Ethically speaking, Ho Ho Ho.

The Ethics Committee of our House of Representatives has cleared seven members of ethics charges. Wow! Who could have guessed. In all fairness, we can't know for sure. What happened is this, companies who wanted Earmarks, which are not tattoos, had to each pony up $20,000 for the Congressmen who would decide on the Earmarks. They did vote for the Earmarks. Trouble is, nobody knows for sure who was doing the demanding. The Congressmen or the lobbyists? So, of course, if you can't find out who did it, you can't charge the wrong people. Ya know, there's an old rule of thumb that says there should be no appearance of impropriety. Of course being a member of Congress is automatically a presumption of impropriety. And not without cause. I mean, lets face it, there doesn't seem to be anyplace where there is more impropriety, except maybe a large handful of State Legislatures. Which may be the training grounds for some people. Others are left to learn on the job. I don't think our founding fathers had in mind for Legislators to get rich on the job. I think they had in mind a group of people who, selflessly, would give a part of their lives in the service of their fellow Americans. Just like they were doing. And at some real danger to themselves, I might add. The only danger our present day Legislators face is not getting reelected and not being able to get a job as a lobbyist soliciting those who do get reelected. They're in the chips, as the saying goes. I guess what I don't understand is why we pay Congressmen to serve on a committee, like the Ethics committee, when they have no idea what ethics are. Now, don't get me wrong, I can tell you without exception, that my Congressman and Senators are very ethical people. It's you legislators I'm worried about.

New Polution Standards in Senate bill

Huh! In the new Senate bill on energy, they still seem to think there's such a thing as clean coal. They must think that, because they're planning to offer carbon sequestration and storage. See, here's the thing. They think you can get all the carbon out of coal and store it. And then, so the fairy tale goes, the coal will burn clean and the world will be a safer place. What they don't say is that they don't have the technology to get it all out yet, but even more important, they don't say where they're going to store all that poison. Hello! The carbon doesn't just go away, there's still that teensy weensy problem of giant amounts of toxic stuff to contend with after they get it out of the smoke. That way it won't pollute the air. I suppose they think it's better to pollute the ground. You know, the place where your drinking water comes from. So even if you decide they can't store it in your backyard next to the swing set, wherever they do store it, it has the probability of contaminating your drinking water. Now the water aquifers, which is what they call the water stored underground, cover very large areas of the country. So, a little toxic storage in the next state can still make your water glow in the dark. And all of this still doesn't mention the destruction and contamination done in mining the coal in the first place. The pet practice is to scrape the top off of a mountain to get at the coal and dump it into the valley, chocking up the streams and creating a moonscape. They tell you they'll replant when they're done, and maybe they will. The problem is that nothing will grow on that ground. Yep. Just because you plant something doesn't mean it'll grow. Ask a farmer. Coal fired energy is a bad idea cloaked in a worse idea, billed as a good idea. The way it's planned is that if they tell you enough times that it's a good thing, you'll believe it. Like telling you about "death panels". Don't buy it. Ask them if they'll store the toxic carbon in their backyards, next to their swing sets. If they say yes, make sure they plan to stay there.

Credit Default Swaps

Can you explain Credit Default Swaps? Here's what I think. Credit Default Swaps are quasi-legal, but undefined, unpublished wagers. Say you are in charge of a very large bank. You want to make a very large bonus this year. So you find a company of country that's in deep financial trouble. Like, ready to declare bankruptcy. So you go to them and offer to loan them a big chunk of money so they don't have to go under. The terms are that they have to keep the whole thing secret and they have to pay it back in too short of a time to be possible. Then you do two things. You sell the loan to a third party assuring them it's a good investment. Then you bet with a fourth party that the company or country in question will go bankrupt. It's what you call a win-win deal. At least for you. Problem is, that three others loose big time. The company/ country goes under big time, the lender who bought the loan, looses all of it's investment and the other gambler looses because they didn't know the fix was in. Now, before I said it was quasi-legal. That's because nobody tested it yet. Of course when the Mafia does something like that, the Feds hunt them down and puts them in prison, if they can. If you or I did that, we'd get a date with the hangman. But if you're the big banker, and you don't let anybody know, well then, it's all above board. It must be nice being a big banker. For sure you can afford sleeping pills, if that becomes a problem.

