And now, on to tonight's topic.
It is only in certain situations that the government is required to create jobs. Most of the time, that is the function of the business sector. Jobs are created in the private sector when the public is spending money and supply and demand are in harmony. Jobs are created by the government when corporations are unable to provide the jobs.
It happened under FDR and it brought this country crawling back into power. Then a little thing called Pearl Harbor happened, and our economy boomed. But before the war effort, the government had to create the jobs, which meant they had to spend a boat load of money to do it. But it was the mandatory thing to do. When one part of the process breaks down, the other part has to make up for it. In that particular case, the private sector couldn't do it.
Now, the private sector won't do it. It's not that they can't, they just refuse to. American workers cost too much money. American regulations create delays and cost money. The cost of doing business is greater here, and there is nothing more sacred in American power circles today than the bottom line. Gordon Gecko, what hell hath you wrought?
Now, let me preface this next by saying that I am not an economist but I am someone who listens to that they have to say. What they say has to make sense, and what they've been saying makes sense to me. It makes sense because the mechanics of it are clear. If there are any economists who are reading this that want to correct anything I'm about to say, please feel free to do so.
The 10 for 5 Solution:
The top 100 companies based on pre-tax profits must pay the Federal Job Creation Program ten percent of that pre-tax profit for five years. That money is to be strictly and only used on federal infrastructure projects, like converting every single government building and school to green technology systems, road and bridge repair, etc. Any difference between the corporate contribution and actual costs are made up by the increase in payroll taxes the jobs create. And the excess goes toward the deficit and debt. The federal jobs created eventually move back into the private sector, where they belong, and the country is once again prosperous.
Negative incentives, like a tax, do little good if there's no additional upside. In the five years of the program, corporations can reduce the amount they pay in by increasing the number of jobs they create by way of FJCP tax reductions for hiring workers, and greater tax cuts by bringing jobs back from overseas. I've said here before, Vampire Economics does not work. Once you suck the blood out of everything, then what? In this case, economic extinction.
Obviously, a paradigm alignment will be necessary. And since reason has been tried, failing miserably, then we just have to make them do it. There is only one solution to our economy, and that is jobs. With jobs, people spend more money and pay more taxes. What the corporations have failed to grasp is that their longer term survival depends on us have some of the money to spend. Keeping it all to themselves, or spending billions of dollars on a mid-term election, is counter-productive to their best efforts. They are One Quarter Thinkers. They cannot see beyond the quarter they're in. What's our bottom line look like today, Bob?
How do we get them to see the future? Americanism. Dammit, we want to buy American products made by American workers in American factories. You put that "Built In America" sticker on your stuff and watch it sell. How many Toyotas are built in America? I don't know, but you'll sell a lot more of them if people know they're built here. You are the corporate overlords of the most consumption-happy people in the planet. We don't even care how much money you make as long as we have enough ourselves. Hell, Americans are all about America.
We the People? We'll do our part. We'll spend virtually everything you give us. Sure, it might not come right back to you. It'll be swirling around on the whims of public enthusiasm, but if you offer a product that we want and it works the way we expect it to, we'll buy more of it. Sustainable profit comes from sustained demand. And all of that put together creates stability.
And we all know we could use a lot more of that.
Hamster Prez
Comments welcome. Post to the comment section or send an email.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
No More Waxing...
The Tea Party is not a party, it's a movement. They cannot take over the government. There will be no revising the Constitution. They cannot effect any real change due to the simple fact that there is no structure, no cohesion, no single purpose. As I said last night, unless they are somehow able to form a bloc of votes, they are one-term pests and little else.
I shall not wax poetic any further regarding the Tea Movement.
Hamster Prez
I shall not wax poetic any further regarding the Tea Movement.
Hamster Prez
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tea Party Republicrats?
I think it could happen. Let's face it, we aren't going to beat them all. I am confident that we will defeat most of them, but some will get through. What they will find when they reach Washington may cause them to reconsider the party they're aligning themselves with, or are being co-opted by.
But let's look at some numbers first. There are about 80 self-declared Tea Party candidates, 35 of whom were called out on Keith Olbermann last night as the most radical among them. Very few of them are going to get elected. The rest, the one's you don't hear much about, might. And there are a few in the major parties that will have no problem retaining their seats. I see one governor, one senator, and the rest Representatives. Hardly enough to swing the tide. And those that do make it are in for some major culture shock.
