CapitalistMarks

MRI, as in MMM, R I worried about health care!

Posted on 15. Jul, 2009 by scott.

I had an MRI today, took a couple of hours but only 35 minutes in the actual machine.  The rest was waiting. Fortunately the MRI was one of the new ones that are called ‘open’ which means translates to only terrifyingly claustrophobic.

When I got home there was breaking news on CNBC, the Senate had passed a health care bill.  After listening for only a minute I knew there was trouble.  An MRI is nothing to worry about compared to what our government can do when they pump a bill through a veto-proof Congress.  Yikes and it only took the Dems a week or so after getting Al Franken in the Senate!

Its like magic for Obama and his obedient servants.  Mr President, you may get your wish for a bill to sign by August but if you do it WILL NOT BE A GOOD ONE.

I tell you what gentlemen and ladies, America has been trying to get a universal health care bill passed for 60 years (ever since FDR’s days).  And now we are to believe that the Dems in Congress can flush out a workable solution in just a matter of weeks?

Don’t you believe it.

Of course we still have hope for reasonable dialogue on the tough issues (how to pay for it, how to lower costs, how to ‘force’ people to signup, and so on).  But I will tell you the thing I really fear after my one minute lesson during the breaking news: 8%!!

Seems the Dems in the Senate want to force employers to pay 8% of payroll to help finance this thing (a $trillion + over the next decade . . . and that’s low).  If they are starting at 8% what are they going to end up with.

Let me give you the historical example . . . and it is a good one that is entirely relevant.

Social Security.

Hang on because this is a lesson in government, politics, economics and social theory.  One you are NOT going to like.

SS is big now, but it wasn’t to start.  Today, Social Security is the largest government program in the world, the single greatest expenditure in the federal budget (21%) and represents 37 of ALL government spending and upwards of 8% of our entire GDP!!Can you imagine if we duplicate that with the Dems universal health care bill?

Originally in 1937 (the first year the 1935  ‘Old age, survivors, and disability insurance’ Act went into affect) only 1% if wages up to $3,000 were paid by the employer and employee.  That’s $60 total.   The figures for today are 6.2% and $106,800!  That’s $13,243 total.  Now, we all understand the longterm impact of inflation but the % increase is 620%!

In the midst of the greatest recession since FDR’s time (when Social Security started) we can’t afford to ‘TAX’ our employers another 8% of their payrolls.  This is particularly true of the engine of our economic miracle . . . the small businessman(woman).

And if they want 8% not what is it going to be when they really figure our how much this is going to cost?  Are they going to tack on another 8% withholding from the employees wages?  Will it end up a 16% tax?  20%?   30%?  In a year?  Two?  Five?

These are the biggest knuckleheads in our country that we are talking about here.  Guys that do everything possible to keep getting elected again and again (like our 30+ year veterans such as Hatch, Utah, and 40+ year Kennedy, Massachusetts). They don’t know what is going on in mainstreet and they really don’t care!  They have been living ‘cushy’ loves in DC far too long.

Note:  Don’t forget that my single greatest desire for our country is to see term limits for ALL elected officials.  Do I need to keep harping on this?

Point:  we need universal health care.  We can’t be a great country without caring for ALL our people.  But . . . there are other ways and they need to be explored in more than the first few weeks and months of Obama’s 1st year in office.  Let’s do it, but let’s do it right the first time.  In a sensible economic and social way.

Our ‘leaders’ need to be creative, innovative, thoughtful and concerned. Good Universal health care just can’t be this easy.  They need to consider most, if not all, alternatives and not start with an 8% tax right off the bat.  Not in this economic environment.  Such irresponsible thinking will lead to higher unemployment and even greater social costs in the future.

We need good, well-paid doctors and health care providers, but can’t we give them tax incentives, or writeoffs of student loans for service to God and Country?

There aren’t millions of people NOT getting medical care in this country (the double negative is intentional for affect . . . did it work?).  Those that need care get it and providers as well as taxpayers are paying for it already.  Can’t we figure out how to take those costs and build them into the system?

American’s tend to treat injuries and diseases.  Can’t we be more proactive and preventative in our care to reduce costs?  What about expensive tests?  Like my $1400 MRI today.  Do we really need all these or are Doctors just protecting themselves from the costly lawsuits filed by greedy lawyers?  Can’t we limit medical malpractice suits?  Like the loser being forced to pay all costs?

We have to find a better way.

Come to think of it, I might see if my doctor will order up a CatScan so I can have another couple hours to think on this.  Why not?  Our current system has no controls, no reasonable bounds, and it sure doesn’t make sense to the millions of people waiting tens of millions of hours in doctors offices every year (my personal record is a three hour wait for a 4 minute visit with a doctor).

