Category Archives: Economics
Obama Rejects Keystone Pipeline, Says “No” to Jobs
Obama stumps for jobs. Photo: opencongress.org
Today, President Barack Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, blaming House Republicans for playing politics when they kept language in the payroll tax legislation previously that inserted a 60-day timeline for a decision on the project from the president.
Obama had a chance to place people before politics.
He had the opportunity tell out of work Americans that creating private-sector, energy-independence driven jobs on American soil were his top priority. He had the chance to actually do something that could bring his wish for a lower unemployment rate to fruition.
Remember when he said that unemployment would never go above 8%? Now, when he should be acting to turn words into action, he does the opposite.
Today, Barack Obama gave the Republicans a gift for the upcoming election–they asked for jobs, he said no. If it wasn’t done on his schedule, the way he wanted, he would reject it, as he did.
Even union members are fuming. From The Wall Street Journal’s “Market Watch”:
LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – called the reported decision by the Obama Administration today to block permitting for Keystone XL pipeline “politics at its worst.”
“The score is Job-Killers, two; American workers, zero. We are completely and totally disappointed. This is politics at its worst,” LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan said. “Once again the President
has sided with environmentalists instead of blue collar construction workers – even though environmental concerns were more than adequately addressed. Blue collar construction workers across the U.S. will not forget this.”
….For someone who keeps angling after the hearts of “middle-class” Americans, keeping them out of work is not helping his favorability one bit. Every one of these potential workers will remember Barack Obama’s failure to act when they head to the polls in November.
Keystone XL Pipeline Proposed Map. Image: Laris Karklis, The Washington Post
Economics 101: Capitalism vs. Socialism
A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. – Milton Friedman
I recently came across one of the most succinct, yet profound explanations for why capitalism works. In a recent blog post for Forbes, Dean Zarras explains why capitalism will prevail in a civil society over socialism.
Click here for the full article, it is very well done.
Idealistic Capitalism vs. Idealistic Socialism
The author makes an excellent case for why we should strive to be idealistic in our views and understandings of the free-market system.
[M]ost people would agree that if I break into my neighbor’s house and take a bunch of stuff, but with the intention of donating it all to the poor, it’s still stealing. Somehow though, a lot people have a different interpretation of lobbying the government to raise the taxes of, or punitively-regulate, some particular group or economic sector.
After discussing the notion of the what would happen if we were to do away with layers of regulation and serve one another in the “greater good”, he concluded the following:
In the end, Idealistic Capitalism is predicated on the notion that although people can make mistakes, they are predisposed to doing the right thing. The corollary notion is that a truly free market will punish those mistakes and as such moves society toward an ever-greater good. Idealistic Socialism seems instead to assume that people in general will not do what is good for society, and therefore, a hopefully benevolent government must direct the activities of the people towards that greater good.
We live in a time and place where “Tax the Rich!” and “Pay their Fair Share” are common chants in the marketplace of ideas… however, we cannot allow the voices of the few to overpower the will of the majority. We cannot sit back and let our rights decay and we lose our property as well as our ability to pursue happiness, which includes our right to make a living and retain our earnings.
When we explore a true free-market system, the market will correct any adverse actions by the likes of the Bernie Madoff’s of the world. We can live without wind farm subsidies and all of the other examples of a socialist state that is working to undermine of the free-market system.
From now on, I will wear the badge of “Idealistic Capitalist” with honor.
