Don’t Worry, We Know Better!

In one of my previous lives I was a turn around artist. I would go into either just before bankruptcy or just after bankruptcy and attempt to “save the savable”. On several occasions I helped long time friends. Once I got comfortable with the situation and saw how close they were to failing I would ask why they did not call me in earlier.

They would invariably respond, “I have seen what you have done with other companies. I knew you would cut the company and change it from what it was. I did not think our situation was that bad. I was sure we could turn it around with just a little more time.”

This morning current data indicated further deterioration of the US economy. Inflation is registering at a 12% annual run rate while consumer confidence is down. The FDIC announced that credit delinquencies in mortgages, car loans, credit cards and commercial paper are at the highest level in 30 years. The Vice Chairman of the FED came out and said that there is greater risk of recession than inflation. For some reason he sees the two as exclusive events.

The international markets interpreted this as the FED’s tendency to continue to lower FED funds rates. The dollar dropped to its lowest levels ($1.49 to buy 1 Euro). Oil increased to its highest level (over $100). Wheat, corn and all other commodities priced in dollars increased proportionately to the fall in the dollar.

This time it is different. Our economy has changed. Commodities are no longer the center of our production costs. We are the silicon tech economy where ideas are more important than physical goods.

This type of wishful thinking keeps us from taking the necessary steps to fix our economy and move forward for the future. Einstein’s theory is that mass cannot be created or destroyed. It can only change form. Energy is catalyst or the byproduct. Mass is the commodity. Our economy will be different when we change the source of energy at the base of transforming mass from one object to another. As long as Oil is our energy source it is the same old economy that Henry Ford took on.

If we continue hiding our heads in the sand hoping that our economy will fix itself things will only get worse.

The talking heads blame Ethanol for the rise in commodities. They blame the drop in the dollar on the European Union’s holding interest rates to fight inflation. They blame the loss of jobs on lazy workers. They blame the high cost of agricultural products on the Congress for not passing Amnesty legislation for slave labor.

At the same time our “compassionate” President says that he will veto the new bankruptcy legislation because courts should not tell business what to do. The Presidential candidates are just now realizing that “It’s the economy stupid.” For some reason they thought that people were more concerned about the war in Iraq instead of feeding their family.

Our leaders are hiding their heads in the sand. They refuse to accept that we need structural changes to eliminate the policies of Reaganomics. We need to eliminate our public debt and force financial institutions eliminate their unethical and immoral practices. We need to raise taxes and reduce our presence in the rest of the world. Remember we cannot take on the world’s problems if our own country collapses. We need to regulate business and eliminate illegal immigration. Most of all we need to return the United States government to the people of the United States removing all influences of business in governmental policy.

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Congress Shows Contempt for US Citizens at State of the Union Speech

I love watching the State of the Union speech every year. It is the best scripted comedy show around. A copy of the speech is disturbed to attendees before the President arrives so they have time to figure out when they will hoot and holler and when they will stay seated with drawn faces. The commentators will then count the number of people, the number of times, and even the decibel level to determine whether or not the concept has support. I thought we already had a function that served that purpose, the congressional vote.

Last night I was amazed that the politicians, for the first time since I have been watching, truthfully showed their contempt for the American people. In closing the President told of how the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America came to express the forefather’s desire for a populous government. The original declaration contained the phrase, “We the delegates…”. The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America instead contains the words, “WE THE PEOPLE”.

The president paused after this statement. To his dismay the room was silent. Many our elected leaders were nodding off. Others had their long faces on. I could see their thoughts in their faces, “Why is this idiot reminding the people that they are America. Good grief we already have Lou Dobbs encouraging people to get involved. We cannot have the ignorant plebe actually getting involved in government!”

Let your elected representative know who he/she/it works for and who’s money they are spending to make themselves rich. I am going to send a message with the simple words “WE THE PEOPLE” to each one of my representatives. You can do this too very easily. Congress.Org has the email addresses of all Federal Elected Representatives (House and Senate). They also have an easy to use form that will get to your politician. Let them know that you know who owns America.

