So where ever I go lately I hear the politicians and media squawking. "Record profits, record profits! *squawk!"
Then, like the Marxists they are, they will go on to tell you how companies like Exxon-Mobile are making "obscene profits" due to the high prices of oil and maybe, just maybe they ought to pay some kind of extra tax as punishment for all the pain they're supposedly causing us.
So, let me get this straight. I should be mad at a company that has a big hand in making sure that when I go to that gas station, there's actually gas there? The fact that they still manage to do this, even with all the interference from government regulations and the wacko environmentalists to drilling anywhere?
Yes, they go on with their propaganda in an attempt to get everyone angry. Except they don't tell you how much money Exxon-Mobile is really making on a gallon of gasoline. Who wants to guess?
Two cents.
Yes, you read that right. Two cents per gallon. To put this in perspective, ask yourself, just how much does government profit per gallon of gas? It varies from state to state, with a bunch of states over 60 cents per gallon, but let me tell you right off: in every state, it's a hell of a lot more than 2 cents per gallon. The federal government alone confiscates 18.4 cents per gallon. And what exactly did they do to earn that 18.4 cents per gallon? Did they drill the well? Did they transport the oil to the refinery? Did they refine it? Did they transport it to your neighborhood filling station so it's there whenever you want it? Of course not. They just take their cut, like the mafia. So the federal government makes nine times more on a gallon of gasoline than Exxon-Mobile does. But we're supposed to get angry at the oil companies, right?
Oh, I can hear people screaming. "They use that money for the highways and roads!"
Wrong. That money doesn't go into some special fund for highways or roads. It goes into the general Treasury just like every other tax they come up with. The federal gas tax could be $10 a gallon, and they'd still piss all that money away on stupid social experiment programs like they do with all the other tax money. And still have to borrow and print more money on top of that.
Gasoline prices aren't high because you're getting ripped off by Exxon-Mobile, or because some mythical "speculator" is taking your money, gasoline prices are high because our currency is going to hell and supply is being choked off by things like Obama's oil drilling moratorium and wacko environmentalists in the EPA blocking drilling in places where there's actually oil.
Two cents per gallon is awfully close to zero cents per gallon. If that drops much lower the next time you go to fill up your car, there just might not be any gas for you to put in your car. At ANY price.
Friday, April 29, 2011
US Dollar Continues to Take a Dive
The dollar has hit yet another low of late. As of this writing, $1 is now worth:
0.67 Euros
0.95 Canadian dollars
0.91 Australian dollars
...
I could go on, but I won't. Suffice it to say that the US dollar is now worth the least of the major currencies. Even Switzerland's currency is worth more than the dollar now. "So what?" I hear you asking. "Why should I care? It doesn't affect me."
Wrong.
Have you noticed how those pesky gas prices just keep going up? Well a big part of that is due to the drop in the value of the dollar. (The rest can be laid at the feet of supply issues due to radical environmentalist people like Obama who block production at every step) . You see, oil is priced in dollars on the world market, and when the value of the dollar goes down, the price of oil (or anything else, for that matter) goes up. So the value of our currency dropping does affect you, me, and everybody else.
So, what then is causing this devaluation you may wonder. What else? The federal government. People do not want to hold dollar denominated assets because the spendaholics won't stop spending, and the federal reserve won't stop printing money. The more they print, the more dollars there are, the more worthless they become.
The solution? Stop spending. Stop printing worthless paper. Stop smothering energy production. Stop taxing and regulating the bejeezus out of people who produce products and services so the economy can recover for real. Then interest rates will rise, and not only will you actually get a better return on any savings you have, people will want to have dollar denominated assets again because they'll be getting a return on owning said assets instead of the next to 0% offered now.
