Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

"Obama's hope for bipartisan support might be giving way to Democrats on Capitol Hill who are fed up with tax cuts."

in other words dems aren't sufficiently sated on poached partisanship and still hungry for grilled getback.

vengence is mine saith the lord

Romans 12:19 (King James Version)

19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Hellooooo....! Anyone here today?

Are you all watching MoJo vociferously defend waterboarding and exportation of political prisoners for the express purpose torturing them?

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/loose-change.html#comment-188666
"I am always regretful when I see my long posts"

Bethy
Please don't feel regretful.I enjoy reading your posts ever so much and i hope you wont intentionally cut them short. If anyone finds the length of a post offensive they always have the option of scrolling past them.This is a blog,post what you like in a manner that suits you.

"From 12 January, visitors from countries which do not need visas will need to fill in an electronic form at least 72 hours before they travel.

Those who have not registered risk being detained and sent back home.....
The new online registration scheme replaces the green I-94 forms that people on short term visits to the US had to fill in on the flight and hand to customs on arrival."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7822794.stm

give us your rich, your huddled tourists yearning to be free; but be sure they give us 72 hrs notice electronically on forms xyz ... heck, just send us the money they meant to spend.

"in other words dems aren't sufficiently sated on poached partisanship and still hungry for grilled getback."

ROFL -- pat -- I can always count on you to make me smile in the morning! You are better than strong coffee!

"I hate the idea of not explaining myself well or completely." Bethy@3:18

Hah! I have exactly the opposite problem. I consider so many things as being intuitively obvious that I don't bother with the predicates--concentrating instead on the nuances.

Yeah, and then MoJo shut down the McCain-was-against-it defense. (He plays devil's advocate a lot, though.) On the other hand, if they were talking about Nazi's & WWII, would it be any different? This is a different kind of war; you can't tell who is involved or how involved they are. Are rules of engagement now just a nice idea?

As for the tax cuts, I think that putting money into green & infrastructure jobs will help the local economies and the people & businesses in those communities. Tax cuts for business-owners who are nervous about the future will not create more jobs from tax cuts; they will just store it away for their own futures. If you create jobs, you create consumers and that, in turn, will create the demand & capital needed to create more jobs. (Also, making sure that business hire people in the US legally will also help; the money will be less likely to be wired out of the country to keep our economy moving.) The Republicans are gonna have a hard time not trickling down, but in this financial environment, that is the thing that will work the best.

What sacrafices is Obama talking about? Taking care of our own needs due to cuts in services? That doesn't sound very Dem, but I can't imagine what else he means.

I think when he talks about "sacrifices" he is buying time. He knows we are in the sh!t house.

Well, I knew he wasn't the cure-all that the Obamaniacs thought he was from the start, but still...
we've gotta try something new & I think he has good instincts.

So "sacrafice" is just a euphamism for don't-get-your-hopes-up? Wouldn't it be better to give us specifics and tell us how our sacrafices are going to make a positive difference?

Negative Nellie-isms won't help consumer confidence.

" He knows we are in the sh!t house."

patsi, and that there aren't enough pages left in the old sears-roebuck catalogue. he knows it's going to get messy.

flatus, sorry i should have be more nuanced, less graphic

be=been

"but still...
we've gotta try something new & I think he has good instincts."

Agree completely.

patd -- I always laugh when people get upset by words -- unless they are racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. I remember when Chet Atkins was working on some Grammy show with Metalica. They walked out during rehearsal shouting the f-word over and over. Chet didn't cringe at all. He smiled and said, "Hmm. I usually save that word for emergencies."

Morn'n all....
Middle roader keeps moving the RIGHT direction -President Obama is learning that Tax cuts and incentives do provide jobs - they however take time.

Now wana be President Nancy P is the one that cannot understand.

Obama also knows the need to recover from the Dodds, Frank housing crisis that started the whole thing - yes Pres Bush was complacent - And Public Works is a direct path - however the process is not immediate.
It will however send a positive signal for companies to gear up - with those tax incentives - and get ready to go back to work - Symbiotic

patsi, i like chet's point. always wondered what words are left for the folks whose every sentence and daily conversations are peppered with explicit and emphatic words. what do they say for emphasis?

Flatus...are you still around? Miss Maria was chatting to me about her grandpa (my ex, and still friend) so I added him to ly little photo page. You can see why the CIA thought he might be useful in the Middle East...

http://practicallyperfectpatsi.wordpress.com/

"Every 15 minutes someone in the United States learns that a loved one has died in a traffic crash. Every day 119 people die on American roads and highways — more than 40,000 each year." [Highway Death Toll Stuck in Neutral: Efforts under way to put the brakes on crash fatalities By Vivian Blackwell]

just wanted to add these numbers to the one's posted last night by champ:

"Fatalities from rockets in Israel/Palestine in 7 YEARS: 25
Palestinian fatalities in Gaza just TODAY: 33
Murders in Philadelphia 2007: 392"

Patd

At least Auto accident deaths have been trending down. Violence in the middle east is going the other way.

Also striking matches while surrounded by buckets of gasoline may not be the best idea.

