The Country

Every time I hear someone say that Obama is going to turn this nation into a socialist country or that government interference is always bad, I get angry. Because the person who is saying it is usually someone who doesn't know what socialist means. Further, they usually only get involved with politics when they think something they have is being affected. A friend said that if it isn't going to save him any money, then he doesn't pay any attention.

This kind of individual selfishness is why our nation is in the mess it is in. We have lessened the government regulations over the past twenty-nine and look where we are right now. Our banks have grabbed all that they can until they are practically falling apart under bad debt and poor business decisions. 40 million plus Americans don't have healthcare. We're in a very deep Recession (I think we're in a depression). Companies pollute our air and water. Other companies are hemorrhaging employees, even though they might be turning a profit -- it isn't high enough to keep people working. But, let's all fear our government.

I suggest you read this article. It'll make you think.

http://blogcritics.org/politics/article/ayn-rand-lives/

God Bless

I was thinking

I was thinking this morning, as I was reading an article about Miss Porter's School for Girls in Vanity Fair about coddling and blaming. And, I was thinking about why the economy has failed and what needs to be done and the car companies and I came up with this disjointed blog you're now reading.
First, what goes up - must come down. After the boom years of the '90s, it was only natural that the economy bottoms out.
Second, deregulation and the allowing of banks to be investors, too, didn't seem to help. And, isn't that sad? For most things, I'm not really into government regulation. I think businesses should be allowed to run themselves. I do believe it is sad that we need laws that protect people based on their sexual orientation, religion and race. I have held three jobs where, once my immediate supervisor found out I was gay, he (and I say he because they were all men) would have fired me, if it wasn't illegal for him to do so. I worked one job in Illinois, where they didn't have the protection (they might now, I do not know) and when my boss found out I was gay, out the door I went. And, it is more than that. Our government shouldn't have to mandate a reduction in greenhouse gases. Businesses should be able to make changes without being told what to do like little children, but they don't do they?
Case in point -- the car companies -- Chrysler is now own by Fiat, Ford is struggling (but the only one with a chance to survive -- and I've put my own money into that notion) and GM will be gone soon -- and, yet, why did this happen? Well, for one thing, no had to force Toyota and the other foreign car companies into building higher mpg cars. They did it and they won the car battle. Now, after taking government money, both Chrysler and GM are closing American plants that employ American workers and leaving foreign plants open. Isn't that a kick in the rubber parts?
Finally, I think in the last eight years, there were bad decisions being made all around. As a country, we're fighting two wars, we cut taxes (for the rich, at least, the middle class is still screwed) and we didn't spend money on infastructure (our roads and bridges are falling apart). Add the thought that when given an option, people will do what is best for the greater good (on a whole) and suddenly, you have banks and investment firms failing left and right.
And, now, the President wants to try to initiate a Pay as you Go plan and he's being critized by a bunch of people (Republicans) who claim to be fiscally responsible and weren't. How else could we increase spending ($10 billion in Iraq every month since the war began total? $720 billion and all of it borrowed, none of it we will see again and someone is now very rich and it ain't me).

God Bless

It's Still the Economy

John McCain wants to cut corporate taxes by 10% -- taking the corporate tax rate down from 35% to 25%. He believes this will convince companies not to go off shore for workers. It'll keep them here. Too bad he's wrong.
Publicly traded companies care about one thing -- their stock prices. Giving them a tax cut won't guarantee any company will keep jobs here, especially if it'll make their stock price go up to locate jobs overseas.
McCain, also, wants to take the burden of insurance off the backs of our corporations and have individuals pay for it themselves. He's really working the business side of things, isn't he? He believes that we'll keep prices down if we have to pay for the insurance ourselves. He wants to give a tax credit to us, so we'll buy our own insurance. ($2500 for singles, $5000 for families)
That'll work.
You know what will happen? People will buy the insurance and those with a lot of money will buy the good insurance. The insurance that'll cover everything and they'll stay off the public rolls when a serious illness comes along -- most likely. People with middle incomes will buy middle cost insurance. They'll risk losing their homes if a serious illness comes along. And, the people at the bottom of the income levels will buy exactly the amount the credit covers and when it isn't enough to cover their needs, we'll all be supporting them.
McCain, also, wants to make the Bush Tax Cuts permament. Well, that'll help those on top and leave nothing for the others on the bottom.
Here's an idea:
Instead of just granting businesses a huge tax cut, give them the credits. For each single employee, give the employer a $2500 credit to help offset the cost of insuring them. Give a $5000 tax credit to ensure an employee and their dependents. That would ease company's burdens -- limit the tax credit to only Americans working in America. Place a cap on how many overseas employees a company can have to keep the credit.
Don't make the Bush cuts permament -- restructure the income tax tables. Right now, it's 10%,15%,25% and 33%. Let's keep the top spot and rearrange the others. We need 20% and 30% brackets. If I had more time this morning, I'd tell you why.
Well, it's off to work for me. I'm still reading on Barack Obama's ideas for the economy and I'm sure I'll have something to say about them, too.

God Bless

A Little Economic Sense

According to an article in US News & World Report, we're heading back into an era of Big Government. Our economic woes are such that the government will have to get more involved. If done right, it isn't necessarily a bad thing. But, we all know that it won't be done right.

Here's a few of my off the top of my head ideas.

1. The government needs to be proactively involved in producing a complete electric car. Tax breaks should be given to the car companies to offset some of their research costs. We know this car has existed -- one that can drive highway speeds and travel up to 300 miles on a single charge -- it just hasn't been cost effective. The second part of this is the government needs to give tax breaks to anyone who purchases said car. I can't afford a $30,000 car -- even if it will drop my gas to nearly nothing, but if the government subsidizes the manufacturing and the purchasing, I'm sure I could swing $20,000 for the car.

2. All this talk about Social Security being overdrawn in 2017 is beginning to piss me off. First, Social Security used to have a surplus until the government started borrowing against it. The time for that to completely stop is now. Also, let's put some of that borrowed money back and then let's see if we're still behind. Finally, we need a national retirement plan. The truth is that we need older workers to get out of the way for younger workers. If everyone works until they drop dead, what are young people going to do for jobs? That being said to keep this funded let's eliminate the cap on the tax. No matter how much you earn, pay both Social Security and Medicare taxes on it. So, no more cut off at $92,000.

3. We need to take a good long look at what the government subsidizes. (Yeah, I know I said electric cars, but hear me out.) Nearly everybody gets something from the government. For example, farm subsidies. Huge company farms are subsidized and that's not what the plan was for. This should be changed to only help the little farmer compete. There are other things we subsidize and we need to take a good long look at them to see if they're really needed.

God Bless