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America’s Special Interest require new form of Government

Mr. Obama evidenced the importance of Special Interest groups in the US. In the South Carolina Primary, among Black Voters, he took home 80% of the vote. Such high percentages remind me of rulers like Sadam Hussein who received 100% of the votes of his country. I am not saying that Mr. Obama will kill or imprison Black America if they do not vote for him simply that special interest representation has become the name of the game in the US. The Republican and Democratic parties have become victims of special interest groups pushing the party’s agenda much farther right and left than the population would accept. The candidates have platforms that do not represent Middle America’s interests. The centrist candidates are eliminated in the primary process. The majority of the people do not have a candidate that represents their interests.

Our current form of government was created in very different times when people were spread out over thousands of miles and letters would take months to get from point A to point B. Newspapers published information that often was several months old and the people had no way of getting to know the candidates. Today this is no longer true. The political process happens in real time and Americans are more informed and involved than ever before.

A national discussion takes place on many conceptual issues. The people want one thing and make it known yet the politicians do the opposite to appease their special interests. A recent example is “Comprehensive Immigration Reform.” There is no doubt that among Americans there is broad based support to enforce existing laws before taking on Amnesty, Visas and the likes yet the politicians continued to propose law after law against America’s wishes.

It is obvious that our form of Government no longer represents the people or the best interests of America. We should consider other forms of government including Parliamentary Government where more parties could be represented with a Prime Minister who forms a coalition of interests. Middle America would have a voice. If our Government is incapable of representing America then we need to change government. America is not made up of Special Interests and if someone wants to vote for a candidate because they are Black, a Woman, an Evangelist, Hispanic or because they are Muslim then they should have a candidate that represents their interests but for the rest of America who want to elect a President who will protect the interests of most Americans, we should not have our choices limited to those supported by special interests.

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Divided We Fall

I was reading an article about the anti-war protests in San Francisco. One of the promoters stated, “Where's the outcry? Where's the horror that almost 4,000 Americans have died in a foreign country that we invaded?" Robbins said. "I'm almost as angry at the American people as I am the president. I think Americans have become apathetic and placid about the whole thing.” These words hit me with astounding force. They did not hit me because I think we should be demonstrating against the war in Iraq or that we should hightail it out of there. No, they hit me hard because this individual strongly believes in what she is doing and is pissed off because other Americans will not support her quest. I do not get upset with other Americans because they continue to buy Chinese goods putting their children’s health at risk or because they will not push for alternative energy sources but the seeming apathy does affect my consideration of my fellow Americans.

Last night I was chatting with my cooking buddies. Among the topics of conversation were “the land of fruits and nuts”, the apparent conflict of “why someone can die in a war but not drink a beer”, the fallacy that “illegal immigration cannot be enforced for lack of manpower while we actively throw teenagers in jail for breaking local curfew laws”, and “prohibiting smoking while air born pollutants skyrocket.” I thought about “our dreams”. As college students, we talked about changing the world by eliminating poverty, making education available to all no matter what their social class, and world peace. That was a time when social movement rallies had as many student participants as football games (well maybe not as many but it was acceptable to be socially involved).

Some time ago these same cooking buddies expressed how our political machine had been so successful in dividing the nation. We can no longer act as a people because it is now thousands of specific “us and them”. The religious right believes that abortion and gay marriage are the most important questions, others believe we must “save the environment from humanity”, still others believe that we must “protect ourselves from the evil Muslims.” So here we are, the most informed and financially capable segment of American society, divided, fighting this or that symptom of the greater illness. We are not getting at the cause. We are unable to come together to fight for what made us see a better future because we are heads down, concentrated on the minutia. Our politicians have one. World order is safe. Poverty, wars, despair will be with us for many generations because we are divided and Divided We Fall.

