The New EPA Red Herring Logo

SEARCH BLOG: GLOBAL WARMING

..

EPA Full Of Hot Air

SEARCH BLOG: GLOBAL WARMING

The story is everywhere so I'll skip the links. For those of you who believe the climate models, this is a great day. The EPA will save you from global warming. For those of you who believe what you observe, this is an Orwellian novel.

Before you get too worked up about this, remember that the EPA is a pseudo-scientific agency. Yes, there are scientists and they do have their chemistry sets. Beyond that, they are a political agency doing the behest of the ruling party. Consequently, the EPA can declare a naturally occurring substance a pollutant that requires regulating... even though the portion of the substance present in our environment that can be attributed to man's activity is minuscule.

But let's see how this plays out. Here are some possibilities:

• Any vehicle of any type using combustion engines will be subject to higher taxes either directly or through significantly increased fuel taxes
• Electricity produced by coal, natural gas, or diesel fuel will be subject to higher taxes
• Homes heated by natural gas will be subject to higher taxes
• Electricity consumed beyond a pre-set limit will be subject to a tax surcharge
• Disturbing ground cover and releasing CO2 will be prohibited and fined unless a permit is paid for

The list can go on, but you can see the pattern. This is a tax scheme and it paves the way for yet another tax scheme. It also paves the way for tax cheating and an underground economy. Gasoline may become the new alcohol.

You have just begun to see the backlash. Tea parties will be supplanted by protests by those affected by this misguided Obamian adventure into science fiction. That's anyone included in the dot points above. The only thing getting hotter are necks under collars. The only hot air threatening us is emanating from the EPA.

..

Can We Spend Our Way To Prosperity?

SEARCH BLOG: ECONOMY

There are a lot of people saying that we can spend our way to prosperity. Others say we can only spend our way to debt. I don't believe either position is fully accurate without identifying the nature of the spending.

Spending is an act of moving one resource into another. We are exchanging value. We may create debt which is a spending of future resources... presuming there are future resources. But the act of spending neither guarantees future prosperity or future debt.

For example, during World War II our country spent a lot of future resources defeating enemies on two fronts. In doing so, it built a vast industrial and scientific infrastructure that positioned the U.S. to grow quite wealthy for several decades thereafter. The debt was an investment of future resources that would be generated by the acquisition of the means to generate the future resources.

Opposite that are expenditures of stored resources to acquire resources of diminishing value or spurious value that do not, of themselves, generate additional value.

One might argue that purchasing a vehicle or home is such and investment. Take money out of savings to buy a vehicle or home that loses value. But that argument overlooks the utility of the vehicle or home that can generate more resources... the ability to get to or have a place to work to earn money... delivering or displaying expensive articles to customers... any number of resource producing actions with the vehicle or home. Or simply to provide transportation and shelter for the family.

More appropriate to this class of spurious spending are Ponzi schemes that siphon off resources from many to a few which then has a rippling effect through the economy. Resources are exchanged for little or nothing in return and lead to a general weakening of the economic network of those involved. We've read a lot about how that happened in the housing market and rippled its way into investment houses and banks and then industries and then jobs.

So, to address the question of can we spend our way into future prosperity, we must determine if the spending is to create an expansion of resource producing resources or if it is to siphon off resources from many to benefit the few. For example, will selling carbon credits that raise the cost of energy for many while reducing the resources that produce reliable energy generate other resources or simply dissipate present resources? Will raising taxes so that the government can expand programs generate future resources from those programs that expand the resources of the people or simple dissipate resources through waste?

There is no clear or constant answer other than "it depends." For example, in the Detroit school system billions of dollars have been spent and budgets exceeded by hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet the graduation rate continues to fall and the system is imploding. For example, billions of dollars have been spent to lift people out of poverty through programs that report the need for the programs to expand because there are more people in poverty. Are these investments or Ponzi schemes? Are we spending our way into debt or into productivity and prosperity? Are we creating jobs or siphoning off the resources needed to create jobs?

It appears we have to look at past results to gauge the prospect of future results. Will increasing government spending by trillions of dollars lead to greater national wealth or greater national debt?

We have chosen a course that is different from the spending of World War II that built up industry, science and commerce. What are the chances that more taxation and government programs aimed at solving politically defined social problems will result in greater national prosperity?

Just asking.

..

Stunned... Stunning

If you are one of the few who hasn't seen this yet, see it now.

Click on the image below.

Books... covers....

..

Models That Don't Work

SEARCH BLOG: AUTOMOBILES

My wife and I decided to replace our older truck with a new car. After several days of research and discussion, we settled upon two choices. We went to the showroom to test drive the two vehicles and make our decision. What we discovered was that a well-intentioned government and insurance industry efforts prompted one manufacturer to create an improved safety device design... that makes driving the vehicles unbearable for many people.

Here is my wife in our 2008 car.


The head restraint forms a mild angle with the seat back that allows her to rest her head against the restraint while maintaining a comfortable posture.

Now here she is driving a 2009 model with what must be the "new, improved" head restraint.


Gee, that looks really comfortable with the head restraint forcing her chin downward and placing a nice strain on her neck and shoulders. She had attempted to alleviate some of the strain by reclining the seat back more than she normally would, but that did not help much.

I wrote to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that gave the 2009 vehicle's head restraints high marks for rear collision protection:

While the IIHS rating system of head restraints for vehicles may accurately reflect test results, it somehow misses the 800 lb. gorilla in the room: certain highly rated active head restraints are exceedingly uncomfortable and may be misused as a result.

