So Long Herman Cain

Mr. Cain ,my dear sir, you stayed to long.

Herman Cain's farewell speech indicated how totally incompetent he was from the start.
He showed us how a man with little moral character can rise to heights as high as the front-runner to the Republican candidate for POTUS.
He apologized for dropping out. What he should have apologized for was wasting our money and time.
We need to stop these ridiculous wasteful politics and get down to the meat of the issues that are draining our country.
Mainly, the handling of the national debt and de-leveraging our debt in addition to increasing our standard of living.
Once we reign in spending and cut the waste, we can then re-organize to a more efficient and constructive government.
On the issues of bipartisanship, we must recognize that until we come to an agreement on the importance of co-operation, no matter how far right or left our opinions may be, we lose sight of the reasons why we have a government in place.
Our goals are clearly stated in the US Constitution.
.....in order to form a more perfect union
establish justice
ensure domestic tranquility
provide for the common defense
promote the general welfare of our people
secure the blessings of liberty to our citizens

Maybe we should have our elected representatives re-read this every morning so that they are reminded of what their job duties are.

The Real Things We Desire

I have an idea~ a very clear idea about what makes a community or a particular region more desireable to live and work in.
Instead of our politicians concentrating on finger pointing we should be focusing on creating these elements so that we may attract buisness to our nation.
Globalization is here to stay so we had better get onboard with the idea that we can not think in terms of us vs. them.
The deciding factor for engagement should be how a potential partner treats their own people.
Are they a democratic nation or a dictatorship?
We need to pound away at the things that will create a better economy.
Great schools are paramount.
Reasonable taxes.
Less regulation.
A responsive government.

The quality of the workforce is what brings good companies to a region.
Quality of life is the determining factor.

Why do politicians neglect to concentrate on these basic principles now when we need it now more than ever?

Fiscal Ammunition

This has been one of the hardest times for the Federal Reserve.
Last years QE2, where the Fed bought treasury bonds to keep interest rates low has not done what it was supposed to do.Growth in the economy has slowed and unemployment is still too high.
History proves that after the 1929 stock market crash, the Federal Reserve stood by and did nothing.
It was the worst decision to sit back and watch it all unfold.
In that crash, the economy collapsed, GNP plummeted by 27% and unemployment rose to over 30% by today's measurements and a 25% deflation crushed those
already in debt.
Compare that with today's economic situation.
"The Great Recession" saw GNP fall by only 5% and output has almost reached pre-crash highs.
Unemployment is just below 10% and price levels are steady.
The Federal Reserves aggressive moves to give reserves to keep the banking system above water and the financial markets functioning have made all of the
difference between then and now.
And thanks to the Feerderal Reserve the US has done better through this crisis than other countries whose central banks like the Bank of England and the ECB
(European Central Bank) have not done the same.

Operation Twist is the Fed's initiative that has lowered long term interest rates which has the 30 year mortgage rate at an all time low.

It's not over yet.

The Fed can also reduce the interest rate it pays banks on their excess reserves. The rate is 1/4 of 1%. It could be eliminated therefore giving banks less incentive
either to invest their reserves or lend them out.

The Fed's role has always been to keep inflation at 0% to 2% and provide liquidity in times of crisis.

What the Fed wont do is spur growth in productivity, stop excessive government regulation or fix the deficit problem.
We will need sound fiscal policy which should include long-term deficit reduction and short-term tax relief (maybe extending and enlarging the payroll tax
reduction?).

The US economy is driven by the confidence of consumers and investors and by the innovation of workers and entrepreneurs.

Let's use all of the tools we need so that we can get back to shared prosperity sooner than later.

(Stats from Wharton School study)

Freedom

"They knew that to put G-d in the US Constitution was to put man out.
They knew that the recognition of a diety would be seized upon by fanatics and zealots as a pretext for destroying the liberty of thought.
They knew the terrible history of the church too well to place in her keeping or in the keeping of her G-d, the sacred rights of man.
They intended that all should have the right to worship or not to worship.
That our laws should make no distinction on account of creed.
They intended to found and frame a government for man and man alone.
They wished to preserve the individuality of all; to prevent the few from governing the many, and the many from persecuting and destroying the few."

Robert Green Ingersoll

Make Mine Supreme

Here are some big cases coming soon to the US Supreme Court

FCC vs. Fox
Can the FCC prohibit the nasty filthy language that is used on broadcast tv?
Fox says it should be treated like cable and say whatever the @#$%^&*() it wants!

