And a surprise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj6r3-sQr58
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Our restricted economy comes at a price. A high price, in the form of more unable to find a job or unwilling to look, more working for lower wages and businesses that see no reason to expand so they accumulate cash, buy their stock back at high prices and then the market collapses while the deficit soars.
Yet, to hear Obama tell it everything he has done is miraculous. (See 1 and 1a below.)
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A few seats left:
Monday, February 15, 2016 President’s Day Dinner
Plantation Club
Member Bar: 5:30 PM Dinner 7:00 PM
Our special guest speaker is Lt. Col. Allen West
Col. West is a decorated war hero, has served as a Representative from Florida and is seen frequently on Fox News. He is currently President and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis
Cost is $150 per person
Coat and Tie requested
Reservations required
Contact Dick Miller
16 Marsh Tower Lane
hrmatthelandings @gmail.com
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"Its the right thing to do" President Manuel L Quezon of the Philippines:
I believe in immigration but it should be legal. Otherwise we will lose control of our borders and eventually our nation, our adherence to laws and ultimately our freedom.
Leaks in dams start small and then expand and so it is with legislative "do gooders." This should be of interest if you care about those who wish to come here as well as those already citizens.
Being compassionate also pays well! (See 2, 2a and 2b below.)
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Obama told Israel he had their back and I suspect Hillarious is about to get the Obama "have your back" treatment as rumors swirl, Biden is getting ready to jump into the muck. (See 3 below.)
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Finally, let's hear it for Peugeot!!!
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An Hillarious Presidency and what it means for Capitalism by P.J. O'Rourke. (See 4 below.)
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An Hillarious Presidency and what it means for Capitalism by P.J. O'Rourke. (See 4 below.)
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Dick
========================================================================
1)
America’s Economic Freedom Has Rapidly Declined Under Obama
Millions of people around the world are emerging from poverty thanks to rising economic freedom. But by sharp contrast, America’s economic freedom has been on a declining path over the past decade.
America’s declining score in the index is closely related to rapidly rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts.
According to the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom, an annual publication by The Heritage Foundation, America’s economic freedom has tumbled. With losses of economic freedom in eight of the past nine years, the U.S. has tied its worst score ever, wiping out a decade of progress.
The U.S. has fallen from the 6th freest economy in the world, when President Barack Obama took office, to 11th place in 2016. America’s declining score in the index is closely related to rapidly rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts.
Since early 2009:
- Government spending has exploded, amounting to $29,867 per household in 2015.
- The national debt has risen to $125,000 for every tax-filing household in America—a total over $18 trillion.
- The government takeover of health care is raising prices and disrupting markets.
- Bailouts and new government regulations have increased uncertainty, stifling investment and job creation.
This is not something to take lightly. Economic freedom is the foundation of U.S. economic strength, and economic strength is the foundation of America’s high living standards, military power, and status as a world leader. The perils of losing economic freedom are not fictional.
It is painfully clear that our economy has been performing far below its potential, with individuals, families, and entrepreneurs being squeezed by the proliferation of big-government bureaucracy and regulations.
As documented by the index, and by other scholars, America’s economic freedom has been declining at an alarming pace.
Indeed, as The Wall Street Journal recently summed it up succinctly, Obama is “a champion when it comes to limiting economic freedom, and American workers have the slow growth in jobs and wages to prove it.”
Not surprisingly, our economic dynamism and innovative capacity have been measurably reduced.
Not surprisingly, our economic dynamism and innovative capacity have been measurably reduced. Self-inflicted wounds include:
- The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. This has driven new jobs to other, more competitive nations and has meant fewer jobs and lower wages for Americans.
- The overall annual cost of meeting regulatory requirements has increased by over $80 billion since 2009, with more than 180 new regulations in place. In terms of ease of starting a new business, analyzed by a recently published World Bank report, the U.S. is ranked shockingly low at 49th, trailing countries such as Canada, Georgia, Ireland, Lithuania, and Malaysia.
