Europe’s German Future

On February 9, 2012, in Uncategorized, by NatK

From Christopher Caldwell, at the Weekly Standard , ” Über Alles After All “: Last week Germany reclaimed its status as the leading power in Europe. In the two years since it became apparent that Greece was, essentially, bankrupt, there have been dozens of emergency meetings of the countries that use the common European currency, the euro. Most of the euro-using states believe that Germany—with a booming industrial economy, vast trade surpluses, a reputation for fiscal probity, and a history that makes it reluctant to reject the counsel of France—ought to cover the bill. Germany has long argued that Greece must become competitive again by selling off state assets and cutting government handouts. More recently, Germany has added another demand—that EU authorities be empowered to discipline Greece and other delinquent countries. At the Brussels summit on January 30, the Germans won. Germany is fortunate to have, in the moment of its triumph, a chancellor who does not scare people. Angela Merkel is an East German intellectual, a physical chemist, the childless daughter of a clergyman. She mumbles. Her taste in clothing runs to pantsuits. She isn’t brawny and forceful like her Christian Democrat mentor Helmut Kohl, who presided over the reunification of Germany at the end of the Cold War. She isn’t eloquent and haughty, or tempestuous and randy, like her Social Democratic predecessors Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schröder, respectively. “This lack of a presidential demeanor is a big advantage,” says longtime Bavarian governor Edmund Stoiber, whom Merkel replaced as party leader. Germany’s economy naturally provides it with a leadership role, but its history means that that role is something Germany cannot be seen to claim. “Neither personally nor politically does she come off as wanting to blow her own horn, along the lines of ‘I am the leader of Europe.’ ” By “Europe” Stoiber means the 27 countries that make up the European Union. The EU was launched in the wake of the Second World War as a way to organize Europe through economics, not war. This is a polite way of saying it was meant to keep Germany from dominating Europe with its army. A decade ago, the EU acquired a common money, the euro, which replaced the franc, the lira, the peseta, and the super-strong deutsche mark. The new monetary regime was meant to keep Germany from dominating the continent with its currency. But the euro has backfired. In 1990 British trade secretary Nicholas Ridley was forced to resign for calling the EU “a German racket designed to take over the whole of Europe.” Ridley was quite wrong about Germany’s intentions, but he was right about the result. Joining Germany in a currency union meant playing by its rules. In fact, so big and rich is Germany—particularly now that reunification has brought its population to 80 million—that joining it in anything means playing by its rules. This is not Germany’s fault. It is the classic “German problem” that has confronted Europe for the whole modern era. It was camouflaged for six decades only by Germany’s reluctance to express any wishes whatsoever. As long as Germany wasn’t complaining, others could make free with Germany’s credit card. Once in the euro, Greece, Italy, Spain, and other countries that bankers used to consider reckless or unstable could borrow at the same rates. (The treaties that bound all these dissimilar countries together stipulated that there would be no bailouts for those who borrowed too much, but bankers obviously didn’t believe that.) A boom in lending pushed up wages and prices in those “peripheral” countries, rendering them uncompetitive. After the financial crisis of 2008, the countries that had overborrowed were saddled with more debt than they could comfortably repay. The eurozone’s Mediterranean members have come to think that Germany ought to rescue them. But the Germany to which they are addressing their petitions is not the penitent, diffident, and easily browbeaten land that they came to know over the last three generations. Germany has its own ideas about economics and morality, and it is ready to insist that its weaker neighbors adhere to them. That’s a great piece — pretty accurate all around. Continue reading at the link .

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Europe’s German Future

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Middle Class Payroll Tax Cut Extension Comes Courtesy of Mortgage Fees on Home Buyers

On February 6, 2012, in barack obama, Uncategorized, by Richard Riker

**Written by Doug Powers During the clamor to pass an extension of the payroll tax cut, President Obama asked “What does $40 mean to you?” His opponents of the way the extension was handled might now be able to counter with, “What does $9,500 mean to you ?” (CBS News) Just before Christmas, American workers got a rare gift from Washington politicians – the current payroll tax cut would be extended for two more months. At the time, both President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner lauded the move to avoid a tax increase for millions of working Americans. But there’s something the politicians weren’t bragging about – the fact that they’re paying for the two-month tax cut with what has turned into a brand new fee on home buyers. The new fee is a minimum of one-tenth of 1 percent on Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed loans, and is likely to go much higher. It will be imposed for the next 10 years on most mortgages and refinancings and it lasts for the life of the loan. For every $200,000, it amounts to an extra $15 dollars a month. It’s bad news for Patty Anderson, who’s buying a home in Virginia. Anderson will save a couple hundred dollars from having her payroll tax cut extended but her mortgage broker told her the new fee would cost her almost $9,500. The $35.7 billion collected in fees won’t go into the Social Security fund to replace the lost payroll tax. It goes to the general treasury where Congress can spend it however they please . Is this outlined in the Homeowners Bill of Rights ? For now, file this under “robbing Peter for decades to pay Peter for a couple of months”: **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

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United Nations: How About a Worldwide Tax to Fund ‘Social Protections’?

