View from the middle of the road

First of all, this site's content has been moved to http://jamesdillingham.com.  I will continue to duplicate the posts on this site but eventually, I'll grow weary of that.  So if you want tomorrow's headlines today...go bookmark the new site.

This just in:  The Republican Party presidential candidates all agree that it’s not their fault.

Big surprise.  Their debate was essentially a unification project.  While they were slamming each other the day before, everything changed when the cameras came on.  Suddenly they were all in agreement.  More on this later.

Since the overthrow of the Egyptian government, more than 7,000 civilians have been given prison terms via military tribunal.  Maybe they all deserved it.  I have no idea. but it seems like a big number to me.  And, “military tribunal” sounds way different from “trial by jury.”

Onward...

The reason I moved my blog to this site is that I was able to set up a much better comment section.  You can comment on a post or on other people's comments.  I encourage this.  if no one comments, I will assume we are all in complete agreement.

Has it ever struck you as strange that 100% of a political party can agree with everyone else in their party while still completely disagreeing with everyone not in their party?  It is so unlikely to happen that when it does, it feels contrived or made-up.  Both parties are guilty of this.  When I hear a candidate preaching along party lines, I toss them out with the trash.  Sorry Cain – no soup for you!

I am considering becoming famous.  It doesn’t look too hard and the financial rewards appear to be staggering.  I’m just wondering where to file my papers.  After that, it’s sit back, pose for the paparazzi and let it all happen. Next stop…game show host.

I am in the middle of the road, politically, on several things.  I’d like to touch base on a couple now.

Medicare: This needs to be there when I get too old to take care of myself.  If it’s not, then the burden is shifted to my kids.  The voucher will not work simply because medical costs go up faster than the voucher’s value.  Go ahead and rework Medicare but don’t get rid of it.  Perhaps raising the eligibility age should be considered.  Any voucher program must come with medical cost containment practices.

Social Security: This is a huge drag on our economy simply because there are too many users and not enough payers.  This is only going to get worse.  More and more people will reach the eligibility age and fewer people will be left to pay into it.  I suggest rising the eligibility age to 70.  I’m willing to work until I am 70.  I don’t want to but I will if you will.

Broad stroke tax cuts hurt the economy. I know the arguments about how they create jobs.  However, not all of the tax breaks result in that action.  Take 25 coffee cups and set them on your living room floor.  Then take 10,000 pennies and throw them into the room at random.  Some of the pennies will land in the cups but most will fall to the floor.  This is how the tax cuts are used.  The few pennies that fall into cups represent the few people that use the tax cuts to create jobs.  We need to find ways to make the tax cuts more “surgically effective.”  We should only throw pennies that will actually land in the coffee cups.

Sometimes government needs to be big. I like a strong, yet efficient and highly modern military.  I like free education.  I like investment in Research and Development.  I like NASA, Medicare and Social Security.  I like projects that are more efficiently done when we work together than alone.

Some areas of government need to be smaller. The Department of Homeland Defense is basically a job creation agency in the form of millions of TSA donut eaters.  Fraud and waste are bipartisan issues that should be aggressively attacked.

Sometimes governments need to regulate. I think the government should be looking over every shoulder on Wall Street.

Sometimes governments need to get out-of-the-way. Over-regulation in manufacturing and business has tied the hands of those that would do the most to create a strong economy.  Once again, California is a prime example of how too much government can ruin an economy.  Governor Brown, who I like, claims it’s either raise taxes or cut programs.  I say, make the business environment competitive with the other 49 states.  This will bring companies to California, raising revenue while not raising taxes.

Obamacare and Romneycare are the same thing. I like that my kids can be on my insurance until they are 25 years old.  I like that the health care providers must spend a higher percentage of their income on actually providing coverage.  I don’t like that nothing gets the soaring cost of health care under control.  Tort reform and increased competition, but GOP positions, should be embraced.

I am pro-life but first, pro-choice.  I am in favor of gay rights.

I think we need a branch of government, like the Supreme Court, where members are assigned for life.  Their only job is to publish facts.  For example, is Obamacare costing us money or saving us money?  Depends on who you ask.  How many jobs were created by the $740 billion dollar tax cut given to those making over $250K a year?  I want to know.

And finally, I am against hypocrisy.  The GOP takes center stage on this issue simple because the Democrats appear to be mute.  I don’t know what they are up to.  However, the GOP blames Obama for the economy while doing everything possible to keep it from getting better.  The GOP is holding the debt ceiling hostage saying it’s the right thing to do for the economy in spite of the fact that all economists believe that failure to raise it will cause “Global Economic Mayhem.”  I think tax breaks for the rich make the rich richer – period.  The GOP wants to eliminate Planned Parenthood as a way to cater to their base.  To them it’s like saying, “See, we are against abortion.”  All the while, they know that Planned Parenthood has a huge impact on reducing abortion.

I know, and so do all of the politicians out there, that the president is limited in his ability to impact the economy.  He doesn’t have a “fix it” button on his desk.  Congress has much more power than he does and even they can only do so much.  The idea that Obama is failing because the economy is not yet back to full strength is simply propaganda.  The fact that the GOP candidates are using this as their platform, even though they know it to be false propoganda, says a lot about the quality of these people.

Here is a funny picture for you to look at while you drink your coffee and contemplate the profound truths contained herein.

Let’s just look at Michelle Bachman.  A few weeks back, I posted the results of an independent Fact Finding group that checked on several people, Democrats and Republicans alike.  Michelle Bachman was found to be the least truthful, by far.  They checked 19 of her statements.  Here are the results:

True: 0
Mostly True: 0
Half True: 3
Barely True: 2
False: 8
Pants on Fire: 6

I recall seeing her for the first time when she gave the Tea Party response to the president’s State of the Union speech.  At that time I thought, “People actually voted for her?  On purpose?”  I’ve seen nothing from her to change my opinion since that time.

Elsewhere…

Skype and Comcast are coming up with a deal where you can video chat through your television.  You’ll need a converter and camera, provided by them.  This will be cool on a large screen television.

Very heavy on the political stuff today.  For that, I apologize.  I’m on an airplane which means that my normal sources for interesting stuff are not available to me.  I’ll try to do better tomorrow.

Here is your quote for the day:“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.”  Earnest Benn

As for now, well, you know…

Up, up and away…

Jim

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