Why Larry Kudlow Must Run

The prospect of CNBC analyst Larry Kudlow seeking the Republican and Conservative Party nominations to oppose Sen. Chuck Schumer has become a cause among Tea Party folks, Conservatives, Republicans and many on Wall Street. Not since James L. Buckley won a US Senate seat in 1970 have New York Conservatives been so excited about a statewide political race.

Pick Up the Mantle

I don’t know Kudlow well. We met several times during the Reagan years but it was at Buffalo Congressman Jack Kemp’s 2009 memorial service that I got reacquainted with the pro-growth enthusiast. Kudlow has been on on my STONEzone TEN BESTED DRESSED LISTtm since 2008. I admire him as an unabashed apostle of hope and optimism and opportunity on television and radio. His are the politics of Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp, who Kudlow calls his mentor.

It goes without saying that Chuck Schumer needs a vigorous challenger; he is perhaps the most odious, pushy, abrasive and self-absorbed jerk in Congress today. His pork-fests are legendary, and he narrowly escaped indictment for corruption as an Assemblyman before becoming the master of the “pay to play” game in Washington.

But Kudlow’s potential candidacy is about something even more important than sending Schumer packing.

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Tags: al d'amato, Barry Goldwater, Chuck Schumer, CNBC, Conservative Party
Posted Mar 1st 2010 at 6:14 am in Congress, Economics, History, Politics, State Politics, Tax Reform, Tea Party, federal spending | 8215081 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/rstone/2010/03/01/why-larry-kudlow-must-run/Why+Larry+Kudlow+Must+Run2010-03-01+14%3A14%3A27Roger+Stone

Keep the Cheap Jobs Here

Arianna once again has her panties in a bunch, and I’m the libertarian brave enough to reach in and fix them.

Yes, it’ll drive Huffington into spastic frenzy.  But, this is not a reason to subsidize the minimum wage.  David Shuster will tunnel ever deeper into his rabbit hole of despair.  Sadly, neither is this a reason to subsidize the minimum wage.

Unemployment is somewhere between 6.3-17.3%, and that is why we need to allow small businesses to pay employees a couple bucks an hour and have unemployment make up the difference.

Don’t jump to conclusions here, please read my plan through.  This isn’t an off-the-wall proposal.  Republicans can reach across the aisle to Obama with an idea Paul Krugman himself supports.  Presenting this as a “no-cost jobs bill” and “free stimulus” is exactly the kind of reform judo conservatives need.

Overall, as Cato points out 6.3% – 17.3% of America is unemployed depending on your definition of unemployment.  In December 2009:

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Tags: Arianna Huffington, Barack Obama, bob herbert, deficit spending, economic growth
Posted Feb 11th 2010 at 9:07 am in Economics, News, Politics | 68830100 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mwarstler/2010/02/11/keep-the-cheap-jobs-here/Keep+the+Cheap+Jobs+Here2010-02-11+17%3A07%3A21Morgan+Warstler

America’s New Year’s Unemployment Hangover

One cannot drink oneself into sobriety. Yet that is precisely what Congressional Democrats and the Obama Administration have attempted with our economy for the past year with predictable and painful results.

Unemployment continues to stand at an official 10% for the third month in a row, the worst joblessness in 27 years.  The real unemployment rate is far worse.  Included in the December economic figures was a shocker – the percentage of adult men who are working has fallen to the lowest level in recorded U.S. history at just 80%.  That means that one in five men in this country between 18 and 54 are neither working nor claiming unemployment.  They have fallen completely out of the workforce.

That helps explain why December’s unemployment rate remained at November’s 10% rate in spite of an additional 85,000 Americans losing their jobs.  At the same time the new jobless claims were added, many of the previously unemployed were simply removed from the workforce numbers altogether.

Economists estimate our true jobless rate as high as 17%, and that could grow in coming months as more Americans exhaust their unemployment benefits and lose homes to foreclosure.

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Tags: bailout, Barack Obama, cap-and-trade, congressional democrats, deficit spending
Posted Jan 13th 2010 at 1:59 pm in Congress, Obama, federal spending | 5936280 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/jcarter/2010/01/13/americas-new-years-unemployment-hangover/America%E2%80%99s+New+Year%27s+Unemployment+Hangover2010-01-13+21%3A59%3A12Rep.+John+Carter+%28R-TX%29

Hey Republicans, Adopt the AFL-CIO’s 2004 Message: Show Us the Jobs

I distinctly remember the placards in the windows of the union hall in my union-stronghold Michigan city: “Show Us the Jobs.”  It was a thinly-veiled campaign against the Bush administration for what the AFL-CIO saw as a failure to create jobs.

