Well, now I’ve seen it all, when it comes to left wing financial lunacy. In France, a major candidate for President (Jean-Luc Melenchon) is calling for a 100% tax on earnings over £300,000.
Gee, I wonder what the Frenchies who are smart, productive soles earning a good wage are going to do? Ummmm, I’m betting they either pack their bags and go someplace else where they can continue to be productive and be compensated for it, ooorrrrr, they will simply stop earning more than £300,000. And what effect will that have on the French society? How many jobs will be created by having their productive folks leave the country? How many jobs will be generated by folks who intentionally earn less than £300,000 because there is no point, it will be taken from them euro by euro.
Let’s just think about this for a second. All the new expensive purchases that would have been made with the over £300,000 of income will evaporate. The jobs for those folks who make these items will evaporate with them. For the productive folks who leave the country, they will continue to make the purchases, but they will be made in other countries by other folks. This is a lose lose proposition.
This plan is monumentally STUPID! Only from the mind of a LPSC (liberal/progressive/socialist/communist) could an idea like this be put forth without realizing that it would be an unmitigated disaster. The real money makers in France would be leaving there so fast there would be a vapor trail behind them. When was the last time anyone got a job paying anything close to a decent wage from a poor person? I can answer that for you…….NEVER!!!!!
The French economy, like the majority of Europe, has been destroyed by the LPSCs over the past 50 years. As we are seeing in Greece, Spain and Italy, and to a lesser degree the rest of Europe, they are on the edge of collapse. Their heels are over the edge of the precipice and they are grasping at straws to save themselves. Then you get some legwarmer wearing LPSC like Melenchon come along and play to the indolent class with a concept like this and it’s like trying to put out a fire by throwing gas on it.
One of the major reasons these socialistic economies are headed down the porcelain appliance is because their governments have been either promising “freebies” to their citizens, or they’ve been forcing companies into giving their populace “freebies”, which of course are NOT free. NOTHING is free! Everything must be paid for.
The LPSCs have controlled the education system in most of Europe for a very long time. They have, in my opinion, intentionally not taught their citizenry how economics actually work (remind you of any other country?). This lack of education means that when LPSCs like Melenchon talk about people having too much money and they should confiscate through taxation everything over X amount, these ignorant folks don’t realize the rippling impact of such plans. They sell the idea that these punitive taxes will generate millions in revenue for the governments so they can give more and more to the indolent, when in fact these gains will be a onetime thing.
Pavlov proved there is learned stimulus response. You can believe me when I tell you that the folks these punitive taxes are aimed at are some of the best at learning their environments and responding in a way that will be best for them. If you think that they will work hard at being creative and productive so that someone else will receive the benefits, then clearly, you’ve never been the victim of any such scheme. The very first thing the creative and productive folks will do is put that creative and productive talent to work hiding or moving funds that would be put at risk or the processes whereby they generate those funds. And what does that mean for those who are looking to the largess of a LPSC government for their existence? It means there will be even less money available for the indolent class.
And what does recent history tell us those who have been trained to suckle at the central government teat for their existence do when they can no longer get what they want? Why I believe Greece has shown you exactly what will happen.
Abraham Lincoln said “You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.” It is as true today as the day he said it.
November is coming. Choose wisely, as we have our own LPSCs like France’s Melenchon.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
War On Women - Or Great Misdirection
Well now, I’ve been listening to all the brouhaha about the Republican’s “War on Women” and Rush Limbaugh’s indelicate comments about Ms. Fluke. I’ve followed many liberal friends’ comments on Facebook about how awful this and that is, and while I agree that Limbaugh’s comments were insensitive and out of line, but I think most folks are missing the point.
This isn’t about a War on Women. Hell, it isn’t even about women! By allowing certain folks to frame the issue as if it were, is to allow them to draw the attention away from the real issue.
And that is, can the government, which so adamantly believes in the separation of church and state that it actively seeks to keep any semblance of religion out of government, force itself into the workings of a church? Can it force a church to act contrary to its moral beliefs?
I would personally say No!
