I have friends that are from Greece and they are wonderful people. I do not intend to suggest the Greeks are bad. However, it has become common to hear Americans bemoan the economic crisis in Greece and the seemingly irresponsible attitude of the Greed people that are unwilling to accept cuts in their standard of living.
However, compare our country with Greece. We refuse to consider any changes in Social Security or military spending. We have politicians that are absolutely out of control. They write laws to protect them from accurate and full disclosure about their investments and many made hundreds of thousands on the stock market days after they passed laws and approved bailouts that directly affected their investments.
We continue to borrow records amount of money from China and Saudi Arabia to pay for more government than we can afford.
As individuals, we demand more and more unemployment benefits while our roads are crumbling. We have vitally no work programs or jobs programs. In Atlanta there are many jobs, now that Hispanics have fled the state. Where are the applicants to clean fish? The pay is over $10 an hour with 10-hour work days! No need to pay unemployment checks in Atlanta! Yet, we do pay - with borrowed money.
As individuals we continue to charge what we can't afford. Tomorrow it will end and not in ways we expect.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Facts Get In the Way
In spite of stories in national magazines about the huge decline in illegal immigration, politicians and anti-Mexican blogs will continue to make illegal immigration an issue. It is a diversion.
Holding cells in most border cities are nearly empty. Although there are five times as many Border Patrol Agents than there were five years ago, arrests are down. Although there are hundreds and hundreds of miles of sound and motion detectors on the border, arrests are down. Although there are drones patrolling the border, arrests are down. The only thing that will increase will be the number of stories, blog posts and demands that the problem of illegal immigration be stopped.
No politician will offer a practical solution.
Holding cells in most border cities are nearly empty. Although there are five times as many Border Patrol Agents than there were five years ago, arrests are down. Although there are hundreds and hundreds of miles of sound and motion detectors on the border, arrests are down. Although there are drones patrolling the border, arrests are down. The only thing that will increase will be the number of stories, blog posts and demands that the problem of illegal immigration be stopped.
No politician will offer a practical solution.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Too Big to Fail, Too Complex to Explain
Down with fear! Up with courageous creativity in helping the people of the colonias.
Many have said that the expression 'too big to fail' should be changed to, "too big to exist." In many respects I echo that sentiment and would add that laws that are too complex to explain should also be eliminated.
Start with the tax code. Simplify it. The present U.S. Tax Code has more words than the Bible and is two and a half-million pages. Instead of a progressive tax code filled with so many loopholes that billion dollar corporations pay nothing, tax individuals and corporations at 15%. No deductions. Period. The IRS will practically be out of business. Congress can stop creating loopholes for supporters and do more meaningful work. Lobbyists will be looking for work.
New legislation should be written at an 8th grade reading/comprehension level, and posted on the Internet for a minimum of 90-days before signed into law. As the houses of congress propose changes, those changes must also be written at an 8th grade reading/comprehension level and posted on the Internet for 90-days before voting occurs.
Committees studying proposed bills would have 90-days to deliberate and the bill would automatically go to the floor for and up and down vote. Let the American people see what was proposed, by whom it was proposed and what the committee members recommended either as a group or as individuals.
No bill should be amended with an item not related to the bill and all amendments must be posted on the Internet for 90-days of consideration by the American people.
When the Republic was formed the people rode horses, coaches or wagons. There was not even a telegraph system. With today's information technology the people can and should be engaged in the work of Congress. Although the legislature will continue to pass laws, the people will see the process and the process will be expedited.
Many have said that the expression 'too big to fail' should be changed to, "too big to exist." In many respects I echo that sentiment and would add that laws that are too complex to explain should also be eliminated.
Start with the tax code. Simplify it. The present U.S. Tax Code has more words than the Bible and is two and a half-million pages. Instead of a progressive tax code filled with so many loopholes that billion dollar corporations pay nothing, tax individuals and corporations at 15%. No deductions. Period. The IRS will practically be out of business. Congress can stop creating loopholes for supporters and do more meaningful work. Lobbyists will be looking for work.
New legislation should be written at an 8th grade reading/comprehension level, and posted on the Internet for a minimum of 90-days before signed into law. As the houses of congress propose changes, those changes must also be written at an 8th grade reading/comprehension level and posted on the Internet for 90-days before voting occurs.
Committees studying proposed bills would have 90-days to deliberate and the bill would automatically go to the floor for and up and down vote. Let the American people see what was proposed, by whom it was proposed and what the committee members recommended either as a group or as individuals.
No bill should be amended with an item not related to the bill and all amendments must be posted on the Internet for 90-days of consideration by the American people.
