Here are a couple of stories that were reported in the Sacramento Bee today; but were given very little space. I thought they were important but the Bee did not.

1. Chrysler trims losses - As you are aware Chrysler is owned by the taxpayers of America. President Obama is the defacto CEO of Chrysler and when the auto maker loses money, so do the taxpayers.

2. White House now looks at Fannie and Freddie - The two, taxpayer owned mortgage companies have been losing hundreds of Billions of taxpayer dollars for the past 2 years. The democrats in Congress recently passed a financial regulation law (FinReg) which gives bureaucrats almost total control over lending in America.

Funny thing is that Fannie and Freddie were EXEMPT from this regulation.

It is important to note that Fannie and Freddie lost a total of $9 Billion in the last fiscal quarter. Also, most people who have studied the causes of our recession link the Democrat's social loan programs and the loose loan qualifying done by Freddie and Fannie; making them directly responsible for the recession.

Oh, and NOW, Obama and his team will start tracking F & F. Sick, huh?

***** - In all fairness to the Sacramento Bee; they did make a big splash over the bonus paid to the recently fired Hewlett-Packard CEO.

Last Wednesday, a Federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Prop. 8 was unconstitutional. While I will not go into the correctness of his ruling here; I do see that the divide between supporters and opponents are becoming more hateful and polarized. The level of emotions is reaching a new high.

This portends  a coming disaster in America. Since the election of George Bush in 2000 the left and right have moved to their extremes . The angry rhetoric has become more and more vicious and destructive. Obama has done his part. He has used the tactic of villianization to pursue his progressive agenda. Almost a 'take no prisioners' attitude.

Obama has introduced race into the mix; while at the same time proclaiming himself to be 'post-racial.' Then in another blatant attempt to move his leftist agenda, he has begun to pit the 'poor' against the 'rich.' Blaming Capitalism for the woes of the 'working class.'  

Here then is my prediction for future; unless the American citizens wake up from their stupor:

 The US of A is on the verge of 3 internal wars:
1. Morality war - the different religions trying to force their idealogy down the throats of others. And to become the single decider of what is moral.

2. Class war - Obama and the progressive have begun waging war against the producers for the benefit of the looters. While the progressives stand on the sidelines lining their political pockets.

3. Race war - Again Obama and the progressives trying to accuse everyone who disagrees with Obama of being racist. Imagined slights and downright lies.

The Obama administration has embarked on a mission; the scope of which has not been seen since the governmental takeovers by the FDR. The total control of the US economy; accomplished through Congressional action or through Executive Order is the ultimate goal of the progressives.

The end results of Obama's idealogical plan will be to turn our nation into a citizenry which is totally dependent on the federal government for their economic future. Everytime a business and customer interact, there will be a bureaucratic 'finger on the scale.' Every business transaction over $600 a year will be reported to the IRS. The federal databases will fill up with massive details of everyday business deals. When these numbers are crunched by all-powerful government supercomputers; audits of business and personal finance will SOAR.

Every aspect of the lives of American citizens will be logged, cataloged and filed away for future reference. Soon the feds will know WHAT you buy, Where you buy it, Where you got the money to purchase it.  They will know how much you earn and how much you save. They will be an all-seeing 'partner' in your every transaction. Especially if you use a credit or debit card to buy things.

MY PLAN:

1. Cut spending - buying only the essentials

2. Pay off debt - protect your credit rating and my self-esteem.

3. Pile up cash equal to at least 1 years expences, including vacations.

4. Buy physical Gold - to allow me to buy things when the economy collapses.

5. Know exactly where my asset protection tools are located.

6. Have an emergency plan for when all government structure collapses.

7. Have an 'exit' stratedy for when it is time to leave this life.

This plan is subject to update as situtations change due to actions by the Obama administration. Mantra: hope for the best; plan for the worst.

In the past few weeks I have begun to see a pattern develop which might show us Obama's overall plan of action for his presidency. If what I am seeing is indeed his true motivations for ramming through legislation; it chills me to the bone.

