Global Trade is Imploding

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17218 last Friday.  Normally, that would be a good sign that the economy is humming right along.  Wrong!  One must look at the overall picture and it doesn’t look good.  Here is an excerpt from the Economic Collapse blog:

We just got more evidence that global trade is absolutely imploding.  Chinese exports dropped 25.4 percent during the month of February compared to a year ago, and Chinese imports fell 13.8 percent compared to a year ago.  For Chinese exports, that was the worst decline that we have seen since 2009, and Chinese imports have now fallen for 16 months in a row on a year over year basis.  The last time we saw numbers like this, we were in the depths of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.  China accounts for more global trade than any other nation (including the United States), and so this is a major red flag.  Anyone that is saying that the global economy is in “good shape” is clearly not paying attention.

If someone would have told me a year ago that Chinese exports would be 25 percent lower next February, I would not have believed it.  This is not just a slowdown – this is a historic implosion.

I remember prognosticators warning of a housing bubble implosion years before it happened.  I fear what’s coming is going to be worse than that.

Source:

 http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/are-you-kidding-me-chinese-exports-plunge-25-4-percent-compared-to-last-year

http://wbt.com/us-stocks-soar-with-fourth-straight-week-of-gains-amid-oil-rally/

Age Old Question Answered

Jorge Ramos Requires Democrats to Pledge Allegiance to Mexico

CNN’s Jorge Ramos strikes again.  During a Democratic Party debate, this agent for Mexico demanded candidates take a pledge to stop deportations of illegal aliens and their children.

If I had been a candidate I would have required Mr. Ramos to renounce his Mexican citizenship and pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law.  I would’ve then berated this agent of the third world for advocating an invasion that is an existential threat to future generations of Americans.

Indeed, I find it offensive that we have moderators/panelists participating in our debates who obviously do not have the best interest of the United States at heart.  CNN also had an advocacy journalist from Univision in a Republican debate as well.  She was more concerned about illegal aliens than the well being of the citizens of the United States.  Why doesn’t somebody call these people out on this crap?

Source:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/10/jorge-ramos-pressed-clinton-and-sanders-very-hard-on-not-deporting-children-and-thats-okay/

      

Bernie Sanders as a Cop

H/T: Mark

Bernie Sanders Wins Coveted Venezuelan Endorsement

The Progressive Myth of European Socialism

I had a memorable conversation with a millennial on the economy and politics in general.  He basically declared the United States was a hellhole and he was stuck living here.  I was somewhat taken aback considering his mother is a legal immigrant from Jamaica.  So I commented there isn’t a utopia and pointed out all of the illegal aliens that were working in the subdivision.  These people, I emphasized, violated our laws and sovereignty to have a better life; yet, you’re unhappy in a country that millions risk life and limb to get to.  I then asked him, what country would he consider moving to?  He declared, Spain.

I’ve had many conversations with pie-in-the-sky socialists, many of them way older than this kid.  When I ask this same question, I’ll get the usual sarcastic response, ‘America, love it or leave it.’  At least this kid gave me an answer.  So, I informed him that Spain has a 20% unemployment rate and they have two separatist movements.  He then walked away. 

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard teat squawkers glorify European socialism.  Even our own president wants to emulate them.  To that I say, we are Americans not Europeans.  If you want to be a European get on the next boat and don’t let the waves lap your ass.

This whole European socialist paradise is a myth.  If you take the median income of each country and couple that with purchasing power, few European countries would rank above Mississippi, the state all liberals look down their noses at.  Here is an excerpt from Mises:

With the exception of Luxembourg ($38,502), Norway ($35,528), and Switzerland ($35,083), all countries shown would fail to rank as high-income states were they to become part of the United States. In fact, most would fare worse than Mississippi, the poorest state.

For example, Mississippi has a higher median income ($23,017) than 18 countries measured here. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom all have median income levels below $23,000 and are thus below every single US state. Not surprisingly, the poorest OECD members (Chile, Mexico, and Turkey) have median incomes far below Mississippi.

Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, has a median income ($25,528) level below all but 9 US states. Finland ranks with Germany in this regard ($25,730), and France's median income ($24,233) is lower than both Germany and Finland. Denmark fares better and has a median income ($27,304) below all but 13 US state.

And that doesn’t take into account Mississippi’s low cost of living.  But we all know facts and figures don’t make a difference to liberals.  They’ll keep pining for a socialist paradise that doesn’t exist and never will.

