Michael Ramirez is really sharp these days:

I’m somewhat at a loss at how we are officially reacting to events in Honduras.

I’m not sure if anyone is keeping score, but I would say that other than increasing government debt beyond belief the stimulus package as been a failure. Unfortunately we are going to have to sit back and watch GM and Chrysler (and all of the associated jobs) deconstruct under the Governments control. Let’s hope there is something left after the damage is done.

From ABC blog:

President Obama’s expressed hope today in his weekly address “that we can avoid the political posturing and ideological brinksmanship that has bogged down this (Supreme Court nomination) process, and Congress, in the past” runs against another historical first for the 44th president: his unique role in history as the first US President to have ever voted to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee.

From Byron York:

For some Republicans, however, it will be hard to avoid thinking back a few years, to a confirmation hearing that didn’t end happily at all.  In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated former Justice Department lawyer Miguel Estrada to a seat on the federal courts of appeals.  In that instance, as today, the nominee was was a Hispanic with a compelling story and impressive qualifications.  And some of the very people who are today praising Sotomayor spent their time devising extraordinary measures to kill Estrada’s chances.

Don’t expect to hear much about this though. It seems that these days, the media is moving lock step with the White House. I will not soon forget the bitter hatred that our last president endured.

I think the numbers speak for themselves. Don’t be fooled by the calm words of the media. Check the facts and act if you feel compelled.

From a casual inspection, it would seem that the US is on a path similar to that of Venezuela in recent years. Fueled by a low income political voting block, Hugo Chavez was elected in 1998. Since then there has been a steady move to silence political opponents and nationalize a majority of the nations industries (primarily energy and finance). Some would view that as a positive outcome, however my view is socialist governments rarely work on behalf of the people they profess to want to help. Not that the US is a truly free society, but its heritage is one of self-motivated people fueling growth through the power of invention. This is surely in danger of becoming a passing stage.

When I see speakers shouted down at universities or public figures dismissed as racist, it’s a red flag that signals troubled times ahead. When businesses are held hostage by politicians and are unable to function normally then we should be wary as our business might be next. Alas the stage is set and the crowd is coming. I fear we may already be closer than we thought.

On Wednesday (Tax Day in the US), Tea Parties were held in towns across the nation to protest the spending and taxing policies of the United States government. I took a couple hours from my day to drive down to the state capital to take part in the gathering. The group was a nice slice of the general population and was pretty similar to what you might see at an LSU football game (if you carried signs about taxation to football games). There were about 5 or 6 speakers while I was there (couldn’t see them due to the crowd) and they covered a wide range of the conservative political spectrum. I wasn’t particularly impressed with any of them with the exception of Matt Kennedy from WGBO. He’s a well spoken guy that seemed to have good things to say. The others didn’t have a coherent message and seemed to jump from hot button to hot button.

The most common question that I’ve heard about the tea parties is whether they will make a difference. I would say that they have already caused a few people to take the first step toward involvement, so that’s a pretty big deal. They’ve also put the politicians on notice that people are watching (which they really hate). So it was definitely worthwhile. In a general sense, politicians work with a list of priorities and this helps them to place more weight on reducing the spending and therefore eventually, hopefully reducing taxes. Just a balanced budget would be a huge improvement.

After 22 years of being a Republican, I now consider myself an independent. There really isn’t a major political party that I can call my own. The spending policies of George W. Bush and the Republican controlled Congress from 2004-2006 really showed their true colors in refusing to balance the budget and increasing domestic spending. The Obama administration and the Democratic controlled Congress is now set to triple the size of the deficit and double the size of domestic spending. This in itself is particular damaging and I think this is the reason that I and others were motivated to act.

All in all a nice day. Beautiful weather, a nice location and a lot of friendly people. Next time, take a vacation day and spend part of it with the other right wing extremists.

One side note: It’s telling how the national media has potrayed (mocked really) the Tea Parties. If you are a conservative, you should vote with your viewership. Refuse to watch those channels and hopefully they will driven off the air. Perhaps the BBC would be a good options as they are less biased than our own media.

Second side note: The following is the lamest statement that I heard from a politician (from 2thadvocate):

U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, participated in a gathering held in Alexandria. Similar events took place in Shreveport and Winnfield.

“I participated because I don’t want anybody saying I’m not for lower taxes,” Alexander said. “I don’t know what good these things do but I think it’s good for people to come out and express their frustration.”

Wow! Does that sound like a politician or what?

After so much effort to promote social items at most schools, we’ve forgotten the core material. It’s nice to see the Governor’s wife pick up on it. The local newspaper has the story: Supriya Jindal Promotes Math, Science. A good dose of math and science goes a long way. Mmmm… mmm.

It’s not that they had a very positive outcome, but the bailouts have taken hold. They’ve taken hold of the government and focused them on all the wrong things. We now have the President of the United States requesting that CEOs of businesses step down and telling them how to run their operations. You’ve got Congress holding hearing about the payment of executives. So now we have people who most likely have no background in finance or automobiles (other than owning one) making decisions about what steps will bring success in those businesses. Doesn’t seem that efficient (or smart) to me and I fully expect us (tax payers) to be further in the hole before they figure out that bankruptcy would have been better. It’s a real shame that instead of taking care of serious budget issues (like why it is so bad to have extremely large deficits as far as the eye can see), you have these silly antics (like CEO firings) that cheapen the government and make them look more like Chávez in Venezuela.

You want some examples of quasi-governmental businesses? How about the USPS. Is that an organization that is a model of efficiency? How about Amtrak? What about the big monopolies (not governmental, but close cousins) such as the utility companies? They really aren’t that much better, but they at least have to answer to stock holders and board of directors first. It’s so painfully obvious that you hate to even have to write about. Well hold onto your hats (and probably wallets as well) people… it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Michael Ramirez has a great cartoon that somewhat relates to this:

Scott Adams isn’t always on the mark, but he hits the mark a lot more than he misses. This one doesn’t really let the corporate fat cat off the hook, but it does call out the hypocritical politician that frustrates everyone.

Now that the $787 billion stimulus bill has been signed, the President is now pushing for a $275 billion housing bailout bill. In addition there is talk of a secondary (which would be the third counting Bush’s) stimulus bill. I didn’t agree with the first one by Bush and I don’t think that these will be good in the long term. With the huge amounts of cash that will be printed by the Treasury, you can expect a very high level of inflation in the coming years (9-18 months out). On top of that, don’t expect the stock market (which is tanking in the lower 7000 range) to improve dramatically anytime soon. This isn’t a reason to cower in fear, but it is a wake up call to get our individual financial matters in order. Getting cash flow in hand is job one.

So why is the stimulus not going to work? It will not work effectively because it throws money at the problem. It spends money for the sake of spending without targeting growth areas. On top of that, it should have been based around tax breaks instead of spending. Tax breaks put money into the hands of those that increase the GDP instead of money in the hands of those that drag down the GDP. It may not be the feel good thing, but it is the economically sound thing. All those corporations that the national Democrats demonized during the Bush years are the ones that employ people. It would seem that we are finding out what happens when they don’t make those profits. It will not be pretty.

On the political front, we’ve had our vote. President Obama and the Democrats have the reigns in guiding the economy. This is their ship now and I’m getting my lifeboat ready. I sincerely hope that I’m wrong, but I’ll hope for the best while planning for the worst.