Posted on 02/12/2010 2:34:30 AM PST by Puzzleman
Mr. President, did I really hear you say that businesses aren't hiring because they can't get bank loans? Are you kidding me?
Please indulge me for a moment, and we can get to the actual reasons...
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
There may be a grain of truth in that but it was the banks that repackaged those sub-prime mortgages into investments and sold them all over the world. That was pure capitalism. As I said, it’s our inability to compete with China that has precipitated this mess.
China did not compel our banks to loan money to people who could not repay it, nor did China compel the conversion of subprime paper into investments that were then sold around the world.
And closer to the topic: this writer's perception of risk/reward, and how the U.S. has skewed it, has nothing to do with our perception of Beijing. It's our perception of Washington, D.C., that matters here.
China did not compel our banks to loan money to people who could not repay it, nor did China compel the conversion of subprime paper into investments that were then sold around the world.
You originally asked what China has to do with the problems the writer identified. I simply pointed out that the writer's logic was false for blaming his failure on the Democrats. I'm not singularly blaming China for our problems nor am I absolving them nor am I turning a blind eye to those "Americans" who have profitted by selling out their country whether it be by driving up the cost of gas to $4.00/gal or by pulling up their stakes in America and setting up shop in China where they can take advantage of communist slave labor policies. there's plenty of blame to go around. The bottom line is, the author of this article is very very wrong.
For the record, the business did not fail. The owner removed himself from the business before as a strategic move to ride out the Obama administration. As for fuel being the first domino, this theory comes from the understanding of the economy the buisness owner has due to the nature of his business and his clients.
I know. I am he.
Welcome to FR! Great to have you here.
I can say that I have heard reports that Wal-Mart also uses the price of fuel as a leading indicator to forecast revenues, as shoppers who are paying more for gas have less to spend at the store.
On your other point, you claim that the high cost of fuel(allegedly caused by the democrats) somehow nudged the “mortgage domino”. It certainly didn't help anyone, that's for sure; however, this argument assumes that it was the democrats who caused the high price of fuel in the first place which we all know is false. Yes, we can blame the Bill Clinton administration for coercing lenders into lowering their standards for the so called “sub-prime borrowers”. I have yelled about that one plenty myself but I do believe there was yet a little more to the crisis than that and, as I stated previously, there were plenty of people making money off of that from both sides of the aisle; likewise, there were plenty of people who lost money on that from both sides of the aisle when the bubble burst.
Which brings me to my final and already belabored point, that the mess we are in now can largely be attributed to our inability to compete with Chinese COMMUNISM in the global economy and the willingness of some Americans to exacerbate that problem by giving American jobs to the Chinese who are all too willing to use the unlevel playing field against us to great advantage. Americans shouldn't have to work like slaves just because the ChiComs work like slaves. Americans shouldn't have to let companies dump unsafe toxins into their waterways because the ChiComs do. Americans shouldn't have to accept a lower standard of living just because the ChiComs are willing to. But that's the probem, unless we accept this decreased quality of life as the new American standard, we can't compete. That's what we need to be talking about here, not how the Democrats caused the price of gas to skyrocket in 2008.
I'd like to join in welcoming you to FR. You're a very good writer. We can use your talents here.
What you seem not to understand, comrade, is that "capitalist speculation in the energy markets" would not have mattered a whit if American energy producers were able to produce energy at their real capacity.
Watch your language.
If you are saying that a free-market economy cannot compete with a communist economy, then I must strenuously disagree. We heard much the same nonsense during the days of the Soviet Union. I well remember being told that the centrally-planned economy of the USSR would out-produce us and bury us. It did not happen.
. . . and the willingness of some Americans to exacerbate that problem by giving American jobs to the Chinese who are all too willing to use the unlevel playing field against us to great advantage.
There is no such thing as an "American job." No worker "owns" his job; the employer does. To stay in business, the employer must make a profit. Hence, jobs will be offered to those who are willing and able to do the work at a price the employer is willing and able to pay.
. . . Americans shouldn't have to work like slaves just because the ChiComs work like slaves.
I am not sure what you mean by "work like slaves." Slaves are not known for working diligently or intelligently. Free men and women can always out-produce slaves.
If you mean Americans should not have to work as hard as the Chinese, I would ask, Why not?
Americans shouldn't have to let companies dump unsafe toxins into their waterways because the ChiComs do.
Agreed. On the other hand, keeping the air and water clean should not require enormous and intrusive bureaucracies.
Americans shouldn't have to accept a lower standard of living just because the ChiComs are willing to.
Why not? Nowhere is it written that we Americans are guaranteed wealth that we have not earned.
But that's the probem, unless we accept this decreased quality of life as the new American standard, we can't compete.
Nonsense. We can compete with anyone, if we are willing to do so. Indeed, we must compete, if we wish to maintain our quality of life.
That's what we need to be talking about here, not how the Democrats caused the price of gas to skyrocket in 2008.
The price of gasoline is not the real issue, in my opinion. The problem we face is loss of liberty.