Chinese and taxes

Look. I've been finding as much fault with Chinese imports as the next guy. They've been dumping serious problems on us. What with lead in paint to tainted baby food, it's no wonder some folks think we should boycott anything Chinese. I think we ought to stop allowing them to ship all those inferior and contaminated products to us. Just put a stop to it. But, we've had our own share of contaminated products, like peanut butter. That doesn't mean we should stop buying Chinese made products any more than we should stop buying peanut butter. I for one, would revolt against anyone who tried to take away my peanut butter. Isolationism is a bad thing. Like the way our government's inability to function is bad. So, maybe the answer is for us, or more accurately our government, to be more careful about what it allows on our store shelves. Keeping some of the jobs here would also be nice. In fact hiring inspectors would create jobs. Although then we'd have to raise taxes. And goodness knows, we can't have taxes. Why not, you ask? Haven't you seen those emails that come around from time to time. You know, the ones that point out that back in the good old days, there was no income tax or sales tax or, I suppose, no taxes at all. What I'd like to know is, if there weren't any taxes, how did our various governments work back in the good old days? Who paid the cops and firemen and soldiers and congressmen and on and on? Who was this generous benefactor, this Daddy Warbucks? I'll bet it was people like you and me, secretly sending in our Nichols and Dimes so that some underprivileged Senator could put bread on the table and government could function. Gimme a break. Ya see, all of our problems come down to China and taxes. Except for the Middle-East, and all the continents, the environment and a few other things. Well, OK a lot of other things. But my point is that we need for our government to begin to wake up and start doing it's job. That would solve all of our problems. Except taxes.

Who's the home team?

On the one hand you have the Bankers and Wall Street investment houses. On the other hand you have the Insurance Industry. The differences are stark. I'll call them Team A and Team B. Team A. the Bankers et al, get bailed out, then hand out giant bonuses. Team B raises their rates as much as 39%, after they're already earning giant profits. Come to think of it, there isn't much difference between Team A and Team B. OK, Team A includes the Bankers, Walls Street Investors and the Insurance Industry. So, that leaves the rest of us suckers on Team B. So, what was my point? Oh yeh. Any time there's two teams going against each other, there has to be some officials to keep order. The problem is that if Team A gets to spend tens of millions or hundreds of millions on the officials campaigns to get reelected, who do you think the officials will side with? Seems to me, the fix is in.

Ah yes, oversight

Huh. I read this morning that Wall Street and the Bankers are shifting their political campaign contributions back to the Republicans. Hmmm. It seems they're a bit unhappy with the way Obama and the Democrats have been suggesting tighter controls on them. Gee, you don't suppose that's a surprise to anybody, do you? I mean, after all, the government just loosened controls over the last two decades. Controls that were put on after the Great Depression and that served the country and even the banking industry and Wall street for about half a century. And only after the controls came off, did we have a Great Recession. Now why would the government think to put controls back on those industries? Goodness knows, they're fine people, and they mean well, even though there is some evidence that they were in large part to blame for our financial woes, but don't understand how they are to blame. Shouldn't they be allowed to control themselves? I mean, after all, who knows the banking and investment industries better then they? Who better has the will to resist the temptations of quick, large profits and grand commissions, then they? I mean, just because they started over-indulging as soon as the controls came off this last time, and before the Great Depression, why would anyone think they would do it again? Just for the money? Well, for starters, I do. Don't get me wrong, I think that, once your company gets bailed out, executives should start getting millions in bonuses at once. And not just paltry single digit millions, but something substantial. Like if you add up the total wages of all your employees for the year and multiply that number by the number of times you have shied away from self-indulgence. Now there's a starting point. But getting back to who should oversee the Banks and Investment houses, does anyone think it should be a government agency that gets it's funding from the Banks and Investment houses? No chance of any pressure from the overseen there. Hey, I like that word "overseen". I've been overseen against my will and it didn't hurt me too much. How about you?

