America's New Normal

As the Dow Jones and other stock markets continue to reach new record highs and corporations report insanely high profits unemployment numbers should still alarm any intelligent economist.
Even as new workers are hired they are receiving far lower salaries and fewer benefits than ever before.  This at a time when their so-called fixed costs continue to rise.

So here is a quickie economic explanation for those who don't like to read long winded posts by way of an updated old adage:

A RISING TIDE 

LIFTS ALL YACHTS

& DROWNS THE MIDDLE CLASS

AND THE POOR



¿CE N'EST PAS? (THEY HATE FRENCH!)

Ford Vs Walton

As I read about New York City's latest successful attempt to block a new Wal*Mart store from opening in another city neighborhood I had a random thought.
Many people out there seem to think that Congress should take their cues from the Walton family and run America as they run their company.
After all, as the argument goes, look how successful they are and what tremendous profits they generate. Imagine doing that on a country level!!
I did and broke out in a cold sweat.
I am not telling those of you who shop at Wal&Mart to stop.  I realize the prices may be tempting and the perceived savings too great to pass up.  Just understand they are not the selfless philanthropists you may think they are nor are they really helping the American economy as much as some think.
Forget that they share their humongous profits with China and import inferior products.
Forget that they turned blind eyes to working conditions over there until watch dog groups blew whistles.
Forget the sub-human working conditions in their 'behind the public eye' warehouses in the states
Remember only this, as the wealthiest family in the world they pay and treat their workers like scum.
Henry Ford was not the nicest man alive back in his day but one thing he did was pretty cool!
He famously paid the workers on his assembly lines more money than was the norm of the day but he made sure it was enough so that they could afford to buy the cars they helped produce!
The Wal*Mart famously pays their workers just enough so that they can only afford to buy at Wal*Mart.

Kick the Can; Kick the Middle Class

Kick the can was a simple game played by children who generally had nothing else with which to play.  It didn't cost anything and unless you fell and skinned your knee or accidentally lifted the can through a window, was harmless.  (Personal experience on that one, sadly.)
Other children's games were equally harmless and just as inexpensive but all had one thing in common, fair play and fun with friends.
But unfortunately as with just about everything else these days the phrase 'kick the can' has been usurped and altered by our bizarre and dysfunctional political world.
Kicking the can down the road is no longer enjoyable, in fact it's downright ominous.
It sets our sights on some day in the future and causes constant tension until that deadline is dealt with.
It also hints at continued can kicking since agreements are so hard to come by that no one can be sure they will happen even then!
So how did we get to this point?
Well for one thing it has not happened overnight.  We have been heading toward a 'me first' mentality for decades.
And just like the virtual fiscal cliff that has flooded the news media for months there is a tipping point from beyond which it is hard to return.
The ever widening gap between the so called 'haves' and 'have nots' does not help as it provides frustration among the working class.
An honest days pay for an honest days work is merely a phrase without meaning today.  Too many companies see their workers as inventory to be dealt with by accountants.
If your business is doing well it is because the boss implemented a good plan but if it's suffering then the inventory must be cut and that includes the work force.
The false sense that only wealthy people create jobs has been propagated for too long and it is simply not true!  Of course many of them do hire workers but they do so out of necessity, not the goodness of their hearts.
What creates jobs is the demand for what businesses produce and a strong enough economy that allows people the wherewithal to pay for those products.
If no one is buying then no one will produce.
If no one will produce then no workers are needed.
If no workers are needed then no workers will be hired and current ones may be let go.
The fuel needed to drive an economic car is cash in the hands of those who spend and in America that is the middle class.
A strong middle class equals a strong economy.
The middle class is the REAL 'too big to fail' entity!
And until Congress and all our elected officials understand that we will continue to wander aimlessly through the desert of a fruitless economy.
I do not propose to hurt the wealthiest among us nor do I wish them to fail.  I only want Congress to understand that they are not the only ones living in this country and they are not the only ones who close the proverbial curtain before pulling that lever every November.  In fact they are the minority!
If Congress, and in particular the Republicans these days continue to insist on kicking the can down the road while so many of us are suffering then we must remember to kick their can the heck out of office as soon as possible.  And they must be made to understand that we can!
The world has enough misery in it.  Let's not take away every last bit of fun.  Let's return games such as the 'tug of war' and 'kick the can' back to the playground where they belong!