The economy in 2009 and 2010 was and is far worse than it ever was in 2004.  The unemployment rate in 2004 was 5.5%.  Today, it’s 10%.  If Obama could get the unemployment rate somewhere in the middle, the Nobel Committee would likely send him the prize for economics.

Saul Alinsky’s Fourth Rule for Radicals is, “Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.”  So, in true Alinsky fashion, why not turn the left’s campaign against them?  Republicans: adopt the “Show Us the Jobs” campaign.  After all, the AFL-CIO’s bus tour to swing states didn’t begin until March of that year.

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Tags: AFL-CIO, Barack Obama, economic growth, job loss, labor unions
Posted Jan 8th 2010 at 12:32 pm in Big Labor, Economics, News, Obama, Politics | 5737078 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2010/01/08/hey-republicans-adopt-the-afl-cios-2004-message-show-us-the-jobs/Hey+Republicans%2C+Adopt+the+AFL-CIO%E2%80%99s+2004+Message%3A+Show+Us+the+Jobs2010-01-08+20%3A32%3A01Kyle+Olson

Be Happy!: Why This Is the Best Holiday Season Ever.

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We’re going through some tough economic times right now, but this holiday season, take a moment to appreciate how good we really have it.

Need proof? Just think about how much Christmas presents sucked in the 1970s compared to today.

Thanks to our market-based system, we’re wealthier, we have more choices, and we enjoy more leisure time than ever before.

From all of us at Reason.tv, happy holidays!

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Tags: christmas, consumer goods, economic growth, economic recession, Free Markets
Posted Dec 18th 2009 at 2:53 pm in Culture, Economics, History | 4922622 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ngillespie/2009/12/18/be-happy-why-this-is-the-best-holiday-season-ever/Be+Happy%21%3A+Why+This+Is+the+Best+Holiday+Season+Ever.2009-12-18+22%3A53%3A36Nick+Gillespie

Let’s Be Frank, Mr. Vice President: The Stimulus Failed

Today, the State of Georgia welcomes Vice President Joe Biden for an update on the administration’s so-called stimulus bill. With national unemployment sitting today at 10%, and worse in Georgia, the White House’s credibility on stimulus success is dubious at best. Yet as proper manners would dictate, we owe the Vice President an opportunity to make his case.

President Obama tapped Mr. Biden to oversee the stimulus program because, as he put it, “nobody messes with Joe.”  While that may be so, as the Vice President has been traveling around the nation touting the various spending priorities of the stimulus bill, their alleged benefits have yet to materialize into jobs.  So if the Vice President is visiting to have us believe expanding broadband is how jobs are created or that we can “weatherize” our way back to prosperity, it may be Joe who is messing with Georgia.

It’s actually quite telling that the Vice President is visiting us to discuss the stimulus package on the same day that President Obama is setting off for Copenhagen to promote a job-killing National Energy Tax as a means to combat global warming. Because what was evident in the stimulus package, and has been reinforced through subsequent actions, is that this administration places a higher premium on its social goals than on putting people back to work.

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Tags: Al Gore, bailouts, economic growth, federal budget deficit, federal debt ceiling
Posted Dec 17th 2009 at 5:29 am in Congress, Economics, Featured Story, Obama | 4789852 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tprice/2009/12/17/lets-be-frank-mr-vice-president-the-stimulus-hasnt-worked/Let%27s+Be+Frank%2C+Mr.+Vice+President%3A+The+Stimulus+Failed2009-12-17+13%3A29%3A11Rep.+Tom+Price+%28R-GA%29

OMB’s Orzag Was Against Deficits Before He Was For Them

Just came across some rather grim analysis of the economic impact of massive, ongoing federal budget deficits from a group of prominent economists. It’s a little dated (2004) but still highly relevant considering that the deficit situation has dramatically worsened since then. Some highlights:

Substantial ongoing deficits may severely and adversely affect expectations and confidence, which in turn can generate a self-reinforcing negative cycle among the underlying fiscal deficit, financial markets, and the real economy:

• As traders, investors, and creditors become increasingly concerned that the government would resort to high inflation to reduce the real value of government debt or that a fiscal deadlock with unpredictable consequences would arise, investor confidence may be severely undermined;
• The fiscal and current account imbalances may also cause a loss of confidence among participants in foreign exchange markets and in international credit markets, as participants in those markets become alarmed not only by the ongoing budget deficits but also by related large current account deficits;
• The loss of investor and creditor confidence, both at home and abroad, may cause investors and creditors to reallocate funds away from dollar-based investments, causing a depreciation of the exchange rate, and to demand sharply higher interest rates on U.S. government debt;

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Tags: Allen Sinai, Brookings Institution, budget, Cato Institute, Deficit
Posted Dec 11th 2009 at 11:29 am in Congress, Economics, News, Politics | 4462612 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mrichmond/2009/12/11/ombs-orzag-was-against-deficits-before-he-was-for-them/OMB%27s+Orzag+Was+Against+Deficits+Before+He+Was+For+Them2009-12-11+19%3A29%3A21Morgen++Richmond

NY Times’ Paul Krugman Calls for ‘Government Jobs’ Jobs Plan; Cites Union-Funded Study

Undeterred by stubbornly high unemployment rates, and a stimulus plan that has fallen flat, talk of a second stimulus package is growing louder.  But to shed the unsuccessful “stimulus” moniker, Democrats and government labor unions have adopted a “jobs plan.”

Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist who’s never seen a government expenditure he didn’t like, Sunday  pointed to a “study” by the Economic Policy Institute, which alleges spending $40 billion over 3 years could create about a million “public-service” jobs.

In other words, Krugman and EPI would see fit to simply create government jobs, instead of trying to help the private sector.  That makes sense, given who supports EPI.

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Tags: Andy Stern, economic growth, Economic Policy Institute, economic recession, EcPI
Posted Dec 7th 2009 at 7:33 am in Big Labor, Economics, News, Politics | 4181466 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2009/12/07/ny-times-paul-krugman-calls-for-government-jobs-jobs-plan-cites-union-funded-study/NY+Times%27+Paul+Krugman+Calls+for+%27Government+Jobs%27+Jobs+Plan%3B+Cites+Union-Funded+Study2009-12-07+14%3A33%3A27Kyle+Olson

Economic Growth, Part III: When All Else Fails, Try Freedom

We’ve learned that Keynesianism does not make sense and that Obama’s so-called stimulus was misguided. In the final installment of this three-part series, let’s discuss the policies that actually would improve economic performance. As this video explains, both Economic Freedom of the World and the Index of Economic Freedom identify sound money, rule of law, property rights, small government, low tax rates, open markets, and laissez faire as the key conditions for prosperity.

The simple summary of the video is that economic liberalization and small government boost economic performance, not “jobs programs” or “stimulus packages.” But things are never as simple as they seem. Many Republicans, for instance, act as if any economic problem can be solved by cutting taxes. That’s a laundable instinct, to be sure, but fiscal policy only accounts for 20 percent of a nation’s economic performance and it is unreasonable to assume good tax policy can solve the problems caused by bad monetary policy or foolish regulatory interventions. Moreover, there is a big difference between good (supply-side) tax cuts that increase incentives for productive behavior and useless gimmicks such as tax credits and tax holidays. If Republicans want to rebuild their credibility on economic issues, they need to apologize for the reckless statism of the Bush years and rededicate themselves to shrinking the size and scope of the federal government.

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Tags: economic growth, Economics, Free Markets, freedom, Markets
Posted Dec 7th 2009 at 7:03 am in Congress, Economics, News, Obama, Politics, Tax Reform | 419028 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/dmitchell/2009/12/07/economic-growth-part-iii-when-all-else-fails-try-freedom/Economic+Growth%2C+Part+III%3A+When+All+Else+Fails%2C+Try+Freedom2009-12-07+14%3A03%3A38Dan+Mitchell

Government Force or Market Forces? – What’s Better for the Job Market . . .

By all accounts, future job growth is going to be sluggish at best and we can expect double digit unemployment at least through next year.  The Democrats’ response is a $300 billion jobs program.  Many Republicans would rather rely on the private sector to fuel the recovery and job growth.  So what’s better, Government Force or Market Forces?

