Democrats in Congress completely fail to perform their basic duties

Well it is official, the Democrats in the House and Senate have both adjourned.  The Democrats have decided that it is more important to send their members home to campaign than to pass legislation that is vital to this country.

Believe it or not the Democrats have had majorities in both the House and Senate for four years.  They have had a Democratic President for the last two years.  With their majorities and a Democratic President they should easily be able to pass necessary legislation.

The Federal fiscal year ends today.  The new Federal budget year starts tomorrow.  The Democrats have failed to pass any portion of the budget for the Federal Government.  Instead the Democrats pushed through a stopgap measure that will allow the Federal Government to continue to operate without an official budget.

Passing a budget is one of the most basic and most important functions of Congress.  It is 100% shameful that the Democrats have “punted” this issue until after the November election.

The Democrats in Congress are cowardly, incompetent, and deserve to be thrown out of office.

I am sick and tired of the Democrats in Congress.  They are going to get trounced in November and they should get trounced.  They have failed to fulfill their campaign promises, they have failed to govern, and they have shown a complete lack of understanding of the US economy. 

Now we just have to hope the Republican Party wakes up and realizes how pathetic it has been recently by spending too much money, expanding the reach of Government, and making the tax code more and more complicated.  

Mike Sylvester

Why would anyone vote for Democrats in National Elections in November?

The Democrats are headed towards large and deserved electoral losses.  The Republicans are going to win in a big way; not because they are impressive, they will win because they are not Democrats. 

Here are just a few reasons why the Democrats will be thrown out of office in mass:

1.  They are going to leave DC next week without passing a single budget bill.  The Federal Budget runs through the 30th of this month.  The most important job of Congress is approving the budgets of the various agencies.  The Democrats have completely failed to do this.

2.  The Democratic Party has ran on an anti-war platform for several years.  They have controlled Congress since the 2006 elections and the Presidency since the 2008 election.  This year we will spend more on our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan than we were spending per year under the Republicans.  Where is the outrage from the anti-war left?  They are hypocritically silent and it will be interesting to see if they go to the polls and vote for Democrats who have failed to draw down troops levels or cut military spending.  Heck the Democrats have significantly increased military spending and spending on Homeland Security.  When the Republicans did that every year the anti-war Democrats marched and protested…  Hypocrites…

3.  The economy of the US has been poor for a couple of years.  I truly believe that the economy is poor due to the actions of both Democrats and Republicans over the last 20-30 years.  In all fairness I think both parties are roughly equally responsible for the economic problems that exist today.  That being said the Democrats are the majority and the people will punish them for the current economic conditions.

4.  The health care reform the Democrats passed this year is a nightmare and will ensure that the Democrats lose a lot of seats in November.  The bill is too complicated, it will likely raise health care costs, it will create a bureaucratic paperwork mess, and many Americans oppose it.  Small business owners absolutely hate this bill and should hate this bill.  The Democrats are going to lose a lot of Independents and small business owners due to this monstrosity.  From an electoral standpoint the Democrats passed a bill that no one likes; least of all the progressives in their own Party.  This is going to hurt the Democrats at the ballot box because their own base is not excited about this bill.

5.  The main issue that the voters are interested in is the economy and jobs.  There is no doubt about this.  The Democrats wasted most of this year passing the health care reform bill rather than focusing on the economy and jobs.  The Democrats chose the wrong issue to pursue this year. 

6.  The Democrats are in the process of making one of the dumbest political decisions that I have ever seen.  For years and years the Democrats have opposed most of the Bush Tax Cuts.  Once the Democrats gained the majorities in Congress their hatred of the Bush Tax Cuts has slowly diminished as if by magic.  Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have likely decided that they will not even vote on the Bush Tax Cuts until after the election.  This is one of the dumbest political decisions I have ever seen.  If the Democrats want to loss fewer seats in November in my opinion the Democrats should immediately introduce legislation that makes SOME of the Bush Tax Cuts permanent.  They should make the Republicans vote on these tax cuts now before the November elections.  There is no way the Republicans will oppose tax cuts and this would give the Democrats some legislation that they pass right before the election and this would help them convince the voters that they are actually doing something in Washington DC.  

7.  The popularity of President Obama has dropped significantly.  This will hurt the chances of the Democrats.

The Democrats are going to get pounded in November and they should get pounded in November. 

The Republicans should not get cocky; the American people do not like them either…

Mike Sylvester

Bush Tax Cuts (Long post, wonkish)

In 2001 and 2003 President Bush enacted large tax cuts in this country.  These tax cuts were enacted such that the Federal income tax paid by all Americans decreased.

