Time to Stop the Madness

Time to Stop the Madness

My first blog entry in a while deals with two issues with the first being the cost of gasoline and the second the stalemate in government.

Gasoline

You have to be of a certain age to remember the oil embargo back in 1973.  At that time we had gas rationing and the price of gas increased dramatically. It was supposedly at that time that this country was going to develop an energy plan to reduce/eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.  It is now 38 years later and we do not have a National Energy Plan and are still spending outrageous amounts of money to purchase oil from the Middle East. 

As we approach the $4.00/gallon price for regular gas, it is easy to realize that the price is going to rise.  For once, Americans need to start conserving gas at every opportunity. This change in behavior includes car pooling as well as using public transportation.  There is clearly a significant amount of wasted gas every morning while cars are on the highway, in a traffic jam, waiting to move. If more people would carpool or use mass transit, we would reduce gasoline consumption.

The government needs to develop a national energy plan which includes the requirement that cars get better gas mileage. In addition, government needs to work with the private sector to develop alternatives to oil/gas as the price increase in gasoline is going to cripple the economy. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, it affects everyone and clearly we need to move in a different direction.

Stalemate in Government

Are we going to be confronted, for approximately the next two years where nothing is able to be accomplished as we have a Republican controlled house and a Democrat controlled Senate?  It is still the game of politics that we are playing and as a result, nothing significant is getting accomplished.  Government is out of control, with its spending and every time they talk about reducing spending they target Medicare and other programs, but do not target government waste.  While Obama came into office with the promise of change, the end result is that we are worse off now as he really has maintained the status quo.  All of the funding for government programs needs to be reviewed as well as campaign contributions from different groups that support politician efforts.  We need a government that has the primary purpose of bringing this country out of its major recession and not trying to please their contributors. 

We clearly need to look at all states and determine which areas are in need of serious economic support.  We then need to work with new businesses to be located in these areas.  I come from Brockton Massachusetts and this is a city in need of significant help.  There are many business building that are vacant and need an influx of businesses to help with taxes and allow this city to grow again.  I have also been in Vermont, to a small town and while I loved the place, I could also see where the local economy was struggling.  I’m sure that you will never see a President campaign in either of these areas.

What is going to be considered full employment? As I have said previously, full employment was considered to be four percentage unemployment when I was in high school. We have shipped a significant amount of jobs overseas and I question where we will end up if we don’t take action of taxing or tariffing goods that come into this country. In many cases, it is American businesses that have moved their manufacturing overseas to take advantage of the cheep labor costs. The end result is that the companies make a significant profit, but American workers are still unemployed. 

Stalemate in Government – (Continued)

At what point in time are we going to realize that we cannot continue on this present course.  Are we going to pay unemployment benefits, to people who have been unemployed for a significant period of time or are we going to stop these payments and then have to deal with the ruining of many people’s lives as well as the effect on the home real estate industry as we have an increased amount of foreclosures?

It is time to stop playing the game of politics and have Republicans and Democrats work together to solve our major problems.

As the world turns....Do we only get dizzy!

As the world turns

There has been so much happening since my last post. Gas prices are rising on a daily basis, it seems and the consumer in the United States doesn’t realize that they do have some power to halt the rise.  Americans believe that they should be able to drive anywhere they want at any time. If more people carpooled, there would be less traffic on the highway and cars would not been sitting on the highway, waiting for the traffic to move and wasting gas. Therefore, people at work should investigate whether other people live near them and set up carpools. It is also important that you feel safe with the people you carpool with as saving money should not override the necessity of knowing the people you travel with are reasonably normal and will not
cause you harm. It doesn’t do much good to save money if you are hurt.

Are we moving towards a recession

As people spend their money on gas, as a necessity and dine out less as well as other optional activities, is the United States headed for a depression.  As we move towards Spring, when gas prices usually rise, will people significantly cut their activities and overall spending causes more people to become unemployed. These people, while they will get unemployment benefits, may not be able to pay their mortgages which will cause further problems in the housing market.  

Cutting Government Waste and Benefits

Not to be repetitious, but I am, Democrats, Republicans and Independents, plus the Tea Party, must work together and stop politics as usual if we are to save money so vital programs do not get cut.  In addition, the entitlements given to an elected official need to be cut back until the economy improves. When a project fails, it is important that repercussions follow and if there are incompetent people running these programs they need to be removed from their position. In fact, projects need to be audited so if they start failing, steps are taken before more money is wasted!  Government, in some sense needs to run like a business. Unfortunately,  there are some differences where government spends money knowing that it will not make the money back, such as Social Security.  I’m tired of seeing advertisements about 100,000 homeless children. THERE SHOULDN’T BE ANY!! 