How does any of this make sense?

Doesn’t unless you care.

So contact your congressmen and let them know you won’t stand for a ‘quickie’ bill pushed through by the Democratic majority. Not that the Republicans have offered any real alternatives.

Get a committe together of the top minds in all the related fields, put them in a room with nothing to eat but buttered popcorn and diet Pepsi.  For a week.  Bet they will come up with some great ideas.  Fast!

Let’s take the time to craft something really good, really innovative, really effective, really American!!

Thanks for your time and I hope you don’t have to get an MRI anytime soon!

Thanks to muffet of Flickr for the photo of an older ‘enclosed’ MRI

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Lessons from the Great Depression. What Obama can learn.

Posted on 04. Jul, 2009 by scott.

This essay is the third, and I think the final, installment on the efforts towards change that are being spearheaded by President Obama.  By now you should realize that BHO is doing too much too fast.  I have spent the last week underscoring this and hopefully it has sunk in.

However, there is more.

The current issue of TIME has a cover article titled “What Barrack can learn from FDR.”  There are several well thought essays inside and they include excellent points.  Primarily about the wonderful and enduring things FDR accomplished for American society.  They are all worth reading.

However,there are several negative things that can be taken from the FDR experience during the Great Depression and TIME seems to ignore them.

One is that taking on too much at a time and trying to force legislation through too fast can be disastrous ( I would bet that most congressmen NEVER read most of the bills they vote for).  The second is that mistakes will be made and therefore the President and Congress need to be confident enough to recognize, admit and act on their mistakes (this is something I really worry about with our current bunch of knuckleheads back in D.C.).

We’ve already seen evidence of these problems.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that the stimulus package that was ram-rodded through by Obama has been a dismal failure in the area that counts most: unemployment. Nearly $800 billion committed and the #1 problem to the average American is just getting worse.  We were assured, by Obama,  that unemployment would stay below 8% if the stimulus package was passed.  Today we are at 9.5% and climbing.  More money was needed to create jobs immediately. This is generally accepted by everyone now but we still aren’t acting to address the problem like FDR did — thousands upon thousands of jobs for the unemployed that provided longlasting benefits to the country.  People with jobs spend and spending pulls the economy out of the recession (consumer spending is 70% of our entire GDP . . . and don’t forget that!).

The lessons BHO should learn include the great programs FDR managed to push through that are enduring legacies of our political and economic system.  The important part here is that he didn’t get them all at once . . . it took years. How they came about is as important as the fact that they were passed!  Are you reading BHO?

Let’s look at a few.

The FDIC, important agency/legislation to protect American’s savings was passed in 1933.  Still running strong and VERY important to our economic health.

The SEC, an important agency assigned to monitor and protect American’s investments through better disclosure and other methods, was not created until 1934.  Still running strong and VERY important to our economic health.

The FHA which protected mortgage lenders and homebuyers was not created until 1934.  Still running strong and VERY important to our economic health.

The NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) which provided better employer-employee relations (think about unions here) was not created until 1935.   Still running strong and VERY important to our economic health.

The Fair Labor Standards Act which provided wage stability and minimum wages (especially to low-end workers) was not passed until 1938. Still running strong and VERY important to our economic health.

These are all important agencies and programs that have made The United States a ‘more perfect union.’  They were not all created in the vaunted first 100 days of FDR’s service.

Note the years they were accomplished.  These important legislative accomplishments took all of FDR’s first term and much of his second.  It takes time to create viable and lasting legislation.  The good stuff always takes time!

Here is where Obama should learn a most important lesson.  DO NOT TRY TO DO TOO MUCH TOO FAST!  Take your time and get it right.  Don’t expect to push through generation altering legislation in a matter of weeks.  This is doubly true for legislation that is hundreds of pages long as a result of ‘pet’ language being added by congressmen with blinders on their eyes.  Any legislation that is too long and too complicated to be read in a one hour sitting is WRONG from the start. That should be an article of faith for Congress.

What to do?

First prioritize, Mr. Obama, and I will give you some hints.  Employment, employment, employment.  Then, decent healthcare for every American.  Then good, life-changing, education for everyone (once they are healthy).  Then energy independence.  More to come as time evolves the problems.  And don’t forget to stay on top of the other ‘always there’ political/economic issues while doing this (strength of the $, trade imbalances, immigration, the environment, national defense etc. etc.).

FDR did not accomplish all he did in his first 100 days, or his first year, or his first term.  He was there trying to get things done for a long time.  Gosh, wasn’t he the only President to be elected to THREE terms (a horrific violation of the incredibly important two term limit for EVERY office in the land principle I forever advocate).

