Lack of Grey Matter

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To Have and to Hold – The GOP’s plan for the rich

We all remember the extension of the Budget-Busting tax break at the end of last year.  The GOP insisted that this was good for the economy. 

This idea gives credence to what a board of intellectuals concluded last week.  They basically said our elected officials are not smart enough to make effective economic decisions.

I agree.

My intent with this blog is to give three easy-to-understand reasons why the Republicans are wrong.

Reason #1 that the GOP is wrong is the concept of Monetary Multipliers.  If you put a dollar into the economy, it gets passed around.  Every time it gets passed around, people gain products, services and savings.  The government also gets its cut.  So let’s look at - A Tale of Two Dollars.

Dollar #1 is given to a wealthy person who invests it in the stock market where it sits.  Now assume a generous return of 20% and a tax rate of 15% (capital gains rate).  At the end of a year, the dollar is worth$1.20 minus the 15% tax on the 20 cents.  So, the government got $.03 and the rich person got $.17.

Dollar #2 is given to a poor person. This person buys a loaf of bread ten minutes later.  The store pays the baker who buys gas and so on and so forth.  This dollar is really moving.  Every time it moves, someone gains a dollar and then pays income tax at 30%.  Let’s assume the dollar changes hands once a day.  In a year, that single dollar would have resulted in $365 of economic value and the government would have collected about $121 in taxes.

In one case, the dollar generated a dollar of activity and $.03 in taxes.  In the other, it generated $365 in activity and generated $123 in taxes.

So, if you wanted to generate economic activity, where would you put your dollar.

I realize these are two extremes.  The rich buy gas and the poor sometimes save.  However, it really comes down to a concept called The Marginal Propensity to Save.  This is a measure of how much you save if you were given an additional dollar.   If someone saves, 25% of that dollar, that gives them a MPS of .25.  The higher the savings rate, the higher the MPS and the slower the money moves through the economy.  The poor have a MPS near zero which means they save almost nothing and thus, the money given to them flows freely into the economy.  The rich have an MPS of near one which means they pull money out of the economy because the dollar had no impact on their spending patterns.

Reason #2 that GOP is wrong is due to Push or Pull manufacturing.

It used to be that all manufacturing was “Push”.  This means products were created with the hope that someone would buy them.  Take a book store for example.  They buy books and stock the shelves hoping someone will buy them.  This type of way of doing business is long gone.  Take a look at Borders Books. They are going bankrupt for just this very type of strategy.

In today’s competitive market, companies don’t build stuff hoping you will buy it.  Instead, they are very good at making it as quickly as you buy it.  Take Amazon.com for example.  The book you order today may not even exist at the time you order it.  When you place your order, that causes a book to be printed and shipped.  This is called “Pull” manufacturing.  It is vastly more efficient.  Companies don’t have to carry huge inventories and never over produce.

The Republican idea of giving tax breaks to the rich it the same as “Push” manufacturing.  They are saying the rich will use the money to build stuff.  When they build it, they will pay wages to people who will turn around and buy other stuff. 

This may have worked 30 years ago, but not today.

Today, give company money and they will hold onto it until someone buys something.  Then they make it.  No wages are paid until an order is placed and no order is placed because no buyers have money.

Today’s economy and manufacturing dictate that you must have the buyers first.  Let me say that again…There must be buyers first.  Giving money to the rich creates the capacity to build with nothing actually being made.

You need to create buyers first.  (This statement alone should get me the Nobel Prize for economics but alas…as a superhero, I am not eligible.)

Reason #3: It didn’t work the last time they tried it.

So there you have it.  Every economist in the world will agree with me (except those paid by Fox News to disagree).

So, the GOP wants to cut spending but they want tax breaks for the rich but they want to buy jet engines that no one wants because they are built in the Speaker’s home state, but they want to lower the debt. 

Not a very well constructed sentence, I know,   I just wanted to see what it looked like - the GOP policy all in one statement.

I can only shake my head.

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(note: the dotted lines indicate where you can cut and paste this when you send this to all your friends)

Some of you know that I like to write.  There is a difference between reality and fiction.  Fiction has to make sense.  Reality…not so much.

Alas…

Sometimes it can be hard to save a world bent on killing itself.

And yet, I still feel compelled to try.  As a superhero, I took an oath to do just that.

Up, up and away…

jim

I can't help myself

I am taking a 2-hour break in the middle of an 18-hour day.  Room service (quesadilla) and CNN - perfect for a brief unwind.

I had no intention of blogging today, but the news is so good I just have to share it.

First of all, as I predicted here (see, I give you tomorrow's news today), every country in the world that is mostly desert is protesting.  Seems like they all just noticed that the ruling party can only rule if you let them.  The best part of this is that it's all mostly peaceful.  Sure, there is violence here and there but most of that is the governments killing people for carrying signs.