Tags: Government Politics Recession Corporate America Finance Illegal Immigration Economy Reaganomics

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Senate Amnesty Bill goes for Vote – The Dream Act

Yesterday, I wrote about how the Spanish speaking news channels in Dallas had been talking about Amnesty to be granted by the end of the year. I had not seen any information regarding this in the English Speaking news, newspapers or on the Blog sites. I was curious about how they could be so sure there would be Amnesty by the end of the year. Well the Spanish, mostly illegal community, is more informed than US citizens. Tomorrow the Senate will vote the Dream Act. This legislation is appropriately named because it is not the American Dream but because it is the Mexican Dream.

The real problem with all of this is the total disconnect between our politicians and the American Citizens. All of these actions are an attempt to create a North American Union. Our politicians do not represent us, WE THE PEOPLE. This is our country. If our politicians will not represent us we must dispose of our politicians.

Perhaps it is time to change our entire political system. It was designed when WE THE PEOPLE were scattered across this great country without means of communication and transportation. In the Internet world there is no reason why every bill cannot be put to a public vote or some type of semiannual vote on the congress. Should the major portion of the population believe that Congress is not acting in the best interest of the country then the government could fall and new elections be required.

This would be democracy! If this is not possible we should at least eliminate this arcane system of electoral votes, districts, and parties. Let your politicians know that your thoughts about how they represent you. Remember a government is the face of the people. Does this government represent who you are?

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Republican Presidential Debate – Candidates say 1930 like Depression Imminent

On the day of the Republican Debate for Presidential Candidates, the FED released the minutes of the most recent meeting where the 50 basis point cut in interest rates was decided. Oddly enough no reference was made to increasing inflation. Even more interesting is that the discussion about the labor statistics were surprisingly missing. Unanimously the entire board decided to drop the FED reference point by 0.50%. Hmmmmmmm. No inflation, no referral to labor data and the entire board decided to bailout the financial institutions for billions of dollars of speculative losses.

While the debate was going, Alcoa announced its numbers. Alcoa makes aluminum products and sells goods across the world. Alcoa missed its earning numbers by about 4%. Total revenues were up but strangely enough cost of goods sold increased and they were unable to pass on the increases to their customers.

We know that a weakening dollar makes commodities increase in price while they were unable to sell their goods at a higher dollar price. So not only do we have inflation across the US economy but we have exported it across the world through our irresponsible interest rate policy.

Politicians are comparing this period to the 1930s. They are saying that “protectionism” will result in another great depression. Protectionism, as they call it, cannot do anything. We are heading for the greatest depression the US has ever known because of the disastrous policies of Reaganomics and the wholesale auction of America’s equity. The candidates are convinced that Americans are not intelligent enough to understand jobs, economy or finance. The same people who are advocating that the US government not respect its contractual agreements with the American people think that US citizens are not educated enough to know about how to run a business or spend their money.

The reason Americans are upset with the economy is that the economy is bad. Inflation is incredibly high and families cannot pay their bills. The Pollyannesque view that politicians are presenting does not correspond to what we are experiencing. It’s the economy stupid! Politicians think that we are jealous because some people are making a lot of money. This is not the case. We do not like people making a lot of money when they do not deserve it and our investments suffer. We do not like spending $ 2 billion a week on a war to protect corporate interests and then hear that we do not have enough money in the governmental coffers to pay for social security. Social Security is a contract. If the government cannot respect its responsibilities then the government must liquidate its assets and it cannot take on new financial responsibilities.

Dear Presidential Candidates,

we are not as dumb as you think. Most of us understand financial responsibility. Many of us are enticed into the stupidity of Wall Street speculation because if we do not take these risks we are unable to compete in today’s “service economy” where quality and hard work no longer mean anything. If we do not play the games we are unable to feed our families. This must stop. Americans can handle the truth. Give us real information. Tell it like it is. Let the greedy traders in the financial institutions go bankrupt. Perhaps we will then be able to value skilled labor, hard work, and sacrifice for our future.

Smoke and mirrors eventually dissipate. The piper must be paid. We know how to work hard and make a better future but we must have a true vision of today’s reality. It is not by chance that Americans do not trust politicians. Show some balls and tell it like it is.

One Citizen.

