The Violence Worker!

The Failure Of The Occupy Movement - Rebels Without A Clue

I've been accused by my niece of being "anti-free speech" because I'm not a fan of the Occupy Movement.  The truth is, that I am not anti-free speech, nor does it bother me that they are expressing themselves.  The devil, as they say, is in the details.

The point is that they don't have much a message beyond being angry.  They don't like the banks.  Okay, that's fine, I'm not a big fan of them either.  I've been with a Credit Union for several years now.  They don't like the fact that they have huge loans to pay back for their education. (Most of these people should get a refund!)  On the other hand, they signed the papers and knew what they were getting into.  If they didn't, they shouldn't have gotten out of High School!

I have spent several of the past few evenings listening to the proceedings of several of their so-called "General Assemblies" or "GAs" as they call them.  I've endured their call and response style of voice amplification primarily to learn and understand what it is that they want. What is it that they want to do?  What's the end game?  What will make them pack up their tents and accumulated garbage and move back to their parent's basement?

The answer so far seems to be that nobody really knows.  Other than some kind of anti-capitalist rant now and again, they seem to have no real idea what they are doing other than creating public health hazards all over the country. 

In Portland, they are dealing with a head and body lice outbreak.  In Seattle, the porta-potties are overflowing.  They talk about the accumulating trash and cleaning up after meals because they can't find enough volunteers to keep their campsites picked up.  All of these things and more didn't necessarily come from a news article I read.  It came from their own GAs.  They are public and they broadcast them on the web.

Drug and alcohol use is rampant despite their internal efforts to at least keep hidden.  Sexual assaults are so bad in NYC, they had to set up a female only tent and it is guarded by other women.  All in all, if anyone ran a campground like these guys as a business, the cops and the health department would have shut them down long ago. 

It's unfortunate that we need a myriad of laws and regulations to cover every ethical lapse by Wall Street and/or bankers.  It's like children needing adult supervision.  I get that.  We need to keep a close eye on those guys.  Do we need to destroy the whole system over it?  Do we need to just abandon everything we've built, heretofore?  I don't think so.

The plain fact is, they have no clue as to how to proceed.  They have no exit stategy or end game.  Junking everything and then make it up as you go along will most likely result in something a hell of a lot worse.  And to top it all  off, it just isn't going to happen.  They don't have the numbers to vote out everything, nor do they have the firepower for a violent revolution. 

What I do see is there is a dedicated core of Commies and Socialists trying desparetly to foment some kind of (mostly) peaceful revolution.  The rest are there for the good time or because it's "cool".  They want to be part of something that is, on the surface, bigger than themselves.  They want to be in on the ground floor.

I suspect as the weather gets cooler and the holidays approach, they will start to thin out.  You can't keep people interested and engaged forever on vague and nebulous goals.  There will be the dedicated few, but I suspect that, eventually, the desire for the comforts of a bed in a warm room will overcome their revolutionary fervor.

VW

Jobs And Jobs. How To Destroy America

Obama is trying to capitalize on our frustrations with the economy.  Supposedly, the Banks, Corporations and Wall Street are the bogeymen responsible for our present economic morass.  You have the occupy [Name Your] Street crowd out demanding the demise of our financial system as we know it because they aren't getting free college...or something.  Now we have President Zero weighing in on the issue and yep, he's blaming those evil Wall Street Bankers.  In other words, he's biting the hands that fed him last election, but that's for another time, perhaps.  Here is a praphrase (according to the LA TIMES) of what President Disconnect said:

Obama said he used "a lot of political capital" to prevent a financial meltdown and ensure banks remained solvent after he took office. He also touted the financial reform legislation he and Democrats in Congress moved through in 2010.

It was that very law that forced, not just the Bank of America, but others (soon to be following suit) as well to start charging a fee.  Why, because they capped what the banks could charge the merchants for a debit transaction.  So, instead of you paying a few pennies more for something at the store, the banks will charge you 60 dollars a years to use your card.

