Jim Rogers - Central planners' policies are punishing the prudent in favor of rescuing the irresponsible

I read the following by financial commentator Jim Rogers and it really fits with what I think has been happening for the last couple of years:

To Rogers, the bigger danger that concerns him is the hollowing out of the 'saving class' resulting from this situation. Central planners' policies are punishing the prudent in favor of rescuing the irresponsible. This has happened before in world history, and the aftermath has always had grievous economic, social -- and often human -- costs:

Throughout our history – any country’s history – the people who save their money and invest for their future are the ones that you build an economy, a society, and a nation on.

In America, many people saved their money, put it aside, and didn’t buy four or five houses with no job and no money down. They did what most people would consider the right thing, and what historically has been the right thing. But now, unfortunately, those people are being wiped out, because they are getting 0% return, or virtually no return, on their savings and their investments. We’re wiping them out at the expense of people who went deeply into debt, people who did what most people would consider the wrong thing at the expense of people who did the right thing. This, long-term, has terrible consequences for any nation, any society, any economy.

If you go back in history, you'll see what happed to the Germans when they wiped out their savings class in the 1920s. It didn’t lead to good things down the road for Germany. It didn’t lead to good things for Italy, which did the same thing. There were plenty of countries where it wiped out the people who saved and invested for their future. It’s usually a serious, political reaction, desperation in some cases, and looking for a savior and easy answers is usually what happens when you destroy the people who save and invest for the future.

- PeakProsperity.com

The United States all of a sudden has no shortage of irresponsible people. Nothing is anyone's fault anymore. Too many demand free money and more from the Government. And all too often Liberals and even Conservatives are giving it to them, in exchange for votes at election time.

Don't get me wrong, some people do legitimately deserve assistance, but way less than we are supporting now. And none of these people are going to help build a better country. It is the saver who invest and it is investment that drivers our country and others to an ever better future. It is also savings and investment that improves the welfare of many. Take the 'evil' oil companies. If they really were making so much money and were such cash cows, why not say 'me too' and put some money into these corporations? You can do direct investing in ExxonMobil for as little as $250. Is that too much money, well that is the point of saving. You save until you have enough to buy what you want. Point to someone who has no money and I bet I can point to their way too expensive sneakers, sunglasses, clothing, car, gadgets, vacations, etc... that they also don't have money for but somehow manage to get anyway.

Worse, many of them are liable to have children that will also require support for most of their lives. The Democrats are counting on this, because these people will continues to be their base voters for years to come. 

This is also why the Democrats are pushing to legalize illegal aliens and provide them with a 'Path to Citizenship'. Many of these illegal aliens are 'High Needs' parents. It does not mean that there is something wrong with their children or that their children need special care. Instead, it is the parents that need to be told and reminded about everything about being a good parent to their children. This was as explained to me by a pediatrician in Washington, DC. My kid's first pediatrician. This was during a checkup where she was advising us that she was leaving because she was being burned out due to all the high needs parents she had to deal with. It just so happened that these 'high needs' parents bills were being paid by tax payers. Even the co-pay. It was not that the parents did not have $10, $15 or even $20 to pay for the ability to take their kid to the doctor. It was simply because if they did have to pay anything, they would not take their kid to see a doctor. 

This is the heart of the problem. And this problem will only grow until we stop paying out like a broken ATM.

Go hear to listen to the entire Jim Rogers Interview on Peak Prosperity.

Tweet: " If getting employer benefits without paying union dues is BAD, why is getting government benefits without paying taxes GOOD? "

This is a great tweet:

If getting employer benefits without paying union dues is BAD, why is getting government benefits without paying taxes GOOD?  - Twitter

There is absolutely no audit or accountability on all of the money and services being handed out to a good portion of the population. Sure, there is the occasional story about Government employees buying all sorts of items for personal use on Government credit cards, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. How many people are working under the table and collecting Government benefits? How much fraud is out there? How many people simply are eligible to collect some kind of Government handout because instead of leaning forward and trying to find work, they lean back and grab the remote...

Liberals are claiming that to work in a union shop you need to pay union dues, otherwise you are not paying your fair share. Well what about the large portion of the population not paying taxes? Everyone is claiming that the rich, who are already paying large sums in taxes, are not paying their fair share. Well what about everyone else? If their fair share really 0%?

Ace - 'What Does Let It Burn Mean?'

Ace over at Ace of Spades blog masterfully explains the strategy/philosophy of 'What Does Let It Burn Mean?'

“Let It Burn” is about inaction. There’s no point in trying do anything that avoids going over the fiscal cliff/sequestration. Remember, the deal that got us to this point was agreed to by House Republicans, Senate Democrats and signed by Obama. That’s as bi-partisan as it gets. I’ve heard from squishy low information voters, Obama and the media that “bi-partisan problem solving” is the Holy Grail of politics. Well, here it is. Will it lead to massive disruptions? Yes. That’s the point. The current system is rigged against conservative. We should play no part in its perpetuation. If you can’t win the game, concede and start new one. That’s the heart of Let It Burn. This isn't some petty "I lost so I'm taking my ball and going home" tirade. This is what people want. It's simply not sustainable. If we can't stop them, we don't have to continue to enable them either. - Ace of Spades

Go read the whole thing.

The first weekend after the election I was talking with a friend who knew I wished that the results would have been different. I explained that it is OK as in time my position will be proven correct once the Government runs out of ways to borrow and take an unsustainable amount of money for ever increasing spending. Her comment back was that it sounded like my plan was to let it all burn down. I corrected her by stating that my plan was to elect a President willing to try and fix the country's spending problem. It was my expectation that the country was going to burn down under the weight of uncontrolled spending.

