Machiavelli, Obamanomics, and Freebies

Niccolo Machiavelli in his famous work The Prince wrote that "A ruler who pursues a reputation for generosity will always end up wasting all his resources, and he will be ogliged in the end, if he wants to preserve his reputation, to impose crushing taxes upon the people, to pursue every possible source of income, and to be preoccupied with maximizing his revenues. This will begin to make him hateful to his subjects, and will ensure no one thinks well of him, for no one admires poverty. The result is his supposed generosity will have caused him to offend the vast majority and to have won favor with few."

Machiavelli's description of the inevitable demise of a nation whose leader seeks a reputation for generosity can be applied directly to the United States under the reign of the new leftist triumvirate of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid. The left promises massive increases in domestic spending for a variety of "generous" programs like government healthcare, government childcare, government program after program... and of course the tax cuts for people who don't pay taxes (the most "generous" plan of all). Of course we cannot afford to pay for all of this idealistic spending with our massive budget deficits but no matter... thus as Machiavelli said the inevitable outcome will be to "impose crushing taxes upon the people." Aha! I know what you lefties are thinking already.... Barack Obama promises 95% of Americans a tax cut, so would not his policy benefit the many by harming the few (the rich obviously, fuck them over), thus contradicting Machiavelli, who said that such "generous" plans would instead benefit the few and harm the many? Let us take a closer look: Barack Obama's plan to give hand outs or as he calls them "tax cuts" to 40% of the country that makes too little to pay taxes will certainly benefit the few at the expense of the many, the many being EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO PAYS TAXES. Sure, taxpayers not in the top 5% will see a modest tax cut. However, where do you think all of the money is coming from to give these "tax cuts" to the people who don't pay taxes? THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!! (China is also an acceptable answer) ..... Everybody who pays taxes, not just the top 5% that Obama will hammer, pays into the system. Thus when the system is going to fund hand outs for people who pay no taxes, that money is coming from every taxpaying member of society, not just "the rich" or the "corporate fat cats" whose tax increases will surely cause Obama and Pelosi to foam at the mouth. Thus Obama's schemes to "spread around the wealth" are affecting a lot more people than just those rich fellas. So, as Machiavelli said, the few (those who pay no taxes and make little money to begin with but make a little more after their entitlement checks) benefit at the expense of the many (those who do pay taxes and see a significant portion of their income shipped away as freebies) with everybody becoming poorer in the end and as total economic output and growth decline. So next time you hear about all of the liberal "generous spending" plans, remember what Machiavelli said....

Note: This is by no means an endorsement of Machiavelli or his worldview, simply the application of a relevant quotation from a brilliant thinker to contemporary politics

Obama's Revealing Memoir: Moderate or Marxist or Somewhere in Between?

Barack Obama's famous memoir "Dreams of My Father" has been widely commended as an inspirational biographical account of Barack Obama's incredible life story. Criticisms of the book have been muted and have usually consisted of grumblings from the right about Obama' s admitted past drug use (though those right wingers ignore Bush's refusals to answer specific questions about his prior drug use). Unfortunately, little attention has been given to some of the other statements made by Obama in his book, which help paint a picture of his worldview. Obama writes that at Occidental College, "I chose my friends carefully... the more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists." I only include the entire quote to contextualize the reference to the Marxist professors that he "palled" around with (to use a Sarah Palin term... is palled even english?). Obama's radical associations continued when he transferred to Columbia. He refers to "the socialist conferences I sometimes attended at Cooper Union...". Now who is the real Barack Obama? It is hard to say given that the guy has been in the senate for only a few years, has authored no remarkable legislation, and has simply voted with his party (or to the left of his party in a few cases) on almost 100% of the issues. Is he the well spoken moderate we have seen over the past few months or the radical college student who hung around with Marxist professors, attended socialist conferences, and attended for 20 years the church of radical black nationalist, openly racist and anti-American preacher Jeremiah Wright while letting slip his plans to "spread around the wealth" as recently as last week? With his lack of a record it is hard to know who the real Barack Obama is. Unfortunately, whoever he is, he will be unchecked in his aspirations, whether they be moderate or Marxist, by the liberal supermarjority in Congress. "Change" isn't looking too pretty for anyone who wants to make a buck in their lives... let's just make everybody poor eh? Then at least our society will be more "equitable" and "fair" and "sensitive" and "tolerant" with greater "social solidarity"... the favorite terms of libs.....

