'Foolish Five' Economic Policies

... According to Shlaes, "perverse monetary policy was the greatest cause of the Great Depression." But there were five other mistakes in the 1930s that some politicians today seem ready to repeat.

1. Giving in to protectionism
2. Blaming the messenger
3. Increasing taxes in a downturn
4. Assuming bigger government will bring back growth
5. Ignoring the cost of inconsistency

"The proximate danger today is a repeat of the 1970s, not the 1930s. But if lawmakers don't remember the old missteps, they might find that their new recovery legislation imperils our recovery," said Shlaes.

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Which Way to Prosperity?

The central question in this election is, Which candidate can most improve our wobbly economy? Here, the McCain-Obama contrast could not be sharper.

Obama has proposed increases in every major federal tax. He has proposed to increase individual income taxes, with the top rate to rise to almost 40 percent. He has proposed to increase the top capital-gains tax rate by 33 percent. He has proposed the same for the top tax rate on dividends. He has proposed to increase payroll taxes, with a rate increase of 16 percent to 32 percent a year. He has proposed to reinstate the death tax (estate tax), at a rate of 45 percent. He has proposed several increases in corporate taxes, including a so-called windfall-profits tax on oil.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Mundell has written that if such tax increases are adopted, the U.S. economy will suffer “a deep recession, a nosedive,” and the dollar will decline further. Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, claims Obama has proposed the exact same policy mix that led to the depression of the 1930s.

During the primaries, Obama railed against free trade, proposing even to renegotiate free-trade agreements with our top two trading partners, Canada and Mexico. He has opposed the Columbian Free Trade Agreement, even though it primarily removes tariffs on American exports to that country, with barriers to Columbian exports to America already almost all removed under the Andean Trade Preferences Act.

In sharp contrast, McCain has promised tax cuts to promote economic growth and strengthen the U.S. dollar. The federal corporate tax rate today is 35 percent, and McCain suggests cutting it to 25 percent. This would mirror rates elsewhere: The average corporate tax rate in the European Union was slashed from 38 percent in 1996 to 24 percent by 2007. The rates in India and China are lower as well. American companies are not going to produce more jobs and higher wages with this crippling competitive disadvantage.

McCain also proposes immediate expensing for capital investment, which means that capital costs can be deducted in the year they are incurred, like all other business expenses,.. Except for the badly confused cap and trade plan, which he shares with Obama, McCain’s economic program of cutting taxes, restraining spending, balancing the budget, promoting free trade, and increasing energy production, seems to be exactly what our economy needs right now...

[Highly Recommended > ]

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Dots...

Economic Gloom a Big Hurdle for McCain

It really is the economy, stupid! Economic models that have correctly predicted the winner of almost all post-war U.S. presidential elections say recession fears will secure a victory for Barack Obama in November.

If U.S. economic growth continues at a tepid pace, John McCain will likely attract less than 50 percent of the vote in November, according to analysts. [snip]

He finds that U.S. presidential elections are well-predicted by just two fundamental forces: the weighted average per capita growth of real disposable income and the number of U.S. military deaths in foreign combat...

[the media's emphasis on the former and comparable ignoring of the latter is just coincidence]

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ABC: Treats Rise in Consumer Confidence as Bad News

When is an increase in consumer confidence bad news? When ABC reports it.

Network anchor George Stephanopoulos led off the news cast with this gloom-and-doom teaser: "Terrible Tuesday. Inflation surges. Stocks dive. And consumer confidence nears a record low."

But Stephanopoulos left out a key detail: consumer confidence increased according to the network's own measure. "U.S. overall consumer confidence rose last week, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday," the August 19 Dow Jones Newswires reported.

ABC never mentioned that in its report.

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TREATING MEXICAN NATIONALS AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE

El Paso's Thomason Hospital is the only hospital within a 280-mile radius to offer state-of-the-art trauma care. Consequently, Thomason has become an unwilling treatment center for law enforcement officials and others wounded in Mexico's drug turf battles, says the Los Angeles Times.

