On the Contrary

Usually I write this blog with a general theme in mind, but Bits and Pieces are things that may seem unrelated, but lend to the overall malady in our country today:  So here are this weeks gems:

• I usually watch Meet the Press, Reliable Sources, and Fareed Zakaria’s GPS on Sunday with snippets of CNN’s State of the Union.  Except for Fareed, I had to turn them off.  On Meet the Press, David Gregory is no Tim Russert.  One of Tim’s great attributes was to let the guest fully answer a question without interrupting, in a sense letting them speak for themselves and giving them all the rope they needed.  David seems to have an agenda when he continually interrupts to challenge an answer.  He needs to step back and let his guests answer the hard questions fully without his constant interrupting to challenge, usually using the other side’s talking points.  By doing this he is being controlled by the opposition instead of conducting an insightful interview.
• Meet the Press also failed in their round table discussion as it was a reflection of the Washington echo chamber instead of reasoned consideration of the issues.  If you just repeat the arguments being made by politcal hacks, what good are you?  The hot button issue was the Obama mortgage bailout plan and the anger that some abusers might benefit.  But they focused on the anger, reinforcing it, instead of looking at the plan’s pros and cons, and alternatives, if there are any to the plan itself.  It was a waste of time, did nothing but reinforce misplaced anger, and did not inform.  Could they have one economist to bring some rationalism to this discussion of emotionalism or the political opinions of the day?
• Reliable Sources is usually a discussion of how the press is treating a specific subject, not the subject itself.  I lost interest when it was about Roland Burris, the lady who had the litter of kids in California, and other non-sequiturs.  I just don’t care.  Both of these people are just sideshows to the real issues we face and I don’t care if I ever hear of them again.  Illinois, get your house in order, and California, we already have enough mouths to fed which we can’t afford.
• Then we get to the bright light which was Fareed Zakaria’s GPS.  Here we had a real discussion about the efficacy of further military adventures in Afghanistan, the economy with real economists, and then a discussion of both the economy and world affairs in Asia from experts living in those areas.  It was the difference between the Washington echo chamber (just political talking points being rehashed) and real discussion of real ideas.  What a breath of fresh air.  I suggest for those who missed it, read the transcript (GPS).
• California is in big trouble and the recent settlement of the budget resolved nothing.  Once again we are hamstrung by small minds when they negotiated away the 12¢ tax on gas giving up $2 billion in revenue per year.  Since gas went up to $4/gallon and is now down around $2.50/gallon, who would have noticed the 12¢?   Yet this tax  would have created a fairly consistent source of revenue for the state that would also reflect our long term goal of reducing global warming.  In addition there is still borrowing in the plan to make ends meet.  Just how deep a hole do we want to dig?  We need a new State Constitution that gets rid of the mandatory spending, dumps the two-thirds majority for budgets, and gets rid of the term limits.  Why is the obvious so hard to do?  I do like the idea of open primaries and a rainy day fund.  It is a start.
• Governor Schwarzenegger noted recently that California (He is an acknowledged infrastructure fan) had a long-term transportation plan which is why the state is way ahead of any other in implementing high speed rail, but the nation does not.  If we continue to let Congress piece meal fund their states for transportation, we are never going to have an integrated, cost effective, and multi-modal transportation system.  Oh I am sorry, that smacks of government planning and is evil.  What was I thinking?
• The Republican’s lunacy of denying the stimulus money is based upon a short-term belief that all we need is tax cuts and the giant deficit they created just can get any bigger.  As one Republican recently said on CNN that went totally unchallenged, “We all know that only businesses create jobs, not government.”  They are oblivious to what happened from 1929 till 1945 as the government spending created almost all the jobs because businesses could not stimulate demand on their own.  Almost all economists recommend deficit spending right now, with a long term plan to deal with the deficit when the economy is back on its feet.

Finally I would like to leave you with a letter that was in the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday that kind of puts the whole Republican tax cut strategy into perspective (short term, painless, benefits the wealthy, and is ineffective):

“A comment on a blog included a long list of what a tax cut cannot do:  A tax cut cannot provide police protection.  A tax cut cannot provide a fire department.  A tax cut cannot build a road.  A tax cut cannot provide Social Security and Medicare.  A tax cut cannot provide care for the disabled and other vulnerable members of our society.  A tax cut cannot create city parks or preserve areas of our country’s natural beauty.  A tax cut cannot build schools or hospitals…and the list goes on.

As George Lakoff, professor of linguistics, suggested, we need to reframe the word “taxes” to take away the negative connotation.  Taxes are the dues we pay to live in a civilized society, one that does not feed selfish greed but cares for our children’s future, for those less fortunate and for the common good.”  Adeline Hope, Berkley, CA

The Republicans and their ideology are living in another time, still believing the Reagan Myth (which is a myth of giant porportions since he grew both the size of government and size of deficits), and Hoover economics which requires no sacrifice or long term plan but then miserably failed.  It is a strategy, as it was in the early 1930s, for total failure.  It appeals to the masses because it asks nothing of them, which is its appeal, while transferring wealth to the wealthy which simply makes things worse.  Haven’t we had enough?  Have we learned nothing?