Well I'm surprised, aren't you

Hey! A tip of the old walking stick to the new Senator from old Mass. Yep, he surprised everyone and voted his own mind. Now, he may not be overly welcome in the Republican lunchroom just now, and the Democrats are still picking their jaws up off the floor, but good for the new guy on the block. You may have been for that jobs bill or against it. Doesn't matter. The real news is that a U.S. Senator stood up for himself for a change. And for that we should all be proud of him. And he didn't even demand any pork and sauerkraut, with or without the kraut. Now if we could only get some more Republicans doing it, and some Democrats doing it. We'd have some honest government happening. Don't get me wrong, I like partisan politics, it gives me and a whole lot of other people, lots of material to talk about. And some folks will be foaming at the mouth over it, but I'm not worried. There are still lots of people in Congress who aren't getting the message. So they'll keep throwing wrenches in the works, and our country will keep on suffering because of them. Now don't you feel better?

Political Positions Available

If you're looking for a job that doesn't require much in the way of commitment, why not try politics. You could become a Congressman or Senator. The only commitment you have to make is to vote in lock step with your party. Of course, you'll have to establish a residence where you plan to be elected. And you may have to start a little lower on the food chain. Like State Legislator. May I suggest Pennsylvania? Once elected, you will receive your pay, of course, but also you'll get a car allowance, mileage allowance, you "work" nine months a year and, oh yes, you get Per Diem. P-e-r D-i-e-m. It's like this, you get paid for showing up for work. Yes, you can get $163. per day. Of course it's supposed to be for housing and meals, but if you buy an income property, it'll pay your mortgage for you, so you live free and get the income and equity for free. The other reason for choosing Pennsylvania is that there are so many Legislative positions and so many just opening up. It's a way to get on the gravy train and get used to it at the public's expense. What's not to love about PA. Of course you'll have to prove yourself to the Party bosses if you ever hope to move up. You know, vote right ( or left as the case may be), speak poorly of the other party, and there ya go. Now, how much money you can build up in your war chest depends on which special interest groups you curry favor with and which lobbyists you buddy up to. But do it right and in a two year term, six for Senator, or two, you could retire a wealthy man, or woman. Just make sure you hire a good accountant. That'll be like creating a job. So you've helped the folks back home. A good point for reelection time. And what do you have to do for all this? I already told you, Vote Right (or Left) like you're told. You don't listen. You'll do well in politics.

Two parties too many

My grandson asked me to explain how the Two Party System works. Ha! I explained, that is an oxymoron. He didn't know what that means, and I don't either. I told him that 'Two Party System' and 'Works' just don't go together. "How come" he wanted to know? "Well" I explained, Let me give you an example. You have some Democritters on the one side and some Republican'ts on the other. "Oh" he said. "is that bad?". "Pretty much so" I said. Here's the thing. If the Democritters decide to make healthcare work better, and they think it'll help people, the Republican'ts say it won't work, it'll cost too much, it'll bring more illegal aliens into America and will help terrorists. If the Republican'ts want to do something that will help corporations, which will create jobs, which will help people, the Democritters say they're eating pork. "Why are they eating pork and what's wrong with that?" Well, pork tastes pretty good, but when politician eat pork, they're really not eating pork, they're just getting fat off the public. And actually they're not eating pork at all, they're giving it away to friends so they can get reelected. The thing to remember is this. When the Democritters and the Repuiblican'ts are arguing, they're not doing the job they were hired to do. "What's that Grandpa" my grandson asked? Help this country get out of all the trouble it's in. "What kind of trouble grandpa" he asked? I don't have the time or space to answer that, I said. "So, grandpa, which party can I go to?" Well son, I think it's bedtime. "But Grandpa, it's only eight o'clock." I meant for the two parties.

