With the free market, we consumers have the power to financially boycott a particular company if we are not satisfied with their prices and/or services; therefore, wouldn’t it stand to reason, if the federal government is so insistent on taking over our free market system of commerce, then shouldn’t we, the consumers, have the power to financially boycott the federal government as well, if we are not satisfied with their prices and/or services?

We, as citizens of The United States, now have two very large powers that we often take for granted: One is the ability to vote for the candidates that we feel best represents our interests, and the other is the power to purchase, or not purchase from a particular merchant if we are not happy with their prices or services. If we, collectively, bond together, we can actually force prices to go down, if we decided not to purchase from a particular merchant.

Now, if the government (hypothetically) were to takeover the business of health care in this country, and is taking our money, via income tax, what recourse do we have if we are not satisfied with the services that are being provided?

In the free market, you have discretionary spending, and through income tax, sadly, you would be considered breaking the law, if you decided that you don’t want to participate in a federally mandated program, and refuse to pay taxes.

Of course, everyone can draw their own conclusions, but as for me, I’d rather retain my rights to continue or end a service, at any given time.

In a nation such as ours, we are very blessed, and should be careful “not” to take our freedoms for granted; they can be here today and gone tomorrow.

Mark

Below is George Soros, the international currency speculator, speaking to Yahoo Finance, in regards to the dollar, and other foreign currencies…

Soros on the Dollar, Euro @ Yahoo! Video

I realize that a lot of people in our country (today) are freaked out and confused by this ridiculous, and unprecedented spending in Washington D.C as of late. If you are, it is OK, you are not alone…I am also very concerned, and a bit freaked out by it as well; especially with reputable economists talking about the very good possibilities of hyper-inflation, soring interest rates, and ultimately the devaluing of United States currency.

For anyone that has not really given this kind of spending, any real serious thought, I would like you to please consider a few things…

The Iraq war costs approximately 10 billion dollars a month…while that alone is an enormous amount of (tax payer) spending,  the federal government, on February 17, 2009, signed into law, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which conveniently started out being sold as The Stimulus Bill. That one bill was for the monumental amount of 787 billion dollars…

According to my calculations, that would be 78 months of funding for The Iraq War; which amounts to 6.5 years, and roughly the cost of the entire war thus far. So, was that bill (monetarily) a bit unprecedented? Let’s not leave out the interest… it is estimated that the total cost, with interest, is approximately 1.4 trillion dollars…

Estimates say, that amounts to $30,000 per household…Can anyone think of a few other ways that our federal government (or we the tax payers) could have utilized that money?

Well, China holds approximately 763 billion dollars of United States Treasury Securities; which in short, is our government’s debt to foreign countries. Perhaps paying off our debt to China, “may” have been “one” of the several prudent things that the federal government could have done. 

Now, for a moment, let’s stop and ponder what a trillion dollars really is…

• If you had one thousand dollars ($1,000), 1,000 times over, you would then have one million dollars ($1,000,000)

• If you had one million dollars ($1,000,000), 1,000 times over, you would then have one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000)

• If you had one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000), 1,000 times over, you would then have one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000)

During these uncertain times, there are many differences of opinions about how our country got to this point, and to the direction that  our country should go in moving forward. However, I am certain of one thing, we all want this economy to improve, and this terrible recession to end.

I am not an economist, nor am I really a partisan when it comes to politics, but I have been forced over the last year to think about economic matters a lot, and would like to share some of my insights…

I have heard, on several occasions, that upward of two thirds of the economy is based on consumer confidence and spending;  that being the case, to “really” boost consumer confidence and spending, I would think that one of two things need to happen…either all goods and services would need to collectively drop in cost, or all consumers in The United States would need to collectively get a raise in income, so that they have more money to spend. Is either one or both of these two things possible?

Let’s first consider this…the federal government, on February 17, 2009, signed into law, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which started out as The Stimulus Bill. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act…it actually sounds kind of good on the surface, doesn’t it? I mean, what American doesn’t want to see investment in their own country? Our great country certainly deserves investment into infrastructure and some other things that have withered over time. When this bill was being debated, it was asked, how much of this 787 billion dollar bill would actually be stimulative? I thought that this was a great question, and my answer to that question was, “not a whole lot”.

