This is probably why I'm not a wealthy politician...

Image: The Blog Prof

Now let me get this straight.  The Fed is going to buy SIX HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS worth of Treasury Bills that we can't sell on the open market because face it, the world doubts we'll make good on them.

UPDATE:  make that NINE HUNDRED BILLION

So we're buying our own debt that we very possibly will never recover even from ourselves, by printing money we don't have with nothing behind it, and this is going to improve the economy HOW?

Merlin Froyd on the Economy

A simple economic primer for Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats...

...who obviously desperately need one:

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS DO NOT CREATE WEALTH. GOVERNMENT BENEFITS DO NOT CREATE WEALTH.

I know, it's a shock,but bear with me...

First off, unless they run gold mines or oil wells (okay, let's not think about the latter), governments have no wealth of their own.

All the 'wealth' a government has comes from, is taken from, its citizens,whether in the form of taxes, fees, eminent domain appropriations,White House shakedowns, etc.  Governments can print money but that no more constitutes creating wealth than xeroxing a rental agreement makes someone a building contractor.

Now a government may choose to pass some of that money back to people other than those they took it from, whether you call that 'social justice','spreading the wealth', 'buying votes', whatever, so those recipients can spend it.  In other words, those people are putting wealth back into the economy that the government took out of it in the first place, and which would already have been in the economy if the government had just left it there.

Well and good,but a huge portion of that wealth never makes it back into the economy.  Take for example federal unemployment benefits.  First you have the expense of extracting that money in the first place, incurred by the IRS that collects the taxes, and the federal departments that impose the fees, and the Congress and Administration that enact the taxes and fees.  A sizable proportion of every dollar the government takes out of the economy disappears right here.  Then there is the expense of the state administrations the remaining money is passed on to, Another piece disappears. Then there is expense of the city administrations the state passes some portion of the remainder onto.  Another piece disappears.  And every missing penny goes into the hands of people who do nothing but pass that shriveling dollar from hand to hand. They don't make things, fix things, sell things.  They just compete to buy things with the people who do. And their demand (backed by wealth extracted from the economy without service or creation) competes with the demand of the people who genuinely do create wealth, for the same goods, raising their cost to everyone.

Meanwhile, the people who are supposed to be helped by this benefit are getting only the few leftover pennies that filter through the governent... in much the same way grass filters through a cow.

Wealth is not created. It is only moved around, and in the process too much of it is turned to crap for government benefits to ever work.

Thousands Flee Administration Press Conference As Treasury Department Economic Model Works Perfectly...

Think the Economy's Getting Better?

Pixar Icon Bankrupt, 

Evicted from L.A. Townhouse!

Huzzah! Obama's Economy Has Turned the Corner!

Got news for ya.  When the damn smut peddlers have to hold clearance sales, you are not looking at a vibrant and healthy economy... I mean let's face it, you are talking about the ultimate in discretionary income here.*

*Seriously.  Would you want to be seen spending it?  That's where the discretion comes in...

Obama proposes Domestic Economic Summit. Merry Christmas!

Obama to call domestic economic summit of business, labor, government and wonks in December.

HT: Paco Enterprises

"Obama said the White House forum will gather CEOs, small business owners, economists, financial experts and representatives from labor unions and nonprofit groups "to talk about how we can work together to create jobs and get this economy moving again."

"We all know that there are limits to what government can and should do, even during such difficult times. But we have an obligation to consider every additional, responsible step that we can take to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country," he said."

Likely outcomes of domestic economic summit:

(from most to least possible)

Business leaders, left, stand up at Obama

domestic economic summit

1. Obama signs executive order banning "right to work legislation." Makes wearing a SEIU armband mandatory for all citizens as sign of 'economic unity'.

2. Obama deeds Texas and Tennessee to California and Michigan to increase their revenue base. Mississippi and Alabama suddenly become top economic growth states in nation.

3. Through a White House 'screw-up with the invitations,' business leaders and experts actually critical of government policies actually show up. Not wasting a crisis, the Administration uses the chance to identify which business leaders and wonks are willing to stand up to Obama. New Czars are appointed specifically to regulate their industries and Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod are instructed to coordinate the media/MoveOn campaign to villify the opponents.

4. When Jake Tapper tries to interview business leaders storming out of the meeting, he is accidentally run over by a SEIU-driven garbage truck.

5. An asteroid hits DC during the summit and the economy is saved.

Demon Beast Recession!

Face it, when you've lost the Japanese cartoon pornographers, you've lost America...


Not even remotely safe for work...



This is either gonna get a huge laugh or I'm deeply screwed...

UPDATE: Every once in awhile this species does something to keep me interested. I haven't received one complaint from any conservative about using porn for political agitprop, but I DID receive the following from a tentacle anime fan:

BWAHAAAAHHHAAAHAAA! ! heheeee... guess your not screwed. but next time put a political content warning to cover your bases.

So conservatives don't care about my porn but the pornographers are worried about my politics...

If the Los Angeles Times Covered Fires the Way It Covered Obama's Economy...

