Obama vs. the Banks | Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr. | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obama vs. the Banks | Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr. | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Wall Street fat cats are always a convenient political target, but bankers are responding to the incentives generated by the economic policies of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. First and foremost is the Fed's policy of near-zero interest rates.

What this means is that banks can raise short-term money at very low interest rates and buy safe, 10-year Treasury bonds at around 3.5%. The Bernanke Fed has promised to maintain its policy for 'an extended period.' That translates into an extended opportunity for banks to engage in this interest-rate arbitrage.

Why would a banker take on traditional loans, which even in good times come with some risk of loss?"

Leave Lieberman Alone | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary

Leave Lieberman Alone | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary: "In reality, John Brodniak's situation has nothing to do with Sen. Lieberman's objection to a government-run 'public option.' Mr. Brodniak already has a public option — namely, Medicaid. His real problem, Kristof reveals, is that 'he hasn't been able to find a doctor who will accept him as a patient for surgery, apparently because the [Medicaid] reimbursements are so low.' Brain surgeons are scarce, and you get what you pay for. Medicaid won't pay, so John won't get one.

Ironically, Congressional Democrats plan to shove at least another 13 million more victims into Medicaid — the same dangerous scheme that threatens John Brodniak's life."

"The CBO prediction of government-run plan beset with high premiums, a thin list of providers and few customers makes good economic sense. But that also makes it politically unlikely to be the final outcome. Such a failed experiment would be so embarrassing for its architects (Congressional Democrats) that they would surely rush to provide endless and escalating 'emergency' subsidies to disguise the blunder."

Five Health Reform Whoppers | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Five Health Reform Whoppers | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The White House Council of Economic Advisers just released a report arguing that the reforms before Congress would reduce the growth in health costs, cut the federal budget deficits and produce thousands of dollars in benefits for the average family. The problem is that just a few days earlier a report from the president's own chief health care actuary concluded that the bill the Senate is considering would actually increase U.S. health spending by $234 billion over the next 10 years and hurt seniors' access to care.

But then, reformers have generally had trouble telling fact from fiction. Among the biggest whoppers ..."

Congressman Ron Kind : On the Road - Blog : Too Big to Fail a Thing of the Past: December 14, 2009

Congressman Ron Kind : On the Road - Blog : Too Big to Fail a Thing of the Past: December 14, 2009: "No longer will there be institutions deemed too big to fail."

This would be funny if he didn't think it was true.

Making Criminals out of All Americans | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Making Criminals out of All Americans | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "There are now more than 4,000 federal crimes, spread out through some 27,000 pages of the U.S. Code. Some years ago, analysts at the Congressional Research Service tried to count the number of separate offenses on the books, and gave up, lacking the resources to get the job done. If teams of legal researchers can't make sense of the federal criminal code, obviously, ordinary citizens don't stand a chance.

You can serve federal time for interstate transport of water hyacinths, trafficking in unlicensed dentures, or misappropriating the likeness of Woodsy Owl and his associated slogan, 'Give a hoot, don't pollute.' ('What are you in for, kid?' your new cellmate growls.) Bills currently before Congress would send Americans to federal prison for eating horsemeat or selling goods falsely labeled as 'Native American.'"

"And a federal criminal code that covers everything delegates to prosecutors and the police the power to pick their targets at will, leaving everyone at risk."

A Climate Summit That Matters Little | Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Climate Summit That Matters Little | Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar | Cato Institute: Commentary: "International law allows sovereign governments to scrap any prior treaty.

In the Kyoto treaty on climate change, 37 rich countries pledged to reduce their carbon emissions to 5% below their 1990 level. But most actually increased their emissions. These very treaty-breakers now propose another treaty!

The US signed an anti-ballistic missile treaty with the USSR during the Cold War. But subsequently the US scrapped the treaty, with impunity. The Maastricht Treaty, setting up the European Union, mandated a fiscal deficit ceiling of 3% of GDP for member states. But several members, including Germany and France, have been running deficits far higher than this, with impunity. When political and economic conditions change, treaties hardly matter."

"While governments can try to promote technological change, they cannot guarantee it. After the 1973 oil crisis, the OECD countries spent billions to develop alternate fuels (synthetic crude, shale oil). They also financed projects for solar, wind, wave and ocean thermal energy. None of these technologies proved cost-effective.

Meanwhile, thousands of innovations by individual companies reduced the energy-intensity of every conceivable appliance and practice. This halved the energy-intensity of GDP in the US and reduced its oil imports, breaking the power of OPEC in 1986. This was a typical technological surprise, not the result of governmental planning."

