One Hundred Thirteen: The Deficit & Term Limits

So this David Walker dude, former Comproller of the Currency, and lots of other various talking heads, are making all kinds of sanctimonious noise about the deficit, and how the US is committing fianncial hari-kari, which is all true enough, but they all miss the point. The current financial mess and out-of-control federal government is a direct result of the millions of people who are 100% vested in the growth of the federal government. The only way to stem this trend is term limits.

One Hundred Twelve: Gridlock

Recently, after a post-midterm election meeting with Republican leaders, President BO said, "Americans did not vote for gridlock." Well, excuse me, I am an American, and I certainly did vote for gridlock. I ALWAYS vote for gridlock. Since it is quite impossible to ever reduce the size and scope of government, the best we can ever hope for is a government which does nothing. As I have preached in this blog many times before, nothing will ever change until we have a constitutional amendment to limit the amount of welfare which US senators and representatives take. We need term limits.

One Hundred Eleven: Walsh

So Bean has conceded, and now Walsh is, by definition, the biggest welfare recipient in the IL Eighth District. Obviously there is the $174K salary and fully vested retirement benefits after working just 5 years. But of course there is also the panoply of perks and ability to hand out favors to various people and entities willing to pay bribes.

Does this sound jaded and cynical? Of course. It's the product of watching government suck the life out of private citizens for 58 years.

One Hundred Ten: Government v. The People

The relationship between the government and the governed will always be adversarial. We, the people, will never get our moneys worth from the thieves and hacks who mooch off of the rest of us. The problem is that the "rest of us" is getting smaller and smaller. Each year, the percentage of the working population employed by government at some level increases. It never goes down, it always goes up. Eventually, we must all necessarily work for the government. Then what?

109: Florida

What's good about Florida? Golf. Great weather for cigars. They treat old people with respect. No income tax. Obviously there are many more reasons, which accounts for the demographic influx of the last couple of centuries.

One hundred Eight: Bean II

It's now looking slightly better that Bean will be out as Rep for IL Eighth. Couldn't come a moment too soon. Personally, I have tried to contact Bean for several years, and she ALWAYS dodged me. Bean is afraid of any voter who could expose her woeful incompetence in any area save accepting donations from financial services companies, which is exactly why Rahmbo put her on that committee.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

One Hundred Seven: Bean is History?

Although she has not conceded, M Bean is currently losing to Walsh in IL 8th Congressional District by a slim 500 votes or so. I'm afraid the Dems could manufacture these votes (and more) in the 4 or 5 Cook County precincts yet to report results. While I know nothing about Walsh (I hear he's a two time bankrupt loser), this is the usual case where ANYBODY is better than the totally incompetent Beanster.

One Hundred Six: Saving For A Lifetime

Those of us who have been raised to be savers, and in fact have spent a lifetime saving money, are now completely screwed by Mr. Bernanke. This "zero interest rate" (ZIR) bullshit has literally destroyed the retirement income of all those who have supposedly done the right thing all these years. Instead, Bernanke and the Fed made a career of helping those players who have made the riskiest of decisions, and continue to make them. Right now, all we hear about is "QE2", which as far as I can understand is just a means for Ben to pump money we don't have into banks which don't need it to make loans to businesses and individuals who don't want it. Trying to create demand with this economic voodoo is insane. Just let interest rate float up, and let all the cash make a little money, which will be spent, which will in turn ramp up demand.

One Hundred Five: You Can't See Smoke At Night

You gotta love the ordinary guy in the north woods. Well, maybe "you" don't, but I do. I am up here at our lake place in northern MN, where I would dearly love to retire to, but being a married guy, that is not in the cards right now. Maybe in another decade when I am much less able to do the stuff around which either needs getting done, or I really like to do. But that's another blog story.

I was talking to a local guy about burning down my old cabin, which has been rotting away back in the woods. After a particularly wet summer and early fall, the structure is quite water logged, and I remarked that burning it would be next to impossible. The local guy said: "Tell you what we'll do. I've got some old tractor tires back at my place. We'll fill em up with diesel, stick em in the cabin, and light a match to her." I remarked that the tire and diesel would create black smoke which would be seen for 50 or 70 miles. The local guy said, "You can't see smoke at night."

This is the kind of can-do spirit that the pinheads at the EPA will never understand, or for that matter, squelch.

One Hundred Six: Financial Crisis - My Take

The "Financial Crisis of 2008" or "The Great Recession" or whatever you want to call the most recent natural economic reaction to excess leverage and excess consumption has now been over for at least one year. At the apex of the recession, we saw Warren Buffet purchase an entire national railroad (UP) and the federal government take over another major chunk of the economy (health care). The U.S. economy was able to digest a national pullback of maybe 30%- 40% of real estate equity. Sam Zell made out like a bandit on real estate, but unfortunately, for him, put his money in newspapers. More than 90% of homeowners continued to make timely mortgage payments on their homes and credit cards. The ten percent who didn't, were exposed for the deadbeats they are, and they are now supported by friends, families, and taxpayers. So, not much has changed.

