The-Asterisk

The gamesmanship and pettiness of our newly re-elected President and his enablers  acolytes in the Legislative branch is fast becoming epic. Those that know Obama for what he is see that he now has donned his true cloak, that of a player,  not a leader. It is obvious that this man has no plan to avoid the Fiscal Cliff, nor does he really desire one. All that his side wants is a scapegoat and many in the Republican party are lining up to be the first to slaughter. With his lapdog, Senator Harry Reid, going after Grover Norquist while the MSM looks the other way, the pressure mounts to quickly bring the Republicans to the point where the President not only does not totally get what he wants (higher taxes on the wealthy Republicans), but the Republicans will split their party in the process of trying to stop him. Then, and only then, can Obama get down to the real work at hand. Obama is greasing the skids even now by photo-opping with random small business persons, unio...

I just read a great blog post called Manufacturing Fallacy Debunked . It echoes many of the things I have said in the past... that the creation of that $58 Blue-Ray DVD player is a minor part of the value accumulated by the time you plunk down your hard earned cash swipe your credit card with your unemployment earnings. The process involves licensing on the parts and intellectual property (assuming that the Chinese actually pay for IP), shipping, off-loading, customs, trucking to warehouse, warehousing, re-trucking to retail store, stocking the shelf, cashiering and then clearing the money for the transaction. All of these things are profit centers that fuel HUGE amounts of additional money and jobs. PLUS, don't forget the actual profit that goes to Wal-Mart's or Target's stockholders and the state/local sales tax. I still laugh at the term "good manufacturing jobs". No one wanted to work in these jobs. Parents forced two generations of children to get a bett...

Fifty three percent (53%) of my being wants to let this corrupt and incompetent administration and its acolytes in the Congress just go ahead and have their way with this country because that is what the 53% want. It is all about the majority, right? Even though the Republicans have a small majority in the House that can thwart some harmful legislation, there will be a white-hot push to get the Republicans to "compromise" with the Left so that we can "progress" as a nation. (Remember, Republicans who stick to their principles are called  obstructionists , while Democrats who stick to their beliefs are labeled  principled .) At this point in my life, I want to let go and give these brilliant thinkers and their tribal / herd / pack-animal followers the keys to the machine. I guess I am going all "Who is John Galt" in my old age. I am going to hunker down, grow my business to the extent possible during the expected economic decline and do what I can do ...

Last night was a bitter pill to swallow, but I forced myself to take it all in. I even forced myself to watch Obama's victory speech in Chicago. All of the pageantry and stagecraft came to the fore. The crowds, the flags, the huge video screens, the music, the choreography. The only thing missing was the balloon drop. But, you won. You won pre-existing conditions. You won free birth control pills, insurance exchanges and adult children on your employer's health insurance. You won a clear road to cap-and-trade (a clearer road than some of those  on the Jersey Shore have after Sandy), you won expanded oil and gas exploration (yeah, right) and you won lower taxes for the middle class (uh-huh). You won more green energy pushed down on you from Washington instead of up from the market. You won the ability to lay higher taxes on businesses and wealthy individuals (ask the luxury boat industry how that all worked out) and you won the right for more marriage equity or...

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. The Left talks about health insurance as a basic human right and they make anyone who opposes universal coverage out to be a rotten, selfish bastard. As I have stated, if health care is a basic human right, then food, shelter and sex should be provided to each according to his need, as well. This posting will stipulate that everyone needs access to health care whether they can afford it or not and whether they have helped pay for it or not. My own feelings on personal responsibility have been made well known. I do not like paying for slackers and moochers. Having said that, there are millions in the US who want to work and either cannot find work or the work that they do have does not provide any sort of health insurance. These people need some sort of protection. As for the moochers, they always seem to find a way. I am not a professional journalist or researcher, so my facts and figures should be taken with a grain of salt, but I ...