Jack

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188683

Patsi,

I think Chet and I would get along. The word doesn't disturb me as much as someone's lack of ability to play more than one note.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/loose-change.html#comment-188563

Tony,
Those cast pans are such a good way to cook. I occasionally use a cast iron skillet, but had forgotten about those roast pans from years ago, until you you mentioned it. I'll have to take a look online, because I can't remember seeing one anywhere in a long time. How great that you got your moms, along with all the good memories that came with it. That meal sounded so good.
....................

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188672

Bethy, Ditto on what Tony said this morning. I love reading your posts. 'Please' don't change a thing.

Patsi, nice pic. Yes he could be an observer in the ME, but things are so tribal, he would be discovered to be an interloper if he tried to fit into a particular group.

Looking at the shop names in the picture from Vietnam made me think of the name for ladies beauty shops: cat dung. Funny how some trivia persists.

A friend worked in the embassy. His wife was well-to-do from running a chain of shops speciallizing in merkins. She and my friend were among the last to leave Saigon by chopper. They spent a couple of months in Guam then back to the States.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188684

Ping

This didn't start with Dobbs/Franks. They are one small piece in a huge pie to guilty suspects. For the past 30 + years there has been a steady attack on the middle class with all the goodies going to either the top or bottom in some form while all the costs got shifted to the middle while their sources of income were steadily leached overseas by those so greedy they couldn't see beyond the next quarter.

Virtually everything created from Roosevelt through Kennedy to bolster the broad middle and provide a gateway for the most capable of those on the bottom to join their ranks was undone from Johnson through Bush. It just picked up steam and became globally evident under Bush.

The New Politics: Barack Obama, Party of One
"He’s the new JFK, the new FDR, the new Lincoln, the new (albeit inverted) Reagan. And the attempts to pinpoint Obama along the ideological spectrum have been similarly unrelenting. The right looks at his economic-stimulus plans and spies an old-school, big-government liberal. The left looks at the tax cuts in that same plan, his hawkish foreign-policy appointments and decidedly nonprogressive economic ones, and his invocation invitation to Rick Warren, and wonders, “Hey, was this guy really serious about all that centrist talk during the campaign? We thought he was only kidding, that he was one of us all along!

Obama is difficult to pigeonhole not simply because he’s new but because of the newness of the moment that he—and we—inhabit

Obama’s extraordinary degree of political security frees him from kowtowing to either the left or the right. He can redefine the party on his own terms."
http://nymag.com/news/features/all-new/53380/

"Yes he could be an observer in the ME, but things are so tribal, he would be discovered to be an interloper if he tried to fit into a particular group."

Oh yes. He could have moved easily in some cultures -- Cairo, for example....but once you get tribal. Forget it.

"Obama’s extraordinary degree of political security frees him from kowtowing to either the left or the right. He can redefine the party on his own terms"

That's fine so long as he remembers to genuflect to seniors and enlisted military retirees.

Chloe

I'm not any more comfortable with a cafeteria style centrist then I am with the current, this list of issues make you a ( conservative/liberal) politics. Any more Conservatives are not conservative and Liberals are no longer liberal. Picking from a list on both sides doesn't make you a centrist imo.
That said I haven't a clue if Obama is going to govern in a moderate way or bounce back and forth between lists.

Jack

Rez

lol

That is so 2008,
it's a new year and the congress critters are feeling all fiesty.
What you wanna bet that the Demcrats stand up to Obama more than they did Bush.

Obama is going to have to play a little hard ball with those critters and I suspect he has the cheif of staff that can help him do just that.

Jack

"... by Nov. 4, the strongest party in the U.S. was no longer the Republican Party or the Democratic Party; it was the Obama Party."

And that, Rez, is more than a little troubling. I don't want one person dictating to en entire political party. It's so George Bush.

"Picking from a list on both sides doesn't make you a centrist imo. "

Jack, Well said. I hadn't actually thought of it that way, but do agree with you. Like I always say, I think the answer is 'always' some where in the middle.

I'm glad that Rez pointed out that 'Obama Party' statement. Like Patsi, I don't like the idea of one person dictating to en entire political party, but I also think of it as a "wait and see". It depends on what he does with all that power. He does have a lot of good people around him and doesn't seem afraid of others ideas. At this point, I trust him for some reason.

Rez

I saw it,
thats why I returned in kind.

\/ peace

Jack

One thing I left out, is that I think the outcome all depends on Obama's motive. I feel that his motive at this time is for the 'good of the people'. When these politicians get into the mindset of 'what's in it for me', that's what always gets us in trouble.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188693

Jamie - Agree it did not start with Dodd's and Franks....and they are not alone as you so well state.

However they are clearly guilty of pushing the limits and breaking the back... they light the match with failed policy and lack of fiscal responsibility.

Now why focus on them today …… As they are part of the last group in DC that MUST GO. To watch their arrogance and dumping on others is just sick – like they had nothing to do – they have no accountability. They are a danger.

BHO – as a Junior Senator was on their coattails but I see now he is smart enough to have learned and look for BHO to continue his separation.

"the gradual erosion of “whiteness” as the touchstone of what it means to be American."

I can't think of anything but good coming of that. It sure is nice to think of everyone being equal, regardless of what they look like or who they are.

Rez

I think it depends on what you call whiteness.

A great many call the great American suburban culture white if so then all ethnics in suburbia will become "white"

I'll give it a read later thanks for the link.

