Back in the early ’70’s Sly and the Family Stone recorded a song entitled “Somebody’s Watching You” with an eerie sort of tone and lyrics that reminded you that you are being watched. Here are a couple of “big brother” developments you may have missed that have come to my attention over the last couple of days which reminded me of that old classic song.

The first came about due to a computer problem I was unfortunately saddled with. It was a software issue so my computer itself was not damaged but I was forced to wipe the hard drives clean and reinstall Windows, reinstall all the programs, and reset all the preferences. Not fun at all.

It was in the process of doing this that I discovered an interesting thing. In my newly loaded web browser there was something in my preloaded “Favorites” list that was not there before. There are preloaded links to “Websites for United States.” One is for the English version and one is for the Spanish version and both take you to “USA.gov.” USA.gov has been used as a gateway in the past to tout the administration’s talking points in the sale of first the stimulus (epic fail) and then Obamacare (economic disaster) to the public. Nice to know that our young first-time computer users, and the rest of us for that matter, get a direct link to government propaganda central whether we ask for it or not.

The second development was today’s news stories on the new Obama campaign website “Attackwatch.com” This website has been created to supposedly fight the “smears” and “lies” being circulated about President Obama. They want you to join something call “Attackwire” and report incidents of these “smears” and “lies” so they can respond with their “truth.” One response was classic. One woman asked if this would be available in the original German. According to ABC news another said, “There’s a new Twitter account making President Obama look like a creepy, authoritarian nutjob.” In just one day this has already become a laughing stock across the internet but the concept that the President’s own campaign staff wants American citizens to inform on their neighbors is a bit frightening and distinctly “German” in an unflattering sense of the word. What next? Will teachers be filing online reports that little Johnny shared that his parents said an unflattering thing about President Obama?

If it were not for the fact that I would have to give them my email address to reply (possibly bringing the black SUV’s of the Gibson guitar police to my door) I would love to report a couple of lies and/or smears. How about if we start with this one:

President Obama said, during the negotiations on raising the debt limit, that there might not be funds to send out the next round of Social Security checks if he didn’t get authority to borrow more money.  That, ladies and gentlemen, was a bald-faced whopper of a LIE and he knew it as the words left his lips.

OK. One of you liberals out there do your duty and report that lie.

Today, on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we pause to remember all those innocent civilians and heroic firefighters, policemen, and other responders who perished on that day that forever changed the world. They should forever be honored and never forgotten.

As the events of that day are remembered, it is natural to focus on the best of human nature; the bravery, the determination, and the selflessness of New Yorkers, of those at the Pentagon, and the passengers and crew of flight 93. Often, the finest side of our imperfection comes out when we are stressed beyond what we thought were our limits. This was one of those moments.

We must not forget, however, the shock and horror moments, the “burn or jump” decisions forced on human beings, or those incinerated or crushed as the towers burned and then collapsed. Things took place ten years ago today that we would rather not focus on. Things that we file away deep in our memory for our own protection. We probably should not take out those particular memories to look at very often but we should always remember what brought them to our shores; evil. Pure hatred-filled, evil. We should always remember that evil and, in the name of those who died, have the courage to face it, name it, and defeat it. The enemy is radical Islamic terrorism and we cannot wish it away by not speaking its name. We must not turn away.

In preparation for today’s memorials across the country, the White House issued guidelines for those holding services. The guidelines said they wished to make the point that we have not been alone in experiencing the evil of terrorism. A noble viewpoint. In part it said, “As we commemorate the citizens of over 90 countries who perished in the 9/11 attacks, we honor all victims of terrorism, in every nation around the world,” …… “We honor and celebrate the resilience of individuals, families, and communities on every continent, whether in New York or Nairobi, Bali or Belfast, Mumbai or Manila, or Lahore or London.” A list of cities hard hit by terrorism for sure. Please allow me to add a bit to the list:

May 27, 2002 – A grandmother and her infant granddaughter were killed and 37 people were injured, some seriously, when a suicide bomber detonated himself near an ice cream parlor outside a shopping mall in Petah Tikva. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.