On February 4, 2012, in Uncategorized, by RonBillers

**Written by Doug Powers The U.N. lowered their flag to half-staff for a brutal dictator , elected Iran to its Commission on Women’s Rights , and wants to spend $76 trillion over the next four decades to “green” the world . With that in mind, why should anybody doubt they have what it takes to eradicate oppression and misery or question their grip on economic reality? From Deseret News : The focus of the forum was “universal access to basic social protection and social services.” “No one should live below a certain income level,” stated Milos Koterec, President of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. “Everyone should be able to access at least basic health services, primary education, housing, water, sanitation and other essential services.” These services were presented at the forum as basic human rights equal to the rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The money to fund these services may come from a new world tax. “We will need a modest but long-term way to finance this transformation,” stated Jens Wandel, Deputy Director of the United Nations Development Program. “One idea which we could consider is a minimal financial transaction tax (of .005 percent). This will create $40 billion in revenue.” “It is absolutely essential to establish controls on capital movements and financial speculation,” said Ambassador Jorge Valero, the current Chairman of the Commission on Social Development. He called for “progressive policies of taxation” that would require “those who earn more to pay more taxes.” Valero’s speech to the forum focused on capitalism as the source of the world financial problems. When asked where she expected the money to provide all needy people with a basic income, healthcare, education and housing would come from, Fatima Rodrigo, one of the presenters at the forum, mentioned the “very small tax of .005 percent.” She added, “There is plenty of money, we just need to stop spending it on militaries and wars.” Here’s an alternate plan: The U.N. should start with something they can immediately control. If they moved out of their super-expensive digs and instead held their meetings in cheaper quarters (perhaps in “Occupy” encampments), billions of dollars would be freed up that they could immediately put toward helping impoverished and oppressed. Heck, maybe more people could be helped if they simply paid their parking tickets . **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

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Some Commerce Department Employees Blocked From Internet for 10 Days Due to Virus

On February 4, 2012, in Uncategorized, by

According to the Washington Post, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration is battling a computer virus that has had employees offline for the last 10 days. As of right now the EDA’s website is not functional. The Post reports that outside experts are currently working to restore functionality, but it is still unclear if any private information was stolen. The Post continues: “At this point, what is likely happening is they’re trying to find out who is attacking us, how can we get back online and how do we make sure we get all of the bad guys out of the system,” said Alan Paller, research director of the SANS Institute, a cyber-training school in Bethesda. The Commerce Department also suffered a  wave of security breaches  that compromised the names and Social Security numbers of some employees in late 2009 and early 2010. The department was faulted for not informing some employees until almost seven weeks after one breach. “Something has to be really bad in order for the response to be, ‘Let’s disconnect from the Internet,’ ” said Jacob Olcott, a former counsel for the Senate Commerce committee who now works for Good Harbor Consulting, a cyber risk management company.

Message on EDA website.

The Post makes note of a report in Nov. 2011 that accused China of cyber attacks on U.S. chemical and military companies. It reports security experts as saying business secrets could have been the onus for the attack on the EDA. [H/T IEEE Spectrum ]

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CBO’s Budget Report: Perennial Debt for Generations