Jack

Did anyone see 60 Min. ?
The story about speculators driving oil prices ?
J.P. Morgan the world's largest oil company.

One bit of good news, this is the last week of George W. Bush's presidency, and there he was this morning. The same whiny little rich kid punk he's always been.

rez, jules? a philosophizing hitman? what must you think of me.
actually, this morning after watching a particularly irritating press conference, i'm more inclined to walter sobchak from the big lebowski
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIE_V4SWX1Q

ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2009) — New research indicates that the ocean could rise in the next 100 years to a meter higher than the current sea level – which is three times higher than predictions from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090108101629.htm

"The same whiny little rich kid punk he's always been."

and always will be....

CBob, Didn't catch 60 Minutes, but here's a write up on it.

Did Speculation Fuel Oil Price Swings?
60 Minutes: Speculation Affected Oil Price Swings More Than Supply And Demand
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/08/60minutes/main4707770.shtml

"the gradual erosion of “whiteness” as the touchstone of what it means to be American"

That's been coming for a long time, Rez. And I think it is a good thing. However, the only time I had a black friend damn near punch me was when I said just that to a guy who is a black separatist. OMG. He went nuts. Hated the whole concept of a tan-world.

Cbob

They could have just as easily pointed to the price of wheat or any other commodities.

In the past 30 years we have went from an auction setting commodities to futures and speculators setting the price.
There is no willing buyer or willing seller of a commodity that sets the price instead the price is set by speculators buying and selling pieces of paper that have a name only link to the commodities.
It is why as a farmer, when the government did its yearly agriculture census I always lied. It didn't benefit me only the speculators.

Jack

"The same whiny little rich kid punk he's always been. "

Add bully to that, and you've nailed "W" perfectly, C-Bob.

rez, and as far as philosophying goes, today i have to agree with my friend ben rumson... another one of my fave characters... and cbob this one's for you too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPVBnfppFwk&feature=related

"God Knows Why"

Pat, that video is priceless! I sure miss Lee Marvin.

" It's impossible to tell exactly who was buying and selling all those oil contracts because most of the trading is now conducted in secret, with no public scrutiny or government oversight. Over time, the big Wall Street banks were allowed to buy and sell as many oil contracts as they wanted for their clients, circumventing regulations intended to limit speculation. And in 2000, Congress effectively deregulated the futures market, granting exemptions for complicated derivative investments called oil swaps, as well as electronic trading on private exchanges.

"Who was responsible for deregulating the oil future market?" Kroft asked Michael Greenberger.

"You'd have to say Enron," he replied. "This was something they desperately wanted, and they got."

Greenberger, who wanted more regulation while he was at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, not less, says it all happened when Enron was the seventh largest corporation in the United States. "This was when Enron was riding high. And what Enron wanted, Enron got."

Asked why they wanted a deregulated market in oil futures, Greenberger said, "Because they wanted to establish their own little energy futures exchange through computerized trading. They knew that if they could get this trading engine established without the controls that had been placed on speculators, they would have the ability to drive the price of energy products in any way they wanted to take it."

"When Enron failed, we learned that Enron, and its conspirators who used their trading engine, were able to drive the price of electricity up, some say, by as much as 300 percent on the West Coast," he added.

"Is the same thing going on right now in the oil business?" Kroft asked.

"Every Enron trader, who knew how to do these manipulations, became the most valuable employee on Wall Street," Greenberger said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/08/60minutes/main4707770_page3.shtml

------------------------------
8 years ago next week, George W. Bush flew to Washington on a Enron Jet.

"What sacrafices is Obama talking about? Taking care of our own needs due to cuts in services? That doesn't sound very Dem, but I can't imagine what else he means."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188676

"So "sacrafice" is just a euphamism for don't-get-your-hopes-up? Wouldn't it be better to give us specifics and tell us how our sacrafices are going to make a positive difference?"

Blue,

I missed your posts for some reason. They're good ones too. Do you think maybe he'll get more specific soon? That he's just preparing us for a letdown. I liked the hope and optimism a lot better.

Paint Your Wagon "A Whole New World"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG12WbWY8pY&feature=related

" After you Columbus "

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188723

CBob, I found some of the comments as interesting as the story.

"Not for nothing but where the hell was 60 Minutes and this "earth shattering" story when the country was paying $60 bucks for a tank of gas?" "......I spent 6yrs in the gasoline marketing business analyzing supply/demand data and world futures markets. The recent run-up in prices has nothing to do with supply/demand"...." "...This country is such a joke, the media and government let them get away with it, and went out of their way to ignore it and let it happen. Government actually went out of its way and made legislation so that the fraud could happen, and then stood by for years, while the agenda played out."

Ha Jack! You made that easy. And it makes sense! Maybe we're over complicating.

Pirate News -

The body of a Somali pirate who reportedly drowned soon after receiving a huge ransom has washed ashore with $153,000 in cash, his uncle says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7824353.stm

How do you pay a pirate's ransom?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7752813.stm

Is anyone else having problems with Typekey kicking them out and requiring you to log in again? It's happened to me three times in the last week

Jamie

That is just standard for me every other day I need to login. It is when it starts to do the every other post that I start to get irritated.

Jack

Me too Jamie .... an ongoing annoyance.

later .... out into the cruel world.