June 5, 2002 – 17 people were killed and 38 injured when a car packed with a large quantity of explosives struck Egged bus No. 830 traveling from Tel-Aviv to Tiberias at the Megiddo junction near Afula. The bus, which burst into flames, was completely destroyed. The terrorist was killed in the blast. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

June 18, 2002 – 19 people were killed and 74 injured – six seriously – in a suicide bombing at the Patt junction in Egged bus no. 32A traveling from Gilo to the center of Jerusalem. The bus, which was completely destroyed, was carrying many students on their way to school. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Jan 5, 2003 – Twenty-two people were killed and about 120 wounded in a double suicide bombing near the old Central Bus Station in Tel-Aviv.

Aug 31, 2004 – Sixteen people were killed and 100 wounded in two suicide bombings within minutes of each other on two Beersheba city buses, on route nos. 6 and 12.

Apr 17, 2006 – Eleven people were killed and over 60 wounded in a suicide bombing during the Passover holiday near the old central bus station in Tel Aviv, at the Rosh Ha’ir shawarma restaurant, site of the Jan 19 bombing. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mar 6, 2008 – Eight students of the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem were killed when a terrorist armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle infiltrated the yeshiva and opened fire in the library where about 80 people were gathered, mostly teenagers. Eleven others were wounded, three critically. The terrorist, a resident of East Jerusalem, was killed by an IDF officer.

According to the White House….”we honor all victims of terrorism, in every nation around the world?” Really? What about these victims and the hundreds of others killed and maimed for decades in the one nation not mentioned? The one nation whose eradication is a stated objective for terrorists? The one nation which has arguably suffered the most at the hands of terrorism and you dare not speak their name? SHAME ON YOU. 

Today, as we remember the largest single display of terrorist evil let us also remember those killed and the bravery displayed by those in Israel. Somebody has to say it.

   For those of you not old enough to remember, there was a character in the original Popeye cartoons named Wimpy. Wimpy absolutely loved hamburgers but never seemed to have any money. He would periodically show up and say to Popeye “I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

President Obama’s Thursday night speech was classic Wimpy. He asked for (more like demanded) a $450 billion “hamburger” and offered to pay for it on “Tuesday.” He promised that it would be 100% paid for. He’s just going to tell the super commission on debt reduction that they will have to find $450 billion more in savings sometime before Christmas (I wonder, is Christmas on a Tuesday this year?) Hey, that was easy. That’s as good as done.

Sorry Mr. President, but we’ve been down this road before. We don’t want another bill similar to Obamacare that, as Nancy Pelosi said, we “have to pass to find out what’s in it.” If you want the hamburger today show us the money today.  Not Tuesday. Not after a commission submits their report (even if they are super). Not Christmas. Today.

It’s very simple. Have someone draft a bill that includes everything. Bring it before our representatives in Congress, they’ll discuss it and take a vote. Disregarding the fact that it sure sounds like “epic fail stimulus redux,” we want to know now exactly what is in it.

No more burgers on credit.

   You began treatment with Dr. Obama on January 20th of 2009. As you sat in his waiting room on that day you had a fever of 104, some numbness in your legs, and you had not been able to work for three weeks running. He said your blood volume was low and this was leading to a deficiency of hemojobulin. In order to increase your blood volume (and the hemojobulin) he prescribed “stimulative transfusions.” This involved taking blood from sites all over your body and transfusing it all into your left arm.

  He also put you on massive doses of “regulatin.” This drug includes custom made amounts of the wonder-enzymes EPA, NLRB, SEC, FAA, IRS, and others too numerous to name here. Dr. Obama administered a dose of regulatin whenever he felt it necessary to limit blood flow to an undesirable area of the body. For example, the oil glands, the colon (coal-un), or the free speech center in the brain.

    Over the two and a half years of your treatment it became more and more obvious that this was a bad idea. At first, the treatments seemed to have some effect. Your temperature dropped from 104 to 101 and you were able to work one or two days a month. Unfortunately, things seem to have plateaued there and have not improved at all since March of 2010; the very same month he started you on Obamacaratene. As a matter of fact, some nasty complications have developed. 

