I found it particularly timely as I stepped up to the voting booth this morning. It’s my duty to vote. I want to vote. My obligation to inform my choices based on research and my personal beliefs leaves me frustrated with my options. Do I vote based on who I think is electable? Do I vote for the candidate who most closely shares my beliefs? Are there any?

What are my topical political beliefs as a citizen? I haven’t changed much since the last time I posted on this.

1. The government still spends too much money.
• There is no motivation for politicians to spend less. There must be a law requiring a balanced budget. We can not continue to spend more than we take in.
2. Make taxation simplified and equal.
• 50% of American’s still pay 100% of the taxes. A smaller number actually pays the majority of taxes. All employed citizens should pay taxes.
• I don’t know if that means I’m in favor of a flat tax or something similar, but probably.
3. Make health care affordable, accessible.
• How do you get there is really the problem. The government can’t require insurance. It’s not like requiring insurance if you own a car.
• Costs need to drop. Reform malpractice litigation. Train doctors to acknowledge when they made mistakes and apologize. Some hospitals are doing this and their lawsuits have dropped.
4. Public education needs reforms.
• From a purely business point of view, the return on investment isn’t there. To make us competitive again, we must find effective ways to educate our youth. Unfortunately, the trends are in shorter school years, less engagement with parents, less homework, more focus on passing standardized tests.
5. We need to actively pursue cheaper sources of energy.
• Do not limit this to alternative energy sources. Tactically, we need alternative sources of fossil fuels which should mean opening things up in North America (Look at what’s happened in North Dakota as far as the economy if you question the value). Strategically (on the level of decades), alternative sources of energy make sense, but there’s no demand for it. If we’ve learned anything from the past 3 years, government investing here won’t create demand.
6. The government should have no say in defining marriage.
• When I say that, I have friends who get mad at me for not supporting same-sex marriage. That’s not what I’m saying. To me, marriage is a union based on emotion, beliefs and lifestyles. The government has no right to dictate any of this.
• The government should only legislate civil unions. That is a legal contract.
• I support any loving couple who wants to get married.
• I support any religious organization to practice their beliefs on this topic.
7. Something has to change with immigration.
• Immigrants built this country. At our foundation, we are a melting pot and that’s what makes us strong. I’ve worked with a number of people who have come to America and worked hard to become a citizen. However, if someone can’t make the effort to legally become a citizen, I don’t want them here. They aren’t contributing to our nation, but creating a drain on government resources.

Ok, I don’t really offer any solutions, but that’s not my job. That’s what I pay elected officials to do. I just wish there were some qualified candidates I could trust to do what they were paid to do.

Created with Wordle using a transcript from NYT

I’m actually in favor of a stimulus bill.  I don’t like the idea of bailing out failing companies, but if we can help retool, retrain, better educate the workforce and help them through that transition, I’m ok with that. What I’m not in favor of is politicians using this as an opportunity to slip in pet projects and paybacks. I’m assuming you aren’t going to read through the stimulus plan.  I was only able to get through half of it before I started feeling ill.  Check out the details here:http://readthestimulus.org

There are several programs for construction projects, health care assistance, etc. that I guess might help the economy.  Below are items in the first 235 pages of the stimulus plan that I just didn’t understand why there were there?  Don’t these other federal departments have budgets?  Why are there stimulus $$$ to help the census, create nationwide wireless lawn enforcement network, have NASA build a climate monitoring satellite or any number of other things?  I’m not questioning whether any of these line items are important.  I want to know why they are in an emergency stimulus package?

[edit] Mitt Romney suggests in an article on CNN that moving up already planned Department spending is a valid way to stimulate the economy.  I guess that’s possible if those Departments dropped their future budgets to compensate for moving the funds “up”, but I’m skeptical that would take place.

