I have heard from a lot of people who were shocked by the school children singing a song praising Obama.
Come on folks, why are you shocked? The kids are attending a government run school. I am puzzled why any of you would expect anything different.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
When a Right, isn't a Right
In the past few months, I have heard a lot of people say that they have a right to healthcare. Although I would like everyone to have access to healthcare, it is not a right.
When you exercise one of your rights, you do not impose a burden on anyone else. When I exercise my right to free speech, it doesn’t cost anyone else anything or place a burden on them. It may annoy them, but it doesn’t force a burden on them. They can simply ignore me. Similarly, if I exercise my right to keep and bear arms, no burden is placed on anyone except me.
Healthcare is a service. To say you have a right to healthcare implies you have the right to force someone to provide a service for you against their will. Frankly, you don’t have the right to do that.
When you exercise one of your rights, you do not impose a burden on anyone else. When I exercise my right to free speech, it doesn’t cost anyone else anything or place a burden on them. It may annoy them, but it doesn’t force a burden on them. They can simply ignore me. Similarly, if I exercise my right to keep and bear arms, no burden is placed on anyone except me.
Healthcare is a service. To say you have a right to healthcare implies you have the right to force someone to provide a service for you against their will. Frankly, you don’t have the right to do that.
Monday, June 22, 2009
I BELEIVE...
I believe in Conservatism. This is not to be confused with a being a Republican. Some Republicans are conservative, most are not. George W. Bush certainly wasn’t (isn’t). The same goes for John McCain.
I believe that government plays too big of a role in our lives, and it needs to be cut back. Government has too much control of our lives and spends too much money. We are passing a debt to our children that will significantly affect their standard of living. It’s not right.
I believe adults are responsible for taking care of themselves and their children. Adults who look to their neighbors (fellow taxpayers) to take on this responsibility are not acting like adults.
I believe in free markets. Countries that have free market economies have a higher standard of living than those which don’t. I know of no exceptions to this. Free markets are not perfect, but they are better than any other system known.
I believe in a strong military. We live in a world where groups of people hate us and want to harm us. We need to defend ourselves against them.
I believe in school choice. Parents should decide what school their children go to and have a say in what is taught to them. They care more about the child than legislators, or the NEA. It is a basic responsibility of parenting that should not be left to the state.
I believe the public is safer if the people have the right to carry arms for self defense. I also believe we are safer if we have loaded fire extinguishers nearby, wear seat belts, and wear life jackets (PFDs). All four are kept in preparation for events we hope will never happen. None of them are of any value if they aren’t immediately available when we need them. Personally, I would not be here to write this if it weren’t for seatbelts or PFDs. I have never needed a gun or a fire extinguisher. I hope I never do. I try hard to avoid needing either one. However, I keep both handy and loaded just in case.
I believe discrimination because of race or gender is wrong. This means affirmative action is wrong. It is not “reverse discrimination” it is simply discrimination.
I believe judges, like officials in sports, should rule on what the law says, regardless of the impact of the ruling. Empathy is the responsibility of those who write the laws, not the judges.
I believe that human’s do not have a significant impact on global warming. I am an engineer and a scientist. I have spent a lot of time researching the subject. The earth has gone through many heating and cooling cycles. They appear to be due to solar activity, not my truck.
I believe that government plays too big of a role in our lives, and it needs to be cut back. Government has too much control of our lives and spends too much money. We are passing a debt to our children that will significantly affect their standard of living. It’s not right.
I believe adults are responsible for taking care of themselves and their children. Adults who look to their neighbors (fellow taxpayers) to take on this responsibility are not acting like adults.
I believe in free markets. Countries that have free market economies have a higher standard of living than those which don’t. I know of no exceptions to this. Free markets are not perfect, but they are better than any other system known.
I believe in a strong military. We live in a world where groups of people hate us and want to harm us. We need to defend ourselves against them.
I believe in school choice. Parents should decide what school their children go to and have a say in what is taught to them. They care more about the child than legislators, or the NEA. It is a basic responsibility of parenting that should not be left to the state.
I believe the public is safer if the people have the right to carry arms for self defense. I also believe we are safer if we have loaded fire extinguishers nearby, wear seat belts, and wear life jackets (PFDs). All four are kept in preparation for events we hope will never happen. None of them are of any value if they aren’t immediately available when we need them. Personally, I would not be here to write this if it weren’t for seatbelts or PFDs. I have never needed a gun or a fire extinguisher. I hope I never do. I try hard to avoid needing either one. However, I keep both handy and loaded just in case.
