Friday, July 30, 2010
Just got my new issue of CFO magazine in the mail today (very geeky, I know) and what is right there on the cover? A little black box letting you know of their "Business Outlook Survey" contained within. And what is the catchy lede that sums up the Business Outlook Survey? Well, this: "Planning to Grow, but Not to Hire."
Wow. That is it in a nutshell. I could put links to many many posts that I've written but I'll only do a few...like this one or this one or this one...OK you get the point (wait, just one more). Anyway, until our government gets a new approach and drops the desire to crush business at every turn, job growth will be a trickle at best. Enjoy it America, this is who you elected.
Stupid Is As Stupid Does?
I know, or at least I have heard, that there are smart liberals out there. I don't doubt it, but if enough liberals are indeed smart, shouldn't "liberalism," the accumulated body of ideas and policies that emanate from such people, be intelligent too? Yes, it should, but it isn't. The latest evidence in the ongoing indictment of liberalism as irredeemably silly somes from Spain and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on July 30 announced an “in-depth” reform of his labor policies following new data indicating an increase in unemployment for the second quarter, DPA reported. According to Spain’s National Statistics Institute, the Spanish unemployment rate rose to 20.1 percent — about 4.7 million people — in the second quarter, about 33,000 more people than in the first quarter. The government wants to improve the ability of public employment services to help people find jobs, as well as provide training opportunities for the unemployed, Rodriguez Zapatero said.
Got that? 4.7 million people just aren't doing a good enough job of looking for a job. It's not that those jobs don't exist, it's just a matter of folks being more effective in finding a job. If they did that little extra or certain something, they'd surely be in a job.
Idiot. The JOBS DON"T EXIST! No amount of training or enhanced placement services is going to put people in jobs that don't exist. You have to have a pro-growth economic policy that is favorable to capital so that there are incentives for job-creators to create jobs. You have to compete for jobs by making your country a more attractive place to do business than your neighbors and economic competitors. Zapatero's focus is so foolishly off the mark, but I find it hard to believe that Zapatero, the man, is a fool. So why the disconnect from individual to governing philosophy and policy? Or am I indeed being too charitable to the Spanish PM?
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on July 30 announced an “in-depth” reform of his labor policies following new data indicating an increase in unemployment for the second quarter, DPA reported. According to Spain’s National Statistics Institute, the Spanish unemployment rate rose to 20.1 percent — about 4.7 million people — in the second quarter, about 33,000 more people than in the first quarter. The government wants to improve the ability of public employment services to help people find jobs, as well as provide training opportunities for the unemployed, Rodriguez Zapatero said.
Got that? 4.7 million people just aren't doing a good enough job of looking for a job. It's not that those jobs don't exist, it's just a matter of folks being more effective in finding a job. If they did that little extra or certain something, they'd surely be in a job.
Idiot. The JOBS DON"T EXIST! No amount of training or enhanced placement services is going to put people in jobs that don't exist. You have to have a pro-growth economic policy that is favorable to capital so that there are incentives for job-creators to create jobs. You have to compete for jobs by making your country a more attractive place to do business than your neighbors and economic competitors. Zapatero's focus is so foolishly off the mark, but I find it hard to believe that Zapatero, the man, is a fool. So why the disconnect from individual to governing philosophy and policy? Or am I indeed being too charitable to the Spanish PM?
Weiner = Putz
This guy wants to be mayor of the most populous and most important city in America. Tremble at the thought. I was not a fan of the idea of Bloomy serving a third term, but with bozos like this lining up to fill the void, I'll take Bloomy for several more terms.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
More Than Ever, Eschew Pigou
Unfortunately, even though the science behind AGW has taken a blow to its credibility and popular support for a large-scale policy response is waning, Greg Mankiw is still aggressively promoting membership in the Pigou Club. I still stay eschew Pigou, no need for a carbon tax so long as the AGW theory remains speculative.
NY Times Finds the Only Two Economists Not Named Paul Krugman Who Still Love the Stimulus
The New York Times is desperate to give the Democrats' disastrous economic policy some gloss of respectability, and so they go to two well-known partisan, dyed-in-the-wool Keynesian disciples - Mark Zandi and Alan Blinder - to give them cause to write that, definitively, the stimulus worked to keep us out of the ditch. Zandi has been working CNBC overtime to give the stimulus and the Democrats some credibility. Blinder has been all over the Op-Ed pages of the WSJ doing the same. These two, plus Paul Krugman, are perhaps the only economists left that still defend the stimulus with full throated passion. Meanwhile, Robert Barro, Gary Becker, Allan Meltzer, Vernon Smith and even Jeff Sachs have concluded that the stimulus was a waste of money. We avoided another Depression for many reasons but if you had to pinpoint just one, it was clearly Ben Bernanke gunning the monetary accelerator - it's the only policy lesson we've learned well and done right this time around.