Full Employment

Back when I was a child, full employment was considered to be achieved when there was four percent unemployment. If manufacturing jobs remain oversees then at what level will be considered full employment and will the government ever be able to step away from paying unemployment benefits, to the end of time, without crippling the economy. What about the new graduates. When I graduated in 1975 we were in the process of a major recession. While I was able to finally get a job, it took some time and I clearly did not get the income that would have been achieved if the economy was healthy.  For those people that have student loans and can’t find a job, what does defaulting on these loans do when the government could use the money paid back to provide more student loans.

Final Notes of The Day

We are in a mess! In 1973 when we had the oil embargo there should have been a National Energy Plan. We still are messed up and any unrest in the Middle East (and I feel bad for the people that are persecuted in the Middle East) causes gas prices to rise almost guaranteeing a continued recession and maybe a depression. The word “Politics” should be considered a dirty word as it means Democrats vs. Republicans and to hell with the American people and the world as it is more important that the game of politics be played than solving the problems. Americans need to get tired of business as usual and demand that their politicians become accountable. Do we truly have a democracy?   We have backroom deals and people get rich while the average American citizen fights to live. It’s time that Americans make their politicians accountable and if they are not working for the good of the country, then they should be voted out of office. If politicians know their job is on the line, maybe they will be more responsive. We need a plan to become energy sufficient and it needs to come sooner than later. Americans, it’s more important that our country solve its problems than who wins on American Idol and any other reality type show that is currently being shown on TV.  It’s time that we become educated on the issues and I include myself when I make this statement.  Government needs to stop lying to its citizens. Is the health care bill good or bad for the country?  There is no way that it is going to save money and cost more money at the same time.  The truth needs to be told on the issues in the same way that we should have truth in advertising.

Talk to you soon. Please read and respond.

How Isolated Have I Been!!

In the Beginning

If someone just takes a look at my blog, then they will realize that I am new to blogging. I get my primary new input from the internet and TV and when I go through periods of depression, I isolate and do not get a chance to see what is going on in the world.  Given the different agendas that are portrayed by the new companies and the celebrity status that these newscasters have, It is clearly difficult for these newscasters to use the terms 'Fair and Balanced" and not turned to stone as they gaze to the heavens.

I am clearly not a religious man, but in many ways I am spiritual. I believe in "doing the right thing" and while I am not perfect, I am clearly upset when I am caught up with the disruption that is an every day part of my life and miss completely events that are catastrophic. Egypt, Iran, Jordan and Israel are an example of me missing the inequities of life. I do not care what religion you area, mistreatment of people, by government or group masquerading as

The cost of freedom

When the accord was signed back in the seventies, I wasn’t even twenty-five and clearly was caught up in trying to get a job as the nation was a major recession or what it truly in a depression. I didn’t even know that price to pay for mid east peace. The huge amounts of money given to Egypt and Jordan, the non-democratic lives these people lived in severe poverty. I’m not sure what made me ignore the plight of these people. Was it mid east peace, (2) stability in the region, (3) or not wanting to know what these people were sacrificing so they would be guaranteed not to receive the many rights that the United States said all countries deserved so I could get a job.

The Egyptian government clearly wasn’t as ruthless as other governments, but they were ruthless. The Egyptian citizen had lost the right to dream of a better life. Whether it is the basic rights for woman and children or the basic liberties we as United Stated citizens were accustomed to, people in the Middle East did not receive these rights.

There were many rights that United States citizens had achieved that were equal to those of Middle East people.  These rights were the rights to be deceived by our governments. From the time Al Gore, lost the election in Florida and there were questions as to how accurately the count was tallied, it reminded me of United States citizens going to other countries to make sure that elections weren’t stolen mismanagement of the election process. I have said it numerous times; there is the game of politics.  Where the truth is slanted and the injustices of the world are swept aside because Americans and other countries around the world deceive their citizens. In the spirit of national security or someone’s versions of the truth, then this game kills.

