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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - Passed House
Bird-Brained vs. Hare-Brained Economics
This 647 page bill (much of it experts consider
unread by either the Senate or House) passed today by the House (not a
single Republican supported the bill) authorizes 1.2 trillion over the next
decade at 350 billion in interest (approx. 40%).
Personally, I am a capitalist, with socialistic
sensibilities. The adrenaline of business potential is contagious. I
love it. I actually promote small businesses in a small business of my own.
But I care about people and the environment, too. As in all things, we must find a
fair and sustainable balance.
So, here is my Bird-Brained Plan. I offer it
contrast to the Hare-Brained Plan
Our government should not be bailing out massive
corporations. If they fail, they fail. It is natural to the business model
to implode once something becomes to large to sustain itself; for, that is when
smaller businesses come in and take over a market. And a shift occurs. A
shift in innovation, efficiency, supply, demand and wealth distribution.
What we've been seeing with this fiasco of a
financial sector bailout is fat cats not wanting to give up the ship they've
crashed onto a reef. But they don't want to give anyone else a chance to
have a ship either. They want it all. And, their latest free-wheeling frenzy
of bonus dealing demonstrates they can't handle the generous help they've
weaseled from tax-payers. They've gotten too big and too far removed from the reality of
their own markets. I mean, these people are out in the stratosphere, baby.
Hooking these folks up on public life support is neither logical nor
healthy for our economy. Why? Because it constipates market evolution,
threatens vitality and you know what else? It's hypocritical as hell.
There is a whole lot of caterwallering about
this new bill. And for several reasons: It's too big and ushers too much
debt which is unacceptable when it makes us vulnerable to China's political
whims. How can that be good? Another reason... not enough cash into
infrastructure, not enough into small business, and nothing into
environmental restoration. And, Republican's, quit bitching about the arts.
Actors and artists will work for the corner of the floor to sleep on and a
three-day old slice of pizza. Now, just stop it. That money can go a long
way. If only they could learn to balance a checkbook and keep receipts. Of
course, fat cats hide and shred all that stuff, so maybe it doesn't matter.
but I digress.
As far as I can see, this bill does have at least
one very good aspect: It is diverse, with cash funneling into various
economic sectors. This is very good for minimizing risk, should one or
more parts of it fail to live up to expectation.
There is also a "Buy America" clause for
construction projects that has become the focal point of a bunch of weenie
anti-protectionism parrots, who have squawked so loudly that President Obama
is now looking at it with some scrutiny. Well, I guess I'm old school, but by
God, in my book, America comes first, period. You can't help anyone else
until you can stand on your own two feet - and I'm not talking about
standing on Chinese friggin' imports. Seeing these greedy-ass fat cats
on Wall Street dishing up bonuses while American families lose homes, health
care and can't afford a gallon of milk - those protectionists can kiss....
well, you get the picture.
Turns out that only about 5% of the "stimulus" goes
to infrastructure. Granted, not everyone is a construction worker, but
infrastructure is necessary and experts have given it a "D". We need to get
our butts in gear and fix this incredible national heritage gifted to us by
our predecessors - who built it from practically nothing. Putting more
into critical infrastructure is good for our long-term investment, bringing
high direct yields in job creation, transportation and national security.
Education is a big benefactor, and while I'm all
for education, I am for real education and am no fan of the bloated,
failed Democrat's cash cow of a bureaucracy that passes for and desecrates
the institution of learning. Yes, money should go to education, and
schools need to be better built and outfitted (with American steel),
but, no cash for footballs. Cash for science, math, English, history,
civics, business and the arts. I'd say footballs too, but sports programs
have an established history of beating textbooks back to the starting line
in district budgets.
Another thing. One of the fundamental tenants of
economics is that economies go through expansion and contraction periods.
This is a false assumption regarding a dynamic phenomenon - even if experts
do believe it. Economies do not have to expand and contract, a
healthy economy will transition. It will evolve. There will be smooth and
continuous genesis and attrition of markets and industry.
Healthy economies are like healthy bowels. You eat
something, you digest it, you poop it out. That's the ideal, as if I need to
remind you.
Government policies act to influence how markets
and industries relate. Laws (like this stimulus bill) are full of what
are called "carrots" and "sticks". The carrot is an incentive to do
something. The stick is a disincentive. In other words, the government says:
We will reward corporations if you outsource all your labor! BINGO!
Corporations are outsourcing all their labor. Rewarding
outsourced labor is both an incentive to outsource and a disincentive to
hire Americans.