Thomason has treated 28 people wounded in Mexico, spending an estimated $1 million, according to hospital administrators. Thomason administrators expect that most of its costs will have to be borne by the state and federal government.

El Paso leaders are frustrated and angry at the cost and risks brought about by their unexpected 'guests' but have no choice under federal law. About half -- including the Nuevo Casas Grandes police chief, who had only a hand wound -- did not need the Level 1 trauma assistance provided.

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MSM Ignores Democrat Lawsuit Against Obama

Imagine if a prominent Mitt Romney supporter who was a former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania as well as former Republican Party chair in Montgomery County in that state had filed a lawsuit against John McCain questioning his eligibility to become president. How many milliseconds after the filing of that lawsuit do you think it would take for that news to be prominently featured on the New York Times website as well as the many other MSM websites?

Well, something very much like that has happened only instead of a Republican suing McCain it was Democrat Philip J. Berg, a Hillary Clinton supporter and former Deputy Attorney General as well as former Democrat Party chair for Montgomery county, who filed a lawsuit yesterday against Barack Obama to keep the DNC from nominating him because Berg claims he is ineligible to become president. So far there has been a collective yawn from the MSM to this news.

Don't hold your breath waiting for the MSM to cover this lawsuit story but if you want the latest information as it breaks, check out the updates HERE.

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Australians Freeze Carrying Global Warming Relay Torch

Who says that Mother Nature doesn't have a sense of humor? First we have an August 14 report from the Lithgow Mercury in Australia announcing a Climate Torch relay to draw attention to the importance of global warming: [snip]

So how effective was this relay in stressing the importance of global warming? You can get an idea of how it turned out by reading the August 19 headline of the same Lithgow Mercury:

"Too cold for global warming relay."

Here is their report on actual relay field conditions as written by Len Ashworth:[snip]

It is unknown if Al Gore was one of those carrying the global warming relay torch in the freezing weather.

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53 trillion dollars. It almost makes our $9.5 trillion national debt seem small. But $53 trillion is actually the true sum of our current financial obligations and we, the American taxpayers, owe that money -- $175,000 per person. Without reforms, our $53 trillion hole will increase by $2 trillion to $3 trillion a year.

In the past few days, you may have heard or seen former U.S. Comptroller General Dave Walker on CNN, Fox, or NPR talking about America's endangered fiscal future and promoting the new film I.O.U.S.A.

Now, we invite you to join Walker, Warren Buffett, Pete Peterson and others on Thursday, August 21 when, immediately following the debut of I.O.U.S.A., theatres around the country will become community town halls to debate America's economic challenges. Technology will allow you to participate in this panel event no matter where you are.

The film and the Omaha-based panel will be shown tomorrow in 400 theatres nationwide -
click here to find a theater near you.

[some nearby:
Hacienda Crossings 20 Dublin
Milpitas Great Mall 20 Milpitas
Mountain View Cinemas 16 Mountain View
AMC Eastridge Mall 15 San Jose
San Jose Oakridge 20 San Jose
San Rafael Northgate 15 San Rafael
Walnut Creek 14 Walnut Creek ]

On Friday, I.O.U.S.A. moves to select theatres in 10 cities so be sure to check your listings. The event starts at 8:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. CT, 6:00 p.m. MT, and will be shown tape delayed at 7:30 p.m. PT.

We welcome your thoughts and reactions to the film and to this vital cause. Please send email to feedback@iousathemovie.com.

Best regards,
The I.O.U.S.A. team

Just How Crazy Is Al Gore?

Just how crazy is Al Gore? That was the question that popped, once again, into my brain as I read a January 24 Agency France Press news story out of the Davos meeting of business and political elite. Gore asserted that,

“the North Pole ice caps may disappear entirely during summer months within five years…”

I was instantly reminded of the story that ran in The New York Times in August 2000 claiming that the Pole was free of ice for the first time in 50 million years. It wasn’t, of course - the Times retracted it three weeks later.

