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In case you’ve bookmarked this blog and wondered why the content hasn’t changed since early February 2013, it’s because we’ve moved! Please point your browser and bookmark the following URL to visit the RockyFlatsFacts.com blog:
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Fans of global warming have been celebrating that the U.S. had the highest average recorded temperature in 2012, and the national media was full of stories about the horrors to come. Reports that indicate there is no global warming trend were displayed less prominently. One report mentioned that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that the average temperature for the entire world barely made it into being one of the top ten years. The average was 58 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a full degree above the twentieth century average.
Another article that did gain a rather large headline on page 19A of the January 6, 2013 Denver Post reports that China is experiencing unusually cold weather. The national average temperatures are the lowest in almost three decades. Snow and ice have created havoc and knocked out power in several provinces. That information should be remarkable to advocates of the theory that global warming is being caused by man’s carbon dioxide emission, since China has been busy outstripping the U.S. in those emissions.
President Obama mentioned the threat of climate change in his inaugural address. He said the threat is apparent in “raging fires, crippling drought, and more powerful storms.” George Will has a wonderful article in the Washington Post that addresses each of these calamities. He points out that there were a third fewer U.S. wildfires in 2012 than in 2006. He asks, “Is today’s drought worse, say, than that of that of the Dust Bowl, and was it caused by 1930s global warming?” As to the assertion of “more powerful storms,” Will points out that major hurricane activity has plummeted. “No Category 3 storm has hit the United States since 2005.” Sandy, which created enormous damage, was a Category 1 hurricane.
Will’s article also mentions the absurdity of news reporting that would lead people to believe temperatures have been on a continual rise. The media failed to mention that the 2008 U.S. temperatures were two degrees cooler than in 2006. The several years after 1998 that were cooler than that year didn’t make the news because those results didn’t match the dire predictions.
I’ve written in the past that the world may be warming or cooling, because climate change has always occurred. I also have no doubt that the activity of the sun is the primary cause of what is happening.
A very smart friend told me he had done calculations on how much difference it would make if the U.S. ended all carbon dioxide emissions with the exception of breathing. That would reduce the temperature by two thirds of a degree. I’m trying to picture the celebrations that would break out over that accomplishment among the people who would have to compete for what little electricity production would continue from nuclear and renewable sources. Heating and cooling homes, cooking, lighting, and powering computers would need to be severely restricted. Battery powered cars could be driven when someone could find the electricity to recharge the batteries.
People who don’t believe the media hype about global warming are dismissed as “Deniers.” I am a Denier, because I remain unconvinced the “Believers” have a scientific basis for their beliefs.
The Expressions and Review weblog pages of RockyFlatsFacts.com have been experiencing technical problems that are forcing their migration to a different blogging platform. Access to the blog pages has been disrupted (for both you and me) several times over the past few weeks, and made it a challenge to meet my regular Wednesday schedule to post new reviews, expressions, and commentaries.
We are busy battling further service disruptions and transferring content from current weblog pages to our new platform, and intend to transition completely to the new platform as soon as practicable. Regular readers of this page will probably notice a few format and content improvements, which we hope you will appreciate. We are attempting a smooth transition and ask your indulgence for any temporary glitches over the next week or two.
I expect to get back into my regular posting routine as soon as transfer to the new platform is completed.
The first paragraph in an article authored by Bill Frezza is disconcerting, to understate the level of concern it should cause. “If demography is destiny, democracy is toast-at least those democracies where citizens can vote themselves a living at someone else’s expense. It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to see that governments’ addiction to intergenerational income redistribution is not sustainable unless someone keeps supplying babies at an accelerating pace.” The last sentence of the article is, “The problem with entitlement democracy is that you eventually run out of other people’s babies.” (I’m guessing this is a slight theft of Margret Thatcher’s famous quote that, “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.)
The gist of the article is that we are facing a self-imposed financial disaster. “The root cause of the economic disaster that lies ahead is the kamikaze drive of democratic governments to displace the functions of the family, including the care of relatives in their old age.”
There is a problem with the proposition that more babies will be born and grow up to support the entitlement demands of older people. Young people in the wealthier countries are choosing to remain single and childless. Raising a family is expensive and difficult. The article says “…the family, and particularly children is often considered as something of an obstacle to the pursuit of happiness and self-fulfillment.” Women are deciding that “…spending time with their children ranks about the same as vacuuming on happiness scales.”
The article by Mr. Frezza (and I suggest reading the entire article at the link) is not the only one warning of the impending demographic crisis. A detailed study of the demographic problem led by Joel Kotkin describes the problem as “post-familialism.” That study indicates that the family no longer serves as the primary feature of society in the high-income world and some developing countries. The findings of the study indicate that a large number of individuals are forgoing marriage and child bearing even in countries such as Brazil and some Islamic countries. The result is a diminished labor and consumer base. That results in slowing of economic growth. Perhaps more importantly is that younger people drive technological change and fewer of them in the workforce results in less innovation. The one advantage the United States has is that people from other countries want to find a way to immigrate here.