The Democrats tend to argue that the tax cuts only benefited the wealthy and that is an outright lie no matter how you look at the numbers.  Please understand that I prepare hundreds of tax returns each and every year and I have looked at the data countless times.  The liberal think tanks (and the Conservative ones as well) tend to just use statistics that emphasize their own political viewpoint.

The truth of the matter is the Bush tax cuts lowered the taxes of all Americans; period.  If you really delve into the numbers the Bush tax cuts clearly benefited certain groups of Americans over other groups of Americans.  Specifically the following groups of people benefited the most:

  1. The extremely wealthy who benefit the most from the lower rates for qualified dividends and long term capital gains.
  2. The working poor who are eligible for large refundable tax credits in the form of the earned income tax credit.
  3. Those who have qualifying children and do not make too much money benefit from the refundable child tax credit.
  4. Those who incur large college costs and hence qualify for generous education tax credits.  (Note this also increases the amount of tuition that colleges can charge).

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Republican House Pledge

The House Republicans have released a document that is their “pledge” to America.  Overall I agree with many of these items; however, I have several problems with it:

  1. The Republicans signed a contract with America in 1994 and ended up accomplishing very few of the things in it in the long run.
  2. The document is too long; it should have been one or two pages in length.
  3. Based on the political history of both the Democrats and Republicans I think many Americans are distrustful of promises made in the run up to an election.  Heck, Nancy Pelosi and Barrack Obama completely lied about a large number of items and the media has not held them accountable for those recent lies.

Things I like:

  1. Small Business tax deduction of 20% of income.
  2. Repeal the insane 1099 laws the Democrats imposed on Small Business Owners in the Health Care Bill
  3. Cut Government spending, their proposal is far too modest; however, it is a start
  4. End TARP
  5. Reform Fannie and Freddie
  6. Federal hiring freeze on non security employees (Should be ALL employees; however, it is a step in the right direction)
  7. Repeal and Replace Health Care Reform
  8. Impose medical liability reform (Minor step, but, needed)
  9. All Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines
  10. Post bill and allow it to be read three days prior to vote
  11. Limit legislation to ONE major issue at a time
  12. Control our Borders
  13. Authorize state and local Government to enforce immigration laws
  14. Increase access to domestic energy
  15. Oppose Cap and Trade

Items in the “pledge” that I dislike

  1. Keep “Gitmo” open and keep supposed "terrorists" out of US prisons
  2. Fully fund missile defense
  3. Extend the Bush tax cuts for all Americans. 

Mike Sylvester

Student Loan Racket, Post #2

In my earlier post on this topic I asserted that College Tuition is rising in large part due to the fact the the Government is pouring ever increasing amounts of money to subsidize higher education in this country. 

In my earlier post in the comment section Kevin Knuth said and I quote:  “Did it ever occur to you that Colleges raise their tuitions because there costs are going up?  Document for me that the increase is based on the fact that the government is subsidizing college expense and you have a point- but I think you are way off base on this.”

The documentation is available from a variety of sources and this post will document why I feel that my original assetion is true.  

According to a New York Times Article based on a report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education the following is true:

  1. Tuition and fees at US colleges increased by 439% from 1982-2007
  2. Median Family income increased over that same period of time by 147%

I belive both of these statements to be accurate; heck, they come from a supposedly non-partisan think tank and they are in line with other charts and graphs that I researched plus this article was published in the New York Times; a bastion of liberal thinking…

Next I call your attention to a graph from this same article.    

The Federal Government does a good job tracking inflation.  From 1982 - 2007 this country experienced 108% inflation.  Inflation tries to track the increase in cost for a market backet of goods for a typical US household.  This number will not track exactly with the costs of a University; however, it is a great number for comparison purposes. 

The costs of college tuition have outpaces every possible metric you can compare them to. 

The costs a college incurs is largely due to:

  1. Personel
  2. Buildings and Infrastructure
  3. General costs tied to inflation.

It seems obvious that college costs are rising due to the continued inflow of money into them. 

Mike

The student loan “racket” in the United States

A couple of months ago the total amount of student loan debt in the United States exceeded the total amount of credit card debt in the United States. 

Let me say that another way; Americans owe more money due to loans they took out to pay for college than they owe on their credit cards.

I find that statistic to be absolutely incredible.

The cost of college has increased by even more that the cost of medical care in the United States.  The cost of college has increased by astronomical rates partially because the Federal Government and State governments heavily subsidize higher education.  The Federal Government spends increasingly more on higher education each and every year; this in turn allows colleges to raise the fees and costs paid by the students.  For years and years the States have been pouring increasing amounts of money into higher educations as well; the current recession has reversed that trend at the State level.

