USA's Biggest Problem

Ignorance!

It's startling to see how ignorant our nation's people, old and young, have become in just 60 years.

History, culture, finance, economics, health, general knowledge, simple science, renewable v  sustainable energy,  climate change, common sense, forethought, politics, courtesy and human dignity, understanding, open-mindedness, wisdom, analytical evaluation, thoroughness, thoughtfulness, intellectual inquiry have all suffered badly or declined to the point of absurdity.

Here are a few summaries of many recent examples:

First, in the recent national mid-term elections, voters elected an alarming number of avowed socialists.  Apparently, not realizing that their programs and policies will raise the prices of everything that touches their daily needs and wants, i.e. food, housing, transport, clothing, medicine and care, all services, entertainment, travel, and everything else.  Plus, halt innovation, constrict supply and resupply, and curtail the variety and volume of goods and services available.

Increases of unnecessary national regulations, and repressive taxation made necessary by aggressive interference and massive over spending of a larger more dictatorial National Government should be permanently avoided.

Our Federal Government repeatedly spends way more than its likely revenue.

This must cease immediately, it's idiotic.  Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of programs and policies, do not require any National Government involvement, nor have any of them been successful by any measure.

I challenge anyone to name one thing, not specifically enumerated in our Constitution, and produce evidence that it has been accomplished better, faster or cheaper by the US Government.  None are efficient, most are not even effective, all are fiscally irresponsible, many are completely irrational.

Next, climate change.  Its true Earth is a planet of dramatic climate changes.  A few hundred million years ago, Earth was an ice ball.  Since its inception our sun has grown hotter and hotter on its way to eventual super nova in a few billion years.  In 10 to 12 million years Earth will pass out of the liquid water zone, no liquid water on the surface of the planet.  Before that occurs, humans will have moved on in large numbers.  Increasing volcanic activity will make it more and more inhospitable long before then. In a few million years solar and volcanic activity will demonstrate that humans are powerless to effect either in any noticeable way.

The senseless gnashing of teeth and the wasting of billions of dollars will yield no noticeable effects upon the rate of climate change.  In the mean time we should focus on trying not to disrupt normal atmospheric physics and chemistry.  Before you limit carbon by sequester, remember this planets life forms are nearly all carbon based, just saying.

Humans and all their activities just aren't that significant.

Next, Renewable and sustainable energy.  I guess most people are confused, at least partially, by the time frame.  Relative to astrophysical processes, human life span and written human history are infinitesimally small bits of time.  Even data from a few scientifically discernible events and historical conditions are minimal and sketchy when older than a few million years.

My point is, over astronomical periods of time all energy ever used or currently known of by humans, is renewable.  New natural gas, oil and coal are currently being recreated under swamps, in the tundra, under the the seas, in river deltas, and everywhere huge deposits of organic materials are decaying under pressure.  Huge quantities of methane (natural gas) escape to our atmosphere day and night world wide from the land, seas, lakes, tundra, and volcanic eruptions without any human activity.

These familiar organic energy sources should be ready very soon, less than a couple hundred thousand years.

If capture and collection technologies continue improving at historical rates, abundant reasonably priced energies, including discoveries of new sources and types, will be readily available for tens of thousands of Earth years.

Incidentally, sustainability can also be assured by the chemical manufacture of any fuels we may need, and in vast quantities unimaginable by today's standards.  Including chemical, radiation, and magnetic energies currently in use; known, but not in use; and not yet discovered.  We can also make water, which will become more and more scarce, very expensive, and much sooner than energy.

Two hundred years ago we had not figured out how to use electricity.

One hundred years ago no one could imagine using radioactivity safely.

Fifty years ago no one had heard of black holes, neutrinos, or quasar waves.

A few years ago several new light and energy spectra were detected apparently being emitted by our sun.  Today, we still know very little of their potential usefulness.

Next, protests, demonstrations and community activism.  Some simple suggestions are in order:

Once you attract the attention of the appropriate media; have an articulate spokesperson ready to describe the problem you believe needs correction.  And, make sure the terms you are using have definitions, if not, provide one.  Social Justice, I still can't find a rational definition anywhere.  There are lots of circular logic sociology babble, but none are intellectually usable.

Then, present a solution you're willing to discuss in public civilly with opponents, if any exist.

Then, be an active participant in bringing about useful changes.

State the problem, suggest a solution, work to make it happen.

I think the problem might be called Social Injustice, however that might be defined.  The solution might be called Social Justice, carefully and logically defined.  As long as the solution isn't kill police officers, or demonize them just because of their uniforms and jobs, or make them stop questioning and arresting suspected criminals; or take all the money from anyone who has saved some, and give it to anyone who says they don't have any.

Otherwise, all the work of attracting attention has been wasted; except for those who just wanted to be seen on TV and in Social Media acting like they want to help, just to get some shallow notoriety.

Finally, personal finances, home economics, common sense, and forethought.  Incidentally, we used to teach these subjects in schools.

When did it become acceptable to spend money (cash) you don't have, or you're uncertain you ever will have by a specific future time (credit cards)?  Apparently, there is misinformation widely believed that nothing will happen to you if you don't pay what you owe.  Wrong, pain and misery will always accompany your poor choice to spend money you can't or won't pay back when due.  The misery from a single episode can last a few decades up to a lifetime.

Budgeting, accounting, frugal/not wasteful spending are all essential and critical.  Choose wisely, be conservative, spend less than you make.  It's called savings.  Why?, things happen, unexpected things go wrong.  Work toward emergency savings equal to six months of living expenses, some of which can be used for the unexpected, like vehicle repairs, short term illness, lay-offs or lost jobs.

Save separately for predictable yearly expenses.  Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries come every year, be ready for their costs.  Vehicle licenses, insurance and maintenance; home and appliance maintenance, health care, pet care; and filters plug up and things wear out.  Think ahead, many future expenses are certain, maybe not entirely predictable, but sure to occur.  "Be prepared" incidentally, it's the Boy Scout motto.

Forethought, you don't have to think ahead trying to anticipate events good or bad, but you should.  The difference between choosing poorly and choosing wisely, is a lot of pain and misery; maybe for the rest of your life.

Choose wisely!

Abundant Health Care is Cheaper

The current Government Health Care program (Insurance, taxes and regulations) and its planned amendments do nothing to reduce the cost of Health Care.  The current efforts, when fully executed, may lower the cost of Health Insurance slightly.

The focus of all this thrashing about concerning the costs of Health Insurance are badly misguided.

Health Care costs are what matters.  Nothing is being done about Care costs and nothing is planned to be done.

Millions of people must travel hundreds of miles to get to very limited modern Health Care in the rural parts of many states, in the inland west and central states.

Health Care costs, once you account for taxes, regulations, restrictions, administration, patents on medicine and equipment, corruption and cronyism, are about Supply and Demand.

Good old supply and Demand market forces.

