Should We Ban Offshore Drilling of Oil in the U.S.?

By Tim Connolly

There is a tremendous amount of concern over the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill; and senators, congressional representatives, and even President Obama have called for the suspension of offshore oil drilling, and its possible termination. Is this possible, or even the right decision for our country? Let’s look at the data provided today from Gibson Consulting Online. All of the oil that comes from the Gulf is used in the U.S. The total current percentage of oil produced in the U.S. for our consumption by offshore wells is 37%. If we only look at the Gulf of Mexico, that percentage is still 32% of all the oil consumed in the USA. Given that during the 1974 Arab Oil Embargo the Middle East provided 37% of the non-communist world with all of its oil, we can easily see the magnitude of disruption in our markets if we eliminated 37% of all oil produced in the USA - long lines, perhaps $150-200 per barrel oil prices, and an economic crash that would make the last two years look tame. [more...]

From Bullish to Bearish in a Flash!

By Gerard Lameiro

The stock market crashed! The market went from bullish to bearish in a flash! The Dow was down about 1,000 points at one point during the trading day, closing at about 347 off for the day. All 30 Dow component stocks were down, Bank of America was down around 7%. What happened? Why so fast? What's going on?

Those who run the market will likely check for technical or programming glitches. These might be a contributing factor. But, it appears that the larger issue is simply FEAR. But fear of what? Fear that the problems of Greece will spread to Europe and to the rest of the world, including America. Ultimately, it's really a fear that welfare state socialism will lead to economic bankruptcy. In my book, America's Economic War, I wrote several times that socialism always leads to economic bankruptcy.

Greece has been spending way beyond its capacity to create new wealth. Greece's debt is a staggering 113% of its GDP! According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, "Greece's predicament - like New York's and California's - is signaling loud and clear that the spend-and-tax economic model has hit the wall." [more...]

Why America Faces a Big Fat Greek Bankruptcy

By Wayne Allyn Root

Forget Global Warming - Catastrophic Government Spending is the True Threat to Our Survival

Have you read the news lately? Greece is bankrupt. The entire country was poised to default on its debt, when the European Union (led by Germany) and the IMF (led by the USA) decided to bail them out... or risk the collapse of the entire EU and their currency, the euro. As always happens any time government is involved, the dollar figure necessary to save Greece keeps rising... first it was $50 billion... then $100 billion... now $145 billion, the biggest loan to a country ever.

But here’s the clincher - this gigantic loan will last only one year. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) assumes in one year, when Greece needs more money to stem the flow of red ink, they’ll be financially stable enough to attract loans on the open market, with no more government help. But what if the IMF is wrong? Then we’ll see one big fat Greek meltdown - taking all $145 billion down the tubes (much of it from U.S. taxpayers). That’s assuming that Greece is telling the truth about their debt in the first place. But just like the U.S. government, Greece has lied to themselves, and their citizens for years. And just like AIG, GM, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the failing public school system in America - the money we give Greece will never be enough. It’s a bottomless pit. [more...]

Will the Financial Overhaul Bill Nationalize America’s Financial Sector?

By Gerard Lameiro

Rather than eliminate bailouts of companies that are "too big to fail," the current bill being debated in the Senate gives vast new powers to the government to regulate whatever companies it chooses to regulate; to determine how to regulate those companies; to determine what companies to give bailouts to; to determine what companies to close down entirely; to determine what creditors to pay; and, to determine how to pay the favored creditors. Talk about power! Talk about control! With the proposed, new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the government also would essentially gain control over credit allocation across the economy. In effect, the government would control the terms and conditions of financial products and services. It could also decide certain practices were "abusive" and shut them down. That's tremendous control. That's incredible power over companies and consumers! [more...]

Is a VAT Tax Back on the Table?

By Gerard Lameiro

It has been reported that President Obama might consider a VAT (or Value-Added Tax) - essentially a National Sales Tax. Recently, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volker brought up the topic of a VAT tax as a potential way to boost taxes. But others thought much differently, including the U.S. Senate that voted overwhelmingly 85-13 last week in a non-binding resolution to state that a VAT "is a massive tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income and only further push back America's economic recovery." After that Senate vote, it sounded like this bad idea would go away. Now, we learn it might be back on the table. What is a VAT tax? What would a VAT tax really do to America and to our struggling economy? A VAT tax is a type of excise tax that works much like a National Sales Tax. However, it’s actually worse than a sales tax. A VAT tax charges a tax on a product at each stage of production, up to and including, the final sale to the consumer. [more...]

Green Jobs vs. Blue Jobs - Which Jobs Are Better for America?

By Gerard Francis Lameiro

An article in The Wall Street Journal this week discusses the fact that despite considerable hype over green jobs and government spending, green jobs are just plain scarce. Indeed, renewable energy rhetoric has run into real world reality! Is anyone surprised?

The President wants to create millions and millions of green jobs, and, in fact, some money from the $787B stimulus spending package specifically targets green job creation. Earlier this year, a new $100M government program was also announced for the purpose of giving out renewable energy job-training grants. Yet, few green jobs have been created. So, where are all these green jobs? What’s the problem?

America does need new jobs. Since the beginning of the Great Recession, we have lost about 11,000,000 jobs. That’s terrible, especially if you or a family member have been impacted. The answer is not government spending and it’s not green jobs. The answer is blue jobs. Blue jobs are the jobs created by the Free Market. (Blue is the color associated with Freedom. It’s the color of blue skies. It’s the color of optimism.) [more...]

Is the Outlook for Jobs Very Bleak?

By Gerard Lameiro

An opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal this week paints a very gloomy picture for jobs in America. According to the article, at least one third of the 162,000 new jobs created in March were temporary census jobs and the actual new jobs created were insufficient to keep up with population growth. In addition, the American Economy has fallen behind by 11 million jobs since the start of this “Great Recession” and if job growth were to take off in the near future, it still might take up to eight years to catch up to where we were in 2007. Finally, Americans with jobs are accepting lower pay and lower benefits just to keep their current jobs. Is the outlook for jobs really this bleak? More importantly, is there anything we can do to fix this situation? [more...]