Obama’s spending plan

I’ve been hearing quite a bit of flack about our fearless leader’s new spending plan. Old school capitalists and hardcore Republicans are calling out America’s death toll, running for the hills because the sky is falling.

I’m no economist, in fact, I have a fairly serious dyslexia when it comes to numbers. The just get all garbled in my head and fade almost instantly, so take my opinion for what it is worth. But I will say, this plan makes perfect sense to me.

Let me put this into a metaphor. Lets say you run a house painting business–you have a small truck, some old equipment, and, lets say for arguement,  you just happen to be the best house painter in the world.  Now, even with all the talent you possess, the business is failing. You need to get the word out there, you need to sell your services, and you need to pull in more jobs and do them faster.

How do you do that? You hire people, taking time to train them to your level of desired skill. You buy more equipment for the new workers, and spend money on advertising your business. You buy new trucks, and put a little eye catching gloss on your image so that consumers will be attracted to your business. All of this takes money.

The point is, who is going to make more money and be solvent enough to pay off debts–the guy with a fleet of trucks, well trained workers and high profile advertising, or the guy with a beat up truck and no one to help? Americans are still coasting on the idea that we are #1,  but the numbers tell a different story; even I can see that. We absolutely need to invest in a broader scope. A system in which 5% of the people control 95% of the wealth is NOT something to be protected. You can call foul on the perceived Socialism that is coming, but it doesn’t change the fact that we really, really need to do something.

I think wealthy people consider their money theirs, and theirs alone, and as a Libertarian I admit, if you earn it, it is yours. However, what they fail to account for is that America, all us ‘little people’, are the very asset that makes them rich, and they should have to pay for the use of that asset. Without a solid middle class and a well trained and inspired lower class, there are no rich people, there is no capital to generate. You cannot make your fortune if everyone else is broke.

I understand that spending one’s way out of debt might be counter intuitive, but there is a big difference between macro and micro economics. America, for better or worse, is still going to be here. Even if the government collapses and the currency becomes worthless, we the people are still going to get up in the morning and try to figure out a way to feed ourselves and our families.  I’m not suggesting that total social breakdown is a GOOD thing, I’m making the point that people are going to be motivated to live and thrive no matter what. Obama is attempting to give us the resources to do just that, to increase our resources so that we CAN pay it all back someday.

It may not work, but I will say this–I would rather this country go broke trying to repair ourselves instead of going broke trying to destroy other countries in some Neo-conservative wet dream of global domination. The weathy and the scared put a man in power that really messed things up; time will show to those who put him there just how much worse he made things for them. By creating a bubble that raised the lucky few so very high, they are going to find themselves with no where to stand, and a long way to fall.

Weapon of Choice

I live in the San Fernando Valley, North Hollywood to be precise.  It is a rather vast,  mostly flat, sprawl of beige stucco and concrete, speckled with thousands  upon thousands of shiny automobiles. I have, for a variety of reasons, made a personal decision to not own a car.  To be fair, I did own a car for about 3 months in 2001, but mostly just lent it to my sister. I hate driving, more specifically, I hate being around OTHER drivers. I get nervous, jumpy, and that is not the kind of person I want to see on the road. There’s also the money side of it–when I did have a car, I couldn’t afford to go anywhere because I was paying for car stuff.

I find myself now in a position that we can afford a car, and my wife is a very capable driver, but she and I have decided we really don’t need one. I have an awesome bike that can lug over a 150 pounds of extra cargo and LA has a great Metro service–its kinda hard to play on your PSP when you’re behind the wheel.

So really, it is a political and lifestyle choice. Not that I begrudge any car owners. Well, actually I DO begrudge some drivers, but I’m getting to that.  I fully understand the need for people to have cars, even big hunking SUVs–sometimes. Living in The Valley, as us locals call it, I see my share of very large vehicles: Hummers, Suburbans, Escalades, etc. High powered, all terrain machines that could brave mountains and pull trains.

That’s great, if that’s what you use it for. Mostly, I see LA lawyers and trophy wives heading out for overpriced lunches in these things.  The  cars out here acutally used for working are usually beat up El Caminos reinforced with wood planks and bungie cords.  These Hummers glisten in the warm desert sun, without a speck or scratch on them. We have seen Engine efficency rise exponentailly over the years, yet fuel effency has actually dropped, because the average vehicle is getting bigger.

