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A
few things are certainly true today: President Obama is finally seeing approval
ratings teetering around the 50/50 level recently – which is great for him.
This is worth about as much as saying that progress is underway in the fight
against poverty in third world countries – which is true, it’s just happening
excruciatingly slowly; and it depends on who you ask or where you go to obtain
that information. Complicated problems aren’t they? And by the end of the day, it all feels like
a bunch of smoke and mirrors. Instead of betting on policy changes, luck, or
the existing plan working to perfection thus necessitating no changes of any
kind, perhaps alternatives should be considered. My alternative is to create
your own economy. [more...]
The
reality of falling gas prices has finally hit home. It is not 1973 when the
bulk of every dollar put into the tank went to a Sheik who could care less
about the well-being of the American public. It is now 2015 when about 80% of
gasoline fill-ups stay in the continental United States and the Sheik be d____d.
Being energy self-sufficient is a wonderful thing and will probably be touted
by the President in his SOTU address. Unfortunately self-sufficiency brings the
need for a profit margin to sustain the business AND everything else that
has grown up around it. $45.00 oil doesn't
cut it. [more...]
In
his "State of the Union" speech, President Obama recalled his
campaign promise to "rebuild our economy on a new foundation." He
offered few specifics Tuesday night, promising instead to "in two weeks...
send this Congress a budget filled with ideas that are practical, not partisan."
In previous years he had spoken of his plan to "fundamentally transform"
the United States, and to "Joe the Plumber" of his belief that
America works best when we "spread the wealth around." White House
media allies reported that Mr. Obama has been planning to increase federal
expenditures by at least 7 percent, despite a national deficit that has grown
by an astonishing $7.5 trillion since he became president in 2009. As with
Obamacare, "Doc Barack" apparently still believes in the collectivist
progressive notion that government can create health, wealth and happiness by
prescribing ever-greater doses of the hallucinatory, addictive drugs of taxing,
spending and borrowing. [more...]
Everywhere we turn in the media, we hear the lie that the
Obama economy is in "recovery." Now it appears that Hillary has
bought into this great lie. The word is that Hillary is about to tie her
presidential campaign to Obama’s economic policies. Why? Because for the first
time she believes the economy is in "recovery." She is no longer
afraid or embarrassed to support Obama’s policies. Where are the GOP leaders to
rip this narrative to shreds? Are they so blind, deaf and dumb that they have
no idea there is no recovery for the
middle class? There is only misery and poverty. Do Republican leaders believe
the lies and propaganda spewed by Obama, his socialist cabal and the biased
leftist media? It’s so easy to attack the lies and rip the "good news"
to shreds.
[more...]
More
taxing and more spending is precisely the wrong
strategy to take in this anemic recovery with over 92 million people who are
not working. I might add that the administration's third leg of their
strategic policy triad, namely a whole lot more regulating of the American
economy, is also counter-productive and a boat anchor on economic growth. Increasing
capital gains tax rates is a roadblock to economic growth. In examples
throughout the last century, we know that lower capital gains tax rates act as
an incentive to capital formation and investment, new business formation, new
products and services, and new jobs. Ultimately and ironically, even
government revenues get a boost with a more robust economy with lower marginal
capital gains rates. [more...]
A
new era is upon us. Recently Dish
Network announced their newest project that will be cutting ties with cable
lines. The new Internet streaming service is called Sling TV, which will give
users programming from a package of channels, including ESPN, for $20 a month.
The appeal of watching live sports is what keeps many in the loop with pay TV.
But that was then and this is now. Although CBS and HBO have recently also cut
their ties with cable contracts, Sling TV is the first service from an actual
cable - technically satellite - company to get in the game. Better watch out
Netflix. It looks like it’s time to up your game. Netflix may have a great
thing going for them, but only cable providers such as AT&T U-Verse offer
on-demand accessibility to the box office’s most recent movie releases. [more...]
Inflation,
whether determined by core, headline, or the feds' own internal measurement, is
not approaching the cyclonic days of yesteryear. As a matter of fact, the world
in general, and the U.S. in particular, cannot even get the rate to a paltry
2%. That's paltry by the '70's standards. Mortgage origination is at all-time
lows. Oil has dropped 55% in 6 months. The housing market's post '08 bubble now
seems to have sprung a leak. The only jobs being offered are minimum wage.
Mainstream media says rates will rise by mid-summer. The economic gang of 68
(those who unanimously predicted 4% 10-year treasuries by the end of 2014) say
increases could be sooner. Even the fed heads are saying "lackluster
inflation won't prevent a rate hike." So, why raise rates? [more...]
Although
the consumer sentiment in the U.S. alone appears to be on the rise,
Thanksgiving and Christmas retail sales were lackluster at best and the season
was carried by online sales at best. Unemployment is down and the stock
market up. It all looks good for 2015. But wait... the world is uncertain
due to the withdrawal of American leadership abroad. If you think Greece
caused a worldwide panic, wait until sanctions in Russia really take hold and
the imminent backlash there. Buy beltway bandits or defense stocks with a
focus on cyber security - they will do well. [more...]
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