The one I want to see fall hardest is Iran.  They applauded Egypt's tumble and then started shooting their own people when they tried to hold an unauthorized pep rally.  By the way, all pep rallies in Iran carry the death penalty...unless it's a pep rally cheering on the Most Benevolent Government.

Next on the Block, the informant known as Curve-ball admitted he made the whole thing up.  For those of you that don't remember, this is the guy that told the Bush administration about the weapons of mass destruction that sent us to war.  Now, this very guy, is broke.  He's been fired by several fast food restaurants for....and I'm not making this up...lying.  It seems Burger King vets its french fry cook more closely that George W's administration.  I get the feeling that Curve-ball left a sticky note on Bush's desk saying, "They got stuff" and Bush called a War Board and said, "Let's go get em."  Then later, alone in his room, he whispered, "Are you proud of me now daddy?"

Finally, there is the John Boehner affair.  It seems that Obama, acting on the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of the Department of Defense, wanted to slash the development of a new jet engine most referred to as a giant waste of money.  ($450 million)

John Boehner, champion of cutting all wasteful spending, didn't agree.  Strange.  Why would he want to spend money even the military doesn't want to spend.  Could there be something along the lines of tax cuts for the rich while blaming others for the debt?

Ask the Tea Party.  They surprisingly agreed with Obama.  These junior congressmen went against their fearless Tanned Leader and voted it down.

So what was going on?

Turns out, the engine would have created 7,000 jobs in Boehner's home state.  He denied that was behind it all.  Instead, he insisted by spending money wastefully, he was promoting competition in the "unwanted jet engine" industry.

When will these guy learn that when you get caught with a page in the hallway, admit it and move on.

Boehner is trying to cover up self-serving motives with lies.  By the way, he is two heartbeats away from being our fearless leader.

Time to head back to work at the plant.

They need my super powers or all is lost.

Up, up and away...

jim

FAQs for Our Department of Homeland Defence

I have decided that the Department of Homeland Defense needs some guidance.  As a superhero, it's my job to help out with anything that has to do with Truth, Justice and Wasteful Government Spending.

So, Here we go...

Question #1:  What exactly is Condition Orange?
Answer #1: This is what we in the espionage business refer to as Security Elevator Music.  You know its there, and it feels comforting, but you know deep down that it has no value.

Question #2: I'm a TSA agent.  What is that big metal box over there?
Answer #2: That is an X-ray machine.  It gives you something to do between sandwiches.

Question #3: A guy just tried to get a banana through security. What should I do?
Answer #3: Re-screen the banana and then check for a triggering device, usually located in another piece of fruit.

Question #4: There is a baby with no identification.  Can I run him through the X-ray machine?
Answer #4:  Yes.  This device is never really turned on anyway.

Question #5:  I've been a TSA agent for a few months now.  I have to admit, much of what we do is so stupid I feel embarrassed.
Answer #5: You're fired.

Question #6: Two guys are in line, one has two 3-oz bottles of shampoo while the other has a single 6-oz bottle of shampoo.  What do I do?
Answer #6: Let the first guy through.  Shoot the second; he is clearly a terrorist.

Question #7:  How many donuts can I have per day?
Answer #7:  Two bites between pat-downs. So it really comes down to how big a bite you can take.

Question #8:  I work for immigration.  Who should I grant citizenship to?
Answer #8:  If he vacations in the Pakistani outback, grant the citizenship.  If she is Hungarian with several advanced degrees and is married to an American citizen, look out, she may  be a terrorist trying to take our valuable jobs in the strawberry fields of Bakersfield.

Question #9: Immigration again.  How can we stop people from crossing the border?
Answer #9:  You can't.  However, you can support the thriving American Fence Building Association by putting up structures that the Mexicans can lean their ladders against.

Question #10:  How many terrorist attacks have actually been prevented by the hundreds of billions spent on the Department of Homeland Security.
Answer #10:  No one knows for sure.  That's the beauty of it all.  However, we estimate that between Zero and Five Thousand terrorist attacks have been thwarted.  No, let's make that between Zero and a Billion attacks.

Question #11:  How many schools could have been built is we diverted the funds for Homeland Security to the Department of Education.
Answer #11:  All of them.

I hope they find this helpful.

Well, that was fun but I have a world to save and a plane to catch.

Up, up and away...

Jim

The Eighth Wonder of the World - Egyptians

As I write this, CNN is speculating that Egypt's dictator Mubarak, may step down.

This means a government has been overthrown by the people who used no guns.  They simply protested peacefully.  There was violence but most agree that was carried out by forces loyal to the checkbook opened up by the government.

I don't know how he hung on so long.  With 40% of the people living on $2 per day, this guy has amassed over 70 Billion dollars, including planes and homes all over the world.

