Cut Spending, Freeze Hiring!

Freeze replacement hiring, freeze hiring to unfilled slots authorized in the previous two administrations.

Do it immediately, and keep doing it until the burn rate is less than incoming revenue!

Shrink the number of Civilian Employees, Executive Appointments, and contract employees by 5%  per year until every Agency, Department, Bureau, Commission, Institute, and Office has cut at least 10% of the employees of record as of today.  Eliminate all the vacant billets.

A few years ago I went through the annual budget and the actual expenditures two years after the end of the fiscal year (minus very secret projects, and some other well hidden stuff) and I easily found 1200 programs and organizations that were not required by legislation or regulation.

Some hadn't done anything useful since the late 1920's, and some sprouted recently from a feeling that "the Government" should do something about an actual or imagined vulgarity of real life that needed a just correction on behalf of the embarrassed parties, even though no known citizen had sought any such adjudication.

Some need to be collapsed back into their parent organization.  BLM back into Dept. of Interior.

Some need permanent closure or just don't fund them.  For instance; PBS, PBR, Institute for the Humanities,

Some need serious mission and staffing re-evaluation (i.e. Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Education, Dept. of Commerce, except; ICC moved to IRS, and Import/Export Bank to Federal Reserve System).

Some never should have been the "Governments" business.  No insurances, not the un-Affordable Care Act, not Social Security, Disability, Medicare, Medicaid, Flood Insurance, crop insurance; any other insurance product that requires conservation of funds locked up where no idiots in Congress can take the reserve funds for any reason and obligate the general budget to cover the benefits plus lost interest on what was set-aside funds.

Some were made even less effective, slower and more expensive by "Government" meddling.

Basically; smaller, less expensive, less intrusive Federal Government.

Stop the idea that government needs to fix every consequence of poor choices made by individuals.

National Days of Recognition

We need more days recognizing good judgment, choosing wisely and emphasizing life management principles and skills.

Here's my suggested list of National "......" Days, in no particular order.

1. Thoughtfulness Day

2. Permanent Savings Day

3. Rational Thinking Day

4. Considerate Driving Day

5. Take Care of Your Own Children Day

6. Mind Your Own Business Day

7. Ignore Your Elected Officials Day

8. Sit Down, Shut Up and Listen Carefully Day

9. Don't Protest Without a Suggested Solution Day

10. Personal Finances Day

10 b.  Speech Isn't Violence Day
       
19 c.  Cease Being Offended Day

I intended to stop at 10 suggestions, but I feel more are coming.

11. Humane Behavior Skills Day

12.  Ignore Gossip Day

13.  Ignore Celebrity Opinion Day

14.  Ignore Fake News Media Day

15.  Make More Than You Spend Day

16.  Worry Less Day

17.  Be Fearless Day

18.  Talk With Your Family Day

19.  Sensible Eating Day

20.  Go for a Walk and take Your Dog Day

21.  Speak Carefully Day

22.  Under Eat Day

23.  Work Hard Day

24.  Dream Big Day

25.  Think Logically Day

26.  Choose Wisely Day

27.  Manage Your Own Life Day

Important Infrastructure Projects

Here is my suggested list infrastructure projects that will prevent tens of thousands of needless deaths, and hundreds of billions in public and private property damages, and prepare for the impacts from non-human caused climate changes.

1. Replace all on-grade railroad crossings with over/under passes, so that no trains or vehicles ever have to stop for each other again.

2. Improve large scale fresh water collection, treatment and low evaporation long-term storage. 

As the sun continues to grow hotter toward eventual super nova, the liquid surface water zone will move passed the Earth.  All surface water will vaporize into the atmosphere leaving no lakes, rivers, or oceans anywhere, only deep under ground aquifers or huge carefully constructed structures preventing evaporation will contain any water, including salt or contaminated water.

3. Vastly increase electrical generation capacity and decentralization, especially increase non-hydrocarbon fuel generation, by nuclear and chemical fuel cells. 

As Sun activity continues to increase, much more robust air conditioning and much larger and more robust super refrigeration for food storage and long-term preservation will be essential for any continued human habitation on Earth. 

4. Actually put all electrical power generation, storage and distribution in underground conduits, tunnels and caverns.

5. Actually perform long overdue repair and replacement of roads, bridges, airports and harbors.

6. Actually provide high speed Internet access to all US citizens and legal aliens.  

More Socialism, Ignorant!

Our country has more social programs than it can afford now. We have more socialist tendencies than our culture should tolerate.

None are working well, most do have enough revenue to pay their benefits without general tax revenue transfers.  Most will be in massive deficits in a few years, some have had 100's of billions of dollars of debt over several years.