On January 31, 2012, in barack obama, Uncategorized, by stuartbramhall

“The rosy predictions for revenues and reduced healthcare spending can come to fruition, but not with the current socialist policies as the baseline.” The budget season has officially commenced today with CBO’s release of its annual budget and economic outlook.  Here are some of the major takeaways from the report: FY 2012 Budget The topline figure that the media will focus on is the projected $1.070 trillion budget deficit for FY 2012, down from $1.3 trillion last year.  However, as CBO notes several times throughout the report, the reduction in this year’s deficit is predicated on several assumptions. 1)      Revenues :  The entirety of this year’s deficit reduction comes from higher projected revenues, roughly $220 billion.  CBO is forced to score current law, which assumes that the payroll tax cut will expire at the end of February.  Another 10-month extension, which is almost a forgone conclusion, would cost over $100 billion.  Also, the CBO baseline does not include a likely AMT patch, and extension of many annual “tax extenders,” such as the credit for research and development.  It’s very likely that the extensions will wipe out the entire revenue gain from this year over 2011, thereby eliminating the reduction in the deficit. 2)      Outlays :  CBO is projecting $3.601 trillion in spending, up just $3 billion from last year.  Obviously, this projection does not account for a full-year extension of unemployment benefits and doc fix, which could add as much as $70 billion to this year’s spending total. 3)      Defense :  Outlays for defense will be reduced by another $20 billion. When these factors are accounted for, it is clear that non-defense discretionary spending will not decrease significantly, while mandatory spending will continue to rise.  If you assume the alternative scenario, in which most of the temporary tax and spending measures are extended, the deficit should be about the same as last year; around $1.3 trillion.  In other words, there will be slightly more revenue this year, but increased spending as well. 10-Year Budget Frame: 2013-2022: Over the next 10 years, CBO is projecting $41.179 trillion in spending and $44.251 trillion in revenue, for a deficit of $3.072 trillion.  The $3 trillion figure is a real lowball estimate of our projected debt for several reasons.  Under that scenario, our annual deficits would dip to $450 billion in just two years, and stay below $400 billion indefinitely.  They are assuming rosy pictures of revenue increases, along with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.  Furthermore, CBO notes, that Medicare and Medicaid spending have always increased above expectations, and with Obamacare taking effect, the real cost of healthcare spending will blow out the budget deficits – way beyond $3 trillion. Another important long-term factor is interest on the debt.  At present, interest rates are at historic lows, but they will eventually revert back to their historic norms.  That could add several trillion more to the 10-year deficit. The rosy predictions for revenues and reduced healthcare spending can come to fruition, but not with the current socialist policies as the baseline. Economic Outlook CBO is projecting more stagnation for the next few years.  For 2012, they are seeing 2% GDP growth and 8.9% unemployment.  For 2013, they are projecting a pullback to just 1.1% growth and a spike in unemployment to 9.2%.  With these bleak economic figures, it’s hard to envision a scenario in which revenues increase substantially and spending on welfare programs decline (as projected by the report).  How can revenues go from 16% of GDP to 20% in just two years, even without the extension of tax cut provisions?  Then again, it’s all a moot point.  Budget deficits tend to be much higher than the figures projected in CBO reports, in part, due to some of the aforementioned factors. Social Security Social Security is, by far, the largest expenditure for the foreseeable future.  This year, SS outlays will top $770 billion, accounting for 21.3% of the entire federal budget for FY 2012.  From 2013-2022, SS spending will top $10.5 trillion, almost 24% of the budget.  On the revenue side, Social Security taxes will only rise $627 billion this year and $8.9 trillion over 10 years.  Once again, this projection does not factor in any future payroll tax cuts. Another noteworthy point is that the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund will be exhausted in 2016. Remember that the Social Security Trust Fund is a notional accounting gimmick and is nonexistent.  Consequently, every penny of SS benefits that is not covered from the payroll tax will augment our deficit.  The real question is why one quarter of the budget is consumed by a program that should be controlled by the individual.  Why are we bankrupting our future for a program that offers a worse rate of return than private accounts, which would not cost the government and future generations of Americans a penny? Medicare Gross Medicare spending, the second largest domestic spending program, will reach $560 billion this year and $7.8 trillion over 10 years.  Net Medicare spending (subtracting $1.2 trillion in offsetting revenues from premium payments from seniors) will be about $6.55 trillion.   This year’s outlays would have been higher if not for a shift in certain payments from fiscal year 2012 into fiscal year 2011 because the first scheduled date for payments to health plans in 2012 fell on a weekend.  Revenues from the Medicare payroll tax will only bring in roughly $2.8 trillion – and that is including the payroll tax increases under Obamacare.  As such, the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund, which is funded by payroll taxes, will be exhausted in 2022. Now that it is incontrovertibly clear that government has failed at controlling healthcare and retirement costs, is it too much to ask that we allow personal ownership and the free-market to get a bite at the apple? Liberals always complain that seniors will be left to their own devices under our policies.  Judging by the future debt figures, I think we would all rather be on our own, as opposed to shouldering the burden of crushing debt payments. Cross-posted to The Madison Project

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Cincinnati Landlord in Hot Water Over Posting ‘Whites Only’ Swimming Pool Sign

