Can You Believe How Smart China Is?

Here's what I don't get. We know that China has sent us contaminated and inferior products and makes no amends for it. We know that they mistreat their own people and especially their own workers, We know that they hack into our industrial and governmental computers stealing our trade secrets as well as our military secrets and our technology. We know that they vote against us at the U.N. on almost every issue. We know they manipulate their currency to take advantage of us and others. We know they artificially lower the prices of their manufactured goods for profit and to hurt us. We know they require companies to turn over technology as a prerequisite to gaining market in China. We know they pirate intellectual material. We know they are testing cyber attack technology to use against us. And we know so much more that isn't even mentioned, and yet we call them 'friend', trusted 'trading partner' and 'financial helper'. What we don't call them is enemy, manipulator, bad faith competitor. So what I don't get is; Why? Why don't we call them to task on every issue. Why don't we call them to account? Why don't we call them what they are? Probably because they own a fair share of America because of the loans they've made to us so our politicians could continue to give us what we didn't earn. Our problems do not stem from those on welfare, or even on welfare itself. It stems from politicians more interested in reelection then on what's in the best interest of all of us. The problem is, they're still doing it. They squabble over what to, or not to, cut out of the budget and how much to, or not to, give in tax cuts or increases.Ya see? It's not about helping us. It's about helping them. China helps our politicians by giving us money. Our politicians whine about the debt and deficit, but they keep asking for more in loans. China just smiles and hands over more cash. Cash that it took from us, in the first place, by underhanded means. Why? Because China realizes that as long as they give money to our politicians, our politicians will keep protecting China's interests here. So the next time you hear about some food stamp lady buying candy, complain about our politicians. Not our poor.

Here's How Government And Industry Can Both Create Jobs.

Here's how governments work. Some folks have looked at the military and how it might trim it's budget to cover the new requirements to work with a smaller budget. They think it might help if some of the "head office" personnel were let go. As you know, there's a Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. which is made up of the top leader in each branch of the military. But each of those and the Secretary of Defense have Under Secretaries, Deputy Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Assistant Under Secretaries, Assistant to the Assistant Under Secretaries and Special Assistants to the Under Secretaries, and several layers under them. What if they gave computers with "word" to a couple of these secretaries? Maybe they wouldn't need so many assistant secretaries. Yeah, okay, I know these "secretaries" aren't actually secretaries. They're just called that instead of "guy in charge of". But what about all these guys, and ladies, do we really need them? How much do we pay them? Well, some seem to be paid as much as $250,000 a year. The average is somewhere around $145,000. Why so much? Well some have extremely high security clearances which means the could earn more from  private contractors. Here's a thought. Lay them off, let the contractors hire them. Case solved. See, the work they do now, can be done by the contractors, right? We just saved millions. Well except that the contractors will have to raise their prices by $500,000 and $290,000 to cover their costs of operation. See how a simple cost saving device can cost you one hundred percent more, at the very least. That's why shrinking government is so hard. On the other hand, by laying off those people and having them get hired by private businesses, you accomplish two goals. You shrink government and increase employment in the private sector. So the next time you hear somebody claim that government can't create jobs, only business and industry can create jobs, just smile and say "thank you". Now, how you arrange for business and industry to create jobs, shrink government and cut taxes all at the same time, I'm not sure. It may work on paper, but not on the ground.

How Come Everybody Doesn't Get An 'A' In Economics In School?

