The Allegator

"I do not deny the allegation, I deny the allegator." – Jesse Jackson

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Tax Comedy

This is only tax comedy in the sense that it is presented as such. I found the below video via Left Coast Rebel, and thought I’d pass it on.

Taxation has become pervasive. When you earn a dollar, it is taxed, when you spend it, it is taxed again. At the same time as you are being taxed for spending it, someone else is being taxed for earning it. These taxes are increasing, and not just by total value, but by percentage, which is unaffected by inflation and thus unjustifiable in a digital age which should be lowering the cost of governing.

When you think of the nature of income and sales taxes, it becomes clear that the government makes a lot of money, not on the saving and responsible use of money, but on its momentum. The next time you hear someone in power speaking of the need to get consumers consuming again, think of what their true motive might be.

Ron Paul Weighs in on Rush vs. Steele Controversy

We are witnessing a bipartisan media convergence. The recent phenomenon of prominent Republicans criticizing Rush, only to issue a groveling apology the following day, finally reached its peak with Michael Steele, the supposed head of the Republican party. My favorite headline of the week came from Wonkette: Rush Limbaugh Has Balls Of Steele. Rush has a sizable set of followers in the Republican party, and is unlikely to try and squash the rumors that he is the real voice of the GOP. The left sees his high negatives and is ready to help the Republicans rally around a leader with a low ceiling. It is Hillary all over again. In the above video Ron Paul shows that you don’t have to be in the center to appeal to the center. You just have to have some real honest solutions. In order to do that these days, you can’t stay with the party line, of any party.

Saturday Night Live has also weighed in on the issue, which means it has truly reached mainstream proportions. (via the Intellectual Redneck)

Mad as Hell

 

Have you ever wondered what the young angry rednecks of the country would have to say about the state of the nation if they quit watching FOX and Rush long enough to educate themselves? Now we know. You tube likes to ban this guy (warning, easily offended need not watch), but I’ll try to keep something up here. The man clearly wants to be heard.

What is the Ideal Value of the Dollar in Today’s world?

With all this talk lately of which way the economy is going to break (is it going to be depressionary deflation, or hyperinflation?), the question we really need to be asking ourselves is: what is the ideal value of the dollar in today’s world? Barack Obama doesn’t strike me as a gold standard kind of guy, so for the foreseeable future we are stuck with printable money.

If the value of the dollar is high, foreign goods are cheap to us, and our goods are expensive to them. this leads to trade imbalance in their favor. This can lead to a reduction in demand of our goods, reduction of manufacturing, GDP, wages, an increase in debt, etc.

If the value of the dollar is low, foreign goods are expensive to us, and our goods are cheap to them, leading to a boost to our manufacturing and exports.

Complicating this is supply and demand. If every nation in the world pumps up their inflation in order to boost manufacturing, pretty soon you have people working all day to build items that no one really needs any more. Once you have tires for your truck, getting eight more doesn’t do you any good. With the rise of China, we may be approaching that level where the market gets a bit saturated around the edges. When this occurs, it is time to move towards quality, tech, and automation. We can’t compete with cheap foreign labor in kind, nor should we desire to. What do you sell someone who already has all the basics covered? Better versions of what they have. Japan has survived with a currency as highly valued as it is because they sell things that are too complex for others to make.

Printing money doesn’t create wealth, but it does move it around. When they print new dollars, those new dollars are worth just as much as the dollars in your bank; those dollars just aren’t worth what they were the day before.

Back to the question at hand. What is the ideal value of the dollar, in today’s global market? I’d like to see it about 25% lower. Not all at once of course, but maybe over the course of two years.