UPDATE: And Bill Gross is not much enamored of the stimulus either. Granted, he doesn't work at Princeton, but he's been pretty damn successful understanding and navigating his way around economic realities.
UPPDATE: John Taylor ain't buying it either.
UPDATE: And Bill Gross is not much enamored of the stimulus either. Granted, he doesn't work at Princeton, but he's been pretty damn successful understanding and navigating his way around economic realities.
UPPDATE: John Taylor ain't buying it either.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
They're Not Called MASSholes for Nothing
The idiots in the Massachusetts legislature have ceded their citizens' franchise to everybody who lives outside of Massachusetts. Now fraudsters in Chicago or Minneapolis or Okmulgee County, Oklahoma for that matter can unfairly influence the awarding of Massachusetts's electoral votes. Hell, they can even fairly influence the awarding of Mass's votes. In other words, we all outside of Massachusetts have complete control, whether we cheat or not, over Massachusetts's 12 EC votes. Effectively, if you live in the Bay State, you don't vote for the President of the United States of America any more. Whew, that's a big burden off your back Bay Staters! Serves you right for the numb-nuts you've elected to represent you in the statehouse. Enjoy your loss of our most basic franchise!
My Meltdown Blueprint Looks Like a Solid Call
Just for fun let's go back to the original DB blueprint of Obama meltdown predictions. So that's how it happens. I think there is plenty of evidence that the media is slowly dismantling its supportive scaffolding around Barack Obama. Now the evidence that the never-loyal hangers-on are dropping off (remember Obama really only rented loyalists, he had no deep connections going into his campaign). I think Carville's rant over the BP spill response and Mort Zuckerman's numerous scathing diatribes against Obama's economic policy are evidence that the Clintonista's are free to drop unbending loyalty to Dear Leader. Now, we have Ed Rendell says that The One might have a primary challenge. That's confirmation folks. So my blueprint is looking pretty darned money.
All of this, of course, leads to the key discussion of Obama's viability in 2012. Many seem to think that Obama is easily re-electable and that anyone else can only be considered a long shot. I disagree and I think there are three paradigms that one can use to analyze Dear Leader's chances of being a two-term President. The first paradigm is one that I have discussed at length, which is discerning the state of the nation from some time-tested metrics that have a good record of determining an incumbent's electoral prospects - namely unemployment and gas prices. I have already nailed the 10% unemployment prediction and I am standing by the $4 gas prediction - Obama will see this toxic economic tandem at some point before the 2012 election and history teaches that his electability will likely not survive such an environment.
The second framework in which to analyze his 2012 chances is to look at the demographic coalition that formed to deliver him the win in 2008. He won on the back of 1) huge black turnout, 2) dominance among the young and independents, 3) a solid swing to him from the business community, and 4) Republican apathy and failure to turnout. Clearly, each one of these phenomena will not be repeated to the same degree in 2012, if not fully reversed. I believe blacks will not turn out in great numbers in 2012. Their historic moment has been achieved, the passion and excitement has faded and their turnout will revert to historical norms. The polls are clearly showing that Obama has lost independents and, as I have highlighted, the terrible economic prospects for America's voting-age youth are dismal and likely to dampen the youthful passion that benefited Dear Leader in 2008. On point three, the business community loathes this administration, full stop. He'll get no support here. On point four, they won't make that mistake ever again. For all the putative squabbling, leadership vacuums, and lack of focus, the one thing that Republicans, Republican-leaners and Republican-sympathizing Libertarians can now agree on - if you're caught sleeping come election time, you get statist, big government progressivism run amok and you lose liberty and prosperity in big chunks.
Finally the third and least compelling paradigm is the historical preference of American voters for executives with actual executive experience, so of Governors over Senators. Once in a while this pattern breaks and it did in 2008, but there is a reason we as a nation prefer not to put Congressional leaders in the Oval Office...we value executive experience. We dabbled in 2008 and took a gamble on breaking from this historical pattern. It is fair to say to date that the gamble has not worked out well, making historical reversion much more plausible by virtue of solid reasoning.
All of this, of course, leads to the key discussion of Obama's viability in 2012. Many seem to think that Obama is easily re-electable and that anyone else can only be considered a long shot. I disagree and I think there are three paradigms that one can use to analyze Dear Leader's chances of being a two-term President. The first paradigm is one that I have discussed at length, which is discerning the state of the nation from some time-tested metrics that have a good record of determining an incumbent's electoral prospects - namely unemployment and gas prices. I have already nailed the 10% unemployment prediction and I am standing by the $4 gas prediction - Obama will see this toxic economic tandem at some point before the 2012 election and history teaches that his electability will likely not survive such an environment.