Be careful what you ask for.
When they get to DC, they will finally have to shut up, no longer on the campaign trail. And when they do that, they're going to find out that the party that is most interested in their goals is not the party that pretends to tolerate them. If the Tea Partiers as a whole stand for anything, it's that while government needs to be smaller it also needs to work. They will see that the Republicans have stolen their energy but have no intention of allowing them control. The best case scenario for the Republicans is that my numbers are correct. There's strength in numbers, and too many of them hurts the Republicans.
The second most important thing to Tea Partiers is that they are supposed to be a party for the people. Okay, so for now it's a party for the white people, but with more focus they could well become a viable alternative party. If there is such a thing as a moderate Tea Partier, let's hope he or she has a lot of charisma. If they can silence the radical ones, they have a chance. If not, they're doomed. But, back to the point.
There's one very clear and vocal speaker in Washington that was elected because he was for the people. His entire agenda is about people, not politics. This is the person to whom they should be seeking counsel. He is, as has been said before, the smartest man in the room. I disagree with a lot of what he has done, and how he has done some of his job. I think he's starting to take off the rose colored glasses a little more often. I hope so. In any case, if they are truly for the people, then perhaps they ought to cease being so concerned about the color of his skin and listen to what he is saying.
I think they'd actually agree with him. Maybe it's me with the rose colored glasses, but what little hope I have left rests with this possibility.
Okay, glasses off. They're doomed. When the dust of next Tuesday settles, they will then see, once and for all and crystal clear, that they were manipulated and coerced by their enemies. Big business bought and paid for their movement and their souls. They will see that it was just a hoax, an insidious power grab to keep the money where it does the least good. Out of their hands. Think about this: How many billions of dollars have been spent on this election? Scary thought. Wonder if that money could have been used in a more productive manner?
There is no central Tea Party to build from. There is no platform. There is no structure. There are essentially 80 candidates with 80 different ideas of what they are supposed to stand for. The problem is, they don't know. They're playing follow the leader. Out on the edges especially, where the Olbermann 35 reside, one of them stumbles across a line, and they're like flies to a pile of feces. But only a couple to a few will actually land on it. All they're doing is inventing the next most outrageous position and see who lands.
Those people will not be elected.
The ones that do have an opportunity that is every politician's wet dream. They really can effect major change if they decide to. If, and I realize it's a big if, there are a number of sane electees from the Tea Party and they can agree on what it is they really stand for, they can support the legislation that ends up promoting that platform by voting with whichever party presents it. The Republicans may have allowed them to use the (R) on the ballot, but they are not Republicans. The are the enders of partisanship, if they choose to be.
I wish them luck, I truly do. I hope that they see and seize the opportunity.
Hamster Prez
But let's look at some numbers first. There are about 80 self-declared Tea Party candidates, 35 of whom were called out on Keith Olbermann last night as the most radical among them. Very few of them are going to get elected. The rest, the one's you don't hear much about, might. And there are a few in the major parties that will have no problem retaining their seats. I see one governor, one senator, and the rest Representatives. Hardly enough to swing the tide. And those that do make it are in for some major culture shock.
Be careful what you ask for.
When they get to DC, they will finally have to shut up, no longer on the campaign trail. And when they do that, they're going to find out that the party that is most interested in their goals is not the party that pretends to tolerate them. If the Tea Partiers as a whole stand for anything, it's that while government needs to be smaller it also needs to work. They will see that the Republicans have stolen their energy but have no intention of allowing them control. The best case scenario for the Republicans is that my numbers are correct. There's strength in numbers, and too many of them hurts the Republicans.
The second most important thing to Tea Partiers is that they are supposed to be a party for the people. Okay, so for now it's a party for the white people, but with more focus they could well become a viable alternative party. If there is such a thing as a moderate Tea Partier, let's hope he or she has a lot of charisma. If they can silence the radical ones, they have a chance. If not, they're doomed. But, back to the point.
