The Perfect Argument Against Bailouts and Big Government Spending in One Picture

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. Here's a comic that does. It shows why we should be against all nationalization of industry and bailouts of industry and banks as well as tax increase and adding debt to our already un-payable debt.

Of course the free market system (which, by the way, we haven't ever really tried - there's always government control and cronyism) has its warts... But the way we do things now (bailouts, credit rate control, printing money, government take over of industry, government controlled education, medical care and retirement) just doesn't work. The fact that we're heading for bankruptcy (Greece is showing us what's going to happen to us soon enough) shows that we must stop this big government mentality.


If an industry like banks or big companies like General Motors or TEPCO in Japan go bankrupt, let them! Why do private companies get to keep profits but when they lose money the government wants to socialize their loses and stick it to the taxpayer?


And some taxpayers actually agree with this twisted logic?


Say in the case of a company like GM. If we bail them out, the same incompetent management get to keep their jobs. If they go bankrupt, a new group comes in and buys them up. The new group gets rid of the bad parts. The factories are still there, the buildings are still there, the new company needs someone to run those factories; they get rid of bad management and bad workers and start again. That's why they buy a bankrupt company in the first place; they think they can make it profitable!


But, when the government bails them out? The incompetents keep their jobs (and donate to the next election of those government people) and confused people in the public sector think that those industries should be nationalized. Yes. Nationalized and run ostensibly for a profit. Like the profitable venture that our, say, Japanese government has us at public debt of 229% of GDP.


What's wrong with this logic and this picture?  


Anyway, the same old same old way of doing business that we've been doing for the last 40 years, since 1971, has got to stop. 


Haven't we screwed up the world for our kids and their kid's kids enough as it is?

Reasons Why I Don't Believe in it Anymore - Be Skeptical of Everything You Hear

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." - Ronald Reagan (1986)


I don't believe anything I see or hear on TV or radio and read in magazines anymore. Thirty plus years in mass media will make anyone very jaded and skeptical of everything coming out of the mouths of newscasters, scientists and politicians.

You wouldn't know it to read what I write about these days, but when I was a university student, I was pretty much a hard-core socialist, perhaps even a communist. Many people today are that way too but they don't like to use those words. Many people have been confused from decades of government run schooling.


I used to think - and I was taught in school - that the government is benevolent and needs to provide for people because the people are too useless and stupid to provide for themselves. That the people are stupid and useless is a pretty solid argument. But as I grew older, I began to learn that there is no such thing as a free lunch and for the government to take care of someone means that they are taking money from someone else.


You cannot keep taking money from the productive part of society and keep giving it to the unproductive part of society. We've been doing this for decades and not that's how we've gotten ourselves into the financial mess we're currently in.

Yep. Learn to live with it... Or marry a rich guy.

For example, the idea that the government should provide medical care, retirement care, or a so-called "free" education to everyone was some of the ideas that I believed were the duty of government. I believed those ideas because I went to government run public schooling. Of course, in government run schools, they will teach you that government run schooling is the best. That's what government's do. Is there a government in the world today that tells their public, "We are not the best government for you. Vote for another party!"


I clearly remember my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Demuth sitting us in class and saying, "The United States has the best and the freest government in the world. And the proof of that is that we have had the same government for 200 years." That, my friends, isn't true. We've had the same political system for 200 years, but not the same government for 200 years. If longest running means that it is the best (typical American exceptionalism type of twisted thinking and logic) then I don't think America even comes close. The longest running government in the history of the world is probably Mao's China. Can anyone verify that for me? Not that it matters.

Cooler than any US president. How many of them can say "Warhol did me"? 

I knew, even then, that what my teachers were telling me wasn't true. That's one reason why I don't carte blanche believe anything that teachers say and am very skeptical about their pronouncements.


Then, in high school, I was president of the Science Class. We were told that the entire world was heading into a new Ice Age. Scientists were absolutely sure about that one too. There were even some scientists who said that we should put ash and salt on the polar ice caps to melt them so that would warm up the earth. That was 1975. I even wrote a 140 page thesis on it for my senior year. I was proud of that paper. But guess what? Even though the scare last a few more years, the Ice Age never happened. I became skeptical of science.