I think FCC oversight goes bye bye!

First American vs. Edwards
This case could allow lawyers to file "gotcha" class action lawsuits anytime they catch a company violating a law even though no money was lost.
Here it is in "he said, she said" verse......
Plaintiff says she/he suffered because defendants hurt her/him by not playing by the rules.
Defendant says the Constitution says you have to be hurt before you sue.

I say that it's going to be a "no boo-boo no moolah" decision.

Prometheus vs. Mayo
Prometheus labs patented a method of adjusting the dose of a drug acoording to a person's metabolic rate.
The Mayo Clinic says it's a basic technique that all med-nerds know and understand.
Big Pharma is scared that a decision in favor of Mayo could threaten many patents on drugs and treatment methods already on the market.

Is it time for Miracle Whip?
Can a thought process be patented?

Knox vs. Service Employees International
Can employees in Union contract be forced to contribute money to politics?
The SEIU says it can and will and then refund it later

Yeah, after the candidate is in office?!
Im rooting for the employees. "Down with The Man!"

Obamacare
Healthcare reform requires us to buy insurance from private companies.

This one is going to the administration.

Is a bad deal worse than no deal?

As far as the Republican candidates go, it's seems as though we must chose between confidence and competence.

The "stallwart" conservatives are saying that they would rather vote for Obama and have him win the election instead of  another Republican who will spend like George Bush.

What is going on!?

There is a saying that "I will" matters more than IQ-not in politics.

What We Need

We do not need more material development
we need more spiritual development
We do not need more intellectual power
we need more moral power
We do not need more knowledge
we need more character
We do not need more government
we need more culture
We do not need more law
we need more spirituality
We do not need more of the things that are seen
we need more of the things that are unseen


President Calvin Coolidge

The Buttonwood Gathering

Buttonwood

What Congress Should Remember

"Let this happy day give birth to an American Republic.
Let her arise not to devastate and to conquer,
but to re-establish the reign of peace and of law.
The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us.
She demands of us a living example of freedom
that may exhibit a contrast, in the felicity of the citizen,
to the ever increasing tyranny."
                                                                          
                                                                       Continental Congress
                                                                        Richard Henry Lee

Ranking Our Laws

There has been much discussion on constitutional law so here's a breakdown of Federal vs. State laws and the checks and balances on US government.

Any state constitution or state law that conflicts with the US Constitution laws or treaties can not be enforced.

Highest to Lowest
1 US Constitution
2 US laws and treaties
3 State Constitutions
4 State laws
5 Local laws

A document of this kind is only as good as the people make it.
It must be enforced or it becomes meaningless.
We can make it effective by being well informed as to what our government is doing, by taking an interest in and voting in all elections, by writing letters expressing our opinions to our elected officials, by lobbies, by taking court action in what is called a "test case", against any law that we feel is non-constitutional, and by petition.

Checks and Balances
I Checks on Congress and the Supreme Court made by the President
A May veto bills of Congress
B May call special session of Congress
C May adjourn Congress if House and Senate can not agree on an adjournment date
D May withold information from Congress
E President may appoint Supreme Court Justices

II Checks on President and Supreme Court made by Congress
A May propose amendments to the Constitution that affect offices of the President and the Supreme Court
B May impeach and try President or Supreme Court Justices
C May override President's veto by 2/3 vote of each house
D Controls all spending of money in the US
E Senate may refuse to give it's consent to an appointment to the Supreme Court
F Senate may refuse to give it's consent to any other appointments or treaties made by the President

III Checks on the President and Congress made by the Supreme Court
A May declare law passed by Congress and signed by the President unconstitutional
B May bring suits or issue court orders against public officers

The Moment

"Generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment.............when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal."
                                                               President Barack Obama
                                                               June 3, 2008

It's Not Nice To Mess With The President

In May 2011, I recall Israeli's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking before Congress.

Prior to that, President Obama made clear his Middle East policy. His stand was that
1. Israel should NOT have to negotiate with terrorist groups like Hamas that deny it's right to exist.
2. Israel's security requires long term military presence in the disputed land borders with no timetable for full withdrawal.
3. Any Palestinian state must be demilitarized and President Obama would actively oppose any unilateral UN effort to declare Palestinian statehood.

The speech Netanyahu gave in front of Congress did not recognize these pro-Israeli positions.
The Prime Minister chose to basically "lecture" the President on the position President Obama had NOT taken-meaning the return to the "indefensible" pre-1967 borders.