Tags: Government Politics Recession Corporate America Finance Illegal Immigration Economy Reaganomics

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Time for a third political party – Return of the Blue Dog Democrats

Day after day our politicians operate with what they are calling leadership. At the risk of being censured by the ACLU for not being sensitive I will provide a translation. When someone in Washington calls for leadership they are saying that they intend to go against the will of the people. Another important translation is populous. When our elected officials use this word they are saying that the person guilty of populism is listening to the stupidity of the will of the people.

Our politicians no longer represent WE THE PEOPLE. They are all off on some agenda. Our political system makes it nearly impossible to get new blood into the system. The Democrats have to pander to the fanatic left and the Republicans have to pander to the religious fanatics. The people who make it through the “vetting” process represent these extremes, not WE THE PEOPLE. It is time for the government of the United States to represent the citizens of the United States. The masses of the United States are not financial executives or CEOs. They are not the religious fanatics who believe that it is ok to kill someone in order to stop abortion. The majority of Americans do not believe that religion should be eliminated nor do they believe that America should stop using energy to protect the environment. WE THE PEOPLE are moderates. This is evidenced by the ease with which the country switches from Republican to Democrat and vice-versa.

Americans believe in hard work. They believe education is important for all and that people should not die in the streets because they cannot afford healthcare insurance. Americans are tolerant. They will elect an openly gay politician and call for the resignation of a politician who says he is straight and goes looking for male company. Americans will spend their last penny to support a religious guru on television and call for his complete destruction when it becomes evident that he does not live the life he preaches. WE THE PEOPLE can accept personal lifestyles; WE THE PEOPE abhor hypocrisy.

At one time it was said that southern democrats were more conservative than the most conservative Republicans. Across the nation the working class Democrats were called BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS. They believed in Fiscal Responsibility, God and Country, Hard Work, Education for all, Assistance for those less fortunate and Personal Responsibility. The idea was that together we are stronger than we are singularly. Today I may be better off and I will help you with your hard times. Tomorrow the tide might change. The BLUE DOG DEMOCRATICS believe that government has a role to mitigate excesses. They believe that we must first secure our home front before we secure others. BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS believe in volunteer work and are wiling to make significant sacrifices for the good of their neighbors and their country.

These are the principles that influence the lives of most people I know. In these times of rampant political corruption and the destruction of America's working class perhaps it is time for a resurgence of the BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS made up of working folk, like you and me.

Tags: Government Politics China Corporate America Finance Illegal Immigration Economy Reaganomics

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Reaganomics has made America Less Productive

The California Agricultural Industry believes that there will be less illegal immigrants to pick their fruits and vegetables. Strangely enough wages are rising for California farm workers. I could go on for several articles talking about how the California example relates to the rest of America’s workers and how the government has sold out Joe Citizen but there is something even more interesting emerging from the California experiment. The unintended consequences of California’s rising farm wages clearly evidences that Reaganomics has made America less competitive on the world’s stage. All economies following the Cowboy Capitalism model should take note.

As a short premise I was somewhat amazed at how technologically backward the United States was when compared to everyday business in Europe. A simple example is the digital cell phone network just implemented this year in the US. Something Europe did with GSM back in the middle 90s, a good 15 years before the US.

The California farmers are investing millions of dollars in technology to improve food safety and time to market. A $ 1 million investment reduces the number of laborers from 30 to 18 with a payback, even with slave labor wages, of just 3 years. The addiction to low cost labor resulted in loss of productivity. The predictions of 1000 percent cost increases were exaggerated. Simply put, Reaganomics and the open border policy kept the California farmers from implementing modern technology solutions that will result in better quality controls, fresher products and lower costs.

It is obvious that necessity is the mother of invention. Take away the need and there is no reason for companies to innovate. Reaganomics has seriously impeded the United States innovation favoring outdated production methods and processing and costing the US economy in both productivity and social distress. The same concepts are true across all sectors of our economy. We have favored outsourcing for short-term gains instead of investing in the infrastructures necessary for a competitive America. Our roads and bridges are failing. The US has one of the lowest broadband penetration rates of the free world. Our best and brightest, because they are poor, never get the formal training to allow them to express their full potential. Our craftsmen and artisans are making telemarketing calls because they cannot compete with contractors using illegal immigrants.