Is it Really the New Normal

For various reasons we humans find it easier to cope with adversity if it has a name.  I guess it's rooted in our 'misery loves company' psyche.  But just giving something a name does not make it any less painful or dangerous.
People died in the millennium before ours due to causes unknown. We now know many of those deaths were due to cancer.  So now we know.  But they're still dead!
For years we have been hearing about the 'new normal' from economists and pundits.  The use of the word 'normal' explaining how our faltering economy is basically here to stay certainly does not make it easier for the so-called 99%-ers.  These are the people who are stuck in low paying high stress jobs, that is if they're lucky, and on unemployment or worse if not.
The new normal is actually a way to explain how the uber rich of our country have quietly and unceasingly usurped power by any means necessary.  These people have become inordinately richer while the rest of the country has gone down the tubes.
The gap between the top 1% and the rest of us has widened to the point that they no longer consider us as even necessary.
Oh of course some of us are needed to buy whatever product they are selling or use whatever service they offer but the bottom line is with over 7 billion sheep in the herd the shepherds know there will be a whole lot of grazing going on somewhere.
And the flat earth's global market will provide plenty of opportunities for them.
The one thing we Americans always had going for us was our culture of education and the freedom to do what we wished to do within the friendly open confines of the law.  We were the envy of the world and people wanted to come here and join in the celebration.
We all figured that if you got a college education and worked hard you could live the American dream.  But we forgot that in order to dream you generally sleep and that's what most of us did, we slept.
And while we slept at the wheel a growing number of opportunistic financiers and their friendly politicians slipped into the driver's seat.  They figured out a way to harness the dreams of the sleepwalking masses turning them into realities for their own use.
Little by little they changed laws and altered regulations.  And every change altered the playing field a touch more so that any cash they made they kept.  And their cabal grew more wealthy and more powerful.
And the more power they had the more others wanted in.
But the club was kept exclusive and the entry fee was what some religious types would call 'your soul.'
While this was going on the public, the soon to be forgotten middle class was fed the illusion that they could make it to the top by hard work and perseverance. (Click the above link to read a great article from the Atlantic magazine.)
Advertisements showing the good life; politicians stumping with phrases like 'lower taxes' and a better economy to come; radio and TV personalities making believe they are 'of the people' all polluting our minds aimed at sending us back to sleep.
Ssshhhh, don't wake the sleeping bear.
The funny thing is that whenever someone hears the words, 'Lower Taxes' they think THEIR taxes will be lowered!
It is so absurd as to be laughable.
It should be obvious that in order to run a country you must have some capital, some revenue, somewhere, an influx of cash as it were.
And normally that comes from a general fund comprised of donations, generally mandatory and known as taxes.  That is how a civilized country continues to grow and prosper.  And the more you have the more you can and should pay.
One of my fantasies has always been to owe and pay over a million dollars in taxes.  Of course I would be known as a schmuck to every Republican in the country.  That would please me even more!
According to many economists the only people who will make it in the near future will be the highly educated, the ones with more than a BS degree from college.
These people will still be sought after to work with the overlords of the global economy while the rest will have to scrounge around for the lower paying scraps left behind.
And along with this new normal comes another enigma, and this one is far more insidious than one would have imagined 100 years ago.
In order to keep their power the top 1% of the wealthiest in the world must have politicians in their pockets.  After all without them  making laws and regulations all they have accomplished would erode and they might lose a billion here or there.  And pretty soon you're talking about real money.
So the they pay for ad campaigns and fund huge rallies to get the masses, those sheep of the country to vote against their own best interest.
There are more registered Democrats than Republicans since there are more people in need of what the Democratic party stands for.
The Grand Old Party clearly is all about big business and large multi national corporations.  And when they say lower taxes they do not mean it for the average Joe on Main Street but the average billionaire on Wall Street!
And yet many Republicans get elected, far more than should and that means many people are voting for their own downfall!
I have often used a wonderful saying from the show 1776 in which Mr. Dickinson a Representative to the Continental Congress of that year says that most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor.
And that reality is why they continue to vote for men and women who truly don't give a rat's butt about them.
Another phrase we all must heed is, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it!
I will not go through all the historic reasons why Republicans have been bad for the middle class and the American economy as a whole, that is your job - educate yourself!
The enigma is that in order for the more educated of our leaders to stay in power they must keep a majority of Americans uneducated.  Sadly that appears to be working!
But one point about our friends in the GOP needs noting.  Their policies of getting rid of teachers and going after any group or union that has shown itself to be comprised of members who vote Democratic are clearly aimed at keeping future generations uneducated.
And that is the plan.
That is the new reality, the new normal.
Or at least it is until the majority of Americans wake up and smell the stench coming from the right side of the aisle and realize it ain't coffee!

Poem - Despair in the Air

It's really such a simple thing

It says that I can never win

When trying not to lose is all I do

No matter what I say or bring

To the table be it fat or thin

I just can’t get ahead; I am so blue

If only we could catch a break

And win just half, give or take

I know the sun would finally shine on me

And so I ask for goodness sake

To not just eat but have my cake

And from this deep depression be set free!

My son is such a great young man

And those who know him are a fan

Of his kindness and incredible keen wit

But no one calls him back to say

We’d like to hire you today

It’s only time before this boy will quit

America was once the land

Of wondrous dreams and futures planned

But now there’s been a pall cast over all

Our leaders only seek a bribe

The unemployed despair; imbibe

This once great country’s heading for a fall

Can things be changed?

And rearranged

The nation’s road is facing quite a fork

No time for stealth

A tax on wealth

Action’s what we need no time for talk.

Republicans always plan a way

For friends of theirs to steal the day

And keep the poor way down; it’s melodrama

But humans we must now unite

Don’t give up now continue the fight

And stay the course & reelect Obama!

A Modest Proposal

Peter Goldmark of Newsday is a former budget director of NYS & former publisher of the International Herald Tribune. He headed the climate program at the Environmental Defense Fund.

On August 19th and repeated in today's Sunday Newsday he wrote an OpEd putting forth a few "modest" ideas to straighten out the country.

He invited readers to send in their thoughts via email and he promised to read and respond to all.

That might be a tall order given the amount of angst in New York, let alone America.

I guess it's not a surprise that I offered my opinion, naturally, in the hopes that someone, somehow, somewhere will start to listen to those of who make less than a few million dollars a month!

Hi Peter,

Thanks for offering to listen to those who read & listen to you.

I almost do not know where to begin – Almost.

First and foremost we must restore confidence in America and self esteem in Americans. And when I say Americans I am speaking of the vast but dwindling middle class.

You are absolutely correct on all your points and I wish to add a couple of finer points to the list.

I realize there is no single project, no silver bullet to kill all that ails us as a country but one area that is definitely a win-win is infrastructure repair.

The nation’s bridges and roads are deteriorating at an embarrassing rate and putting people to work repairing them is a no-brainer. Sadly many of the politicians on one side of the aisle ARE no-brainers as they refuse to allow any movement that could be seen as a plus for the President.

If we do get to move on infrastructure I wish to add a new project to the mix:

When we built our National Highway System it became a model for the rest of the world to point to. We should use our ingenuity to now plan and build a similar system, not for vehicles but for water.

How often do we see terrible flooding in one part of the country while others are literally praying for rain? (I couldn’t resist a little dig at Mr. Rick Perry.)

This National Water Main system would funnel water away from flood ravaged areas and send it to places in dire need of the precious liquid.

The project would create jobs for tens of thousands and ongoing careers maintaining the structures for ages to come.

And it could even have the extra added benefit of producing hydro-electric energy as the water is moved around the country.

As for so-called entitlements I guess reform is absolutely necessary but certainly not as necessary as tax reform.

The wealthy who have contributed much to the problem in America and very little to the solution should look to Mr. Warren Buffet, no slouch he when it comes to money. We should agree with him as he asks why he is paying so little toward his fair share of tax revenue.

Incentives for state and local governments are nice and should always be looked into. But how do we ask the local municipalities to do that which the nation refuses to do?

But many years ago and for five consecutive years I was the President of the Home Fashion Products Assn. During one of my many speeches in the 1990s I warned that our nation was headed for terrible times as we continue to send jobs overseas.

