YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK IF
I am used to taking irrational and mean-spirited barbs from crooked stock brokers and other thieves that happen to find their way into my crosshairs. However, the poisoned-tipped arrows that everyone and anyone involved with the April 15th TEA Parties (Taxed enough Already) have taken are borderline insane. A quick example of the unhinged would be the conduct and coverage by my friends in the mainstream media.
These media elites, as we mere peasants should know already; are always are morally superior. Their opinions, policy preferences are beyond reproach. They are without question, virtuous beyond debate. Therefore this entitles them to be hateful to anyone who differs with their holier-than-thou views. One quick example is the appearance of actress/activist Jeanine Garofalo on the MSNBC program with ratings lower than the underside of the rock, which its host Keith Olberman crawls out from under daily.
Concerning the April 15th TEA parties…”Let’s be very honest about what this is about. It’s not about bashing Democrats, it’s not about taxes, they have no idea what the Boston tea party was about, they don’t know their history at all. This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. That is nothing but a bunch of teabagging rednecks. And there is no way around that. And you know, you can tell these type of right wingers anything and they’ll believe it, except the truth. You tell them the truth and they become, it’s like showing Frankenstein’s monster fire. They become confused, and angry and highly volatile. That guy causing them feelings they don’t know, because their limbic brain, we’ve discussed this before, the limbic brain inside a right-winger or Republican or conservative or your average white power activist, the limbic brain is much larger in their head space than in a reasonable person, and it’s pushing against the frontal lobe. So their synapses are misfiring.”
I was honored to be one of the featured speakers at the TEA party is Sarasota, Fl and a video of my speech is available on our website for anyone who wants to hear me rant. If you listen, my speech along with the many others that I heard from all over the country had nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans. In fact politicians were not allowed or invited to them. Michael Steele Chairman of the Republican National Committee begged to speak at one of the TEA parties and was rebuffed. I stated very clearly at the event that, I am not angry with Democrats, at least they are honest, they do, and are doing what they said they would. My problem is with Republicans who spend, earmark and trample on the Constitution and then ask us for their support.
One of my all-time favorite episodes of Seinfeld dealt with a made up holiday called Festivas: The Holiday For the Rest of Us. One of the cannons of Festivas is the “Airing of Grievances” where family members do exactly that. The TEA parties were “Protests for the Rest of Us”…for the people who believe in the Constitution, capitalism, personal responsibility, and the power of the individual.
The rest of us protested on April 15th by taking breaks from our careers and families, not from bong hits or the coffee shop. The rest of us do not result to violence, destroy private property and attack the police when exercising our first amendment rights. The rest of us understand that in order to have the opportunity to build create and succeed you must also have the ability to fail. The rest of us believe we should always help the downtrodden; however we believe rather than “giving individuals fish from now until eternity, we should teach them and help these people to learn how to fish.”
Some other Grievances…
Another New Deal
There is this unfortunate urban myth promulgated by the advocates of big government that FDR’s New Deal ended the Great Depression. This myth has been used as evidence to convince the public that another New Deal or stimulus package is imperative to shorten our current downturn. The principal goal of the New Deal was to get Americans back to work. The fact was that there was less work on average during the New Deal than before FDR took office. Total hours worked per adult, including government employees, were 18% below their 1929 level between 1930-32, but were 23% lower on average during the New Deal 33-39. Private hours worked were even lower after FDR took office, averaging 27% below their 1929 level, compared to18% lower between 1930-32.
Why did the economy flounder, when the economy should have bounced back in a robust fashion?
Dr. Harold Cole from University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Lee Ohanian from UCLA state in a Wall Street Journal piece state that it was the plethora of government actions that staved off a true recovery. Some policies they state benefitted the economy by establishing a basic social safety net through Social Security and unemployment benefits, and by stabilizing the financial sector through the FDIC and the SEC. Others violated the most basic economic principles by suppressing competition, and setting prices and wages in many sectors above their normal levels. The plethora of anti-market policies choked off powerful recovery forces that would have returned the economy back to trend by the mid 1930’s.
The New Deal sales pitch was used in getting everyone on board for the recently passed stimulus package, which in my opinion is an oxymoron in of itself; and a $3.5 trillion budget. These two shiny brand new monuments to big government we will be paying, for many generations to come. These programs sound and look great when they are launched, think “Green Jobs”; but they end up being a cancer on our country over the long-haul. A great example of a government program that is mismanaged, financially and economically untenable and politically untouchable is the New Deal cornerstone Social Security. I have written extensively on this program and believe it is really nothing more than a $40 trillion ponzi-scheme. I stated on my radio show that if I was Bernie Madoff’s lawyer, I would use the Social Security defense, “If the government can run a ponzi-scheme why can’t my client.”
Making Homes Affordable
“I want to be very clear about what this plan will not do: It will not rescue the unscrupulous or irresponsible by throwing good taxpayer money after bad loans…And it will not reward folks who bought homes they knew from the beginning they would never be able to afford.”
President Barack Obama
It certainly sounds really nice. However, it has absolutely no basis in reality. Sure some struggling homeowners will most certainly be helped, but by subsidizing and propping up failure and not allowing economic nature to take its course will inevitably prolong the downturn, make purchasing and financing a home more difficult in the future. The plan will not do anything to end the downturn in home prices.
Individuals with mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to refinance to lower rates if his mortgage is between 80% and 105% of the value of the home. Individuals who didn’t buy a home, saved their money for a large down payment and rented are not eligible for this deal, but their taxes will subsidize it. Existing borrowers who may not qualify for refinancing can still receive loan modifications that move their payments down to 31% of monthly income. In either case, no effort will be made to verify that recipients of aid were truthful on their original mortgage applications. Given that mortgage fraud skyrocketed during the housing boom, and that the Obama administration intends to assist nine million troubled borrowers, I most certainly would contend that the unscrupulous will be rescued. All new modifications will forgo any extensive underwriting. The government feels that all that unnecessary and cumbersome paperwork can be skipped as long as that mortgage-debt-to-income ratio can be moved down to 31%.
The government will pay loan servicers $1,000 for each mortgage modified, share the cost of lowering the payments and pay other subsidies to lenders and borrowers adding up to $75 billion in taxpayer assistance for modifications. The government will then spend another $10 billion compensating lenders if the housing market continues to decline and some of these loans go bad again. We believe that $10 billion will not be enough. Using recent history as a guide, mortgage modifications have been a failure. According to the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision, “The number of loans modified in the first quarter that were 30 or more days delinquent was 37% after three months and 55% after six months”.
I have also received several phone calls and emails from people who work in commission based businesses such as real estate, travel and auto industry that took significant hits last year in their incomes. These people are financially secure, they were well prepared for inevitable downturns and saved accordingly. They, like many others including myself, want to take advantage of the low interest rate environment and refinance their homes. These individuals found out that because their incomes dropped they were now eligible for the Making Homes Affordable government program to get interest rates that I could only dream of; I am talking about 2% 30 year fixed low.
Another two things that are absent from the housing plan is that it doesn’t include adequate property appraisals or a risk management of the reworked loans. Therefore declining values in homes will inevitably waste taxpayer money by putting people back in over-valued homes with no equity and not enough cash to maintain the home.
My solution to the housing problem which I suggested well over a year ago, was to invest in bulldozers and wrecking balls! Housing is also a function of supply and demand, and we have too many empty units and not enough people to live in them. This past month on CNBC real estate magnate Richard Lefrak stated there is probably an excess of 2 million units currently in the United States. I was pleasantly surprised to see the city of Flint, Michigan take up my advice. The New York Times reported that instead of waiting for houses to become abandoned and then pulling them down, local leaders are talking about demolishing entire blocks and even whole neighborhoods, basically saving a city by shrinking it. This is a model that is not popular with many municipalities because it messes with their tax base. When a lot is zoned residential or commercial it is a future source of revenue for local politicians, many of which are as money hungry as the goons in Washington D.C.
More Prosciutto
I have written and opined extensively on the issue of government waste or “pork.” Lately it has been all the rage by our fearless leaders in Washington that they are doing everything to help stop the earmarks and pork barrel spending. The following are two examples of how full of bull-excrement these politicos are…
The earmark computer in the Appropriations Committee which is the database system that members use to request pork-barrel spending broke this past month. The software couldn’t handle the excess. This happened a year after the entire system was revamped after last year’s overwhelming earmarking.
The John Murtha Airport has an $18 million runway made of reinforced concrete that’s big enough to land any airplane in North America. It has a $7 million air traffic control tower, a $14 million hanger and an $8 million radar. The only thing that is missing from this airport are passengers and airplanes. An average of 20 people a day flew out of the Murtha Airport last year. Yet despite this monument to big government/incumbent power stupidity the airport was just awarded another $800,000 from the stimulus package. John Murtha D-PA has used his power to steer/waste $150 million in taxpayer dollars to the ghostport. Nauseous yet? It gets worse…The federal government provides a subsidy for every flight into the Murtha Airport of about $100 per passenger.
