I often pontificate on both politics and international investing. I have a featured column on Townhall.com.
By Howard Rich
As states like California, Illinois and New Jersey struggle to make up for steep multi-billion dollar budget deficits while they totter on the brink of insolvency, there is one option for reducing those shortfalls that is making real headway across the Atlantic Ocean.
It all revolves around cutting the public sector. It’s time to try it here.
Health Care “Compromise” A Poison Pill For Small Business
By Howard Rich
Much ado has been made of the tenuous “compromise” between President Barack Obama and “Blue Dog” Democrats in Washington on the issue of government-run health care. Sadly, the reality is that the latest version of “Obamacare” is still a poison pill for America’s small businesses and the millions of workers they employ.
Most small businesses spend between 60 and 80 cents of every dollar they earn on payroll, which is precisely where Obama’s plan would hit them. Not content with simply bleeding “the rich” to pay for the massive up-front costs of his $1.5 trillion socialized medicine proposal, Obama also wants to impose a massive new tax increase on American small businesses – one that will directly impede their ability to create jobs and stimulate economic activity.
The Unsustainable Entitlement of “Obamacare”
By Howard Rich
In an era of debt-exploding bailouts and deficit-busting expansions of government, it goes without saying that America cannot afford a $1.5 trillion government-run health care plan. Of course, the massive socialized medicine boondoggle proposed by President Barack Obama is much more than just another example of government pouring billions – now trillions – of taxpayer dollars down the drain.
If that were all “Obamacare” were, it would be bad enough.
But this program is much worse because it constitutes government not only wasting vast sums of taxpayer money, but imposing artificial conditions on the free market in a deliberate effort to nationalize the health care industry. In addition to costing millions of American jobs, the creation of a government-run health care monopoly will result in higher premiums, limited options, lower quality care and a lack of innovation in the one field of human endeavor where we should strive to be as innovative as possible – namely, saving lives and improving quality of life.
Rangel Surtax Debate Exposes “Class Warfare” MythBy Howard Rich
“Make the rich pay for it, they can afford it.”
For decades, this has been the /modus operandi/ of politicians and public officials who rely on unsustainable government growth and skyrocketing taxpayer debt to pad their patronage and expand their influence. It’s also the driving force behind House Ways & Means Chairman Charles Rangel’s new “health care surtax,” which the New York Democrat says will raise $540 billion over the next ten years to pay for part of “Obamacare.”
Who would end up paying Rangel’s surtax? All joint filers making over $350,000 – before deductions. Also, the surtax applies to all forms of income, including wages, dividends and capital gains.
This latest “bleed the (moderately) rich” scam comes from a tried-and-true big government playbook. In fact, it’s every bit as predictable as the blooming of the cherry blossoms, the naming of yet another government “czar,” or whichever Beltway sex scandal /du jour /is dominating the cocktail party chatter. And like countless other government schemes of its kind, it will no doubt be communicated to middle class mailboxes or televisions via slick advertisements that invoke how wealthy Americans are enjoying “faster jets or bigger swimming pools” while poor people lay “starving in the streets.”
Sounds familiar, right?
Forgotten Founding WisdomBy Howard Rich
"Sacred and undeniable."
That’s how Thomas Jefferson originally described the basic American rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Of course, Ben Franklin changed these to “inalienable” rights, and a printer’s error resulted in them becoming “unalienable.”
Still, the meaning was clear. Or at least it was 233 years ago – when the U.S. government existed as a “necessary evil” that lived within its means, not a self-perpetuating Orwellian nightmare propped up by trillions of dollars in bad debt.
The California : The “Furloughing” Of Common SenseBy Howard Rich
We’ll find out soon enough.
After steadily growing both its budget and bureaucratic payroll for years, California’s fiscal house of cards collapsed last year, opening a $24 billion hole in its upcoming budget.
In an effort to save a nickel – or rather, $1.4 billion worth of nickels – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed last December that state employees take two days worth of furloughs each month, an idea that was roundly rejected by the state’s government unions. In fact, they sued Schwarzenegger – and after losing their case in court they filed an unfair labor practice claim against him.
Obama's Poll Driven“Rope-a-Dope”"By Howard Rich
Saying one thing and doing another is standard operating procedure for many – if not most –American politicians, but President Barack Obama has turned this political version of boxing’s “rope-a-dope” into a true art form.
Like a heavyweight champion expertly deflecting body blows with a bare minimum of effort, Obama’s “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” approach to governing has his political opponents scrambling – and the American taxpayer on the ropes.
With deft moves that would make even the great Muhammed Ali jealous, Obama has capably demonstrated his mastery of political maneuvering by paying lip service to limited government themes at the precise moment(s) that his big government overreaching seems to be reaching a point of critical mass. And not surprisingly, a fawning Fourth Estate has taken the American public along for the ride, essentially parroting talking points from Obama’s White House with barely a critical word.