Jamie,
I have had to log in much more frequently this time around. I keep forgetting the password so it takes me a little longer than most people to get back in. It always makes me anxious.

Well I'm going to make sure that I always check the "Remember personal info?" box to see if that prevents it.

Chloe,
The problem with the " hope and optimism" stuff is that the optimism was based solely on hope....there was no substance behind it.....

We will get exactly what we deserve. We elected PEO based on no details whatsoever. I don't see how we can expect any now. There is going to be one big detail shortly.....when we see how much money we are going to have to borrow from China and Russia everyone is going to have a cow.....we're about to dig a hole so deep we have no chance of getting out of it.

mornin',

Anything hap'nin'? I've been tied up with work and playoff games (with a little movie stuff wedged in) and haven't paid much attention over the past 4 days. (Actually, it's been refreshing). Bush still planning to leave the office of POTUS in a week or so? Cheney leaving DC for an undisclosed location? Obama's BC ever show up? Coleman still planning to hold Franken hostage for a couple of months? Burris rented new digs yet? So much to consider - so l ittle time.

Based on the current US debt each and every citizen currently owes $35,000. It's likely that after this extended stimulus package it will approach $100,000.
This is all before Social security defaults......

I'm trying to figure out a way to explain to my school age kids why they are being sold into indentured servitude.

Pogo....
I haven't paid attention for about 4 days either..... been away to Sunday River Maine on a ski trip..... Rick said the skiing was fantastic.....
I spent the time playing lots of cribbage games, watching football and drinking as many pomegranate margaritas as I possibly could.....

I did hear part of Bush's press conference..... you hit the nail on the head as usual, CBob....

Bethy.... I love your long posts.....
haven't read this weekend's thread..... don't know if I have time...... but I want you to know I always enjoy your posts....

I agree, Obama was always in soft-focus, which is why I was a Hil'ry supporter. But now that he's been elected, where's all the positivity gone? The new FDR? Heck, he's starting to sound like the new Jimmy Carter. Let's hope his innauguaration speech isn't an ode to malaise.

Personally, I wish that people would realize that gov't stimulus plans and multi-trillion $ bailouts aren't the answer.

I personally am ready to invest a sizeable amount of money in 2 new ventures. The only reason that I'm going slow for now is the inability to foresee what crazy initiative is going to come out of Washington and how I'm going to need to respond to it......so I wait. I know that a sizeable number of companies are doing the same.

Jax

social security is not going to default. It will just get a little thin while the baby boomers work their way through. Of course that is if we don't have the Republicans try to fix it. If that happens then you are right.

Mean while if something is not done about the current crises your children have no future. That has become consenses on both the right and left.

Jack

"I'm trying to figure out a way to explain to my school age kids why they are being sold into indentured servitude"

Tell them this!.

This is what History will show about the Buck Does Not Stop Here President Bush

he economy was fine, it was 9-11 and the subsequent tech bust that started the downward spiral. Add to that an expensive war/conflict without raising taxes, record spending while giving massive tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations( my faorite---in this catagory is Pres Cheney's ---Enron---Blackwater etc---all co's owned by enron-----Oh and Madoff-----no regulations---cheney took the all down), and a balanced budget with a surplus turns into a record budget deficit, and a record 9.4 trillion in national debt and counting. All this while becoming China's bitch. All this while borrowing record amounts from Mexico, China, and India just to keep things going. Your tax rebate is coming via a loan from China. Job creation is at a standstill with two consecutive months of loss, manufacturing jobs are no more, 20% of homes that sold in March were short-sales (houses worth less than owed), and 1% of all homes are in foreclosure. Every government department is underfunded except the DOD, the airlines are in crisis, and 47 million people do not have health care in the richest country on earth. I know not all of this is directly tied to Bush, but the lack of leadership and corporate climate in his administration is what creates the snowball effect. Yeah, Bush is the ultmate --the buck does not stop here president.

Today is "Motown Day" in Michigan. The Detroit Free Press is posting special tribute videos all week long. Today's video is on "Jame Jamerson" the bass playing legend at Motown.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090112/ENT04/901120349

Here's a repeat link to a recent Mitch Albom column:

http://www.freep.com/article/20090110/COL01/301100004/1082/Detroit+carries+on+amid+woes

Corey

Didn't Motown move to California?

Maybe that explains why Detroit and California are starting to look a lot a like, except for the snow.

Jack

Jack, the Detroit Free Press is celebrating Motown's 50th anniversary all week long. I read some comments last night from posters who were still bitter about Motown leaving Detroit for California. Another source of bitterness was that all of the Motown masters are sitting in vaults in NYC, not Detroit.

Well, according to The History Channel's Armagedon week, it's all over in Dec of 2012 anyway.

W's trying to straddle the fence & re-define his presidency already. Nice try, but for those of us who lived through it, it will always be Camelnot.

riding the fence might be ok for awhile, but before long you're gonna need a saddle......

Jack,
My kids future will be fine regardless of what happens with this latest crisis. Unfortunately anyone that's relying on gov't to fix this crisis for them is in a pickle.

