January, 2014 Political Class Insanity, Part 5: Taxpayers Lose, Farmers Win, NYC Tourism Loses, and Double Agents in Washington

This is the fifth post this month trying to cover the latest political class insanity, idiocy, incompetence, and wasteful spending of the American political class. It is not easy keeping up with these people’ never ending quest to enrich themselves at the expense and freedom of the vast majority of Americans. There antics and failures would be hilarious if they were not so damaging to our freedom and wallets.

The first of this month’s series can be accessed at:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2014/01/january-2014-political-class-insanity_5.html

1) Think Washington politicians know what they are doing when it comes to economic management, strategy, and policy? Consider the grim findings that were released by the U.S. Census Bureau in mid September:

• During the four years of President Obama’s first term in office, the real median income of American households dropped by $2,627.
• During the same time, the number of Americans living in poverty increased by approximately 6,667,000.
• The year Obama was elected, real median household income in the United States was $53,644 according to the Census Bureau. 
• In 2012, the last full year of Obama’s first term, median household income was $51,017. Thus, real median household income dropped $2,627,or 4.89%, from 2008 to 2012.
• Real median household income dropped in every year of Obama's first term. In 2008, when he was elected, it was $53,644. In 2009, the year he was inaugurated, it dropped to 53,285. In 2010, his second year in office, it dropped to $51,892. In 2011, his third year in office, it dropped to $51,100. And, in 2012, his fourth year in office, it dropped to $51,017.
• In 2008 there were approximately 39,829,000 people living in poverty in this country. In 2012, there were 46,496,000. 
• That is an increase of approximately 6,667,000, or16.73 percent, from 2008 to 2012.
• The number of people in poverty increased during three of the four years of Obama's first term--taking a slight dip from 2010 to 2011, but then rising again from 2011 to 2012. 
• In 2008, there were 39,829 people in poverty in the U.S. In 2009, it climbed to 43,569. In 2010, it climbed again to 46,343. In 2011, it dipped to 46,247. And, in 2012, it climbed to an all-time high 46,496.

Yes, the economy is doing somewhat better but only for certain segments of the nation: those that live and work in the Washington metro area (the “Hunger Games“ syndrome), those that work in the banking and financial industry, and hackers that are fleecing Obama Care’s data systems for identify thieves. The vast number of Americans are substantially poorer and less well off since 2008 despite an energy revolution, record low interest rates for record lengths of time, and record levels of stimulus spending. 

In other words, Washington’s politicians are clueless when it comes to economic matters.

2) On November 27, 2013 the wonderful website Bankrupting American provided some Thanksgiving dinner table topics for discussion relative to what most people were eating. The website pointed out that farm incomes likely increased about 15% just in 2012 alone, rising to a 40 year high. 

A lot of that increase in wealth was not the result of hard work or creative farming but billions and billions of dollars that are given to the farming industry by the Federal government and Washington politicians, all funded by the American taxpayer. However, a lot of these billions do not go to the traditional American family farm. They are awarded to wealthy farming conglomerates, not average farmers. 

According to the Environmental Working Group, the top 10% of American farms suck up a whopping 75% of all Federal subsidies. The average payout for the top 10 percent is $32,043 annually versus $604 for the bottom 80%. Additionally, 62% of farmers do not receive any Federal subsidies. 

Who gets these taxpayer gifts in a time of record high farm profits? The website highlights the top industry segments:

1. American taxpayers spent $84.4 billion on subsidies to corn growers between 1995 and 2012. These funds went to 1.642 million growers for an average payment of $51,400.
2. American taxpayers spent $35.5 billion on subsidies to wheat growers between 1995 and 2012. These funds went to 1.376 million growers for an average payment of $25,799.
3. American taxpayers spent $32.9 billion on subsidies to cotton growers between 1995 and 2012. These funds went to just 264,952 growers for an average payment of $124,173.
4. American taxpayers spent $504 million on subsidies to sugar beet and apple growers between 1995 and 2012. These funds went to about 17,657 growers for an average payment of $28,544.
5. American taxpayers spent $4.1 billion on subsidies for livestock between 1995 and 2012. These funds went to about 815,282 growers for an average payment of $5,029. 