There's one very clear and vocal speaker in Washington that was elected because he was for the people. His entire agenda is about people, not politics. This is the person to whom they should be seeking counsel. He is, as has been said before, the smartest man in the room. I disagree with a lot of what he has done, and how he has done some of his job. I think he's starting to take off the rose colored glasses a little more often. I hope so. In any case, if they are truly for the people, then perhaps they ought to cease being so concerned about the color of his skin and listen to what he is saying.
I think they'd actually agree with him. Maybe it's me with the rose colored glasses, but what little hope I have left rests with this possibility.
Okay, glasses off. They're doomed. When the dust of next Tuesday settles, they will then see, once and for all and crystal clear, that they were manipulated and coerced by their enemies. Big business bought and paid for their movement and their souls. They will see that it was just a hoax, an insidious power grab to keep the money where it does the least good. Out of their hands. Think about this: How many billions of dollars have been spent on this election? Scary thought. Wonder if that money could have been used in a more productive manner?
There is no central Tea Party to build from. There is no platform. There is no structure. There are essentially 80 candidates with 80 different ideas of what they are supposed to stand for. The problem is, they don't know. They're playing follow the leader. Out on the edges especially, where the Olbermann 35 reside, one of them stumbles across a line, and they're like flies to a pile of feces. But only a couple to a few will actually land on it. All they're doing is inventing the next most outrageous position and see who lands.
Those people will not be elected.
The ones that do have an opportunity that is every politician's wet dream. They really can effect major change if they decide to. If, and I realize it's a big if, there are a number of sane electees from the Tea Party and they can agree on what it is they really stand for, they can support the legislation that ends up promoting that platform by voting with whichever party presents it. The Republicans may have allowed them to use the (R) on the ballot, but they are not Republicans. The are the enders of partisanship, if they choose to be.
I wish them luck, I truly do. I hope that they see and seize the opportunity.
Hamster Prez
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
My Special Comment Comment for Mr. Olbermann
What he said.
And this: It's not that they're loony since that would imply humorous. These people are dangerous and the people financing them even more so. They are Evil personified. The five Justices of the Supreme Court that voted for the Citizen's United decision should be fired. Our greatest fears as to that decision's deeper and more sinister implications are already being demonstrated.
I don't care who you vote for next Tuesday. I care about who you vote against. Toss your vote to the Green Party or whatever name strikes your fancy. Just please don't vote for any of the extremist right wing candidates. And that includes Meg "Gonna Buy Me A Mansion in Sacramento" Whitman, Carly "Evil Sheep Eye" Fiorini, and the rest of their ilk.
Please.
And this: It's not that they're loony since that would imply humorous. These people are dangerous and the people financing them even more so. They are Evil personified. The five Justices of the Supreme Court that voted for the Citizen's United decision should be fired. Our greatest fears as to that decision's deeper and more sinister implications are already being demonstrated.
I don't care who you vote for next Tuesday. I care about who you vote against. Toss your vote to the Green Party or whatever name strikes your fancy. Just please don't vote for any of the extremist right wing candidates. And that includes Meg "Gonna Buy Me A Mansion in Sacramento" Whitman, Carly "Evil Sheep Eye" Fiorini, and the rest of their ilk.
Please.
Polls Are Stupid, People Aren't... I Hope!
Pre-ramble: Apologies to those folks who take polls literally, but really, get a clue.
I'm certain that everyone reading this has a clear understanding of how political polling transpires. However, for the sake of clarity and to put a human element to it, here's my explanation. Paul Schlub and Paulette Schlubette arrive at the phone bank office, a gray windowless cinder block building in the low-rent area of a decaying downtown metropolitan area. They each meander through the open room to their respective desks, strap on their headsets, and commence dialing from a list of registered voters, or just a list of phone numbers. The next eight hours are spent asking questions, receiving too long answers, and generally wishing that college degree meant something. If it weren't for the student loans, they could actually live instead of exist. But, hey, they got jobs!
Paul gets his first hit. Heinous T. Partay and his lovely wife Teena (his second and much younger wife) have just sat down to supper when the phone rings. Heinous loves to be asked his opinions, and when told that a simple yes or no answer is sufficient, he launches into how he hates the government and the high taxes and the gays and the abortionist murderers until he gets all red in the face and has to get his nitro pills from Teena, who is otherwise engaged in painting her toenails hot pink while she watches her dinner grow cold...again. Paul closes his eyes, leans back in his chair, and really really really wants to just go outside, smoke a joint, and bang Paulette.
