Where Does It End?

Health care costs are ruining our economy.

Consider: GM tanks 30,000 workers because they can't afford health benefits.
Starbuck's pays more for health coverage than it does for coffee.
WalMart plans to hire only healthy workers.
The biggest cost to states is the unfunded portions of Medicaid.
The Government Accounting Office has suggested holding back on the drug "benefit" for Medicare to save money.

The United States is supposed to have the best health care in the world, except it's pricing itself out of existence. Without health insurance and without going broke the average person has no health coverage. A single doctor's visit can cost well over a $150 with blood test (common) and medicines. Come back in two weeks and it costs another $50 minimum.

If the Health Care "Industry" (it's in quotes because it's not an industry it produces nothing) is market based then what is driving the market. It's been suggested that the health insurance companies are at fault for paying the outrageous prices. On the other hand the legal system allows judgments against individuals for using services they have no way to select (an ambulance) or determine whether they can afford.

If the receivers of the service are responsible for its costs they should be able to determine what they can afford. Try to sell me a car for $30,000 and I might pass on it right now. Tell me I'm having a heart attack and will die with out services and I'll be in hock $30K without knowing where it was spent. Since I want to live I have no choice about shopping for medical care or transport. Not that it would matter. The insurance companies determine reasonable and customary fees.

Socialized medicine has been kicked around as a possible solution. It is in some ways but that makes the amount and kind of care available to the common person something at the whim of the government. And We know how much I trust the government.

One possible solution is to outlaw health insurance companies. Prohibit them from setting and paying reasonable and customary charges. Set a national fee structure based on percent of income. Maybe use a graduated system of Medicaid/Medicare/government health plans/ private insurance.

Insurance companies will be the first to scream that there is health care fraud. People trying to rape the system. I'll nod my head in agreement. I just think there are more companies raping the system (and the public) than private individuals getting an extra $10,000 for a phony back injury.

Folks this is a topic worthy of comment and recommendations. Please give me your thoughts.

Senator Boxer on NPR

Dear Senator Boxer

I heard your interview on NEVER today and as usual was deeply impressed with your sincerity and apparent honesty. I wonder if you are a spokesman for our new manifesto.

In case you are not yet familiar with the revolution I am proposing let me summarize:

Corporate America has made its wealth off the people of this country. In the days of the Robber Barons when steel was king, the giant companies owned the people's housing, sold them their food and kept them in debt so they wouldn't dare rebel.

We don't see any difference between then and now. Corporate America has the right to make enormous profits off the misery of the general population and the government, which is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people, has been usurped by corporate management.

In order for America to regain its dream the people need to step forward and reward the villains appropriately. We're in favor of dismantling faceless corporations who are influencing the government. Every dealing with corporate lobbyist should be treated like a meeting with a foreign agent. That is reported and examined for the harm they are trying to do to the national interest.

It's not in the national interest to bleed our economy dry.

It's not in the national interest to destroy the backbone of our military by making them fight a war for corporate profits. Lets' not fool ourselves any longer. Three entities are benefiting directly from this war.
Al Qaida, Iran and Halliburton.

America's interests have NOT been served by this war. The criminals who attacked us are going unpunished. The world who believed our holier than thou rhetoric will never believe in us again. Iran on the other hand has had every goal they set out to meet in their battle with Iraq met. Saddam is gone, the Shiites have political power and the region is destabilized.

Thank you George W. You did your father proud.

Senator Boxer: These may be harsh statements but I think you might see the truth in them. Now look at the mess our economy is in. The major theme running through the news recently is health care, from Wal Mart's idea of cutting costs by only hiring healthy employees to the transit strike in Philadelphia where the transit authority wants to increase the worker's health care costs. Medicaid costs are crippling state economies and old people have to spend every bit of money they saved for their retirement on medical expenses just so the state will pick up the remainder.

Then we talk about taxes and God forbid the incredibly wealthy actually pay the majority of the taxes. I was heartened to see during the Katrina tragedy that some of the overpaid talent in this country dug into their own pockets to help out the victims. More people should do that. I gave what I could. But I've got medical bills to pay.

The only way change of this magnitude will happen is by a demand for action from the people both democrat and republican. The old party lines need to be torn down and something new created. And with it a manifesto requiring the government to behave. Requiring the politicians to be scrupulously honest. And requiring corporations and other interests to desist their bribery of the elected.

Of course the media is playing their part in this mess. Instead of honest opinion and truthful reporting we get sound bites designed to entertain and targeted to spin a particular point of view. This needs to be decried by the population.

Please note: I am not calling for new laws. We've got too many laws and not enough common sense in the justice system. W gave me a belly laugh the other day when he said Scooter was innocent until proven guilty. What planet is he on? Apparently not the same one as we are, guilt and innocence usually bares little on the outcome of criminal proceedings.

