Month: November 2009

The 10.2% Solution

No!  I am not talking about the cocaine injection used by the great Sherlock Holmes!

It is the latest figures released on the unemployment in the US….but if we figure in those who have come off the rolls or have just gave up on the prospect of having a job, then the figure would be closer to 20% or more.

Let me see….we threw money at banks….most are now stable…..most are once again giving those great bonuses to the idiots that cause this recession…..then the auto makers got their piece of the pie….although it was a smaller piece than the banks got….they are doing sort of okay….and now the rise in home starts….existing home sales….yada yada….we are being told, in some circles, the recession is over and that we must be patient and all will be good…….

How nice….but all is NOT good…..unemployment is still rising…foreclosures are still rising…..bankruptcies are still high…..consumer spending is still almost non-existent….but things are getting better….

I think that the banks have had enough good fortune….maybe the admin needs to come up with a 10.2% solution….it would solve a lot of the problems we “real” people have….we have had enough of “banks…banks” we need “jobs…jobs”!  Maybe some of that cash that has not been spent on the thieves could be spent creating jobs…just a thought!

One of my fav comments was made by the CEO of Goldman-Sachs, who makde about $68 million last year, that the bank is doing God’s work……think about that for damn minute…..doing GOD’S work….I bet you did not know that God was a capitalist did you?

Does that not sound a bit pretentious?  These banks are NOT creating anything but wealth for themselves…they are helping NO one out in this recession.  Actually, they are still making the same types of trades they did in the past that blew up in their face, but this time they are betting on the government again to cover their losses.

YOU are covering their losses and YOU a getting nothing in return….GET MAD!

So we need a 10.2% solution…it can begin with YOU….burn up the phone lines….reload their emails…..write a damn letter….let Capitol Hill know that it is time for them to get off their butts and STOP covering for the banks….YOU CAN DO IT!  But are you a wimp?  Stop bitching about everything and DO SOMETHING….even if it is wrong…at least you tried…..

However, please do not try to sell us the tired old argumnent that cutting taxes will create jobs…..if there is NO demand for products there will be NO jobs……the only demand that has been created so far is a credit demand with first time home buyers and cash for clunkers….the problem with those is if there is NO job…there will be little buying…..again…the creation of demand should be priority one.  For demand will create jobs and jobs will create more demand…..pretty straight forward stuff….

Annoucement

Since I live just north of just about every hurricane and there is one heading toward me, Ida, Info Ink maybe off line for awhile…..have NO fear this opinionated SOB will return just as soon as possible……Just thought I would let the loyal readers know the score……we will take a short break if that is what Ida prefers….clean up and move on…..see you in the funny papers….peace!

Federalism–The Series—Part One–Intro

Inkwell Institute

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Politics/Government/Political Theory

In the past I was called a “Federal Agitator” the person that made this accusation a decade ago meant it in a derogatory way, but I kind of liked it so I have retained that title for my passing……sorry….that was a digression on my part….now on to the meat of the series….

I have been having some interesting exchanges with a reader of Info Ink, he is the blogger on “Systematic Change In Business And Government”  If interested go to blogroll and give it a look).  After my years of absence from the world of academia I felt that I needed a refresher course on Federalism so that I could debate with knowledge.

I started writing this piece to educate people on federalism and it turned into more than one post….I decided to break this up into several parts to explain the concept and put in my two cents worth on what I think of it all.

I am hoping that this series will induce others to debate whether federalism is good or bad….does it help or hurt…..people need to understand what federalism is and how it works…as it is today people use the term but know little about the term…it easy to talk about the intentions of the founders, but unfortunately federalism has moved a little beyond trying to save property rights…….originally the concept was a simple concept for a simple division of power….again …unfortunately the country has moved well beyond worrying about who is property and who is not.

Do you, my reader know what permissive federalism is?  How about “marble cake” federalism?  These are some of the points I will touch on to help people understand the concept that they so dearly love.

I will examine the different types of federalism and whether we should try to work within the bounds of the concept.  I also hope that opinions will be forthcoming, whether pro or con, all will be accepted, as long as they are civil and genuine.

This series will be continued every Monday until the final part…..please read and let me know what you think….

A “New” Old Issue

There is always someone that tries to resurrect a tired old issue; they try to re-package it to sound more up-to-date….but any analysis will show that it is a tired unsuccessful issue or program.

The GOP is trying to resurrect the Health Savings Account (HSA) as a way to push health reform…at best a tired issue….but my favorite is the push for tort reform, you know those frivilous lawsuits….but unfortunately for the GOP, the CBO crapped all over that proposal….why….they have said that lawsuits account for one half of one percent of the total cost of health care.  Pretty much a dead issue unless of course you are a Repub without any new ideas, then just resurrect something that sounds good but actually does nothing to control the rising costs.