The second framework in which to analyze his 2012 chances is to look at the demographic coalition that formed to deliver him the win in 2008. He won on the back of 1) huge black turnout, 2) dominance among the young and independents, 3) a solid swing to him from the business community, and 4) Republican apathy and failure to turnout. Clearly, each one of these phenomena will not be repeated to the same degree in 2012, if not fully reversed. I believe blacks will not turn out in great numbers in 2012. Their historic moment has been achieved, the passion and excitement has faded and their turnout will revert to historical norms. The polls are clearly showing that Obama has lost independents and, as I have highlighted, the terrible economic prospects for America's voting-age youth are dismal and likely to dampen the youthful passion that benefited Dear Leader in 2008. On point three, the business community loathes this administration, full stop. He'll get no support here. On point four, they won't make that mistake ever again. For all the putative squabbling, leadership vacuums, and lack of focus, the one thing that Republicans, Republican-leaners and Republican-sympathizing Libertarians can now agree on - if you're caught sleeping come election time, you get statist, big government progressivism run amok and you lose liberty and prosperity in big chunks.
Finally the third and least compelling paradigm is the historical preference of American voters for executives with actual executive experience, so of Governors over Senators. Once in a while this pattern breaks and it did in 2008, but there is a reason we as a nation prefer not to put Congressional leaders in the Oval Office...we value executive experience. We dabbled in 2008 and took a gamble on breaking from this historical pattern. It is fair to say to date that the gamble has not worked out well, making historical reversion much more plausible by virtue of solid reasoning.
Granted, all this could change drastically in two years, so stay tuned...
UPDATE: What did I say just a few lines up about Republican-sympathizing Libertarians? Steve "Vodkapundit" Green is kind of a bellweather for libertarianism and he says (I'm paraphrasing) "No flights of fancy this time around folks, vote for the most electable Republican. That Libertarian Party candidate can wait for less crucial times."
Monday, July 26, 2010
Democrat Businessmen Howling Louder
When big-time Democrat(!) mucky-muck after big-time Democrat(!) mucky-muck tells you that your approach to the economy has been wrong, it should say something. Buffett, Immelt, Zuckerman, Dimon, etc. Now, it's Barry Diller. Sorry fellas, a little too little, a little too late.
I saw it all coming. I told you capital would flee...and it has.
I saw it all coming. I told you capital would flee...and it has.
My Travels in the Heartland
Sorry blogging was light, but I just got back from a long weekend in blessed, deepest red state America where Mrs. Baseball has taken the Baseball tykes to the grandma/pa homestead. A couple of observations...
First, this part of the country right now is a roofer's paradise. This hail storm f**ked up everybody's roof (and I mean everybody...cars too, you can tell who doesn't have insurance and/or just doesn't give a damn by all the windowless cars driving around). I sat next to a roofer from Florida on the way down and met another roofer from Texas in the airport. Roofers have come from all over to meet the demand. Another small testament to the flexibility and responsiveness of the American private free market system. People are not having to wait to get their roofs repaired and there have been no reports of widespread price gouging because prices have remained low. It all reminded me of Katrina and who actually was able to get much-needed supplies into New Orleans days before any government - state or federal - could.
I watched a little of the boob tube and thus saw almost all the major candidates' TV ads. Now, maybe a Democrat from down there is to the right of even a Republican from up here, but I could not tell who were the Democrats at first. Not one of the candidates identified themselves as a Democrat and every one of them was pushing "local values" and the amorphous ability to "fight" (for you, for the elderly, yadayada, although, very curiously, not for the poor). One Democrat was even standing under one of those awesome six-story American flags that you see quite a bit down there talking about how much he just loves the military (granted, that's smart politicking down there, but this guy was overdoing it). Conversely, it was easy to tell who was running on the Republican side and it was amusing to see candidates out-promise each other on opening up a can of whoop-ass on Nancy Pelosi when they get to Washington DC or out-duel each other to "keep Obamanomics out of the statehouse." For a state that some pundits consider "purple", you wouldn't think there was a single person in the entire state for whom the standard Democratic Party plank was appealling, judging by the commercials. Obama and the Pelosicrats are deeply unpopular in them there parts.
First, this part of the country right now is a roofer's paradise. This hail storm f**ked up everybody's roof (and I mean everybody...cars too, you can tell who doesn't have insurance and/or just doesn't give a damn by all the windowless cars driving around). I sat next to a roofer from Florida on the way down and met another roofer from Texas in the airport. Roofers have come from all over to meet the demand. Another small testament to the flexibility and responsiveness of the American private free market system. People are not having to wait to get their roofs repaired and there have been no reports of widespread price gouging because prices have remained low. It all reminded me of Katrina and who actually was able to get much-needed supplies into New Orleans days before any government - state or federal - could.