Pundits on the left bang away at the previous Bush Administration in an attempt to justify Obama's policies; never missing a chance to link some current problem with a Bush 'failed policy.' Most times it sees like a smoke screen to shield a president they agree with philosophically. Which creates doubt in my mind.

 What I see is much more insidious. If my fears are realized, the very existence of the United States of America is at stake. Studying economics and human behavor for the past 40 years have led me to be suspicious of anyone in power who says, 'trust me.' So what is Obama's plan??

The national debt has been climbing since Obama took office. His Obamacare is estimated to add $1.5 Trillion to the debt even before it takes affect. His takeover of GM and Chrysler gives him a very large seat on their boards of directors. He has pushed throught a huge financial regulation law (FinReg) that gives him a huge voice in every financial transaction in our nation. Obama now wants tens of billions of dollars to bail out the auto workers pension funds. On and on it goes.

Here is how the plan works: Drive up the national debt against the wishes of Republicans. Create more social programs. Claim to care about the unemployeed and the poor. Rail against Wall Street and the 'rich.' Drive the country to the edge of the fiscal abyss - then propose a Value Added Tax (VAT) to pay for the debt. When the Republicans, who are complaining about the huge debt, resist the tax increase; Obama will say, 'See, the republicans don't care about the debt.' Simple huh???

With the help if the left-leaning media, the president will villify anyone who stands in his way; with special emphasis on Fox News.

On Wednesday, a federal judge overturned parts of Arizona's new law regarding illegal immigration. The law passed in May by the Arizona legislature, and supported by a majority of Arizona citizens AND Americans; was intended to stop the flow of illegals swarming the state.

While this might seem to be a setback for the Governor and people of Arizona on the surface, it seems that almost every one of the supporters welcomes a chance to have the issue heard before the SCOTUS. Only then will final resolution be at hand. Since the ruling is in the 9th Circuit Court's jurisdiction, any appeal will be lodged with that court. The first step is a 3 judge panel of the 9th Circuit and then on to a 9 judge panel. Then on to the SCOTUS.

It is interesting to note that since the decision, there continues to be protests by opponents of the law. News stories contain details of acts of civil disobedience and property destruction. Contrast this with the Tea Party protests, where no reported acts of violence. Tells you something about the differing tactics of the left and the center / right in America.

This is an issue that will continue to see the light of day. At least 14 other states and a few cities are contemplating similar laws or regulations. It looks like the federal government (Obama administration) has set out on a course of action which will pit the rights of the individual states against the feds. Other "State's Rights" issues will follow. First amoung them will be Obamacare's dictate that individual citizens can be forced to buy health insurance.

justdesserts wrote on 07/25/2010 09:41:23 PM:
Why do Republicans always come up with eliminating taxes as a way to create jobs?
========

Here is the simple answer:

If a man or woman have an idea for starting a business, they need money to pay the opening and operating expenses. They need to survive (and live) while the business builds enought to pay them a living wage. When they get large enough, they hire employees.

But on the other hand if the government takes every penny they earn in taxes, they have NO resources to create or build a successful business. Thus NO employee - and no need for government regulators or state employees.

Who in their right mind wants to invest their savings and struggle and work long hours to build a business if they know that the democrats and unions and tax collectors are hovering just out of sight to take it all away.

First, let me say that my vacation lasted longer than I expected so I have not been 'on the job' and my postings have been neglected. Oh, well, I am back.

With the California budget overdue by 20 plus days, the citizens of CA are getting worried about what the democrat majority is planning to cut to balance the budget. The Sacramento Bee is mobilizing to pressure the republicans into approving tax increases. Which, by the way, I don't think will happen.

I worry that the citizens don't completely understand the dire nature of the budget shortfall. Most people cannot comprehend how much $20 Billion dollars is. And that is the budget shortfall for just THIS year. It will happen next year unless the democrats do massive cuts to entitlement spending and union  retirement systems.

Today a democrat state legislator was documented as trying to live on food stamps for a week. The article by one of the Bee editorial board was intended to foist guilt and shame on the taxpayers of CA. I don't think it will work because the taxpayers of CA are tapped out.

