More Random Thoughts

I was going to write an in depth post about the recession and the recovery, but today I'm just dragging. So, I have a couple more random thoughts to put out there.

• Nothing in the whole wide world is cooler than answering my phone and hearing: "Hi, Nana!" Whether Danny or Alex is the voice, it is way cool. Singing "Blue Suede Shoes" while putting them on speaker is pretty cool, too. Both boys love to sing. Can't wait to see what little Nickie does when he gets the chance. It does mean that I don't get to speak with Kim much. Kim called and while we were talking, Danny came up and asked if she was talking to me, she told him yes and he said, "Well, I want to talk to Nana." And, that was that.
• While I thinking of the recession and the recovery, I have to say that it has been good for those of us who didn't run out and purchase huge homes or more expensive cars than we could afford. Cheryl and I have spent more money in the past six months on various purchases than I believe we did in the six months prior -- excluding spending for Christmas. I'm not saying that we're going hog wild or anything, but we've been able to buy things that prior to the recession were out of reach. Our personal recession occurred last year when unplanned events wiped out our savings twice. I should add that we are both very blessed. We still haven't been able to afford a great vacation, but I think we should do well enough that if we play our cards right, we can go someplace next year.
• That last paragraph been said, I'd like to say to those who are so worried about the future to lighten up a bit. We're going to bounce back, but if we listen to people like Susie Orman, no one would ever spend any money and, guess what -- the economy will NEVER bounce back. If you have a little extra and there's something you want or need, then go buy it. I'm not saying that if you're deep in debt, go deeper. I'm talking about people like Cheryl and me who have a little extra. We're choosing to put a little less into the savings account, which BTW only gets .5% interest, to purchase items that we've wanted or needed. We didn't rack up thousands in debt, so we can afford to stretch it out a little. Let's help the economy grow.
• Did I mention it is only 10 more days until they install our new kitchen floor?
• Crockpots are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

God Bless

Work

I often complain about work, but it is where I spend the majority of my time. I can't understand how someone who makes good money can consistently not step it up when volunteers are needed to jump right in. It happened again today and what really upsets me is twofold: since she didn't volunteer, our boss would never assign the project to her. It just won't happned -- it hasn't happened before. And, I can't understand how she is allowed to keep her job in today's economy. Shouldn't only the hardworking individuals be allowed to work?
Drives me nuts.

So, if you're looking for a hardworking Data analyst with skills in SQL, Crystal Reports, Cognos, VB, VBA, HTML and limited knowledge of PHP. Please send me an email. Joboffer@topofmyhead.info.

God Bless

UPDATE: I couldn't believe it, but the boss actually gave her the assignment. You could've knocked me over with a feather. First time that has ever happened!

We have Nothing to Fear but the Conservatives

Rush Limbaugh wants Republicans to take back America by picking a good candidate for President in 2012. In the meantime, he wants Obama and the liberals to fail. In other words, he wants our nation to fall even farther down the rat hole.

I especially love the part of his speech where he claims that Conservatives want this: "We don't want to tell anybody how to live. "1 Really? Aren't these the same Conservatives who push for anti-gay amendments? They don't want to "tell you how to live", but they certainly want to butt in. And, aren't these the same Conservatives who are against a woman's right to choose? Again, they won't "tell you how to live", but they're going to control your body. For the record, I should disclose that I am pro-life, but I would never join the pro-life movement, because 90% of the pro-lifers I met are just jerks.

Moving on...

Rush said, "We love people"2 Really? ALL people or just the ones that happen to agree with you? Because, I don't see the love when you don't believe in programs that help the poor. I don't see the love when you want families to lose their homes, but you bailout the bankers. I don't see the love when an 8% profit isn't good enough to NOT layoff employees.

