Williams: The Worry Over Trade Deficits

Walter Williams

From Townhall.com - At the recent Group of 20 (G 20) meeting, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner called upon the largest industrialized economies to get their current account balance -- whether a surplus or a deficit -- below 4 percent of their gross domestic product by 2015. Four countries have current account surpluses exceeding 4 percent: Saudi Arabia (6.7 percent), Germany (6.1 percent), China (4.7 percent) and Russia (4.7 percent.) Countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia that are "structurally large exporters of raw materials" would be exempt from the 4 percent limit, so the pressure of the U.S. proposal falls mainly on China and Germany. Our annual trade deficit of $500 billion is less than 4 percent of our GDP. Read here:

Williams: The Worry Over Trade Deficits

Jackson: Do You Hear What I Hear?

Harry Jackson Jr.

From Towhall.com - Last week’s election results were historic. John Boehner’s teary-eyed victory speech was very appropriate because he had just observed a modern day miracle. Boehner lives in the world of political reality. He is not a wimp. He is rough and tumble, professional politician. Nonetheless, his heart was moved by the surprising change in the nation’s political cycle. The 60 seat congressional swing in favor of the GOP, along with 17 state legislatures changing from Democratic to Republican, has definitely been a loud statement of displeasure by the American people. Just as surely as the nation voted to give President Obama a chance to bring change in 2008, the midterm vote clearly repudiated both the priorities and tactics of the administration. Read here:

Jackson: Do You Hear What I Hear?

Richardson has words of advice for governor-elect at their first meeting

From the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - Republican Gov.-elect Susana Martinez huddled privately Tuesday with the man she will replace, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, who she described as "gracious" during their first post-election meeting. Martinez said it was "sobering" to be in the Capitol for the first time since voters selected her to run the state. She takes office Jan. 1 and will immediately face serious challenges, such as a projected $260 million budget shortfall. "The first thing we have to do is balance the budget," Martinez said at a news conference after the meeting. Her transition team has received documents from the Richardson administration on the state's work force, and Martinez said they plan to review the material to determine current salaries and what positions are vacant, and to identify political appointees by Richardson who have moved into civil-service classified jobs. She said no decision has been made on whether she will make a blanket request for the resignations of appointed state workers under the governor's control — something Richardson and former Republican Gov. Gary Johnson did when they prepared to enter office. Read more

Richardson has words of advice for governor-elect at their first meeting

Gary Johnson brings libertarian message to Texas

From the New Mexico Independent - by Mary Tuma - “The voice of the Republican party is up for grabs,” former two-term New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson told an audience in Austin Sunday. “It’s a contest right now.” Described as the ‘next Ron Paul,’ the potential 2012 presidential candidate appears to be cultivating that voice during his visits to more than 30 states since December. Johnson’s trip to Texas coincides with a national book tour by newly re-elected Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose own White House ambitions are the subject of speculation among the national media. Hosted by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas, Johnson stopped in Austin Sunday to talk about his dissatisfaction with excessive federal spending, health care and immigration policy, while advocating for the decriminalization of marijuana among a crowd of Libertarians, tea partiers and conservative Republicans disenchanted with the current GOP. He heads next to Houston and Dallas during his Texas trip. Johnson’s tour is meant to spread the message of his nonprofit organization, the OUR America Initiative, a national advocacy committee focused on issues like lowering the federal deficit and combating the War on Drugs. Johnson said his nonprofit affiliation stops him from giving a direct answer to his presidential aspirations, but fielded hypothetical questions — with the ease and preparedness of a 2012 hopeful — about what direction he would take federal policy if elected president. Read more

Gary Johnson brings libertarian message to Texas

Proposal aims to ease taxes for new ABQ businesses

From KOB-TV.com - By: Jeff Maher, KOB Eyewitness News 4; Taryn Bianchin, KOB.com -Vacant business spaces are everywhere across Albuquerque; some store fronts have been that way for years. One reason why new businesses aren’t moving in is because the tenants would be forced to pay impact fees—a tax charged by the city —but soon, that could be changing. At So Good Nutrition, downtown on 6th and Central Avenue, the Amador brothers are blending together creativity, aspiration and a dash of risk, in hopes of creating just the right mix to succeed in a post-recession era. “This was our dream,” says business co-owner Aaron Amador. “To be in control of our own business, our own future, financial situation.” City Councilors Dan Lewis and Ken Sanchez have introduced a proposal to eliminate impact fees for businesses that want to set up shop in existing vacant buildings. Lewis says he has seen examples of new businesses paying impact fees even though the fees were already paid for by the previous owner. “A fitness club that moved into the West Side—a business that had been sitting vacant for five years under the existing structure—paid $70 thousand in impact fees on a building that already paid its permits,” notes Lewis. Read more

Proposal aims to ease taxes for new ABQ businesses

Barack Obama: We Must Embrace Globalism And The Emerging One World Economy

From the Blog Economic Collapse - Although it received very little coverage in the mainstream media, Barack Obama made some comments about globalism during his speech in Mumbai, India that were very eye-opening. As he was discussing the new realities of world trade in 2010, Obama warned against "those who see globalization as a threat" and he spoke of the "integrated world" in which we all now live. But is merging the entire globe into a one world economy, a one world financial system and a one world labor market really the best thing for the American people? For the past two decades, all U.S. presidents have been heralding the benefits of merging the American economy with the rest of the globe. George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all steadfastly supported the emerging one world economy. These presidents have each used different terms to describe this process such as "globalism", "globalization", "an integrated world", "the global economy" and even "a New World Order", but they have all meant the same thing. All of these presidents have sought to integrate the United States even more deeply into the developing one world economic system. Barack Obama showed very clearly how he feels about globalism when he made the following statement during his speech in Mumbai....