The state has no right to force this upon a church. To force the church to use its resources to pay for something that is morally abhorrent to its beliefs is crossing the line of separation that has been so fervently drawn. Those who are advocating this seem to think that crossing it in the opposite direction is OK. Well I’m here to say it’s not! To cross it in one direction is as bad as it is to cross it the other. Just like these folks don’t want the church to be involved in government, the government should not be involved in church.
The case at hand is whether the government can force Catholic institutions to provide contraceptive services to individuals employed by them or in Ms. Fluke’s case, attending their school. The answer should be emphatically NO!
It is a well-known fact that that the Catholic Church is steadfastly against birth control. It has held this position for centuries. In Ms. Fluke’s case, she enrolled in Georgetown University knowingly or reasonably should have known that Georgetown University would not provide birth control services as part of its health plan. Georgetown University is not the only school in the country in which Ms. Fluke could have obtained a law degree. It isn’t even the cheapest school she could have gotten a law degree from. Yet she chose to attend this school knowing or should have known that these services are not provided.
I venture to say that this is not, as many would have you believe, a women specific issue either. The folks who are making a fuss about this are claiming this is a war against women, but I would bet you that the Catholic Church doesn’t pay for condoms and most likely doesn’t pay for vasectomies. So how is this discriminatory against women? The Catholic Church and its institutions are not going to assist anyone in the use of artificial means of birth control, be they male or female. But the folks trying to force government into more and more of our lives can’t gin up near as much moral outrage if they tell the truth, that this is even handed treatment.
In an effort to mollify the dumb Catholics, President Obama said the Church didn’t have to supply the birth control services, he would make the insurance companies supply the services for free. His problem here was the Catholics weren’t as dumb as he thought. Unlike the President’s followers, they realized that nothing is free. Everything has to be paid for one way or another. The insurance company will increase what it is charging the institution to cover the cost of the birth control, and we are right back where we started. The government forcing the church (through the fees it is paying for the service) to do something it is morally opposed to.
This isn’t a Republican War On Women! This is a war being waged by socialists to insinuate the government into areas of our society that the Constitution expressly prohibits it from.
Whether you agree with the Catholic Church’s position on birth control or not, you should be supporting them if you believe in a limited government. One that stays out of your personal life and lets you make the major life choices you are faced with.
Or at least that’s the way it seems to an old farm boy.
This isn’t about a War on Women. Hell, it isn’t even about women! By allowing certain folks to frame the issue as if it were, is to allow them to draw the attention away from the real issue.
And that is, can the government, which so adamantly believes in the separation of church and state that it actively seeks to keep any semblance of religion out of government, force itself into the workings of a church? Can it force a church to act contrary to its moral beliefs?
I would personally say No!
The state has no right to force this upon a church. To force the church to use its resources to pay for something that is morally abhorrent to its beliefs is crossing the line of separation that has been so fervently drawn. Those who are advocating this seem to think that crossing it in the opposite direction is OK. Well I’m here to say it’s not! To cross it in one direction is as bad as it is to cross it the other. Just like these folks don’t want the church to be involved in government, the government should not be involved in church.
The case at hand is whether the government can force Catholic institutions to provide contraceptive services to individuals employed by them or in Ms. Fluke’s case, attending their school. The answer should be emphatically NO!
It is a well-known fact that that the Catholic Church is steadfastly against birth control. It has held this position for centuries. In Ms. Fluke’s case, she enrolled in Georgetown University knowingly or reasonably should have known that Georgetown University would not provide birth control services as part of its health plan. Georgetown University is not the only school in the country in which Ms. Fluke could have obtained a law degree. It isn’t even the cheapest school she could have gotten a law degree from. Yet she chose to attend this school knowing or should have known that these services are not provided.
I venture to say that this is not, as many would have you believe, a women specific issue either. The folks who are making a fuss about this are claiming this is a war against women, but I would bet you that the Catholic Church doesn’t pay for condoms and most likely doesn’t pay for vasectomies. So how is this discriminatory against women? The Catholic Church and its institutions are not going to assist anyone in the use of artificial means of birth control, be they male or female. But the folks trying to force government into more and more of our lives can’t gin up near as much moral outrage if they tell the truth, that this is even handed treatment.