He's also claimed that Democrats have wanted all Republican Presidents to fail. He said, " the Democrat Party has actively not just sought the failure of Republican presidents and policies and now wars for the first time, the Democrat Party doesn't stop at failure. Talk to Judge Robert Bork or Justice Clarence Thomas about how they tried to destroy lives, reputations and character, and I'm supposed to say I don't want the President to fail?"3 Really? Judge Robert Bork? Isn't he the guy who worked in Nixon White House and carried out Nixon's firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox? I mean, Nixon ordered two other guys to fire Cox (don't know who Cox is? Read about the Saturday Night Massacre on Wikipedia). Those two guys, Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, resigned rather than fire the special prosecutor, but not Robert Bork. So, who destroyed his life? He's a judge now, even though he didn't have the courage to stand up to the President of the United States when he knew it was wrong.

Rush is clearly running scared, as a matter of fact, the whole conservative movement is running scared. They had this country for 8 years and what happened? Well, nevermind, we all know what happened. The problem is that they don't want to take the blame, but they're not offering solutions.

God Bless

The Rise of Hate Groups

Here's something that might surprise you, since 2000 our nation's hate groups have grown by 54% (according to a CNN article). How could we have possibly let this happened? These maligned groups are supposed to be in decline. We're supposed to be banning together, not breaking apart by allowing these groups to exist within our ranks.
The article made it sound like the election of President Obama shoulders much of the blame, along with our hard economic times, but I think it is more than that. For a brief shining moment after 9/11, we joined together as one nation. Since that moment ended, we have been disagreeing and infighting. Is it any wonder that in an environment such as that, that hate groups are allowed to flourish and grow?

God Bless

What the REPUBLICANS Want...

According to CNN, the GOP has decided they don't want the following provisions in the stimulus bill.  I've added my own remarks.

• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.

This one, I'll give them. I'm not convinced that "clean" coal is good for the environment. Now, I'd be willing to change my mind on this if two things: 1) This will create much needed jobs in Illinois and 2) Someone can prove to me that "clean" coal is good for the environment.

• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.

Well, I'm not too concern with the Hollywood community going out of business when a great number of producers, actors and directors make more for one movie than I will ever see in a lifetime of work. However; movies are probably one of our greatest exports. A movie that bombs here in America is sure to make a fortune in China or Japan or any number of other countries. Keeping Hollywood making money should be something good for all. I would, also, think that since this is a tax cut and Republicans believe that tax cuts are good for the economy they should support this one.

• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.

Why is this a bad idea? If everyone has access to free TV, would it mean we might start paying attention to what goes on in Washington? Seriously, we are 14 days away from the changeover and millions of Americans couldn't get the coupons because not enough money was put into the program at the start.

• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).

New ships = people working.

• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.

Construction? Hmmm, my brother "works" in construction -- when he's not laid off because the economy is tanking. If this would put his fellow carpenters to work -- provided we only use union carpenters, I'm all for it.

• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.

That doesn't seem excessive, but I think it deserves it's own bill. This won't really create jobs.

• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.

So, the Republicans want to give the car companies billions in free money (free to them), but not encourage the development of hybrid vehicles by jump starting the car economy?

• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.

This ensures that the workers at these centers keep their jobs -- can't imagine why the Republicans don't like that. Oh, wait, they don't believe in the prevention of STD's by anything but abstinence. You know what you call a woman who teaches her daughter abstinence only? GRANDMA!

• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.

Doesn't somebody need to be hired to do this? Isn't this a change, fix to infastructure?

• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.

Ditto for this one.

• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.

I'm all for supporting the Smithsonian, but not in the stimulus package.

• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.

Now? Do we need to earmark the money now?

• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."

Not a stimulus project

• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.

While this won't create jobs outright, it will help community colleges deal with the new influx of students that need job training.

• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.

Well, is this so they can have raises? I'd like more information, wouldn't you?

• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.

Sorry -- good plan, but shouldn't be part of the stimulus.

• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.

This SHOULD create jobs and it should stay.

• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.

Like I said above, doesn't somebody need to be hired to do this? Isn't this a change, fix to infastructure?

• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.

Ditto.

• $500 million for state and local fire stations.