Obama and Biden's Shameless Class Warfare and Destructive Economic Policies

Please check out this article by Jack Kemp and Peter Ferrara on how Obamanomics will inevitably batter the American economy and the markets. Keep in mind that the damage has already begun given the seemingly certain prospect of an Obama victory along with massive democratic majorities in Congress. Investors have been fleeing from the markets in light of the financial crisis yet an "Obama effect" is clear as investors are smart enough to know that an Obama Administration is not their friend. Of course Obama's Robin Hood schemes will make everyone poorer in the long run while destroying any hopes of retaining America's competitiveness in the international market. This article is simple, straight forward, and compelling. Check it out! http://ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=309998514066924

And my offer of a cookie is still out there for any Obama supporter who can convince me that raising income taxes, corporate taxes, capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, the death tax (the pigs tax you while you make it, then take another chunk of it when you die), and decreasing free trade will help our economy in a time of market uncertainty. Forget a cookie, how about a dinner for two at the fucking Union Square Cafe? Well I'm not worried because as much as I enjoy the company of libs, I fail to understand their voodoonomics. The best answer I've heard so far is that an Obama presidency will somehow magically restore Americans' faith in themselves, which would somehow translate into increased economic output, the so-called "Messiah effect." Well personally speaking, my faith in myself would be a lot greater if I was working for myself more of the time and not for the IRS (high income earners under Obamanomics will be working for the IRS about two-thirds of the year while the other 4 months they actually get to keep what they earn). You want CHANGE? WELCOME TO AMERICA THE GREAT 21ST CENTURY WELFARE STATE!

The Great Philosophical Issue of this Election

Barack Obama and John McCain's economic plans present a clear dichotomy of their and their supporters' economic values. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid believe that the government should decide how to spread around the resources in this country. Their schemes will take from the few and give to the many, the kind of shameless economic populism that Americans have constantly rejected throughout history. When Barack Obama promises 95% of Americans a tax cut, he really means a giant giveaway to tens of millions of people who pay no taxes from the other 5% as well as a modest tax cut for middle income taxpayers. Obama and his crew will stymie growth by jacking up capital gains and corporate dividend taxes as well as income tax on high incomes. This will obviously result in decreased GDP output and even worse performing markets. Then there will be less and less money at the top to pay for all of these programs. The top 1% of wage earners already pay 40% of all federal taxes so if they get hammered the only option will be to start reaching into the pockets of the middle class to pay for these handouts and spending schemes. Thus is the inevitable downward spiral of socialism: punish the rich hard enough and they become less and less rich, some move away to lower tax countries, others work less because it's not worth it when you're slaving away for the IRS two thirds of the time.... and then whom do you take from??? John McCain's policies will CREATE wealth by making investment more profitable through a reduction in the capital gains tax as well as job training programs to help workers adjust to the new economy. Barack Obama will DESTROY hundreds of billions in wealth through his protectionist, anti-free trade agenda that he espoused in the Senate, coupled with his tax hikes. So sure, he'll spread around the pie, but the pie is going to keep getting smaller and smaller. If you believe that the government can spend people's money better than they can, then of course vote blue this election. But if you trust the people to innovate, invest, and spend their money to stimulate the economy then vote red. Enjoy the free market people because it might not be around as we know it much longer (what's left of it post bailout)... if only the McCain campaign can pull of a miracle to dethrone the already coronated darling of the elite liberal media...

