How Come We Can't Figure Out The Economy?

Ya know why we're in such deep economic trouble? Well the thing is, the Republicans have the answers to all our problems. They could solve everything for us. but the one thing they demand. The one and only thing that's keeping them from taking hold of the situation and resolving everything is that they want the Democrats to publicly admit they're wrong and the Republicans were right all along. Well if that's all it takes, why don't the Democrats be the adults in the room and say how sorry they are? It's simple. Because it's actuallyy the Democrats that have the true solution to the problems facing our country and in fact the whole world and they demand the Republicans admit it and say they're sorry for holding up recovery and causing such pain. Well, okay then, why don't the Republicans say they're sorry? I just told you why. The Republicans have the answers. No the Democrats do. No the Republicans, No, the D.... Oh you get the idea. Here's the thing, both progressives and conservatives have some good ideas. But neither side will admit the other side just might have a conscious thought. After all, it could cost them a vote and that one single vote could cost them an election and that could cost them the majority in one house or another and that could cost them untold campaign dollars. What's that you say? You think they should do what's best for the country? You don't understand. It's not the country that's important here. It's the party. Without the party, how would they know how to vote?

I Want My Mommy.

Well folks, here we are again. It's mid summer and congress wants to shut the country down so they can go on vacation again. Well except that it's not about debt limits this time around. This time it's much more meaningful and much more short term. The thing is that all over the country people have been faced with disaster after disaster this year. So much so the FEMA's funds for disaster relief for these millions of folks has just about run out. In fact, day after tomorrow it likely will. Now in the past when anything like this has happened especially toward the end of the year, congress just gives them the money. After all, when your house was destroyed by earthquake, wind, fire or rain, it's the humane thing to do. it's just the right thing to do. Wellll, not so much this time. Oh sure, congress wants to help, but hey, it's vacation time. They can't agree. For the first time ever, the Tea Party congressmen demand that any funds for emergency relief must come from some other fund. Sort of rob Peter to pay Paul if you know what I mean. What's a government to do? Easy. Remember I said it's vacation time? Not only is the FEMA funding thing in play, but if moneys aren't approved to fund the whole government for another two months, and since the congress hasn't agreed to a new fiscal year's budget, the whole government will shut down. Oh, except for congress. They'll still get paid. So you won't have to take up a collection for your congressman's car payment. But pretty much everything else will shut down, just like what was threatened last summer. By the look of things, this is the kind of governance we can look forward to from now on. So. Aren't you happy you elected the folks you elected? What if your family acted this way? Of course you could get a divorce. That's not an option for congress. So they just live and act apart. Maybe divorce should be an option for congress. Maybe the rest of congress could divorce the Tea Party. I sure hope the rest gets to keep the house. But what about custody? Who gets the citizens? Times are a trial.

Tax The Rich, Fund The Schools.

Here's the study that needs to be made. Take the facilities, equipment, supplies and teachers of an affluent school district and the same ingredients of a poor school district and switch the students. Try it for ten years. Then let's see which set of students improve and which set does poorer. Nutrition needs to be considered as well. Let's also get the parents involved in this switch. The reason I bring this up is that I just heard the argument for the umpteenth time that throwing more money at education doesn't improve education. Now that's a true statement if you're talking about a school that already has everything it needs. But it is a very untrue statement if you're talking about a poor and poorly appointed school. This is one of the most important points on contention in the "tax the millionaires" debate. In an affluent community, tax rates may be similar, but property values are so much higher that there are more funds available to provide for so much better facilities and amenities and teachers and parents seem to be better able to participate and to insist on better opportunities. Of course it's true that just plopping a check on the table isn't likely to improve things, it has the be wisely spent. The worst thing, for the country as a whole, is to allow local school boards to run the show. That's great for the affluent schools, but not for all the rest of the schools. And this country needs to be concerned about all the schools equally. More affluent children will almost always out-perform underprivileged students. Almost, but not always.

Hey, Come On. They're Just Regular Folks.

Okay, when's the last time you enjoyed a really good muffin for $16.80 or a great cup of coffee for $8.24. Well how about a tasty Swedish meatball for $5.00? Been a while, has it? Well, our Federal Justice Department seems to be doing it fairly often. During the Bush presidency, it was happening and the Inspector General did an audit that exposed it. So when President Obama took office, there was an oath given by Deputy Atty General David Ogden that stated there would be no more such over-indulgences. But then three months later came the muffins and coffee. Oh, and 300 cookies and pieces of brownie for $2,880. What irks me is that I wasn't invited. Well, I sure hope those were "bran" muffins they served. All in all, there were 1832 conferences that cost $121 million for 2008 and 2009 that were covered in the audit. So when you hear talk about cutting expenses in government, just remember, without muffins, cookies, meatballs and coffee, how will some of these agencies operate? And imagine, how in the world would you pull off a successful conference without a successful event planner. They spent $600,000 on five events for planners. Look. If you're going to have an event and spend $16.80 for a bran muffin, you'd better get a good planner to put the whole thing together. Otherwise, you could wind up with a flop. And nobody likes a floppy muffin. Even if it will keep you regular. Well anyway, when the politicians heard about this, they were enraged. They hadn't been invited. Can you imagine the oversight? Where were the event planners in this?

Lasso That Thar Law.

Of all the dim-witted laws I've seen, Florida legislators have topped them all. They just passed a law that says no local municipality can have any gun control law on the books. All such laws must be done away with. If your town in Florida doesn't eliminate any gun control law, it can be fined $100,000. Not only that but a local elected official can be individually fined $5000. So a town can tell you you are not allowed to have a slingshot, but it'll be okay if you want to bring a machinegun. Now as I've said before, I like guns. But then again I do think they have their place. For instance, if you want to go hunting, it sometimes helps to have a gun. But I can see no advantage to having a gun at the Sunday school picnic. What if everybody brought their guns to the movies some night? I guess if a holdup man came in, they could all draw their guns and start firing. The holdup man would likely get shot. Along with a dozen or so movie-goers. See carrying and potentially firing that gun in a darkened place doesn't improve your aim. Not unless you're using night vision gggles too. Except that night vision goggles are not particularly helpful in watching a movie. But, the law's the law. If the state of Florida wants to be the first state in the union to return to the "wild west", that's their privilage. On the other hand, I'm not convinced it is exactly what the good folks of Florida had in mind when they elected these yahooes. Think about it. The larget group of Floridians is the older adult group. The number of retired folks that live in Florida is substantial. And that particular group is well known for voting in much larger numbers than any other group. I can't imagine all those grandmas wanting all those scary guns pointed at her when she walks into the movie a bit late. I don't think that grandma stepped into the voting booth and thought "hmm, who will make it easier for me to strap on a six gun"? Okay, okay. Grandpa may think of himself as the reincarnation of The Duke, but that doesn't mean grandma would allow him to vote for guns.

Some Say Yes, Some Say No. I Agree.

Did you know that Adam and Eve kept a herd of dairy dinosaurs? Or that there is no such thing as climate change or global warming? Well if you don't believe either if these things then just you ask Gov Rick Perry or Rep Michelle Bachmann. Then again, if you read Tom Friedman in the NY Times this morning, you'd wonder why Texas is on fire and Houston had 40 consecutive days over 100 degrees this summer, or that energy demand caused by high temperatures increased by 22%. The highest increase on record. Now of course, one single year doesn't make it so, but then again if you look over the last couple of decades, or even longer, you begin to see a pattern. This pattern ain't pretty, but it sure does show global warming. But I'll bet you need more than just my say so, so how about 99% of all climatologists and 98% of all scientists? As far as that dairy herd is concerned, just look it up in the old testament. Yep, if it ain't in there, it didn't happen. Just ask any literalist. In the meantime, it's milking time. This should be fun to watch. Who gets Mrs Rex? What Mr Friedman was trying to get at, is that it's past time when we got serious about combating our involvement in causing the global warming trend in order to mitigate the problem. As opposed to continuing to make it worse. Ya know what? Even if everyone who is actually likely to know what they're talking about is 180 degrees wrong, the worst we could do is help ourselves become less dependant on foreign oil. What could be wrong with that? Maybe it ain't American to be independent?

