Tag Archives: economy

by Barry Kelly | October 5, 2015 · 7:47 am

INSIGHTS 235 — IF NOT A PROGRESSIVE, THE PRESIDENT AT LEAST WANTS A BIG GOVERNMENT GUY

The President was barely in his seat at the gleaming cherry-topped conference table in the Advisor’s office when he said, “My time is growing short. I need my successor, Democrat or Republican, to leave my accomplishments intact. The Democratic candidates are a sorry lot. Not one of them has the intelligence nor courage to carry on my drive toward socialism and internationalism. I’ve reconciled myself to get ready for a Republican president. Now that the FBI feels free to investigate Hillary and, if necessary, indict her for breaking classification laws and possibly perjury. Her numbers were growing worse every week. I was never excited about Bill Clinton being back in the White House so why not look good and let the justice system work? As I’ve said before, presidents never investigate themselves or key staff members if there is any chance of blowback. So we leaked that Hillary was informed that private email servers were illegal. Now it is likely her server was hacked and many of the secrets of my administration were supplied to the Russians and Chinese. She is on her own.

“Now for the opposition. Who would do me and my accomplishments the least harm? Care to guess?”

“It scares me a little but the truth is that our analysis of politics is similar. I believe your Republican candidate is Mr. Donald Trump.”

“Now I’m worried. Is it that obvious?”

“No. Without the benefit of these meetings, I wouldn’t be so sure. Of all the candidates, Trump is the only one who believes big government is necessary to solve big problems.”

“Yes. But there are other things. I use issues to manipulate the power structure to clear the path to socialism, Mr. Trump uses problems. He selects popular problems and then uses his considerable management skills to solve the problem and make himself look good. He has no ideology. He is the world’s best pragmatist. He would manage a socialist nation the same as he would a free-market capitalistic country. What’s important to him is the deal-making process. He has made billions of dollars being very good at making deals.

“As president, he will not cut any budget he believes is necessary to get his programs approved and implemented. His health care program will look a lot like mine, only he will get to the ‘single payer’ solution far faster than I thought was possible. Socialist medicine or not, he doesn’t care as long as the problem gets solved. He does feel strongly about finding and implementing solutions to problems no one else could solve. Well over half of the population will pay no taxes. Excellent. His plan will make even more people dependent on the government. Job growth he will do. He understands how to encourage growth. I’m fine with that for his job growth program will be managed by the government. Big government socialists or capitalists can and probably will end up in the same place with a managed economy.

“People won’t even realize America has become a very effective socialist country with more wealth to be shared. He will enjoy making deals with other national leaders. I wouldn’t be surprised that he makes a better deal with the Iranians then my team did. But it will still be a deal where both sides get what they want. He will make a deal with the Russians without getting involved in a hot or cold war. In the end the Russians will still be a major power in the Middle East and remain in control of Crimea and pieces of Ukraine. But there will be provisions in the deals that preserve the rights and positions of both sides.”

The Advisor thought over his words. “So the ‘cult of the personality’ leads to the same place as long as big government is in control and the mastermind in control can have several different motives or catalysts?”

“Yes. But few leaders have ever had the purity of my vision. You see I really do believe this country has caused much harm in the world. Its power must be diminished and when the economic and military power is gone the arrogance and cruel selfishness of the America people will also no longer rule over less fortunate people. America’s wealth must be shared. No Republican candidate has ever shared that view. All their speeches and ads keep repeating they need to make America strong again. With a little luck and dedicated behind the scenes work by my progressives, no matter who wins the White House, America will never be strong enough again to impose its will and culture on other people. If you have further questions I’ll come back. I get a perverse pleasure from watching the emotions play across your face.”

“Yes, Mr. President, I have some more questions. Please return.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Tagged as donald trump, economy, politics, Progressives, socialism, trump

by Barry Kelly | September 3, 2015 · 7:02 am

INSIGHTS 228 — GETTING READY TO TALK ABOUT THE ECONOMY

The Advisor was lost in thought, in between talks from his only visitor, the President.

The President has been so candid recently. I have to get ready to ask him some more challenging questions. I think he enjoys the challenge. He’s got to be immersed in the current economic crisis so I’ll start getting my background material ready. Many Americans do not see the economy, the process of making and selling things, as being different from the stock market. But they are two very different areas. While one affects the other to some degree, it is very difficult for experts to agree on the exact cause and effect of changes in the stock market. Economists talk knowingly about the state of the economy and what is needed to improve its performance. But in reality they should be called political economists because their analysis depends on whether they are supply-side economists or Keynesian economists.

