Thursday, April 28, 2011

Mr. President, Your 8 Layers Are Showing

All the world was so busy with the long form birth certificate released by President Obama, that they failed to grasp the scope of Ben Bernake's comments. Yes, just hours before the first Press Conference held by the Federal Reserve in this century, the White House decided to participate in the dog and pony show of the birth certificate. Well, since our dollar is almost worthless, how valuable is that birth certificate? It has certainly been a diversion!


As it turns out, the veracity of the document is important for an economist to consider, because economic analysis relies on the underlying data being valid and knowledge of the economic system essential. If someone is willing to be untruthful about their personal particulars, then what will stop them from publishing bogus data? I learned early on in estimating time series data to look at the regime. If the regime is dishonest, they have probably been less than honest in the data. If the data is bogus, any economic analysis gleaned from them is bogus. Many an economist has been mislead by bogus data in economic forecasts of third world countries, and occasionally developed ones. That is why so many economists are hot on the issue; it determines the ability of the data and the models to be valid and functional.


But beyond economic analysis, there is a more dangerous reason to consider the document's veracity. It  puts the foundation document of our economic system, the Constitution, at great peril. If the Constitution is not upheld, then any economic model predicated on it cannot be relied upon to provide accurate forecasts and results. All economic mathematical models assume that economic agents have the right to hold property and the liberty to make choices. Without these concepts, neither the Keynesian, the Classical, or the Neo-classical model of economics will be useful. When liberty is jeopardized, choice sets for economic agents are constrained, and there is no way to truly quantify these dangers in the parlance of Lagrangian multipliers. Even worse, it puts our system of government in jeopardy.  For these three reasons, it is noteworthy for economist to wander into the area of the alleged Long Form Birth Certificate, or LFBC, released by the White House.


For those unfamiliar with the past two days, there has been quite a bit of analysis published already. The best case, based on Photoshop, why the document is a fake, can be found here. Others have compared the Obama LFBC released with the one made available by Susan Nordyke, a twin born hours after Barack Obama. There are many differences between his document and the Susan Nordyke's real LFBC. A comparison can be found here. Without wandering into the technical aspects of desktop publishing and layers, here are the reasons why the birth certificate is a forgery and suggests a rather poor researcher manufactured the document.


First, the name of the hospital listed is simply wrong. At the official web site for Kapiolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital and according to the information there, the name of the hospital at the time of Obama's birth should have been Kauikeolani Children's Hospital. According to the web site the name didn't change to Kapiolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital until Kauikeolani Children's Hospital merged with Kapi‘olani Maternity Home in 1978. But, we can give them the benefit of the doubt here.

Second problem is very troublesome for Democrats:  the doctor is wrong. Many folks who defended Obama's Hawaiian birth did so based on the word of Dr. Rodney West. Dr. West, who died in February of 2011, was the basis of confidence in the story that Obama was born in the U.S.  Yet the birth certificate released by the Obama Administration now shows that Dr. Sinclair delivered Obama, much to the delight of his Iowa widow. While this may be a great thing for Obama when he campaigns in Iowa, it must be an embarrassment for Democratic operatives who introduced Dr. West in 2008! 





Third, they screwed up the numbering on the certificate. The Nordyke Twins were born after Obama in the same hospital. Yet, amazingly, their registration numbers precede the number given Obama. This was very careless on the part of the forgers. 


Fourth, the date in box 20 clearly has the "number 1" written in it. I guess they couldn't find a typewriter at the Smithsonian to type the letter "l" that was commonly used for the number one during the manual typewriter era of the early 1960s. Or maybe they simply lacked the patience to line up the letter in the carriage and decided it was easier to use a pencil to in the number one.


Fifth, the more amusing error, is the registrar's signature in box 21.  What kind of registrar can't spell their own name?  Note to forgers listed on one website: It is spelled “Ukulele.”


Sixth, there are clearly irregularities regarding the safety paper. The lines along the left hand side appear to reflect a fold, like the document came from a bound volume. However, the safety paper does not follow the curve. This and other irregularities are discussed on here.


Seventh, the race is wrong. During the 1960s, the term Negro was used as a race. Back then, the term African was reserved for those born on the continent of Africa. Oh, wait, is that what this document suggests after all?


Worse, the stamp at the bottom of the document tells it all. The document is not a birth certificate. It is an abstract. Read the stamp at the bottom, it is very clear. It is not the actual LFBC. 



For those who want to suggest I am a racist, then you don't know me. For what it is worth, the issue of eligibility war originally raised by Senator Obama in regard to Senator John McCain. Indeed, Senator Obama sponsored the SR 511 in the 110th Congress.  He is the one who raised the issue and clarified the issue of what constitutes a natural born citizen. After all, the best defense is a good offense. Knowing he did not meet the requirements, he accused McCain of not being qualified. The document is not even a defense of Obama's eligibility; it actually makes the case that he is not natural born based on SR 511. It refutes nothing, and proves he can be bullied by a Casino magnate.



President Obama indeed has earned his place in history. LBJ lied about the Bay of Tonkin. Nixon claimed he was not a crook. Clinton claimed he did not have sex with that woman. Obama has his past.  In contrast to Obama, LBJ, Nixon, and Clinton enjoyed some degree of economic security prosperity despite their lack of honesty. President Obama will go down in history as bigger liar than either of these three, with an economy worse than that engineered by either President Carter or Hoover. 