No wonder the labor force participation rate has remained at near record lowsafter more than five years of steady decline.
Worse, vibrant entrepreneurial growth has been stymied by greater policy uncertainty and mounting debt. And a disturbing trend toward cronyism has gravely eroded the rule of law and distorted our free-market system.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, keynote speaker of the official release of the 2016 Index, recently stated:
It’s been almost seven years since the Obama “recovery” began, and our economy is barely out of neutral. Why does America have to settle for this?
Restoring economic freedom is prerequisite to revitalizing and brightening America’s future. 2016 is the year to reaffirm the principles of limited government, free enterprise, and rule of law so that we can reconstitute an America where freedom, opportunity, and prosperity flourish.
The time to act is now.
1a) T. Boone Pickens on Obama Oil Tax Plan: 'Dumbest Idea Ever'
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens harshly criticized President Barack Obama's surprise proposal to charge a $10 a barrel fee on crude oil as the "dumbest idea ever."
Obama's plan drew a predictably swift response from traders and industry figures: Are you joking?
No, say administration aides, though they concede that the proposal to levy a fee that would be used to fund investments in clean transportation projects was meant more to start a broader conversation about shifting toward a lower-carbon economy than to be an initiative they expect to pass through a Republican Congress.
Oil traders barely batted an eye, with U.S. crude prices unchanged at around $31.70 a barrel following the news. Shares in large domestic oil producers like Continental Resources Inc. were little changed on Thursday.
Nonetheless, it added insult to injury for an industry reeling from an oil price crash brought on by one of the worst supply gluts in history. Another $10 a barrel in domestic drillers' costs could render thousands of wells uneconomic.
The new tax would add an estimated 25 cents a gallon to gas prices, according to traders and analysts.
"Even with gas prices at historic lows, gas prices are the barometer to gauge successful energy policies in Washington. Thus any hike, no matter how small, only makes this more challenging,"
Thomas Cape, senior analyst at Evercore ISI, said in note to clients.
U.S. natural gas futures fell to their lowest level so far this year on Thursday.
Billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens, who cemented his fortune with bets on oil companies, tweeted: "Don't know where to start. Dumbest idea ever?"
========================================================================2)It's easy to dismiss individual programs that benefit non-citizens until they're put together and this picture emerges.
Someone did a lot of research to put together all of this data. Often these programs are buried within other programs making them difficult to find.
A Real M EyeOpener
We have been hammered with the propaganda that it was the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us.
I hope the following 11 reasons are read so many times readers get sick of them. I also have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts.
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal immigrants each year by state governments.
Verify At :
2. $22 Billion dollars a year is spent on foodAssistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal immigrants.
Verify At :
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal immigrants.
Verify at:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on Primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
Verify At :
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent forEducation for the American born Children of illegal immigrants, known as Anchor babies.
Verify At
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal immigrants.
Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/%20TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML
7.
30% percent of all Federal Prison Inmatesare illegal immigrants.
Verify
at:
Services by the American taxpayers.
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on Illegal
immigrants for Welfare & social
Verify At :
9. $200 Billion dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal immigrants.
Verify At :
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI
10. In 2006, illegal immigrants sent home $45 BILLION in remittances to their Countries of origin.
Verify At : .
By Illegal Immigrants In The United States ..http://rense.com/general75/niht.htm%3e"http://rense.com/general75/niht.htm%3e
11. The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One million sex crimes committed
M
Of THIS COUNTRY.The total cost is a whopping
$ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.
IF YOU are HAVINGTROUBLE UNDERSTANDING THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY; IT IS $338,300,000,000.00 WHICH WOULD BE ENOUGH TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY FOR THE LEGAL CITIZENS
Are we THAT Stupid?
FOR ALLOWING THOSE IN THE U.S. . CONGRESS TO GET AWAY WITH DOING THIS YEAR AFTER YEAR!!!!!