The past 7+ years much has been done to increase Demand. (ObamaCare)  And if it can be believed, millions of more people have easier access to insurance coverage, and therefore millions more demanding much more care. (scarcity)

Scarcity of supply + (plus) rapidly increasing demand = (equals) unnecessarily high prices + (plus) ignorant subsidies and arcane unnecessary government regulations = (equals)  the foolish mess we have now!

Little, if anything, has been done to increase supply:

No additional funding to educate more doctors per thousand people.

No increase in the rate of nurses trained per year, say an additional 10,000.

No increase in the number of Physicians Assistants, say 10,000 more annually.

No rapid increase of new Hospitals, expansions, (5,000) or branch clinics (10,000).  In fact many have been restricted, closed or withdrawn from rural locations; or stripped of diagnostic capability.

If lower Health Care costs are desired, lower Health Insurance won’t do it.  It just increases Demand.

What’s needed is increased Health care supply.

More facilities, many more doctors, more PA’s, more nurses, much more widespread modern diagnostic equipment, and modern communication for remote analysis.  More widespread medical transportation and many more emergency medical response personnel.

With an overabundance of actual Medical Care, you will see dramatic declines in care costs.

And simple easy access to good modern Health Care for all our citizens, for less Federal tax money which is currently being wasted on subsidizing ridiculously over priced Health Insurance.

And maybe a lot less fraud and a lot fewer extremely wealthy doctors, hospitals, medical associations, and insurance companies.  

 

If you must subsidize something, make it abundant Health Care.

Attention! Presidential Candidates

Here’s what I want to know.


What do you plan to do about the following?

1.The oppressive Federal tax burdens; direct or hidden in the price of goods and services.

2.The huge explosion of tyrannical Government regulations.

3.Enormous National Debt and continued deficit spending.

4.Ineffective control of all National borders.

5.Equal justice and equal taxation rates for ALL.

6.Worldwide terrorism.


What I want you to do:

Cut Federal budgets to no more than last years budget in ACTUAL DOLLARS; all spending, discretionary, non-discretionary, and black projects and ops(all spending is up to you and Congress and is therefore, DISCRETIONARY!), except for those already receiving insurance BENEFITS like Social Security and Medicare; fund them by additional discretionary cuts. No Means Testing for wealth or Poverty.

No more annual deficits. Keep cutting budgets until the National Debt is substantially “Paid-off”. No budget increases, even for inflation, until National Debt is less than 5% of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP)..

Repeal and reform nearly all Federal Government Regulations, and all Executive Orders. Accurately determine the total true and complete costs to the taxpayers and consumers for those you keep.

De-fund hundreds of Federal Agencies, Departments, Programs, Projects, Bureaus, Offices, and Committees.

Evaluate all and repeal most Federal Excise taxes; and all tariffs, subsidies and embargoes.

Repeal Federal minimum wage laws. You’re preventing young people from learning to be useful workers.

Veto 95% of all laws passed by Congress; we already have way more laws than are needed. Only sign laws that apply equally to all citizens; including you, Congress and Executive appointees.

Repeal or phase out over three years all income tax exemptions and deductions; including all special interest carve-outs, credits, tariffs and subsidies.

Establish a single Federal Income Tax percentage rate applicable to all individuals, businesses and organization (including nonprofits, unions and churches; except for funds spent on their avowed purpose). Return to equal tax treatment for all under the law.

Tax all political contributions to Federal office candidates as income from individuals (if not already after taxes) excess revenue of organizations (nonprofits, churches, unions, foundations, etc.) and profit of businesses.

Stop subsidising behaviors and circumstances we want discouraged with ENTITLEMENT payments

Eliminate or significantly reduce Foreign Aid bribery and other transfer payment bribery to all recipients.

Stop special privileges and exemptions based upon sex, religion, ethnicity or nationality; allow limited exemptions for the verifiable disabled, aged, or in-firmed individuals.

Secure our borders, all of them, with traditional and modern devices, adequately train and vete personnel, and use effective modern procedures. Exclude all illegal invaders or intruders regardless their nationality or place of origin.

Build more prison and jail cells. Many criminals are avoiding punishment for their criminal behavior because of ineffective apprehension, inconsistent prosecution, sloppy sentencing, and overcrowding. Keep arresting criminals and incarcerating them, regardless of their apparent race or ethnicity, until all are being punished appropriately for their behavior.

Punish officeholder corruption relentlessly regardless of the stature, history, popularity or party.

Stop partisan treatment from the IRS and Justice Departments, or keep cutting their budgets until they stop arbitrary punishment of those with beliefs they dislike.

Punish officeholders that incite rioting and violence. It’s already a crime.

Stay out of foreign countries with whom we have no treaties or occupancy agreements. Do not occupy other countries any longer than it takes to kill them, blow-up their stuff, and load up our people, equipment and supplies and leave. Don’t stay around to train anyone, keep peace, re-built their junk or monitor elections. It’s not our business. Selling democracy is not our job. Do not repair anything or pay reparations! Do not apologize! Punish them and get out!

If you must build or repair stuff, do it here; keep peace, do it here; guard a border, do it here; monitor elections, do it here; pay reparations, do it here!

 
Mind our own business here!

Pain and Misery, a tax on one is a tax on all

A Tax on One is Tax on All

It’s time for an elemental lesson in economics and human behavior.  So, if you find this a little redundant just relax; I’ll get to the point when the less informed get caught up.

Taxes are misery and punishment to enthusiastic achievers.

They modify their behavior to avoid costs and misery.

Nearly all successful, productive, informed, caring people become reasonably well off, if not rich, eventually regardless of all obstacles, and are constantly learning and trying to improve.

They usually assume they are owed nothing they have not earned.

They work hard, live frugally, have permanent savings, invest carefully and conservatively, and pay close attention to costs, risks and rewards.

They learn a lot by observation.

Ignorant people are poor, foolish, and miserable, plagued by fate, often ill, and usually die young.

They rarely bother to learn anything new and useful throughout their lives.  And self improvement rarely occurs to them.

They nearly always assume they are owed something from everyone and everything, irregardless of what they may have tried to earned.  

They learn little if anything by observation.  They learn little from pain and misery.

Here’s as essential part of the economic lesson; productive, efficient, contributors and achievers are creative.  Their businesses and enterprises sell goods and services to the general public (mostly middle and lower income people, or foolish governments).  They invest their profits in stable incomes (interest and dividend producers) for themselves and their families for the future. 

If you increase their costs by increasing taxes, regulations, or other expenses; they will add those costs to the products and services they sell to us.

So, when you think in some juvenile fantasy you are punishing the rich by increasing their costs; you are actually punishing your family, your friends and yourself.

You are not and can not penalize the wealthy in any way they will not pass onto you, nor will you stop or delay noticeably any productive, creative, achievers from earning their just share.

You will significantly increase your own misery and expense.

A non-progressive, deduction-less, single, low, taxation rate for all would be Tax Justice.