Hey! Is that right? I just read that these hackings into our Industries' and Governmental computers were assisted by some folks at American Tech firms in China. Our Tech firms in China? Is that a good place for us to have Tech firms? I mean, I thought the word was that it was OK to send our manufacturing jobs overseas because we were going to concentrate on Hi Tech jobs. How come we're sending our Hi Tech jobs overseas too? Now, far be it for me to find fault with governmental strategies, but it looks to me like we're sending all of our jobs overseas. Pretty soon, we'll have to start exporting our imports and our people, because there won't be anything left but Corporate Headquarters here. Oh! No! Wait! We exported most of them too. Of course they're still close by. Just offshore a few miles. Just enough to avoid taxes. How is it that we take a Hi Tech company and say to them it's OK to send our Hi Tech info to our biggest competitor? Then get people to work for them who help China steal what we aren't giving them? Maybe we should be trying a little harder to keep some of this stuff for ourselves. I think that this hacking business is an unwritten declaration of war. Not hostilities, mind you, just Industrial Hi Tech war. I don't think the Chinese are after our hearts and souls. Just the food off our plates. Some people think it's the Democrats fault, others believe it's the Republicans fault. I agree with both. Shouldn't we be declaring Hi Tech War on them? Shouldn't we be trying to steal our secrets back from them? Or maybe stealing their hackers? Or how about letting them steal bad info? Like the secret plans for the Spruce Goose. Go ahead, look it up in a history book, I'll wait.

Go Tiger

So Tiger Woods apologized. Really? It's that important? Here we are, worried about how sincere a golfer is about his apology for cheating on his wife. Meanwhile, millions are without health care, Insurance Companies are jumping their rates through the roof, to say nothing of credit card companies raising interest rates sky high. And if that's not enough, China, after manipulating their currency so as to always make their products cheaper than ours, clearing up their environment by putting hazardous materials in the products they sell to us, importing our jobs, is now hacking our industrial and governmental computers, stealing our technology. Then there's Iran, building the bomb, and China won't sign on to try to make them stop. And don't forget, we're still in the Great Recession, and the environment is going down for the third time. Gosh! I can certainly see how important Tiger's infidelity is. This should go before Congress to get it straightened out. Oh! Wait! They can't even straighten out their own responsibilities or infidelities. Here's a thought. Ask Congress to handle the Woods thing and ask the PGA to straighten out the mess that Congress has made. Just a suggestion.

I'm, a filibuster. You can be one too.

Ya know what I don't get? I don't get this filibuster business in the Senate. Here's what I understand. The country elects two Senators from each state. The majority rules, that's that. That is, if the minority allows them to rule. Unless the majority has sixty members that are all willing to go along with it's rule. If not, then the minority takes over again. So really the minority rules. Except they can't pass any laws because they don't have a majority of the votes. This is where it starts getting complicated. So, how does the Senate get so screwed up? Filibuster! The minority threatens to filibuster. The Senate can't do anything. Well actually it could, unless a Senator actually filibusters. Which means the Senator must start talking. About anything he or she wants, for as long as he or she can. But, here's the catch. If the Senator stops talking, for any reason, the filibuster is over. So? So why doesn't the majority just say "go ahead, filibuster. When you fall over, we'll call for a vote". Why don't they just do that? That's what I don't get? How come? I think there's an unwritten rule in the Senate that nobody will actually force a filibuster. So any Senator can be in total charge of the Senate. Just one person. It's sorta like a kids game. Boy! I wish I was a filibuster. Just imagine. I could require everyone in the Senate to stand on their heads and sing nah nah na nah nah. I mean, they wouldn't' look any more foolish then they do now. Would they? I'm, old enough to remember a filibuster. Maybe they think they looked silly doing it back then. Maybe that's why they don't want to do it now. I think they look silly now. Don't you? The thing is, they're doing more harm now and looking silly too. Children! It's time to stop playing and come in and do your chores.