I watched a little of the boob tube and thus saw almost all the major candidates' TV ads. Now, maybe a Democrat from down there is to the right of even a Republican from up here, but I could not tell who were the Democrats at first. Not one of the candidates identified themselves as a Democrat and every one of them was pushing "local values" and the amorphous ability to "fight" (for you, for the elderly, yadayada, although, very curiously, not for the poor). One Democrat was even standing under one of those awesome six-story American flags that you see quite a bit down there talking about how much he just loves the military (granted, that's smart politicking down there, but this guy was overdoing it). Conversely, it was easy to tell who was running on the Republican side and it was amusing to see candidates out-promise each other on opening up a can of whoop-ass on Nancy Pelosi when they get to Washington DC or out-duel each other to "keep Obamanomics out of the statehouse." For a state that some pundits consider "purple", you wouldn't think there was a single person in the entire state for whom the standard Democratic Party plank was appealling, judging by the commercials. Obama and the Pelosicrats are deeply unpopular in them there parts.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Yes, I'm Screaming...
"In short, it look likes our economy is in need of additional help," said the committee's chairman, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. (link)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO MORE HELP FROM WASHINGTON DC!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TRY THIS: TAKE YOUR F**KING BOOT OFF THE THROAT OF THE ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO MORE HELP FROM WASHINGTON DC!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TRY THIS: TAKE YOUR F**KING BOOT OFF THE THROAT OF THE ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!!
Petty Annoying Liberal Media Bias of the Day
There are likely hundreds of stock photos of Newark Mayor Cory Booker on file at the offices of the Newark Star-Ledger, so which one does the paper's staff use to accompany a story about how Booker is cutting public workers' work week to four days in order to address Newark's budget crisis? Why the one with Chris Christie appearing in it, of course! Does Christie have anything to do with Newark's fiscal problems? No. Did Christie have any input into Booker's policy that "effectively imposes a 20% pay cut"? No. But he needs to be in that picture. At least the Star-Ledger is nice enough to let you know that the picture is from June and really has nothing to do with the article's subject, if you are so inclined as to read the fine print below the picture. Nice.
Amazing
Finally! An article about the crappy job prospects for young people that actually mentions the two words "minimum" and "wage" together!
Again: Romer Should Resign
I've said that Christina Romer should resign. More evidence here. She's suppressing her own professional judgement for the political agenda of the Obama administration. She's done damage to the country, the economics profession and her own credibility. She should bow out.
Chinese Oil Spill
You can bet your ass that the Chinese won't put a moratorium on anything and destroy jobs, they'll just clean the mess up and get on with life.
An Old Friend Makes It Big!!!
Check it out! Our old friend Ryan Donmoyer, the clueless-yet-arrogant Al Hunt minion, has made a cameo in Journolistgate. (I'm not going to call it a scandal, is it really a scandal to undercover yet more evidence that the media is a teeming hive of liberal deceitfulness?). He seems to think that a bunch of senior citizens who've read alot of David McCullough are akin to Nazi brownshirts. Did I say clueless and arrogant? (I bet he sees in Sarah Palin's bus tour similarities to Soviet tanks rolling into the capitals of Eastern Europe! Yes the dark night of fascism is always hoving over America in the form of ... those damned people...with their talk of The Constitution!)
Anyway, I am consoled by the knowledge that Mr. Donmoyer is almost completely irrelevant - a) he works at Bloomberg News, which is known by most of its readers as Al Hunt's hive of ridiculous NY Times wannabes (just a teensy sampling here), b) Mr. Donmoyer himself is a minor and anonymous cog on that ship...to the small extent that Bloomberg readers recognize or even seek out the scribblings of a particular writer, it is safe to say that Mr Donmoyer is not one of them. David Leonhardt he is not.
UPDATE: Little Ryan hits the jackpot with a mention by a blogger who probably has more loyal readers than all of Bloomberg News, although the mention is not a very flattering one. Still, publicity is publicity!
UPPDATE: Wow, Ryan D. was all over this Journolist deal...opining that choosing not to have an abortion is...heartwarming. Truly. I've encountered this weird reaction before, many if not all of my liberal New York friends think that having Trig was prima facie evidence of Sarah Palin's crackpottery, nuttiness and all around loathesomeness. "I guess they actually have those kind of babies out there. Ick!" After all, in NYC you're only likely to have one or two kids, so it just wouldn't do to not have a pristinely healthy child.
Anyway, I am consoled by the knowledge that Mr. Donmoyer is almost completely irrelevant - a) he works at Bloomberg News, which is known by most of its readers as Al Hunt's hive of ridiculous NY Times wannabes (just a teensy sampling here), b) Mr. Donmoyer himself is a minor and anonymous cog on that ship...to the small extent that Bloomberg readers recognize or even seek out the scribblings of a particular writer, it is safe to say that Mr Donmoyer is not one of them. David Leonhardt he is not.