Paulette, on the other hand, just got her third, "I'm eating dinner, dammit! Stop calling here!" call, which was the topper to three successive ignored rings. She looks at the picture on her desk of her four year old son and two year old daughter and dreams of winning the lotto and moving them all to a country that was less angry and stupid. She never thought of Paul.
Once all of the calls have been made, the data is collected and the extrapolations begin! The computers whirr along, crunching and counting and analyzing until the last byte of information has been processed. There is virtually no human element to this part of the story, so we'll move on. Always hated math, anyway.
The numbers indicate that there are virtual dead heats in many Congressional and Senatorial races that were just recently blow outs. One blowout remains a blowout (I am not a witch), bucking the new conventional wisdom that this country has completely lost it's mind. Only about half of it has, if the polls are to be believed. And, why shouldn't they? A couple thousand patriotic Americans let their dinners grow cold in order for the rest of us to have a snippet of the electorate's mood.
And therein lies the problem. The numbers are based on a relative handful of voters, and it's only those voters who are motivated enough to answer the phone and the questions. The tightening of the races has more to do with the new majority, the Independents, declaring their intentions. See, Independents don't carry signs for either side, so are a tad slower to get involved, preferring to watch the sides go at each other. They also don't answer the phone during dinner. Ever.
The other motivator driving the changing poll numbers is, of course, fear. But it's not the fear on the Right, it's the fear OF the Right that is pushing the reluctant to act. If the Tea Party candidates don't scare you, you're just not paying attention. If the Republicans don't make you want to send them to timeout until they can act more like adults, then you're watching too much reality TV.
I may be proven wrong next Tuesday, and if I am then I will apologize to all I offended and move to Canada. But I just cannot believe that nearly half the voters of Nevada are stupid enough to think that Sharron Angle would make a good Senator. I've lived in Nevada, went to school there, and my in-laws live there. I'm no fan of Harry Reid, either. But, Sharron Angle? What, are you afraid she'll invoke her Second Amendment remedies on you and your family if you don't vote for her? They traded in chickens for the poster child of Guns and Ammo magazine?
But that's what the polls tell us.
Colorado, my home state away from home, where my son and his wife live and a part of me will always reside, where my beloved Denver Broncos look like crap this year, the home of the only man I've ever wanted an autograph from and who could be Emperor of Colorado if he'd just ask. I love the State and it's people, and I cannot believe that two of the scariest and most dangerous men in American politics have almost half the voters ready to elect them in their respective races. Tom Tancredo and Ken Buck are misogynistic racist hypocrites, and that's me being nice. There is no way that half of the good people of the great state of Colorado actually support these two idiots.
But that's what the polls tell us.
Never been to Alaska, don't have any family or friends their. I don't really know that much about it other than what I saw on Ice Road Truckers. Sure looks pretty. Lots of oil. Bridge to Nowhere. Government checks to every citizen. Poor Scott McAdams, the Democratic nominee for Senate, who is a cat at a dog fight. He seems like a really nice guy who really cares about the people around him and his home. And he is said to have zero chance of winning. Are the hearty folks of Alaska really going to send either one of the Spawn of Evil candidates to Washington and leave the sane one at home? Well, it kinda makes sense in a way.
At least, that's what the polls tell us. (Mr. McAdams should probably be grateful. Nice guys get eaten for breakfast in DC).
The Loud White Minority is exactly and only that. Let's make sure they stay the minority.
Go vote next Tuesday.
Hamster Prez
I'm certain that everyone reading this has a clear understanding of how political polling transpires. However, for the sake of clarity and to put a human element to it, here's my explanation. Paul Schlub and Paulette Schlubette arrive at the phone bank office, a gray windowless cinder block building in the low-rent area of a decaying downtown metropolitan area. They each meander through the open room to their respective desks, strap on their headsets, and commence dialing from a list of registered voters, or just a list of phone numbers. The next eight hours are spent asking questions, receiving too long answers, and generally wishing that college degree meant something. If it weren't for the student loans, they could actually live instead of exist. But, hey, they got jobs!
