It doesn’t matter what your party affiliation is, you have to be disgusted by what’s going on, don’t you?

I’m concerned for our county, and for my kids future, and the fact that there’s no way we can ever possibly hope to get out of debt.

If we keep going on this course, we’re going to end up with the government owning or controlling absolutely everything about our county and economy.

This week Chairmen Sander Levin and Max Baucus made a joint decision to proceed with a bill trying to push through another 190 Billion is spending, supposedly to extend unemployment benefits, (which I’m all for), but only 60 billion of that is going to that actual cause.

Where’s the rest going? Tax cuts (for property owners that don’t itemize on their tax forms – huh?!?) and the rest is spending on infrastructure.

Don’t you think this is a gamble given the continued political uncertainty in the Senate?

I’m fed up, and this video shows why…

One of the kids, (his parents being very outspoken liberals, and even he seems happy to spout about “stupid Republicans”) said he wanted to be President some day, and his parents were both standing right there.

I asked the kid, ‘If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?’

He said, ‘I’d give food and shelter to all of the homeless people.’ and I could tell that Mom and Dad were pretty thrilled with that answer.

‘Wow… thats a pretty lofty goal, but you don’t have to wait
until you’re President to do that.

You guys could all come over to my house and clean up my yard, pull weeds, and mow the lawn, and do a bunck of stuff. Then I’ll pay you $20 each, and you can go to the grocery store where the homeless guys hang
out, and give them the money to use toward food and a place to live.”

The kid thought about it barely a split second, and asked, ‘Why don’t the homeless people come over and do the work, and you can just pay them the $20?’

I said, ‘that’s a pretty good question!’ and just looked at the parents to fill him in…

His parents no longer come in to the field to practice, and just drop him off in the parking lot.

I wonder why?

It’s gritty and personal. The bloggers are aid workers for the UN World Food Programme on the field, who often are working against the clock on their laptop’s battery’s life to edit and post their video blog posts. It looks at their everyday experiences, without the confusion of politics or media.

A great deal of the World Food Programmes work is possible thanks to US aid

Here’s a sneak preview:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This was an article from the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on “How Would You Fix the
Economy?” I thought this was the BEST idea. I think this guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President,

Patriotic retirement:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force; pay them $1 million apiece severance with
three stipulations:

1) They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings – Unemployment fixed.

2) They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars
ordered – Auto Industry fixed.

3) They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage – Housing Crisis fixed.

All National financial problems fixed.

But then I did the math, and 40 million people times a million  dollars comes to 40 trillion dollars! Jeez, wake up people!

I’m far from ‘rich” yet by the time I add up all my state, local and federal taxes paid, I’m OVER 50%! That’s  absolutely insane, and it’s no wonder there are so many people trying to defraud the tax system. there’s “fair”, and there’s “unfair”  and it’s time to raise the bar on what we consider to be “rich”.

The TOP  tax bracket should NOT be such a low amount, (high 300k under bush, lowering again with Obama) but instead should continue to another level at 500k,  then 2 million, then 5 million, and maybe even higher.

How can we justify setting it so low?  look at the MAXIMUMS for a married couple filing jointly over the past 8 years -

What the HELL is Obama accomplishing by intending to go back to the pre-Bush rates?  How can this possibly help (or motivate) anyone to be successful?

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget.  The president does.

You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.  The House of representatives does.

You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices, 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress.   In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.  They have no legal authority.  They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.  I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash.
The politician has the power to accept or reject it.  No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault.   They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.  No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.  The president can only propose a budget.  He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.  Who is the speaker of the House?  Nancy Pelosi.  She is the leader of the majority party.
She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want.  If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility.  I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.  When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red ..

If the Army & Marines are in  IRAQ , it’s because they want them in IRAQ.

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.  Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.  Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Reportedly, this was written by Charlie Reese, a former columnist for the Orlando Sentinal. and it ended up in my in-box.