So Senator, are you ready to be a spokesperson (really the word is spokesman but political correctness must get its nod), for the new manifesto? Are you ready to change the way the country does its business?

If not, let me know who has the guts, because I want to pass the flame to them.

Thank you

Madman

Corporations Aren't Our Friends

With the pending bankruptcy of Delphi, GM's spin off, we are reminded of how little corporations care about anything but the bottom line.

Corporations, like drug addicts, never think passed the next score.

America has a de-evolving economy, soaring personal and national debt, and a declining purpose in the world other than to make foreign countries economies work.

Years ago when I first heard the phrase "Service Economy" I railed against it as a put down to the spirit of America, but then our corporate leaders went ahead and focused on making profits from the "service industry."

Service Industry?

Industry produces product, basic foods, clothes, cars, buildings, airplanes, space ships.

Service is about serving. Waiting on tables, offering advice, washing clothes. A good example of a service economy is the trade that built up around the Gold Rush towns. Miners mined gold. (Productive work.) General store owners sold them gear. Saloons sold them booze and sex. Washer women washed their clothes. Bath houses opened up to bath and shave the miners. Now that's service.

America's means of production has been shipped off shore for years. There are many things we cant' make anymore because we don't have the abilities. We lose what we don't use.

I constantly see editorial cartoons mocking space industry. Yet this is one of the few areas America can still be competitive in, though not for long.

America, corporate, political, and body politic needs to wake up to the idea we must restore our economy. We won't do it by trade restriction. We'll do it by out performing everyone else, like always.

A New Export: Debt

Well I was excited to see today's paper describing our Treasury Secretary's advice for China's growing economy.

Improve their access to other people's money. Let the populous go in debt to buy more stuff. That's his advice to improve their economy. And to improve ours.

Such an improvement it would be, Oy! The communist government, if it truly cared about its people would outlaw usury for personal debt. If, instead and as expected, the communists want absolute control over their people's lives and thoughts and actions, allow them to go into debt over things they think they need. Then they won't dare rock the boat, revolt against the government or propose alarming reforms. Because they might lose access to the wonderful world of credit.

I wondered immediately whether this debt monster isn't the reason our own population is so passive about the complete lack of moral fiber in our government at the highest level? When its all you can do to make sure the bills are paid and the collectors aren't on the phone at 7:30 in the morning, who cares if the president is a liar or a womanizer or a thief?

Does anyone remember the song "Sixteen Tons"?

"You load Sixteen Tons and what d'ya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter don't ya call me, cuz I can't go.
I owe my soul to the company store."

The mining industry used easy credit to make sure the miners showed up to work and didn't strike. With no savings and all debt they needed the revolving credit to feed their families and keep their house. Nothing else could matter.

Except the miners did revolt.

Maybe we should too.

Welcome to My Nightmare

With apologies to Alice Cooper, this thought block is on debt and finance.

Credit card or unsecured debt is one of the greatest burdens on consumers. From the view point of personal responsibility, my feeling is don't take on what you can't payback. That makes good common sense.

However, what do you do when you defer common sense to corporate America? The credit card corporations become the heroin pushers of the financial world. They jolly you into the idea that "you should get the credit you deserve". Then corporate America charges usurious interest rates for propelled of putting you in debt.

Nice.

Since our society and government is all about prohibition and since credit card debt is ruinous to the fabric of our society and economic foundations of our country, why don't we require the government to cap all unsecured debt at 1/2 percent below prime rate. Debt payment would be required in one to two years with no additional debt accumulated.

One of the first reactions I have to this suggestion is that no credit card company or bank could stay in business at those sort of rates. And I don't have a problem with that.

Our economy can only thrive if it is based on productive value added. Usury is non productive. Sales commissions are non productive. Social services, except in times of desperation, are non productive.

So what happens to all those people who have gainfully employed donning debtors and holding back payments at the credit card companies and banks? With all the productive capital suddenly freed up by the relief from usury new jobs should flourish.

We need clever people to create a renewable energy economy that pays for itself. We need honest politicians and journalists. We need science as the mainstream product of our country. We don't need debt.

The Little Train That Couldn't

You have no idea how many times I've heard: That's the way the government is. There's nothing we can do about it. Maybe the democrats will win next time. Blah blah blah blah.

People, you don't get it. You are the government. What you want is what Uncle will give us. If we ask for a befuddled wish list like a little kid on Christmas, Uncle's policies and laws and campaign rhetoric is going to be just as befuddled.

How many rednecks, and I want a show of hands on this, have wanted to kick some Islamic terrorist ass for years? Do I hear a chorus of HoAhhs back there? You bet. Every testosterone toting one of us wanted to kick dirt in the face of those nasty little buggers for the cowardly attacks they've made on Americans for the last thirty odd years.