Never wish for a tax on anyone else, you would not wish pay yourself.

A Tax on One is a Tax on All.  

Government Jobs,

Are Not “Real” Jobs

Some government jobs are work and those who do them get paid, but they don’t make money.  There’s no profit made from the activities of government employees; not legally anyway.

The money used to pay them, comes all most entirely from taxes paid on the profits of businesses or the pay checks of their employees.  Government employees are supposed to pay taxes too, of course, but the money for their pay comes from taxes on business profits and the paychecks of the people with “Real” jobs. 

Non-profit and philanthropic employees pay income taxes, but from money donated by businesses and individuals either before or after taxes; so, again it’s money made by others.  If they were paying their employees from surplus revenue (profit); they would not be qualified as non-profit would they?

The only sort of “profit-like” revenue generated by governments is interest on deposits of surplus revenue, which they haven’t had since the 1990’s and rarely ever for many decades before.  Occasionally, but not for the past hundred years, the government sells enough surplus land to make a profit, but usually they’ve spent so much money “managing” it, that it rarely sells at a profit. 

The government also gets fees, royalties, and natural resource lease fees, rarely does it ever produce a profit, the government process and procedures all most always cost more than the revenue was worth.  Recycling and the sale of surplus equipment produce some revenue, but it always seems to cost more than it recovers.

So, although some government jobs recover part of their cost, none make a profit; and therefore are not “Real” jobs.

“Real” jobs are created by businesses to service current or expected demand for their products and services for a profit.  If the business and its employees do a good job of meeting the demand, the business makes a profit and pays taxes on it and for its employees; and the employees have a job and pay income taxes and payroll taxes on their pay checks, that the employer was willing to pay them for the chance to make a profit for the owners.

Without demand, there is no profit, without profit there is no real job, without real jobs there is no tax revenue to pay government employees for the time they spend at their pretend jobs.

So, get a real job helping business owners and managers make a profit, and you and your coworkers have a job and can pay your taxes; so, millions of people with pretend jobs can do the good things that help other people make money; so, we can help the ignorant and poor and government employees reelect Democrats; so, they can all pretend they have meaningful lives.

Get a Real Job.

Make some money for those who bother to save and invest in this country and its people.

Pay your taxes, so others have a job pretending to do something they think you might need or want.

Get a Real Job. 

Think ahead, save and invest in businesses and people; not governments.  

What solutions will you try and why?

How will you get them enacted?

Political Debates; here’s what I’m hoping to hear:

Reduce Federal spending by actual spending cuts, not just slightly slower growth.   

Reduce the size and scope of Federal government, cutting some

Departments and consolidating others, and eliminate many Agencies, Offices, Commissions, Bureaus, Institutes and Endowments.  Significantly reduce Federal employment.

Lower lavish entitlements, like welfare, Medicaid, etc.

Fully insure benefits, like Medicare, Social Security and Unemployment with secure, set-aside funding.

Spend less than the incoming revenue, cut everything until you are.

Secure the borders, all of them.  Make illegal immigration very difficult.

Reduce military spending and overseas deployments.

Streamline the legal immigration process.  Weed-out fraud and corruption.

Expel non-citizen law breakers, systematically and urgently.  No special exemptions for long-time violators.  Those born to non-citizens while here can stay here with citizen relatives; or return with their parents to their homeland until they are 18 years old, then choose to return as a legal citizen.

No new taxes, no tax increases, and no fee increases.

Eliminate all exemptions, deductions, credits, subsidizes, and tariffs.

Eliminate the progressive idea in income taxes; one rate, the same percentage for everyone.

Increase the volume and availability of medical care, abundance will lower all its costs.

Substantially lower or eliminate business taxes.

Eliminate life-style regulations, encourage education, and let people suffer for their mistakes.

Significantly cut Federal Regulations.

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t heard much mention of these ideas as solutions to our economic problems; and heard practically nothing of how they might be accomplished. 

C’mon candidates, try bold meaningful solutions for once!  Or do you lack the courage to do what’s right?

Elected Officials

What I Want Them to Do

I’ve written on this before, but I am, to borrow a phrase from our beloved political elite, revising and extending my remarks.

Here’s what I want my elected Federal officials to do:

Substantially and actually reduce Federal spending immediately after the oath of office.  Immediately limit spending to less than revenue; substantially less.

Actually cut each years Federal spending by at least one percent of last years’ spending; regardless of inflation, new programs, growth of recipients, population growth, revenue increases, recession, depression or any other stupid reason.

Make it clear that all new legislation will be vetoed, unless there is a compelling national emergency, acknowledged by more than half of all citizens expressing the desire that a particular consensus solution be applied, the misery of which will assuredly to be shared equally by all.

Prohibit all new regulations.  Suspend all existing regulations, except those that apply to all citizens equally, pending a complete review of each for costs versus value.  Cancel by Executive Order, all regulations that cost more than their demonstrable value and are not constitutionally authorized for Federal Government.

Cancel by Executive Order, all obsolete regulations.

Veto all new laws that do not apply to all citizens equally; especially those exempting Congress, the President and any elected or appointed officials. 

Begin the repeal of all Congressional and Executive Branch exemptions to laws they’ve passed on everyone else.

Repeal all obsolete laws.

Immediately cancel all tax law that does not apply equally to all.  Revise all tax laws that allow for progressive tax rates.  Only allow one rate applied equally to all.  Immediately nullify all laws granting exemption, deduction, exclusion, subsides or transfer payment from or to tax filers, and grant only deductions for business or home improvements, carefully defined and equally available to all legal citizens.

Require all citizens to be prepared to provide proof of citizenship and carry it on their person at all times.

Veto all street, road, highway, river, mountain, lake, stream, ravine, rock or any other natural place name changes paid for from tax revenue, regardless of now nice or popular the dead person’s family is or was.

Eliminate any religious displays and any edifices to the dead on Federal Interstate Highways right-of-ways. 

Do not allow the installation of religious symbols, religious paraphernalia, or verbatim religious quotes from this day forward on taxpayers funded property or facilities.   

Reduce all entitlement payments by ten percent each year until they are demonstrably below the survival level, not counting help from others.  Then freeze them relative to the “Cost of Living” signified by the Consumer Price Index (existing, CPI) and Government Cost Index (new, calculation of total individual annual tax burden as a percentage of income).

Reconsider by national computerized referendum, if governments should be allowed to offer insurance for sale at all, given their monumental and historical miss-management and numerous defaults. 

Do not modify the “promised” and “paid for” levels of benefits by already compulsory participating citizens, like Social Security, Disability, Medicare, and Unemployment.  Change the contributions or benefit level for future participants. 

Create no new Federal benefit programs that are compulsory or with unpublicized opt-out provisions.  All new benefits must include widely advertised OPT-IN provisions equally available for all citizens and government officials.  Zero compulsory or mandatory contributions.  No everyone must be in, and you have to op-out or buy your way out.