Make no mistake, I am a total hippie, and I could spit out venomous statistics about the  scourge of the internal combustion engine till the granola runs out, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.

The point is that there needs to be an answer; our current energy system, even if it far outlives us, is fundamentally unsustainable.  I understand that my personal choice to not drive does very little, and I absolutely do live a life completely dependent on Petrolium. My food comes to us all through trucks and tractors and petrolium based products. Its a really kick ass fuel source, no doubt. However, by not driving I do make the slightest difference. When someone with a car decided to walk or bike to the store for a change, they are making a slight difference. This slight difference buys us time, and allows the technology to catch up with us.

I am not suggesting that everyone should make the same transportation choice I have; please don’t, I don’t want the trains to get too overcrowded. I believe that many people with large vehicles have very good reasons for owning them, and it is not my place to judge those reasons.

What I am suggesting is that people need to start examining those reasons themselves. I am also suggesting that “status” is not a legitamate reason. If you live in an area that never snows, but have a car that could comfortably carry 8 polars bears over the artic circle, you may want to consider a little less power and steel.

We cannot legislate a system that prohibits free people from buying whatever they want, if they can afford it. All we can do is make our own informed choices and be honest with what it is we really need. If you need a truck to carry all your crap, or need an SUV to get your soccer team to practice, that’s fine. But can’t we try to offset that ownership by occasionally using that vehicle to plant some trees or head a litter clean-up weekend? Just something, some sacrifice on our part to show that the guilt we profess about the ecological damage is more than just talk.

It is too easy to think of the problem as being bigger than ourselves. The idea that we can’t do anything is rediculous–the solution would be everybody doing their little parts. So do your little part, no matter what it is. Leave the car behind on trips under a mile, take a bus to work one day a week, whatever. Just do something.

The Fate of our Nation??

So yeah, the conspiracy nuts FINALLY have something real to rant about. In case you are caught in the headlights on this one, the government gave, through printing more cash, $700 Billion dollars to bail out some very greedy people, because if not, many innocent people would get hurt. I guess our policy of not negotiating with terrorists only counts for terrorists in turbans and robes, not ties and $3000 shoes.
This is nothing less than an act of holding our economy for ransom, and we rolled over like groupies in a Motley Crue dressing room.
I think what hurts the most is that little glint of hope I felt when the House of Representin’ stalled the bill; turns out, there weren’t enough earmarks, and many people just didn’t vote for it because Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker took a moment to bash Bush, and all the repubs shouted  “PARTISANSHIP!!!!!”

Meanwhile, your money is gone. I have spoken to my wife, and really, if this election puts McCain in office, we are planning to leave the United States for good. It is fortunate for us that she actually has contacts and a skill that would allow us to move to a new country; many people don’t have this option.
This is what I predict for this Nation if McCain makes it, and I hope I’m wrong. I see a huge splintering in this country. Hate groups, extremist organizations and other small political parties are going to see an explosion in their numbers. People are going to simply stop paying their taxes, either through lies and deceit or flat out refusal to pay. Companies are going to continue, at an even faster rate, outsourcing and ultimately moving their bases of operations outside of the country, and crime is going to rise to levels of power equal or above that of what local civil authorities can handle. Cities and States will ask for Federal help, but there will be little money to go around.
The real deal knoll will be the improper use of the Military. McCain will extend the reach of the armed services to battle terrorism, but just like the British Military in the Revolutionary War, we will continue to use rules of engagement that are not effective against the guerrilla tactics of terrorist groups. To increase the military rolls, McCain will offer a clear distinction in the benefits of US citizenship for those who have served in the military and those that have not. Many desperate men and women will sign up, and we will start pulling folks out of prison to man the front lines. Those who cannot or will not serve will face a massive drop in their standard of living, yet still be forced to pay higher and higher taxes. This will increase the rage of the citizenry, and create divisions among soldier and civilian.

Then it will happen. We will have forces here and there, scattered across the globe, draining our ever slowing economy even further. Then some foreign leader will take a tip from US history–wait till our enemies are scattered and beaten down, and then strike with a massive force. It could be Russia, it could be North Korea, it could be China…but as we run around chasing shadows and footprints, someone will take advantage.