We support a government that is truly unjust, so we can bring peace to the Middle East, but the counties citizens retaliate after being brutalized for almost thirty years. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Once again Americans come out on the wrong side of right and wrong and the potential for period of Egypt to dislike intensely the people from the United States of America because of how America had a hand in how they were treated, can only bring more fear to America and other countries in the region.   

We give money to Pakistan, Egypt, Israel in order that they are on our side.  We give money to Afghanistan when the government is corrupt and family members have a huge hand in drug dealing throughout the world.  I’ve said it before, is Afghanistan going to be another Vietnam where we exit leaving the dead as a remembrance of our mismanagement of the war and true lack of caring for the Vietnam people.

Thought for the Day

Government, in every country has the right to be run like a business.  The waste of money cannot be tolerated and yet, unlike a business, there needs to be compassion for the citizen of the company. We need to care about people, yet manage our programs so they will achieve the best results, for all citizens and truly analyze our failures and remove people from influence if they fail. People are not perfect, but constant failure brings on apathy where failure is accepted and money that could be better spent on the care of its citizens gets misdirected for repeated failed programs.

Opening Message...And they were worried about the lies told by BP!

This is my first attempt at a blog. I hope not to come across as someone who thinks they are superior, as I clearly do not! My life has been filled with problems, such as extreme depression and cognitive issues and yet when I look at what is going on in the world, it is clear to me that we are hampered with problems. These issues extend far beyond the United States, but our country is a mess!

It is my hope that people comment, with constructive views on what I have written as maybe I am seeing something incorrectly and I need to be re-educated in the facts of life.

My life is influenced by what I watch on TV, yet it is clear that newcasts today are nothing like our newcasts in the past where the anchor told you about the events of the day. In today's newcast, the anchor not only reports on the actual events, but also reports with their own commentary which takes on the apperance of news.  In addition to being influenced by TV, I am also influenced by what I read on the internet, which also has some of the same inherent problems associated with news reporting. In addition, my sources of

Today is a new day!

The Economy

A few days ago, I heard Donald Trump speak about the American economy and our dealings with the Chinese.  While I can’t say at this point time whether I would support him as a presidential candidate, I can say that I agree with him about how to deal with the Chinese, by taxing their products and how to deal with OPEC.   I clearly would extend the taxing of products to include American businesses that have oversees operations as there is no way that America can be competitive, as far as labor prices are concerned, when compared to other countries.  It is only by taxing that we can level the playing field.

Oil Prices

In my previous blog, I mentioned the 1973 oil embargo and how we have not had an energy plan that would pave the way for our country to be self sufficient.  While mandating higher mileages for automobiles should be included, it is imperative that all major cities have safe and affordable transportation offerings.  What is the daily waste of gasoline for cars that are sitting on highways unable to move because of traffic jams? 

Americans also need to conserve until a plan of action can be put in place that eases the issues with gasoline and heating oil prices. As much as Americans value their ability to drive by themselves to work, carpooling is necessary if we are going to conserve gas.  In the case of heating oil, there clearly needs to be a continuation of incentives for upgrading heating systems, replacement windows and alternative forms of energy. 

The prices of almost all products are affected by the cost of oil prices and higher prices make it more difficult for the unemployed to pay for their energy costs while having a critical effect on the economy.

It is a shame that I find many buildings, used for business purposes closed or with a ‘For Rent’ sign.  A lot of businesses have failed in the Massachusetts area and we are just an example of a trend that has swept America.  When I was a child, imports made up seven percent of the automobile sales.  Clearly, no one will argue as to how this figure has dramatically increased, in part due to poor management of the American car companies.   It was said that Chrysler was ‘bailed out’ because over 300,000 workers would have been affected.  This figure does not include other companies that do business with Chrysler and the affect of taking these amounts of people, many of whom are probably homeowners and adding them to the unemployment roles.  What would be the affect if a high percentage of these people defaulted on their mortgages?

Republicans and Democrats

As I said yesterday, America needs solutions and it does not matter whether they come from a Democrat, Republican or the private sector.  Democrats and Republicans needed to work together and cut out the politics if America is going to rebound from our worst economic conditions since the depression. In many ways, I feel we are in a depression and clearly timely solutions need to be found. 

I also heard on the news that Newt Gingrich was talking about repeal of the health care law.  It was going to be a targeted approach where Democratic senators would be placed in the spotlight so if they didn’t vote for repeal, then they would potentially be affected in the 2012 elections. 