So, government policy has everything to do with the
economy through its prolific generation of laws and policies which are
rarely well-considered and are often pushed by lobbyists looking to, you
guessed it - incentivize or disincentive something they stand to make a
killing on. A good example of this is the carefully and secretly crafted
energy bill of 2005, borne from the unholy union of the oil and gas industry
and their flying monkey Cheney.
Government policy is why everything in America
either fails or flourishes. Behind the burning question, "Why the hell is
this happening?" is the answer.... someone's partisan policy is encouraging
and facilitating it - often even subsidizing it.
So, if balanced policies are like fiber to a
well-functioning bowel, you don't even want to visualize the analogy I have
for our failing economy.
Okay, here it is, anyway.
Fat cat corporates, who donate vast sums to the
business schools and sports programs of their favorite universities and fund
economists' curricula which over-emphasizes the studies of other economists
would like you to believe that what you should do to make the economy
flourish is buy a crap load of lobbyists and form associations and influence
law makers to sponsor bills to incentivize you latest money-making scheme
and put to use your latest patent. Fat cats beget fat cats.
This is the equivalent of putting a cork in it and
filling up on doughnuts. What happens next is never pretty.
Is isn't that 'policy' is an
inherently bad thing, it - like oil and gas development - is often simply
poorly conceived. It tends to be exclusive and specialized and no one really
stops to consider the ramifications in the broader, constantly shifting
scope of the real world.
So, I hope that in the language
of this stimulus bill, there is funding for education, because education is
vital to the functioning - the transitioning of a healthy economy. It is
water to the fiber of the system. Even with good policy, if you don't
have a education system that nourishes it, you'll still get bound up.
Truly clean and sustainable
energy is something we must invest in. It is the transition that
is needed to help us push away from the doughnut trough and waddle, albeit
all cramped up, into this century. Think about it, everything we do is
intimately tied to fossil fuels which are devastating this planet faster
than we can even figure out how many ways how.
Along with this, should be an
investment in environmental restoration. For obvious reasons. It is the
infrastructure of our very living, breathing selves, and the return is
forever. No better investment.
We also need investment in
essential services like fire, police and medical. A civilization slowly
displaced is like a gigantic growing refugee camp. And the strain on social
services will multiply. We need to plan for that. To not do would cause
greater and more rapid decline. Crime, disease, you name it. Republicans
piss and moan about social nets all the time - unless its their fat cat oil
and gas or Wall Street buddies getting a check. They say - Socialism!
Socialism! Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, here's a news flash.
America has been socialistic since income tax was invented. There are a
ton of ways that public money is used to influence markets and populations,
and don't let Republicans tell you otherwise. Subsidies are a favorite Republican
way of getting a welfare check without calling it welfare. Oh, and so is deregulation,
which makes it easier to pillage more from others.
The difference between us and say Switzerland is that up in the Nordic countries
they pay around 60% tax, but the people of those country are cared for cradle
to grave. That is actually a brilliant balance between ignorant poverty-stricken masses and a wealthy elite class. Anything over 60% you are free to
keep. So, there's an incentive to be wealthy if you so desire. And people so
desire. But you don't have the strain on social systems and the drugs and
crime and suffering and homelessness like we see in this country. In America, we pay upwards
of 60% when you factor in all the taxes on a dollar, and people are still
without something as basic as health care. Up North the people own and
better regulate the services that are essential to their lives. Up North, they pay on the
front end and sustain a population of vital people - hence enjoying increased
and stable
productivity. Here, we pay on the back end and let everything fall apart
in-between while we continue to bolster the "fat-cat free lunch". America is
a land of inequality among classes, and many of the best and most lucrative
opportunities are secured through relatively unfair advantage as a result of
slanted policy. Socialized opportunity requires socialized reward if
we are to bring any kind of balance, thereby invigorating our system and
helping ensure its longevity and vitality. The fact is that no other republic has ever lasted longer
than 200 years. We need to get it together quick-like and stop experimenting
and mislabeling our government structure, so we can see to find our way out
the bag we're stuck in.
I am torn on the idea of direct
stimulus to those living at poverty levels. And here's why. I think it is
needed, absolutely. Fat cats tend to horde rather than invest in times of
uncertainty - and they do that because they are smart, not stupid, and have
the luxury of waiting for the best opportunities to come along. Poor
folk tend to spend all their available wad on food calories and energy to
heat their homes, and they do that because they have no other choice and
cannot afford to wait. Any
check sent to the less fortunate would circulate into the economy
immediately, but because of bad free trade policy and corporate monopolies, all that
potential is going right back to China who is already making a ton off
interest. Direct stimulus to the forgotten and struggling among us is
essential. Beyond 'discretionary' cash for kids' field trips, new tires,
a carburetor or a water filter; health care is still an American
notion, so why not give them an additional amount for medical costs
-something far beyond poor Americans. Plumbers, electricians, dry-wallers -
the construction trade is also American based (as long as E-verify is kept
in place, and it should be), so why not an amount for home improvement, or
rent assistance? There are ways to reach out and assist America's
increasingly expanding working poor class without giving it all back to China. Such
a policy should go hand in hand with policies to support the growth and
purchase of American small-farm food products and encourage textiles and
other forms of American production.
