In the meantime, it is fun to keep track of ongoing jokes, and to have the occasional pipe dream. In terms of comic relief, the Obama administration has declared today that the economy is going to grow by 95,000 jobs per monthfor at least the balance of this year. This is good news, in light of double-digit unemployment from the 8.4 million jobs that have been lost since late 2007. I think this is funny since a lot of these projected jobs are not economically created, but government created. Our beloved president, beset by difficult times, he has unveiled his proposed budget, in which Barack seeks to spend $3.8 trillion. That's $3,800,000,000,000. Thirty-eight, followed by ELEVEN zeros. I sincerely hope that a lot of this money is somehow going to find its way back into the pockets of taxpayers, through some form of employment. The only other way it will get back to grass-roots taxpayers is through hand-outs, so hopefully we can do this right. Not gonna hold my breath, but here's to hoping.
Now, aside from the fact that government jobs don't really qualify as economic growth, there is a problem with this plan and this budget. Most notable is that Barack doesn't actually have that much money to spend. In fact, what he's spent exceeds what he's got by $1,560,000,000,000. For those of you following along at home, this means that for ever dollar he spends, he also has to borrow 42 cents. I understand that accounting and cash flow problems can be difficult to manage, and he certainly did inherit a lot of the problems he's facing. Still. I don't think the solution to inadequate revenues and hugely overinflated spending is a year where you PLAN to spend almost 50% more than you actually have. The per capita burden comes to about $5,000. Doesn't seem like much, but what it means is that - in addition to all of the taxes we are already paying - Barack needs us all to kick in an extra $5,000. Per person. In the entire country. To get to even. For the year. (We can deal with the outstanding national debt another time. Besides, that's nice to keep around as a reminder to the people of the wasteful spending and bad fiscal practices of prior Republican administrations.)
For comparison purposes, news stories were written in early 2008 about how the Federal deficit was projected to run to $410 billion that year. That was a big number, since the 2007 deficit had been only $162 billion. The projected 2008 numbers would threaten the then-standing all-time deficit record, set in 2004. Of $413 billion. Our politician's spending habits have resulted in deficit spending increasing by over 300%. In two years.
But the 2009 proposed budget contains good news. If we approve the President's budget, and assume another billion and a half in debt, things will get better. If we do it this way, Barack's experts say, next year's deficit will only be $1.3 trillion. See! Things are getting better! And we'll have 95,000 fewer unemployed every month, safely tucked into government jobs, where they have guaranteed healthcare, cannot be fired, and get a month's paid vacation every year! How about that, we can have national health-care after all, we just need to get everyone working for the government!
But this does not bode well for small business. Again, small business has historically been the engine that drives the economy. These days, it is pretty much impossible to set up and run a small business. Beside the uncertainty of things like the availability of credit, the tax burdens of each employee, and the looming unknown of how much more Barack is going to require such businesses to pay for health care - not only for people who work for them, but also for most of the nation's unemployed - the administrative hurdles are overwhelming.
In terms of pipe-dreams, I have thought about opening a small business. And not just a tax write-off, but an actual business that makes things. Specifically, double-stack .45-caliber 1911 pistol frames. As I might have mentioned, the notable problem with the classically American 1911 pistol is that it only holds 8 rounds. If you could preserve the history and platform while bumping the capacity even a little, people will buy it. Ideally, come up with a design that uses most or all of the same 1911 parts (trigger assembly, slide, springs, etc.), but on a frame (the part with the handgrip) that will accept the cheap, reliable, common-place 13-round magazines already being mass-produced for the Glock 21.
In today's market, even in recession, a double-stack 1911 costs, on a good day, about $1,500. That's over three times the cost of a bare-bones GI model 1911. And almost all of the double-stack models require their manufacturer's proprietary magazines, meaning that each mag costs about $80. (A standard Glock 21 mag will run you about $25, for comparison.)