In an effort to mollify the dumb Catholics, President Obama said the Church didn’t have to supply the birth control services, he would make the insurance companies supply the services for free. His problem here was the Catholics weren’t as dumb as he thought. Unlike the President’s followers, they realized that nothing is free. Everything has to be paid for one way or another. The insurance company will increase what it is charging the institution to cover the cost of the birth control, and we are right back where we started. The government forcing the church (through the fees it is paying for the service) to do something it is morally opposed to.
This isn’t a Republican War On Women! This is a war being waged by socialists to insinuate the government into areas of our society that the Constitution expressly prohibits it from.
Whether you agree with the Catholic Church’s position on birth control or not, you should be supporting them if you believe in a limited government. One that stays out of your personal life and lets you make the major life choices you are faced with.
Or at least that’s the way it seems to an old farm boy.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Chevy Volt: The American Volga
Reading the headlines this morning, I see where General (Government) Motors has decided to halt the production of the Chevy Volt. They say they were looking to sell 45,000 Volts this year and so far, through 2 months, they have sold 1626. By my calculations they are behind schedule by 5,874 units or 13% of projection. This after General Electric (I’m sure you remember GE, the company that is such a huge backer of our current White House occupant, the company that took tax dollars and sent production to China, the company that paid NO taxes last year, the company who’s president was on President Obama’s jobs council and sent jobs to China, that GE) told their employees who drove company cars or were given car allowances, they would only be able to drive Chevy Volts. Any thing else the company wouldn’t pay for.
Now the Chevy Volt was touted by GM and our current administration as this wondrous end all, be all car. One that would run on only electricity, save the environment, cure cancer and defeat islamo-fascism, Now I’m certain that the build quality of the car is acceptable. I haven’t heard of the bumpers falling off or there being unacceptable gaps where parts come together. The fact that the car will just catch on fire is probably due to inherent design flaws rather than shoddy construction. So don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not ragging on the folks who actually build the cars. But lets face facts. Who the hell wants to spend $45,000 on a car that can go about 35 miles on a single charge? I couldn’t make it to work and back on a single charge. While my employer is an OK outfit and is in fact a quasi governmental agency, I don’t believe they are going to install a charging station for me so I can charge the damn thing up and get back home, and even if they did, I’m willing to bet they are going to make it a pay station. They may be willing to pay for my coffee, I don’t think they are going to supplement my commuting expenses. Shoot, if they would do that, why not have them pay for my tires or 70% of my insurance since to and from work is probably about 70% of my mileage.
Let’s face it, once again, government central planning can’t dictate what the consumer is willing to pay for in a society where they still have free choice. Sure, in the old USSR everyone drove a piece of crap Moskvitch or Volga, but then they didn’t really have any other choice. Here in the US, we are not forced to drive what our “betters” might want us to.
When free choice is at play, the market will dictate what will be successful.
Now a conspiracy nut might think that the current administration was trying to rig the game by colluding to raise the price of gas in order to force the market to seek something like the Volt. They might look at the fact that our current President’s energy secretary is on the record for wanting American gas prices to be similar to those in Europe as being confirmation of same. They might take the Presidents own words of not wanting the price to rise so fast (not that he didn’t want it to rise, he just didn’t want them to rise so fast) as further verification. (Fast rises make people mad ya’ know, while slow gradual rises don’t engender hue and outcry.) This same nut might even look at the Administration’s active efforts to hold down domestic oil production so we would be more dependent on costly foreign oil as more evidence.
Once again, Big Government Radical Leftists in conjunction with the Radical Environmentalists (you know them, the folks who used to be the communist/socialists before the fall of the USSR) have tried to socially engineer our country in the direction they think we must go. And yet again their efforts have proven to be 180 degrees out of phase with America.
Now I wouldn’t mind these libtards building and marketing these vehicles, as long as they did it with their own money. If they think their idea’s time has come, they should put their own money at risk and produce it. If they are right, they will become bazillionaires. And I will be happy for them. Honest!