More money (and a little
better regulation) needs to go into non-profits. They are the secondary
layer in the economic cake - in between poverty on the bottom and fat cats
on the top. Non-profits provide a vital tax shelter for fat cats and, in
the process, redistribute some of that wealth to the worker bees. Further,
these organizations offer a sense of community and vital services to enhance
well-being and take up a lot of slack when the public needs help. Churches,
food banks, medical clinics, environmental advocacy, family planning,
homeless shelters, hospice and domestic violence shelters.... all of these
organizations must be nurtured as they serve both the top and the bottom
layers of our economic infrastructure.
Small business. And I
don't mean the giant corporations masquerading as small business, and
keeping upstarts out of the growth loop. Please. 500 employees is not
small business. I'll tell you what small business is. It's Mom and pop
and their kids or a couple of friends making stuff and making deliveries or
providing a service to their communities. It's the small doctor's or
attorney's office. It's the real estate office. It's the small grocery store
chain, and the family restaurant. It's the local newspaper and the cleaning
service and the plumber for God's sake. Not a ten story building with 1,500
contractors, 500
employees and offices in three countries. Give me a break. This government needs to invest
in real small businesses. And probably re-classify them. Let's give nano and
micro-business a chance! Give these people loans and let them develop
their dream and employ their family and friends and serve their neighbors
and friends.
So, infrastructure, green energy,
education, restoration, essential services, non-profits small business -
those are the biggies I'd like to see included in a stimulus package.
And reversing the housing mess? Three
solutions (I used to be a broker): 1) establish a commission to
oversee and renegotiate loans and stop this foreclosure insanity. 2)
Establish a program allowing people to trade down. You know how everyone
always wants to trade up? Well, instead of giving up the home you can't
afford, let someone with a little bigger budget buy into it, and you take
the next one down. The person you're buying from? They, too, are taking the
next one down. And so on. The whole purchase paradigm simply shifts by
degrees to the
right. And the only group of folks you really have to worry about are those
on either end - not everyone in the middle, too. The government already has
a 1031 program where you can swap one similar property for another. All we
have to do is set up a swap system and many less people are out on the
street. and 3) All those folks on either end? Establish a new Homestead
Act. There are lots and lots of small communities across the interior of
this nation that have - over the past twenty years - been abandoned for the
urban centers (Think Rome right before the fall!). For gosh sakes, shore up
the railroads and interstates, the highways and bridges and give people
property - just like they did in the old days to settle the West. Just
give it to them - those intrepid souls heading out West once again to the
farms and rural communities of our nation's heartland. Put money into the
university's extension programs and teach them how to farm. I personally
would like to see more family farms and a hell of a lot less corporate
farms. Hey, if the Green Acres couple could do it, why not a couple from
Santa Barbara? And I bet they'd rather live in Haychuck, Vermont growing
tomatoes than in a box on a sidewalk growing mushrooms. I know I would. And
all those small businesses I spoke about investing in? They'd have a place to flock to.
The Bird-Brained plan also
requires a leaner, more efficient government. And, Republicans, that doesn't
mean less to no regulation. Big business doesn't operate on a moral compass
and, as an entity, is a conflicted psychotic personality. Even the most
socially and environmentally aware corporations are mythical creatures -
half scorpion, half salamander, driven overwhelmingly by the desire and need
for market share and profit. Business cannot regulate itself in a free
market and the labor base is not in a position to effectively object.
Government's role must be one of regulation. So, social safeguarding, fair
regulating, and acting - through policy making - as an engine of economic
transition and vitality - this is what government should be doing. But,
while it is doing that, it should be rigorously guarding against and
reporting fraud , waste and abuse. This was a program I learned about in
the military (back when toilet seats were going for $750.00). How it
works is this: If you see somewhere that either fraud, waste or abuse is
going on - you report it and receive a reward. The reward is far smaller
than the combined cost of the fraud, waste or abuse. So it was smart and
effective. And it should be a required program in all fat-cat
institutions... especially those feeding in any way from the public trough.
Do all that, get rid of
outsourcing (which reinvigorates manufacturing) and turn free trade into
fair trade, and we're on our way!