So now we have Iraq. Doesn't matter that the money trail points at a completely different reason for the war. We asked for it and we got it.

Everybody is sick of paying more taxes. So we ask for a tax break. We ask for cuts in government spending. We ask for social assistance. We ask for a strong defense against the bad guys of the world. We want to love our neighbors. We want our jobs.... ad infinitum.

So legislative and executive branch officials formulate policies, pass laws, execute executive orders to please the greatest number of people, or at least the loudest. Or the richest... What ever will ensure success at the next election. See, they really don't care what laws or policies are passed and implemented. They only want to be elected. That's where we get our power.

We the people. We speak out in a single chorus to our legislatures. We want honesty. We want fiscal responsibility. We want government support of our economy, of our educational goals, of our old age and infirmity.

We want the politicians to know we require a leader,who when questioned, and asked for true honest answers, will stop his SUV get out in the dirt risking their lives just like our sons and daughters in Iraq, and answer the real question with a real answer. Courage is a rare commodity, especially in our latest crop of leaders.

Speak up, write your congressman, or woman, or undetermined, and let them know that the echo out there is a nation of people asking for the same things. We the people are tired of politics as usual, tired of corporations buying power, tired of sound bite elections. Tell them that the people demand serious answers to the problems we are facing. Jobs and the loss of real earning power. Energy policy. (There's a subject for a couple more blogs. ) Health and elder care. Education and motivation of our children.

People it's time to speak up...

Pravda means Truth

My daughter recently found out her new job opportunity in a new city was a scam run by con men. She discovered this quickly and extricated herself from the situation with the grace and forthrightness I expect of her.

We should be as smart as her when it comes to the morass the politicians of both parties have dragged us into. Can we believe them when they tell us what we want to hear? No. They have to address the solutions to the problems in front of all of us with a reasoned, rational and comprehensible plan.

This plan needs to be evaluated by the masses. It has to meet the common sense test. Is it too good to be true? Like every other deal if the plan gives you everything you want and doesn't cost you anything then it probably is a con.

Standards of Living

Economics is fundamental to the new manifesto and is fundamental to politics. But the way most people understand economics is in how it affects them. This is the standard of living.

On my computer I keep a wallpaper of the "World at night" (http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?vev1id=5826 -) showing the lights of the inhabited world. This is illustrative of the standard of living experienced by most of the people in the world. America, Europe and Japan are the most densely lit countries. South Korea stands out as an island, because North Korea is nearly in complete darkness. A look at the more densely populated areas of the globe show less light at night then we do.

The deduction I make from this illustration is that we use more energy than the rest of the world on a per capita basis. Energy defines our standard of living. Take the worst place to live in the United States (a gentlemen of my acquaintance suggested East St. Louis but I'm sure there are other places in the US that are filled with hopeless people and crime and drugs.) and offer to transport people from Sudan or Ethiopia to live there and they would find their standard of living improved beyond their wildest dreams. Unfortunately their personal safety wouldn't necessarily improve.

The point is that standard of living is relative. What we consider abject poverty in this country is considered upper middle class elsewhere.

So what is our responsibility in this?

Well, any improvements in the world standard of living have come as a result of our own economic development. When our economy stagnates the world trembles. Given enough time the world won't care and we can become a third world country, but that isn't the way I want to see our country go.

We need to understand that every good job created through American inventiveness will move overseas eventually. That's one of our top exports. We've shipped clothing, cars and computers away and more things are going. As a nation, as a people we need to recognize this and pull together for the next big thing. Personally, I think space is the place we need to go. We need to dominate the technology of spaceflight and define the economics of space.

I also think we need to define the economics of renewable energy. Between sosphisticated technology and an inexpensive way to feed the energy jones we would have a great deal to offer the world economy and still develop a higher standard of living for our poorest people.

So along with honest politicians, responsible citizenry and a tame government, our standard of living is dependent on the economic marvels we create.


Tanstaafl.

Good Morning Vietnam ... oops I mean Iraq

Well here we go again. In a war of attrition with no clear goals, trying to force democracy down unwilling throats.

OK that might be a bit extreme, but where is it in the best interest of the US for us to force the Iraqis to have a constitution? The democratic process is supposed to be inclusive not dictatorial. If we pressure them to meet OUR timetable then we've created a puppet state without legitimacy in the Muslim world. Period. And solved nothing.

Instead, let the Iraqi government, duly elected in the face of threats of violence as they were, do their job and answer to their bosses. And our government needs to do the same.

While I haven't been writing much lately, I've been talking to a lot of people. While the President lost my confidence early in this process a lot of good people believed we truly have a leader who is doing the "right thing". They're changing their minds.

I fully and unconditionally support the efforts of our troops to control the situation in Iraq. They follow their orders, they walk into harms way every day and try to get the job done. But they aren't sure what the job is anymore. They have kids jeering them from the streets, bombs going off, people targeting them for random shootings. It sounds like Detroit.

Gray bearded thirty , forty and fifty something conservatives, ex military and current (in some cases) are universally condemning this war. There is no plan, there never was a plan.

There were hopes.

There were good wishes and nice thoughts.

But a plan? Plans are based in reality and this whole war was fantasy. I've often been warned about living out fantasies, (like when I thought I could breath under water like a fish after I had the measles) (I couldn't) as they often don't play out as expected. This hasn't .

One suggestion to help the situation and disentangle the United States from this morass is to clarify our goals. In our national mind we didn't invade and destabilize Iraq to make it a profit center for American companies. The rest of the world isn't so sure. Now that there is an Iraqi government I suggest we terminate Haliburton's contract (T for C in contracting parlance) and allow the Arab world to handle it's own contracting. The Saudi's might even be of some assistance since they hire people to do their work all the time.

Terminating Halliburton and any other American based contracting firm working in Iraq would go a long ways to supporting our contention that America didn't invade for gain. And getting the other Muslim countries economically involved in the conflict may well improve our chances of extricating ourselves successfully from Iraq.

This time maybe not from the embassy roof.

Energy Policy

Rational economics is fundamental to the New Manifesto. A rational energy policy has to be part of the economic theories we espouse.

A national energy business news letter recently described the "Hydrogen Economy" as less efficient then fossil fuels because hydrogen isn't found free in nature. They claim coal is 50% efficient and oil 30-40% efficient while hydrogen fuel cells only release 34% of the energy consumed in separating the hydrogen from water molecules.

This analysis lacks a certain accuracy.

Fossil fuels are stored energy. Solar Energy from eons past produced green plant material containing carbon, oxygen and hydrogen bonds. Time, heat and pressure turned this material into oil. If you count up all the energy expended in making oil and coal, these fuels would be considered 1 or 2 % efficient. So inefficient it wouldn't and isn't feasible to make them from scratch.

On the other hand: If 1 watt of energy creates 1/2 watt of stored energy in hydrogen and this 1/2 watt of stored energy releases .34 (34% of the energy it took to make it) watts of usable energy then the efficiency of hydrogen (calculated in the same way as oil or gas, that is the amount of recoverable energy over the amount of stored energy -- not the amount of energy required to make the fuel-- makes hydrogen 68% efficient. If you like numbers games, that's not bad.

Now if you're using conventional electrical sources powered by fossil fuels to store energy in hydrogen then you're nuts. This wastes the recoverable energy from the fossil fuels. But if you use off peak power from windmills and hydrogenerators (which is wasted power because the electrical grid can only use what is demanded, it can't store it ) then the energy is effectively free. Every watt recovered in hydrogen can be used at a later time. Off the grid.

In fact, hydrogen can be made off the grid by low tech wind farms, solar generators, and hydro plants. Without the need to satisfy the stringent regulatory requirements of the national grid system hydrogen production facilities for hydrogen can be focused on the efficient capture of released hydrogen, containerizing and using less than ideal power. For instance regulated 60 Hertz 120 volt power is not an absolute requirement for making hydrogen. Even an unregulated DC generator when connected to a pair of electrodes will produce H2 in some quantity.

The New Manifesto needs to point out the specious arguments of the vested interests. When big money is threatened by a new technology it lies cheats and steals to denigrate its upstart competitor.

Witness the beginning of our national grid system, without the development of this distribution grid the world as we know it wouldn't exist today. Nikola Tesla was the inventor of the three phase distribution system, generators and transformers we use to get power around the country. He sold his patents to General Electric and supervised the construction of the first hydroelectric power station at Niagara Falls.

Thomas Edison was the competition. He owned coal gas and DC (direct current) generating facilities as well as several patents on DC generators and electrical distribution of DC. His company was the Status Quo. He went so far as to claim all AC (alternating current) was good for was to kill people. So he invented "Old Sparky" the electric chair, which turns out to be one of the most inefficient execution methods ever devised.

Politicians take heed.

Speak the truth.

Hear the truth.

Live the truth.

Anything else defies the special relationship between the elected and the proletariat.

So Where Do We Go From Here

I was told tonight that most people are too busy living to fight the system. It's a good point. But I think, especially after rereading some of the Constitution, like I did for last night's post, that we all have to step out for a moment from behind our lives and speak out.

We have an obligation for the freedom our these old white slave owners have passed on to us. They weren't perfect and they birthed a country that's not perfect. We're spoilt, arrogant, prissy do gooders on the international stage. We're selfish, stubborn, self righteous bigots at home. And people still want to come here to live.

