U.S. Politics Online: A Political Discussion Forum - Economic Issues http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/ Business, Commerce, Consumer Affairs, Economics, Public Finance, Trade en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:25:10 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.USPoliticsOnline.com/images/misc/rss.jpg U.S. Politics Online: A Political Discussion Forum - Economic Issues http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/ Liberals have ruined California http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57299-liberals-have-ruined-california.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:10:56 GMT I just read that California is now banning all flat screen TV's that use too much energy. This is just the kind of absurd liberal regulation that has ruined the golden state. I think the Wall Street Journal summed it up pretty good with the following.

The Wall Street Journal has described the result:

“The Golden State -- which a decade ago was the booming technology capital of the world -- has been done in by two decades of chronic overspending, overregulating and a hyperprogressive tax code.…”

One might argue that’s this is a politically biased assessment. So here are some facts, not assessments:

California’s state expenditures grew from $104 billion in 2003 to $145 billion in 2008.
California has the worst credit rating in the nation.
California has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the nation, 9.3 percent -- higher even than the car manufacturing state of Michigan.
California has the second highest home foreclosure rate.
California’s tax-paying middle class is leaving the state. California’s net loss last year in state-to-state migration exceeded every other state's. New York, another Left-run state, was second.
Since 2000, California’s job growth rate -- which in the late 1970s was many times higher than the national average -- has lagged behind the national average by almost 20 percent.
California has lost 25 percent of its industrial work force since 2001.

Joel Kotkin, one of the leading observers of urban America, the presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University, recently wrote an essay on California, “Sundown for California.” He begins with these words:

“Twenty-five years ago, along with another young journalist, I co-authored a book called “California, Inc.” about our adopted home state. The book described ‘California’s rise to economic, political, and cultural ascendancy’...But today our Golden State appears headed, if not for imminent disaster, then toward an unanticipated, maddening, and largely unnecessary mediocrity.”

That is what left-wing policies have done to California. In Kotkin’s words, “the state legislature decided to spend its money on public employees and impose ever more regulatory burdens on business.”

Last week, Intel, the world’s largest maker of computer chips, announced that it would invest $7 billion to expand its facilities. Where? In Arizona, Oregon, and New Mexico. But not in California, the state in which Intel is headquartered.

The Left is bringing the greatest state to its knees.

...

There is more.

Prager has an important message because what liberals did for California they are trying to do for the rest of the country.

I do have a problem with his last quoted sentence. At this point Texas is a greater state than California and is becoming the home of more companies because it has rejected liberalism. ]]> Economic Issues sinebar http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57299-liberals-have-ruined-california.html more unemployment benefits? http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57291-more-unemployment-benefits.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:44:37 GMT ahoy me friends!

mates, i been readin' that unemployment benefits (which in some states lasted for 79 weeks, a year and a half!) may be extended.

currently unemployment benefits, which had already been extended by folks up on the bridge, be slated to run out on December 31st.

should taxpayers here in our glorious land be expected to continue to write checks to the teemin' masses who have had a year and a half to find some kinda work and met no success? does not the continuein' checks that the government be givin' to the unemployed encourage them to be lazy and not seek work, any kind of work?

i've not ever worked in places like macdonalds or wallmart...but aren't them places still hirin' help?

*bows*

- MeadHallPirate ]]> Economic Issues MeadHallPirate http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57291-more-unemployment-benefits.html Oh here we go with the minority whines http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57284-oh-here-we-go-minority-whines.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:41:44 GMT Job Hunt: Minorities Urge Obama to Tackle Jobless Rate in Their Communities - FOXNews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/18/job-hunt-minorities-urge-obama-tackle-jobless-rate-communities/) It is tragic for anyone to be out of work who... Job Hunt: Minorities Urge Obama to Tackle Jobless Rate in Their Communities - FOXNews.com

