With independent contractors, when you don’t need them or can’t afford them, you don’t call them. And if an independent contractor isn’t working up to snuff…you just don’t use him again. Compare that to a state worker who cannot be fired no matter how incompetent.

Plus independent contractors work much more efficiently than state workers because they get no overtime, weekends or holidays. They work however long is needed to get the job done.

And they are far less expensive. No overtime, no paid holidays and no vacations. And once the project is done, you can stop paying them.

One of the main reasons the state is always in the economic poorhouse is the hundreds of thousands of state workers and retired state workers who continue to receive a monthly check and healthcare benefits till the day they die.

Private companies got rid of defined benefits long ago. Only government workers continue to hang on to the gravy train.

1) out of US equities
2) out of US dollars
3) and if need be, get out of the US period.

I for one of have my eyes on little hacienda in Brazil — I’ve even got a school picked our for my daughters and enought cash in Perth gold certificates to live down there for a 6 months-1 year. Hopefully the Brazilian bar isn’t that difficult.

Just watched the Schiff clip. Damn. I just wish that, just once, he didn’t make absolutely perfect sense. May have to put together a post and drag him back to the banner level.

We should just go ahead and designate Schiff as our official Donklephant tour guide on the highway to hell.

Take it from our favorite economic soothsayer Peter Schiff. You know you want to click. Come on, do it! listen to him say “Unmitigated Disaster”

Being a native Californian, I can attest to the fact that as a state, we are pretty troubled. There have been MASSIVE budget cuts all across the board, even to important areas, such as the LA county department of public health.

Given this, it has been really frustrating to see the incessant partisan tussles taking place on Capitol Hill. People need to realize that there are livelihoods at stake. The basis of the debate over the stimulus package should not trace its roots back to bruised egos and power trips. It should be about how best to help the country. As someone who knows several people who will be subject to this new and future furloughs, I can definitely say that we need help and we need it fast.

This monstrosity started at $800B+ in the house, has ballooned to $900B+ in the Senate, and once they share enough of the pork booty with a couple of Republican Senators, they’ll shave 10% off the top for political cover, pretend they’ve done something fiscally responsible, and this thing will sail through at right around $800B.

Obama gets his first big win by swinging a huge partisan hammer.

Obama – 1.
Thoughtful Careful Governance by Congress – 0.

It is an indicator of how truly bad this bill is, that the Dems had this much trouble holding their own party in line and just picking up two Republicans.

In case you want to broaden your reading list, here is a list of 300+ economists, including three nobel prize winners, you might want to consider.

I think we do have a good idea of what the best actions are to take because it’s widely agreed that government spending carries with it the best bang for the buck. Nearly every single economist I read says that government spending has the biggest multiplier since tax cuts carry with them the risk of the money being saved and not spent.

I’m not saying tax cuts are bad. Nowhere did I say that. But what I am saying is that a seemingly unflinching allegiance to the tax cut philosophy is killing this stimulus. Because whether you remember or not, this bill is made up of almost 35% tax cuts.

No, but that’s not enough for Repubs. No, they’d rather target programs that they can score cheap political points on that only make up one three hundredth of a percent of the total cost. Oh yeah, and then claim its the Dems who are stonewalling.

Am I concerned that the price tag is going up? Actually, no. I think it should be higher because those same smart economists also say that if you don’t spend enough it has a good chance of not being effective. I wish it were over a trillion dollars actually, but I’m willing to have controversial provisions cut out of it…as long as we get moving.

Seriously people, what other indicators do we need? Should the economy shed 800,000 jobs in a month instead of 600,000? Or would you still continue to equivocate about how that’s not as bad as 1974 when compared to the overall population back then. Because behind each one of those numbers is a real person who now has to depend on the government to support them.

In other words, I’d rather have the money spent directly to get them working again than giving nervous tax payers a lot more tax cuts in hopes that they spend that money so businesses will start hiring again.

Also, “Ready, Fire, Aim!” is a great catch phrase. Want to try something accurate now?

The solution is, as you have always stated “ready, fire, aim!” And the problem was caused by the Republicans failed policies. Tax cuts are bad. Tax hikes are good.

“Moving on?” Nice catch phrase, if only you ever did move on, instead of just repeating the mantra that we must act now, because taking action quickly is of far more importance than identifying which actions are the best ones to take.

Doesn’t it concern you even a little bit that this bill was shpped two weeks or so ago as having a price tag of about 775 to 800 billion, and it’s swelled to over 900 billion? Come on. Not even a little?

