Sunday, July 05, 2015

Che & Walmart, US-Cuba talks, Puerto Rico and US-Brazil issues



Tags: Che and Walmart, US-Cuba talks. Puerto Rico finances, US-Brazil issues  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
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"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" with Frank Burke



Tags: July 4 thoughts  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
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Dallas-Ft Worth sports with David Busby & Carlos Torres



Tags: Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Cowboys  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
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We need to change some attitudes in the less than 30 crowd

(My new American Thinker post)

 It's the day after Independence Day, and it's time to look around and see how the country is doing.  

 On balance, the U.S. is still the envy of the world.

 How do I know that?  Go to any foreign capital and drive by the U.S. embassy.  

 You are very likely to see a line of people applying for a visa to visit or move to the U.S.  

 Do you see something like that in any embassy in Washington, D.C.?

 The latest Gallup poll is rather remarkable, although it does not surprise me.  

 According to the poll, pride in the U.S. depends on where you live and whom you vote for:
While most Americans are proud to be an American, certain groups are especially likely to say they are extremely proud. "Extreme pride" rises for each succeeding age group, from a low of 43% among those under 30 to a high of 64% among senior citizens.
Extreme pride also varies regionally, from a high of 61% in the South to a low of 46% in the West.
Sixty-eight percent of Republicans say they are extremely proud to be an American, much higher than the 47% of Democrats who say the same. As usual, independents are in the middle, at 53%.

 Again, I'm not surprised that Republicans and Southerners think a bit more highly of the U.S.  I see that all of the time.    

 The biggest disappointment for me is the under-30 numbers – i.e., only 43% are very proud.

For the most part, the under-30 group has grown up in prosperity and well-educated.  Furthermore, these young people have a U.S. citizenship that lots of people around the world would gladly trade for.  Frankly, where would they rather live?   

 We have some work to do with these young people.  Our next president needs to give these young people a reason to love the U.S., and I don't mean meaningless "hope and change" speeches.   

 We need to explain to them that the U.S. is great because it gives you freedom, not dependency on government.  I'm optimistic, but it will take a bit of work.

 P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.


Tags: Patriotism and the under-30 crowd  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
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Mr. Participation shows up again

(My new American Thinker post)

 During game 6 of the 2011 World Series, Joe Buck of Fox Sports kept saying:, "the Cardinals just won't go away".  

 He was referring to the team coming back after being down to their last strike in the 9th and 10th innings.

 You have to say the same about Mr. Participation. 

 He just won't go away either. He shows up every month and spoils the latest jobs report, as we read at IBD:
Over the past year the number of working-age Americans who have dropped from the civilian labor force has risen by 1.5 million. During Obama's presidency, the population of these Americans increased by nearly 16 million — while the labor force grew by under 3 million.
The labor force participation rate for those 16 and over dropped from 65.7% at the start of the Obama presidency to just 62.6% last month. If this rate would have remained steady, the labor force would have been nearly 14 million stronger.
There are probably complex reasons for Mr. Participation hanging around.   

 My guess is that a couple of factors keep him persistent:

1) ObamaCare has a lot of employers thinking twice about hiring people full time, as The Hill reported recently:  
It also happens that the ACA defines full-time work as only 30 hours per week.   The law’s architects assumed this 30-hour work week provision would force employers to cover more employees.  That assumption proved wrong.  The costs of providing health insurance are staggering under the ACA: Small businesses, which are the least able to handle cost increases, report paying an average of $11,868 more per employee per year since the ACA’s passage. Large companies have also seen their costs increase. As a result, some of them have cut employee hours to avoid triggering the coverage requirement altogether. The only other choices are to cut jobs or to raise prices to cover the higher costs -- an unattractive option in today’s tepid economy.  This unsettling reality is apparent everywhere you look, with countless businesses having already made similar decisions. And it’s not just limited to multinational corporations: movie theaters, grocery stores, retirement homes—they’re all having to shift employees to part-time to avoid the ACA’s steep penalties.  
2) Americans are not thrilled with the state of the economy. In other words, there is a lot of fear out there. The RCP average of polls shows 28% believe the country is headed in the right direction and 61% negative. To be fair, there is more to this "direction poll" than the U.S. economy but pocketbook issues are a big factor.

 How can we get rid of Mr. Participation? We can start by having someone in the Oval Office who understands how jobs are created and the wonders of a capitalist economy.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Tags: Jobs report and the participation rate  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
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