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Welcome to the web site of The Purple Muse. We offer commentary
and opinion on the major issues being debated in our world today.
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Political Misinformation
I just watched another stupid debate between a liberal progressive and conservative business
type on CNBC's Closing Bell. The liberal progressive claimed that President Obama's policies were responsible for increased
US oil production in the past couple of years and a reduction of imported oil. The conservative was arguing that Obama's
policies were a barrier to energy independence that would be fixed with Romney's energy plan. The debate quickly degraded
into a shouting match with both guys throwing out data and talking over one another. Maria Bartiromo, the host, completely
lost control of her show for a few minutes.
No one brought up the fact that major capital investment intensive
business activities such as drilling for oil don't happen the day after a government policy decision is made to
permit an activity. It takes time for businesses to acquire the necessary capital and create the overall business structure
needed to put the investment into operation. The work teams have to be organized; the equipment purchased or leased;
and the support infrastructure constructed. All of these items take time. The impact of political policies won't
show up in economic results for many months or years after a policy decision is made. It is grossly unfair for
politicians to take credit for positives that occurred due the actions of their predecessors. It is also unfair
for politicians to be blamed for negatives that occurred due to the actions of their predecessors.
There are many
other factors that impact positive or negative events that occur in the economy that no politician can control or impact
through policy.
Unfortunately, most politicians won't admit to the people that they can't "fix the problem".
It is very hard to measure the positive or negative impacts of specific policy decisions made by governments.
Both sides need to stop shouting at each other over the small stuff and work to get the US government fiscal house in order.
The biggest threat to our national security is $16T in debt growing at more than $1T per year and commitments for over $100T
in unfunded liabilities. The time for action on the debt is now.
TPM
5:06 pm
Monday, September 10, 2012
David Stockman Fiscal Truth Video
Everyone needs to watch David Stockman's appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box this morning. The
video has been posted on my home page. Stockman is telling the truth about the US fiscal problems and both parties
failure to address the problem in a meaningful way. How many people will listen to him and demand corrective action?
TPM
Sunday, September 9, 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention
Barrack Obama has been officially nominated by the Democrates to run for
a second term as President of the United States now that their national convention has concluded. I watched some
of the coverage on TV. Most of the speeches were very hard to watch because the people making them are irrational.
However, the Democrats did deliver some speeches worth watching.
The highlight of the convention was Bill Clinton's
speech. There is no doubt that Bill Clinton delivered a masterful speech that was far better than any speech delivered
by any of the other Democrats or Republicans. No matter what your opinion may be of Bill Clinton as a President
or as a person, there is no doubt that he is a master politician and political speaker.
Ms. Obama gave a good speech
in her attempt to sell a warm and fuzzy image of her husband and justify his reelection. Her performance was very good
and appeared to excite people that don't care about the facts relating to the President's performance in office during the
past 3 plus years. The President's abysmal fiscal performance and failed leadership on economic issues weren't part
of her speech.
Vice President Joe Biden proved again during his speech that he is a liberal progressive political
hack. He is a classic solve any problem by federal spending politician that wouldn't understand proper fiscal management
if it was handed to him on a silver platter. He has contributed as much as any American to the creation of the
$16T debt and $100T of unfunded government liabilities that have been created during the time he has served in the Congress
and as Vice President.
The President is a great speaker and has given some inspiring speeches in the past that
fired up a lot of people that were hopeful that he would become a great president. While he is still a great orator
the subject matter of his speech rang a bit hollow when contrasted with his promises of the 2008 election cycle. He
has simply proved what many people knew. Barrack Obama didn't have the executive experience necessary to be an effective
president under the circumstances he inherited. He has made a very difficult situation worse by failing to address the
root cause of our government's fiscal problems. He has failed to address the debt, deficits and unfunded liabilities
of the US government in any meaningful way.
The two conventions had some common themes. It was very
interesting seeing the Twitterverse light up with comments from representatives of both sides supporting and destroying the
positions of the other. Some media organizations have columnists from both sides working for them and were
publishing material that took grossly different slants on the same event! The media coverage ranged from reasonably
balanced to grossly biased depending on the individuals that were on air at any given time.
I believe Obama/Biden
have done nothing to deserve a second term. I believe the Republicans will be less bad than the Democrats if they are
elected. However, no Republican other than Ron Paul has outlined any approach that fundamentally addresses our nations
fiscal problems. Dramatic action is required, not the modest changes that appear to be the cornerstone of the Romney/Ryan
plans.
The debates are coming up. I am sure they will be a great show!. The rhetoric will be
flying from both parties and the biased media.
TPM
10:51 pm
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Fix the Debt Video
Check out the new video on my home page from www.fixthedebt.org. We must work together to force our political leaders to make meaningful progress in reducing the growth of our national
debt and then reduce the debt in absolute terms. The time for action is now.
TPM
2012 Republican National Convention
Mitt Romney is officially the nominee for President of the United States from the Republican
Party now that the Republican National Convention has come to a conclusion. I watched a lot of the coverage on TV, when I
wasn't watching the Washington Nationals games on TV. I have to say that a lot of the speeches were repetitive and a
bit boring. I understand that the Republicans wanted to get some of their less well known, up and coming politicians
some national exposure but it is not surprising that the general population wasn't interested in watching all the
political gibberish and "expert" analysis from all the political pundits that work for the various media covering
the convention.
It was very interesting seeing the Twitterverse light up with comments from representatives of
both sides supporting and destroying the positions of the other. Some media organizations have columnists from both
sides working for them and were publishing material that took grossly different slants on the same event! The media
coverage ranged from reasonably balanced to grossly biased depending on the individuals that were on air at any given time.
There is no doubt that MSNBC is the most biased of all the networks with their liberal progressive prime time team in attack
mode against the Republicans during almost every minute of the coverage. MSNBC is almost impossible to watch in
prime time except by their fellow liberal progressive zealots. Fox News did a good job covering the convention
in a reasonably balanced manner except when Sean Hannity was on the air. He is so far to the right that I
has to turn him off most of the time. CNBC covered the convention with a business slant that was well done.
I was disappointed because Romney, Paul Ryan and other Republican stars didn't really focus on the critical issue of our
nation's federal debt and long term unfunded liabilities. They spent most of their energy taking shots at the Democrats
instead of offering meaningful solutions to our nations fiscal and economic problems. I was really disappointed by Chris
Christie's speech. I expected a lot more from him than what he delivered. Maybe my expectations were too
high.
We should remember that some of these Republican folks supported George Bush's economic
policies which helped create the mess we have today. Ryan admits that Republicans helped to create our massive fiscal
problems almost every time he talks about the issue.
I believe that Romney/Ryan is a far better choice than Obama/Biden.
I believe the Republicans will be less bad than the Democrats if they are elected. However, no Republican other than
Ron Paul has outlined any approach that fundamentally addresses our nations fiscal problems. Dramatic action is required,
not the modest changes that appear to be the cornerstone of the Romney/Ryan plans. We need an honest dialog of this
issue. I guess the political operatives running the convention didn't want any substantive discussion of the issues,
because there was no proposals of substance offered during any of the speeches I watched.
I really
enjoyed Clint Eastwood's appearance at the convention. He simply told the truth.
..."We
own this country....Politicians are employees of ours... But I just think it is important that you realize , that you’re
the best in the world. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican or whether you’re libertarian or whatever, you are the
best. And we should not ever forget that. And when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go."
Barrack
Obama and his team have failed our nation. They have failed to provide effective leadership. They did not
do the job they were elected to to do. Clint has created another phrase that will live on for decades "And
when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go."
TPM
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