The “Employee Free Choice Act” is another weasel-worded bit of newspeak from the Obama administration and their sycophants in the U.S. Congress. As per usual, the act contains a lot of provisions written in language that seems specifically designed to obfuscate it’s true meaning. But one thing about this bill is clear — it is …
Effective Federal Tax Rates
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has published an interesting document titled Historical Effective Federal Tax Rates: 1979 to 2005. This is a fascinating document, because it breaks down taxes by who pays them. It shows us, for example, that the lowest earning quintile (20%) of taxpayers pay only .8% of all Federal taxes. On the …
Economic Humor
These jokes about the current economy recently showed up in my Inbox. As bad as the economy is getting, laughter at least is still free. 🙂 The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail. The economy is so bad that when I ordered a burger at McDonald’s, the …
Stealth Inflation
The official inflation rate in July was 1.24%. This rate is based upon the Consumer Price Index (CPI), compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). According to the BLS, the same basket of basic goods that cost you $218.01 in July 2010 cost you $215.35 in July of 2009 and $219.96 in July of …
Born into Debt Slavery
Every child who is born in America is now born owing $43,186. This is, according the The U.S. Debt Clock, every child’s share of our more than $13 trillion dollar national debt. This is the debt the child owes when it draws it’s first breath. If the child manages to become one of the shrinking …
Surviving the Economic Collapse
I have read and studied a lot of survival manuals. One significant trouble with the genre is that the trouble you’re in never seems to match up with the situations the books aim to prepare you for. Some survival books focus on outdoor survival under impossible circumstances. Personally, I have no plans to put myself …