One Hundred Five: How To Stimulate Irresponsible Spending

This is a headline from today's business news:

Fed discussed steps to bolster sputtering recovery
Fed officials weighed steps to bolster recovery; lowers economic growth forecasts

After twenty plus years of conspicuous consumption in this country, we have experienced a severe recession, with unemployment topping out at over 10 percent, retirement portfolios decimated, and interest rates at zero for those of us who still have cash to invest. And all the geniuses who are in charge of our economy can come up with is to threaten to give away more money unless the morons who have alerady spent everything they had return to their irresponsible ways.

This is lunacy

One Hundred Four: Realtors

One of the principal factors in keeping ethical and professional standards high in various occupations is setting up barriers against entry into the profession. Usually these barriers take the form of educational requirements. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, clergy, all have strict education requirements without which one cannot enter the field. The easier it is to get into a profession, the more sleaze bags and incompetents you get. Take for example, realtors.

Nowhere is the idiot factor more obvious than in real estate. Every housewife or failed car salesman is a "real estate professional." In my thirty plus years of buying and selling real estate, and practicing real estate law, I have run across maybe three good realtors. Most of them don't even know how to pronounce the word (they usually say "real-la-tor").

As this is being written, I am trying to help my son buy a condo to qualify for the Obamaramadama $8K tax credit. Unfortunately, we have to deal with realtors representing (or misrepresenting) sellers. In all cases thus far, the realtors have been total morons, incapable of understanding the most rudimentary basics of real estate transactions, let alone more exotic deals such as short sales.

I wish some of these ersatz professions would have some stricter requirements about whom they let in.

One Hundred Three: Government Jobs And Pay

First of all, why do people go to work for the government? The main reasons are benefits and job security. Everyone agrees that the benefits are fantastic. And how many government workers do you know who have been fired? Probably very few, if any. You have to be a real screw-up to be let go by the government. Mediocrity to incompetence is not only tolerated in government work, it is encouraged. So to get fired, you have to be outside that range. In fact, the occasional well-qualified government employee probably has a better chance of being fired than the typical under-qualified. If you're smart and know what you're doing, it would be difficult to function and exist with a bunch of morons. You would stick out like a sore thumb, and make everyone else look bad.

Second, why do government employees appear to be paid more than private sector counterparts? Maybe because the pay HAS to be higher in order to even get people to apply. Have you ever watched the faces of people going to work at government offices? They look like they're going to an execution. At some level, these people know they are existing in positions which provide no value (other than to themselves alone) to society, have no positive impact. They are a drain on the economy, rather than a contribution. And once a person is entrenched in a government career, they are unlikely to ever to advance in positions of authority and responsibility. They will get cost of living increases, but will never get the structural increases which come from career advances. In other words, their station in life will never change.

One Hundred Two: Stupid Bankers II

I have credit cards with very high credit limits. I use them for purchases like cars, and other big ticket items. These purchases tend to be infrequent, for obvious reasons. The other day, I received a notice from Citigroup informing me that since I was not using my entire credit limit, the limit would be decreased. I have never had a late payment. My credit score is above excellent.

By reducing my limit, Citigroup is telling me it wants me to do less business with them.

This is exactly the kind of brilliant banking which contributed to Citigroup losing $28 billion in 2008.

One Hundred One: Stupid Bankers

Today I went to my local commnity bank (Barrington Bank & Trust, an operating unity of Wintrust Financial, a Nasdaq company), to talk about a mortgage loan for my son. There is no way my son would qualify for a mortgage on his own, so I offered the young man at the bank a deal. I said, "How about if I deposit an amount in a CD equal to the amount you loan my son. The CD would be kept by the bank as security for the loan." The young banker (Dennis, I think), proceeded to give me a lecture on "loan-to-value" Fannie, Freddie, and FHA. Had young Dennis bothered to ask a few questions about me, he would have easily found out that I knew as much or more about mortgage banking as he did. Unfortuantely for him (and his employer), he assumed he was possessed of all mortgage banking knowledge known to man, and that I was an idiot. Actually, he seemed pretty typical of most bankers I meet these days.

One Hundred: IRS Priority

Statement of IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman Regarding the Austin Incident


Feb. 18, 2010

Like most Americans, I am shocked by the tragic events that took place in Austin this morning. This incident is of deep concern to me. We are working with law-enforcement agencies to fully investigate the events that led up to this plane crash.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the dedicated employees of the IRS who work in the Austin building. We will immediately begin doing whatever we can to help them during this difficult time.

While this appears to be an isolated incident, the safety of our employees is my highest priority. We will continue to do whatever is needed to ensure our employees are safe.

Somehow, I thought the "highest priority" of the IRS would have been the most efficient administration of the United States tax code. But it turns out that safeguarding the interests of the U.S. taxpayer is not at the top of Mr. Shulman's list.