It is tragic for anyone to be out of work who wants a job. Unemployment and hard times are effecting all races but blacks are playing the fucking race card and asking Obama for special treatment. When will this shit ever end. I tell ya what though, If Obama is foolish enough to play favoritism here and without a doubt alienate the white folks who elected him he will not be reelected in 2012 that's for damm sure. Especially with all the other crap he's doing. ]]> Economic Issues sinebar http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57284-oh-here-we-go-minority-whines.html Why Buffet Invests in Railroads and Wal-Mart. http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57279-why-buffet-invests-railroads-wal-mart.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:01:53 GMT Why Buffet Invests in Railroads and Wal-Mart. Its all about Money and Profit not what’s best for America or the American workers. BNSF Named Carrier of the Year - Wal-Mart Announces Honorees at Annual Awards Ceremony Bentonville, Ark. and... Why Buffet Invests in Railroads and Wal-Mart.

Its all about Money and Profit not what’s best for America or the American workers.

BNSF Named Carrier of the Year - Wal-Mart Announces Honorees at Annual Awards Ceremony

Bentonville, Ark. and Fort Worth, Texas, June 16, 2004:

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. recognized The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) as the recipient of Wal-Mart’s Carrier of the Year award at a recent conference in Bentonville, Ark. Wal-Mart's Core Carrier Conference, held annually, honors carriers for their commitment to providing excellent quality and service.

BNSF Named Carrier of the Year - Wal-Mart Announces Honorees at Annual Awards Ceremony


BNSF Transports and Mexico

Search Results: mexico

BNSF Transports and China

Search Results: china

Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán

Lázaro Cárdenas is home to a deep-water seaport that handles container, dry bulk, and liquid cargo. The port handled 160,000 TEU in 2005 but is expanding to a capacity of 2.2 million TEU annually. Cargo moves to and from the port by road and rail equally, with rail service provided exclusively by Kansas City Southern Railway. The port is expected to become a major container facility due to congestion at the U.S. ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and its relative proximity to major cities such as Chicago, Kansas City, and Houston. In preparation for the port's increased capacity, railway and highway infrastructure running north-south through the center of Mexico has been upgraded in recent years to handle the anticipated increase in volume of goods bound for the United States using this transportation corridor. If a proposed government-backed Pacific port is built at Punta Colonet, Baja California, goods flowing to US states like Arizona and Nevada could bypass the congested Los Angeles region with closer access those markets, providing increased competition with Lázaro Cárdenas.

Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Go to Wal-Mart and try to find something made in America? Jobs and Unemployment will rise faster than the Billions made by Buffet and Corporate Profits from slave labor in China and low wages of Mexico, they can give a darn about you and family except for using you like a worker bee just to get the Honey. ]]> Economic Issues stinger http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57279-why-buffet-invests-railroads-wal-mart.html <![CDATA[oops..that'll be $400.00 please...]]> http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57247-oops-thatll-400-00-please.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:07:10 GMT The government wants the money back...

"An estimated 15.4 million tax filers may be getting paid more of the Making Work Pay credit than they should, according to a report from a Treasury Department inspector general publicly released Monday.

And that means they either will get less of a refund than they expected, or will actually owe money to the IRS on their 2009 taxes. "

Stimulus surprise: 15 million people may owe taxes - Nov. 17, 2009 ]]> Economic Issues JDJarvis http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57247-oops-thatll-400-00-please.html $6.4 billion in Porkulus money spent in phantom districts? http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57248-6-4-billion-porkulus-money-spent-phantom-districts.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:07:10 GMT I’ll say this for them, they are imaginative…..getting money sent to a district that like doesn’t exist? Clever. As it turns out there have been over 75 reports of the stimulus money report out as to jobs it has created or saved that have proven... I’ll say this for them, they are imaginative…..getting money sent to a district that like doesn’t exist? Clever. As it turns out there have been over 75 reports of the stimulus money report out as to jobs it has created or saved that have proven the numbers a fallacy.

The Wash.post did an article the other day, were they basically said they don’t even take the report , the triple checked report according to Obama as a serious document anymore. Wonderful. I am left wondering why there is no congressional hearing on why, how and what went on with all of this money?



