Sunday, December 11, 2011

Guverment is goin ta fix things rite

Now the government is trying to save us with a newly created institution called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It has a planned budget in excess of 300 million dollars. This is one of those” lock the barn door after the horses have run off,” programs. Why not use the money for the unemployed and food stamps? These people need hope, not protection.

Then the Obama administration comes out supporting a restriction on purchasing a morning after birth control for anyone under the age of 17, they didn’t want 11 and 12 year old girls buying them. Just how many pills can you buy on a 50 cent a week allowance? The average kid probably has a better chance of being hit by a milk truck than being knocked up at the age of 11 or 12.

Alabama passed a stiff law against illegal immigrants, now they have no one to harvest the farm crops. The argument being that the farmers will have to pay better wages to get fruit pickers. Are you going to buy 89 cent a pound tomatoes grown in Mexico or the $3 per pound ones grown in Alabama? Farm land could be a good buy in that state, as farmers go broke trying to survive. Of course when the law is repealed, those who invested in that "worthless land," will make out like bandits. Passing legislation is a little like playing chess; you have to think several moves out to make a buck. These legislators did their thinking and by all appearances, looked like they were performing a public service; they got rid of the illegal aliens and are about to pick up some nice cheap farmland to boot.

New York plans to raise 2 billion dollars taxing millionaires. How does this work? The rich people will move out of the state (to their summer homes no less). The amount that New York raises from taxing the rich, will be passed to the middle class in the form of lower tax rates. What happens when no new funds come in from expected sources? Is this where they pull the rabbit out of the hat? I just love magic tricks!

A new Nevada law makes it more difficult for lenders to foreclose on home loans in the state. 3 out of 5 homeowners are already underwater with their mortgages. Where is the incentive for the banks to even write new home loans in the state? Just draw a red line around the state, home prices could drop a lot lower now that the banks have been shown "who’s the boss." Visa and Master Card could be the only ones doing home loans in the state.

Then we have FHA guaranteed loans to help people in California buy affordable homes up to $729,000. To my way of thinking, someone buying a home a few hundred thousand shy of a million dollars doesn’t need financing help. Why not set the bar at a more reasonable level of 150K for everyone. That might kick the air out of the inflated housing market in California. These loan levels are a prime example of a government program that fails to protect the best interests of the buyer. The amounts are absurd, and no one questions them.

Governor Jerry Brown just acknowledged that the state of California has a 13 billion dollar shortfall this year. I would hazard a guess that the current budget shortfall and liability obligations are closer to 30 billion dollars. It’s a little like the political concept of being “just a little bit pregnant,” it’s just a small problem right now. Tell the voters the truth and get hung out to dry. His solution is to cut services even more and raise taxes. It seems logical. But raising taxes, will it bring in more revenue? Just look at all of the supermarkets in LA that have their warehouses in Nevada. They truck their product in 250 miles. It’s all about taxes that vary considerably from one state to another.

Most of these government programs are kind of like using a shotgun to trim your toe nails. They kind of, sort of work, but results may vary depending on your eyesight. Using government logic, not having to take your shoes and socks off to trim your toe nails is a labor saving plus.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Look at it this way. We're not falling apart. We're coming together. We are going through a collapse-restructure-thrive cycle. Progressing to a higher state. Out with the old and in with the new. These are rare periods in modern history. Hang on, as the ride will be bumpy for awhile.

Tyrone said...

Why not use the money for the unemployed and food stamps?
.
$300M for food stamps. Hmmmmm... that'll buy some appetizers...
Food Stamps:
September 2011: $6.26 billion
August 2011: $6.13 billion
July 2011: $6.08 billion
June 2011: $6.03 billion
.
Thought's on MF Global? Is anything safe?

Anonymous said...

Great quote from Kunstler's weekly rant...

"Politics, on the other hand, is more like stage magic. The man in the tuxedo is always trying to divert your attention."

Well said Mr. Kunstler.

Throw these cookie cutter career politician bums like Romney, Gingrich, Obama, etc. OUT and give me Ron Paul.

And let's end The Fed!!!

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Tyrone

I guess it's all about perspective. 300 million is a lot of dollars and what the government spends on food stamps, is unbelievably in the Billions.

The $300 a month for food stamps, helps you cope with paying the cable TV and your cell phone.

