The American Jobs Act, post 1
I watched the President address a joint session of Congress last night. After that I watched the NFL season kick off.
I thought the President made a good speech. It was not a great speech because he could not keep his normal class warfare rhetoric completely in check; however, it was a good speech.
I think the major points of his re-election speech were:
- This is a plan with a lot of Republican ideas in it (True)
- If Congress does not pass this plan he is going to try to use this against Republicans in Congress in his 2012 campaign (True)
- The plan needs to be passed right away (His opinion)
Sarah Palin
There is no doubt that the main stream media in the United States did everything in their power to attack Sarah Palin once she was selected as the Vice Presidential nominee during the last Presidential election. In my entire life I have never seen the media attack someone in that fashion. It was absurd…
Sarah Palin stepped down as Governor of Alaska two years into her first four year term. She stepped down because she quickly realized that she could make A LOT of money as a speaker and “pundit.”
I in no way begrudge her the money. That being said the day she resigned half way through her first term she became a person I could not support for political office. Period.
For some reason she keeps “teasing” her supporters and she keeps acting like she may get into the Presidential race. I do not understand why she is doing this. I think her actions have hurt her “brand” and make her look like a fool.
There is no way that Sarah Palin could join the race this late and win the Republican nomination. In fact, I do not think she could beat Michelle Bachman at this point.
Mike
The mortgage problems are worse than you think
I have a client who talked to me about their mortgage. Last year they fell behind 3 months on their mortgage payments. Obviously the bank holding the mortgage (and in this case it was a LARGE bank) was angry and threatened him with legal actions; as one would expect.
So after missing three mortgage payments he was able to pull together enough money to pay two of those three mortgage payments soon after the 3rd payment was due. So he sent the bank a check.
The big bank holding the mortgage did not cash his check and sent his check back to him. In writing they told him he could only settle the problem by sending a check that would pay all three mortgage payments…
Wow.
Is it any wonder the big banks are losing money hand over fist…
Mike
President Obama and his failed stimulus package
The massive Federal Stimulus package that was passed to “save the economy” cost the taxpayers well over 800 billion dollars. This money was borrowed and will have to be paid back with interest.
There is no doubt that this program created or “saved” 2-3 million temporary jobs. Most of the impact of the stimulus plan has already been realized.
I opposed the Federal stimulus plan for several reasons:
- I hate temporary measures like this.
- We are broke and need to stop borrowing and printing money.
- The plan creates winners and losers in the private sector and that is wrong.
- The jobs were temporary jobs and come at an incredible cost
The Federal Stimulus plan was supported by President Bush, President Obama, the entire Democratic leadership in Congress AND the entire Republican leadership in Congress. About 3/4 of the Democratic members of Congress supported it and about 1/3 of the Republicans in Congress supported it.
Much of this money went to promote ‘green” jobs. President Obama and his “green” jobs plan is an absolute failure. One of my favorite blogs has a great post about this that is well worth your time. In this example The Federal government provided loan guarantees on 535 million dollars. The firm was showcased by President Obama as a success story. The firm is now filing bankruptcy and the taxpayers will lose the money invested in this company… 1100 employees retained their jobs for eighteen months and now will have to find new jobs…
The Government has no business picking winners and losers in the private sector.
Mike
President Obama and his upcoming jobs plan, part 2
The second component of President Obama’s upcoming “jobs” plan will be to extend Federal unemployment benefits; again.
This issue has been discussed and argued over on this blog repeatedly. Some of the blog posts on this subject have over 100 comments. The readers of the blog are split on this issue.
Generally speaking states offer up to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. Once these are exhausted then the unemployed can qualify for between 34 weeks and 53 weeks of Federal unemployment benefits. Congress has enacted several emergency measures that grant another 20 weeks to unemployed workers in states with unemployment over 8%. In many cases (states with unemployment rates over 8%) the unemployed can draw unemployment benefits for 99 weeks. In other words in many states the unemployed can draw benefits for almost two years.
The Federal extension expires at the end of this year. President Obama will propose that these extended benefits be extended for another year. This will cost 60 billion dollars.
I oppose this because I do not think paying unemployment benefits for just short of two years is ever reasonable. I would think 79 weeks in states with unemployment over 8% is more than enough.
The pros of this extension include:
- The money goes to people who will turn around and spend it. This stimulates the economy.
The cons of this extension include:
- It will cost 60 billion dollars.
- Study after study has proved that extending unemployment benefits discourages people from going out and getting a job or starting their own business. This is indisputable.
At some point we have to start limiting the “nanny” state. As the readers of this blog know I am in favor of ELIMINATING the entire Federal unemployment system. I personally feel that each state should run their own system.