The use of the phrase Government Force is based on the nature of government programs.  The vast majority of the people would prefer to pay little or no taxes.  They are literally forced by government to pay those taxes.  As it relates to a jobs bill, the Democrats will tax one set of people or businesses (taxpayers) and/or borrow money (a delayed tax) and then transfer a portion of those collected/borrowed funds to other people or businesses.  In that manner, the Democrats believe they have created a job – or in today’s vernacular, saved a job.  But have they?

In the process of taxing some and transferring to others, the government force has taken money away from a business/taxpayer in California and perhaps given it to someone in Alabama.  That means the business in California cannot hire someone (or save a job) with the money transferred to Alabama – a type of zero sum game.  Actually, it is worse than a zero sum game because government always manages to waste money in the transfer and so Alabama is never helped so much as California is hurt.

Put another way, in an effort to fill Alabama’s bucket, the government forces the emptying of California’s bucket through tax and spend transfers.  Perhaps that is why Churchill famously said “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

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Tags: bush tax cuts, california economy, cap-and-trade, consumer demand, economic growth
Posted Dec 4th 2009 at 12:43 pm in Congress, Economics, News, Politics | 4061416 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tdelbeccaro/2009/12/04/government-force-or-market-forces-whats-better-for-the-job-market/Government+Force+or+Market+Forces%3F+-+What%E2%80%99s+Better+for+the+Job+Market+.+.+.2009-12-04+19%3A43%3A44Thomas+Del+Beccaro

California’s Revenue Problem – Educators Should Demand Economic Growth Not Tax Increases

In what is becoming a perennial affair, the California budget deficit is projected to be over $21 billion in the coming year – including a $6 billion hangover from this year.  With the same degree of regularity, in pursuit of stable education funding (a good idea), educators in California are calling for tax rate increases (a bad idea) and blaming Republican legislators for blocking those increases (an unproductive idea).   Rather than call for more tax rate increases – one of the causes of our current problems –educators should call for policies that will increase private sector jobs so we have more people paying taxes – not less.

At first blush, it may be hard to believe that we have another deficit.  After all, in 2008, expenditures were far in excess of $100 billion.   Expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year were just over $90 billion.  With all that cutting, shouldn’t we have a balanced budget?  The answer is no – because budgets are a two-part equation: deficit/surplus = spending – revenues.  In California’s case, revenues have plummeted faster than expenditures – and continue to do so at a perilous rate.  Worse yet, California’s Legislative Analysts Office projects huge deficits for years to come.

Nevertheless, Democrats and many educators are calling for ever more tax rate increases in a dangerous game of economic roulette with California jobs.  Keep in mind that California already has the 6^th highest tax rate in the Country.  Why not shoot for number #1?  Three reasons:

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Tags: business costs, California, california budget deficit, california budget stalemate, cost of doing business
Posted Dec 3rd 2009 at 12:26 pm in Economics, Politics, State Politics | 4034236 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tdelbeccaro/2009/12/03/californias-revenue-problem-educators-should-demand-private-sector-job-increases-not-tax-increases/California%E2%80%99s+Revenue+Problem+-+Educators+Should+Demand+Economic+Growth+Not+Tax+Increases2009-12-03+19%3A26%3A35Thomas+Del+Beccaro

Obama Job Summit: Another Manufacturer Opts Out of U.S.A.

On November 11, David N. Farr, Chairman, CEO and President of Emerson Electric Co., announced at the Baird 2009 Industrial Conference in Chicago that President Obama has succeeded in chasing his multi-billion dollar industry right out of the U.S.A. Why? Onerous regulation, high taxes, and the over $1 trillion Obama debt should be reason enough for any business to consider shutting down U.S. facilities and seeking greener pastures overseas says Farr.

The federal government is “doing everything in [its] manpower [and] capability to destroy U.S. manufacturing,” says David Farr, chairman and CEO of Emerson Electric Co., in a presentation at the Baird 2009 Industrial Conference in Chicago Ill., on Nov. 11. In comments reported by Bloomberg, Farr added that companies will continue adding jobs in China and India because they are “places where people want the products and where the governments welcome you to actually do something. I am not going to hire anybody in the United States. I’m moving. They are doing everything possible to destroy jobs.”

