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  • Monthly Archives: February 2009

    Buy the Rumor, Sell the News

    Americans have long viewed the Dow Jones as an index of measure when it came to the general economy. While it is by no means a perfect measure of the economy, it sits in its own highlighted box on all of the major news channels for a reason. Because Americans assess our economic strength by this average, it may be telling to see how it performs in certain situations. Earlier this week in The Hill, Dick Morris said of President Obama: President Obama, in his pursuit of liberal big-government spending, has … More

    President Obama Takes the Middle Road on Iraq Troop Drawdown

    Today President Barack Obama unveiled his Iraq policy in a speech at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He announced that he will pull out U.S. combat forces by the end of August 2010, but will retain a “transitional force” of 35,000 to 50,000 personnel (compared to the 142,000 there now) that will pursue a “new strategy” of undertaking a gradual transition to full Iraqi responsibility. This “new strategy” appears to be similar to the Bush Administration plans for Iraq in many respects, although the pace of troop withdrawals may be accelerated … More

    Breaking Down the Energy Budget

    Looking at the energy sections of the budget blueprint released Thursday, two themes come to mind. Theme #1 Let’s give The Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) more money. DOE’s budget for the fiscal year 2009 is just shy of $34 billion, up dramatically from $24.1 billion for 2008. Part of this is due to some of the $39 billion provided to the DOE in the 2009 stimulus bill signed by President Obama, but that $39 billion will be spent over the next several years. The EPA’s … More

    Teamsters and Congress Deliver Costly Protectionism

    Fears that pro-Teamster protectionists in Congress would seek to kill the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Cross Border Demonstration Project”, that has allowed a carefully selected group of Mexican trucking operators full access to the U.S. road network have been realized. The Supplemental FY 2009 Omnibus spending bill (aka “Porkulus II”) that is currently being rushed through Congress by the Democrats contains sections (SEC. 135) that impose onerous new safety inspection requirements on the Mexican carriers as well as (Sec. 136) directly barring new funding for the USDOT pilot program. Since it is … More

    A Ray of Hope for the British Armed Forces

    There’s not been a lot of good news for, or about, the British armed forces recently. When the Economist asked, in its Jan. 29, 2009 issue, if the Army was losing its way, the story’s lead summed up their answer: “The British army suffers from lack of soldiers, lack of money and lack of conviction.” And that was putting an optimistic spin on things: in reality, the situation was a good deal worse than the Economist allowed. There’s no reason to be happy about the recession. But you know what … More

    Unexportable Jobs

    Here is a quote from the President’s new budget (emphasis added): “If we lead the world in the research and development of clean energy technology, we can create a whole new industry with high-paying jobs that cannot be shipped overseas. Some compare the promise of this sector to information technology.” “High-paying jobs that cannot be shipped overseas,” is a mantra of the left. It is an entirely bogus claim and even if it weren’t, it would be a bad idea. First, developing technology in the USA doesn’t guarantee that the … More

    Obama Tax Proposals: Danger Ahead for Charities and Civil Society

    Here’s a test: Guess who made most of the charitable contributions in 2006, according to the most recent data available from the Internal Revenue Service? If you guessed “taxpayers with high incomes”, you’d win the prize. Now, guess which class of taxpayers the Obama administration wants to discourage from making charitable contributions. If you guessed “taxpayers with high incomes”, you just won again. The new Obama budget for Fiscal Year 2010 proposes that Congress reduce the tax deduction for charitable contributions by high income taxpayers. That worries many charities who … More

    Conventional Wisdom and the ISO

    As conventional wisdom reminds us: You are known by the company you keep. So what is one to make of the AFL-CIO and Jobs with Justice, two labor-movement heavyweights, allying themselves with the International Socialist Organization (ISO)? According to the ISO’s North Texas branch, last night, the AFL-CIO and Jobs with Justice met with the ISO tonight to discuss “why we need the [Employee Free Choice Act] and how we can win it.” After all, the ISO hardly seems like the type of group Big Labor would want to have … More

    President Obama’s Budget: A Better Magic Show Than Las Vegas

    Classic Tax and Spend Budget Increase, Raise and Hike: The President’s budget proposal increases taxes by $1.3 trillion; raises entitlement spending by $700 billion (including the health care fund), and hikes discretionary spending by a steep 12%. Creating Deficits, Not Eliminating Them: Given the budget deficit has already quadrupled in one year, the President’s pledge to halve it by 2013 is hardly ambitious. Even with the assumption of peace and prosperity, the 2013 budget deficit target of $533 billion would exceed any under President Bush. Taxes Spent: Before the recession, … More

    The EPA, the Budget and Global Warming

    President Obama released his budget blueprint yesterday. Titled, “The New Era of Responsibility,” the full 140-page blueprint, broken down by department, can be found here. The Environmental Protection Agency’s budget, which balloons from $7.8 billion in 2009 to $10.5 billion in 2010, includes the following paragraph: After enactment of the Budget, the Administration will work expeditiously with key stakeholders and Congress to develop an economy-wide emissions reduction program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions approximately 14 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and approximately 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. … More