Mike
President Obama and his upcoming jobs plan, post 1
I certainly hope that President Obama is not re-elected in 2012. He has done a dismal job. He was a MUCH better campaigner than President… President Obama is touting the fact that he is going to unveil a detailed and comprehensive plan to “create jobs.” I expect him to propose several things:
The first is that he is going to propose extending the “temporary” one year employee payroll tax cut; he wants to make it a two year “temporary” employee payroll tax cut. One wonders if a year from now he will want to make it a “temporary” three year payroll tax holiday tax cut. I wrote about this long ago and you can read my old post if you want to know more about this silly payroll tax cut. This extension of the “temporary” payroll tax cut was agreed to by Dems and Reps behind closed doors in the December 2010 Lame Duck Session. Basically this payroll tax cut will force the Federal government to put another 120 billion dollar IOU in the Social Security system (In other words the Federal Government will have to pay this money back that it is stealing borrowing.) In 2012 an extra 120 billion dollars will be in the paychecks of Americans who work for regular wages. Most Americans will turn around and immediately spend this money. The positives of this proposal are: it is easy to administer through company payroll, employees get this additional amount in every paycheck (Note it is capped at annual wages of $106,800), and the money only goes to those who work. My problems with this proposal are: The Federal Government is incurring more debt in order to stimulate the economy, I think it sets a horrible precedent since Social Security is already under-funded, when this payroll tax cut is allowed to expire it will act as a drag on the economy since employee checks will DECREASE, and I hate “temporary” provisions because they make our tax code increasingly more complicated. So I oppose extending the payroll tax cut for another year. That being said I do agree it will stimulate the economy and this is a much better choice than most of the other ideas that will arise from both major political parties.
Mike Sylvester
Does Ron Paul have a chance?
As the readers of this blog know I have liked Ron Paul for a long time. I am a cross between a Republican and a Libertarian. I likely agree with 85% - 90% of the views of Ron Paul. I likely agree with Ron Paul more than I agree with any of the other Republican candidates.
Michele Bachmann won the Ames straw poll with 28% of the vote. Ron Paul came in second with 27% of the vote. The media is trumpeting the fact that Michele Bachmann won the straw poll and completely ignoring the fact that Ron Paul came in a very close second place.
The liberal mainstream media detests Ron Paul. The Republican media (Fox News, etc) strongly dislikes, if not detests Ron Paul.
Ron Paul supporters are angry that the media is ignoring their candidates impressive showing. They are completely justified in their anger.
That being said I do not think Ron Paul has a realistic chance of winning the nomination. The main stream media is convinced that Romney is the likely winner; Perry has a decent chance, Bachmann has an outside chance. I tend to agree with this; however, I do think Ron Paul and Herman Cain have a very small chance of victory. I feel their chances are very, very, small.
Mike Sylvester
Cheating scandal rocks US navy submarine fleet
Please read this post about cheating on a navy nuclear powered submarine from the Huffington Post.
I spent six years in the nuclear navy. I spent the last four of those years stationed on the USS Pintado, SSN 672, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I was an electronics technician (Reactor Operator) in the nuclear power plant. I managed to qualify Engineering Watch Supervisor as a second class petty officer.
I have to admit that this story saddens me and surprises me. The USN administers a large number of written exams to its personnel who operate its nuclear power plants. In my experience these tests are rigorous and require a high level of knowledge.
I served on the USS Pintado from 1991 - 1995. I never witnessed nor heard of cheating on these exams. I imagine there were a few people who might have resorted to cheating; however, it certainly was not rampant nor was it encouraged. I am 100% convinced anyone caught cheating when I served would have been dealt with harshly, and rightly so.
This is a sad event and it sounds like it may be a problem on many other submarines.
Mike Sylvester
Fort Wayne beggars
I have lived in the same house on the north side of Fort Wayne for the last 11 years. In the first 10 and a half of those years I have never seen a person begging for money in this part of town.
In the last six months I have seen several beggars in my part of town.
In March there was an adult man, an adult woman, one or more children, and at least one large dog that spent a lot of time begging near the entrance of the Dupont Library. All were well dressed, clean cut, and looked physically able to work. They were a few hundred feet from my commercial office. They had cardboard signs and spent time on both the north and south side of Dupont Road near the Dupont Library. According to their signs they had been travelling across country and their car broke down and they supposedly needed money to fix their car and get home. Over a two week period I saw them five different times.
In April there was an adult man playing a guitar and asking for money outside of the Subway in the strip Mall just East of the Dupont Library. I just saw him once. He may not really have been a beggar; I am not sure. He did have a container out with a cardboard sign asking for money.