On January 13, 2012, in Uncategorized, by

COLUMBUS, Ohio (The Blaze/AP) — A Cincinnati landlord who claimed a black girl’s hair products clouded an apartment complex’s swimming pool discriminated against the child by posting a poolside “White Only” sign, an Ohio civil rights panel said Thursday in upholding a previous finding. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission voted 4-0 against reconsidering its finding from last fall. There was no discussion. The group found on Sept. 29 that Jamie Hein, who is white, violated the Ohio Civil Rights Act by posting the sign at a pool at the duplex where the teenage girl was visiting her parents. The parents filed a discrimination charge with the commission and moved out of the duplex in the racially diverse city to “avoid subjecting their family to further humiliating treatment,” the commission said in a release announcing its finding. An investigation revealed that Hein in May posted on the gated entrance to the pool an iron sign that stated “Public Swimming Pool, White Only,” the commission statement said. CNN provides a report:  Several witnesses confirmed that the sign was posted, and the landlord indicated that she posted it because the girl used chemicals in her hair that would make the pool “cloudy,” according to the commission. The girl’s father, Michael Gunn, in brief comments Thursday, described his shock last spring when venturing out for a lunch break by the pool. “My initial reaction to seeing the sign was of shock, disgust and outrage,” Gunn said. He also told the commission that his daughter was saddened months later to learn they moved from the apartment complex “was in a way related to the color of her skin.” Gunn declined to speak with reporters. Hein has repeatedly declined to comment and did not attend the hearing. Messages were left at her lawyer’s office Wednesday and Thursday. “I was trying to protect my assets,” she told the commission’s housing enforcement director in a Sept. 27 interview. Racial discrimination has particular resonance in Cincinnati, whose population is 45 percent black, far higher than the rest of Ohio, which is about 12 percent black. Surrounding Hamilton County is 26 percent black. Cincinnati was the scene of race riots in April 2001 police and demonstrators clashed in a blighted neighborhood following the shooting of a black suspect by police. The commission’s statement said that its investigation concluded that the posting of such a sign “restricts the social interaction between Caucasians and African-Americans and reinforces discriminatory actions aimed at oppressing people of color.” The case is to be referred to the Ohio attorney general’s office, which would represent the commission’s findings before an administrative law judge. That judge would determine any penalties, which could include a cease-and-desist order and punitive damages. It still would be possible for the parties to reach a settlement before resorting to legal action. Any decision by the administrative judge could be appealed to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in Cincinnati.

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Richard Land: We Unite in South Carolina, or We Don’t Unite

On January 12, 2012, in Uncategorized, by KettermanLaurent966

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, just said on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown that “if South Carolina gives a strong preference to Rick Santorum, or to Newt Gingrich, or to Rick Perry, that will have an enormous impact on whether social conservatives rally around one candidate. If they split evenly, I don’t think we will be able to unite behind one candidate.”

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Richard Land: We Unite in South Carolina, or We Don’t Unite

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1/11/12 GBTV Highlights: Snooping on social media, S.E. Cupp & Will Cain dissect the NH Primary results

On January 12, 2012, in Uncategorized, by

Snooping on Social Media: Scott Baker, Buck Sexton, and Jon Seidl from TheBlaze.com discuss the impacts of new revelations that government agents are now monitoring social media for clues of criminal activity: New Hampshire Primary: EIC Scott Baker, S.E. Cupp, and Will Cain discuss the New Hampshire primary:

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1/11/12 GBTV Highlights: Snooping on social media, S.E. Cupp & Will Cain dissect the NH Primary results

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Why Texting and IM‘ing Won’t Replace Actual Speech — It’s Hormonal

On January 7, 2012, in Uncategorized, by

Think the sound of mom’s voice is an instant stressor? Think again. According to a new study from the University of Wisconsin, hearing mom’s voice is actually biologically beneficial as opposed to more passive communication, like texting or instant messaging. Wired reports that girls who took a stressful test and talked with mom — heard her voice in a face-to-face or phone conversation — exhibited lower levels of stress hormones and an increased level of comfort hormones. In comparison, those who chatted with mom electronically received none of these benefits. According to the study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, the researchers consider the effects of the spoken word an adaptive advantage, capable of “altering human biology in a positive way, possibly for strengthening the social bonds between individuals.” Wired has more: “IM isn’t really a substitute for in-person or over-the-phone interaction in terms of the hormones released,” said psychologist Leslie Seltzer of the University of Wisconsin, a co-author of the new study. “People still need to interact the way we evolved to interact.” “It doesn’t matter how many smiley faces you put in your IM. It’s not going to have the same effect as talking in person,” said Seltzer. According to Wired, after the girls in the study took a test and were broken into groups to contact their mothers — no contact, IM, phone and face-to-face — those who communicated via IM showed almost no “comforting power” from mom, similar to those who hadn’t contacted mom at all. The research studied cortisol as a stress hormone and oxytocin as a comfort hormone.

Hormone level comparisons based on method of communication after a stressful test. (Image: Seltzer et al./Evolution and Human Behavior via Wired)

The research only looked at people in trusted relationships — in this case mother-daughter — so it is unclear if its conclusion also applies to texting or IM’ing versus speaking with regard to different familial and friend relationships or with strangers.

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Americans Stumble on Math of Big Issues

On January 7, 2012, in Uncategorized, by LowekKohatsu683

Many Americans have strong opinions about hot-button policy issues shaping the presidential campaign, from immigration to Social Security. But their grasp of numbers that underlie those issues is tenuous at best.

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