I became a devout disbeliever when, not trusting the media I worked in, I studied the subject. This from the Business and Media Institute of America:

"Many publications now claiming the world is on the brink of a global warming disaster said the same about an impending ice age – just 30 years ago. Several major ones, including The New York Times, Time magazine and Newsweek, have reported on three or even four different climate shifts since 1895."

Yes. Big disasters sell advertising space and create revenues. Follow the money if you are ever wondering about the validity of anything you are told on the mass media.

I makes sense when you think about it; they can't even predict next week's weather with better than a 50% chance of accuracy, what kind of fool thinks they can predict the weather 50 years from now?


A few years later, I became old enough to vote. The very first time I had the chance to vote for president. I voted for Jimmy Carter because I didn't want war. Carter won the first time. I was happy. Then, during his tenure, inflation hit 22% and I was a university student. I realized that, at that rate, there would be no jobs even if I did graduate. Then when it seemed like he would lose re-election to Ronald Reagan, he committed a crime by sending the military into Iran to try to rescue hostages. The mission was called Operation Eagle Claw. It was a disaster. Two of the helicopters crashed into each other and eight US servicemen died. The mission was called off.

Ruins of a burnt out Hercules troop carrier helicopter in Iran April 1980.

This was the guy I voted for!? I voted for him because I didn't want war yet he was sending our military in on military adventures in countries that we weren't at war with? I have never voted again, even once, since then.


Political hypocrites! That's one more reason why I don't believe anything that politicians say and am very skeptical about their pronouncements.

After that I worked for a Republican congressman from California named Bob Largomarsino. I was his chief staff cameraman. Congressman Bob was a nice guy. I travelled around with him and took photos of him visiting old folk's homes and shaking hands with people or going to lunch with other people. In the two years I worked for him, I never once took any photos of him actually doing an work besides schmoozing people. Then Reagan invaded Grenada.

This photo was congressman Bob's favorite. Him sitting between Reagan and Bush I.

This photo hung in his office. I didn't take this one.

They said they were invading Grenada because US students were being held hostage. We'd find out later that this wasn't true at all and many nations, including our allies like Britain were angry and upset about the USA breaking international law.


"What's the land of the free doing invading tiny Caribbean nations?" I thought. That was one more reason why I don't believe anything that politicians say and am very skeptical about their pronouncements.


The litany of being told one thing but later on finding out that the facts are different from what we were told is long. I could never name them all. Rick Gee had a good short list of government lies: 

• Woodrow Wilson: won reelection with the prevaricating slogan, "He kept us out of the war." (Well, at least he did until after the election. Typical politician).
• Bush I: "Read my lips: no new taxes." (Well, maybe just a few).
• Ronald Reagan: knew nothing of the Iran-Contra shenanigans. (The Teflon President, indeed).
• Bill Clinton: "I experimented with marijuana a time or two and I didn’t like it, and didn’t inhale and never tried it again." (Do you know anyone who tried it but didn’t like it?)
• Bill Clinton: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." ("Hey, I just sat there; she did all the relating herself.")
• Vince Foster committed suicide (how convenient).
• Richard Nixon: "I am not a crook." ("I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.")
• Marijuana has no medicinal benefits. (Tell Peter McWilliams’ survivors that).
• Children are being molested in a compound in Waco (to protect them, we must kill them).
• "Let’s Roll." Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania because heroic passengers thwarted the hijackers. (That the U.S. Air Force shot down Flight 93 seems far more likely).
• Bush II: We must take the war on terrorism to Afghanistan because the Taliban are harboring Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks (never mind that the U.S. government had already planned to invade Afghanistan long before 9/11).

There's all sorts of others too (for too many to name) but another short list: Flouride in the water is good for you; the IPCC (a government agency by the way) says there is a "consensus on Global Warming" but there isn't at all; Saddam Hussein had nuclear weapons; the USA is spreading democracy; we are the "good guys;" the Japanese government saying that there was no problem at Fukushima; being the news director of a major Japanese broadcasting station and telling people that SARS, Bird flu and Swine flu were going to kill well over 250 million people worldwide (in total, until today, the three of them together have killed less than 300 people) the list goes on and on... 


These are all the million and one reasons why I am very skeptical about the pronouncements of teachers, scientists and politicians. 

Photoshop did wonders for the Man Made Global Warming movement...

That's why whenever I hear some politician say that they need to tax us to "help the children" or "save the environment" or "stop global climate change;" whenever I hear that we must go to war to stop some country from harming their people (as if bombing those same people is helpful) or that, in the worse case of an Orwellian nightmare, that "We must go to war in order to have peace" I am very skeptical.