We have granted tax exempt status to way too many organizations, Churches, Unions, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) and Foundations, many of whom do little or no social good, but for laundering the monies of the rich, to exempt themselves from income and profit taxes they should be paying.  Not to mention phony expenses that do nothing to accomplish the avowed purposes of their charters.

IRS needs to have cracked down on them long ago. 

Now the ignorant, but well-meaning are clamoring for more Social Programs that cannot possibly be afforded from any source, National, State or local.

Stop! look at the history of Socialist Countries and large scale socialist programs.  They all eventually run out of other peoples money, benefit outlays always exceed projected revenues.

They are poorly managed, constantly allowing new benefits without new revenue.  And ignoring the warnings from knowledgeable Actuary's about insufficient future revenue volumes and sources.

You want benefits?

Learn to do things people might need or want.
Get a job or two. Go to work.
Learn to manage your life and your money sensibly.
Spend less than you make.
Carefully invest most of what you save.
Save some for unpredictable expenses.
Save some for known future expenses.
Spend your whole life learning new things.

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!

Preparing for Climate Change, not fighting it

In this Solar system, Earth is certainly a planet of Climate Change.  
During its history our planet has undergone many rapid and robust
climate changes.

Historically, and currently our sun gets hotter and hotter on its way
to eventual Supernova. The sun is the primary source of energy
and heat on earth.  Earth's orbit is in the zone where water can
normally be a liquid, not always vapor, not always solid ice.  
The Liquid Water Zone is moving away from the sun as it grows
hotter. I’m told we are about 60% away from the very cold
always frozen boundary, and 40% from the too hot, no liquid
water on the surface boundary.

Physical proximity and solar chemistry realities mean; in a few
billion years no liquid water on this planet's surface, and not
much else anyone would recognize.

That means there is little if anything mankind can do about
persistent warming.

The next most important source of heat and energy on this
planet is it's molten core and tidal forces from our beautiful
singular moon.

Volcanic eruptions spew heat, various gases, pyroclastic
ash and debris, and molten lava heat blobs and ribbons
onto land, under seas and under ice fields in about 20
places, plus or minus a few, around the world day and night.  
Thanks to our moon’s tidal forces on earth’s crust and core,
our molten core and its related products can always find
their way to the surface and into the atmosphere.

I can’t imagine anyway the inept, incompetent and
uncooperative creatures on this planet could do
anything to change planetary, solar, or cosmic physics.

What should humans be doing?

First, stop thinking we collectively or individually, can
do any perceptible thing about the powerful planetary
and solar forces of the cosmos.

Next, make plans and conserve resources needed to
avoid the effects of climate changes.  Like; changes
in food growing regions, increased energy generation
for food distribution and long-term storage and much
greater habitation air conditioning; more energy for
making and moving clean water to widely dispersed
human populations.  

Enormous infrastructure needs will increase
dramatically as people migrate toward polar regions
to avoid insect borne diseases and low nutrient foods
as the Tropic and Subtropic regions grow wider and
hotter. Waste handling and treatment, crowd control,
policing and punishment; medical treatment and its
training, facilities and equipment must expand
exponentially in new regions with many new demands.

Next, some new social systems; nothing like the weak
ineffectual national and world systems of today.
Reliable and sustainable for millennia; in some
incorruptible organizational way to assure that wealth
is conserved, set aside, safe guarded carefully,
and wisely disbursed to accomplish the gigantic
projects and programs needed to sustains human
population in the late stages of mankind on this planet.

This planet will get hotter each millennium, regardless
of what human populations do or do not do in their
imaginary fight with the global climate.

The only logical effort is preparation for cataclysmic
impacts; opposing cosmic forces by tinkering with
climate manifestations is wasteful, ignorant and futile.

Save for, and be prepared to, make massive
adjustment as changing climates and their
advantages and penalties will certainly impact the
unprepared and immobile very harshly.  

Be prepared to move toward polar regions and
away from sea level coastal regions.

Humans vs Solar Physics; who are the easy winners?
Solar Radiation and Gravitational Forces.

Humans are not powerful or knowledgeable enough to manipulate the sun, the moon, our molten core or the chemistry of our atmosphere.

Don't pick fights with cosmic forces we barely understand and can't effect!

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.

More Health Care, not more insurance

Affordability or accessibility to Health Care is what's needed, and little has been done to improve either.

Not more access to Health Insurance that fewer people that actually have to pay can afford now.

It's simple supply and demand.

For many decades little has been done to train and educate extra Physicians, Nurses, and more recently Physician's Assistants.  It's consistently been made harder and more expensive to become any of these.

Less supply

Much was done the past eight years to close hospitals and clinics restricting access in much of the less populated parts of the country, making Health Care both less available or affordable for many.

Much has been done to increase demand for Health Care.

