Ponderstorm My Brainstorm on Life & Politics

Let me clearly state that I don’t like or approve of the recent federal intervention in the United States economy. Government policy over the past three decades, pushed to extremes by left-leaning and radical groups like ACORN and using the Community Reinvestment Act, created the corrupt lending environment that was exploited by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to produce the toxic mortgage situation in which we find ourselves. So, since government is primarily responsible for this crisis, why should we then trust government to fix the problem they created?

This unfavorable economic environment is not a shortcoming of capitalism. It is a direct result of government manipulation within our economy for the benefit of a few people. Sometimes manipulation gives an unfair advantage to the rich and sometimes the poor. In this current environment, those who should not get a loan it were encouraged to borrow beyond their means.  While historically no bank would loan money under such terms, Fannie and Freddie created an unnatural market for banks to offload risky mortgages. The result was the poisoning of our entire financial system.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, the federal government stepped in and removed even more of our individual freedoms and made our economic system less of a capitalistic one and more like a planned economy under socialism. To give you an idea of the extent of the change, we’re now talking about the government owning or nationalizing large portions of our banking system. We’re also talking about government confiscating taxpayer money to buy up and refinance failing mortgages. We’re also talking about government, not shareholders, owners or investors, telling companies how much they can pay their employees and how to run their businesses. Sounds more like the old Soviet Union than what the Founding Fathers set up, doesn’t it?

This is an extremely dangerous precedent that will severely damage our economy in the long run. It makes the American taxpayer the ultimate holder of risks that the market should allocate to willing investors. It also gives government enormous control over our economy, our money and our everyday lives. In effect, a government bureaucrat will soon be deciding who can borrow, how much they can borrow and under what terms. In the name of fairness and environmentalism, other factors will probably be imposed later like how large our house can be and whether we really need what we can afford.

Instead of the massive bailout that was adopted, I wish government had essentially stepped out of the picture and removed Read More…

Posted under Economy, Government

I’m tired of hearing Democrats say we should raise taxes on the rich or the rich should never receive a tax cut. To make matters even more frustrating, they often state this sentiment as if there’s something evil about being rich. Here are three things to consider before embracing the “tax the rich” notion.

1. Only people who earn more money than they need can afford to hire others.

Excessively taxing the rich kills the economy. Have you ever seen somebody barely scraping a living from paycheck to paycheck start a business and hire employees? Can poor people offer health insurance plans and pay benefits? Of course not. They don’t have any extra money to risk or invest. Excessive taxation of the rich takes their investment capital away which harms the economy.

2. The rich enlarge the economy by their consumption.

Let me illustrate this point by an example. Following the 1993 Clinton tax increase a large surcharge on the sale of new luxury yachts was imposed. That luxury tax almost put the the American yacht construction industry out of business. Who builds the yachts? The rich? Of course not. So guess who was laid off when nobody was buying yachts? The lower class yacht construction workers suffered for that tax (and from the government’s point of view it raised almost no revenue because domestic yacht sales dried up).

3. Who decides what qualifies as rich and how much to confiscate?

Taxing the rich is a Marxist income redistribution scheme. It punishes work, risk and capitalism. It deprives poeple of their individual freedoms and personal property rights. In a free society government has no right to decide who needs how much money and what amount they get to keep.

In conclusion, excessive taxation of the rich is like killing Read More…

Posted under 60 Seconds, Economy, Government

More than a month ago I asked if Barack Obama’s “Robin Hood” tax plan would redistribute wealth. Based on the fact that only about 65% of Americans pay any income taxes but Obama was promising a “tax cut” to 95% of Americans I knew something was fishy. Because those numbers are mathematically impossible to compute I suspected he was calling an income redistribution scheme a “tax cut.”

My fear that such a scheme could be in the works went from speculation to reality when Obama answered a simple question from a business owner about taxes. We now have proof positive that Obama plans to take from the haves and give to the have nots. Watch Obama in his own words tell that he plans to “spread the wealth around” (about 4:45 into the video):

You can read more about this specific Marxist admission here. I say Marxist because it is just that — income redistribution from those with “wealth” to those who are “poor.”

Karl Marx wrote the following in 1875 in Read More…

Posted under Barack Obama, Economy

Yesterday the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) released a new web video showing why Democrats, in their own words, are responsible for the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Interestingly, conservative Internet broadcast network Hotair.com called this video “awesome.”

I appreciate the video and think it’s a great start. In the future I want to see more names named including why, at more than $125,000, Barack Obama was the #2 recipient of all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac campaign contributions from 1989-2008 (and he made that position after less than 3 years in the Senate!).

Watch for yourself:

Posted under Barack Obama, Economy, Video