Saturday, January 16, 2010...Roberts Park Building -- Benefit to help the Anderson Family

Kathy (Burton) Anderson’s husband Joe, age 34, was killed tragically in a single vehicle car accident on September 25, 2009. Joe & Kathy had five children together ranging in age between 2 and 11. In an attempt to try to help Kathy and the children during this difficult transition we have planned a benefit that will be held on Saturday, January 16, 2010 at the Roberts Park Building in Roberts, WI from 1:00 – 9:00 PM.

The Joe Anderson Memorial Benefit will include many opportunities for fun and entertainment, as well as the opportunity to win a $3000 concrete patio that was donated by Concrete Arts. Here is a list of the day’s activities:

1-3 Kids Carnival
1-7 Staggered Silent Auctions
1-7 Live Entertainment provided by Damscus 180*
3-7 Spaghetti Dinner
7-8 Live Auction
8:30 Final Raffle will be held

We would love to have you join us for the event! If you would like any information, would like to help with the benefit, or would like to make a donation for the live or silent auction please call Lisa Hawkins at 715.796.2525.

FOXNews.com - 30 Years of Global Cooling Are Coming, Leading Scientist Says

FOXNews.com - 30 Years of Global Cooling Are Coming, Leading Scientist Says: "Oranges are freezing and millions of tropical fish are dying in Florida, and it could be just the beginning of a decades-long deep freeze, says Professor Mojib Latif, one of the world's leading climate modelers.

Latif thinks the cold snap Americans have been suffering through is only the beginning. He says we're in for 30 years of cooler temperatures -- a mini ice age, he calls it, basing his theory on an analysis of natural cycles in water temperatures in the world's oceans.

Latif, a professor at the Leibniz Institute at Germany's Kiel University and an author of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, believes the lengthy cold weather is merely a pause -- a 30-years-long blip -- in the larger cycle of global warming, which postulates that temperatures will rise rapidly over the coming years.

At a U.N. conference in September, Latif said that changes in ocean currents known as the North Atlantic Oscillation could dominate over manmade global warming for the next few decades. Latif said the fluctuations in these currents could also be responsible for much of the rise in global temperatures seen over the past 30 years."

No one predicted the temperature reduction, but now that we see it, it all fits in with global warming. So what wouldn't fit it with global warming?

FOXNews.com - More Stimulus? Analysis Finds Funds for Roads, Bridges Has Had No Impact

FOXNews.com - More Stimulus? Analysis Finds Funds for Roads, Bridges Has Had No Impact: "regions and states that received ample stimulus funding for building roads and bridges had equally high unemployment rates as areas that didn't get cash from the $787 billion recovery package signed in February of last year, a new Associated Press analysis found."

"Part of the reason for the minimal impact is the small percentage transportation spending consumes in the nation's $14 trillion economy -- even with "shovel ready" projects ready to go.

"It would be unlikely that even $20 billion spent all at once would be enough to move the needle of the huge decline we've seen, even in construction, much less the economy. The job destruction is way too big," said Kenneth D. Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America."

Campaign For Liberty — Money For Nothing

Campaign For Liberty — Money For Nothing: "The list of blunders begins with the second installment of TARP, bringing to $850 billion the total appropriated for the expressed purpose of purchasing toxic assets from banks. How many of these toxic assets got purchased? Not a single one.

Next we spent over $40 billion for the expressed purpose of keeping GM and Chrysler from going bankrupt. And then both GM and Chrysler went bankrupt.

The $787 billion economic stimulus bill was passed with the expressed purpose of creating 3 million jobs and keep unemployment below 8%. Except that we lost 3 million more jobs, and unemployment is now over 10% and climbing.

Cash 4 Clunkers spent $4 billion for the expressed purpose of convincing people who were going to drive their old cars to buy fuel-efficient American cars instead. People who were going to buy a new car anyway bought Hondas.

And then there was the Mortgage Bailout bill - $75 billion for the expressed purpose of keeping 5 million homeowners from losing their homes. Oops - only 650,000 actually qualified, a small fraction of those were actually refinanced, and more than half of the loans refinanced went delinquent again within 3 months.

The Senate is about to pass an $871 billion health care bill whose original expressed purpose was to provide universal coverage, spending reforms, and a public option. After months of bribing votes out of individual senators, the final bill will do none of those things; instead it cuts care for seniors and raises our taxes by half a trillion dollars.

Not to be outdone by Congress, the Federal Reserve doubled the money supply (yes, doubled it) in the last quarter of 2008 for the expressed purpose of forcing banks to expand credit in 2009. Credit issuance contracted by 15%."

"$2.6 trillion could have purchased 2,600 new Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants; enough capacity to generate all the energy we could ever conceivably use for all purposes - for several centuries.

That's what $2.6 trillion could have bought - perpetual energy independence and zero carbon emissions forever. Instead, we got nothing, unless you count a one-year raise for some union teachers. That is truly pathetic."