There is a group of Americans that are known, in certain circles, as the Tea Baggers (TB’s), they belong to an organization called the “Tea Party”. I’ve only seen them on TV, but they look like neighbors and family that are willing to get off their butts and be heard.
What are they saying?
The original TB’s were reacting to a tea tax levied by the King of England and their war cry was “No taxation without representation”. The present day TB’s don’t seem to have as coherent a message, at least not related to taxation and representation, unless it’s the fact that they aren’t represented, but some are being taxed. They carry signs at the various rallies that I’ve seen. The signs say what they are against; higher taxes, bigger government and what they are for; carrying weapons, freedom of speech and to generally do what they want to do without government interference; and I’m for Santa Claus, Mom and apple pie. What I’m for is easily delineated, what they are for is a little more complex. Why did these folks really get off their butts to demonstrate?
High taxes? We in the USA pay, including income, corporate, Social Security and excise taxes about half as much as other developed countries, according to The Tax Policy Center. That’s one group’s set of figures. The Heritage Foundation (a right wing think tank) comes up with a figure that we pay as much as the Japanese, and about 35% less than most of the other developed nations of the world. So what do the TB’s want when they plead for lower taxes? Zimbabwe and Bangladesh take a much lower % of GDP.
My unofficial count had the “We want smaller government” or “Government is too big” signs as next most popular. Government smaller than what, or too big for who? To get smaller government, what would one cut out? Defense (3/4 of a trillion), Highway repair, hospitals (VA), Medicare, Social Security, US Postal Service, courts, FBI, CIA, SEC, National Park Service, SEC, EPA, IRS, FDIC, Federal Reserve and the list goes on. What about agricultural subsidy payments to farmers, and education? Speaking of education here’s a fact for you, China and India graduate 7 times as many engineers as we do. In 20 years the United States will be a second rate nation. Is that what we want? I saw Michelle Bachmann on C-Scan the other day, screaming at the top of her lungs, “Get rid of them all”. “We don’t need government, leave us alone!” I saw some older people with signs “Don’t touch my Social Security” and “Don’t touch my Medicare” and I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that within 5 years a new sign will appear; “Don’t touch my health care, unless you want to give me more”. I don’t see any signs that say “Educate our kids better” or “We need more engineers”. Is there any thinking going into these demonstrations?
Some commentators on radio, TV and in print ask, “What has the government ever done right? I don’t know what country they’re asking about. My personal answer to that question is the U.S.Government does a lot of things extraordinarily well. Believe it or not, the US Postal Service is the best in the world. There is less corruption in our government, there is more responsiveness, our service academies are the envy of every nation and all the people in the United States who work for the Federal, State and Municipal governments spend their money here, not in Argentina, Brazil or India. The US Government doesn’t outsource to China or India like our fat cat corporations. The TB’s should look at all the government financed inventions and the products that came from government sponsored R&D. Our government has changed the world with its research backed products; the internet, transistors, solar panels and hundreds of others. The United States has 18 of the 20 best universities in the world, and our government is their largest supporter. I’m proud of what my government has accomplished for the betterment of mankind and its citizens. Little government can’t do these things and corporations won’t do it. They want a return on investment immediately, government has more patience.
Where does big government come from? How did it get so big? I know that I didn’t do it and I’ll bet that you didn’t do it either. So who did the dirty deed? My guess is that a nonvoting entity called the U.S. corporation. Why do corporations spend so much money on lobbyists and campaign financing? Surprise! They do it to get more money for their special interests and all this money goes to make for bigger government in the form of new and bigger projects. Corporate America is involved with everything. If the corporations weren’t putting so much pressure on the congress, the government would have never got to the size that is. The congress would never have come up with all the programs that it has over the years except for the corporate pressure that has been applied over the years. This is why our defense budget is so big. We spend more on defense than all the other countries in the world added together. The “military, industrial complex” runs this country, and they don’t have one vote. Not one Vote!
