Friday, August 27, 2010

MSNBC, and other political stupidity

MSNBC says "Latest growth data show recovery losing momentum." What recovery? There's been no recovery. GDP growth of 1.6 percent is in reality no growth at all. But what do you expect from a network that is basically just left-wing talking points. They are still trying to paint Obama and the Dems in a positive light, but it won't work because we aren't that stupid out here as we cling to our guns and bibles. But then to be fair, I heard today on FoxNews that the "recovery" was slowing, so go figure. Maybe all "journalists" are clueless.
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Mona Charen, who was once a liberal, but then saw the light, writes:
President Obama has a weakness for thinking in categories. For someone who provokes swoons among liberals for his great intellect, he has repeatedly evidenced an unsophisticated, one might even say simple-minded, view of the world: Workers good; bosses exploitative. Borrowers good; lenders bad. Patients good; insurance companies bad. Again and again, the president and his spokesmen have justified their expansions of government power as efforts to help those who “through no fault of their own” find themselves in difficulties.

Many politicians traffic in this kind rhetoric during campaigns, but President Obama has institutionalized it in policy.
I agree with her. Most liberals process information in this manner. She goes on in her piece to describe another failed Obama program.
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Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md) thinks we're heading in the right direction.

Access to capital is key to small businesses growing and hiring new employees. That is why the House passed legislation like the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act and the Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act – bills that will give billions in private sector lending opportunities and lower taxes so entrepreneurs can attract capital and launch new companies.

Unfortunately, Senate Republicans are using procedural tactics to block these pro-growth initiatives. Both bills deserve an immediate up or down vote.

The HIRE Act also supports small businesses. It gives a payroll tax holiday to employers who hire people unemployed for more than 60 days. This law is expected to help businesses hire 300,000 workers. HIRE also funds a variety of projects that should ultimately allow small businesses to expand.
He obviously doesn't have the first clue about what businesses need to grow and hire employees. If I want business advice, I'm not going to listen to Washington, but maybe someone who runs Intel, like CEO Paul Otellini.

The Intel chief was harsh on the massive spending by the White House and Congress — and on the failure to extend the Bush tax cuts, the takeover of the health care industry, and the threat of new taxes on businesses to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

"I think this group does not understand what it takes to create jobs," he said. "And I think they're flummoxed by their experiment in Keynesian economics not working."

If America's ruling class keeps going down this road, "people will not invest in the United States. They'll invest elsewhere."
"I can tell you definitively that it costs $1 billion more per factory for me to build, equip and operate a semiconductor manufacturing facility in the U.S.," he said. And 90% of that added cost, he said, is due to taxes and regulations that other countries don't have.
Intel has $35 billion in sales and employs 80,000 people. He probably knows more about business that everyone in Washington combined.
Otellini isn't alone in his frustration.

Earlier in the week, Illinois Tool Works CEO David Speer, whose company employs 60,000 worldwide, laid out his dilemma — and that of hundreds of other CEOs: "I could borrow $2 billion tomorrow for 3 1/2%," Speer said. "But what am I going to do with it?"
The anger's been building. In June, Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon Communications and head of the Business Roundtable, warned of a growing anti-business slant in both Congress and the White House. Tax hikes, regulations and constant policy shifts, he said, "harm our ability ... to grow private-sector jobs in the U.S."
Businesses make investment decisions based on the outlook three, four, five, even 10 years down the road. Even with 3% money, they can't make projects pencil out. They're just too risky now.
So if this isn't enough to get you going, consider our EPA:
In yet another case of regulatory overreach, perfectly timed to further annoy the electorate, the EPA is considering a petition to completely ban lead hunting and target-shooting ammunition, under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Congress "explicitly excluded" ammunition from the 1976 Act, but the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) - a leading anti-hunting organization - has filed a petition which, if approved by the EPA, would result in the total ban of all lead ammunition, as well as lead fishing sinkers.
That ought to really help out Democrats in November.

Last, but not least, I like to read Charles Krauthammer and Thomas Sowell.  You should too:

Crying Bigotry: Last Refuge Of The Liberal
Liberalism under siege is an ugly sight indeed. Just yesterday it was all hope and change and returning power to the people. But the people have proved so disappointing. Their recalcitrance has, in only 19 months, turned the 40-year liberal ascendancy that James Carville predicted into a full retreat.

‘Moral’ Hazard in Politics
Government handouts encourage citizens to act less prudently.

Have a great weekend...

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