Regulatory Uncertainty in the Obama Administration

Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Source: Reason.com

“Wish we could nail it, but we can’t.”

— Exelon CEO John Rowe on future nuclear regulations

Some on the left have complained that the right frequently blames Obama for a bad economy, because his administration creates a great deal of regulatory uncertainty for businesses. They claim these charges are based on little but anecdotal evidence, and challenge conservatives to find any historical and/or empirical data to support the contention that regulatory uncertainty can harm businesses.

It so happens that there are five clear examples of how regulatory uncertainty can make it difficult for businesses to plan future operations, and thereby impose barriers to economic activity. Not surprisingly, four of these examples occurred under the Obama administration. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Clean Energy, Clean Tech, Finance and Economics, Healthcare, Media, Nuclear Power, Policy, Politics, Taxes, Technology, Unions, Wind | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

A Whiff of Grapeshot: What’s Good Enough for Londonderry, is Good Enough for London

Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Source: © Photothèque des Musées de la Ville de Paris/Habouzit for 1987 CAR 5607 NB

“This is criminality, pure and simple, and it has to be confronted and defeated”

— British Prime Minister David Cameron

As the mayhem in London continues for a fourth night, it is important to determine the trigger, the motivations of the mob, and the solution to the crisis. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Defense, Finance and Economics, Food Security, International Security, Media, Policy, Politics, Social Security, Taxes, Terrorism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Bush vs. Obama: Food Stamps

Posted on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Food Stamp Recipients, Source: USDA, ©2011 Reflections of a Rational Republican

“I’m sort of a foodie, and I’m not going to do the ‘living off ramen’ thing,”

— University of Chicago graduate receiving food stamps

Since President Obama became President in January 2009, nearly 14 million additional Americans were receiving food stamps as of May 2011. This number represents a 43% increase over the period, and includes nearly 15% of the total U.S. population.

In fact, the number of people receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is increasing at a rate of 475,000 people a month, nearly 1.6x the rate at which the level of assistance increased for President Bush from October 2007 to December 2008, the earliest monthly data available on the USDA site.

One might argue that the primary reason the number of food stamp recipients has risen is because of a terrible economy. While it is true that a weak economy has played a role in this increase, it only tells part of the story. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Food Security, Media, Policy, Politics, Social Security, Taxes | Tagged , , | 63 Comments

Bush vs. Obama: Federal Debt

Posted on Monday, August 8, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

U.S. Federal Debt, Source: U.S Treasury Direct, ©2011 Reflections of a Rational Republican

Nearly three years after Barack Obama became president, many liberals still insist that Bush is primarily responsible for running up the national debt. While the federal debt did increase by $4.9 trillion on President George W. Bush’s watch, it did not increase at remotely the same rate it is increasing under President Obama.

In fact, borrowing under President Obama is occurring at over 2.5x President Bush’s rate.

Yet the left continues to decry Bush’s wars and his tax cuts as the primary culprits of President Obama’s massive national debt increase. If the current President found the tax cuts fiscally irresponsible, why did he sign a bill that extended them during his first two years in office, when Democrats dominated both the legislative and executive branches?

It is time to stop pointing a finger at the last President, and start looking for solutions.

Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Media, Policy, Politics, Taxes | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Punished for Being Posh (Britain), or Poor (America)

Posted on Sunday, August 7, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

The Economist‘s Leviathan blog argues that the state ought not to punish the well-heeled more severely than commoners. It offers Charlie Gilmour’s 16-month prison sentence for his hijinks in a London riot as its example.

Charlie Gilmour has the distinguished background of being a Cambridge University  undergraduate, and the step-son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. In December of last year, Mr. Gilmour fortified his courage with some drugs and alcohol, thereby, in the words of his step-father’s band, becoming “comfortably numb.” Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Media, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spanking Disagreement Leads to Assault Rifle Ambush: Stay Classy, Philadelphia

Posted on Saturday, August 6, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

It’s good to see that Philadelphia’s permit requirements to carry concealed firearms are working.

Also, a word of advice: avoid giving random strangers parenting lectures, or threatening to report them, in the absence of clear child endangerment.

It’s just not worth getting ambushed by thugs wielding AK-47s.

 

Posted in Crime, Media, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi: S&P Lowers America’s Credit Rating

Posted on Saturday, August 6, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Sic transit gloria mundi
How doth the busy bee
Dum vivimus vivamus
I stay my enemy!

— Emily Dickinson opening to a poem she published in the Springfield Daily Republican in 1852, a newspaper associated with the founding of the Republican Party

Last night, I had the most peculiar of nightmares.

I woke up this morning in a cold sweat after having a dream involving rallying around my family with a pocket full of shells. I was holed up in a small bar located in what felt like the Deep South, but looked like it was nestled in the midst of the Mojave Desert.

Armed with an old Winchester rifle, I was organizing the defense of a town from a group of religious fanatics who wanted to kill me.

Coincidence or Prescience?

After being roused from my disturbing dream, I could not fall back to sleep, so I checked my email.

What I found was shocking. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Media, Policy, Politics, Predictions, Taxes | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Things My Kids Will Never Learn

Posted on Friday, August 5, 2011 by Chris Ladd

Childhood for my kids differs from my own experience in a lot of ways.  They don’t have a swamp out behind the house for starters.  But the most critical difference is this: they aren’t burdened with the expectation that tomorrow will be anything like today.  As members of the first generation born on the other side of the Future Shock divide, they are bred for constant change.

Already, they could produce a long list of habits or technologies they loved that have become obsolete.  They are entirely accustomed to the notion that whatever they are using today will be worthless by sometime tomorrow afternoon.

We could fill a thousand pages discussing what’s wrong with that situation, but that’s where we live.  The only thing that will change it is a collapse on a 5th Century Western Roman scale – not entirely out of the question.  The only people pushing for that type of disaster are the Paul Boys and a few folks on the environmental left.  So long as those forces remain on the margins, this will be our reality.

How else will their world be different from mine?  Here are a few things I expect that my kids may never learn: Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Education, General, Science, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bush vs. Obama: Unemployment (July 2011 Jobs Data)

Posted on Friday, August 5, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Change in Total Private Employment (in thousands), Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Update: Click here for the most recent jobs statistics.

As is customary on this site, on the first Friday of every month, I update the unemployment numbers so that I can compare the unemployment rate under President George W. Bush with the unemployment rate under President Obama at that time. The genesis of this ritual began when I felt compelled to respond to some left-leaning sites that were comparing Obama’s first two years and four months in office with Bush’s last and worst economic year (the above chart shows the most recent incarnation of this narrative).

Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Media, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , | 45 Comments

Obama’s Fiftieth Birthday: Plenty of Celebration, No Results

Posted on Friday, August 5, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Last Wednesday, President Obama attended a gala celebration in Chicago to celebrate his fiftieth birthday one day early. Attendees paid $35,800 a ticket to bask in the light of their Messiah, and to mingle with musical stars Herbie Hancock and OK Go.

Meanwhile, outside the Obama bubble, the stock market heralded President Obama’s 50th birthday with a 512 point decline — more than 10 points for each year he’s been alive. It was the Dow’s worst day since the 2008 financial crisis.

Many Americans find the President amiable and charismatic. That said, results are all that count, and by this measure, the President has fallen well short of the mark.

For those still blaming President Bush for an economy that has been all but stagnant for nearly three years of Obama’s management, the numbers speak for themselves: Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Energy Security, Finance and Economics, International Security, Media, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment