The founding fathers were not bean counters. So they must be confused when they hear the ideologues and bean counters tell us that we can no longer afford to do the good things for our citizens that are described in the Preamble of the Constitution.
What exactly are they saying? That we don’t have enough science and talent to support a health care system for our citizens? We don’t have enough engineers and skilled tradesmen to manufacture everything we need? Are we short on farming and the land needed to grow our food? Are there not enough engineers and construction workers to fix our infra structure?
They talk nonsense. We have an ample supply of all of these assets. The country is filled with everything we need to satisfy the material and creative requirements of all our citizens.
There is one thing that we don’t have--a thoughtful and honest Congress. One that will make sure everything that should happen on the national level does happen, regardless of party ideology. It is the absence of a willful elected leadership that is pulling us down.
With a thoughtful and honest Congress we would not be in the current mess. They would have recognized that having everyone together in productive work is the only way to financial and social stability. We would by now have an all out program focused on that. Instead the two parties have wasted over two years bickering with each other over unproven ideologies while the confidence of the nation is destroyed. They have yet to provide the citizens with a substantial plan for economic recovery.
The current Congress has had its’ chance and failed miserably. Remember this. Be very careful how you spend your vote in 2012.
Monday, September 05, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Congressional Cost Cutting Obsession is the Tail Wagging the Dog.
When will the bean counters acknowledge that deficit reduction should only be one element of a national economic plan? Nothing would be more slipshod than to create a cost reduction plan without careful attention to how it affects a national economic recovery plan. The trouble is, after over two years of recession, the US has never built a national economic recovery plan. What our congress is doing with this single minded devotion to cost cutting is similar to only studying seat covers while trying to build an automobile.
We do need a comprehensive plan but it should be for economic recovery. It should address all sectors that impinge on the economy such as citizen employment, expanding the manufacturing sector, correcting the trade imbalance, protecting our science leadership, restoring financial integrity and a general return of the principles of the American dream. Obsessive bean counter concentration on cost cutting without understanding the consequences on the rest of the economy will lead to disaster. It is discouraging that this nation is being managed by leaders who do not seem to grasp such a simple principle.
The lack of basic management skills had created a Congress that is badly failing the country. Americans realize this. The current Congress has no creditability with the citizens. The latest Gallup poll shows that only 9% of independent voters support the way Congress is handling its job while 84% of all voters disapprove. These are disastrous results.
What can the citizens do? What can be done to restore the citizens’ faith in its governing institutions? In spite of these failing ratings I have not heard of a serious proposal for extensive reform of Congress from either party. If these polls haven’t energized them what will?
The Constitution makes no allowance for the early termination of an existing Congress. We will have to wait until 2012 to exert our voting power. Unfortunately, unless the situation changes, our choice of candidates in 2012 will come from the same process that created the current gene pool.
The known solutions of letters, emails, and calls don’t seem to be providing the driving force for the level of reform we need. We definitely must open the election process to have more choice in candidates. In fact it may be time for that risky street-driven movement that says “Don’t vote for an incumbent.”
We do need a comprehensive plan but it should be for economic recovery. It should address all sectors that impinge on the economy such as citizen employment, expanding the manufacturing sector, correcting the trade imbalance, protecting our science leadership, restoring financial integrity and a general return of the principles of the American dream. Obsessive bean counter concentration on cost cutting without understanding the consequences on the rest of the economy will lead to disaster. It is discouraging that this nation is being managed by leaders who do not seem to grasp such a simple principle.
The lack of basic management skills had created a Congress that is badly failing the country. Americans realize this. The current Congress has no creditability with the citizens. The latest Gallup poll shows that only 9% of independent voters support the way Congress is handling its job while 84% of all voters disapprove. These are disastrous results.
What can the citizens do? What can be done to restore the citizens’ faith in its governing institutions? In spite of these failing ratings I have not heard of a serious proposal for extensive reform of Congress from either party. If these polls haven’t energized them what will?
The Constitution makes no allowance for the early termination of an existing Congress. We will have to wait until 2012 to exert our voting power. Unfortunately, unless the situation changes, our choice of candidates in 2012 will come from the same process that created the current gene pool.
The known solutions of letters, emails, and calls don’t seem to be providing the driving force for the level of reform we need. We definitely must open the election process to have more choice in candidates. In fact it may be time for that risky street-driven movement that says “Don’t vote for an incumbent.”
Friday, August 19, 2011
Starbucks CEO Loses Patience-Withholds Political Party Contributions
Howard Schultz ,The CEO of Starbucks. has called for corporations to boycott contributions to political parties until Congress and the Administration agree to work together to address the real problems of the country. CBS News presents the elements of his proposal and contains a link to his letter. A Forbes article “Washington Losing Credibility Among US Business” offers more detailed analysis. The New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ have mailed his letter to all of their listed CEOs.
This is a big time effort to compensate for the lack of confidence in Washington that is retarding our economy. The citizen’s approval of the job by Congress by citizens has dropped off the chart to only 13% . Congress went on vacation at that point and does not intend to return until September.