The Restoration of DependencyMulti-billion dollar bailouts. A new national energy tax. The return of socialized medicine.
Almost every day we’re seeing another big government offensive taking direct aim at the core ideals on which our nation was founded – and upon which rests our essential strength.
Yet of all the counter-capitalist pillars included in President Barack Obama's new "Era of Obscenely Big Government," the deliberate undoing of welfare reform is receiving a surprisingly small amount of ink.
Defending America’s First AmendmentAs limited government advocates fight to preserve individual liberties amid the onrush of President Barack Obama’s “Era of Obscenely Big Government,” one fundamental American freedom that we must be increasingly vigilant in protecting is the freedom of speech.
After all, every imposition of this basic right is a threat against our ability to protect all of the others.
Sadly, under the Washington banner of “campaign finance reform,” Americans have seen their right to free political speech materially impeded upon in recent years. Meanwhile, President Obama’s “Internet security” efforts could be the next politically-correct “buzz-term” for speech suppression.
The Inevitability of Parental ChoiceA year ago, the nation’s largest newspaper wrote in an editorial that it was time to “move beyond vouchers” in the debate over America’s educational future.
Although it did not reject any particular solution outright, the paper’s recommendation at the time was that America focuses its energy and attention on less controversial education reforms. In other words, it was a victory for those who have spent years – and expended untold taxpayer resources – in an effort to demonize parental choice and its supporters.
Then, two weeks ago, USA Today suddenly changed its tune.
Audit The FedI’ll be the first to admit that the notion of Washington politicians auditing the Federal Reserve initially struck me as a little bit kooky – and more than a little bit backward.
Shouldn’t the financial geniuses be auditing the politicians, not the other way around?
In fact, one of the reasons that the Fed has been given such wide latitude throughout its history is the widely-held belief that our nation’s monetary policy should be conducted free from political “interference.”
The United Fiefdoms of AmericaLost in last week’s barrage of Barack Obama “spending reform” coverage was a USA Today story that should send chills down the spine of any state official – or taxpaying citizen, for that matter.
For the first time ever, federal aid – not property, sales or income tax – is the top revenue source for state budgets, the paper reported.
And not surprisingly, you could probably knit your way from Hyannis Port to Honolulu with all the “strings attached” by federal bureaucrats.
Like the automotive industry, banking business or mortgage market, an unprecedented level of state governmental policy is now controlled out of Washington.
No "Change" on Pay-to-Play CorruptionA little over 100 days ago, California Sen. Diane Feinstein called the inauguration of Barack Obama “a turning point for real and necessary change” in America.
But the more things were supposed to change, the more they have stayed in the same in Washington D.C., where the culture of corruption is more pervasive now than it ever was.
Today, Senator Feinstein finds herself at the heart of a massive conflict of interest scandal involving billions of taxpayer dollars.
What did she do...?
Greatly DepressingHistory is written by many people, but those who write government school textbooks tend to hold disproportionate sway.
Sadly, their vision of America – which has driven conventional wisdom and popular opinion for decades – is built on many myths.
The biggest myth of them all?
That capitalism and our free market system caused the Great Depression – and that only a massive expansion of the federal government saved America from permanent economic ruin.
Nothing could be further from the truth – and yet as the true history of government meddling repeats itself all around us (with the direst of consequences for future generations), America seems incapable of learning from these mistakes for the simple reason that no one has ever taught them how destructive interventionism has been in the past and present...
Bailing Out The Taxpayers For A ChangeSometimes it’s important to try and fathom the unfathomable.
For example, why is “thirteen” considered an unlucky number? Why do pigs continue to fly in Washington D.C. (no matter which party is in power)? And why would a nation already in the throes of unsustainable deficit spending think that it could somehow spend its way out of an economic downturn – to the tune of $13 trillion (and counting)?
That’s right – since the beginning of the current recession, the federal government has spent, lent or pledged $13 trillion on various “economic recovery” efforts.
How big is that number?
Well, if you were to spend a dollar every second, it would take 412,000 years to blow through $13 trillion...
Outrage seems to be the “coin of the realm” in Washington D..C. these days – as long as it’s focused on the (former) private sector and not the government agencies and politicians overtaking it.
Politicians who, it should be noted, are every bit as culpable in creating our current economic mess.
The rules don’t apply to these “leaders,” though, even though they’ve been availing themselves of taxpayer-funded bonuses a lot longer than the Wall Street firms have.
Obama’s Chilling Effect on Capitalism
The tombstone for General Motors really should have read 1908-2008.
