the BUFFALOg

Getting The Politics Out Of Health Care

One of the reasons we all support government-sponsored health care is that sound science will determine the favored treatments.

The Easterlin Paradox

Do higher incomes really make us happier? I know my answer.

The Seeds Of Stagflation Have Been Planted

Mark Perry asks the question,

Can this really be an inflationary environment with annual M2 money growth at close to the lowest level in 14 years, now at only 3.7% (data here)?

My reply in the comments:

It's always a challenge to figure out where the Fed's newly-printed money will enter the economy and cause its mischief. Usually, it's through easy lending practices which drive up borrowing -- but that isn't working.

No, this time, the Fed is monetizing big chunks of the federal deficit. It's lending to banks at near zero and the banks are turning around and buying Treasury bonds. The newly-created money is entering the economy through the government's spending.

It's what happened during LBJ's administration setting off the inflation of the '70's and it's somehow fitting that it will be Obama's spending that will cause the inflation of the late teens.

I mean, why do you think the Chinese are running for commodities as fast as they can?

Foreigners are buying less of our government debt than before: they have fewer dollars to spend because we're buying fewer of their goods and they also see the coming economic train wreck and are spreading their investments out into other areas. To prevent the government crisis that would result from failed bond auctions, the Fed is making sure to print enough dollars to make up for the shortfall and is "laundering" them through the banks.

The result is that the Federal government is spending hundreds of billions of made-up dollars. Dollars that no one gave value to through the production or sale of tangible goods. Dollars that are essentially counterfeit but which still have the full backing of Washington.

The Fed is counting on future economic growth to eventually "sop" them up, but that growth isn't coming any time soon. Obama's doing everything in his power to kill growth knowing full well that Bernanke will get blamed for the resulting mess.

Sweet.

On The Other Hand

The low dollar is helping exporters stage a manufacturing comeback.

…as the global economy has shown signs of a turnaround, investors have been spreading their risks and putting money into stocks and bonds around the world. That strategy has pushed the value of the dollar back down and has helped U. S. manufacturers compete with producers in Asia and Europe. The dollar rose 25 percent between April 2008 and March 2009 relative to a basket of other major currencies, then started its steady slide. The dollar’s value has rallied again during the past three weeks, but on Tuesday it still traded 12 percent below that March high.

The lingering weakness “helps the poor, beleaguered exporter whose goods are becoming more competitively priced in the global market,” said Cliff Waldman, an economist at the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI.

The greenback’s slide is part of the reason that U. S. exports were 12 percent higher in October than in April, and is a factor in the nation’s industrial output having risen steadily for five straight months.

The downside to this good news is that the dollar is low partly because of our Federal Reserve-induced near-zero interest rates -- no one particularly wants to invest here. That will result in less capital available for American businesses to expand. And, remember, capital growth is what causes economic growth -- not more shoppers at the mall.

On That 'Settled Science' Thing

Don't let 'em kid you. There is a lot of strong, solid evidence opposing the theory of man-made, CO2-based global warming.

Carbon dioxide concentration has been continually rising for nearly 100 years. It continues to rise, but carbon dioxide concentrations at present are near the lowest in geologic history.

Read the whole thing.

Religion Of Peace Alert

Did you know that...

Altogether, jihadists have carried out 14,578 fatal terrorist attacks since September 11.

They're documented here.

Via Powerlineblog

'Diarrhea Of Meddlesomeness'

On the congressional legislation to regulate the volume of TV commercials, Don Boudreaux writes.

But why stop there? What about inky fingers from reading newspapers? Now that’s annoying! Legislate against it. And how about all those full-page ads in newspapers that distract readers’ attention from important news? Another annoyance that Congress is duty-bound to banish from this great republic. Oh, and let’s not forget those many front-page newspaper reports that break off in mid-sentence before being continued somewhere around page 9, foisting upon readers the annoyance of having to turn several pages before resuming reading. Perhaps Congress can legislate against this bother.

Seriously, what’s truly annoying is Congress’s diarrhea of meddlesomeness.

I shall always picture Chuck Schumer when I think of that phrase.

'The Unorganized Militia'

They saved that flight.

What Became Of The Proletariat?