Consider: Eighteen years ago, I was statistically in poverty, but I had dreams and plans. At the time, Reaganomics still set the economic tone, and a fired-up Newt Gingrich was forcing conservatism on the Clinton White House. There were actually politicians who praised business-owners and profits.
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Great rant but actually eighteen years ago was February of 1992 and there was no Clinton White House until almost a year later in January of 1993. Newt Gingrich wasn’t forcing anything on the Clinton white house until after the elections in November of 1994. It is only fifteen years since that congress was seated.
Ping
Rip Said: “Great rant but actually eighteen years ago was February of 1992 and there was no Clinton White House.....”
Understood, and I was simply generalizing that for the most of the last 18 years, we’ve been under an economic model of Reaganism — but deteriorating steadily away from that. This was driven by liberal Democrats and supported by some Republicans — including GW Bush and McCain and Snowe et al. The article lays the blame at all of their feet.
And yes, speculators did cause part of the oil spike, but the underlying fundamentals were and are the result of energy liberal policies — like no drilling and no nukes, etc.
I was also speaking to the death of my entrepreneurial drive and that of many others. This is what millions are thinking, which is why no one is hiring. And for those having fun at my demise, I will assure you I saw all of this coming and I am fine! Thanks for the comments.
I have worked straight commission sales and I know from experience that hiring someone who can and will make a go of it on commission can be tough. It doesn’t help matters any that there have been so many scam artists telling people how they can make a great living with their great deal when the truth is that one person out of one thousand might be able to survive on it. It throws a cloud of doubt over the honest people who actually do have a legitimate contract to offer.
I have made three hundred dollars in one day and a thousand in one week back in 1970 when a hundred and a half a week was pretty good pay. I also have slugged away for a three week stretch between sales. Straight commission is not for the faint hearted.
I'm saying that we're not competing on a level playing field and we can kiss this country goodbye if we don't correct it. Disagree as strongly as you like but the evidence is overwhelming, China is beating us and supposedly patriotic Americans are jumping ship to make a few more dollars.
There is no such thing as an "American job." No worker "owns" his job; the employer does. To stay in business, the employer must make a profit. Hence, jobs will be offered to those who are willing and able to do the work at a price the employer is willing and able to pay.
Fine, let them go to China. they can stay there as far as I'm concerend. Furthermore, I'm all about about slapping 5000% tarrifs on everything they try to import back to their old country. that should stimulate some job creation in America.
Free men and women can always out-produce slaves. that sounds real nice and all but it isn't true.
If you mean Americans should not have to work as hard as the Chinese, I would ask, Why not?
Oh, so we should all work 16 hours a day in a sweatbox factory for a wage so low that we're guaranteed to never rise above our poverty? spoken like a true feudal overlord. try telling it to the voters.
Why not? Nowhere is it written that we Americans are guaranteed wealth that we have not earned.
How patriotic of you to say so. That tariff is looong overdue.
Nonsense. We can compete with anyone, if we are willing to do so. Indeed, we must compete, if we wish to maintain our quality of life.
so long as there's a Chinese communist government willing to lower the bar and Americans willing to exploit it, we will never be able to compete.
The price of gasoline is not the real issue, in my opinion. The problem we face is loss of liberty.
a man that can't afford to feed and clothe his family is not concerned about liberty, patriotism, ideals, morals, abortions, guns, god, or the rising cost of country club dues.
That is the problem in a nutshell: You do not believe that free men and women are more productive than slaves.
I disagree with you. Free people have every advantage over slaves.
Ask yourself: What incentive does a slave have to produce more than the bare minimum to get by? If he produces more, he does not reap the benefits, his master does.
In contrast, free men and women have every incentive to work hard and to work smart, because they stand to benefit. Or at least that is how things used to work in the United States of America.
Mr. Wright's essay tends to support my point of view. As he says,
And when we have a president and ruling class who are clueless about and hostile towards business, the risk-reward equation shifts dramatically against further investment of time, talent, and capital. And that's where we are today.
In an earlier post you wrote of Americans who are "selling out their country" by "setting up shop in China." Yet why should anyone invest time, talent, and capital here in the United States if he is likely to lose his investment?
Instead, many intelligent— and yes, patriotic—Americans will decide it makes more sense to "go Galt." Or they will invest their time, talent, and capital someplace else, where they have a better chance of realizing a return on their investment. Either way, they will not be hiring American employees.
Agreed, thank Wal-mart for that. They opened the door to chicom consumers goods, all the other retailers either did the same or went belly up. Next manurfactoring moved to China too, giving up our technological advantage at a cost of millions of American jobs. Now we are "in" the global economy and screwed. Of course gov with all the taxes and regulations doesn't help either. I see no up side for us anytime soon.
Yeah, welcome to FR, nice rant. :)
I’m glad someone gets it around here. Some folks can’t seem to accept this simple observation.
really? then why is gasoline $2.50/gallon now (with a liberal Democrat in office no less). If it were because of some endemic and persistent supply issue as you suggest it should still be $4/gal or more actually. If you honestly believe that the Democrats raised your gas prices in the summer of 2008, it's no surprise to me that you're not running your business anymore.
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