I warned that we would become a third world nation unless DC started to place tariffs on products manufactured by cheap foreign labor.

I also admitted that we could not blame any CEO for trading highly paid and skilled workers in America for ‘who cares, they’re cheap’ labor in Asia since if they did not do so while their competitors did their businesses would fail.

My laundry list is much longer than I note here but I must stop somewhere.

But unless and until I see a willingness in Congress to tackle ANY of our problems I fear we will be airing our dirty laundry in public for many years to come.

Cordially,

I don't expect to get an actual reply from Mr. Goldmark but I wouldn't mind hearing from any of you.  Am I off the mark or am I striking Gold?

If he replies I'll post it here.

Not in my Neighbor's Pocket!

Legislators in Arizona and a couple of other states including but certainly not surprisingly Wisconsin have refused to change a word or two in a law that affects thousands upon thousands of unemployed citizens of their states.

The sad part about this selfish behavior by the “haves” of the ruling Republic Party is that the change would not cost the states one penny. And in fact if the legislators had an ounce of intelligence instead of pounds of animosity they would realize that the change would actually help their local economies.

The law concerns unemployment insurance for those unfortunate people who have been out of work and are entering weeks 86 through 99 of their hardship.

The states are attempting to stop their payments calling those voting citizens losers and lazy.

But the weeks in question are fully federally funded and do not cost those states any money.

If the people who would otherwise be getting the continuing aid had that cash on hand they would most likely be spending it on such frivolous things as food and clothing.

Unlike the super rich who take nearly every penny of their tax breaks and bailout gifts and either bank it or buy yachts etc. the needy people would of necessity be spending the money thus aiding in a small way the economy.

This case is a localized version of what is going on across America in every state in one way or another.

Possibly good intentioned people are falling for a flim flam game being run by the wealthiest and the politicians they back or fund without realizing the far reaching consequences.

It is a dangerous NIMNP – Not in My Neighbor’s Pocket game they are playing.

We used to say that all politics is local. But we should amend that to state that all anger and animus is local, all politics merely fuels the fire.

They fan the flames when they pit union workers against non union people.

They fan the flames when they claim illegal aliens are taking your jobs.

They fan the flames when they posit that Obama and the Democrats want to kill grandma.

They generalize every issue into a ‘we vs. they’ one and make the ‘they’ some other group to be feared and hated. Sadly we are all part of one of those groups but choose to ignore that fact.

And while those fans are set on high they sit back in the cool climate of their air-conditioned penthouse offices as if overlooking a community of ants and watch the frenzied citizenry try hard just to survive.

Like the boy who cries wolf and then slinks away as if he never uttered a word many of our legislators work in the shadows to rile and roil the melting pot that is America.

It seems as though we have all lost sight of a simple fact.

We are America!

We are the ones who make up the “We the people” of our constitution.

We are the people who made this country great!

And we are being fooled into submission.

The nation has been overrun by narcissism and schadenfreude.

It’s all about me and mine. And if you or he fail, hey that’s tough.

Whatever happened to “United we stand, divided we fall?”  (Listen to Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich explain it all in two minutes.)

A few words have been slightly altered and inserted that have totally subverted the letter and spirit of that old phrase to wit, ‘United we of my district and extended family stand, dividing the wealth and property of others so as not to fall.’

The social and moral views in America like all nations have always been pendulum-like. We go through periods of extreme conservatism followed by euphoric liberalism and back.

Those persecuted women of 1600s Salem might today be running for Congress. Oh wait…

And with the pendulum in mind I give fair warning to those in Congress who show such disdain for those of us fighting for survival by way of an old proverb:

Be kind to those you pass on the way up as you will surely see them on your way down.

America Needs a Real Pick Me Up

Parents know that if your baby is crying for no apparent reason and you pick him or her up the crying may stop but you have taught your child a valuable lesson.  You are in essence rewarding bad behavior.

Awwwww!
Don't you want to pick me up?

If the crying becomes an issue and you continue to do the prudent pick up the problem will grow out of proportion.
While the infant is not trying to 'put anything over on you' the fact that he knows crying will get him coddled and cuddled will keep him crying longer and longer until something or someone's gotta give.

