Hey, Those Apples Are Tax Breaks Too.

It looks like the Tea Party, in fact the whole Republican Party, in fact even a bunch in the Democrat Party, in fact even the President don't seem to realize that when you cut entitlements, it's actually a tax increase for the folks who were beneficiaries of those entitlements. Take Food Stamps. Food Stamps are an aid to folks who are below the poverty level who have difficulty affording the basic necessities of life. It provides funds to buy food. They can't buy a new car with them, or even the newspaper. It won't pay for a lawn service to groom their yard. They can't go to a slots parlor or the race track with them. Food Stamps are strictly for food. No, not even paper plates. But if you cut Food Stamps out of the budget to help solve the debt crisis, those folks on Food Stamps loose a substantial part of their income. Just like higher taxes do to a rich man. Of course poor people don't get referred to as job creators. So I guess they don't count. Poor people can't afford to donate large sums to political campaigns or PACs so nobody listens to them. They can't afford high priced lobbyists, in fact they can't afford minimum wage  lobbyists, so I guess their story doesn't get told in Washington. But the bottom line is that if Washington cuts only entitlements, some folks get hurt. Mostly folks who can little afford to get hurt, while wealthy fat cats continue to enjoy the good life. Well here's a thought I had a while back. Give the rich folks all the tax breaks they want, and allow the Bush tax cuts to continue, but tie it all to job creation. If you create additional new jobs totaling your tax loopholes and breaks, you get to keep it. If you don't create those jobs, you get to pay it. With interest. And penalty. See the thing is that these folks know very well, that they won't create any new jobs unless there is increased demand for the products and services they provide. So nobody is going to create jobs until lots and lots of people with a little spare money start buying those products. And everybody knows the rich aren't going to spend those tax break dollars. They haven't in the past. There's no reason to believe they will in the future. Especially in the quantities needed to increase demand. So if the poor have to cut back some more, then the rich need to also.

Jimmy Gets An "A" In Debt Reduction.

Hey. Did you know that of our $14 trillion plus debt, about $6 trillion is owed to the Treasury or Social Security and is not due right away? Now don't get me wrong, I want to see the government pay Social Security every bit it's owed, as and when it's owed.  We actually owe only about $4.4 trillion overseas. And another thing is that we have the where-withall in the form of assets to pay off all our debt. But it was decided not to do that over the years. It's sort of like deciding to buy a new refrig on time instead of paying cash. You're going to have another monthly payment, but you have the money to pay for it in the bank. Where we're at now is like the guy who bought on time payments and then lost his job. Now suddenly those payments are a little more then he can afford. Even if it's beginning to look like his company is about to rehire him. So all this hand wringing over the debt isn't the big boggyman everybody seems to think it is. Of course it isn't good to have high debt. But having debt isn't the worst thing that can happen. Suppose you decide to have a balanced budget in your household. That would mean you can buy nothing on credit. No car without cash. No house. No nothing. Oh. So you want to make some exceptions? Well so the government needs to be able to make exceptions as well. If you really think about it, our debt isn't all that bad of an idea. Even rich people buy their private jets on credit. Okay class. Now who can tell me what are the four signs of fear-mongering?

Cars, Congress And Cooperation.

Here's a new twist or is it a revival of an old twist? Or is it a continuation of the same ole, same ole? Remember back when the American auto industry was on the ropes and besides the bailout of GM and Chrysler, all three needed big concessions from the unions? And remember the unions came through and cut way back on wages and benefits? Okay, now fast forward to now. The auto companies are doing very nicely, thank you very much. So now the unions are sitting up and saying, hey, we think we should share in the good times. After all we felt the pain during the bad times. Ya know what? I think they have a point. I think that the industry owes the workers some of the profits, or they need to cut the prices of the cars and trucks they're selling, or even better would be to spend those profits on research into better vehicles and better fuel conservation or new fuel sources. But I'll bet they'd rather spend those profits on higher pay packages for corporate execs and stockholders. Does anyone want to bet on how they'll wind up spending those profits? Here's a hint. Who makes the decisions? Now I don't mean to suggest that the deck is stacked in favor of the execs, but if I were a gambler, I still wouldn't want to sit in on that game. Not without a new dealer and a new deck. It's not too unlike the Tea Party in Congress. They got just about everything they wanted  but have decided they want it all or nothing. In other words, if we can't have our way, then the country should just fall apart. We don't care. Not if we can't have our way. I know spoiled brats who are more reasonable.