This will free up a lot of money cities don't have right now to keep the fire stations manned.

• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.

Considering the amount of money spent on putting out these fires, a little prevention could go a long way.

• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.

Hello -- youths, jobs. What part of that don't the Repubs get? Some kids count on summer jobs to help save for college or don't Republican children need to save for college?

• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.

Could this wait? Will this create a job?

• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.

 To do what?

• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.

 Someone will need to be hired to do this.

• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

 We "pay" volunteers?

• $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

 And, this is bad for why?

• $850 million for Amtrak.

 We gave billions to the car companies and banks, why not give some to Amtrak?

• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.

 Depends on where.

• $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.

 Please this will create jobs and maybe the other facilities are too crowded.

• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.

 Creating jobs. Spending money in the economy. Someone has to fix these computers and/or set up new ones.

• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.

 And this is a bad thing because why?

Now, that I've added my two cents, let me say this, SHUT UP, REPUBLICANS, SHUT UP!!!!

For eight long years, the Republicans have been in charge.  They lowered taxes, raised the deficit and started not one but two wars.  And, now, they're not happy and they're whining about $19 Billion dollars in a $900 Billion package.  Granted, there are some points on which I agree with them.  This might not be the place for these programs.  However; since the last administration gave away $350 Billion dollars of my, my daughter's, my grandsons' and my grandson's grandsons' money and can't tell me where it went, I'm not going to quibble over 19 billion.

If this stimulus package works -- no one else will quibble either and the Republicans who voted against it will probably be out of a job -- like a great many of the rest of us.

God Bless

Layoffs...

To clarify this blog entry, I'm only referring to American companies with American citizens...

I was reading an article about a company that is about to layoff 15% of their workforce because they only posted an $0.08 profit per share. The company spokesman said that they owe it to their investors to turn a higher profit. Really, because what about those people who believed in that company and contributed to that $0.08 share profit -- don't they owe something to them?

In this broken economy, I propose that any company that shows any profit or even just breaks even that lays off employees simply to push their profit margin higher is unAmerican. Every employee that is laidoff is a hardworking American citizen and that hardworking American citizen puts their paycheck into our American economy. And, when that American citizen loses his or her job, they don't spend as much money in the American economy, which means another company's profit margin goes down and another company lays off employees and the cycle begins again.

I have to say I'm a little disappointed at the idea that companies would be given tax cuts. These are the same companies that seem to think they don't have any obligation to anyone besides investors. Eventually, as long as employees are considered to be nothing more than a drain on money rather than the valuable resources they are -- companies won't have to worry about their investors, because the companies will eventually not exist. Any company that has laid off any employees in the last year doesn't deserve a tax cut.

There's a story I heard years ago about Johnson Wax. Apparently, during the depression Johnson Wax NEVER LAID OFF ONE EMPLOYEE. They cut their hours, but Mr. Johnson believed that he owed his employees something to keep the company and the employees going. I'm sure that Johnson Wax must've lost money during the depression, but the Almighty Dollar wasn't more important than helping their employees put food on the table. It's really too bad that men like that don't exist anymore.

Years ago I started telling friends that as long as companies see employees as liabilities instead of assets things were going to get bad and unfortunately, I was right.

Right now, I'm lucky, I still have my job, but I have to wonder when the axe will fall and my company decides I'm a liability and not an asset.

God Bless

Rush Makes A Fuss

I cannot stand Rush Limbaugh.  I have never been able to tolerate listening to his radio program and watching his I believe now cancelled television show.  I cannot believe that there are 20 million Americans who are so mis-guided and uninformed to listen to this man on a daily basis.  Buy a paper, look at the Internet!  Read a book, folks.  (I really hate it when he calls his listeners folks.)

I heard today that nothing would make Limbaugh happier than if President Obama fails.  He cites that Obama is "talking about the absorption of as much as the private sector by the U.S. government as possible."  Well, personally, I believe he's offbase.  These bailouts do not meant he government will be taking over these industries for the long term.  However; if you want government money to bailout your company, than the government has the right -- no, the duty -- to oversee your business.  My mama told me that he who pays the band, picks the music.  