The two articles and his letter present a realistic analysis of the actions to counter our inept elective government. The conclusion is that current Washington will not create a solution to the sluggish economy. They cannot be counted on to set aside their ideologies and special relations for a solution that is best for America. For the long term good of the country American corporations must actively step up on a bipartisan basis and demand confidence- building results. This is true even if it will sometimes means a hit to short term profits. The boycott of contributions is until decent reform is reached.
In contrast to the hot air politicians who have unproven ideologies they would like to try on us Starbucks has created over 135,000 jobs in the US alone.
It will be interesting to see how many companies join in. Shultz was very careful to say that he is making no comments or influence on policy. He asks only that the parties have their elected members working hard on solving America’s problems and stop viewing election at the national level as a personal and party-based business opportunity.
This is a distressed attempt for reform of our political parties by a practical American business. There is always the possibility that other companies benefitting from today’s confusion and ineptness will increase their contributions to maintain this situation. Good investigative reporting and close attention to those companies by well informed voters is the only counter to these actions.
This is a big time effort to compensate for the lack of confidence in Washington that is retarding our economy. The citizen’s approval of the job by Congress by citizens has dropped off the chart to only 13% . Congress went on vacation at that point and does not intend to return until September.
The two articles and his letter present a realistic analysis of the actions to counter our inept elective government. The conclusion is that current Washington will not create a solution to the sluggish economy. They cannot be counted on to set aside their ideologies and special relations for a solution that is best for America. For the long term good of the country American corporations must actively step up on a bipartisan basis and demand confidence- building results. This is true even if it will sometimes means a hit to short term profits. The boycott of contributions is until decent reform is reached.
In contrast to the hot air politicians who have unproven ideologies they would like to try on us Starbucks has created over 135,000 jobs in the US alone.
It will be interesting to see how many companies join in. Shultz was very careful to say that he is making no comments or influence on policy. He asks only that the parties have their elected members working hard on solving America’s problems and stop viewing election at the national level as a personal and party-based business opportunity.
This is a distressed attempt for reform of our political parties by a practical American business. There is always the possibility that other companies benefitting from today’s confusion and ineptness will increase their contributions to maintain this situation. Good investigative reporting and close attention to those companies by well informed voters is the only counter to these actions.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Performance of Congress Reaches Point of Complete Breakdown
After months of self induced wasted time on the deficit while ignoring the crucial need for energizing the national economy Congress ended up on Tuesday with a bean counter solution for the national credit ceiling. The market immediately gave us its analysis of the legislation by going into free fall, with the Dow losing over 512 points on Thursday.
On Friday, for the first time in its history, the credit rating of the United States was lowered form AAA to AA+ by Standard and Poor. An explanation of the reasoning shows that the primary basis was the deteriorating legislative performance by the Congress, which after months of pathetic effort came very close to causing a default in the country’s’ credit.
Meanwhile Congress left town and won’t be back until early September!
Thus ended several months of record setting self afflicted elected government incompetency, while millions of Americans remain unemployed, our infrastructure crumbles, and our economy remains broken.
Naturally the citizens are irate at this performance. The latest NY Times/CBS poll shows that 82% of the US population disapproves of the performance of Congress. Everyone I know double disapproves. I have yet to meet someone who is a member of the approving 18%. No company would consider a management team as incompetent as the ones we have picked to run our country. I maintain that the root cause of the current pathetic level of performance is closely related to the undeserved power we have given our two political parties.
I specially blame the Democrats because they claim to be the party protecting the average American and have failed. The Republicans openly favor wealth and privilege interests and aggressively protects them with all its political power. In spite of their vast resources the Democrats, by contrast, show only weakness as they fail to confront the Republicans and the bean counters destructive and one sided policies. These policies have been very destructive to middle America. There is no third party to pick up the fallen flag of the American citizen.
Although our Founding Fathers did strongly warn us of the harm they could do, political parties are not mentioned in the Constitution. The current two parties have had over 150 years to legislate themselves into a very powerful position. We have let them capture both our electoral and legislative processes. They have established laws and procedures that make them very difficult to replace. We have only the election process established by the Constitution as a tool. We must very carefully use it in the 2012 election.
Our theoretical limit for Congress is to replace the entire House of Representatives and one third of the senate each national election. We must be careful, however, that the replacements are an improvement over the incumbents. This will require having real research about the candidates.
To get my vote the candidate will have to survive the following evaluation:
On Friday, for the first time in its history, the credit rating of the United States was lowered form AAA to AA+ by Standard and Poor. An explanation of the reasoning shows that the primary basis was the deteriorating legislative performance by the Congress, which after months of pathetic effort came very close to causing a default in the country’s’ credit.
Meanwhile Congress left town and won’t be back until early September!
Thus ended several months of record setting self afflicted elected government incompetency, while millions of Americans remain unemployed, our infrastructure crumbles, and our economy remains broken.
Naturally the citizens are irate at this performance. The latest NY Times/CBS poll shows that 82% of the US population disapproves of the performance of Congress. Everyone I know double disapproves. I have yet to meet someone who is a member of the approving 18%. No company would consider a management team as incompetent as the ones we have picked to run our country. I maintain that the root cause of the current pathetic level of performance is closely related to the undeserved power we have given our two political parties.
I specially blame the Democrats because they claim to be the party protecting the average American and have failed. The Republicans openly favor wealth and privilege interests and aggressively protects them with all its political power. In spite of their vast resources the Democrats, by contrast, show only weakness as they fail to confront the Republicans and the bean counters destructive and one sided policies. These policies have been very destructive to middle America. There is no third party to pick up the fallen flag of the American citizen.
Although our Founding Fathers did strongly warn us of the harm they could do, political parties are not mentioned in the Constitution. The current two parties have had over 150 years to legislate themselves into a very powerful position. We have let them capture both our electoral and legislative processes. They have established laws and procedures that make them very difficult to replace. We have only the election process established by the Constitution as a tool. We must very carefully use it in the 2012 election.
Our theoretical limit for Congress is to replace the entire House of Representatives and one third of the senate each national election. We must be careful, however, that the replacements are an improvement over the incumbents. This will require having real research about the candidates.
To get my vote the candidate will have to survive the following evaluation:
Be fully aware of the disaster to the American dream caused by the special interests driven government elite -- and be dedicated to correcting it
Have absolute loyalty to the United States and its people, not to a political party
Not be a one solution-solves-all ideologue.
Advocate revising congressional rules and privileges to be closely aligned with those of the average citizen.
Move the US toward a productive and creative economy by preparing and implementing a comprehensive national plan to restore our economy at all fronts.
Insist that we aggressively use all means available and eliminate the negative trade balance.
Runs a campaign that is faithful to truth and reason. Rejects the usual dodge and lie techniques.
Will treat being elected to congress as an honor and responsibility, not a position to be exploitedThere are a few in congress that could pass these requirements, We must support them and drastically increase their numbers in 2012. Then we may have enough for real reform.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
A National Economic Restoration Plan Versus a ”Grand Deal” for Deficit Reduction
What was the Administration thinking when it asked congress to present a “grand deal” for controlling the deficit in return for the increase in the national debt ceiling? The plan had Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as “on the table”. What a morale killer for an already demoralized population!. They learn that their leader wants a plan for full retreat that threatens what little support they have left. They certainly don’t need a bean counter driven plan of retreat that discounts the national potential we would have if the system would only let us work.
Does the administration think the current special interest controlled congress is even capable of developing such a “grand deal” of retreat for the country? No one else in the country does.
In any event I am tired of listening to the Republicans and Democrats talking right past the citizens. They then negotiate with each other for final results that always seem to satisfy the special interests and shortchange the citizens.
Addressing a real problem, the “grand deal” we need is one directly with the citizens to develop and really implement a comprehensive road map for Americas’ economic restoration. The plan would assemble our total talent pool and make both the economy and the American spirit soar again. Its progress would be completely transparent to the citizens.
Nothing of this nature will come from the bean counters. Retreat is in their DNA. Not only will the bean counters say we can’t do it-they will say we shouldn’t even try. They support the sure path to mediocrity.
This is America. Our greatness is not due to bean counters. Don’t let them set “the things that need to be done”.
Restoring our economy is the only acceptable way to cut into the deficit-but more importantly it is also the only way we can remain true to the American Dream.
Unfortunately we have voted in a Congress that is pitifully inadequate, both organizationally and talent-wise, to lead us down this path. They are proving this every day. Somehow we must identify the few competent and honest members of congress and vote the rest out.
It is critical that the plan make use of the extensive citizen talent pool that has blessed this country. The sections of the plan must be explained in understandable English to the citizens and progress completely transparent. Congress has to be prevented from injecting special interests at the expense of the country. All elements of the US economy must become dedicated to its success.
Elements to be resolved are: trade balance, manufacturing deficit, constructive employment of our citizens, an honest and stable financial system, energy policy, and an efficient political system.
Sound impossible? Not as complicated as going to the moon. And extremely important.
Does the administration think the current special interest controlled congress is even capable of developing such a “grand deal” of retreat for the country? No one else in the country does.
In any event I am tired of listening to the Republicans and Democrats talking right past the citizens. They then negotiate with each other for final results that always seem to satisfy the special interests and shortchange the citizens.
Addressing a real problem, the “grand deal” we need is one directly with the citizens to develop and really implement a comprehensive road map for Americas’ economic restoration. The plan would assemble our total talent pool and make both the economy and the American spirit soar again. Its progress would be completely transparent to the citizens.
Nothing of this nature will come from the bean counters. Retreat is in their DNA. Not only will the bean counters say we can’t do it-they will say we shouldn’t even try. They support the sure path to mediocrity.
This is America. Our greatness is not due to bean counters. Don’t let them set “the things that need to be done”.
Restoring our economy is the only acceptable way to cut into the deficit-but more importantly it is also the only way we can remain true to the American Dream.
Unfortunately we have voted in a Congress that is pitifully inadequate, both organizationally and talent-wise, to lead us down this path. They are proving this every day. Somehow we must identify the few competent and honest members of congress and vote the rest out.
It is critical that the plan make use of the extensive citizen talent pool that has blessed this country. The sections of the plan must be explained in understandable English to the citizens and progress completely transparent. Congress has to be prevented from injecting special interests at the expense of the country. All elements of the US economy must become dedicated to its success.
Elements to be resolved are: trade balance, manufacturing deficit, constructive employment of our citizens, an honest and stable financial system, energy policy, and an efficient political system.
Sound impossible? Not as complicated as going to the moon. And extremely important.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
When Your Leadership Causes the Problems
If you are looking for a perfect example of a society that makes its own problems look no further. You are living in one. Being blessed with abundant natural resources, an innovative population, and a tradition of freedom you could expect our success in the basics of life. We have a booming agriculture that feeds other parts of the world as well as ourselves. We have a defense so strong that no other country dare threaten us, and a historical gift of basic principles of governing from our founders. Yet somehow, here in the early 21st century we find ourselves in a shameful and innocent mess of national governance. It has robbed our citizens of their national pride and disgraced the American dream. This situation was not brought on by nature or military invasion, but by the efforts of our elected leadership.
So what happened? If you take a broad view, and don’t get bogged down by all the hot air, it is a pretty clear picture.
The national debt was not caused by the American working population unable to directly supply the services and materials from their own work. The farmers continue to plant crops and the factory workers continue to work and generate real wealth wherever allowed. Over the last 25 years, however, the elite ruling class and their bean counters have focused on moving large amounts of that wealth to themselves through worthless financial ploys. They have now greatly overplayed their hand and killed the golden goose by selling much of the nations real wealth creation capabilities overseas.
So the producing members of the economy, who are the only force that can create new wealth along with the basics of living, are now faced with not only fixing the productivity machine but also with addressing the debt that was carelessly accumulated while they were stealing from us.
What have we got to work with? First we have to understand that the “government” is really two organizations. There is the political half which consists of elected leadership plus the special interests that finance them. Their only qualifications are the ability to sell the voting public that they should be elected. Then there is the operational half which carries out the policies and legislative actions set by the political half. This is made up of workers who are a typical cross section of Americans. Their positions have technical qualifications which must be met by the employee. These people are faced with implementing the changing and inconsistent requirements of the elected and their appointees who are election winners of our two party election process.
It is easy to pinpoint which group is to blame for our sorry state. The elected representatives have severely failed in their obligations to the citizens. Their corruption and incompetence have created the serious problems that we now face. Although the operational workers do sometimes make mistakes they do not have the embedded corruption of the elected elite. It is the elected elite that must be decisively improved. People who rail against “the government” without understanding this distinction are misguided.
The only tools we have for correction are the election process, our numbers, and our thoughtfulness. As we have posted many times we must somehow reintroduce ethics, truth and intelligence into our elections. These traits are not common in either party. It will require much closer attention to the quality of political candidates. The citizen voter must make the difficult effort to sort ethical behavior from dishonesty, truth from lies, and intelligence from stupidity. There is no single ideology to substitute for these basics.
So what happened? If you take a broad view, and don’t get bogged down by all the hot air, it is a pretty clear picture.
The national debt was not caused by the American working population unable to directly supply the services and materials from their own work. The farmers continue to plant crops and the factory workers continue to work and generate real wealth wherever allowed. Over the last 25 years, however, the elite ruling class and their bean counters have focused on moving large amounts of that wealth to themselves through worthless financial ploys. They have now greatly overplayed their hand and killed the golden goose by selling much of the nations real wealth creation capabilities overseas.
So the producing members of the economy, who are the only force that can create new wealth along with the basics of living, are now faced with not only fixing the productivity machine but also with addressing the debt that was carelessly accumulated while they were stealing from us.
What have we got to work with? First we have to understand that the “government” is really two organizations. There is the political half which consists of elected leadership plus the special interests that finance them. Their only qualifications are the ability to sell the voting public that they should be elected. Then there is the operational half which carries out the policies and legislative actions set by the political half. This is made up of workers who are a typical cross section of Americans. Their positions have technical qualifications which must be met by the employee. These people are faced with implementing the changing and inconsistent requirements of the elected and their appointees who are election winners of our two party election process.
It is easy to pinpoint which group is to blame for our sorry state. The elected representatives have severely failed in their obligations to the citizens. Their corruption and incompetence have created the serious problems that we now face. Although the operational workers do sometimes make mistakes they do not have the embedded corruption of the elected elite. It is the elected elite that must be decisively improved. People who rail against “the government” without understanding this distinction are misguided.
The only tools we have for correction are the election process, our numbers, and our thoughtfulness. As we have posted many times we must somehow reintroduce ethics, truth and intelligence into our elections. These traits are not common in either party. It will require much closer attention to the quality of political candidates. The citizen voter must make the difficult effort to sort ethical behavior from dishonesty, truth from lies, and intelligence from stupidity. There is no single ideology to substitute for these basics.
Friday, July 08, 2011
Our Two Political Parties Need Real Competition
One very important subject that is well understood but rarely mentioned in the media is the fact that the two party political system as now practiced is a disaster that is destroying our nation.
Permanent political parties did not play a significant role at the time of the formation of our country. They are not even mentioned in the Constitution. As pointed out in a previous post, however, (June 13, 2011) we were warned against the concept, by several Founding Fathers. Unfortunately, we foolishly disregarded their warnings and are now attempting to live with the results.
The two parties have:
These multiple defects are now deeply embedded in current practices. Although the failings have become even more obvious during the recession there is no evidence that the parties are seriously attempting correction. With over 150 years to rig the system in their favor there is not much hope for significant change in the near term.
There is always the fantasy that a new party standing for all the right things will somehow be formed and have sufficient funds to give the competition needed to spur reform. Unfortunately, because of the organization and funding requirements third parties have not had long term success. Our best hope is a conscience epidemic that results in serious reform in one of the existing parties.
If we don’t set a course for correction of the problems of the current system we can expect to silently watch the American dream disappear. We must have a major improvement in our Congress.. This could be done if we could somehow open up the selecting of Senators and Congressmen to match the quality and dedication that was present at our founding. This is difficult because the only new candidates we see are products of the current parties.
The country now has 300 million citizens. We can surely come up with a better mix of candidates and leaders than the current population of career politicians and lawyers that characterize the two parties. We have to increase the talent pool available to give the major parties competition.
One step in this direction would be to greatly simplify how qualified citizens who are not affiliated with a political party could more easily seek office. If the voters could judge and vote between better qualified candidates the quality of congress should improve. This would be possible if there was a third set of primaries to select candidates from a talent pool that is not affiliated with a party. We need a state registered non profit organization, similar to the League of Woman Voters, dedicated to supporting the administrative overhead of the electoral process for unaffiliated candidates. This would not be a third political party but an advocate for equal and fair treatment of all unaffiliated candidates by the system. There would be no promotion of a specific candidate. That would be the job of the candidates themselves.
The parties could continue as now, except they would have real competition. The competition should force them to move in the direction of reform and offer better candidates. Unaffiliated voters would have the same input level on candidates that members of a political party now have. In the general election voters could choose from Democrat, Republican, or Unaffiliated candidates on an equal footing.
Could this happen? Not likely. But we must continue to push for major reform at every opportunity. It will not happen naturally.
Permanent political parties did not play a significant role at the time of the formation of our country. They are not even mentioned in the Constitution. As pointed out in a previous post, however, (June 13, 2011) we were warned against the concept, by several Founding Fathers. Unfortunately, we foolishly disregarded their warnings and are now attempting to live with the results.
The two parties have:
Created a ruling elite that have loyalty to their party beyond that toward our nation.In a truly competitive situation the parties would either reform or be replaced. Both parties are so entrenched, however, that they can ignore the citizens and still survive. It is unbelievable that we have turned the governing process of our democracy over to two self-serving organizations that focus almost solely on their own power.
Exhibited typical elitist behavior by creating many special privileges for themselves that are not available to the citizen.
Limited the voters’ choice of candidates almost entirely to loyal party members.
Done a disastrous job of managing our economy
Allowed their servitude to the special interests that fiancé them to create a warped tax and economic environment that is severely harming American citizens.
Because their only competition is the other party they operate under a very low bar for competency. The parties struggle to accomplish even the simplest of legislative tasks and fail to address serious issues. The latest poll shows Congress with a favorable rating of only 17%.
These multiple defects are now deeply embedded in current practices. Although the failings have become even more obvious during the recession there is no evidence that the parties are seriously attempting correction. With over 150 years to rig the system in their favor there is not much hope for significant change in the near term.
There is always the fantasy that a new party standing for all the right things will somehow be formed and have sufficient funds to give the competition needed to spur reform. Unfortunately, because of the organization and funding requirements third parties have not had long term success. Our best hope is a conscience epidemic that results in serious reform in one of the existing parties.
If we don’t set a course for correction of the problems of the current system we can expect to silently watch the American dream disappear. We must have a major improvement in our Congress.. This could be done if we could somehow open up the selecting of Senators and Congressmen to match the quality and dedication that was present at our founding. This is difficult because the only new candidates we see are products of the current parties.
The country now has 300 million citizens. We can surely come up with a better mix of candidates and leaders than the current population of career politicians and lawyers that characterize the two parties. We have to increase the talent pool available to give the major parties competition.