Actually saw the fire come over the ridgeline driving home Sunday night. It was as though the devil had taken his finger and just drawn a line of flame along the hills; it was that smooth and that fast.

Of course the letters page of the Times is full of people wondering when the 'teabaggers' are going to protest spending so much money fighting the fires, or blaming the arson-caused fire on global warming.

With a track record like this, how can you not trust the government to fix the economy?

From Gary and Connie, via Duane Buckley:

The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 - they've had 234 years to get it right; it is broke, and even though heavily subsidized, it can't compete with private sector FedExp and UPS services. The U.S. Postal Service will lose over $7 BILLION this year and will require yet another "bailout."

Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - they've had 71 years to get it right; it is broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; it is broke. Together Fannie and Freddie have now led the entire world into the worst economic collapse in 80 years.

The War on Poverty was started in 1964 - they've had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our hard earned money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked.

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - they've had 44 years to get it right; they are both broke; and now our government dares to mention them as models for all US health care.

AMTRAK was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; last year they bailed it out as it continues to run at a loss!

This year, a trillion dollars was committed in the massive political payoff called the Stimulus Bill of 2009; it shows NO sign of working; it's been used to increase the size of governments across America, and raise government salaries while the rest of us suffer from economic hardships. It has yet to create a single new private sector job. Our national debt projections (approaching $10 trillion) have increased 400% in the last six months.

"Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009 - - after 80% of the cars purchased turned out to be produced by foreign companies, and dealers nationwide are buried under bureaucratic paperwork demanded by a government that is not yet paying them what was promised.

So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that each and every "service" shoved down our throats by an over-reaching government turns into disaster, how could any informed American trust our government to run or even set policies for America's health care system - - 17% of our economy?

Maybe each of us has a personal responsibility to let others in on this brilliant record before 2010, and then help remove from office those who are voting to destroy capitalism and destroy our grandchildren's future.

You might be an Obama Voter ...

...if this billboard makes sense to you.

Look. It isn't hard. You BORROWED the money. IT ISN'T YOUR MONEY. It's the lender's. And if you spend the money, whatever you spent it on is ALSO the lender's until you pay the money back as you AGREED to. That is how mortgages and loans WORK.

What part of this is difficult to understand?

Yet if you watch daytime television or listen to radio, you are bombarded with ads like the above, that suggest you are being victimized because the people who gave you money in good faith object to your welshing on your agreement. Most of these ads are from law firms and financial companies who specialize in whatever the latest financial hustle is, whether it's signing you up for credit cards you really don't qualify for or high-interest 'payday advance' loans or subprime mortgages you can't afford to pay back. Most of these ads these days openly use Obama's name to tell you that it's your 'right' to force your lender to write off some or all of the money you borrowed.

Now seriously, what do you think their incentive is to lend in the future? What do you think YOUR chances of getting financing are in the future when a lender pulls up your credit check and sees you took advantage of these 'services'? Makes you look like a reliable candidate for a loan, doesn't it?

Would You Buy A Used Economy From This Man?

It's all about the dignity of the office...

Los Angeles Housing Rebound Perhaps Tad Overstated...

I'm just sayin'...

This Week's Protest Signs

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Breaking Auto News!

From Paxety.com

By Juan Paxety on June 2nd, 2009

In his speech about the GM bankruptcy yesterday, President Barack Obama (from the New York Times) said:

And that’s why I’m calling on Congress to pass fleet modernization legislation that can provide a credit to consumers who turn in old cars and purchase cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars. (emphasis added)

Turn in old cars. It’s long been a talking point of liberals and environmentalists that cars older than a given age should be removed from the highways. The usual mantra goes “The government should buy all cars older than X and pay the owner $750. Then the owner could go out and buy a newer, cleaner, more efficient car.” The advocates for this position either fail or refuse to understand that the owners will not be able to find a car to buy with their $750. Basic economics.

President Obama used the words “turn in” not “trade in.” He will give folks a credit - I suppose that means an income tax credit - for doing this. This sounds like the used cars will go to the government and be removed from the market. No more used cars. You either buy an expensive putt-putt new car, or you go without. It appears that he’s set out to destroy the used car market.

NEW FROM GM.GOV!

IT'S OUR PRESIDENT'S DAY

NO MONEY DOWN,

NO PAYMENTS

EVER

SALE!

"That's right, citizens! Turn in your clunky old car and we will GIVE you a brand-new General Motors automobile of your choice -- with NO credit check, NO money down and NO payments, EVER!

"How can we do this, you ask! That's EASY! You come into your local GM.gov dealership, pick up your free car, and we make SOMEONE ELSE pay for it! That's right! Somewhere out there is a Republican with a job and a dollar in his pocket, and as your President I promise you I WILL GET THAT DOLLAR!

"So act now! This offer is for a limited time only, as our Canadian and Mexican parts suppliers are getting antsy about offering us credit. So BUY TODAY! It's not like it costs you anything! It's only money!

"Someone ELSE's money..."