"This will keep America on its toes. America is going to have to compete. There is going to be a tug-of-war within the US between those who see globalization as a threat and those who accept we live in a open integrated world, which has challenges and opportunities."

This is something that Barack Obama has obviously thought quite a bit about. In fact, during the same speech he warned that those supporting globalization will need to "guard against" those who would seek to put up barriers to the full integration of the economies of the world....

"If the American people feel that trade is just a one-way street where everybody is selling to the enormous US market but we can never sell what we make anywhere else, then the people of the US will start thinking that this is a bad deal for us and it could end up leading to a more protectionist instinct in both parties, not just among Democrats but also Republicans. So, that we have to guard against."

But in this new "global economy", aren't jobs leaving the United States and heading to developing nations at a blinding pace? Of course, but apparently we are just supposed to shut up and accept this new reality. In fact, Obama says that persistently high unemployment is "a new normal" that we are all just going to have to get used to. Virtually all of the proponents of globalism understand that the process of merging the United States into a one world economy will be at least somewhat painful for the American people. Our wages are going to have to go down and our standards of living are going to have to fall, according to them. Read more

Barack Obama: We Must Embrace Globalism And The Emerging One World Economy

How Do California and the Titanic Differ?

Commentary by Dennis Prager - OK, riddle fans, here's a toughie: What's the difference between California voters and the passengers on the Titanic? The passengers on the Titanic didn't vote to hit the iceberg. Most Americans understand that California is sinking. What is almost incredible is that it has voted to sink. On Election Day, 2010 Californians voted Democrats into every statewide position (one is still undecided). This is the party that singlehandedly has brought one of the world's greatest economies to near ruin. There may well be historical parallels to what Californians did -- but I cannot think of any. A listener called my radio show two days after the elections to tell me that his business is booming -- thanks to Californians. His occupation? He's a real estate agent in Phoenix, Ariz. The middle class has begun to leave California. It is, of course, impossible for most members of such a large group to leave a state; few people leave their family, their friends, their job and their home except under the most dramatic circumstances. But this fact makes all the more noteworthy the exodus from California that has been taking place. Read more

How Do California and the Titanic Differ?

Sowell Column: Political Judges

Column by Thomas Sowell - Results of the recent elections showed that growing numbers of Americans are fed up with "public servants" who act as if they are public masters. This went beyond the usual objections to particular policies. It was the fact that policies were crammed down our throats, whether we liked them or not. In fact, laws were passed so fast that nobody had time to read them.
Whether these policies were good, bad or indifferent, the way they were imposed represented a more fundamental threat to the very principles of a self-governing people established by the Constitution of the United States. Arrogant politicians who do this are dismantling the Constitution piecemeal-- which is to say, they are dismantling America. The voters struck back, as they had to, if we are to keep the freedoms that define this country. The Constitution cannot protect us unless we protect the Constitution, by getting rid of those who circumvent it or disregard it. The same thing applies to judges. The runaway arrogance that politicians get when they have huge majorities in Congress is a more or less common arrogance among federal judges with lifetime tenure or state judges who are seldom defeated in elections to confirm their appointments to the bench. It was a surprise to many-- and a shock to media liberals-- when three judges on Iowa's Supreme Court were voted off that court in the same recent elections in which a lot of politicians were also sent packing. These judges had taken it upon themselves to rule that the voters of Iowa did not have the right to block attempts to change the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples. Here again, the particular issue-- so-called "gay marriage"-- was not as fundamental as the question of depriving the voting public of their right to decide what kinds of laws they want to live under. If they are going to act like politicians, then they should be voted out like politicians. Read more

Sowell Column: Political Judges

The Grey-Haired Brigade

From ResistNet.com - author unknown - posted by Debrah Levy - They like to refer to us as senior citizens, old fogies, geezers, and in some cases dinosaurs. Some of us are "baby boomer" getting ready to retire. Others have been retired for some time. We walk a little slower these days and our eyes and hearing are not what they once were. We have worked hard, raised our children,worshiped our God, and grown old together. Yes, we are the ones some refer to as being over the hill and that is probably true.We are not inclined to brag but these are just the facts! So before writing us off, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration. Read more

The Grey-Haired Brigade

Armed Security Guards At All 36 Unemployment Offices In Indiana State: Why Is This Happening?

From Daily Markets.com - Did you ever think that things in America would get so bad that we would need to put armed guards into our unemployment offices? Well, that is exactly what is happening in Indiana. Armed security guards will now be posted at all 36 full-service unemployment offices in the state of Indiana. So why is this happening now? Well, Indiana Department of Workforce Development spokesman Marc Lotter says that the agency is bringing in the extra security in anticipation of an upcoming deadline when thousands upon thousands of Indiana residents could have their unemployment benefits cut off. But it is not just the state of Indiana that could have a problem. In fact, one recent study found that approximately 2 million Americans will lose their unemployment insurance benefits during this upcoming holiday season unless Congress authorizes another emergency extension of benefits by the end of November. At this point, however, that is looking less and less likely.So perhaps all the states will have to start putting armed security guards in their unemployment offices. The truth is that frustration among unemployed Americans is growing by the day.Could we soon see economic riots similar to what we have seen in Greece and France?Let’s hope not. Read more

Armed Security Guards At All 36 Unemployment Offices In Indiana State: Why Is This Happening?