Warren Buffet says it all-- and in one short sentence.
HT to Twitter Lagwolf and AmericanIssues for the early find.
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Monday, March 9, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Presidential Thoughts
The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
-Ronald Reagan
-Ronald Reagan
Monday, January 12, 2009
Shrink the Economy, Mr. Obama?
According to a story in the Washington Times today, Obama's pick for climate czar has been part of the leadership of a socialist group who calls for shrinking our economy. Wouldn't that be in direct conflict to stimulating the American economy?
Obama climate czar has socialist ties
By Stephen Dinan
Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change. ......
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/12/obama-climate-czar-has-socialist-ties/
Obama climate czar has socialist ties
By Stephen Dinan
Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change. ......
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/12/obama-climate-czar-has-socialist-ties/
Pelosi Supports Venture Capitalists Over Small Business for Economy
This article is just out and says it all. Pelosi appears to want her wealthy friends from her neighborhood to have federal money which is supposed to go to small business. What a way to jumpstart the economy.
Pelosi-Backed Loophole for Venture Capitalists Will Damage Middle Class Economy
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D - CA) is leading congressional support for a new loophole in federal contracting law that will allow some of the wealthiest venture capitalists in America to receive federal contracts set-aside for small businesses......
http://potluckpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/01/pelosi-backed-loophole-for-venture.html
Pelosi-Backed Loophole for Venture Capitalists Will Damage Middle Class Economy
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D - CA) is leading congressional support for a new loophole in federal contracting law that will allow some of the wealthiest venture capitalists in America to receive federal contracts set-aside for small businesses......
http://potluckpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/01/pelosi-backed-loophole-for-venture.html
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Obama Knows Best, Ignores Economic Experts
Obama and the Democratic Congress appear to have closed minds on listening to the experts who could really provide sound advice in stimulating the economy. Small business is the backbone of this country and any stimulus plan should focus on helping small business owners.
Will Obama listen? Will Congress?
Obama Ignores Economic Experts on Stimulus Plan
President-elect Barack Obama and the new 111th Congress will soon be rolling-out an economic stimulus plan. The stimulus package will no doubt cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, and there is no guarantee it will achieve its goal of rescuing most Americans from the failing economy.....
http://statenationalpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-ignores-economic-experts-on.html
Will Obama listen? Will Congress?
Obama Ignores Economic Experts on Stimulus Plan
President-elect Barack Obama and the new 111th Congress will soon be rolling-out an economic stimulus plan. The stimulus package will no doubt cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, and there is no guarantee it will achieve its goal of rescuing most Americans from the failing economy.....
http://statenationalpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-ignores-economic-experts-on.html
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Bipartisan Legislation Intoduced for Small Business Tax Relief
New legislation for small business tax relief was introduced today in the hopes it can help stimulate the economy.
Snowe, Kerry, Landrieu Tout Bipartisan Bill to Provide Immediate Tax Relief for American Small Businesses
Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), the Ranking Member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), the outgoing Chairman of the Committee, and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.), the incoming Chair, today introduced the Small Business Act of 2009. This bipartisan legislation provides immediate tax relief for small businesses making vital investments in new equipment to further weather the current economic storm.... http://statenationalpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/01/snowe-kerry-landrieu-tout-bipartisan.html
Snowe, Kerry, Landrieu Tout Bipartisan Bill to Provide Immediate Tax Relief for American Small Businesses
Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), the Ranking Member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), the outgoing Chairman of the Committee, and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.), the incoming Chair, today introduced the Small Business Act of 2009. This bipartisan legislation provides immediate tax relief for small businesses making vital investments in new equipment to further weather the current economic storm.... http://statenationalpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/01/snowe-kerry-landrieu-tout-bipartisan.html
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Statement by the Press Secretary on Irresponsible Reporting by New York Times
Most people can accept that a news story recounting recent events will be reliant on '20-20 hindsight'. Today's (December 21) front-page New York Times story relies on hindsight with blinders on and one eye closed.
The Times' 'reporting' in this story amounted to finding selected quotes to support a story the reporters fully intended to write from the onset, while disregarding anything that didn't fit their point of view. To prove the point, when they filed their story, NYT reporters were completely unfamiliar with the President's prime time address to the nation where he laid out in detail all of the causes of the housing and financial crises. For example, the President highlighted a factor that economists agree on: that the most significant factor leading to the housing crisis was cheap money flowing into the U.S. from the rest of the world, so that there was no natural restraint on flush lenders to push loans on Americans in risky ways. This flow of funds into the U.S. was unprecedented. And because it was unprecedented, the conditions it created presented unprecedented questions for policymakers.