The IIHS ratings of XXX vehicles is a prime example. The note below [to the vehicle manufacturer not included here] ... provides an example of the conflict between IIHS results and consumer acceptance. A head restrain that forces an occupant's head into an unnatural position may provide some improvement in a rear-end collision [although I have my doubts], but it is certain to result in greater muscle fatigue, headaches, inattention, and possibly higher accident risks. Some people may go so far as to reverse the position of the head restraint [rotate 180°] to allow their head to be in a more natural position. Others will attempt to alter the seating configuration with pillows or sit askewed. Those actions completely defeat the purpose of that device.

It seems obvious to me that the IIHS testing does not include these other considerations in the evaluation of head restraint designs and is, therefore, incomplete and inaccurate. Because your website does not have an email contact for feedback such as this, I am asking you to forward this on to the your board for information and potential corrective action/expansion of testing parameters.

Isn't it amazing how scientific models and government mandates can totally miss real world issues?

View the IIHS testing here.

..

Saving Tax Dollars

SEARCH BLOG: TAXES

Tea Parties... Tax Day....

Tax frustration reaches its zenith today. People recognize the necessity of taxes for the operation of the government and funding programs for the common good. People also recognize the waste so often associated with the spending of tax revenues... money taken from individuals and businesses and spent irresponsibly.

In Michigan, where the unemployment rate is 12% or so, frustration continues to mount with taxes and politicians who use the "yes, but" argument... "yes, but this program is so important..." when they want to justify continued high spending rates when the sources of that funding are under duress. In Detroit, where the unemployment rate is approaching 1 in 4 and the high school dropout rate is approaching triple digits, the waste in the public school system has been shocking... facing a deficit of over $300 million. True, there is a new financial manager who is trying to get the situation under control, but what an uphill battle. The school system is a resource grinder that dissipates the energy used as waste heat and very little product.

I ran across this site called EZ Paper Trail that might make sense for the Detroit Public Schools.

EZPaperTrail is an easy to use web application that helps you send requests for purchases, substitute teachers, IT Help, and more among the staff at your school.

Simple forms and detailed reporting help you track requests and inventory at your schools. Because we host everything, all you need is a browser, an Internet connection and you can start using it right away.

Ostensibly, it is promoting savings through elimination of paper and printing, but a closer examination reveals much more. In a big school system like Detroit's, stuff disappears. In Detroit's system, money is often spent without approval... hence, massive unbudgeted deficits. A system like this one would seem to offer any school system administrative control and instant auditing of its spending.

Apparently, this system has been used with some pretty spectacular savings in a charter school system and may be adopted by quite a few others pretty soon. Whether or not it could survive the endemic mismanagement of the DPS would have to be tested... but given the free-for-all administrative history of the DPS, this system might help bring order to chaos.

Michigan taxpayers might like to see that since many state tax dollars get funneled to "aid" Detroit.

..

Chinese Find Our Ways Inscrutable

SEARCH BLOG: CHINA and TAXES

The following article appeared yesterday in China's People's Daily Online. The recent decline in U.S. real estate prices has created a market for realtors... Chinese interested in owning a piece of the American Pie.

There is just one aspect of real estate ownership that seems to surprise the Chinese. When you get to the end of the article [which only appears long because of the pictures], you may find their surprise and concern... a bit surprising... and that should be concerning.
_________________

15:22, April 13, 2009
US housing exhibition aims at Chinese market


(Xinhua Photo)
In the past three days, 76 US real estate developers and real estate brokerage companies brought attractively-priced real estate properties to the first “US-China Real Estate Summit International Real Estate Exhibition Trade Fair” at the Beijing Hotel, specifically targeting the Chinese market's demand and purchasing power.

According to incomplete statistics from the organizing committee, about 7,000 people visited the exhibition in the three days, and around 500 of them reached tentative agreements on housing purchases or investments.

The most demand comes from those studying abroad

(Xinhua Photo)
In front of the booth of Houston's mosaic project, a life-sized cardboard figure of Yao Ming attracted visitors. According one person, the project is only a 10-minute walk from the Toyota Center in Houston, the gymnasium in which Yao frequently competes. The project provides houses at different prices, from 260,000 USD to over 1 million USD.

Miss Ruan, who came to inquire, will soon graduate from university and is applying to study in the US. "I also applied to universities in Houston, so I came specifically to inquire about houses after I heard about this housing exhibition," Ruan said. "The media has said that housing prices in the US have declined sharply. If prices are really cheap, perhaps buying a house will be more cost-efficient than renting one."

(Xinhua Photo)
Reporters randomly interviewed dozens of visitors at the exhibition. Most of the visitors said their children are preparing to study in the US. According to the organizing committee, most of the tentative agreements on purchases reached at the exhibition are for residential properties, and most of these residential properties will serve as accommodations for the owners' children while studying abroad.

In addition, some institutions also promoted projects for investment and immigration purposes for the sake of attracting buyers.

(Xinhua Photo)
Chen Jingguo, a realtor from the Phoenix region, said that the situation in the US is similar to Beijing. After March this year, the housing situation in some major US cities showed signs of recovery. After housing prices were reduced, the volume of sales soared. "Our insiders believe that housing prices at present have already bottomed out and it is a good opportunity to buy," said Chen, who has nine years of experience as a realtor.

Consumers should be cautious of exhibitors whose main purpose is to raise awareness

(Xinhua Photo)
One exhibitor from Miami said that they do not have a specific sales target for this exhibition, and their main purpose is to introduce and give visitors an awareness of their city and projects.

Reporters found that most of the exhibitors presented their housing projects with photos, videos and text materials. Only two or three exhibitors displayed clay models of their projects. A visitor Mr. Lin said, “Even though there are clay models, it is still quite hard for me to make a purchase decision based on the information they provide. It is too far away after all.”