As Ace's piece argues, the sooner the better. The population needs a harder lesson. Thinking that other people can pay your way is fine, until you run out of other people. We have hit that point.

Over 300 DC Government Employees Caught Collecting Unemployment

This is a follow-up story from earlier this year. It notes that the number of people suspected of defrauding DC unemployment checks has more than doubled to over 300. Shockingly it also notes that people have been fired and some are even facing criminal charges. I suspect that is because they have refused to pay back the money they stole. Still why not charge more of them with a crime. Paying back what they took unlawfully is not punishment. It is an expected first step. There still needs to be punishment.

The District said Monday that hundreds of city workers took nearly $2 million in fraudulent unemployment benefits, a scandal that roiled the D.C. government earlier this year and prompted widespread firings and criminal charges.

Lisa Mallory, the director of the D.C. Department of Employment Services, told the D.C. Council that her agency had detected $1.9 million in overpayments to District workers who collected unemployment benefits while on the city's payroll. - Washington Examiner

The current total according to the story is 318 cases. I have an idea, how about jailing them for the same amount of time that they were collecting unemployment, other than for those who were busted with a week or less of overlap. This is on top of firing them.

Democrats want to tell you that there is no such thing as fraud. And yet, here it is. Worse, they were responsible for catching it. I do have to give them credit for pursuing this crime. Perhaps it is because of how bold a fraud it was.

Senate Democrat: 'Can't guarantee 2014 budget'

President Obama Signing The Health Care Bill - Link

The Senate is where US Government budgets die. As the story below notes 'The last time the Senate passed a standalone budget resolution was in 2009.'

It is this simple fact that demonstrates how irresponsible the Democrat-led Senate has been. Every year the House of Representatives passes a budget only for it to die in the Senate. The Senate could AND SHOULD amend the parts of the House-passed budget and pass their version so that the two halves of congress could then come together and agree on a budget.

However, the Harry-Reid led Democrat controlled Senate does next to nothing. What they have done is vote down the President's own proposed budget. At least they are on record for that. They are also on record for not being willing to put a price on anything

“There’s a great danger, not just for the Budget Committee but for the whole Senate when we don’t follow regular order with open debate,” Sessions said. “It is very distressing to me that Sen. Reid has, for political reasons, not allowed Senate Democrats to be on record for anything.”

“They don’t need a single Republican vote to pass a budget,” he said.

Unlike most bills, the budget resolution cannot be filibustered on the floor and it takes only 51 votes to pass. Democrats will control 55 seats next year. - The Hill

Of course this is intentional, in that the Democrats and the President have for years been not been attempting to pass a budget, but not even bothering to even mark up a Senate budget bill. Some people may think that this does not matter. However, this is a huge problem for programs attempting to get funding because the continuing spending resolutions are all based on a budget passed when George Bush was President. This leaving emergency and new funding issues to try and find some other way to get funding requests through Congress. Even the Pentagon is running into problems given that they last budget no longer reflects the current realities of the Department of Defense.

It occurred to me on the drive home today that President Obama and Harry Reid are doing this because it is their intention to bankrupt the Country. They know that the country is on an unsustainable spending spree and intend to ride it out with no intent to fix it. Really, look at how Obamacare was planned. They started counting revenue years before expenses, knowing that budget calculations would only look 10 years into the future. This gave Obamacare the appearance of cutting costs. But all the time they knew that huge expenses were hidden outside the CBO estimate. If a private company did this sort of accounting gimmickry people would go to jail. However, this is how corrupt politicians get re-elected.

Jesse Jackson Jr. - Wins Re-Election - in plea deal talks with feds

Here is a perfect example of the crap that stupid people send to represent them. I am not sure why they do this, other than out of some bizarre notion that it either will upset white people or that these bad politicians will somehow reward them with free stuff. Really, how good can the guy be when he is sitting in a clinic and not in Congress:

Sneed has learned U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who handily won re-election Tuesday despite a lengthy stay at Mayo Clinic for depression and bipolar disorder, is in the midst of plea discussions with the feds probing his alleged misuse of campaign funds. “No one has pled guilty, but plea discussions are ongoing,” said a top Sneed source, who said Jackson is still undergoing treatment at Mayo Clinic. - Sun Times

This kind of behavior in Democrat-majority parts is nothing new. Take DC's embrace of embarrassment Marion Barry, who continues to serve as a DC Councilmen despite problems with: 

• Failure to file tax returns
• Ongoing Drug problems
• Insulting his constituents based on race - "We've got to do something about these Asians coming in, opening up businesses, those dirty shops. They ought to go, I'll just say that right now, you know. But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too."'

 Democrats do not punish such behavior. It almost appears that they reward it. It's not like they are replacing this flawed politicians with clean cut Democrats. Surely they are out there...

(Marion Barry smoking crack - 1990)

But instead we get losers like the ones above and others like fake Indian Elizabeth Warren.

Despite Jackson's problems, he still got 64% of the vote from his district.

UPDATE 10 November

Well sometimes the saying 'the higher you get the harder you fall' really fits. Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. appears to be a step away from resigning from Congress because he has a date with jail.

Webb, the chairman of Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago, has been the point person for Jackson in talks with the U.S. Justice Department in Washington.

The tentative deal includes:–Jackson resigning for health reasons.

• His pleading guilty to charges involving misuse of campaign funds.
• The congressman’s repayment of any contributions that were converted to personal use, such as home furnishings, improper travel or gifts.

At least some jail time would appear to be inevitable for Jackson, the son of civil-rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and spouse of Chicago 7th Ward Ald. Sandi Jackson. - CBS Local

What do you call one corrupt Congressman headed to jail? A good start!