In his address the President also explained in detail the failure of financial institutions to perform normal and necessary due diligence in creating, buying and selling new financial products -- a problem that almost no one saw as it was happening.
That the NYT ignored such an important economic speech to the American people and the complex causes of the crises is gross negligence.
The Times story frequently repeats a charge by the Administration's critics: a 'laissez faire' attitude toward regulation. We make no apology for understanding the concept of regulatory balance. That is, regulation should be stringent enough to protect the greater public good and safety but not overly strong so that it unnecessarily inhibits innovation, creativity and productivity gains that are the sole source of increasing Americans' standards of living. But while repeating this charge, the reporters gave glancing attention to the fact that it was this Administration that pushed for strengthened regulation and oversight, greater transparency, and housing reform.
The story also gives kid glove treatment to Congress. While the Administration was pushing for more transparent lending rules and strengthening oversight and supervision of Fannie and Freddie, Congress for years blocked attempts at stronger regulation and blocked reform of the Federal Housing Administration. Democratic leaders brazenly encouraged Fannie and Freddie to loosen lending standards and instead encouraged the housing GSEs to play a larger and larger role in the housing market -- even while explicitly acknowledging the rising risks. And while the story notes the political contributions of some banks to Republicans, it neglects that political contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac overwhelmingly supported Democratic officials -- in particular the chairmen of the banking committees. In fact, even in the midst of what by then was a housing crisis, it took Congress nearly a full year to pass specific legislation called for by the President in the summer of 2007, especially legislation to reform oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
There are many more reporting failures in this story -- failure to consider the impact of monetary policy; ignoring the regional nature of housing markets; and ignoring the Bush Administration's historic proposal to overhaul the nation's regulatory system, for example. But then a review of these issues would wave complicated the reporters' myopic point of view that only Bush Administration policies could possibly be responsible for the housing and finance crises.
The Times' 'reporting' in this story amounted to finding selected quotes to support a story the reporters fully intended to write from the onset, while disregarding anything that didn't fit their point of view. To prove the point, when they filed their story, NYT reporters were completely unfamiliar with the President's prime time address to the nation where he laid out in detail all of the causes of the housing and financial crises. For example, the President highlighted a factor that economists agree on: that the most significant factor leading to the housing crisis was cheap money flowing into the U.S. from the rest of the world, so that there was no natural restraint on flush lenders to push loans on Americans in risky ways. This flow of funds into the U.S. was unprecedented. And because it was unprecedented, the conditions it created presented unprecedented questions for policymakers.
In his address the President also explained in detail the failure of financial institutions to perform normal and necessary due diligence in creating, buying and selling new financial products -- a problem that almost no one saw as it was happening.
That the NYT ignored such an important economic speech to the American people and the complex causes of the crises is gross negligence.
The Times story frequently repeats a charge by the Administration's critics: a 'laissez faire' attitude toward regulation. We make no apology for understanding the concept of regulatory balance. That is, regulation should be stringent enough to protect the greater public good and safety but not overly strong so that it unnecessarily inhibits innovation, creativity and productivity gains that are the sole source of increasing Americans' standards of living. But while repeating this charge, the reporters gave glancing attention to the fact that it was this Administration that pushed for strengthened regulation and oversight, greater transparency, and housing reform.
The story also gives kid glove treatment to Congress. While the Administration was pushing for more transparent lending rules and strengthening oversight and supervision of Fannie and Freddie, Congress for years blocked attempts at stronger regulation and blocked reform of the Federal Housing Administration. Democratic leaders brazenly encouraged Fannie and Freddie to loosen lending standards and instead encouraged the housing GSEs to play a larger and larger role in the housing market -- even while explicitly acknowledging the rising risks. And while the story notes the political contributions of some banks to Republicans, it neglects that political contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac overwhelmingly supported Democratic officials -- in particular the chairmen of the banking committees. In fact, even in the midst of what by then was a housing crisis, it took Congress nearly a full year to pass specific legislation called for by the President in the summer of 2007, especially legislation to reform oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
There are many more reporting failures in this story -- failure to consider the impact of monetary policy; ignoring the regional nature of housing markets; and ignoring the Bush Administration's historic proposal to overhaul the nation's regulatory system, for example. But then a review of these issues would wave complicated the reporters' myopic point of view that only Bush Administration policies could possibly be responsible for the housing and finance crises.