One step in this direction would be to greatly simplify how qualified citizens who are not affiliated with a political party could more easily seek office. If the voters could judge and vote between better qualified candidates the quality of congress should improve. This would be possible if there was a third set of primaries to select candidates from a talent pool that is not affiliated with a party. We need a state registered non profit organization, similar to the League of Woman Voters, dedicated to supporting the administrative overhead of the electoral process for unaffiliated candidates. This would not be a third political party but an advocate for equal and fair treatment of all unaffiliated candidates by the system. There would be no promotion of a specific candidate. That would be the job of the candidates themselves.
The parties could continue as now, except they would have real competition. The competition should force them to move in the direction of reform and offer better candidates. Unaffiliated voters would have the same input level on candidates that members of a political party now have. In the general election voters could choose from Democrat, Republican, or Unaffiliated candidates on an equal footing.
Could this happen? Not likely. But we must continue to push for major reform at every opportunity. It will not happen naturally.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Crude Oil Release from Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Sticks It to Speculators
At last, a real effort to bring the oil speculators to heel.
Here is the background on the SPR and a story from US News on the release of 30 million galleons of petroleum to the commercial market from our current pool of 727 million gallons. Other countries also released another 30 Million gallons from their reserves.
The US release amounts to only 4.1% of our current government owned petroleum pool. What it portends has created a storm among the financial speculators and others profiting from high oil prices. This is finally an aggressive first step toward bringing stable and reasonably predictable prices to the petroleum market. It is great news for the preponderance of businesses for which petroleum products are important costs. It could be a God send for small businesses, manufacturers, the transportation sector, and the economy in general. All of these industries have been hurt badly by the volatility of petroleum prices. The release is bad news for the financial institutions that make hugh profits by speculation in petroleum prices. It reduces the influence of OPEC and is hated by the American Petroleum Institute. .
The puppet media, bought congressmen, and the financial speculators that gain by making the market volatile are screaming about government interferences with their game. Somehow it is fine for government bailed out members of the financial sector to buy and hold tankers filled with petroleum for a higher price but it is terrible for the government to do something to lower the price to the economy and the citizens.
This release was done by Presidential memo. If congressional approval was required it would not have had a chance against the special interest lobbying.
Operated carefully we can begin to get value from our 80 billion dollar investment that is now sitting idle in salt domes. If the price of petroleum would surge to a high price for reasons other than pure supply and demand a small amount of petroleum will be injected into the market to bring it down. That petroleum would be replaced in the reserve when the market returns to a lower price. The average amount in the reserve for emergency use would stay the same while the volatility of the market would be checked. There would be room for true business based hedging but no profit in wild speculation on price. This will remove a major financial risk to businesses. It is a good thing and if not derailed its’ effects will reverberate though the economy.
You can expect a major effort by the special interests to derail this. As I finish this post CNN is reporting on my TV on the decision to release the 30 million gallons. The newscaster claims that “the business community” complains that we should not release this small amount oil because it was “there for an emergency”. What a red herring! Who is this “business community?” Obviously a very select group of petroleum sellers and financial speculators. The newscaster did admit that other countries were also doing releases from their reserves.
You will be hearing lots of twisted logic from these self interests. Don’t believe them. They are not friends of the American citizens and definitely not trying to help with the recovery.
Here is the background on the SPR and a story from US News on the release of 30 million galleons of petroleum to the commercial market from our current pool of 727 million gallons. Other countries also released another 30 Million gallons from their reserves.
The US release amounts to only 4.1% of our current government owned petroleum pool. What it portends has created a storm among the financial speculators and others profiting from high oil prices. This is finally an aggressive first step toward bringing stable and reasonably predictable prices to the petroleum market. It is great news for the preponderance of businesses for which petroleum products are important costs. It could be a God send for small businesses, manufacturers, the transportation sector, and the economy in general. All of these industries have been hurt badly by the volatility of petroleum prices. The release is bad news for the financial institutions that make hugh profits by speculation in petroleum prices. It reduces the influence of OPEC and is hated by the American Petroleum Institute. .
The puppet media, bought congressmen, and the financial speculators that gain by making the market volatile are screaming about government interferences with their game. Somehow it is fine for government bailed out members of the financial sector to buy and hold tankers filled with petroleum for a higher price but it is terrible for the government to do something to lower the price to the economy and the citizens.
This release was done by Presidential memo. If congressional approval was required it would not have had a chance against the special interest lobbying.
Operated carefully we can begin to get value from our 80 billion dollar investment that is now sitting idle in salt domes. If the price of petroleum would surge to a high price for reasons other than pure supply and demand a small amount of petroleum will be injected into the market to bring it down. That petroleum would be replaced in the reserve when the market returns to a lower price. The average amount in the reserve for emergency use would stay the same while the volatility of the market would be checked. There would be room for true business based hedging but no profit in wild speculation on price. This will remove a major financial risk to businesses. It is a good thing and if not derailed its’ effects will reverberate though the economy.
You can expect a major effort by the special interests to derail this. As I finish this post CNN is reporting on my TV on the decision to release the 30 million gallons. The newscaster claims that “the business community” complains that we should not release this small amount oil because it was “there for an emergency”. What a red herring! Who is this “business community?” Obviously a very select group of petroleum sellers and financial speculators. The newscaster did admit that other countries were also doing releases from their reserves.