UPDATE: Little Ryan hits the jackpot with a mention by a blogger who probably has more loyal readers than all of Bloomberg News, although the mention is not a very flattering one. Still, publicity is publicity!
UPPDATE: Wow, Ryan D. was all over this Journolist deal...opining that choosing not to have an abortion is...heartwarming. Truly. I've encountered this weird reaction before, many if not all of my liberal New York friends think that having Trig was prima facie evidence of Sarah Palin's crackpottery, nuttiness and all around loathesomeness. "I guess they actually have those kind of babies out there. Ick!" After all, in NYC you're only likely to have one or two kids, so it just wouldn't do to not have a pristinely healthy child.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A Pattern of Warring Against the States On Every Issue
The administration's bloody-minded crusade against the Gulf Coast economy has attracted a second suit by an industry player. Hornbeck Services launched and won the first legal assault, twice. Now ENSCO International is firing up a lawsuit against the Department of the Interior. How bad does it have to get for companies to sue the government and burn bridges with their regulatory agencies? Pretty bad. Fighting for their lives bad. The oil exploration services industry is fighting for its life because Obama's Interior Department's goal is to bankrupt the oil exploration industry. The BP spill has only enabled them to do on a grand scale what they have been doing since they took office - shutting down the exploration of oil and gas. Shut it off, drain the talent pool, drive away capital - ruin the industry. That is their goal, so the likes of ENSCO and Hornbeck have to step up and fight or they will whither and die. The courts are this industry's only hope and even then there is no guarantee the administration would comply with an adverse ruling. Watch this space, this is going to get alot worse before it gets better. I see this as another area, in addition to healthcare, where we could have another constitutional crisis. States will want to protect the important energy exploration industry and its high-paying jobs and one or more is likely to join in on the suits of the federal government.
Immigration, Healthcare, and potentially Energy - the Obama administration has managed to embroil the federal government in an all out war against states on each issue. A certain amount of co-existence and deference between the states and the feds is necessary for the survival of a federal republic. If this pattern holds and grows, we are on dangerous ground.
Immigration, Healthcare, and potentially Energy - the Obama administration has managed to embroil the federal government in an all out war against states on each issue. A certain amount of co-existence and deference between the states and the feds is necessary for the survival of a federal republic. If this pattern holds and grows, we are on dangerous ground.
Public Servants Pish...Try Loathesome Pigs
"Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered." A sound guide to life and not just some snappy market wisdom - in life, you'll go farther if you aren't a pig. This sort of piggishness is why the jig is up. Americans have now come to realize that our public officials aren't serving us, they're plundering us. And it is going to come to an end. The pigs are about to get slaughtered, deservedly so. Had they just moderated their cupidity a bit they might have kept the game going a while longer.
Once In A While...Hitch Is Ridiculous
This Hitch column is as stupid as that George Will column railing on...jeans.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Union's Adoption of Cross-Functional Training Pays Off!
Moe Lane seems to think it is a problem that a $164,000/year collective bargaining union officer also acts in the capacity of union street goon. I am actually encouraged that unions are starting to learn the value of efficiency via the tools of cross-training and multi-functional skill matrices. You see, unions used to have to pay pencil-necked geeks (see Ron Gettelfinger) the $164K to secure the services of the type of men or women that were skilled in delicate and sophisticated negotiations. Then they would have to pay extra for their goons, for the muscle that supports their intimidation operations. But as Mr. Lane has discovered, the unions have learned the value of multi-functional training and have combined the job of thuggery with responsibility for collective bargaining negotiation, thus preserving valuable resources to spend elsewhere. And here I thought that unions' main contribution was to permeate inefficiency and over-employment in the economy!! How wrong I was. Anyway this brings up an interesting management question - do you hire the braun and train them (make a rank and file goon study this) or do you hire the brains and make them hit the gym???? A management question for the ages to be sure.
Friday, July 16, 2010
What Defines Democrats Better Than This?
They will tax you into the ground for the privilege of letting them track your weight...this isn't what is coming America, this is what is here. Our only choice is to turn back, fast, and hard. Or else it is a life of resistance.
Look At This Picture and Ponder What It Means
Mark Perry has a simply shocking graph. Why the disparity? Because this bill - and the ObamaCare bill that came before it - are not big ideas, not the macro-focused, structural reforms that can be expressed relatively succintly, but a vast warren of proscribed picayune details and special favors. In a (hyphenated) word, "micro-management". The US economy cannot perform as it has performed over the last 50 years with close to 40% of it micro-managed to the extent represented by these bills. That is why I have dubbed the one-two punch of these bills the equivalent of the National Recovery Act of 1933, they seek to dictate nearly every last detail of the economy. Hopefully this will all end in a reversal of direction, but the road to get there is very ugly indeed. Unless by some miracle of regulatory restraint these bills don't reach their potential for micro-management of economy, we are looking at anemic growth or additional recession.