Taurus firearms has already demonstrated that it's possible to make a good 1911 pistol, complete with extra (usually very expensive) features and details, for sale in the $500-600 range. (Their PT1911 line. I own one. I like it better than I like the Kimber 1911 I paid three times as much for.) I wonder, why is nobody selling a bare-bones "entry-level" double-stack in the $600 range?
There will be some engineering and drafting problems involved in making that product, to keep the handgrip small enough to be usable, even with the fatter mags, but that seems manageable; the Glock 21 does it, after all. It could be a difficult mechanical transition from the wide Glock mag-well to a narrower rail to accept the standard 1911 action, but there are enough double-stacks out there to show that that's doable as well. Once the design is complete, we've got plenty of machine and milling equipment for sale in places like Detroit, complete with highly trained, newly-unemployed machinists to operate them. The substantial manufacturing is milling a billet of steel into the needed shape (with tight-but-not-that-tight tolerances), and then a final hand-fitting with mostly off-the-shelf 1911 parts. With CAD-driven milling machines, does it make a difference if the operator is supervising the milling of a pistol frame, instead of the turbo-charger turbines they used to makefor GM? Take a while to get business up and running, but I think it's doable, and that people will buy the product. Could be a classic American enterprise! Have an idea for a product, make it, sell it, pay your people, and maybe turn a little profit. Holy shit, almost like a real, live, free market!
The problem, of course, is the extrinsic bullshit, nearly all of it government or pseudo-government in nature. Gotta have the right tax forms and business licenses. The paperwork shouldn't take more than 6 months. Go through the permit process. An OSHA probationary period while they audit your premises. Making pistol frames, you also gotta pay the equivalent of a full-time salary so an ATF guy can be there looking over your shoulder. No, of course they can't just presume that you're following the laws you've agreed to follow. Without the inspector there regularly checking up on you, you could make even one unregistered illegal pistol, and thereby forfeit all the work you've done to get licensed, lose your business, and go to a Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison! How are you supposed to resist that temptation without someone policing you? That of course, comes AFTER a detailed testing of your design, to be undertaken at cost to you. Please send in a prototype for approval, a blank check, and don't forget the self-addressed stamped envelope for our reply. Make it a postage-prepaid box if you want the prototype back as well. Don't call us, we'll call you.
You're going to have to provide benefits and healthcare for all your employees, and we're not quite sure how much that is going to cost, but we're working on it, and will get back to you. But be ready for a BOHICA moment when Barack unveils his plan, because he's DEFINITELY not working for your benefit, buddy. You're an evil business owner, making profit off the sweat and industry of the proletariat. He's got his eye on you. But you can fly under the radar - to a degree - if you self-police you business to affirmatively limit any success you have. You'll actually make more profit if you make less than $250,000 profit. You're not allowed to make more than that without falling into a specially-created tax-bracket that is overtly intended to bleed you dry. So if you want to stay successful and profitable, you'll need to self-limit your success and profitability.
Since you're dealing with the machine industry, you'll have to have the right operating permits and approval stamps for your machinery. And while the law does not actually require you to hire union workers, Barack is certainly working on fixing that as well. God forbid you hire your labor as cheaply as you can manage it. Again, Barack has his eye on you, and won't let your sleazy "sense of business" arguments result in giving anyone a job that Barack doesn't approve the terms of.
Et cetera, ad nauseum.
Alas, alack. Add it all up, and you really have only two alternatives these days. Either (1) You open your business in Brazil, China, Mexico, or some other place where you can avoid all that bullshit, or (2) throw up your hands in frustration, and wait from somebody else to go through all that bullshit to get the product on the market. Neither of those options results in America gaining a new small business to fill a niche that's already there.
But Barack has taken the matter under advisement, and is working on a solution that will get the economy moving again. Regulations are going to be passed. Don't worry, things will get better. Again, there's going to be 95,000 new jobs every month this year!
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