Where are the trillions of dollars that we’ve been spending on wars, that aren’t even near to being necessary? They, the dollars, went to the “Military Industrial complex”. One of our greatest generals, President Eisenhower, warned us about the “Military Industrial complex”, he was extremely distrustful of them. Nobody was threatening to invade the USA with millions of troops, but the Bush/Chaney cabal managed to get us involved in two wars that are unwinnable. Instead of spending the money on promoting alternative fuels, they send our troops out against ghosts of the cabal’s making to protect an oil supply that is not protectable. The corporations have the money and they buy the votes.You, I and the TB’s have no say in the process. The politicians tell us to go out and vote. Vote for what, vote for whom? You tell me.
The people of the United States have to start thinking of the future. If we spend on educating more engineers and R & D, the new industries that develop will create well paying jobs which will create the taxes to pay off our debt. The debt will never be paid off by a second rate country. Let’s keep America first!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
It Doesn’t Have to Get Ugly
By Bob Bregman
Yes, Eddie everything you say could come true, but like they say in Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess; “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” There is a way out of this mess
A little background first. Since WWII, the recessions in the USA have generally been caused by our penchant for over selling; autos, housing, capital goods (steam shovels, diesel engines, jet aircraft, etc.). Not all at once mind you, sometimes it was autos, sometimes another industry.
The auto companies in order to keep their factories going would give bigger and bigger discounts; however the buying public would eventually have all the new cars that they could afford, and then some that they couldn’t afford. At that point there wasn’t anyone left to sell a car to and inventory piled up in the dealers lots and in rail yards and in factory lots. The result was that the auto manufacturers had to shut the factories down and lay off workers. So, we had an inventory recession which lasted until the public decided that they had paid down enough debt and started to creep back into the showroom and the same cycle would start again. The exact same scenario played out with micro-chips, computers, swimming pools, hula hoops, you name it, but at different times vs autos or capital goods
The big deal this time is that we pushed the string on autos, housing and capital goods all at the same time and now we have an inventory recession in the three biggest industries at the same time and that’s why we feel this recession so deeply. One doesn’t have to point fingers; we were all in on it. Oh, some more than others, but there is hardly anyone who didn’t participate one way or another, on the front side or the back side (except, of coarse, me and you ;-) ).
Why is it so difficult to get out of this unholy mess? One main reason is that while the country is waiting for the inventory of homes and cars to get chewed up; there are no new industries for the workers to get jobs. Another reason is that the public’s credit has to be replenished, this takes savings. If the public is saving, the public isn’t spending. 70% of what happens in the USA, sales wise, is done by the public. Without that number growing, the economy doesn’t grow. The economy runs on credit, if the consumer is not using his credit, we get a serious slow down. We get what we are going though now.
What happens now? The government steps in and honestly like the horse cavalry, comes to the rescue. Hooray! We need an energy policy; the government can provide one that sponsors alternative energy projects. The USA, the most efficient and inventive country in the history of mankind, is falling behind in the race to become the preeminent manufacturer of alternative energy systems; wind, solar, geothermal and nuclear. As an example take the wind turbine industry, of the top ten turbine companies in the world, only one, GE, is in the United States. How can the congress let this happen? Another example is China. The Chinese are building solar power manufacturing facilities as fast as they can. Why aren’t the Republicans as up front as the Democrats in trying to craft an energy bill that will eventually create millions of well paying manufacturing jobs? I believe that an energy bill will get through the congress and lots of money will be spent on partnerships between the government and the private sector. Lots of money will be saved as we reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Venezuela’s Chavez has recently threatened to cut off oil to the U.S., if we don’t stop helping our allies in Columbia. Plus we can cut down on the billion dollars a day we send to OPEC and other oil producing nations, ONE BILLION DOLLARS A DAY! In order to start job building immediately, the government, through the private sector should cover the roof of every government, state and municipal building with solar panels. This will produce hundreds of thousands of jobs, particularly in the building trades, where the job market has been hardest hit. Whatever the government does to help, it will require less carbon based energy. Carbon fuels do not put more people to work, except in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran. Photovoltaic power puts people to work here. China the leading producer of photovoltaic modules sees the future and is investing in it. We in the USA let the oil and coal industries lead our Republican and some Democrats congressional representatives around by their noses, like a bull with a ring through his nose. It’s embarrassing to watch. The oil and coal industries are doing everything that they can to ensure that no energy bill goes through, which to me proves the need for an energy bill. If they don’t want it, then it must be good for us, you and me, the people.