Don't get me wrong.  We need to keep a reasonable rein on the financial sector.  We need to keep them as honest as we can.  No one disagrees.  What we disagree on is how it should be done.  Since I'm no banking expert, I'm not even going to pretend I know.

What I will say is this:  If you think destroying banks, Wall Street and Corporations will get you a job, you just might be too stupid to even have a job.  If it wasn't for all of those entities, you would not have a computer, an internet or any one a myriad of modern conveniences that you enjoy today.  If it wasn't for the profit motive, the idea that you can better yourself and make yourself a millionaire, there would be little in the way of comfort and mobility.  Profit powers innovation.  Innovation powers the world.  There are bad banks, corporations and rogue Wall Street Traders.  There will always be a conman, a thief and a power hungry crook willing to take what isn't theirs.  These are the ones that we must always be watching.

Let's take the late Steve Jobs for an example.  The entire world is mourning the loss of this larger than life guy who literally changed how we think and interact with our world.  He was one of those "corporate" guys.  He bought and sold different companies, developing products and made more money than he could ever spend in two lifetimes.  Good for him.  He created a ton of jobs by providing us with goods and services that we decided we needed to have.  That is is legacy.  But he could not have done that on his own as a 20 something kid with his buddy Wozniak.  If it wasn't for the banks, other corporations and the stock market, we would have never even heard of this guy.  You wouldn't be reading this. 

Oh, and just like every other corporation in America, no one forced you to give him and his companies your money.  No one got poorer to make Steve Jobs richer.

Jobs created jobs and got rich by making things we wanted to buy.  Take away the ability of others to do the same and you will destroy America.

VW

 

 

 

99 Percenters

Is it really 99%.  The protesters that are skipping school occupying various places around the nation say that 99% of the country supports or sympathizes with them.  I doubt it's even a majority.  Frankly, I'd be surprised if it was greater than 25 or 30%.  That would still be too high a percentage, but I understand  that they can find that many people who might side with them to some extent that are ignorant of economics and history.  

Most of us have greater things to worry about than sloganeering in the cold and rain.  We have jobs we are trying to keep, mortgages to pay and families to raise.  We understand that everything is not right with our government, but trying to reshape it into the shape of North Korea isn't exactly the answer. 

Most of these so-called occupiers are not poor.  Most look well dressed and well fed and they are sporting some kind of smart phone, video camera and wi-fi computer.  Most have probably never worked a forty hour weak and I doubt any of them have ever had to seriously worry about money.  They truly do not know deprivation.

They are marching under various banners, mostly Socialist, Anarchist and yes, Ron Paul signs.  Yeah, you read that correctly, some of the Paultardians have joined up with this band of wannabe  revolutionaries.  I'm not sure which group suffers the worst IQ loss in this association!

We do share some concerns.  We are a bit wary of the big corporations, but we also understand that it is the profit motive that makes products like smart phones, i-Pads, laptops, desktops, cars video cameras affordable and available.  Unlike them, we want reason to prevail, not demands to ruin our way of life.  We want responsible regulation, not a complete re-order of the system.

We want reason, not emotion.

VW

The Idiot Manifesto

We've all been slightly entertained by the idiots in New York camping out in Manhattan demanding the repeal of civilization...or something like that, it appears.  They have finally blessed us with a manifesto. 

Demand one: Restoration of the living wage. This demand can only be met by ending "Freetrade" by re-imposing trade tariffs on all imported goods entering the American market to level the playing field for domestic family farming and domestic manufacturing as most nations that are dumping cheap products onto the American market have radical wage and environmental regulation advantages. Another policy that must be instituted is raise the minimum wage to twenty dollars an hr.

There are a couple things going on here and neither are the result of serious economic thinking.  These are simplistic ideas made by people who have absolutely no idea how an economy even works.

The first thing is the imposition of trade tariffs.  There are some applications where this would help and should always be part of our trade policy when absolutely necessary.  The other side of the coin is that tariffs would be placed on us for our goods, thus limiting our ability in international trade.  A blanket tariff is a lousy idea.