Through an unavoidable military defeat, we will pull back, finally realizing that our homeland infrastructure and society is falling apart. What little military resources we have left will be brought home in order to reestablish order. Unfortunately, the appearance of US soldiers in cities will send the wrong message to the splinter political groups that have been gaining more strength, and the soldiers who are told to turn their guns on American Citizens will begin to refuse, breaking the morale of our troops.

With the opportunities for educated folks drying up in the states, our best and brightest will do one of two things. one, move and bring their creativity and knowledge to other countries, or else they will put their minds behind the radicals, taking all the goofy anarchists and angry poor kids, and giving them clear strategies and leadership. The disenfranchised wealthy elites will start pouring their money into other types of  political parties, and from that, some clever mind will emerge, uniting smaller parties and actually building an army.

It might sound like simple panic mongering, but actually, it’s history. How do you think Adolf Hitler came to power? If you look at the economic history of any country that turned from a republic or democracy into some sort of Oligarchy or Dictatorship, and compare it to what is going on right here, right now, it at least shows what I am saying is a distinct possibility.

I hope it doesn’t happen. I love this country, but what we have to realize is that there are no laurels we can rest upon–every generation that wants freedom must be vigilant and this freedom we speak of can be snatched away at any moment. McCain comes from a dead generation, too stubborn to stop interfering with a world they don’t belong in. We cannot have people making 20th century style decisions in the 21st century. Sure, this century is only 8 years old, but put an 8 year old against a 78 year old, and I can assure you, the younger understands THIS world much better than the elder. We are a completely new Era, and we must find solutions that make sense for now, not for 1956.

The real issue with McCain’s houses

On August 21st, John McCain was asked how many houses he had, and he replied, “I’ll have my staff get back to you.” This opened up a media frenzy that put McCain in a very bad light, but I’m here to defend him for what happened in August, and then bash him for what he did in September.

If you asked anyone who is invested in the Market to name all the details of their stocks and assets, many of them would stumble, especially if they were in a crowd of screaming reporters and burdened with the task of winning the presidential election. We all have the occasional brain fart, and furthermore, the McCain’s didn’t necessarily LIVE in those houses. They were property investments, just like many Americans invested in Real Estate. John and Cindy McCain have a good deal of money, and I don’t begrudge them for investing it for the future of their family or working to maintain their estate.

That being said, a month goes by with a rabid media harping again and again on this little stumble, until September 12th, when John and Cindy appeared on “The View”, and they STILL didn’t have a proper stump speech or vague reply to this question, other than complaining afterward that, “they picked our bones clean”.

John, how about something like, “Well, that is an issue of our own investments, and I trust my wife to handle our personal finances; my passion is the American people and the struggles that they face. I have been blessed with wealth, but I am far more concerned with the issues of those not so blessed.”

Here I am, some blogger coming up with an acceptable answer that McCain and his entire team can’t seem to muster up. THIS is why I feel McCain isn’t qualified to be president; he can’t tell the truth, even when it vindicates him. This house thing is a major concern with a lot of people, and his inability to come up with a reasonable defense, when there is a perfectly viable one,  makes it clear to me that the man has no real answers.

Oh yeah, BTW, Obama is once again ahead in the polls, on an average of 4 points across the board. Go Obama! We love you!

America Divided

America Divided I think this election, more than any other in my lifetime (1972-present) has illustrated how this nation is ripping down the middle. Obama’s speech at the 2004 DNC claimed, “There are no red states, there are no blue states, only the united states….”

I disagree. We are falling apart as a nation on a fundamental level. I say this because of the arguments that have arisen in this election. Rudy Giuliani literally scoffed at Obama’s time as “a community organizer”. Pastor Rick Warren brought up “40 million abortions since Roe v. Wade”, as if it is some kind of holocaust. The fact that people still want Intelligent Design taught and prayers allowed in schools, the fact that Obama wants to pull troops out of Iraq and begin dialogue with Iran…its all either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the listener.