Source:

https://mises.org/blog/if-sweden-and-germany-became-us-states-they-would-be-among-poorest-states

Obama Bureaucrat Violates Law, Steals from Treasury

Once again, we are finding out the Obama administration has no regard for Congress, the rule of law or the American people.  The bureaucrats that infest this lawless administration spit on us every chance they get.  What did they do this time?  Sylvia Burwell, secretary of Human and Health Services, illegally transferred $2 billion in taxpayer monies to insurance companies.  Obamacare has turned into a huge failure and the only way to keep this program afloat is to raid the U.S. treasury.  The Hill reported the following: 

The reinsurance program was designed to collect $10 billion in its first year of existence, 2014, while collecting another $2 billion that would be deposited into the U.S. Treasury.

 But not enough money was brought in to cover those amounts, so the administration, through regulations in 2014, prioritized giving money to insurers. None of the money was given to Treasury for the first year.

 Republicans say that action clearly violates the healthcare law, which states that $2 billion “shall be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury of the United States and may not be used for the program established under this section [i.e. the payments to insurers].” 

 To support their case, Republicans point to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service that found the administration’s interpretation “would appear to be in conflict with a plain reading” of the law

This country has a profound problem.  Federal bureaucracies have taken it upon themselves to ignore laws by implementing rules and regulations they deem appropriate.  Here is Secretary Burwell’s explanation for violating U.S. law:

The administration has emphasized that no complaints were raised at the time the decision was announced in regulations, and in fact said that all of the comments were positive. The American Academy of Actuaries praised the decision to prioritize payments to insurers over the Treasury, saying the move could help lower premiums.

“We believe that we have the authorities, and as I mentioned [earlier], we actually published for comment and notice the approach that we were going to take to use those authorities, and did not have any of the concerns raised as part of that public process,” Burwell said under questioning at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last week. 

These federal bureaucracies are a making a mockery of our constitutional republic.  The time for comments was completed during the legislative process where our elected representatives forged this law, and even that was bastardized by the Democrats.

Americans had better wakeup to the fact we are no longer citizens.  We have become subjects and our rulers are nameless, faceless, federal government bureaucrats who have a pen and a phone.  But hey, according to them, we can at least find solace in an obscure comment section in some buried rule and regulation no one, not even our congressmen are aware of.

Source:

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/272617-gop-obamacare-payments-break-the-law

Obama Admin. Steals $500 Million from Taxpayers

Back in the day, when I went to school, students were taught Congress passed legislation and controlled the purse strings, the executive enforced those laws and the judiciary has the responsibility to ensure those laws are properly adjudicated.  It seems the Obama administration doesn’t have a grasp on basic civics.

We are finding out the Obama administration illegally transferred $500 million to a U.N. global warming slush fund without the authority from Congress.  As a matter of fact, a law was specifically passed to prohibit this kind of wealth transference.  The Independent Sentinel wrote the following:

Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) asked a State Department official why $500 million was illegally removed without congressional approval to be put into the UN’s Green Climate slush fund. Congress made it clear the money was not to be allocated for the dictators’ club.

Obama “unilaterally pledged about three billion dollars for UN climate fund” and only Congress can appropriate the funds and they have not authorized any funding for the international climate change agenda, Barrasso told a State Department official.

Congress has specifically “prohibited” any funds to the UN climate change slush fund.

Barrsso said no money was allocated for it but “now media is reporting this morning that the administration deposited $500 million into the UN Green Climate Fund. It appears to be the latest example of the administration going around Congress because the American people don’t really support what the ‘president’ is doing with this initiative.

Isn’t this stealing?  Shouldn’t this be an impeachable offense? Article II Section 4 specifically states:

The president, vice president and all civic officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Had this president been a white republican, he would’ve been impeached a long time ago.

Source:

http://www.independentsentinel.com/obama-illegally-redistributes-500-million-tax-dollars-to-un-green-slush-fund/

Federal Government Collects Record Amount of Tax Revenue

The federal government set a record in tax revenue with a caveat.

(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Treasury hauled in a record of approximately $1,248,371,000,000 in tax revenues in the first five months of fiscal 2016 (Oct. 1, 2015 through Feb. 29, 2016), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.

Despite these record tax revenues in the first five months of the fiscal year, the federal government nonetheless ran a deficit of approximately $353,005,000,000 during the same period

Any reasonable person would conclude the federal government has a spending problem, unless of course, you’re a democrat.

Source:

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/1248371000000-fy2016-taxes-set-record-through-february-8263-worker

Romanian Dictator Feels the Bern

Democrats Leaving Party in Droves

The Republican establishment has promoted big tent policies for the past 20 years.  Now they’re getting their wish because of an unlikely source.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Nearly 46,000 Pennsylvania Democrats have switched to Republicans since the beginning of the year.

According to Penn Live, some experts attribute the mass exodus to Donald Trump.