The second is this idea of raising the minimum wage.  If the minimum wage is $20 an hour, then your latte will cost 10.  If your car needs an oil change, it will cost $60, not 30.  $20 will be the new $8.  If 20 is good, why not 100?  The reason is fairly obvious.

Demand two: Institute a universal single payer healthcare system. To do this all private insurers must be banned from the healthcare market as their only effect on the health of patients is to take money away from doctors, nurses and hospitals preventing them from doing their jobs and hand that money to wall st. investors.

You knew this was coming.  Single payer does not work well and will not work.  The system will soon be so overwhelmed, that care will be minimal and much worse than we have now.

Demand three: Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment.

Demand four: Free college education.

I want free ice cream too!  If you don't see the folly in these two demands, then you are an idiot.  There ain't no free lunch.  The productive will not long subsidize the willingly unproductive.

Demand five: Begin a fast track process to bring the fossil fuel economy to an end while at the same bringing the alternative energy economy up to energy demand.

OK, what's your plan?  Nice goal, but if you are expecting to accomplish this, you better have a plan or you look stupid.  Demanding is one thing, doing is usually another.  You are looking stupid here.

Demand six: One trillion dollars in infrastructure (Water, Sewer, Rail, Roads and Bridges and Electrical Grid) spending now.

Demand seven: One trillion dollars in ecological restoration planting forests, reestablishing wetlands and the natural flow of river systems and decommissioning of all of America's nuclear power plants.

I don't know where they think all of this money is going to come from.  Good luck with that two trill.  They want to spend part of a trillion to fix the electrical grid, but they want destroy the dams (hydroelectric) and take away fossil and nuclear fuels.  You can't build enough wind turbines. 

Demand eight: Racial and gender equal rights amendment.

I'm pretty sure this is already covered in there.

Demand nine: Open borders migration. anyone can travel anywhere to work and live.

Imagine there's no countries...Yeah, that will make things better.  Also, in demand number one, they are demanding import tariffs.  How does that square with that if there are no borders to enforce.  The critical thinking skills of these Einsteins is staggering!

Demand ten: Bring American elections up to international standards of a paper ballot precinct counted and recounted in front of an independent and party observers system.

Probably the only thing here that makes a smattering of sense!

Demand eleven: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the "Books." World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the "Books." And I don't mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period.

Demand twelve: Outlaw all credit reporting agencies.

It's obvious that these brainiacs have absolutely no idea how economics and labor work.  These are the most idiotic and brain dead ideas of the lot.  If you eliminate all debt, you will have no need for credit reporting agencies because no one will ever loan anyone anymore money for anything.  Why?  No one is going to loan you any money if they know, that by the stroke of a pen somewhere, it can be erased.  You will pay for your cell phone usage upfront.  You will pay for your car and house in cash.  Save your pennies.  No credit, no loans and no one to report it to! 

All economies are debt based.  If I do build your house, you owe me in some  way for my labor and materials.  I incur a debt with the people who provide my materials and so on.  Even in the simplest of barter systems, debts are paid.  I fix your roof, you give me a chicken.  Debt paid.

Demand thirteen: Allow all workers to sign a ballot at any time during a union organizing campaign or at any time that represents their yeah or nay to having a union represent them in collective bargaining or to form a union.

Union thug to worker:  Nice job ya got here.  Be a shame if your legs got broke and you couldn't do it anymore.  Wanna sign this card?

Whoever put this list together has absolutely no idea how the real world works.  They have no real knowledge of economics or governance.  They sit around with their smart phones, i-pods, and laptops, built by corporations and complain because they can't get a free college education.

I think the smart ones are still in school.  These people need to go back to grade school.

Idiots!

VW

The Big Speech

Traditionally, speeches before the whole Congress are important affairs.  Usually, they give the State of the Union address in January and only rarely does the president ask to speak before the entire assembled Congress unless there is some momentous occasion such as war.  It's usually not the venue for an economic policy speech.