During his slide show on the state of Emerson’s business, Farr noted that the “unprecedented job loss experienced in this recession will result in a much slower U.S. recovery” and the federal government is making matters worse. The slide reports that the job loss this time is by many magnitudes worse than previous recessions. Noted are job losses from several recessions: 1980 with 1 million jobs lost; 1982 with 2.8 million; 1990 with 1.5 million; 2001 with 2.7 million. Finally Farr notes that we’ve seen a whopping 7.3 million jobs lost thus far (and climbing) in this 2008-2009-2010 recession.

And the culprit? Obama’s government interference. Farr’s presentation noted the following:

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Tags: cap-and-tax, cap-and-trade, economic growth, emerson electric, federal debt
Posted Dec 3rd 2009 at 9:31 am in Economics, Obama | 34562131 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/wthuston/2009/12/03/obama-job-summit-another-manufacturer-opts-out-of-u-s-a/Obama+Job+Summit%3A+Another+Manufacturer+Opts+Out+of+U.S.A.2009-12-03+16%3A31%3A47Warner+Todd++Huston

And The Prize for the Worst Economist Goes To …

Well, it’s hard to choose these days. The resurgence of Keynesian economics shows how fragile and insecure economists are in general. They are, of course, important exceptions. But while I have a special dark place in my economist heart for the New York Times‘ columnist Paul Krugman, I think today the prize should to economist Mark Zandi, of Moody’s Economy.com.

Zandi is constantly quoted in the media as the go-to-person on what do for the economy to recover. For instance, how many stories have we read in the Washington Post saying “nearly all economists support the stimulus,” with for only evidence a Zandi quote. Many. Who cares that Zandi’s model shows that the stimulus is working because the answer is built into the equations of Keynesian models. Here is a job for an economist: Take apart and demolish these reality-defying macro models once and for all.

The media loves him and as a result there are countless quotes of him out there about how we need more government intervention into the economy to jump start the economy, how passing the $800 billion stimulus bill would create jobs, how more spending programs are yet still needed.

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Tags: consumer demand, consumer expenditures, deficit spending, economic growth, federal deficits
Posted Dec 2nd 2009 at 10:55 am in Economics, News, Politics | 3985031 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/vderugy/2009/12/02/and-the-prize-for-the-worse-economist-goes-to/And+The+Prize+for+the+Worst+Economist+Goes+To+...2009-12-02+17%3A55%3A45Veronique++de+Rugy

China Schools Obama on Free Market Capitalism

It’s okay for the Chinese to lecture President Obama on free market capitalism because he clearly doesn’t understand even the most basic principles of capitalism  and needs all the help he can get.  What’s not okay is for the Chinese to lecture the American people.  Here’s what I think:

Americans understand that prosperity, true prosperity, is created by an economic system where strong dynamic firms with better ideas, management and motivated employees  are free to prosper and the weak are allowed to fail.  This kind of Darwinian economic system has allowed our country to prosper for over 200 years.

Americans also understand that the federal government doesn’t really create jobs that lead to economic growth because Americans know that any job the government creates  can only be paid for by increasing taxes or by borrowing money–probably from the Chinese.  Nor is there any need to remind Americans that small businesses are the engine that move our economy, and that small businesses create 3 out of every 4 jobs in this country.

On the other hand, there is an urgent need to help President Obama learn the basic principles of a free enterprise system and how jobs are actually created in a market economy, for he is plunging headlong in the opposite direction.

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Tags: Barack Obama, China, economic growth, free enterprise, free market capitalism
Posted Nov 17th 2009 at 11:57 am in Economics, News, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized | 3230271 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ldoan/2009/11/17/china-schools-obama-on-free-market-capitalism/China+Schools+Obama+on++Free+Market+Capitalism2009-11-17+18%3A57%3A33Lurita+Doan

New Daily Podcast Feature: Coffee and Markets

Welcome to Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca. Today we’d like to welcome first-time listeners at our new sponsor, BigGovernment.com.

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Tags: economic growth, Economy, employer coverage, health care reform, health care taxes
Posted Nov 13th 2009 at 2:04 pm in Economics, Healthcare, Obama | 3061411 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/newledger/2009/11/13/new-daily-podcast-feature-coffee-and-markets/New+Daily+Podcast+Feature%3A+Coffee+and+Markets2009-11-13+21%3A04%3A24The+New+Ledger