Advertising new medicines, new ailments and diseases, new treatment, new research; along with an aging population, and constant government advertising for Health Insurance, and a constant political and media campaign insisting that Health Insurance is a constitutional/human right for those who can't afford it, whether they are citizens, or not.

More demand

Anyone who has studied economics will tell you; more demand than supply, prices will go up quickly.

More Additional government requirements, more unnecessary costs; means higher prices.

Higher prices means less affordability and less access.

What's needed for faster, better and cheaper Health Care; and perhaps Health Insurance?

More Health Care!  Train more Physicians, Nurses and PA's!  Encourage more medical facilities (Hospitals and Clinics) especially in rural and remote locations.

Decide what's more important?

Poor and elderly people without Health Insurance, or getting actual Health Care.

Access to actual Health Care; or Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts, Department of Energy, Bureau of Land Management, Farm/Crop subsidies, Department of Education, The Boundary Commission, and poverty, mental illness, and drug abuse encouraging programs.  

People with serious pre-existing medical ailments getting actual Health Care; or weapons the military has already told you they don't need or want, and politicians getting repeatedly re-elected.

More diagnostic equipment, labs and staff; or more taxes, regulations, political campaigns and media advertising.

I think we all know the answer.

Help those who really need it, and drop the ridiculous, self serving, useless, and archaic regulations, regression programs, destructive practices, corrosive waste and corruption, and punitive excess bureaucracies, and oppressive taxes

Drop the income redistribution scheme known as Affordable Care Act, Government Health Insurance, or whatever neuro-linguistic crap you come up with next.

If it was insurance, you couldn't manage it anyway.  It's just another oppressive mandatory tax and another wasteful Ponzi scheme. 

A Just War

“There has never been a just [war], never an honorable one--on the part of the instigator of the war. I can see a million years ahead, and this rule will never change in so many as half a dozen instances. The loud little handful--as usual--will shout for the war. The pulpit will--warily and cautiously--object--at first; the great, big, dull bulk of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes and try to make out why there should be a war, and will say, earnestly and indignantly, 'It is unjust and dishonorable, and there is no necessity for it.' Then the handful will shout louder. A few fair men on the other side will argue and reason against the war with speech and pen, and at first will have a hearing and be applauded; but it will not last long; those others will outshout them, and presently the anti-war audiences will thin out and lose popularity. Before long you will see this curious thing: the speakers stoned from the platform, and free speech strangled by hordes of furious men who in their secret hearts are still at one with those stoned speakers--as earlier--but do not dare say so. And now the whole nation--pulpit and all--will take up the war-cry, and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently such mouths will cease to open. Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.”

― Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories

What a brilliant writer and thoughtful patriot and citizen! I agree with this view and believe it is consistent with our few true incidents of Foreign Policy interests or National Security attacks in more than six decades. I think only one of the current Presidential contenders has the courage to speak out against all but the most necessary defensive wars, I hope he continues. Defending our homeland and its freedom and prosperity are critical; but interfering with, invading, occupying or attacking those who have not and could not threaten our sovereignty,is absurd.

Protect and defend our homeland and its wealth, health and freedom; stop interfering where no national security or international policy interests exist. 

Use the enormous savings from that new policy to defend our borders, pay down our hideously oppressive debts, and benefit our law abiding citizens.

Mind Our Own Business!

I Don’t Want Deficit Reductions,

I Want Deficit Elimination.

For about 83 years deficits have been a common occurrence, just 5 brief periods of slight surpluses.  The last brief period we had small surpluses that were insignificant.  Today’s dollar is worth only about 9.4 cents in 1960 money.  We are not likely to see surpluses of eleven times our recent deficits for several decades.

Given our history, we are not likely to see surpluses in 1960 dollars ever in our soon-to-be more severely devalued currency.

Our history does not bode well for many years of surpluses soon.

50 years of surpluses and 2 years of slight deficits; that’s what I want to see; and stop devaluing of our money.

I don’t understand why our government can’t seem to learn to spend less revenue than it takes in year after year, its ridiculous; over-spending is a very bad habit.

Feds needs to form a new habit; surpluses forever.  Nothing is important enough to spend more money than you will have, including savings (contingency set asides; which we don’t have hardly any of right now.

Just cut all departments and programs until we are spending less than we are likely to take in.  It’s simple, revenues are reasonably predictable.

The current government caused budget morass and debt limit impasse is completely fiction.  More than enough revenue is coming in to run essential services and make debt interest payments.  The shut-down and default are a political sham. 

There is no threat of default. 

Cuts in the growth rates and actual cuts to many Federal Government programs, discretionary and not, will be required and should have been made in small increments, say 2% a year the past four years.  In just a few years surpluses can be achieved.

Surpluses forever! 

Let’s start right now with no debt limit increase until real cuts have been made and non-essential government workers, and obsolete and ineffective programs, have been slowly and systematically eliminated.