President Obama has repeatedly talked about imposing a “Warren Buffet Rule” for income taxes, which refers to the outrage he is said to feel that his wealthy supporter pays a lower income tax percentage than his secretary. Drilling down into the recently passed “Fiscal Cliff” bill that Mr. Obama signed into law reveals some curious aspects that don’t seem to be consistent with that position.
An article by Brad Plumer of the Washington Post gives a good start to understanding how much our elected leaders care about fair taxation. Section 322 provides a $9 billion tax break to manufacturers such as General Electric and big banks for what is called “active financing.” That section allows deferring U.S. taxes on overseas income. I’m not against helping U.S. companies be competitive in the global market. However, I recall Mitt Romney was chastised by the media for not pledging to end the provision which President Obama has now quietly signed it into law.
There are other aspects of the law that are even more curious. “Carried interest,” which is the share of profits paid to private equity and hedge fund investment managers are not taxed at the same rates as salaries. The new law will allow those payments to be taxed at a top rate of 20% for individuals earning over $400,000 or $450,000 for joint returns. If that one doesn’t bother you, how about a100 % exclusion on gains from qualified small business (QSB) stock held for at least five years. How many middle class Americans will benefit from that or have even ever heard of it?
Section 328 extends tax-exempt financing for the area around the former World Trade Center in New York that was intended to encourage reconstruction. The bonds financed the new Goldman Sachs headquarters and luxury apartments. There is a tax break for NASCAR that was worth a piddling $43 million the past two years that has been extended another year to allow “…NASCAR to compete on a level playing field with other theme parks.” Hollywood was given a better deal by renewal of “special expensing rules for certain film and television productions” worth about $75 million for the year. For a President who dislikes use of coal as an energy source it is curious that section 406 of the bill he signed into law subsidizes “…coal produced on Native American lands at about $2 per ton.
There is at least one more aspect of the new law that is inconsistent with what Mr. Obama has continually proposed. Even billionaires will continue to pay the same tax rates for the first $400,000 in individual earnings that were in the so-called “Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.”
Apparently crowds of Obama supporters were astonished that their paychecks will have two percent less after the holiday on individual “contributions” was allowed to expire “when the fiscal cliff was avoided.”
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When humans vanish, two unlikely rivals square off in a classic battle of wits and weaponry to control Farmer Island. A tale of treachery and intrigue. Which forces will prevail? Wonderfully illustrated. |
Social Security Projections
The U.S. deficit continues to grow out of control, and there should have been actions taken to address the problem long before now. However, President Obama’s comments that the deficit is not a short term problem indicates to me we won’t do anything about the deficit for the next four years. Much of the problem is caused by “entitlement” commitments, and President Obama said in his inaugural address that he has no intention of doing anything about those either.
I’m baffled how the American people and the media are going along with the “don’t worry, be happy” approach. Looking at Social Security alone is frightening. A recent article by Chuck Saletta on the Motley Fool points out that each new analysis finds that the program will reach “financial unsustainability” sooner than the previous analyses. The Social Security Trustees reported in 2008 that problems would not be encountered until 2041. The date has now changed to 2033, and that is going to continue to move closer.
Money taken from employees and employers is invested in bonds, and bonds that mature must be replaced with new ones. The older bonds were yielding much more in interest than the ones currently available. The program is projected to earn $5.4 billion less in bond interest in 2012. The fact the Federal Reserve has recently said they are going to artificially keep interest rates low until the unemployment rate begins to drop means the revenue is not going to improve.
I’ve heard some politicians have quietly mentioned changing how the cost of living adjustments are calculated, which will make a tiny dent in the problem. Any politician who suggests helpful reform can look forward to a political advertisement representing him or her pushing an elderly person in a wheel chair over a cliff. I sadly predict the only solution will be that young workers will be forced to give up more of their paychecks so that relatively well-off seniors can continue to be paid their full “entitlement.” Workers already give up 15.3 percent of their earnings to Social Security and Medicare, although half of that is cleverly hidden by calling it “employer contribution.” The net result is that the government gets $7650 for Social Security and Medicare from a person earning $50,000 a year. And that isn’t enough.
I have promised that I will donate to the campaign of any politician having the courage to suggest meaningful reform. That’s why I donated to the Vice Presidential campaign of Representative Paul Ryan. I notice that didn’t do much good, but my promise still holds. The problems won’t be solved until politicians with courage begin to be elected.