This kind of apocalyptic nonsense has been ratcheting upward ever since the new century began and my theory is that lunatics like Al Gore know that they are running out of time when it comes to imposing draconian restrictions on the use of every form of energy known to mankind. [snip]

The problem with this latest ploy is that the polar bear population has risen from approximately 5,000 in 1950 to around 25,000 today as documented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is the same agency being asked to declare the bears endangered and, for good measure, a species of loon as well. [wrong loon]

Dr. Singer stated that “It is warmer now than it was 100 years ago” at the end of the last mini-Ice Age and that “This has had an influence on polar ice, which has been slowly thinning, as it melts from beneath. And the ice will continue to thin for some time to come even though the climate is no longer warming. Moral: It takes a lot of time to melt ice.”

No longer warming? Yes, that’s another inconvenient truth that Al Gore ignores. When you add in the fact that the earth is at the end of a well-known interglacial cycle of 11,500 years, large portions of the planet are likely to get a lot cooler with the advent of a new Ice Age.

[the real story here {if only we could find an investigative journalist} is why so many claim to take Mr. Gore seriously]

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AccuWeather Meteorologist Tells Obama to Can Gore as Environment Advisor

[HT:RS]
Although Joe Bastardi is likely not a household name, most Americans probably know his face as one of the meteorologists interviewed whenever a serious climate event like a hurricane hits the mainland.

Despite such regular airtime, the senior AccuWeather.com meteorologist's open letter to presidential candidates concerning anthropogenic global warming will likely be thoroughly ignored by media far more interested in spreading the unproven junk science of Al Gore than advancing the discussion concerning this controversial issue.

This is especially true given Bastardi's suggestion that Obama "can Gore as an adviser on the environment." [snip]

"Within the first 100 days of office, get the top five SCIENTISTS on both sides of the issue in front of you in the oval office and let them argue it out. No cameras, no press, just you, your closest advisors, and the people that are qualified to do this. Have trusted members of both sides of the aisles, but get the politics out of it.

The polar bear situation should push Americans over the edge. The long term population has increased. In addition, the cold this winter may simply be a preview of what is coming..."

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“In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month.” — The Tennessee Center for Policy Research

[so naturally...]

Al Gore to speak at Democratic convention

One of the most coveted speaking slots of the Democratic National Convention will go to former Vice President Al Gore. He is scheduled to appear on the final night of the convention as Senator Barack Obama prepares to accept his party's nomination.

[marvelous ]

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Our Own Oil Cartel

Contemplate this the next time you spend $60 or more filling up your tinny little car with gasoline made from imported oil: The U.S. government knows where it can get its hands on more untapped petroleum than exists in the proven reserves of Iran or Iraq, which have 136 billion barrels and 115 billion barrels, respectively.

This unexploited stock of crude is greater than what the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports is in the proven reserves of Russia (60 billion barrels), Libya (41.5 billion barrels) and Nigeria (36.2 billion barrels) combined. It is more than Hugo Chavez's Venezuela has (80 billion barrels). It is more than is now known to sit beneath the waters and sands of Kuwait (101.5 billion barrels) or the United Arab Emirates (97.6 billion barrels).

So, where is all this oil? And why aren't they pumping it?

What cartel is holding it off the market, to drive up prices at American gas stations and American supermarkets? What insidious power is stifling the free market for this vital commodity and thus threatening the vitality of our economy?

It is us, of course. We are the culprits. We are responsible for artificially increasing oil prices. It is our oil that sits untapped beneath our deserts, our forests, our swamps and our oceans. It is our politicians -- the ones we freely elected, and re-elected, and re-elected -- who are not allowing our oil to be drilled by us and sold to us...

[We'll be voting on a lot this November. Recommended > ]

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'Fat kids to be put into care'

Dangerously fat kids could be taken from their parents and put into care, council chiefs declared yesterday. They warned that the worst cases of obesity will be increasingly seen as evidence of ''parental neglect.''