2a)
Direct from David: Shocking Report
Did you know the Department of Homeland Security is only investigating 3,000 out of the 6 million individuals who have illegally overstayed their visas?
A shocking new report shows this includes hundreds of people coming from countries with significant Islamic extremist movements.
These numbers confirm that our immigration system is broken and presents a dire threat to our national security.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, I pressed Obama Administration officials about how this could be happening.
Watch my questioning of Craig Healy, ICE’s National Security Investigations Assistant Director
here .
God Bless,
P.S. – Read more about this shocking new DHS report HERE .
Fran Millar, (Dunwoody) Chairman, GA Senate Syrian Delegation
Senator Millar loves Refugee Resettlement (RR) so much that during the 17 years he has been in the General Assembly, each year he has actively sought and obtained Target Assistance Grants for DeKalb County. The grants require refugees to live in DeKalb as a condition of getting additional welfare for themselves. As of the year 2010, 85% of all Georgia refugees attended the DeKalb International School to bone up on English and other skills. Refugees
have been costing DeKalb School District over $150 million per year for quite a long time, not counting the cost of the International school. (Refugees average 4 children per family and Muslim's average over 8 children.) Some estimates show the refugee school cost exceeds $250 million per year. The federal government pays only 35-40% of refugee school cost in DeKalb. State and local taxes pick up the rest of the tab.
Renee Unterman (Buford) Chief GA Senate Financier of the RR program.
 Senator Unterman chairs the Human Services Committee and on the appropriations subcommittee which funds RR as well as other liberal causes. She doesn't necessarily like refugees but she does like her $250,000 job with America Group Insurance Company which sells Peachcare Insurance to the state for the benefit of refugees. This woman is all business. More refugees mean more money in her pocket---compliments of the Georgia taxpayers. With Renee, it's all about the money, as long as it goes in her pocket. appropriations subcommittee which funds RR as well as other liberal causes. She doesn't necessarily like refugees but she does like |
3) Democratic donor contacts Biden allies about possible run
By Luciana Lopez
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A prominent Democratic donor worried about the party's chances of winning the presidency emailed dozens of fans of Vice President Joe Biden on Friday, urging them to remain prepared to donate if Biden jumps into the race.
The donor, Bill Bartmann, cited new polling showing Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont nearly tied with the Hillary Clinton, eroding the 30-point lead the former secretary of state held at the end of last year. Bartmann and other party insiders are concerned that Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, is too far to the left to win against a Republican in the Nov. 8 presidential election.
"We cannot afford to lose the White House," Bartmann wrote in the email, seen by Reuters.
The email drew a string of affirmative responses, also seen by Reuters.
Biden announced in October that he would not seek the presidency, despite support from a group of backers under the name "Draft Biden 2016." But whispers have continued among some donors who hope that Biden could be convinced to run after all should Clinton’s campaign prove fruitless.
"My sitting on the sidelines has a lot to do with my disappointment that the vice president decided not to get in the race," Patrick Baskette, one of the recipients of Bartmann's email, told Reuters. Baskette, a public affairs consultant in Tampa, Florida, was a special assistant to Biden during his time as a senator.
Baskette said he was not opposed to either Clinton or Sanders. "I don't think that they offer the solutions to our nation's future that Joe Biden does," he added.
Clinton only barely squeaked out a win against Sanders in the Iowa caucus this week, adding to fears that she could lose a nomination that once was thought all but inevitable for her. Clinton is widely expected to lose the New Hampshire primary to Sanders on Tuesday.
"Count me in," Gary Hindes, chief executive of the Delaware Bay Company LLC and a former chairman of the Delaware Democratic Party, wrote on the email chain.
"I am hoping that the stars line up right and that Joe becomes the nominee," Hindes said to Reuters. "Sanders is too far to the left," he added, saying Clinton could be vulnerable as well.