Pick your battles Obama.  Pick them one by one.  Let’s just see what Congress can get done.

And nobody believes our greatest minds are in congress so make sure you do what FDR did and get the BEST experts together on any issue and come up with viable alternatives to choose from.  Remember no new law over two pages long . . . and written in english that a fifth grader can understand.  Otherwise it is just lawyerly ego and jibberish that is going to be challenged in court for decades and mean nothing to the general public.  As part of this keep a ‘court’ of the ten best economists from around the WORLD on retainer.  They will advise of warning signs and such and you should really listen if there is ever a majority opinion because that is as rare as a purple diamond when you are dealing with economists.

Enough said on this matter.  It has taken all week to get this done.  I hope those who read this will agree and recommend this as reading for 10 others who will then do the same.  If this continues within a few months Capitalistmarks will become the clearing house for intelligent and worthy solutions to most of our problems.

We the people can and should take our country back.  A grass roots movement can do this.  But you have to care for it to work.

It is up to you now, dudes.

Join the band wagon of liberty, freedom, capitalism, and fun.

Join Capitalistmarks.com.  Its free its easy and its necessary!

By the way, if I don’t hear from you with your own ideas I am assuming you agree with mine.  And if that is the case you should be telling others read and participate.

thanks for the foto to flickr’s egadapparel

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President Obama, why don’t you trust us?

Posted on 03. Jul, 2009 by scott.

President Obama is missing America’s real strengths and the rest of us should remind him.

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Obama might be biting off more than he (we) can chew!

Posted on 02. Jul, 2009 by scott.

Holy mackeral, now I am starting to get worried.

President Obama is biting off way more than he can chew and I have stopped worrying and started becoming frightened.

Yep, BHO has begun to believe all the press releases (the ones he approved anyway) and he is starting to think that we need a whole lot more change than one President should reasonably expect (at least this quickly).

Turn the economy around?  Yes, we gotta see you do that.

Health care?  Of course, we need good health care that is affordable (or subsidized) for everyone!

Energy change?  Well, yeah, but not the kind you are pushing Mr. President.

Here is the bottom line.

We can afford to spend $3Trillion on turning the economy around because we have to.  This is the worst recession since the depression so we expect it and need this government intervention.

We ought to afford a trillion $ or so for decent healthcare.  This is America and if you can’t be healthy enough to vote then something is wrong and a bunch of us fit in that unfortunate and big bucket.

That’s not all there is to it though.  These ‘programs’ have to be financed.

Where does the money for all this stuff come from? They have got to be paid for somehow and there is only one way: taxes.   Come on, who ever heard of government cutting costs? So the ‘wealthy’ pay (as defined by the democrats this is anyone who already pays taxes–and the rest are those who ‘vote’ for democrats).

So, our taxes are going up because we have to pay for the bailouts.  Truth is they are going to be awful for the few that actually pay them.  They rest, well ya’all can just sit back and collect your entitlements because that is the way Pelosi and her pups want it and they are in the majority (at least today).

But this energy thing the House just passed is nuts!   It passed without anyone reading it –how could they it is nearly 1500 pages long!

The Prez and his lapdogs in Congress are over-reaching.  By a lot.  They have enough votes (they think–though even some intelligent democrats see this for what it is) to pass anything . . . to blow it right by the ‘mindless’ and ‘preoccupied’ general public.  Yikes!!

Worse, Obama is cruising along thinking he is superman (politically anyway).  He is feeling enobled (a lot more than enabled) by his submissive and agreeable cohorts in the legislative branch.

Dang, on top of that his lovely wife and wonderful kids have turned the Whitehouse into an ‘09 version of the famous Kennedy ‘Camelot.’  A PeterPan place where no wrong can be done or even attempted  . . . until it is too late.

Ahh, that dang energy bill, a disaster of epic proportions that Pelosi and Reid are trying to push through without listening to the loyal opposition (which really should be anyone who pays electric utility bills associated with any kind of coal generation).

This is bad legislation.  From the first word to the three millionth (remember 1500 pages).  It will increase the cost of electricity incredibly, it will decrease consumer spending by ‘taxing’ the hard earned $$ of all Americans (not just those that pay income taxes).  It could deepen and extend the recession.

All for climate change?  Climate change–heck yeah, our homes will have thermostats set to 85 in summer and 55 in winter — that’s really climate change!

I have been fully behind the President until now.  And I am ready to go fully against his ‘reign’ if this bill even comes close to passing as it now stands.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

Yechh.  You can’t even read it–let alone understand it–let alone try and implement it!

Shoot.  There ought to be a law against any law that is more than two pages long!!

