Election Issues Today

I must express my disgust at how the entire World’s economy seems to have gone down the toilet due to the cost of WARS around the globe!

We note that Bill Clinton left office with over $120 Billion surplus, and today the USA faces a $1 Trillion deficit–this year!   President-elect Obama stated yesterday that he thinks the USA must endure several years of $Trillion dollar deficits–due to federal bailouts, economic stimulus packages, tax cuts, and shrinking revenues.   But what has really destroyed the U.S. economy–and that of the rest of the World–are the costs of WAR.  

Wars in the former USSR states, the horn of Africa, and the Gaza strip affect ALL NATIONS!  The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are draining the United States treasury at such a rate that ordinary middle class taxpayers can not even comprehend the amount of money involved.  Staggering.  We can’t continue this.  It reads like a plot in a spy novel: Third world dictators and terrorist organizations undermine the economic well-being of the United States and Europe in order to further disrupt the civilized world so they can take over.

While our kids and small-minded adults of all ages fiddle with cell phones and gps devices, the serious enemies of our entire World structure are busy plotting how to destroy us.  They also use cell phones and gps devices–but to much more devastating effect. 

While Food Banks are hard-pressed to provide for all the needy in the United States, and the United Nations struggles with food for peace programs and health programs around the world, the USA, Europe, Russia, and Israel spend Billions on bullets and bombs and warships and soldiers.

I don’t know what the solution is, but part of it has to be for the civilized nations of the World to come to terms with each other–for our mutual benefit.  Dragging down the USA and Europe would destroy all of civilization.  We can’t start the World all over again.  It doesn’t work that way any more.  

The Arab nations must get past the ancient insults and colonialism and “jew” preoccupations and develop their societies within the structure of muslim-acceptable economic systems that will generate JOBs and FUTURES for all the young men of those countries who have NO JOBs, NO EDUCATIONS, NO FUTURES, NO WIVES AND FAMILIES, AND NO HOPES FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE–SO THEY JOIN UP WITH TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS THAT OFFER THEM SOME SENSE OF PRIDE AND PURPOSE–ALBEIT INSANE TO MOST OF US.

We need to extricate foreign armies from what amounts to inter-tribal rivalry and nation-state building in both Afghanistan and Iraq.  They have to do it themselves. 

Merely creating three million jobs over the next two years will not provide “stimulus” to the nation’s economy if it fails to stimulate DEMAND.

DEMAND is what drives the capitalist economy: Demand and Supply, in that order.  Demand is what must come first, not Supply.

So any economic stimulus plan must ensure that the small “production” businesses in the country, whether a “curb and sidewalk” concrete contractor or  roofer, or a painter, or a “tape and texture” guy, have WORK to do.  Now, I’m not talking about retail business here, nor real estate agents, insurance agents or stock brokers.

Small “production” businesses can quickly gear up and accept new owork, hire new employees, even using “temp” agencies, and generate PAYROLLS.   A Payroll is what generates demand for goods, which in term will stimulate the large manufacturing corporations to produce the commercial products that consumers with paychecks will Demand.

Overall, our economy has many thousands of people employed in the “non-producing” jobs that don’t CREATE anything and are themselves dependent upon Demand before they can receive a paycheck. Besides retail, real estate agents, insurance agents, and stock brokers that I mentioned above, I also included in these “non-producing” jobs social workers, school teachers, and other governmental positions that depend upon tax revenues to pay them.

Now, I see a proposal being floated in Congress to provide a tax rebate this year, 2009, in the amount of $500 for a single taxpayer and $1000 for a couple.   As welcome as this would be for individual checking accounts, it will NOT stimulate the economy.  I, for one, would rather see that money put toward getting people to WORK.

Presidential Pecs - Putin Put on Notice - New Prez no Puss

This is pretty much a throw-away blog.  Presidential photos of bare chests are hardly the material of serious politics.

Could there be an underlying message…an unspoken way of matching the Putin propensity for public display of muscle?  A warning that the new U.S. Prez is ready to match Putin…pec for pec?

Political ploys or plots?   Will Russia “test” the new President? Do the photographers care?  The press seems preoccupied with pecs and potential photo ops.  Thankfully, the Obama vacation in Hawaii managed to keep a low key for the family…for the most part.  I, at least, haven’t seen any swim suit photos of Mrs. Obama or the girls.

Could the press photographers and paparazzi giving the new first family a break?  Sort of a “honeymoon” from the constant attention of the past year?   I guess the Obama family will really never be the same, will they? Not for the next four years, or eight years, or twenty-eight years.  They are now part of the World stage, part of the story of our World’s civilization.

Like the Kennedy’s and to a lesser degree, the Clintons and the Bushes, this family’s image has entered the public consciousness around the globe.  Let’s just hope that the image remains favorable.

New Year Brings New Attitudes?

Oh,  I wish, but I doubt.  I see and hear so much of the arrogance and elitism that brought down the economy during the past year.

We see it on Wall Street; we see it in the banking and insurance industries; we see it in the auto industry.

The only humility I see right now is in the retail sector.  Yes, they were hurting at year’s end, and many hundreds of retailers will NOT recover.  They will go under.  More unemployment, more pain for lower and middle class Americans.

The politicians around the country are gearing up for new legislative sessions.  They face tighter budgets and fiscal disasters in their investment and pension funds.   State and local governments are hurting–probably as much as the retail industry.

The financial industry and investment bankers remind me of alcoholics or drug addicts.  They have to really hit bottom, face death and family ruin, before they finally can begin recovery.  I don’t see much humility among the “big money” people in America.  Although they may be keeping a pretty low profile at the moment, I believe, for the most part, they still have their homes and cars, and villas, still take winter cruises and vacations in Aspen and Vail.

I hear the “Hollywood” types are not wearing so much bling–not wanting to appear ostentatious.  Big deal.  It’s attitude that is the problem.

The attitude problem is huge. So, while I would like to “hope” for the best in the new year, “hope” will not get us out of this mess.  I just think the “wake-up call” hasn’t yet been heard by the big money people.  Billions and billions may bail them out, but the rest of us will still suffer.