Double Check That Thing Before You Put It In Me.

Here's where our country is now-a-days. The institute of Medicine was asked to do a study on medical devices. Especially after several high profile recalls of malfunctioning implants. The study wasn't even complete and nobody knew whether or not if it would be adverse to the industry. That didn't stop the industry from beginning a ferocious attack on the, as yet unpublished, uncompleted report. It almost sounds like Washington politics. We don't know what it will say, but we don't like it and we don't agree with it. Now if it was my report, I'd write it to say that the industry is doing a super job and keep up the good work. Let the industry try to back-pedal out of that one. Then after they do, write a followup to claim a mistake had been made in the report. But it is just like Washington politics, isn't it? Neither party is willing to agree with the other party. Even if they don't know what the other party's position will be. I got an e-mail today that suggested that all congressional members only be allowed one term, no reelections. That may be too long for many. It also suggests that there be no pensions, use Social Security instead, insurance funds be lumped in with Medicare, pay increases be tied to CPI or 3%, whichever is lower ( I suggest tying their pay increases to Social Security increases) and a host of other ideas all suggesting that they become citizen legislators again. We don't need or want professional legislators. Getting back to the medical implants deal, I for one would like as much oversight as possible when it comes to replacing one of my original parts with a generic one.

If You Can't Support The Candidate, He Can't Support You.

Are you aware that people who have been unemployed for more than about six months are becoming unemployable? In fact many companies, when advertising for help, specifically mention not wanting anyone who is not currently or very recently employed. Now I admit there are some legitimate reasons for needing folks who are still in the thick of things, but for most situations that just isn't true. So the next time you hear somebody complain about folks who have been out of work for an extended period of time as being just plain lazy, you'll know that for many companies they'd rather pilfer a worker from somebody else then hire someone who actually needs and wants a job. Ya know, it's a fairly common practice to pilfer, especially during times of low unemployment but it's not the same these days. And the thing is, neither Washington nor corporate America gives two hoots how long somebody may have been out of work. People are really only statistics in their eyes. They're "votes to get" or maybe numbers to consider when deciding how long to extend unemployment benefits and how those numbers relate to total dollar figures for the legislation. Now I know I sound like I'm down on politicians and corporate leaders a lot. Well I am. And the reason is that they just don't seem to care about regular people any more. Corporate leaders don't consider people much any more, it's just the bottom line they care about, and politicians only ever consider reelection and the money it takes and where that money will come from. Well, when times are hard, like now, you can be sure the money isn't coming from the little guy. Hmmm. Where do you suppose these politicians are getting their millions to run with?

Where Are We? Where Should We Be?

Ya know, let's face it there's a lot of talk in Washington about how to draw down our debt. And let's also face the fact that we've lived pretty high off the hog for a whole lot of years here in America. During that time we've allowed a lot of things go to pot around here. We've allowed our infrastructure to deteriorate, we've allowed our educational systems to slip, we've watched while our manufacturing base sailed away, and our air and water become polluted. We've even allowed our financial systems to wander off into a no man's land. And all this time we've lived quite comfortably, even to the extent that we've seen our children and for some, our grandchildren all do better than us. All a blessing come true. Well, okay. Now it's time to pay for the mistakes we made. And make no mistake. They're our mistakes. Oh, we can blame elected officials. But remember, they were just giving us what we asked for. So okay, now we have to decide who will pay and how. Do we discontinue the entitlements we've been handing out for so many years. Entitlements that allow the poor to live a bit of the life the rest of us have enjoyed? Do we ask those who have prospered the most to pay up? Do we find some middle ground? Let's look at how the wealthy became wealthy before we ask them to pay and how the poor became poor before we ask them to pay. This is the only fair way to begin to decide. Not everybody who is rich was born rich and even those who were, can trace back to someone in the family who built that fortune. I don't think that anyone can say that they came by their wealth honestly who didn't also benefit from government help. Either by favorable legislation, or as a supplier to the government and the military industrial complex, or as a result of financial assistance in research or at the very least, protection from unfair competition and outright theft. Without a friendly government, nobody but military strongmen, can become wealthy or even hope for anything beyond serfdom. Nor can rich folks reach that place without employees and customers who make it possible. It's also true that favorable legislation has allowed these people to keep a large portion of the wealth they have accumulated. Now to the poor. How does one become poor. Certainly not by design. I've never met nor have I heard of anyone who, as a young adult, has said "I hope to grow up to be poor". For many folks, it just happens. A bad choice in investments, a poor choice in business, bad health, poor education, starting life in a difficult environment. The list is every bit as lengthy as that of successful people, and then some. One man is lucky enough to make it to the top, another slides to the bottom. If we choose to neglect the poor, we are a third world country. That leaves the middle class and the rich to pay the tab. With a debt of over $14 trillion dollars, don't expect the middle class to fund recovery alone. But we must cut out all of the waste. This country has spent sixty plus years building in waste. Is some of that waste spent on the poor, unwisely? Yes. Is some of that waste spent on the middle class, unwisely? Sure. Is much of that waste spent on the wealthy, unwisely? You bet. There isn't a man or woman who would happily give up all the benefits government provides if they understood what those benefits actually are. But most folks would, I believe, give up some of the more egregious ones, if they could be sure that everyone else was also facing the same losses and in relation to how much they're being benefited and how much they really need. There are a few things we need to look at as well. Until such time as we repair and replace our infrastructure and improve our educational systems and bring back our manufacturing base, we'll never quite be able to catch up.These things won't come free. Were going to have to pay for them and we're going to need innovative people to guide us to that place. If we ever make it, I hope we have the good sense not to allow things to fall apart again. We probably need to take a hard look at our government first. It simply doesn't work. If it did, we wouldn't need to do all of the above.