Although your left arm is healthier now than its ever been, the rest of your body’s hemojobulin levels have tanked so badly that your overall levels are dangerously low. Last year your blood flow got so low that you actually had to have a couple of toes amputated. The regulatin is confusing your heart signals to the point it is barely beating enough to keep you alive and the Obamacaratene has actually produced near total paralysis. Work is out of the question. You are in deep, deep trouble.

All of this has prompted you to seek several second opinions. It seems that there are two schools. Many of the doctors you’ve consulted recommend taking you off the Obamacaratene immediately and easing off the regulatin. This would be much less taxing on the heart as well as removing the confusion in the heart signals. Studies by such famous doctors as Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush have shown that in cases like this the body will actually heal itself if these harmful treatments are removed in favor of a regimen less taxing on the heart. They also suggest that you stop the so-called “stimulative transfusions” as merely moving blood from an “unfavored” location to a “favored” location (the left arm) accomplishes nothing other than to increase the doctor’s billing.

Dr. Obama and his group have told you that this is nonsense. According to them, the only reason your hemojobulin levels have not responded is that they did not remove enough blood the first time. They need to take more. They suggest that, in order to protect against the possible need to amputate any more toes, they should just amputate both feet. They have, however, promised you lifetime prosthetic benefits as part of their treatment. They insist that the regulatin is necessary even though it dangerously lowers your heart rate. Finally, they insist that the Obamacaratene is the wave of the future and that you should just learn to live with the paralysis as the “new normal.”

In a television interview yesterday regarding your now famous case, Dr. Obama again reminded everyone what a difficult case he inherited two and a half years ago. He also said those other doctors must be willing to compromise: “There are things we can do right now to help this patient. The only thing standing in the way is the refusal of those other doctors to put appearing to care about the patient before medicine.”

Dr. Obama went on to say that he would be willing to compromise and work with the other doctors’ group. He said he would be agreeable to only amputating one foot if the other doctors would be willing to agree to further medications that would increase the tax load on the heart. All else, paralysis included, would remain the same.

How could you argue with a deal like that? Remember, he’s got a no-cut contract until November 2012.

Yesterday President Obama gave a speech to his union supporters in Detroit. His warm-up act, Jimmy Hoffa Jr., outrageously called for union members to “take the sons of bitches out,” referring to Republicans and/or Tea Party members. Both gave passionate speeches praising the virtues of union labor and collective bargaining. When it was all over I was left with one nagging question.

With whom will you “collectively bargain” when there are finally no employers left?

Zero jobs. None.

Not one for the entire month of August.

Friday’s jobs report came out and “unexpectedly” showed zero job creation. “Unexpected by whom?” would be a good question. The so-called experts and Washington pundits were predicting 70,000 added jobs. AP was giving their best effort as White House stenographer by predicting as many as 90,000 new jobs up until a few hours before the report was released. Their original article said that the “report could show signs of modest growth.” After a frantic rewrite, the original article was scrubbed and a google search for “AP modest growth jobs report” shows no sign of their original (totally wrong) prediction; only the corrected version.

Unemployment held at 9.1%. This number itself is a deception in that the Labor Department  arbitrarily decided that there are just less jobs out there to be had so they made an “adjustment” in how the rate is calculated. Had there been no adjustments in the calculation method since President Obama took office the rate would be in excess of 11%. The August U-6 unemployment rate, which counts those who have given up looking for a job and those who have had to settle for part time work, rose to 16.2%. Unemployment among blacks rose to 16.7%, the highest in 27 years. The unemployment rate in August for black teenagers was a third-worldly 41%. That’s right, 41%.