For a moment, consider this…if you took a handful of darts, and all at once, threw them at a dartboard, how many of those darts would actually stick to the dartboard, let alone hit the bull’s eye? The current administration often used the term shovel ready; even if the project was permitted, designed, reviewed, re-visioned and approved; and all of the other red tape that goes along with major infrastructure projects, making it shovel ready, generally construction projects last for a period of time, then the people that worked on those projects, are often once again laid off; therefore, any job creation, or stimulative effects would be of a short term nature, in a so-called shovel ready project.

Let’s now go back to consumer spending and confidence…In the past, we have received stimulus checks (in the mail) from the government, for a few hundred bucks. While money is always welcome in my mailbox, I personally would have preferred the government to keep that money in The Treasury, in case of a national emergency, as I saw very little stimulative effect that would really come from it. In fact, it has been shown that most people either saved that money, or paid down some personal debt, and very little was pumped into the economy.

I think that the use of these small scale and non-stimulative rebate checks have been used by many as an argument against tax cuts. I do not believe that a small scale, one time rebate check will ever do much to stimulate the economy, however, I would like to see a complete tax holiday, eliminating income tax, sales tax, corporate taxes, and any other taxes for a specified amount of time, or until the economy gets back on it’s feet.

So let’s look at some facts…

• We know that consumer confidence and spending is a large key to economic growth.
• We know when people have a sustained raise of income, they have more money that they can rely on, and more money to spend.
• We know that if sales tax is suspended for a period of time, then people will be much more inclined to go spend more, which in return would create profits for businesses all around.
• We know if corporate tax is suspended, or lowered significantly, that companies will also have more money to retain and hire employees; and hopefully to invest into new business; not to mention the new businesses that may flock to The United States as a result of a low corporate tax.

Daniel Hannan is a British politician, and Member of The European Parliament (MEP), who represents South East England for the Conservative Party, laid into Prime Minister Gordon Brown on his enormous amount of government spending during this economic downturn in England.

I think that his direct speech to the prime minister was absolutely brilliant. I believe that someone needs be as frank with our president, as their unbelievable spending in D.C., as of late, can very well put us on a similar path, if the spending brakes are not put on soon.

In my opinion, Daniel Hannan is an English patriot.

Mark

Has anyone heard of Neil Barofsky?

As most people know by now, Henry Paulson (our former Treasury Secretary) came to Congress, late in September, of 2008, requesting 700 billion dollars to buy troubled assets from banks, as the economy was appearing to slow down tremendously; at least this was what we were told.

Not long after the funds were approved by Congress, Paulson changed the focus from troubled assets, to buying preferred stocks from these banks, claiming that this would infuse capital into the banks, and they would begin lending again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paulson

Neil Barofsky is the Inspector General of The TARP funds, and is saying that he will get to the bottom of this. I saw him on a TV interview, and he sounded sincere; I am totally behind him, and hope that he will bring justice, and answers to the people of this country.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Barofsky

So far, Barofsky said that he has received 17 responses, out of the 350 that have received TARP funds.

It will be interesting to watch how this plays out.

Mark

So, after that decision by President Bush, Pandora’s box was effectively opened; however, our new president, and The Congress certainly could have put the brakes on, stepped back, and re-thought this entire bailout disaster, and so-called stimulus package.

However, instead of rationalizing it, they affectively double downed on the tax payer money that President Bush allowed to be spent. Now, after spending more tax payer money then ever, in the history of this country; money greater then the entire economy of many countries; President Obama is going to start preaching about fiscal responsibility?

Alrighty then!

And, how does the president plan to knock down the national debt as much as he is claiming? Could it potentially be by raising our taxes? Hmmm, if so, that would be very interesting to see the reaction on the faces of American citizens.

So, against the will of approximately 50% of The American citizens, our government still spent an unprecedented amount of tax payer dollars, and they are “not” done yet. I can not even begin to imagine the reaction, if the government comes back to us, to help pay for their irresponsibility; not to mention the hyper-inflation that “may” occur as a result of this madness.