Barack Obama's Self Declared Marxist Goals

The Drudge Report headline this morning provides a link to a Barack Obama radio address in 2001 in which he criticized the Supreme Court for not addressing the issue of "redistribution of wealth." This soundbite from several years ago should come as no surprise given Obama's recent claim to want to "spread the wealth around." During this same 2001 interview Barack Obama lamented that the Warren Supreme Court, by far the most left wing court in the history of the United States, "wasn't that radical." Barack further complained that he was "not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts... [although] I think any three of us sitting here could come up with a rationale for bringing about economic change through the courts." Well even though bringing about Obama's desired "redistributive change" through the courts proves highly unconstitutional due to Congress needing to pass any tax increases, in 8 days it appears that Obama will finally be granted his Marxist fantasies that he never thought would be realized back in 2001. With Barack Obama as President of the United States, radical San Francisco leftist Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House of Representatives, and highly partisan left wing ideologue Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader, the Democrats will finally achieve their desired socialist redistribution of wealth schemes. In fact, influential Massachussetts Congressman Barney Frank recently proposed "massive increases in spending" when the Democrats seize power and that now was no time to worry about deficits and that we have a "lot of very rich people we can tax" to pay for these programs. If you believe that the government should enact a massive wealth redistribution bureaucracy in the middle of an investment crisis then vote for change. But I don't know how you can tell me these people aren't socialists. I just hope that the idiots running the McCain campaign can jump on Obama and expose him and his allies for the far left wing partisans that they are.

Social Security: Pro-Growth vs. Socialist Voodoonomics

The Obama campaign has recently launched a series of ads in swings states with large elderly populations such as Florida and Pennsylvania that attacks John McCain for wanting to "gamble" with seniors' retirements. The Obama campaign's ads refer to John McCain's plan to give taxpayers the option of investing a portion of their social security in the stock market. As when George W. Bush proposed giving taxpayers the option of investing a portion of their social security in the market, the left cried "foul" with enough allies on the right to stymie any such reforms. With the temporary downturn of the market it would indeed appear foolish to let seniors squander away their retirements in risky investments. However, historically the stock market has far outperformed the social security trust fund, which is going broke soon. Thus in the long run, those seniors making the CHOICE to invest a portion of their social security in the stock market would be walking away on average with more benjamins than those opting for the current plan. Now more than ever is the time to give people the option to invest part of their social security in the stock market as such a flow of capital into the market would be great news for markets that have been battered by a mass exodus of capital from mutual funds in recent weeks. Whether you agree with the partial privatization plan or not, agree with me that something drastic and innovative must be done to reform a system that is doomed to insolvency in the coming decades. John McCain's plan: optional partial privatization that would give the markets a badly needed influx of capital. Now turning to the Obama plan....

Surprise, surprise, surprise the Obama plan on social security consists of RAISING TAXES ON THE RICH GUYS. In spite of Senator Obama's promises of "hope" and "change" I see nothing promising or innovative about his social security plan. Obama's plan consists of extending the payroll tax (that funds social security) to include all income over 250,000. Currently, only income up to 250,000 is taxed, with people receiving proportionally roughly what they put into the system. Social Security has been such a popular program for so long because it is "contributory," meaning that everyone pays and everyone benefits based on what they pay. Barack Obama's plan will change the nature of this program from that of a retirement plan bound for bankruptcy into that of a socialist wealth redistribution scheme that is also bound for bankruptcy. The additional revenue into social security from Obama's plan will only extend the solvency of the program for an estimated three years. The changing population demographic with retiring baby boomers that is straining Social Security requires an innovative solution to a complex problem: Obama's solution of saddling the rich with more taxes that will do nothing but postpone the sytem's failure for a few more years is hardly innovative: another example of his commitment to the old failed policies of big government, tax and spend liberalism. John McCain's plan will restructure the system into one that on average will increase returns dramatically and take much of the strain off the cash strapped federal government. I had a discussion with a liberal today who warned that partial privatization of Social Security was a bad idea because people are stupid and cannot be trusted to invest their money wisely. I have heard this argument time and time again from liberals. First of all, it would be easy to open up investment only to safe index type funds that will not allow people to gamble their retirements in highly risky investments. Second of all, this liberal argument underscores the fundamental ideological difference between liberals and conservatives on the economy: liberals believe that Washington can spend Americans' money better than the people who earned it while conservatives would trust the people with their own money. It's never felt so good to be a Republican.......

Forget Joe the Plumber: How about Joe Investor?