There’s even a title for the movement. It’s called “Ditch and Switch” and calls for lifelong Democrats to abandon the party, register Republican, and help ensure Trump’s place in the general election.

 Will these voters stick with Trump in the general election, or is this a progressive version of Operation Chaos?  Only time will tell.

Source:

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2016/03/10/report-46000-pa-democrats-become-republicans-due-to-trump/

Bernie Sanders Was a Sandinista Regime Boot Licker

Did the citizens of Burlington, Vermont pay for this commie’s junket to Nicaragua?  You know damn well this bum didn’t pay for it himself.

I’m amazed that this man can experience Latin America’s third-world political, social and economic structure and learn nothing from their failures.  According to this bozo, America is the cause for their misfortunes.  What a dolt!

I suppose Bernie Sanders would blame Venezuela’s collapsing economy on the United States as well. 

The wild-eyed commie referred to the "fair elections" of the Sandinista government on multiple occasions during this interview.  The Heritage Foundation published, 30 Myths About Nicaragua by W. Bruce Weinrod in 1986.  Here is an excerpt.

#11: Elections have legitimized Sandinista power.

 It is contended that the U.S. should not be supporting forces struggling against the Sandinista government because it has subjected itself to elections and is now the legitimate government of Nicaragua. For the moment,, the Sandinistas clearly are the effective governing force in Nicaragua but their raw power was in no-way legitimized-by the elections of 1985.

 The test for a free and fair election has two parts: first whether the campaign itself was free and fair,, and second,, whether the .election day balloting was free and fair. on the first point alone, the elections were not free and fair. In fact, the Sandinistas controlled every aspect of the election process, including the electoral machinery, the police, the army, the courts, and mass organizations such as neighborhood watch committees. Precisely because of the unfairness of the electoral process, Arturo Cruz, the only real threat to the Sandinistas, declined to become a presidential candidate.

 The elections themselves were not run fairly. Two-thirds of the precincts did not have a single observer from any-party except the Sandinistas to monitor-the conduct of voting operations and report on irregularities.

 Outside observers have also questioned the legitimacy of the elections. Carlos Andres Perez, who was President of Venezuela at the time the Sandinistas took power and who played an important ro le in supporting them at that time and subsequently,, stated that "sufficient guarantees were not provided." Perez refused to attend the inaugural ceremony and stated that he felt "cheated." Arturo Cruz called the proceedings an "electoral charade." The Washington Post stated that the Sandinistas"I'Marxist-Leninist side showed throuqh and the democratic opposition, faced with a measure of harassment that prevented fair campaigning, withdraw." And The New York Times stated,, "Only the naive believe that Sunday's election was democratic or legitimizing proof of the Sandinistas' popularity."

 None of this should come as a surprise to those who have reviewed statements made by the Sandinistas themselves about elections. In August of 1981, Humberto Ortega stated that elections-"will in no way decide who is going to hold power ... power belongs to the Sandinistas, our directorate. In the spring of 1984, Bayardo Arce-called elections a "nuisance," and said that the Sandinista goal was to build "dictatorship of a proletariat."

Did Bernie Sanders know about those statements?  I'm sure he did.  However, these kind of details don't  seem to matter to socialists.

Source:

http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/thirty-myths-about-nicaragua

VA Scandal Exposed Apathetic Democrats and Politicization of Bureaucracies

How many times have we been told the Democratic Party is for the common man?  These phonies will trumpet their mantra every chance they get, but when it gets down to doing the work for the “little people” it’s nothing but hot air.  That’s exactly what a former federal employee union leader found out when she tried to get Democratic politicians to address the gross misconduct at VA hospitals.

Germaine Clarno admitted during a radio interview with host John Howell that Democrats ignored, dismissed or were at times outright hostile at her efforts to get members to do something about the negligence and abuses at the VA.  It wasn’t until she went to Republicans, as a last resort, when she began to get results.

HOWELL: Both [Sen. Dick] Durbin and [Rep. Tammy] Duckworth put out a statement last week, as did our junior senator Mark Kirk, who I know has been helpful to you, right doctor?

NEE: Yes. And I didn’t think he would be. He was the last resort.

HOWELL: And usually when a union has to go to Republicans it’s a frosty reception, I suppose.

CLARNO: Exactly. And if I would’ve gone to him two years ago, who knows what kind of lives could’ve been saved.

HOWELL: That’s a really sad aspect of this.

CLARNO: It is.

This VA scandal not only exposed the feckless nature of Democrats, it also demonstrated how politicized these federal bureaucracies have become.

