A Drop in the Bucket...

I head back to base in the morning after my all too brief stint of Recruiters Assistance.. believe me, it was a great vacation and just the thought of going back to the desert makes my heart drop.  I'm not sure when I'll be able to update this blog again but I'll try to make it a bit more regular, once or twice a month at the very least.  There shouldn't be a problem in accomplishing at least that much.  I know I haven't really kept up with my usual standards of thoroughness, and for that I sincerely apologize.  For now you'll just have to make do with my thoughts in a more raw form as opposed to my old posts which literally took me all day to do.  In any event lets get on with it, somehow it's already managed to get to be 1AM and I have quite a drive to get to in a few hours!

Deficits, Deficits and more Deficits..
It's becoming more and more clear that the Obama Presidency is not concerned with even entertaining the idea of fiscal responsibility.  The post WWII average of federal spending in relation to GDP is 18%, in the past five years we've bumped that up to 25%.  Is that all President Obama's fault? Of course not, the problem is that he seems intent on doubling down on the ill advised bailout mentality adopted at the end of the Bush era.  There's so much that I want to explain and expand on but since my mind is currently shutting down I'll just let Mr. Samuelson from the Washington Post do the grunt work for me.   Here is an excerpt from a piece he did on Monday, click here for the link.

"Two weeks before the House vote, the Congressional Budget Office released its estimate of Obama's budget, including its health-care program. From 2011 to 2020, the cumulative deficit is almost $10 trillion. Adding 2009 and 2010, the total rises to $12.7 trillion. In 2020, the projected annual deficit is $1.25 trillion, equal to 5.6 percent of the economy (gross domestic product). That assumes economic recovery, with unemployment at 5 percent. Spending is almost 30 percent higher than taxes. Total debt held by the public rises from 40 percent of GDP in 2008 to 90 percent in 2020, close to its post-World War II peak.

To criticisms, Obama supporters make two arguments. First, the CBO says the plan reduces the deficit by $143 billion over a decade. Second, the legislation contains measures (an expert panel to curb Medicare spending, emphasis on "comparative effectiveness research") to control health spending. These rejoinders are self-serving and unconvincing."

"Suppose the CBO estimate is correct. So? The $143 billion saving is about 1 percent of the projected $12.7 trillion deficit from 2009 to 2020. If the administration has $1 trillion or so of spending cuts and tax increases over a decade, all these monies should first cover existing deficits -- not finance new spending. Obama's behavior resembles a highly indebted family's taking an expensive round-the-world trip because it claims to have found ways to pay for it. It's self-indulgent and reckless."

Reckless is right.   The amount of debt that this administration is willing to put on the backs of the American public is almost as appalling as the audacity and temerity with which it was enacted. We already have hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities in the form of Medicare, Medicaid and the godfather of them all, Social Security.  It's a very poorly kept secret that all these programs are already broke or will be broke within the next few years and yet this administration chooses to add to the mess instead of realistically addressing the issue in terms of affordability and accountability.  Worse yet, they plan to fund this vast expansion of government into your life by yet another tax on investment of 3.8%.  So not only do you pay income taxes on the original principal, but also capital gains, dividends, more income tax on the back end and now a new medicare tax.. Come to America! We're business friendly!  Not quite.  The decisions being made in Washington have real implications in the real world, even if the ones in control don't seem to be aware of them.  Moody's Investors Service has been warning for awhile now that the US could lose it's AAA rating which would further confirm what the world already knows, the US can barely afford its current load of debt, adding yet another gargantuan entitlement program to the federal ledger might very well tip the scales.  Foreign investment is already down and interest rates on Treasury bonds are slowly creeping up to encourage investment.  But who would invest in a hostile business climate especially when it seems that at every turn taxes on business and the investment that funds it look skyward. 

In related news, the US government is not only interested in owning car companies, and banks, but they are now the only game in town as far as the college student loan market goes.  For the first time all student loans will originate, be guaranteed and serviced by the US government.  As we learned in the last post, government subsidies end up being the path to hell paved in good intentions.  In economic terms, it creates a malinvestment in the market by artificially lowering the price of something (housing anyone?) resulting in increased demand for something that eventually ends up in a bust when the reality of the situation sets in.  All the schemes set forth by Washington these past few years have been essentially propagating the concept of third party payer systems in multiple aspects of our daily lives.  In this case, it's education, but it's easy to draw a corollary to yet another untenable financial crisis somewhere along the path.  IF the government is willing, through Fanny and Freddy, to underwrite and renegotiate upside down mortgages to people who do not currently nor will they in a year have the money to afford their house; and the government is also willing to provide everyone with health insurance; why then, since they are now in charge of writing and servicing all student loans,  can't they provide everyone with money for a college education?  The answer quite simply is inflation.  Currently the way the politicians deal with this problem is raising taxes and monetizing the debt, not quite in the way a third world country does, yet; but it's along those same lines.  For everything there is a tipping point, and right now we have reached ours.  I don't think that even this President would be so bold as to take us that far, but clearly the concept is in horizon.

The interesting thing about it all is that the politicians in Washington, Republican and Democrat, seem to think the American public too dumb to know how to take care of our own houses, health care, vehicles or education but also think us responsible enough to decide on something as important as the definition of life: fetus or embryo.  I vote for forced sterilization of all national politicians, it might be pressing my luck but I wouldn't mind throwing in some of the douche bags from Sacramento as well..  Again, sorry for the delirious rambling, Goodnight.

Video/Audio Clip(s) of the Entry:

Like I said last entry, I'm totally into acoustic covers right now.. It doesn't hurt that there are some great Asian artists on YouTube that are sick with the guitar.. AND the ukulele!  I always thought this song should have been a duet.. 

I can't tell if you've noticed but besides the whole acoustic feel of the music so far there is a bit of a theme.  I sent this to my girl awhile back and it still rings true.  God I wish I was talented like this, I guess I'll just have to settle for sending my lady a link to a great Colby Caillat cover or something else similarly awesome.

Random Thoughts:

You run your fingers across my lips,
No I've never felt like this before, no, no..

I know I'm young but I know love,
And I'd know I know an angel if I saw one..

But I know very well,
Gentlemen don't kiss and tell,

And I promise I won't tell the world,
If you say you want to be my girl,
In your words..

I'm just a simple man, simple plans,
Good work, take care of my fam,
I'm sure you understand..

Because you're heaven sent, independent,
Do you think you need me?
I think I need you girl, baby cant you see?

But I know very well,
Gentlemen don't kiss and tell,
And I promise I wont tell the world,
If you say you want to be my girl,
In your own words..

Cards on the table,
Willing and able,
Stable, capable,
Of holding you down..
I'm just saying,
I'm not complaining your love is worth waiting for..

But I know very well,
Gentlemen don't kiss and tell,
And I promise I won't tell the world,
If you say you want to be my girl,
In your own words..
I'm not complaining,
Your love is worth waiting for...

Quote of the Entry:  "There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government. And that’s close to 40% of our national income."

-Milton Friedman, American Economist, Novelist and Nobel Prize Recipient (1919-2006)