Great Poem from N. Greg Mankiw’s Blog

Original Link: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2010/11/qe2-ditty.html

It's Called Quantitative Easing

I heard it in the headlines
It's news all over town
We might be double dippin'
Green shoots have all turned brown

It's a balance sheet recession
With a housing overhang
But they've got a brand new program
And it will start you with a bang

And it's called, quantitative easing
They say results are always pleasing.
When liquidity all starts freezing
Just warm things up with quantitative easing

I will say it straight and simple
It's clear, just like a bell
There's some long term bonds to buy
There's some short term bonds to sell

Don't talk about the good times
Don't ask me where they went
Just move your inflation target
On up to three point five per cent

And it's called, quantitative easing
This ain't no joke, it ain't no teasing
When the GDP starts wheezing
Treat with a shot of quantitative easing

Good and magic things will happen
It might take a week or three
Unemployment plunging downward
Recovery shaped just like a V

You'll see Nobels at the Treasury
There'll be rock stars at the Fed
It'll take hair off of Krugman's face
Put it on top of Ken Rogoff's head

And it's called, quantitative easin'
This ain't no scam, so don't call no policeman
When the engine of commerce starts seizin'
Just add a quart or quantitative easin'

Show no mercy to the critics
Don't let no one stop your nerve
You can mock Ricardian Equivalence
You can laugh at the Laffer Curve

Tell that guy at the Minneapolis Fed
To shut up, or you'll break his legs
And if the Bond Vigilantes don't like it?
Well, they can go suck eggs

And it's called quantitative easin'
You know I say this for a reason
When the economy just sits there squeezing
Loosen things up with quantitative easing

Case Study California: The Rising Power of the Latino Voter

As California voters become older, less white, and more independent, Latino voters have grown to become one of the most important voting groups in the state.

Over the past 30 years, the Latino voters grew from 8% of the voting population to 21%. The sheer number of Latino voters in the state makes these voters pivotal for any candidate who wishes to win in a statewide race. During this same period, the number of registered Democrats dropped from nearly 60% of the electorate to about 45% of voters. Among Latinos, Democrats hold a 3 to 1 registration advantage over the Republicans; however, since Latino voters are 28% less likely to vote when compared to the voting population as a whole, Democrats must aggressively court these voters in order to ensure their support at the ballot box. Despite the Democratic registration, advantage in this group, past history reveals Latino voters trend toward conservative stances on divisive issues such as national defense, abortion, and gay marriage. George W. Bush's ability to win over 44% of Latino voters nationwide in 2004, and the Latino community's general support for California Proposition 8 in 2008 substantiate this traditionalist preference.

The events of the state's 2010 Gubernatorial Election vividly demonstrate the power of California Latinos clearly. Both Republican Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown have aggressively courted these voters with Spanish language advertisements and campaign literature, as well as extensive Latino-focused voter registration and Get-Out-The-Vote operations. They made history on October 2, when the candidates met on Univision, a Spanish language cable network, for the first bilingual debate in California history. The debate focused on issues ranging from healthcare, immigration and education, to jobs and the economy. The dominant topic of the debate—the issue that may propel Brown to victory among Latino voters and by extension the election at large—was the story of Whitman's former housekeeper Nicky Diaz Santillan. Diaz Santillan, an illegal immigrant, worked for Whitman for 9 years using false immigration documentation. When Diaz Santillan revealed her illegal immigrant status to Whitman last year, Whitman promptly fired Diaz Santillan. Upon the story's September revelation, Latino support propelled former Governor Brown to a 5% lead despite a statistical tie among non-Hispanic voters. Given his reliance on the support of Latino voters, Governor Brown's victory or defeat will rely upon his ability to translate his hefty Latino backing into actual voter turnout on November 2.

Paul Ryan on the Social Security Crisis with Chris Matthews

This is the kind of level-headed debate that will lead to solutions. Please go check out Paul Ryan's plan, it truly is one of the most well thought out plans to fix the entitlement crisis and budget fiasco that currently faces the nation. Right now we need to act before bouncing welfare checks begin to force us towards hasty solutions!