These five examples total out to just over $157 BILLION in farm subsides. Thus, over the 1995 to 2012 timeframe, the average American family paid the U.S. farming industry about $1,400 per household in subsidies. And as the Bankrupting America website points out and what we have previously reported on, most of this money went to large farming conglomerates that earn billions of dollars in revenue and profits every year. Obscene to have this going on when most Americans are struggling and farming as an industry is earning record profits.

Of course, this does not happen unless there is a link between Washington politicians and campaign contributions from large farming business. Consider Archer Daniels Midland as an example, one of the largest agriculture corporations in the world. According to the campaign finance tracking website, Open Secrets: 

• Archer Daniels Midland contributed over $864 thousand dollars to political campaigns last year, placing it in the highest 2% of all contributors to political campaigns.
• Archer Daniels Midland spent over $1.4 million on lobbying in 2013, placing it in the highest 8% of companies with official lobbying expenses last year.

The equation is simple: spend millions in political campaign contributions and receive billions in taxpayer funded subsidies. All while the median income of American households continues to plummet.

3) Political class insanity is not restricted to the Federal wing of the American political class. Consider a recent example of insanity form New York City, courtesy of its new mayor, Mayor Bill de Blasio says. It is no secret that the vast majority New York City’s public schools stink when it comes to providing a good, solid education for public school kids. I am sure there are many other issues including high unemployment, criminal activities, crumbling infrastructure, etc., that the good mayor needs to get to work on. 

But all of these real problems will have to wait. Within four days of his inauguration, the Mayor has declared that the city needs to get rid of horse drawn carriages on city streets, a romantic fixture of New York city for lord knows how long.

I am not aware of any widespread abuse of horses used on New York streets to give tourists rides. If there were, I would be the first to ask for a crackdown on animal abuse. But apparently, according to news reports I have read, it is only the mayor’s opinion that the animals are working under terrible conditions. 

He proposes that the horse drawn carriages be replaced with electric cars so that the New Yorkers who make a living off of the horse drawn carriage business to not lose their jobs. As if visitors to New York cannot wait to get a romantic ride around town in a …electric car. Guess fixing the roads, and schools and crime rate will have to wait New York. Insanity.

4) The Associated Press reported on December 7, 2013 that Theodore H. Moran, a renowned expert on China's international investment, a professor at Georgetown University and a longtime adviser to the U.S. Director of National Intelligence was forced resigned. Why was he forced to resign? After four years, the Federal government finally figured out he has worked as a paid consultant for Huawei Technologies Ltd., a Chinese company the U.S. has condemned as an espionage threat.

Moran had served since 2007 as both an adviser to the intelligence director's advisory panel on foreign investment in the United States. At the same time he was an adviser to the National Intelligence Council, a group of 18 senior analysts and policy experts who provide U.S. spy agencies with judgments on important international issues. Moran had a security clearance granting him access to sensitive government and national security materials.

In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee concluded that Huawei and another Chinese company, ZTE, were a threat that could allow Chinese intelligence agencies to tamper with American communications networks. The committee recommended that the two companies be barred from doing business in the country: "To the extent these companies are influenced by the state or provide Chinese intelligence services access to telecommunication networks, the opportunity exists for further economic and foreign espionage by a foreign nation-state already known to be a major perpetrator of cyber espionage." 

Great, it takes the government four years to figure out that one of its top security analysts and experts was actually working both sides of the fence. The really sad about thing about this security breach is that Moran is quoted in the AP article of saying that he was totally transparent in what businesses he was associated, claming that he told the National Intelligence Council in 2010 that he had a relationship with Huawei. Talk about incompetence.

So, let’s review. American households lose, farming conglomerates win, New York City tourism loses, and a high ranking government security analysts wins by playing for both our team and the Chinese team. Insanity.

That will do it for today. A few more days of insanity should be enough to finally cover the horror and idiocy that that political class created in the past month or so.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

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Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
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