In May I was leaving the WalMart on Coldwater road and there was a man who looked to be about 30, clean cut, well dressed, in good shape, holding a sign and begging for money, his sign said he could not find work and needed money.
Friday my son and I were north bound on Coldwater and waiting on the light at Dupont Road at about 5:30 PM. There was a man who looked to be between 25 and 45, well dressed, clean cut and in good shape. He was standing in the median of the road in traffic. He had a sign that said he could not find work and needed money to feed his family. The left turn signal came on and 12 cars proceeded to turn left onto Dupont Road. At that time he was maybe 30 feet from my car. TWO people slowed down and gave him money. I could not see how much; however, each gave him at least one green bill. So in the three minutes I saw him he received at LEAST $2. Not bad for three minutes of begging.
All of these beggars were white. All were dressed as a normal middle classed person. All appeared to be physically fit and capable of working.
I cannot imagine a plausible situation that would cause me to become a beggar. I come from a very middle class background and I made VERY little money my first four years as an adult. I then spent six years as an enlisted man in the USN where I did not make a lot of money. So in the first ten years of my adult life I may little money. That being said I have always saved money and as an adult I have ALWAYS been able to access at least $2,000 of my own money that I saved when working (Mainly babysitting) in High School. I have never had to borrow money from anyone except my parents when I was a kid. That being said; I have a family and friends and there is no doubt that if I had to I could have borrowed $2,000 or more if times were tough for me throughout my entire life.
I have several comments about these beggars:
- Why don’t they work rather than beg? Times are tough and I am sure they might have a hard time getting a high paying job. That being said I have numerous clients in the Fort Wayne area who have told me that even with the unemployment rate being so high they just cannot find people who are willing to work.
- Why don’t these people ever save money? I have ALWAYS had some money saved. I have ALWAYS prepared for bad times. People need to stop living paycheck to paycheck and start saving money. Multiple big screen TV’s are not a necessity. Cable TV is not a necessity. A cell phone is not a necessity.
- Is the economy worse than we think? The economy has been tough; in fact we were technically in a recession from December of 2007 - June of 2008. Since that time we have had no real job growth and the economy has struggled.
- Why don’t these people have friends and family who can help them? I personally have a very small family and my family is middle classed or poor. My wife has a small family as well and her family is middle classed. My wife and I both have friends. I cannot imagine a situation where I would have to get a loan from my friends or family. I really can’t. That being said if I needed money I could borrow it from my friends and family…
- What does this say for our future? Our Government is spending a record amount of money to help out the poor and middle class. Our Government is bankrupt and MUST start paying less into these programs in the near future. High paying jobs are very hard to find, that being said low paying jobs are available for people who are willing to work rather than complain. Once again I have SEVERAL clients who are looking for good workers in the Fort Wayne area. There are now millions of Americans who expect NOT to work and that the government will support them and their children…
The more I analyze things the more that I realize how screwed our Country is… I am NOT going to give my kids a better Country than was given to me…
Mike Sylvester
Tax Reform, Part 1
I am a CPA and I am a partner in SBS CPA Group. We prepare a couple hundred corporate income tax returns per year and another six hundred personal income tax returns per year.
I am sick and tired of conservatives and Republicans who ignorantly claim that we cannot ever raise taxes or increase revenues. They do NOT understand the tax code and should NOT be so ignorant of it.
The Federal Government has a serious spending problem. It has not had an honestly balanced budget since 1957. We have ran a deficit for the last 54 years. We need to cut Federal spending and we need a balanced budget amendment. I think we need to cap Federal spending at about 18% of GDP. Note Federal spending is currently 25% of GDP.
That being said we also have a revenue problem. The United States tax code is too complicated. The tax code is extremely unfair. I 100% support scrapping the income tax code and using a National Sales Tax instead. Our politicians will NOT allow the income tax code to be scrapped.
This series of posts will show you how unfair our current income tax code is. It will show you reasonable changes that could be made to it. For some reason the Republican Party opposes common sense changes like I will list here. The Republican Party has been taken over by Grover Norquist. Mr. Norquist is the head of Americans For Tax Reform. Mr Norquist got the vast majority of Republicans to sign a pledge to never raise taxes. Mr. Norquist interprets this pledge to mean that if a tax credit or deduction is removed from the system, no matter how absurd it is, that you have raised taxes and violated the pledge. Basically Mr. Norquist is saying that those deductions and credits currently enshrined in the tax code must stay unless they are offset by equal tax decreases.
Mr. Norquist is an idiot.
Mike Sylvester