Paul Ryan Discusses His Budget Plan and the Need For Reform with Obama Shill Chris Matthews

Is it the Big Bad Breitbart or the Simply Stupid Sherrods

Charles Sherrod on Whites and Uncle Toms

Harry Reid claims Social Security Trust is solvent. Has he seen the numbers?

At NetRoots 2010, an annual meeting of progressive liberal bloggers, Senate Majoriy Leader Harry Reid argued that the Social Security Trust Fund is in stron financial shape. According to the Senator from Arizona, Republican calls to reform the program will comprimise the "Greatest social welfare program in the world." I know that Mr. Reid would love to hope this to be true, considering that he will be likely filing to receive Social Security benefits if he is ousted by Republican up-and-comer Sharron Angle. The fact of the matter remains however, that Reid's assesment simply does not reflect the reality of the situation. As soon as next FY the Trust Fund will likely begin to run an annual deficit. The graph below illustrates this. Now is the time to begin discussing serious reform measures that can be undertaken to stop this mess from getting any worst.

During the debate over healthcare reform, Harry Reid and others constantly called for Republican to address a crisis affecting 11 million Americans. Now all I ask of them is to address a crisis that affects 300 million Americans. Why choose to address one and not the other. Is this change or the same old same old thing.

Social Security Trust Fund: The REAL Crisis

The link shows the trends that Mr. Reid ignored. Judge for yourself and let me know what you conclude. How do we solve this crisis? Or is there no crisis at all?

My Political Ethics

A Right. Every individual has the right to live their lives in the way that they wish, so long as their choices do not harm another human being directly or indirectly.
A Responsibility. Every individual is responsible for his or her own actions. Their awareness of whether or their actions cause harm is their own duty and responsibility, the government has a duty to clearly define actions that are deemed to cause harm. When an individual is harmed through the actions of another individual, the offending individual is responsible for their own actions, and therefore deserves whatever punishment comes to them.
Another Right. Individuals have the right to make contracts and enter into agreements with each other that do not violate the first two individual rights. No government entity shall be permitted to meddle with the terms of a contract once the agreement has been entered into or enacted. The government has the obligation to ensure that no contractual agreement shall be permitted which violates the first two points given to the individual. The government shall void no agreement that complies with the previous two points, however, the government may invalidate and reject any potential agreement that violates the previously defined rights and responsibilities of each individual party to the contract. The government may intervene to assure all parties involved keep the terms of contracts made.
The Role and Duties of Governments. Governments are created to protect the rights and enforce the responsibilities of its subjects. They shall provide protection from internal and external harm, and are responsible for bringing those who inflict harm upon their subjects to justice. The government may provide for the collective wellbeing of its subjects, so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of its subjects, or violate the principles of tax outlined below. The government may hold a monopoly on legislation, administration of that legislation and arbitration of conflicts. The government shall hold monopoly upon military force. The government is responsible to the people for maintaining sound and effective government. When the government oversteps its authority and violates the rights of individuals, the principles of tax, fails to effectively protect the rights of its citizens or does so in an inefficient manner, the duty falls to the citizens to assure that the government’s power is checked and its path corrected.
The Principles of Tax. The Government may tax its subjects in order to provide revenues to pay for services and protections provided by said government to its subjects. Taxes shall not be used to attempt to solve societal problems, or promote specific social goals of the Government. The government shall adopt a tax structure that effectively generates the most revenue possible with the least amount of administrative overhead. The government is responsible to collect taxes in an efficient and fair manner. The collection of taxes must be as easy and unobtrusive upon the lives of the government’s subjects as possible, as to limit a loss of productivity.







Disclaimer on Disobedience. In the event that a government does not responsibly execute the previously mentioned roles and duties, or infringes upon the rights of an individual, an individual may to, on their own responsibility, violate any governmental decree or policy and in some cases openly rebel. The government has the responsibility to squash any and all insurrections within its domain.