Go figure.

So we the people have an obligation to set a national standard. This is a call to revolution. I don't mean an overthrow of the government and the constitution. That blood soaked document is the backbone of the vision America has of itself. We just need to use it to our advantage. The political parties who are dictating the leadership and the policies in this country need to be brought to heel. Neither Republicans or Democrats have shown they have the best interests of this country at heart. They only care about power.

OK. That's the way the world works. So WE THE PEOPLE need to speak up to the caucuses and back room dealers and the politicos. Tell them that we need them to meet the basic goals of the manifesto. Tell them, Republican or Democrat, that they MUST obey. No more lies. No more sound bites. Hard, cold concrete facts.

We can't have social programs without a funding source that is renewable.

Taxes depend on the growth of the economy. With a good economy, one built on creativity and accomplishment, as opposed to subservience and dealing, people will have the money to pay taxes.

Make the tax system fair. Everyone pays, each to their ability.

Make the care of our poor, old and infirm a reality. The current system of health care must change in order to fix the problems.

Recognize the realities of economics. Economics is the study of how external forces affect the flow of trade. Everything from Aunt Myrtle's indigestion to the latest bill in front of Congress affects the economy. Greenspan proved how he could manipulate the economy by simply changing interest rates. So every change to the rules effects change to the economy. The trick is to find the right changes.

As an engineer, when faced with a problem that has too many variables to calculate I would try to derive an empirical solution by changing factors until I understood the behavior of the system. Market economists will certainly call me an idiot for suggesting it, but a public experiment might just have the effect of generating the controlled changes we need to improve opportunities for the youth and help pay for the old folks.

Think about Reagan's "trickle down economics". Not much of a theory but rather a touch stone of capitalism. Whatever it was did have an effect on the economy. Legislation guides our economy, whether intended or not. We should have front page public reporting of the effects each law has.

I'll finish tonight on this note: My investigation into the energy bill to find examples of legislative economic impact brought me face to face with the illiteracy of profundity. These boys can't get one clear thought through all of their hedging. There ought to be a law requiring clarity in bills. Maybe there is one, but they certainly didn't get the results expected from it.

I suppose that's one more thing to go one the manifesto. A style guide for clarity in legislation. Put a roomful of lawyers out of business if anyone could read these documents and no where they stood.

Details

The devil's in the details.

In order to have a new manifesto we need to be clear what that means. The manifesto is a living document that details our (the body politic) view on how the country shall be run and what the national goals are.

For instance:

We require honest politicians who look for the best ways to accomplish the goals of the manifesto.

We require universal affordable health care that is paid for by a vigorous economy.

We require constructive work in our economy. Makers are happier than users and typically more satisfied.

We require participation by all people.

We require fairness to all.

We require justice to take off her blindfold and check reality.

We require that the constitution be treated as the straightforward document it is. There are no hidden meanings or unwritten rules. We are a country of free and responsible people who OWN the government. We are not children.

We require our government to concern itself with the welfare of the citizens of this country, whether it be their economic, social or international well being. Remember Americans love to travel but we can't if a) we can't afford it and b) we're going to be killed. Let's try NOT to piss off the rest of the people in the world...

We require that the government study issues without regards to partisan feeling and present the results in a clear and concise manner to the general populous. Don't say that we won't understand, MAKE us understand.

Now some people might find this outline of a manifesto insulting. Some might find it naive. Some may agree on one point but disagree violently on others. Good. Tell me what you think. How can we make this a better document? What do we want our government to do?

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. (copied from http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Preamble)

Doesn't that speak volumes? We the people... form the government and are the government. Let us stand forth and tell them what to do.

Foreign Policy

Do you ever wonder who sets foreign policy? Are there old man in dark boardrooms making decisions based on economic (for them) advantage? Is it the concerted will of the people? Or is foreign policy set solely on the inclinations of an individual?

The essence of foreign policy ought to be the welfare of our country and our society. This might seem obvious but some of the foreign policy issues to date do seem a little at odds with the needs of our country. Like the supposed free trade pacts. CAFTA and NAFTA both allow American captal to move jobs from the US to foreign countries (or worse lets foreign capital in foreign countries take market share and jobs away from us.)

In one way it could be a good thing, taking old technology and dead end jobs from our economy freeing up workers to take on new technology related positions. But that's not happening. The technology sector is out sourced to well educated but underpaid countries like India and China where workers make a fraction of the American wage yet produce equal or better product.

Sounds hard to hear? Ask another question. How many parents are having children in their 20's come to them with carreer questions? What can you tell them? The technology bubble burst. We have more computer geeks than we need and don't want to pay them anymore. They can study the really hard biologicals and do something useful assuming they can cram all the details biology demands into their skulls before they die. Average people aren't seeing average jobs in any creative technical sector. All the kids can reasonably look forward to is making fast food or selling washing machines made in China.

