Archive for June, 2009
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.
It Ain’t Funny
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Politics | 1 Comment
Sarah has gotten her name in the news again over what she says is on her mind, defense of women, instead of what is really on her mind, nothing. Of course, I am talking about the Letterman joke.
I don’t believe that Letterman was talking about Palin’s younger daughter when he did the joke. Chris Rock (and I am brutally paraphrasing)said that there is his WIFE and then his comedy wife. A joke is a day trip to fantasy land.It is not to be taken seriously, hence the name, joke. A joke should be judged by whether it was funny and the ultimate judge is the audience. A joke that derides Jewish people may not go over as well at an Anti-Defamation League meeting as at a KKK meeting.
I’ve heard that morticians and doctors and others who are under a lot of stress indulge in a lot of dark humor but we make allowances for them because they are under a lot of stress. Letterman may not have been under the same type of stress but he was competing against Conan.
The joke about Alex Rodriguez knocking up Palin’s daughter is ,of course, open to interpretation. Perhaps he was implying that she was so beautiful that A Rod would chose to procreate with her over all the other girls of age and under that are after him. Palin in typical fashion chose to use this to further her career by making it a crusade and that Ain’t Funny.
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.