Jeffersonianism Whipping Progressivism? Let's Hope
Read this from the always insightful Michael Barone. Yes, we are a nation of property owners and the rise of the Tea Party movement can only be seen as doing what is natural to protect our property rights. That is one way to see the Tea Party as a completely natural, predictable even, phenomenon. That and, of course, all those bestsellers from the likes of David McCullogh et al.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Hmmmm...
Iran: IRGC Members Killed In Zahedan Explosions – Deputy Minister
July 15, 2010
Members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in a suicide attack in Zahedan because the explosion happened behind a checkpoint, Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi said, Reuters reported July 15. Zahedan member of parliament Hossein Ali Shahiari said the bomber did not make it past the checkpoint at the mosque and was dressed as a woman, AFP reported. When people came to the rescue after the first explosion, another blast occurred, Shahiari said.
Anti-IRGC sabotage has been fairly frequent for some time now. I sure hope it is us.
July 15, 2010
Members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in a suicide attack in Zahedan because the explosion happened behind a checkpoint, Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi said, Reuters reported July 15. Zahedan member of parliament Hossein Ali Shahiari said the bomber did not make it past the checkpoint at the mosque and was dressed as a woman, AFP reported. When people came to the rescue after the first explosion, another blast occurred, Shahiari said.
Anti-IRGC sabotage has been fairly frequent for some time now. I sure hope it is us.
Obama on BP Cap Success: "Whose Up for Some Golf?!"
"Whew, the damn hole is plugged, time to hit the links!"
Greenspan Gives Socialists Intellectual Cover
I'm just seeing across the wires here (no link) that Alan Greenspan says that lawmaker's should let the Bush tax cuts lapse. Simply astounding, what is he thinking. Even though just a few short months ago Greenspan, and his Randian free market capitalism, was the root of all evil and the cause of all of our problems, Democrats will surely rehabilitate the Maestro in a nanosecond in order to use him as intellectual cover to raise our taxes. Of course the Maestro will be cited selectively, e.g. this probably won't get much play from Democrats.
Oh, just a reminder what Nobelist Robert Mundell says about letting those tax cuts lapse...nose dive.
Oh, just a reminder what Nobelist Robert Mundell says about letting those tax cuts lapse...nose dive.
SaveOurAssPAC Rakes It In
A boatload of money and this message: "We Need A President that Knows What the F**k He Is Doing". Looks like a winner to me.
Here is what I imagine a Romney fundraising pitch goes like...
Phone rings at big-time CEO's office: "Mr. Farr's office."
Romney: "Is Dave in? It's Mitt Romney."
AA: "Hold please."
Big Time CEO: "Mitt. Dude."
Romney: "Dude."
Big Time CEO: "You Assembling the Cavalry?"
Romney: "Dude. Fuck yeah."
Big Time CEO: "What? Hundo? Two-fitty? What'd Owens Give?"
Romney: "Dude. Five Hundo and get me five more from folks you know...and Seidenberg doesn't count, I called him already."
Big Time CEO: "OK. SaveOurAssPAC, right?"
Romney: "Funny. We can't cash that one, try just RomneyPAC."
Big Time CEO: "Done. Later."
Here is what I imagine a Romney fundraising pitch goes like...
Phone rings at big-time CEO's office: "Mr. Farr's office."
Romney: "Is Dave in? It's Mitt Romney."
AA: "Hold please."
Big Time CEO: "Mitt. Dude."
Romney: "Dude."
Big Time CEO: "You Assembling the Cavalry?"
Romney: "Dude. Fuck yeah."
Big Time CEO: "What? Hundo? Two-fitty? What'd Owens Give?"
Romney: "Dude. Five Hundo and get me five more from folks you know...and Seidenberg doesn't count, I called him already."
Big Time CEO: "OK. SaveOurAssPAC, right?"
Romney: "Funny. We can't cash that one, try just RomneyPAC."
Big Time CEO: "Done. Later."
ObamaCare + Dodd-Frank = Double Dip
The financial reform bill has cleared a cloture vote and will now become the law of the land. Forget about the costs this will impose, just the uncertainty (one of big knocks on the bill from those who've analyzed it, it that it it so vague and wide open, much of it TBD by regulators) alone is enough to chill the financial sector in the near term. Combine this with ObamaCare and you have the federal take over of two huge sectors of the economy. Taken together the effect will be similar to FDR's National Recovery Act of 1933 - a massive micromanagement of the economy by bureaucrats. So herewith I am upping my probability of a double dip recession to 70%. It'll be a mild double dip, but clearly a noticeable one.
How Scott Brown and those ridiculous women from Maine could vote for this thing is beyond me. Are they really that clueless as to a) what this will actually do to the economy, and b) that this is a policy victory for the Democrats??