Reporters learned that several similar trade fairs will be held this year in cities including Tianjin, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

(Xinhua Photo)
At the exhibition site, low prices are an important selling point for the real estate developers. A Seattle-based company even hung an advertisement offering “up to 63 percent discount.” Of these houses, one villa in the suburbs with an original price of 12.8 million USD is being sold at just 4.799 million USD. This company also offers a piece of undeveloped land with an average price of 6 USD per square meter.

According to Lin Lin, the properties from her company are for the most part selling below 300,000 USD. “Most of these houses are properties auctioned by banks which we called “bank-owned properties.”

“Actually, I do not recommend purchasing a ‘bank-owned property.’ If consumers want to buy such houses, they should go and inspect the houses,” said Chen Jingguo. “These houses may involve legal risks and unknown debts, and their values are not certain to rise.”

Moreover, high carrying costs also make housing prices in the US only appear “cheap.”

According to industry insiders, consumers pay not only the price of a house, but also annual property taxes levied by the government based on appraisal values (which is at least one percent of the appraisal price), as well as expenses like management fees and daily repair costs.

By People's Daily Online

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2009-04/13/content_231631.htm

I think those U.S. realtors may have understated the tax aspect somewhat.

Can't you just see all of those Chinese buyers showing up for future "tea parties?" "What is this thing called property taxes that your government takes from you?"

..

The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth

SEARCH BLOG: GOVERNMENT

An Early Military Victory for Obama or... redacted news... via Debbie Schlussel:

However, the American crew of the Maersk says that they waited too long before they had help from the U.S. Navy (strangely, NBC edited that part out of the video after first airing it on tonight's NBC Nightly News). They say they were under attack for a week before the Islamic terrorists boarded their ship. They also said that the ship was never "taken" by the Islamic terrorist "pirates." Watch the second video. The crew's reaction is noteworthy, and their captain's brave behavior is very American.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

As I said earlier... predators... satellite surveillance... pirates' "chain of command"... BOOM!

Tea Anyone?

SEARCH BLOG: ECONOMY

There is a lot of unhappiness among those who are going to be asked to pay for Obama's party. As of yet, because they are in the voting majority, the unhappiness is not resonating among those who see themselves as the beneficiaries of Obama's change. Why? Possibly because the fiscal impacts of Obama's economic disruptions have yet to be felt. They will be felt on future April 15ths.

As for this April 15th ...

From Al Fin:

11 April 2009 Bush the Gray, Obama the Red There is a direct connection between the graph above and the map below. The graph above is the optimistic, wishful-thinking view of where Obama is taking America. Deeply into debt, but perhaps total catastrophe can be avoided. A more battle hardened viewpoint might state that it is precisely the total catastrophe toward which Obama is aiming. No matter. Intentional or not, catastrophe is the end result of the real fiscal and monetary trajectory of the clueless clown president.

Which is why the Tea Party movement is springing up in towns, hamlets, boroughs, and municipalities across the country. This is a grassroots movement that doesn't depend upon the ill-gotten $ billions of George Soros and his gang of economic demolition specialists. The leftist-dominated news media has studiously ignored the nationwide phenomenon, but not leftist minions such as moveon.org and other groupthinking agitprop organisations. They intend to crash the party on April 15 -- TAX DAY!!! Below are a few of the locations where Tea Party protests are scheduled to occur on tax day. If you attend one, be on the lookout for moveon.org etc. agents provocateur.These agents provocateur will be aiming for a disruption that will play well to the national media -- something to serve as a symbol of disdain at which the Katie Courics and Charlie Gibsons of the media can smirk from a distance -- objective and above the fray, as always. As if.

Certainly Obama will not back down from his radical core ideas. He has been waiting his whole life to carry them out, and now that he is so close what can possibly stop him? Watch for yourself, or attend personally. Be sure to carry a video camera and keep a video journal of the fun.

Remember, Obama may be the CEO of the U.S., but you are the shareholders. What happens to CEOs who cannot run their business correctly... who bring overwhelming debt and operational chaos to their organizations?

..

The Clocks Are Striking Thirteen

SEARCH BLOG: POLITICS

UPDATE

The post below was prior to the rescue of the captain of the Maersk Alabama. The end of the post pointed out that our tradition in dealing with pirates did not include FBI negotiators. The rescue was not a result of the FBI negotiators, nor a direct command given by President Obama because he was personally aware that Capt. Phillips' situation had progressed from "in danger" to "in imminent danger." Rather, the Navy officer in charge took standing orders allowing discretion to shoot the pirates if the hostage was in "imminent danger" and did so.

There are those who will mourn the pirates as victims of the "West." They will argue that the pirates were doing the only thing they could to defend themselves against the hostile force of a freighter carrying humanitarian food to African nations... including Somalia. And then there are those like Nick Davis who will argue:

Anti-piracy expert Nick Davis told Sky News: "They (the pirates) will learn from this. They're not going to stop piracy in any way, shape or form. They will up the ante, they will get better organised.

"The only people that would have been shot here are the foot soldiers. They're not the people that make the decisions and have the controlling interest.

"It's now going to fall back to the chain of command in the Somalian network of piracy, both ashore and in different countries, as to how they want to up the ante."

I guess arranging "protection" makes Davis an "expert." More likely it makes him an opportunist. Now he warns about the "ante" being upped. I think the Navy just upped the ante and the other side folded.

Perhaps it is time a few predators paid a visit to the "chain of command."

_________________________________


Forgive my confusion... and I'm certain there is a good answer... but what is the FBI doing negotiating with pirates off the coast of Africa?

Somali pirates in talks with elders and FBI over US hostage Robert Phillips

US warships track lifeboat containing pirates and captured captain

* Xan Rice in Nairobi
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday 12 April 2009 13.27 BST

Crew members of the Maersk Alabama

Crew members of the Maersk Alabama arrive in Mombasa, Kenya after overpowering Somali pirates and regain control of their ship. Photograph: Sarah Elliott/EPA

Negotiations between the FBI, Somali elders and four gunmen holding a US ship captain captive on a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean continued today as foreign helicopters circled a notorious pirate lair.

The lifeboat, which is being closely tracked by three American warships, is reported to be drifting closer to land, which US military officials fear would allow the pirates to escape with hostage Captain Richard Phillips.

His container ship, the Maersk Alabama, was briefly hijacked more than 300 miles off Somalia's east coast on Wednesday, but the all-American crew of 20 quickly regained control. Phillips, a 53-year-old former taxi driver, offered himself to the pirates as a hostage in order to safeguard his crew.

The pirates, who are armed with AK-47s and handguns, fired at a US Navy vessel that approached yesterday, but nobody was hurt and the boat withdrew. They have reportedly demanded safe passage back to Somalia and a ransom before Phillips is released.

What is the mission of the FBI?
The mission of the FBI is to uphold the law through the investigation of violations of federal criminal law; to protect the United States from foreign intelligence and terrorist activities; to provide leadership and law enforcement assistance to federal, state, local, and international agencies; and to perform these responsibilities in a manner that is responsive to the needs of the public and is faithful to the Constitution of the United States.

What authority do FBI Special Agents have to make arrests in the United States, its territories, or on foreign soil?
In the United States and its territories, FBI Special Agents may make arrests for any federal offense committed in their presence or when they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed, or is committing, a felony violation of U.S. laws.

Concerning arrests on foreign soil, FBI Special Agents generally do not have authority outside the United States except in certain cases where, with the consent of the host country, Congress has granted the FBI extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Which host country has made this arrangement? Okay, negotiating... not arresting, but how does the FBI get involved in a military operation during which pirates have shot at a navy vessel?

When does the UN come in and investigate the captain of the Maersk Alabama for international crimes and set up a multi-billion dollar relief fund for Somalian pirates?

On 16 February 1804 LT Stephen Decatur led 74 volunteers into Tripoli harbor to burn the captured American frigate The Philadelphia. British Admiral Lord Nelson called the raid "the most daring act of the age". Boatswains Mate Ruben James volunteered to go on the raiding party. James was seriously wounded during hand-to-hand combat. Despite his wounds, or perhaps because of them, James put himself between an attacking pirate and the commander of that raid, Decatur, who remained uninjured thanks to James. Ruben James recovered from his wounds and continued to proudly serve his Navy for another 32 years. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur's exploit in destroying the captured frigate USS Philadelphia, and Captain Richard Somers attempt with the fire-ship USS Intrepid to blow up enemy vessels in Tripoli harbor, set valorous examples for the young naval service.

In 1805 Marines stormed the Barbary pirates' harbor fortress stronghold of Derna (Tripoli), commemorated in the Marine Corp Hymn invocation "To the Shores of Tripoli." First Lieutenant O'Bannon is remembered for heroism in the battle for Derna. O'Bannon's Marines were the first U.S. forces to hoist the flag over territory in the Old World. The "Mameluke" sword, carried by Marines officers today, was presented to O'Bannon in 1805.

We have changed.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
George Orwell, "1984", first sentence

..

Trading Places With Asian Manufacturers

SEARCH BLOG: AUTOMOBILES

Not sure when this was written, but it is something I have discussed in the past.

• Here
• Here
• Here
  

Japan is not alone in this practice; Korea is just as bad and their companies are the latest automotive sharks in the U.S. waters.

I'm not sure we want to restrict our markets as much as we want them to free up theirs. The issue: they won't. Why? Because they understand the importance of building and protecting a manufacturing base for the health of their economies... something we don't as a financial and service market oriented economy.

[H/T Howard Jacobson]

Saving GM From Bankruptcy

By JERRY KROTH

The media constantly bombards us with one set of facts, but the other set doesn’t get much play. We hear about GM struggling, about bailouts, bankruptcy, and massive layoffs. And we hear about how Toyota and Nissan will fill the vacuum created by any GM or Chrysler bankruptcy.

But what we don’t hear about is very interesting: We don’t hear that last year Japan imported a whopping 8,000 Fords. You heard right! The Japanese bought 8,000 Fords, but Toyota sold two million of its automobiles here. And thousands more for Honda and Nissan.

And we don’t hear that the average GM car in the US costs about $25,000, but in Japan the same car costs $50,000. A big mark up, lots of restrictions. No one calls that protectionism, but that is what it is, and what it has been for years.

There is a social stigma in Japan for buying and owning an American car. The only folks who buy them are social undesirables and underground figures like the yakuza, the Japanese mafia.

If there was a law that required that Japanese and Korean car manufacturers would be allowed sell the same number of cars in the US that were imported into Japan and Korea—that the playing field was equalized—well, guess what would happen: GM, Ford, and Chrysler would start filling the vacuum created by the sudden absence of Toyotas, Nissans, and Hondas from American showrooms, that’s what would happen! Foreclosures and evictions in Flint would stop. Michigan would come back to life, and Toyota City would have to take it on the chin for a change.

A simple solution indeed! Let’s call it the Import-Export Fairness Act. Thousands of American jobs saved; thousands more created. Inner cities would start coming back to life. Sure the Japanese would yell, scream, and protest that they had to start letting their showroom dealers start selling Fords and Chevys at competitive prices. Maybe a trade war would start; maybe they’d cash in their T-bills, but it is just as likely that the bigwigs of Toyota and Honda would hurriedly ask Japanese parliamentarians to open up Japanese markets immediately allowing more American cars to be sold there and thus more Japanese cars could continue to be sold here. Otherwise they’d lose market share, big time!