This bit of info about the "alleged" Delta bomber is interesting.

According to a report from the Nigerian newspaper This Day, Abdulmutallab's father took his concerns about his son's increasingly extremist religious views to the United States embassy and local authorities six months ago.

Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a former prominent bank official in Nigeria, is meeting with investigators about his son's alleged involvement in the bomb plot.

He's evidently yet one more terrorist who was raised in an upper middle class family. That's not to say, of course, that we should get rid of the middle class (though Obama's certainly doing his best), but that revolution seems to be no longer the province of the poor.

I realize that mixing Marxist bromides with Islamic terrorism is risky at best, but one tries hard to connect the dots.

[UPDATE: Mark Steyn:

The men eager to self-detonate on infidel airliners are not goatherds from the caves of Waziristan but educated middle-class Muslims who have had the most exposure to the western world and could be pulling down six-figure salaries almost anywhere on the planet. And don't look to "assimilation" to work its magic, either. We're witnessing a process of generational de-assimilation: In this family, yet again, the dad is an entirely assimilated member of the transnational elite. His son wants a global caliphate run on Wahhabist lines.

Partners In Crime

One Brit's unusual hobby.

Some people whip themselves for thrills... me, I watch Congressional votes - no doubt for similar mental reasons.

Anyway the vote was not quite how it would be in a Paul Marks doom-of-horror fantasy - no triumphant cries of "Death to America" and "Obama is the Living God" from the leftists (although Durbin and some others were no doubt thinking at least the first of these two things) as they waved copies of the Economist magazine. However, there were some noteworthy moments.

My favourite was when Senator K.K.K. Byrd shed tears during his vote saying it was for "his friend Ted Kennedy".

The late Senator Edward Kennedy is presently burning in Hell for the manslaughter of Mary Jo and other crimes (none of which he ever repented of - and repentance, contrary to Hollywood, must include openly admitting one's guilt and accepting punishment). But it is some seasonal comfort to me that Senator Byrd will be joining Senator Kennedy in Hell, reasonably soon.

Amen, brother.

More Home-Grown Jihad?

This time it's an attempt to blow up an airliner.

A Northwest Airlines passenger landing in Detroit on Friday tried to blow up the flight but the explosive device failed, two U.S. national security officials said.

The passenger, who was traveling on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam, was not identified. He was being questioned Friday evening, according to one of the officials, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

The motive of the Christmas Day attack was not immediately clear.

"He appears to have had some kind of incendiary device he tried to ignite," said one of the U.S. officials.

Authorities initially believed the passenger had set off firecrackers that caused some minor injuries.

The passenger is identified as one "Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates". Hm, Syed Jafri doesn't sound, pardon my profiling, like the name of your typical right-wing militia-member, does it. Little wonder his motive was not "immediately clear." The press hasn't had time yet to construct a narrative.

Watch this story drop down the news hole.

[UPDATE:] Whoa!

A male passenger on an international flight bound for Detroit Friday tried to blow up the plane with an explosive device in an incident that the White House is labeling an attempted act of terrorism.

Color me mistaken. This is the first incident in America since 9/11 -- if memory serves me -- that has immediately been identified as an act of terrorism. I still can't help but think that they'll walk that statement back. Yeah, cynical. I know.

'Arizona's Coming Government Collapse'

Janet Napolitano's legacy comes home to roost.

The Democrats' Nannying Knows No Ends

How ever in their frenzy to take over our health care, did the Dems find time for this?

A bill that would turn down the volume on loud television advertisements passed the House of Representatives Tuesday and has a sponsor in the Senate.

The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation - or CALM - Act, championed by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., passed by a voice vote.

"This problem has existed for more than 50 years, but no one has properly addressed it," Eshoo said. "Under the CALM Act, consumers will no longer have to dive for the mute button."

Irritated with loud commercials, the California Democrat found it was also a common complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. So she drafted a bill aimed at preventing TV ads from playing noticeably louder than the programs they sponsor.

Is no one down there capable of standing up and saying, enough already?

'Thrifty families accused of prolonging the recession'

The level of economic discourse has sunk so low that the media is left to parrot the most absurd theories.