But I digress, the subject of this post is the resurrection of the tired old issue of TABOR…Taxpayers Bill Of Rights….

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (abbreviated TABOR) is a concept advocated by conservative and free market libertarian groups, primarily in the United States, as a way of limiting the growth of government. It requires that increases in overall tax revenue be tied to inflation and population increases unless larger increases are approved by referendum.  (Thanx to wikipedia for the definition)

With rising deficits in the national programs and the state’s dwindling revenue, I look for the TABOR to make a comeback and comeback strong as a way to try and find the funds for the state’s and its programs.

The name sounds like a good thing , right?  A Taxpayers bill of rights…..a great selling point….anytime you invoke the Bill of Rights you have got a winner especially when dealing with people that have no idea what they are voting on.  TABOR is just such an issue.

But how has the past TABOR’s done in helping the state’s fund their programs?  According to the Economist magazine:

The experience of states around the country with constitutionally-mandated taxation limits has been pretty disastrous. California, whose Proposition 13 pioneered the genre, is on the verge of bankruptcy 30 years later, unable to raise the taxes it needs to cover annual expenses because voters refuse to acknowledge that they must pay for the public services they receive. The effect has been particularly devastating on public education. But, you know, why not try it out? Maine’s not Colorado or California, and maybe it’ll work for them.

Everyone hates to pay higher taxes…it is American to do so……in the same breath I ask…..do they want programs like education to be funded?  The Oregon Center for Public policy wrote this in a paper on TABOR:

During recessions (we have that now) …..TABOR’s revenue limit for future  years gets ratcheted back.  When the economy starts to recovery, state government cannot readily restore services  to pre-recession levels, because the new base for determining  spending growth is the low revenue level from the recession.  Thus any cuts in services are basically permanent.

Under TABOR, tax breaks and loopholes cannot be reduced or eliminated without a vote of the people.  Present and future tax loopholes and breaks are effectively locked into place…….

In short, TABOR is a bad idea….sounds like a good idea only because they will package it with the words “Bill of Rights” and we all think that is a good idea…If they, the tax reform people, are trying to sell this idea in your area….do some research, do not just take my word, do some research and see if it is everything they promise….you will find it is NOT!

Worthless Americans–WARNING…Post Maybe Offensive!

Daily Agitator

Remember you may not appreciate what I have to say…but that concerns me not…..for you were warned!

First, I am not talking about ALL Americans!  I am talking to those people that seem to care little about their country!

There is always a bit of good news to be found in the “sources” and then there are those that makes one want to f*cking puke…….I am sick of these feel f*cking good stories…there is way too many people suffering in this country for me to give two shits about the rest of the goddamn world…..

Bill and Melinda Gates will make an unusual personal appeal to Washington officials Tuesday night, asking them to continue funding global health initiatives despite the recession and to commit to nearly halve the number of child deaths worldwide by 2025.

“Government funding that’s coming from the United States is making a huge difference on the ground in the developing world,” Melinda Gates said in an interview last week. Particularly over the past four to five years, she said, “it’s really palpable — it’s making a huge difference saving lives.”

The U.S. government’s annual contribution to global health initiatives has increased dramatically in recent years, from $1.5 billion in 2001 to $7.7 billion in 2009.

Above is excerpts from a piece in the Washington Post.

How f*cking nice!  Let me see…they want the US to do more for every f*cking country but this one….about right?  This country?  You mean the one that has a shitty health system…or do you mean the one that has a horrendous educational system…..yeah…makes great sense to use your influence because you have more money than God to help the rest of the world…let see the country in which they made their money…what do they owe us?

Personally, I am Goddamn tired of rich assholes that want to save the world and turn their backs on the country they owe….yes I f*cking said they OWE!  By all means you dick save the world while Americans struggle for their next meal…..Let me ask, how much of a tax incentive is it to save the f*cking world?  I realize pricks like you do very little without some sort of goddamn incentive…..F*CK the world!  America needs help and who better than the assholes that made it here?

NO!   I AM NOT FINISHED!

There is always little pricks out there that want to HELP….but only help those that will appreciate it by allowing them to pay for children….I know…HUH?

U.S. pop star Madonna launched the construction of a multi-million dollar girls’ school she is building in Malawi on Monday and pledged to build similar schools in other countries if the project succeeds.The Raising Malawi Academy for Girls — in Chinkhota village about 15 kilometres outside the capital Lilongwe — is expected to be completed in two years and will admit 500 girls from the small southern African country’s 28 districts.

The construction is expected to cost $15 million.

Gee, sounds like a payment to me……yet another rich asshole that wants to help the world by turning a blind eye to the plight of American kids……the academic scores in the US rank in math and science,  just behind Kazakhstan…..I say again…lag behind f*cking Kazakhstan!  Do you think that some of that pay-off cash could be used in the US?