Yes, we need energy legislation but not this kind.  Anything ‘we’ do right now relative to energy needs to be couched in terms of energy independence.  In today’s economy anything that has the words ‘carbon capturing’ or ‘cap and trade’ is folly.

BHO needs to get his Democratic compatriots under control and ditch this bill as it now stands.  America and Americans are in NO position to pay increased taxes further than already necessary for economic recovery and probably universal healthcare.

I believe I stand with the majority of Americans on this:  ‘We’ will pay for just about anything to do with energy independence, but ‘we’ will NOT pay for forcing green energy down our throats . . . and that goes double in the middle of a deep recession.

Do what we must and can, not what a few knuckleheads in Washington, D.C. think is ‘cool.’

And, by the way, President Obama, stop trying to control the media and the polls by dictating who and what is going to be asked of you in press conferences.  Nixon was proof of how bad that can turn out.

Mr. President, stop thinking like a lawyer and start thinking like a school teacher or an economic blogger! Now, THAT would be ‘cool.’

thanks for the pic to teamstickergiant

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America’s empty plate. Unemployment!

Posted on 28. Jun, 2009 by scott.

Our stock markets are up 35% or more since March 9.? Optimism reigns from that self-promoting Cramer on CNBC to the usually cautious Bernanke.? Even the Michigan consumer confidence #’s are up (because they only interview the 85% that are employed, I guess).

Yet, I’ve got neighbors that don’t know how to make ends meet.? Their plates look pretty empty.? And there are about 10,000,000 others just like them out there!

What gives?

Unemployment, that’s what, you knuckleheads in Washington D.C.!? You give billions to Citi and AIG and Chrysler and GM (and a bunch others) to keep their low-powered but high-maintenance executives busy . . . but what have you done lately for my neighbors?? What about the guys and gals I see panhandling at nearly every freeway exit?? How about the poor folk that are living in tent cities (those that local governments haven’t kicked out so we don’t have the constant reminder)?

NOTHING.? Or at least that is how it seems.

Unemployment hit 9.4% today.? The real unemployment is 16.4% when you add in the frustrated people that have quit looking for jobs or taken part-time work just to survive.? That is 16.4% of our neighbors that are going begging.

What about all that vaunted stimulus money that Obama and Giethner and Summers keep talking up?? Hey, folks that stuff is mostly back end loaded.? We won’t see that for another year or so.? Our leaders are sleeping at the wheel.

It is great that BHO is off trying to assuage the hurt feelings of the thugs in the middle-east who have been holding us hostage to oil prices/supplies for the last forty years . . . sure we need some of their help and we need them to make nice.? BUT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD MR. PRESIDENT DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE UNEMPLOYMENT BEFORE YOU START TRAVELING FULLTIME!!!

Crap, why can’t you and Congress start rebuilding the 50% or so of our bridges that are ready to fail.? What about the dams and reservoirs that are weak and overburdened.? How about the 310,000,000 pot holes in our roads (at least one for every man, woman and child in the country)?? How about upgrading our telephone, electricity and water delivery systems?? What about our sewers (you know the ones that fail and create sinkholes big enough to eat an 18-wheeler for lunch)?

Put some people to work Obama.

Start handing out $$ to the middle-class Secretary Giethner (instead of the greedy bankers).

How about recommending that we clean up our lakes and rivers Presidential economic advisor Larry Summers?

Don’t tell me it takes two years to get some real money into the pockets of the women and men who want to work for a living?? China is setting the example with front loaded infrastructure projects.? Let the dang banks and financial institutions pay back the money we ‘loaned’ them, and start creating jobs.? Get the dang money and do some good with it, somehow, someway, somewhere . . . somesmart!

There is only ONE big problem in our economy President Obama.? The same one I have been railing on for, ohh about a year now!

Unemployment, unemployment, unemployement!!? Jobs, jobs, jobs!!!

Get home and get to work quick BHO or your artificially and unjustified popularity numbers are going to start looking like the unemployment stats.? That’s right in the freaking teens!!

The awful numbers will just keep climbing . . . and those are voters.

Do it and do it now!

Thanks for the photo from flickr to brandi666

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Iran’s failed government. Why its so.

Posted on 24. Jun, 2009 by scott.

Iran is a failed state.? The downfall may not be in the next few weeks like most intelligent and educated people hope.? Not when the government is willing to kill its own people. But the fall will come.? History tells us it will be so.

Can you show me even ONE theocracy that has survived the test of time?? I didn’t think so.? No religious leader should believe he (haven’t been many female religious leaders though Ann Lee comes to mind) represents the will of God for all mankind.? Sadly it appears that Supreme Leader Khamenei in Iran believes just this.? And his henchman Ahmadinejad supports it.