He listed the banking industry and the car industry, but really what bothered me is that he said "I hope he fails."

See, I believe that you all of us have the right to say and believe what we want -- this is America afterall, but shut up, Rush.  You old windbag do not offer a better plan and right now, America needs action.  We need to step up to the plate and join together to set what is wrong right, to keep what is right and to move forward instep with each other.  People who can only critize without offering a better idea are just baffoons who should be ignored.

I happen to disagree with the bailout.  I have a better idea and if you come back tomorrow, I'll have it all laid out for you.

God Bless

Stimulus Package

Economists are calling on Washington to create yet another stimulus package. Bush previously said, "No" to the idea, but something has changed his mind and now he wants one.

Well, I can't imagine this being a good idea. Let's just put our deficit even higher. Our government all ready owes everyone and their brother money. The bailout has cost every American citizen $3,100 and now, they want to pass a $150 billion bill. How is this going to help? Maybe, we just need the economy to suck for a while. It'll come back, let's just sit, wait and see what happens.

If anything should pass, it should be to give states enough money to cover unemployment. I heard that Wisconsin is running out of money. Also, it should be to help the 7.5% of Americans who are or will be unemployed find training in other fields.

Side note: My mother keeps insisting the economy is chugging along and everything is fine. One of the things she says proves this is our unemployment rate. Right now, it's lower than 7.5% and it is lower than it was in the seventies, so things are okay. Well, I don't know a lot about the seventies, but I know now if you're unemployed and not on the unemployment roll, you're not being counted. If you are still employed, but looking for a full time job, you're counted as unemployed. If you took a job way below where you were before, you're not being counted, but you're not making your full pre-firing, pre-laid off wage. None of these are good for the economy. Another thing that isn't good was the high gas prices.

Now, if they are going to send sums home to people, let's send more than a lousy $600.00 per individual. Cheryl and I normally spend more than $1800 on Christmas between gifts, wrapping paper, Christmas Eve dinner and charitable donations, but not this year. We're cutting way back this year. We haven't been able to put money into our savings accounts like previous years due to various reasons -- the least of which included the high gas prices -- and we're going to need to use the Christmas fund to pay our home taxes. Now, I'm not complaining, we both have jobs, things are just tighter than normal. We'll get through it, just as many of Americans will.

But, the only way for the economy to bounce back is we need to put money into it. So, here's my suggestion -- partially stolen from Lewis Black -- let's build something, anything. Let's put money into our intrastucture. Let's improve our roads, let's update our railroads. If we're going to spend $150 billion dollars, let's use it to create jobs. How about create an energy company, solely owned by the government, that will research fossil fuel alternatives? What about a company that will invent a better running car? Something, anything that will create jobs. And, let's take a look at the hardest hit areas of the nations and put in training centers. Let's train our unemployed and underemployed for different jobs. Not only would we employ people as trainers, but we'll make our un and under employed citizens ready for the next jobs in their lives.

How can we pay for this?

Well, let's stop substizing oil companies and large farms (not family farms, the big guys) and I'm sure there's other things as well. Let's rollback the tax breaks on the upper 1%. We all know taxes have to be raised, so let's just get it over with. Hell, I'd chip in a little more in taxes to pay for something that benefits all.

But, it'll never happen.

So, if they do pass the stimulus, I hope it's enough money so we can buy some really nice Christmas presents.

God Bless

Let Them Fail...

I believe that when things go bad, you pull yourself up by your boot straps and you take care of it yourself. For the most part (if I ignore my twenties), I've followed this my whole life. Even while I was still in college and hadn't completed my degree, I worked to pay off my student loans.