I believe discrimination because of race or gender is wrong. This means affirmative action is wrong. It is not “reverse discrimination” it is simply discrimination.
I believe judges, like officials in sports, should rule on what the law says, regardless of the impact of the ruling. Empathy is the responsibility of those who write the laws, not the judges.
I believe that human’s do not have a significant impact on global warming. I am an engineer and a scientist. I have spent a lot of time researching the subject. The earth has gone through many heating and cooling cycles. They appear to be due to solar activity, not my truck.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Pay As You Go - A Blue Dog in Sheep's Clothing
Yesterday Obama and the Blue Dog Democrats came out in support of “Pay As You Go” legislation. The idea is to force Congress to live within their means. That is, only spend as much money as what is collected. To a fiscal conservative, like me, this sounded like a good idea. Then I started looking at the details and I realized that Obama and the Blue Dog Democrats are only changing their outward appearance. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They are trying to appear like they are fiscally conservative, but underneath they are still big spenders.
The problem is, Pay As You Go plan has exceptions. These exceptions are Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Obama’s proposed healthcare plan. These programs combine to be a majority of the federal budget (see my 5/29/09 blog). It is like you saying you are going to create a household budget where you only spend what you earn every month, except for things like groceries, cars,and housing. Those items are not part of the budget, but everything else is. How successful would you expect to be on reducing your debt using this sort of household budget?
Obama also mentioned that Pay As You Go was in place during the Clinton years when we didn’t have a deficit (we ran a surplus). Two things are worth mentioning about this statement. First,government accounting is cash flow only. Thus when it comes to defining a surplus or a deficit, the calculation is strictly based on cash flow. Say you buy a new diamond ring with no payments until next year. On a cash flow basis, this will not be accounted for until next year. Thus, it does not affect this year’s deficit or surplus. Business’s are not allowed to use this type of accounting. As soon as they make a purchase, it shows up as a liability. Had government used the same accounting practices as private business, Clinton wouldn’t have had a surplus. The second point is the Clinton surplus was largely due to prosperous economic times that resulted in large tax revenues. Why was the economy doing so well during the Clinton years? Just like Obama inherited a bad economy from Bush, Clinton inherited a strong economy created by Reagan.
The problem is, Pay As You Go plan has exceptions. These exceptions are Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Obama’s proposed healthcare plan. These programs combine to be a majority of the federal budget (see my 5/29/09 blog). It is like you saying you are going to create a household budget where you only spend what you earn every month, except for things like groceries, cars,and housing. Those items are not part of the budget, but everything else is. How successful would you expect to be on reducing your debt using this sort of household budget?
Obama also mentioned that Pay As You Go was in place during the Clinton years when we didn’t have a deficit (we ran a surplus). Two things are worth mentioning about this statement. First,government accounting is cash flow only. Thus when it comes to defining a surplus or a deficit, the calculation is strictly based on cash flow. Say you buy a new diamond ring with no payments until next year. On a cash flow basis, this will not be accounted for until next year. Thus, it does not affect this year’s deficit or surplus. Business’s are not allowed to use this type of accounting. As soon as they make a purchase, it shows up as a liability. Had government used the same accounting practices as private business, Clinton wouldn’t have had a surplus. The second point is the Clinton surplus was largely due to prosperous economic times that resulted in large tax revenues. Why was the economy doing so well during the Clinton years? Just like Obama inherited a bad economy from Bush, Clinton inherited a strong economy created by Reagan.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Federal Obligations
From this article in USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-05-28-debt_N.htm
Each household owes $546,668 in federal obligations. If you look at the interactive chart, 81% of these obligations are for Medicare and Social Security.
I don’t know what the average household income is, but I am guessing that the average household owes about 10 years of wages to the feds.
And we thought California was broke.
Who thinks we can afford to even discuss National Healthcare.
Each household owes $546,668 in federal obligations. If you look at the interactive chart, 81% of these obligations are for Medicare and Social Security.
I don’t know what the average household income is, but I am guessing that the average household owes about 10 years of wages to the feds.
And we thought California was broke.
Who thinks we can afford to even discuss National Healthcare.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Basic Econimics Final Exam
If I taught an economics class the following problem would be on the final exam. You would have to answer it correctly to pass the class. Of course if you took a class from me and were paying attention you would know the answer. Here is the question:
In a free market system, if there are 325 billion barrels of oil reserves in the world, and we are currently using oil at a rate of 100,000 barrels week. When will we run out of oil? Assume no new oil reserves are found and all known reserves are recoverable.