Economics Made Easy.

There was this question put to us about why people think it's okay to increase taxes on the rich. He accurately pointed out that the wealthiest five percent of Americans pay 50 percent of the taxes and the top 50 percent of Americans pay 100 percent of the taxes. I asked if he thought the poorest 5 percent should pay 50 percent of the taxes and the poorest half of Americans should pay 100 percent of the taxes. Mine was a wise-acker question and that wasn't the point he was trying to make at all. But this was the reason I decided to run for president in the first place. Well, that and the desire to spend other peoples money without exposing myself to any legal ramifications. Anyway the real question that should be asked all over the country is, exactly who can figure out a fair way to extricate us from our indebtedness? Who can figure out how we can live within our means? Certainly, it isn't those in Congress. They're all rich and if they're not yet, they soon will be, and rich people have no idea how to live within their means. A rich person's idea of living within his or her means is like, as an example, you want to buy a yacht. So you call your financial handler and tell him to buy the yacht. He says you don't have enough money to buy it. You ask what you'll need. He tells you the amount. You say, "oh that's easy, I'll just fire 200 people". For a rich person, that's living withing your means. Only a poor person knows how to live withing his means. Like when you have to decide between paying the electric bill on time or putting food on the table. That's where the tire meets the road. And the road probably has ruts in it and your tires are bald. Well, my tires are bald so I can figure out how to solve all the problems in the world. And besides, I want to get rich as soon as possible. Actually it's all about tax loopholes. That's the answer to everything. All we have to do is to eliminate every tax loophole. Well all except for the ones that benefit me. They're fair. The ones that benefit other people are all dripping with pork fat. They're just plain bad for our health.

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN AND I WISH THAT THEY WERE TOO!

I just read an article that states China is reining in it's manufacturing growth. It seems it's being too successful. Meanwhile America still has over 9% official unemployment and is more likely something like 15% actual unemployment. The article goes on to say China "rebounded quickly from the 2008 global crisis". Well so did America, so there. China did it on a "flood of stimulus spending and bank lending". Well, America had some stimulus spending too, but of course much of it was for pork. America didn't have any bank lending to amount to anything. China's growth is expected to be over nine percent this year. America's growth for 2011 will be, ahhh, well,  the thing is there won't be any growth unless you consider political theatrics, growth. When it comes to political theatrics, America is on target to top all charts. When it comes to manufacturing, American manufacturers are far better off financially then at any time in recent memory. Manufacturers and bankers and Wall Street are all doing extremely well in America, thank you very much. It's Americans that aren't doing so well. In China, on the other hand, there is much less unemployment. Of course in China you can't go by what the government tells you. You have to get your information from other sources. In America, you can get your information from the government. But you can't get it from politicians or the media. The thing with American Media is that it's become politicized. You have the Conservative Republican media and the liberal Democrat media. But what's really important here is that in China, stimulus and bank lending lifted it out of Recession for it's manufacturing base and it's labor force. So how come it didn't work for American labor in this country? My guess is that the political climate and Wall Street and Banker's and Manufacturer's greed had a lot to do with it. In fact I think you could say it had everything to do with it. I only wish that some of these folks would show a little patriotism. I'm talking about the real thing. Not just the good times patriotism. Not just, their way only, patriotism. Ya know, years ago, Bankers and Manufacturers cared about their employees and their customers. It seems that now-a-days employees and customers are only useful to be exploited or be cast off if a more profitable venue presents itself. It must be great to be a profit. I wonder if I could be adopted by a prophet? It might be nice to tell people off.

Today's Lesson Is On Whining And Crying.

I just got finished reading an article in the Washington Post about a fourth grade classroom in South
Korea using their tablet PCs. Two things are striking about the article. First it's summer time and these kids are still in school? Second each kid is using a handheld PC instead of a textbook? Now, I admit, I don't know much about these latest innovations of the computer world. I'm barely able to use my hand crank model computer. But I can see the advantages of using these things instead of textbooks. First, they would easily be updated with new information or corrected if inaccurate information were to find it's way into the programs. Even if a student were home sick, they could keep up with the classroom. Even home schooling would be easier. The other thing is a longer school year. In countries that are leading the world in student scores, its pretty much a given that students are spending more time in school. It's way past time for America to wake up and get rolling on our education system. Education is what made us great and ignoring it as we have been doing will doom us to second or third rate status. Oh I know, kids have summer responsibilities in America that they don't have in other countries. Like yard work or pool care and there's the summer camps and complaining that there's nothing to do. These are all important for kids in the learning process. Yard work teaches how to properly use trampolines, pool care teaches the back stroke and I'm not sure what complaining teaches, but I'm sure it's important. Look. If we can disagree on whether or not to raise the debt ceiling, we should be willing and able to disagree on how to program the tablet PCs.

May I Please Have The Number For Scotland Yard?

Boy, what do you think of the News Corp scandal involving Rupert Murdock? Can you imagine? Eleven people have been arrested as of this morning over the hacking of communications, even of a dead girls voicemail. Just think, eleven arrested already. And to think, the largest economic tragedy in more then sixty years, the late Great Recession, which was triggered by "to big to fail" Wall Street Bankers that has wreaked havoc and financial disaster around the world. That forced our government to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to bail these bankers out and has caused overwhelming job losses, a collapse of the housing industry, caused tens of thousands of people to loose their homes, peoples savings and retirement funds have disappeared nearly overnight. And how many people have been arrested so far? Surely, compared to a hacking scandal, a financial debacle of this magnitude will have brought wholesale arrests and more then a few suicides. Surely our leaders in government will have ferreted out the wrongdoers and brought them to a swift justice. Surely by now, now that the worst of the nightmare is over, at least for the wealthy and the Wall Street Bankers who are to blame for the Recession and are now reaping record profits, surely by now the court system is overloaded with trials of these rascals. Surely the country can rest easy in the knowledge that, by now, our government has passed laws that will protect us from such financial chicanery. Surely we can count on our government. Surely. Well, uhhh, ahhh, well actually ahhh, to be completely frank and honest, ahhh, our congress and the President and all the departments having any jurisdiction over any of this sad state of affairs have ahhh been ahhh, how can I say this, ahhh they have not arrested any Wall Street Bankers other then maybe a couple of bank tellers. Ahhh Jeez. You mean to tell me that the folks that caused all this trouble are now facing the terrible penalty of reaping record profits? Is that what you're telling me? Ahhh well, in a word, ahhh, ummm, yes. Ya know what? I think our government should outsource our investigations to Scotland Yards. They at least can find people to arrest. Now, who can we outsource our government to?

War Ain't All That Bad.

I was reading an editorial in the NYTimes on Sunday morning about droughts. How many folks are facing severe drougth in most of our southern states this year and for some areas it's been going on for several years. And this isn't the first tiume it's happened in recent years. It just happens to be worse this year. The thing is that increased population in the affected areas are causing water shortages and the need to look for new sources and new ways to consereve. There doesn't seem to be any discussion of telling people they will have to move north. After all, they've been advertizing for peoploe to move south for years and years. So how do they now say sorry but you'll have to move back north to where you came from. Even that won't help in some places in the south and it isn't an option in many parts of the world. Ideas are floating around about capturing flood waters and saving them for dry weather. Desalinization is being used on a small scale as is waste water. The only solution that hasn't been discussed is war. Now, hear me out. War could solve all the problems of water shortages around the world. Okay it may not be an appropriate subject for a Sunday afternoon around the diner table, but it does cut down on consumption. Our congress seems to be in favor of war. After all it appropriates enough of the national budget for the pentagon to wage as many wars as it wants. If you don't believe that, just count the number of wars we're involved in right now. Something like six, and I may not know about a few more. One thing war does better than almost anything else except maybe the plague is to reduce the population of the world. Now let me say here that wars in place like Afghanistan and Libya and Yeman don't give you the same big bang for the buck that a war with India or China or Europe would provide. These choices would have the advantage of substantially reducing the world population and at the same time reduce the population of America in real numbers as well. There's another potential advantage to such a war. There is the potential of reducing the population of the world to that of hunter gatherers again. Hey! No more polution.

Whatta Ya Mean Don't Pay The Bills?

Here's a question for ya. If your family suddenly, or even not so suddenly, finds itself unable to pay it's bills, what does it do? Folks in Washington would have you believe that you just don't pay the bills. Do you believe that statement? I sure don't. They're right when they say that the family cuts out all the expenses it can. That much is obvious. No more movies, no more eating out, maybe even eliminating the family vacation. But you still take the kids to the doctor on time and the dentist too. You need heat and lights and food on the table and a roof over your heads. Even clothes for school. But after that, if it isn't enough, you don't stop paying the bills. Now the folks in Washington would have you believe that's the right thing to do. Well, let me tell you that those statements are coming from people who have no idea what families who are up against it do. These Congressmen and Senators telling you this are people who are making six figure incomes or more and haven't the faintest idea what such a family does. There are two kinds of people who will tell you that stopping paying of bills is the thing to do. There are those who have never been in that position, like our legislators, or people who are just lazy. Because the next thing, or even maybe the first thing that family does is to go out and get a second job, or third job. Whatever it takes to pay the bills on time. It's a matter of pride and it's just common sense. Because if you don't pay the bills on time you start to get phone calls from collectors. Then somebody repossess the car or turns off the electric or whatever. Good folks who find themselves in financial trouble do everything they can to increase their income as well as decrease their expenditures. In fact I'm not sure it's a good idea to suggest to people who are in financial trouble that it is a good ideas to stop paying their bills. So the next time you hear a talking head using the example of a family who can't pay it's bills so it stops paying them, you know that this is one talking head who has it's head somewhere no head should be.

So Whatta You Think?

Let me ask you a question. What do you think about when you're not doing anything? No, not when you're asleep. That's dreaming. No, I want to know what you think about when you're just siting there. Like when you're day-dreaming. Ya know what I think? I think some folks don't think of anything. They just sit there and stare and there isn't a thought in their head. These folks seem to live the longest. Not that that's what I'm trying to find out. I mean, if I have to just sit and not think, I'd rather be dead. But I think people like that must lead boring lives. On the other hand, they may not think so. The second type of person thinks about what to have for supper or what reality show to watch on TV. That's what they think of instead of living in reality. Then there's the folks who spend their free time planing over and over what they'll do on vacation or for the weekend. Then there's the dreamers. They sort of fantasize what they'd like to be. You know, like perform super human feats or be great lovers or visit exotic places or make places exotic because they're there. I think this type of person must have some fun, but probably never has a chance to make any of these things come true. Then there's the doers. These folks are so busy doing things they never get to really enjoy any of the things they do. Next up it's the thinkers. These folks are always thinking about something of importance. At least it's important to them. I'm not sure if they ever get to solve anything or come to a conclusion, but they're thinking. Then there's the envisioner. People who look for ideas and solutions to problems. I think these folks are the most interesting. They may not look like they've done anything, they look like the folks who just sit there and stare without a thought in their heads, but every once in a while they ask a question you probably can't answer. They're somewhat odd, except these folks are actively searching. If you're a searcher, you learn more then anybody else. It's fun to be a searcher, I think. In fact, I'd rather be a searcher then any other kind of person. So anyway. What kind of person are you?

The Dos And Don't s Of Nation Building.

