Economics
Let’s Cut It to the Bone II
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 | Economics, Healthcare | 1 Comment
Now aside from doing away with our Armed Forces being used for a World Poliice force and doing away with the minimum wage I have a few more suggestions. Maybe if we implement some of these we could pay for healthcare.
This next idea might, at first,seem radical but it might be closer to being realistic. We should grow and distribute drugs. Since the war on drugs seems to be going the way of the Viet Nam War maybe we should declare a truce.
Now we all know that drugs in this country are controlled by organized crime and if we control the sale of drugs and tax it we could be making that money. The money we would save from fighting a futile war would again go in the public coffers. We could put more police on the streets although we might not need them since a lot of crime is drug related.
We would be creating more jobs for Americans and fighting the War on Terror at the same time. The Afghans have increased poppy production over twenty times since 2001, who do you think is buying?
One of the things that got us into problems was oil. The countries that have oil have been holding us hostage. Well I recently heard that in the future water may be the new oil. Along with this, food will become scarce and therefore more valuable then oil. If we started to hold the world oil producing countries hostage for food then maybe the price of oil would come down. If not, let them eat sand.
A Very Immodest Proposal
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 | Economics, Healthcare, Politics | 5 Comments
Blame it on the Republicans, they brought it up but I think in fairness we should at least consider it . Of course I am talking about the health care death panels.
The Republicans claim that the new health care bill has a provision in it that would allow for doctors to decide for the elderly when they should die. While it is inconcievable for me to think that doctors would want to take over a job that heretofore was left to God and the insurance companies that’s what the Republicans are saying. At first I was appalled at the thought but upon sober reflection I might see where it would have advantages.
When I used to go to Kmart they had a thing called the Blue Light Special. This was an item at a really low price that would last only a few minutes. People would crowd around a litle blue flashing light frantically grasping for a chance to get the sale item and in a lot of cases, I couldn’t understand why. Was it the item itself? No, because they would have bought it even if it was a Vanilla Ice record (Yes a record).
Perhaps the flashing blue light had mystical power that would make people do what you wanted them to do. No, cause I went around with a flashing blue light on my head and women still wouldn’t go out with me. What made it work was the time limit.
So maybe as we approach our later years, if we have an expiration date we might start clawing at enjoying life and appreciate it more. Instead of older people begging off doing things with the old refrain “No I can’t do that I’m too old” they might change it to “Hell yes I’m doing that, cause next week I go before the Death Panel.
I don’t know how this Death Panel would work though. Would relatives have a say in it? Cause that might prove to be a boon to the economy. Say you have a rich old aunt who is selfishly keeping her investments to live on. She has indicated that you may be the heir to her fortune but year after year with each new birthday you see “your” money being squandered by the old bitty on things like food. Now, if you were on the Death Panel you might soon be able to stimulate the economy with your modest yacht and Lamborghini purchases.Who would have thought that being on a Death Panel would be patriotic?
If we do institute this we may see an increase in healthier seniors, especially if the Panels have a physical fitness portion. We could televise it on pay per view which would defray the cost of the wonderful health care we are getting. Face it we all know that wrestling is staged and yet people pay millions to see that. Here we would have people literally fighting for their lives on television, I know I would pay to see that. I mean you haven’t lived till you’ve seen Seniors Dodgeball.
If we are really going to cost cut however we might want to consider an alternative. Maybe we should do away with babies. First of all they don’t vote, which could be a big stumbling block for the Senior Death Panels. Second anyone who has gone to a pediatrician knows that those immunizations cost a bundle, most of the old folk either have had the disease or the shots. Third with the possible exception of a few broken hips, senior aren’t as accident prone as children. Children are always skinning their knees something that seniors don’t often do. Not to mention the paucity of incidents of seniors putting peas up their noses.
I’m beginning to lean towards the idea of those Death Panels on two conditions: I get to serve on the Panel and I get an exemption from having to go before one.
