National Job Approval" Barach Obama December 8, 2009
Partly because it’s showing the shine is wearing off and America is starting to understand what many of us saw at the outset. But also because this is a “poll of polls”. Go to the site and see for yourself. Each dot in the graph shows the results of an independent poll. USToday, CNN, Gallup and so on. And, in short, the survey SAYS!
NoBama.
Posted in Politics: National
Tagged Barack Obama, Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, North Carolina Politics, Politics, Republican, zNorth Carolina
I get why people hate politics and politicians. Heck, I hate politics and politicians. We should be able to get to the point where we can disagree and yet still have the class to let someone go to the restroom:
After 75 minutes and 14 split votes Monday, Tony Gurley and the GOP regained the top spot on the Wake County Board of Commissioners – on a tie-breaker achieved only when member Betty Lou Ward took an unexcused bathroom break.
See, the Wake County Board is made up of 7 members. Right now the Democrats have control of the Board 4-3. One of the members, a Democrat suffered a stroke and has been unable to attend meetings; that makes it 3-3. Last night the board was electing a new chairman and after 75 minutes and multiple votes, could get past the 3-3 tie. That’s when Ms. Ward went to the bathroom. Because she didn’t officially request an absence, the Board was within it’s right to vote without her, and they did.
Legal? Yes. Without class? Absolutely.
Posted in Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Abuse of Power, Democrat, North Carolina, Republican, Wake County
Ben Hoffman is having another monster conversation describing Common Right-Wing Lies. Ben’s post begins by talking about what he considers lies:
And then he refutes that by claiming the “Fact”:
Now, there is a whole board full of comments on the subject; stop over for the debate.
However, during that debate, we began to take on the role of Government and really what it means when the Government creates public programs; Libraries, Parks, Beaches, Zoos and Police/Fire Stations. I contend that when the government uses public money to establish and run these organizations, it is the equivalent of robbing one neighbor at gun point only to take that money and give it to your other neighbor in the form of a library, museum or zoo.
Of course this is a Libertarian point of view. And maybe taken to its extreme, is a bit untenable. But I do maintain that if a government is going to set up public works programs, it should be as local to the people as possible. There is very little argument that can be made that would support taking money from citizens in North Carolina to support a Federal program giving money to an Art District in California.
Anyway, during the debate, one of us, Arbourist, made a comment stating that Socialist States are alive and well in the world:
Of course not, libertarianism has not ever been implemented, nor will it ever be implemented. It is not a practical way to run a society, unlike socialism which has many practical applications, and is doing great in many locations:Cuba, Venezuela, Nigeria, Canada, Sweden, Norway, […].
This got me to thinking. So, I went out and grabbed some data here and here. Put it down and paper and came up with this:
GDP per Capita
This is a graph showing the GDP per Capita of the World’s richest 50-60-70 nations, some interesting nations not in that group and then the list of nations quoted by Arbourist. Further, I have compared these nations to the States of the United States of America, just to see where they rank.
Check out some interesting notes:
No, the fact remains. The United States of America is the single richest Nation ever in the history of the world. And we are so rich because we try to maximize the free market and the flow of capital and the driving motivation of profits. The freer the market, the better off her citizens.
Posted in Economics
Tagged Conservative, Left, Liberal, Politics, Socialism, zEconomy, zNorth Carolina
So, word is that I trust the free market to a fault. It might be hard to dispute that, but then again, my limited knowledge of economics as a science could argue in my favor that what I do or don’t know doesn’t mean squat. Hell, for all I know, the only reason that I feel the way I do is that when I was a kid I mighta thought my dad was a Republican. [he wasn’t, democrat blue through and through]. Anyway, so I started thinking. They have books on sports. Everything from who wins and loses, point spread, over under and even crazy things, like TDs in a game, fumbles in the first half or yards rushing per carry. Crazy crazy stuff. More crazy is how accurate it is.
See, it’s one thing to SAY that the Vikings are gonna beat Green Bay. It’s another thing entirely to BET money that they will. One is a hope. The other is, or can be, an investment.
So I went out to see if there was a market for the stuff that I talk about here. Turns out; there is: Intrade
Intrade is a clearing house for all kinds of strange things. You can bet on whoo will have control of the House of Representatives after 2010 election. You can bet on Cap and Trade regulations, Gov Sanford staying in office and–well, Health Care plans. Let’s check it out.