But why do they have to use your and my tax money? I don’t believe the technology is where it needs to be for America to embrace an electric car. I’m not opposed to an electric car on principle. I’m opposed to it because it doesn’t meet my needs as it exists today. When you build me a car that will run 300 miles on a charge and will recharge in 5 minutes. One that is fun to drive, well then sign me up.
Until then, just put your leg warmers back on and get the hell outta my face and quit wasting my tax dollars.
Volt workers, I’m sorry you are out of work, but don’t blame the American public, blame the dumb ass central planner mentality that thought they could force this on the public in the first place. They should have spent the money and brain power on developing more oil here in the US at a cheaper price so folks would buy more regular cars. Then you would still be working building them.
Or at least that’s the way an old farm boy sees it.
Now the Chevy Volt was touted by GM and our current administration as this wondrous end all, be all car. One that would run on only electricity, save the environment, cure cancer and defeat islamo-fascism, Now I’m certain that the build quality of the car is acceptable. I haven’t heard of the bumpers falling off or there being unacceptable gaps where parts come together. The fact that the car will just catch on fire is probably due to inherent design flaws rather than shoddy construction. So don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not ragging on the folks who actually build the cars. But lets face facts. Who the hell wants to spend $45,000 on a car that can go about 35 miles on a single charge? I couldn’t make it to work and back on a single charge. While my employer is an OK outfit and is in fact a quasi governmental agency, I don’t believe they are going to install a charging station for me so I can charge the damn thing up and get back home, and even if they did, I’m willing to bet they are going to make it a pay station. They may be willing to pay for my coffee, I don’t think they are going to supplement my commuting expenses. Shoot, if they would do that, why not have them pay for my tires or 70% of my insurance since to and from work is probably about 70% of my mileage.
Let’s face it, once again, government central planning can’t dictate what the consumer is willing to pay for in a society where they still have free choice. Sure, in the old USSR everyone drove a piece of crap Moskvitch or Volga, but then they didn’t really have any other choice. Here in the US, we are not forced to drive what our “betters” might want us to.
When free choice is at play, the market will dictate what will be successful.
Now a conspiracy nut might think that the current administration was trying to rig the game by colluding to raise the price of gas in order to force the market to seek something like the Volt. They might look at the fact that our current President’s energy secretary is on the record for wanting American gas prices to be similar to those in Europe as being confirmation of same. They might take the Presidents own words of not wanting the price to rise so fast (not that he didn’t want it to rise, he just didn’t want them to rise so fast) as further verification. (Fast rises make people mad ya’ know, while slow gradual rises don’t engender hue and outcry.) This same nut might even look at the Administration’s active efforts to hold down domestic oil production so we would be more dependent on costly foreign oil as more evidence.
Once again, Big Government Radical Leftists in conjunction with the Radical Environmentalists (you know them, the folks who used to be the communist/socialists before the fall of the USSR) have tried to socially engineer our country in the direction they think we must go. And yet again their efforts have proven to be 180 degrees out of phase with America.
Now I wouldn’t mind these libtards building and marketing these vehicles, as long as they did it with their own money. If they think their idea’s time has come, they should put their own money at risk and produce it. If they are right, they will become bazillionaires. And I will be happy for them. Honest!
But why do they have to use your and my tax money? I don’t believe the technology is where it needs to be for America to embrace an electric car. I’m not opposed to an electric car on principle. I’m opposed to it because it doesn’t meet my needs as it exists today. When you build me a car that will run 300 miles on a charge and will recharge in 5 minutes. One that is fun to drive, well then sign me up.
Until then, just put your leg warmers back on and get the hell outta my face and quit wasting my tax dollars.
Volt workers, I’m sorry you are out of work, but don’t blame the American public, blame the dumb ass central planner mentality that thought they could force this on the public in the first place. They should have spent the money and brain power on developing more oil here in the US at a cheaper price so folks would buy more regular cars. Then you would still be working building them.
Or at least that’s the way an old farm boy sees it.
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