I think, in this modern age, we need, we must to have a very strong and healthy skepticism about anything we hear, see or read on the mass media and that includes the Internet.


To do otherwise is to be foolish and completely ignore the historical record.

Big Government is Not the Answer... Government is Our Enemy

I often get complaints from people about my anti-government stance on just about, no make that ALL, everything.

The Roman empire had Caesar, Caligula, Nero, Augustus, etc...

Different presidents, but it was still ultimately the Roman Empire.

The USA has had many presidents.... (Get it?)

Judge Napolitano has written a brilliant expose simple stating why government is the root of our problems and not the solution...


Like I have always said, "If government were benevolent and the answer to all out problems than a big government country like the Soviet Union would have been hugely successful. But they weren't."


The good judge sums it all up in one great sentence: 


"Unlike an individual or a well-run corporation, government is not motivated by how efficient it can be, but rather by how lucrative it can be for those associated with it, and how those who run the government can stay in power." (emphasis mine).


The above is exactly correct. No matter the problem, the government's answer is always to expand upon itself. That is the nature of all government.


Who was in charge when the Twin Towers were attacked? The Bush Administration. Did anyone lose their jobs? No. The government's powers and reach were expanded.


Some will say that the government is here to protect the little guy. Oh really? How's that working out for the now nearly 46 million Americans on Food Stamps? Or the now 25% of all American children in poverty? Has the government cut the Pentagon budget to help pay for these poor people? Nah.


Here's another good one that never ceases to amaze me: "The Civil War: The North went to war with the South to end slavery." Ha! Oh really? Is that why some Northern States still allowed slavery for two years after the war started? And, think about this, since when has the USA ever gone to war to protect the rights of dark-skinned people? Never! Get real if you think we have.... Or do you think we are bringing democracy to those people in the Middle East too? 


Have you never read "War is a Racket"? The USA only goes to war for economic aims. Never to protect minorities.

Here are some more great bits from Judge Napolitano's article:  

Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney don't want to shrink government. They love government. They just want to manage it better. The problem with that approach is that government by its very design is always mismanaged. The centralization of decision-making amplifies the effects of poor decisions while disincentivizing prudent ones.

Unlike an individual or a well-run corporation, government is not motivated by how efficient it can be, but rather by how lucrative it can be for those associated with it, and how those who run the government can stay in power. Someone who was philosophically opposed to government domination of the housing market wouldn't perpetuate it by taking one red penny of taxpayer money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, like the former Speaker did, whether he calls himself a historian or a lobbyist. Someone philosophically opposed to government domination of the health care market would never offer up government as the solution to the problem of the uninsured, like the former governor of Massachusetts did, since the problem of the uninsured was created by government's involvement in the health care market in the first place.

The federal government does not need an efficient manager. That's a pipe dream based on the noble but flawed premise that government can be made to operate as a business. It cannot. Business is subject to the forces of free choice, supply and demand, and competition. Can you imagine government subjecting itself to the forces of competition? Can you imagine government permitting us to ignore it?.... (Read the rest at Lew Rockwell...)   http://lewrockwell.com/napolitano/napolitano34.1.html

NOTE: See this big news just in: 

Michele Bachmann campaign chair and Iowa state senator defects to Ron Paul

Japan's Government Headed for Ouster? Good. The Sooner, the Better.

Well, in my New Year's predictions, I said he'd be out by June 1st, so my prediction seems to be off. But the voices to kick Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan out of office are growing louder.  Let's hope they become deafening.


Yahoo reports:


Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan, under fire for his handling of the response to the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, faces the threat of a no-confidence motion this week. Although Kan's opponents have only a slim chance of rallying enough support for a successful motion in the Diet legislature, the move would be a fresh headache for the PM, who has been in office for less than a year. Leaders of the main conservative opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its smaller ally the New Komeito party threatened the move on Friday against Kan, Japan's fifth prime minister in as many years.


Last night, at InterFM, I met with several nice foreigners who are doing wonderful charity work here in Japan for the Tohoku disaster and they said that they were unhappy that there was talk about getting rid of the prime minister. They were of the opinion that we should, under the current circumstances, allow him to stay.

