Hi Jim
My wife asked me to share my thoughts on the bailout and Iraq, see below.
The fundamentals are not sound. Every politician says the American worker is the best worker in the world, because of their productivity. The truth is there are less of them than there were 40 years ago, actually 40 years ago they were 35% of the work force, now they are only 11%. Businesses which determine where the best workers are have been shipping our manufacturing jobs overseas. We don't manufacture consumer goods in this country anymore. The calculation of productivity of the American worker is misleading, because it includes products manufactured overseas but sold with American labels on them.
Our Manufacturing industry seems to be limited to our agriculture industry, but even in this industry we are importing food. Our food prices are going higher because of the new demand for fuel. It seems ridiculous at a time of rising costs we are paying our farmers not to grow crops. We are an agrarian Nation and we should be increasing our exports of our produce to the nations who have the money.
If you look at the so called American car as an example, they are assembled in the United States, but most of the guts that go into them are manufactured overseas. The future of the American worker is bleak because we cannot match the number of college graduates of other countries. Our education system is collapsing, one-third (1/3) of our high school student are quitting before graduation, and if we follow California, it will be even worse, that state is up to one-half (1/2). This is the group who are going to have to pay our Social Security and Medicare benefits. This is the first group in our history who is now projected to earn less than their fathers earned. This is our legacy.
We are transferring the ownership of all our wealth overseas, the first thing to go was our natural resources, the foreign countries have basically bought up all our mineral industries, with Canada being the biggest purchaser. We are buying Seven Hundred Billion Dollars of oil a year ($700B) from overseas countries, when we have the largest supply oil reserves in the world, in shale, which could be extracted at thirty dollars ($30) a barrel using the new method developed in Israel. We even built a supper highway along the Green river in Utah and Colorado in the 1980's for getting the oil and gasoline out. But, Congress is listening to the big oil companies, who are waiting for the price of oil to go up to the price of gold before they reinvest their profits into developing these resources.
The Asian countries are our bankers, but that is changing as they have stopped depositing there funds in our banks and even started to withdraw them. Who can blame them when the dollar keeps De-valuating and the money they put in the banks is worth forty (40) percent less. The Asian banks are going to invest in their own Nations where there is economic growth and demand. The only reason they invested in the United States is because of the security our country has maintained, our stable government and the enforcement of our laws. This financial crises, caused by a lack of regulation or the enforcement of existing laws has shaken their confidence.
Like our forefathers, the illegal immigrants come to this country to make a better life for themselves. WE do not want to give them the benefits that we have worked so hard for all our lives, unless they have earned them. No person should be denied what they have honestly earned, but no person should just walk into this country and say I should get what you get, when they have not contributed to it. There must be a point in time when we recognize the illegal alien is due his fair share. In law there is a statute of limitations for a crime committed. If an illegal alien has been working in this country for seven years, as a good citizen, excluding serious crimes, but allowing for minor ones, he should be given amnesty. Any alien under seven years should be given an opportunity to enlist in the military for two years, or a government work program for 4 years. Any illegal alien not willing to work in these programs sho uld be returned to their native country th e first time, given jail time the second time and then returned.
The problem goes back to the Health Care Industry and its strangle hold on our manufacturing. We must lower what we pay for our health care, lower it from eighteen percent (18%) to eight percent (8%) of our GDP. This one group is compensated three (3) times the rate of other employee groups, i.e. they get three times their share of the Gross Domestic Product per capita employees. This industry has been able to grow in its wealth and power because it is acting as an Oligopoly and the antitrust and taxation regulations have not been enforced against it.
The fault of our problems lies in the greed of all men's hearts. This is a good motivation when it is properly channeled and with limited regulations. I strongly support success and proper compensation for the individual who brings benefits to others. But there must be a reasonable limit on how much a person can take for them self when they master the methods of success within our society. I support an escalating tax system on the individual, who should ask themselves not how much I am paying in taxes or what my percentage of tax revenue is, but how much do I have left, how have I benefited from this financial system of free enterprise.
If we do not strengthen the underlying contributing fundamentals of our society, of equal and fair compensation, of better educated workers, of stronger family support and of diligent monetary planning of our own lives we will bankrupt the future of our nation.
Roy J. Meidinger
PS: Jim, please send my thoughts to your friends and family
PSS:
The bailout is needed but would make greater sense if there was a plan in place as to how we are going to get rid of the assets we are going to purchase, fixed time frames for a review of the goals set and a time frame for its conclusion. The assets should be sold as quickly as possible. The mortgages being bought are presently in two groups, 97% are sound mortgages and 3% are in financial stress, either in foreclosure or in arrears of payments. We are only buying mortgages, not real estate. The banks are not going to want to sell the really good loans but only the ones which are marginal. All the mortgages should be bundled together (shades of Subprime), sold in bundles but, like the Federal Housing Administration loans, insured against failure. Any mortgage that fails, the property would be foreclosed on. All loans taken over in this manner should be allowed to be converted into fixed loans. The loans being brought will be purchased at the face amount but the mortgages being sold will be sold at a higher value, because they are insured. Any real estate which comes into the possession of the government will sold at public auction. All these activities will be handled through Fannie Mae and Freddy Mack.
As for the war in Iraq I would engage the President of Iran in a dialog. I would explain to him, there will be no major removal of our troops as long as there is a sustained terrorist threat to a stable government in Iraq. We will continue to build and strengthen Iraq’s military. As for the armed citizen groups presently employed in the various tribes, which are now part of Iraq’s army, and the most stabling force against foreign terrorist, these may be moved to the borders, along with the Iraq army and our troops. This will be done in preparation for a spring offensive in Afghanistan, where we will have with our allies three additional div isions. We will also ask Pakistan to bring in two divisions to their borders, to close them, so there will be no incursions by any fractions. We will follow the Taliban where ever they may run too, even back to their training camps. Of course we would ask for Iran’s support if we have to quickly move our army on its Southern border to support our army on its northern border. Of course, the American people would demand we leave the region if the two leaders of Al Qaida and the one leader of the Taliban were captured and brought to trial. Probably, eighty five percent (85%) of our forces would be withdrawn from the region within two years, and the running of the region returned to the traders.
What Happened To The Signers Of The Declaration Of Independence?
and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;
another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or
hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,
and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants,
nine were farmers and large plantation owners;
men of means, well educated,
but they signed the Declaration of Independence
knowing full well that the penalty would be death if
they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and
trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the
British Navy. He sold his home and properties to
pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British
that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.
He served in the Congress without pay, and his family
was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,
and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that
the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson
home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General
George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,
and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.
The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill
were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests
and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his
children vanished.
So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
07 July 2010 in Archeology/History/Facts/Mythos, Reader Contribution/Commentary | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)