Antoinette Santopadre was expecting a $250 stimulus check. But when her son finally opened it they saw that the check was made out to her father, Romolo Romonini who died in Italy 34 years ago. He’d been a U.S. citizen when he left for Italy in 1933, but only returned to the United States for a seven-month visit in 1969. Think this is an isolated case? Think again, so far they have found over 10,000 checks totaling millions going out to dead people. I guess it makes sense considering ACORN gets these dead people to the polls on Election Day.
AIG and Fake Outrage
One of my more entertaining forays into the world of the mainstream media was an appearance I made on CNN when I was pitted against University of Maryland professor Peter Morici. I railed against all the ridiculous hoopla and populism being stirred up about the AIG bonuses and how disingenuous all these politicians were being with their self-righteous indignation. The funniest thing about the whole interview was Morici defending Chris Dodd, and the upstanding public servant he was that he knew personally. In that very segment CNN had breaking news that Chris Dodd knowingly lied about putting in the provision for the AIG bonuses to proceed.
Dodd isn’t the only two-faced liar in D.C. Any politician in the house that voted to use the tax-code as a weapon and tax AIG employees at 90% should be voted out next year. They broke their oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and must go. My representative Vern Buchanan R-FL will not get my support; for he too, like many other weak kneed politicians bowed to the populist winds of the day and broke his oath. 328 House members voted for a bill that would slap a 90% tax on bonuses. This was sold as a tax on the people who caused the financial crisis! Grab your torches and pitchforks everyone! In reality it affected everyone who received a bonus including the janitorial and cafeteria staff. Most workers on Wall Street receive low level salaries and rely on bonuses for their pay, much like waiters or bartenders do on tips. Certainly some individuals received bonuses they probably did not deserve, but these bonuses were not performance related, they were contractually obligated. The government has no right breaking contract law that we base our system on that is laid out quite succinctly in the Magana Carta.
Watching these empty-headed Washington elites scramble to the podium to express their outrage at the pay scandal made my stomach turn. It was political theater; the bill is now dead now that the press is not paying attention to that story. My challenge to our readers and listeners is to not vote for anyone who voted for this bill. Did a single politician agree to give back any campaign cash they received from any company getting TARP funds?
Anyone…Anyone…
I didn’t think so! For the record Chris Dodd was the number one recipient of money from AIG. Obama was two, Hillary Clinton was three, John McCain four and Joe Biden was five. Money well spent. In an email sent to colleagues at AIG, Joseph Cassano AIG Financial Products chief executive stated: Mr. Dodd was “next in line” to be chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which oversees the insurance industry, and would “have the opportunity to set the committee’s agenda on issues critical to the financial services industry.”
Government Motors
Last November I appeared on CNN to discuss the auto-crisis and I was pitted against an industry expert who said that if we didn’t fork over the cash to Chrysler and General Motors they would go bankrupt and the ground would open up and swallow the nation whole. So…George Bush defied the rules of the TARP, we forked over the cash and surprise, surprise…Chrysler went bankrupt, and GM states that they will file by June. More money well spent!
What is truly amazing is that a government who doesn’t do anything efficiently, is partnering up with the United Auto Workers and going to run two car companies. I said on CNN that I feared that we would be driving around in 2011 Pelosi’s and it looks like that will be the case. Did you happen to see that GM/Segway albatross? It looks like a rickshaw being powered by a ghost. Imagine being Ford…your competition is not only the other teams, but also the referee. Ford has made the number one selling car in the United States for 27 straight years the F-150. With the government being the competition and referee it can force Ford to make the F-150 to get 40 miles to the gallon, thus destroying Ford. This is very frightening stuff that would make Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez proud, in fact I think we are giving him new ideas
Also, how are those contract negotiations going to work between the government and the United Auto Workers? The UAW put the current crop in office. It’s like one of those dysfunctional Hollywood families with the rich child actors, think Britney Spears or Lindsey Lohan. The parents were unable to exercise any control when the kids have all the cash.
Another bit of info that nobody is reporting on is the fact that the UAW is selling their entire stake of Chrysler to their Health Care Trust.
Why would they do that?
The UAW knows that the new stock is an enormous gamble; they also know that the current administration is pushing major government control over health care. If the stock does what I think it will do and be eventually worthless, the government (taxpayer) steps in and takes over the bill. Thank you sir may I have another! One last point, why does an Italian auto maker (Chrysler) with cars made in Detroit get warranty and loan guarantees by the taxpayer and a Japanese auto company with cars made in Kentucky do not…Just asking?
Does Luca Brasi have a cabinet position? From the Godfather…
Michael: Well, when Johnny was first starting out, he was signed to this personal service contract with a big band leader. And as his career got better and better, he wanted to get out of it. Now, Johnny is my father’s godson. And my father went to see this band leader, and he offered him $10,000 to let Johnny go. But the band leader said no. So the next day, my father went to see him, only this time with Luca Brasi. And within an hour, he signed a release, for a certified check for $1,000.
Kay: How’d he do that?
Michael: My father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Kay: What was that?
Michael: Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured him that either his brains – or his signature – would be on the contract…That’s a true story…That’s my family, Kay. It’s not me.
When President Barack Obama stepped up to the podium this past month to announce the Chrysler bankruptcy he channeled his inner Don Corleone. In another life imitating art moment our President called out the evil “speculators” who refused to accept his offer, which would usurp contract law and hurt their clients. These secured lenders were asked to take major haircuts which they had no legal obligation to do so. In fact, I would suggest that if they did take the administrations offer they would be acting in an unethical and illegal manner by breaking their fiduciary duty to their clients.
We learned this past month, much like Johnny Fontane’s former boss, what happens when you cross the Obama administration. Thomas Lauria, the leading bankruptcy attorney representing hedge funds and money managers told ABC News that Steve Rattner, the head of the Obama administration’s Auto Industry Task Force, threatened one of the firms, an investment bank, that if it continued to oppose the administration’s Chrysler bankruptcy, the White House would use the White House press corps to destroy its reputation.
Another random thought…Luca Brasi sought an audience with Don Corleone at his daughter’s wedding to thank him for being invited and to show a sign of respect. He told the Don that he “Hoped their first child, would be a masculine child.” President Barack Obama made the statement that he hoped that if we had to buy a car we “would buy an American car.” Holman Jenkins makes the point in a Wall Street Journal piece that he meant to say, “When you buy a car, I hope it will be a Democratic car.” Apparently cars built in red states with American labor with names like Honda, Nissan, Hyundai or BMW are less American than ones built in Detroit, Mexico, or Canada or cars being built in Detroit with a new Italian owner.
Sometimes Dead is Better
I read the Stephen King classic Pet Sematary back in the early 80’s. In this frightening tale there exists a cursed “Sematary” where when the dead are buried they come back to life. But when they come back they are quite different. I won’t reveal anymore because I don’t wish to be a spoiler, plus Stephen King lives down here for part of the year and I don’t want to have a curse put on me. There is a great line in the film delivered by one of the main characters that I would like to share, “Sometimes dead is better.” That bit of wisdom should be applied to businesses here in America, otherwise now known as bailout nation.
We have a bankruptcy code that has served this nation quite well that we have now kicked to the curb for short-term political reasons. For example: the politically powerful United Auto Workers Union wants no part of a traditional bankruptcy knowing that their contracts could be voided. Our bankruptcy rules were born out of the railroad boom and bust of the late 1800’s were creditors threatened to tear up the tracks and sell for scrap to be made whole. They realized that negotiating with railroads would be a much better route. When we start bending contract law and accepted principals of business, we can literally destroy any chance of recovery due to policy risk. Players like to play a game were all rules are known and applied evenly to all participants. When politics and populism are dictating, the players go home.
Mainstream Media
There was a fantastic Oscar award winning film entitled Almost Famous. It was a story of a high school aged boy that was tasked to follow around and write a story about an up and coming rock band in 1973. The mentor of the young writer warns the newbie that the band would try to win favorable copy by plying him with booze, woman, drugs and fame. Later in the movie the young writer proclaims triumphantly to the band he is covering that, “I am the enemy!” He would not be bought. It’s too bad our mainstream is completely unable to demonstrate the same integrity. The job of the press is to hold truth to power, no matter what political party is in office. The slobbering love affair, as Bernard Goldberg calls it in his latest tome, between the press and the administration is not just obvious and pathetic; it is dangerous.
John Kerry D-MA is pushing for TARP funds to bailout newspapers. In a recent Congressional hearing advocates for the newspaper industry warned of political corruption run amok if more regional papers continue to go down. I found this statement quite comical considering for what I perceive a complete lack of integrity. Leave out the fact that the immeasurable arrogance of the newspapers in their complete inability to adjust their business model in the digital age or their obvious political leanings, many regional papers have become nothing more than marketing rags for their advertisers. “Spend money in our paper, and receive positive editorial spin.” People are not stupid, eventually they see right through the bias and spin and the paper loses all credibility and then their subscribers.
