Government Spending to Jolt the Economy –

“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate!” “We won!”

  

I heard John Cronyn (R-Tx) on the floor of the Senate just prior to voting against the stimulus package say “We cannot spend our way into properity.” He was echoing John Stossel of ABC’s 20/20 who wrote a similarly titled column posted on Real Clear Politics.  Many other conservative Republicans have repeated those words but none have offered an alternative.  Of course this all followed on the heels of Rahm Emanual’s appearance on Meet the Press.  Obviously there are two schools of thought.

 

The American people have spoken when they elected Barack Obama president and sent large numbers of Democrats to Congress.  Of course this is a big gamble.  Yes there are doubts about whether the stimulus bill will jolt the economy.  Republicans had their chance and their ideas did not work.  I have lots of misgivings about the Democratic stimulus package.  Where are the alternative ideas?

An Israeli Beauty – Thanks to Sports Illustrated

 

Americans, you keep asking why we should defend Israel.  Well the answer is obvious.  The newest cover model for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2009 Edition is Bar Refaeli.  Pinups were the thing American soldiers loved during many wars and when there were no wars all young men liked to look at.  As a teenager I had my favorite beauties from Playboy magazine taped to the walls.  Boy, were my parents mad!!  What better reason to keep helping those healthy Israelis?

 

 

Greed is the Problem

What in tarnation is a board member to do with all of those “new fangled” securities that are so goldang hard to understand? That is the essence of Jack Welch’s Welch Way column in BusinessWeek posted on January 14, 2009.

  

 

The wealthy of America don’t get it!  The rest of us are fed up!  It’s not just the people on Wall Street.  It’s the economists, the managers of the big corporations, the people who manage our government entities and everyone else that have “life styles of the rich and famous.”  All of them have taken advantage of the free enterprise system but few have participated in making America and the world a better place.

 

The eight CEOs of the largest banks and investment houses in the country looked totally foolish at a televised House committee hearing today.  These were the leaders of Wells Fargo & Co., Morgan Stanley, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co., State Street Corp. and the Bank of New York Mellon.  None of them were apologetic about receiving outrageously high pay as their banks were losing money.  Despite claiming to be experts in their field none could explain how they had been unable to see the credit crises they had created.

 

Jack Welch defended corporate CEOs and boards in his BusinessWeek column How Much Blame Do Boards Deserve? contending, “Unfortunately, even boards with sound judgment didn’t stand much of a chance against the newfangled financial instruments that sparked this crisis.” He writes in this column “board members are only at a company “one or two days a month and are composed of individuals who also hold demanding full-time jobs.”  He says Shareholder activists expect too much from board members.  So why do so many board members receive pay of $100,000 or more per year?

 

The Peanut Corporation of America was reported to have knowingly shipped contaminated food.  The owners and managers refused to testify to a congressional committee and sight their rights under the 5^th amendment of the Constitution.  They take the position that it only cost nine deaths and sickened 600 people.  From an Associated Press report, “The company’s internal records show it “was more concerned with its bottom line than the safety of its customers,” said committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.”

 

The real issue is the wealthy protecting their fifedoms.  Neither stock holders, employees, nor government have any control over their behavior.  The irreconcilable excuses of executives in finance, auto manufacturing, and other industries will ultimately result in more government control.  However their power will not diminish significantly and they will continue to be spearate from mainstream America.  This is all the result of the laissez-faire philosophy laid out by President Ronald Reagan when he said “government is the problem.”  That president was wrong.  Greed is the problem.

Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin

___What is there about the month of February?

 

Superstitious people could believe that February 12 has some significance to God or some other super natural force.  On or about this date some of the most famous and significant people were born.  If they were not born precisely on this date they were born a few days before or later.  The two most famous are Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin.  Both of them were born on this date.

 

George Washington was born on February 22.  Ronald Reagan was born on February 6. Sarah Palin on February 11.  Thomas Edison on February 11.  Jack Benny on February 14.  Susan B. Anthony on February 15.  Nicolas Copernicus was born on February 19.  Ansel Adams was on February 20.  Edward (Ted) Kennedy and Chopin were born on February 22.  George Fredric Handel, composer of “Messiah” in 1841, was born on February 23.  John Steinbeck and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were both born on February 27.   

 

Abraham Lincoln personified the evolution of man that Charles Darwin theorized.  Of course Darwin’s “Origin of Species” was about the physical evolution of life but I believe it can also be applied to the evolution of mankind.  The Magna Carta (The Great Charter) originally signed in 1215 is considered to be the beginning of the evolution of man’s rights in an ever developing world.

 

Only three of the original clauses in Magna Carta are still law. One defends the freedom and rights of the English church, another confirms the liberties and customs of London and other towns, but the third is the most famous:

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled . nor will we proceed with force against him . except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.

This statement of principle, buried deep in Magna Carta, was given no particular prominence in 1215, but its intrinsic adaptability has allowed succeeding generations to reinterpret it for their own purposes and this has ensured its longevity. In the fourteenth century Parliament saw it as guaranteeing trial by jury. Sir Edward Coke interpreted it as a declaration of individual liberty in his conflict with the early Stuart kings and it has resonant echoes in the American Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

      

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is part of America’s evolution starting with the Declaration of Independence that has brought the country to elect its first Black president.  The whole world should be enthused by the 200^th birthday of Abraham Lincoln and ought to believe that all societies can aspire to the same ideals.