If you want in, you pay in.  If you don't, no help for you later.

No one should ever be compelled to be in a socialist government benefit or insurance program from the beginning without their own personal request.

Any benefit program revenue deficiencies will be made up by more contributions or lower benefits for program participants only, no general tax revenue, loans or temporary funds transfers will be permitted, ever for any reason.

Limit Unemployment payments to a maximum of twenty six (26) weeks, period. 

Eliminate the ideas of subsides and tariffs, by all there various names and schemes.  They just shrink markets and penalized productive workers and industries under the guise of protecting jobs which will be lost to retaliation or market forces later.

Evolve quickly to enterprises producing goods and services better, faster, and cheaper than anyone else in the world.  Stop artificial protection and artificial punishment.

Labor Unions; repeal special treatment laws and tax exemptions for them.  They are not a religion, they are not educational, and they are not philanthropic.      

Phase out all subsides, all tariffs, all embargoes, all exemptions, and all Corporate and individual income tax deductions by ten (10) percent each year, beginning immediately after inauguration.  Allow tax exemptions for business expenses and equipment replacement, and likewise, home expenses, repairs and improvements for individuals.  

Phase out all Corporate and business taxes by ten (10) percent each year until they are zero, then prohibit taxes on businesses forever.  They are just passed on to consumers hidden in the price of goods and services.  Stop it.

Abandon income tax, in favor of a low National Sales Tax (NST) on all purchases, prepared or cooked food, homes, buildings, insurance, vehicles, drugs, medical services, clothes and all goods and services including elicit, illegal and black-market sales. 

No NST on raw unprepared foods or raw materials that will be consumed in their natural form or made into something else, whether used or traded for other goods, unless sold for money.  When sold the sale amount would be taxable.  If grown, produced and consumed or used by the originator, No National Sales Tax

Begin immediately closing all government organizations not authorized by the Constitution, including offices, commissions, boards, institutes, bureaus, and other organizations; and begin consolidating authorized functions in the few remaining departments.  Within three (3) years, no exceptions, have constitutionally unauthorized departments closed and authorized functions transferred. 

Withdraw nearly all combat and support troops from all overseas posts to within our boundaries.  Leave science, technology, medicine, philanthropic and training troops to help our allies and a few others in the most desperate need. 

Assign 175 thousand mixed services troops to Operation “Secure Borders”.  Begin retraining and redeploying 25% of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines for their new jobs preventing intrusions into our country.  They can do it, the Coast Guard already does. 

Continue Defense research and development at about half its current level; it’s essential.

Immediately begin reducing Foreign Aid.  Send humans, agricultural seed and science, or medicine; send help not money.  If they don’t want our help, don’t bribe them to be our friends.  Let them wallow in ignorance, poverty, corruption, famine and disease.

I want smaller, more efficient, much less intrusive, much less expensive Federal government focused on just the constitutional obligations the citizens require and have allowed, not running roughshod over the rights of states and our citizens.

US Currency in Circulation

What is it Worth?

The Federal Reserve reports Money Stock Measures in an annual report.

M1 is constructed by summing currency, traveler's checks, demand deposits, and Other Checkable Deposits, each seasonally adjusted separately.

M1 seems to be about 2.006 trillion as of July 2011.¹

M2 is M1 plus deposits, transfers and potential demands (summarized for simplicity).  Seasonally adjusted M2 is constructed by summing savings deposits, small-denomination time deposits, and retail money funds, each seasonally adjusted separately, and adding this result to seasonally adjusted M1.1

M2 seems to be about 9.313 trillion as of July 2011.1

Size of the annual economy, GDP US estimated for 2010 was $14.5 trillion.2

Size of the current governments National Debt is $14.7 trillion,³ recent annual deficits are about $1.3 trillion, and total 2010 Federal tax revenue $2.162 trillion.⁴

The value of US currency is determined by the total dollars in circulations plus, deposits and other short term demands compared to the value of US goods services and the value of known physical resources, and an assessment of the unused portion of the value of the “full faith and credit of the United States”.

So, it should be a calculation of the net worth; assets including government owned lands, (not National parks or privately owned lands) minus liabilities of the USA compared to total currency available for circulation, so this might be the equation:


     US net worth in dollars

______________________ = Actual Value of Currency
   
    Face value of Currency
              (Available)

Liabilities ought to include future obligations like probable Social Security and Medicare shortfalls; clean up costs of environmental contamination caused by government activities like military ranges, radiation, and science research waste sites, and other future costs of undisclosed programs currently underway.

My estimate of other long term and unrecognized future liabilities promised by the government is $56 trillion.  My rough guess of the current value of all government lands and other assets is about 75 percent of that, or about $42 trillion.

Do we have more money out than we are worth?  Before this brief inquiry my uninformed opinion was we probable had more money printed than we are worth.

My slightly informed opinion is; we have way more money in circulation than all of the US governments resources minus all liabilities are worth.  The US net worth appears to be slightly negative, maybe minus - $.8 trillion.

Meaning I guess, our US dollar is worth around minus - 11 cents.  If that’s right, we owe $1.11 for each dollar.

If we cashed out, we would owe 11 percent more, that’s really sad.

Maybe we shouldn’t have any money in circulation.

Footnotes:

^1. Federal Reserve Board H.6 Release, Money Stock Measures, August 25, 2011

^2. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com

^3. http://www.usdebtclock.org/

^4. http://www.taxpolicycenter.org

Let Greece Fail,

Before it Drags Everyone Under

I feel some empathy for the ignorant people of Greece. They voted for the unionists, socialists and communists that have destroyed their beautiful country, its legacies of freedom and rational thought, its government, and its economy.

I don’t want socialist and communist governments, union organizations or their ideals to succeed anywhere in the world. They suck the self esteem and initiative from the very fiber of people’s souls turning them into mindless dependent zombies.

It perverts their brains. They construct convoluted irrational justifications for why they have willingly become mindless lackeys for the party and the state. They sacrifice self determination for the promise of a few tasty crumbs, and all they have to do is buy into the perverse scheme that others will pay for undeserved benefits because of the promise that someday they too will receive lavish benefits at someone else’s expense.

It steals their purse, and robs them of the fruits of their labors and the reasoned use of their minds. They have sacrificed liberty for over-promised personal and financial safety. They know it hasn't been paid for and will not be sustained by those coming later seeking opportunity, independence, self-esteem, liberty, and individual responsibility and accomplishment. They will throw off these unreasonable constructs in exchange for opportunity, and the right to earn their own way, or fail and try something else until they find that at which they can succeed. Otherwise, they will have nothing left to responsibly provide for their own well-being, when their party and their government programs run out of other peoples money and collapse.