P.S. Thanks to Jonathan Swift for the inspiration
Maybe We Should Try Democracy?
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 | Economics, Politics | No Comments
Most people think that what we were told in school is true. We are told that we live in a democracy but in truth we live in a representative democracy. How does this change things? Well, in a democracy the majority rules, everyone is pushing for the law to benefit themselves, and the amount of cash they have has no influence on the vote.
In a representative democracy the representatives rule, normally with the rich minority in mind. The representatives have only their job on their mind not the law or your benefit. The only reason that they pay any attention to the rich minority is because they need to get reelected and that costs money.
When the founding fathers came up with the idea of a representative democracy it was a good idea. The majority of our populace was not well educated and so it made sense that the rich, who were, should make decisions for the majority Our country has progessed since then to the point that the majority is well educated enough to make decisions about their welfare.
What I am suggesting is that we change from the representative democracy to a pure democracy. You could set it up sort of like the voting on American Idol, after all, more people vote for American Idol then for our President. Wouldn’t that mean that we would be subject to voter fraud? Well we could always get someone like Richard Daley or even our Supreme Court to oversee the election. We know that fraud could never happen on their watch.
I know that you are probably thinking that this would lead to chaos and perhaps it would. We would no longer send jobs overseas because we would realize that the extra money in wages we would be getting from the closing of the rich’s tax loopholes would make us realize that buying even America’s worst products is still keeping money in America. It would make it almost impossible for lobbyist to do their job which could lead to universal healthcare, gun control, or even not jumping into senseless wars. Total chaos!
Warren
P.S. There are now Congressmen who want to pass a bill to make it mandatory for the President to prove that he meets the qualifications to be President. Ordinarily I would think that they had gone too far but in this case I don’t think they have gone far enough. We should make it mandatory for all public officials. Does that mean that many hours would be wasted by the Congress in following the law? Not as many as they are wasting now.
No Excuses
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Economics, Politics | No Comments
Obama’s nightmare may have come true. Al Franken has officially won the election and that gives the Dems the 60 votes to prevent filabusters. This means that the Administration has to perform.
They won’t be able to blame anything on the Republicans till the midterm elections. If they don’t perform, then it may be the Republicans turn to do things.
I think that President Obama should now give up the idea that bipartisanship is essential to get the job done. I think that the only bipartisanship that counts is the one that always counted.We have always ruled by bipartisanship. The bipartisanship between the majority and the minority. I know that some would say that you can’t have bipartisanship between the majority and the minority because by definition there has to be agreement but the fact that we don’t have alot of revolutions indicates that there is some agreement.
I hope that President Obama will be able to disregard his impule to be well liked in favor or our desire to be well governed. He hasn’t, so far, pushed through any major legislation that address the concerns of the common man. The credit card bill didn’t make it mandatory to be able to fight the FICO scores tyranny. It didn’t even make it mandatory to give us our FICO scores.
They are still talking about health care as if we need the health care industry to come up with a plan. Medicare works, why wouldn’t universal health care? Think about it, the elderly are more likely to need healthcare then any segment of our economy. The government took over the segment that should be the most expensive and still health care costs went up astronomically. Do we really expect them to come up with a solution?
We haven’t even faced the real problems yet. Lots of people are being laid off but are “saved” by unemployment. What happens when they don’t have any income coming in, then the dominoes will really start to fall. Now is the time for actions, not excuses.
The New Democratic Republicans
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | Economics, Politics | 1 Comment
In 1929 the Stock Market collapsed, the banks failed and the country went into a depression. The Government, under the Democratic President, created jobs for people, welfare programs and re-opened the banks. Sound familiar?
Many people feel that this was not what actually got us out of the Depression. many feel that we didn’t get out of the Depression until we entered the Second World War. The War sent all of the country back to work , either in the service or the factories. The Republicans being students of history are thinking that this is the time to act like Democrats.I guess you can see where this is going. Yes, the Republicans, not having learned from history, want us to repeat it.
The Republicans seem intent on going to war with Iran. They are perturbed that Pres. Obama is not taking a firmer stance on Iran. We don’t have the best record of supporting the right side in Iran but does that mean we should not blunder into another war? Shouldn’t we continue to be the World’s Only Super Power/Bully?
Think about it. What gives us the right to dictate to other countries? Other than the fact that we have more nuclear weapons and military armaments what gives us the right to tell others how to live their lives in their own countries?
Are we always morally right? Indians, African Americans and Manzanar War Relocation Center survivors might disagree. Are our leaders always the smartest? Two words, George Bush. Are our ideas always the best? Not if the New Democratic Republicans are any indication.
Are We the New Indians?
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 | Economics | 2 Comments
All right, before anyone gets their undergarments in a bunch, I’ll admit that to be politically correct I should have used the term Native Americans. My response: see rule #3. (Setting the Ground Rules Tuesday, September 16th, 2008). The main question is: “Are we being abused like the Indians?”
Very few people would argue that the Native Americans were treated well (although we should call them the “People That Were Here When We Arrived” cause they probably came over on an ice bridge or a small boat so they were anything but Native. Hey, maybe they came from India so I take back my opening sentence.)
Actually I’m just thinking that if they were from India and they claimed this land then in a sense Columbus did find India ( all right maybe India Lite) and he should get credit for that. Now India can celebrate Columbus day like Americans and have a sale. I’m afraid that the middle class–if there is still such a thing–is starting to receive those small pox blankets.
The latest wrinkle in the credit card scandal is that the banks may be paying back the TARP money with our money in the form of higher fees , interest, penalties, and even minimums.
They take our land (money), they put us on resevations (houses we can’t afford), they destroy our way of life (buying on credit) and the only hope we have is that, before it’s too late, we might get our casinos.
New Curricullum
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | Economics | No Comments
When this country was first formed the majority of people didn’t get their education from schools. They were home schooled by their parents. They were schooled in the family business and whether they were taught the law or farming , the main thing they were taught was to survive.
Two hundred years and a huge school system later and we are actually worse off. The schools are failing to teach us the things we need to survive.
There is a classic scene in Peggy Sue Got Married where Kathleen Turner, after returning to her high school years, says to her teacher that she happens to know that in the future she won’t need to know algebra. What she should have said was something like ” Why are we wasting our time with this drivel when you should be teaching me how to make more money.”
That’s what they should be teaching children; how to survive in the economy, not just the bad economic times but the good ones too. Instead of how to invest in the stock market or how to buy real estate, we are taught to get a job. At one time that might have been sufficient, when GM, US Steel orRCA could provide a decent living for many people. Most of the people who had those jobs will probably be working at McJobs soon.
Who is to blame for this? We have to take some of the blame, we were stupid enough to believe that the banks corporations and merchants were there for our benefit, we even believed that the politicians represented all of us not just the rich. We were fed the idea that we weren’t anything unless we were the proud owner of a new TV or a new big car. The big corporations controlling the media plaster ideas that we have to keep spending in order to be happy. We shouldn’t have to wait. Put it on the plastic.
We gradually evolved into, not people, but a FICO score. We were so afraid not to have credit that we were willing to take the abuse of the credit cards companies. We were willing to take the damned if you do, damned if you don’t restrictions of Fair Isaac where if you want to control your credit you’re FUBAR.You can’t get less credit by returning your cards cause that will hurt your score but if you use all of your credit they give you less which also hurts your credit.
The Government then has the gall to pass a useless bill that was supposed to give us some relief. When the bill actually becomes effective it will probably be too late for a lot of people who are getting usurious rates on their credit cards and losing the credit they worked so hard to protect. I thought that the government was supposed to protect its citizens, but then again I learned that in school.
The New Vampires
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | Economics | 2 Comments
It seems that we are going through another round of Vampire worship. Twilight, True Blood and the Underworld movies could lead one to believe that they are benign. We must never forget that they are bloodsuckers. The new Vampires may be even worse.