Paul gets his first hit. Heinous T. Partay and his lovely wife Teena (his second and much younger wife) have just sat down to supper when the phone rings. Heinous loves to be asked his opinions, and when told that a simple yes or no answer is sufficient, he launches into how he hates the government and the high taxes and the gays and the abortionist murderers until he gets all red in the face and has to get his nitro pills from Teena, who is otherwise engaged in painting her toenails hot pink while she watches her dinner grow cold...again. Paul closes his eyes, leans back in his chair, and really really really wants to just go outside, smoke a joint, and bang Paulette.
Paulette, on the other hand, just got her third, "I'm eating dinner, dammit! Stop calling here!" call, which was the topper to three successive ignored rings. She looks at the picture on her desk of her four year old son and two year old daughter and dreams of winning the lotto and moving them all to a country that was less angry and stupid. She never thought of Paul.
Once all of the calls have been made, the data is collected and the extrapolations begin! The computers whirr along, crunching and counting and analyzing until the last byte of information has been processed. There is virtually no human element to this part of the story, so we'll move on. Always hated math, anyway.
The numbers indicate that there are virtual dead heats in many Congressional and Senatorial races that were just recently blow outs. One blowout remains a blowout (I am not a witch), bucking the new conventional wisdom that this country has completely lost it's mind. Only about half of it has, if the polls are to be believed. And, why shouldn't they? A couple thousand patriotic Americans let their dinners grow cold in order for the rest of us to have a snippet of the electorate's mood.
And therein lies the problem. The numbers are based on a relative handful of voters, and it's only those voters who are motivated enough to answer the phone and the questions. The tightening of the races has more to do with the new majority, the Independents, declaring their intentions. See, Independents don't carry signs for either side, so are a tad slower to get involved, preferring to watch the sides go at each other. They also don't answer the phone during dinner. Ever.
The other motivator driving the changing poll numbers is, of course, fear. But it's not the fear on the Right, it's the fear OF the Right that is pushing the reluctant to act. If the Tea Party candidates don't scare you, you're just not paying attention. If the Republicans don't make you want to send them to timeout until they can act more like adults, then you're watching too much reality TV.
I may be proven wrong next Tuesday, and if I am then I will apologize to all I offended and move to Canada. But I just cannot believe that nearly half the voters of Nevada are stupid enough to think that Sharron Angle would make a good Senator. I've lived in Nevada, went to school there, and my in-laws live there. I'm no fan of Harry Reid, either. But, Sharron Angle? What, are you afraid she'll invoke her Second Amendment remedies on you and your family if you don't vote for her? They traded in chickens for the poster child of Guns and Ammo magazine?
But that's what the polls tell us.
Colorado, my home state away from home, where my son and his wife live and a part of me will always reside, where my beloved Denver Broncos look like crap this year, the home of the only man I've ever wanted an autograph from and who could be Emperor of Colorado if he'd just ask. I love the State and it's people, and I cannot believe that two of the scariest and most dangerous men in American politics have almost half the voters ready to elect them in their respective races. Tom Tancredo and Ken Buck are misogynistic racist hypocrites, and that's me being nice. There is no way that half of the good people of the great state of Colorado actually support these two idiots.
But that's what the polls tell us.
Never been to Alaska, don't have any family or friends their. I don't really know that much about it other than what I saw on Ice Road Truckers. Sure looks pretty. Lots of oil. Bridge to Nowhere. Government checks to every citizen. Poor Scott McAdams, the Democratic nominee for Senate, who is a cat at a dog fight. He seems like a really nice guy who really cares about the people around him and his home. And he is said to have zero chance of winning. Are the hearty folks of Alaska really going to send either one of the Spawn of Evil candidates to Washington and leave the sane one at home? Well, it kinda makes sense in a way.
At least, that's what the polls tell us. (Mr. McAdams should probably be grateful. Nice guys get eaten for breakfast in DC).
The Loud White Minority is exactly and only that. Let's make sure they stay the minority.
Go vote next Tuesday.
Hamster Prez
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
My New Favorite Saying...
Morality is doing what is right regardless of what you're told.
