Americanly Yours

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been sick most of the week and am just now starting to feel better…

The big news is the “stimulus” package that is about to be passed whether or not the American people want it to.

My friend Art sent me this article from the Wall Street Journal which talks about what all is included in the “stimulus.”  It is pretty ridiculous.

But on top of this, there are are some truly outrageous things in the bill.  Under the terms of the bill, illegal immigrants who have been working in this country illegally will be able to get a tax rebate check of $500 per person.  Seriously.

This bill also gives money to dairy farmers to take their dairy cows out of production in order to raise the price of milk and create a greater profit for the dairy industry.  This type of government intervention is not only wrong, it is very dangerous.  Remember that less that a year ago, there was a global “food crisis” going on in which hundreds of millions (if not billions) of people were on the verge of starving.  By paying farmers to not produce food and drink, our government is playing a very dangerous game.  But this is not a game.  This is real life.  If government intervention causes the price of food to go up, people could actually die.

Here is an interesting article from CNN that was sent to me by two of my friends, Squeak and Hawk (yes, I have a friend named Squeak and a friend named Hawk).  This talks about solutions that Libertarians have come up with to address the current [government manufactured] crisis.  I dont support all of them and there are at least two that I completely disagree with, but they are all better than what we are going to end up spending the money on.

I want to write more, but this is getting to be too long.  Ill have an article for yall tomorrow.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

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People were asking me questions about where I heard that the bailout could end up costing $4 trillion.  Here is an article from CNN.com which was a source of mine.

We have thrown unprecidented amounts of money at this problem which would have eventually worked itself out without government meddling.  If that wasnt bad enough, now even our government is admitting that they “may never know whether the government’s $700 billion bailout of the financial industry worked.”  Ironically, the report was issued by the General Accountability Office… wow

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

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There has been a lot going on lately and Ive been too busy to write, but Im gonna try to catch up today.

I want to begin by talking about the “stimulus” that Obama is pushing and has passed both the House and the Senate in different versions.

Less than a week after President Obama declared an end to partisan bickering, he failed to get even a single Republican vote on his “stimulus” bill.  Even 11 Democrats voted against the hyper-expensive $819 BILLION bill.  To put that in perspective, $819 billion is more than the total amount of US currency in circulation!  The $819 billion also exceeds the cost of the Iraq War by over $200 billion dollars.

Apparently, Democrats and Republicans are negotiating a compromise that will cost around $900 billion dollars (thats a cost of $3000 for every single American man, woman, and child).

On top of this, Obama has requested $350 billion from the second half of the TARP program.

And Obama’s administration is considering requesting an additional $1-2 Trillion for a similar bank and mortgage bailout program.  Meanwhile, New York Senator Charles Schumer who is vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee says that the government may need $3-4 Trillion for this program.

Lets add up the “worst case scenarios.”  $900 billion for this new “stimulus,” $350 billion in additional TARP funding, and $4 trillion for this new program being proposed and we have a total of $5.25 trillion!  This would increase the size of the national debt by 50% and cost $17,500 per person.

And of course none of this has any guarantee of working.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

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By effectively nationalizing the banking industry, our government has made a giant leap away from Capitalism and towards socialism.  Our government now owns large stakes in most of the Nation’s largest banks.  The government has already invested $271 billion of the $700 billion that it budgeted for “stimulating” private banks.  The have committed to funding another $30 billion.  The rest of the $700 billion will follow soon.  Additionally, some members of Congress are already saying that because the first half of the $700 billion isnt being spent “correctly,” more money may be “needed.”

Here is a really cool chart that lists how much each bank has received from the TARP program.  It is updated daily.

I absolutely refuse to put my money in a government owned bank.  I will not allow the government to take the profits it earns off of my deposits to fund any further bailouts.  By banking at a government run bank, you are encouraging these bailouts.  If you are against further (or existing) government bailouts, then it is your duty to remove your money from this bank and place it in an independent bank.  I used to bank at Washington Mutual which is now owned by JPMorgan Chase (which has received $25 billion from the government in exchange for ownership rights).  I removed my money from this bank as soon as I was able to identify a local bank that had not sold part of itself to our government.

I now bank at United America’s Bank in Chamblee.  This is a small bank with only a few locations in Atlanta, Chamblee, and Roswell, but it is a bank that is independent from government ownership.  Plus, it has the added convenience of being the closest bank to my house.  Whether you live in my area or somewhere else, if you oppose government bailouts and government ownership of businesses, you should consider putting your money in a small bank that is not owned by the government.  I would be glad to help you find a non-government owned bank in your area.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

I have been pretty critical of President Obama so far, and I will continue to do so for as long as he continues to push for policies which are bad for the economy and restrict economic liberty.  However, when he does something that I consider to be a good thing for this Nation, I will be one of the first to praise him.

Let me first start with the bad so that I can end with the good.

Yesterday, President Obama’s first public act was to limit the power of lobbyists in his administration.  He did this by creating a rule that prevents members of his administration from working as lobbyists and trying to influence the administration if they do leave his administration.  He also created a rule that prevents former lobbyists hired by the administration from working in their areas of expertise.

Lobbyists have been getting a very bad rap for the last decade, and while some of the criticism is needed, the truth is that lobbyists are essential to the proper functioning of American Democracy.  Lobbyists are experts in their fields who know pretty everything about their issue that can possibly be known.  They spend their careers specializing in studying one area of policy and make it their business to know everything about that subject that is possible. Now, because policy advisors in the administration cannot be experts on all fields, they often need to consult with lobbyists from all sides of an issue in order to get vital information.  An environmental lobbyists will know all of the effects of allowing a certain chemical into the water supply, and would be able to supply administration officials with needed data.  Administration officials meet with lobbyists on both sides of the issue in order to get a full perspective on the issue before crafting their policy–in the case of a new environmental regulation, administration officials will meet with a lobbyist who is lobbying on behalf of an environmental group, as well as a lobbyist who is lobbying on behalf of corporations.  As I said above, this is done because it is impossible for an administration to become an expert in all fields, so he outsources this part of his job.  Bringing in lobbyists with different opinions allows the official and the administration to be exposed to an array of differing opinions.

Mr. Obama is banning former lobbysts that he has hired from working on the same policy areas.  This does not make sense.  These people are experts in their fields and probably know more about the issues they previously represented than almost anyone else in the world.  Rather than excluding them from working in their fields, Mr. Obama should welcome these experts to put their knowledge of their areas of study into good use.  I think that this is a well intentioned rule that cause problems for the administration down the road.

Now, the good.  So far, Mr. Obama seems to be keeping his pledge for a more open and transparent government.  Yesterday, he announced that he was going to support a more loose interpretation of the Freedom of Information Act which would allow citizens to more easily obtain access to government files.  An open and transparent government is important in any highly functioning democracy, and I am glad that Mr. Obama has taken this step towards opening secret documents and records to the public.  Maybe soon we can find out about Area 51.

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet