Author Archive

The Obama recovery continues… From MarketWatch: Nonfarm payrolls fell by a seasonally adjusted 85,000 in December following a revised 4,000 gain in November. During 2009, payrolls fell by 4.2 million. Unemployment, they report, miraculously stays at 10%.  Yes, well when you do not include discouraged workers in the unemployment statistics, you could theoretically have 50% of the population out of work and still only a 10% “rate.” Furthermore, they report Details of the report were... Read More→

If given some context, the title of his latest article says it all: Cross the River, Burn the Bridge The public option river and the private healthcare bridge, that is.  Steyn continues, explaining that for Democrats to be successful, they need only get a foot in the door; exactness in legislative language is very much secondary. “My Republican friends often seem to miss the point in this debate: The so-called “public option” is not Page 3,079, Section (f), Clause VII. The entire bill is a... Read More→

Our increasingly planned economy has the populace engaged in a sort of neo-nationalism that can be described as economic heroism – finding the Hero of the day to lead team U.S.A. to victory.  This team was formerly led by Alan Greenspan, and is now represented by Ben Bernanke and Barack Obama. To be sure, there is the human psychology of projection at work here; the tendency for wanting people to see in another something they believe represents their own thinking.  Messrs. Obama and Bernanke... Read More→

From MarketWatch: The U.S. labor market improved markedly in November, with the unemployment rate falling back to 10% and job losses shrinking to the lowest level in nearly two years, the Labor Department reported Friday. Unemployment now stands at 10%, even.  Gold is down ~2% on the news.  This appears to be a marked improvement. For some counterbalance on the exuberance in the markets, see this article in Forbes.  Read More →

From MarketWatch: “Private-sector firms in the U.S. eliminated 169,000 jobs in November…the private-sector has shed jobs for 22 months in a row.” Being that I don’t see the usefulness in torturing statistics in a vain attempt to predict the future, I won’t hazard to comment on December’s losses.*  Suffice to say that the stimulus, TARP, and the other trillions that have leaked out of the Treasury and into private hands has done nothing to stop mounting unemployment.... Read More→

The right shed some baggage today, with the abandonment of Andrew Sullivan.  It appears as if he has finally been relieved of his perennial confusion between the words “liberal” and “conservative,” “left” and “right.” A while ago, I believe right before the Iraq war began, I came across an article he had written for The New Republic about why liberals should support the war.  (I am going on memory here… I was not able to locate the article,... Read More→

What road to take? There is, in political considerations, the tension between principles and vote-getting.  As with any other never-ceasing conflict, there are extremists on both sides: the idealistic, pie-in-the-sky purists who refuse compromise at all costs, leaving their party pigeon-holed and out of power.  And the pragmatists, who sacrifice worthy aims for political expediency, leaving their party either with buyer’s remorse, in the event of winning the election, or completely dispirited,... Read More→

Is not stemming what will soon be runaway inflation, but pathetically setting new rules for gift card issuance.  (I’m not kidding.)  Hilariously, this is somehow linked to “bubble” protection: The proposed rules come after the Fed came under fire for not doing more to protect consumers during the credit bubble. Forget for a moment that the Federal Reserve System itself exacerbates and protects credit bubble creation.  Think about this: minimizing gift card fees and extending... Read More→

According to Obama’s pay Czar, Kenneth Feinberg, that is.  As the story explains, this comes on the heels of [the government agency know as] AIG’s CEO Robert Benmosche considering his resignation. Being that he is in charge of so many different salaries, and that those who want to escape his diktat practically have to leave the entire industry, he acts like an absolute monarch.  And, as a matter of fact and logic, he was no way of determining whether he is or is not discouraging talent;... Read More→