In the past we could take our time with reviving the auto, computer industries and the like, because we had a lock on those businesses. In the old days people were laid off, now they are fired, never to be rehired. The manufacturing has gone overseas. We set up this free trade nonsense. It’s free trade for everyone but us, we abide by the rules, no one else does. We lost the advantage of mass production to countries that under ordinary circumstances wouldn’t have a prayer against us. We still have the most productive workforce in the world. Let’s use them!
It’s time for both political parties to get together and start working for the benefit of the people, not the banks, not Wall Street, the people! Bottom line, things in this country could get a lot better faster than anyone believes.
Yes, Eddie everything you say could come true, but like they say in Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess; “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” There is a way out of this mess
A little background first. Since WWII, the recessions in the USA have generally been caused by our penchant for over selling; autos, housing, capital goods (steam shovels, diesel engines, jet aircraft, etc.). Not all at once mind you, sometimes it was autos, sometimes another industry.
The auto companies in order to keep their factories going would give bigger and bigger discounts; however the buying public would eventually have all the new cars that they could afford, and then some that they couldn’t afford. At that point there wasn’t anyone left to sell a car to and inventory piled up in the dealers lots and in rail yards and in factory lots. The result was that the auto manufacturers had to shut the factories down and lay off workers. So, we had an inventory recession which lasted until the public decided that they had paid down enough debt and started to creep back into the showroom and the same cycle would start again. The exact same scenario played out with micro-chips, computers, swimming pools, hula hoops, you name it, but at different times vs autos or capital goods
The big deal this time is that we pushed the string on autos, housing and capital goods all at the same time and now we have an inventory recession in the three biggest industries at the same time and that’s why we feel this recession so deeply. One doesn’t have to point fingers; we were all in on it. Oh, some more than others, but there is hardly anyone who didn’t participate one way or another, on the front side or the back side (except, of coarse, me and you ;-) ).
Why is it so difficult to get out of this unholy mess? One main reason is that while the country is waiting for the inventory of homes and cars to get chewed up; there are no new industries for the workers to get jobs. Another reason is that the public’s credit has to be replenished, this takes savings. If the public is saving, the public isn’t spending. 70% of what happens in the USA, sales wise, is done by the public. Without that number growing, the economy doesn’t grow. The economy runs on credit, if the consumer is not using his credit, we get a serious slow down. We get what we are going though now.
What happens now? The government steps in and honestly like the horse cavalry, comes to the rescue. Hooray! We need an energy policy; the government can provide one that sponsors alternative energy projects. The USA, the most efficient and inventive country in the history of mankind, is falling behind in the race to become the preeminent manufacturer of alternative energy systems; wind, solar, geothermal and nuclear. As an example take the wind turbine industry, of the top ten turbine companies in the world, only one, GE, is in the United States. How can the congress let this happen? Another example is China. The Chinese are building solar power manufacturing facilities as fast as they can. Why aren’t the Republicans as up front as the Democrats in trying to craft an energy bill that will eventually create millions of well paying manufacturing jobs? I believe that an energy bill will get through the congress and lots of money will be spent on partnerships between the government and the private sector. Lots of money will be saved as we reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Venezuela’s Chavez has recently threatened to cut off oil to the U.S., if we don’t stop helping our allies in Columbia. Plus we can cut down on the billion dollars a day we send to OPEC and other oil producing nations, ONE BILLION DOLLARS A DAY! In order to start job building immediately, the government, through the private sector should cover the roof of every government, state and municipal building with solar panels. This will produce hundreds of thousands of jobs, particularly in the building trades, where the job market has been hardest hit. Whatever the government does to help, it will require less carbon based energy. Carbon fuels do not put more people to work, except in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran. Photovoltaic power puts people to work here. China the leading producer of photovoltaic modules sees the future and is investing in it. We in the USA let the oil and coal industries lead our Republican and some Democrats congressional representatives around by their noses, like a bull with a ring through his nose. It’s embarrassing to watch. The oil and coal industries are doing everything that they can to ensure that no energy bill goes through, which to me proves the need for an energy bill. If they don’t want it, then it must be good for us, you and me, the people.
