“Hard Choices.” Are you kidding me?

In the midst of one of the most challenging economic situations in our history and with a deficit that will far surpass any previous budget, the president is proposing a new, huge, long-term spending that will do absolutely nothing to cure this economic flue. He has proposed a $634 billion health care plan as a “down payment” on universal health care despite having to make some “hard choices” – including tax increases to pay for it. See the story here.

Now is not the time to tax us more. Nor it is the time to spend where it won’t benefit the economy. Unlike the federal assistance to banks, the health care proposal is a permanent governmental entitlement that will only grow bigger over time. There is no economic stabilization effect in this spending. There is no potential for a return on an investment. It simply expands an already nearly unbelievable budget deficit.

And health care spending is just the most recent episode of Democrats Gone Wild on spending issues. Obviously seeing the economic meltdown as an excuse to spend like drunken sailors, the Democrats’ economic stimulus bill authorized spending everything from another $50 million on the National Endowment for the Arts to another $50 million to improve information technology security at the Department of Health and Human Services. Exactly what does that stimulate?

At the same time, Mr. Obama promises to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first time. Please, Mr. Obama, don’t insult us by thinking we’d believe that for a second. There is absolutely no possible way that can happen (with or without any fuzzy math). And for anyone who believes the budget deficit will be any less in four years, I have a few cold fusion reactors I’d like to sell you.

Dodd the Dodo

When I first heard that Sen. Chris Dodd was talking about nationalizing banks, I thought it was hyperbole. How could anyone even talk about socializing the banking system? Well, I've now learned that I should never be surprised by the complete lunacy of some Democratic lawmakers (I'd call him an idiot, but that would be insulting to us idiots). Keep in mind that this guy is the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, for crying out loud.

So here are the details. In sum, Dodd would "temporarily" take over banks like Citi and Bank of America. Brilliant, Chrissy. Feed the panic even more. with irresponsible statements that send bank stocks into a tailspin on concerns of a government take over. See story here. Thank goodness that BofA, Obama and even Barney Frank were quick to denounce such an idea.

My comments on the folly of nationalization, even a "temporary" nationalization, are over on Too Conservative, but, in a nutshell, it would put legitimate, stable privately-owned banks at a severe disadvantage with government-funded banks that neither seek to make a profit nor care about losses.

Dodd's is perhaps the most idiotic, selfish statement I have ever heard an elected representative make - and that includes Eugene Delgaudio (which is saying something).

This Just In:

So big news about a big gamma ray blast. Of course, it happened 12 billion years ago. Good thing we have CNN to keep us on top of things today.

Huge gamma-ray blast spotted 12.2 bln light-years from earth
Thu Feb 19, 3:58 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US space agency's Fermi telescope has detected a massive explosion in space which scientists say is the biggest gamma-ray burst ever detected, a report published Thursday in Science Express said.
The spectacular blast, which occurred in September in the Carina constellation, produced energies ranging from 3,000 to more than five billion times that of visible light, astrophysicists said.

Read the rest here

"A Nation of Cowards"

When one is villified as a racist when using timely events in a political satire (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090218/ap_en_ot/ny_post_cartoon), what do you expect, Mr. Holder (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090219/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/holder_race_16)? The irony, of course, being that the stories appeared together on the same Yahoo! News page.

And, by the way, thank you, Mr. Holder, for calling us a "nation of cowards." With a leader like that, who needs enemies?

Where is the hope? Where is the change? What happened to "Yes, We Can?"

Apparently, Hope is dead as President Obama repeatedly has tried to lower expectations that his administration can end the recession any time soon. Yes, he's thrown out billions (if not trillions) of new spending on a strictly partisan basis, but don't get your hopes up. Economists don't have much hope http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/62082.html, but, even more importantly, neither does the president. Repeatedly we hear from him that his economic program will not be enough, and repeatedly we hear from him how bad off the economy is.

Obama is, understandably, trying to lower the public's expectations, but it is precisely his negative, can't-do attitude that lowers consumer confidence and further depresses the economy. Indeed, Obama's statements, while perhaps true, are nonetheless self-serving and selfish. The president is the nation's cheerleader-in-chief. He should not sugar-coat the problems of the nation, but he certainly should not exacerbate them, either.

Stimulus.virginia.gov

Apparently, the Virginia governor is just as clueless about how to cure the economy as Congress, the president and the Treasury secretary. The one honorable thing about Timmy K, though, is that he apparently admits it.

Stimulus.virginia.gov is a government website that allows you to enter your favorite pork project for consideration. It has nothing to do with the highest and best use of your money in getting us out of this economic mess. It's just more spending -- plain and simple.

My suggestion: give it all to me and let me decide. My second choice: apple fritters once a week for every person in the Commonwealth.

Those suggestions are about as good as any they'll get.

Make More Bad Loans?

Stressing that we “must get credit flowing again to businesses and families,” Treasury Secretary Geithner will now require recipients of TARP money to increase their lending activity and report to Treasury monthly on how their acceptance of TARP money “generate new lending” His remarks, released yesterday, are here

Do more lending? Are you kidding me? Banks are in the business of lending money, and will do so when it makes sense to do so (that is, they’ll lend when they have a good chance of getting it back). That’s the profit motive at work. Unfortunately, this whole mess is because banks got it wrong and lent money to people they shouldn’t have. We don’t need the Treasury now forcing banks to make new loans the banks wouldn’t otherwise make. I mean really. The problem isn’t people not being able to borrow money. The problem is getting people to spend money.

Enough of Bi-Partisanship!

Everyone talks "bi-partisanship" which really means that they just want the other side to come around to their way of thinking. If they don't then the opponent is simply labeled a partisan.

How about this - non-partisanship? What do you say, Congress, about doing what is best for the country regardless of who proposed it or supports it?

Bail Out, Part 2

I strongly supported the first bailout bill. Without some way of shoring up the banks, the economic system was certain to fail.

The problem was that we the taxpayers cut a blank check for $750 billion - and we got just what we deserved for such idiocy. Treasury does an about-face on whether the funds would be used for purchasing troubled mortgage assets, but, what's worse, the banks were, quite literally, told by Assistant Secretary Kashkari that it was their "patriotic duty" to take TARP funds. Some banks stepped up and took the money. Now, they're finding out that they really stepped in it with the new strings like limits on executive pay

TARP II is even worse. Rather than directing the funds to avoiding an outright economic collapse, the program is just throwing money at anything that will take it. It's a congressional free-for-all with pet projects galore. Congressional leaders on both sides are right in more closely taking a look at this version. As the saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you . . . "

First Post

Brace yourself world, here comes Lloyd the Idiot!