My View on Some of the Presidential Candidates

Right now the only viable, or front running, candidates in the presidential race that I can see are President Obama, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, and--Herman Cain? Yeah...I'm going to have to add Mr. Cain into the mix. At the very least he has become, for me, a person I need to take a look at and try to understand. I totally admit that I don't know enough about our politicians, what they do, or how they do it. I'm probably like most of the people in the United States. I know we haven't gotten good value from our politicians. I know that we need a change. I don't know how to help in that change.

Social Security Never Was an Entitlement

Hearing the word "entitlement" when applied to Social Security is really pissing me off. It never was an entitlement. I paid into it all my life. The part paid by my employer was part of my pay--just like insurance, vacation, sick time, and other benefits are. Social Security was/is a fully funded retirement fund...pretty much just like congress's benefit programs. The only problem is, our fine politicians raided our retirement fund and spent the money. Oh...sure, they gave us IOUs. But certainly not at the same return we would have gotten if the money had been intelligently handled and invested wisely. In the latter case there would be plenty of money to fund the program for us and the future retirees. As it is--yeah--they've raided out retirement fund and otherwise screwed the country. Isn't it illegal for companies to raid retirement funds? Why can congress do it? Did they raid THEIR retirement fund?. I think not. The more I think about this the more unhappy I get. I've never worked for a company where I had to vote not to get a raise. Why does our congress. It's about time for some changes...

Presidential Motorcades

"Imperial Overkill" is an article by Fareed Zakaria about the overkill of security concerning motorcades by--President Obama--now, but I'll mention the same thing about probably all presidents. Specifically I'll mention one instance back when George Bush was the president.

Since I live in central Texas not far from George Bush use to live I got to see up close a few motorcades. One specific motorcade that still leaves a bad taste in my mouth was when--I think--some big Chinese diplomat came to the United States. Reportedly security was so tight that all motorists were forced off Interstate 35 onto side roads while the president, this Chinese guy (wish I could remember who, but it's not important), and their entourage were escorted by Texas State Troopers at around 100 miles per hour to the "Texas White House." I happen to come up on this motorcade after the meeting and as they were leaving the area. I was on the way to work. All traffic was stopped about a half mile from the route of the motorcade. We had to wait for about an hour for the motorcade to appear. We then sat there while more than 37 vehicles (I counted them) came down a side road, turned east, and went on. Shortly after that we were allowed to continue our travels. I was late for work.

This really pissed me off. I felt like a peon who had to wait while the emperor was escorted by. This hammered the difference between common people and royalty of today. What?...we don't have royalty in the US? Couldn't have proved it to me on that day. I understand security and that time is more important to some people than it is to me. But--I don't think anybody is better than I am. And I don't think they should be treated as though they are. On that day, I understood that our royalty does not live in the same world that we do. Maybe that's why they don't think it's important to serve the people of this country. Maybe that's why they serve only themselves. Maybe that's why this country is in so much trouble. Maybe that's why we need a change...

The Exponential Tax System

Obama has outlined his $3 trillion debt plan. The GOP automatically slams it as class warfare. Expecting people with money to pay more--or even the same as those with less is class warfare? I guess congress really ought to be glad I'm not in charge. First of all they would be getting paid the average of the income in the districts for which they serve. There's a lot of other things I'd do--just wait till you hear about my ideas on jails, criminals, and justice. But that's another article. Today I'll try to stick with MY tax system. I call it the Exponential Tax System.

First you'll want to know: Is it fair? Hell yes it's fair. The United States of America is(still) the best country in the world. Some of us have the ability and opportunity to do well. Other's don't. Many people, through no fault, or reason, of their own, are either rich or poor. And then there are a lot of us in the middle. I think it's bull-oney when many pundits say that the rich work harder. Sure...some may, many don't. Many poor people also work hard, but they don't have anything and never will. The poor can't afford to pay much tax for the opportunity to live in the US. The rich can...and should.

My exponential tax system would start a basic living level and go up with income. A basic living level is not the poverty level. No citizen of the United States should be living at the poverty level. Though there are abuses of the system by some poor people, there are just as many abuses by rich people--and at a far higher monetary value. Let's go on. Those who work, or are unable to work, and who are living below my basic living level would get money from the government up to the basic level. And It would not be called an "entitlement." That's an insult. There should be NO entitlements in the US...only rights! The citizens of the United States of America deserve a basic living level. Notice I keep saying citizen. We'll cover illegal immigrants (and others) in another article some day.