When the Republic was formed the people rode horses, coaches or wagons. There was not even a telegraph system. With today's information technology the people can and should be engaged in the work of Congress. Although the legislature will continue to pass laws, the people will see the process and the process will be expedited.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Shift to the Truth
News media will stop including a half dozen old stories about Mexico's violence with each news item about the violence. It will be recognized that the media, politicians and blog-sites created a climate of fear for the sake of readership, viewers, listeners and followers.
The blog-sites will continue, but most of these are simply hate mongers and people in need of attention.
More and more people are waking up to the fact that America's murder rate was almost double that of Mexico's murder rate and we have no violence organized crime war. Cities along the border were finally able to have their true crime stats published in a USA Today report. The lack of crime near the border might even embarrass a few reporters.
The blog-sites will continue, but most of these are simply hate mongers and people in need of attention.
More and more people are waking up to the fact that America's murder rate was almost double that of Mexico's murder rate and we have no violence organized crime war. Cities along the border were finally able to have their true crime stats published in a USA Today report. The lack of crime near the border might even embarrass a few reporters.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
We miss the migrants
By the end of the year we will see reports that immigration from Mexico is flat. By that, I mean that the number of Mexicans entering the United States without authorization will be equal to or less than the number leaving.
Every group will jump up to take credit, however the most likely causes are the availability of jobs and better education in Mexico (some factories are sending people door-to-door in search of workers) and the increased danger to migrants as they journey to northern Mexico. The kidnappings and murders of migrant workers is national news and discourages people from making the agonizing decision to leave home in search of better paying jobs.
By the end of the year we will see reports that blame the lack of migrant workers for the increase in food costs. Farmers are already having a wonderful year as produce prices rise. However, many farmers may need to increase wages in the hope of attracting farm workers. The challenge to farmers will be to compete with world-wide competition.
Of course, no farmer needs to worry. The anti-immigration crowd will gladly pay an extra dollar or two for a pound of peaches or carrots. Given a choice between saving twenty dollars at the supermarket by purchasing only American grown fruits and vegetables and buying imported produce, the millions that demanded strict immigration control will gladly pay.
Hopefully, more citizens will be shopping, eating at restaurants and make up for the loss of 10 to 20 million people that were paying sales tax and keeping businesses profitable.
Now most of this is written with tongue in cheek, but this paragraph is seriously written. For years we have heard from politicians that taxes are high, emergency rooms are crowded, school classrooms are over-crowded and that the illegal immigrant is the cause. We’ve read and heard claims that there were as many as 20-million of these people sucking the lifeblood out of the American taxpayer. Now that every credible source estimates that there are now 6 to 9 million illegal immigrants remaining, when should we expect a tax reduction? If 20 million caused these huge taxes and problems and more than half are gone, where is my tax relief? Are the classrooms less crowded? Certainly, the hospitals require less government money now that half of their ‘problem’ is gone! So, give us the money.
Every law that is passed to reduce immigration because of the cost to the taxpayers should have a built in mechanism to trigger tax reductions as fewer immigrants are part of the community. It makes sense and I want my money back!
Every group will jump up to take credit, however the most likely causes are the availability of jobs and better education in Mexico (some factories are sending people door-to-door in search of workers) and the increased danger to migrants as they journey to northern Mexico. The kidnappings and murders of migrant workers is national news and discourages people from making the agonizing decision to leave home in search of better paying jobs.
By the end of the year we will see reports that blame the lack of migrant workers for the increase in food costs. Farmers are already having a wonderful year as produce prices rise. However, many farmers may need to increase wages in the hope of attracting farm workers. The challenge to farmers will be to compete with world-wide competition.
Of course, no farmer needs to worry. The anti-immigration crowd will gladly pay an extra dollar or two for a pound of peaches or carrots. Given a choice between saving twenty dollars at the supermarket by purchasing only American grown fruits and vegetables and buying imported produce, the millions that demanded strict immigration control will gladly pay.
Hopefully, more citizens will be shopping, eating at restaurants and make up for the loss of 10 to 20 million people that were paying sales tax and keeping businesses profitable.
Now most of this is written with tongue in cheek, but this paragraph is seriously written. For years we have heard from politicians that taxes are high, emergency rooms are crowded, school classrooms are over-crowded and that the illegal immigrant is the cause. We’ve read and heard claims that there were as many as 20-million of these people sucking the lifeblood out of the American taxpayer. Now that every credible source estimates that there are now 6 to 9 million illegal immigrants remaining, when should we expect a tax reduction? If 20 million caused these huge taxes and problems and more than half are gone, where is my tax relief? Are the classrooms less crowded? Certainly, the hospitals require less government money now that half of their ‘problem’ is gone! So, give us the money.
