The Fiscal Cliff – my reaction

11 Dec

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The US is currently going through the storm of the Fiscal Cliff negotiations, as you all probably know. I won’t explain what the deal is, since you can just go onto any serious website and see for yourself.

I might be controversial here, but I do believe that House Republicans should comply with Obama’s demands on tax hikes. They should let Obama do what he wants to do for a variety of reasons. I don’t think the Tea Party Republicans should try to force their way into a deal that avoids tax hikes. And here’s why:

1) If they give him the tax hikes, the President will have to cut spending. Otherwise, the blame for the impending economic collapse will be solely on him. It would be a political disaster for Obama. In fact, if he gets all for which he asks for, any refusal on his part to compromise with the GOP on other issues will lay the blame for the fiscal cliff squarely on him. That means the GOP will likely gain full control of Congress in 2014.

2) It’s worth sacrificing the top 2%, because, if they don’t give Obama the tax hikes, we’re going to go over the cliff and 100% of taxpayers will see their taxes increase. It’s better that only a small fraction of the population pay rather than everyone. Remember – the Democrats have Presidency and Senate, and therefore more leverage at the negotiating table. The Republicans HAVE to compromise if they want a deal.

3) If the tax hikes won’t be implemented and a deal will still be reached (a highly unlikely prospect), Obama will blame the GOP for the economic crisis that, with the President’s policies, is going to occur independently of the outcome of the Fiscal cliff negotiations. That means saying goodbye to 2016 and, as a result, probably 2020. This will only lead the country to a faster downward spiral. If the GOP complies today, the spiral will be blamed on Obama, and the Democrats will suffer, favouring the GOP in 2016 and 2020. In short, let’s sacrifice a few years of economic growth now rather than bankrupting the country with another 8 years of Democratic leadership after Obama.

4) Given that the GOP is terrible at promoting its sound economic positions, if the Fiscal Cliff were to occur because of THEIR unwillingness to compromise, the Republican Party will be hurt by the Dems even more, politically.

In short, let’s give it to Obama and let him destroy the country on his own. That will allow us to get back to a much needed Reagan-conservative era. If we don’t cave in on taxes, Obama will lay the blame on the GOP (which, as the election shows, he’s very good at doing), and the country will be further destroyed by liberal big-spenders.

Now is the time to act responsible for long-term advantages.

The centre-left Primaries in Italy – UPDATE!

3 Dec

As you may or may not know, Bersani won the centre-left primaries yesterday and is probably going to become Italy’s next PM in the general election next spring. (See article of Nov. 28th for more details and why this is going to happen)

He won with more 60% of the vote, demolishing the moderate candidate, Renzi.

This is a disaster for Italy – we’re headed down the drain if Bersani is elected PM. He comes from the Communist Party and is a die-hard socialist (even though he pretends to be moderate), probably more so than France’s President Hollande. Because of higher taxes implemented by the new French administration, rich families are fleeing the country en masse, and investment is, as a result, dropping badly. This will only cause unemployment to go up. Bersani is advocating the same exact policies.

If Italy and France go, which is highly likely given the increasing probability of seeing Bersani as Italy’s new PM – the Eurozone will collapse. I just hope the centre-right in Italy will put together a good coalition to avoid this prospect. However, it seems rather unlikely given the damage to the brand caused by the recent Berlusconi administration.

We are heading down the wrong path – when will our electorate finally realize? First France, then the US, now Italy. People need to open their eyes, and it’s up to us to encourage them to do so. Please spread our message! The only way to avert the collapse of the West is to get onboard the ship of fiscal responsibility. 

Time is running short. And the institutional left (Universities, media, public sector) is to blame. Let’s expose this together.

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Communism vs Capitalism Cartoon

1 Dec

This weekend, please take time to watch this fun cartoon that perfectly sets out the main arguments for capitalism and against socialism. It was produced in 1948, when the possibility of Soviet influence in the USA started to become a realistic prospect. Of course, we all know that socialist influence is now higher than ever, but instead of being promoted by foreign states or institutions, it is being subtly advanced by American politicans who rape the Constitution.