It's Okay To Steal The Country If You Do It Legally.

Do you know what redistricting or remapping is? Right. Well almost right. It's how one party tries to take advantage of their majority to make sure their majority not only remains, but increases. And not just on the state level, but on the national level as well. 2010 was a national census year. Now we know where population centers are. What areas got bigger and what areas got smaller. Which then requires moving boundaries to increase or decrease representative districts. But what it really is, is a winning, or loosing, lottery ticket. If your party has a majority in the state legislative houses after a census,, it gets to redraw the boundary lines of the districts, any way they want to. Now, some few states have a law that requires some sort of non-partisan committee do it, but most states are allowed to gerrymander the thing so that districts can look like snakes writhing in pain or question marks on steroids. The purpose is to create  many districts with slight advantage to their party and very few districts where all the opposition is concentrated. The idea is to allow even a closely and evenly divided population to be represented by an overwhelming majority of one group. Using this approach, a minority could actually wind up with a large plurality in the legislature. Now both parties use this tactic. It's not just Republican or just Democrat. If there were still Whigs, they'd try to do it too. So what? Why should this be a concern of yours or mine? Because they're trying to steal our government away from us. Do you think our national government is dysfunctional? Gerrymandering is the reason they are. If one party tried to steal an election by storming the polling places, armed with automatic weapons, we'd be up in arms, but we don't seem to mind if they steal an election on the sneak. Just as long as they follow the law. Even if the law is designed to make it possible for them to steal.

China Doesn't Cheat. They Just Don't Play By The Rules.

We keep hearing and saying that we need to wean ourselves off of middle-eastern oil and that's certainly true. But just as necessary is our need to be very wary of China and it's business character. China lacks our description of moral character. Take the latest revelation that it's weapons manufacturers tried to sell Godaffy about $200 million in weapons after China voted with the United Nations to place an embargo on such sales and a month after it said that any such sales to any country had to have government permission. Now they say they had no idea such negotiations were on going. Do you believe that?  Do you think that state owned businesses in China do anything without the government knowing? Some say the military does things the government doesn't know about, like that. Do you believe that? Look at it's history with America. It's sent us contaminated products many, many times until we caught them and then, it was, Oh we didn't know that was happening. Do you believe that? They've lent us hundreds of billions of dollars. I'll bet they know that. If we're ever late on a payment on those loans, I'll bet they'll know that. How can they suggest they don't know about these things when they know more of America's secrets than any President knows. If a Senator gets the hiccups in the middle of the night, they know before his wife. They know which Congressman gets up during the night to go to the bathroom. Of course that's an easy one. I suspect they all do. What I don't know is what time it was. They do. The point is, China is less than trustworthy. And that's being quite diplomatic. It's nice to get some of their business and their things are really cheap. But then most of their things seem to be really cheap for a reason. The reason is either it's contaminated or it's a ploy to get something of ours. Mostly our money. Any way they can. Now every country has it's own self interests in mind, but most countries at least try to be above board about it. Not China. They're happiest when they're underhanded. Actually, all they want from us is our technology, our industry and our money. That's not being greedy, that's being dangerous.

What's The Difference?

