Free kibbles

TAX AND SPEND:

Peter Schiff is prepared for Republican betrayal on the debt ceiling debate.

"But Republicans want to raise the debt ceiling just as much as Democrats, they just want to gain political advantage in the process. They have widely accepted the Democrat stalking horse that a failure to raise the ceiling will lead directly to economic Armageddon. No party wants to be held responsible for such an outcome. Even if the expected Armageddon does not come, the Republicans will be blamed for any problems that follow a no vote on the increase, regardless of the true cause. As a deal is in everyone's political interest, I am convinced it will happen.When it comes, it will be structured in a way that allows both sides to claim victory. Each side will praise the other for putting politics aside and having the courage to work together for the American people. They will announce some kind of ten-year deficit reduction plan, with a seemingly large multi-trillion dollar headline number. However, you can be sure that no real spending cuts will take effect in the early years of the plan. All the real action will be scheduled for the later years of the current decade and beyond.
But as in all such plans, actions slotted for distant time horizons have minimal likelihoods of occurring. Unexpected developments (and in Washington all developments are unexpected) always reshuffle priorities. The plan will surely rely on rosy economic assumptions that exaggerate growth forecasts and understate the growth of government expenditures. When reality intervenes, and the assumed deficit reductions never materialize, and the economy continues to stagnate, look for Congress to pass emergency legislation that cancels all bets."

That's how it always worked in the past, but it might not work that way this time. The scenario Schiff paints is what Boehner would like to see, but it's possible so many Republicans won't budge on taxes that this deal can't be made. If that's the case, I think everybody falls back to allowing Obama to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally. Republicans will feign outrage, but secretly they'll be happy. I think Republicans have a lot to gain by forcing Democrats to take all the blame for increasing the debt ceiling. I also think a lot of Democrats would be harmed if they voted to raise it, so allowing Obama to do it could be a win-win, and I know they're making the estimation right now.

"Republicans are also likely to cave on higher taxes on the rich. Some of these increases will be disguised as merely closing loopholes and others will just impose income caps on deductions. But do not be fooled. Some of these moves will bite deeply on the engines of our economy and make it even more difficult to run a profitable business in this country."

I don't think Republican voters will be fooled by this. When that Republican in the Senate gave his speech saying Republicans had agreed to increasing revenue, I think that was a trial balloon that blew up in their faces. Republican leadership is pushing for the deal Schiff's talking about, but I think the rank and file are rebelling.

Do you want to voluntarily give the government more of your paycheck? I didn't think so.

REGULATION:

Lew Rockwell points out this is how government wants to treat us all:

"Did you know that you have to call a federal regulator before you go out lobstering, and they monitor each vessel with a special GPS device. And then you have to fill out a log and submit it to the gov't after every trip?"

First lobster fishermen, then your kids, then you.

FEDERAL RESERVE:

Argentinian government arrests economists for publishing data that claims inflation is twice the official rate.

"Surely, economists are safe here in the good old U.S. of A, where the Bureau of Labor Statistics just reported that annual price inflation was running at 3.6% in May, at the same time Shadowstats.com‘s John Williams estimates that consumer prices are really rising at an 11.2% clip?"

It looks like the shadowstats chart puts inflation at around seven percent.

The end of QEII is big news, but it's mostly a smokescreen. The Fed will continue to be the number one purchaser of Treasuries and expects to buy $300 billion worth over the next year. The printing press never stops.

HEALTH CARE:

Government domination of our food supply is producing food shortages that will spread.

GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY:

Australians are livid that their PM forced a carbon tax down their throats. This has nothing to do with the environment. It's about stealing more money and buying more votes. I was under the impression they replaced their last PM partly because he supported a carbon tax.

"According to a recent Newspoll, just 30 per cent of people support the tax."

Oops. Does she have polling numbers that led her to believe this would work for her?

MISC:

Picture of fish using a tool. Apparently tool isn't nearly as special as scientists thought.