Not too long ago, just a year or two, Governor Rick Perry of Texas suggested Texas should secede from the U.S.A. Not too strange considering the source and the state, and now the latest is, part of California wants to secede from the rest. What it's about is some Republicans are unhappy that the majority of the state is Democrat. Fair enough, but if everybody did that we'd have a country with 300,000,000 plus states. One for every person in the country. I'm not sure how you'd pull that one off. First off, each state is entitled to one Representative for every few hundred thousand residents. So at least the House of Representatives could be abolished. But each state is entitled to two Senators. I can see several flaws in that plan. First off, if each person is his or her own state, who would be the second Senator. Secondly, where would the Senate meet in session? It would have to be a fairly large "chamber" and there had better be more then a few restrooms. There's never enough restrooms. Then there's the problem of transportation. How do we go about getting all those people to one location at the same time. Just imagine the parking lot. Maybe we could push for carpooling. That would help. The point to all this foolishness is this. Suck it up folks. If you don't like the politics in your neighborhoods or county or state or the country, there are a few things you can do. First you can get active in politics and at least vote. If you don't at least vote, nobody cares what you think. Second you can start a family and raise some voters yourself. Third you can move to a neighboring neighborhood, county, state or country. What you shouldn't do is complain while doing nothing to improve the area you live in. Folks are more likely to take you serious if you are someone who actually helps rather then be someone who just complains.

Friedman's Pillars. Mine Too.

In that Aspen festival program with Thomas Friedman I mentioned in my last entry, he talked about five pillars of American greatness. Here's the way I see it. Much of it is right out of his mouth, but some I used my own choices. An education system unmatched around the world, a strong government, a vibrant manufacturing base, a well trained and capable labor force, and ingenuity. Here  are the problems. We're cutting our education system to the bone without making the changes needed to return it to it's greatness. A government that has become so partisan that it's now much weaker. A manufacturing base that has nearly disappeared because industry has changed it's basic philosophy to believe that it's only goal is to enrich it's owners  instead of a responsibility to it's owners, staff, community and nation. A labor force that has become to richly rewarded, but not nearly as well rewarded as management. And Wall Street has lost it's interest in financing ingenuity. Now I could and should include infrastructure as Friedman did and lord knows it has been sorely neglected. The only one of these with the power to affect the changes necessary to rebuild our greatness is the central government. But the move seems to be on, to lesson that power, to cede that power to the states who lack the necessary tools and funds to pull it off. It will take a strong central effort, able to reach across the states, to succeed. But our central government is in gridlock and it looks to me like it will remain so for the foreseeable future. There's no help there. So what's the answer? Friedman thinks, and I agree, that a third party is needed. The Democrats and the Republicans both have become too weak kneed to be able to change their ways. We need citizen legislators who are interested in their country rather then their party.

Whatta We Need Skools For Anyway?

I was watching C-Span last evening and Thomas Friedman the N.Y. Times columnist was on. It was pre-recorded from an Aspen Institute's earlier program. Something he said about education struck me as important. There was mention of the importance of K-12 education is and even birth to 5 years old education and he agreed how important that was. He talked about college and how necessary that is and how unaffordable it is quickly becoming. But what I picked up on was a short statement about how cutting funding now will cost us and many young people later on because of the cost of prisons. Yep. If kids aren't in college learning how to earn a living, there will inevitably be those who will wind up in prison. Now he wasn't suggesting there are a bunch of kids who are criminals who are attending college in order to become better crooks. Although that may be the case with a few. No, he was pointing out the obvious that some kids who, given little or no chance to succeed, will turn to a life of crime. It isn't even funny how education can turn young people who would otherwise become criminals, into productive members of society. So what is happening in Washington and around the country? We're cutting back on funding for education. It seems it's more important to give an extra slice of the pie to some rich folks then it is to send a young person to college. Better to keep a tax loop hole in place then provide daycare for some poor child. But I can see the benefits to these tax incentives. After all, rich people do have to pay those hefty private school tuitions. And by sending their kids to exclusive private schools, those kids can grow up to be lawyers, bankers, hedge fund managers and politicians. In other words, crooks. And that will surely create jobs.

Comes The Repo Man.