Babies are cute and we love them so it will be hard to accomplish this but it is for their own good.

Naturally I don't condone ignoring a problem and if you know your child you should be able to distinguish between the attention desiring cry and the 'something is really hurting me' one.

The trick with the 'well' baby is to finally let it cry itself to sleep without the reward thus breaking the vicious cycle.

Such has been the case with the Republican Party over the last few decades and unfortunately many voters have failed to see the crying baby analogy.  We know this to be true because if they had then there would be nowhere near as many cry babies in Congress these days.
And just like the crying baby nothing gets done until they are satisfied.  We are taken away from the problems at hand to tend to them.  And while we tend to them our hands are literally tied so nothing does get done!
After the Democrats took the majority in Congress last decade the babies on the right side of the aisle effectively stopped the government by sticking their fingers in their collective ears and wailing.

Please pick me & my party up.

Okay only John Boehner actually cried but the rest of them constantly complained about the Democrats not getting anything done while they themselves were stopping every possible legislation or political appointment by using filibusters.
We the parents then inexplicably rewarded their incredibly bad counter-productive behavior by picking them up and electing more of them to Congress.
The lesson was learned and since 2010 the Republicans have done nothing but demand a pacifier.  And the pacifier they crave is total control of all three branches of government.
But they have not shown themselves to be worthy of that reward or I am sad to say, capable of running the country should they gain it.
With jobs and the economy as their supposed number one priority they proceeded to go after everything but jobs and the economy.
HR1 in the new Republican controlled House of Representatives was a bill to repeal health care for the masses.  Calling it Obama-care they cried and cried and somehow started to gain in the polls.
Emboldened by their gains they took on more issues that concern the middle class such as minimum wage and unions and planned parenthood and National Public Radio.
Should they get all their wishes on the above how many jobs will be created?  An intelligent parent or voter should be able to see that more would be lost.
Their next step was finally to take on the budget deficit but the gang of babies still cannot shoot straight.  They refuse to address the issue of zero taxes for billionaires or record profit producing corporations such as Exxon and GE.  These giants now have rights as though they were human beings thanks to the Republican leaning so-called Supreme Court of the Untied States.  (You remember them right?  Those wonderful people who gave you George W. Bush?)
The main point of the Republican Paul Ryan plan is Kill Medicare!
Should the voters reward Republicans for their current anti-social behavior the next step will most assuredly be the death of Social Security.
Babies are adorable and we love to hold them and play with them but we would never allow them to do our taxes or plan our future or drive our cars.  They just don't have the intelligence to do so!

The Americans are coming!
The Americans are coming!
Warn the Brits!

So why are we even considering  possible presidential contenders such as Michele "Death Panel" Bachmann or Sarah 'Paul Revere was warning the British!!!' Palin?
And then there's Newt 'family values' Gingrich who is currently on the campaign trail searching for wife number 4!
And if Obama-care was so terrible how can Mr. Romney show his face after Romney-care, which by the way was a success as would be Obama-care if the babies would stop crying.
The bottom line is simply this: Do not pick up the babies this time.  Let them go to sleep for a few years until they learn the lesson that we are the grown-ups, the parents, the voters.
We are the people for whom the government was created.
We the people need elected officials to govern, not babies!

The 2% Solution

Here’s a quick thought:

The wealthiest people in America who appear to be able to pull the strings of many others and have them dance to a strange tune seem to get their way every day.

And the end result is while they get richer the dancers fall further behind.  And the gap between the average citizen and the wealthy widens daily!

But here is the simple solution we have all missed!

And I already have the backing of at least 2% of the country.

America’s population is around 311 million as of the recent census.

Therefore that 2% group would comprise a group of 6.2 million people.

Obviously they do not wish to pay taxes and for the last 10 years have been able to prove that point.  But our deficit is growing and could become a nightmare for the country if nothing is done.

So if each and every one of the other 98% of citizens in the country would pay $1 per month – every month into a “Beat the Deficit” fund that fund would have $3.66 billion by the end of the year.

But in order to really defeat the deficit we the middle class and poor would have to pay a bit more into the BTD Fund.  Perhaps we could all fork over $10 per month, or make that $100 per month.  The BTD Fund would then be a bloated $366 Billion by years end!