Netanyahu basically has given support to the Republicans in 2012.
He must have known the political impact.
President Barack Obama is our American President.
It was inappropriate behavior for an American ally.

It Is What It Is

No matter what issues are at the forefront of politics~
The superior politician always wins.
Think about it.
Always.

This I Believe

America is the place. The time is now.
She is in the begining of  her greatest period in history.
A time of leadership in science art and human progress towards democracy.
We need to believe more strongly than ever before in America and in eachother, in our system by not exploiting our sorrows, successes or passions.
We should not be a slave to dogma.
We need to believe in the good of people.
It's hard. Democracy is not easy.
It is obtained by the slow method in which the dignity of A is acknowledged by B, without impairing the dignity of C.

And then there was 44

The Chickens Are Clucking

OK I'm angry.
I'm disgusted by the incompetence and the crazies.
And angry with the instigators who stir up trouble hoping to benefit from it's turmoil either politically or financially.
It's tempting to blame the chicken that frantically screams, "The sky is falling".
But you can't.
He's just a chicken doing his chicken thing, scared for his life when there's a change in the forecast.
I don't blame him.
I blame the idiots who woke him up.

What Now?

I ask , "Are we a country that can think as a nation?"
President Obama needs to become proactive and I am hoping the jobs plan he "reveals" in September will show us what an effective leader he is.
He can use his executive power to suspend regulations that are slowing down job contracts. He needs to get in front of Congress and the Democratic Party and show his leadership that got him to office.
Isolate the extremes.
Tell them to get out of the way.

Looking Back To Move Forward

Roling Stone with President Obama September 2010
Obama In Command

Our Republican Candidate Hopefuls Have It Wrong

I believe in the right of all Americans to their First Amendment rights but how smart is it to personally criticize the President instead of focusing on the issues and not making it "personal"?

Big minds talk about issues.
Small minds talk about people.

Its smarter to incite the opposing party than ignite it.

Are we going to continue the smoke screen or come up with real solutions?

Oh yes, one more thing..........
I would try to follow this hierarchy of talking about President Obama, for sake of our country's dignity, at best

1Respect the President
2Protect the President
3Correct the President

Webster's dictionary defines tyranny as "cruel and unjust rule", treason as "betrayal of trust of country to an enemy.

Thought we all should get it right. 

Pardon me, my brain is in overdrive

The budget needs to protect the recovery.
What are we not producing today that we can sell tomorrow?
Mergers and acquisitions don't create revenue.
Research and development does.
Low corporate tax.
We need to concentrate on exports.
Private sector is better at creating jobs than government.

We are begining to comprehend and correct the problem.

I hear that we are in a better position than most  EU countries.
Banks in the EU are having solvency problems.

USA is still the One.

Shale Gas.....To Drill Or Not To Drill

China's coast has 6 new liquefied natural gas terminals under construction. They are predicting that by the end of 2015 they will have doubled the amount of LNG (liquefied natural gas) they can import. 
On the other side of China, a new pipeline from Turkmenistan is pumping gas.
Deregulation of America's Natural Gas Policy of 1978 has encouraged entrepreneurial energy companies to gamble on new technologies allowing them to extract gas trapped in shale beds.
Now the incentives were greater for recovering it because it could get to market through pipelines newly obliged to offer "open access" to all comers. It changed how shale gas is traded globally.Large quantity of  LNG export capacity was created with American markets in mind. If shale gas success is repeated elsewhere, a major source of energy will become available from a more diverse source of suppliers in more free markets. So different from the boom in oil after WWII-this growth can become superior political weaponry power to those with the biggest reserves. Shale could diminish the political clout of Russia, Venezuela, and Iran as part of their gas revenues.
Another form of energy, "tight gas" is found in sandstone and coal bed methane is promising.
In the future, gas frozen into hydrates in the planet's continental shelf is becoming an energy  speculation. It is the cornucopian belief that human ingenuity will always find ways to increase availability of resources.
The World Energy Outlook sees the "Golden Age of Gas" world production rising trade in gas between the world's major regions double. Coal use will decline and by 2030 gas will surpass it providing one fourth of all the world's energy
Companies are sinking well tests in Poland. South Africa, which may have the largest reserve has attracted Shell Oil Company who is also in China, which may have the largest source on the planet.
The big question is will mankind's insatiable demands exhaust the planet's finite resources? Or will human ingenuity lead to the more efficient use of existing raw materials and the discovery of new sources of supply?