We will see where this goes, as the majority of legislators are on vacation. More on this tomorrow.

I just want to take a few moments to review the top headlines and comment on where we are tonight.

1. The 'massive' oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

After several failed attempts to stem the flow of oil from the broken pipeline it appears that at least partial success might be forthcoming. BP has twice attempted to cap the leak with a dome, but both attempts ended in failure. Today they lowered a pipeline and pushed it into the leaking pipe at the bottom of the gulf. We will have to wait and see just how much of the gushing oil they can divert to the tanker waiting on the surface.

But no review of this story would be complete without talking about the politicial side of the issue. Oil company executives, who were summoned to testify before congress, professed innocence and pointed the finger of blame at each other.

Obviously this irritated Barack Obama. On Friday, Obama, in an angry speech deplored the finger-pointing. Then in what this humble writer can only call hubris, Obama pointed HIS finger of blame directly at the George W Bush administration.

2. The Arizona Illegal Immigrant Law.

This week U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was questioned on Capitol Hill about Arizona's new law. What was striking was that since the law was passed he has made the rounds on TV news shows making negative references to the potential results of the law.

His remarks have generally concerned the constitutionality of the law and the possiblity of 'racial profiling.' When asked if he had read the law, he said, "NO"  That answer says volumes. His response was widely broadcast over the internet and on Fox News, with various commentators expressing disbelief. We should also note that there was almost NO coverage by the 'mainstream Obama' media outlets.

Oddly enough, with all of the treats of lawsuits from the ACLU, Holder's office and Moveon.org, we have not seen any lawsuits filed. This makes me wonder if they really have any basis for a lawsuit or if they are just blowing smoke and venting their anger. We will see.

3. The upcoming state primary elections.

There are several interesting primary elections this next week. Primary elections held over the past two weeks were surprising. Two veteran lawmakers were summarily thrown out in favor of newcomers. One was Senator Robert Bennett of Utah. He did not survive the party caucus vote. Another was Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia. The 14-term congressman was thrown overboard for another rookie politician.

On Tuesday we have three races to watch and they will tell a lot about voter sentiment. The past upsets have been generally characterized by career pundits as freak occurances. But I don't believe that is the case. I think we are seeing a trend, but again Tuesdays primaries will say a lot. The election races to watch are:

1. Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas,

2. Rand Paul's entry into the Kentucky race as a newcomer,

3. Senator Arlen Spector of PA who is fending off a challenger from the Democratic party. Spector, you will remember changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic last year.

To say the least, 2010 will be exciting to watch from a political perspective. We may also be witnessing a rebirth of American public's desire to rest control of their government from the hands of the established elite. I can hardly wait.

The Dow Jones Industrial average plummeted today over concerns about the massive debt and fiscal crisis in Greece. It seems that by this weekend we will find out if the European Union (EU) will bail out the nation. What I find interesting is that considering the reasons behind the crisis it does not make any difference if Greece gets bailed out or not.

If we look at the causes of the current situation in Greece we will find similar situations growing in the State of California and to a lesser degree, the US. It seems that since the first of the bailouts occured in late 2008 and the prospect of more to come; everyone is focused on staving off the day of collapse instead of focusing on how to prevent the ultimate failure.

For example, the state of CA, like Greece has been promising their unions more and more freebies and enhanced retirements. They have overspent their power to levy taxes and the taxpayers are starting to resist. While at the same time budgets are being cut to try and balance the income with the expenditures. But the unions don't want any cuts to their entitlements.

For the past week the union membership have been rioting in the streets. Burning buildings and cars. They have been demanding MORE entitlements and higher wages. Well, something has to give. That brings us to this weekend.

With other countries on the verge of becoming Greece, everyone is looking to the richest country in the EU - Germany. But, the German people are upset thinking they will be the scapegoat for the rest of the EU's problems. The Greece bailout is highly unpopular. The 'Greece vote' is scheduled for Friday. This is when we will find out if the bailout will occur.