Today, 9-11-11, in the local newspaper, there were two editorials that discussed the similarities and differences between 9-11 and 12-7. One was by George Will who I'm often in disagreement with, but whose intellect I never question. The other is by Carl Leubsdorf, retired Washington Bureau chief for the Dallas Morning News. The most marked difference pointed out was the fact that 12-7-41 is not much commemorated because there was a far more preferable day or dates. Namely D Day and then VE day and VJ day, the last two noting victories in the two front war that took 400,000 American lives. By the tenth anniversary of that war, we had won that one and were trying to wind down Korea. In the current situation, we are not only still fighting with little chance of a final victory in sight, but 9-11 wasn't even the first attack on us. It was in fact, the culmination of five attacks on America beginning with the failed attempt on the world trade center in 93, followed by the the Kobar Towers in 96, the 98 attacks on our East African embassies, and the USS Cole in 2000. As I said Friday, they were two entirely different wars. What was most significant however was how we stood ten years later. In 1951, we had come out of the deepest Depression in our history, fought an extremely costly, two front war and came out in much better financial position than now. In 2001 we were in a great financial position and went into a war  that became a two front war by mistake ( to put it diplomatically) and have arrived in a deep recession and in terribly poor financial health. How could we have done so poorly this time? In WW11 the nation was mobilized, taxes were raised for the "War Effort" and everyone was called upon to sacrifice, this time almost no one was called upon to mobilize, Taxes were reduced with the funds to prosecute the war being borrowed and only a very few were asked to sacrificed. In the years of WW11, even though the two parties bickered over other things, the president brought them together in unity for the War Effort, but in the years following 9-11, even the president participated in partisanship finger-pointing. While there are many other similarities and differences, I guess this current decade will go down as an example of how not to do war.

For Banks, It's Mother's Day Every Day.

Ya know, I love banks and bankers, don't you? I love them because they're all such humanitarians. Now I know it's hard to think of a business, an institution, as being human, but banks? Well, they are. Just think back to when, near the beginning of the Great Recession, banks found themselves in very dire straits. Did they act like institutions? No. They acted like a child with a skinned knee after falling from their bike. They ran to mommy (actually, Uncle Sam) to have her kiss that bleeding knee and make it all better. And mommy (again, actually Uncle Sam) did just that, with an infusion of billions in cash. Then the children (actually banks) thanked mommy (again Uncle Sam) and gave her a big hug. Okay you need to fast forward to now. Banks have recovered very nicely, thank you very much. You can't even see the scar on that knee. Unfortunately, the economy hasn't really recovered. At least as it pertains to unemployment and housing. So what does that have to do with banks, you ask? Well, right now the president would like small businesses to expand and start hiring.That's because everyone agrees that's where most new jobs start. Some will, some won't, some would like to but will need some cash to expand so they can hire. That's where banks come in. Or don't come in. See, even though lending is a bank's job, banks seem to be afraid to get caught without lots of money on hand if we have a double dip recession. At least that's the only explanation I can think of. Soooo? So they aren't too willing to loan money to anyone who actually needs it. Now if you already have all the cash you need, they'll consider loaning you all the cash you need. Huh? I know, it is confusing. But if you have what they call collateral (cash or assets that can be converted to cash, like your house) if you have enough of those sorts of things, and you're willing to sign them over to the bank, then they'll be happy to loan you just up to that amount. In other words, banks aren't willing to take any sort of risk on anybody. I guess they'd rather just sit on the money by loaning it to the government at historically low interest rates and in spite of the fact that the government was down graded from AAA to AA+. So even if you had that AAA rating, they like mommy better.

12-7 And 9-11.

Just the other day, I sat watching reruns of an old TV series, The Waltons. The show was of the day when news arrived in the United States of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I was a bit too young, then, to realize what had happened and too young even to remember. But as I think back, it must have been so very much like the attack on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon. The loss of American lives in such a terrifying action left our country shocked, frightened and angry. Like 9-11, Pearl Harbor brought our country together. But unlike 9-11 the country remained pretty much united for the duration of the conflict. It was, of course, a much different conflict, with well established and recognized enemies and goals. It required the total concentration of our country to bring about the desired victory. We succeeded because our every effort, our every day, every citizen was a part of that struggle. In this war on terrorism, there is no well established and recognized enemy and the goals seem to change every time we turn around. Perhaps the most significant difference is that this war is fought by a very small portion of our citizenry. Except for them, there is no total effort and we have not been asked to share in the burden of this war. It therefore feels like it isn't even our war. It's being fought for us by others, at little or no cost to us except for the indebtedness it brings us. The anger we should have towards our enemy is instead directed toward each other, in our politics, and in the way we look at anyone who appears or sounds different from us. That is what the greatest cost to America will be, when at last the history is written on this decade.

If It's Good For Fox, It's Good Enough For The World.

Wouldn't ya just know it. Fox News has it's shorts all in an uproar. It seems that both NYC and Washington have made the ultimate blunder. At least in the eyes of Fox News.. They both had the unmitigated gall to exclude Evangelical ministers from their respective ceremonies commemorating the tenth anniversary of  9/11. Never mind that NYC's ceremony has never included ministers of any faith with the possible exception of the chaplains of the various divisions of first responders. As for Washington, My guess is that they flipped a coin. I wonder if Fox News realizes just how many different religious denominations and faiths there are in this country, or even just NYC or Washington? To include all would take up most of the day or perhaps several days. Unless of course Fox News is only interested in Baptists. I hear some weren't too happy that Washington's ceremony was to be held at the National Cathedral. It's Episcopal, ya know. They'll be relieved to learn that because of some damage to the Cathedral by an overturned crane, the ceremony has been moved to a synagogue. Now I understand how difficult it is to fill a "news" station 24/7 with something that will peak the interest of it's viewers, but when is it okay to manufacture news in order to fill and sell airtime. NYC's ceremony is unchanged from each of the other nine years. How come it's such a big problem right now. One of two answers comes to mind. Either Fox News is trying to manufacture some sort of outrage, or folks are getting to be just as bad as Congress in the way they act toward each other. I should point out that the Catholic Bishop in Washington and the head Rabbi, when asked about the slight, had no problem with the arrangements.

What Kind Of Market Was That?

Ya know what I get a kick out of? I get a kick out of folks who swear by the free market system. They swear by the free market system and then turn around and expect that the energy they use and the products they buy be artificially reduced in price so they can enjoy these things. Say what? Well, take electricity. Not that it's all that cheap, we think, but is it really as expensive as it should be in order to reflect the actual costs? Most of our electricity is generated by burning coal. Coal is cheap. Ahhh, Well, Not really. Look at what it does. In order to get at coal, they cause untold costs in environmental damage and personal healthcare costs. But that isn't factored into the price of coal. The burning of coal causes even more pollution and healthcare costs, none of which is factored into the cost of coal. Then we have the ash that's left over after it's burned. It's filled with carcinogenic materials that cause more health costs. Or we could make clean coal. But making coal clean presupposes we can remove all the poisons, but if we could, what do we do with the poisons after they're removed. They don't just magically disappear, ya know. If we paid for energy and products at prices that actually reflected the costs, everyone would hit the ceiling. But don't we hit the ceiling when we see our healthcare costs or insurance premiums? Well yes, but not every single day. So it's more palatable this way than it would be to pay about $10 for a gallon of gas or an extra couple of thousand to aircondition your home next summer or heat your home this winter. And bananas would be two bucks each. Fresh fruit in the winter would be six times as expensive. So when people talk about the free market, remember, they're just talking hogwash.

The Problem Is, We've Got A Problem.

I don't know about you, but I voted for Obama and have been cheering for him to succeed in beating this Recession for the whole time. But ya know what? He hasn't been up to the task so far. No matter what economists may say, we're still in a severe Recession and if you don't believe it, just ask somebody who's been unemployed for a while. Obama hasn't been able to lift us out of the Recession. But then it may well be that nobody would be able to do it. Congress won't let it happen.  No, I don't mean just a Republican majority in the House and an enlarged Republican minority in the Senate. Because the Democrats, while they held majorities in both houses, couldn't agree on how to help the President get the job done either. If you think that if a Republican is elected in 2012, he or she will suddenly be able to change the course of the country and lift it out of this Recession, you'd be a great prospect for this bridge I have for sale. First off, most of the potential candidates on the Republican side don't even believe in global warming or evolution. And it's not just that they're courting the far right social and Christian conservative voters. I think these folks actually believe what they're preaching. Now I realize that global warming and evolution aren't the problems with this Recession, but it does go to their ability to see and accept a problem before they can correct it. The answer to all of America's problems, in their minds, is always cut government. Make government as  inconsequential to our lives as possible. Never mind that by doing so would decrease the living standards of us all and in all likelihood would serve only to deepen the recession. Why hasn't the Republican party been able to produce a  visionary leader to run for president? Why hasn't Obama stepped up to the plate? This is a fine kettle of fish we're in.  As my dad would say, it's a fine how d'ya do. Things ain't to good and they ain't improven.                         