Reports continue to show that we trail many other nations in education, especially in advanced math and science. Even though we spend more on education than most other countries. How can this be? How come we aren't getting better results from our educational experience if we're spending more than the next guy? Well a lot of people will tell you that "more money doesn't translate into better schools". You could put it to music, it's been stated so many times. Then again, some will point out that less money won't improve the schools either. So who's right? The answer is Yes. It's not that money alone will improve or worsen the problem so much as how you spend that money. I think teachers unions are part of the problem. It's good that they try so hard to protect teachers. It's easy for the public to blame teachers because Johnny can't get into college or that he isn't ready for college or that he can't get a job, before or after college. The reason Johnny is having those problems is his teachers. But not just his teachers or even mainly because of his teachers. The problem is with the School boards and the administrations and the tax payers. And ya know what? It's the parents and even Johnny. I don't think students are challenged and encouraged by all of those problem makers to do their best. Every day. And then ya know, it's easier to get into college if you're a good athlete then it is if you're a good math student. Not only that, but if you're a really good athlete, you get the whole thing free. Even if you major in basket weaving. Why not require colleges and universities to give five or ten free rides for math and science students for every athlete that gets a free ride. You might see a lot fewer big time athletes, but hey, let the pros start their own farm teams instead of using colleges as free farm systems. Colleges could start asking business and industry to start kicking in to cover the cost of educating their workforces. And business and industry could ask the government for a tax break for assisting colleges and universities. No more free rides for anybody but the students. It's not so much that we should be looking for ways to save money for tax payers as it is that we should be looking for better ways to educate our kids. In the long run, that's what'll save us money and reduce our taxes. And if you don't understand why, you weren't paying attention in economics class.

The Supreme Court as King Makers.

There's a lot of folks that don't believe that the Supreme Court's decision in the Citizen's United case will, or has, affected elections because of the extremely large influx of cash. George Will, the conservative columnist is one of them. He suggests that if all that money could influence elections then why hasn't it produced a king. If it's a king maker, then why isn't there a king. Certainly there's been enough cash injected into the Republican race and more than enough attack ads to do the job. To all of this, I asked, where would Romney be if it weren't for all his cash? He's been able to quash any and all comers. Opponents who have begun to show promise have been overwhelmingly attacked by Mitt's SuperPAC and under whithering fire, have retreated in  the polls to oblivion, each in his or her own time. That certainly suggests the money has protected him time and again. He does seem to be a weak candidate, or would be under normal circumstances. But with enormous amounts of cash as a running aid, he's been able to continue to lead, even though he's weak. Does that mean there are far more promising candidates out there who are willing and able to contend this year? Not really. There are a number of names that have been suggested and asked, but those folks have declined. Basically suggesting they don't feel this is the right time for them personally. I think that if any of them felt they could get nominated and then elected, they would have run. Who turns down the White House? If you're a politician with any drive, then nobody turns down that invitation. So only the eight original candidates felt strong enough to win through to the end. Each has had a turn to lead in the polls and each has been savagely attacked by Romney's SuperPAC and each has fallen away, but Romney has not rocketed to the top. He's just stayed in the middle of the muddle. He'll win by default. But without SuperPACs, would he win? I can't imagine. I think Mitt Romney is the proof that unfettered funding by millionaires and billionaire is a serious problem in American politics. Well, at least one of the problems. And there's no question that the Citizens United decision caused it.

How Come 'Extreme' Is A Good Word?

The way I see it is Democrats are saddled with President Obama and his fortunes. Or misfortunes. Republicans are saddled with Grover Norquist and Rush Limbaugh and their fortunes, misfortunes or misstatements. The thing is, if the economy does well, Obama will get another four years. If the economy tanks or gas prices shoot up, he's in for a bumpy ride. But in the case of Republicans, if they continue to hang onto the no new tax pledge, they'll get hurt. If Mr Limbaugh continues to make really dumb misstatements, and they refuse to abandon him, they don't stand a chance. Ya know, if Rush's mom could hear him talk, she'd wash his mouth out with soap. I know, because all moms used to do that when their son's talked like he's talking. Either that or it was "come in here young man, you're getting pepper on your tongue". I'll bet he thinks his mom can't hear him. Well I've got news for him. Moms always hear us say what we're not supposed to say. And then there's Rick Santorum. I read this morning, that the best thing for the Republicans would be for Mr. Santorum to be their nominee because they would lose by a landslide and that would end the extreme right's hold on the party. Well be that as it may, I still think extremists in their ranks will cost them the election no matter who is nominated, unless Mr Obama runs into a horrible string of bad luck. The problem is, if he runs into bad luck, it means we did too. Frankly, I've seen enough bad luck in this country to last for a decade or two. I don't follow the thinking that if only the country would have more problems, Obama would lose and we'd all be saved by extreme Republicans. It's not so much the Republican as it is the extreme that concerns me. If extreme is such a good thing, how come we're not cheering for Al Qaida instead of fighting it? Wouldn't you think we should be facilitating terrorists if we think extreme is a good thing? Don't get me wrong, the Democrats have had their times when they were overly extreme and will probably soon head in that direction again, if they're not there already. What is it that draws people to become extreme when it comes to politics or religion? Maybe it's because you're not supposed to discuss either in polite company. I'll bet that's it. Everybody wants what they can't have.

