My apologies for being "out of the loop" for more than two months. I have been re-writing my textbooks and, as you might imagine, there has been a great deal to write about since the last editions came out two weeks before Mr. Obama took office. I thought I would use this posting to share some thoughts on a few issues that have been in the news lately.
First, have you noticed that no matter what happens to prices liberals are not happy? When gas prices increased to over $4 per gallon in the summer of 2008, liberals took to the airwaves to denounce the greed of 'Big Oil' and chronicled the meteoric rise in the profits of BP, Exxon-Mobil and the rest of the den of thieves. Then, when prices fell to less than $2 per gallon in 2009, liberals cried that lower prices would cause us to go back to gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs, which would cause more global warming.
When housing prices skyrocketed a few years ago, NBC, CBC, ABC and the left-leaning newspapers cried about the poor and middle class families that were priced out of the market. When home prices collapsed they cried about the poor and middle class families that could not afford to stay in the homes they should not have bought to begin with.
Please ask your friendly neighborhood liberal exactly what they want when it comes to the invisible hand then let me know what they say.
Now to Egypt. Please calm down with all the talk that this is July 4, 1776 for the Middle East. Egypt ranks 96th in economic freedom according to the Heritage Foundation's annual rankings. Egypt has 35% of its labor force working for the government. This percentage has artifically fueled public wages to well above what the private sector in Egypt can pay. Therefore, potential businesses are crowded out of the labor market and unemployment - especially for college graduates - is rampant. Unless Egypt fixes that, along with corruption, lack of tranparency in regulations and taxes and other growth-killing rules we will simply see one lousy dictator replaced with another one. But.....just in case I am wrong, please don't gripe about rising gas prices stemming from the growing rebellions. Remember, the price of tea increased when the colonists began fighting against our king.
Heading west to Wisconsin, bravo for the governor of the Badger state. It is time for public sector unions to die. Period. There was once a good reason for private sector unions. Long ago working conditions were horrible for millions of American workers. If you were treated badly, tough - it was you against the company. Unions were a natural reaction to corporate abuse and greed. Then, decades later, JFK legally recognized public unions and it has been the bullet train to bankruptcy for the states ever since. It is simply ludicrous that teachers, firefighters and other public sector workers received the budget-busting European-style retirement benefits that they enjoy. It is time to do away with $100,000 -plus pensions, double-dipping and the other practices that will kill our states one by one. As a 20 year veteran of Florida's retirement system I have been asked to contribute exactly zero pennies towards my retirement fund. Our new governor wants me to kick in 5% of my annual pay to help towards my retirement. My reaction? "What took you so long..."
Now to the National Football League. The billionaire owners want the players to play 18 games and take a nearly 20% pay cut while imposing a rookie wage scale. The millionaire players want to keep the status quo. The owners will get their t.v. money even if there is no season. The players spend money like drunk 2 year old children in a candy store. Kiss the 2011 season goodbye and enjoy college football next year. I should mention, as a Miami Dolphins fan since 1975 (translation - I have never seen them win the Super Bowl), it gives me great pleasure knowing that I will be put out of my misery this fall.
Let's go over to the White House for a moment. President Barack Clinton is finally getting it. He signed off on keeping the Bush tax cuts and lowered our payroll tax from 6.2 to 4.2% for this year. Thank you, Ronald Obama. It is about time you took a look at the playbook from Clinton's last 6 years. If you keep it up, you might be able to beat Sarah, "I have no ideas, but I am kinda cute" Palin, or 109 year old Ron Paul.
I almost forgot the upcoming baseball season. Red Sox over Phillies in 7 games. New York Yankees (Satan's team) fails to make the playoffs.
O.K., that is enough for now. I hope you all are doing well. If you are not, make sure you blame it on global warming.
