Archive for January, 2009
Too Much, Too Late
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 | Economics, Politics | No Comments
Another person called me today and told me the bad news. He works in the construction industry and hasn’t worked for three months. Another friend works at Circuit City and though he is still working he isn’t putting much in his retirement account. I’d love to think that like some B movie western, the cavalry is on the way but I fear the horses might be dead.
The experts are predicting that the unemployment rate will reach eleven percent by the third or fourth quarter (sounds like a hell of a Christmas present). Yet the Congressional Republicans are still fighting with the President on his stimulus bill.
Some of them argue that the bill will take too long to actually stimulate the economy, others say they want more tax cuts but those of us who don’t have secure government jobs for the next two, four, or six years just want action.
I can’t help but think that the business of politics should change it’s name to show business because all of these politicans seem to be posturing for the next election. Okay, we get it, Republicans are the tax reducers and Democrats spend like there is no tomorrow.( which the way things are going my not be a slogan but a prophecy) On second thought, the way they are arguing maybe that should be No Show Business. When Sean Penn expresses his opinion on a government action we don’t have to listen. When Congress and the President express theirs, we better listen.
I realize that nobody in government wants to make a mistake that would cost them their next election but now is the time for action. If you make a mistake try something different. The American people are forgiving if you make a mistake cause at least you tried something.
Imagine two doctors at the scene of an accident; doctor one waits for the injured to get to the hospital and doctor two treats the wounded on the spot. If one of the injured dies while doc two is treating him we would be more forgiving then if doc one’s patient dies in the operating room. It is better for the economy to have a little now then to die with too much , too late
Life as a Seesaw
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 | Economics, Politics | 5 Comments
They are sometimes called a teeter totter or teeter board but they most often are known as seesaws. Most of us have been on one or at least know what I am talking about. In a sense, most of our lives are analogous to the actions of the seesaw.
We have our highs and lows and sometimes we are in perfect balance where we are neither plunging to the depths or ascending to the heights. Where the analogy doesn’t hold is when you figure the fat cats. On the playground a heavy kid could suspend you in mid air and if he wanted, he could torment you. He could raise it just enough and then let his weight go crashing to the ground, this left you sometimes doing a headstand on the other side. I’m sure that this must have been the forerunner of the mechanical bull which would have been fun if Debra Winger was riding it but she never came to my playground. the really cruel fat cats would even go so far as to pretend that you could get off and then not let you.
In real life the fat cats are the ones on the top of the seesaw and they still get to torment us. The difference is that now they do it financially. The banks now have their money and we were led to believe that credit would open up again. Every day there seems to be another business dying or someone losing their home and yet the fat cats are still hoarding.
What the fat cats don’t realize is that their seesaw is perched on a bigger seesaw. The way things are going right now the bigger seesaw is balanced. It won’t stay that way.
What Recession?
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | Economics, Politics | No Comments
People are losing their homes. Famous People are being ripped off by Bernard Madoff. Unemployment is likely to rise to double digits. All of these economic indicators would point to a recession and yet I am beginning to wonder: What Recession?
Don’t get me wrong, I, like many Americans, am tightening my belt to the point that people have thought that I have lost weight (They also worry that my belt will give way and they will be smothered in blubber). I, like most reasonable people, am trying to pay off my credit cards, start saving, get an emergency fund, forego buying the big screen TV, and even put off planning to go on vacation. I would think that this is the least you should do in a recession. So I have a question: With the economy being so bad how can so many people be going to the Presidential Inauguration?
They are expecting anywhere from two million to two and a half million people to be at the event. This will not only be more than George Bush, it is my understanding it will be more than any inauguration. So let me get this straight; at a time when people are facing worse economic times than any time since the Great Depression people feel the need to spend their money to be half a block to almost two miles away from an event they could see better on television.
I would like to believe that all of the vendors and restaurants and hotels are giving huge discounts to the people because times are tough and this is a historic event etc. but my belief in Santa Claus has still not placed Salma Hayek under my tree. I’m sure that the law of supply and demand has kicked in and accommodations are astronomical.
Now I realize that there are going to be lots of the well off in the crowd but they all can’t be Beyonce. So I can only assume that some of those attending will not be well off. Are they doing this so that they can tell their grandchildren that they were there when the first black man was inaugurated? This seems like a pretty poor reason to invest what may be your last money, especially when you could lie. My grandchildren won’t believe that I was at the Lincoln assassination but if I tell them that I saw Obama Inaugurated they probably will, even if it was on tv.
I also question why, when the government is being weighted down with trillion dollar debt that they choose to run this. I don’t think the Constitution calls for this, so maybe we should end it. It seems like this is a lot of frivolity in times like these. What will I tell my grandchildren when they ask if i was at some historic event? I’ll tell them I was in a voting booth.
God’s Faults
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | Economics | No Comments
Don’t get too close! Lightning may strike. You read it right, God’s Faults. I realize that many people consider God infallible but I am still trying to reconcile my intellect with my Catholic education. I think that my intellect is in the lead but I still would hate to find out I was wrong. My religious education also makes me fear less an extended stay in a torrid netherworld than a group of ninja nuns.
Okay, my computer is still working so here goes. I was listening to a local radiio station and they were discussing the Madoff case. He had decided to use his freedom on bail to divert funds to his relatives and friends to escape using these funds to make restitution. (This could lead to confusion for me. Imagine I get an email that starts: Hi, I am Bernard Madoff and I would like you to deposit one billion of money I stole in your account because my government is persecuting me… I will be willing to give you 10% for this service… Do I believe this one? Do i trust that he won’t clear out my account like he did Steven Spielberg’s? Will this be one of those reversals where he flees the USA to go to Kenya and become a king?) So they are discussing the case and they say that he may beat the case or skip the country but they conclude that he will suffer when he gives up the ghost (which seems to be the only thing he may be willing to give up). Now this, I think, is God’s fault, God has turned into a wimp. God of Old would have at the very least turned Madoff into a pillar of salt. God must have taken an anger management course because we don’t even get frogs.
The religious people think that we are responsible for all that is wrong with the world and therefore should be punished for it. I think that God is partially to blame; when He had that “spare the rod ” philosophy the Ten Commandments weren’t just a Charlton Heston movie.
There is also the out of sight out of mind reason for God to git to whippin butt. Give us an example of His Righteous Wrath. When someone steals from the poor we can understand God not doing anything but these were celebrities. These people are the demigods of our world and God does nothing?
I just thought that maybe the problem is that God has retired. Maybe He is in a retirement home and His Son has taken over the family business