Renee - an old friend of mine is (at least last I heard) director of mountain operations - snowmaking & lifts - at Sunday River. He worked very hard to increase the uphill capacity and snowmaking capacity there about 20 years ago, very successfully. I spent some time up there and it's a great mountain - second only to Killington in the east.

jax - and the answer is? . . . drumroll, please .. .

Pogo,
Cut gov't spending in half. Cut taxes even further and get out of the way for those of us that can create real jobs.....

or don't....either way I'll do fine. There's always a country somewhere on this planet to do well. I've just not given up on this one.....yet

"riding the fence might be ok for awhile, but before long you're gonna need a saddle......"

sturge, yeah that barbed wire really smarts

Jax

We know the markets won't , not without crashing the world. If that happens nobody is safe..

Jack

Forget all that political stuff - and onto something really important - beer - lime - recycling.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/09/can-you-recycle-beer-bott_n_156733.html

"....a balanced budget with a surplus turns into a record budget deficit, and a record 9.4 trillion in national debt and counting."

solar, just turn your head a minute and look what those rascally kids do.

seriously, it's as tho' we were the lotus-eaters, hypnotized like ulysses and his men by those sirens. but we didn't have anybody playing circe to tell us to plug up our ears in time... now we wake up to this mess. back to the oars, fellow argonauts!

old cowboy observation..."Don't squat with your spurs on."

jax, too bad history doesn't agree with you - except on that private jobs creation angle. Of course, yu can answer that the cutting spending part has never been tried - and that would be correct - the problem is finding spending to cut. Defense? Social Security? Medicare? Medicaid? Non defense discretionary spending (the ususal target of the Norquist legions) is woefully insufficient to make much of a dent in spending even if done away with completely - like that would or should ever happen. Fact is, consumer confidence is way down, investors like yourself are squeamish, and everyon'es waiting for Obama to part the financial sea and deliver us from Bush's chariots. OK, dose of reality. BOTH parties think gov't. spending is part of the solution (see Krugman's column today - he does know a thing or 2 about the subject; government is going to try and heat the economy up; unemployment will continue to rise as long as private investors stay on the sidelines; and government spending will not be cut in half until the government collapses. But it does give you the same target to point at that I've had for the past 8 years - (and 14 of the previous 20) bad decisions from Washington.

"Cut gov't spending in half"

LOL

And I bet I know which half you want to keep.
There is probably nobody more dependent on the government than the transportation industry. With out the government you couldn't get a load from point A to point B.

But the pirates will love it.

Jack

Jack,

When I see what the banks are actually doing with that " supposed liquidity crisis" money I question whether the markets were as much at risk as sold to us.
I'm extremely skeptical that the auto bailout did anything except delay the inevitable. All of these initiatives were sold to us on an "Emergency, Must Do Now" basis.

You watch....the "new, bigger, better" stimulus plan will be as well.

Jack,

I don't need a single gov't infrastructure project to move my cargo. I run outside just fine. Last I checked the Gulf of Mexico still doesn't have one traffic light.
My terminals are already private with no gov't money.

As for my trucks I guaranteee I already pay more than any toll system would charge me. Regardless, I just pass all that on to you "the consumer" anyway....:)

Pogo,
Personally, cut def, ss, medicare and caid....welfare....
Cut them all....across the board. Get back to a sustainable budget.....

And I already know....what about everyone that relies on those programs.......tough....suck it up.....figure it out yourself....

Pogo,
As far as heating up the economy they are already trying to do that. The govt' (MARAD) has offered several million to start new waterborne cargo services.

I told them that the business model doesn't justify the expenditure and that if it did private money oculd be used but they want to go forward anyway. They have told me that if I won't do it someone else will. It's a complete waste of taxpayer money. But it'll be stimulus money and they are bound and determined to spend it.

"Cut them all....across the board."

Stick 'em on an ice float and kiss 'em goodbye.

Patsi,
Pogo asked me what I thought the answer was.....this is an open forum.....what's your idea.....other than the ice flow?

Pogo,

I'm sorry....I'm not a politician...I don't think like one and don't aspire to be one. I call it like I see it. Cut taxes across the board....cut spending even more.....

As you've said....its never been tried......and not likely to be done.....but it's what I think is prudent and called for.

I don't mind having my ideas shot up....it always leads to better ones for me......but hey all... why not try it yourselves. I'd love to hear some other ideas....

Padt---that was my point ( one of em) While Bush was doing all of that ----the Dem---congress (Pelosi) looked the other way??

More good news---one day it looks positive ---the next sa,,,not so much---E-Mailed to me
Good Morning,

as you may or may not be aware, USDA funding from the government has been delayed. Lenders/investors everywhere are suspending USDA programs pending funding. Numerous such notices have been received over the past few weeks.

Consequently, is suspending new USDA/Rural Development loan submissions until the government releases new funding for the program. All loans submitted 1/9/2009 and prior will be underwritten as normal. No new loan submissions or lock requests will be accepted pending program funding.

If anyone is serious about the middle class----get busy and get it funded----it did not take long at all to fund money for Wall st. Banks via the bail out no?

The Rebublican plan of eliminating the middle class is working--==Obama better get busy,real fast----cos Im gonna give a call at 3.a.m. ever day!

jax - and I'm no politician, either, but I have seen and met one or two, and I tend to be a realist. Considering the dismal condition of our nation's infrastructure, I'd like to see about half the Pentagon budget shifted to road, bridge, power grid and energy development projects. Now I know this will never happen either, but I'm willing to speculate in fantasy land for a moment, too.