The Trouble With Johnny.

Boy oh boy, we're still having debate on education, can ya believe it? I can tell you the problem in education in one word. Respect. That's it. Case solved. All we have to do is respect education. Huh, I'll bet you thought I was going to say respect teachers, didn't you. Well I just did. I said respect education. Since teachers are large a part of education, we need to respect them. We need to respect school officials too. And students and even parents. Because they're all part of education. Ya know what? We even need to respect taxpayers too. Because taxpayers are part of the education process. And the thing is, education desperately needs all of the above. So teachers need to have the respect they deserve including more pay and smaller class sizes and more support and parent participation. At the same time, the taxpayers need respect, because we're going to be expecting them to pay for all those things the teachers need and the students need. I need an analogy here. Let's see, hmm, well they need the kind of respect corporate CEOs, bankers and Hedge Fund Managers get. No, wait. These people aren't well respected. They are well paid though. But wait. They're over-paid when they do a good job and way over-paid when the do a lousy job. No they aren't the kind of analogy we need here. We need to be able to point to someone who deserves and gets respect. Well that leaves out politicians too. We need education to get the kind of respect that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs get. The thing is, they deserve respect because they were extremely successful. But you can trace their success back to education. Now you can claim that they didn't earn doctorate degrees or anything like that, so education wasn't all that important. True, but they did receive K-12 education which afforded them the basics. And what would you be willing to bet that they had inspiring teachers or maybe parents who encouraged and pushed them or well funded schools with the students in mind or maybe all of the above. I think what happened to them is that at some point, they recognized an opportunity. But until you recognize such an opportunity, you'd better not curtail you education. And under no circumstances should your education curtail your opportunities to better yourself. Pay attention politicians.

Virginia Is For (GUN) Lovers.

Well, there ya go. Virginia has just opened up wholesale gun sales to anybody who wants to buy guns in mass numbers to sell in New York and other cities so long as they have transportation to and from those cities. Oh and the cash to buy the guns. Years ago, Virginia passed a law to limit the sale of guns to one per month. They did it because it was proved that people were using guns bought in Virginia to commit crimes in other cities in the east. So Virginia decided to be good citizens and neighbors and pass that law. But the new state legislature and Governor decided, I guess, that the profits realized by these sales was more important to the gun dealers than the lives that will surely be lost to the criminals in other states. I suppose the rationale is that it just isn't Virginia's problem. Crime in New York or Pennsylvania or Delaware is their problem and they need to deal with it without asking Virginia gun dealers to give up the opportunity to make a little extra cash. For which, presumably, the state will receive a portion. At any rate, Virginia has repealed that law limiting gun sales. So if you're in the market to buy a couple hundred handguns or assault rifles, or both, why just fill up the tank and get on down there. Of course if you want that many, you may want to consider calling ahead to make sure those guns are put on lay away for you until you can make the drive, or to save you the trip until they can get them ordered from the manufacturers. By golly, this is one way to rev up the economy. I wonder if there isn't some way for all these other states to repay Virginia for it's kindness in this matter? Maybe we could pass laws shipping all our murderers and armed robbers to them. Or failing that how about building a twelve foot fence around Virginia. With a moat. And alligators. We'll need some border guards too. I'll volunteer if I'm allowed to shoot first and ask questions later.