If you are going to go that route, then your legislative plan should be in the hands of Congress when you make your speech or at least on its way.  If you are just wanting the spotlight and the other party runs at least half the show, you better have something better than a glorified stump speech to give or you are going to be treated appropriately.  The President does not run the Congress.

Usually, a speech of that caliber is usually given at a more appropriate place.  Often it is at some factory or at some city in a state that is particularly hard hit by a recession.  Presidents are political animals by definition and when times are tough, you want to give the impression that you are in charge, but you also want to shore up the base a bit.  That's why the speech is often given in a state that , along with being hard hit, is a swing state or a one that is starting to waiver.  Michigan was a good state to give a jobs speech on labor day using that reasoning.

First, he flubbed the scheduling.  He's been relegated to a time slot when few will be watching.  The Republicans have surmised that all he is going to do is give a speech that is a rerun of similar speeches in the past.  In other words, there won't be anything really new except the terms. 

Recognizing the unpopularity of the 2009 package, however, Democratic leaders have revised their message with less loaded language – “job creation” instead of “stimulus” and “Make it in America” in lieu of “Recovery Act” – in hopes of tackling the jobs crisis.

So, instead of stimulus, we'll hear "job creation".  They are banking on the fact that you are too stupid to know any of this.

And because it's just another speech, some Republicans said they wouldn't be there and Speaker Boehner said that there won't be a Republican rebuttal.  Boehner, so far, has played Obama like a violin and he continues by refusing to answer his speech.  Pelosi is furious, which means Boehner probably made the right call.  No one would be hanging around to listen to it anyway, there's a football game to watch!

I probably will read the box score later on.  I won't be watching football either, although that is probably preferable.  Heck, I'd prefer to listen to a cat howl.  The cat would also make more sense.

VW

 

More Proof Obama Is Inept

So the Dear Leader demanded a joint session of Congress so that he can give another "Jobs" speech.  And that's fine.  Theoretically, I suppose anyone could demand to speak before a joint session of Congress.  The trick is getting it approved by the leadership of the House and the Senate, specifically the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader.

Since the President is only a wannabe dictator and not a real one, he can only ask that the Congress set a little time aside for his speech.  Since the Speaker of the House is a Republican, it becomes a bit trickier in that he needs the Speaker's permission.  A little diplomacy is in order - or at least one would think so. 

Usually what happens is the President decides he wants to address a Joint Session of the Congress.  This is usually not done for mundane reasons.  These sessions are usually reserved for more significant speeches by Presidents and other dignataries.  State of the Union speeches are the more common speeches given by Presidents in a Joint Session.  Once the President decides he has some really significant things to say, he has his Congressional Liaison staff contact the appropriate staffers in Congress who pass on the request to their respective Chamber leaders.  They negotiate upon a date and time, arrange it with the media covering the speech, then make the public announcement.  Nobody gets their toes stepped on and we, the public, are not privy to any spats over scheduling.  Nobody looks like an idiot.  It's how professionals do it.

Until now.  Obama demanded in public a joint session to talk about jobs and Speaker Boehner shot him down, also in public.  It seems Obama's desired date and time would conflict with the GOP Presidential debate also scheduled for that evening.  The Obama camp said it was a coincidence, but most people with half a functioning brain cell don't believe it for a minute.  He was looking to steal some thunder and got struck by lightening instead.

Obama comes out of this looking more  inept and inexperienced  than presidential.  It's not even a rookie mistake.  It's arrogance, amateurish, and a sign that he has absolutely no idea what he's doing.

EPIC FAIL!

VW

Green - The New Pork

In the last few day, there's been some headlines come across the ticker about so-called "green jobs".  First was one of Obama's pet projects, Evergreen Solar.  The US is out at least 4 million and the good citizens of Massachusetts are out a cool 58 Million.  The company is claiming 485 Million in liabilities.  800 "green jobs" are now history.

Another is the green vehicle maker Aptera.  They recently refunded all of their customer deposits.  They said they aren't going out of business, but will contact their customer base when they will be ready again.  The writer at Green Car Report isn't overly optimistic about that happening.  It might be noted that Apterra, in a bid to cut costs, decided to move out of California.  Why?  High taxes.

