Thursday, September 22, 2011

I know how to create jobs!

Fire all of the politicians and replace them with the laid off, out of money, out of work average American. Americans that could take care of their families on $50,000 a year. Why do we elect career politicians that are whining about they're only making $600,000 a year. Duh!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Who will eclipse America?


According to Voltaire, the Roman Empire fell “because all things fall.” It is hard to argue with this as a general statement about decline: nothing lasts forever. But it is also not very useful. In thinking, for example, about American predominance in the world today, it would be nice to know when it will decline, and whether the United States can do anything to postpone the inevitable.
Contemporary commenters despaired of the Roman Empire for several hundred years before it finally collapsed. Could America find its way to a similar extension?
In terms of providing an essential structure for discussion of this problem, Arvind Subramanian’s new book, Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance, is a major contribution. (Full disclosure: Subramanian and I are colleagues at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and we have worked together on other issues.)
In particular, Subramanian develops an index of economic dominance that should become a focus of conversation anywhere that people want to think about changes in world economic leadership. There is no need to know any economics in order to be fascinated by this book: it is about power, pure and simple.
The basic facts are incontrovertible. The United Kingdom was the world’s dominant economic power from the rise of industrialization in the early nineteenth century. But it lost its predominance and was gradually eclipsed by the US, which, at least since 1945, has been the undisputed leader among market-based economies.http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/20/who-will-eclipse-america/

Monday, September 19, 2011

Job Wars / other side of the nickel


One week after President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress and proposed the American Jobs Act, House Speaker John Boehner responded for the Republicans. Not with a plan to address the U.S. jobs' crisis, but with conservative talking points that indicate how difficult it will be to pass meaningful legislation.
The Problem: The two Parties disagree on the origin of the crisis. In his September 8th addressObama indicated the crisis resulted from erosion of America's social compact: "[belief] in a country where everyone gets a fair shake and does their fair share -- where if you stepped up, did your job, and were loyal to your company, that loyalty would be rewarded with a decent salary and good benefits."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-burnett/boehner-jobs-act_b_968381.html

Sunday, September 18, 2011

How Privatized Social Security Works in Galveston

 GALVESTON — Gov. Rick Perry has repeatedly called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and said that people ought to control their own retirement money. But if the social safety net program created in 1935 were eliminated — something President Eisenhower once said would be a politically stupid move — what might take its place? Go to the link and get the facts before saying no way! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/us/how-privatized-social-security-works-in-galveston.html?_r=1

Saturday, September 17, 2011

A GOP Jobs Plan


House Speaker John Boehner rolled out the congressional Republican counteroffer to President Obama's American Jobs Act on Thursday. It wasn't a plan for fundamentally changing economic policy in Washington—the GOP candidates for president will need to do that—but it does set out the right pre-conditions for jobs and growth. And it establishes a no-fly zone to deter more Obama regulations and taxes that inhibit hiring.
Mr. Boehner emphasized what he called the "triple threat" from government now facing employers: federal regulations, out of control spending and a business-unfriendly tax code.
Associated Press
"Employers will hire if they have the right incentives," Mr. Boehner said, "but the incentives have to outweigh the costs. Businesses are not going to hire someone for a $4,000 tax credit if government mandates impose long-term costs on them that significantly exceed the temporary credit." That's a not-too-subtle shot at the White House, whose plan dangles tax breaks in front of employers in 2012, then snatches them away in January 2013.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903927204576574681944009962.html

Biden Now Says He’s 'Happy' To Debate Trump, Nearing 2024 Election

Before November’s election, President Joe Biden unexpectedly made it clear on Friday that he would be open to a debate with former Presiden...