Alright, here's the deal. There is a significant minority on the left and and an equally significant minority on the right.  Thankfully there's a more significant group in congress who are sane. These last stand in the middle. They're willing to negotiate in order to save our economy. Unfortunately this group isn't large enough to enact any legislation. Therefore they must depend on either the staunch conservative block or the equally staunch progressive block. The problem is that as soon as the center starts to lean one way or the other, they start to loose members from the other side. In other words the conservative and progressive members of the center who are welling to give in a bit in order to save the economy aren't willing to completely capitulate. I should mention again that none of the groups or coalitions are large enough to win the day. So what do you care? When the time comes, and there is no compromise, the  good ole U.S. of A. will be forced to default on it's loan payments. So what do you care? Have you ever defaulted on your car payments? You Haven't? Well what happens if you default on your car payments is that you start to get more exercise by walking to work and the store and everywhere else you want to go. That is unless you live on a bus route. Now you may think that nobody would dare try to take away this country's car, or whatever. Well you may be right, but the chance of our being able to borrow any money from anyone might become questionable. Except maybe a loan shark or two. We'd be placed on a "cash only" basis. No foreign oil on credit. No Chinese toys except cash in advance. It would not be fun. And we and the whole world would likely spiral into a Greater Depression. Maybe a semi-permanent depression. I don't think these children should be allowed to play with matches. They could burn the whole place down, ya know.            

Boy, What A deal For Crooks.

Here's a deal for ya. If you're a crook, you might be very interested in it. It's called "deferred prosecution agreement". How it works is the government goes to  people like big bankers or other large corporations and says if you agree to investigate yourself we will agree not to do it. So the big banker hires a lawyer to investigate the big bank. Of course the big banker can feel confident that the lawyer he chooses won't find any wrong doing on the part of the big banker. Perhaps a janitor has been the culprit in this case. The big banker and the lawyer report the janitor to the Justice Department . The Justice Department puts the janitor in front of the firing squad and everyone is happy. Well everyone but the janitor I suppose. So, if you're a crook, you may want to form a large corporation of crooks. Call it Crooks Are Us. Then if anyone is caught doing anything crooked you can arrange a "deferred prosecution agreement" with the Justice Department. The only thing though, you'll have to hire a bunch of janitors. And a lawyer of course. I can see all sorts of opportunities for this type of agreement. In fact, I think there's an opening here for nearly everybody to get in on the act. How about a "Taxpayers Misinformation On Tax Return Corporation". That way if you cheat on your tax return, you can tell them the janitor did it. Hey, even janitors could form a corporation. They could hire a few big bankers to be their fall guy. What goes around comes around.

Put Your Hands In The Air, This Is An Upstick.

Well there ya have it. Even the president is willing for me to take a cut in income in order for the economy to be saved. The only problem with his proposal is that some of the richest people in the country may have to take a cut in tax loop-holes. Now ordinarily you'd think that rich people would be willing to help the country get back on it's feet. After all if you're making ten or twenty million a year or even more, it's not going to be too painful to have to pay a little more in taxes. Ordinarily you'd think that. But you'd be wrong. So if the president agrees to cut back on Social Security increases, and inflation continues to rise, I'll have less to live on and corporate CEOs and hedge fund managers will continue to pay next to nothing in taxes and their incomes will continue to rise. It's sort of a "rise and fall" world, isn't it? Don't get me wrong, I believe that someone who is smart enough to become extremely successful, should reap just rewards for his or her efforts. And I even think that someone who is born with a silver spoon or special athletic abilities should have the right to capitalize on that good fortune. What I don't agree with is that they should be exempt from paying a fair share in taxes. I sort of feel like they should pay at least the same rate as the middle class has to pay, plus a little extra in return for the great good fortune they have of living in a country that makes it possible for them to rise to such dizzying heights. Honestly. I'm not greedy. I don't want all their money. I'd settle for what they haven't paid in taxes all these years. But then I'd be as rich as they are.

Capitalism In't Bad. Some Capitalists Are.

Wow! Columnist David Brooks, in today's N.Y. Times wrote a blistering attack against Republicans. Now this wouldn't be such a big deal except that he's normally a conservative Republican himself. The thing he is finding fault with in current Republican circles is their obstinate refusal to negotiate on taxation at all. He points out how much the Democrats have given in on cuts to entitlements nearly across the board and even agree to no tax increases at all. Only the closing of a few tax loop holes that would affect only the very wealthy. Still the Republicans say no. Now the Tea Party started off with some great ideas. It really is past time to begin to eliminate our indebtedness.  But the thing is, it isn't time to turn our backs on the needy. The poor and lower middle class still have to survive. Why? Because they are our fellow Americans. Because they are our fellow human beings. Does anyone but these fanatics believe that someone making  multi-millions of dollars every year should get special discounts just because they're rich? Does anyone really believe they would refuse to create jobs unless they get these special discounts? Here's a thought. Let them refuse to create jobs. If they don't, then someone else will and there's the start up of a new company. Because if the demand is there and existing corporations won't fill that need, then someone else will be ready to go into competition. That's been the foundation of capitalism from the beginning. It's how many corporations got started in the first place. It just doesn't make sense to let them hold us hostage.