This is the Bird-Brained Plan,
and I call it that for this reason. When I feed our backyard birds here on the mountain,
their natural tendency is to segregate - for good reason. The big birds,
like scrub jays or magpies often bully the little guys, like juncos and
chickadees. When conditions are normal - some of the wilder birds like
flickers and magpies don't even come to the table. But when conditions get a
little harsher, you see more bird folks coming in for some easy chow. Under
these circumstances, the big birds pig all the seed and the little birds get
run off with empty tummies. That's not okay. So, I spread the seed around a
little and drizzle some into little places only the little birds can or want
to go. This way, everyone gets a share - even in good times. But when things
turn tough and a wicked winter sets in, I've seen birds that normally
segregate, actually feed side by side. Once, I even saw a flicker teach a
scrub jay how to dig in the snow with a small stick for buried seed. When it
gets tough, everyone is interested in just getting enough to get through the
next ten minutes. So, I still scatter the seed out like I normally would -
in large areas and small - providing enough range of selection that everyone
can participate. And everyone makes it through the winter. I didn't change
my method of feeding - I've always fed strategically. The birds didn't
change their natures. What changed was the conditions. And we made it all
work together.
The Hare-Brained Plan is
what's on the table in its current form. It is too big, too fast and without
adequate strategic investment. It also needs to be phased in with
opportunity to reshape and reallocate. In the great depression and dust bowl
days of Oklahoma, forage was dry and sparse - often sprouting under drifts
of talc-like dust. Few creatures could survive it. But, these conditions
spurned a plague-like crop of resilient jack rabbits. They were running all
over the place out of control and scarfing whatever forage remained. It was
unbalanced and required immediate and tough corrective action to prevent
further damage. That corrective action only addressed the jack rabbits,
however, not the dust bowl.
The difference between the two is
balance.
In times of crises - you need
focus, strategy, patience and persistence.
In times of chaos, you need
compassion, community and cooperation - and humor.
We are barreling into a situation
requiring all of the above.
Within each of us is at least one
extraordinary talent; at least two achievable dreams and a least ten
ideas useful to humanity; plus, a whole pile of common sense and capability.
So write your ideas down and send
them to your representatives.
And,
politicians, stop listening to lobbyists and corporate raiders. Pay
attention to the regular folk, and do
something right for the people of this country.
And, help us God Bless America!
Links
www.recovery.gov
[Official government site where you can go to view the text of the bill
called the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009"]
I went here immediately after learning the House
would be voting on this bill today but when I got there, all I saw was the
following message.
"Check back after the passage of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act to see how and where your tax dollars are
spent. An oversight board will routinely update this site as part of an
unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency and unnecessary
spending in our government."
In the interest of this very important legislation
- which is almost too late to do anything about, here are a few links you
may find helpful in keeping up with the bill as it volley's between the
Senate (sponsor) and House finding its final form.
www.Gongress.org
[outstanding site to get you hooked up with the goings on up on the Hill -
and how you political folk voted.]
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/bills/?bill=12473841&size=full
- Light summary of bill. Here is the title text: "To create jobs, restore
economic growth, and strengthen America's middle class through measures that
modernize the nation's infrastructure, enhance America's energy
independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve
affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest
need, and for other purposes."
The following links were obtained from the Lou
Dobbs show on CNN. I've been watching Lou for many many years and agree with
about 90+ percent of everything he says. He's the only Independent voice in
main-stream media and tends to reflect much of my own Independent view -
with the exception of natural gas exploration. On that topic I e-mailed him
with a link to this website suspecting that he likely was either uninformed
in the issue (unusual) or he was personally invested, which might cloud his
perception of what is really occurring out in the gas production fields, and
what industry is perpetrating against the American people. Fortunately, he
soon stopped talking about the topic which allowed me to watch his show once
again - because, boy howdy, hearing him parrot industry rhetoric without a
perspective of the 'other side' of the story made me flip channels on more
than one occasion, and finally stop watching his show altogether. I mean his
slanted perspective made me doubt the full and truthful realm of everything
else he spoke about. His cessation of discussion on the topic reinstated his
credibility in my eyes and I still consider this extraordinarily courageous
man a vital Independent American voice.
Following are links for and from his website:
http://loudobbs.tv.cnn.com/
Find your senator:
www.senate.gov
Fid your representative:
www.house.gov
Or call the Capitol Switchboard at
202-224-3121
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Email:
sf.nancy@mail.house.gov
Phone: 202-225-4965
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Email:
senator_reid@reid.senate.gov
Phone: 202-224-3542
President Barack Obama
Email:
comments@whitehouse.gov
Phone: 202-456-1111
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