The most dangerous influences always come from the inside, where you least expect them. We must not be afraid to call socialists for what they are.

Obama is one of them, and anyone who fails to realise this self-evident truth is either dumb or blindfolded.

The centre-left Primaries in Italy

28 Nov

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Last Sunday, members of the Italian Democratic Party went to the polls to vote for their new leader in a form of primary elections which is very similar to that which occurs in the US every 4 years.  However, the winner is decided by popular vote and in two rounds: if no candidate gets to 50% in the first round, the top two candidates clash a week later, where the winner is decided. Whoever wins the primary will face-off with the main candidate from the centre-right in the highly anticipated elections of 2013, to be held sometime in spring, and which will decide who our next Prime Minister will be.

These primaries saw a comfortable win by Pierluigi Bersani, the current head of the Party, followed by Renzi (who will take part in the second round against Bersani next week). The extreme-left gay candidate Nichi Vendola only garnered 15% of the vote and therefore failed to make it to the next round, along with the other two candidates, Tabacci and Puppato.  

The win by Bersani is, to say the least, disconcerting. He is part of the ‘old guard’ of the Democratic Party, most of whom were members of the Italian Communist Party which was financed by the Soviets during the Cold War. Now, he conveniently shifted his positions to a more moderate social-democratic stance to further pursue his political career. Having won by nearly 10% over his principal opponent, Matteo Renzi, it is very likely that he will triumph in next week’s second round – especially due to the high probability that Vendola’s significant electoral chunk (about 15%) will vote for him over the more centrist Renzi.

As you will have gathered by reading this blog, I am certainly no leftist. Whatever is left of centre is, for me, untouchable. However, I now profoundly regret that I have not registered as a Democratic Party member to vote for Renzi. 

Renzi’s politics are similar to the American Democrats’. He is the mayor of Firenze, Tuscany, and also hold the endorsements of many small-business owners. He’s young, charismatic, and does not have a past with the Communist Party. He is ideal for our left to break its ties with Communism.  You have to understand that, being in Italy, we must fight for our left to become more centrist and less communist-inspired. Of course I’d never vote for it in an election, but I absolutely had to vote for Renzi in order to kick the Commie Bersani out of the party’s leadership, and allow the party to move toward a more American kind of left. Please don’t misinterpret me; I despise the US Democratic Party, but at least it’s members are not former Communists, as is the case with out Democratic Party. We must fight for the right and for liberty to triumph while shifting our left closer to the centre. Margaret Thatcher once said that her biggest victory in politics was the creation of New Labour. Our goal must be that of creating a new Democratic Party whose policies are rooted in Capitalism rather than in socialism. Margaret Thatcher essentially transformed the UK Labour Party into a social-capitalist party under the leadership of Tony Blair, who famously got along with George W Bush and led his party from a centrist position.

We must fight to end the left’s love affair with socialism. By doing so, we will one day still be looking at a right-wing and left-wing party – but they will both be rooted in capitalism. One will advocate freer capitalism, the other will advocated more regulated capitalism. New Labour!

According to the polls, whoever wins these centre-left primaries will win the general election in 2013. The right has been damaged by Berlusconi’s tenure as PM and is still dropping in every single poll. Should our next PM be Bersani, as expected, unfortunately, all Italians should make a run for the border. I don’t live in Italy, so it won’t be a problem for me. Italian politics are a disaster.

Let’s wait for the result of the second round, to be held this Sunday. Stay tuned.

 

24 Nov

This is amazing! Why didn’t Mitt put out pictures like these (eg. the ones at disneyland and pumping gas into his car) while he was campaigning? He suddenly looks human. Mitt is a great man and I wish him all the best.

A few leftist problems

21 Nov

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Hello there.

It’s been a while since I updated this blog, mainly because I’m busy at the moment with things that require my best attention.

I’ll try to write more on this blog over the next couple of days.