I think we should help their overburdened system fail. They have not made anywhere near the cuts necessary to have a sustainable nation, society or economy. If they continue their lavish unearned socialist programs, they will soon be another hopelessly impoverished “Haiti like” pit dragging the EU, Great Britain, Japan, Norway and perhaps some foolish financial institutions in the United States into a dismal financial and economic spiral, just to pay for lavish, undeserved welfare programs and ridiculous pensions that the recipients paid little or nothing for, didn't earn; because they didn't plan for or save for their own retirement, and probably couldn't because of the costs of their oppressively high taxes for unnecessary "do nothing" government jobs, crippling regulations, and bloated social programs.

Oh! Wait a minute, was I writing about Greece or the United States?

I guess it really doesn't matter. Without a rapid turn away from damaging socialist and communist programs, drastic reductions in the size and role of central governments, much lower taxes, and much fewer convoluted laws and irrational regulations.

They are both doomed.

Just Say No

To Price Control

Mostly Free Markets produce the lowest economic price fair to all.

Producers, transporters, sellers, and customers all pay and receive fair compensation when slightly managed market forces establish the price.

When non-purchasers seek to establish the price, they do not have a clue about the value to those who need or want a product or service. Everything they think or believe is just hearsay. They usually don’t even know if the product is in shortage or surplus, or what the production or delivery costs are; so they have no idea what the true market price is.

They are motivated to keep the price artificially low to curry favor with the voting public. With no profit opportunity, suppliers, distributors and sellers have no reason to supply more products; so, scarcities drive underground resale markets that will demand and get much higher than open market prices.

Government bureaucrats, Price Boards, Commissions, all use false indications and are completely ignorant of the fair price normally established through billions of individual transactions that reflect the contrast between supply, demand and costs, and customers’ wishes and perceived values.

All other methods of price fixing are false, and are illegal unless the government does it.

Some how the government is exempt from “price fixing” laws, imagine that. It is too bad the volume and the value of government services aren’t set by market forces.

Over-charging businesses are devastated by every failed sale because of price. A reputation of price gouging puts enterprises out of business very quickly.

Shortages of needed products forces users to offer more money. A slightly higher price initiates increased production and distribution, and if not satisfied, many more competitors, with competitive pressure and surpluses eventually driving prices lower.

If you want lower prices, many things can be done in the market place to drive prices down. Government price fixing isn’t one of them.

Here are some examples:

1. Buy cheaper stuff.

2. Buy less popular stuff, or wait awhile until it’s less popular.

3. Reduce taxes. All products, including foods and most services, have as much as 50% taxes and costs of regulation hidden in the price.

4. Stop taxing businesses and stop voting for those who want to, it’s stupid. Businesses don’t pay taxes, customers do.

5. Shop around, encourage competitors.

6. Discourage Unions. They’ve never made anything better, faster or cheaper.

7. Encourage people to start their own businesses. Make it easy.

8. Encourage businesses to come to your community with tax breaks and incentives. They create jobs for people.  People that do pay taxes.

9. Encourage more supply. Make increased supply easier. You want cheaper medical care, increase competition; not increase taxes and regulation. Encourage hospital, clinic and staff expansions.

10. Get rid of unnecessary permits and licenses.

11. Stop corruption and crime, it costs us all a lot of money.

12. Stop mandating employee benefits, ridiculous work rules, and childish so called “Safety” regulations. These things when needed will be offered by smart competitors without government interference, if customers are willing to pay for them. If customers won’t help pay for them, then they are not needed.

13. Stop minimum wages that rob young people and those with limited skills by keeping them out of starting jobs

Get big government out of our businesses, and out of the personal choices of legal, law abiding, hard working, taxpaying citizens; if you not working, not obeying our laws, not here legally, and living off corruption and government entitlements for decades, you are not entitled to any say just because you are here and sucking air.

Put some in, before you take any out, or get out; move to some failing socialist or communist country.

You are making our lives worse.

No Spending is Too Small

To Be Cut

Every ineffective program, regardless of its size, must be cut immediately. This country is plunging into debt it cannot recover from.

All departments, agencies, bureaus, offices and commissions must review all of their programs, projects, and initiatives, scope and staffing; asking one simple question.

Are they achieving the purposes for which they were created?

The Drug Enforcement Agency must ask itself, “Is drug abuse less now than when we began the “War on Drugs?” If the answer is no, then stop doing more of the same thing, and try something different that might work; or stop doing it at all?

Is there less poverty now than 1968?

Are children and the elderly malnourished for lack of available nutritious food?

Are there fewer unwed mothers now, than the 1960’s?

Is the American Intelligence Community too fragmented at seventeen Agencies, Departments and Offices?

Are more students better educated today, since the Department of Education was created?

Do we fly safer since TSA was created?

Is our Border Security preventing illegal immigration or contraband?

Is our immigration system getting better, faster, cheaper?

Have subsidies helped or harmed our farmers?

Have tariffs helped or harmed our Auto workers

Has Social Security and Medicare helped our elderly care for themselves?

Has Medicaid helped the poor, disabled and incompetent?

Has the Food Stamp Program helped or harmed the needy?

Are the sick and injured able to get medical care?

Are widows and orphans able to get food, clothes, housing, education and medical care?

Do all people have the opportunity to share equally in the burdens and privileges of this great nation?

Are there jobs for all those who need to work?

Is the Boundary Commission still needed?

Are the best world citizens easily able to immigrate here and become great Americans?

Are the world’s most useless people prevented access to this country?

Are all citizens experiencing an equal share of the Nations tax burden?

Have the Federal Trade and the Security and Exchange Commissions prevented enough business crimes?

Has the EPA saved any species that would have become extinct?

Have our Air and water quality improved?

Does the government still own and control too much land?

Is flood control and storm water management by the Corps of Engineers working?

Should there be taxpayer funded radio and televison broadcasts?

Has the National Endowment for the Arts been worth the money spent?

Has the National Science Foundation been more successful than business, private and philanthropic research?

Is our Justice department insuring equal justice for all under the law?

Government does some things well. Here are some simple questions that might highlight that:

Is our military the most powerful, well equipped, supplied and trained in the world?

Has the Center for Disease Control prevented widespread infectious diseases?

Is the Smithsonian and National Museums among the best in the world?

Are some of our National Parks and Monuments among the best in the world?

Are any of our National Laboratories among the best in the world?

Are the US Marshall, the Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation among the best in the world?

Are the Central Intelligence Agency, Nation Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency among the best in the world?

Smaller, Cheaper, Smarter

National Government; I Want Much Less

The first and most important reform; cut spending. The Federal Government takes in more than enough money to do everything legal, taxpaying citizens need from a central government.

Reduce regulation. Carry much less National Debt. Stop deliberately devaluing our money.

Shrink the scope of Federal Government intrusion into the private, personal decisions of taxpaying citizens.

Cut the number and size for entitlements, (All forms of welfare, food stamps, subsidies, tariffs, etc.) Entitlements are too lavish.

Cut the size of Government benefits, (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, pensions, Disability Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, Flood insurance, etc.). Increase contribution percentages and rates for participants. Allow options for those who want different coverage or none; and waivers and exemptions for all who want to relinquish benefits by agreeing to permanently provide for their own needs.