You will be hearing lots of twisted logic from these self interests. Don’t believe them. They are not friends of the American citizens and definitely not trying to help with the recovery.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
American Dream vs. Bean Counters
The cerebral cortex (i.e. problem solving) component of the Government has shut down. The conversion of our nations’ management from a producing to a corrupt financial society has left millions unemployed, and losing their homes. As our infrastructure decays the two party government that is suppose to protect us from such mistakes continues to fail. The focus on loyalty to the party instead of to the citizens is obvious. The latest poll shows that Congress in total has a favorable rating of only 17%. We have no current means of correction. At the next election in 2012 we will be given choices between candites selected by the same two parties that have led us here. There seems nowhere to turn.
Bob Lutz, a long time executive in the automobile industry who returned from retirement to help GM through its’ recovery has written a book “Car Guys vs. Bean Counters”, The book describes the difference between product people and bean counters. Car guys love cars and take pride in the manufacturing of automobiles that are creative and give the customer pride in their ownership. Bean counters view the automobile as an object of finance that has value only by the short term money that can be extracted from it.
Although the subprime financial meltdown and high price of oil were major hits to the industry, the rise to power of the bean counters was the killing event for General Motors. The book is a detailed description of how the bean counters coming to power brought associated actions that almost destroyed General Motors. The bean counters business plan emphasized making the minimum car that extracted the most money from the customers. The car guys’ goal was to make automobiles that gave the customers maximum value for the price. As the customers were exposed to automobiles built under the bean counter philosophy they moved to other companies that gave them better value. Taking design, manufacturing, quality control and company philosophy back from the bean counters was a major milestone toward survival.
It is a great read for those who have followed the automobile industry. As I read it I was struck by how closely this story describes what we need to accomplish to manage our country. If only congress was controlled by those who love and really care about America and its citizens. This is in contrast to the current environment where decision making is under control of those who view the citizen as a financial object for exploitation. It would be great if someday we could write a book with the title “The America Dream vs. Bean Counters” that described how the US was turned around.
A key event in the resurgence of GM was the creation of an energized work force that was dedicated to creating products that please the customer. Our governance is failing miserably in this area.
It is encouraging that once the “car guys” attitude began to be established in GM the employees became re-energized and creative. There was actually plenty of talent available but it was being hobbled by the bean counter management. Perhaps this is true for congress. An approval of only 17% would certainly seem to be a legitimate reason for a change of leadership.
In discussing the tough competitive environment that the American auto industry must meet in the future Bob Lutz begins his conclusion with the following statement.
Bob Lutz, a long time executive in the automobile industry who returned from retirement to help GM through its’ recovery has written a book “Car Guys vs. Bean Counters”, The book describes the difference between product people and bean counters. Car guys love cars and take pride in the manufacturing of automobiles that are creative and give the customer pride in their ownership. Bean counters view the automobile as an object of finance that has value only by the short term money that can be extracted from it.
Although the subprime financial meltdown and high price of oil were major hits to the industry, the rise to power of the bean counters was the killing event for General Motors. The book is a detailed description of how the bean counters coming to power brought associated actions that almost destroyed General Motors. The bean counters business plan emphasized making the minimum car that extracted the most money from the customers. The car guys’ goal was to make automobiles that gave the customers maximum value for the price. As the customers were exposed to automobiles built under the bean counter philosophy they moved to other companies that gave them better value. Taking design, manufacturing, quality control and company philosophy back from the bean counters was a major milestone toward survival.
It is a great read for those who have followed the automobile industry. As I read it I was struck by how closely this story describes what we need to accomplish to manage our country. If only congress was controlled by those who love and really care about America and its citizens. This is in contrast to the current environment where decision making is under control of those who view the citizen as a financial object for exploitation. It would be great if someday we could write a book with the title “The America Dream vs. Bean Counters” that described how the US was turned around.
A key event in the resurgence of GM was the creation of an energized work force that was dedicated to creating products that please the customer. Our governance is failing miserably in this area.
It is encouraging that once the “car guys” attitude began to be established in GM the employees became re-energized and creative. There was actually plenty of talent available but it was being hobbled by the bean counter management. Perhaps this is true for congress. An approval of only 17% would certainly seem to be a legitimate reason for a change of leadership.
In discussing the tough competitive environment that the American auto industry must meet in the future Bob Lutz begins his conclusion with the following statement.
In a sense the decline, failure, and rebirth of General Motors is simply a metaphor for what is happening in the whole United StatesI certainly agree.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Major Political Parties Underestimating the Nations Anger
History
Political parties were just on the horizon when our country was formed. They are not mentioned in the Constitution. Our founders however, gave us due warning that it allowed to develop they could prove disastrous to the nation. One example is the special warning George Washington gave in his farewell address
Every citizen sees firsthand the results of this situation
We have corrupt and weak candidate from both parties that are financed and controlled by special interests. There is more loyalty shown to party and to these financiers than to the citizens. Our choice in elections is limited to two sets of weak candidates that have been filtered through party only primary elections. These electionst favor extreme ideologues from both the left and right, with no choice available for moderate citizens.
