The Big Move

If you haven't moved in the middle of July in Texas, you haven't really experienced a move. That's really the only way to describe my two week absence from the blogosphere. It was hot. It was exhausting. It took days (and weeks to recover). I don't know why I didn't recruit more friends. Oh yeah, I wanted to keep them as friends.

The move is what I consider a big move, not because I changed towns or jobs, but because I changed lifestyles. I downsized. I left the view of the lake and the sunsets in the hills of West Austin for the flat land and parking lot scenery of south Austin. I went from my own stairs with a canyon view, plenty of space with my own washer and dryer to well, not.

This is life in the Obama economy, and I want to prevent it from happening to anyone else. As you may or may not know, I had a furniture store until February of this year, but being on the frontline of the recession - retail, durable goods - put an end to that dream. Our sales dropped 60 to 70% in one year, and it got worse the longer Obama was in office.

There have always been downturns and recessions, some you can prepare for and possibly ride out. This wasn't one of them. I am not the only casualty. Almost every furniture store that specialized in my sector of furniture (handmade Mexican and Indian imports) has also closed their doors over the past 18 months. Adobe Pueblo, El Paso Imports, Sierra, Zanzibar, Heroes and Architects, the list goes on and on.

It has been said that Austin was above the fray of this recession and it's impact would be minimal. But driving around town, you look at all the strip centers and retail locations, many vacant with "For Lease" signs hanging in the door (including my old location), and you realize the damage that's been done, especially to small businesses. The number of restaurants I used to frequent wasn't spared either. Popular neighborhood spots that have been serving food and hospitality for decades have also disappeared.

Now the talk has turned to a double dip recession, and given the job numbers, the slow-down in manufacturing, the percentage of mortgage and car payments being paid with plastic, and the dipping consumer confidence index, no smiley face from the Obama administration is going to be able to whitewash the truth.

The Democrats took over a country in 2007 that had unemployment under 5%, consumer confidence at record highs, and budget deficits of 200 billion dollars (not stellar, but far from the trillion dollar deficits Obama and Pelosi have been running). It might pay to remember that Obama was elected to the Senate during that 2006 election when Democrats took control of Congress, and you realize the only four years this president has spent in Washington have seen the biggest waste in government spending and the destruction of small businesses and private wealth.

The Barackalypse is upon us. The public sector has grown at hulk-like proportions while the private sector shrunk and private wages shriveled to half that of what government employees earn - who no doubt work 70% less. Now the bill is due, and the shrinking private sector is about to get hit with all the costs of the public sector's enraged expansion. The snake is eating the tail and neither half is satisfied with the meal.

Let my story be a tale of caution. The bad news isn't my situation. The bad news is I'm ahead of the curve. Like FDR, another Democratic president has interfered with the private sector, practiced the false premise of Keynesian economics, and put us on the brink of an extended depression.

Maybe that's the real reason I didn't blog for two weeks. I'm growing tired of being the bearer of so much bad news. If the Left's grip on America doesn't weaken, we will all be weaker - financially, emotionally, and spiritually.

Democrats Applaud the Closing of Another Small Business

I'm watching the Dow fall under 10,000 for the first time in a few months. No angst. No surprise. I'm told this has something to do with problems facing the European Union. Maybe. But as long as this president continues with his economic policies, it will not be the last time we plunge below 10,000. Or even 9,000. We are on the precipice of a disaster that shows we learned nothing from the Great Depression, which by the way, was overseen by the same type of progressive Democrats who are now running things in Washington.

Increase the size of government. Waste money. Raise taxes. That's become the Democrat's modus of operandi. It may not have a noticeable impact during good times when consumer confidence is up and unemployment is below 6% (as it was during the Clinton years), but it certainly doesn't promote private sector growth. After all, the Clinton years ended in a recession that the Bush tax cuts were fortunately able to correct.

So now that Obama and the Democrats have increased spending across the board, including an 84% increase in discretionary spending, two omnibus bills with trillions in deficit spending, the disastrous cash for clunkers, and a trillion dollar failed stimulus that hasn't stimulated anything but government, they want to play the role of fiscal chicken hawks and work to reduce the deficits they just created by passing pay-go amendments and raising taxes.