Oh yeah I forgot... Our foreign policy has made many openings in the Army and Marine Corps. Great travel opportunities and rapid advancment.

What is a Minimum Standard of Living?

Good question.

I've been told by banks that your debt to income ration shouldn't exceed 36% including your home and utilities. If that is a measure to gage standard of living then lets do the arithmetic.

I live in a rural area. My house payment (mortgage + taxes + insurance) = $783 per month
Utilities (electric and oil, telephone, internet access, satellite TV) average = $702 per month
Total = $1485
For a 36% Debt to Income Ratio I must make AT LEAST...... $4125 per month

Of course that's pre tax income.....

Let's confuse the issue.... This $50000 a year supposed income is taxed at approximately 33% by all concerned with such things. That make a monthly take home of....................... $2763.75

and a net disposable income of ..........................................................................$1278.75
Of course this disposable income is needed to pay medical expenses, - $250
food - $500
gas - $200
clothing - $100
misc - $100
leaving a balance of .............. $128.75 PER MONTH
to go to savings, credit card debt, religious obligations and fun......

Not bad on $50K a year.

But that salary, based on a normal work week of 40 hours and getting paid for holidays = $24 per hour wages.

Unfortunately the median income for all occupations in Northern NY where I hail from is $26,770 which translates to ....................................................... $12.87 per hour.

Which means two people working at decent (not minimum wage) jobs, might be able to get by. Unless something happened to one of them. Or their wages didn't keep up with the actually increases in the cost of living.

More to follow.

Sound Bites (or Are we as stupid as they think we are?)

During the last presidential election the commentators constantly referred to the need to create the perfect soundbite to impress the populace.

I have to ask my self why?

These sound bites are like movie trailers. Short on substance, long on flash and sometimes its the best part of the whole movie.

What's wrong with the political system? Do they really think we're that stupid? The pundants claim the average citizen is too busy to sort through the polemics of political thought on all the muzzy issues in front of us today. They claim we (Joe Average citizen) would rather get a thorough report on Angela Jolie's latest conquest as opposed to lucid political discourse on the values and solutions presented by proposed leaders.

Instead we're supposed to vote for the guy we believe will "git 'er done" whatever we believe "it" is.

Look at the results of the last election. We got a "git 'er done" leader, no doubt in my mind. What he intends to get done is not quite within spitting distance of what Joe Average wanted him to get done.

Let's consider that the "parties" need to open a dialogue with the people, and instead of proposing they listen. It's not a Democratic or Republican position whether we need health care, support for the retirees, jobs for the kids that have a future and goals, energy in quantities to support our standard of living or honest politicians who are up front and honest with the public. Let the parties tell us what values they espouse. Who is really important to them, and how they are really going to meet our needs.

Let there be open political debate on the goals our country needs to set for itself and the methods we use to achieve these goals.

Let the press (print and electronic media) keep the reporting to substance and eschew the posing and sound bites. Hell if the press ignored the posturing then the parties wouldn't bother.

People it's time to demand honesty in politics. For the good of our country and our freedom.

TANSTAAFL

Tanstaafl is an acronym for "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch".

The sentiment comes from the sage SciFi writer Robert H. Heinlein where he explains the meaning in his novel "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress." Essentially the moon is ( in his story ) a prison colony that by its nature must be self sufficient. Nothing is free, including water and air. This tended to make the Lunies (as they styled themselves) very industrious people.

This harsh reality is not fiction but allegory.

Nothing comes free. We've heard the patriotic phrase a hundred times "Freedom isn't free, but paid for in the blood of patriots." This is true, and so is "for every profit taken someone else has to pay."

Politicians, Big Business and the People are on the this merry go round, pointing at each other saying someone else has to pay. I could go into the myriad ramifications of this you pay I profit circle but its as pointless to detail it as it is for the players to participate.

We all have to pay.

Big Business is the engine of the American economy and the People are its backbone. You can't starve the engine and you can't break the backbone. Politicos are responsible for this balancing act, or should be. Governments create an economic reality. (Oxymoron: How can you create a reality????) But in fact we bend our economic efforts around avoiding paying taxes. So does Big Business, and they do it better. Big Business does it so well that they take their capital off shore to avoid paying tax at all while removing capital from the pockets of the PEOPLE.

Fair is fair. Without the people being solvent corporate America has to rely on third world countries for its income. If we're important to their pocket books then they should treat us with respect.

If I were to write a new way of budgeting money in Washington I would make every project, every "pork barrel" (though many of them have a lot of validity in road construction and helping the local governments help the people) every need out of Congress and the White House, subject to a line item veto of the people. Not a vote so much as a comparison to the requirements of this New Manifesto.