And here locally, another green initiative, intended to produce up to 2000 of those verdant positions, has done little but create meetings.

Last year, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the city had won a coveted $20 million federal grant to invest in weatherization. The unglamorous work of insulating crawl spaces and attics had emerged as a silver bullet in a bleak economy – able to create jobs and shrink carbon footprint – and the announcement came with great fanfare.

McGinn had joined Vice President Joe Biden in the White House to make it. It came on the eve of Earth Day. It had heady goals: creating 2,000 living-wage jobs in Seattle and retrofitting 2,000 homes in poorer neighborhoods.

But more than a year later, Seattle's numbers are lackluster. As of last week, only three homes had been retrofitted and just 14 new jobs have emerged from the program. Many of the jobs are administrative, and not the entry-level pathways once dreamed of for low-income workers. Some people wonder if the original goals are now achievable.

After a year, 14 jobs, mostly administrative and lots of meetings.  Can we charge these people with fraud or grand theft?  20 million bucks being slowly eaten up by 14 employees having meetings on how to spend 20 million dollars.  And wouldn't be fun to know who the administrators are?

They blame all kinds of things like the recession.  Funny, it's because of the recession they got this money ostensibly to put 2000 people back to work in order to stimulate the economy.  Seriously, it was stated last year.  Didn't they know there was a recession going on?

I'm all for green.  There is nothing wrong with recycling, conserving resources and saving energy.  What I'm against is boondoggle redistributionist schemes that take my tax dollars and waste it on such boondoggles. 

It's the epitome of the Obama administration:  No plan, just throw money at a problem that doesn't really exist.

VW

Driving Small Farmers out of Business

Liberals tell us that they love small farms and family farmers who produce and sell locally.  Nothing wrong with that really, and I support the idea.  I worked on a small family farm when I was a teenager.  I milked cows, bailed hay, fed the livestock, etc.  It was a great experience.  The old guy that owned the farm worked at an auto plant during the day, but would work the farm in the evening.  He had two teenage sons that helped him out. It wasn't a paid job.  They were family friends and I would spend time in the summer there.  It was a great experience.  One that every kid should have.

Aside from their pap about locally grown and sustainability, they spend their time trying to devise regulations and laws that drive the small timers crazy and out of business.  Understand that small farmers are not rich.  Many have to have another source of income.  That doesn't seem to bother the bureaucrats in their quest to regulate every aspect of our lives.  In this case, they want to force those who drive farm equipment, such as tractors and other equipment to have a Commercial Driver's License or CDL.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has been collecting public comments on the notion, which the agency insists doesn't yet merit being called a "proposal."

But it's far enough along that the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, state Agriculture Secretary Ben Brancel, and a bipartisan group of 21 U.S. senators, among others, are speaking out against it.

In one scenario, farmers hauling grain to local elevators would be treated as if they were engaged in interstate commerce because grain, in many cases, eventually leaves the state.

Lumping farm machinery into the category of commercial vehicles also could result in farmers' having to log their mileage, even for short trips, and it could require them to get a federal medical card showing they are fit to drive.

"It would be more paperwork, more expense for us," Strobel said.

The farmer's kids would presumably be barred from operating the family tractor because a CDL requires that you be 21 years old. How many small farms can afford that?

According to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau's Gefvert, the rules that are under consideration would result in an initial cost of $124 to each Wisconsin farmer and employee, for the commercial driver's license, permit and test; not to mention the time and cost for behind-the-wheel training that is several thousand dollars.

Yeah, they just have that kind of cash sitting out on the kitchen table.  The article doesn't mention it, but add to this the fact that farmers routinely haul around fertilizers and pesticides. I'm fairly certain that would also require a hazardous material endorsement.  That would mean an even greater expense.

That's liberals.  Run the farmers and factories out of the country with endless regulations, then complain because they are disappearing.

VW

How To Create Millions Of Jobs!