On top of that shifting of expenditures in order to get a big headline story about desperate cuts looming, in my personal experience working in four different state and big city agencies through several recessions and budget crises, public agencies can also shift outlays over time a good deal more than any private, profit-making company.

So for example, an agency can undertake cost-saving measures today, such as a hiring freeze that slows payroll increases, a moratorium on pay rises, closing offices part-time, or suspending work by contractors for a while — all moves that restrain current cash outflow. Then, when the recession ends and tax revenues grow again, or revenues go up due to tax and fee increases, or the feds send piles of freshly printed money, you drop those measures and resume norma; activity. But not just that; you also roll out the pay raises, increases in headcount, new contracts, etc. that you held up for a few months or a year at most. Public employees — from the legions represented by big unions to the hundreds of thousands of managers and political hacks — recoup whatever they missed out on for a brief while.

A word also to gerryf: It’s certainly true that GOP pols will try to take political advantage where they can (as do Democrats), but it’s not true and not fair to suggest that they as a group have not contributed any ideas and/or have responded to Obama’s outreach only by “framing” the discussion to score political points. First, it wasn’t hard to “frame” discussion of a House bill that was never discussed publicy at all, was larded up with pork, included a laundry list of Democrats’ favorite programs, and most important, did not get a huge part of this (printed) money out into the economy in time to provide any fiscal stimulus before the recession is over.

Anyway, right now, a number of Senate Republicans and Democrats (rumored to be from 10 to 20) are, in fact, working together to try to hammer out differences and shape a bill that’s smart, effective and can pass with bi-partisan support.

Geez, Jim, c’mon.

You got an idea? I’m all ears. The nation is waiting.

Obama tried to play it nice. He tried to invite the GOP in to help craft a better solution. He has gone much farther than Bush ever did in reaching across the aisle.

But a funny thing happened on the way to that reach–the GOP decided to just tear down any thing to score political points, to “frame” the discussion, as it were.

Its beginning to finally look like Obama is getting it now…he extended a hand and asked for them to contribute. Oh, and don’t think I am giving the Dems a pass. The original bill could have been much better.

Still, we had a brief shining moment where things could have gone either way when Obama defied the folks on the left and invited the GOP to work with him, and they slapped him for it.

The GOP–it’s just a nasty group of selfish me firsters born in the bowels of the 1980s. They will say anything and do anything to achieve power. How the heck did we get here?

If the economy remains in the tank for 4 years, the 1% that gets taken out due to republican pressure will not be the reason.

Right now, my co-workers and I are going without 4 days of pay per month. Not feeling too much sympathy for a bunch of government employed, unionized cry-babies that are only losing 2 days of pay each month!! You don’t hear me complaining (except in this specific case) – know what I’m doing?? That’s right, I got myself a part-time job to fill the gap!! Ever hear of “personal responsibility”??

California politicians cannot manage the states finances responsibly, and I’M supposed to be upset?? Maybe the voters in California need to accept their responsibility and VOTE OUT the ones who created their mess in the first place! Their financial problems did not start 19 months ago…it started about a decade ago! They are almost as bad as Michigan—they never learn their lessons!!

Unemployment is up again, to be sure, but NOT in federal, state or local government. As other employers in manufacturing, transportation, retail, finance, professional services, temps, everywhere slash jobs and lay off workers TWO sectors of the economy showed INCREASES in employment last month: (1) education (meaning private education) and health services, and (2) government, both federal and state government. Small increases, yes, but total payrolls went up when everyone else is losing their jobs. (See BLS jobs report report issued today at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t14.htm).

This is no accident. All those spooky layoffs of teachers, cops, etc. that every governor and big city mayor is talking about grimly are cutbacks based on what they say is their next budget will require — typically one that begins in June or next January. Such budget numbers in state and city government are, to say the least, flexible. They are based on assumptions about tax and other revenues. Right now, officials are making very pessimistic assumptions about those revenues and extrapolating doom and gloom.

Perhaps the worst will happen; perhaps not. In any case, NO ONE IS BEING LAID OFF NOW. Why is that? Are there really no DMV clerks, legislative “constituency service” workers, back office administrative employees, school cafeteria workers or big shots in the governor’s office whose services can be dispensed with for a while in light of the unprecedented emergency?

Ah….so state agencies are now wealth creating entities. I’ll file that one away somewhere.