Does the project benefit the people? Are the costs of the project being shared equitably by all sources of capital? Does the project meet the standard of integrity we expect of our government?

How many line items in the current budget would meet these requirement? Half? Ten percent? Any?? I don't know. I expect the answer is "damn few." The tax system in itself isn't fair and equitable. The burdens and expectations placed on the average working man exceed his capability to pay. The benefits of many projects are not obvious.

Why does the War in Iraq come to mind? Who is benefiting from that? Not us. Not the Iraqis, at least in the sense that its hard to plan a future if you aren't sure you'll live through the night. The only possible beneficiary of the War in Iraq project seems to be Al-Qaida. They are getting trained in the most grueling school every created, attacking and resisting the strongest, smartest and best led Army on the face of the earth. They are gaining recruits to their cause or faction or whatever they think it is.

On the other hand they are teaching the youth of the Arab-Islamic world that the only value they have to the old men who lay down the fatwahs is to die. So instead of a steady stream of eager young minds being trained to creativity and commerce they have a steady stream of fools blowing themselves to hell and leaving no hope for the rest of their people.

I guess we need to say TANSTAAFL to the mullahs as well.

Politics is Economics

In the same vein as my last post, politics is the control of economic forces.

When a group of people come together economic forces are unleashed. What one member of the group has another needs. How these needs are met defines the nature of the economy. Some places and some times the needs of one are gratified by use of force. In other times and places trade occurs. In all cases someone benefits more by the trade than another.

Politics occur when people allow their trade and equity to be controlled by an individual or an organization. In all cases the populace has to believe their leadership is serving their interests. If not, invariably, just as Rome fell, governments change.

In our country we handle this change in a less violent manner than Rome. The emperor is seldom assassinated in the physical sense. Morals, ethics and legalities, on the other hands are all valid assassination techniques in the politicos play book.

So where does that leave us. We are the backbone of the economy. As Americans we are as independent as cats. We hate to do anything other than what suits our "lifestyle". We leave politics to the dirty politicians and vote for the lesser of the evils, if there is such a thing. And we, in so doing, cede our country to the morally impoverished and egotistical.

We need more than a regime change (a favorite phrase of a certain president named Dubyah). We need a fundamental shift in the way we as Americans view government and politics. This is not a call to Anarchy. Anarchists are like Atheists. Short sighted. We need to refuse the panderings of the politically astute. We need to raise our voices in our demands for action that benefits all. Worry the side issues later. Lets rethink the American Economy.

Why? How can we do anything about something that is? The economy is a living breathing monster obedient only to its stomach. What it consumes is what it is. The advertising world has proven that over and over again. Selling $150 running shoes for kids to single parents struggling to make ends meet. Selling gas guzzling rugged four wheel drive vehicles to Moms and Dads whose idea of going off road is to drive on the grass at the soccer/ baseball/football field.

So lets tell "them" what we want to sell. We want to sell renewable energy sources and the hydrogen economy. We want healthcare for everyone. Period. We want true security for our old people and our own declining years, and a guarantee that if we should be smart enough to have something left over we can use it to our children's benefit or the benefit of others without the State expecting some or all of it. We need the rule of innocent until proven guilty to actually apply to the innocent. We need the right to protect ourselves spelled out so there can be no confusion about who the bad guy is. Self defense in the course of ones lawful normal daily life should get you a pat on the back and not a criminal hearing.

We need to NOT accept bad politicians.

If a leader is morally ethically or legally bankrupt he should not be allowed to lead us. We the people of the United States of America, shall NOT except anyone less than a leader who is fair and honest, who seeks truth and honor in his daily business and who is responsive not just to polls but to the real needs of the people.

The Economics of Politics

While, no doubt, common knowledge among the business and mercantile congnicenti, politics is a matter of economics. Money drives special interests. Money drives campaigns. Where money is spent drives voter interest.

Money. Money. Money.

However necessary money is to the wheels of government and the economy of the nation, just like your home budget, the country needs to set priorities. The moral standard we set for home should be echoed in the governments planning, but then our home budgets are a reflection, a mirror image, of the priorities the government sets.

For instance: We budget more for medicine when the government budgets less
We budget more for education when the government budgets less.
We budget less for self defense when the government budgets more.

OK and on a personal note: I spent thousands educating my children in private schools that didn't give a rats patooty about their aptitudes interests or desires. I spend thousands every year on medicines I don't really believe in, Dr's tests and hospital bills. I also have guns but not for self defense. I wouldn't want to waste the cost of the bullets (or the legal fees but that's the subject of another post I think).

