Krugman: Death Panels & Sales Taxes

Not the way he advocated for ObummerCare. I’ll leave it to the viewer to determine when he lied, then or now. And why?

Perfidy, The Dishonest Budget Numbers

Dan Mitchell Discussing Dishonest Budget Numbers with John Stossel – YouTube.

The crooks in DC have created a system that allows them to claim they’re cutting the budget when the burden of government spending actually is rising.

This sleazy system is designed in part to deceive the American people, and the current squabbling over the fiscal cliff is a good example. The President claims he has a “balanced approach” that involves budget cuts, but look at the second chart at this link and you will see that he’s really proposing bigger government.

This dishonest approach also was used by the President’s Fiscal Commission and last year’s crummy debt limit deal was based on this form of fiscal prevarication.

Here are some key excerpts from a Wall Street Journal editorial exposing this scam.

…

President Obama and John Boehner are playing by the dysfunctional Beltway rules. The rules work if you like bigger government, but Republicans need a new strategy, which starts by exposing the rigged game of “baseline budgeting.” …numbers have no real meaning because they are conjured in the wilderness of mirrors that is the federal budget process. Since 1974, Capitol Hill’s “baseline” has automatically increased spending every year according to Congressional Budget Office projections, which means before anyone has submitted a budget or cast a single vote. Tax and spending changes are then measured off that inflated baseline, not in absolute terms. …Democrats designed this system to make it easier to defend annual spending increases and to portray any reduction in the baseline as a spending “cut.” Chris Wallace called Timothy Geithner on this “gimmick” on “Fox News Sunday” this week, only to have the Treasury Secretary insist it’s real. …in the current debate the GOP is putting itself at a major disadvantage by negotiating off the phony baseline. …If Republicans really want to slow the growth in spending, they need to stop playing by Beltway rules and start explaining to America why Mr. Obama keeps saying he’s cutting spending even as spending and deficits keep going up and up and up.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that other nations rely on this crooked system, most notably the United Kingdom, which supposedly is imposing “savage” cuts even though government spending keeps rising (and they fooled Paul Krugman, though he seems to make a habit of misreading foreign fiscal and economic data).

A Familiar Political Platform

All citizens must possess equal rights and duties.

The first duty of every citizen must be to work mentally or physically. No individual shall do any work that offends against the interest of the community to the benefit of all.

Since every war imposes on the people fearful sacrifices in blood and treasure, all personal profit arising from the war must be regarded as treason to the people. We therefore demand the total confiscation of all war profits.

We demand the nationalization of all trusts.

We demand profit-sharing in large industries.

We demand a generous increase in old-age pensions.

We demand the creation and maintenance of a sound middle-class,

We demand an agrarian reform in accordance with our national requirements

We stand against those who work to the injury of the common welfare.

We will make it possible for every resident to obtain higher education

The State has the duty to help raise the standard of national health by providing healthcare.

We demand the abolition of the regular (volunteer) army and the creation of a national (draft) army.

We demand that there be a legal campaign against those who propagate deliberate political lies and disseminate them through the media.

We demand freedom from all religious faiths in the state

COMMON GOOD BEFORE INDIVIDUAL GOOD

In order to carry out this program we demand: the creation of a strong central authority in the State, the unconditional authority by the political central parliament of the whole State and all its organizations.

I usually observe Godwin’s law, but “When the shoe fits”, throw it.

These platform planks were lifted (with very minor alteration, such as substituting “healthcare” for “maternity care”) from the official platform of the National Socialist German Workers Party. (Nazi Party for those with recent educations)

Supporters of Communism, or of socialism in general, like to pretend that Nazism was not socialist but “right wing”.

It was common in those days, as it is in ours, to identify the Communists as leftist and the Nazis as rightists, as if they stood on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. But Ludwig von Mises knew differently. They both sported the same ideological pedigree of socialism. “The German and Russian systems of socialism have in common the fact that the government has full control of the means of production. It decides what shall be produced and how. It allots to each individual a share of consumer’s goods for his consumption.”
The difference between the systems, wrote Mises, is that the German pattern “maintains private ownership of the means of production and keeps the appearance of ordinary prices, wages, and markets.” But in fact the government directs production decisions, curbs entrepreneurship and the labor market, and determines wages and interest rates by central authority. “Market exchange,” says Mises, “is only a sham.”

A Hole(s)

With the economy sliding deeper into a recession, panelists discuss whether it’s time to stop throwing our money into a massive pit out in the desert.

It would actually help if they did burn it instead of burning through it.. Not to worry, though. The Fed can create much more with just a few keystrokes. And of course the Treasury’s printing presses are running overtime. With enough inflation our debt will disappear, just ask Zimbabwe. They replaced the Rhodesian Dollar (which had a 1:1 exchange rate with US dollars in the mid ’70s, I know, I was there) on a one to one basis in 1980. When they finally got out of the money printing business they were printing Z$100 Trillion bills. On 8 November 2008 one of those bills was “officially” worth $147.50. Note that our debt is all in US dollars, does that give you any ideas? Can we /should we inflate our way out of debt? By the way, now in Zimbabwe they use a “basket of currencies” (sound familiar?) that includes the US dollar, South African Rand, Botswana Pula and the Pound Sterling. I wonder what our “basket” will consist of?

Courtesy of Onion News Network

McCotter Discussing Budget

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) brings the budget debate to this basic question: will we continue to spend money we don’t have, or will the federal government return to responsible management after decades of debt expansion? After wryly thanking the Fox anchor for repeating the hyperbolic and demagogic comments of Democrats over the issue of entitlement reform, McCotter explains that Republicans may not have all the answers — but so far, the GOP is the only party offering any answers. That puts the issue in stark relief — will Americans cheer for solvency or bankruptcy?

McCotter Discussing Budget, posted with vodpod

Herman Cain to Obama at CPAC: “U.S. Will Not Become U.S. of Europe on our Watch”

2/11/11

Here is complete video of Herman Cain’s speech at CPAC today. Cain called on Americans to “stay involved, stay informed, and stay inspired” in working to see to it that there is a new President in the White House after the 2012 Election. Cain said liberals like Obama are seeking the destruction of the United States as we know it, wanting to turn America into the U.S. of Europe. Cain said that is not going to happen “on our watch.” He has already formed a Presidential Exploratory Committee, and will likely be a candidate for the 2012 GOP Presidential Nomination.

Herman Cain to Obama at CPAC: “U.S. Will Not Be…, posted with vodpod

How the Obama Adminsitrtion Spurs Job Growth

In an unprecedented and controversial move, the White House has launched a new program at the Department of Labor which will refer workers who have complaints about their bosses to a toll free number at the American Bar Association, where they can get a lawyer to work on their case on a contingency fee basis.

Read more here

Hate Your Boss? Call the Government – FoxBusine…, posted with vodpod

Gold ATM Comes to US

Imagine being able to buy some gold just about anywhere. Now Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, Florida, is the first in the U.S. to have a gold dispensing machine. The German developed machine has proven its popularity in Europe and the Middle East over the last year, possibly in response to the political popularity if the “Zimbabwe School of Economics” (also known as Quantitative Easing) policies among the political class.

Oscar Mayer Congressman (Anthony Weiner, D,NY) call your office!

Gold ATM Comes to US, posted with vodpod

Washington State to Battle Texas for California Emigrants

As the great Soviet Socialist State of California goes down in flames waiting for their 53 electoral college votes to be bought off by politicians redirecting tax money from the more prudent states, Washington voters have made a bid to redirect the flow of small companies from California to Texas. Although after reelecting “Moonbeam” Brown, that may be a harder sell.)

Ater having famously chosen wild poultry over a thriving timber industry (possibly the ultimate in renewable resources as well as a major export) Washington has decided not to punish, but rather encourage small business success by defeating, 65% to 35%, an initiative (prop 1098) that would have imposed a state income tax on the “wealthy” defined as >$200,000 (single), >$400,000 (married filing jointly).

Many small businesses that have been considering joining the Uhaul caravan to Texas, but have shuddered at moving to a totally foreign land (the wild west, dontcha know), now have the option of fleeing the non-workers paradise without giving up the friendly familiarity of the Left Coast. The only thing that might be a problem is the nagging feeling that as Admiral Ackbar said, “It’s a Trap!!”.

Remember Bud’s “Real Men of Genius” Ads?

This takeoff from ForAmerica on repealing Obamacare is just as funny.

Make sure to sign the petition at ForAmerica.org

Remember Bud’s “Real Men of Genius” Ads?, posted with vodpod