There were times when Muslims and Christians stood united, hand-in-hand as they showed the world what people are capable of.

This has to be terrifying to places like China and North Korea.

Just in: Mubarak is stepping down!!!  (Oops.  I spoke too soon.  He's not stepping down.  He's stepping sideways.)

Meanwhile, in the world's greatest democracy, a Republican member of the House of Representatives has resigned after being caught sending pictures of himself to a girl on Craigslist.  Apparently, he told her he was not married.  Here is a picture of the single Republican Lee being sworn in while his "pretend" family looks on.  I point out that he is a Republican, not because only Republican do this (they/we all do stupid things).  No, I point it out because the hypocrisy is astounding.  This is the "pro-life" and "pro-family" and "pro-God" party.

I see little difference between  (1) Being Pro-Family and then having an affair and (2) Being Anti-Spending and then giving the richest amongst us a huge tax break.  The fact that they have any elected officials in office tells me that some of us aren't paying attention.

By the way, (R) Bachman from Minnesota has restated the GOP's top priority: To make Obama a 1-term president.

There is something about this that feels obscene.  They want him to fail; ignoring the fact that his failure means WE fail as well.  They don't want him to create jobs, or solve health care, or get the budget under control or any of the other things he is trying to accomplish.  Each time he fails, we are worse off and that is what the GOP wants.

To achieve their goal, they are doing whatever they can to make him fail.  This means they are actively working to make US fail.

In case no one noticed; it's still basketball season and hockey season and NFL lockout season.  In a few days, baseball starts up with the pictures and catchers reporting to practice.  In the American League, this means that the Yankees and Red Sox will open up their camps....and all of their farm teams will also open up their camps; you know, teams like Oakland.

I followed baseball for several years but have lost interest.  Two teams suck up all the talent and spend all the money while all of the other teams battle to stay out of last place.

Time to go to get my teeth cleaned.  This always makes me feel like I've been captured by the enemy.  "I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just quit picking at that molar!"

Unfortunately, my superpowers are ineffective against plaque build-up.

Speaking of superpowers...time to put mine to use...

Up, up and away...

jim

Protecting my sources

Because of its Top Secret nature, I can neither confirm nor deny that the following conversation was recorded between the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia:

"That temple, she belongs to me!"

"No you motherless frog, the temple is a holy place for my people."

"May God rain down a thousand deaths for you stealing our temple."

"God will surely make our bullets fly true as we shoot dead your soulless peoples."

"You shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

It only gets worse from there as Thailand and Cambodia shoot across their borders at each other over a temple.

There are some things in the world that I don't understand.  For example, killing people in the name of peace.  Or Justin Bieber.  Or how the GOP get elected with a platform of "Spend no money unless it's for me and my rich friends."

Aside from that, I think I pretty much understand everything.  Comes with being a superhero. (There was an exam).

Someone (Monya) posted a snippet about jails that got me thinking.  If I wasn't so busy saving the world, how would I reform our prison system.

First of all, I would take the "resort" out of the system.

All food would be tasteless gruel with water.
No television
No visitors
No phones
No recreation time
You get a cell with a sink and a bed.  No pillow.
No doctor but there is a dentist that can only do one thing - pull teeth.
Your picture is posted on the web so everyone can see you and why you are there.

You get sentenced to a certain number of hours of labor.  A day off means no time comes off your sentence. 

There is no death penalty, costs too much and does not deter.

That should take care of that.

On to bigger things.

Egypt's government is being overthrown because the revolution went viral.  Eventually, when the internet is unblockable, what do you think will happen in North Korea or China.  Billions of people are going to suddenly find that they can take back their lives.  When everyone in China has access to perfect information, heads will roll and those heads will come from the very top.   You heard it hear first.

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that we, as a country, sometimes jump in bed with the worst kinds of people?  The Shah of Iran, Noriega, Bin Ladin and now this guy from Egypt.  They have all been on our payroll at one time or another.  And these are just the ones we know about.  Maybe they were just the lesser of two evils.  I always feel a little embarrassed when someone like Mubarak turns out to not only be a dictator but someone that is on our payroll.

Health Tip for your dog.  Do not feed your dog Chipolata Black Been Vegetarian burgers.  If mine so much as licks the plate, he produces enough gas to inflate the Goodyear blimp.  With the right attachments, I could use him to inflate my car tires.

Anyway, there is a world out there that needs saving so I'd better be going.

Up, up and away...

jim 

A Quickie

I just passed through security at San Francisco airport.

The alert and "skilled" TSA agent spotted something in my bag and immediately called for backup.  Now, it's Superbowl Sunday and the place is empty so backup should have been an easy thing to get.  I could see two agents a short distance away talking about how their morning was going.

