Raising the Debt Limit

If you max-out your credit card, then you need to slow your
spending until you are below your spending limit again.
Since World War II, government spending, on average,
accounted for around one-fifth, or 19.6 percent, of GDP.
Today, Federal spending accounts for over 25 percent of GDP.
Cut, Cap and Balance:
Cut spending to match revenue - without raising taxes!
Cap Federal spending at 20% of GDP.
Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to enforce frugality.
Keeping the debt limit should curb profligate spending and
will not cause a default. I would furlough the Secretaries
of Energy, Education, HHS, HUD, Commerce, Interior, Labor,
State and Defense and all but a skeleton force of their
civilian employees.

The Great SPR Scam

The U.S. Energy Department said on Thursday that companies
must submit their bids by June 29 for purchasing 30 million
barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
SPR oil would have base price of $112.78 a barrel
The United States said it would supply half of a planned
60 million-barrel emergency release of crude oil from members
of the International Energy Agency, in a bid to cover supplies
lost from Libya during the peak demand summer driving season.
According to the EIA summary released Wednesday, the United
States oil supply is "above the upper limit of the average
range for this time of year."
The real reason is to provide quick cash to the Treasury.
The Democrats and Republicans have shown that they do not want
to cut spending. Democrats want to raise taxes, and Republicans
refuse to do that.
To get over $3,383,400,000 of petty cash, the Obama
administration wants to sell some liquid assets. The SPR is
for Strategic purposes - hence the name. It must not be used
for tactical political use.

Bubbles & Free-Markets

We have heard a lot about bubbles in the last couple
of years – the housing bubble, the stimulus bubble, the
auto/clunker bubble, the student loan bubble, the tuition
bubble, etc. The Federal government was responsible for
all of these. Congress blames greedy capitalists, but, if
the gold supply at Fort Knox is left unsecured and the
fact is publicized, the bad decision is primarily at fault,
and the greedy folks who take the gold are just opportunists
doing what comes naturally.
The Community Reinvestment Act was passed in 1977. Every
President since then has used it to increase the percent of
home ownership and then made it a campaign statement that
they were helping Americans to achieve the American dream.
The problem was that any loan which was denied was denied
due to “racism.” Banks were threatened with Federal lawsuits
under the Civil Rights Act. The banks complied and got the
bad loans off their balance sheets as quickly as possible –
condolidated debt obligations sold to taxpayers (Fannie &
Freddie). The “First-time home buyer” program hoped to
reduce the glut of foreclosed homes, but most buyers wanted
new homes in better neighborhoods.
The Congress passed the Troubled Assets Relief Program and
the stimulus plan. This rewarded banks which “lost” money
and also political supporters. Local “shovel-ready projects”
were funded all at once to stimulate the economy. Work
scheduled for years was completed in months. Hundreds of jobs
were created at the Savannah River Site for expedited cleanup.
That bubble has burst.
The “cash for clunkers” program got inefficient vehicles
off the roads while stimulating the automobile industry.
Since American taxpayers are part-owners with unions of
automobile manufacturers like General Motors, this sounded
like a good idea.
Alternative energy companies – wind, solar, wave,
geothermal – were heavily subsidized by taxpayers while
carbon-based energy was threatened with carbon taxes,
moritoriums on drilling, and stagnation in the permitting
process. Our national security is at risk because our
wealth has been and is being transferred to our enemies.
The EPA has deemed humans as polluters since the breath
that we exhale is carbon dioxide.
Subsidies to financial institutions selling student
loans were reduced, and the Federal government took over
the student loan business. This is like the “single payer”
system favored by Democrats under Obamacare. Drive out
private insurers and nationalize Medicare-for-everyone.
Lotteries have created bubbles by “free” tuition
increasing demand while supply grew more slowly. Colleges
increased tuition by 200% or more of the inflation tax,
and competition from other lotteries reduced the amounts
available for scholarships. Only 56% of graduates found
jobs versus 90% a decade before. The default rate on
student loans – particularly with for-profit online
universities and loans needed to pay the increased tuition –
will put taxpayers deeper in debt.
Welcome to the centrally-planned and centrally-controlled
economy! A Constitution and a free-market economy made
America great. Central planning is destroying it!

Bibi vs. 0bama

An old satrical cartoon pictured Obama attempting JFK's
1960s Berlin speech, but saying “Ich bin ein Beginner!”
He has demonstrated the concerns that he has little if any
foreign policy experience with his recent speech on Israel.
He then meets with Bibi Netanyahu, who is in the
“heavyweight” class in foreign policy, and tells him - and
the world - that Israel needs to return to the pre-1967-war
borders. The Israeli Prime Minister showed great restraint
in not responding as an ex-Philadelphia high school student
might have.
Obama may have a Harvard Law background and community
organizing experience, but he is a lightweight with Bibi
who was educated at MIT and Harvard and has elite special
forces experience with the Israeli Defense Force. Bibi
fought on the Golan Heights in the 1973 war. When he says
that the 1967 borders are indefensible, then he knows that
from personal experience.
Obama also shows a profound ignorance of God's covenant
with Abraham. The United Nations created the state of
Israel in 1948. God had previously created the nation of
Israel and had given them the land from the river of Egypt
to the great river, the Euphrates River. Israel needs to
reestablish the borders that it had under King Solomon in
950 B.C.!