So if we are so stupid, Mr. Smarty Pants, what are your answers?  I am so glad you asked, because as I have said before, the answers are easy, implementing them will be the bitch.  They will be a bitch because there are so many vested interests that will lose when the status quo is upset.  Nobody likes change and the unknown.  In the future we will all gain, but it is the shortsighted pocketbook mentality that drives a nation of stupid people.  That would be ours right now.  So for what it is worth, here are the solutions.  Note, I didn’t say my solutions.  These are the solutions and they as obvious as the nose on your face.  But they will require self-discipline, pain, and sacrifice in the short term, which is something this nation has been sorely lacking in:

Energy and Global Warming – T. Boone Pickens gets it.  We can quibble about whether we move to natural gas or electric for our trucks (and he does have a point here), but overall the message is simple.  We need a massive investment in alternative energy NOW.  We also need massive investments and streamlining of the regulatory process for nuclear energy.  This is not some energy credits that will allow the marketplace to work its wonder in 20 years or so.  This is a massive government investment to get there as soon as possible.  Price of gasoline needs to be stabilized at between $4 to $5 per gallon with the excess funneled into this program.  Every day we wait and quibble about drilling or pumping the National Strategic Petroleum Reserve are days we further our own demise.

Healthcare – Single payer system.  What is so hard about that?  Say it slowly.  It does not mean doctors work for the government (in England they do, in Japan they do not).  It does not mean you have to be screened before you see a specialist (some countries do, others don’t).  It can mean whatever we what it too, but we need to take profit out of denying people health care.  It won’t cure the problem of rising healthcare costs, but it will reduce it by at least 30% as we take the private for profit boys out of the loop.  If  healthcare is a moral obligation, this is the only way to get there.  I hate to break to those that thinks government is most inefficient way to provide healthcare, but Medicare is the cheapest system for administration in the United States (5% versus 30% or more for private insurers).

Taxes – Everybody has to pay their fair share.  That means businesses too.  We need to realign taxes so we can actually say that.  We have to make massive investments in our future (R&D, education, infrastructure, etc.).  Taxes are not going to get less but they can be spread so that businesses do not get a free ride on the backs of middle America who are losing ground on their life style.  Here is an idea that will never float:  Value Added Tax.  We only pay taxes on what we spend.  If we consume more, we get taxed more.  You don’t want to pay taxes, don’t buy anything.  Income tax and record keeping would be a thing of the past.  Maybe it won’t work, but let’s have a real discussion without the vested interests fighting to maintain their protected positions.

Economy – Clearly we can’t continue cutting taxes, especially when 2/3 of all business don’t pay any according to a GAO study.  It is not stimulating our economy.  What will stimulate it are jobs with people with spending money to buy things, preferably things produced here.  That would require two things, a hard look at our trade agreements to make sure they give us a level playing field; don’t penalize our producers for paying minimum wage or complying with environmental regulations.  And the second would be a massive investment program by the government in alternate energy and infrastructure.  You heard me right,  spend to earn.   There are some really good studies out there on just what kind of a balanced spending plan would help the most, but I have to tell you, cutting taxes is on the bottom of every list.

Education – We need a national curriculum and a national test.  Local school board’s ability to water down educational requirements and teach junk science that suits their religious purposes is hurting the most important resource we have, human capital.  Advanced education has to be available to all who can qualify which means a whole lot more funding of higher education institutions.  Four years of college at a state university should be free.  We should be tailoring our aid to students in career fields that will help our country in the future (e.g. engineering, math, and science).  Everyone should have a liberal education including basic classics, art, and music.  The truly great thoughts are captured in great literature.

Military and Foreign Affairs – The Georgia thing should have a focusing effect, but Americans are so easily frightened that the focus may be on the wrong thing.  John McMean comes out with a bellicose in your face approach to Russia which is what we did for the last 50 years, and he is characterized as showing his experience in foreign affairs.  The reality is that the French and the European Union have been trying to negotiate something while we are truly toothless following the John McMean politics of yesteryear.  John McMean’s approach to foreign affairs is a strong military.  It doesn’t work.  The best military in the world is the one you don’t have to use.  Times are a changing and we need to work with nations to resolve problems.  John McMean’s approach is to fight the problem with the problem, nationalism.  Armed conflicts are not going to solve the problem and will only bankrupt us.  The bottom line here is that we can scale back our military spending, especially on those high tech toys.  We have to engage other nations and only use our military for effect.  We have to look at places like Iraq and Afghanistan and wonder if that is where we want to use all our resources.  We have to look at Russia and think about what they have to lose with their power play.  Right now everybody is knee jerking to politics of old.  I think the Russians, if they continue this kind of behavior may find themselves way over extended and bogged down in local politics.  Anybody remember the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan?

So what we need is a new direction.  But when people are afraid they like to revert to what they know.  The trouble is what they know is failing them and it is becoming blatantly obvious.  Will they let go and try a new approach?  Only if America wants to be a power and a leader again.  Otherwise we can continue to pick leaders who offer us yesterday’s solution and we can continue to decline.  It’s up to you.