History and reality are not on thier side — thank God!

How well did the Popes run things during the dark ages?? It isn’t a good part of history to look back on.? What about Jim Jones and the mass suicide he promoted?? You can find a whole bunch of other examples if you look.? The facts are there.

And why do you think that is?

Simple really.

The sacred scriptures of any great religions simply do NOT promote civil and religious control as a revealed standard.

Take Jesus.? He said, ‘render unto Ceaser’ and understood that the people would make their own decisions about how to live.

How about Mohammed?? In the Q’uran it is reported? ‘In religion there should be no compulsion’ (Surah 2 verse 256 just so Khamenei can check it out in his own copy).

How about the great Jewish leader Moses?? Don’t forget “Let my people go!”

One of the great things the founding fathers did was insist on separation of church and state (notice that the words are not ‘religion and state’ — but that is a whole other discussion).? In America people can chose how they want to live, how they want to worship, what day will be their sabbath.

And it works great.

We have happy people of all kinds:? Jews, Catholics, Methodists, Adventists, Mormons, Muslims, Buddhists, Wickens, and even Scientologists.? We work and play together.? Within a few minutes of my home I can drive by a synagog, a cathedral, a temple, a mosque, a chapel, a church . . .? and there are good people around each of them.

Its downright liberating!

Iran just doesn’t get it — you can have a good nation of good Muslims without dictating and controlling everything the people do.? Look at Indonesia (the nation with the most Muslims), or Turkey, or, or, or . . . Jeez Louise . . .? America.

Democracy works for everybody, theocracy works for only the few in control.? Democracy promotes unity through diversity.? Theocracy promotes the opinions of the religious elite.

Hey, Ahmadinedjad and Khamenei, If you go against nature (freedom of choice) or even against the scriptures you are supposedly so committed to, then you are bound to fail.? If not today then tomorrow, or the next day.? Let the people chose.? Don’t force religion or your own opinions on anybody, let alone everybody.

Dudes, avoid the plague of flies, the blood flowing in the rivers, the death of every first borne and a whole bunch of other bad things you will be responsible for.? Do what is right.? Trust the guys and gals on the street.? Make Iran a better place.

Let your people go.

Thanks for the flickr photo to .faramarz

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Power to the people! Shareholders that is.

Posted on 18. Jun, 2009 by scott.

I think it was Yoda who said “Power, with the people, is.”? If not he should have.

Today I want to further embelish my proposed new capitalism.? The issue now is public companies and the salaries and benefits they pay as well as the way the conduct business.

Adam Smith, John Meynard Keynes and John Kenneth Galbraith were all supportive of public companies.? I am too.? But not so much in the way they are run today.They aren’t for the shareholder that’s for dang sure.

The simple truth is that the laws, regulations and even traditions associated with publicly held companies in America are outdated.? “In the beginning” shares were sold by reputable owners to neighbors and friends (perhaps a few friends of friends).? The point then was that very little regulation was needed because? morality and personal obligation most often over-rode any potential greed or misconduct.? Owners and management were intended to benefit according to their contribution (i.e. capital, time, skill, technical know-how, patents and so on).? If things went bad, shareholders could walk right in to the presidents office (of the company they invested in) and complain or argue to effect change.? These conditions didn’t vary much for a long time and I will admit there will abuses.

The rules and regulations that have survived reflect this.

Now, we have huge multi-national corporations with millions of shareholders (individually or through mutual funds, retirement funds and such).? Most Americans today own shares in public companies directly or indirectly.? Even though we (shareholders) are entitled to attend the annual meetings and vote for selected issues and directors, the fact is that few, if any, of us do.? There are several reasons for this and among them are:? the meetings are in far off places and hard to get to (intentionally??), the shares (relatively) most shareholders have are insignificant to the whole, management drafts and controls the issues to be voted on or discussed at the annual meeting, etc. etc. etc.

Yet one very important thing has not changed in the 500 or so years of history associated with you and I owning shares in corporations — WE ARE STILL THE OWNERS!!? Yes, we put up the money and we should be getting the attention we deserve for doing so.

Few people really focus on that.? Management doesn’t.? The board of directors don’t.? The government regulators don’t.? And, conseqeuntly you and I don’t — and we should.

This has to change in the new capitalism ( see Capitalism Redux) that I have written about before and would like to see evolve during BHO’s first term.

What I am now going to propose may not be perfect but it is a good beginning point for the administration to restore shareholder interests.? And, by the way, this would have a tremendously positive impact on the stock markets — if for no other reason than we, the people, we feel like we have some real ’say.’

These changes would be required by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and every public company would have to follow them.? They would not have been possible twenty years ago but technology makes them easy today.

Here they are.