What makes this weekend even more important is that the German people hold their elections on Monday. Chancellor Merkel's government may well win re-election or not based on Friday's vote.

But, even with a bailout, if the unions in Greece won't give concessions, and it appears they will not, this economic disaster will re-occur in a few months. And, if the US markets don't like what happens this weekend, today's freefall will only continue. Buckle up, folks.

Anthem Insurance today announced it was retracting its previously proposed 39 percent rate hike. This rate hike set off a massive firestorm among Obama minions and California democrat politicians. There were charges of 'excessive profits' and cheating their insurance clients.

Oddly enough this rate hike proposal occurred just before Obama made his final push to get Obamacare through Congress. The bill was stalled and on the verge of failure. Obama had already been villianizing health insurance companies. How convienent!!

Well, now after Obamacare has passed and signed into law; Anthem announces they are retracting the proposed rate increase. The reason for the retraction - they made 'inadvertent miscalculations.' So, the supposed rate crisis has served its purpose.

It is interesting that whenever Obama needs to push through one of his crisis bills; a villian suddenly pops up. Which allows Obama to say, 'See I told you I would save you.' This is not only an attempt to fool the public; but possibly a criminal conspiracy. But getting HIS justice department to investigate will never happen.

For the past week the 'mainstream' media have been pushing the message out of the Obama administration, that the Republicans are resisting banking reform because they are in the pocket of big banks - like Goldman Sachs. And the message seems to resonate with average Americans.

But the truth is slowly leaking out that Obama is tied at the hip of Goldman.  It has been revealed that Obama has taken almost $1 million dollars in campaign donations from GS. Harry Reid, majority leader of the US Senate has also taken donations recently from GS. Probably the most serious of revelations is that the CEO of GS, Lloyd Blankfein has been a frequent visitor to the White House.

A commentator like myself could be called cynical for seeing a connection here. But, I found out long ago that cynicism helps one see reality more clearly than the pollyanna's in the general society are able to. The worst part, what if Obama's plan to villify the banking industry actually ends up giving him and his administration ultimate power over the banking industry.

In the California governor's race, the large newspapers are spreading stories about how the leading Republican contender is 'linked' to Goldman. This is followed up by the blogs, dominated by state employee unions, which continue to feed misinformation to the public. Kind of like if enough people tell the same lie, people will start to believe it.

On the Sacbee website there is a story about a CA state employee trying to get his union to deal with the realities of our state economic crisis. He encourages his union to make concessions for the good of the entire state. But the union members are having none of that.

In multiple comments, which seem to be coming from the Public Employee Union members, this persons is taken to task for going against the union and their hard line tactics. The union and their members don't seem to understand that CA is on the verge of bankrupcy.

One poster in particular by the screen name of jhufnagle takes offense at the very idea that he should be glad he still has a job when many, many CA citizens in the private sector has lost theirs. He does not seem to understand the gravity of our economic situation and is only looking out for himself and his union.

Until the PEUs come to grips with reality and accept that they have to be part of the solution, they will continue to be part of the problem. And if they hold out too long the only solution will be to lay off or fire a great number of public employees. Just like the City of Las Angeles is planning.

But I guess the unions only care about winning and not about solving problems with the least amount of collateral damage. Sad situation for everyone who loves CA.

The columnist Ruben Navarrette is not someone I usually agree with. His writings tend to lean towards the left and with questionable conclusions. But today's piece was square on target.

The title was, 'Teachers unions need to be more accountable, less stubborn.'

He rightly points out that teachers like to part of a collective when negotiating their contracts but want to be thought of as individuals when they are being patted on the head for their compassion towards their students. Well, then why do teachers and their unions hate the idea of being evaluated on how well their students learn and succeed?

The fact is that teachers, like every other individual puts their own personal welfare ahead of every other consideration. That they try to portray themselves as altruistic, selfless angles belies the truth of human nature. Granted, they are charged with the education of our children; and that is a huge responsibility, the very existence of remedial classes in nearly every college and university tells a different story.

