Sunday, April 4, 2010

Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun. April 3 & 4, 2010


Hmm... "Easter Newsbites...???"

Well why not...
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2 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.masterresource.org/2010/03/u-s-epa-goes-unconstitutional/

When did Congress tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to license California and other states to adopt non-federal fuel economy standards within their borders?

When did Congress tell EPA to act as co-equal or even senior partner with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in setting fuel-economy standards for the auto industry?

When did Congress tell EPA to establish climate and energy policy for the nation?

And when did Congress tell EPA to “tailor,” that is amend, the Clean Air Act to avoid an administrative debacle of its own making?

The answer, of course, is never, never, never, and never. EPA is flouting federal law and the Constitution.

* THE PROBLEM IS, IT'S FLOUTING FEDERAL LAW AND THE CONSTITUTION WITH THE APPROVAL (LIKELY UNDER THE DIRECTION) OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH (i.e. President Obama as Chief Executive) WITH CONGRESS TURNING A BLIND EYE AND THUS ACQUIESCING TO THIS USURPATION OF POWER.

* WHY WOULD CONGRESS ALLOW THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY TO BE TAKEN? SIMPLE. WITH POWER GOES RESPONSIBILITY AND CONGRESS WANTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE RESULTS OF THIS "POLICY" CHANGE. THEIR CYNICAL REASONING IS THAT IF THINGS "WORK OUT" THEY CAN TAKE CREDIT FOR "ALLOWING" EPA TO OVERSTEP ITS CONSTITUTIONAL BOUNDARIES AND IF (WHEN) THE NEW RULINGS ADVERSELY IMPACT THE ECONOMY THEY CAN THROW UP THEIR HANDS AND CLAIM IT WASN'T THEM, IT WAS THE EPA.

* FOLLOW THE LINK IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THE DETAILS OF WHAT'S GOING ON...

April 4, 2010 at 11:47 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304871704575159741282262302.html

The March job gains included 48,000 temporary Census workers, for a total so far of 87,000 Census hires, and several hundred thousand more in the months ahead.

[T]he so-called total jobless rate, which includes discouraged workers, ticked up again to 16.9%.

It's especially distressing to see that the number of long-term jobless - those out of work for 27 weeks or more - jumped again to 6.55 million, and as a share of the total jobless hit a new record of 44.1%, up from 40.9% in February and 24.6% a year earlier. [O]ne of every two Americans who has lost his job is waiting at least a half year to get a new one. The damage in lost skills and human capital is enormous and can do life-long damage.

Congress keeps extending jobless benefits, and last week President Obama proposed a new subsidy for the jobless in the form of mortgage payment reductions if you're out of work. .... But the irony is that these extensions only increase the incentive to delay going back to work, especially if most available jobs are temporary or pay less than their old ones. Democrats are ensuring that the jobless rate stays higher for longer (it's still a nasty 9.7%), which isn't compassionate...

The larger policy context is that the U.S. recovery has been built on an enormous reflation bet, both fiscal and monetary. The stimulus and its many sister subsidies (housing tax credits, cash for clunkers, etc.) have flooded the economy with government-directed cash and credit. We think marginal-rate tax cuts would have done much more for growth, as in 1983 and 2003.

The Federal Reserve has also kept and maintained an historically easy monetary policy. This was necessary for a time to offset the decline in monetary velocity in the wake of the credit panic, but the near-zero interest rate has also made it easier for banks to make money on interest-rate plays rather than actual lending. It is also contributing to higher commodity prices and distortions in the dollar bloc overseas. The Fed is fortunate that the mess in Greece has made the dollar seem a better reserve currency than the euro.

As we look beyond this year, the bill for this Great Reflation will eventually come due. Coming out of the last steep recession, in 1983, both interest rates and tax rates were coming down. Today, they are both headed up. In 1983, the regulatory state was in retreat. Today, it is expanding across most areas of the economy.

A huge tax increase hits on January 1, as the Bush rates expire. Sooner or later, the Fed will get off zero and interest rates will climb. The neo-Keynesians who have dominated U.S. economic policy since 2006 are betting - hoping - that the expansion will have built up enough steam to ride out these and other growth shocks.

* AND THAT BET HAS BEEN PLACED USING OUR PRESENT AND FUTURE TAX DOLLARS. GOD HELP US...

April 4, 2010 at 3:52 PM

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