May 9, 2010
By Herman Cain
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just reported for April 2010 that 290,000 private sector new jobs were added (66,000 census workers), and productivity increased 3.6 percent in the non-farm business sector during the first quarter of 2010. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent from the previous three-month rate of 9.7 percent, which means 15.3 million people are still unemployed.
Here’s what the president’s economic advisors have said about the persistent high unemployment rate:
Obama’s National Economic Council Director Larry Summers “Predicts Perpetually High Unemployment.” The Hill 4/30/10
Obama’s Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says “Unemployment Will Stay Unacceptably High for a Long Period of Time.” (NBC’s “Today Show, 4/1/10)
Obama’s Council Of Economic Advisers Chair, Christina Romer, says “Current Economic Growth Not Enough To Get A Lot Of Job Growth.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 4/4/10)
Obama’s Economic Recovery Board Chair (Paul Volker) says that “Unemployment Will Be Too High for Far Too Long.” The St. Louis Beacon, 5/4/10)
Although the unemployment rate is getting worse, the president’s advisors have surrendered to high unemployment. They don’t even expect a different result, and they have given no indication of trying some different ideas.
Some of us are not willing to give up on creating jobs for the 15.3 million people that are still unemployed. We have persistently offered suggestions on how to create millions of jobs in the economy instead of imaginary “saved” jobs and more government jobs. We can create job growth across all sectors of the economy.
In February of 2010 The Economic Report of the President was released by his Council of Economic Advisers. It was repackaged propaganda about creating jobs and rebuilding the economy through health care legislation, clean-energy initiatives, infrastructure projects, small-business tax breaks, and more ineffective gimmicks.
The propaganda may be working on some people, but their economic recovery strategy is not working. The modest job gains are not seismic shifts in businesses’ plans for growth. They are the result of businesses stabilizing their businesses while squeezing out more and more productivity gains.
Nearly every night on my radio show, I receive calls from small businessmen who say they are just trying to survive. Even worse are those that call and say that they cannot survive any longer and may have to close the doors on their businesses.
One caller shared with the audience that he had lost his job that day, because his company was trying to get below 50 employees so it could avoid the health care mandate penalties it could not afford. On the other hand, three CEOs of multi-billion dollar companies told me recently that they would be continuing to reduce their workforces this year. Though not statistically determined, these stories are real.
It pains me to hear real-life stories like these, just as it pains me to personally know many talented people who can’t find a job because this economic recovery is stalled, and the administration and Congress will not try any ideas that just might look like they came from a conservative.
Whereas I am happy for the 290,000 people who found jobs last month, I will not trumpet an economic recovery until the unemployment rate starts to consistently go down, businesses are in a growth mode again, and 15.3 million unemployed people are happy again.
It’s going to take more than propaganda to make that happen.
May 2, 2010
10 cans amidst all the can’t thinking
May 2, 2010
By Herman Cain
The Gulf Coast states did not need another disaster to deal with, but the bad news just keeps on coming. People were killed when the British Petroleum oil platform exploded, along with what will be the worst oil spill in history.
As we hear the news each day about the difficulty in stopping the spread of the oil spill in the Gulf, and the impending dangers to wildlife, fisheries, businesses and the coastal states, we become more and more frustrated because there is nothing most of us can do individually to help the situation.
We can only pray for the people and agencies trying to remedy the situation, that they will have the resolve and resources to stop the spread of the impact of this disaster.
Consistent bad news leads to a bad attitude, lack of confidence and, eventually, failure. Just ask any high achiever in business, sports or any endeavor of life.
Since the summer of 2008, we have been fed a constant diet of more and more bad news about the economy, the credit crisis, the housing crisis, the recession, political scandals, a dysfunctional federal government, crooked politicians, crooked lenders, crooked borrowers and crooked executives.
We are constantly being reminded that it is going to take time to fix these problems, and that there are no quick fix solutions. We know that, but the Obama Administration and Congress continue to believe that they can spend us out of these problems. They can’t. The math does not work.
The president’s campaign promises about transparency, bipartisanship and no earmarks in legislation have been broken. And as the mainstream media looks the other way and tries to rationalize the broken promises, the informed voters get more and more frustrated, while the uninformed voters stay stuck on stupid.
Many voters are frustrated with both the Democrats and the Republicans in Congress, because they have failed to fix the real problems, as they continue to ignore lessons from history and the voting public.
As a result, many people are losing hope.
Last week President Obama issued a challenge to his supporters to help him re-elect Democrats to Congress so he can continue to “deliver on the promise of change, hope and prosperity.” I shared that with the listeners and asked them to share their feelings and opinions about change, hope and prosperity.