Years from now, as my grandchildren pay taxes on this debt, I am certain the name "Obama" will be word of disdain, reserved for occasions when a hammer hits one thumb, or bumps one's shin on a coffee table. To be deceived, people will say they are being "Obama-ed." As he sells our children and our grandchildren into slavery, remember the Congress that could have acted to remove him from office and did not, the Vice President, who could not stay awake to invoke the 25th Amendment, and the Federal Reserve Chairman who ran the printing presses to finance the biggest deficits in American history.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Public Employee Unions in Anchorage Elections

Every once in a while, I can't resist writing on Alaska issues. It would seem that the public employee labor unions are now making an effort to hi-jack the City of Anchorage just as they have in other cities and states across the United States. In this video, you will see a fellow named Dick Traini, Chair of the Anchorage Assembly being introduced as "one of their own."





Salaries for Anchorage's Municipal Government are searchable on the internet. That will definitely be something to keep an eye on over the next year. Thanks to Glen Biegel, the ever vigilant watchdog on Anchorage issues.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

While we go bankrupt and build the world, we bail out Portugal?

In case you missed it over the past few days, Standard and Poor has downgraded U.S. Treasuries. Indeed, there can be economic adverse consequences to default.  Timothy Geithner wants the debt limit raised for as long as possible, in fact, forever, to avoid that default.  After all, there are merely differences in how to take care of elderly and the poor. We all know that evil Republicans will take funds away from the most poor in society, just listen to any Democrat in the current administration.

The problem is that the issues that are causing the default are really manufactured by the Obama Administration. Even as S&P downgrades our debt, the United States, through the IMF, is bailing out Portugal. This is the same IMF (International Monetary Fund) that is attempting to force the United States into raising tax rates on Americans. The IMF said that America needs to make "huge tax increases" to remain viable earlier this month. Now we are bailing out Portugal with them? How is it that there may not be enough to pay our military, our seniors, and pay for education, but we can bail out Portugal?

In addition to the IMF, there is all sort of building programs going on by the United States around the world. Through the US Export-Import Bank, the United States has been engaged in a flurry of investments oversees. Clearly, we have been rebuilding the Iraq economy, at US taxpayer expense. But that isn't all. We are funding oil wells in Brazil and refineries to the tune of billions of dollars in Columbia (see my previous blog).  We are building a new billion dollar complex in London (often dubbed the Chrystal Palace) replete with a moat. There is also the new embassy building in Ethiopia, which seems to be quite the hit. Then there is the celebrated Green Embassy in Jakarta that has everyone talking (not). After all, it is just part of our overall 70 buildings we are building around the world for the green embassy project.


Indeed, the only building program going on in the United States is one of resentment toward the Obama administration. Raising the debt ceiling would be fine if it were for building America, but that isn't what is really going on in the budget. We are building every other country but our own. If seniors don't get checks and poor go hungry, it is because of our ambitious program of international building through off budget agencies like the IMF and the Export-Import bank and the U.S. State Department. It will not be because House Republicans failed. Raise the debt ceiling and taxes for the IMF?

Are you freaking kidding me?

Besides the gargantuan expenditures on Obama Care, the Obama Administration has done everything possible to halt economic activity in the U.S. and erode the tax base. The Obama Administration fights the oil industry at every turn.  Indeed, the goal of the current administration, as laid out by candidate Barack Obama, is to let gas prices skyrocket. His program necessarily causes stagflation: rising prices and growing unemployment. Under stagflation, it is increasingly difficult to pay off debt, as every other nations knows. This has created the stage for U.S. default through his "global redistribution" plan.

Call your Congressman and let your voice be heard. If that debt ceiling is raised, shut down the international bail outs and investment. Invest in America, because you know that the Chinese and the Brazilians have. Quite letting internationals run our country. Let's get off the High Speed Bullet Train to Bankruptcy and build our nation.

Obama invests in Columbian Oil Refinery while Americans face dire Economy at Home

Did anyone notice that the Obama Administration will be financing an oil refinery in Columbia?

While 2010 was the recovery summer that wasn’t, there is no doubt that the summer of 2011 will be the summer of skooters. Gas prices continue to soar at the pump across the nation, and it seems that the Obama Administration is uninterested in doing much about it. While domestic prices rise at the US Pump, gas prices in Mexico are half of what they are in this country.  It has left many to muse jokingly that illegal immigrants from Mexico  can come if they bring a barrel of oil with them.

While the American consumer is in sticker shock, oil producing states have economies that lie in shambles because of permitatoriums (slow down in granting permits) by the Obama Administration. Alaska, with a pipeline that once had 2 million barrels of oil roaring through it, is on the brink of shutting down due to a lack of oil. Louisiana, with an economy limping due to the same permitatorium,  is unable to drill in the Gulf of Mexico. As Americans watch Cuba, China, and Mexico drill in our Gulf waters, Americans are banned from such activity.  Both Alaska and Louisiana could readily change the American economy, but the Obama Administration does nothing but hold up drilling permits. This hold up doesn’t just hurt these two states; it also hurts the American consumer in the pocket book, and hurts our defensive posture around the world.
 The Obama Administration’s Oil Policy has been a pretty simply one. It bans US Production and invests in production in other nations. The President went to Brazil to claim we will be their best customer, and is investing US dollars in that endeavor. Where will that oil be refined? It appears to be in Columbia.

The summer of 2010 may be best known for the BP Oil spill, but it was the summer that the Obama Administration rolled out more grants for Africa than in the history of the United States.  The summer of 2011 will be the summer of Latin American Development by the Obama Administration.  We are building the oil industry in Brazil, even moving oil rigs from the Gulf of Mexico to Argentina. as well as selling military hardware to a Marxist Regime. Now he invests in Columbian Oil refineries while our own oil industry languishes. He is dismantling the US Energy Sector and shipping it overseas, literally, as well as selling them military hardware.  The tab is being paid by the American consumer and the American taxpayer. 

Is it any wonder that the President’s Popularity is waning?  You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool everyone all of the time.  You can’t get re-elected with high prices at the pumps and high rates of inflation.  If you think I am wrong, ask Jimmy Carter.