If you answered, “Never” you correctly answered the question. Any other answer would be wrong. As oil became scarce, the price would go up. This would drive consumers to find alternatives to using oil. When the oil became even more scarce, the price would go up higher. This in turn would further change behaviors and we would consume less oil. The price would keep going up and up, and we would continue to consume less and less. If we maintained free markets we would never run out.
In a free market system, if there are 325 billion barrels of oil reserves in the world, and we are currently using oil at a rate of 100,000 barrels week. When will we run out of oil? Assume no new oil reserves are found and all known reserves are recoverable.
If you answered, “Never” you correctly answered the question. Any other answer would be wrong. As oil became scarce, the price would go up. This would drive consumers to find alternatives to using oil. When the oil became even more scarce, the price would go up higher. This in turn would further change behaviors and we would consume less oil. The price would keep going up and up, and we would continue to consume less and less. If we maintained free markets we would never run out.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
A Personal Story
When I was younger I lived in Alaska. Yes, I loved it. I worked on oil rigs on the North Slope, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. This was in the 1980’s.
In the late 80’s the oil industry collapsed. OPEC opened their valves and the price of oil dropped from $40-$45 per barrel down to below $15 per barrel. The market no longer supported the cost of producing oil in the U.S. The national rig count went from nearly 5000 rigs in operation to about than 500. Nationwide nearly a million jobs were lost as the effect of the loss of oil industry jobs trickled through communities like Anchorage, Houston, and other oil dependent communities.
Housing prices in oil dependent communities plummeted. I lived on a street which ended in a cul-de-sac. There were 22 houses on this street. When I left the state, because of a layoff, there were 16 houses for sale on this cul-de-sac and at least half of those had been empty for over a year. Unemployment in these areas went well into double digits. My house, which I had lived in for about 3 years, sold for about half of what I paid for it.
Oil related companies fell like dominos. The company I worked for had its stock price drop from over $40 to less the $1, before it was finally absorbed by another company. Everyone that I knew personally in the company, except one, lost their job.
Guess what? All of us found other jobs and did quite well. We had to move our families. We started new jobs in businesses in which we had no experience. Some of us went to school. Yes it was difficult. However, none of us burdened you with supporting us or our families.
As far as I can recall, there was not one politician that suggested that the oil industry was too big, and that we were too dependent upon it, to let it fail. Certainly it was big, and no doubt we were dependent upon it, but no one suggested spending taxpayer dollars to bail it out. We simply let the market sort through the debris and salvage what it could.
We didn’t run up our national debt to bail the oil companies out. The president didn’t fire the executives of these businesses, nor did he complain about their bonuses. Back then, no one ever considered that to be the role of government. Then again, maybe if the oil workers had belonged to a politically influential union, things might have been different.
In the end, the country had one of the most prosperous decades in the history of the country.
Free markets work!
In the late 80’s the oil industry collapsed. OPEC opened their valves and the price of oil dropped from $40-$45 per barrel down to below $15 per barrel. The market no longer supported the cost of producing oil in the U.S. The national rig count went from nearly 5000 rigs in operation to about than 500. Nationwide nearly a million jobs were lost as the effect of the loss of oil industry jobs trickled through communities like Anchorage, Houston, and other oil dependent communities.
Housing prices in oil dependent communities plummeted. I lived on a street which ended in a cul-de-sac. There were 22 houses on this street. When I left the state, because of a layoff, there were 16 houses for sale on this cul-de-sac and at least half of those had been empty for over a year. Unemployment in these areas went well into double digits. My house, which I had lived in for about 3 years, sold for about half of what I paid for it.
Oil related companies fell like dominos. The company I worked for had its stock price drop from over $40 to less the $1, before it was finally absorbed by another company. Everyone that I knew personally in the company, except one, lost their job.
Guess what? All of us found other jobs and did quite well. We had to move our families. We started new jobs in businesses in which we had no experience. Some of us went to school. Yes it was difficult. However, none of us burdened you with supporting us or our families.
As far as I can recall, there was not one politician that suggested that the oil industry was too big, and that we were too dependent upon it, to let it fail. Certainly it was big, and no doubt we were dependent upon it, but no one suggested spending taxpayer dollars to bail it out. We simply let the market sort through the debris and salvage what it could.
We didn’t run up our national debt to bail the oil companies out. The president didn’t fire the executives of these businesses, nor did he complain about their bonuses. Back then, no one ever considered that to be the role of government. Then again, maybe if the oil workers had belonged to a politically influential union, things might have been different.
In the end, the country had one of the most prosperous decades in the history of the country.
Free markets work!
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