And of course, I have to say it; if this were the Bush/repubican admin. the print and network media would have them running for their lives right now as the public would be up in arms because it was/and has been in the msms’s interest to always make them so, in far less dire economic straits that this back in 04 and 05…..



$6.4 Billion Stimulus Goes to Phantom Districts
By Bill McMorris on November 17, 2009

Just how big is the stimulus package? Well for one, it has doubled the size of the House of Representatives, according to recovery.gov, which says that funds were distributed to 440 congressional districts that do not exist.

According to data retrieved from recovery.gov, nearly $6.4 billion was used to “create or save” just under 30,000 jobs in these phantom congressional districts–almost $225,000 per job. The web site operates on an $84 million budget and is tasked with monitoring the distribution of the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress–which, for the record, counts 435 members–in early 2009.

The site’s monitors, however, are not too savvy about America’s political or geographic landscape. More than $2 million was given to the 99th District of North Dakota, a state which has only one congressional district. In order to qualify for 99 districts, North Dakota would have to have a population of about 60 million people, almost 24 million more people than California.

snip-

A reporter from the Montana Policy Institue confronted the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which oversees the site, about these non-existent congressional districts on Monday afternoon. Ed Pound, Director of Communications for the board, said that the faulty information came from recipients of stimulus funds.

“People make errors, and we’ve found people are making errors in these reports,” Pound said…

Recipients file their reports on a password-protected site. That information is then relayed to officials who oversee the recovery.gov website to post, Pound said. Unless an egregious error is noted, Pound said they post the information exactly as it is received.

“Our job is data integrity, not data quality,” he said.

The integrity of the data, however, has also come under scrutiny several times in the past month. Numerous media studies have revealed a reporting system riddled with errors and results that are “impossible” to calculate, such as the number of jobs “saved” by the bill.

Vice President Joe Biden admitted that the administration’s statistics were flawed after an Associated Press study revealed several instances of exaggerated and outright false job creation. The vice president acknowledged that “further updates and corrections are going to be needed.”






$6.4 Billion Stimulus Goes to Phantom Districts ]]> Economic Issues Imperator http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57248-6-4-billion-porkulus-money-spent-phantom-districts.html govt has ponied uip $10k per car sold http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57243-govt-has-ponied-uip-10k-per-car-sold.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:25:56 GMT such a deal !

whats wrong with this picture ?

I think its time to say "enough". actually the time for that wa before we wrote the first check.


Quote:
Economist Thomas D Hopkins of the Rochester Institute of Technology will publish a study later today for the National Taxpayers Union that finds the cost of the auto bailout amounts to about $10,000 for every vehicle sold. We got an advanced look at the study, which says:

The federal government has distributed to the U.S. auto industry thus far some $80 billion of taxpayer funds since December 2008--about $800 per American taxpaying family....Virtually all of the money has gone to just three firms--General Motors, Chrysler and GMAC--with GM alone receiving over $50 billion.

Despite this gift of your money, the GAO says that the automakers’ survival as financially viable firms "remains unclear". Business Week reports that "the numbers have been shockingly bad" and Consumer Reports says of Chrysler, "we couldn't recommend any of its products in last year's survey because of mediocre performance, poor reliability, or both."

If GM and Chrysler do not survive past next year, says Hopkins:

the taxpayer bailout burden could amount to some $10,700 per 2009-10 vehicle sold.

That's more than a third of the average price of a new car. The only way for this burden to be lessened, Hopkins writes, is if GM and Chrysler somehow manage to survive without additional bailouts. But those prospects are bleak.

Now that we own GM and a piece of Chrysler, I think we'll find it difficult to get rid of them. Already, GMAC is asking for a third round of bailouts in the range of $2.8 - 5.6 billion. Sadly, this Saturday Night Live skit lampooning GM's bailout proposal may wind up close to the truth.
]]> Economic Issues daddio http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57243-govt-has-ponied-uip-10k-per-car-sold.html Free Labor Movement Agreement? http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57219-free-labor-movement-agreement.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:03:08 GMT Would a free labor movement agreement between Canada and the US help to alleviate at least some of the unemployment? In the short term, this could benefit the US especially, since the US has been harder hit by this recession than Canada. However,... Would a free labor movement agreement between Canada and the US help to alleviate at least some of the unemployment?

In the short term, this could benefit the US especially, since the US has been harder hit by this recession than Canada. However, in the longer term, with a falling US dollar and a rising Canadian dollar, the show could be on the other foot before long. Such an agreement could help Americans living near the Canada US border to have access to jobs in Canada, and in future, Canadians living near the border finding jobs in the US. It would be a win win situation.

Even when both economies are equally strong or weak, there may be times when a particular skill is in recession in one country but in demand in the other, while it could be reversed for another skill. This would allow unemployed Canadians and Americans willing to cross the border to find work rather than be forced into unemployment owing to government overregulation when their skill might be in demand just across the border.

Not only would this help fight unemployment in bad times, but could also help stem inflation in good times. After all, when an industry suffers labor shortages, it often has no choice but to either raise salaries or spend more on staff training, the costs of which have to be passed on to the customer. But if we could access each others unemployed labor markets, this could help counter that too. So in both recession and inflationary times, both countries would stand to benefit from this.

One problem I could see though would be French-speaking Canadians who don't know English going out to find work in the US, or alternatively Americans who can't speak French going out to find work in Quebec. A simple solution to that could be to require Canadians to prove a decent knowledge of English if they wish to work in the US, and for US citizens to prove a decent knowledge of English if working in English Canada, or French if working in Quebec. So all you'd need either way would be a passport and language documents. ]]> Economic Issues Machjo http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57219-free-labor-movement-agreement.html Food, inc. http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57188-food-inc.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:24:40 GMT Damn. Just finished watching this film. ....what an eye opener. Once again the high cost of cheap, outweighs the savings. Damn.
Just finished watching this film.
....what an eye opener.
Once again the high cost of cheap, outweighs the savings. ]]> Economic Issues iamwhatiseem http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57188-food-inc.html I almost fell out of my chair laughing http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57158-i-almost-fell-out-my-chair-laughing.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:48:49 GMT Obama: "the forum is intended to prevent making "any ill-considered decisions -- even with the best intentions -- particularly at a time when our resources are so limited. But it's just as important that we are open to any demonstrably good idea to supplement the steps we’ve already taken to put America back to work."

Ill-considered decisions? This healthscare bill is the fucking mother of all ill-considered decisions. He just doesn't seem to live in reality. If he really thought about what he is doing he might realize he is about to sign into law the most destructive "ill-considered" peice of legistation in US history.:rolleyes: ]]> Economic Issues sinebar http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57158-i-almost-fell-out-my-chair-laughing.html <![CDATA[Chassisman's crystal ball says..........]]> http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57139-chassismans-crystal-ball-says.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:08:24 GMT Before cap and trade, before health care reform, maybe even before the end of don't ask, don't tell, you will see the implementation of the VAT (value added tax). I think it's a downright insult to describe it as having "value added"................all it means is you will pay more for your goods while wages will not rrise to meet the inflated costs. ]]> Economic Issues chassisman http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57139-chassismans-crystal-ball-says.html Bush Bucks and LIUs wtojr http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57125-bush-bucks-lius-wtojr.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:28:34 GMT Rate this Entry Bush Bucks and LIUs Posted 1 Minute Ago at 06:20 AM by skeptic1 Never it seems have we been so divided in such a serious way as we are at this moment. It feels as though we are experiencing the “Death of a Nation” when even... Rate this Entry Bush Bucks and LIUs
Posted 1 Minute Ago at 06:20 AM by skeptic1

Never it seems have we been so divided in such a serious way as we are at this moment. It feels as though we are experiencing the “Death of a Nation” when even the last president describes his base as the Have and Have More group putting the greater part of our citizenry in what he must feel is the “boob class” (sometimes referred to by this group with their typical compassion? as “LIU”s; Low Income Units).