Slush Fund from Hell
No, it’s not the latest slasher film, but it most certainly is horrific. As I predicted last year in my article Hedge Fund USA, the TARP has become a politicians dream; a $700 billion vote-buying slush fund that will never end. My biggest concern in regards to the TARP funds was that it would end up becoming a tool for politicians to garner votes in the future. The TARP has no expiration date.
The public was sold a bill-of-goods by the press who probably had little to no understanding of how the program worked. We did not cut blank checks to the banks we bought preferred stock paying up to 9%, with warrants to purchase common in the future. Now the banks want out of the TARP, but rather than return the money to the treasury or God forbid cut the tax payers a dividend check on our investment, the government will keep the TARP alive to bailout any industry they feel can help them get re-elected. It started with the autos and is now moving possibly to newspapers, ethanol, and other losers, and unlike the investments made in the bank’s the government is literally cutting checks. Take for instance that $15 plus billion handed to the auto makers; that will not be coming back. This type of anti-capitalist behavior is a malignant cancer on the natural process of creative destruction, stifling off motivation and innovation.
Wimpy for Treasury Secretary
I know it’s a bit dated, but do you remember Wimpy from the old Popeye cartoons?
Wimpy was a bit of glutton who constantly shoved hamburgers into his mouth that he never could pay for. His famous line was, “I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
Do you see where I am going with this? Does Wimpy remind you of a certain Republic made up of fifty states, with a flag colored in red, white and blue?
Our current budget debacle needs absolutely zero commentary from me these are the facts:
The current White House figures point to deepening budget deficits, with the government borrowing almost 50 cents for every dollar it spends this year. The deficit for the current budget will rise by $89 billion to above $1.8 trillion which is four times the record set just last year. Another point to put things into perspective, our entire federal budget ten years ago was $1.73 trillion.
When the White House Budget Director Peter Orszag was asked about these very numbers he hinted that it was not the current administrations fault, “President Obama inherited” the problems. Granted, President Obama inherited a budget deficit, however I fail to understand how making it four times as large helps to fix the problem. When stuck in a hole, it might be wise to stop digging. Unfortunately many people fail to realize that this deficit needs to be paid back. We are borrowing the money, and we are doing it on our children’s and grandchildren’s backs. If you were watching an episode of the always annoying Dr. Phil and he did a bit on parents who took out credit in their kid’s names and destroyed them financially, the audience would moan, groan and serve up all sorts of self-righteous indignation, yet we allow our fearless leaders to do the exactly the same thing, and we continue to vote them into office.
Simply pathetic.
Taxes
95% of Americans will be getting a tax cut under my plan says President Obama. He is not the only one that pulls that ruse. Republicans and Democrats alike are guilty of giving income tax cuts, only to tax the public somewhere else where they are not looking. Try this exercise for one day; keep track of all the taxes you pay over the course of a 24 hour period. Not just income taxes from withholding or FICA, look at your phone bill, cell bill, cable bill, utilities, property taxes, fuel taxes beer and alcohol tax, tobacco tax and sales taxes just to name a few. Also, most importantly look at your corporate tax bill.
You say you don’t pay corporate tax?
I say you do.
23% of every item you buy is the imbedded corporate tax that you the consumer pay. Corporations are nothing more than tax identification numbers and a logo. They generate all their revenue from their clients and customers. You pay the corporate tax! Think about that the next time some idiot politician tries whipping up some stupid populist frenzy and institute a windfall profits tax like they tried with the oil companies. It does nothing more than raise the price for the consumer.
We are in a perpetual state of paying taxes and its going to get worse. They are looking in to taxing soda, television, radio, ice-cream, fattening foods, and many other items that will pitched to the public as “sin” taxes. If the government is going to provide health-care they feel should be able to tax couch potatoes.
And coming soon to a theater near you…
The latest tax being considered is a VAT (value added tax). This is basically a national sales tax that is common in Europe. It is a tax on the transfer of goods and services that is borne by the consumer. It would increase the cost of everything, from groceries to your accounting bill. The Washington Post reported that at a White House conference earlier this past year on budget problems, a roomful of tax experts pleaded with Treasury Secretary Geithner to consider a VAT. A recent mass of books and papers on the subject is gaining much traction with many members of Congress. “There is a growing awareness of the need for fundamental tax reform. I think a VAT and a high-end income tax have got to be on the table.” Sen. Kent Conrad D-ND.
