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May 31 12

Ineptocracy

by Gormack

Ineptocracy – (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) –

A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

urbanDictionary.com

Apr 15 12

What would Nelson Mandela do?

by Gormack

The system of Justice in this great land is based on the premise that a man is innocent until proven guilty.

Would Nelson Mandela promote lynching George Zimmerman without a trial, or would he be the voice of reason, advocating patience to let the facts come to light, to let our venerated legal system work?

A leader of vision would urge patience, not a rush to judgement. Not hatred.
The chief executive of this nations is no such leader. He is no Nelson Mandela!

Oct 17 11

Capitalism/Socialism

by Gormack

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”

Winston Churchill

Oct 9 11

The Wink

by Gormack

Obama’s words to the Occupy Wall Street crowd tell a story: The Democrats have added Anarchists to their core constituencies of Socialists and Welfare Recipients.

Oct 3 11

Thanksgiving

by Gormack

On this date, October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that henceforth the fourth Thursday in November was proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving in commemoration of the Union victory at Gettysburg.

Oct 2 11

Exxon/Apple

by Gormack

In what universe is it possible that the world’s largest toy maker has a higher market valuation than a company that has oil fields, refineries, tankers, thousands of retail outlets, and tens of thousands of employees!?

Sep 30 11

Scouts

by Gormack

The Scouts agreed that Billy Beane had it all:  Strength, Foot Speed, Hand Eye Coordination. He had the chiseled look of a Baseball Superstar, even in High School.  Definitely headed to the heights of Major League Ball!

One Problem:  He lacked the psychological makeup – like the forgetfulness that lets a player to put aside a bad at bat and succeed the next time up.

A great lesson for any of us who have misjudged a candidate in an interview!

This anecdote is from Michael Lewis’ “Money Ball”. The words are my own.

Nov 3 10

A Voice In The Wilderness

by Gormack

A dissenting member of the Federal Open Market Committee on QE2 (Bloomberg.com)

The one of the five who has a vote this year, Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig, today cast his seventh straight dissent, the most at consecutive regular policy sessions since 1955. “The risks of additional securities purchases outweighed the benefits,” and the “continued high level of monetary accommodation” may eventually “destabilize the economy,” the statement said of Hoenig’s opposition.

He’s talking about catastrophic, unforeseen outcomes: “Black Swan Events”  as Nicholas Taleb calls them.

Oct 29 10

Post

by Gormack

Post This If You Please

Sep 12 10

Obama’s Insults Mask Fear of Boehner’s Ideas

by Gormack

Bloomberg Opinion by Keven Hassett, September 12, 2010

In Washington, it’s often a compliment when your opponents start to attack you. It means they think you are dangerous.

Democrats unleashed a barrage against House Minority Leader John Boehner in recent weeks, which raises the question — what are they afraid of?

President Barack Obama personally delivered one of the broadsides at Boehner, using a Sept. 9 speech outside Cleveland to accuse the Ohio Republican of obstructing efforts to revive the economy.

Referring to a speech Boehner had given a few weeks earlier, Obama said: “There were no new policies from Mr. Boehner. There were no new ideas. There was just the same philosophy that we had already tried during the decade that they were in power — the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place: Cut more taxes for millionaires and cut more rules for corporations.”

Obama sarcastically said Republicans oppose his spending programs only until “showing up at the ribbon-cuttings, trying to take credit.”

The Boehner of Obama’s speech is a partisan rube pitching the same old Republican snake oil. Of course, if that were true, then the man would be no threat at all, and Democrats wouldn’t need to send the president out to attack him.

A look at Boehner’s recent speeches and proposals suggests that he has been reshaping the Republican Party in a manner that should make it much more attractive to middle-of-the-road voters, and doing so with, yes, some new ideas. No wonder Obama is scared.

Five Points

In the very speech that Obama mocked — Boehner’s Aug. 24 address in Cleveland — Boehner outlined a five-point plan to restore the American economy.

First, he proposed extending George W. Bush’s tax cuts for all, not just for those making less than $250,000 per year, as Obama prefers. Nothing new there.

But since then, Boehner has indicated a willingness to compromise by extending the tax cuts for two years and then, presumably, debating the issue again under less-dire economic circumstances.

Boehner’s small shift brought him within range of the view of Obama’s former budget director, Peter Orszag, who says the tax cuts in full should be continued for two years, then permitted to expire. Boehner, not surprisingly, hasn’t committed to the second part, but it’s significant to see him and Orszag agree that higher taxes now would harm an already weak economy.

Reasonable Republican

Fighting to extend the tax cuts for only two years is a big concession for a Republican, a departure from the tax-cuts-at- all-cost attitude of the past. Boehner took his reasonableness to a new level yesterday by declaring he would vote for the more limited tax-cut extension if that is the only option that could get enacted.

Second, Boehner highlighted the damaging effect that economic uncertainty is having, and he called on Obama to veto any legislation a lame-duck Congress might produce on union organizing, limits to industrial emissions or any other topic that would harm businesses.

Boehner grasps that reducing policy uncertainty is an overriding challenge for lawmakers. It isn’t just that firms worry Obama might enact policies that will harm them; they are also hamstrung by all of the policies that seem to be up for grabs every year because of budget tricks. Perhaps Boehner would seek to end the legislative patching and extending that has made business planning more and more difficult over the past decade.

Paperwork Threat

Third, Boehner said Democrats should permit the repeal of the provision in the health-care law that requires business to submit Form 1099 paperwork to the Internal Revenue Service for every supplier from which they purchase more than $600 of goods each year. Most small businesses don’t have the bookkeeping resources necessary for this level of detailed reporting and will needlessly have to spend capital to conform.

Fourth, Boehner suggested that non-defense discretionary spending — that is, spending on domestic programs ranging from housing assistance and education to transportation and space flight — be immediately cut to its 2008 level.

While Keynesians might think such a cut would harm economic growth, Boehner makes the case that reducing government spending could have near-term positive stimulus effects because of its influence on sentiment. As he put it in June, “Listen, the Democrat spending spree is scaring the hell out of the American people and it’s hurting our economy.”

Backed by Studies

Ample academic literature backs Boehner in concluding that spending cuts that restore budget discipline can stimulate the economy, even in the short-run. Boehner might not be using phrases such as “the non-Keynesian effects of fiscal consolidations,” but he’s on the right track nonetheless.

The reduction in spending that Boehner calls for — even exempting seniors, veterans and national-security programs, as he proposes — could be the largest in U.S. history. Government spending in 2008 was a bit less than $3 trillion. It is projected to be almost $3.7 trillion in 2011. A $700 billion cut would steer the budget back toward balance, since the Congressional Budget Office foresees the deficit falling below $700 billion in 2012 even without such a dramatic step. And then, of course, permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts becomes plausible.

Finally, Boehner called on Obama to fire his top economic advisers, Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers. OK, maybe this isn’t a new idea — just a good one.

Taken as a whole, Boehner’s plan represents a major departure from the compassionate conservatism spend-a-thon under Bush and former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Gone is the Republican Party that seeks to buy off citizens with juicy benefits and pork. Good riddance.

Boehner could probably say nothing between now and the Nov. 2 election and still become the next House speaker in a Republican rout. The fact that he’s proposing anything at all should win him admiration, at least enough to offset a president’s scorn.