These are the fruits of Reaganomics. The supporters will scream and shout. There are many these days who vehemently defend the stupidity of Reaganomics and risk coronary failure to express their discontent with the Federal Reserves position to fight inflation. Do not listen to the verbiage. Opinions are like assholes… Take a look at the results. Reaganism and Cowboy Capitalism weaken America’s capacity to compete on global markets. Savage immigration policies like open borders reduce the number of qualified, experienced workers necessary to avoid little things like the Subprime Tsunami.

Tags: Government Politics China Corporate America Finance Illegal Immigration Economy Reaganomics

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Mr. Bernanke, Save our $ 100 Million Bonus!

The whining CEOs of America are at it again. In chorus they are calling for the Federal Reserve to decrease interest rates. The tight monetary policy is destroying the economy. Mr. Bernanke, can’t you see that we are in a recession and we will lose our jobs. Mr. Bernanke, Please drop interest rates, our $100 million dollar bonus is based on stock performance. Without intervention from the FED our stock prices will go down. It will be a disaster, this year we will only make $2 million.

It does not matter that these CEOs have driven their companies to the brink of disaster. It does not matter that they have fired their US employees. It does not matter that customer service is now inexistent. It does not matter that these CEOs have lost their competitive advantage by purchasing shoddy products from “developing markets.” It does not matter that they have knowingly introduced into the US market dangerous products undercutting the profitability of US produced goods and services. All that matters is that these “Pezzi da Novanta” are going to lose their bonuses.

Yes, I agree, the US economy is in the pits. Yes, there are many problems. Yes, unemployment is really about 12% instead of the 4.5% listed in the government data. Yes, public debt is 70% of GDP as measured by GAAP. But inflation is also rampant and the only way to bring it down is with tough love economic policy. We must reduce our debt, not by breaking the contract of Social Security, but be eliminating tax breaks and removing tax relief for the top 0.5% of the population. We must stop subsidizing US companies who produce products outside of the US through wars to “protect US interests.” We must eliminate financial institution’s stranglehold on US citizens by passing tough usury laws making “fees” part of interest costs and limiting interest to 10% above LIBOR.

We must take on inflation. Interest rates are historically low. Lowering interest rates at this point will only increase inflation. It will not take on the reasons why we are in such a mess. We are in this predicament because corporate America has taken over the government. America is longer a place of dreams. Americans are simply cattle for the slaughter for corporations.

Do not worry corporate America. Mr. Bernanke will come to your rescue. Good economic policy is simply a matter of perception. You will get your interest rate cut. The stock market will go up and you will get your end of year bonus. Unfortunately the future will not be as bright. Monopoly style economic policy will create further dislocations in our economy and sooner or later the piper will be paid.

Tags: Government Politics China Corporate America Finance Economy Reaganomics

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Our Elected Representatives are (snakes) really bad people

Recently outraged citizens shut down the phone lines in the house and senate. Joe Citizen wanted their representatives know what the representatives should have already known. Generally, WE THE PEOPLE, do not want a discussion on immigration policy until the current legislation is enforced and the Reagan’s promises are kept. Employers who hire illegal immigrants should go to jail and their businesses sequestered and sold at auction. The politicians decided that the “Great Compromise” would be political suicide and voted down the proposal.

This should have been the end of the discussion however Corporate America is calling in the markers. Politicians with the “sold” sign stamped on their forehead are attempting to get the legislation passed, attaching it to other bills. These insidious snakes need a serious lesson. It is time that we pick up the phones again and set our lines to automatic redial to call every office in the senate, the house and the whitehouse. Notice I am using small letters to describe these institutions.

Our government’s actions are outside of their mandate. They are not doing what they were elected to do, that is, represent WE THE PEOPLE. They do not deserve our respect instead their actions are deplorable.