Anxious families are repaying debts instead of spending in the shops, amid concern over the uncertain economic outlook. The share of income saved in banks and building societies has risen to its highest level in more than a decade, heightening fears that faltering consumer demand could prolong the recession.

According to the ignorant (which includes a fair number of trained economists), recessions are ended by consumers spending more. Of course, once they do, the same media will berate them for their mindless "consumerism".

The fact is that recessions end only when business begins to invest in more inventory or in equipment to make production more efficient and thus profitable. The money to fund that investment comes from the savings of individuals.

Samizdata via Instapundit

[UPDATE:] This meme that, though saving is good for individuals but bad for society is a curious one. One of the commenters at Samizdata expressed it well.

If there is a conflict between the interests of "society" and the interests of the individuals making up that society, you have either defined society, or its interests wrongly.

I wish someone would ask Paul Krugman about that.

'If You Like Your Health Plan, You Will NOT Be Able to Keep It'

It's in the bill.

This is what will finally sink this monstrosity. Now, Republicans alone will not be able to repeal the health care bill -- even if they have a stunning November. But, perhaps, by next year this time, the Democrats will be so worried about their futures that they may join in.

Christmas Dinner

Legislative turducken.

Are Liberals Naive About Government?

To watch the Left turn against President Obama's health care reform is to watch the shattering of an illusion. Liberals' high-minded plan for insuring all Americans has devolved into a congressional orgy of pork. It has produced a bailout for insurers and a generous subsidy for drug makers -- and both industries are backing this bill to the hilt.

Why wouldn't insurers support a bill that places a gun at the head of every American and shouts: "Write a check to an insurer, or we'll send you to jail!"

Indeed.

[UPDATE:] And the government "kabuki" will go on for months.

With the White House reportedly expecting the health care debate to go into February, it seems House Democrats aren’t going to roll over and play dead, as New York Rep. Louise Slaughter made clear.

Instead they plan to play, then roll over dead.

From Politico:

(Obama) has also been told that House Democratic leaders seem inclined, at least for now, to largely accept the compromise worked out in the Senate.
In other words, more Kabuki!

Good. The longer this mess drags out, the closer we get to elections. Come November, the Dems will be faced with millions of unemployed voters, health care "benefits" that won't kick in for a couple more years and their promise to end most of Bush's tax cuts.

Now, far be it from me to doubt the GOP's ability to "waste a crisis", but the political stars couldn't possibly be better-aligned.

Let The Health Care Bill Lawsuits Begin!

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has asked the state attorney general to sue the federal government if Nebraska receives extra Medicaid money in the final version of federal health care reform legislation.

In order to secure the support of Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson for the bill, Senate Democrats included a controversial provision that allows the federal government to pick up 100 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion in his state.

Rell, a Republican, says the inequity of that provision is "astonishing," and that Connecticut is traditionally reimbursed at a 50 percent rate for Medicaid expenses.

Medicaid is a government health care program, administered by states, for low-income people.

Rell says if Connecticut got the same deal as Nebraska, it could reap up to $262 million annually.

The trouble is only beginning.

Rome News-Tribune

UrbanSketchers.com

A pretty cool site -- nothing from Buffalo there yet, though.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Getting The Politics Out Of Health Care

The Easterlin Paradox

The Seeds Of Stagflation Have Been Planted

On The Other Hand

Saturday, December 26, 2009

On That 'Settled Science' Thing

Religion Of Peace Alert

'Diarrhea Of Meddlesomeness'

'The Unorganized Militia'

What Became Of The Proletariat?

Friday, December 25, 2009

Partners In Crime

More Home-Grown Jihad?

Thursday, December 24, 2009

'Arizona's Coming Government Collapse'

The Democrats' Nannying Knows No Ends

'Thrifty families accused of prolonging the recession'

'If You Like Your Health Plan, You Will NOT Be Able to Keep It'

Christmas Dinner

Are Liberals Naive About Government?

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Let The Health Care Bill Lawsuits Begin!

UrbanSketchers.com

the BUFFALOg Info

Topics on Buffalo, NY

Recent Posts

Buffalo Blogs and Websites of Interest

Books I Heartily Recommend

New York State Blogs

National & International Blogs

Nat'l & Int'l Links

Archives