No mandatory participation in government entitlements or benefits.

No one should be exempt from any national law; not congress; not the president.  All citizens, rich or poor, must be treated equally under the law.

Lower all Federal taxes. Eliminate all business taxes, or tax all religions, non-profits and Unions equally.

Reduce all forms of Government health care insurance; Reservation Care, Prison Care, Military Care, Medicare, Medicaid. Offer options and waivers to all forms of Government medicine. Allow all citizens the opportunity to permanently opt out of any government benefits; choosing to agree to be responsible for their own medical care, never seeking government aid. Partially subsidize those who want to and can pay their share of standard government care. Grant standard government care to the disabled, incapacitated and incompetent. Let everyone out, that wants out permanently.

Provide government clinics and care to the poor and indigent if you must; but get government out of the insurance business.

The Government is a totally incompetent insurance company.

Eliminate or combine programs and departments so that only those referred to in the Constitution remain.

If more spending is wanted on health research, financial regulation, and economic stimulus, just cut an equal amounts from other benefits and programs; i.e. military, national parks, museums, education, arts, social programs science research, foreign aid, legislation, transportation, mail service, rail passenger service, government housing, business and farm subsidies, commerce prohibitions and tariffs, and law enforcement.

Stop all Federal subsidizes and exemptions.

Just do a lot less and spend a lot less. Stop providing excessive help. You are harming the very people who need just a little help.

Incarcerate all serious, repeating criminals.

Allow those who want to provide for their own needs without government meddling and interference to do so.

Help those a little that cannot seem to take care of themselves.

Care for those that are disabled, incapacitated and incompetent.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Demand, Demand, Demand

Enterprises add jobs when business and consumer demand prove they will increase beyond current employees efficient capability to supply.

When uncertainties exist about demand, government regulation, economic stability, currency value, costs, disposable income, consumption, conflict, strife and combat; the lack of predictability discourages demand.

Weak demand, decreasing demand, artificial demand (subsidies), destroys jobs.

Artificial inefficiencies, like regulations and union rules are attempts to force added jobs for which there is no underlying true demand.  Real jobs are created only by real demand for goods and services.

Real economic activity is driven only by the expectation of business profit and therefore the capacity to pay employees. If there is no surplus revenue, there is no added payroll, there is no disposable income, and then there is no money to express real demand in the marketplace.

Taxation lowers disposable income. Unpredictable future taxes and regulations add to economic uncertainty. Excessive government spending decreases the value of existing wealth, erodes the value of currency, and increases the price of all goods and services.

Governments do not produce excess revenue (profit); they take it. They do not have disposable income. They create very little demand with their commodity spending. They earn a little interest on your money, but they mostly confiscate your money. Governments discourage and destroy many more jobs than they encourage. Governments cannot create or sustain any real jobs. They just pay people with money taken out of the economy.

Business don’t pay taxes, you do. All of their costs are passed on to those who purchase their goods and services. So all the taxes, regulations, and fees that are imposed upon them by governments must be recovered in the price of their product or service when you buy it, or they are out of business and their investors lose their money, the employees lose their paychecks, and the government loses its tax revenue.

If you want more jobs, and I think everyone should find a job, you must:

1. Eliminate business taxes.

2. Significantly reduce individual taxes.

3. Send large tax rebate checks to taxpayers.

4. Seriously reduce the size and scope of governments.

5. Dramatically decrease regulations and hidden fees and taxes.

These steps will allow true demand to be expressed in the marketplace, and if predictable enough and sustainable, real jobs will be created.

You Do Get Paid

What You Are Worth

All enterprises pay their employees what they are worth to that enterprise. It is a natural law of economics.

People are paid what they prove they are worth. It’s a marketplace for effort, contribution, skill, talent, experience, judgment, wisdom, congeniality, and appearance.

Employees can work wherever offered more pay or desirable working conditions.

The free will of workers and open competition for human resources make it imperative they are offered pay, benefits, or conditions that will obtain their constructive contributions.

It’s a negotiated transaction. If you won’t contribute your skill and talent for the money offered, then you don’t agree to take that job.

Enterprises, businesses, and organizations evaluate each task for skills, talents, and energy required to meet their needs. Then, of course, they try to get an employee that will make the required contribution for what it’s worth to the objective.

Sometimes the enterprises objectives do not produce enough excess revenue (profit) to sustain it, to grow it, to pay more to employees aggressively sought by other organization in open competition; so they lose their under paid employees to others willing to pay more.

Those who don’t feel or actually are not being paid what they are worth should ask to renegotiate for more pay, and are free to seek better compensation elsewhere.

Workers are sometimes temporarily paid more or less than they are worth. It’s a condition that doesn’t last very long in small and medium sized enterprises. In large organization it can last far too long. It is a zero sum condition. Over pay to some requires equal underpay to others or enterprise failure soon follows.

Employees usually don’t know how to ask for reconsideration. Frequently don’t list and explain the value of their contributions. When seeking new employment, don’t know how to advertise and market their capabilities and contributions well. Or, in many cases, have done nothing to improve their skills, contribute their talents, or exhibit their value to the enterprises objectives.

It’s not about your value as a human being. It’s about your value as an asset to the organization. Are you contributing energy and achievement beyond your cost; or are you draining, distracting, diverting, and wasting, absorbing or sabotaging accomplishment; costing it far more than your worth.

In the long run people are always paid what they are worth.

If you want to get paid more, make yourself worth more:

Educate and train yourself;

Learn how to find desirable jobs;

Learn to market yourself well;

Look for ways to become a valuable asset to your organization;

Eagerly make valuable contributions beyond your cost;

Don’t ask for better pay until you are clearly worth more to them than they are paying you.

If you don’t put more in, don’t expect to take any more out.

You get paid what you've been worth recently; start making your contributions more valuable.

Negotiate your own deal. Don’t let the groups; Associations or Union contracts restrict your contribution and limit what you get paid. You want to be worth more as an individual; separate yourself from the uselessness of the group.

You get paid what you are worth; become the most valuable.

Unions,

What good are they?

I must tell you first that I am anti-Unions. I have been my entire adult life. I don’t like anything that they have done since they were granted anti-trust exemption (Clayton Act 1914).

I go way out of my way to not buy anything that is Union made. I do not buy Union made cars. I buy services and products made by hard working American citizens, just not Union made, if at all possible. I do not honor picket lines. It’s hard, but I try not to buy Union grown, picked, processed, stored, or delivered food. I am mostly successful at buying non-Union made clothing. I buy non-Union tools and equipment at about one half the Union made price, some of it lower quality, but I just throw it way when it goes bad. For some things we literally have no choice, for instance; gasoline is made, stored, transported, and sold by Unions. Groceries are transported, stocked, and sold by Unions, unless you buy directly from a farmer. To the extent I can I buy only non-Union. It’s much cheaper, about $5,000 less for the average car, and they are better quality and more reliable. Non-Union clothing is more than half price. Non-Union food is less than half price.