1:? Each public company would keep a current and accurate list of ALL individual shareholders (now the majority are invisible to management because their shares are only reported as consolidated in the funds that own them).

2: Each public company would be required to make the list readily available to every shareholder including contact information (most importantly email addresses, but the other stuff too).? Every shareholder would be able to contact and influence every other shareholder directly.

3: Each public company would provide immediate alerts of news to EVERY shareholder BEFORE it goes out to anyone else (or at least at the same time).

4: Each public company would maintain a fully functional website for shareholders and interested parties.? This site would facilitate communications, discussions and even debate through blogs, questions to management (the PR department anyway), and other such means.

5: Since every shareholder would have access to all the above, any single activist shareholder could conduct thier own campaign for change by communicating directly with his other ‘partners’ as well as management.

6: Every public company would be required to have a vote on any issue that a reasonable % of shareholders agree on –? and majority rules.? I understand that this might make annual meetings a bit more uncomfortable for management but if things aren’t going swimmingly for the shareholders then management shouldn’t be sleeping very good at night either.

The whole point of all this is to return control of the company to the owners — the shareholders.? Not day to day management, but real control of important issues like who is running the company and how much they are getting paid to do so.

Shareholders will have a say on compensation, on the board of directors . . . heck on just about anything that is really important.? AND THEY SHOULD!!!

This would stop the current trend of management ignoring shareholders to line their own pockets, to produce dangerous products, to take advantage of labor, to go offshore and avoid taxes . . . . . .

If we make such sweeping, consequential changes would we only be returning to the basics of true capitalism — the Adam Smith type that worked so well for so long.? People will chose the products, the strategies and the companies that they believe with their $$$.? Management will be responsible to the people (owners) and will get their butts kicked if they step out of line.? Hey, won’t it be great to get rid of all those obscene ‘golden parachutes’ interlocking boards vote for themselves!

I don’t want management, directors, huge hedge funds, mutual funds or large retirement funds (managed by their own ’select’ people) making decisions for me.? I WANT TO VOTE ON EVERY IMPORTANT ISSUE OF ALL THE COMPANIES I OWN SHARES IN AND I WANT TO HELP DECIDE WHAT ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT.? You don’t have to vote or get involved if you don’t want to, but the point is that under these new regulations you can if you want to.? Ain’t happening today that is for sure.

To begin we, the people, need to take control back.? Send this to everyone you know.? Let’s start a real grass roots effort to make the change we need.

Capitalism Redux!!

Power to the people!!

Oh, no picture today, I want you to focus on the words!!

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Sotomayor. Supreme Court error by Obama.

Posted on 09. Jun, 2009 by scott.

I want real diversity!!

President Obama got his nominee to SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) really wrong.? Sure it is great to have another woman.? A hispanic would be great too.? But six Catholics — two thirds of the Supreme Court — all at the same time?

How the heck is that diversity?

The other three don’t offer all that much diversity either.? Two Jews.? One protestant.? Wow, way to go BHO, you’ve really proposed effective change!

It wasn’t too long ago that it was a big deal to elect the first Catholic President (Kennedy),? so how do we end up with six Catholics on a 9 person SCOTUS?

Hey, I know a lot of Catholics, even have some in the family, and I like them all.? Good people with big hearts.? The first girl I ever really cared about was Catholic.? And, there are a lot more of them than there are of any other single Cristian faith.? To wit: about 23% of Americans are Catholic (67 million in ‘07) so how do 67% of the SCOTUS end up Catholic?? And two Jews?? They represent less than 2% of our population. One protestant?? Heck, they are more than 50% of us.

Come on Mr. President gives us real diversity and real change.? How about two Catholics, four protestants, one jew, one Mormon, one Muslim/Buddhist or Hindu on SCOTUS?? That would seem a LOT more like the mixing pot we are.

I couldn’t really care less who serves on SCOTUS, just as long as we don’t have a majority of any one religious or political ideology at the same time. There ought to be a law!

And, by the way, when the founding fathers wrote the Constitution, the average life expectancy was less than 55 years old.? Now that my own dad is 92 and my mom is 90 it is time to recognize that a lifetime appointment is giving any 50-something far too much influence and power for way to long.

Terms limits for all elected and appointed officials!!? Where is the hue and cry?? Am I alone in this wilderness of common-sense?

Wake up Mr. President.? How could you even think, let alone say, that diversity comes with an overwhelming majority on SCOTUS from a single religion?? What about separation of state and religion?? Why aren’t the abortion lobbies going nuts?? Could it be for the simple reason that they are mostly democrats?? What about fresh and diverse background for fresh and diverse opinions?? It can’t be all about race all the time . . . what about creed?