Pete Seeger - Waist Deep in the Big Muddy

Classic anti-war / anti-government song

This kind of thinking always confuses me. Why?


Well, here are some folks who, like everyone else, on the one hand complain that the government handling of a crisis was inept and incompetent, yet on the other hand, they want to give that same government more time to handle the crisis? 


I don't get it.


I chuckled and asked these good folks "Hasn't the current government already done enough?" (damage?)


The indoctrination that people receive all their lives from government run public schooling once again rears its ugly head. People get brainwashed so that the idea that government is here for our benefit is so deeply ingrained in their beliefs that they cannot see the illogical notion behind it. 


Let's just take a few very brief examples, an overview really, of Japan's case. I ask you:


1) Is there anyone who feels that the current Japanese administration competently and properly responded to the Fukushima crisis in a quick manner and timely manner? 


It seems that most people do not. For evidence of that, another Yahoo report shows that: Almost three quarters of Japanese voters are unhappy with the centre-left government's handling of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, a newspaper poll indicated on Monday. 


Why would anyone think that, after such poor mishandling of the situation that, if given another chance, the government would suddenly straighten out and do a better job?


2) The current debt of Japan is 225.8% of GDP. Now, while much of this debt is not completely the fault of the current government, it has skyrocketed (almost 10%) under this administration.  


Why would anyone think that, after such poor mishandling of the situation that, if given another chance, the government would suddenly straighten out and do a better job?


3) Japan's economy is in shambles and unemployment has risen to 4.7% and household spending has fallen 3%.  Also, because of the economy and the worsening unemployment situation, according to Bloomberg, Japan faces another credit downgrade risk. 


In spite of these very bad signs for the economy, the current administration sticks to the typical Japanese government response to all crises over these last 20+ years: spend and raise taxes.


Google reports:


Japan's centre-left premier is taking steps toward a consumption tax hike, a report said Monday, days after the central bank chief warned of the government's "very serious" fiscal state. Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to set up a body that would propose by mid-June a doubling of the tax to 10 percent by 2015, in a bid to cut Japan's sovereign debt, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said. The Yomiuri said Kan would head the so-called Core Member Council which would include 16 senior officials of his Democratic Party of Japan. 


The economy is bad enough as it is, unemployment is up, household spending is down, Japan's credit ratings is about to be lowered and this idiot wants to increase sales taxes.  


Why would anyone think that, after such poor mishandling of the situation that, if given another chance, the government would suddenly straighten out and do a better job?


But let's forget the current administration for a moment. This post is actually about a more philosophical question than the problems with Japan's current government. Actually, I am talking about pro-government indoctrination everyone receives all their lives from all public schooling all over the world. 


Think about it, is there anyone of us who can give a consistent, good example, of a well governed nation throughout the history of mankind? 


Back to locally, how about the great result Japan's World War II government achieved for Japan? 3 million dead and her cities carpet bombed to ruin? How about the over 160 million deaths "organized" governments proudly accounted for in the 20th century alone?  


No. Government is not the friend of security, peace and freedom. Government is the sworn enemy of the little guy (that's you and me). Whenever you hear someone say, "We're from the government and we're here to help" the best thing you could do is turn and run away as fast as you can.


Some of my friends last night said that they admired the American example of government. They liked the idea of a new president, elected by the people, every four years. 


"Nonsense!" I retorted.


For one, if voting could change anything, it would be illegal. Two, regardless of who is president of the USA, nothing really changes. Current president Obama is the third Bush administration. He promised to end the Iraq war, end the war on drugs, create transparency in government, blah, blah, blah. 


We are still in Iraq. The war has expanded in Afghanistan. Now we are bombing Yemen, Libya, and other middle eastern nations. The war on drugs has expanded and there is no transparency in government. What's really happened under an Obama administration? Things have gotten much worse.


The USA is the 21st century's Nazi Fatherland. How can people admire our criminal government behavior? It's obvious that Americans do not control the beast that is the US federal government. That monster is out of control.  


And changing US president doesn't matter either. Think about this: Rome had many emperors. They had Nero, Cesar, Caligula, Augustus, etc. Many emperors. Ultimately, though, it was still the Roman empire. And that empire was built on war and taxation.


It is the nature of government - all government - to expand its powers and its taxation base as an answer to all problems.


The current Japanese government is no different as shown by recent actions and the repeated attempts to raise taxes.