Anyway, a few events during the past week have compelled me to write this new post. First of all, one of my Professors, who is a quite well-known American History professor here in the UK, and for that reason I shall not mention by name, came forward with another recycled leftist talking point: that you only declare war on a nation, not on a concept or anything else. He used this to mock Bush’s ‘War on Terror’

I shall not debate whether the war on terror was right or wrong – although I am convinced Bush took the road that seemed the right one at the time, a time of great danger for America and, by implication, the Western civilization. What is debateable, on the other hand, is his moronic point. Hello!!!!!! We aren’t living in the 19th or 20th Century anymore. Today, not only are there threatening nations who are out to ‘conquer the West’, but also very dangerous (much more dangerous?) international institutions that pose a threat to national security throughout the Western world. These include, but are not limited to, TERRORISM (yes, Professor), and cyber-terrorist groups (aka Anonymous). So this so-called professor should start studying rather than succumbing to leftist talking points. He’s just another example of an indoctrinated student who then became an indoctrinated professor.

Another important event that happened last week is, inevitably, linked to the current Israel-Gaza conflict. Although I do not condone the violence on either side, I side with Israel due to it status as the permanently-attacked nation, victim of daily rocket attacks from Palestine and, most importantly, due to it being the Western hub in the Middle-east, an essential strategic geographical interest for the USA. Obviously, leftists here at my university and at another much more radical university in London (SOAS), sat their lazy bottoms on the floor and attempted to ‘occupy’ the university in solidarity with Gaza. Not surprisingly given how they have been educated at University, these students only look at the conflict from one perspective and fail to acknowledge the simple fact that Gaza are the oppressors and Israel the oppressed. When trying to engage with them on twitter (you should do it too, their profile is @SOAS4GAZA) they backed out of the debate when I pointed out their hypocrisy – condemning Israeli attacks but failing to condemn Hamas’ terror activities. They actually went so far as to say that they were siding against violence, and not for Gaza (even though their profile picture is the Palestinian flag) – you should check out my debate on my Twitter profile, @jacktabb. 

These two cases perfectly portray the underlying point I make throughout my blog – leftist people at university (and beyond) are indoctrinated – they cannot think for themselves. And the fact that they fail to engage with you when challenged, or that they use factually incorrect  talking points to promote their radical views, proves my point. When will they learn to research information for themselves.

If it weren’t for Ann Coulter, I’d be stuck here thinking that it was the Democrats who desegregated America in the 1960s. Why? Because I’ve always been told otherwise by people I trust and learn from. Everybody else should do the same: they should construct their political views on facts, which they should research for themselves. Universities promote talking points to prove their theories, but what we need are facts. Let’s get back to them.

 

Wealth Redistribution

15 Nov

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I recently had an interesting debate with a friend of mine. He is a staunch believer of redistribution but says that calling it that way ‘is wrong.’ He wants to call it, and I quote:

“giving everyone their fair share of the finite resources of the Earth, and ensuring nobody has to be ripped off so that somebody else can benefit”
I went on to argue that, even if you were to call it ‘banana policy,’ it would still be redistribution. This policy is unarguably unfair, as it essentially says that it’s OK to take someone’s money and give it to someone with less. Logically, does that seem fair? Everyone, rich or poor should be able to keep the money they earn. In principle, that seems constitute what’s ‘fair’. Obviously, some taxes are needed for basic services provided by the state, but increasing tax burdens to take care of people with less is absurd. Nonetheless, the main point I want to make here is not what redistribution entails, but how some leftists subtly admit they’re against it.
This friend of mine I just quoted, for example, refuses to call it redistribution. Although we cannot be sure, I am pretty confident that he does so because he knows, deep down, that redistribution is unfair. He defines it by using fancy phrases which attempt to indicate how redistribution benefits ‘the common good.’ He also refuses to call himself a socialist. It’s like saying “I’m not an extremist but I support dictatorship”.
He’s a closet capitalist! Why else would he refuse to call it redistribution? I certainly don’t refuse to call fiscal conservatism ‘fiscal conservatism.’

If somebody refuses to fully embrace a policy and call it for what it is, chances are that person does not really believe in it.