I want real diversity and real change.

I am beginning to wonder if Obama’s first 100 days were just a fluke?

Jeez Louise, I sure hope he is not another Bush in sheep’s clothing!!

thanks to flickr’s prakhar for the foto

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Economic forest. Where to start?

Posted on 02. Jun, 2009 by scott.

Obama is plugging along, well into his 2nd hundred days in office.? How’s he doing?? Generally pretty good, in my opinion.? A hurricane of fresh air compared to the last 8 years.

But . . .

He is showing signs of missing the boat in the economic and social part of his growingly complicated and wishful agenda.

Two things worry my right now.? The first is his lack of attention to the single biggest economic and social issue of our era . . . Social Security/Medicare.? The second is his continuing lack of concern about unemployment.

Some words of wisdom on both.

I believe that BHO has it right when he points at NOW as the time to implement universal health care.? How can we even consider ourselves a great nation, let alone the greatest, if we fail to provide basic health care for every single one of our citizens?? We can’t.? So that is high on his agenda.? However, he is completely neglecting the pending failure of Social Security and Medicare and they are inextricably related.? Everyone in this country who is not in the highest tax brackets has a varying degree of reliance on these social programs.? Yet, we know they will fail.? Sooner rather than later in the case of Medicare (2017 or earlier).? Our governments unfunded liabilities in these two programs make the current bailout and stimulus package pale in comparison (in the tens of trillions of $$).

The problem here is that even the government has recognized this for a least a generation.? No one wants to do anything about it.? How is BHO going to implement a ’self-funding’ universal health care system if all retirees are bankrupt and living under the nearest freeway overpass? Frankly, I’m already staking out my spot.

This problem has to move to the forefront now.? We have to stop delaying the debate and move on it before it is a bigger crisis than energy independence.

Unemployment.? Jeez Louise, haven’t I said enough about this already?? China has the bulk of their stimulus package tied up in infrastructure projects that are creating meaningful jobs.? There economy is growing still.

And, remember there is a multiplier effect with any new jobs (as in every new job created by the government’s stimulus creates another? half a job or so in the service/retail sectors — the people with new jobs are going to eat and spend somewhere!).? What has BHO done.? Any infrastructure money is limited and mostly out at least 12-18 months.? He’s more worried about the money flow than who it needs to flow to!

Unemployment is 8.9% today (later this week I believe we will see it at 9.3% or even higher).? We have to do something.?

Bail out the banks? Done.? Bail out GM and Chrysler?? Done.? Bail out other financial firms that have close ties to Washington through their lobbyists (AIG, GE, airlines etc.)?? Done.?

Create jobs for the average Joe.? Haven’t even started.?

We are still sliding down that slippery slope with increasing speed.? At the bottom is one heck of a concrete wall and we are heading right for it.

Create jobs Mr. President.? Save our retirement? funds and medicare.? Help out the average American, not those knuckleheads who pay the most taxes but don’t shop at Walmart and the Dollar Store witht he majority of us.

There is an economic forest out there.? Real thick admittedly.? But look for the biggest and weakest trees in the economic and social food chain.? Social Security.? Medicare.? Unemployment.

Please Mr. President.? Please, Michelle.

Don’t care if the markets are taking off.? Don’t care if the future looks bright to Timothy Giethner or Larry Summers or the CEO’s of our corrupt banks.?

Do care if we won’t have anything waiting for us at the end of the 66 year rainbow.

Start with the issues just discussed.?

Then, in 4 or 8 years your legacy will be genuinely positive.? Give us all a future.

Thanks for listening folks, and keep those $$ pouring into the social tax buckets, I’m going to need them sooner than later.

And, you will too someday!

?

Thanks to flickr’s mgspiller for the foto

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GM, the Macro impact of Micro failure!

Posted on 29. May, 2009 by scott.

This is a brief lesson in macro & micro economics.? It is a friday evening musing about the failures of America’s once giant automakers and the impact these failures will have on the future.? Read this before next monday so you can watch the reality of greed versus need.

Then let me know if you think what you will learn from this is important, correct or even interesting.

En garde!

Many months ago I told a macro economic class I was teaching that GM was going to file bankruptcy (last September to be exact).? Now about $40 billion of taxpayer money later, the government and the company have come to the same conclusion.? How sad that it took this long.? I wish we had let this process go on during the trauma of late ‘08 and early ‘09 so it would be over by now.? But then our government knows best (uhhuh, like Madoff knew best).

Here is the quick catch up lesson.

Macro economics is the economics of a nation (geo macro in the case of multiple nations).? The stuff you have to understand here is GDP, interest rates, monetary policy (how the fed determines interest rates), fiscal policy (how the congress taxes us and spends our money), unemployment rates and such.