I am a populous. I believe that WE THE PEOPLE are the foundation of this nation and the only reason the government exists. If our politicians are not populists then they must be eliminated from our political process. This is not a philosophical difference of opinion. It is the basis of our constitution.

Tags: Government Illegal Immigration Corporate America Corruption

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Americans are Lazy –Beginning of the End of the Republican Party

“American workers are lazy, angry, unkempt, unhygienic…” Elaine Chao. Obviously the labor Secretary is not a student of history. These same words, spoken by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan in the early 80s, ushered in the end of Japan’s economic expansion and the beginning of a twenty year long recession. The Japanese government quickly apologized and the politician was “retired”. This should have blown over. It should not have influenced Japan’s economy as it did.


The reason this tanked Japan’s economy is that the phrase was not just the words of an arrogant politician. They were a general feeling in corporate Japan and corporate America. Initially there were calls for boycotts that did not work. This should have ended there instead Americans made choices over time, they removed their investments from Japanese companies and when choosing a product, “Made in Japan”, became a negative characteristic.

Elaine Chao’s comments are pretty bad for a US labor secretary. More importantly they represent corporate America’s and the Republican parties thoughts about US workers. This too will blow over, already very few blogs are talking about it. Mass media outlets are not carrying the Secretary’s comments. It does represent the disconnect between the Republican Party and its electorate. It also represents Corporate America’s disdain for those who buy their products. If history teaches us anything we will look back on this moment, in twenty years, and say, “Remember the Republican Party? How did they ever get so far away from those who they represent?”

This may also be a good time to start looking at the company you work for in a different light. Is this what they think about you?

Tags: Government Illegal Immigration Corporate America Corruption

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Who owns Information about us?

I have been surprised at the way US law sees personal data. Companies gather information about you. Everything about you and then make you pay to see what they have gathered if they allow you to see it at all. When the company is negligent with your data and it is stolen the information they gathered and stored then becomes your problem. You spend thousands of dollars to fix the problem. If you decide not to intervene you get threatened by bill collectors and risk losing your job or worse may not be able to get as good a job because someone else has used your information and done something wrong. It is a nightmare and while the company gained significant value from the information about you they have no responsibilities. This is just wrong!

The Supreme Court says you have, “no expectation of privacy!” I say, “Why not?” I am protected from an illegal search executed by the police. Why am I not protected from being violated, beaten, and left alone to financial death at the hands of irresponsible corporations?

The simple answer is that by making corporations responsible they will be less profitable. They will have to spend more money protecting the information they acquire. So again we have congress creating incentives for companies to be less productive, to remain behind the technology curve. Who cares, the real cost is paid by the individual and we citizens have too much money anyway.

There are some solutions that could offer some protection or at least limit the damages. All OPT OUT requirements should be made OPT-IN. No company or individual should be allowed to access your information without a specific request on your part. Driver’s license databases should not be public, access should be granted only when you ask for insurance. Tax roles on property should be encrypted or available only through a specific, motivated request such as contesting rising property taxes. Finally corporate negligence regarding privacy should be a felony where the top management of the company cannot just say, well we did not think about it.

I know I am naïve. That simple right and wrong is not that simple but WE THE PEOPLE need to take back our country and the first step could be to take back our personal lives.

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Politicians practicing Populism – Tell me it is not so!

I have taken a short interruption in writing. My family and friends felt like I was too involved in the negativity surrounding an objective look at the US economy, government and culture. The recent Senate proposed immigration bill, the negative connotation given to populists politicians and the news of China’s investment in a private equity firm forced me to pull out the keyboard and jot down some thoughts.


Populism is a bad thing. Just think, politicians listening to their voting public instead of doing what corporations desire. I cannot understand how they could be so arrogant… That constitution thing, “who needs it?” How dare our founding fathers ever think that government should represent real people? Just think if the preamble of the constitution were written today:

“We the incorporated entities of the United States, in order to form a more perfect free market, establish justice without class action representation, insure a domestic slave labor force, provide for the common defense of our investments abroad, promote the general profits, and secure the blessings of liberty of monopolies to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

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