Well, I see the Corp of Engineers has some dredging contracts being bid for the Shipping channel in houston.

That looks like a good place to start cutting

Jack

Wonder what kind of federal monies Houston is getting to repair the various port infastructure.

Oh and don't forget the flood insurance subsidies.

That may be starting to add up, hey I kinda like this cutting.

Jack

Well, as long as we're in Fantasy Land -

I plan to take up bank robbery. My defense, as I will surely be caught , is as follows :

"Why dwell on the past ? Let us move forward and focus on the future."

Jack,
I'm all for that...it's matching funds and the port here can afford to pay for it themselves anyway.

But since Texas is a donor state and only gets about 92 cents back for every $1.00 they send to DC some feel that they are cheated already.

Port of Houston took almost no damage.....Galveston port did OK city got crushed....but honestly that place needed a facelift anyway..

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188779

Actually Jax, it has been tried before. The glorious gilded age of the Robber Barons when virtually all the wealth was in the fewest hands complete with child labor, indentured servitude, mandated 60 - 80 hour work weeks, starvation and disease. If you weren't among the wealthy, life was pretty much the pits.

The eras with the least boom and bust cycles (the extremes of the normal ebb and flow of commerce) were when if you made more than the modern equivalent of $2 million a year, you tax rate on the money above was in the 60 - 70% range.

The majority of government expenditure went to infrastructurem education, and programs that encouraged small business. Once upon a time Community Colleges were virtually free and we didn't rank at the bottom of the developed world in education. We had a well developed manufacturing base and we did sell our resources rather than finished products.

and we did sell our resources

and we didn't sell our resources but rather finished products.

Jamie,
Great...nice history lesson......any actual ideas?

Jax

After the hurricane your port wouldn't even be open if not for federal money.

You are so dependent on the federal government that you are like a fish in water, you don't even see it.

Jack.

Pogo,
I like the infrastucture ideas but I would like them to be
postitive return only projects....not siphoned off for popular green and mass transit plans that never pay for themselves......iI the project can pay for itself over a reasonable period of thime then I'm all for it. ( most road, bridge and some high volume mass transit are positive return)

Jack,

Hate to tell you but you're just wrong.
The only delay in the port opening was seeing if the buoys were intact. They were.

Exactly what federal funding are you refering to???

But since you've had a shot at my idea....how about exercising some brainpower and tell me yours....:)

Pogo,
So far.....I wanted to cut spending and taxes across the board.....you want to cut defense 50% and apply to infrastructure. No cuts anywhere else.....Taxes???

everyone else's ideas......pending...:)

Jax

My ideas are what they have always been. The people who spend the most money are those who live paycheck to paycheck. A capitalistic system is built on people buying stuff. If you want people to buy stuff, they need an income of some kind.

Government should do what the people can't do for themselves: Protect the country, Create infrastructure that advantages mobility (i.e. Eisenhower built roads, now it should probably be mag lev trains and mass transit as well as upgrading all the old WPA built sewer systems, bridges etc.). Lately they have taken to calling those items "shovel ready plans". That will creact some jobs desperately needed right now.

Increase the tax rate on all income over $3 million a year back to well before the Reagan cuts. If you can't live on $3 mil, you've got a screw loose.

Reduce taxes, fees, and other charges on the $25 - $200 thousand families. Make small business loans available. Stop equating small business and wealthy. They are not the same and shouldn't be treated that way. Small business and the family farm should receive benefits rather than the massive corporations.

Put in stricter regulations on securities so that the economic climate is more responsive to the realities of value rather than subject to greed of whatever the traffic will bear.

Encourage the average family to save via bonds as was done during WW II. Let's start paying off the bills we have run up over the last 60 years.

There's more, but that should give you enough to chew on for awhile.

Trader -
"Cut it all " ain't exactly a beacon of actual thinking.

I wish I had that magic wand the Bush people were always hiding behind.

I'd wave it and all you self made men would be able to see all the things the "common good" as given you at very little cost.

Maybe a remake of " It's a Wonder Life ". America without S.S.

Jamie,
It's funny....I would have sworn that you would come up with some crazy liberal utopia but you just described a very conservative, capitalistic plan.....

Now the only problem....and I'm not disagreeing with you is the entitlement programs......they are killing the governments ability to do the things that you reference.

I agree with you about small business but you refer to the wealthy at $3 mill and the current admin thinks its $250K. I doubt you'd catch as many small businesses at 3 mil.....all in all I agree

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188794

Jax,

It is another fallacy that all infrastructure needs to "pay for itself". There is a theory of "The Commons". These are items that belong to society as a whole and because of their existence, make wealth possible.

Subways in a city may not be profitable. But, if all the people that used them, used individual cars instead, the pollution, wear and tear on vehicles and roads, time consumed etc. would be a much higher cost than the subway that serves them.

You always have to balance benefit versus cost. It may cost less for 45 million people not to have health insurance until you figure the depletion of funds from using emergency rooms as a family physicians, loss of job time due to untreated injury or poor health, massive costs due to an easily cured symptom going untreated until it is critical etc.

