Americans were once again witness to another round of stimulus talk as the President spoke to the nation last week in his jobs package promotional speech.  Those that argue this package is more of the same have every right to do so.  This package sidesteps the President’s elected responsibility to govern this nation and instead offers the President a pro-reelection financial boost.  This is unacceptable.

The root of our economic troubles is primarily related to our trade deficit and the failed trade policies that have allowed other countries to prey on our wealth.  The graph below, which can be clicked on to view a larger image, basically tells the whole story.

While many Republicans, and even some Democrats, acknowledge that there is no money to pay for President Obama’s new jobs package, then why do they not acknowledge we can no longer afford hundreds of billions of American dollars a year flowing out of our country and into foreign businesses? Read the rest of this entry »

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While it’s not news to most people that read the news, Chinese President Hu Jintao recently visited the United States to strengthen economic ties with the United States.  But I look at this trip more as an inspection by China’s leader to see how its largest debt consumer is doing.  Regardless, ahead of the trip the Chinese President announced $600 million in deals with American businesses.  This is standard procedure for China and is intended to smooth the rhetoric before arrival at most countries the President visits.

The trade deals announced ahead of this visit were very troubling.  General Electric, one of America’s largest multinational corporations known for innovation, had announced plans to build jet engines for the Chinese.  Many of us know about China’s horrible regards to intellectual property rights.  But even more troubling then this is that for GE to get the deal they essentially have to hand over the design plans for their engines.

It’s bad enough that China has taken many of our manufacturing jobs.  Now the Chinese are taking our blueprints to build jet engines.  This has military implications as well, since GE engines can be retrofitted for military aircraft. Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s no surprise to many that health insurance premiums are going up again in 2011.  As American’s, we’ve grown used to the fact that nothing gets less costly except maybe some of the paychecks employers sign these days.  Regardless, I was at a forum and saw some very insightful information about the reasons why health insurance premiums are rising, so I thought I would comment on the topic myself.

Many people are blaming President Obama for the health insurance premium increases.  But the owner of Temporary Health Insurance Pro hit the nail on the head, in my opinion, when he so directly pointed out that our aging country is simply encountering more costly medical problems then at any point in our past.  He noted these costs are being spread across the insured and policyholders are feeling the impact.  And this guy noted it was going to get much worse as seniors get closer to Medicare eligibility. Read the rest of this entry »

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Democrats, with their slim majority, are continually being called socialists by those within the Republican Party and anti-health care reform participants.  The question is, are Democrats really socialists or are Republicans really Nazis?

At the writing of this post, the nations unemployment rate stands at 10.2%.  This is certainly the highest unemployment rate the USA has seen in many years.  At the present time 5.613 million Americans are drawing unemployment checks, and that does not count the millions that have left the accounting of this nation’s unemployment system.

Broader figures place the unemployment rate much higher then 10.2%.  Even without the actual unemployed numbers, assume that each person drawing unemployment once supported a family of three.  If that were the case, over 16 million lives have been impacted by a lack of money and jobs.
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So the title of this post may catch some off guard as there is no “official” trade war.  But has America really went to this unofficial war armed with fists to fight an enemy armed with tanks?

Democrats have been pushing an economic stimulus package that includes “buy American” provisions.  Many Republicans are concerned such provisions would be the spark to ignite a trade war.  You can read more about these buy American provisions here.

But the truth is America has laid down and surrendered well before the trade war ever started.  Just look at the casualties - millions of Americans left unemployed and poisonous products made in China sitting on nearly every store shelf.  Why would Republicans be concerned about igniting a trade war when we have been getting our butts whipped in the current trade war? Read the rest of this entry »

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Most hard working blue collar workers agree that the $700 bailout, plus $100+ billion in pork, is not a solution to the crisis on Wall Street or main street.  AIG is a perfect example of that.

Previously it was reported that AIG executives went on a lavish spa retreat after receiving $85 billion in a a taxpayer funded bailout.  While people on main street are trying to feed their families and meet their difficult financial obligations, here comes AIG pissing money away on foot massages and aroma therapy. Read the rest of this entry »

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Like a racing horse with blinders on, The Bush Administration has blindly raced this country to near economic ruin.  The Jockeys in this case are corporate America, led by their huge lobbying efforts over the years.  From what we have witnessed over the course of the last eight years, we can not trust giving the Bush Administration $700 billion of our money.

First, let’s look at the Iraq War.  Some will argue that there was or was not just cause for invading that country.  Few will argue that Iraq was more stable, and less of a threat, under Saddam Hussein’s rule.  Many billions of dollars later, Iraq is still unstable and now is home to more terrorists then ever before. Read the rest of this entry »

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Just when I thought President Bush could not piss any more of our tax dollars away, now his Administration has provided $85 billion to bailout insurance giant AIG.

This latest bailout comes on the heels of $50 billion of our tax dollars pumped into the market to ease the credit crunch.

As each week passes, President Bush and his Administration is handing our tax dollars over to the same companies that sold, managed, and insured sub-prime mortgages.  What the President is doing is rewarding the failure of these companies and the damage they caused to many families across this nation.

At what point will this President stop wasting our money?  Between the Iraq War, and the bailouts, President Bush is pushing close to a trillion dollars in wasted spending!  Any other President would have been tossed out of office, but none of the politicians we elected are prepared to do the job we elected them to do.  And that job is to represent the people.

If President Bush is going to bail anyone out, it should be the victims - the citizens that were duped into these high cost loans.  That would have done a few things.  First, it would have helped families keep a roof over their head.  Second, it would have stabilized home values.  And finally it would have helped the overall economy.

What President Bush is doing is nothing short of a band-aid fix.  The reason why these banks and insurance companies are going belly up is because people are losing their life’s possessions and can’t afford to pay their mortgages.  There is a lack of jobs, high costs of health insurance, and energy expenses that have eroded each citizen’s purchasing power.  President Bush has ignored the causes of the economic problems in this country and has chosen to throw billions of dollars at the result of the problems.  This is yet another failure feather George W. Bush can put in his hat.

It is going to take many years to recover from the financial impact of the bailouts and the Iraq War.  And this money will need to be replenished at a time when Social Security and Medicare are going broke.  This country is going downhill at full speed, and nobody has their hands on the wheel or foot on the brake.  And most taxpayers seem to have their heads in their asses and could care less.  Shame on those people!

Many citizens of this country can’t afford to pay their bills, let alone repay all this debt.  It’s time that Congress stepped in and demanded a halt to these bailouts.  This is the people’s money, and it should be spent on helping the people - not those that have screwed citizens.

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In yet another blow to the American economy, news reports indicate that Lehman Brothers will file for bankruptcy protection.

How a 158 year old company can go from a high flyer to a dud is simply unbelievable.  The greed that has gripped this country, the corporations, and the politicians, has reached an all time high.  Without the help of taxpayers, this country would be facing certain economic collapse.

Fortunately for taxpayers, the government (actually our tax dollars) will not bail out Lehman Brothers.  This is a good thing.  In a free marketplace, there needs to be failure which allows the marketplace to shift and fill in the void.  Unfortunately though, taxpayers are still on the hook for billions of dollars because of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts. Read the rest of this entry »

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Stretched to the point of breaking, many American citizens are coping with high fuel and food prices at a time that their largest investments (their homes) are shrinking in value.  Adding to this already stoked fire is the poor employment conditions.

Today, Government released statistics show that the unemployment rate rose from 5% in April to a whopping 5.5% in May.  This is the largest increase in unemployment since 1986.  In the month of May, employers cut 49,000 jobs.  So far this year, the United States of America has shed 324,000 jobs. Read the rest of this entry »

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