Every law that is passed to reduce immigration because of the cost to the taxpayers should have a built in mechanism to trigger tax reductions as fewer immigrants are part of the community. It makes sense and I want my money back!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
News Story
Yesterday and estimated 20,000 children died in the world from preventable causes.
The road less traveled . . .
It has been one-year since any murder took place in Ciudad Acuña. Long before that murder and before the Zeta arrived in Acuña, the U.S. media destroyed the entire tourist industry in Acuña.
If the media needs to focus on a daily story we wish they would report every day, the real story of our time. “Yesterday, an estimated 20,000 children died worldwide from preventable diseases.” Think what a constant focus on that daily fact could accomplish!
Tomorrow the media will report about violence in Mexico and include a rehash of an earlier story so that we are all convinced that Mexico is losing the war on drugs, when in fact they are winning! Tomorrow there will be no mention of the 20,000 children around the world that die EVERY day from preventable causes.
The road less traveled . . .
It has been one-year since any murder took place in Ciudad Acuña. Long before that murder and before the Zeta arrived in Acuña, the U.S. media destroyed the entire tourist industry in Acuña.
If the media needs to focus on a daily story we wish they would report every day, the real story of our time. “Yesterday, an estimated 20,000 children died worldwide from preventable diseases.” Think what a constant focus on that daily fact could accomplish!
Tomorrow the media will report about violence in Mexico and include a rehash of an earlier story so that we are all convinced that Mexico is losing the war on drugs, when in fact they are winning! Tomorrow there will be no mention of the 20,000 children around the world that die EVERY day from preventable causes.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Teacher's Union is the Start - Social Security Change
After the proposed bill to change collective bargaining rights passes in Wisconsin and as the law goes through the process of court challenges, similar bills will appear across the nation. Unions will continue to be demonized, along with illegal aliens, as the causes of unemployment, wages that are too low and wages that are too high.
On a national level there will arise a coordinated effort to change Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Mandatory individual retirement savings accounts and the partial privatization of Social Security will again be on the table. The changing demographics of an aging America cannot be changed by building a wall or arresting illegal aliens. In fact, those acts will only hasten the need for more young people in the work force contributing to Social Security. We will not raise taxes enough (if at all) to prop up Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The only avenue left it to change how we finance and how we pay-out benefits.
The typical plan that will be proposed will have between 3 and 5 percent of their wages taken by the government and place into a diversified portfolio of investments. The workers will probably have some limited choices of investment vehicles, but the money will be divided between bonds and stocks. Workers would own their accounts, similar to an IRA ownership.
The elephant in the room with any government planned retirement is that another agency to manage the retirement accounts will require funding. The Social Security Administration will continue to be needed to manage those receiving Social Security Benefits.
When the Republicans retake the Senate and the White House and as the country continues to move towards conservative ideas it is likely that the Social Security will dramatically change. For two decades the media and many politicians have explained that Social Security will run out of money and some change is needed. When our Social Security System was created the retirement age was pegged at 65 and the average life expectancy of Americans was 60.
The changes are needed and will pass. This does not spell doom and gloom for our elderly. Soon, the elderly will become the largest block of voters in American and they will have a large voice in determining how future tax dollars are spent.
On a national level there will arise a coordinated effort to change Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Mandatory individual retirement savings accounts and the partial privatization of Social Security will again be on the table. The changing demographics of an aging America cannot be changed by building a wall or arresting illegal aliens. In fact, those acts will only hasten the need for more young people in the work force contributing to Social Security. We will not raise taxes enough (if at all) to prop up Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The only avenue left it to change how we finance and how we pay-out benefits.
The typical plan that will be proposed will have between 3 and 5 percent of their wages taken by the government and place into a diversified portfolio of investments. The workers will probably have some limited choices of investment vehicles, but the money will be divided between bonds and stocks. Workers would own their accounts, similar to an IRA ownership.
The elephant in the room with any government planned retirement is that another agency to manage the retirement accounts will require funding. The Social Security Administration will continue to be needed to manage those receiving Social Security Benefits.
When the Republicans retake the Senate and the White House and as the country continues to move towards conservative ideas it is likely that the Social Security will dramatically change. For two decades the media and many politicians have explained that Social Security will run out of money and some change is needed. When our Social Security System was created the retirement age was pegged at 65 and the average life expectancy of Americans was 60.
The changes are needed and will pass. This does not spell doom and gloom for our elderly. Soon, the elderly will become the largest block of voters in American and they will have a large voice in determining how future tax dollars are spent.
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