I’d rather see Toyota lose market share to GM instead of the reverse.

It’s a thought. A thought for every UAW worker facing a layoff, every Michigander fearing loss of his job, pension, and home.

In the days of Jimmy Hoffa and Walter Reuther, a healthy strike by autoworkers and sympathetic truckers would shut our country down until we saw some real action. If now is not the time, well, when is?

Jerry Kroth is a professor at Santa Clara University in California and a former Detroiter.

Professor Kroth is not an economist, but that doesn't preclude him from make the case for the obvious.

..

How Long Should Legislation Remain Law

SEARCH BLOG: LAWS and LEGISLATION

Yesterday's parody of President Obama's determination to circumvent existing immigration laws got me to thinking about our legislative process and the laws that remain on the books forever. A mildly humorous comment posted indicated that we all had to obey bad laws rather than listen to liberals. That's really not the point... even if there was some ironic truth to that. The real point is that our laws take on a "holy" aura simply because sometime, someone got a group of some others to vote his way on an issue.


Let's take the issue of immigration since our president seems to believe that the laws are simply unfair. Sometime, someone got some others to consider the impact of unrestricted access to our country on our communities, states and national interests. They agreed to various restrictions that favored the national and ethnic origins of the people who were already settled over the national and ethnic origins not significantly represented. Was that fair and reasonable? Maybe; maybe not. Regardless of the "fairness," the result was a dynamic nation that quickly rose to the top of the pecking order among nations.


Like-minded people with similar aspirations and a "tough love" approach to anyone who wanted to join the club: bring some skills or knowledge of value and learn and adapt to our ways. The Germans did it. The Italians did it. The Irish did it. The Polish did it. They privately kept their heritage and publicly embraced the American heritage. A melting pot, perhaps; but more of a big pot of stew where there were different flavors and identifiable ingredients while an enhanced overall flavor.


Somewhere along the way, it became politically correct to say those laws did not work and that process of assimilation was bad... evil. People from all over the world were allowed into the country and the original restrictive quotas were changed, but that was not sufficient. The laws discriminated against Mexicans who didn't want to go through the process. Because they could simply walk across an undefended border, the laws were obviously not meant to apply to them. They should simply be able to take up residence, maybe work and maybe not, and have all of the rights and privileges of any other citizen... they were de facto citizens who were entitled to the support and resources of the communities in which they found places to live.


As a result of successfully ignoring U.S. immigration laws and processes, 12 million... maybe more... illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America are now receiving support from our president to ignore their ignoring. We certainly can't hold them accountable for the fact that they ignored our laws and processes some time ago and punish them now. Let's change the law ex post facto. Unlike evidence which is not allowed if obtained illegally... fruit of the poisoned tree... the children of illegal aliens who happen to be born in the U.S. become citizens and then form the basis for keeping their parents in the U.S. ... at least that's the theory.


Depending on who happens to be in power, it appears that laws will either be enforced or circumvented or ignored.

I have a better idea. Let's create sunsets for our laws. This is obviously not an original idea. But it does have merits. Consider this:

• Unfunded programs - implemented upon funding or rescinded after 2 years if not funded [including unfunded "mandates"]
• Funded programs - 4 years and must be specifically funded, not funded by diversion of funds collected for other purposes
• Commerce legislation - 15 years
• Criminal legislation - 25 years
• Treaties - 30 years maximum
• National security legislation - 30 years

At the end of each appropriate time limit, current legislators would be called upon to renew the legislation or ignore it and allow the law to expire.

The effect would be two-fold:

1. Elimination of unnecessary or inappropriate laws
2. Minimizing time spent on passing new unnecessary and inappropriate laws

The maximum time for laws to be in effect would not preclude legislation to repeal any laws.

This would create automatic reviews of all major programs, policies, and agencies to determine whether they should continue and in what form. This would also force legislators to put their names to any legislation they want to continue and would render Supreme Court decisions regarding any specific laws moot if the laws were not renewed.

For example, if the present immigration laws and policies were passed in 1980, then under the national security limitation those laws and policies would have to be renewed in 2010. Public debate and an official vote to either continue as before, radically change, or eliminate all laws pertaining to controlling access to the United States would occur. Disregarding current laws would not be an option. Ex post facto changes and applications to persons in violation of existing laws would not be an option.

The only specific, unchanging legal document would be the Constitution/Bill of Rights/Amendments. Legislation would be tested against those documents.

So, whether you are for immigration reform or tax reform, sunset requirements should please you. Perhaps it is time for a Constitutional Amendment.

..

Obama to Push Tax Forgiveness Bill as One Priority

SEARCH BLOG: GOVERNMENT

By JULIA OVERSIGHT
Published: April 9, 2009

While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country’s taxation system this year, including looking for a path for tax evaders to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.

Mr. Obama will frame the new effort — likely to rouse passions on all sides of the highly divisive issue — as “policy reform that controls taxation and makes it an orderly system,” said the official, Cecilia Gotcha, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House.

Mr. Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May, administration officials said, and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of taxation groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.

Some White House officials said that taxation would not take precedence over the health care and energy proposals that Mr. Obama has identified as priorities. But the timetable is consistent with pledges Mr. Obama made to local groups in last year’s campaign.

He said then that comprehensive taxation legislation, including a plan to make legal status possible for an estimated 12 million tax evaders, would be a priority in his first year in office. Tax evading voters turned out strongly for Mr. Obama in the election.

“He intends to start the debate this year,” Ms. Gotcha said.

But with the economy seriously ailing, advocates on different sides of the debate said that taxation could become a polarizing issue for Mr. Obama in a year when he has many other major battles to fight.

