All the News That's Fit to be Tied

I have an axe to grind, but unlike the New York Times, I freely admit it.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Why Infrastructure Spending Doesn't Work

This is the second time I have written on this subject at The New Narrative. However as an editor of the now defunct New York Construction News and publisher of The Infrastructure Pipeline and Juvenile Justice Magazine I have had many opportunities to explore the issue. The main reason infrastructure spending cannot provide an immediate stimulus is because it takes years of planning to build or repair even the simplest of roads or bridges. Add to that the actual length of physical time it takes to do the work and you have projects that require many years to develop, implement and complete. In fact, most states have to spread their infrastructure plans over several years because many projects simply take years to build. Anyone who does serious driving will tell you there is road and bridge construction in almost every state. Many of these projects have been ongoing for several years. Infrastructure does provide jobs, but in most cases those jobs already exist and most of those people are already working on another project. Most government financed infrastructure goes to government employees or firms that already do business with government and are familiar with bidding systems. Perhaps that is why fours years into Obama's first infrastructure stimulus he remarked "the jobs weren't as shovel ready as we thought;" And the truth is they won't be this time either. Federal and State governments fund their Highway Trusts from a variety of sources including the gas tax, highway use tax, etc. They do it every year so a close look will tell you they already have billions to spend but can't do it because infrastructure spending has to be developed and planned before it can be put in the pipeline. The effect can never be immediate. When a politician tell you otherwise he is lying.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Will Benghazi be Obama's Iran-Contra?

On the 11th Anniversary of 911 the State Department consulate in Benghazi was attacked by rebel forces that turned out to include al-Qaeda fighters. There were persistent rumors at the time that the Obama Administration through the CIA and State Department were trying to provide arms to Syrian rebels, which many think was the purpose of Ambassador Christopher Stevens' trip to Benghazi. Some people think that Stevens came to the realization that al-Qaeda fighters were among those buying the weapons and tried to cancel the deal, which lead directly to his death and the deaths of the others. Perhaps that is why we did not run to the sound of the guns and left our men to die in the desert. After two years of investigating by Congress and stonewalling by the Obama Administration a Select Committee has been formed to get the answers that the families of the four dead victims deserve, as well as to give America a clear picture of what took place. For example, if the goal was to provide Syrian rebels with weapons was it legal to do so? It wasn't for Ronald Reagan. Americans deserve an answer.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

The ObamaCare Trap

Republicans must be careful to not fall into the Democratic trap of "fixing" ObamaCare. The President and his allies have been adamant in saying the Republicans have been trying to repeal ObamaCare, but have not offered an alternative. The truth is Republicans should not offer an alternative; that is the trap. The solution is to be found in the market, not in the Congress. It is government involvement in medical care that has led to the situation we now found ourselves in. Medicare is not in trouble yet, but will be if ObamaCare related cuts in service continue. Medicaid is a well-known disaster providing inferior healthcare to America's poorest and needy. Medicare and Medicaid are both rife with corruption in every state. Without the constantly renewed "Doc Fix" Medicare too would be in big trouble. So Republicans must fight the "alternative" argument of Obama and the Democrats by saying Health Care requires a market solution, not another government program. It is time for the government to get out of the healthcare business and leave it to the professionals who know what they are doing.