I do it to punish Unions and Union leaders. I’m sorry it harms Union members.

In 1966 I worked at Patrick Air Force Base for a contractor on the Apollo-Saturn manned space flight program to land men on the moon. My first job was as a high pressure gas mechanics helper. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union (IBEW) represented the craft people in my work place. I was in college and knew I would soon be leaving that job to become one of the Ground Support Coordinators for Launch Operations. The Union steward insisted I join the Union. I declined several times. He insisted that bad things might happen to me without the Union’s protection. I still declined. They did little things in the beginning; stole my lunch, filled it with grease, sabotaged my tools and my work products, and then asked again, I declined.

One of the mechanics and I had very similar old Chevy Corvair’s we drove to work, sometimes parked near each other, sometimes not. One day the steward and several Union members came into my shop screaming, “Your car is on fire.” I ran out thinking the worst. I knew something was wrong immediately because we were not running toward where I had parked that day. It wasn’t my car, it was a Union members car turned on its side leaking gasoline someone had lighted on fire. The Union member, with the 12 children, wasn’t there. I stood quietly staring at the burning car and the steward and members there stared at me waiting for a painful anguished reaction. I gave none. After a couple minutes of quiet reflection the steward said, “It’s a shame about your car.” I said, “Not really, that’s not my car.” I had given a friend a ride to work that day and parked near his building instead of mine.

This was not the only incident in my life. Many times Unions have threatened me and my family with violence, harassed my children and my wife, called my home all hours of the night, said vile vulgar things to my wife and threatened me with physical violence on the phone. In 1985 it was the Teamsters Union at Fort Irwin, California. In the 1990’s it was a government employees Union because I testified as an expert witness against them in a false claim of asbestos exposure.

Incidentally, I quite being a fan of Major League Baseball in the 1990's after the player's went on strike, the owners behaved badly and then the Umpires went on strike.  In-spite of having been a lifelong fan, that's when I quite supporting the MLB; haven't gone to a game, or bought their merchandise, or watched them on TV since, including the World Series.  I have been National Football League fan since 1955, and Saints fan for 37 years, if they go on strike and there's no Football this fall, I'll not buy another NFL product, NFL Fan programing subscription, or watch another NFL game the rest of my life. Incidentally, they both have anti-trust exemptions that should be revoked.

Also I do not buy any products from quasi-government industries that are Unionized.  I do not use Railroads, passenger or freight.  I avoid Union trucking and delivery whenever possible.  I do not use the the US Postal Service any more than is absolutely necessary.  And I think it is ridiculous that I must pay admission to National Parks and museums.  I refuse to borrow money for home loans that are supported, back, or purchased by Fanny Mae or Freddy Mac.  I detest Federal contracting that insists on buy American or requires Unions or union-like pay schedules.

So, although I have known and respect many individual craft Union members; I have no respect for Unions and Union leaders because of their widely accepted immoral and unlawful behaviors.

I ask only a few simple questions. What have the Unions done for us lately?

Which Unions have increased productivity, efficiency, sped up service or improved product quality, increased supply, lowered prices, increased profit, created real jobs or wealth and any noticeable tax revenue?

My answer is none, in my 65 year lifetime. Union members are worst off than ever in my life. That could be why Union membership has declined so dramatically.

Unions just collect dues and funnel them mostly to Democrat political campaigns. They short their members on bragged about services, claims of successes and rights, and shovel money to easily corrupted politicians while protecting the jobs of the lame, lazy and incompetent and occasionally a very few deserving hard workers that may have been wronged.

So I ask you to name one Union that has done more good than harm since 1946?

I may not know, or perhaps haven’t heard of some Unions that have done something wonderful without destroying individual esteem, thwarting personal responsibility, intimidating the best workers, protecting the guilty, preventing education and training, discriminated against new, young and the most productive employees, forcing lower productivity, increasing costs unnecessarily, complicating work process, sabotaging progress, stifling decent, extorting detractors, and threatening those who decline to contribute to their demeaning, and corrupt extortion schemes.

Their usefulness is long passed and this cesspool of corruption calls out for reform and serious change.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. All Union membership and the payment of dues must be optional.

2. Prosecute all Union threats of extortion; these are crimes you would be arrested for if you were caught doing them to another citizen.

3. Prohibit all political contributions from Unions.  Union members can contribute their hard earned money to whatever they want.

4. Revoke their anti-trust exemption and levy Federal taxes on all revenue improperly used.

5. Make them fully fund promised pensions and benefits from their revenue.

6. Prosecute them for all false claims, suits and accusations.

7. Change all labor proceedings and court cases to “loser pays”.

8. Un-fund and close the Department of Labor. What they might do can easily be accomplished by civil and criminal courts, and many other existing government departments and programs.

The Union’s time, meaning and usefulness have come and gone. Send them to the scrapheap with other corrupt enterprises that today harm more people than they help.

Stop Taxing Businesses,

You’re Looting Their Consumers

First, a brief review for those who don’t know what happens when a business is taxed. Let’s begin with income taxes. Businesses generally have two kinds of income;

Operating income that comes from daily transactions mostly sales to customers. It is income that will be needed soon to replace the things they sell or pay for normal business expenses like wages, benefits, electricity, gas, water, and phone or computer access, etc.;

Net profit, that’s what is left over after every allowable business expense has been paid. Interest on borrowed money, travel expenses, product development, required insurances, license fees, consumer protection and warranties, all required costs and all business improvement, employee costs, product development and growth, all are expenses paid before taxes. Some net profit is used to pay back investors, called dividends; taxable to the person or company that receives them, currently a 15% tax.

The current 35% corporate tax rate in the US is among the highest in the developed world. Small businesses, usually individually owned, partnerships or special small corporations, generally pass the tax through to individuals at their regular income tax rates.

Who provides the money that pays this tax? Not the company, not their terrible bankers, not the over paid executives; they have their own personal tax problems. Not their employees, not their suppliers, not their government regulators, not the juries and courts that award lavish settlements, not their over priced attorneys, not their Senators or elected Representative.

That’s right it’s you, their customers. The ones constantly complaining about the prices while you cry out for more taxes on business, encourage more regulation and stricter laws, and mandatory consumer protections and health care increases, or higher wages and benefits, or excessive safety features, all of these costs must be passed on to and paid by the purchasers in the price of the products.

The costs of all these nice sounding but very expensive mandatory requirements must be paid by customers, even those who didn’t ask for them and don’t want them.

The companies must add these costs to the prices of all of their products. They must recover all the mandated costs through product sales, or they will have to reduce their future inventory, or lay off employees or pay them less, or stop growing; none of those are wise choices for a successful business.

If customers will not pay all required costs, there is no income to pay taxes, employees, suppliers, interest on loans, utility costs, sales tax on equipment, property tax, interstate transmission tariffs, excise taxes, fuel and highway taxes, health, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and unemployment insurance, or court settlements.

The business is broke and all its employees and customers all out of luck, and no Federal, state or local government tax revenues will be coming through or from this enterprise. No New jobs, no jobs of any kind.

Stop hiding these insidious taxes on individuals in the price of products and services, by pretending to tax businesses.

Businesses don’t pay these kinds of taxes, you do. Businesses just transfer part of your payment for their expensive products to the government along with the costs for collecting, reporting and transmitting your money to the government.

By the time consumers pay all the hidden taxes, their own income taxes, sales tax, property tax, fuel tax, excise tax, and mandatory insurances, permit fees, and licenses;

I am surprised most of us can afford to buy much of anything.

Stop taxing businesses, stop excessive regulation, stop requiring unions, stop manipulating markets with tariffs and subsidies; just stop.

You are drowning us, our children, and our grandchildren in ridiculous spending and oppressive debt.

You are bankrupting this great nation and killing its productive people. Stop it!

Need Tax Revenue, Cut Old Programs

No Tax Increases, No New Taxes

Unemployment payments were extended for way more than was planned and prepared for and now taxes must be increased on the wages of working people, and on the prices of everything we must buy.

This means less pay and fewer jobs. More costs for businesses and higher prices for everyone on everything.

This kind of non-market, regulatory, tax driven inflation is completely unnecessary. The tax revenue to pay for unemployment has already been paid to the government. They are attempting to spend it on programs that benefit only their constituents. If it doesn’t benefit all citizens equally, then cut it. Taxes should not be used to benefit only a special constituent.

Equality, not special treatment (discrimination) for narrow constituencies

Twenty six weeks of unemployment was paid for, planned for, and more than enough. Paying people not to work of 99 weeks increased and prolonged destructive unemployment, and is typical of excessive government benefits that damage people’s lives and destroy self-esteem.

Now unemployment funds have been completely exhausted and deficit spending is required for yet another excessive government benefit.

Here’s my suggestion; use the revenue currently programmed for any of the thousands of unnecessary, excessive and over-funded existing programs, discretionary or not.

Cut them all. Cut them now. Eliminate the ones that are not or have not accomplished their objective. Reduce all programs by 35 percent. Withdraw all program funds not yet obligated.

Wake up! Make some deliberate funds management decisions. You want more unemployment funds, cut everything else.

It’s really that simple. Pick the five most important things.

Fully funds those and cut everything else. Everyone whose brain works will understand it.

Funds are limited! Everyone that matters knows that.

You can’t have everything you want, but if congress actually does their job, we can get what we really need.

Housing Bust

Who Didn’t Know It Was Coming

Most everyone that was paying attention or whoever said to anyone or thought to themselves, “Can you believe how much our neighbor’s house just sold for!” should have realized the housing boom was unsustainable.

Some smart people took advantage of it by selling extra housing assets on the way up, or avoided it by not borrowing to buy more house than they could afford to pay for when things turned down, which non-delusional people knew would happen.

A few really smart investors and politicians knew to “sell short” derivatives based on artificial housing values and bad loans, because they must surely go down.

Smart money managers, like Goldman Sachs, knew to balance their “long” and “short” positions with more “shorts” in housing derivatives as the bust became evident to those thinking and looking ahead.

Now the very politicians who created it are looking to persecute and crucify those who protected their investors from this normal market adjustment. It’s true the ignorant masses never like it when someone gains from their stupidity making money while they loose. They especially hate anyone bets or invests against them winning, and is proven right, and makes lots of money while they lose their home. There's something somehow un-american about betting something will fail while the inattentive suffer.

Some of the hypocrites that are publicly persecuting Goldman Sachs money mangers are Senators, House Banking and Finance Committee members, Media Moguls, Union Officials and Political Strategists whose retirement accounts benefited enormously by their money managers playing the housing market to fail, and are now taking advantage of the terrible losses of foolish people by buying up valuable real estate at the lowest prices in many decades, using low interest taxpayer funded bailout money to do it.

Shame on those who encouraged and permitted the pillaging of the ignorant and mentally deficient during this latest artificial and politically manipulated housing boom and bust, especially those we elected and pay to safeguard us, who deliberately profited on the way up and the way down using insider knowledge by virtue of their elected or appointed positions, especially Chris Dowd, Barney Frank, David Axelrod, and Rahm Emanuel.

Throw these manipulative, hypocritical, blood sucking leeches and tyrants out.

Good Things

About Global Warming

With all the exaggerated claims of impending doom from global warming, I thought I might mention a few good things likely to occur if the planet warms noticeably.

Incidentally, wouldn’t it be interesting to discover that increased atmospheric greenhouse gases are caused by global warming from solar and geothermal sources; instead of greenhouse gases causing global warming

First, cold weather winter mortality rates are much higher than summer, so something about cold weather is more stressful to humans than hot. Make plans and provisions for both cooling and warming. One thing is obvious from earth’s history, climate changes will occur.

More atmospheric heat should accelerate the hydrologic cycle increasing potential rainfall everywhere, noticeably in arid and desert areas, increasing crop variety and yields worldwide. Increased rainfall will bring more abundant fresh water to all locations, oddly meaningful to arid polar regions that receive little annual precipitation. It will also speed up icecap melt contributing to coastal flooding, but much of it will evaporate increasing worldwide relative humidity, rainfall, and eventually fuller and new terrestrial rivers and lakes, and more abundant hydro-electric power.

During earths ancient history the atmosphere has had many times the current levels of green house gases. During the Jurassic period about eight times current levels, with planet wide temperatures perhaps 50 F degrees higher than today, with prolific plant, insect and animal life, although long before humans.

Increased carbon dioxide will fertilize rapid plant and crop growth feeding many more of the worlds starving people and covering barren landscapes helping to moderate higher temperatures. Increased insects will pollinate many more plants; bees should thrive and animals that eat insects will do well. Larger populations of self pollinating plants will thrive and evolve quickly; bad for the allergic, but, good for the hungry.

A greater variety of plant nutrition will be more widely available in larger quantity with less distribution cost with many plants, animals and insects ranging much farther and migrating much closer to the poles than anytime in recorded human history.

Human activity in colder climates is less economically efficient and infrastructure construction and maintenance are more costly. Clothing, food, housing and transportation are all more expensive in colder climates. Cooling occupyied spaces and pest control will be more expensive, as will the control of warm weather parasites and diseases.

So what is so bad about moderate global warming?

Mostly, businesses and governments can’t control it and therefore will find it more difficult to adopt quickly to tax and profit from it. The kinds of power and oppression that use the artificial scarcity of food, clothing, housing, health and security will be lost to dictators and despots, and they will have to resort to more outright violence and vulgar manipulations in plain view.

A person will be able to accumulate resources and wealth, replace ignorance, clamor toward freedom, and throw off the yoke of oppression and excessive taxation once again.