They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  It also might just mean that you are completely cluesless as to how to solve a problem.  It's what you learned, and what's been drummed into your skull for decades with the fervor of a traveling salvation show on opening night.

Their mantra is that the President creates jobs, Congress creates jobs.  The government creates jobs.  It's been said so much by so many that it must be true.  And it seems like it should be true.  After all, these are the ruling elite.  They are the brightest and the best we have to offer.  They say it like it's gospel and everyone says, "Amen!"

Ever since the the debt ceiling fiasco, the President has returned to the "Jobs" theme.  People are telling him to create jobs so he turns to the only weapon in his arsenal:  Spend more money that we don't have.

Some are suggesting another stimulus bill (and we all know how that last one turned out) and others are suggesting we need to extend unemployment benefits as that is a sure-fire way to create jobs.  When that was mentioned at a recent White House Press Briefing, the young looking Jay Carney was asked a simple question.

"I understand why extending unemployment insurance provides relief to people who need it, but how does that create jobs," Wall Street Journal's Laura Meckler asked Jay Carney at Wednesday's WH briefing.

Apparently, this is the simplest of questions not worthy of an answer.

Carney responded: "Oh, uh, it is by, uh, I would expect a reporter from the Wall Street Journal would know this as part of the entrance exam."

But wait!  After professor Carney slices the WSJ reporter with the White House Ginsu, he deigns to answer the question in order to enlighten the masses just in case Ms. Meckler reports it so that the readers of her paper will understand.

"There are few other ways that can directly put money into the economy than applying unemployment insurance," Carney said.

Carney answers the question: "It is one of the most direct ways to infuse money directly into the economy because people who are unemployed and obviously aren't running a paycheck are going to spend the money that they get. They're not going to save it, they're going to spend it. And with unemployment insurance, that way, the money goes directly back into the economy, dollar for dollar virtually."

"Every place that, that money is spent has added business and that creates growth and income for businesses that leads them to decisions about jobs, more hiring. So, there are few other ways that can directly put money into the economy than applying unemployment insurance, Carney said.

Brilliant!  Absolutely Brilliant!  That will get everyone back to work as soon as the checks are cashed!  Think of it!  Endless unemployment checks and we solve unemployment. 

Carney estimates that unemployment benefits could create up to one million jobs.

We could start giving everyone an unemployment check!  Think of the jobs that would be created!!!!  These guys that are running the country!  We are in good hands!  They smartest guys in the world!

Until the benefits run out again - which they will.

We are broke. Doing this would only have a marginal effect, if that, and it would only be temporary.  It's a brazen attempt to buy a few votes, that's it.

Oh, and Creating more and more debt is not going to fix this economy. 

VW

Team Obama

Imagine the White House as a team locker room.  It's game day and the Obama team is losing.  The score is 35 - 0 at the half and the coach calls the team together to give them a pep talk.  Let's listen in.

Coach Obama:  Let me be clear, this is a failure of the referees out there to call a fair game.  The other team is also not helping us win.  They are selfish and only interested in winning the game for themselves.

Quarterback Geithner:  But coach, we don't have a game plan.

Coach Obama:  Doesn't matter.  I'm the greatest coach in the history of the game.  I get to win.  Besides, they're all jealous and want to take my job so they aren't playing fair.

Towel Boy Biden:  Gee, boss, I know!  How about if we call them names?

Coach Obama:   Not bad for a towel boy, but it's not enough.  Calling them names might get some of the crowd fired up, but it may not be enough to make them let us win.  We need for them to just give up so we can declare victory.

Quarterback Geithner:  But coach, we don't have a game plan.

Coach Obama:   Look, I don't know how to make a game plan outside of name calling and temper tantrums.  It's always worked before.  We don't need a plan as long as we just demand that they play by our rules and let us win in the name of sportsmanship.

Towel Boy Biden:  Gee, boss, I know!  How about if we call them names?

Coach Obama:  Shut up Joe and get me a clean towel. Now let's all get out there and mill around until they give up and let us win!  I'll see you all later, I have a tee time in 20 minutes.

===============================

Leadership you can believe in.

VW