How Scott Brown and those ridiculous women from Maine could vote for this thing is beyond me. Are they really that clueless as to a) what this will actually do to the economy, and b) that this is a policy victory for the Democrats??
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Liberals Starting to Think "We Can't Arrogantly Dismiss Palin Anymore"???
I'm sure millions laughed and scoffed, OK maybe hundreds of thousands, OK maybe just hundreds, when I said Romney/Palin ticket 2012, I was on to something maybe (really). Just think how fat Romney' campaign coffers are gonna be when he talks to all his business friends and they all have a good comiseration sesh over the Bozo in the White House. Meanwhile, Palin is roadshowing across the land hoovering up $100 contributions by the truckload. Experience, sould and all the benjamins they can spend. Fine by me.
Although the Daniels/Ryan ticket could be awesome too, or Daniels/Pence (two Indianans, could that happen? Nah.) Romney/Pence? I like that. Although it all pales, pales I tell you, to the ticket of tickets, the 2012 sine qua non of a roaring comeback for freedom loving, bloated government-hating real dealers like you and I dear reader...that's right baby...there is no better combination in the land than when Jersey meets Oklahoma! Christie/Coburn 2012. Just the thought brings tears of joy.
Although the Daniels/Ryan ticket could be awesome too, or Daniels/Pence (two Indianans, could that happen? Nah.) Romney/Pence? I like that. Although it all pales, pales I tell you, to the ticket of tickets, the 2012 sine qua non of a roaring comeback for freedom loving, bloated government-hating real dealers like you and I dear reader...that's right baby...there is no better combination in the land than when Jersey meets Oklahoma! Christie/Coburn 2012. Just the thought brings tears of joy.
God Speed Mr. Steinbrenner
Scott Soshnick has a very nice homage to The Boss here. I had a similar experience at the airport as a young tyke, but it was with Billy Martin (and it was Newark Airport). I don't remember the year so I don't recall whether Billy was on the ins or the outs, up or down, flying high or in the doghouse - all I remember was that he was sitting in a huge limo had the most amesomely garish pair of cowboy boots on, and he leaned out of the limo and said to me "Hey kid, want this baseball?" and handed me an autographed ball. As a kid growing up in these parts in the late 1970s, this was just about the coolest thing that could have happened. The Yanks of the day were the lords of the city and life was a spectacle on and off the field, and it was majestic to bask in it for both young and old, for which we have the The Boss to thank. God speed Mr. Steinbrenner.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tripling Down on Stupid
The courts gave them two chances to get out of their bad trade - marginal gain in safety for large negative economic impact - but the Obama administration is tripling down on this policy. You'd think that this administration would need every last job intact going into mid-term elections, but you'd be wrong. You'd also think that they would not want to foist higher gas prices onto the economy (higher gas prices would crimp already fragile consumer spending), but there again you'd be wrong. I still can't figure out why they are doing this: 1) idealogy, they want to shut down the offshore exploration business, 2) ignorance, they don't understand the long term damage that this moratorium is doing, or 3) X factor, some super-sophisticated, non-obvios, Ivy League thinking that I haven't thought of. Every day that I cogitate over this, I can't help but come back to (1) over and over. Truly dangerous and reprehensible these people are - tens of thousands could be put out of work, gas prices will rise hurting the economy and putting millions of families back into financial distress, and we will be more dependent on foreign oil than at any time in our history.
UPDATE: Another rig gone. I would say that President Obama better not show his face on the Gulf coast if this keeps up. He won't be very welcome.
UPDATE: Another rig gone. I would say that President Obama better not show his face on the Gulf coast if this keeps up. He won't be very welcome.
Prescient
If it's not close, they can't cheat. It was close and it looks like they cheated. Upshot? Stubborn 10% unemployment (understated, of course), ObamaCare, a cancerous growing blob of public debt, decades of Sotomayorian/Kaganite assaults on your basic liberties, and increasing tension and chaos around the world. Enjoy!
Friday, July 09, 2010
Time for a Word From Our Sponsor
Just got back from a trip on the "way back machine". This is what I said about Dear Leader in February 2009. But that wasn't my earliest call. This was. Oh, and don't forget the advice I gave out, free of charge, back in October of 2008. Oh, and then there was this market analysis that you can use to plan your investments (hint: as Novermber gets closer, watch the polls...Obama and Pelosicrats down = stocks up, Obama & Pcrats flat to up - stocks down).
Keep tuning in via those Internet tubes folks, for continued prescient analysis and commentary on politics and the economy.
Keep tuning in via those Internet tubes folks, for continued prescient analysis and commentary on politics and the economy.