"My heart is with Joe," Hindes said.
(Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Leslie Adler)
=============================================================
4)
They obviously aren’t against making money. A speech by Bill costs like sin. (Fair comparison, since between 2001 and 2012, Bill’s speaking fees totaled almost three times the $39.2 million cost of investigating him for his Whitewater imbroglio.)
But putting aside such long-ago ventures as the failed real estate development and Hillary’s post-dated cattle trades, the Clintons aren’t entrepreneurial. Their money comes from “crony capitalism.”
Crony capitalists are like trust-fund babies, except they made the baby by screwing the public.
Hillary’s legacy is eight years of Barack Obama. People think a Clinton is a lucky rabbit’s foot. They forget that this foot is attached to a dead rabbit – the Obama administration.
You can grow jobs in a petri dish?
“It’s time to push back against the forces of ‘quarterly capitalism’ and boom and bust cycles on Wall Street… We need [to]… address the rising influence of the kinds of so-called ‘activist’ shareholders that focus on short-term profits… tackle dangerous risks in the financial sector… empower tough, independent regulators, and prosecute individuals and firms… ”
4)
Hillary: The ‘crone’ in crony capitalism
From P.J. O’Rourke
Crux note: Satirist and best-selling author P.J. O’Rourke recently started writing a series in the Stansberry Digest entitled: What the 2016 Presidential Election Means for Investors, Business People, and the American Economy. As the name suggests, P.J. is covering the economic implications of each of the Presidential front-runners. His first essay discussed the scary ideas of Bernie Sanders. Today: What President Hillary would mean for the economy…
To people who believe in capitalism, the Clintons can seem puzzling.
They obviously aren’t against making money. A speech by Bill costs like sin. (Fair comparison, since between 2001 and 2012, Bill’s speaking fees totaled almost three times the $39.2 million cost of investigating him for his Whitewater imbroglio.)
But putting aside such long-ago ventures as the failed real estate development and Hillary’s post-dated cattle trades, the Clintons aren’t entrepreneurial. Their money comes from “crony capitalism.”
A lot of rich people support Hillary. They understand crony capitalism, where what matters isn’t hard work, entrepreneurship, investment, or innovation. What matters is political power and being “friends” with people who have it. The way to get rich is by gaming the political system or being paid to know how to game it.
Crony capitalists are like trust-fund babies, except they made the baby by screwing the public.
Meanwhile, for those who aren’t Hillary insiders, her run for president isn’t a real campaign. It’s a bag of wishful thinking. An old bag of wishful thinking, if you will.
Hillary supporters think that if they get another Clinton into the White House, they’ll get another “Clinton Era” – a fast-growing economy, a relatively peaceful world, some measure of bipartisan government cooperation, and a bunch of juicy scandals.
With Hillary, they’ll get the scandals. But the 1990s Clinton Era was, in fact, a legacy of 12 years of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Hillary’s legacy is eight years of Barack Obama. People think a Clinton is a lucky rabbit’s foot. They forget that this foot is attached to a dead rabbit – the Obama administration.
Hillary also lacks Bill’s charm, his persuasiveness, his willingness to “triangulate” policy issues, and… most of all… his “Teflon.” Everything she does wrong sticks to her like dried egg yolk on last week’s breakfast plate. (In fairness, she also lacks Bill’s libido. Thank goodness.)
She’s a weak candidate. But in 2016, being a weak candidate – as opposed to being a hopeless one – might be all that’s needed.
Hillary’s campaign platform is so vague that it might as well have been concocted by my daughter, a high school senior. I mean, reading Hillary’s platform is like listening to my daughter when I ask where she’s going and what she’s going to do on Saturday night.
That said, Hillary was prescient in focusing her campaign on economic issues. Her website is titled: “A Plan to Raise American Incomes.”
The plan, however, turns out to be nothing but giving more political power to Hillary.