Wake Up And Smell The Coupons.

Have you noticed all the e-mails offering coupons and free samples you've been receiving of late? What I've noticed is the amount of information they want before they'll give you those coupons. I could get a credit card or a home loan without providing that much information about myself. Oh, I understand that the information helps them to offer you the samples and coupons that most closely reflect your needs and desires. Hogwash. They sell that information to whoever is willing to pay for it. If I were a cat burglar and wanted information on potential victims, they'd sell me that information. In fact, I'm not convinced some of these offers aren't coming from burglars. If they ask for my date of birth, I think they'd like to know whether or not I could fight them off or am I too old. Okay. I own several firearms and a bazooka and a hand held grenade launcher. No. Wait. That's not true. After all, these folks could be terrorists looking for weapons supplies. I don't know about you, but I hate giving out very much information about myself. And after all, it's over the Internet. How much information do they need beyond my e-mail address? Actually, they don't need any more than that, and I hate giving them even that, but they already have it. Fortunately, my computer is equipped with an anti coupon mechanism. It's a button you push. They call it SPAM. Now unlike most people, I don't mind a little spam now and then, for lunch, in a salad. I even like it better when I push the button. It sort of gives me a feeling of power.

P.O.R.s Are The Real Problem.

Here's to our P.O.R.s. May they finally receive respite from the fears they face daily. Who are these P.O.R.s I speak of? Why, they're your neighbors, your brothers, your long lost friends, they're the folks you used to spend time with and party with, but no longer "bump into" on any regular basis. They don't frequent the same old haunts that you still do. They're just not available for your party because of some other pressing need. They're Prisoners Of Recession still. They're the unemployed who still can't find a job that will pay them a living wage. They're not available for your party because they're working two or three jobs just to put food on the table. Oh, there are jobs out there, some even good paying jobs. But those are mostly jobs that require specialized skills or have long lines of applicants. So they're not going to be joining you for that cruise to the Bahamas or to Alaska, or wherever. Have you noticed how friends don't even mention their names any more? They're not included and don't try to engage in conversations at the few places where they still do show up. It's a cruel world out there for Prisoners Of Recession. Now, we all know the Recession is over. Officially it's been over for  several years. But for P.O.R.s it's not over. And it's not likely to be over for some considerable time to come. Why? Because our elected officials in Washington won't let it be over. See, it's something for politicians to hang their hats on and claim to have the only solution for it. It's good for stump speeches. Stop spending to shrink government in order to pay down the debt and deficit. That's the only way to put America back to work. Never mind that it means throwing more people out of work. Or spend more to create more jobs, even if it means more debt and deficit and even if it can't be pushed through congress. P.O.R.s are good for the Washington crowd. And hey. Are they really hurting you or your way of life? Not unless you're supporting one or are one. It's like the wars we've been fighting for ten years, and some  believe we will continue to fight, in one country or another, for many years to come. If you or a loved one isn't doing the fighting, it isn't really affecting you. Heck, I'll bet you don't even pay attention to the news reports about the wars any more, do you? Or if you do, it's only in an abstract way. Same with P.O.R.s. They just seem to melt into the scenery. It's easy to overlook something that's mildly unpleasant. Even if you're a political junkie like me, P.O.R.s are just another adjective or pronoun in a statement or letter or other discourse. No, things aren't going to change right away. Ya know why? Because you and I haven't spoken up enough. Would you like to see all this change? Okay then, call your Congressman, Senator and the President every day and tell them so.