As a supplier for the Big 3 this man received a letter from the President of GM North America requesting support for the bail out program.

His response is classic, and has to make you proud of a local guy who tells it like it is…

First, this is the letter he got from GM to which his subsequent response is directed:

Dear Employees and Suppliers,

Troy Clarke – President
General Motors North America

Then, this is the response from: Gregory Knox, President of Knox Machinery Company Franklin , Ohio

Gentlemen:

In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a bailout for the Big Three automakers please consider the following, and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clark, President of General Motors North America.

Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping this nation, awaiting our new “messiah”, Pres-elect Obama, to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep “living the dream”. Believe me folks, The dream is over!

This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded “laborers” without paying the price for these atrocities. This dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our products for ever and ever.

Don’t even think about telling me I’m wrong. Don’t accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM’s throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years and what I’ve seen over those years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.

Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states: “There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our government, and especially via the news media, that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management which it certainly is not.”

You’re right Mr. Clarke, it’s not JUST management.

How about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour work week?

How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics for putting out too many parts on a shift and for being too productive? (We certainly must not expose those lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?)

Do you folks really not know about this stuff?!? How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke’s sad plea: “over the last few years, we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors.” What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them?

The K-car vs. the Accord?

The Pinto vs. the Civic?!?

Do I need to go on? What a joke!

We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades. It’s time to pay for your sins, Detroit .

I attended an economic summit last week where brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research , surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of “bailout money”.

“Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems,” but despite what people like politicians and corporate magnates would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day. and the following very important thing would happen.. . where there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop up. That is how a free market system works. It does work if we would only let it work.”

But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right and that capitalism doesn’t work – that we need the government to step in and “save us”.

Save us my ass, Hell – we’re nationalizing, and unfortunately too many of our once fine nation’s citizens don’t even have a clue that this is what is really happening. But, they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams. Yeah – THAT’S really important, isn’t it.

Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the “competition” has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this country? How can that be??? Let’s see. Fuel efficient. Listening to customers. Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul.

Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards Deming four decades ago when he taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations could increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs. Ever increased productivity through quality and intelligent planning. Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like “the enemy”. Efficient front and back offices. Non union environment.

Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn’t be telling anyone anything they really don’t already know down deep in their hearts.

I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into – my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did when I was their age.

I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) – I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work through it. Radical concept, huh?

Am I there for them in the wings? Of course – but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults.

I don’t want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins. Bad news, people – it’s coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn’t have a magic wand big enough to “make it all go away.”

I laughed as I heard Obama “reeling it back in” almost immediately after the final vote count was tallied. “we really might not do it in a year or in four.” Where the Hell was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for office?

Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks . That house in Florida really isn’t worth $750,000. People who jump across a border really don’t deserve free health care benefits. That job driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn’t worth $85,000 a year.

We really shouldn’t allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe.

That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn’t be living in that $485,000 home. Let the market correct itself folks – it will.

Yes it will be painful, but it’s gonna’ be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it has, doesn’t live beyond its means, gets back to basics and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world. A return to Christian principles, common sense and decency would also be beneficial!

Sorry – don’t cut my head off, I’m just the messenger sharing with you the “bad news”. I hope you take it to heart.

Gregory J. Knox, President

Knox Machinery, Inc. Franklin , Ohio 45005

]]> http://www.politicalkoolaid.com/weblog/politics/knox-letter-gm-bailout/feed/ 0 http://www.politicalkoolaid.com/weblog/economy/democrats-wasting-money/ http://www.politicalkoolaid.com/weblog/economy/democrats-wasting-money/#comments Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:44:50 +0000 Mr. Koolaid http://www.politicalkoolaid.com/weblog/?p=163 This came to me by email, and i thought it was interesting enough to put here…

It’s an exciting new program that I will attempt to explain to you using the Q & A format:

Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. Only a smidgen.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition
TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn’t that stimulating the economy of China?
A. Shut up.