Under the subhead “Strong Growth,” we see “Hillary will invest… ”
(Note that politicians never spend our money any more, they invest it. They’ve invested a lot of it. And they’ve been investing for a long time. These must be bad investments – or everybody in America would be rich by now.)
“Hillary will invest in infrastructure, clean energy, and scientific… research to create jobs… ”
You can grow jobs in a petri dish?
“Infrastructure” could mean a much-needed repaving of I-95. Or it could mean a six-lane, 216-mile-long suspension bridge between the Hamptons on Long Island (where the Clintons like to fund raise) and Martha’s Vineyard (where they like to vacation).
Clean energy? Maybe she’ll build eco-friendly natural gas pipelines. Or maybe she’ll re-fund Solyndra, the bankrupt Obama stimulus-plan scam to stick solar panels where the sun never shines.
Hillary doesn’t pause to explain, forging ahead to “Provide Tax Relief for Families.”
(Since Hillary has no plan to cut government spending, providing tax relief for some families means inflicting tax suffering on others. But never mind that.)
She offers just two policy proposals. First, “a tax cut of up to $2,500 per student to deal with college costs.” Great! That covers 15% of my daughter’s tuition, assuming she goes to an in-state public university.
Second, “cutting taxes for businesses that share profits with their employees.” Businesses already do that, Hillary. It’s called a payroll. And for your information – as someone whose entire time in the private sector was a couple of years as a lawyer defending chicken thieves in Arkansas – businesses have to meet that payroll whether they’re making profits or not.
“Unleash Small Business Growth.” Those are big words from a candidate in a political party that has been tightening the collar on business since 1932.
Hillary will “expand access to capital, provide tax relief, cut red tape, and help small businesses bring their goods to new markets.” When President Obama did that, it was called Solyndra.
“Create a New College Compact.” Here we go again with the “investing” – $350 billion for state university tuitions. My daughter will be going to college for free after all. And she’ll get a government bonus when she’s done because, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, total spending by all public institutions of higher learning is about $310 billion.
Free college will save me $17,000, at the price of increasing my income tax by – let me take a wild guess here – $17,000.
Or maybe, somehow, college will still cost money. Because the next thing Hillary says is that she’ll “cut interest rates on student loans.”
Like Bernie Sanders, Hillary can’t understand why student loans have higher interest rates than mortgages or car loans. When did collateral become a hard concept to grasp? If my daughter doesn’t pay back her student loans, will a repo man come and take back her bachelor’s degree in gender studies (with a minor in post-feminist film criticism)?
On and on Hillary natters…
Raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour. A bargain compared with the $15 Bernie Sanders wants us to pay the kid who, when we say, “Cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke,” looks at us as if we’d asked him to do the Black-Scholes formula calculation on McDonald’s stock futures.
Hillary’s going to close the “carried interest” loophole that allows people who do the hard work of hedging investment risks to treat part of their income as capital gains.
It’s not a “loophole,” Hillary. It’s in the tax code. It’s a law. And you’ve been known to sail pretty close to the law yourself.
Then, when our eyes are glazing over and we’re nearly lulled to sleep by Hillary’s dull, predictable liberal boilerplate, out pops the monster in the box!
“It’s time to push back against the forces of ‘quarterly capitalism’ and boom and bust cycles on Wall Street… We need [to]… address the rising influence of the kinds of so-called ‘activist’ shareholders that focus on short-term profits… tackle dangerous risks in the financial sector… empower tough, independent regulators, and prosecute individuals and firms… ”
Suddenly, Hillary is issuing a manifesto for Central Planning – the evil that, for 100 years, has destroyed every economy where it has been tried.
Central Planning means giving all the power to the government. And the head of that government will be Hillary.
Central planning is a crony capitalist’s dream come true.
So what a Hillary presidency comes down to is that you’ll do really well financially – if you donated enough to Hillary’s presidential campaign.
Regards,
P.J. O’Rourke
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