However, no one came to help with whatever was in my bag.

On the third call, a full minute later, one of the pair of gossipers reluctantly tore herself away and came over.  She was nice enough and told me they saw a sharp object in my bag.

After a detailed search, they decided that what they had actually seen was a banana.

She then took my banana, and for some reason, an orange, and reran then through the X-ray.  I asked why she needed to run the banana through she said, and I'm not making this up, "I need to be sure its a banana."

I then asked why she was running the orange through as well.  She just shrugged.  My guess is that she figured if the banana was not a banana, then maybe the orange was a hand-grenade or something.

This is all true and just now happened.

Thank goodness I have skilled help when it comes to saving the world.

Up, up and away...

Jim

Thoughts on Food

I sometimes wonder why I am not completely spherical - given my relationship with food.

I had a friend once that told me he was going for the elliptical look; skinny on top and bottom but wide in the middle.  Sounds like I could be headed that way, along with the rest of America.  I can make a profit perhaps by opening my own store: Jim's Tall and/or Elliptical.

It's not that I don't try.  I haven't had a Peanut M&M for months; not since by brush with a sugar coma following a particularly long flight with a Duty Free sized jumbo bag buckled into the seat next to me.

However, my M.O.  is unchanged.

I find something I like and then do it until I'm sick of it.

Take last night, for example.  I'm in Clearfield, Utah, driving to a plant when I see that Burger King has 40 chicken tenders for $10.  Across the street, McDonald's has 50 McNuggets for the same price.  They are having a price war to see who can sell the most chicken-like, fat-fried products during the month of February.

I send an SMS to my food consultant (AKA Matt, my seventeen year old son) and ask for his opinion on the McNuggets.  He comes back with, "Sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity."

So on my way back to my hotel, later that evening, I stop by and pick up a giant box of the delicacies.  Never mind that I had just eaten 10 of them a couple of hours earlier.  That was just "paving the way." I try to act like I am ordering for a family of six but they see through me, asking, "Will that be for here or to go?"  I look around and I am the only one in the place.

They know!

I take them back to my hotel and after 18 minutes, there is just me and the aftermath which includes the remains of eight different dipping sauces.  It was harder than I had thought.  Turns out, there is a limit to how many McNuggets I can hold (unlike my infinite capacity for M&Ms).  I hit the wall at 40 but pressed onward.

I may never eat another McNugget...ever.

On to other news...

Is it just me or is there a lot of "Watch a redneck" reality television going on?  I've see some advertisements where a couple of fat guys get drunk and then try to capture alligators with their bare hands.  They all seem to be missing most of their teeth. 

The economy seems to be on track for a recovery which means its "out" as far as news goes.  For the last two days, there have only been two stories: Snow everywhere and riots in Egypt.  Too bad it doesn't snow in Egypt or we would be able to get it down to just one big news story.

As I write this, my dog is bugging me.  He is a big guy that likes his routines.  When I am home, there are times for snacks, times for walks, times for everything.  He has this internal clock that is very accurate.  For example, every morning at work, he comes over to remind me at 8am that it's time for our morning walk.  He is never off by more than five minutes.  Today, I threw off his timing by coming home in the middle of the day from a few days of traveling.  Now he's not sure what the schedule should be.  I think he is starting to make stuff up like, "time to walk while you feed me treats."  Here is a picture of him playing Monopoly with my kids.  He is not very good at it; tending to be risk-adverse and prone to bad deal making.

Bush's daughter is pro-gay marriage.  Interesting for only one reason:  Why would anyone care what Bush's daughter thinks?  That alone makes it news, I guess.  I picked up on it because they squeezed it in between footage of "Guy on camel with Molotov cocktail," and "Car sliding sideways across the Arctic wasteland of middle America."

Someday soon, we will look back on this whole gay thing as see it in very much the same light we now see the Salem Witch hunts.

HealthCare is unconstitutional or at least some of it is.  I actually think its a good thing that the Bush family judge (aka a federal judge from Florida) found parts of Health Care Reform unconstitutional.  First of all, I agree that we should not be forced to buy health care.  However, if you don't buy it, then you need to be held accountable for payment somehow.  You can't just say, "No thanks, I think I will let you pay for my health care for me."  Secondly, people that are benefiting from the current Health Care Reform may become a little more vocal in support of it instead of sitting there quietly, enjoying its benefits while those that created it are beat-up.

I am going to really love this football game.  Two of the old-time teams going at it.  I can't pick a winner and I'm not sure who I will root for.  Right now, I will probably wait until half time and then root for whomever is behind, hoping for a memorable comeback.  People are picking scores in the low twenties.  I think both teams will score in the thirties.

I will be watching the game from a hotel room.   I would like to stay home or maybe go to a Superbowl party but, I have a world to save...

Up, up and away...

jim