Opponents, mainly Republicans, say they will seek to mobilize popular outrage against any effort to find more Cabinet positions for habitual non-taxpayer workers while so many taxpayers are out of tax reductions.

Democratic legislative aides said that opening a full-fledged debate this year on taxation, particularly with health care as a looming priority, could weigh down the president’s domestic agenda.

Debate is still under way among administration officials about the precise timing and strategy. For example, it is unclear who will take up the Obama initiative in Congress.

No serious legislative talks on the issue are expected until after some of Mr. Obama’s other priorities have been debated, Congressional aides said.

Just last month, Mr. Obama openly recognized that taxation is a potential minefield.

"I know this is an emotional issue; I know it’s a controversial issue,” he told an audience at a town meeting on March 18 in Costa Mesa, Calif. “I know that the people get real riled up politically about this."

But, he said, tax evaders who are long-time residents but lack legal status “have to have some mechanism over time to get out of the shadows.”

The White House is calculating that public support for fixing the taxation system, which is widely acknowledged to be broken, will outweigh opposition from voters who argue that tax evaders take tax reductions from taxpayers. A groundswell among voters opposed to legal status for tax evaders led to the defeat in 2007 of a bipartisan taxation bill that was strongly supported by President George W. Bush.

Administration officials said that Mr. Obama’s plan would not add new tax evaders to the American work force, but that it would recognize millions of tax evaders who have already been working here. Despite the deep recession, there is no evidence of any wholesale reduction of non-taxpayer workers, independent studies of census data show.

Opponents of legalization legislation were incredulous at the idea that Mr. Obama would take on taxation amnesty when economic pain for taxpayers is so widespread.

“It just doesn’t seem rational that any political leader would say, let’s give millions of tax evading workers permanent access to U.S. paid-in-full status when we have millions of taxpayers have been compliant,” said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that favors reduced taxation. Mr. Beck predicted that Mr. Obama would face “an explosion” if he proceeded this year.

“It’s going to be, ‘You’re letting them keep that tax reduction, when I could have that tax reduction,’ ” he said.

In broad outlines, officials said, the Obama administration favors legislation that would bring tax evaders into the legal system by recognizing that they violated the law, and imposing fines and other penalties to fit the offense. The legislation would seek to prevent future tax evasion by strengthening tax enforcement and cracking down on employers who hire tax evaders, while creating a national system for verifying the legal taxation status of new workers.

But administration officials emphasized that many details remained to be debated.

Opponents of a legalization effort said that if the Obama administration maintained the enforcement pressure initiated by Mr. Bush, the recession would force many tax evaders to return home. Dan Stein, the president of the Federation for American taxation Reform, said it would be “politically disastrous” for Mr. Obama to begin an taxation initiative at this time.

Anticipating opposition, Mr. Obama has sought to shift some of the political burden to advocates for tax evaders, by encouraging them to build support among voters for when his proposal goes to Congress.

That is why Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, a Democrat from Mr. Obama’s hometown, Chicago, has been on the road most weekends since last December, traveling far outside his district to meetings in local churches, hoping to generate something like a civil rights movement in favor of broad taxation legislation.

Mr. Gutierrez was in Philadelphia on Saturday at the Iglesia Internacional, a big local evangelical church in a former warehouse, the 17th meeting in a tour that has included cities as far flung as Providence, R.I.; Atlanta; Miami; and San Francisco. Greeted with cheers and amens by a full house of about 350 people, Mr. Gutierrez, shifting fluidly between Spanish and English, called for taxation policies to preserve family unity, the strategic theme of his campaign.

At each meeting, speakers from the community, mainly citizens, tell stories of loved ones who were overlooked or of delays and setbacks in the taxation system. Tax evaders have not been invited to speak.

Mr. Gutierrez’s meetings have all been held in churches, both evangelical and Roman Catholic, with clergy members from various denominations, including in several places Muslim imams. At one meeting in Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, officiated.

One speaker on Saturday, Jill Flores, said that her husband, Felix, a non-taxpayer from Mexico who crossed the border illegally, had applied for legal status five years ago but had not been able to gain it even though she is an American citizen, as are their two children. Now, Ms. Flores said, she fears that her husband will have to leave for Mexico and will not be permitted to return for many years.

In an interview, Mr. Gutierrez rejected the idea that the timing is bad for an taxation debate. “There is never a wrong time for us,” he said. “Families are being divided and destroyed, and they need help now.”

Jeff Xoomy contributed reporting.

Okay, so maybe he wasn't talking about getting tax evaders legalized. Put in another noun or phrase describing a person who has committed a crime. Does that make any more sense?

..

March 2009 Temperatures

SEARCH BLOG: WEATHER

NOAA has published some of their data for March, 2009. Except for a couple of low records, not much unusual about temperatures.

The snow and ice records in the Lake Superior region will continue to contribute to lowering the water levels in the Great Lakes... as some people measure it... if you ignore the recovery during the last couple of years, despite the deepening of the shipping lanes that have allowed more water to flow out of the bigger lakes... as this 2005 report states.

In the past year, Lake Erie has risen a foot higher than its long-term average.

The other lakes, and the comparison to their long-term averages, are: Ontario, 11 inches higher than its long-term average; St. Clair, 8 inches higher; Superior, 1 inch lower; Lakes Michigan and Huron, 9 inches lower.

Lakes Michigan and Huron are so much lower than their long-term averages, according to a recent study, because of dredging decades ago.

The study, which was done for a Canadian civic group, found that a commercial navigation channel dug at the bottom of the St. Clair River caused the levels of the two lakes to drop a foot.

In fact, one might think that some people had a "global warming" agenda since they refuse to recognize that the lakes levels have done quite well despite man-made non-CO2 efforts that are draining them.