Social workers will have to step in to offer advice to protect the child's welfare. In the most extreme cases, children could even be taken away from parents...

[and as the government's definition of 'obese' continues to fall...? ... once you let government in...]

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Docs Bailing Out of Medicare, Medicaid

Plummeting Reimbursement Rates Have Some Doctors Looking for a Way Out

"I have struggled to build up my practice, but my outlook gets worse each year," Tipsword said. "The current round of Medicare cuts -- which will cut my repayments, which are miniscule right now -- as well as increasing malpractice insurance coverage, despite an A+ rating, makes it less feasible for me to continue practice."

Tipsword is not alone. The Houston Chronicle reported last week that more and more Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare due to growing cuts in reimbursement. And the trend is not limited to Texas doctors. Primary care doctors from around the country have told ABC News that they too are either opting out of treating Medicare patients, or are preparing to do so... [snip]

"Due to all the daily headaches of practice -- referrals, endless duplicate paperwork to prove medical necessity, phone calls, documentation, etc. -- I would honestly love to get out of medicine altogether,"

[so let's put government in charge of everyone's health care]

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TAX PLAN OR WELFARE PLAN?

[HT:OP]
Barack Obama's tax plan is the opposite of supply-side economics. He proposes to raise marginal rates for just about every federal tax. He also proposes a raft of tax credits that taxpayers can receive if they engage in various government-specified activities. Moreover, the tax credits would mostly go to those who pay little or nothing in federal income taxes. His trick is to make the tax credits "refundable," says Ferrara. For example:

• If the tax credit is for $1,000, but the taxpayer would otherwise only pay $200 in taxes, the government would write a check to the taxpayer for $800.
• If the taxpayer pays nothing in federal income taxes, the government would pay him the whole $1,000.

Such credits are not tax cuts. Indeed, they should be called The New Tax Welfare. In effect, Obama is proposing to create or expand a slew of government spending programs that are disguised as tax credits. The spending on these programs is then subtracted from the total tax burden, in order to make the claim that his tax plan is a net tax cut overall.

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AMERICA THE UNCOMPETITIVE

Currently, America has the second highest corporate tax rate in the world at 39.3 percent [Japan is #1 at 39.5]. And for the first time, the U.S. statutory rate is 50 percent higher than the average of our international competitors, continuing a long term trend as the rest of the world reduces corporate tax rates... [snip]

The problem: many U.S. politicians are still living in their own populist alternative universe, claiming that big corporations need to pay their fair share. This idea comes from a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that found that 28 percent of large U.S. corporations paid no income tax in 2005.

In truth:

• The Tax Foundation found that among those companies, 85 percent of them also made no profits that year.
• The average European nation has tax rates on corporate income 10 percentage points lower than the United States.
• Those countries also, on average, raise 50 percent more in tax revenue as a share of gross domestic product.

To correct this revenue dearth, Barack Obama and John McCain have each proposed tax reforms, says the Journal:

• Obama wants to tax foreign profits when they are earned, which would accelerate the trend of U.S. companies moving entirely offshore.
• McCain proposes cutting the 35 percent federal corporate tax rate to 25 percent, which would leave the United States with a rate nearly five percentage points about the global average.

With corporate tax rates falling around the world, abolishing the U.S. corporate income tax should be on the table, concludes the Wall Street Journal. Every month without tax reform, America is a relatively less attractive place to do business.

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[speaking suicide...]

California tax bites get hard to digest

Stung by one of the highest state tax rates in the nation, Californians soon could be paying even more if officials and voters approve an array of new bond measures and taxes now under consideration. Already on the November ballot are nearly $17 billion in statewide bonds...

[bonds: the worst way to pay for anything, in that it doubles (if not more) the cost by virtue of the interest paid. Vote against all bonds; they're end-around games to financing what our taxes were supposed to go for. Every time we approve, we teach them it works...]

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