Whenever you evaluate the expenditure of government funds the question always has to be "Who benefits". The more people it benefits (The Commons) the more practical the expenditure.

CBob,

I probably could have been more effective to say 25% on all programs across the board until a balanced budget.
As for common good....I agree. We all benefit from the freedom to pursue opportunites as we see fit. As in all things some make better use of it than others.

Having said that, is it wrong to want to see the opportunites remain. Unfortunately the more responsibility and power that we cede to the government the more we stifle the freedom to pursue those opportunities

Jamie,
Most of those intangibles actually do have a value and gov't planners actually do use a cost/benefit analysis on these projects. Interestingly most eastern big city transit systems have a positive cost/benefit.

Many of the smaller, demonstration systems do not.
I agree that some projects don't meet that standard but for the near future it would be a great way to prioritize the funding.

Jax

Who built the infrastructure that helped it survive ?
as far as that goes who built the port in the first placed, Who built the shipping channel.
if that Corp o Engineers contract is any indication maintains and expands it to this day.

You and the federal government are like a fish in water The combination for you is so natural you don't see it.

As I said Transportation is the easy one on this. It just doesn't exist without government support.

Jack

One correction to the above statement. Foot paths would exist.

Jack

".....this is an open forum.....what's your idea.....other than the ice flow?"

Well, for starters, crack down like a mean SOB on fraud, starting with hospitals sucking Medicare dry, and contractors -- shippers-- and others cheating the government out of billions. There are mini-madoffs everywhere.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188799

Jax,

Three million would be the highest rate. I do support a graduated income tax. The folks between $250,000 and that top tier would probably be in brackets higher than the median income folks of $ 50,000

Now entitlements. The government has been raiding Social Security to cover up the deficits and feeding it paper for years. There is nothing wrong with the entitlement, just what the guys handling the money have done to it. As that bubble of the Boomer generation works its way through it will probably be necessary to raise both the cap and the retirement age. I don't believe it should be turned into a welfare program with means testing, but those who pay the most on the highest incomes simply will not get back what they have paid in.

On welfare type entitlements. They probably need some alterations. All such payments should be geared towards performance. Either school or job training or government workfare etc. The majority of even the most disabled can work at something. It may not be cost effective to provide the transportation or support services, but it encourages self respect and involvement in the community.

One tax benefit I would do away with would be the child deduction for any child over the first two unless the people have adopted or fostered children. This is another reason I support Gay Marriage. If they want children, there are plenty available who need good homes.

I actually agree with Newt Gingrich that there is nothing wrong with orphanages. The last time I checked Boys Town was a fairly nice place to grow up. Such a solution might not be as perfect as a home, but it is a lot better than the streets or parents who are addicts or drunks.

For one thing, medicaid and medicare recipients are getting more "tests" than they need and costing billions, simply because hospitals order them. I have a friend on disability who has probably had a million dollars worth of "tests" in the past three years. None of them have done jack squat, either. It is stunning.

Jack,

Do you have a plan.....or just complainin today???

It's funny, 2 days ago, I put up a post at Kos, about this solar thing I've been foolin' with. One of the comments was from someone who didn't have a clue about what I was writing about, attacked the post because my idea was based on importing Chinese made collectors.

The very next comment , was from someone who knew his beans, and explained the history, that made the first comment so sad. These tubes I'm talking about were invented here, on our dime. 30 years ago, they were so Buck Rogers, now that China teamed with the Germans back in 1986 to improve them, they land at Long Beach for $86 a tube.
Millions of dollars of tax money in several countries contributed to that $ 86 dollar price, none of it in that $86 price.

You know guys and gals

a lot of these ideas are great and I generally agree with most of them. I have to admit that I'm a little surprised as I thought I was the lone conservative on this blog. These are just good common sense things.

It makes me wonder why it seems like we are so far apart on our ideologies on most days

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188805

Patsi, I'm with you there. I would love to have a single payer universal system, but for a transition period, allow anyone who wanted to to buy into Medicare. They have about a 3 or 4% overhead, much less than any for profit insurance company and more service oriented than the not for profit ones.

Any fraud such as you describe and anything such as the Madoff scheme, Enron etc should be jail time. I'm sick of kids who rob someone of a hundred bucks with a gun getting 20 years while some slime like Madoff will probably cut a sweetheart deal of information and payback in exchange for a reduced sentence or probation.

Cbob,
Ideas are easy to attack.....just have to keep a thick skin....don't take it personally. Just listen...like you've said, the next guy along added something of value to your idea.

Jamie,
I wouldn't have an issue with a common payer system if they would ensure that those of us that wanted to stay private could...without penalty

jax, not sure that any infrastructure improvements are positive return if you don't tax their use, but maybe I'm missing something. Infrastructure aside, I'm of the belief that investment in cutting edge technology development drives it in the early stages of the technology, so I disagree with your suggestion of withholding funding of green and public transport infrastructure deveopment funds. Besides, I still use PTFE for any purpose other than cooking and don't take my velcro away, please. And as much as I think the pharmaceutical companies are modern day thieves, without government funding for the underlying research, cancer and AIDS survival rates would be much shorter than they are now. Now if the gov't had gotten a stake in the products developed with our money in the space, pharmaceutical and military projects we've funded, we might not be so concerned about the economy today.