This is a disgrace. In the greatest country on Earth (at least until now), rather than address these very real problems, our government spends billions on windmills which are so ineffective that they require the simultaneous construction of the system they were intended to replace as a backup. Our government, in the name of the environment, spends billions to mandate the use of half of our most basic food crop for an ecologically harmful gasoline additive sending corn prices to record levels. As a basic feed crop for meat production, any rise in corn prices creates similar price rises across the board for food. Our government forbids certain kinds of work (gulf oil drilling) for which there is a real need and a real market. Our government wants to tell private businesses where they can build their factories (Boeing). Our government wants to tell us what kind of light bulbs we may use, what types of medicine we may have, and what types of cars we may drive. There are new government regulations on the “turbidity” (dirtiness) of rainwater runoff from home construction sites. There are even requirements for the sleeping arrangements of sheep herders and mandates that they be given cell phones. All of this in the face of an economic depression. Make no mistake. The recession has not ended and the economy continues to sink further no matter how the White House and their mainstream press “stenographers” massage the numbers. As Ronald Reagan reminded us, government is not the solution to the problem – government is the problem.

American business is the greatest engine of prosperity ever created and could begin putting people back to work immediately if government would just get out of the way. With that in mind, here are a few simple ideas for President Obama to include in his campaign speech  jobs speech to Congress next week:

1. Reopen the Gulf to drilling. This would begin to bring back the 50,000 jobs that have been lost in the region.
2. Stop obstructing and get behind the construction of the Trans-Canada pipeline from Canadian shale-oil fields to the U.S. One estimate is that 100,000 jobs would be created for the construction alone.
3. Put an end to the Boeing fiasco. The more meddlesome our government appears, the less attractive the U.S. appears to outside investors (job creators).
4. Scrap Obamacare and start over. Obamacare is a Queen Mary sized anchor tied to the ankle of this economy. Some reforms to our health care system may be in order but this monster is killing jobs by the thousands. There will be no recovery with this law in place.

Of course, none of this is likely. We will probably be offered more of the same old Keynesian failure food we’ve been dosed with since this administration took over. It will all be about politics and “positioning” for the elections. It sure would be nice if our President would consider the “position” of those good Americans who can’t find a job.

Here’s a simple way to illustrate a common misconception about “tax cuts” and/or “tax hikes.” This will work well at bars, cocktail parties, and really in pretty much any casual environment. Challenge a liberal (or someone else who doesn’t understand economics) with the fact that raising taxes will not help our current situation and add that you can prove it. Make sure that you either have or can borrow a twenty dollar bill for your demonstration. Some other bills can add a little flair but all you really need is the twenty.

First, ask a simple question. “In order to help us out of this mess does the government need more money?” (They really don’t but play along like spending doesn’t matter). When they say “yes” lay out the premise:

They will be “the government” and you will be “the economy.” Tell them that they are going to be able to name the top tax rate paid by the “rich” and that you will give them the maximum amount of “revenue” that you (the economy) can give them (the government) based on that tax rate. (Don’t forget to make it clear that this is just a demonstration and you will actually want your real money back).

Each dollar that you give them will represent 1% of the total economy (i.e. a five dollar bill would represent 5% of GDP, a fifty would represent 50% of GDP, and a hundred dollar bill would represent the whole thing). Tell them that the current top tax rate on the rich is 35% and ask them to name the rate they think it should be. Once they name a rate, fumble around in your pocket or wallet a little bit and then hand them the twenty. Pause for a minute, ask for your twenty back and ask them if they would like to try a different top tax rate. No matter what rate they name, hand them back the twenty. If you like, for a little drama, you can fumble around with some other bills or give different denominations but always hand them twenty dollars. After a few tries they will get the idea that they will always get the twenty no matter what they say.

This is an easy to understand illustration of Hauser’s Law. According to Hauser’s Law revenues will never exceed 20% of GDP no matter what tax rates are put into effect. This has held true since 1929 with tax rates as low as 28% (1988-90) and as high as 92% (1952-3).

As tax rates rise, businesses and investors react. They slow their activity, delay taking income, stop investing and expansion, or move operations out of the country. Even with a higher rate, there are a lower number of taxpayers so revenues hit a ceiling. This slowing of business activity also affects unemployment (see August 24th post, https://chronicleofchange.com/?p=223).