The terribly mismanaged McCain campaign has been blowing a lot of steam recently about its new messiah "Joe the Plumber" whom Obama's tax plan would allegedly hurt. This strategy (like many in McCain's poorly executed campaign) backfired after a background check into this Joe fellow revealed that he is not even a licensed plumber and is a partisan republican rather than an undecided voter as he claimed to be. McCain's appeals not to "raise Joe's taxes" also lacked ammunition given that it appeared Joe's taxes would actually go down under Obama's plan. Another brilliant campaign move by a McCain campaign that allowed Obama to have a 3 to 1 fundraising advantage by taking public financing while for reasons that I cannot explain has chosen to ignore Senator Obama's close association with his radical, openly racist and anti-American preacher of twenty years, Jeremiah Wright. McCain's campaign will go down as one of the worst run campaigns in American history.... and I haven't even mentioned the buffoon Sarah Palin yet....

So instead of a bunch of gibberish about "Joe the Plumber" and Sarah Palin's nonsensical talk about appealing to "Real America" (whatever that means) let's talk about my hypothetical acquaintance: Joe the Investor. World financial markets have been battered by the domino effect of a housing bubble fueled by speculation and risky loans coupled with the inability of Alan Greenspan and an overly libertarian Fed to regulate derivatives trading. However, my friend Joe the Investor has some cash on hand and is looking to invest somewhere though he's not sure where. In Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi's America, Joe will be looking at the prospect of his capital gains taxes on investment profit rising from 15% (current level) to either 20 or 28% (Obama at one point said raise it to 20% and at another suggested 28% was better or more "fair" or whatever). John McCain, on the other hand, wants to lower capital gains to 7.5%. So in this global economy with so many potential places to invest one's money around the world, in whose America does it make more sense to invest: Obama's or McCain's? Investment creates jobs and growth, both of which we desperately need right now. America must retain its competitive edge in this global economy. It is time to put a temporary moratorium on the capital gains tax. If somebody can convince me that raising the capital gains tax will somehow help America's economy, I will give that person a cookie. Expect entries every day until the election.... peace

Why I'm voting straight ticket Republican this election

Well as I write this entry nine days before election day it appears that Barack Obama will win the presidency by a comfortable margin (though some polls suggest the race is tightening) while the democrats are certain to win overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress with a possibile 60 vote filibuster proof majority in the Senate. Two weeks ago, I would have been jumping with joy at this prospect. Now, I'm about to shit my pants.

I voted for Barack Obama in the New Hampshire first in the nation primary, I donated 35$ to his primary campaign, I volunteered going door to door for the Obama campaign in Portsmouth, New Hampshire this summer, I proudly wore my Obama tshirt and my Obama button around periodically over the past 6 months, I had an Obama sticker on my door until last week, I really like Barack Obama, but come next Tuesday I am voting for John McCain and for the Republicans in my hotly contested House of Representatives and Senate races. Yes, I think Barack Obama is a brilliant, capable man. I identify a lot more with Barack Obama and Joe Biden on social issues than I do with John McCain and Sarah Palin. However, in the midst of the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression, I am voting for the ticket that will do the best job of keeping America competetive in the global economy by promoting the free market principles that have made the American economy the financial titan that it is today. True, excessive deregulation and risky trading practices have contributed to the current financial mess, but the blame lies every bit as much on the democrats and their buddies at Fannie and Freddy (who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Obama and other democrats this election cycle) pushing for risky loans in low income areas as it does on the Republicans and their laissez-faire economics. Yes, the free market is experiencing a hiccup but now is not the time to abandon the greatest economic system on earth: capitalism. Unfortunately, placing Barack Obama in in the presidency, Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, and Harry Reid as the Senate majority leader will create an ironclad liberal supermajority that I believe will fundementally subvert the free market capitalist principles that have made America's economy the greatest and most dynamic in the world.