Jax

That has always been in the plans. Usually it takes the form of being part of the base plan but then have the freedom to buy additional plans with more bells and whistles.

For instance, Britain is single payer, but the well to do have always been able to access specialists, elective surgeries, and private physicians. Most european countries have some combination of government paid and private insurers.

Everyone needs to be in the base plan simply for the numbers otherwise you would have the sickest being paid for by taxes while the healthiest either didn't pay or got into private plans, but once the base system is guaranteed, then there is always a growth in optional additions.

Pogo,
Let's not forget that we are talking about a temporary crisis plan. Not perpetuity.

Alot of the green techs actually do have a positive cost/benefit model. I didn't mean to abandon them just don't fund them solely because they say they are green.
I prefer a tax credit for tech development to promote the R&D as the primary funding and direct subsidy as the secondary.
And yes the taxing of the infrastructure improvements is a revenue line on the cost/benefit analysis.

Jamie,
That sounds good but I suspect that I would have to pay for the base plan and the private coverage and that the new total would be more......

Trader -
The kid was right. We should be making these things here, and maybe we will again.

I saw a press release today from Vestas, 2 new wind contracts with the Chinese. That sale was only possible for the Danes because 30 years ago they said let's tax ourselves and change the way we live. They are the turbine builders to the world now.

"The problem with the " hope and optimism" stuff is that the optimism was based solely on hope."

I know Jax. I was just talkin' when I said that about hope and optimism. I never really bought into it.

Jax, Reading some of your posts today, it reminds me of that first day you showed up here. You were worrying about have to fire some of your workers if Obama became President. (I wasn't sure why you thought that at the time, and I'm still not) But have you seen anything that bad happening in Texas yet? Am I missing something, or isn't the economy here doing relatively well?

Cbob,
That's great, maybe we should make them here. If we can be competitive.
I've got quite a few Danish friends and my largest client is a danish company. They sacrificed alot to live the way they do. It was a conscious decision and freely taken so I have no problem with their system of governence. But its not for me....we're not perfect but we're free ...still .....and I'll accept all of our imperfections for the opportunities that abound here.

NEW THREAD!

Chloe,
I doubt that I'll have to fire anyone....so far anyway.
So far, PEO hasn't followed through on the things that scared me so much. Tax increases, universal health, carbon taxation.
I suspect that the realities of the economy have curtailed alot of that agenda. All of a sudden us small business guys are in favor again. If I pull the trigger on my new services I'll generate 15-20 new jobs. We'll see....I'm nervous about what the congress will do.

Texas is still doing well comparatively.....labor market for qualified individuals is still tight here.
Unlike most I don't equate the presidency with fiscal policy. It's congress and always has been.
not knowing....I'll wait for now.

Thanks Jax.

Vestas Lands Large Wind Turbine Contracts in China
Company has delivered more than 1,000 turbines to China
http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=18124&SectionID=2

By the time Vestas is finished, the company will have invested $700 million and created 2,450 jobs combined at its plants in Windsor, Brighton and Pueblo, where it will build a tower-manufacturing facility.

http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20081221/NEWS/812219958/1002/NONE&parentprofile=1001&title=Brighton%20gets%20boost%20to%20pave%20way%20for%20Vestas

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/will-obama-axe-tax-cuts.html#comment-188817

Jax, You might be pleasantly surprised. Just by virtue of everyone having access to well care, hospital costs would drop. The estimate now is that it would save about 25% of the cost of current insurance. You could buy some nice supplemental insurance with that money. Remember you would be entitled to all the benefits of the base plan and would be paying extra for things such as avoiding waiting times and your choice of physicians.

Patsi - having been on the inside of healthcare and having seen the tests ordered, etc., the perception that Medicare and Medicaid just pay for tests is not accurate. They are like any other 3rd party payer - they just are bigger and more efficient than most. There are clearly millions of unnecessary tests done each year - thanks in large part to doctors having to practice defensive medicine - and every one of them for anyone with any kind of insurance - public or private - is pre-approved by the carrier. Our 350 bed hospital (only 310 beds staffed) had 10 full time employees whose only job was to preapprove tests and procedures. Otherwise the test has to be paid for out of pocket by the patient (which is a rare occurrence) or its cost is simple eaten by the provider (a much more common occurrence). And each test is ordered by a doctor - not by a hospital - who thanks to Pete Stark, can receive nothing in return for ordering the test. The hospital may have a lab that performs the test or analyzes whatever sample the test retrieves, but the hospital doesn't order the test except in the case of hospitalist MDs who are employees of the hospital. The inefficiencies in the system are certainly found more commonly in the private part of it - Medicare and Medicaid have much lower administrative costs than the best of the private insurers and have devious ways of recouping payments made as a result of "fraud" and "abuse" - read miscoding or some other such mistake. I could go on for hours, but won't. Bottom line is that most tests are negative, and don't do squat as a result, but docs can't risk not ordering them to rule out and narrow down since failure to do so funds this year's crop of malpractice attorneys.

NEW THREAD

Jamie -- the worst part of this continual test-cycle doctors seem to have my friend on is that I think they are actually making her almost an invalid. She doesn't want all the tests, yet is easily intimidated into going into the hospital for more BS.