I think the purpose of life is
to be useful,
to be responsible,
to be honorable,
to be compassionate.
It is, after all,
to matter:
to count,
to stand for something,
to have made some difference that you lived at all.
Leo C. Rosten
Blog Quote of the Day
In reference to the spendthrift Demagogue-in-Chief Obama's divisive push for extending middle-class tax cuts (despite his unconscionable, deliberate failure to manage frugally the people's (not his) current and future hard-earned money):
Tax cuts without spending cuts merely change the form of the tax.
What does this mean? Taxes are not just directly assessed, but there are hidden taxes. A particularly obnoxious form of a hidden tax is inflation and/or the purchasing power of the dollar. If and when the Federal Reserve monetizes debt, there are more dollars chasing the same number of goods and services. If monetizing debt was a good thing, government would have no need to raise taxes. Taxes reduce resources which can be otherwise be profitably deployed by individuals and businesses; if and when government spends for resources (including personnel, materials, etc.), it is competing for resources with the private sector.
Inflation has been mitigated for a variety of reasons (stagnant global economic growth, high unemployment reducing consumer demand, increased domestic energy production (especially natural gas) despite a hostile Obama Administration, but (see below) notice how inflation has surged particularly where the federal government has intervened and/or encouraged malinvestment, including but not restricted to: food, shelter, the auto industry, college costs (not listed but well-established), and medical care. The US dollar has been propped up, despite the Fed Reserve "best efforts" to flood the world with dollars, even as credit rating agencies have already started downgrading US debt, mostly as a save haven against currency alternatives, especially the euro. The Fed's manipulation of interest rates is killing future consumption (i.e., savings and investments), as phantom interest income is more than offset by core inflation, destroying wealth, not to mention senior citizens living on fixed assets. (PS--guess what happens to the entitlement trust funds, which are captive investors in Treasury bills, or to parties holding maturing Treasury notes bearing, say, 4-6%, try to reinvest their proceeds at the same time the Fed Reserve is deliberately pushing down yields?)
The following chart is courtesy of usinflationcalculator based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics; note in particular this observation:
Core US inflation showed a familiar 2.3 percent gain for the year, matching the 12-month readings in April and March.The core inflation rate continues above the Federal Reserve’s 2.0 percent target area
May 2012 Consumer Prices – Gains (percent) (usinflationcalculator.com)
| Nov 2011 | Dec 2011 | Jan 2012 | Feb 2012 | Mar 2012 | Apr 2012 | May 2012 | 12 Month | |
| All items | .0 | .0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | .0 | -0.3 | 1.7 |
| Food | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | .0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | .0 | 2.8 |
| Food at home | -0.1 | 0.3 | .0 | .0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.1 | 2.7 |
| Food away from home | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| Energy | -1.6 | -1.3 | 0.2 | 3.2 | 0.9 | -1.7 | -4.3 | -.39 |
| Energy commodities | -2.1 | -1.9 | 0.9 | 5.7 | 1.7 | -2.6 | -6.4 | -3.7 |
| Gasoline (all types) | -2.4 | -2.0 | 0.9 | 6.0 | 1.7 | -2.6 | -6.8 | -4.0 |
| Fuel oil | 2.7 | -1.0 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 2.7 | -1.1 | -2.8 | -1.1 |
| Energy services | -0.7 | -0.3 | -0.8 | -0.8 | -0.4 | -0.2 | -0.7 | -3.6 |
| Electricity | 0.4 | -0.2 | .0 | .0 | -0.8 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Utility (piped) gas service | -4.4 | -0.8 | -2.9 | -3.4 | 0.9 | -1.8 | -4.1 | -14.9 |
| All items less food, energy | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 2.3 |
| Comm. less food, energy | 0.1 | -0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| New vehicles | -0.3 | -0.2 | .0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.3 |
| Used cars and trucks | -0.1 | -0.9 | -1.0 | -0.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| Apparel | 0.6 | -0.1 | 0.9 | -0.9 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 4.4 |
| Medical care | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.4 | .0 | .0 | 2.7 |
| Services less energy | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.5 |
| Shelter | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 2.3 |
| Transportation | 0.1 | 0.1 | .0 | -0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.9 |
| Medical care | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | .0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 3.9 |
Voters and Obama's Pitch for 2012:
Four More Years of This: Maybe Even Worse?