Change, hope, the key phrases of the Obama campaign that inspired me and millions of other Americans to hop on the Obama bandwagon seeking a breath of fresh air following the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush. True, it was always a little vague what Barack Obama stood for, but his optimism was highly refreshing in today's depressing political climate. Barack Obama has inspired a grassroots enthusiasm that has made millions of people who were previously apathetic care about politics. As a student of politics, I can greatly appreciate the enthusiasm that his campaign has generated. However, as his promises of hope and change became translated into definitive policies, my inspiration turned to disgust. The truth is that Barack Obama does not represent true change: his promises for hope and a new kind of bipartisan politics contrast greatly with his voting record and campaign promises which show him to be little more than another tax the rich and spend on social problems leftist with THE MOST partisan left wing voting record in the Senate. The truth is that an Obama presidency coupled with a Congress dominated by the far left will bring no innovative change: simply a return to the failed liberal tax and spend policies of Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter that hiked taxes to confiscatory levels to spend on a variety of programs that were demonstrated failures in reducing poverty. Right now in the midst of a financial crisis is the very worst time to be enacting these types of destrucive socialist policies.

I am mystified at how the left wing intellectual elite believes that raising capital gains taxes, raising income taxes on the wealthy, raising corporate taxes, and placing increasingly restricitve burdens on free trade will help the economy out of a recession. In a global economy, America must do everything that it can to encourage investment in America and attract high wage earners to this country. Increasing taxes on investment will only deter foreign investment while punishing the investor class in a time of depressed markets is pouring gasoling on the economic fire. Barack Obama's tax plan is hard on socialism: he plans to give 95% of America a "tax cut" which is completely misleading seeing as 40% of wage earners pay no federal income taxes. Thus these people will be getting 500 or 1000$ entitlement checks from the IRS. This plan will simply turn the IRS from a revenue collection agency into a wealth redistribution agency that will surely further Obama's stated agenda of "spreading the wealth around." Furthermore, Obama plans to turn social security from a government backed pension program into a massive redistribution of wealth scheme. Obama will add the payroll tax of 15% on all income over 250,000$ while not extending these people increased benefits. Thus social security, once a pension plan where you paid in and took out based on what you paid in, will become a thinly veiled plan to take money from the wealthy and give it to the poor- this is flat out socialism. Under the Obama plan, a high wage earner in New York City will see their federal income tax rise from 35 to 39 percent, tack on another 15% for the social security tax, add on the 8% New York state tax and the 4% NYC income tax and you're forking over about two thirds of your hard earned cash to the IRS (these numbers are estimates but theyr'e pretty accurate). Now, do we really expect a society with confiscatory tax rates on its highest wage earners to encourage innovation and entrepaneurship? I don't think so. Add on Obama's plan to force businesses to cover their employees with health insurance, not to mention his environmental regulations, and America all of the suddenly looks like a much worse place to do business. Oh yea, and free trade? Any economist will tell you that opening up free trade is a mutually beneficial relationship that will add billions of dollars to an economy. The Obama and Pelosi crew have successfully blocked free trade agreements with Colombia and Nicaragua in the Senate just to mention a couple. Obama's plan is Hoovernomics: raising taxes + increasing protectionism during a recession = depression. No Obama supporter that I have confronted has been able to convince me that this socialism will help the American economy: in fact we need only to look across the pond to our friends in Europe to see what these policies do to a nation's macroeconomy.

Ah Europe, land of double digit unemployment, free commie care (universal healthcare) for all, and stagnant economic growth that is making the European Union increasingly irrelevant in the world economy with each passing year. That is the direction where Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid will take America - Obama promises higher taxes on the rich to pay for all Americans to receive the same healthcare that members of Congress receive... great... in theory. The problem is that healthcare resources are finite: long waits for doctors appointments are already common in America. So if we open up that system to 50 million or so people who previously had no access to it, expect the quality of healchare for every person currently covered to deteriorate significantly. In Europe, for example, cancer survival rates are consistently lower than in America because the socialist healthcare systems mandate such long waits to see a doctor. So under the liberal plan, you pay a shitload more in taxes and receive shitty healchare in return, not the country that I want to live in. If we want to punish success with confiscatory taxes, spend countlesss sums on free preschool, more unemployment benefits, and whatever else Barney Frank and co. can stab the rich to pay for, then let's vote for Change. You want change? Change is coming... McCain Palin 08! Vote Republican for Congress!