Perhaps the government should finish this “Fiscal Irresponsibility Summit” first, before convening another summit.

You know, tonight, I think I will go out, eat two gallows of ice cream, loaded with hot fudge; then in the morning, I will go preach to people about cutting calories.

Simply beyond belief!

As hard as it may be, and as desperate as they might be, I am very happy to hear that some governors may refuse the federal funding from this so-called stimulus package.

Some, apparently seem to be having the wisdom to realize that “nothing” is free, and there will likely be strings attached.

As we have seen with these large companies, by taking (tax payer) money from the government, they are now effectively handcuffed. I personally think that the states should try to be as fiscally independent as possible, from the federal government.

Here is some very good analysis by Brit Hume…

Mark

OMG!

I am not sure if this is hypocrisy, or being completely out of touch.

This is N.Y. Senator Charles Shumer, speaking out about how the chattering class doesn’t care about these little (spending) additions, tossed in, in the silence of the night, under the radar, and unannounced to The American people, whom he so eloquently labeled as the chattering class.

The chattering class? So, are we suppose to be good little citizens, fold our hands, and keep our mouths shut? I think not! We have remained silent for too long! I for one am proud, and excited by the bloggers, and so called chattering class that are demanding reform, and transparency from this government.

I do care about “all” Americans and how their tax dollars are spent; and for the senator to suggest that we do not care, is beyond belief to me.

It is just beyond belief!

I would also like to thank the senator, because it is comments like that, that cause me to want to chat five times more.

I, for one, will continue to write, until the necessary change takes place, or by some miracle, this government decides to wise up.

Mark

Well, this (787 billion dollar) bill has been signed into law. I wish that I could be more enthusiastic about it, however, I do feel as though (once again) our leaders have made so many mistakes on this one.

For anyone interested, here is President Barack Obama’s weekly Web Address on The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; formerly known as The Stimulus package.

Mark

Well, the sideshow continues on…

The House Financial Services Committee (On Wed.) grilled The bank CEOs that took the money from the original TARP Fund, and greatly misused these funds. Also, we still do not know precisely how these funds were used; however, we do know that the money is not really flowing through the system.

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/02/11/live-blogging-the-wall-street-ceos-grilling-on-capitol-hill/?mod=googlenews_wsj 

So, what do they do going forward? That is simple, give them more TARP money.  

That is correct, according to Turbo Tax Tim, another $165 billion of TARP money will likely go to a lot of these same banks that were living large from the last injection of tax payer funds.

That is why I call this a sideshow; it seems that the government is having these hearings to try to cover their butts, or grandstand, in an attempt to show us that they are truly mad at these CEOs, however, I am going to step out on a limb and say that I will not be surprised to see “some” of these Senators and Congressman at the receiving side of their own hearings, in due time.

Quite Frankly, they are such hypocrites! In their haste, the government tossed billions of dollars at banks, without giving them standards and strict direction as to how to use these funds. Has anyone out there ever received a business loan, without strings, and specific provisions being attached? It is doubtful. So, who really is the bad guys here? Is it these CEOs, or the people that are suppose to be good stewards of our tax dollars? And when do the hearings for these Congressman and Senators take place?  They are continually wasting the publics money, and loosing the public trust.

This whole TARP Fund and so-called stimulus package is just a big joke; not to mention, there is no certainty in Wall Street, or on Main Street, and when there is no certainty, money simply doesn’t move.

I could list at least three things (to do with tax cuts) that would likely inject some confidence into the economy and markets again, but it almost seems futile at this point, as common sense does not seem to make any sense to these people anymore.

The government just seems hell bent on going “against” public opinion, playing big brother, and doing what they think is best. Hello! TARP one did not work, so why does there need to be a sequel? Perhaps we should call this Nightmare on Wall Street.

Instead of instilling confidence, it seems as though they’d rather play the odds game.

Very well, then perhaps we’d be better off taking The TARP funds to Atlantic City or Vegas; in that scenario, we may have better odds.

Mark