The amount of money spent on getting a health care law, that is needed in some form and yet the game of politics will be played in hopes of the law’s repeal.  Republicans should have been part of the initial health care law and if we are going to have two years of Republicans vs. Democrats, then America will be the loser.

Basic Rights

I’m sure that over time I will add to this list, but Americans should have the rights of:

1.  Affordable Health Care where technological advances in medicine are available to all U.S. citizens whether it is through company insurance or government.  This right should also include mental health benefits!

2.   A safe city or town that has an effective police and fire department that is sized correctly to adequately meet the city or town’s needs. 

3.   Safe and reasonable priced public transportation in those areas where required to stop  the wasting of gasoline caused by traffic jams.

4.   An honest federal government.  We get upset about how BP lied to the American public, but Democrats and Republicans have lied to the American people and outrage should  be shown by voting the individual from power not from attacking these individuals with  weapons.  The George Bush Whitehouse clearly showed that it was full of lies and  backroom deals, just by looking at the reasons for invading Iraq.  This federal  government is no different from other Democratic federal governments and Americans must hold the government accountable. Is it lack of caring that causes less people to vote  for elected officials that vote for American Idol?  Is it a feeling that any action to hold  the government accountable will be doomed to failure that has more people voting for American Idol?

More rights will follow!

911 Attitude

One of the effects of the 911 tragedy is that for a period of time, Americans bonded and people felt the sadness of the time. The plain American, even those that did not have someone die in the tragedy, could identify with the feeling of those individuals that had loses and also could identify with the feeling of not being safe in our own country. It was only when government turned this bonding into total fear that any chance for public good, was lost.

America needs to work with it allies to solve the issue of terrorism or the value of the United Nations and the National Security council is not worth the effect. We cannot pay the major price for this war in terms of dollars and personnel.  In addition, the countries we are helping must be held to task so they are not corrupt. American dollars cannot fund corrupt governments and the price for American assistance must be a change of these governments so they are accountable in their actions and in their use of American money.

If changes are not made, then Americans will leave these countries and we will have another Vietnam on our hands where the enemies invaded after we departed resulting in a waste of human (American) lives and money.

Final Thought for The Day

In the fight for equality, what have we lost? For some reason the Prayer of Allegiance was found to be counter to the American way as was prayer of any kind in the schools.  While I am not religious, I believe that children should be exposed to religion, including the true Muslim way, in hopes of clearing up any misconceptions and allowing our children to realize that there is a higher power that is beyond individuals and governments that created the planets, stars, our Earth and that this higher power, for whatever religion the person has chosen, calls on us to treat each other fairly.

Once the Supreme Court ruled that many of the basic happenings of the fifties and before such as prayer in school and our Pledge of Allegiance violated some groups basic rights, we have gone downhill.  Clearly, segregation should have been made illegal as again, we are all on this earth together and living in the United States means that we have, by design, many cultures that affect us.  It is time these groups of people accept the other cultures and work for the general good of America.

Maybe I will be a little less Invisible with my first blog entry

Purpose

The reason for the creation of this blog is to allow me to exchange information with people on my views and to gain an understanding of views that are different from mine. I clearly do not want to come across as superior as I have made numerous mistakes in my life. I also have had to deal with unfortunate medical illnesses, but it is amazing that even with my problems that affect my thinking, that I am able to see problems in how our government is run and its interaction with the people of this country and the world.

As a Child

When I was a child, I would look out into the upstairs hallway and I could see my parents having the television turned on and they were watching the news.  Clearly, I could not understand why someone would want to watch someone on television telling you about bad events happening to other people.  There were the anchorman standards of the time such as Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, Chet Huntley, Ted Koppel, and Harry Reasoner. I clearly mean no harm by missing any of the anchorman’s names, but it was a long time ago.

When I would watch the news, it seemed to me that the purpose of the anchorman was to provide the listener with the information pertaining to the events of the day.  As distinguished as these newscasters were, they did not spend time attempting to build their image beyond being a reliable news source. It was much different t from today where new anchorpersons spend a significant amount of time hyping their personalities and clearly go beyond the delivery of news to the providing of commentary and even a stadium event which did little to provide news coverage and spent more time embellishing the newscaster and his views.

I happen to grow up at a time where things were a lot simpler.  We were not ruled by technology and my generation was supposedly the generation of peace in the world. We were supposed to have a different way and we demonstrated against (I did not) the Vietnam War and we were supposed to be the peace generation. 