1. $1b ‘‘Periodic Censuses and Programs’’
2. $650m ‘‘Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Program’’
3. $200m ‘‘Tactical Law Enforcement Wireless Communications’’
4. $300m ‘‘Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Program
5. $1.5b OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE For an additional amount for ‘‘State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance’’
6. $100m ‘‘State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance’’, for competitive grants to provide assistance and equipment to local law enforcement along the Southern border and in High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas to combat criminal narcotics activity stemming from the Southern border, of which $10,000,000 shall be transferred to ‘‘Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Salaries and Expenses’’ for the ATF Project Gunrunner. 
7. $300m  ‘‘State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance’’, for assistance to Indian tribes
8. $500m SCIENCE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SCIENCE For an additional amount for ‘‘Science’’
9. $250m AERONAUTICS For an additional amount for ‘‘Aeronautics’’
10. $500m EXPLORATION For an additional amount for ‘‘Exploration’’
11. $3.3b “Operation and Maintenance, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army/Navy/Marine Corps/Air Force Reserves, Army/Air National Guard”
12. $1.4b advanced to the Colorado River Dam Fund;  Reclamation Fund or the Bureau of Reclamation
13. $246m ‘Office of the Under Secretary for Management’’, solely for planning, design, and construction costs, including site security, information technology infrastructure, furniture, fixtures, and related costs to consolidate the Department of Homeland Security headquarters
14. $1.2b TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION AVIATION SECURITY For an additional amount for ‘‘Aviation Security’’, for procurement and installation of checked baggage explosives detection systems and checkpoint explosives detection equipment
15. $14m  SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, ACQUISITION, AND OPERATIONS For an additional amount for ‘‘Research, Development, Acquisition, and Operations’’, for cyber security research
16. $7.6m OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL SALARIES AND EXPENSES For an additional amount for ‘‘Office of Inspector General’’
17. $20m DEPARTMENT-WIDE PROGRAMS CENTRAL HAZARDOUS MATERIALS FUND For an additional amount for ‘‘Central Hazardous Materials Fund’
18. $800m ENVIROMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE SUPERFUND (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS) For an additional amount for ‘‘Hazardous Substance Superfund’’
19. $200m LEAKING UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK TRUST FUND PROGRAM For an additional amount for ‘‘Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Program’’, for cleanup activities
20.  $300m shall be for Diesel Emission Reduction Act grants pursuant to title VII, subtitle G of the Energy Policy Act of 2005
21. $650m WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT For an additional amount for ‘‘Wildland Fire Management’’, for hazardous fuels reduction and hazard mitigation activities in areas at high risk of catastrophic wildfire, of which $350,000,000 is available for work on State and private lands using all the authorities available to the Forest Service
22. $150m SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION FACILITIES CAPITAL For an additional amount for ‘‘Facilities Capital’’
23. $1.1b DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES For an additional amount for ‘‘Health Resources and Services’’, of which $88,000,000 shall be for necessary expenses related to leasing and renovating a headquarters building for Public Health Service agencies and other components of the Department of Health and Human Services, including renovation and fit-out costs, and of which $1,000,000,000 shall be for grants for construction, renovation and equipment for health centers receiving operating grants under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act
24. $412m CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISEASE CONTROL, RESEARCH, AND TRAINING For an additional amount for ‘‘Disease Control, Research, and Training’’ for acquisition of real property, equipment, construction, and renovation of facilities, including necessary repairs and improvements to leased laboratories
25. $500m BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES For an additional amount for ‘‘Buildings and Facilities’’, to fund high-priority repair, construction and improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities on the Bethesda, Maryland campus and other agency locations
26. $700m AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS) For an additional amount for ‘‘Healthcare Research and Quality’’ to carry out titles III and IX of the Public Health Service Act, part A of title XI of the Social Security Act, and section 1013 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, $700,000,000 for comparative clinical effectiveness research, which shall remain available through September 30, 2010: Provided, That of the amount appropriated in this paragraph, $400,000,000 shall be transferred to the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health (‘‘Office of the Director’’) to conduct or support comparative clinical effectiveness research under section 301 and title IV of the Public Health Service Act
27. $5b OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL COORDINATOR FOR HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS) For an additional amount for ‘‘Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’’
28. $870m  ‘‘Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund’’ to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic, for activities including the development and purchase of vaccine, antivirals, necessary medical supplies, diagnostics, and other surveillance tools
29. $20m TITLE IX—LEGISLATIVE BRANCH GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLIITY OFFICE SALARIES AND EXPENSES For an additional amount for ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’ of the Government Accountability Office
30. $65m  NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION For an additional amount for ‘‘National Cemetery Administration’’, of which $59,476,000 shall be for capital infrastructure and memorial and monument repairs; and $5,485,000 shall be for energy efficiency initiatives.
31. $60m RELATED AGENCY DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE—CIVIL CEMETERIAL EXPENSES, ARMY SALARY AND EXPENSES For an additional amount for ‘‘Cemeterial Expenses, Army’’
32. TITLE XI—STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT OF STATE ADMINISTRATION OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR PROGRAMS For an additional amount for ‘‘Diplomatic and Consular Programs’’ for urgent domestic facilities requirements, $180,500,000, to remain available until September 30, 2010, of which up to $45,000,000 shall be available for passport and visa facilities and systems, and up to $75,000,000 shall be available for a consolidated security training facility in the United States
33. $524m CAPITAL INVESTMENT FUND For an additional amount for ‘‘Capital Investment Fund’’, of which up to $120,000,000 shall be available for the design and construction of a backup information management facility in the United States to support continuity of critical mission operations and programs, and up to $98,527,000 shall be available to carry out the Department of State’s responsibilities under the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative
34. $100m UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDS APPROPRIATED TO THE PRESIDENT CAPITAL INVESTMENT FUND For an additional amount for ‘‘Capital Investment Fund’’, of which $34,000,000 shall be available for information technology modernization programs and of which up to$35,000,000 shall be available for implementation of the Global Acquisition System
35. $200m FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING FOR FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT For an additional amount for necessary investments in Federal Aviation Administration infrastructure: Provided, That funding provided under this heading shall be used to make improvements to power systems, air route traffic control centers, air traffic control towers, terminal radar approach control facilities, and navigation and landing equipment

If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost of the bailout now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars.

The bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

    • Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
    • Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
    • Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
    • S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
    • Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
    • The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
    • Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
    • Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
    • NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

    TOTAL: $3.92 trillion

 

The only expenditure that comes close is WWII, and even that cost less.

The Treasury Department agreed to post every transaction on the Internet, but all it shows is the list of banks and how many billions they got. 

The brand new Financial Stability Oversight Board has met four times already but they don’t know how the banks are using the money. 

There’s no hint in the first official Treasury report to submitted to Congress last week. 

And Congress promised to create its own special oversight board, but more than five weeks later not one person has been named to the panel. 

They didn’t even give the money to the troubled banks, but to the stable ones who are using it to acquire smaller institutions.  That’s an awesome deal.  So why wouldn’t Detroit itself ask for $10billion from the federal government and the major auto manufacturers ask for billion$ out of the bailout?  It’s free money that you don’t have to be accountable for.  Seriously, they need it.  They are hardly staying solvent due to a decline in sales and the United Auto Workers union.  It was just over a year and a half ago, the United Auto Workers union were negotiating contracts with the big 3 and arguing they were no where near close to collapsing.  

Now, Obama, as part of the transition, asked Bush to solve their problems.  Bush and team have already granted some $25billion in low interest loans to help the auto industry retool and focus on energy efficient technology.  They don’t want to do it.

I understand that the auto industry accounts for some 3 million jobs, but those have been decreasing year over year due to the high cost of union workers and high compensation packages of executives.  I’m all for people trying to get paid what ever they can get, but if your company… your source of income is at serious risk of just going away… don’t you accept pay cuts?  Don’t you accept cuts in benefits?  What else is there?  loss of your job?  If you can’t get by on what you earn, get a different job.  If you can’t get a different job where you live, move.  

The government can not guarantee you a job.  It just can’t.  This is a free market capitalism moderately government regulated capitalism system.  Companies and industry rise and fall based on market demand.  If the automotive industry was proving products that Americans generally wanted, they would be thriving.  If they could successfully manage their costs, they would be thriving.  Neither is true so they should fall.  They will not all fail.  There will be collapse and combinations.  They’ve happened in the past and they’ll occur again.  it’s painful, but healthy.

I’ve seen a good deal of name calling and statements like “taking back my country” and “finally proud of being an American, again”.  I’ve read people I respect calling Joe “the plumber” a douche-bag because he voiced his (when asked by the media) about Obama on Israel.  I’m ashamed of the hatred and class warfare. Try to remember the media machines and campaigns jumped on this guy. Obama came to his neighborhood. He didn’t go searching out Obama. Calling someone a “douche-bag” because he asked questions he felt were important to him of someone running to be HIS president… Oh, I guess if it’s meant humorously, it’s ok to attack someone.

But here’s the deal, Obama is questionable on his support of Israel.  You need to apply the same “question our leader” tactics people applied to Bush on Obama on topics he has not clearly voiced his opinion. Calling someone a douche for doing that is “unAmerican”. That’s not only his right, but our job as citizens.

I mean, that’s the point of America… being able to freely question our leaders and government. That’s how we became America. We didn’t want to be ruled or taxed by a government which did not have our best interests at heart. We felt it was our right to be able to question our government and demand that they represent what we care about. And we didn’t start out caring about everyone.  Poor, women and people of color were nothing more than property.  People fought those ideas and changed them over long, hard years (and still continues).  

Calling this guy names because you don’t agree with him is just wrong. Argue with him. Argue your point, but going after him personally is just sad.

People have said:

Calling somebody a douche is one of the most American things one can do.

It’s also especially American to have zero idea as to what you’re talking about and to insist that you’re right because “Jesus says so.” <name removed>’s a pretty shitty American in that regard.

I have no doubt about how “American” I feel my acquaintance is.  He came to this nation, worked his ass off to receive his citizenship and is vocal about his beliefs.  But, we should debate ideas and not attack people. It’s what we mostly criticize our politicians for doing and we should lead by example. Calling someone a douche isn’t American. It’s a waste of energy, weak and takes away from the disagreement of the ideas. It allows no progress to be made in proving a point, changing opinions or closing a divide. 

Criticizing someone because of their faith, race or political party is pretty much of the same level and something Americans have lost their life to stop. And I’m not talking about Iraq. I’m talking about the Revolutionary War, Civil War, the Suffrage Movement and the Civil Rights movement. Attack, the idea, not the person. That’s how change happens. Haven’t you been listening for the last year?

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
~William J. H. Boetcker, 1916