Now, I'm sorry the people who work for these financial companies are going to lose their jobs, but let the companies fail. By bailing out AIG, we're sending the wrong message to companies. Take big risks and if you're large enough, the government will bail you out so you don't lose your shirt. Well, maybe, they should lose their shirts. The government wouldn't be bailing me out if I overextended on my credit cards, took out a second mortgage on my house (that's what an equity line is no matter what they tell you) and racked up huge bills. No one would be walking around to hand me money, so why should my tax dollars be used to bail out a company that put too much money into subprime mortgages?

When are we going to say enough is enough?

God Bless

Again with the Economy

Perhaps, I'm missing something. I'm reading this week's Time magazine and they've included a voter's guide to Obama and McCain's plans for the economy. Under Obama's plan, he would end Bush's tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 (with which I agree), raise the capital gains tax and give tax credits to singles and families. McCain wants to make Bush's tax cuts permanent (which I oppose), reduce the corporate tax (as I mentioned last week) and here's a new one -- "He may be open to the possibility of a higher Social Security payroll tax." What does that mean?
8% of my salary goes to Social Security. Is he going to raise that? And, with that raise, is he going to guarntee that Social Security will be there when I retire? Or, is he going to lift the cap, so that those earning more than $92,000 a year pay on their whole salary? I would support lifting the cap.
Think about it. If you make $50,000 per year, you pay Social Security on that whole amount. That comes to $4,000 or 8%. If you make $100,000 a year, you pay only on $92,000, which comes to $7,360 or 7.36% of your salary. So, percentage wise, the person who earns less pays more than the person who earns the most. Does that seem fair to you?

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

Bush and the Economy

Just last week, President Bush made a statement that the country wasn't in a recession. This week, he has said the the economy has slowed.

Boy, am I glad he told me that! If he hadn't, I might've thought that the country was doing just swell! I would be so confused and I hate to be confused.

I wonder how long it takes before he'll admit we're in a recession. I'm thinking June -- long after we've all received our rebate checks and we've either used them to pay off debt or set them aside because us consumers are all spent.

He also said, ""I know this is a difficult time for our economy, but we recognized the problem early and we provided the economy with a booster shot."

I was going to write some smartass commenht that ripped into his words, but sometimes you have to admit, he's funnier when he works alone.

God Bless

Health Care

Today it was difficult to settle on a topic. Ann Coulter just made an outragerous remark against John Edwards, so I could discuss that. But, I was thinking, hasn't that hateful woman received enough attention? So, I decided to write about another subject: Health Care.

A while back, I contacted the Human Resources department where I work and requested the opportunity to purchase additional coverage -- coverage that I was willing to pay for, but since it would be through the company, I could receive at a lower cost. On Tuesday, I received a we're sorry, but no, along with a lecture on the rising cost of health care and the flexible spending accounts.

Okay, I'm not even going to get into the fact that I understand about flexible spending and it was obvious to me that the woman who answered my email never bothered to see that I put a lot of money into my flexible spending account all ready. What really bothered me was the condescending air that health care is some sort of privilege and I should be grateful that they let me have it.

Excuse me, but I work hard for a living. I give my all at work and I care about the company for which I work. All of this talk lately about health care centers around the fact that somehow in employers' minds, workers don't deserve health care. They shouldn't have to put out the money for the premiums.

Well, that's just wrong. Health care is a business expense, like the computer on my desk, the paper in the printer and the electricity that lights the building. I give them a honest days work and they give me a honest day's pay and health care. That's the deal for which I signed on.

But, it isn't just the company from whom I work, it's all of them. Chrysler, Ford, etc. are blaming their financial woes on the high cost of health care (which was cited in the email), which if they made cars we want to buy, they'd make money.

And, it's the same with other companies. They have these huge payouts for their CEOs, but they don't want to spend the same amount on the people who are actually making them money. I'm sorry, but you know what gets sugar on the table? It's not a CEO, it's the little people who do all the work. And, that's a fact, Jack.

I know that health care costs have gotten out of hand, but I'm tired of these companies wanting to take away the little in benefits they offer.