We Need New Heroes

Alex Rodriquez took steroid drugs and we are supposed to be concerned.  This is not the first athlete to admit he/she took performance enhancing drugs.  With the exception of those participating in the Olympics and other amateur sports these activities are being conducted by employees of profit making organizations.  Whether it’s baseball, football, or any other professional sport the idea is to draw a large audience into the stadium.

 

It’s impossible for me to believe that the owners of the sport franchises are unaware of the behavior of their team members.  So why should I care?  The only reason is that the players are held out to our youth as images to admire and emulate.  Those in amateur sports were just plain young, foolish people who thought winning it all was everything.  Perhaps we ought to encourage our youth to emulate scientists, engineers, lawyers, doctors, accountants, and other who have succeeded in our world.  Emulating Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, or Donald Douglas seems to me to be a far better goal than emulating Barry Bonds.

A New Dancing Season with the Stars

My television watching is really quite limited beyond about two to three hours a day of news and commentary.  The one program I do seem to be watching is “Dancing with the Stars.”  It is the professional dancers that are really the attraction for me, especially the women.  Just watching Julianne Hough is enough to get me excited.

 

I am surprised these dancing couplings have not resulted in more romances.  It’s reported that professional dancers Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff are now engaged.  Propinquity does count for something.  The next season has been announced and my DVR has been set to record all the programs.  I do believe the drums and music prior to announcing which couples has been voted off the show is really quite corny but after all the longer you watch the more commercials they can sell.  It’s really all about the money.  In this environment that is just one more good thing about this excellent entertainment spectacular.  I live right here in Los Angeles.  How do I get tickets to see this show live?

Relying on the FDA

There is no way anyone can know the source of the ingredients of the foods they eat.  We must rely on the FDA to ensure safety.  Simply put that agency has failed.  There have been numerous food scares during the past few years.  Mad Cow Disease was followed by salmonella in spinach, peppers and tomatoes.  The issue of salmonella tainted peanuts  is not new.  A few years ago the contamination was in Peter Pan Peanut Butter. 

 

Now the contamination is in dry-roasted and oil-roasted peanuts, granulated peanuts, peanut meal, peanut butter and peanut paste.  This situation has evolved into a criminal investigation by the FDA and the Justice Department at the Peanut Corp. of America facility in Blakely, Georgia.  The problem is the cavalier attitude of the people involved.  The peanut company and even the town mayor have the attitude that they can get away with their behavior.

 

Blakely Mayor Ric Hall said, “We’re in hot water. When they found salmonella in spinach, peppers and tomatoes, people said they would never eat them again, and guess what? We’re right back in there eating salads. I think the same thing will happen with peanuts.”

 

Is the relaxing of FDA inspection part of Bush administration laisseze faire policies?  There is nothing on the internet to support that idea.  Still the number of incidence during the past eight years does make me suspicious.  Ot would take a thorough investigation by a news investigating organization.  60 Minutes, the Tribune Company, or the Washington Post should research inspection records.

Now It’s Hardball

Barack Obama’s speech about everyone being part of the United States rather than being part of red or blue states sounds wonderful in theory.  The reality is Americans do hold different values depending on their geography and history.  Southern states have been more rural.  Central California farming valleys and farming plains states have different perspectives than Jamaica, New York, South Chicago, or San Jose, California.

 

The President did try to reach out to Republicans during his first two weeks in office.  Unfortunately the Republican response was “no we will not compromise.”  That decision by the GOP has left only one path for our new President.  He will have to play the partisan game.  That means finding a few Republican Senators that understand the meaning of compromise and working to ensure solidarity among the Dems.  Rahm Emanuel, the president’s Chief of Staff, is known as a hardball player from his days as a Congressman.  He will undoubtedly lead the process for keeping all Democrats in line.  David Axelrod, Obama’s cool campaign co-ordinator, will probably be the nice guy to bring in the needed Republicans.  So much for “We are all part of the United States.”

NO on Los Angeles Measure B

There is a proposition on the March 3, 2009 ballot for some kind of investment that will provide solar generated electric.  The issue with the plan is the actual cost.  As I understand the plan solar cells will be installed on top of major buildings and be sent into the city’s electrical grid.  Two reports on the cost are providing conflicting data.  One report says the cost will be $1 billon and a second says the cost will be $3 billon.  Too many people oppose this proposal to support it.  Included in the opposition is the highly respected city controller, Laura Chick.  I really honor her opinion.  This situation is so bad that we have not received sample ballots for the upcoming election.  Clearly this is a city suffering with major mismanagement.

Too Much Cable Television News

Glenn Greenwald is one of many writers on Salon.com.  However Salon is just one of many new opinion web site that seem to be growing in number weekly.  Each one of them has a host of interesting writers.  Unless you want to devote you entire life to reading their thoughts you will have to make choices.

 

Mr. Greenwald, a lawyer and writer, has appeared on at least two televison interview shows this past week.  He had the nerve to critcize those people who watch cable television news, claiming “you can actually physically feel your brain shrinking.”  What he does not seem to understand is that most of us have never heard of him and most of his colleagues before they appeared on CNN, The Rachel Maddow Show, Bill Moyers Journal, etc.

 

The problem with too many of these commentators is that they believe that they have the inside track to knowledge.  They seem to think that their readers and viewers are not bright enough to understand the real things that are happening in the world.  WordPress.com  has more than 163,000 active blogs.  Considering there are other blogging opportunities as well, it should be obvious to all that watching cable TV is only part of our passion.