Far too many Americans decide to pay for college with student loans.  In some cases the cost of paying these loans back (with interest and fees) can be cost justified because the individual is able to make more money and use this additional income to service the loans.  Unfortunately in many other cases the costs cannot be justified.  Reasons for this include:

  1. The student does not gain the skills or education that allows them to obtain a higher paying job.  This happens in some cases by students choosing degrees which lead to no job or poor paying jobs. 
  2. Many students take out student loans for expenses that have nothing to do with education; many buy new cars, pay their rent, eat out, etc.
  3. Many students fail to graduate and return to their old jobs.
  4. Many students take a long time to graduate.  Remember that you are likely earning a lot less income while you are attending school.

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Harrison Square Default Letter

Today’s JG has an article worth your time.  It discusses the fact the the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission has finally decided that Barry Real Estate/Hardball Capital have been in default on a written contract (Which they have been in default on since June 1st of 2009).

A couple of weeks ago Christopher Guerin, the President of the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission wrote an article in the newspaper in which he personally and specifically attacked City Councilman John Shoaff for wanting the City of Fort Wayne to collect the $5000 per day the City of Fort Wayne is due since Barry Real Estate/Hardball Capital clearly defaulted on their written contract with the City of Fort Wayne.  In this piece Mr. Guerin repeatedly defended the failed Harrison Square Project.  I covered that in detail in an earlier  blog post.

One has to wonder what the heck is going on down at the Redevelopment Commission?  How on Earth can its President write the piece that he wrote and then two weeks later the Redevelopment Commission flip-flops and now decides that Barry Real Estate/Hardball Capital is in fact in default and should be served notice of this default.

I am quite puzzled by this extreme turn around.  

Does anyone have any idea what is going on?

Mike Sylvester

Will the real baseball fans stand up?

The Fort Wayne TinCaps did make the playoffs - 1st game was at Parkview Stadium wednesday of this week.   The “announced” attendance average for the season came out at 5,776 per game.  Remember that this is the “announced” number - it counts every seat sold (or given free by the team), not the number that pass through and are counted by the electronic devices at the gates.

So what is the attendance when only those that show up are counted - like a playoff game?   Well, Wednesday night, a great weather evening, 2,462 fans showed up - of which about 200 were of the free variety(tickets to league officials, to visiting team members and family members of players for both teams, et al).   And, of course, it was not a $1.00 beer night!

So, can it be said that, on average, 5,776 less 2,462 -or 3,314 people are seeking any kind of entertainment other than minor league baseball during each TinCaps home game?  And, without Parkview Field, they would be going elsewhere for it?   So just why are we spending millions per year to pay off the debt we incurred just so these 3,314 people can go spend their money somewhere else (and ALL the profit goes to Atlanta, GA!)?

Just asking?

Does President Obama understand basic economics?

Or more importantly; does his economic team understand basic economics?

Everyone believes that the Republicans are going to make gains in both the Senate of the House in the mid-term elections.  The minority party almost always gains seats in the mid-term elections.

The Republicans will gain more seats than is normal because the economy has been horrible since before President Obama was elected and it has not really improved.  President Obama and the Democrats in Congress has spent an absolutely frightening amount of money that we do not have (Increasing the current deficit and the national debt to obscene levels) in the last couple of years.

President Obama realizes that he has to do something to attempt to mollify the voters and to show that he is at least attempting to bolster the economy.  He is afraid of announcing a second stimulus plan since the majority of Americans think that the first stimulus plan utterly failed.

So here is his most recent plan; it is stupid to the extreme:

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Navistar to leave Fort Wayne

Navistar has made it official; they are going to northern Illinois and will pull out of Fort Wayne.  They are going to move away from Fort Wayne even though it will cost them 31 million dollars MORE per year to operate in Illinois.

I have heard a few people say that Mayor Henry and his Administration have not done enough to keep Navistar in Fort Wayne.  I am not a fan of the Henry Administration; however, I do not see how it is possible that anything could have kept Navistar in Fort Wayne.  It seems obvious that the upper level management of the company decided to move the operation even though it will significantly increase their annual operating costs.

I will be sorry to see Navistar go; however, Illinois is giving them 65 million dollars of subsidies and that is very hard to compete with.

Navistar employs some great people and I am sure some of them will stay in the Fort Wayne area.

Losing Navistar will hurt Fort Wayne; however, it is not as crippling a blow as I have heard some people claim.

Specifically losing Navistar hurts us as follows:

1.  Local Government will lose a significant amount of tax revenue and they should have already started  planning for that.

2.  The higher end housing market in Fort Wayne is going to take another hit.  I imagine that this move will put several hundred high end homes on an already saturated market.

3.  I imagine unemployment in this area will increase.

Mike Sylvester