The President’s progressive wing of the Democratic Party is nearly exclusively Keynesian. Those people believe the level and management of government spending is the key to growing the economy. The opposing side of free market/supply side economists believe growth can only come through the capitalist process of making and selling products outside the governing process. The fewer the regulations and the lower the taxes, the more the economy is free to grow. In their minds, a growth rate of between 4 percent and 8 percent is ideal with a tax rate on corporations around 15 percent.

The Keynesian monetary policies have never worked anywhere, though they were tried extensively during the Roosevelt era. Since government spending on sectors such as infrastructure can only be financed from taxes from people and corporations, Keynesian management of the economy inhibits the growth that is necessary to finance needed infrastructure, human services, and the military. Most everyone is in favor of these items but only the progressives with their Keynesian finance managers believe spending on social welfare and infrastructure stimulate the economy to grow. The first place they look for money for social services and infrastructure is the military budget. Few progressives believe in maintaining a strong military. I must remember to ask the President about his views on Keynesian economics.

Regardless of the financial philosophy, effectiveness of the process must be based on a real reporting and understanding of the facts. When the administration and talking heads go on about the well-being of the economy, they are mostly talking about the stock market that has done very well. Indeed it should with the Federal Reserve printing $86,000,000,000 per month for a program called Qualitative Easing. This level of printing money went on for many months. If you could afford to invest, you did well. The President’s program, instead of distributing wealth to narrow the gap in income between economic classes, actually widened the gap. Turning from the stock market to the business of making and selling things, the real economy, you see a much different picture. Real unemployment is closer to 12 percent than the 5 percent the progressives claim. Employment participation rates are lower than at any time since the 1970s. There are more people on food stamps and welfare now than ever before and that is not just due to the growth in population. Health care costs are growing. Wages are stagnant. Graduating college students cannot find jobs. Student debt is way up. People have given up looking for non-existent jobs. The economy is way below the growth rate needed to sustain services and our national debt. The only measureable that is up is the number of people on welfare. I wonder what the President will say about his commitment to the redistribution of wealth.

The last area to ask him about will be the energy sector. I wonder what he’ll say about the Saudi’s program of pumping oil at a level that is continuing to increase the glut of crude on the market today. Doesn’t he realize the Saudis dumping oil on the energy market is motivated by their need to remain the predominated supplier of the worlds oil and to weaken Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Russia, and the United States? Their strategy is working. Many oil drillers in the United States are gone. They and others like them around the world cannot profitably sell oil much below $60 or $70. Unless the Saudis change their strategy, the current glut of oil may be with us for a few more years.

The Advisor stopped his pacing and his thought process.

I think that is enough for more than one session with the President, he thought, feeling more prepared.

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 152

For the next few blogs I’m going to publish excerpts from my book, “INSIGHTS: Transforming America — Is this what we fought for?” This book is now out in paperback and on Kindle or Nook. I’ve kept the price low because I want this message to get to as many people as possible. Please pass these blogs on to your friends and contacts. For those of you who have read my book, you needn’t read again the same words but please pass them on. I’ll respond to as many comments and questions as I can. If you’ve had difficulty understanding this president, reading “INSIGHTS” will help you understand Obama and explain what is happening to your family and friends, conservatives or not.

WHY DOESN’T HE GOVERN?

The president’s devotion to socialism and the teachings of Saul Alinsky prevent him from working to solve important national and international issues. President Obama can only see issues as opportunities to be used to destroy his opposition. The destruction of the opposition clears the way for the building of a one-party government with an equal opportunity society where wealth is distributed by a centralized government, just like Alinsky preaches in his book, Rules for Radicals.

Alinsky is a brilliant revolutionary, but he was never president. His teaching may have guided Obama to the presidency but surely does not help him govern where issues are real. If you don’t solve them, you are held accountable. Cute messaging and flip-flopping on nearly every issue — such as raising the debt, setting red lines, refusing to recognize the nation is at war with terrorism, or that the economy is in bad shape — are hurting the president’s ability to govern.

Recall his vote against raising the debt during President Bush’s tenure because he thought raising the debt ceiling was being unpatriotic. Inconsistency and the loss of respect for your word diminishes any leader. This president just doesn’t seem to understand that historical lesson.  He doesn’t care about how the Affordable Care Act affects the people as long as it puts seven percent of the economy under government control. Nor does he worry about the number of people out of work, the insecure national borders, foreign affairs, nor the increasing cost of welfare.

All these issues bring more people under the care of the central government. To maintain the momentum of people coming under government care he must keep spending beyond the nation’s income. An economic crisis will enable him to nationalize more of the economy. His plan won’t work in the long run but it will cause great damage to the nation and the American safe harbor for individual freedom, which is the hope and bedrock for a free people everywhere.