Category Archives: Republicans

The Dear Leader Lunges For More Powers, Republicans Roll Over

Barack Obama, Conservatism, Constitution, Debt, Democrats, Economy, Republicans, Taxation

The Republican’s “counter bid” in the farce known as the fiscal cliff entails a proposed $800bn in new taxes, derived from closing “special-interest loopholes and deductions,” as well as an alleged (no doubt token) reduction in rates for all. The treachery was to be expected.

Obama, for his part, is showing the Republicans the middle finger, insisting on $1.6 trillion in new taxes, against a delayed promise of a measly “$400 billion in spending cuts to come later. Obama also demanded $50 billion in new stimulus.”

AND, the Dear Leader took the opportunity to grab new powers. Obama is demanding “executive authorization to override the debt ceiling at any time and by any amount he desires.” This, surely, is a formality. If he runs short of money, Dear Leader will turn to The Ben Bernanke to make The Money. (See “Quantitative Easing Explained.”)

Ralph Nader thinks the Killer Drone is even worse than Genghis Bush.

UPDATED: Iran, Susan Rice And The Tit-For-Tat Gangs

Democrats, Iran, Middle East, Republicans, Trade, UN

The Stupid Party and its followers have been maligning “United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice for an investment portfolio that “includes investments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in several energy companies known for doing business with Iran, according to financial disclosure forms.”

The Evil Party and its devotees have responded by pointing “to ]John] McCain’s financial disclosures, which reveal $1,000 to $15,000 in the JP Morgan International Value Fund. What’s the second-biggest holding in that fund? Why, Royal Dutch Shell, of course. McCain has another $1,000 to $15,000 stake in the JPMorgan Emerging Markets Equity Fund, which invests in China’s CNOOC, which has contracts to ‘develop some of Iran’s biggest oil and gas fields.'”

Two observations: The arguments the Democratic and Republican factions advance exist on a continuum of cretinism. There is no qualitative difference between them. Both Republicans and Democrats agree that Iranians should be crippled economically, when the truth is that Iran should be bartered with, not boycotted. Trade, not democracy, is the best antidote to Iran’s belligerence. The more economically intertwined countries become, the less likely they are to go to war.

The second and secondary point is that the woman (Susan Rice) probably has no idea how all her money is invested. Most people do not examine each and every investment fund they have in their portfolio.

UPDATED (Dec. 2): Rice may, however, be accused of hypocrisy and worse for enforcing sanctions, yet investing in Iran.

Secession In Spain As Sweet As The Rain

EU, Europe, Federalism, Individual Rights, Journalism, Media, Republicans, States' Rights

I’ve been following the breaking news on RT of how “all four pro-independence parties now dominate 60 percent of the Catalan Parliament.” Fans of freedom, and hence of secession and nullification, will likewise be watching the developments in Spain’s Catalonia with great interest.

I’m surprised, however, that Drudge Report is doing the same. Today, 11/25/2012, Drudge led with the story, which none of the Dem and Republican loyalists on cable are remotely interested in. The same applies to the press. A “Calderon” item headlines the Washington Post’s “World” section. Neither has the possibility of secession in Spain made the front “page” of BBCNews.com

In the US, a country won over by dishonest Abe, it is considered politically improper to advocate political divorce down to the individual (check).

I may be jaded, but I think that Drudge views secession state side as a stand against Barrack Obama and thus worth hyping. More generally, he would not be covering a mass movement to secede in Europe, if it were not germane to his partisan interests in the US.

The GOP, the party of Lincoln, stands for centralized power, so long as their chosen dictator is at the helm. The same goes for the party’s press apparatchiks.

In Fiscal Free-Fall

Debt, Democrats, Economy, Federal Reserve Bank, Republicans, Taxation

We’ve been in fiscal free-fall for a long time. Right now, we’re just trying to determine how to land, says Michael Maloney, founder of Gold-Silver.com, on… RT. (Where else?) There is no way of avoiding the “fiscal cliff.” More pain now or a whole lot of if later.

I’ve categorized and transcribed Mr. Maloney below (not verbatim).

DEFICITS SPENDING & THE SHRUB. It all came to a head with Bush, as this column pointed out in … 2002 and 2003. Bush accelerated deficit spending, initiated the production known as the War on Terror, on Afghanistan, Iraq, Medicare Part D, etc. Genghis Bush set in motion the deficit-spending orgy, and the trajectory of government growth.

Government accounts for 50 percent of the economy, says Maloney, when you take into account the trickle down effect of deficit spending that must be sustained if the effect is to be sustained. All jobs created via deficit spending do not add value to the economy but drain energy from it.

The fiscal cliff and the wall of debt that accounts for it has been with us for … ever. Well, at least for a decade, starting with the rule of the Republican George Bush.

THE POLS VS. THE PAUL. Among Maloney’s pearls of wisdom: Ron Paul was the only candidate who understands economics. We run a popularity contest every 4 years, during which we elect telegenic empty suits, en masse, whom we send to D.C. to run the economy by taxing us and redistributing our wealth. These clowns know nothing about economics or the economic consequences of what they do.

MONETARY POLICY. We do not have a free-market economy, chiefly because the currency is manipulated: the quantity of money in the economy and the price of the currency (interest rates). Currency is 50 percent of every transaction. This portion is manipulated by a group of central planners who’re bereft of the information that the market holds.

TAXING THE RICH: GOLD FINGER OR STICKY FINGERS?. The 1 percent employ the 99 percent. What happens to money removed from its rightful owner? Take $1000 away from the producer. The sticky-fingered IRS employees get some of it. Some of the money sticks to Congress’ mitts; as members pass laws that redistribute it. But these are all “frictional jobs.” No new products or new services have been created that go directly into the economy.

MORE of Mr. Maloney, on RT.