American Small Business League: Obama to Create Loopholes for Venture Capitalists
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the American Small Business League:
President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to create significant changes in federal contracting law that will allow some of the nation's wealthiest investors to receive federal contracts earmarked for small businesses. Under the banner of "increasing access to capital" for small businesses, the policies will allow firms controlled by individual venture capitalist and even large venture capital firms to participate in federal small business contracting programs.
The Obama Administration's new pro-venture capital policy could virtually repeal the Small Business Act for legitimate American small businesses by modifying the longstanding federal definition of a small business as "independently owned."
Under the proposed Obama Administration policy, "independently owned" will be changed to include firms that are not independently owned, but are actually controlled by wealthy investors and possibly some of the nation's largest venture capital firms.
Opponents of the new policy say it appears to be designed more to increase wealthy venture capitalist access to billions of dollars in federal small business contracts as opposed to "increasing access to capital" for legitimate small businesses.
If the policy is successfully implemented it could force the average American small business to compete head-to-head with firms controlled by wealthy investors for even the smallest government orders for goods and services. Thousands of middle class jobs could be lost as billions of dollars in federal small business contracts are diverted to a small number of venture capitalist controlled firms.
The plan will likely include a provision that would exempt the venture capitalist owned firms from capital gains taxes. The Obama-Biden Transition Team website, www.change.gov mentions such a proposal.
The appointment of multi-millionaire venture capitalist Karen Mills to head the Small Business Administration (SBA) is the latest indication that President-elect Obama is moving forward with his plans to divert government small business contracts to venture capital controlled firms.
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and its members have been lobbying for the new loophole in federal contracting law for more than two years. The NVCA and its members have contributed millions of dollars to Obama and key Democratic leaders in Congress such as Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton. (http://www.maplight.org/map/us/interest/F2500)
"The easiest and quickest way to stimulate our nation's failing economy is for the government to spend infrastructure funds with America's 27 million small businesses that create all the new jobs and employ most Americans," American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman said. "This new Obama policy will do just the opposite and will push our economy closer to a depression by diverting billions of dollars in federal funds away from middle class America and into the hands of small number of wealthy investors that backed Obama."
President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to create significant changes in federal contracting law that will allow some of the nation's wealthiest investors to receive federal contracts earmarked for small businesses. Under the banner of "increasing access to capital" for small businesses, the policies will allow firms controlled by individual venture capitalist and even large venture capital firms to participate in federal small business contracting programs.
The Obama Administration's new pro-venture capital policy could virtually repeal the Small Business Act for legitimate American small businesses by modifying the longstanding federal definition of a small business as "independently owned."
Under the proposed Obama Administration policy, "independently owned" will be changed to include firms that are not independently owned, but are actually controlled by wealthy investors and possibly some of the nation's largest venture capital firms.
Opponents of the new policy say it appears to be designed more to increase wealthy venture capitalist access to billions of dollars in federal small business contracts as opposed to "increasing access to capital" for legitimate small businesses.
If the policy is successfully implemented it could force the average American small business to compete head-to-head with firms controlled by wealthy investors for even the smallest government orders for goods and services. Thousands of middle class jobs could be lost as billions of dollars in federal small business contracts are diverted to a small number of venture capitalist controlled firms.
The plan will likely include a provision that would exempt the venture capitalist owned firms from capital gains taxes. The Obama-Biden Transition Team website, www.change.gov mentions such a proposal.
The appointment of multi-millionaire venture capitalist Karen Mills to head the Small Business Administration (SBA) is the latest indication that President-elect Obama is moving forward with his plans to divert government small business contracts to venture capital controlled firms.
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and its members have been lobbying for the new loophole in federal contracting law for more than two years. The NVCA and its members have contributed millions of dollars to Obama and key Democratic leaders in Congress such as Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton. (http://www.maplight.org/map/us/interest/F2500)
"The easiest and quickest way to stimulate our nation's failing economy is for the government to spend infrastructure funds with America's 27 million small businesses that create all the new jobs and employ most Americans," American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman said. "This new Obama policy will do just the opposite and will push our economy closer to a depression by diverting billions of dollars in federal funds away from middle class America and into the hands of small number of wealthy investors that backed Obama."
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