Religion is doing what you're told regardless of what's right.
Being gay IS a choice.
There's been a lot of talk in the recent weeks leading to the election next Tuesday about how gay people have a choice about being gay. I'm here to set the record, pardon the pun, straight about that. As a gay man, I believe I am qualified to comment on this particular subject. This may sound as if I am giving credence to those who make the "gay is a choice" argument, but rest assured loyal Hamsters, I am not.
Being gay is a choice. Being homosexual is not. The only choice I have is in deciding whether or not to live my life as who I am. To live a free and open life or one that is constrained and closeted. To accept that part of me that is undeniable and intuitive or to continue a life of self-recrimination and loathing. To realize that being a gay homosexual is not who I am, but one of the many parts that comprise my public and personal selves.
In most people's paradigm, that last sentence contains a redundancy. Gay homosexual? You can be one without the other; as in a homosexual who doesn't identify as being gay, or denies his or her sexuality. There is no comparative phrase for heterosexuals that I can come up with. Straight is heterosexual, hetrerosexual is straight. Some in the gay community might call them "Breeders", but that isn't always the case. Not all heterosexuals procreate, and not all prcocreation comes from heterosexuals. And, simple biology here, if it weren't for all that procreating, there wouldn't be any homos, either. Both of my parents were, oddly enough, heterosexual. And science has shown that gay/lesbian parents do not necessarily pop out drag queen babies. It's a matter of random chance. My parents, when first confronted with the news of my impending birth, had no idea what they would end up with. It's not like they went shopping at Sears to pick out the baby of choice. I might be a rocket scientist, a rock musician, a rock breaker, or a rock around their necks.
I could also have been a rocket scientist with a rock band that rocked the world, like Tom Scholz of the band Boston. Sadly, that was not the case. (Scholz was actually a mechanical engineering graduate at MIT, but I think the point is still valid).
In concurrance with the social agenda vendors on the right, there is a cure for being gay. It's called a closet. To their chagrin and angst, however, there is no cure for homosexuality. No amount of prayer, denial, or drug abuse can alter that fact, a fact that I can attest to having tried all of those and more. The (un)-Christians like to refer to their older text when arguing against us, which only proves that we've been around for just as long as they have, and are as much a part of the human race as they.
The Right loves homosexuals. It's gay people they hate.
Being gay is a choice. Being homosexual is not. The only choice I have is in deciding whether or not to live my life as who I am. To live a free and open life or one that is constrained and closeted. To accept that part of me that is undeniable and intuitive or to continue a life of self-recrimination and loathing. To realize that being a gay homosexual is not who I am, but one of the many parts that comprise my public and personal selves.
In most people's paradigm, that last sentence contains a redundancy. Gay homosexual? You can be one without the other; as in a homosexual who doesn't identify as being gay, or denies his or her sexuality. There is no comparative phrase for heterosexuals that I can come up with. Straight is heterosexual, hetrerosexual is straight. Some in the gay community might call them "Breeders", but that isn't always the case. Not all heterosexuals procreate, and not all prcocreation comes from heterosexuals. And, simple biology here, if it weren't for all that procreating, there wouldn't be any homos, either. Both of my parents were, oddly enough, heterosexual. And science has shown that gay/lesbian parents do not necessarily pop out drag queen babies. It's a matter of random chance. My parents, when first confronted with the news of my impending birth, had no idea what they would end up with. It's not like they went shopping at Sears to pick out the baby of choice. I might be a rocket scientist, a rock musician, a rock breaker, or a rock around their necks.
I could also have been a rocket scientist with a rock band that rocked the world, like Tom Scholz of the band Boston. Sadly, that was not the case. (Scholz was actually a mechanical engineering graduate at MIT, but I think the point is still valid).
In concurrance with the social agenda vendors on the right, there is a cure for being gay. It's called a closet. To their chagrin and angst, however, there is no cure for homosexuality. No amount of prayer, denial, or drug abuse can alter that fact, a fact that I can attest to having tried all of those and more. The (un)-Christians like to refer to their older text when arguing against us, which only proves that we've been around for just as long as they have, and are as much a part of the human race as they.
The Right loves homosexuals. It's gay people they hate.
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