This sacrifice would help our debt head in the right direction.

We must do this in order to ensure that the top 2% wealthiest people in the country are not hit with any taxes at all!

You see they have promised to start hiring again if we can just remove all the terrible uncertainty in the country.

That uncertainty hovers around the question of whether or not the wealthiest 2% will have to pay a penny of their money to help the country out of the awful situation that their actions caused in the first place!

Once we ensure that they can keep every cent of every dollar they either earn or steal then and only then will they feel certain enough about their future to start thinking about hiring people to work.

And the BTD Fund will be our ticket to future prosperity for at least 2% of us!

Now I don’t wish to turn the BTD into a Beat to Death item but there is still one problem.

I overlooked one other small item of interest to those who are living with these ‘uncertainty caused stresses’ and that is health care costs.

If we could just remove the cost of health care from the equation and not make any of those nervous prospective employers have to chip in to keep their new hires healthy we could sew up the deal and really get this country moving once again!

So let’s all pull together America!

Dig deep into your pockets for freedom!!

Let’s make this country great again!!!

WE CAN DO IT – YES WE CAN!!!!

Remove all the uncertainty from the minds of our overlords and exempt them from our tax rolls like we’ve already done for large corporations such as Exxon and GE!!!!!

Beg the Supreme Court to continue ruling in favor of the poor set upon wealthy multi-national corporations and their board members.

Then and only then can we all get back to work and have a bright future, as long as we can do it in the dark since we may not be able to afford light bulbs.

An I for an I is not Teamwork

Growing up I always heard the phrase, “There’s no “I” in teamwork.”

It was and still is a catchy phrase and at least for winning teams true.  And although there are exceptions such as the Cleveland Cavaliers who have completely lost their way after losing LeBron James generally all involved must pull together for a team to be successful.

We can also extrapolate the opening phrase into many other areas such as Congress which has no “I” or the corporate world, also devoid of an “I.”

And yet both Congress and the world of big business have forgotten about the members of the American team.  Both of those entities have left the average citizen out of any equation.

For the past decade or so the team comprised of large corporations and members of Congress have consistently acted in their own best interests.  Their ‘one hand washes the other’ attitude for self advancement works well for them in the short term but could eventually hurt all of us.

According to all teams our current fight is with an ever increasing deficit caused simply by the fact that we as a nation are spending more money than we are taking in.

The fix to that problem is also simple.  Either take in more money or dole out less.

Or better yet, dare I say it compromise.

It is that compromise I wish to discuss because it is something this country has lost sight of.  And coincidentally the time period during which we have closed our eyes to that word happens to be the same time period for which our economy has faltered and our unemployment numbers have spiked.

Unemployment is another interesting word.  And while there is no “I” in unemployment it is most certainly an individual problem.  And too many of the 'I's' have it!

People who are employed in the work force are all part of their particular team.  And while they each may grumble about their jobs to co-workers or to their family they nevertheless fight for their team and pull for their team and defend their team when attacked by competing companies.

And yet corporate greed working in a government induced and controlled environment of profit over people at any cost has created a dangerous mix of oligarchic mentality and well funded campaigns to keep the status quo for years to come.

We have billionaires who have more money than they could ever spend in many lifetimes quietly funding ad campaigns and special interest groups aimed at removing all taxes or regulations or any other perceived impediments to their continued wealth grab.

The result of their efforts has produced the widest gap ever known between the wealthiest 2% in this country and the workers who helped them realize their stratospheric status.

And these people did not stop at funding advertisements.  With the help of odd and unprecedented rulings by the Supreme Court of the United States they are also using some of their vast wealth to fund the political campaigns and careers of our supposedly unbiased congressmen and women.

It is hard to fault people for taking the easy way out especially when tremendous amounts of cash are waved in their faces.  That is usually how spies and double agents are created.

But when we as an indivisible nation of individuals take the time to believe in a group of people; take the time to campaign for those people; and in the end put our votes where our mouths are should we not have the right to expect something in return?

America is a nation founded in Democracy.  We were born from the ashes of a revolution against the unfair practice of taxation without representation.  We gladly, sort of, pay our taxes knowing that the money is going toward the greater good and that our best interests are being religiously guarded and defended by our team leaders, the members of the US  Congress.