Ninety Nine: BO Gives More Money To Losers

"President Barack Obama is expected to announce plans Friday to provide an additional $1.5 billion to a state-assistance program for homeowners worst hit by the downturn in U.S. housing values."

The above quote is from today's WSJ online version. The article mainly highlights BO's trip to Vegas with Harry Reid to prop up Reid's desperate attempt to keep his welfare job in the Senate. But the sheer stupidity of the idea of giving more money to people who have already demonstrated an utter inability to manage or invest assets is what blows me away. Now if BO was giving away HIS OWN MONEY, it would be a totally different story. I'd say, bully for him, going around being a charitable guy. But he's giving away taxpayer money to a bunch of losers who should never have owned homes in the first place. This is BO's idea of "stimulus." Take taxpayer money which otherwise could have been invested in private sector jobs which will in turn generate tax revenue, and send it down a government sewer.

Ninety Eight: Smart Like A Fox Or Dumb As A Post

Had BO and the Dems passed a health care plan prior to the Massacre in MA, they would have been annihilated in the November mid-term elections. As it is, BO is now free to withdraw the health bill which ONLY Dems supported, and instead come up with something much smaller which perhaps a handful of Republicans can support. Whether by accident or on purpose, the MA result has saved BO's ass, for now.

What BO and his folks have not noticed, or are intentionally ignoring, is that most votes in November of 2008 were not cast for Obama; they were cast against Bush. The majority of Americans don't want an explosion of government. They just want government to defend the borders, give us safe food and medicine, and then stay the hell out of our lives.

At the beginning of his reign, King BO had goodwill galore. He had supporters who ordinarily would not support a Dem, especially one who had no experience at doing anything except making speeches and leeching off his wife's income. He took all that support and interpreted it as a sign from the heavens that he was "special," and could remake the world according to BO.

In BO's mea cupla with Stephanopolous last night, I still didn't see any humility. I don't think he's capable of having any.

Ninety Seven: Anybody Seen Biden?

Where's Joe? I suspect at least two things have happened. First, there is probably a fair amount of mutual contempt between Biden and all of the BO minions. The BO crowd sees JB as a political hack/has been. And Joe see the BO people as idiots and starry-eyed neophytes. Those kinds of feels don't engender good working relationships.

Second, JB is 67 years old, and spent the last 36 years or so lining his pockets in the Senate. He has a pretty cushy lifestyle now. He has people to wait on his every whim and worship him. My guess is he's pretty content to live out his political days being a kind of elder statesman (or at least playing one), and continuing his life of high class welfare. After all, who the hell would ever hire him for a real job?

Ninety Six: Desperation and Arrogance

One breeds the other, and BO and his band of merry liberals have both in abundance. On ascending to power, BO must have assumed that the world - literally - would bow down to his presumed super intelligence and wisdom. The media coronation of King BO was mighty short-lived. He fell victim to his own arrogance, and now desperation reigns supreme, only his arrogance will not allow him to realize it. Whenever and wherever his seeks to impose his will (Chicago Olympic bid, VA governor race, Copenhagen climate conference), he is met with reality. The world does not want King BO to remake the world in His own image. It simply wants him to preside over superficial and ceremonial functions, like Queen Liz. Maybe BO should go visit her and get some advice.

Ninety Five: Tim Geithner & AIG

Yet another story in today's WSJ about Little Timmy's incestuous relationship with AIG. This time it's over AIG reluctance (or NY Fed instruction) to hide the existence of bonus payouts at a time when the company's financial health should have precluded that sort of thing, at least to any rational person.

But when you're playing a game with other people's money (and in this case Little Timmy and AIG were both using taxpayer dollars, our money), rationality has a different definition that it does for those of us living our lives and trying to create and save personal wealth. Little Timmy interest is in feathering his own nest, creating and saving his reputation, and preparing his future at Goldman Sachs. Neither Daryl Issa or any taxpayer advocacy group will ever change this dynamic. Little Timmy will just be replaced by another government bureaucrat doing time until he can morph into an investment banker in the private sector. So what do we, the little people do?

By every means posible, limit what you send to Washington and every other government entity. Vote against every incumbent politician at every level. Vote for every initiative which limits the time a politican can exist on public money. Look for ways to bankrupty government programs. Or, try to become president of the NY Fed.

Ninety Four: Cell Phone Etiquette

Why do people answer their cell phones when they know they cannot talk? In the last twenty four hours I have called two people - one in an physician's exam room with the physician actually present, the other with his wife at another couple's home - who definitely should not have been talking to me. But they answered anyway. Why? In both cases I knew that they knew it was I calling (they have caller ID). And they both knew if it was anything earth-shaking I would leave a message which they could retrieve with seconds. Or I would have texted the emergency if there was one.

Don't be rude to the people who are graciously giving you their time and attention. Ignore the incoming call until you can talk.