Being Poor Has It's Own Problems.

Something I've heard over the years when it comes to finding fault with the poor is the idea that "they" have the same opportunities to succeed as everyone else. It's bothered me over those years to hear that and I think I finally have some honest answers to that statement. It ain't true. How's that for an honest answer? Here's the thing. If a successful person, let's call him Harvey, goes into a bank and asks for a loan to start a business, the banker asks him what collateral he has for the loan. Harvey says he has a savings account, owns some investments and his own home. Since he has assets, he gets the loan. In other words, since he doesn't need the money because he has money of his own, he gets the loan. If a poor man, we'll call him Harvey 2, goes to the bank, the banker asks the same questions. But Harvey2 doesn't have a savings account, investments nor does he own his own home, he doesn't get the loan. Since he doesn't have his own money, he can't borrow money. It's like running the 100 yard dash. You have a much better chance of winning if you start on the 50 yard line than you do if you start 10 yards behind the starting line. Poor people have a more difficult time getting into a good school unless they borrow a whole lot of money which puts them way behind in getting ahead because of the need to pay off all those loans before they can get started. That is unless they are lucky enough to get a scholarship for the full ride. In public school, because they can't afford private school, they usually are at a disadvantage because they can't afford the electronics aids available to the richer kids, in fact they may not even get the basic nutrition necessary to excel. So just because you started with a head start, doesn't mean you're better, it just means you had a head start.

Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Your Finest.

Wow. Can you believe this? Uncle Sam, in the form of FHFA (it's all about oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), is bringing suit against the largest banks in the country and international ones too, over the packaged mortgage securities they put together and sold to Fannie and Freddie. We're talking about banks like Bank of America and J.P. Morgan to name just two. And we're talking about multi tens of billion of dollars each. So now we're hearing this could cause these banks to do less lending. Less Lending? Isn't that what's causing the Recession to be so slow to recover? Aren't banks being too slow to part with the buck now? So what's the downside to these suits? And why now? Turns out the statute of limitations runs out in a week or so if they don't file a suit. Another thing is they've been negotiating with the banks to settle out of court. But if the statute runs out, without a suit in place, the banks are free. Of course the banks wouldn't have noticed that little thing, and I'm surprised the government did. I don't think the government really wants to go to trials, and now maybe they won't have to. But given my druthers, I'd druther they did take the banks to court. It would be the first real spanking the banks got for all the trouble they caused over these toxic assets they sold. Too bad nobody has gone to jail  either. In fact that's the real shame of this whole thing. Ya know, if there's no punishment for wrongdoing, don't you think future bank execs and securities bundlers will just do it all over again? I mean, they made multi-millions each for putting these toxic assets together and selling them as AAA deals. With not even a slap on the wrist. Don't you suppose that's a lesson they won't forget? The worst thing about it is that we had to pay for it all. Yep. When it came time to pay the tab, the only ones still sitting at the table were the taxpayers. The bankers and bundlers were all gone. Presumably gone for a cruise on their yachts. I wonder if they all had the same destinations in mind? Someplace with lots of pidgeons I'll wager.

When Are We Ever Going To Learn.

David Brooks is a conservative columnist I don't usually agree with. He's not a Glen Beck conservative. You know, a foaming at the mouth ultra-conservative. He's a more thoughtful, moderate conservative, and today I somewhat agree with him on his column. He suggests that during these times of grave economic dangers, we need to learn how to be somewhat conservative. We need to pare back government somewhat. Then we disagree a bit. I think we need more government for the short term to begin to rebuild infrastructure. Then we agree again because "pruning back our government" overlooks the need to educate our people or as he puts it, "rebuild America's human capital". He says, and I agree, we need to improve our educational system and bring it back to it's former greatness. We can't be just "good", we need to be the best again if we hope to continue to be the strongest country. If we hope to keep our society employed and successful, to replenish our middle-class again, to hold our place in the world community, we need to have the best education we are capable of having. We'll need to scrap many of the old notions of education and recognize those examples that work and discard those that don't. And we need to begin to reward job creation and find a way to punish job restriction. But that will only work if we have an educational system that is up to the task and a financial community that is prepared to partner with America to advance inovation, and a government that clears the way and nurtures sound, safe  and honest industrial partners. He goes on to recognize that middle-class wages have been stagnant for a generation leading to a more and more stratified society with little chance for economic mobility. He's right. A pampered upper class has become dominant in the political culture of Washington, providing them with all the advantages, leaving none for anyone else. So we need a government that's big enough to get the job done, but small enough to recognize when it's in the way.