And as of right now, this board is tracking three “markets”
Now, the way it works is that the “Closing Price” is what the “market” feels is the % chance that a “thing” will occur. So, if the closing price for the “Vikings winning the NFC Norris” is at 83.5, then that is saying the market feels there is an 83.5% chance of the Vikings winning the Division.
Check out the graphs for each of our Health Care scenarios:
This one looks very promising. With a closing price of 2.7, the market is saying that there is only a 2.7% chance that we’ll see a “Public Option” by December 31, 2009. How about March 31, 2010?
Note: These graphs are show with their real time rates. At the time of prining the first was at 2.7 and the bottom two at 12.0.
Ouch, that one doesn’t look so good. Fully 400% increase to 12% that we’ll see the public option by March 31, 2010. For our last time frame; June 30, 2010?
Fascinating. The exact same closing price; 12. The market feels that there is a 12% chance that we’ll have a “Public Option” passed by June 30th, 2010.
Very interesting stuff. One note, this data is saying that if we don’t pass this by April 1, there is a zero percent chance that we’ll pass it by July 1. If the market felt that there was a chance of passing after March 31, the close would reflect a number HIGHER than the March 31 closing.
Quick. Below, which company would you want to own?
52 Week View Range: $0.06 - $5.10
This is one Company. See the second one below.
52 Week View Range: $1.50 - $9.14
Is it even close? One company is taking off. Not hard to do, the market has come back by some 60%. However the other company, even in one of the best markets we have seen in years, is tanking.
The first company is Government Motors.
The second one is Ford.
Go Obama!
Posted in Economy, Politics: National
Tagged Abuse of Power, Barack Obama, Democrat, Finance, Left, Liberal, North Carolina, Politics, Recovery Plan, Unions
Water water everywhere. And not a drop to drink.
Sounds like California is thirsty:
Operators of the sprawling state system that supplies water to 25 million Californians from Butte County to San Diego issued their lowest-ever estimate on the amount of water they will be able to deliver.
Officials predicted Tuesday they will be able to offer only 5 percent of the total volume of water requested by California cities and farms next year. That’s the smallest water allocation the agency has released since its creation in 1967.
Government in Action
That’s quite a gap. Now, to be fair, you can see in the chart above that there are years in which the water allocations eventually meet 100% of the need, but more than often, they don’t.
Makes you wonder why this is, right? I mean California should have plenty of water to supply their need. Why are they so short so often? What could possible cause a shortage in a specific commodity?
Well, I just finished a fantastic book: Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. And it just so happens that Mr. Sowell does indeed talk about shortages and what causes them. One word: Regulation. For example, have you ever noticed that it always seems the grocery store is out of Coke when you go to buy some? Or that gas stations always seem to be empty when you need to fill up? I know I know. Every time you go to buy a pair of sunglasses, there are none available? Huh? Never happens? Wanna know why? Because no one is regulating the price of these products. They are selling at a price the market can bare. And so supply is nearly always available.
Now, if I told you that Wal-Mart was going to be selling Coke 6-paks for a dime starting at 6pm tomorrow night, what do you think the scene would be? Packed initially and then finally, they would run out. They would run out when under normal circumstances, they would have a predictable supply for anybody to come and buy as much as they need/want. And why doesn’t someone come in and buy all of the supply of Coke now? Because the marginal cost of Coke dictates that we won’t waste or hoard it.
So, again, what cause a shortage? Regulation; specifically the imposition of a reduced price when supply remains fixed. So, why do you think that California State Water Project has problems meeting 100% of need? Because they are regulations in place that reduce the cost of water for significant portions of the population:
In 2002, the average price paid for irrigation water from the CVP (Central Valley Project-An agricultural district) was less than 2 percent of what residents of Los Angeles pay for drinking water, and less than 3 percent of what residents of San Francisco pay.
What does this mean? It means that farmers can grow crops in regions where those crops wouldn’t normally grow because it’s too dry. But because they are getting water at less than the market rate, these farming practices are continued and water is going where it wouldn’t otherwise go.
The lesson is simple, if you want there to be a 6-pak of Coke at the local Wal-Mart, you better hope that it’s expensive enough to be there.
Posted in Economics, States Behaving Badly
Tagged California, Democrat, Liberal, Politics, zEconomy