Ahhh! The Good Life. Right?

It always happens this way. I plan to write about one thing and then something else crops up. Today I was going to talk about Afghanistan and the middle-east. Okay, well maybe an other day. Today in the N.Y.Times there's an article that is titled "We knew they got raises. But this?" It goes on to state that the CEOs of 200 large companies got a whopping 23% increase in wages in 2010 over 2009. That's nearly a quarter of what they made in 2009. Cash bonuses jumped by 38%. Now folks we're not talking about somebody who hit the daily number for a couple of hundred smackers, we're talking about the giant jackpot, multi-million dollar lottery. You can bet these guys don't bother buying lottery tickets though. Huh. or even Harrumph. These folks are winning these outrageous sums annually. Now you may thing that it's only a reflection of how well their companies are doing and you'd be right. You might think that all employees in those companies are doing equally well. Now there you'd be somewhat wrong. Actually only top executives are seeing any improvement in wages. In fact those companies, for the most part, haven't even begun to rehire folks that were layed off  because of the recession. And those who were kept on had to, in many cases, take a reduction in pay, which hasn't been returned. If only these few were the folks that were buying the products that those companies manufacture, in sufficient quantities, to rehire those folks that were layed off. if only. Unfortunately these CEOs likely don't buy their own companies products at all, preferring something far more expensive instead. But then that's not why they were hired. They were hired to make money for the investors. By not having to pay their employees as much, the company is making more money. Who said the economy wasn't doing well? Who said the recession isn't over? High end imports are selling like hotcakes.

If It Please The Court. Oops! I Mean If It Please The Corporation.

'The unfortunate thing about our problems with election financing is that our Congress is unwilling to do anything that might restrict the huge amounts of money they can collect from corporations and very wealthy people. Either directly or through PACs set up for that purpose. And even if they do find some backbone, the Supreme Court is determined to cut such limitations out of any laws passed. Folks we are destined to have a country that is For The Corporations, By The Corporations And With
The Corporations' Consent. The only thing left is for Corporations to be able to vote and hold office. Once that happens, they won't need us at all. At least that seems to be the thinking. around Washington. Maybe a few of us for military purposes and waiters and waitresses. I suppose I could volunteer to be a greeter someplace. Whatta you gonna do? Well if Congress won't do anything, then maybe it's time to take things into our own hands and start a grass roots campaign to amend the constitution. State by state. If we did that, then neither Congress nor the Supreme's would be able to do anything to stop it. Ya know, when your government won't do it's job, the people need to step in, in a legal, non-violent way and get the job done. At that point it probably would make sense to eliminate political parties as well. Probably impeach the Suprermes and Congress too. I'm not suggesting anything radical mind you. Just a complete overhaul of government. Congress would have term limits placed on members. Any dispute that cannot be resolved by them, such as out debt ceiling, would be decided in favor of the poor and middle-class. If that can't be determined, just give me a call. They'll have my number on speed dial. Of if you prefer, you could apply for the job, but I warn you, this job could be hazardous to your mind.  I only volunteered because I don't have one. What other qualifications do you need to go to Washington?

Justices Should Swear. But Only Once In Public.

Did you know that any and every federal judge in the country must agree to abide by an official code of conduct? Well they do. All, that is, except the nine members of the Supreme Court.  In other words, all federal justices must agree to be good and honest and especially not be a part of any political movements. That's right. In effect, they are supposed to be independents.  Above politics. But not Supreme Court justices. And some are proving they don't want to be neutral. Now there's a pretty good reason for this requirement. There was a lot of screaming a few years back about judicial activism on the bench. They wanted that changed. So the new Chief Justice was appointed by George W. Bush. Then he got to appoint another one. Now the court has five conservative justices to four liberals. The problem is not that they are conservative or liberal, the problem is that they are now more politically active then ever. It's far past time the Supreme Court Justices be required to swear to and abide by the same code of ethics all other federal judges must agree to. That's not being unfair. It's not being partisan. It's not being prejudicial. It's just being fair and reasonable. And even honest. Honesty, after all, is not such a terrible thing. I would expect that any judge hearing a case I might have, would be at the very least, honest. If I found out he was too friendly with the opposing side, I'd be a bit miffed. Maybe even madder then that.