And yet an incredibly large number of corporations including the largest one the world has ever known, Exxon pay no taxes in or to America.  But they seem to be represented in government far more than the millions upon millions of individual tax payers!

Billionaires were given huge tax breaks under President Bush and then were able to coerce President Obama and the Democrats into allowing them to continue.  These gifts were made in the hopes that a few bones in the way of jobs would be tossed down to the American public.

We the people are still waiting.

While there is no “I” in team I am a nevertheless a member of the American team and I am fed up with corporations getting away with financial murder.

Here’s a cute pneumonic I stole from our Constitution,
“All Men Equal, Remember? I CAN!”

Here’s hoping Congress remembers as well and starts working for the American team once again.

Pyramids in America?

Mubarak is a crook at best and an awful leader for sure.  These facts are well known and it is therefore easy to point to him and his policies of greed and corruption as key factors in the economic woes of most Egyptians.

Egyptians want NO MOBarak

He has remained in power partly due to our laziness but more importantly because of our continued need for peace between Egypt and Israel.

But we lost sight of the fact that during the decades of his control in that country the people have lived under the tremendously restrictive thumb of Martial Law.

As human beings we have a need to find not only fault for failings but some one or some thing to blame.  And when we can pinpoint that blame we can codify all our angst toward that culprit.

In Egypt there is no doubt that Mubarak is the head of whatever group has held the country down for the past 30 years and is easily seen as that culprit. 

Egypt has an unemployment rate of over 9% but for the past 30 years under Mubarak it has not been below 8% and has often hit 12%!  In America we are up in arms when the rate is above 7% and most pundits claim that a President cannot be reelected with a rate even that high!

But we cannot point to the current Egyptian dictator as the cause of our economic woes in America.

Unfortunately there is no one person to vilify here.  No individual we can banish from our lives and go back to the glory days of blissful economic bloom and boom.

Instead we are mired in gloom and doom.

Oh the stock markets are doing well but most Americans are not broadly invested there.  Buying shares at depressed prices may have been a good idea and has created tremendous wealth for those who were already financially stable before and after the 2008 crash.

But the few dollars most average Americans had left in their pockets post crash went toward more frivolous items such as food and clothing.

And therein we find our culprit, our American Mubarak of sorts.

It is said that the Egyptian President has socked away a fortune in the neighborhood of $70 billion.  Much of that money was obtained in the form of aid from the US and given in the hopes of building stability in the region.

But over the same period of time big business, big banks, large multi-national corporations and Wall Street financial institutions in America banded together into a covert cabal of corruption that made Mubarak’s crimes look pitiful and petty.

Money! Power!
Money!! Power!!
Okay, both!!!

For example the Koch brothers who are behind many a conservative group hell bent on keeping the landscape free and clear for corporate greed to continue and flourish are each worth between $10B and $20 billion!

So did these groups secretly conspire to bring down the economy?

Of course not and I do not mean to give that impression.

They obviously hoped that the bubble would continue to grow and they could amass even larger, more obscene bundles of billions.

So they have been hurt for their collective acts and have lost fortunes as a result of the meltdown?

Give me a break!

If anything the companies that were hurt the most and were at the center of the meltdown were given a leg up by our government using tax payer dollars.

And in return for our largess we have been rewarded with our highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression.

But we are told that many institutions are repaying the loans they received and the government is actually realizing a profit!  So why are we not rejoicing?

Well for one thing deep damage done to our work force will not be fixed all that quickly.  Many of the corporations that are showing wonderful profits are doing so because they fired so many workers and scared those remaining into taking on double responsibilities and working longer hours.

But the large institutions are hiring again so it will get better shortly, right?

That would be true if those workers were located in America!  Sadly many of the needed jobs have gone overseas.  And who can blame a company for hiring someone at 10¢ a day in Asia rather than $7.25 per hour in the States?

Logic would tell you that if the American consumer continues to be treated like dirt with ever decreasing salaries they will not be able to purchase products produced by these offending companies.  But since when has logic trumped greed?

Unless our government steps in and regulates the cash flow out of the country we can look forward to continued high unemployment rates and a steady decline toward third world status.