The point here is: A better general study of the economics of everyday life needs to be made. Or made public. To include an accurate definition of what the "average" family spends their money on. Then figure the up and down sides of the bell curve. You know... One and two standard deviations each way? Lets see how the "deviants" live as well. Some people can make very little money and live well. Others can make "stupid" money and always be in debt. We need a thorough public study of the economy presented with scenarios everyone can relate to .

The economy is the root of our society. Not the root of its strength or the root of its problems, just the root. Always been that way. Before Rome fell the Emperor needed to keep the people happy in order to maintain order and therefore power. Several did this by ordering months of feasts and circuses where they literally fed the populace for free and entertained them all day. Most of the people in Rome went to the circuses so there was little business being done. The economy of the state quickly declined, which prevented the Emperor from paying for the bread and circuses, and the Army which revolted, killed the Emperor and replaced him with another who stole enough money to provide bread and circuses. This sounds a lot like the last few elections in the US. Slick Willy and Dubyah. What a pair of con men.

We the people need to realize the economy runs through our hands and so does the economy of politics. We don't have to take the crap politicians that are handed to us. We don't need to look for the circus. What we need is to present the pols with a coherent plan.

Do this. This is our Manifesto.

4th of July

I spent the Fourth of July celebration with some GIs just back from Iraq. We talked and drank and shot guns in my woods (all legal) and generally had a good time.

Conversation ranged from women to the tour they just completed. They didn't offer a lot of detail regarding their experiences but one comment was telling. This one grizzled veteran (28 ) said: "It's not that there's a lot of fire fights. It's the IEDs. Everytime you go outside the fence you never know if your time is up."

That's anyone's definition of courage.

We the People

For some reason we've allowed the managment of our country to de-evolve from a people driven democracy to an us vs them autocracy. Witness the trashing of presidential candidate Howard Dean. The only candidate with an honest and detailed alternative to the faux Texan in the White House was dumped by the news media because he yelled.

How F$%%))_ ignorant is that.

The only other candidate to show any metal was Rev. Al Sharpton who conceeded his candidacy on race early on but stayed to show the country that there was more to politics than a sound bite.

So the two most human and normal candidates were shunted out of the race for the presidential nomination because of they were normal and human. Instead we had the double talking sound bite generating POLITICIANS running the show. AGAIN.

And we let them run the show into the ground.

I'm not a Democrat or Republican. I am not a Liberal or a Conservative. I despise these labels because they imply a preprogrammed platform of beliefs. Mine are simple.

I believe the people have a responsibility to control the government.

I believe the government should be the rational exercise of the will of the people.

I believe we should question the actions of the government and the politicians.

I believe the government, when it acts on the will of the people, should at least offer us all sides of the story instead of feeding us bullsh$$ to get a bill passed or to appear to be doing the will of the people.

Instead we have sound bite politicians reacting and controlling our governments policies and actions. Picture this : W in any red neck bar kicking back with a long neck and a couple of chums, lets call them Bubba 1 and Bubba2.

W: Well damn Bubba whatcha thinkin' or you jest drinkin'?

B1: I'm thinkin' we need to do some ass whuppin'

B2: I could go for that. Who's ass you wanna wup? Some of them funny talkin' fellows from up North?

B1: Nah. Stirs'em up t' much. They'd send lawyers in. Can't have that's. 'S no fun beating up lawyers. They jest sue ya. I think we need to whup them Ragheads over in A-Rabia. W's Daddy did a good job of it back when.

B2: Yeah too bad he didn't have the stones to kick that bearded freak's ass.

W: Guy's!! Daddy did his best.

B1: Uh Huh. It was a pretty war. Blew the shit out of that country. Too bad we didn't get the top dawg there, though. Kinda like that bass that slipped your hook last weekend. How big you say that boy was? 2 maybe 3 feet? Damn I ain't never seen a bass that big.

B2: Well boys I don't think W ever saw a Bass that big either...

(General laughter: They all know bullshit when the see it.)

B2: Of course there's that freaky Osama Raghead. Heard tell he wants to destroy the Yoonited States of America for which we stand...

W: What country does he own?

B1. Osama? He owns a couple of plantations but he lives in a cave in Afghanistan.

W: Wheres 'Ghanistan?

B2: That's where the Rooskies got there asses kicked. Remember? All rocks and dirt.

W: Oh yeah I saw that on TV. Good movie. Let's kick the Russian's asses...

B1: Can't do that. They're our friends.

W: I' d kick your ass. You're my friend.

B1: You'd try....

B2: Guys.... Have another beer W.

W: don't mind if I do... So we gonna kick some ass?

B1: Yeah let's do it.

B2: So whose ass we kickin'?

W: Let's get Hussein. He's easier to find than Osama, his country is more like Texas and he's got OIL.

B1: Damn W. You are a chip off the old block...............................