I have no problem with the motives of individual teachers. Most people like to think they do their jobs well. What I DO have a problem with is two-fold; 1. as members of a powerful union, they get the idea that they have power over the public purse and 2. that they are somehow exempt from feeling the economic pain that employees in the private sector are suffering. The Public Employee Unions need to remember that they serve the public.

In an Associated Press article today Obama was suggesting that a new Value Added Tax was 'still on the table.' Even the hint that a VAT is being considered is a direct reversal of Obama's pledge that NO tax increases would hit individuals making under $200k a year. Since a VAT like the ones used in Europe would affect every consumer in America. In a big way.

It is interesting to me that the 'mainstream press' has chosen to ignore the apparant conflict between Obama's pledge during the election and this new 'possiblity.' Thankfully the US Senate passed a non-binding resolution last week effectively giving a big thumbs-down to the VAT. By a vote of 85 - 13. The article by the AP appeared in the Sacramento Bee on page A11

In my opinion a VAT that is added to the current tax system would be the final nail in the coffin of the US economy. If the VAT were proposed to replace the current income tax then the affect would be neglible. BUT, that second option would be a VERY complex proposition. And, it would be ripe for including sneeky perks for certain groups. i.e. unions and campaign donors. Just like the Obamacare bill did.

The Tea Party held nationwide protests today. Even though the events were organized and promoted by average citizens; the elite, progressive media did their best to villify the participants and portray them as anti-American.

MSNBC and the New York Times are instrumental in this process of trying to silence anyone who does not agree with their political dogma. Mcclatchy, in their Sacramento Bee unit printed a nice front page article; then followed up on the jump page with an outragous NY Times hit piece to sit along side their article.

It is becoming more and more clear that the 'mainstream' liberal media cannot be trusted. Us ordinary citizens must resist the attempts to silence us. America was born on the issue of free speech. The First Amendment to the Constitution was first in line because of its great importance. We must never allow the haters of the Constitution to block our First Amendment rights.

McClatchy and the NY Times revel in their free speech rights and then censor anyone who disagrees with them. This was seen tonight in several comments I made on their website. All the while promoting the comments of neocon_terror; an outragous proponent of hate and insults.

In an editorial appearing in today's Sacramento Bee, the teacher's union is singled out for blame in the state's effort to secure funds to be distributed by the Obama administration.

Specifically, the reluctance of the union to allow data collection which would tie teacher and student achievement together. I would assume that if the success or failure of a particular student could be traced to an individual teacher; there could be some embarassing consequences. When you couple this to the fact that most teachers have tenure; which makes bad teachers almost impossible to fire; you get an interesting paradox.

If California is ever to have solid tools to increase student success, then there must be some way to find out if there are incompetent teachers who need to be dealt with. With the power of today's computers it would seem that it would be simple to tie each student to every teacher they have ever been exposed to. Which is something that would create problems for the entrenched teachers union. Add to this, the fact that the unions are tied hand and foot to the democrat power machine in Sacramento; don't expect much to change.

Even if it means the state and the students lose valuable federal tax dollars. Sooner or later this situation will boil over. I will watch with great interest.

In the last 36 hours a variety of financial experts have begun to warn of coming tax increases directly tied to Obamacare. The latest is a proposed increase of tax rates on capital gains.

The current top rate of 15 percent is expected to increase to 24.5 percent for the 2011 tax year. If this happens, one can expect to see a drop in the amount of money flowing into the stock market as investors seek to find save havens for their cash.

Looking at my own portfolio, why would I want to hold my investments into 2011 when I could cash out this year and save money on my taxes? If this could kill the bull market we are currently experiencing remains to  be seen. But investment managers will be watching closely and they will have to decide on the best use of the money they manage. Also, large investment funds like CalPers and CalStrs could be seriously affected.

Lastly, no one is expecting Obamacare to lower prices OR taxes. The American economy is still in a fragle position. Anything that affects investor confidence in a negative way could lead us back to a bear market and a second-dip recession. Every investor needs to consult a professional advisor to seek advice on how to proceed.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner delayed a report which was scheduled for April 15 to Congress on exchange-rate policies, avoiding a decision on whether to accuse China of manipulating the value of their currency, the yuan.