The only way to bring significantly more money to the government is to increase the number of taxpayers (increase the GDP). The only relevant questions regarding tax rates should be:

1. At these levels do they encourage growth?

2. At these levels are they competitive with other countries?

The revenues which might be gained by tax increases of any kind are capped by economic law and, in our current situation, would not begin to touch the massive deficits we are facing. The problem is spending, plain and simple. With a built in 8% annual increase in spending every year plus overspending on that by 40% every year the country is now in the express lane to financial hell. It’s time to take the foot off the gas and apply some serious braking.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

The graph shown from the Illinois Policy Institute is of the number of those employed in Illinois beginning January 2010.

Illinois raised tax rates as indicated on the graph in January of 2011.

Is this what we need right now for the entire country?

With the state getting a higher tax rate but collecting taxes from 100,000 less workers do you think there is more or less money entering the state’s checkbook?

Just in case you missed it, President Obama dropped in for a Sunday evening visit with some close friends. He and Valerie Jarrett paid a visit to the West Tisbury home of Brian and Aileen Roberts.

The long line of Chevy Volts massive limos (rumored to be around 40) arrived at around 5:30 PM at the Roberts’ luxury residence on Martha’s Vineyard. Brian Roberts is the CEO of the parent company of NBC and its subsidiary, MSNBC.

Maybe NBC and MSNBC will put this photo in a little “picture-in-picture” box in the upper left hand corner of the screen during their campaign, debate, and election coverage. Ya’ know, to show they have an inside track to the latest propaganda, uh…. news from Washington.

   With class warfare just oozing out of the White House these days the demonization of the “rich” has ratcheted up to a fever pitch and is likely to get even worse as we approach elections. Let’s take a look at a timeline of someone who fits the class warfare definition of “rich” with an eye toward asking the question “When does someone cross that line and become “rich?” Of course, there are those who are born rich or marry rich but we will leave them out of this discussion and address those who succeed at the American dream and actually earn their money.

For our example let’s take a look at a medical student. We’ll call him Robert. Robert works his way through undergrad school taking minimal student loans but is forced to borrow to pay for medical school and his residency. According to one source “…. with debt-forbearance during his five-year residency and a 20-year payment plan, the total owed would be $788,880.” Many med students choose to pay all or some of the interest during residency to keep borrowing costs down. In our example, Robert could pay roughly $21,000 per year out of his average $40,000 take-home and cut the end-of-residency total to $369,000. To do this he would be forced to live on $19,000 a year for five years or find a part-time job while in residency. That’s pretty tough duty but we will assume he does this.

So, following the timeline, at 26 he graduates medical school but has no income so he is obviously not rich. For five years he is clearing $40,000, paying $21,000 in debt interest, and possibly working a second job. Obviously not rich. At 31 he finishes his residency and has still not made any real money and he owes $369,000. Still not rich.

OK. Now Robert is a doctor and can finally make some money. He signs on with an elite practice and will be making $275,000 per year. This is over President Obama’s oft repeated line in the sand of “those making over $250,000 per year.” You know, those evil rich who don’t pay their “fair share.” Assuming a California residency, Robert takes home $165,215 after taxes. Is he rich now? Hang on a second before you answer. He’s got loan payments of over $34,000 per year. Rich now? Hang on a minute….. You’ve got to consider malpractice insurance. A general surgeon (middle of the road cost level) would pay $56,000 per year in Florida. An OB/GYN would pay much more.

After paying $100,000 in taxes, Robert is now parting with half of what is left for loan payments and malpractice insurance leaving him with roughly $75,000. The loan payments are based on a 20 year payoff so Robert will be 51 by the time he can keep that $34,000.

Now nearly thirty years after graduating college, Robert is 51, makes $350,000 per year, and the loan is finally paid off. Again as a California resident, after paying $144,000 in taxes, his take home pay is $206,000. After malpractice insurance he gets to keep $150,000. Rich now? Needs to be taxed more? After 30 years of service does he have a right to keep more or less of what he earns? You decide.

As you ponder, keep in mind that hard working people like this (the top 10% of earners) currently pay 86% of all federal income tax while half the country pays nothing.

Much of the cost data came from “Informed Consent” by Benjamin Brown, MD. You can read an excerpt at:  http://www.eyedrd.org/2011/02/deceptive-income-of-physicians.html