God Bless

Guest Blog Post: Patriotism Requires Economic Nationalism

If you consider yourself a patriot are not concerned about the ballooning trade deficit, the huge national debt and the loss of 3 million manufacturing jobs since the current Bush first occupied the White House, you are lying to yourself. If you are a political figure, you are likely lying to the American public, as well.

Economic globalization is certainly not inevitable. The inevitability of uncontrolled globalization is deliberate disinformation promoted by the largest international corporations and their academic, media and political lackeys. Economic globalization is the result of deliberate public policy changes by our government and other governments. The policy changes have been pushed by large international corporations seeking to maximize their profits regardless of the cost to the American economy or the American people.

Our very way of life is being undermined by government policies that fail to rein in the unchecked greed of large international corporations. Every American patriot must demand a reversal of American government policies and attitudes toward a people-oriented, economic nationalism instead of government-sponsored international corporatism.

International trade is often a very good thing. However, it should be a managed process that is regulated by the citizens of the nations involved in the form of their governments. Defense and foreign policy considerations should be given significant weight in the establishment of international trade policies. Trade was very helpful during the Cold War with our former international rival, the late Soviet Union.

Trade should not be organized by trade agreements that damage our manufacturing base because our military strength depends on manufacturing. International trade should not lower the living standards of American workers. Our worker safety regulations, wage levels, environmental regulations and product safety requirements should all be enhanced instead of undetermined by our trade agreements. Trade should not create more government debt for our nation. International trade should produce large amounts of government revenue in the form of much higher tariffs. We need more economic nationalism.

It is the patriotic duty of every citizen to demand government policies that serve our citizens and nation instead of the large international corporations. As we move into the 2008 elections, Americans should only support candidates who vote in the economic interests of America.

Citizens should support universal national healthcare because American companies cannot afford to supply healthcare to their workers and compete with foreign businesses. All other major trading nations have governments who provide healthcare to their workers instead of saddling their businesses with this additional costs. American businesses are at a severe disadvantage.

Americans should demand repeal or renegotiation of all current, falsely-named, “free trade” agreements. Presidential “fast-tracking” of these agreements should be ended immediately.

The salaries of top corporate executives should be limited by federal law. It should be illegal to increase executive compensation in corporations that are moving jobs outside our borders. Corporate executives should not be awarded for being bad citizens.

Corporations who move good jobs abroad to cut the pay of workers or to avoid environmental laws should be punished by finding their access to the American market severely restricted. They should pay much larger taxes. Their ability to send money abroad should be restricted.

Our federal government should mandate that colleges and universities teach mandatory courses in Economic Patriotism to all students in business or economics programs. Courses should be offered in all high schools. We need to educate our citizenry on these issues because of their importance to America’s future.

We should strengthen our labor unions to check the political power of large corporations. We should pass the Employee Free Choice Act. We should repeal the restraints on unions passed during the Truman Administration by a Republican Congress over the veto of President Truman.

We need much strong campaign finance laws that will more effectively stop corporations from buying the loyalties of our political leaders. We should only approved federal judges who will protect our economy. If we need Constitutional Amendments to limit corporate power, we should pass them.

America cannot afford 800 billion dollar annual trade deficits if we are remain a real world power. We should not be borrowing from Communist China and Japan to fund our government debt. Our domestic economy remains strong thanks to our small businesses while the large international corporations are working against our national interests.

We need to put real teeth in anti-monopoly laws. Media concentration should be stopped and reversed. Our citizens should not be feed only information controlled by the largest international corporations. We need to break-up the media monopolies, return to the Fairness Doctrine and Equal Time Protection in broadcasting and encourage local media ownership.

Patriotism includes an economic element. The leadership of Wall Street needs to demonstrate in both word and action they are patriotic. The Supreme Court in the 19th Century gave corporations many citizenship rights. These corporations should be required that they are loyal citizens instead of traitors to America’s future.

~~Written by Stephen Crockett

The opinions expressed in this guest blog are not necessarily the opinions of the main author of Top of My Head.