HOT5 Daily 4/20/2011

1. "Why Uncle Sam is Skunked" Useful perspective on the U.S. debt situation.

Representative Sample: if the USA were a corporation, then it would probably have a negative net worth of $35-40 trillion once our “assets” were properly accounted for, as pointed out by Mary Meeker and endorsed by luminaries such as Paul Volcker and Michael Bloomberg in a recent piece titled “USA Inc.” However approximate and subjective that number is, no lender would lend to such a corporation.

2. "What do we need jobs for?" If we can get everything from the government.

Representative Sample: people who depend on the government know how undependable the government is. Bureaucrats are ever-changing and arbitrary. Rules change. Laws change. The threat of budget cuts looms constantly. And yet: people accustomed to government money, after a while, simply can’t see any other way.

3. "No reason at all" Against the war in Afghanistan from the right.

Representative Sample: The war in Afghanistan has long been pointless. Now it’s insane.

4. "More on taxes" Good points.

Representative Sample: government does not need more tax money, even if the owners of wealth will do fine without the money -- it's not about wealthy individuals -- it's about a free economy or a rapacious statism which can't waste money fast enough.

5. "STEMMING THE ONSLAUGHT OF DEMOCRAT DEMAGOGUERY" A difficult task.

Representative Sample: Do Americans really have the capacity anymore to do the hard thing? Or, have we like NATO become impotent to actually deal with the real world anymore? Are we simply suckers for a smooth-talking con artist and his gang of pickpockets?