HOT5 Daily 11/14/2010

1. "“Quantitative Easing” Equals “$600 Billion Tax Increase”" Stealth tax increase. 

Representative Sample: The only difference from a formal tax is that in this case instead of taxing just American citizens or those doing business in America, it taxes everyone on the planet who holds either dollar bills or assets denominated in dollars. That ain’t cricket. This financial mess is our screwup and we shouldn’t be picking the pockets of the rest of the world to pay for our mistakes.

2. "Obama — a Weak Advocate for Free Trade" Weak leaders tend to provide weak leadership. 

Representative Sample: Obama’s international endeavors are going about as well as his party’s electoral efforts. The latest flop: ”The presidents of the U.S. and South Korea were unable to overcome disputes over cars, cattle and domestic politics, potentially killing the biggest bilateral trade deal the U.S. has taken up in more than a decade.” It is worth examining why the president couldn’t make a deal.

3. "How to win elections by changing beliefs in God" A correlation between beliefs about God and attitude toward government? 

Representative Sample: if you disturb people's sense of control, then they tend to compensate by increasing their belief in a controlling god. In a separate study, he also showed that there's a similar relationship with attitudes to government. What seems to be happening is that, when people lose confidence in their own control, they re-establish their sense of overall control by convincing themselves that some outside agency has control.

4. "Who Can Protect Us From Major Cyber Attacks?" Government not up to the task. 

Representative Sample: a recent post over at TechCrunch, arguably one of the best news sites covering Silicon Valley, indicates that national security officials believe the government is overwhelmed by the prospect of defending the critical network infrastructure that keeps U.S. economy running.

5. "Exposing the Better Business Bureau" The credibility of their ratings is in question.

Representative Sample: The Better Business Bureau has had a reputation of being less than ethical. A group of business owners decided to set a trap for the BBB. 

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