Now, I’m pretty liberal on the surface, but every liberal idea I have is based on very conservative reasons, but those reasons are still grounded in MY idea of what is right and what is wrong. My heart screams when I see politicians making Christian based decisions in our government…the guy next door may think “it’s about time we put God into the mix”, but whose god? I feel anger, very real anger, when I see people screaming about abortion when they also support a system that does nothing to teach children about sex, nothing to offer support to young girls who get pregnant, limit access to contraception and shut down welfare reforms to support the mothers that DO keep their children.

I get mad when I see people speaking about homosexuality as if there is no argument to the validity of their claims to equal rights. I get sick to my stomach when people jump with glee at the idea of further military conflicts with Iran. I hate war, but I also hate those who think any US military action is meaningless–you bury your head in your ideology just as deeply as those who support all war and want more. We get caught up in little arguments, we claim we are wise, yet cling to the sound bytes and spin when it is our favor, and bash the media when it is not.

I am voting for Obama because I believe this country needs to look more towards our own issues and infrastructure, I think we need more public transportation and less SUVs. I think using the Emergency room as a medical plan is destructive to an already shaky medical industry. I think we need to gather international support before any conflict other than that on our OWN soil. Quite frankly, I think McCain is too old and too cemented in one direction of thinking. The world is changing, and we need someone young and diplomatic that can manage these changes.
But still, that’s MY opinion, and well, I might be wrong.

Some would say I am naive to think the things I do. I would say someone was naive for believing abortions and gay people are bad and that prayer can solve everything. My father thinks Obama is a Socialist and that Jimmy Carter was the worst president ever. I think McCain is a Fascist and that Jimmy Carter was the best president ever. My father’s opinion is based on the facts he has learned, and mine is based on the everlasting, unarguable Truth…;)
well, maybe not “Truth”; perhaps there is no such thing, only truths. It’s sort of like that old argument about spiritual salvation… if you saw someone standing in the way of a speeding truck, wouldn’t you try to save them? When they see a non-christian government, they think that we are being mislead and headed straight for the fiery depths of Hell. To them, getting gay people straight, putting prayers in the mouths of children, bringing that ole time religion back to the fore and violently crushing the evil empire of [fill in blank]…these are noble tasks to these people.

I can’t change these opinions. I can’t change the ultra conservatives any more than Sarah Palin’s church can make gay people straight. This country was started as a place where the individual could live and worship and think the way THEY wanted.  This brave experiment has worked a bit too well, or at least we are reaching a critical mass. We are running out of room to live as we want to without stepping on someone else’s ideals, and as Communication technology gets better, opposing voices get louder. I’m not wrong, but , (save for some exceptions), neither are the opposing voices. The world is complex, no matter how small it seems on the news or the internet, and people can have two conflicting ideas, both based in solid fact, and both be legitimate.

See, this in this issue, I consider myself an anti-federalist. A federal government is great for things like interstate commerce and foreign affairs, but I think what made the United States great was that I could go somewhere where the people and the laws supported MY way of living. If you are a devout Christian, you should have a community where your values are supported by the laws of the people around you. If your small town wants kids to pray and have Christian education in the public schools, you should have it if the people all vote for it. However, you should not attempt to make the rest of the big ole country, comprised of Jews, Muslims, and “non-believers” submit to your rule.

We are splitting our country apart because people, from the left, right and everywhere in between, will not accept other people’s deeply held beliefs. No matter what side you fall, America will not stand if the moralizing Jesus freaks and preachy vegan fags can’t stop fighting and start figuring out how to get along. We won’t stay strong as a nation if our diversity is threatened by dogma and disrespect. We need to take a good hard look at what matters to people, and try to find the issues that keep coming up on all sides, like better access to health care and a better economy, rather than basing our legislation at eliminating lifestyles that offend us. I think we need to keep Jesus AND Karl Marx well out of our politics.

In other words, “can’t we all just get along?”