In the past we could take our time with reviving the auto, computer industries and the like, because we had a lock on those businesses. In the old days people were laid off, now they are fired, never to be rehired. The manufacturing has gone overseas. We set up this free trade nonsense. It’s free trade for everyone but us, we abide by the rules, no one else does. We lost the advantage of mass production to countries that under ordinary circumstances wouldn’t have a prayer against us. We still have the most productive workforce in the world. Let’s use them!
It’s time for both political parties to get together and start working for the benefit of the people, not the banks, not Wall Street, the people! Bottom line, things in this country could get a lot better faster than anyone believes.
Tax cuts for the Wealthy…What about the rest of us...HuH? Trickle Down…Baloney!
You are probably tired of even thinking about politics and politicians, and I can’t blame you for feeling that way, but something is going on in this country that we must, as citizens pay attention to, whether we like it or not. As Senator Clag horn Hen said in the Hanna Barbera animated cartoon “Pay attention boy, or you’re going to lose your lunch”.
The conservative right is trying to foist on us the thought that tax cuts for the rich are the way to reduce the deficit. They use as their example of how this works, the tax cut that was enacted by the Reagan administration. They point to the expansion that took place during the Reagan years, and how great things were in the ‘80’s. The only problem with their thinking is that the deficit rose 189% during the Reagan years. 189%! From 1982 to 1989. WOW!
Tax cuts for the wealthy don’t work anymore. Why? #1. Taxes aren’t high enough to make a difference. Reagan cut taxes that were in the 80 to 90% bracket. #2. And most important under Reagan the money saved by paying lower taxes stayed in the United States. It was invested in stocks, bonds, plant and equipment. Today the wealthy buy everything but U.S. goods. They buy Yen, Chinese stocks, gold. None of these things help the U.S. economy. In fact under Bush II the rich corporations even benefited from shipping our jobs overseas. Reagan and Bush II were rich man’s presidents and that’s a fact. The middleclass has gone nowhere since Reagan deregulation. Average earnings after inflation are the same today as they were in 1982. Average executive earnings have gone sky high in the same period. And the guys that run hedge funds are taxed at a lower rate than you are, and they make billions. Where do they invest their money? With the rest of the rich of course.
The tax breaks for the wealthy must be allowed to lapse in 2011! If you want to give the rich a tax advantage, get something for it. Don’t let them ship the money out of here. They can do anything that they want with their after tax income, but any new tax break should be targeted to the U.S. economy. So, monies invested here would be deductible from their income, up to a certain limit, that would ensure that the money was invested here. Investments overseas would not be deductable. Maybe that way, if the wealthy get tax cuts, at least the rest of us will participate too. I believe that is how to create jobs. That is what is fair.
The conservative right is trying to foist on us the thought that tax cuts for the rich are the way to reduce the deficit. They use as their example of how this works, the tax cut that was enacted by the Reagan administration. They point to the expansion that took place during the Reagan years, and how great things were in the ‘80’s. The only problem with their thinking is that the deficit rose 189% during the Reagan years. 189%! From 1982 to 1989. WOW!
