The Naked Truth
columnist: EJ Moosa

Topic: Economics
When Will it Be Enough?

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There are times when I sit in amazement as the Federal Government grows and grows in size and scope. And just when I think there has to be some pause in the growth of this beast, yet another entitlement program is proposed.

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by EJ Moosa
(libertarian)
Friday, May 8, 2009

There are times when I sit in amazement as the Federal Government grows and grows in size and scope. And just when I think there has to be some pause in the growth of this beast, yet another entitlement program is proposed.

Yesterday, it was announced that the Federal Government was increasing the number of IRS agents to investigate you and I.

Obama is hiring 800 more IRS agents.

[link edited for length]

President Obama anounced today that he is going to "fundamentally change our approach to unemployment in this country".

Now we have the Department of Education combining efforts with the Department of Labor to make it easier for the unemployed (nearly 9% and rising despite the continued hiring by the Federal Government) to receive Pell Grants up to $5350 for training and education.  Pell Grants are not paid back, as student loans are.  Pell Grants will become yet another way to redistrubute wealth from those that have produced it.

http://www.breitbart.com/

In addition, the Obama Administration is pressuring states to rewrite their unemployment laws so that instead of searching for a job to continue receiving benefits, you can go to school and continue receiving the benefits. If this plan makes it to fruition, we will have seen established the entitlement to be paid by the government while going to school.Obama calls the rules that do not allow you to collect unemployment while going to school and not looking for a job "senseless". 

I ask you when will you have seen enough? When will you begin to believe that the only objective is a socialized America?

Do we sit back and allow the Federal Government to create such disarray in the private sector, then "rescue" people from that disarray by more and more government intervention? Are we unable to see that this path only has one destination: Socialism.

Today's employment numbers speak volumes about where we are headed. Government hired the most people in April. The rest of the economy continues to shrink as the business environment continues to deteriorate. Those left in business will be forced to pay more to support more as they earn less.

Then we are told that things are going to be better soon. Once again, I ask what is happening in the economy that is making the business environment more likely to improve? More regulation, more taxes, and higher labor costs are on the way. Do you really believe that by increasing the burden on the private sector economy that we are going to improve the economic conditions here? I do not think so.

Quarterly corporate earnings are down. Way down. You hear in the media that they are beating estimates. But to beat an estimate that is 1/2 of what last year's quarterly earnings is not an indicator of an improving economy. It only tells you the analysts are about as accurate as the weather man, and that neither are paid on the basis of their accuracy.

I have taken the time to go through ValueLine and compare the most recent quarterly earnings for corporations versus their earnings a year ago.

Here are  the results by sectors from companies profiled recently in ValueLine:

Electrical Equipment:                Up 4 Down 14

Electronics:                                 Up 5 Down 20

Semiconductor:                          Up 4 Down 30

Semiconductor Equipment:      Up 0 Down 15

Computer & Peripherals:           Up 7 Down 19

Office Equipment & Supplies:   Up1 Down 9

Food Processing:                       Up 19 Down 19

Grocery Stores:                           Up 5 Down 4

Food Wholesalers:                      Up 3 Down 3

Manufactured Housing:               Up 0 Down 4

Entertainment Technology:         Up 3 Down 13

Reinsurance:                                Up 2 Down 6

Machinery:                                    Up 11 Down 40

Diversified Companies:              Up 8 Down 24

(If you want more information on the analysis above, let me know.  This is my own grunt work through the pages of Value Line)

 The only sectors up are food and groceries.  Why?  We are eating at home more often.  

Now we are going to sit back and watch people collect unemployment while they are not looking for work? Have you seen enough of where we are heading? Or is it too late?

What are your thoughts? Are you ready to subsidize your fellow citizens as they borrow even more funds to go to school while collecting unemployment?

Or are you asking yourself how you can join their ranks, collect unemployment, borrow some money from the government, and go back to school. 

Are you ready to shrug? I am.

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©2009 EJ Moosa, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Friday, May 8, 2009
Last modified: Friday, May 8, 2009

The views expressed in this article are those of EJ Moosa only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. EJ Moosa is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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