I grew up in a political atmosphere of Democrat versus Republican and saw the spectacles of the presidential nomination events. It was politics where at each election, each party would tell you the deficiencies of the other political party and what their party would do for you.   I was too young to understand, but the reality of the situation was that politics and the whole political process was a way that Americans would be governed that was inefficient and wasteful.  It seemed that the most important point was for the political parties representative to be elected and a wide variety of promises would be made, the defects of the other candidate would be constantly brought to the attention of the American people, but the reality of the situation was that people or political parties would spend an enormous amount of money to be elected and part of the money used was from organizations or businesses that had a political agenda.  Lost in the election process and even the post election time, were the needs of the people.

When I was young, our enemies were identified and it seemed to be a case where each side didn’t use the nuclear weapon as they were both aware that repercussions would occur and they didn’t want to deal with a nuclear war affecting their country.  In today’s world, we have many enemies that do not seem to care whether they are attacked or die.  The United States, the supposed savior to the world, has spent numerous dollars to fight wars where we have little buy in from other countries. The end result is that we have spent an enormous amount of money and there is a question whether Afghanistan will end up being another Vietnam where we exited and opposing forces ran the country. How can we spend significant dollars helping a corrupt government which has relatives selling high quantities of drugs?

The Biggest Waste

We are in a major recession where people need to rely on the government for continuation of unemployment benefits otherwise we will have a greater amount of foreclosures which will affect the housing market.  The government has numerous programs that fail and then money is given again to start up a new effort that hopefully will not fail.  Yet as desperate as we are, it is still Republican vs. Democrat and, to me politics has become a dirty word that ignores the plight of Americans.  We are clearly at a point where all the perks that are given to our representatives should be stopped until the economy is stable.  

In a time where American companies send jobs oversees and we cannot compete in the labor market, the government doesn’t take into account this situation and take appropriate action. When I was a child, full employment was considered to be when we were at 4 percent unemployment.  Now, with all the jobs sent oversees, what would be considered full employment? 

The biggest saying, when I was in high school was “What is good for General Motors is good for the country”.  GM has fallen, due in part to poor management and deafness to the needs and wants of the people.   In its place, you have Wal-Mart as one of the largest employers and there have been documented cases as to how this company treats its suppliers and employees. 

What America Accepts

I was saddened when I saw on the news the events that occurred in Arizona.  The loss of life of six people including a nine year old child was terrible. I was also upset that the state of mind of this individual was known for some time and nothing was done to get this person the help they needed, even if the person didn’t want the help.  I suffer from mental issues and I clearly am not like that individual, but I am amazed as to the double standard in treatment that occurs when someone has a mental issue as opposed to cancer or some other recognized disease where significant treatment is provided.

In Boston, some time ago, we had a killing where adults and a very young child (much younger than nine) occurred.  The tragedy of these killings is in no way less than the tragedy of the killings in Arizona, but budget cuts force reductions in police and far departments instead of cuts to wasteful programs and accountability for the management of other government programs so, like any business, there is a plan put together with measurable goals and if a program fails, then it is analyzed and the appropriate people are not left to run the program again where it is most likely to have the same result occur.  All killings are a tragedy!

I am tired of Republican vs. Democrat or Tea Party!  In one race in California you had someone spend 146 million of their own money to be elected.  Thankfully, in this case, the election wasn’t for sale. I clearly don’t care whether a Republican or Democrat gets elected as long as we get results. I am amazed at the state of Massachusetts as we are in a deep financial bind yet no one takes into account the amount of money that the government has made on the lotteries. While we are led to believe that lottery money is spread to cities and towns, there have been significant cuts, due to the economy and most likely wasteful spending. 

It is time for the American people to not accept political as usual.  It is time for the government to bring some sense of control to the energy companies as we cannot live with gas prices rising at an unrealistic rate which affects almost everything that is produced and transported.  In addition, these increased energy costs affect the profitability of companies and their ability to hire new workers.

The View From the Invisible Man

As a result of my depression, I am in many ways invisible in this world. I do not know a lot of people and therefore my view are kept to myself.  If I can see these problems, then I believe most Americans can see that the problems occur. We have less people voting in political races that we do for American Idol as Americans have given up. They expect politics as usual and the most recent political anger was not from someone reacting to our current situation, but from an individual affected by medical problems.  It is time, at least from a political standpoint, for Americans and the political powers to not be invisible to the needs of this country.

I will write again soon.