This is a really, really bad idea. After all, a tax increase is the same thing as a salary cut, a reduction in the discretionary income for the average working family. And a reduction in discretionary income is the worst thing that could happen when consumers aren't spending. Now they have even less money to meet their financial obligations, to spend on their families and at small businesses in their communities.

Besides, deficits aren't the problem. Spending is the problem. Federal spending goes up every year regardless of who is in charge. Granted it goes up a lot more under Democrats (the last year Republicans controlled Congress the budget deficit was a manageable $160 billion vs. Pelosi and Obama's 2011 budget deficit of $1.4 trillion) and especially when huge entitlement programs are passed (which progressives always favor). Deficits aren't the cancer killing the patient, they are a symptom of the cancer - too much government spending. So why just treat the symptom?

Democrats want us to focus on deficits instead of spending, because they like big government. And so long as spending can be paid for with tax increases (it can't according to the Laffer Curve, but that's a whole different issue), why stop spending? They never met a tax increase they didn't like, so of course they are for pay-go amendments. It makes tax cuts next to impossible, grows government, and gives them more power. But by focusing on deficits instead of spending, we are neglecting the root of the evil - the loss of private sector wealth and free enterprise. In the meantime, businesses are getting crushed, finding it harder to succeed faced with new taxes and unnecessary regulation. And voila, we have recreated the exact type of policies that led to the Great Depression.

This will be Obama's legacy, and while the president talks a lot about favoring small business and entrepreneurs, his policies do nothing to encourage confidence. He has created an atmosphere that frowns on letting businesses and banks do what they do best - make a profit. Then he chastises them for not hiring. This is a lot like claiming to love sports cars, so long as they don't run on gas or oil. Then chastising them when they don't go fast.

Take it from me. I just closed a furniture store after trying to hang on for 14 months of decreasing sales. I could no longer afford the 50% loss in revenue and customer traffic. And for every month of Obama speeches and policies, it only got worse. Government is growing at the expense of the private sector. It always does. Sadly, progressives only applaud this. And that's what I hear: Democrats applauding the closing of my store and the end of my means of income.

I'm a Casualty of the Obama Economy

My apologies for disappearing from the blogosphere for a while. I am in the process of closing a business, a retail store in Austin which did quite decent until this year. Since our lease is up at the end of December, I have been trying to clear all our inventory. The discounts are steep and I am probably losing money, but since most of it's massive handmade furniture, storing it will be more expensive. I think we will still have an online presence. It's fairly easy for me to call my manufacturers and have them ship something out, so if you are interested in distressed hacienda style furniture, visit the online catalog.

Anyway, I will write more about my experience on the front lines of this dreadful economy once I close and have a chance to clear my head. Suffice it to say, Austin did not experience a housing bubble or bust like the rest of the country. We are seeing population growth (as people move here from California or Michigan) and the recession in Texas has been described as fairly mild in regards to layoffs. But I can tell you from my perspective that President Obama has created a climate of economic uncertainty with consumers - they are afraid to spend while government messes with rules and regulations. Meanwhile, Democratic allies or leftist causes receive the bulk of our tax dollars in the form of porkulus money. This is anything but a stimulus.

When consumer spending is 70% of the economy and all that's in the news is more government intervention, regulation, and taxes, that's not going to encourage consumers to part from their hard-earned money. They are hanging onto it like squirrels gathering acorns for the winter. Without massive tax cuts, I fail to see how or why consumers will feel relief from this recession. I have written before that the worst of the banking and housing crisis is over, but Obama's policies are killing economic recovery in the womb.

That's one of the reasons that I am closing my store, a small business that has brought in and helped circulate over $1,000,000 to other small businesses and local craftsmen over the past five years, not to mention all the tax revenue that the government has collected off my success. Should enough small businesses like mine fail, you can see how that trickles down (yes, even poverty can trickle) and has a devastating effect on the economy. No spending or government interference coming out of Washington is going to prevent that. It can only make it worse.