Anyway...with an exponential tax system those who can afford it will pay more tax. It's silly to tax those who don't have the means to pay. Those who have done well for whatever reason and because of the opportunities in the US should pay more.

The GOP says that taxing the rich--the job creators--will mean fewer jobs. They're wrong. We've seen that under the current GOP backed system the rich just get richer--and the poor get poorer. The rich have not created more jobs. This is not sustainable. Something will give. It won't be the poor. They don't have anything...

Leaderless America

Leaderless America is a term I saw used in an article about market timing.  The point in the article was about it being hard to invest or speculate in a country with no strong leadership.  And, no, I'm not necessarily talking about Obama.  Obama is but one part of our leadership.  I was always under the impression that we have 3 parts to our government--the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.  To put this further into perspective I always thought that the executive branch--the president--put into effect the laws, rules, and projects legislated by the congress, and that the judicial branch--the supreme court--determined the legality and course of justice for the country.

So--How do I think each branch is doing?  First, let me say that if I had to choose I'd say that I'm an ultra conservative republican.  I certainly don't believe I have any representation in our current governmental process right now.  But--let's go on.

I believe the executive branch is hamstrung.  I think Obama is conscientious and trying to get his job done.  I don't believe he, or any president could do a good job because of congress.

I believe congress is totally dysfunctional, incapable of making decisions for the country and the people of the country.  I believe they will certainly see that their pockets are lined, coddle to special interest groups, and continue to run this country into the ground.  There's a lot more I want to say here--I'm feeling a little congressional rage--but--another time, another place.

I believe that the Supreme Court--well--half the time I think they're crazy.  Some of the decisions they make are crazy!  Justice for ALL should be the tenet.  There is no justice in being politically correct, kowtowing to special interest groups, or making totally arbitrary decisions based on--what???  Sometimes you can't understand how they could possibly make the decisions they make.  Is there no common sense on our Supreme Court?  Not that I can see...

Back when I worked for a large company we regularly had to fill out questionnaires given to us by management.  One question asked us to describe management of the company.  I wrote:  .....this company is like a huge, highly technical, very advanced ship floundering at sea with no captain and no crew.  That answer didn't do much good for my promotion possibilities.

The United States of America is indeed leaderless...

The GOP's Boner--uh--Boehner...

Well I'll say one thing for sure.  The GOP and Boehner are consistent.  In a speech to the Economic Club of Washington, DC., Boehner states that "...tax increases, I think, are off the table..." and "....the super committee should only consider spending cuts and entitlement reform..."

Man--what can I say?  This is still "coddle the rich and shaft the poor and middle income."  My opinion is that there should be more taxes on an exponential scale--and there should be reform as to how businesses hoard cash reserves.  The should be cuts in money that is wasted on pork barrel projects, special interest groups, and political benefits and entitlements.  We should do away with the term entitlements for the basic means of life for the less well off--this should be a right--and quit trying to shaft the middle income earners.

The poor get poorer and the rich get richer.  That's what we should be working on--narrowing the gap.  Good paying jobs are part of the cure, but making the rich richer is not creating jobs.  It's just creating more super rich...

UBS Unauthorized Trade Losses...

This is the kind of stuff that confuses me.  UBS has lost 2 billion Dollars due to unauthorized trades.  Do they ever tell us when they make money on "unauthorized" trades?  My thoughts are that they are still doing risky stuff in the name of greed--then throwing a scapegoat under the bus when it fails....

Pulling a Boehner...or the GOP Jerk Off...

The crux of House Speaker Boehner's latest GOP response to President's Obama's Jobs Plan is to explain the GOP Plan for fixing the economy.  No discussion of Obama's plan, no embracing of positive aspects of the plan, no compromise of the plan--no--the GOP has to come up with "their" plan.

This makes me really unhappy.  Let me also state that I am an ultra conservative republican, so the fact I no longer have reasonable and capable representation in the US government makes me even more unhappy.  In fact there's a little bit of political rage here.  But--let's go on.

Boehner's (GOP) plan for fixing the economy means--less regulation, lower taxes and big reductions in government spending. Wow...pretty much what they've been doing.  Which pretty much shafts the lower, and especially, the middle class.  Take this to the bank from a confused old man.  Good paying jobs are our first line of defense in this period of economic turmoil.

There should be a minimum (but enough) of competent, intelligent government regulation designed to protect the people and the country--not big business or special interest groups.

There should be more taxes based on an exponential tax system.  I'll get into that tax system on another post.

There should be more spending by the federal and state governments on basic infrastructure for the country and the people of this country.  First we can eliminate the word "entitlement" because the ability for those who are less well off to live should be a basic requirement in the United States of America.  There should be LESS waste of tax money on pork barrel, special interest, fraudulent, and any other project not in the best interest of the entire country.


How do they define insanity?  If you keep doing the same thing and expect a different result each time...

Thongs and Skid Marks

I'll try to handle this delicately.  This is something that has confused and confounded me since I was a very young man walking on beaches in Florida and observing some fine (and some not so fine) female butt cheeks that were totally exposed due to very skimpy string bikinis.  I guess there are many variations in this "sports" wear--called g-strings, V-strings, T-strings, C-strings (yeah...try to imagine that), or thongs.  I think this all goes back to "thwong."  I know that thwong sounds kind of funny.  The first thing you think of is, "....wow--look at them butt cheeks..." and "thwooong".  But no, that's not what I mean.  Sure there may be a little bit of "thwooong" there, but what I really mean is that the name for this style of attire came from the old English word "thwong"--meaning thin, flexible, leather cord.  Uh, yeah.  From the back we have to assume that there is a thin--cord--in there, somewhere...we hope.  Anyway--I'm off the track here.  What confuses me now concerns the new fangled thong panties.  How do you know when you have skid marks in thong underwear?  Smell test?

US Poverty Rate at 15.1%

This means, using the official figures, that for every 20 people, 3 are living in poverty.   Hopefully we all know that government facts and figures are artificially manipulated.  According to my gut feeling the count is actually twice as high.  That would mean 30%, or 6 in every 20 people.

This is--disturbing.  This brings to mind all those millions of new jobs that have been created in the last few years.  Minimum wage.  You can't live on minimum wage.  Nobody can.  These minimum wage jobs are for young people and/or those who are starting on their journey through life.  These are part time, or stop gap jobs to have while working toward a fruitful future.  Problem is--this is the future...

Banks and the "tap tap" Layoff

Let me get this straight.  Banks are going to layoff people (upper tier people, it seems) using the "tap tap" method of laying off.  From the definition I read in the article this means that the employees are being told that they will retain their salary and title, but after Oct. 1 they would no longer have a job.  What the hell!  I would love to get a "tap tap" layoff.

The article goes on further to state that "...  the primary drivers of these "tap tap" layoffs is twofold: The financial institution can decrease the number of reported layoffs if these employees find other jobs. Secondly, the banks will lower their expenses for the fourth quarter.

Let me see--if the employee is retaining his salary and title--he has little reason to look for another job.  And the cost to the "bank" (...and the word "bank" is almost becoming curse word in my mind) remains the same.  What is this?  A little more sleight of hand magic?  Some how I just think the rest of us are going to keep getting screwed.    

Why Perry is Beating Romney.

That's a headline I read.  The actual article held little substance or fact.  I think one "fact" in the article (if I may call it that) is that Perry is winning because people think he will uphold their best interests.  I can't argue with that very much.  I live in Texas.  What we see here, or our perceived view, is that Perry does indeed take care of his friends.  And while he's campaigning--everybody is his friend.  But when he takes office the perception is that he is loud, brash, arrogant--and definitely takes care of himself and his friends--which have now become a very small group of insiders and special interest groups.  How does a person become rich, or live high on the hog, as a career politician?  That might be something we should look into--for all politicians. 

Have The Terrorists Already Won?

I read an article yesterday who's premise was that the terrorists have already won.  That's a statement that is hard to argue with.  This country is paying billions, if not trillions, to combat terrorism.  Terrorists don't even have to do anything.  Just the threat that they might do something keeps this country throwing dollars in every which direction.  We now endure untold delays, unrest, inconvenience in the name of dealing with terrorists.  Individual liberties and the constitution have been thrown out the window in the name of dealing with terrorists.  I'm not going to say that the terrorists have won already, but it seems to me that our country leaders have played right into the hands of the terrorists.  The US is dancing to the terrorist tune.  The funny thing to me is that I would bet close to my last dollar that some countries are behind this terrorism.   I know just enough about the politics of the world to know I'm really confused.  Is being PC (politically correct) part of the terrorist plan?  The US has tried to appease every one.  None of it has worked.  Just wait until you see certain "criminals" tried in the US under sharia law.  At that time you can know the United States of American is on the way down....

This is the United States of America.  At one time this was the best country in the world.  We are under attack by a large portion of the world and much from within.  We are losing.

Can We Trust Any Politician?

This is not really much of a post.  It's more of a question.  Can we really trust any politician--especially a career politician--to put the best interests of this country and it's people ahead of their own self,or partisan, interest?  Maybe.  Maybe in the past there have been a few.  I would like to hope so.

Now?  I'm very, very afraid not....

Are Jobs Obsolete?

I read the opinion article "Are Jobs Obsolete?"  Regardless of the answer, if you like to eat, you have to have a job.  Still I though the article was a good one.  I've read many science fiction books where very few of the people in the future have real jobs.  Productivity will be high and it simply won't be necessary.  Everyone will be cared for, at least to comfortable minimum standards, and want for nothing--except a job.  There will be fierce competition for future jobs simply because many people will be bored.

I don't understand the bored part because with sufficient resources and time I can think of any number of things to do.  Since I'm retired, I have the time, but I don't necessarily have the resources.  I am not rich, or one of the elite.  And that brings about several points the author of the article noted.  One point was that long ago people actually didn't have a job as we know it now.  Mostly they did what they had to do to survive and bartered their excess goods and services for goods and services from others.  One fly in the ointment at that time was the elite--the aristocracy--the Kings and Queens--who lived off of taxes, or whatever they took from the peons for allowing them to--survive.  Who put the elite in that position?

We have some parallels today in that we still have an elite--an aristocracy--maybe we'll call them the upper class, CEOs, Congress?, etc., etc., who live by taking from the peons--oh wait--now we're the middle class (and losing ground).  And I still wonder who put the elite in their position.

Inequality of classes has always been a problem.  I think it's gonna be a bigger problem in the near future.  I'm not going to get into this deeply because it will just confuse me more and get away from the crux of the article.  Are Jobs Obsolete?  No,they're not--yet.  I think in the future we will have to see massive changes in our current economic model.   But, we will always need to see rewards for productivity--no matter what form that productivity takes.  Maybe a more equable economic system than the one we have today.

Postal Service on verge of going broke

This is one of my real pet peeves.  US postal workers have always been very well paid and enjoyed great benefits.  And I'm very sure that there has been a lot of waste along the way.  But that's not the real problem.  The problem is that the US Postal Service is part of government infrastructure and should be treated as such.  A viable, low cost method of mail and communication delivery is a service every American should expect and utilize.  The US Postal Service should never be treated as a "for profit" organization.  It also should never compete with other forms of "for profit" delivery--such as Fedex, Ups.  Forms of communication are evolving.  So should the US Post Office.  So...yes...we should have a postal service, but it should not be a stand alone "for profit" business.  If it is, and can't make it, let it sink--like the government did those banks who failed.  Oh--wait, the government bailed them out, gave them low interest loans, and let them make massive profits while the rest of us wave in the wind--like the weary US Flag.

Let's Talk About HP Management...

Let's see if I can get this straight.  I'm still very confused about why upper management, which includes Chief Exectutive Officers, are paid so well. "They" say it's because of their inate ability to make good decisions.  Few people can make the decisions they make.  I use to say that was baloney.  Partly because I always found it much easier to be in charge and make the decisions.  Everybody else had to try and figure out what the hell I wanted done--no matter what I said.  I didn't have to second guess anybody.  Anyway--HP released a tablet with very sparsely supported WebOS.  What the hell were they thinking if they didn't plan on massive support all the way through?  Who Okayed this decision?  Do they still have a job?

Now--only 49 days after the release they have killed the tablet.  What the hell were they thinking?  This was a $500 tablet with no third party support.  It didn't sell.  Suppose to be a pretty good tablet but if you have no applications to go with it--what the hell were they thinking?  To get rid of the excess they dropped the price to $100.  Sold out!  Wow--they think.  Let's make more and sell them for the same low price.  Bet we can sell as many as we can make--  they were thinking.  I suppose so--since it costs them $300 each to make.  That's a $200 bath on each one.  What the hell are they thinking?  And they pay a CEO to approve of this stuff.  Where can I sign up....