It's all very simple, it's been proven, it's economics 101. Capitalism works, it's what produced the greatest nation on the face of the earth that produced the most goods and services for the most people. But somewhere along the line, we've gotten a bunch of people that have been infused by Marxist propaganda in positions of power and instead they do the opposite of what's needed to fix all this. They follow a Marxist-socialist ideology that punishes production, and success. It's just one big Death Spiral and we're all going down the drain with it.
0.67 Euros
0.95 Canadian dollars
0.91 Australian dollars
...
I could go on, but I won't. Suffice it to say that the US dollar is now worth the least of the major currencies. Even Switzerland's currency is worth more than the dollar now. "So what?" I hear you asking. "Why should I care? It doesn't affect me."
Wrong.
Have you noticed how those pesky gas prices just keep going up? Well a big part of that is due to the drop in the value of the dollar. (The rest can be laid at the feet of supply issues due to radical environmentalist people like Obama who block production at every step) . You see, oil is priced in dollars on the world market, and when the value of the dollar goes down, the price of oil (or anything else, for that matter) goes up. So the value of our currency dropping does affect you, me, and everybody else.
So, what then is causing this devaluation you may wonder. What else? The federal government. People do not want to hold dollar denominated assets because the spendaholics won't stop spending, and the federal reserve won't stop printing money. The more they print, the more dollars there are, the more worthless they become.
The solution? Stop spending. Stop printing worthless paper. Stop smothering energy production. Stop taxing and regulating the bejeezus out of people who produce products and services so the economy can recover for real. Then interest rates will rise, and not only will you actually get a better return on any savings you have, people will want to have dollar denominated assets again because they'll be getting a return on owning said assets instead of the next to 0% offered now.
It's all very simple, it's been proven, it's economics 101. Capitalism works, it's what produced the greatest nation on the face of the earth that produced the most goods and services for the most people. But somewhere along the line, we've gotten a bunch of people that have been infused by Marxist propaganda in positions of power and instead they do the opposite of what's needed to fix all this. They follow a Marxist-socialist ideology that punishes production, and success. It's just one big Death Spiral and we're all going down the drain with it.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
2011 Budget Passes House; America Loses Again
After seven months of being delinquent, today the House of Representatives finally passed the 2011 Budget. Unfortunately, it's a loser for the nation as no real cuts were made upon examination of the final legislation. The final result: about $350 million in cuts. Yes, that's right. Million. If this was a state budget, that might be a meaningful cut. However we're speaking of the over bloated federal government budget that totals around $3.8 TRILLION dollars. This is so meaningless it's pointless to calculate the percentage as it's so far under 1% it's laughable. Include the fact that that "one time" stimulus spending has been built into the budget "permanently", it's inexcusable that any fiscally sane person would vote for this.
Conclusion: Only 59 Republican incumbents deserve to be re-elected in 2012 in the House.
In fact, they're the only ones that deserve to be re-elected in the entire body. All the Democrats that voted against the bill did the "right" thing for the wrong reasons -- they believed it actually cut TOO MUCH.
Boehner doesn't deserve to be in the House of Representatives, let alone be Speaker. He threw away his biggest political weapon in the negotiations (a government furlough of non-essential employees and services) before the negotiations even started. He also low-balled the original cuts at about 2.6% of the $3.8T budget, then quickly got whittled down from there. Anyone who has ever purchased a car knows negotiating tactics better than the current Speaker of the House.
So the result: another trillion plus dollar deficit, which can't even be explained as being put on a credit card -- because a large chunk of this "financing" is coming from printing money, and purchasing our own debt through Federal Reserve shenanigans since nobody else will buy it anymore due to the reckless irresponsible spending that has been occurring the last few years 2007-2010, and now by virtue of incompetent and spineless politicians in the House, 2011.
Conclusion: Only 59 Republican incumbents deserve to be re-elected in 2012 in the House.
In fact, they're the only ones that deserve to be re-elected in the entire body. All the Democrats that voted against the bill did the "right" thing for the wrong reasons -- they believed it actually cut TOO MUCH.