But then logic does come into play and the owners of those companies and industry leaders who make up the wealthiest 2% of America, such as those billionaire brothers Koch push back and fund tremendous lobbying campaigns to stop any erstwhile regulatory fix.

In America we do not riot in the face of obvious corruption (most of the time.)

In America we calmly look to our leaders for solutions (most of the time.)

In America we have faith that our President can and will work with members of Congress to stem the tide of rising greed and set the ship of state back on course (not so much anymore.)

We all know the truth about the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny and we also know that the next elections are always just a few months away.

Perhaps those new elected officials will finally have our best interests at heart.

And right now that’s the biggest difference between America and Egypt.

Et Tu Caesar?

When I was younger (as opposed to when I was older?) my aunt and her crew had a family dog named Caesar.
I wouldn't get to see the friendly bull dog very often, Caesar not my aunt, because they lived in a far off land called New Jersey.
Okay, maybe it isn't all that far from Queens, New York but they lived a nice distance away in Jersey and up in the mountains overlooking Lake Hopatcong.  Getting there just wasn't that convenient so we ended up visiting only on certain special occasions.  And since we had to pick up my grandma as well the entire trip became a production, don't ask!
Like any family my aunt and company had their interesting dynamic but generally they were good people.  I say were because too many of them are gone due to cancer and that includes my mom and her brother.  I guess it isn't surprising since they always had a cigarette in use or on deck.
But back to our family outings.
It was always something when we visited the Hopatcong group but one of the constant cast members of those days was Caesar.
No matter where we were the lumbering mostly quiet bull dog would be present.
We might be sitting around the den watching the television when a malodorous vapor permeated our nasal passages.
Since this was family we naturally figured one of us must be the culprit but before anyone was singled out someone in the room would yell, "Caesar!"
Now it didn't matter if Caesar, who was minding his own business, was asleep, or even in the room it was obvious that the old dog was to blame.  But his punishment was nothing more than finger pointing and 'tsking.'
And let's face it, to a dog it meant attention and he naturally ate it up with a gleeful wagging of his tail.
Despite the stress involved for reasons too personal or private to mention here those were fun times.  Blaming the dog was easy and could be done without fear of successful contradiction.  The real culprit, if other than Caesar would always get away without so much as a scolding.
And that brings me to our country's current socially charged situation, the middle class, the economy and unemployment.
While most Americans were minding their own business trying to make a living the so-called upper classes were tweaking the rules and pulling the strings of their puppets in Congress.
Deriving great wealth from derivatives that many of them didn't even understand they slowly but surely changed the dynamic fragrance and landscape of America.
The result of their machinations is now clear and has been for over two years, the world's economy stinks!
In order to fix things and make sure it never happens again many ideas have been brought to the table.
Many fingers have been pointed and many arguments have been made.
But many people are still hurting and will be hurting for a long time to come.
So what is the fate of the real villains who fouled the air of the economy?
How have these emperors of Wall Street and big bank board rooms been punished?
Many if not all will be receiving their usual obscene and totally undeserved bonuses any second now.  Others too embarrassed to accept the large outlay of former tax payer dollars are being compensated with  huge raises.  One can only assume the deferred bonuses will come next December, if not earlier.
And the tax breaks they received under former President Bush and company will now continue for another two years!
And will any of that money be used to hire more workers?
Please!  You can't be serious! (Go ahead and say it, I'll wait...)
It is this, "I come to bury the middle class, not to hire them" attitude that hurts the most.
And to add insult to injury this new found addition to their wealthy portfolios will be handed down to their heirs at reduced tax rates when they finally pass on.
Millions of formerly hard working Americans are lining up at the unemployment offices for their weak weekly stipend.
Others who have exhausted their 99 week meager handouts are still trying to find gainful employment in a business world all too happy to take advantage of their dire need for even minimum wage.
The American middle class trusted the government and the business leaders of the country to compensate them for their dogged loyalty.  They were and are sadly naive!
We may have blamed Caesar for that which he did not do but we loved him and took care of him!
So who is to blame for the true malodorous stench filtering through our economy today?
The old bull dog may be gone but the aroma lingers on and in the end the innocent among us are the ones taking the punishment.