The leadership of our country has been transferred from a productive to a financial elite. These financial elite, in turn, have mismanaged our economy and caused trillions of dollars of damage. This hardship for this is being placed on the American citizen.
The list goes on. We all watch as our elected government brings down our great country.
So what can we do?
Our two party system has almost 150 years of steady evolution and solidification of its position. Because their only competition in performance is the opposing party they have a very low bar for competency. Our rocking back and forth between two inept organizations each election will not fix the problem. Both parties are doing a terrible job but we are helpless to adequately punish them. Somehow we need to confront them with real competition from the many leaders that thrive in this country but are outside of the two party system. We must open up our governance to a broader talent pool.
Election Primaries for Unaffiliated Candidates
One scenario that could go a long way to accomplishing this is states running a third set of primary elections for unaffiliated candidates and voters. This would be in parallel with the two party’s primaries and have similar procedures. It would be funded by public contributions.
To participate in this primary the candidates must not be affiliated with one of the major political parties. The winners of the national unaffiliated primaries would be given slots on the election ballots as are the winners of the party primaries. This is not another political party, but an organization to get unaffiliated candidates before the voters. Voting would be for an individual candidate, not a political party.
Technically the unaffiliated primary campaign would appear very similar to that of the major parties. Only there would be a third track of candidates. You would have debates, a limited amount of promotion, and rules and fees to register as unaffiliated.
On primary day, depending on your affiliation, you would be given a Republican, Democrat, or Unaffiliated ballot to cast your votes’. On election day you would be selecting from individuals with Republican, Democrats, and Unaffiliated beside their names.
Is this radical change?
Giving unaffiliated voters the same election level of choice as party members? Is that such a radical idea? This effort would shake up and be fought vigorously by the major parties and the other special interests.
Only large numbers of angry citizen voters and continued poor performance by the two parties can make this happen. But it would really open up the talent pool and maybe even light a fire under the two underperforming parties.
And we would be getting back in sync with the Founders
Political parties were just on the horizon when our country was formed. They are not mentioned in the Constitution. Our founders however, gave us due warning that it allowed to develop they could prove disastrous to the nation. One example is the special warning George Washington gave in his farewell address
The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public counsels and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.Similar warnings were given by the other founders. Sadly, we did not listen. By allowing only two political parties to control the nations election process we have seen all of the warnings become true. In effect, over the last 150 years, we have turned our democracy over to two self-serving organizations that focus on their own power. They have taken over every important step of the electoral process. for their own gain.
Every citizen sees firsthand the results of this situation
We have corrupt and weak candidate from both parties that are financed and controlled by special interests. There is more loyalty shown to party and to these financiers than to the citizens. Our choice in elections is limited to two sets of weak candidates that have been filtered through party only primary elections. These electionst favor extreme ideologues from both the left and right, with no choice available for moderate citizens.
The leadership of our country has been transferred from a productive to a financial elite. These financial elite, in turn, have mismanaged our economy and caused trillions of dollars of damage. This hardship for this is being placed on the American citizen.
The list goes on. We all watch as our elected government brings down our great country.
So what can we do?
Our two party system has almost 150 years of steady evolution and solidification of its position. Because their only competition in performance is the opposing party they have a very low bar for competency. Our rocking back and forth between two inept organizations each election will not fix the problem. Both parties are doing a terrible job but we are helpless to adequately punish them. Somehow we need to confront them with real competition from the many leaders that thrive in this country but are outside of the two party system. We must open up our governance to a broader talent pool.
Election Primaries for Unaffiliated Candidates
One scenario that could go a long way to accomplishing this is states running a third set of primary elections for unaffiliated candidates and voters. This would be in parallel with the two party’s primaries and have similar procedures. It would be funded by public contributions.
To participate in this primary the candidates must not be affiliated with one of the major political parties. The winners of the national unaffiliated primaries would be given slots on the election ballots as are the winners of the party primaries. This is not another political party, but an organization to get unaffiliated candidates before the voters. Voting would be for an individual candidate, not a political party.
Technically the unaffiliated primary campaign would appear very similar to that of the major parties. Only there would be a third track of candidates. You would have debates, a limited amount of promotion, and rules and fees to register as unaffiliated.
On primary day, depending on your affiliation, you would be given a Republican, Democrat, or Unaffiliated ballot to cast your votes’. On election day you would be selecting from individuals with Republican, Democrats, and Unaffiliated beside their names.
Is this radical change?
Giving unaffiliated voters the same election level of choice as party members? Is that such a radical idea? This effort would shake up and be fought vigorously by the major parties and the other special interests.
Only large numbers of angry citizen voters and continued poor performance by the two parties can make this happen. But it would really open up the talent pool and maybe even light a fire under the two underperforming parties.
And we would be getting back in sync with the Founders
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