Archive for March, 2009
Doubling the national debt
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
In 2014, at which point the White House projects a deficit of $570 billion, it’s now expected that CBO will show a number in excess of $700 billion. Five years later, in 2019, Obama’s budget concedes that the deficit will have widened to $712 billion; Democrats expect CBO to put the number over $1 trillion.
The cumulative impact could be substantial. The White House has already conceded that the Obama budget will produce deficits of about $6.9 trillion over 10 years. If the CBO projections were to add in the range of $1.5 trillion more, as some Democrats expect, that would be more than a 20 percent increase and would surely affect debate in Congress.
Lets assume a few things – one, these numbers will be revised upward again as the downturn worsens, two, when it’s all said and done, the cost of Obama’s programs are probably underestimated, and three, there will be unanticipated additional costs during Obama’s tenure. (e.g. another Katrina, Afghanistan, major bank failures, etc..)
In the end, we will likely double our national debt in eight to ten years. (Assuming the world continue to lend to us, which isn’t assured.) Debt payments currently make up around ten percent of the total federal intake. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid costs are currently rising. Where does this put us in eight years, and why do Obama supporters think this is grand idea?
Adamo
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Tempting, even though it would totally blow my very strict budget.
I found this interesting –
At the design-driven Apple, obviously, things are different. Berkowitz said that label requirements are collected by a team responsible for keeping the product clean and true to its visual concept. The information that needs to go on the outside of the case is reviewed and whittled down to the bare minimum, in time for it to be engraved onto the box in a consistent typeface in the faintest possible way.
For the Adamo, Dell borrowed this idea, but had some Windows-specific challenges to meet. In particular, Dell’s John New told me, Microsoft requires that the Windows Certificate of Authenticity sticker can’t be replaced by a monochrome etching, and must be accessible to the end user without the use of tools to see it. For most machines, that means a sticker on the bottom of the product. For the Adamo, though, a magnetic coverplate behind the Adamo’s screen hides the COA (and also the FCC certification). This cover also hides a few service screws, but its main purpose, and the reason it is magnetic, is to meet the letter of Microsoft’s sticker law while still keeping the laptop free from unsightly badges.
Dear Microsoft, please pull your head out of your ars, m’kay?
Thomas
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
The L.A. Times muses that Clarence Thomas might be a liberal –
“Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court liberal?”
Thomas is clearly a originalist, not a liberal or liberal activist. Politically he leans libertarian. I personally respect Thomas’s views and ruling more than any other Supreme Court justice, especially concerning the commerce clause. If you haven’t already picked it up, I highly recommend his book, it’s a great read.
Questions
Thursday, March 5th, 2009
One of the Congressmen asked a hard question. “Mr. Geithner can we sell the bonds necessary to fund this deficit? Are the Chinese still buying our bonds?”
Mr. Geithner responded with a full three minutes of non-answers to those questions. At the end of three minutes the Congressman repeated his questions.
For another two minutes Mr. Geithner ducked the questions. He just repeated the sound bights that had been drilled into his head.
A simple “no” would have sufficed.
“Age Group Warfare”
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
It’s not class warfare per se, it’s age group warfare – it’s the baby boomers vs. everyone else.
Hovde
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
Eric Hovde – commercial real estate, business loans, muni’s, residential loans, autos, a poorly designed stimulus, disfunctional government… it all adds up to a major economic depression.
A classic from 1934…
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
“Oh, the world owes us a livin’..”
Do Overs
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Where was I on December 9th? Hmm. Blowing off college courses, building a sega Genesis game copier from scratch in the hopes of getting rich, and planning a Christmas trip to Denver Colorado to visit family. The stock market did not exist in my world at the time. October 4th? Two months away from a move to San Francisco to take part in the dot com boom.
445 on the S&P, it’s right around the corner! Maybe this time around we’ll get things right? I doubt it.