Now comes to a great degree the day of baby boomers raised on the milk of expansion living in the “promised land” of prosperity fewer having the educational experience of parent's across the board hard times and the scramble to move upward from little or nothing save of course the need to have significant numbers reduced by sacrifice at the alters of the War God.

Numbed by the wordsmiths and media. Mesmerized by the “sirens song” of the Odyssey and a faith unchallenged yet in the dangers that lie ahead they divided into two groups the have and have more AND “all others” LIUs.

Disaster strikes ! Some how helped along by outright thievery but mostly by the natural inclination of mans insatiable appetite to produce profit by investment of capital in ways to produce ever more profit.

Unfortunately unless the other end of a teeter tauter has equal weight
on the opposite end the heavy end sinks and the lighter end remains suspended unable to contribute to the purpose for which the teeter tauter it was made. Funds to purchase the production of the Have/have more group became depleted and the game ceased.

Responding to this phenomenon vast credit was extended to the LIUs that extended the life styles of both parties and staved off the inevitable ultimate (we hope) results we are faced with today.

Still undaunted by the disastrous chain of events the Nuevo Rico join with the old guard to maintain the status quo and become the party of “NO” embracing all the concepts that lead to war servitude and demise for the masses.

Comes now one who will attempt to balance the scales and bring change that appears so far to be a step in the right direction but whose efforts resemble one pissing into the wind and shoveling shit against the tide.
Wind/Tide = The money.

Ca Sara Sara ! ]]> Economic Issues skeptic1 http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57125-bush-bucks-lius-wtojr.html Cap and tax bill http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57117-cap-tax-bill.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:52:34 GMT Obama , the Congressional Dems and General Elerctric have proposed a new energy tax. Is it economically prudent for the USA to raise taxes on energy? Why or why not? Obama , the Congressional Dems and General Elerctric have proposed a new energy tax.

Is it economically prudent for the USA to raise taxes on energy?

Why or why not? ]]> Economic Issues hairballxavier http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57117-cap-tax-bill.html <![CDATA["...our recovery is likely to feel like something well short of good times"]]> http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57108-our-recovery-likely-feel-like-something-well-short-good-times.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:53:39 GMT you could say that

years of high unemployment, that shoukd sit very poorly for the populace....


Quote:
Unemployment likely will remain high for the next several years because the economic recovery won't be strong enough to spur robust hiring, Federal Reserve officials warned Tuesday.

The cautionary note struck by the presidents of regional Fed banks in San Francisco and Atlanta were the first public remarks of Fed officials since the government reported last week that the nation's jobless rate bolted to 10.2 percent in October. It marked only the second time in the post-World War II period that the rate surpassed 10 percent.

In separate speeches, Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, warned that rising unemployment could crimp consumers, restraining the recovery. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity.

"With such a slow rebound, unemployment could well stay high for several years to come," Yellen said. "In other words, our recovery is likely to feel like something well short of good times."

Yellen envisions the shape of the recovery kind of like an "L" with a gradual upward tilt of the base.

Lockhart said "very slow net job gains" may occur "sometime next year."

Troubles in the commercial real estate market and the plight of small businesses also will weigh on the recovery, they said.
]]> Economic Issues daddio http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57108-our-recovery-likely-feel-like-something-well-short-good-times.html Cut taxes and big government http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57046-cut-taxes-big-government.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:08:36 GMT A sure way to economic expansion is to cut taxes and government. Both have gotton WAY out of control and both Democrats and Republicans are to blame. In fact that might be the only way now. Obama promised today he was going to fix this economy but... A sure way to economic expansion is to cut taxes and government. Both have gotton WAY out of control and both Democrats and Republicans are to blame. In fact that might be the only way now. Obama promised today he was going to fix this economy but at the same time he is hell bent on passing a healthcare bill that will without a doubt be the most economicly destructive legislation in US history. Uemployment is 10.2% now but if this healthcare bill passes there is no telling what it will get to and stay there. Why won't they cut the Goddamm taxes and spending for God sake! :scared: ]]> Economic Issues sinebar http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/economic-issues/57046-cut-taxes-big-government.html