Boehner doesn't deserve to be in the House of Representatives, let alone be Speaker. He threw away his biggest political weapon in the negotiations (a government furlough of non-essential employees and services) before the negotiations even started. He also low-balled the original cuts at about 2.6% of the $3.8T budget, then quickly got whittled down from there. Anyone who has ever purchased a car knows negotiating tactics better than the current Speaker of the House.
So the result: another trillion plus dollar deficit, which can't even be explained as being put on a credit card -- because a large chunk of this "financing" is coming from printing money, and purchasing our own debt through Federal Reserve shenanigans since nobody else will buy it anymore due to the reckless irresponsible spending that has been occurring the last few years 2007-2010, and now by virtue of incompetent and spineless politicians in the House, 2011.
Friday, April 1, 2011
The 28th Amendment to the Constitution
The 28th Amendment to the Constitution has been proposed, and it's a good one. All 47 Republicans in the Senate have signed on to support a Constitutional amendment that would fix the financial problems in the country from getting any worse -- overnight.
The biggest aspect of the amendment states that the federal government can spend only 18% of the nation's GDP unless a declaration of war has been made. This by itself is huge in that it would immediately reduce government spending from the outrageous rate of 25% of GDP that it is now under Obama, to 18% .. lower than it was during the Bush Administration.
Other aspects of the amendment include needing super majorities of Congress to raise taxes and the debt limit, requiring Congress to balance the budget and the President to submit a balanced budget. This amendment will finally force the spendaholics to put a finite amount of money where it is needed most -- prioritize in other words -- just like we have to do in the real world. And since there's a cap on spending, statist "liberals" will not be able to balance the budget by increasing taxes and spending at the same time -- they can only spend a set amount of money per fiscal year.
It's nice to see the new Senators like Mike Lee and Rand Paul getting a coherent solution put together and supported. Of course this is a long way from being approved -- super majorities of the Senate and House have to approve the amendment before it is sent out to be ratified by the States. The good news however is, since so many State Legislatures were taken over by Republicans in the 2010 race, if the amendment can get out of Congress then it is almost assuredly going to be ratified.
Still a big if -- but it's just the beginning of gathering support for this. If statist "liberals" refuse to go along -- which they undoubtedly will -- they will have to be exposed and further voted out until this thing is passed. This has to be made the top priority and campaign issue alongside the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. This political one-two punch to the statist "liberals" will be the combination to knock them out of power and get the financial health of this nation turned around in short order.
The biggest aspect of the amendment states that the federal government can spend only 18% of the nation's GDP unless a declaration of war has been made. This by itself is huge in that it would immediately reduce government spending from the outrageous rate of 25% of GDP that it is now under Obama, to 18% .. lower than it was during the Bush Administration.
Other aspects of the amendment include needing super majorities of Congress to raise taxes and the debt limit, requiring Congress to balance the budget and the President to submit a balanced budget. This amendment will finally force the spendaholics to put a finite amount of money where it is needed most -- prioritize in other words -- just like we have to do in the real world. And since there's a cap on spending, statist "liberals" will not be able to balance the budget by increasing taxes and spending at the same time -- they can only spend a set amount of money per fiscal year.
It's nice to see the new Senators like Mike Lee and Rand Paul getting a coherent solution put together and supported. Of course this is a long way from being approved -- super majorities of the Senate and House have to approve the amendment before it is sent out to be ratified by the States. The good news however is, since so many State Legislatures were taken over by Republicans in the 2010 race, if the amendment can get out of Congress then it is almost assuredly going to be ratified.
Still a big if -- but it's just the beginning of gathering support for this. If statist "liberals" refuse to go along -- which they undoubtedly will -- they will have to be exposed and further voted out until this thing is passed. This has to be made the top priority and campaign issue alongside the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. This political one-two punch to the statist "liberals" will be the combination to knock them out of power and get the financial health of this nation turned around in short order.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)