Comrade Charlie Wilson bragging about paying people not to work

My comments in red

Dear Friends,

Earlier this week I voted to extend unemployment insurance benefits to those hit hardest by the recession. H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Act of 2009, will extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks to workers in high unemployment states (thank you Ted Strickland and Ohio's high taxes....which are used to pay for unemployment.....a little chicken and the egg thing) who are about to run out of benefits. It overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 331-83.

Ohio is currently facing a state average of 10.8% unemployment (641,000 jobless workers) (partially because we continue to pay people not to work, why look for a job?), with over 11,000 jobless workers expected to run out of unemployment at the end of September. In Ohio’s Sixth District, the unemployment rates range from 9.5-16.6% as of August 2009. This extension will ensure that these workers will be able to continue providing for their families. (it also ensures that some of them will not look for work, since they are being paid not to....)

In these tough economic times (because of your spending and Ohio's high taxes), extending unemployment benefits is one of the most efficient and fast-acting ways to stimulate our local economies. (or taking money from those that work and giving it to those that don't) According to Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com, an independent economic research firm, every $1 spent on unemployment benefits generates $1.63 in new economic demand. (this has got to be the dumbest thing I've heard even Charlie Wilson say. If paying people not to work gives a 163% return on the investment, why not ban jobs altogether and pay everyone not to work!) The families receiving these checks are going out in their communities and paying for groceries, filling their cars up with gas, and buying school supplies.

And one thing I want to note, this bill will not add to the deficit. As a Blue Dog Democrat, this is very important to me. (you've got to be kidding me! after voting for the stimulus bill? He actually claims he's against adding to the deficit?) The bill simply extends the federal unemployment tax, something that has been in place already for over 30 years. (typical talk for a democrat "the bill simply extends the federal unemployment tax" It's simply a tax, you know? By the way, extending a tax means it's a tax increase. Again, taking money from those that work and giving it to those that don't.)

I was proud (we've got the picture, comrade) to vote for this legislation--another crucial step in providing immediate relief and stability to those families struggling to make ends meet and getting our economy back on track.

Sincerely,

Charlie Wilson
Member of Congress
Ohio's Sixth District

Housing bubble blame

Knight Kiplinger's column here. Well worth the read.

As is Thomas Sowell's book, The Housing Boom and Bust.

Unintended consequenses....or not

The government's perverse desire to punish success.

Forbes.com story here.

Obama and the Continuing War on the Poor

Mises.org story

"The process of looting the public appears to have gained momentum with the newest administration. It has embarked on a full-scale assault on the American public, aimed not only at ravaging the poor for a few special interests, but vastly increasing the number of people consigned to poverty. Whether we look at Obama and the Democrats' cap-and-trade legislation or their health care reform or their pork barrel stimulus bill, in each case they intend to raise prices and increase taxes on us all. While a few corporate interests will benefit grandly from such nonsense, the vast majority of us will be made poorer."

Destroying good used cars that poor people would love to buy. Only the government could think of it.

Is it just me, or is this "cash (your cash btw) for clunkers" program just another liberal pipe dream with unintended consequences?

Why are we using tax money to buy perfectly good used cars and send them to the crusher? If the democrats are for the "poor" (which, of course, they are not, they are for saying whatever it takes to get elected) why would they take cars that poor folks can afford off the market. They do this in two related ways.

1. Paying (with tax money) an inflated price for used cars takes them out of the used car market.
   
2. The cars that are not sold and crushed in this program become more expensive because there are fewer used cars to be purchased in the open market.

The Social Security Ponzi Scheme derails

Socialism never works.

Forbes.com story

The biggest bottle of snake oil ever sold is running out of medicine. You really didn't think it would be there for you did you?

Social "Security" is nothing more than a long term dependency program who's funding is about to run out or more of your money will be confiscated from you and your children to finance the retirements of the elderly.

Is there anything more permanent than a "temporary" government program?

Excellent article from the Buckeye Institute about corporate welfare.

County expects ’09 budget to shrink 9 percent

Picture from the Athens News article here

So maybe it's time to get rid of the "Meals on Wheels" program. Maybe this program isn't funded by the county, but this story reminds me of all the Meals on Wheels trucks I happen upon on the back roads when gas was $4.25 a gallon.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to mail Happy meals to the "needy"????

I wonder if the Meals on Wheels employees are AFSCME members? If that's the case, we wouldn't get rid of this program if it cost $50 a meal to deliver. Take a look at this link to AFSCME's website and you'll realize I'm right about that.