But back to temperatures...


Except if you look at the variance from average temperatures.

It was nice to know that in our area of Southeastern Michigan that the temperature was up to 2°F above normal. Of course that includes variances a lot closer to none.

Hey, what's a little rounding?

..

Those Investors Won't Invest

SEARCH BLOG: GOVERNMENT and BAILOUT

Previously I wrote...

Monday, March 23, 2009

They Are Called Taxpayers

SEARCH BLOG: BAILOUT

From The New York Times:

U.S. Rounding Up Investors to Buy Bad Assets

When I saw this headline, I couldn't help but think about an old western cattle drive. "Let's get them dogies to the slaughterhouse. Round 'em up; head 'em out."

The plan relies on private investors to team up with the government to relieve banks of assets tied to loans and mortgage-linked securities of unknown value. There have been virtually no buyers of these assets because of their uncertain risk.

As part of the program, the government plans to offer subsidies, in the form of low-interest loans, to coax private funds to form partnerships with the government to buy troubled assets from banks.

But some executives at private equity firms and hedge funds, who were briefed on the plan Sunday afternoon, are anxious about the recent uproar over millions of dollars in bonus payments made to executives of the American International Group.

Some of them have told administration officials that they would participate only if the government guaranteed that it would not set compensation limits on the firms, according to people briefed on the conversations. The executives also expressed worries about whether disclosure and governance rules could be added retroactively to the program by Congress, these people said.

Why would they think the government of Chris Dodd and Barney Frank would do that?

It appears that the investors the government was seeking don't think the government can be trusted.

Treasury seeks more partners for bad asset program

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department is making it easier for hedge funds and other private investors to participate in its plan for buying up banks' bad assets, an acknowledgment that the interest level so far has been lackluster.

Analysts said the move shows the program hasn't yet attracted enough large fund managers who may be wary of ending up on the wrong side of a congressional probe or public backlash.

Surprise, surprise.

..

General Motors And Bankruptcy

SEARCH BLOG: AUTOMOBILES

Doctors will tell you to take all 10 days of your antibiotics to be sure that the infection has been eradicated. Implicit in those instructions is the assumption that your pharmacist will give you the full 10 days of medicine that is required.

In the case of General Motors and Chrysler, they received just enough medicine to begin to address the problem... and then were told that the "pharmacist" wanted to see if they could heal themselves. It looks like GM and Chrysler will be seeking "alternative medicine."

The problem is that this "alternative medicine" may allow the "disease" to be spread to other parts of the economy.

GM preparing for bankruptcy

A source close to GM said company still hopes to meet Obama's June 1 deadline to reach concessions with unions and creditors but that bankruptcy is an option.

By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer

Last Updated: April 7, 2009: 12:38 PM ET

DETROIT'S DOWNFALL

• GM preparing for bankruptcy
• GM braces for possible bankruptcy
• GM sees an electric, 2-wheel future
• Ford cuts debt by 38%
• How Fiat found its sweet spot

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing at General Motors have become "intense and earnest", according to a source familiar with the company's plans.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said GM still hopes to win concessions from its creditors and unions that will allow it to avoid bankruptcy. But the June 1 deadline given to the company by President Obama and the Treasury Department to reach deals or go into bankruptcy has caused a pick-up in preparations, the source said.

"We're talking about what could be the largest industrial company to ever go bankrupt. The preparations better be intense and earnest," the source said. "The preparations are being made because there's a short time frame here."

GM owes about $28 billion to holders of its unsecured debt. It wants those creditors to agree to take an equity stake in the company in return for reducing that debt by at least two thirds.

An ad hoc committee representing GM bondholders have objected to this proposal due to the uncertain value of GM's stock going forward.

A person involved with that committee said Tuesday that the reports about bankruptcy preparations at GM did not change the creditors' views. This source added that there have been no formal talks between the bondholders and the company since Obama's deadline was set last week, but that the committee is eager to hold negotiations.

"We're very concerned about the state of the company and the possibility of bankruptcy," the source involved with the committee said. "We're still trying to work to try to get something done outside of bankruptcy, which is our hope."

0:00 /1:59GM dealer's optimism

The auto task force overseeing $13.4 billion in federal loans GM has already received declared last month that neither the company nor its competitor Chrysler LLC were viable under turnaround plans the companies submitted Feb. 17.

Chrysler was given only 30 days to reach a new alliance with Italian automaker Fiat. GM (GM, Fortune 500) was given 60 days to get creditors to agree to swap debt for equity, and to win further concessions from the United Auto Workers union. The government also forced GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner to resign last week.

New GM CEO Fritz Henderson said at his first press conference last week that he would not have taken the job as CEO if he wasn't willing to take the company through the bankruptcy process, although he said he still preferred to reorganize the company outside of bankruptcy court.

Henderson also said the company would not wait the full 60 days to file for bankruptcy if it became clear it could not reach deals with the creditors and unions.

"If it's quite clear it can't be done, we'll move faster," said Henderson. "More time isn't going to help the process."

Shares of GM lost about 10% in midday trading Tuesday on the reports of bankruptcy preparations. The already battered shares have lost more than 40% of their value since President Obama raised the threat of bankruptcy on March 30.

First Published: April 7, 2009: 12:04 PM ET

..

Obama Seeks Control Not Reimbursement

SEARCH BLOG: ECONOMY

Pretty scary stuff [h/t Pat Dollard]



Here in the Southeastern Michigan area, we are painfully aware of the President Vladimir Obama's attempts to nationalize management of the private sector as exemplified with the firing of General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner, the dictating that Chrysler must make a deal with Fiat within 30 days, and that General Motors must be completely reorganized and without need of addition funds in 60 days.