Why is it that the little assholes like me are seemingly the only people that care what happens to this country?  Suggestion:  Make the rich assholes spend their money in this country FIRST!  These pricks get everything they want with no f*cking care for the country that gave them life….when will Americans DEMAND that these pricks do the right thing by the country and tell the rest of the world to wait their f*cking turn?

These people may have the best intention in mind….but I believe America first and then the rest can have what is left……

Note:  If this post offended you in any way….get in line….and if it did then that is your problem, not mine…….you were warned….

Boehner Pulls A Boner

Daily Agitator

First, I do not know why but every time I use the word Boehner…the word Boner comes to mind……

And then there are reports or stories that make one shake their head and ask why……

In the recent past I have heard the name John Boehner being batted around as a possible speaker of the House if the GOP ever returns to power…he does get lots of face time on TV especially on FOX News, after all he is the minority leader and should be the spokesperson for the Party in the House.

Yesterday there was a “spontaneous” rally in Washington against the Health Reform Bill that is being considered…..there were the usual suspects….references to socialism, nazis, and just plain hate for the president and Pelosi……I watched some of it on TV and thought it was a “white power” protests….the GOP really needs to find someone with a different color face to be in the crowd.

I have written many times on these “spontaneous” out pouring of hate, but today I want to talk about the leader of the GOP in the House……John Boehner got up in front of the 4000 or so protesters to egg them on….he had the usual babble and then he pulled out a copy of the Constitution and said “this is my copy of the Constitution and I will read from it” (paraphrase)….

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…….

(I will give a long pause here for contemplation)……..I realize that to be a member of a certain party you need an IQ check but this is moronic…..Boehner was holding the Constitution and reading the Declaration of Independence….you would have thought one of his fellow GOPers would have told him he was screwing up…..they did not….maybe they do not know the difference either….ever think of that?

These are the LEADERS of American governance and they do NOT even know the difference between the two documents….this whole things reminds me of something Plato said:

The penalty good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves.

The part that should scare the people is…. these are the people that are defending the Constitution….they say so in their oath of office….and yet they have NO IDEA what it actually says….. Do they still teach Civics in school?……

If HE, Boehner,  is the future of the GOP….then members should worry or at least run for the nearest exit….

Privatization Of Medicare Is Back!

Just when you thought it was safe from the perils of the conservative attack machine–the privatization of Medicare has reared its ugly head….just recently the GOP was attacking Dems for their proposals on Medicare and I was truly impressed that they would defend medicare,  a program they have been trying to destroy for decades….but as usual, it was just smoke and mirrors on the part of the Repubs….it was the same game they always play…..

Rep. Broun of Georgia has introduced a bill that will try and privatize Medicare, HR 3889…….thinkprogress.org is reporting on this issue:

In an attempt to reclaim the right’s rich tradition of opposing Medicare, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has proposed legislation that would roll back the Medicare system and replace it with a system of vouchers that seniors could use to purchase private insurance:

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun introduced his own health care reform bill last week that would, among other things, privatize the Medicare insurance program for seniors.

Broun’s bill would replace government benefits with vouchers that could be spent on private insurance or put in tax-free medical savings accounts.

Oh My God they NEVER stop trying…do they?

Will it be this?  A whole new set of reforms that will help the insurance companies while screwing the consumer?  Not a chance…it is the SAME lame reforms they always try to pass to call it health reform….Do as little as possible, but make it look like a chore to get it done…..it is just that easy….

God forbid that they, the Repubs, try to resurrect the really lame idea of health savings accounts (HSA)!


Serpent Of The Dark Pool

Nope…this is NOT a Chinese restaurant (shades of Big Trouble In Little China)…..I am talking about a financial dance that is causing a bit of concern, to say the least…..it is called “dark pool”, Dark Liquidity, and so on……basically it is market manipulation….does that sound familiar?  Could this be the next economic slide waiting to happen?

Okay, Professor…but what the hell is a dark pool?

Truly dark liquidity can be collected off-market in dark pools. Dark pools are generally very similar to standard markets with similar order types, pricing rules and prioritization rules. However the liquidity is deliberately not advertised – there is no market depth feed. Such markets have no need of an iceberg order type. In addition they prefer not to print the trades to any public data feed, or if legally required to do so, will do so with as large a delay as legally possible – all to reduce the market impact of any trade. Dark pools are often formed from brokers’ order books and other off-market liquidity. When comparing pools careful checks should be made as to how liquidity numbers were calculated – some venues count both sides of the trade, or even count liquidity that was posted but not filled.