I recently got a letter from my credit card company that said that they were raising my rates again. Some of these bloodsuckers have raised my rate to the point where I may have to give them up.
Once again the government has come up with a TLTL ( too little, too late)plan and missed what should have been an important feature in the bill: a federal usury rate. There was a time when banks would give you 5% on your savings and charge you 10% for a loan. Now they give you .1% and charge 29% on your credit card loans.
Financial advisors tell you that if you pay the minimum it can take thirty years to pay off your credit cards. At 25% interest will you ever pay off your credit cards?
I don’t worry for myself cause I have decided that if I have to give up my credit cards I will get new ones when I pay them off or I won’t. I think I can do without them because for the most part I can use debit cards.I worry for the people who cannot.
Let me play Nostradamus for a little and say that the credit crunch will cause the really poor to forget about credit and use the “old five finger discount card” for their purchases. The only consolation is that they will be stealing from the rich.
The Real Cost of CCC
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | Economics | No Comments
On the news today was a report on plasterboard that was defective. The plasterboard had a high concentrate of strontium sulfide. Stronium sulfide is corrosive to copper. It can corrode copper coils in air conditioning and electric components in computers and if that isn’t enough, the boards smell like rotten eggs.
The only solution for this is to rip out the plasterboard and replace it with plasterboard that was produced with some good old American standards. The reason that this “sulfur board” producer could get away with producing this shoddy material is that it was produced in China.
If this was the only substandard Chinese material that was entering the United States we could maybe forgive the Chinese. After all, we did have the Tylenol scare(although the manufacturer did not tamper with the drug). It seems that every six months there is an announcement about another Chinese product that has problems.
Lead in toys, makeup, and even eye solutions are making me think that the Chinese are trying to defeat us through are biggest weakness: our greed. We have become the shopping drones for third world goods. We are like moths to a flame of shopping. The stores put out any cheap stuff they can get and we buy it.
There was a time in this country when foreign countries sent only the best. When the Lexus was introduced to America, according to a report by T. Boone Pickens, he had his engineers disassemble it and he found that there was no way it could be produced for what they were selling it for. They were actually selling it at a loss so they could get market share.
Then Walmart came in; though I understand that they originally sold many American products they realized that they could sell more Chinese goods for less and still make a large margin. To remain competitive all the other stores followed, so that now we buy almost everything from foreign producers.
It’s no wonder we can’t win the war on drugs, we can’t even conquer our addiction to shopping. Instead of our government demanding that China give human rights to the Chinese, it should be protecting us from CCC (Cheap Chinese Crap).
The New Scarlet Letter
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 | Economics | No Comments
I think that there might be a reason to reinstate the old habit of making people wear a scarlet letter for their sins. I don’t mean for minor transgressions like adultery although the increased demand for red thread might lead us out of the recession.
The recent news about AIG has infuriated me, judging from the news I’m not the only one. In any world where there is justice, how is this fair?
I use to work on the line at General Motors and they had a bonus plan. The bonus was paid for the years that the company posted a profit. If the company didn’t make a profit we didn’t get a bonus.
Now GM is talking about going belly up and filing bankruptcy. I personally think that they are considering it because they would get out of the contracts with the UAW and they wouldn’t have to honor the healthcare provisions for the retirees. These healthcare provisions are supposedly the reason that GM can’t compete with the Japanese. ( Not the fact that they make crappy cars).
GM also had this policy that I guess AIG has never heard of, if you lost money for them, they would fire you. If you got fired you didn’t get your bonus.
I believe that in general anybody who works for someone does at least one thing during the work day that he could get fired for. Most of the rules are written to favor the boss. So I think that if the bonus people at AIG keep clamoring for their bonuses, we as majority shareholders should start looking at this firing idea. I mean if GM can screw their employees why can’t AIG?
If that doen’t work then I think that we should make them wear scarlet letters. In big letters they should spell out what AIG really stands for: “AIN”T I GREEDY?”