So, why does he refuse to call redistribution ‘redistribution’? Oh, yes, I know: He drank the Marxist nonsense Professors at University shove down their students’ throats, but did not fully digest it. People like him are in denial because they are inherently against socialism but refuse to admit it to themselves; they’d love to be for it, like everyone else in the academia bubble, but their gut tells them it’s bad.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s this: trust your gut. It’s always right. Listen to your brain, but trust your gut. Don’t always trust your brain – it plays some dirty tricks sometimes.

This guy is listening too much to what his brain receives at university, and far too little to what his gut is trying to say.

This is the main problem of academia – their indoctrination policy works so well because there are people like this friend of mine who take everything professors say for granted because they stand behind a lectern. As far as people like him exist, leftist academia will have a feast on their students. We MUST learn to think for ourselves, do our own research, and come up with our own ideas. That’s why God made the Internet.

If we all become thinking individuals instead of members of the unthinking mass, we will all learn about the inherent dysfunctionial nature of the socialist utopia. Capitalism and conservatism need to promote individualism. It is the one necessary pre-condition for young men and women to start accepting the beauty of freedom, which is intertwined with capitalism.

I’ll leave you with a fun video that perfectly depicts my argument against wealth redistribution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHNBr3PZQaE

REAGAN RENAISSANCE?

13 Nov

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2012/11/12/the-end-of-the-karl-rove-death-grip-signals-a-reagan-renaissance/

Ralph Benko makes extraordinarily good points on the state of the GOP in the above article, written for Forbes.

He argues that the recent election may have marked the end of the moderate Republican Party and the resurgence of Reagan Conservatism. I sure hope so – Republicans need to focus their message on fiscal responsibility and, especially, on the importance of re-introducing the Gold Standard, that would effectively stabilize the US Dollar that is only afloat thanks to it status as the World Reserve Currency.

Here is why I think his thesis is correct –

In a period of crisis such as the one we’re undergoing now, a focus on fiscal responsibility and sound monetary policy is the best argument for victory. Social policies should be left to the liberals: they can talk about unimportant issue for as long as they want to. Once Obama’s economy settles in, the public will lose all its interest in social issues and prioritize economic policy. On said policies, the GOP has a clear historical and philosophical advantage, which will inevitably win votes. However, we need Reagan conservatives such as Ryan, Rubio, and Ted Cruz to make the argument. The Rovian GOP has been soundly defeated last week, which points to the possibility that the electorate does not trust it anymore. History is cyclical: these are the same conditions that ushered America into Reagan conservatism in the 1980s. The Democratic Party similarly dominated the political arena after the 1929 Wall Street Crash, and kept its grip on power, for better or for worst, until the Nixon era. Ultimately, the incumbent Party is always soundly punished by the electorate once they are deprived of the benefit of doubt and the reality of their negative policies sinks in. Obama won after Bush’s unpopular Presidency; he was given another chance this year thanks to Romney’s disastrous campaign and, most importantly, due to the benefit of doubt granted to him by the American people (Remember, voters usually judge Presidents after 8 years). When Obama will fail to deal with ‘his own mess’, the Democrats will lose the electorate’s trust. The GOP has already recovered from Bush’s Presidency because people finally realized he was not all that bad, especially when compared to the current President. In fact, it fully recovered in 2010 when it regained control of the House after nearly 20 years. The GOP is good to go.

I do believe that Obama will be such a a disaster that the backlash against the Democratic Party will be far worse than what the Republicans had to face after Bush. Mainly due to the fact that he is an incomparably worse President.

I think the GOP has a clear window of opportunity here – Obama’s European liberal policies will likely fail, just as they did in Europe (see previous article ‘A Snippet of Europe’), and voters will probably turn to the Republican Party’s principles in order to get the economy back on track. Democrats could take as long as a few decades to regain the voters’ trust. Obama is the most dangerous man to have ever occupied the Oval Office, and the portion of the electorate that still believes this is not the case will change their minds betweeen now and 2016. And the GOP will be their only alternative.

A more conservative GOP will have to emerge, though, in order to fully exploit these conditions: voters will certainly not run toward a party that is closer to Obama’s liberal policies. Republicans will have to adapt to this sentiment. The moderate fringe of the GOP is done.