Don’t you know it’s in the public’s best interest!
***
George Will recently wrote about Alexis de Tocquevilles’s Democracy in America written 174 years ago, but quite relevant today. Tocqueville anticipated people being governed by “An immense tutelary power” determined to take “sole charge of assuring their enjoyment and of watching over their fate.” It would be a power “absolute, attentive to detail, regular, provident and gentle,” aiming for our happiness but wanting “to be the only agent and sole arbiter of that happiness.” It would, Tocqueville said, provide people security, anticipate their needs, direct their industries and divide their inheritances. It would envelop society in “a network of petty regulations, complicated minute and uniform.”
But softly: “It does not break wills; it softens them, bends them, and directs them” until people resemble “a herd of timid and industrious animals of which the government is the shepherd.”
The late Jack Kemp’s motto of, “Work, Save, Invest.” Is very similar to ours at Markowski Investments, “Everything in life that has meaning, value and worth, involves work time and effort.”
These undeniable bits of peasant wisdom have been under attack by both sides of the political aisle for some time and seemingly getting worse. Comedian Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy have done quite well for themselves with their Blue Collar Comedy Tour and their infamous; “You might be a redneck” shtick…The media, and many of our country’s self-proclaimed best and brightest have usurped this routine whereas:
You might be a redneck if…
You feel that it is prudent to live within ones means. You realize that whenever the high priests from the church of unintended consequences get involved in the private sector they make matters much worse. If you think that thousands of years of precedent set in contract law should be followed. Think Social Security is a ponzi-scheme. A person should be judged based on the content of his character, rather than color of his or her skin. Think that driving 2012 Pelosi will suck. Think Al Gore is the second coming of Dr. No. Think that the United States Constitution should be followed rather than ignored.
We TEA party participants are not cold-hearted Scrooges. We believe that government safety nets are important and love to aid or fellow man. There is a serious difference however between help and reward. The TEA party participants were homeowners who did not walk away from their mortgages or spec homes; small business owners who never get the desired tax breaks, nor the unwanted corporate welfare. Professor Arthur Brooks states that the TEA party participants, “The people who were doing the important things right and who are now watching elected politicians reward those who did the important things wrong.”
We TEA party participants understand that the true systemic risk for our economy is government. Our road-map to economic growth cannot be driven by Washington, but rather the simple peasant wisdom of living within ones means, hard-work, and patience. Just as there are no short-cuts to financial independence and success, the short-cuts that the government is offering will fail. Politicians make decisions based upon short-sighted polls. They are in the business of being popular, getting votes. Focusing on the short-term or the next election cycle is most certainly not conducive to running neither a business nor an economy. President Ronald Reagan, whose ideas the media has deemed irrelevant, stated in his first inaugural address…
“Government is not the solution to our problem, it is our problem.”
I guess Reagan was redneck, and if he was, I certainly want to be one too.
SOURCE:
Montgomery, Lori .Once Considered Unthinkable, U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look. The Washington Post. 27 May 2009
Robb, Robert. Chrysler Restructuring Plan a Power Grab. The Washington Times.
Karl, Jonathan. Welcome to the Airport for Nobody. ABC News. 23 April 2009.
Gray, Michael. Tim’s Fixer Upper. The New York Post. 8 March 2009.
Cole, Harold and Lee Ohanian. How Government Prolonged the Depression. The Wall Street Journal. 2 Feb. 2009.
Editorial Board. Dukes of Moral Hazard. The Wall Street Journal. 18 Feb. 2009
Streitfeld, David. An Effort to Save a City by Shrinking it. The New York Times. 22 April 2009.
Adamy, Janet. Soda Tax Weighed to Pay for Health Care. The Wall Street Journal. 12 May 2009
No Author. High U.S. Budget Deficits Not Obamas Fault – Orszag. The Washington Times. 11 May 2009.
Jenkins, Holman. Return of Le Car. The Wall Street Journal. 6 May 2009.
Whitehouse, Kaja. Heat on Holdouts. The New York Post. 1 May 2009.
Gordon, John. Why Government Can’t run a Business. The Wall Street Journal. 20 May 2009.
Brooks, Arthur. The Real Culture War is Over Capitalism. The Wall Street Journal. 30 April 2009.
No Author. Dead People Get Stimulus Checks. Fox News. 14 May 2009.