The direction of this country is toward post WWII East Germany. It's just the beginning of the far, far, far left-wing agenda. Bill Ayers doesn't have to blow up any more federal buildings. He'll probably be invited to a victory dinner.

..

Congratulations North Carolina

SEARCH BLOG: SPORTS

2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions...

They started out the year as overwhelming favorites and, after a few bumps along the way, showed that they were a cut above all of the rest winning the NCAA Championship game by a large margin, determined in the first 10 minutes, 89 - 72.

To the Michigan State University basketball team, you achieved more than most would have imagined, including defeating two teams that held the number one ranking during the season. There should be immense pride in your accomplishments.

Basketball Championship Weather

SEARCH BLOG: WEATHER

Thousands of basketball fans have been spared being overcome by the effects of global warming in Michigan... as shown in this "weather cam" shot in Detroit.


It's Spring; yes it can.

UPDATE


Oh, oh. It might be getting warming...er.

..

NCAA Men's Basketball Finals

SEARCH BLOG: SPORTS

GO STATE!

From Yahoo!...

Heels, Spartans find themselves in more than game

AP – North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, left, and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo chat before a television …

By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer Eddie Pells, Ap National Writer – Sun Apr 5, 5:43 pm ET

DETROIT – The bracket says North Carolina vs. Michigan State.

At times, though, the Tar Heels may feel like they're going up against something more than just another basketball team.

From the coach on down, the Spartans (31-6) know a win in the NCAA title game on a court 90 miles from their campus won't fix the state's economic freefall, won't put anybody back to work. But there will be 72,000 people in Ford Field, site of the Final Four, come Monday night. Most will be rooting for Michigan State.

And winning, as they say, can be contagious.

"When you go through hard times, you pray for something to get you out," Spartans guard Travis Walton said. "I'm sure they didn't pray for Michigan State to get to the Final Four or the national championship game, but they probably have been praying to have things to take their mind off of it."

Michigan ranks 51st out of 50 states (and District of Columbia) in the latest unemployment figures. Detroit is the hub of an auto industry on life support, a civic symbol of an economic system that has come off the tracks.

That's the backdrop for a game in which Michigan State finds itself a 7 1/2-point underdog against a Carolina team that has "national champs" practically inked across its uniforms.

Remember, this is the team that some thought could go undefeated this season when Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all decided to return after a bad loss to Kansas at last year's Final Four.

Undefeated was never on coach Roy Williams' list of goals. Winning a championship, though? Always.

"If you thought it was easy, you don't know what you're talking about," Williams said. "It's college basketball. There hasn't been an undefeated team since '76, and there have been some really, really good teams. I think this year there were eight or 10 teams or 12, I haven't studied it, that could be playing Monday night."

But it will be North Carolina (33-4), the preseason No. 1 and top seed in the South Regional, against Michigan State, a less-hyped and more overlooked No. 2 seed out of the Midwest.

Though Michigan State coach Tom Izzo won't sell his team short — "you don't get this far on grit," he said — he also knows the deal. This is a rematch of a game North Carolina won 98-63 on Dec. 3 in the same building. Anyone who turned the channel, or turned the page, on that one gets a pass. Izzo certainly has.

Michigan State was exhausted (fourth game in seven nights), injured (Goran Suton was out and Delvon Roe was hurting) and not playing near its current level back then, though the coach figures if the Spartans had been in better shape, they still would have lost by 20.

"If we play good and they play good, we're losing. That's the way I look at it," Izzo said. "I mean, I don't look at that in the negative. They are the best team in the country and have earned that ranking probably over the last year and a half."

And, as both coaches acknowledge, the Spartans have a knack for taking opponents out of their 'A' game. See Michigan State's 82-73 win over Connecticut on Saturday.

"I mean, they're not exactly Charlie's Donut Team," Williams said.

Williams figures if North Carolina plays poorly in the rematch, it won't be because of the crowd.

This is a team that loves playing in hostile environments and succeeds at it, too.

The Tar Heels have gone 67-14 away from home in the four years since Hansbrough and the seniors arrived in 2005, the season after Carolina's last championship. Hansbrough has never lost to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. He's 5-2 in other road games in the state of North Carolina, 3-0 in Maui, 6-0 in Florida and, yes, 1-0 at Ford Field.

"I've tried to forget that whole week," Izzo said. "In fact, if you ask me, 2008 never happened. I'm trying to move ahead to 2009."

Led by Kalin Lucas, the Big Ten player of the year, Walton, the Big Ten defensive player of the year, and steadily improving Raymar Morgan (18 points, nine rebounds in the win over Connecticut on Saturday), the Spartans are trying to close out 2009 with a flourish.

The game comes 30 years after Magic Johnson led MSU to its first championship in that historic meeting against Indiana State and Larry Bird. Like North Carolina, Michigan State is also going for its second title of the 2000s.

Mateen Cleaves led the 2000 title team. Though Izzo has been back to the Final Four three times since — for a total of five in 11 years — the Spartans haven't won another championship.

Getting this group a title is the real mission that concerns the coach.

"I mean, the state, this city, is very important to me," he said. "But the cause right now is for the Michigan State players to win a championship, and hopefully the repercussions from that will help a lot of people. It's a feel-good for a lot of people."

Williams, meanwhile, said he hasn't had time to discuss the country's economic situation since the Tar Heels beat Villanova 83-69 late Saturday night. It's simply not part of the scouting report.

"I do realize they have a cause. Well, we also have a cause, too," he said. "We want to win a national championship, period, the end. And if you would tell me that if Michigan State wins, it's gonna satisfy the nation's economy, then I'd say, 'Hell, let's stay poor for a little while longer.'"

..