We are in for a new Republican era. But the GOP will have to respond accordingly to the calls of the American people.

Secession crisis?

12 Nov

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According to Examiner.com, 15 states as of Sunday have petitioned the White House for withdrawal from the Union. These are Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Montana, Florida, Alabama, New Jersey, Colorado, New York, Oregon, Indiana, North Carolina, Mississippi, Kentucky, and North Dakota. Louisiana was the first state to start a petition the day after the election, followed by Texas. Apparently Oklahoma and Missouri joined them today.

The petition by the Lone Star State reads as follows:

“The US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the US suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it’s citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.”

As I’m writing this, Texas has just surpassed the 25000 signatures needed for the Obama administration to ‘seriously consider’ the issue.

I have absolutely of what these petitions will lead to. What I know is that the secession of these states, many of which, like Texas, are extremely prosperous, would deal a huge blow to the nation as a whole. 

I don’t think secession is actually going to materialize. However, for the sake of this argument, I’d like to ponder the possibility for a moment – The secession of the Deep South in 1861 had the effect of damaging the US’s image abroad, had a huge cost in terms of lives and resources, and placed a big question mark on the effectiveness of democracy. I don’t want to delve into a history lesson here – my point is that if a secession were indeed to occur in the near future, it would further weaken the US economy and relegate the nation to a position of powerlessness. Yes, my friends, the US would collapse, just as the USSR did in 1991.

I sympathize with the contents of the Texas petition, which correctly expresses their distraught with Obama’s reckless policies that are dragging down America. They are right in pointing out the unfairness of a well-managed state like Texas having to pay for the White House’s failing Keynesian policies. Obama is a complete disaster. However, America is a great nation that pulls together in times of trouble, not a cowardly nation that divides when confronted with challenges.

We must fight with what the Founding Fathers gave us: democracy. Unfortunately, Obama was legitimately elected and we must deal with his Presidency. We must voice opposition to his senseless policies and support the work of the GOP in Congress – anarchism is no solution to the problem. We always accuse our leftist friends of being the reckless ones; we do not need to follow their course.

Conservatives need to come together and voice their disappointment with the Obama White House via peaceful means, such as the Tea Party, and by pushing hard to obtain a fully Republican Congress in 2014. Remember, the right’s movement against Obamacare produced the first Republican House since the 1994 elections. With a Republican Congress in 2014, Obama’s policies will go nowhere. The Founding Fathers wisely provided Americans with the possibility to counter an unpopular president with midterm elections. This is what makes the Federal Government’s distribution of power so great. One branch of government is useless if another branch does not cooperate. A Republican Congress will oppose Obama’s socialist policies and keep him in check.

Instead of focusing on meaningless and dangerous propositions to counter Obama’s failed Presidency, such as petitions to secede from the Union, the good people of the South should join people from all other states in leading the effort to produce a Republican Senate and to keep the House in 2014. That way, Obama’s presidency will be devoid of any room to maneuvre, and his policies will be easier to repeal for our Republican President in 2017. Secession would bring all of us down with Obama – nobody would gain anthing. I think it’d be much better for us to remain standing while Obama’s regime falls down. Don’t you think?

History is our best teacher — we must learn its lessons!

Ooops

12 Nov

My twitter account @jacktabb was temporarily suspended last night because apparently I sent out ‘unsolicited tweets.’

It’s true, I widely publicized my blog to members of the #tcot community, and I can understand how some found those annoying. (I did gain many readers though!) It was done mainly to get out my blog, which I think talks about many topics that need to be addressed in this delicate hour of Western civilization. It’s a debate we can no longer fail to take part in – which is also the main reason that prompted me to set up this blog space.

I won’t be sending out tweets to anyone about my blog from now on, apart from my followers or if said tweet is relevant to any given discussion. 

All the while, I will continue to post updates on any new posts I’ll write for this page. They’ll keep coming. I’ll try to write something daily for my blog, if I find the time. Otherwise I’ll seek to update it every 2-3 days.

Stay tuned!