Posted on November 1st, 2009%
From the Wall Street Journal Online, Oct 30 2009: White House Data Shows 650,000 Jobs From Stimulus:
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that the government’s fiscal stimulus program has helped create or save almost 650,000 jobs…
The new jobs figure — 640,329 specifically — represents direct stimulus spending through Sept. 30 on projects or activities…
[T]he reports cover only $160 billion of the $339 billion in stimulus spending that has occurred through Sept. 30.
I’m not an economist or a mathematician or a politician, but I can do basic math:
$160 billion divided by 640,329 equals $249,871.55 per job created or saved.
As a comparison: the median full-time salary for a U.S. worker was $27,756 in 2005 (source).
Why does it cost $250,000 to create or save a job in a market where the average worker makes under $30,000? Can someone explain to me . . .
→ Read More: Bad government: Spending $250,000 to create or save one job
Posted on May 4th, 2009%
Posted today on CNN.com. Emphasis added:
The White House will unveil reforms to the nation’s international tax code on Monday intended to close loopholes for overseas tax havens and end incentives for creating jobs overseas.
…
The administration expects these initiatives to raise at least $210 billion over the next 10 years “to cut taxes for American families, increase incentives for businesses to create jobs in America and reduce the deficit.”
What does $210 billion in new taxes mean to Americans? Let’s review.
The median U.S. household income is about $50,000 per year.
Let’s assume that the typical cost (insurance, office space, pens, etc.) of an employee to an employer is double an employee’s salary. (It varies quite a bit by industry, but this is a fair back-of-the-envelope number.)
The “cost” of one $50,000 per year job over ten years is therefore roughly $1 million.
$210 billion in new taxes over . . .
→ Read More: How a cup of coffee per week equals 210,000 jobs over ten years
Posted on April 29th, 2009%
I opened up my Google News page this morning to see the following headline:
This contrasts with an article I recall reading a few days ago which talks about how Obama’s approval ratings are not sky-high when compared to past presidents at the 100-day mark.
First, what is President Obama’s approval rating? The folks at Gallup poll this stuff constantly, and have an article that tells us:
As President Barack Obama concludes his first 100 days on the job, Gallup Poll Daily tracking for the week of April 20-26 finds 65% of Americans approving of how he is doing and only 29% disapproving. Obama’s average weekly job ratings have varied only slightly thus far, ranging from 61% to 67%.
We’ll take 65% approval and 29% disapproval as our President Obama benchmarks.
For historical comparison, we have the American Presidency Project, which provides . . .
→ Read More: Obama’s approval ratings aren’t as rosy as they seem
Posted on March 27th, 2009%
Yesterday, April 15, saw something that doesn’t happen often: thousands of people around the country participated in civil, voluntary, grass-roots protests that had no central organizer. (Eventually, the scattered groups did come together, but it’s far from a top-down organization.) If that’s not shocking enough, toss in the fact that the protests were largely in favor of personal liberty and freedom against a rapidly-growing interventionist government. Now you really know why history was made!
Now that it’s over, what does it mean for us, those Americans who feel that there is a great need to right the ship? If I was to speak for the group, this is what I’d say. My statements are followed by some historic quotes on the topics of freedom and liberty.
Nearly 50 years ago, an American President said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
In that . . .
→ Read More: After the tea: Where do we stand?
Posted on March 13th, 2009%
A quote of Vice-President Joseph Biden from March 12 2009, via the Associated Press:
“Six months from now, if the verdict on this effort is that we’ve wasted the money, we built things that were unnecessary or we’ve done things that are legal but make no sense, then, folks, don’t look for any help from the federal government for a long while,” he said.
This was followed up by President Obama’s equally compelling statement during the same conference:
“If we see money being misspent, we’re going to put a stop to it.”
Mr. President and Mr. Vice-President, if you are honest about what is deemed wasteful and unnecessary and senseless, there is little doubt that significant portions of the $787 billion you reallocated will prove to be just that. This inconvenient truth (ahem) will hopefully stimulate you (ahem) to stop trying to have the federal government be everything to everyone.
However, after . . .
→ Read More: Do you really mean it, Mr. Obama & Mr. Biden? If so, I’m your biggest fan!
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