative American aware of the Islamic terrorist threat and fed up with leftist politics but now he has really gone off the deep end, telling liberals where to go, and it isn’t to Bimini or to any of their other retreats where libs go to dust off their constituents’ detritus.
In a Saturday address at the Palm Beach County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner, West told Washington’s Democrat liberals to go to hell with their liberalism.
As he bluntly said, ”Take your message of equality of achievement, take your message of economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else. You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America.”
Unlike most politicians who pull their punches, West specifically named the Democrats who he thinks should vacate the premises: President Barack Hussein Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
He added that he will not allow Barack Hussein Obama to destroy the nation he, his family and friends have served and if his words meant he will be targeted by the Democrat Party, “Bring it on, baby.”
See and hear a clip of West’s remarks here http://bit.ly/wRON1e.
He could easily have included dozens of other Democrats who should “get the hell out” as well as the entire Occupy movement which, like their political counterparts, is less involved in working to correcting America’s flaws than in destroying, disrupting, and dismantling our country.
Unfortunately, the chances of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and other leftists complying with West’s order are minimal but we can always hope. Unfortunately, too, Republican presidential hopefuls are currently too immersed in fratricidal warfare to recognize that their divisive bickering will only insure the nation will go to hell when Obama is re-elected in November.
Allen West has indicated he would not be averse to running for the vice presidency. I wonder if he would consider the presidency?
(http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=12353)