Giant Sucking Sound, Gulf of Mexico Edition
Yet another drilling rig leaves the Gulf of Mexico for greener pastures, this time to Egypt. Sayonara to those jobs, which are gone for years if not forever. Way to go President Obama!
NASA Muslim Outreach, the MSM, and Dear Leader
Read this post. No really, read it. I don't share the authors view that the story will not get out. Fox will cover it and it is already over the blogosphere. Tens of millions of Americans will know about it and tell their friends. The MSM will, again, look stupid and/or contemptible for not covering it. By protecting their guy, again, they take another knife wound to their credibility as they bleed to death.
Lame Duck Assault on Democracy
This is the scariest thing you will read today and for many days to come. Not just the prospect of the legislation will scare you but the assault on our democracy that this represents. There should be no "lame duck sessions" in our democracy. If the people want you gone, you should be gone and have no more power to legislate. Jamming through legislation that the poeple have consistently rejected as you exit the scene is about as reprehensible an action a legislator can take, and it is worthy of every form of public scorn, derision and exile from society that we can muster against these bastards.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
What Do the Aussies Know That We Don't?
The Aussies gained over 100,000 new jobs in the last quarter to reach 5.1% unemployment. Consider that we have about 18 times the number of people here in the US and we are barely scratching out the same amount of jobs and are mired at 9.5% reported unemployment (real unemployment obviously is much worse). There are lots of reasons for this but two stand out: 1) the Aussie economy is tied to trade with Asia, they know it, and they don't dare dabble in destructive protectionist rhetoric or policy. They remain unflinchingly open to trade which has kept them tethered to the only real engines of growth in the world economy today, China and India. 2) They don't have anything approaching the radical, anti-business sentiment among their political left that we have here, and to the extent they do, they prudently showed those folks the door.
UPDATE: Wait a second, those crazy Canucks are in on the secret too! It is almost as if some countries actually know what they are doing to promote job growth and others don't! Or maybe the Aussies and Canucks are not focused like a laser on jobs. Please Dear Leader, turn off the laser beam!!!
UPPDATE: And in other news, the American leadership is still clueless.
UPDATE: Wait a second, those crazy Canucks are in on the secret too! It is almost as if some countries actually know what they are doing to promote job growth and others don't! Or maybe the Aussies and Canucks are not focused like a laser on jobs. Please Dear Leader, turn off the laser beam!!!
UPPDATE: And in other news, the American leadership is still clueless.
Movie Night
There seems to be a mini Paul Newman-fest going on over at the Instahousehold, and weirdly, blogging is not light over there. Absence of Malice gets a thumbs up from a reader. They don't make movies like that anymore, frankly, I don't think they can make movies like that anymore. Who today could open up a can of Whoop-Ass (sans firearm or martial arts wizardry) like Wilford Brimley? Nobody.
Julian Simon Still Winning Bets
O Happy Day! A posthumous win for Julian Simon, by way of John Tierney. Maybe Tierney read this post. So, not only is Julian Simon's ghost haunting Peak Oilers, it's taking their money!
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
When You've Lost the King of American Corporatism...
I've chronicled the loss of confidence and the growing disgust that American business is developing for the Obama administration and the Democratic congress for some time. There were some high profile milestones to note, like David Farr breaking the ice publicly in one of the first articulations of this trend. Then there were the tidbits I picked up and reported to you. I also interpreted Warren Buffett's gentlmanly subtle digs at the man he supported during the election campaign. Then there was the revenge of Jim Owens of Caterpillar and Steve Wynn's rants. Finally the Business Roundtable, in the person of their Chairman Ivan Seidenberg, made this view the official mainstream view of Corporate America. Now, we've reached the end game: the sine qua non of go-along-get-along, cooptation, regaulatory capture, lobby-like-the-dickens, in bed with government corporatism, General Electric, has criticized Dear Leader. Immelt's comments can only mean that there isn't a single business left in America for Obama and the Dems to piss off, except for maybe some phony green job outfit feeding at the public trough. Hey GE, Ecomagine this...political leaders that don't want to drive American businesses into the ground and destroy America's economic competitiveness.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Keep Burning the Fires of Liberty
Dear readers, as I prepare to embark on my annual excursion to the beach for Independence Day weekend, I leave you with a few thoughts, not necessarily mine. First, Bill Whittle wants to gird you for the fight to whomp the progressives who want to destroy man's greatest creation. And I want to remind you that you are in control. They are not in control, you are in control. If you will not be tyrannized, then tyranny - petty or otherwise - cannot harm you. There are too many of us and not enough of them. This weekend, give thanks for what this country has given you and understand that the fires of liberty must be tended and kept burning or they will peter out. Happy Fourth!
Unexpectedly!
"More Americans unexpectedly applied for jobless benefits last week, a sign the labor market recovery may be slowing."
Yes. Totally. Unexpected.
Yes. Totally. Unexpected.