Nuff said

http://www.businessinsider.com/10-ridiculous-ways-to-spend-stimulus-money-2009-11#upgrading-two-little-used-border-crossings-to-canada-31-million-1

Abortion and Activism

As a college student, much of my time revolves around cultivating friendships. Some of these camaraderies will last for months, some for years, some for decades, and maybe even a lifetime. Friendship is a quintessential element of humanity, and as we grow and change, we strive to develop these special connections and maintain them as we move forward, and when I someday depart college and travel onward in life, I hope that the bonds that I make on campus will stay with me in the future. I hope that the experiences I have with, and the lessons I learn from those whom I choose to pass time with remain with as I develop as an individual through time. As I journey through life with my friends and internalize our experiences with them, it becomes hard to imagine a world without them by my side.

In the post Roe v. Wade world, I sometimes wonder, what if an individual, who could have been a great companion on life’s passage is not with me today because that individual fell victim to an abortion. What if one of the personalities that was placed on this planet by our Creator was struck down by an abortionist’s scalpel before I learned his name. What experiences would I have had with this fellow, what was his favorite color, his favorite food? What message was this person meant to bring to me? I will never know. There are millions, possibly tens of millions of unborn children whose lives have been cut short in the name of an unwritten, unexpressed, so-called implied constitutional right that the SCOTUS constructed from a non-originalist interpretation of the United States Constitution.
When, in 1917, the United States Supreme Court, under the leadership of Oliver Wendell Holmes, ruled that speech may be abridged when that speech represents a “clear and present danger”, the court established a dangerous and irresponsible precedent. They opened the door to court rulings based not on the writings or ideas of our founders but on the ideas of contemporary thinkers and the intellectual movements of the time. That 1917 ruling created one of the most dangerous challenges facing our nation today, the specter of judicial supremacy. When we allow the courts to enact rulings based on judicial activism and not constitutional originalism, we open the door to a state that could rule the other two branches of our government with almost dictatorial power, unelected, and unaccountable to the people. This is a challenge that must be stopped, and if we do nothing to prevent it, we do so at our own peril.

We Are the Ones

Hey Internet! Welcome to the Goggles Off Blog! This blog is an attempt by the creators of the Goggles Off Radio Show to keep the dialogue going even when the show is off the air. I am the co-host of Goggles Off along with my friend Adam Meinecke. I am a sophomore economics and business student at Cornell College and an aspiring entrepreneur.

My generation has been given its fair share of names. The names have spanned from the 9/11 Generation, to Internet Generation—plus its countless derivatives ranging from the “Blog-eneration” and the “Craigslist Cohort” to the Wikipedia and YouTube Generation—to the bigheaded “ME” generation. Though, I like to characterize of us as the next great entrepreneurial generation or, correspondingly, the next great American generation.

My cohort is the largest since the Baby Boom, giving us the power of numbers. My generation has been forced to confront many pivitol national problems in our formative years. The 9/11 terror attacks in our early formative years helped to instill an understanding of the existential threat to our nation posed by radical Islamic extremism, as well as a curiousity regarding international affairs that has lead to a record-breaking number of college graduates with interest in entering into fields relating to international affairs. The late 2000’s subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting recession has forced us to examine the concepts of generational debt transfer and unsustainable personal, commercial and governmental liability levels. The nations fragile economic state has limited the number of employment opportunites available to young adults entering the work force. Nevertheless, this scarcity has turned out to be an asset; forcing us to learn to live lifestyles of frugality, and teaching us to invest our money in savings accounts or non-volatile securities (and in doing so put the savings and investment practices of the previous cohort to shame).

Back in 2008, the election of President Barack Obama ushered in a new era of youth activism in our country. Seventy percent of his state chairs were under the age of 25. The Internet has created an entirely new economy in this country, and my generation stands to rise up as the new captains of industry in America.

If we are to achieve this however, we cannot afforded to be shackled with mountains of bureaucratic and regulatory red tape that will stifle the most innovative of new ideas that arise from our uniquely logged on generation. To me, the best thing that the government can do to help cultivate the new economic boom that my peers and I will lead is to stay out of our way.

We don’t need the government of the 21st century to cripple us with 20th century bureaucracy. We don’t need them to try and point us in the right direction. We need them to stay out of our way and let us spread our wings and succeed. Past industrial revolutions have always taken root in times when the government respected property rights and entrepreneurial autonomy, and this one will be no different.

So please, help us to make this generation the next Greatest Generation. You can help us by staying out of our way. Thank you and remember to leave the goggles at the door.