Micro economics is the economics of consumers (ultimately).? It is all about how companies manufacture, finance and market products or services and how consumers interact with those decisions.? The stuff you have to understand here is supply and demand, elasticity of demand, prices, labor costs, profits and such.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the two are closely related.? Government policy helps determine whether business can afford to grow (or not).? Corporate decisions help determine whether consumers can afford (or want)? a product or service (or not).? The relationships go far beyond these obvious ones, but I am sure you get the idea.

Now, something on GM.? In an act of full disclosure I will tell you that I have not spent any money on a GM product since I bought a (very) used Pontiac Chieftain as my first car (for $200 by the way).? A second disclosure.? I have spent money on American made cars (three Jeeps) in the last 20 years but I haven’t been happy with any of them.? They break down, cost a fortune to fix, have horrible warranties that require a law degree and the patience of Job to deal with and are generally unreliable.? On the other hand the Hondas and Toyotas I have bought (about 5 so far) have been reliable though expensive to fix (even more than my Jeeps to be honest — but they last at least three times as long — one of them has over 200,000 miles on it and keeps on going!).

Next lesson.? Why the micro economic failure of GM (and Chrysler)?? These are also obvious.? Things like making the unreliable cars they believed people wanted, making cars getting less than half the average mileage efficiency of foreign competitors, making cars so big you can’t park them in a mall (in Europe I saw THREE of their cars parked in a single space next to a honkin’ big old Hummer that took two!) and so on.

Hey, Ossama Bin-Laden captured a Hummer and we’d capture him easily if we just waited for him to ‘park’ the sucker by his caveor try to fill it up at the local terrorist gas depot!

Who is to blame for the GM failure?

Management, yes.? Government, yes.? Consumers, yes.

In a world where we are using exhaustible resources (gasoline) like they were unlimited, where we import so much oil that our national defense is at risk, where middle-class consumers are continually falling down the economic ladder, where consumers allow the greed/pride pressure of ‘advertising’ influence decisions . . . we all have failed.

GM should have known better, Bush-Clinton-Bush should have increased mileage standards long ago (as promised but NEVER with follow-on), Joe Plumber should have been satisfied with a trailer for use as needed rather than a truck capable of hauling an M-1 Abrams tank!!

It is too late to pass the blame around and accomplish anything, but, it is NOT too late to learn from this lesson and make changes going forward.

GM today is a lost cause.? The market cap of the whole freaking company is less than the cost to build a good bridge.? Nobody in their right mind wants a Hummer (excepting the afore mentioned Bin-Laden).? And yet, when they declare bankruptcy next week the macro impact is going to be humm(er)dinger.? Jobs will be lost, investments will be lost, confidence will be lost.? I expect the markets will take in with benign indifference.

But they will be wrong to do so.

Jeez Louise, the president of GM was asked to resign by Obama and his team.? Are we really going to let the government run the ‘new’ company that will come out of bankruptcy?? Afraid so but sure as heck don’t want to see it.

How badly do you want to buy a car from a guy like Joe Biden, Harry Reid, or Orrin Hatch?? Its carcinogenic to even think about!

We have two choices as a nation.? Let this happen and watch from afar or let our elected officials (and our ‘retailers’) know that we want real macro change as a result of this particular micro failure.? This is bigger than the banks (CITI) , the mortgage companies (Wachovia) or the insurers (AIG).? This is about our future (i.e. more than five years down the road).

We have to stop abrogating responsibility and take power from our government.? We the people have to stop buying gas hogs.? We have to insist on cars we can park with one hand and a broken rearview mirror.? We have to stop paying attention to the ads and make decisions for our own good.? And, by the way, we have to stop using plastic shopping bags and just recycle the ones we pull off branches of trees on the way to the grocery store!

Did you think I was going to write about rising unemployment?? Lost investments?? Angry union workers?? Really?

If you did, then you are part of the problem.

The real macro impact of this failure has to be the considered response of more than 300 million American consumers.? If the government won’t do what they should, then we must shine the light for them.

Think about it . . . what kind of car do you want your children or grandchildren to be buying for their first car out of highschool?? Not a Pontiac Chietain (about 11 mpg and big enough for a mainsail and a jib).

Nope, a Prius or something like it and hopefully made in America.

The macro impact is ours to make.? Don’t miss this opportunity to stop sending our $$ to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.? Take this opportunity to save $$ and time and our future so that our grandkids can afford to play golf or go camping.

You are the ‘micro’ in micro economics, but shoot you can also be a part of the ‘macro’ in macro economics.

I’d love to hear your opinion (but you dang well better agree!!).

Thanks to franco folini for the flickr photo

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