That’s because December 2008 is when the bell finally tolled for GM – when the marketplace determined that a combination of poor management decisions, union pressures and a slumping economy had made the automotive giant’s continued existence mathematically impossible.
Of course, that was also precisely when the administration of former President George W. Bush stepped in with a $17.4 billion bailout for GM and Chrysler, with further funds contingent on the two companies creating a “path to profitability…”
For years, the Communist Chinese have been the butt of American jokes for their Maoist principles and centralized government planning. They've also received scathing international criticism for their at times brutal suppression of human rights – and deservedly so.
But in the years since Tiananmen Square, China has moved steadily towards a market-based economic system while America has racked up increasingly large deficits for centralized, socialist spending – with a growing percentage of our accumulating public debt held by Chinese creditors.
When Change is Really More of the Same?
America didn’t vote to elect Barack Obama in 2008 so much as individual Americans voted for “change.”
Sure, Obama happened to be the personification of that incredibly non-specific “buzzword,” but most of the 70 million Americans who cast their ballots for him did so with the expectation that it would bring about a cathartic cleansing of Washington, D.C.’s corrupt culture – not a perpetuation of the same-old, same-old.
Through every syllable of his soaring oratory and every sound bite eagerly seconded by a fawning mainstream media, Obama promised nothing short of a revolution against the status quo...
More than perhaps any other nation in human history, the United States of America needs to brush up on its own history.
After all, a Republic founded 233 years ago in defiance of fiscal tyranny has once again succumbed to it, only this time we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Worse still, a frightening paradigm shift has completely overtaken the thinking of our nation's "leaders" in both political parties.
Scottish lawyer Alexander Tytler once fretted about what would happen to democracies when "voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury."
"From that moment on," he wrote, "the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy."
Sound familiar?...
President Barack Obama is fond of telling how Abraham Lincoln “saved the union,” but it looks like the only unions he’ll be trying to save during his presidency are those tied to America’s organized labor movement. After decades of being weeded out by the capitalist system due to their negative impact on profitability –and as a result, employment – unions seemed to be on the wane prior to the onset of the Obama presidency.
We don’t name calendar years in America like they do in China, but if we did, it wouldn’t be hard to find a moniker for 2008.
“The Year of the Bailout”
A.I.G, Bear Stearns, Chrysler, Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Morgan Stanley, Indy Mac and GM are just a few examples of taxpayer-funded benevolence this year, as our government veered wildly (and expensively) toward nationalization and rule-by-decree in attempting to resolve a crisis largely of its own making.
Of Bailouts and Boondoggles: The UAW’s Ignominious Anniversary
With the eager acquiescence of corporate management, the UAW union bosses quickly set out upon a decades-long policy of bleeding the competitive life out of General Motors (and Chrysler and Ford). That policy helped the union emerge as an unrivaled political force and eminently wealthy special interest. But, the relationship was, if anything, parasitic.
The Blagojevich Scandal: The View from 30,000 Feet
Americans, continue to eagerly devour each and every sordid morsel coming out of the Rod Blagojevich scandal in Illinois. Politicians have not surprisingly become obsessed with finding new ways to feed this growing appetite.And why wouldn’t they?
Common Sense, Not Cult Worship Needed To Fix Our Economy
We live in a pseudo-socialist state, one in which multi-billion dollar government bailouts, out-of-control debt, secret backdoor earmarks and rampant corruption and influence-peddling continue to trump the needs of families and small businesses who want only to share in the prosperity enjoyed by their elected officials up in Washington
SCHIP & The States: Another Bailout Boondoggle
It’s a typical Washington elixir.
When bad press for multi-billion dollar bailouts has got you down, there’s nothing quite like a government program “for the children” to put things right again – particularly when the new President needs a quick victory to get his “Era of Bigger Government” off to a successful start.
Such is the drama surrounding the “reauthorization” of SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which passed in 1997 ostensibly in lieu of socialized national health care and will be “re-upped” after President-elect Barack Obama takes office this month.
One of the most fundamental questions facing our American democracy (and what’s left of our free market economic system) is this:
Who’s responsible for creating jobs?
Is it the government? Or is it the private sector?
America Needs Change Parents can Believe in
Barack Obama isn’t the first (and he certainly won’t be the last) Washington politician to send his children to exclusive private schools.
In fact, Sidwell Friends – the elite private academy chosen by the Obamas for their two young daughters – was also selected by Bill and Hillary Clinton for their daughter, Chelsea, while they lived in the White House.
But you won’t hear me – or any other true educational choice advocate – condemning either family for selecting the educational environment that best fits the needs of their children.
That’s their right as parents.
Additionally, these columns are cross posted on GetLiberty.org a project of Americans for Limited Government.