Source: 

http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/10/union-officials-admit-they-let-veterans-die-rather-than-talk-to-republicans/#ixzz42WbdLWgD

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Seeks to Criminalize Climate Change Deniers

The Democratic Party has a fascist strain in it.  Theirs is a party that seeks to silence and disenfranchise people who dissent from their political orthodoxy.  Rhode Island’s Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has more than once called upon federal bureaucrats to use its power to squash their opponents. 

A couple of years ago, Senator Whitehouse, along with other thugs in his party, proposed a constitutional amendment to curb political speech Democrats disagree with.  Two years before that, he called upon the IRS to investigate Tea Party organizations.  Now, he is urging the Department of Justice to persecute “climate change deniers.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) raised the issue, drawing a comparison between possible civil action against climate change deniers and civil action that the Clinton administration pursued against the tobacco industry for claiming that the science behind the dangers of tobacco was unsettled.

“The similarities between the mischief of the tobacco industry pretending that the science of tobacco’s dangers was unsettled and the fossil fuel industry pretending that the science of carbon emissions’ dangers is unsettled has been remarked on widely, particularly by those who study the climate denial apparatus that the fossil fuel industry has erected,” Whitehouse said.

“Under President Clinton, the Department of Justice brought and won a civil RICO action against the tobacco industry for its fraud. Under President Obama, the Department of Justice has done nothing so far about the climate denial scheme,” Whitehouse added.

So if people disagree with the Democratic Party’s sanctioned scientists, they could face RICO charges?  Way to stay true to your fascistic ideals, Senator Whitehouse.

Source:

http://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2014/09/democrats-scheme-to-silence-political.html

http://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2012/02/democrats-place-jackboot-on-tea-parties.html

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/melanie-hunter/ag-lynch-doj-has-discussed-whether-pursue-legal-action-against-climate?

utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=CNS&utm_term=facebook&utm_content=facebook&utm_campaign=n-lynch-deniers

The Unseen Victims of High Tariff Policies

Donald Trump has declared, more than once, that he would raise tariffs on goods that originate from China, Mexico and Japan.  However, I can only recall one time in a debate where the candidates actually discussed this important issue.  I could be wrong, but I don’t believe I am.  The moderators who conduct these debates are more interested in gotcha questions than issues that have a profound effect upon our lives.

 Walter E. Williams, a renowned economist, wrote an op-ed on the unseen cost, high tariffs have on the economy.  He uses an example during President George W. Bush’s administration when tariffs on steel were raised by as much as 30%.  Here is an excerpt.  

It is estimated that the steel tariffs caused at least 4,500 job losses in no fewer than 16 states, with over 19,000 jobs lost in California, 16,000 in Texas and about 10,000 each in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. In other words, industries that use steel were forced to pay higher prices, causing them to have to raise prices on what they produced. As a result, they became less competitive in both domestic and international markets and thus had to lay off workers.

        
Tariff policy beneficiaries are always seen, but its victims are mostly unseen. Politicians love this. The reason is simple. The beneficiaries know for whom to cast their ballots and to whom to give campaign contributions. Most often, the victims do not know whom to blame for their calamity.

The Bush administration repealed these tariffs the following year under threat of a trade war with the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Brazil.  President Bush declared his policies were a success. Others would disagree.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a substantive debate on issues that really matter, instead of advocacy journalism that’s designed to spotlight the “brilliance” of moderators?

Source:

http://cnsnews.com/commentary/walter-e-williams/seen-and-unseen

http://www.economist.com/node/2261621

Nonprofits Flourished During Great Recession

Nonprofit organizations flourished during the Great Recession according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and published by the Washington Post.  We must ask: how could any business survive an onslaught of a government induced financial disaster that destroyed the lives of millions of Americans, indeed, countless millions of people around the world?  The answer is simple: the federal government subsidized them:

But private giving isn't the only way non-profits take in money. Federal government funding was extremely important in helping them expand services, especially as state and local governments cut back. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act pumped millions of dollars into education and training groups, for example, to help workers who lost their jobs.

At the same time, organizations dipped into rainy day funds to stay afloat, resulting in a decline in asset levels. Some workers may have accepted lower wages for non-profit work because of the poor job market, boosting employment as well.

 Oh yeah, the power of other peoples’ money, courtesy of the Federal Reserve, confiscatory policies of Democrats and the strong arm of the IRS.

Source:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/02/the-industry-that-adds-jobs-throughout-a-recession-but-makes-no-profits/?elqTrackId=bbc54964c1c145c3ae9e857928f90ef8&elq=2899e91b280548c5be40d8aaa8313aa9&elqaid=8145&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2595

Socialism is a Luxury Paid For By Capitalism

Wisdom guided by experience.  Mr. Kasparov lived the progressive dream.  Socialism wasn't just a theory promulgated by college professors, he actually lived in their economic dystopia.