Temperance We Stand, Taxed We Fall. Or Not.

There's a new book out called "Last Call". It's interesting in that it calls attention to the similarities between right now and the period between 1919 and 1933. Remember those goods old days? What's that you say? It was before your time? Well, mine too. It happens that that was a time when a relatively small but powerful group of citizens managed to take away people's rights by amending the constitution so that you couldn't buy or even consume alcohol. Yep, it was Prohibition. How does that compare to our present condition? Nobody is suggesting we can't have a brew of our favorite liquid. That of course, is true. But just like back then a relatively small group of activists forced elected officials to sign pledges to do their bidding. Then it was prohibition, now it's no new taxes. Even though the vast majority, back then and now, were/are against the single issue of prohibition or no taxes even on the rich. It didn't make any sense back then to prohibit consuming alcohol and it doesn't make sense now not to increase taxes if needed. Back then it caused wide spread lawlessness, now it could well cause financial ruin for our country. Back then the Temperance League didn't care about crime, and now the Tea Party doesn't seem to care about the good name of America. That our country nearly defaulted and that it's credit rating was lowered is of no concern. The only thing that matters now is that they get their way, which is exactly the sentiment the Temperance folks held. Why do you suppose people would put up with this? Well, back then, people didn't put up with it. They just went ahead and drank. The difference was that criminals profited from it. Wildly profited from it. Now people are beginning to let elected officials know they're sick of this nonsense and want it to stop. If the Tea Party folks don't stop interfering, they likely won't fair so well come November 2012. At least we can hope. In the meantime though, we're still in danger of real problems. And now there's a new cowpoke on the scene. Texas Gov. Rick Perry wants to amend the constitution to take away some more rights. Like no gays or lesbians can marry, women can't decide when or if to end a pregnancy and repeal the 17th amendment to take away your right to directly elect your Senators. All this while claiming he wants to make the federal government as inconsequential to your lives as possible. Sounds like he's in favor of making it more consequential not less.

What's The Score? Who's Winning?

Ya know what our problem is in this country? America, or more specifically our government and our industries and businesses don't know how to play the game. We're supposed to work like a team. We're supposed to be playing like a team in the game of life. But the problem is, our guys don't know the rules. The rules are simple. There are no rules. Oh, there are pretend rules and everybody pretends to obey those pretend rules, but nobody does. Well at least nobody but us. We naively think everybody will play fair. But playing fair ain't a part of the game. Take China. China pretends to play fair. They just offer cheap labor in exchange for locating manufacturing plants in China. Now we like that because that will raise the living standards of their workers so they can afford to buy our products. And we keep the technology. The thing is that once they have the factory in China, they have the technology. We think they won't transfer that technology to their own facilities. That's the playing fair part. Do you see a problem here? Pretty soon they have the factories, the technology and the machinery and the factories to make the machinery. So where does that leave us? Would you like fries with that order? Now we don't have factories or the machinery, we no longer have a trained workforce to make that product and we no longer have an exclusive on the technology. So what's the score in the game? Four to zip in favor of China. The claim used to be that this was the information age and we no longer needed that manufacturing base. Well here's some information for you. We're in the fourth quarter and we're behind 4 - 0. For forty years we've been playing fair. It's time to start following the rules.You know. The no rules rules.