The Man Without a Plan--Except for Reelection
Blame
IBD lists some of Obamanomics outcomes (I've edited and supplemented):
- Worse Official Unemployment. Under George W. Bush: "The highest monthly average [see below] prior to the late 2008 financial crisis was 6.3 percent. His overall monthly average was 5.3 percent." Unemployment only reached as high as 6.8% the month that Obama was elected President; a lame-duck's policies are irrelevant to job creators. But even if you're grading Obama on a curve, he was President for a third of January 2009, the only month during his Presidency we've seen unemployment under 8%, the target for his quickly passed stimulus measure, despite his doubling publicly-held debt and the Fed setting near-zero interest rates and working the printing presses on swing shifts 24x7.
- Worse Other Employment/Unemployment. "There are also 2.7 million more long-term unemployed — those who've been out of work for 27 weeks or more. The number of "discouraged workers" — people who believe no job is available — is still 100,000 bigger than when Obama took office. There are also more people working part-time because they can't find full-time jobs, and millions more who aren't in the labor force at all." See below for relevant Zero Hedge charts.
- The Rich Got Richer. "The top 1% captured 93% of the income gains between 2009 and 2010, according to University of California, Berkeley, economist Emmanuel Saez. That's a far higher share, by the way, than what occurred during the 2002-2007 Bush expansion."
- Household Net Worth Plunged Nearly 40% [not IBD]. See below.
- Lower Earnings/Income. "Real [inflation-adjusted] median weekly earnings have dropped 3%. Real median household income is almost 10% below where it stood in January 2009."
- Homes Worth Less. For many, if not most households, a core investment, "price of existing-home sales has dropped 2.5% in real terms."
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 6.0 | |
| 2003 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 5.7 | |
| 2004 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 5.4 | |
| 2005 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.9 | |
| 2006 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | |
| 2007 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 5.0 | |
| 2008 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 7.3 | |
| 2009 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.9 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 9.8 | 10.0 | 9.9 | 9.9 | |
| 2010 | 9.7 | 9.8 | 9.8 | 9.9 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.8 | 9.4 | |
| 2011 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 8.9 | 8.7 | 8.5 | |
| 2012 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
 |
| Courtesy of CNN Money |
 |
| Courtesy of Zero Hedge |
 |
| Courtesy of Zero Hedge |
Mark Perry of Carpe Diem writes on a New York Daily News story about Terry Arsenault, a 36-year-old man whom has donated his sperm for use by low-income or lesbian couples (a biological father to some 14 children):
In a Cease Manufacturing letter delivered on Nov. 1 of last year, the FDA classified Arsenault's setup as a "firm" that "recovers and distributes semen and therefore is a manufacturer of human cells, tissues and cellular and tissue-based products."Hmmm. Speaking as a factory who hasn't fulfilled any orders in a while, even with promises of free delivery, I can't wait to see the FDA ruling on donations of human breast milk....
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Group
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, "Walls". This song to me sounds like Petty channeling his inner Bob Dylan with touches of the Byrds, Motown, and Springsteen and the E-Street Band.
Obama Narcissistic Behavior Watch
According to CNS (my edits):
Speaking in Sandusky, Ohio on July 5, President Barack Obama used the first-person pronouns “I” and “me” a combined 117 times in a speech that lasted about 25 minutes and 32 seconds.During this speech, Obama used “I” or “me” approximately once every 13.09 seconds.
Near the end of his talk Obama said. “And, most of all, I ... wake up every single day thinking about you…”Every single hole, over 100 rounds of golf...
A food stamp chicken in every borrowed pot... Meanwhile remember this tidbit from the Isaacson biography of the late legendary founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, whom warned Obama that he was headed for a one-term Presidency?
Jobs fussed over the menu for the dinner meeting, telling venture capitalist John Doerr that the planned meal of shrimp, cod and lentil salad was "far too fancy." When he objected to a chocolate truffle dessert, he was rebuffed by the White House, which said the president was fond of cream pie.Of course, when Obama first ran for President, he was living in that $1.6M mansion in the Chicago hood, shopping for groceries at upscale Whole Foods...
From Wikipedia:
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. A cult of personality is similar to hero worship, except that it is established by mass media and propaganda.Living Colour, "Cult of Personality"
I'm the smiling face on your tv
I'm the cult of personality
I exploit you, still you love me
Neon lights, a Nobel prize
Ask not what your country can do for you
Only you can set you free