It appears that Geithner's decision was made because it might create turmoil in relations between the Obama administration and the Chinese government. With the massive US debt that China holds; the administration appears to be increasingly concerned with antagonizing China's leaders. At least twice before, China has shown its displeasure with White House actions. The recent visit with President Obama, by the Dalai Lama was roundly criticized by un-named Chinese officials.

Many of us in the media have been watching carefully to see whether China would attempt to influence U.S. policy; and how the Obama administration would respond. Stay tuned.

Justice Stevens, a reliable liberal / progressive vote on the US Supreme Court is hinting he will retire soon. Maybe as early as this year. While this seems to be minor news, there is a much more important issue.

While it is expected that President Obama will appoint someone to replace Stevens who mirrors his liberal agenda; for a sitting justice to say, 'I will surely do it while he's still president'; shows he is trying to pick his own successor.

This strips away any notion of impartiality on Stevens part in his judicial role. Normally a justice is known to be biased one way or another, but it never spoken about by the justice. Secondly, it smacks of his desire to STACK the court. Not very impartial, if you ask me. 

Sacbee using their platform as the only newspaper in Sacramento tries to discredit former Bush advisor, Karl Rove. It has become almost an everyday occurance to find some little tidbit involving Bush to push their pro-obama agenda.

This time they attacked Rove on his CA book tour. Accusing him of falsifying the data on Saddam and the threat Saddam posed to the world prior to our invasion of Iraq. They say he lied to congress. What hypocrits.

But what makes the editorial suspect is that they offer NO proof. Just innuendo and their bias. The reason this is clear is that if they had any proof, they would have splashed it in giant headlines on their front page. Along with 8 or 9 followup stories.

I have learned long ago to not trust anything the editorial board of Sacbee says. Only the most gullible of people do. BTW, the only reason I subscribe to Sacbee is stay abreast of what the loonie left is putting out.

NOTE: This is a companion article to the last posting. Sacbee positions stories to bring the greatest impact on its pro-Obama, Anti-business stance.

Now the story. Oil prices have been fluxuating for several weeks, creeping higher. Most of the industry sources I have been reading attribute this to the coming of summer driving season and uncertainty about Obama's energy policies.

But Sacbee says, 'Blame it on the same folks who brought you $140 oil and $4 gasoline in 2008. Wall street speculators.' The inference is that there are a couple of insidious individuals sitting in a room somewhere pushing buttons to control prices. In reality, it is the market - stupid. Doing what the market always does.

America has always had an open market system. Especially when it comes to the commodies markets. But Obama has injected so much uncertainty that investors are looking for a safe have for their money. Many have chosen to hold cash; while others have chosen have gone to gold in an effort to shore up their economic futures.

It seems that almost everyday the Sacbee and the Obama administration announce another villian and another crisis to be addressed immediately. And it scares the public which is otherwise uneducated on how the world really works.

Obama has decided to use California's new emission law as the model for a nationwide plan to reduce greenhouse gases and raise vehicle milage requirements by 40 percent by the year 2016.

While this might sound great from a environmental aspect, it will have dubious effects on the economy. Anytime the gov't sets standards based on unreasonable and possibly unattainable goals, the economy is put in a position with unknown consequences. This makes people in the affected industries nervous. Uncertainty always has a negative on business.

Also, this Sacbee headline was written to promote Obama and to help solidify his position as dictator of the US. Since his ramming through of Obamacare, he believes in his mind that he has a mandate to 'fix' everything in America. He is constantly promoted in the Bee as the White Knight who will save America from itself.

Wether this new plan will be good for our county will play out over the next few years. It is interesting to note that the stock markets are closed today for a religous holiday, so Monday will be an important day to see how the markets feel about his plan.

Tomorrow I will begin my analysis of the news and issues which I consider to be vital to a full knowledge of our world. Some of my future postings will rile some people while pleasing others. Hopefully everyone will learn something. So, thanks for coming along for the ride