Category — US Budget

Richard Fernandez has written an excellent piece on the causes and consequences of destroying a society from the inside out. Fernandez explains that the collapse of a society is deceptively slow ... until it isn't. There are inherent human responses that strive to perpetuate the illusion of normality, long after the point of no return.   Read the rest of this entry »

Unaware of the wiles of the snake-in-the-grass 
And the fate of the maiden who topes, 
She lowered her standards by raising her glass, 
 Her courage, her eyes and his hopes. 
She sipped it, she drank it, she drained it, she did! 
 He promptly refilled it again, 
 And he said as he secretly carved one more notch 
 On the butt of his gold-headed cane, Have some Madeira, m'dear. This administration and its minions have been caught in so many distortions, exaggerations and just plain lies that keeping track is becoming a full time job. Here are a few more to add to the ever-growing list.   Read the rest of this entry »

There is one study, however, we hope does not come under the budget knife. According to the Daily Mail Online, MIT researchers are working on a new “alcohol busting” drug that can sober one up in mere seconds. The story says that researchers have developed a cocktail (get it?) of alcohol metabolizing enzymes that speedily reduces blood alcohol levels. Tests have been conducted where intoxicated mice were injected with nanocapsules containing two enzymes. The results, the researchers indicate, have been quite sobering. (Um, I’ll handle the jokes around here.)   Read the rest of this entry »

With a little diligence, it's possible to balance the US budget without raising taxes, and actually have a bit of a surplus. This doesn't take into account how much the economy would grow given the tax cut that is also part of this proposal!   Read the rest of this entry »

Spongy conduits is a term conjured up by a Congressional Budget Office staffer to describe the government subsidy benefits retained by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That he came up with this term in a CBO report in 1996 is even more remarkable, given what we now know following the collapse of the housing market in 2008. The CBO report at that time concluded “Congress may want to revisit the special relationship that exists between the government and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” That is bureaucrat speak for “Holy S*#t!”   Read the rest of this entry »

The biggest hoax in history may be the Patient Affordability Care Act. Here are just a few of the lies that were used to justify the legislation.   Read the rest of this entry »

In Golden Valley, Minnesota, Obama recently repeated his refrain that, "We are still fighting our way back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression." Except this excuse is nonsense—the more severe the downturn, the more robust the recovery. Obama should have the wind at his back. Rapid recovery has been true throughout our history except under the first two terms of Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt followed the same policies of bashing business, raising taxes, restricting trade, and trying to goose the economy up pouring borrowed money into the public sector. It didn’t work then and it is not working now.   Read the rest of this entry »

The 2010 elections were a rout for progressives. Republicans captured an additional 63 seats in the House of Representatives to win the majority, the largest midterm seat change since 1938. Republicans gained 6 seats in the Senate, but not enough for gain outright control. Republicans also won a record 680 additional seats in state legislatures. Five states saw both chambers switch from Democrat to Republican majorities. In four additional states, Republicans flipped one of the chambers to give them control of both chambers. In three states they increased their control of both houses, and in four states they picked up one chamber to split control of the state legislature. Republicans saw a net increase of six governorships to gain a national majority. It seems everyone got the memo except California.   Read the rest of this entry »

Now that we know Obama’s definition of “fine,” let’s look at some other things that must be fine, too.   Read the rest of this entry »

Monty Pelerin's World has posted a clear explanation of the current state of affairs in regard to government finances.   Read the rest of this entry »