Secret deals carried on in the dark…..just another way to create wealth by side stepping the regulations of proper and fair financial transactions…..stock trader, Keith Fitz-Gerald sees problems looming:

  • First, as more volume moves to the so-called Dark Pools, the very notion of what constitutes “public pricing” becomes suspect. Practically speaking, if we’re seeing only 50% of the trading volume in a given stock, who’s to say that the pricing we’re seeing is accurate if the other half remains a mystery.
  • Second, the small- and mid-cap stocks that for so long have been the domain of smaller investors will likely become harder to trade. The reason: Dark Pools will absorb the liquidity that’s presently out in the open, just as a ” black hole ” in outer space sucks in all the matter that’s nearby. The net effect could be that smaller transactions become more inefficient, or that public pricing actually disconnects from private pricing. Either way, individual investors may not get the best possible prices.
  • Third, you can bet regulators will get interested if there is even a whiff of impropriety at the expense of smaller investors who perceive (and rightly so) that they are being “locked out” of the markets by the big boys yet again.

The question now is, will Washington do something to prevent yet another meltdown in the financial markets?  My guess would be…NO…they will do what they always do….wait and see….and we know just how successful that type of attitude has been in the last year or so…..

Open Letter To The US Congress

Daily Agitation

Note:  This is a letter that I have sent to every member of Congress…as I will show…I have had enough…..

To the members of Congress:

After a year of this bickering, the partisan BS, most Americans are sick of it.  We voted for change and we got the same garbage that we have always had in the Congress….partisan bickering over wording or thought or whatever lame excuse you want to give the American people.  I want it to be understood that I am not singling out one party…it is the same regardless of the party in “power”.

Americans are DYING….let me say that again…DYING!  And the best you guys and gals can do is bicker over the misinformation and out right lies….btw, they come from both sides of the aisle.  You use the tired premise that it will cost too much to give people adequate health care, but you voted overwhelmingly for a war…no two wars…without so much as an explanation.  Basically, you “people” have a problem with saving American lives, but have no problem with sending American to die.

Keep in mind, we voted for your lame butts and we can change that at anytime!

Soon we will have this attack mode revved up for the energy bill…oh goody…we have something to look forward to…more misinformation, more lies and more BS…more partisan fighting….more of the same manure we have had for 15+ years.

We send you to Washington as a “representative” of the people….but instead we got a “representative” for special interests, this has not changed in a generation.  You people have no idea what the people you represent go through daily to keep their heads above water….if you do have an idea, then you ignore their plight in the pursuit of funds to run your campaigns….either way you are LYING top the American people….you represent NOTHING that they are concerned about.

Just look at the polls on your job approval…at best you get 30%…that is a t best and that would be a stretch.  You do NOT represent the people anymore…..if you people had an ounce of dignity you would be more concerned with the suffering the American people are going through and stop the lame, small minded games that you play daily.

Enough is enough!  Either do the job you were elected to do or get out of the way and let real representatives go to Washington; people who want to act in the best interest of the people of this country.  We have had enough of the games and enough of your lack of concern…..we want our country back!

Personally, I would not hit a pig in the butt with any of your so-called “representatives”…..you are a dysfunctional group of millionaires that needs to go away.

Please, in the name of God, do the right thing!

What Happened In The Latest Elections?

Yesterday was the BIG day….well at least for the media pundits that have to justify their existence…….

Oh God!  There has been a wealth of comments and opinions on just what these latest elections have meant……there are those that say it is an indictment of the Dems and their big government stances….then there is those who think it is a resurgence of the GOP….and yet another is that it is those people that voted for Obama and change that are disappointed and are voting against him…..so what are they voting for?

There is the NY-23 and Virginia and New Jersey…..what do they mean?

NY-23 is a no importance election no matter who wins…why?…by 2012 it will no longer exist because of re-redistricting…so whoever wins today will be out a job in 2 years…so who cares?  The Repubs do—they need a win…any win…to make them look like a “real” party again.

Virginia is another scary place, as it was during the Constitution fight, the state ALWAYS votes for the opposite party for governor, whichever party has the White House, they vote for the other party…so this race is a no brainer…..but it makes good fodder for the pundits that have little else to talk about.

And now for New Jersey……this is the only major election that could possibly have some sort of political implications……just what would those be?  Obama and the lot have invested a lot in New Jersey, making numerous trips to try and save Corzine’s butt….if he loses then Obama will lose some political clout….something the Repubs are spending lots of capital on……But remember Corzine seldom got anywhere near 50% approval…unpopular is an understatement…his loss will be explained away in that light…

Now the ones, pundits that is, that have said that Repubs will make in-roads this election because the moderates and independents that voted for Obama and his promise of change,  have not been fulfilled and they will abandon him and the Dems because of that disappointment……

Okay, you want to know what these elections really mean…absolutely NOTHING!  Low turn out….and boredom….that is about it…..

Back in the early days of the 2008 election….I predicted that no matter who wins the election….nothing would change and so far I have been accurate in that prediction….Let me say that one more time for the slow witted….NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE!  And today is NO different…no matter which candidate wins…change will NOT happen!