Drilling, smiling and lying-why Palin should be ashamed

Sarah Palin gave a right pretty speech at the RNC last night, as did Mr. Huckabee, when he told the story of the teacher who, on the first day of classes, denied students a desk until “they earned it”. This teacher went through her day, asking students what they can do to “earn a desk”, then ended the day when 20 or so vets walked in with desks to the claim “you don’t have to earn a desk, these men already did it for you…”

Okay, I DO respect the brave men and women who have fought and died in U.S. conflicts. My grandfather died in the Normandy invasion, and I respect his sacrifice…Hitler was a total prick and no one can deny the validity of WWII. However, if this little story had happened in my daughter’s school, you can bet I would have sued the teacher, the school, and the VFW for this blatant military recruitment tactic. I don’t have to risk my life or someone else’s to be deemed a valuable citizen and military service, while commendable, is NOT the only reason we live in a free country today. There is a fight for America going on everyday in our streets and civic halls, and not all soldiers in this war carry guns.

OK, so Huckabee was just a speaker at the RNC, it’s not like he’s going to be vice president or anything. The person gunning for that job is a Sarah Palin. Her speech began as all speeches do, endlessly thanking everyone she’s known or might know someday, all the while claiming to be a simple, small town girl. After the kudos and warm fuzzies of the simple life, she dug into Obama, saying, “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.”
She went on without pause to chide Obama for remarks made in San Francisco, claiming, ” I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening.”

I’m sure you don’t. What Obama actually said was:

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.“

See, what Palin’s “small towns” don’t get is that Obama is trying to find the root of desperation and poverty and hate. He understands that no one is born hateful or close-minded, but that being left behind and mistreated and ignored are the reasons we have people who join the KKK or Al Qaeda or the Westboro Baptists–if we want to stop terror, or racism, or overwhelming illegal immigration, we must pull off the blinders of our personal situation and try to repair these sources of misery rather than fighting threats after they have become serious issues.

Well the only issue Palin gave more time to than her thanks to friends and family was energy. The meat of her speech can be broken down into 5 words: Less Dependence on Foreign Oil. I agree, but I’ll tell you, I’ll take the candidate that can do it in 4 words: Less Dependence on Oil. McCain and crew want you to think that they are pushing for cleaner fuel sources, but when Obama voted yes on a bill that would allocate funds to help oil companies start clean fuel industries, McCain claimed that Obama was kissing up to big oil.
Now, Alaska’s chief exports are Oil, Natural gas, and salmon, in that order. During the Exxon Valdez court case, Exxon dragged their feet for almost 20 years before awarding the victims of the spill $500 million dollars; incidentally, that’s only $100 million more than
Exxon awarded it’s CEO Lee Raymond as a retirement package.

This case was resolved (?) under Palin’s watch. Admittedly, she said she was disappointed; take that as you will.

To the chants of “Drill, baby, drill” coming from the crowd, Palin announced, “…the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.”

Now, seeing as how the third largest industry in Alaska is the fishing industry, and many Alaskans are still recovering from the Valdez, Palin and McCain want to poison our oceans and air with offshore drilling. They want to keep the amount of oil we use the same, but pull out of hostile nations. So, how did McCain respond to a reporter’s question about Bush saying we may be in Iraq for another 50 years? McCain said, “Maybe 100″.

It comes down to this, IMHO. People who want to protect our country from the terrorists through military might while escalating further hostilities with the nations we trample on in the process, they will and should vote for John McCain. People who want oil in their cars, not some hippie fuel that will get them where they’re going but won’t shatter glass when they start the engine…vote for McCain. People who think that religion should play a major role in public policy, vote for McCain. People who think that they don’t have a choice in who we go to war against or why because it is the President’s unique privilege to decide, Vote McCain. People who don’t think pollution is an actual problem…well, you get the point.
I’m a big boy, and if the majority of American are bloodthirsty cowards who want to make the policies that send good young people off to kill and die for control of a non-renewable, dirty fuel     source, so be it. Then at least I’ll know that those cowboy hatted brains at the RNC really are the imperialistic isolationists that the rest of the world says we are. I won’t give up, but I’ll know what I’m up against. If America isn’t ready to pull its own infrastructure up and go through some rough changes in our daily lives to make sure we are tapping EVERY American as a valued resource and taking every step to clean our environment, and upholding our honorable image to the rest of the world…I’ll wait. Another 20 years and most of those folks will be gone, dead from the cancer and the lung and heart disease sprung from the tainted waters and depleted soils that their “great” generation left behind for us.

Then we’ll fix that bridge when we come to it.