Tax cuts for the wealthy don’t work anymore. Why? #1. Taxes aren’t high enough to make a difference. Reagan cut taxes that were in the 80 to 90% bracket. #2. And most important under Reagan the money saved by paying lower taxes stayed in the United States. It was invested in stocks, bonds, plant and equipment. Today the wealthy buy everything but U.S. goods. They buy Yen, Chinese stocks, gold. None of these things help the U.S. economy. In fact under Bush II the rich corporations even benefited from shipping our jobs overseas. Reagan and Bush II were rich man’s presidents and that’s a fact. The middleclass has gone nowhere since Reagan deregulation. Average earnings after inflation are the same today as they were in 1982. Average executive earnings have gone sky high in the same period. And the guys that run hedge funds are taxed at a lower rate than you are, and they make billions. Where do they invest their money? With the rest of the rich of course.
The tax breaks for the wealthy must be allowed to lapse in 2011! If you want to give the rich a tax advantage, get something for it. Don’t let them ship the money out of here. They can do anything that they want with their after tax income, but any new tax break should be targeted to the U.S. economy. So, monies invested here would be deductible from their income, up to a certain limit, that would ensure that the money was invested here. Investments overseas would not be deductable. Maybe that way, if the wealthy get tax cuts, at least the rest of us will participate too. I believe that is how to create jobs. That is what is fair.
“What your brain doesn’t know, but will tell you anyway”
Awhile back, Jean Horst wrote an article “The Glaringly Obvious… or What Your Brain Knows But Won’t Tell You”. I thought it was great. It talked of the amazing capabilities of the human brain. I would like to bring into the discussion some other capabilities of the human brain that are amazing, but are not so benign. It lies.
In my life I’ve found out that the biggest liar I know is me. How does that happen? I mean well, but I’m always trying to think ahead. How does one think ahead? Well, if you’ve got a brain and most of us do, we use it to think. Think up schemes; think about tomorrow’s weather, or where the stock market will be sometime in the future. Then we start to worry. Will our picnic plans be ruined, will our 401K become a 201K again. Where do these ideas come from? The brain of course. And the problem is that the brain lies. It doesn’t mean to lie, but it can’t help itself. I ask it a question and it tries to answer, but bottom line as much as it tries, it can’t predict the future
How many times have you worried about something; taking a test, meeting new people, paying the mortgage? Plenty, right? How many times did worrying help the out come of your distress? I would venture that it never helped and caused a great deal of aggravation before the subject of the worry came to pass. And when it finally did come to pass, the event wasn’t nearly as bad as you thought it would be. Keep remembering, your brain doesn’t have clue about the future. It doesn’t even know if you’ll be here tomorrow. So the old WWI song was exactly right;
“What’s the use of worrying,
It never was worthwhile,
So pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and
Smile, smile, smile”
Yeah, you can do it! I did. I stopped worrying a long time ago.
Good luck
In my life I’ve found out that the biggest liar I know is me. How does that happen? I mean well, but I’m always trying to think ahead. How does one think ahead? Well, if you’ve got a brain and most of us do, we use it to think. Think up schemes; think about tomorrow’s weather, or where the stock market will be sometime in the future. Then we start to worry. Will our picnic plans be ruined, will our 401K become a 201K again. Where do these ideas come from? The brain of course. And the problem is that the brain lies. It doesn’t mean to lie, but it can’t help itself. I ask it a question and it tries to answer, but bottom line as much as it tries, it can’t predict the future
How many times have you worried about something; taking a test, meeting new people, paying the mortgage? Plenty, right? How many times did worrying help the out come of your distress? I would venture that it never helped and caused a great deal of aggravation before the subject of the worry came to pass. And when it finally did come to pass, the event wasn’t nearly as bad as you thought it would be. Keep remembering, your brain doesn’t have clue about the future. It doesn’t even know if you’ll be here tomorrow. So the old WWI song was exactly right;
“What’s the use of worrying,
It never was worthwhile,
So pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and
Smile, smile, smile”
Yeah, you can do it! I did. I stopped worrying a long time ago.
Good luck
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