I have seen a person get mad that the cashier wouldn't let him pay for dog food with food stamps, he held up the line and went and got some hamburger and told the clerk "my dog can eat this instead." I also saw a woman pay for a $300 wedding cake with food stamps.

Food stamps IMHO are an entitlement that needs to be cut by 50%. Of course it will never happen. Most government programs will never die, they just get bigger.

As for MF Global, it is a sign of the times, things are getting worse and the worse are starting to drop dead. There are more to come. As Buffet said, “you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out."

The tide is going out so nothing is really safe.

Tyrone said...

Food stamps IMHO are an entitlement that needs to be cut by 50%.
.
YES! Exactly!
I always like to say that 'people will find a way' without the gross handouts. Would that "way" include crime? Some, I'm sure; but my naive hope would be that we help friends and family.

Anonymous said...

Government is the enemy.

We've thrown off oppression of the monarchs. The next step in the evolution of history is to throw off government;;; reduce it to very small size and only let it care for a nation's infrastructure and protect it from aggression. That is ALL.

Government does nothing but steal our wealth, invade our personal and business lives, involve themselves in our private lives, create wars and destruction, ruin economies and so on.

It's time for the next phase of evolution on this planet.

END BIG GOVERNMENT.

Anonymous said...

End Big Gov? But we need the TSA; who else will be left to strip search the public? And what about health care? If I'm not forced by an IRS gun to buy an insurance policy, I may not even buy one!

Anonymous said...

Hey Baby Boomers,
Never thought you were going to lose your comfortable retirement years and live the remainder of your lives in a depression did you? The game has changed. The insiders are screwing the outsiders. Socialism for the bottom and the top and the big crunch for the middle. As you were all busy working your asses off, raising your families, living high on the hog, watching the Super Bowl and having affluent holidays and vacations the POWER ELITE were carefully planning out how to get your wealth.

Tyrone said...

Speaking of government and cutting entitlements...

The Corruption of America
Americans know, in their bones, that something terrible is happening. Maybe you can't articulate it. Maybe you don't have the statistics to understand exactly what's going on. But my bet is, you think about it a lot.

Cutting the entitlements can't come soon enough. Perhaps a 75% haircut would be more appropriate.

frakrak said...

The American people are resolute and resilient, and will guard against social breakdown.
That it is an economic war being waged.
Europe and hopefully soon China will see their financial institutions fail.
Just keep it going long enough to stay out of the dumpster.
Be the last man standing.
Re-deploy fifty thousand troops here, we will help you pay for your military spending:)
Hang on the roller coaster is about to hit mach 3 ....

Anonymous said...

Jim,
THROW THEM ALL OUT by Peter Schweizer seems to be the book of the month.

4 1/2 stars on Amazon.

The American people are being educated.

Time to bathe the tree of liberty in some blood. Just like old Tom Jefferson said back in the day. I'll settle for courtroom action and prison cells for the political class, military-industrial complex and banking and corporate villians rather than the guillotine.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Tyrone

Thanks for the link--you can't accuse the author of being a man of few words, by a long shot.

I agree there will be a massive cut in entitlements. School teachers, firemen, the police and welfare. We are already feeling it.

If they keep printing dollars, we could be making $100K a year and barely getting by, and that's the part that worries me--I'm getting old.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Frakrak

I am not quite that optimistic about the American people.You tend to get the feeling when dealing with people on an individual basis, that the laws are meant for "other people."

"The last man standing" concept suggest that who ever it is, their currency will stay intact and their financial institutions would survive. That could be us in the end. Of course a candy bar might cost $100 and a home in California might just finally be worth a half million dollars.

Anonymous said...

No worries middle class people. Just lose the little bit of assets and money you have and drop into poverty level. Then the government will give you support, medical, food stamps, etc. etc. for the rest of your life and you'll be better off than you were before with less stress. You've got a support system to fall down into.

You've got to get out of the middle and enjoy the socialism at the top or the socialism at the bottom. That is the way the system works.

Ohio Loan Officer said...

NO, No , NO!

You guys are all wrong!

Unemployment figures are dropping.

The stock market is surging.

Gold prices are falling because there is no more fear of disaster.

ALL IS WELL! ALL IS WELL!