Only one caller out of about 20 thought the president was doing a wonderful job delivering change, hope and prosperity. But before I could ask him why he felt that way, he hung up. The other 19 callers totally disagreed and stayed on and gave reasons as to why, which we talk about nearly every night on the show.
The response by a 29-year-old first-time caller summed it up when she said, “This change is killing my hope for prosperity.”
I have not lost hope, because there are things we can do to capture the change people were hoping for but are not getting. We have our voices, our votes and our valuables (time and money) to work with.
For those that are losing hope I offer these “Ten Cans”:
You CAN have a dream, without knowing how to get there.
You CAN have a life, just start somewhere. You CAN make a difference, one person at a time.
You CAN make things happen, don’t expect a straight line.
You CAN be happy, if you have a hope inside.
You CAN have love in your life, but look beyond the outside
You CAN solve your problems, but FIRST, count your blessings.
You CAN find the strength, like an eagle, waiting, and resting.
You CAN make this a better world, but life is just a minute.
God CAN lead you through it, if all your heart is in it. – The Hermanator
Despite all the bad news, there is hope if we do what we CAN do.
By Herman Cain
The Gulf Coast states did not need another disaster to deal with, but the bad news just keeps on coming. People were killed when the British Petroleum oil platform exploded, along with what will be the worst oil spill in history.
As we hear the news each day about the difficulty in stopping the spread of the oil spill in the Gulf, and the impending dangers to wildlife, fisheries, businesses and the coastal states, we become more and more frustrated because there is nothing most of us can do individually to help the situation.
We can only pray for the people and agencies trying to remedy the situation, that they will have the resolve and resources to stop the spread of the impact of this disaster.
Consistent bad news leads to a bad attitude, lack of confidence and, eventually, failure. Just ask any high achiever in business, sports or any endeavor of life.
Since the summer of 2008, we have been fed a constant diet of more and more bad news about the economy, the credit crisis, the housing crisis, the recession, political scandals, a dysfunctional federal government, crooked politicians, crooked lenders, crooked borrowers and crooked executives.
We are constantly being reminded that it is going to take time to fix these problems, and that there are no quick fix solutions. We know that, but the Obama Administration and Congress continue to believe that they can spend us out of these problems. They can’t. The math does not work.
The president’s campaign promises about transparency, bipartisanship and no earmarks in legislation have been broken. And as the mainstream media looks the other way and tries to rationalize the broken promises, the informed voters get more and more frustrated, while the uninformed voters stay stuck on stupid.
Many voters are frustrated with both the Democrats and the Republicans in Congress, because they have failed to fix the real problems, as they continue to ignore lessons from history and the voting public.
As a result, many people are losing hope.
Last week President Obama issued a challenge to his supporters to help him re-elect Democrats to Congress so he can continue to “deliver on the promise of change, hope and prosperity.” I shared that with the listeners and asked them to share their feelings and opinions about change, hope and prosperity.
Only one caller out of about 20 thought the president was doing a wonderful job delivering change, hope and prosperity. But before I could ask him why he felt that way, he hung up. The other 19 callers totally disagreed and stayed on and gave reasons as to why, which we talk about nearly every night on the show.
The response by a 29-year-old first-time caller summed it up when she said, “This change is killing my hope for prosperity.”
I have not lost hope, because there are things we can do to capture the change people were hoping for but are not getting. We have our voices, our votes and our valuables (time and money) to work with.
For those that are losing hope I offer these “Ten Cans”:
You CAN have a life, just start somewhere. You CAN make a difference, one person at a time.
You CAN make things happen, don’t expect a straight line.
You CAN be happy, if you have a hope inside.
You CAN have love in your life, but look beyond the outside
You CAN solve your problems, but FIRST, count your blessings.
You CAN find the strength, like an eagle, waiting, and resting.
You CAN make this a better world, but life is just a minute.
God CAN lead you through it, if all your heart is in it. – The Hermanator
Despite all the bad news, there is hope if we do what we CAN do.
April 25, 2010
Tax Freedom Day never really comes
April 25, 2010
By Herman Cain
Tax Freedom Day, as defined by the Tax Foundation, has come and gone without much attention from the media this year. It is supposed to be the day we have worked since the beginning of the year to pay our collective tax bill for federal, state and local taxes.
Theoretically, it was on April 9 this year, a little more than a fourth of our sweat equity. Practically, it has not arrived yet.
The Tax Freedom Day (TFD) calculation does not include the deficit for this fiscal year. It does not include the total national debt, nor does it include unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It also does not include the yet-to-be-determined cost of ObamaCare if it stands up in court.
If you are on blood pressure or anxiety medication, then make sure you have taken your daily dosage before reading on.
When you include the latest projected deficit for fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010), then TFD would be May 17th. That means we would have to work four and a half months (over a third of the year) to pay Uncle Sam to cover just this year’s spending.
If you calculate TFD based on the national debt of $12.5 trillion and counting, then we would have to work 365 days for the government before we started working for ourselves. No, that’s not a mistake. We would have to work all year for the government before working for ourselves.
Unfunded liabilities are between four and five times the national debt, depending on whose counting and which set of assumptions are used. But whether it is four or five times the national debt, it is still a financial disaster in our future.
There is growing agreement by sober analysts who are not intoxicated on financial fantasy that the real cost of ObamaCare is not going to reduce any deficits as the president claims. So the nightmare gets worse.
The thought of working a full year to pay off this year’s deficit or five years to pay for the long-term irresponsibility of government is beyond rational. Sadly, too many people are clueless or don’t care, or they are still dreaming that somebody else is going to pay it off. I know! How about those evil rich business people who generate jobs!
Endless debt generated by government means endless taxes. That means an endless nightmare unless something is done other than looking for endless ways to tax people. These nightmare scenarios have been building for decades and both political parties are responsible for this gross irresponsibility.
But the current administration and Democrat-controlled Congress have accelerated the spending exponentially, and they have intensified their search for more ways to tax us. Sneak-a-taxes are their favorite tactic and many Democrats are still floating the idea of the dreaded and disastrous value-added tax (VAT).
Many people believe that this is just the culture of Washington, D.C. and that it can’t be changed. I do not accept that excuse! It can change with the right political will power and the right leadership courage.
When I first shared these TFD calculations on my radio show, a caller suggested that I should not scare people with these exaggerations. I pointed out to him that the deficits are real, the calculations are accurate, and I do not apologize for telling people the truth. And as I have often said, liberals can’t handle the truth.
Tax Freedom Day is not what it used to be. And as long as elected leaders remain in this perpetual state of spending, the nation will never wake up from this financial nightmare that threatens our security and prosperity.
It’s way past time to wake up.
By Herman Cain
Tax Freedom Day, as defined by the Tax Foundation, has come and gone without much attention from the media this year. It is supposed to be the day we have worked since the beginning of the year to pay our collective tax bill for federal, state and local taxes.
Theoretically, it was on April 9 this year, a little more than a fourth of our sweat equity. Practically, it has not arrived yet.
The Tax Freedom Day (TFD) calculation does not include the deficit for this fiscal year. It does not include the total national debt, nor does it include unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It also does not include the yet-to-be-determined cost of ObamaCare if it stands up in court.
If you are on blood pressure or anxiety medication, then make sure you have taken your daily dosage before reading on.
When you include the latest projected deficit for fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010), then TFD would be May 17th. That means we would have to work four and a half months (over a third of the year) to pay Uncle Sam to cover just this year’s spending.
If you calculate TFD based on the national debt of $12.5 trillion and counting, then we would have to work 365 days for the government before we started working for ourselves. No, that’s not a mistake. We would have to work all year for the government before working for ourselves.
Unfunded liabilities are between four and five times the national debt, depending on whose counting and which set of assumptions are used. But whether it is four or five times the national debt, it is still a financial disaster in our future.
There is growing agreement by sober analysts who are not intoxicated on financial fantasy that the real cost of ObamaCare is not going to reduce any deficits as the president claims. So the nightmare gets worse.
The thought of working a full year to pay off this year’s deficit or five years to pay for the long-term irresponsibility of government is beyond rational. Sadly, too many people are clueless or don’t care, or they are still dreaming that somebody else is going to pay it off. I know! How about those evil rich business people who generate jobs!
Endless debt generated by government means endless taxes. That means an endless nightmare unless something is done other than looking for endless ways to tax people. These nightmare scenarios have been building for decades and both political parties are responsible for this gross irresponsibility.
But the current administration and Democrat-controlled Congress have accelerated the spending exponentially, and they have intensified their search for more ways to tax us. Sneak-a-taxes are their favorite tactic and many Democrats are still floating the idea of the dreaded and disastrous value-added tax (VAT).
Many people believe that this is just the culture of Washington, D.C. and that it can’t be changed. I do not accept that excuse! It can change with the right political will power and the right leadership courage.
When I first shared these TFD calculations on my radio show, a caller suggested that I should not scare people with these exaggerations. I pointed out to him that the deficits are real, the calculations are accurate, and I do not apologize for telling people the truth. And as I have often said, liberals can’t handle the truth.
Tax Freedom Day is not what it used to be. And as long as elected leaders remain in this perpetual state of spending, the nation will never wake up from this financial nightmare that threatens our security and prosperity.
It’s way past time to wake up.
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