Big Dogs House

Pearl Harbor: 70 Years Ago The World Turned Upside Down

by Big Dog on Dec 7, 2011 at 11:26 Posted in Political 2 Comments

Seventy years ago today the course of history changed when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor killing people and devastating our Navy. The United States entered World War II and helped defeat the evil forces waging war.

I have visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona and the experience was very humbling. The absolute enormity of the Memorial and the solemness of the final resting place for so many Americans is something I will never forget.

God bless the men and women who suffered on that day and the souls of those who were killed. Thanks for responding to the threat and preserving our Nation for those of us who followed you.

Information on visiting Pearl Harbor.

Returning Home
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Tags: pearl harbor, uss arizona, world war II

Post Office To Charge More For Less

by Big Dog on Dec 6, 2011 at 12:29 Posted in Political 1 Comment

The United States Postal Service is a bloated government agency that is charged with delivering our mail efficiently. It charges for the service so the money it gets to operate is not supposed to come from the taxpayer. The establishment of the Post Office is a Constitutional requirement but there is no Constitutional requirement for that service to be run by the government.

Government does NOTHING efficiently and money is never a concern because government begs, borrows, or steals the money it gets and since it makes the laws, it can beg, borrow, or steal as much as it wants without the fear of being jailed.

The Post Office is a prime example of government inefficiency. It has grown, and grown, and grown, over the years while offering extravagant benefits to the people who work for it. The Postal Service has tens of thousands more employees than it needs but can’t seem to downsize appropriately.

In addition, those tens of thousands of employees retire and receive very generous benefits. Those benefits are a huge part of the Postal Service’s fiscal problems because the Service is required to pay into the benefit fund up front and the cost has risen to more than the Service can afford.

This has not stopped the Service from keeping employees on or from closing facilities over the years regardless of the dire circumstances. It seems to live in a vacuum ignoring the reality of its fiscal circumstances in hopes that some Congressman will bail it out.

The Postal Service claims it is finally doing something because it is facing bankruptcy. Some sorting facilities will be closed and the cost of a First Class letter will rise to 45 cents (up one cent) starting January. I doubt the increase will have an immediate impact because the Postal Service sells what it calls forever stamps. Purchase them at the current price and you can use them forever regardless of what the actual rate is. People will be buying a lot of forever stamps this month. In addition, the Service will have reduced service in that letters will take longer to arrive. Yes, we will pay more for decreased service.

There are several problems with what the Postal Service is doing. The biggest is that it is retaining its employees. No one who works at the closing facilities will be released, they will just be reassigned. The amount of mail has decreased year after year but they can’t seem to downsize the workforce.

Another problem is that the Postal Service is a branch of government. It is, by its very nature, inefficient. There is little regard given for costs or to fiscal responsibility (until they start talking about reducing pensions) and there is no concern for efficiency. One only needs to go to a Post Office this time of the year to see one clerk at the counter with a line around the block. It is not like they don’t have enough people to man the place, they just don’t do so. It is almost as if they do it on purpose to fool the public into believing they need more help (or to punish us)…

The government is responsible for the Post Office. This cannot change as it is a Constitutional requirement. However, serious consideration should be given to making the Postal Service a private entity that can work efficiently and for profit. The government would still have legal and oversight authority but a private company would work to deliver our mail. It could earn a certain profit and all other money would go to the federal coffers. If several companies were allowed to carry out postal functions they could compete for our business and provide better service.

Don’t look for this to happen any time soon (if at all).

Perhaps it is time to go postal on the Postal Service…

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Tags: bankrupt, constitution, disaster, government, pensions, post office. inefficient

Lead By Example

by Big Dog on Dec 5, 2011 at 16:18 Posted in Political 4 Comments

Or is it bluster for the cameras?

Barack Obama warned Congress that it had better pass the payroll tax holiday extension or it might not be leaving for Christmas. Obama is upset that the Congress has failed to pass a bill that would force people who EARN more than a million dollars to pay a surcharge, or what Obama calls “their fair share.” The wealthy pay most of the federal taxes in this country so it is obvious they pay more than their fair share. Those who don’t pay their fair share are those who sponge off government but pay nothing in federal taxes. Obama though, is using the threat of Congress spending Christmas in DC as a weapon to get what he wants:

“I expect it is going to get done before Congress leaves,” Obama warned lawmakers. “Otherwise Congress might not be leaving, and we can all spend Christmas here together.”

This is typical Obama crisis management. Everything he wants passed must be done now, is a crisis and can’t wait. They all wait until the last minute, strike a deal that screws us all and then slap each other on the back and go home.

This is mostly bluster because Obama has already revealed that he will be leaving on yet another vacation starting December 17^th. Obama is planning on going to Hawaii for 17 days and I highly doubt that he means it when he says “we can all spend Christmas here together.” I sincerely doubt he will cancel his vacation to spend time in DC.

He might try to make Congress stay in DC while he is on vacation but that would go over like a pregnant pole-vaulter. Mind you, I have no doubt that Obama would do this because he is not a leader and he does not know how to lead by example.

But if he does he will suffer politically.

I do think that he will not have to worry. Congress will come up with some half baked scheme at the last minute and vote on it. It will pass (and they will spend a fortune getting it to Obama for his signature) and they will all tout how they had to compromise because the evil Democrats/Republicans (depending on who is talking) would not budge. It was the best we could hope for under the circumstances, blah, blah, blah.

They will be kicking a can down the road so they can leave for their expensive Christmas parties/fund raisers.

Obama will be on a Hawaiian golf course and the country will be circling the drain.

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Tags: bluster, Christmas, Congress, fair share, lies, Obama, taxes

Someone Can’t Face Reality

by Big Dog on Dec 2, 2011 at 05:23 Posted in Political 2 Comments

I received a message via my contact page from someone using the name L-Dog. The message came from an Alaska.gov server. More specifically, it came from the Department of Administration (or through their server, anyway). This is the message I received:

So if tax cuts create jobs, where are they. We have 7 or so years of the bush [sic] tax cuts and no job growth. So stop lying.

A lie, by definition, is a deliberate attempt to deceive. Since I did no such thing, then it is not a lie. But let us explore.

The Bush tax cuts took place in 2003 and went into full force in 2004 so yes, it has been about 7 years though there were earlier tax cuts. After the Bush tax cuts, 5 million jobs were created and the revenue to the Treasury increased. This is not to say things were great because Bush was a big spender. He and Congress spent far more than we took in though now those numbers pale in comparison to Obama.

The linked chart shows that from about 2000 to 2003 revenue decreased. There are a number of reasons including 9/11 and a recession. The Clinton tech bubble was bursting as well and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates 6 times from 1999-2000. From 2003 to 2007 revenues increased as a result of the tax cuts. In 2007 Democrats took control of Congress and revenues again began to decrease. We were also heading into another recession. It is also important to note that the first tax cuts of 2001 were to be phased in over several years and the economy and job production lagged in the early years.

Heritage published a report about the tax cuts and this, in part, is what that organization had to say:

In 2003, capital gains tax rates were reduced. Rather than expand by 36% as the Congressional Budget Office projected before the tax cut, capital gains revenues more than doubled to $103 billion.

The CBO incorrectly calculated that the post-March 2003 tax cuts would lower 2006 revenues by $75 billion. Revenues for 2006 came in $47 billion above the pre-tax cut baseline.

Here’s what else happened after the 2003 tax cuts lowered the rates on income, capital gains and dividend taxes:

• GDP grew at an annual rate of just 1.7% in the six quarters before the 2003 tax cuts. In the six quarters following the tax cuts, the growth rate was 4.1%.
• The S&P 500 dropped 18% in the six quarters before the 2003 tax cuts but increased by 32% over the next six quarters.
• The economy lost 267,000 jobs in the six quarters before the 2003 tax cuts. In the next six quarters, it added 307,000 jobs, followed by 5 million jobs in the next seven quarters.

The timing of the lower tax rates coincides almost exactly with the stark acceleration in the economy. Nor was this experience unique. The famous Clinton economic boom began when Congress passed legislation cutting spending and cutting the capital gains tax rate.

In late 2007 the economy began to cool. By 2008, it entered a recession. The housing bubble burst, precipitating a financial crisis. But after 50 months of unimpeded growth, it is ludicrous to insist that the tax cuts caused the recession, let alone the global financial meltdown. Even after the Fannie and Freddie Mac-induced bust, there were still one million net jobs created during the Bush years.

So L-Dog of Alaska, the Bush tax cuts did indeed create jobs. The net gain was 1 million after a 5 million increase that was mostly wiped out by the government (read Democrat) induced trauma known as Fannie and Freddie.

Revenue increased, jobs were produced and the unemployment rate was in the 4-6 range. This happened despite a massive blow we took on 9/11.

Tax cuts, long term ones, create jobs because the private sector employers (government DOES NOT create jobs) know what to expect and are able to run their businesses accordingly. They can hire because they know what their tax burden will be. Uncertainty leads them to stop hiring and take a wait and see approach. Ronald Reagan cut taxes and he had tremendous job growth as well as increased revenue to the government.

If we could get government to stop spending what they take and then some we could get our house in order.

So, if tax cuts do not produce jobs why is Barack Obama running around claiming to be a tax cutter (he has raised them, not cut them)? Why did Democrats fight to keep the Bush tax cuts last year? They cited the problems with increasing taxes in a bad economy and how it would harm job growth so if tax cuts do not equal jobs why would they fight for the tax cuts enacted by a man they absolutely hated? Additionally, why did the Congress cut payroll taxes last year (the Social Security tax) if they thought it would not help.

A lot of things are working against any tax cuts and a major part is the out of control spending and the Keynesian economic policies that Obama embraces. You can’t keep spending money we don’t have to cure a spending problem. Tax cuts with discipline in DC will solve the problems.

When producers are taxed more it leaves them less capital to run their businesses and that means they can’t hire. When the tax situation is uncertain they are afraid to act.

So L-Dog, I hope this clears it up for you. I won’t call you a liar, just misinformed.

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Tags: alaska, Bush, department of administration, jobs, l-dog, reagan, revenue, tax cuts

Secret Service Spill Secrets About Presidents

by Big Dog on Dec 1, 2011 at 05:50 Posted in Political 1 Comment

Some of this will come as no surprise since there have been stories in the past about how Hillary treated Secret Service agents. I don’t think it is a stretch that the other Democrats are like this. They do not like the military or law enforcement. Hell, they spent their youth protesting the “pigs” and the military and Obama’s buddy Bill Ayers killed police officers and tried to blow up soldiers.

It is not surprising to me that Republicans were respectful and treated the Secret Service well. Republicans praise those who sacrifice so much and put their lives on the line.

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Tags: law enforcement, lies, nasty, presidents, secret service