No, my friends, this government has to go. They don't need anymore time. They need to be booted out as soon as possible.


Since Japan's experience with inept and incompetent government recently (over these past several years) has been a bad one, I think, then, we cannot expect a "better" government to come in to replace the current clowns we now have (see my comments above about the nature of government). Our best hope is for no government or deadlock within government.


At least, with a deadlock, the government cannot pass any new laws nor can they raise our taxes. 


Considering recent history (well the history of government since the beginning of time) that seems to be the best that we can hope for.

------------------

This article inspired by the guys from Sunset Drive (web page, blog & info here) who are holding a charity event for New Zealand Earthquake and Tohoku disaster victims on this Sunday June 5 at What the Dickens in Ebisu.

Sunset Drive

 Doors open at 5 pm. Entrance fee is ¥1,000 featuring Auctions, raffles, prizes and more fun. Performing that night will be Sunset Drive, icon girl pistols, Ruby Room Orchestra, Natccu and DJ's TIMUTAKU, goldifoxx, Abe Takayuki. Sunset Drive is really starting to happen in Japan. Check them out here.  

Idiots in Government Waste Thousands of Dollars Buying Super-Hero Capes

Yesterday, I wrote a blog complaining how the clowns in the government in Japan wanted to raise sales tax - in the middle of some of the worst economic conditions and after the worst natural disaster in Japan's history. It was one of the few blog posts that I had written recently that readers completely agreed with. In Japan's Tax-At-All-Costs Political Class, I wrote:


As usual, when it comes to doing something about the economy, the government cannot admit its errors and try to strip them away. As is the case now, and has always been the case, the government of Japan's answer to financial problems is not to cut spending or to sell poorly valued and foolishly bought US government backed securities (that lose value every day), but the answer is, and always will be to spend and raise taxes.

STEVIE WONDER - YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHING

Well, here's a story from the USA that takes the cake. It's about how idiots in government are spending $75,000 in tax monies on a campaign to puts Super-hero capes on the unemployed. Residents of Central Florida can win cash prizes if they follow the unemployment office's Twitter or Facebook account.

Adventures of Unemployed Man? 

What's next? "Horror Stories of Homelessness Man?"

How's that for putting a dent in unemployment? They start a Social Network service and give out cash prizes like a lottery to winners.


How in the world is that going to help unemployment!?


From Raw Story:

The jobs agency plans to distribute the superhero capes to residents taking part in the agency's "Cape-A-Bility Challenge" by trying to vanquish "Dr. Evil Unemployment." 

From the Daily Bail: 

Before you do anything else watch this idiotic video that was financed completely by tax dollars...

• WFC Cape Video

WCF or Workforce Central Florida gets $24 million annually from federal taxpayers and accomplishes virtually nothing based on their own statistics.

Residents of central Florida can win a cape by becoming a Workforce Central Florida fan on Facebook, taking a Facebook quiz, having a photo taken with a foam cutout of Dr. Evil Unemployment, tweeting a job posting, or using LinkedIn to recommend someone using the word "super."

The boss of the unemployment campaign in question defended the campaign, saying it will spread the agency's message. The capes, she said, are a direct tie-in to the larger effort.

"Some people will wear them, and others will ask 'How do I get one?'" she said.

"Everyone," she said, "is a superhero in the fight against unemployment."

This is just one more example - in a long line of millions - trillions - that will never end that show how the government wastes money. Remember, whether it is idiocy like this, doing "something" about the economy or helping the poor or suffering, the government will always waste money and make the situation worse. History proves it.

Then on top of that, they take their cut of the monies for salaries and vacations all the while giving no bid contracts to their friends. I wonder if they had a fair bidding process for the job to manufacture $25,000 worth of Super-Hero capes?

I'll bet you a huge office full of glazed donuts for unemployed workers that they didn't.

"Everyone is a Superhero in the fight against unemployment?" Indeed....

Fantastic Post About How Government Works

My friend Mish Shedlock over at Sitka Pacific runs one of the best blogs in the entire world in my opinion. Today, he has an excellent piece about how the US congress works and I thought it was pretty spot on as to how the Japanese government works too! Hell, it is right on target as to how government's all over the world work.

This is hilarious!

Watch the video:

If you'd like to read more or help this underdog win his race against the entrenched big spending politico go to Mish's link here.

Read the rest of the blog here.