Below are some tips on how to best help the U.S. economy by spending your stimulus check:

• If you spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.
• If you spend it on gasoline, it will go to the Arabs.
• If you purchase a computer, it will go to India.
• If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Honduras,
• and Guatemala (unless you buy organic).
• If you buy a car, it will go to Japan.
• If you purchase useless crap, it will go to Taiwan.
• If you pay your credit cards off, it will go to bank management bonuses,and they will hide it offshore.
• Same with stock investment.

Instead, you can keep the money in America by spending it at yard sales, going to a baseball game, or spending it on prostitutes, beer and wine (domestic ONLY), or tattoos, since those are about the only “All American” businesses still operating in the U.S.

All kidding aside though, what’s it going to stimulate, and how? Anyone got any specifics, and can point out where it’d not just a boondoggle of pork barrel spending? I’m pretty disappointed…

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order; American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team’s management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the ‘Rowing Team Quality First Program,’ with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers.

There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to ‘equal the competition’ and some of the resultant savings were channelled into morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid-off one rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and cancelled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.

The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles,) so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year’s racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, the End.

Here’s something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can’t make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter’s results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses.

IF THIS WEREN’T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY!

The New Bailout Strategy:
Take the $700 Billion and give it to the PUBLIC. Think about it – that comes to about $400,000 to each taxpayer then take out taxes from that which comes out to about $250,000 (net) per taxpayer.

This will give a huge influx of cash to both the public and the government. The public can then pay off their debts, such as home mortgages, credit cards, small business loans, car loans, etc. along with purchasing power.

Why give the money back to the cooperation’s that helped get us here in the first place? Why not invest in the “people” that want to see change?

The public will let you know where they would like to spend their money along with getting themselves out of debt. The money could also help fund new small business start-ups which essentially the backbone of this great country.

Yesterday on my way to lunch, I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read, “Vote Obama – I need the money.” I laughed.

Once in the restaurant, my server had on an “Obama 08″ button. Again, I laughed because he had given away his political preference – just imagine the coincidence.  When the bill came, I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the “Obama Redistribution of Wealth” concept.

He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in “need” – I pointed to the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.  I went outside, gave the homeless guy $5, and told him to thank the server inside, as I’d decided that he “needed” the money more. The homeless guy was very grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment, I realized that the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn, even though the actual recipient “needed” the money more.  I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Just remember, “change” is not always positive and purposeful ambiguity very rarely masks something good. The words “need” and “fair” are very subjective. Do you really want someone else deciding how much of your hard earned money it is “fair” to give to those who haven’t earned it but are deemed in more “need?” Me neither. It takes a lot of time and effort to earn something but only takes ten minutes at the polls to steal it. How is that “fair?”

Anyway, when it came time to leave, our check was almost $14, so I left her just two dollars as a tip, and a note that said I was giving her other dollar to the homeless guy outside with the dog and the shopping cart full of cans.

I have to admit I felt pretty good giving this guy a dollar. He clearly needed it worse than she did, and he was very appreciative.

In the past I would have tipped 20% and likely not have given the homeless guy anything, but since the dollar came out of her pocket and not mine,  I think I understand it all much more clearly now, and I’m starting to look forward to an Obama presidency.

Dear Fellow Business Owners:

As a Business owner who employs 30 people, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barack Obama, will be our next President, and that my Taxes and Fees, will go up in a BIG way.

To compensate for these increases, I figure, that the Customer, will have to see an increase in my fees to them of about, 8%. I will also have to lay off 6 of my employees.

This really bothered me as I believe we are family,here and didn’t know how to choose who will have to go. So, this is what I did.

I strolled thru the parking lot and found, 8 Obama bumper stickers on my employees cars. I have decided these folks will be the first to be laid off.

I can’t think of another fair way to approach this problem. If you have a better idea, let me know. I am sending this letter to all Business owners that I know.

Sincerely,
Ward
JOOA Corp.