The Economy

Alright, this page has definitely been put on the backburner since the election. The fervor and political interest that Austin and I shared kinda went away and we weren't so excited anymore. Obama is now taking our freedoms as fast as possible and I think we've been trying to put our heads down and ignore it for a while.


But on the long drive home today, I was absolutely bored out of my mind and I turned on the radio. The only thing on worth listening to, was, and I hate to admit this, NPR; more specifically, the show This American Life. Now the whole station in general reeks of left wing propaganda. The reporters on NPR news can't find it in themselves to keep from injecting their liberal opinion in every story, interview question, etc. It's discusting. The saturday afternoon show This American Life is opinionated as well, the hosts are most likely gay, obviously are very liberal, and usually a little overdramatic or artsy for my taste. Sometimes the show is interesting though and today I was absolutely blown away. My eyes were opened. The subject: Explaining the banking crisis and the current economic situation.
The explanation was very simple, but covered all the bases, and opened my eyes to a few things. I don't know if you can listen to the show online or not, but if you can find it, its definitely worth a listen. I reccommend you try to find it and listen to it before reading on.

People have asked me recently what I think about the economy, the stimulus plan, etc. I usually tell them I honestly don't understand the situation and I don't want to comment. I believe in free markets and think every step should be taken to ensure them. But as to what needs to be done to fix this? I had no clue. I knew it was a very complicated situation, caused by banks and lenders and now supposedly we as taxpayers were supposed to foot the bill. My biggest question and observation was "how did the bad economy happen?" Not what triggered it, the loans not being able to get paid back and money getting tight, but why is all of the sudden money just not there? We still have people willing and able to work, and we still have stuff that needs to be done. So how is an abstract concept, money, getting in the way? And then theres all the talk about socialism, socializing banks, spending to prevent the problem...it gets confusing.
Well the show today straightened me out. First of all, I have to comment on all the socialism talk. Yes Obama is talking big about and throwing things in the stimulous package that take away our freedoms, redistribute wealth, and waste tons of money on ridiculous concepts like being green. On the other hand, the TAL show today gave a pretty convincing argument for the government to take over the banking system. Apparently it is historically THE way to solve banking problem. They mentioned that it might not even be possible in our current situation due to immense size, but that the obama administration and the government is doing everything it can to NOT nationalize the banks. Interesting....
Anyway, the main point that stuck out to me in the show, and made me realize they weren't just speaking for the Democratic party like NPR usually does, was when they said the entire economic stuation doesn't come from the housing crisis. It comes from the American lifestyle of DEBT. American debt is now 100% of the GDP. That means that our standard of living is nearly twice what it should be. We are living WAY above our means. And that explained to me why all of the sudden, even with supply of work and resources and demand for life to continue, the economy is coming to a breaking point.
This leads to what I personally think of what will happen or what should happen. From what I know now, I find it unlikely that any government intervention will help pull us out. I think we WILL crash, and in my opinion, the government should let it. It may not be an abrupt fall, we might just slowly drop into it, but we will reset. Standard of living is going to go down to what it should be. Drastically. People will be unable to accept that. Our system will probably not be able to cope with that. It NEEDS to happen. When it happens, life will be CRAZY.
But I believe its necessary. We will forget about global warmning, preconceived notions about coal, oil, and nuclear engergy, and other trivial issues and we will have to return to old fashioned ways of doing things. We will have to toughen up, learn to do things on our own, accept discomfort, and do what needs to be done. Life will be hard. But it could be something to look forward to. Returning to these values is what we've needed all along.
BUT, it also means tremendous opportunity for both Americans to cede our freedoms to the government and for the government to take our freedoms. The US under FDR, Germany under Hitler, and Russia under Lenin all lost huge amounts of liberty because the people were in a desperate situation. We cannot forget that, and we have to do everything possible to not let it happen again.



Gosh, I hope I'm wrong on all of this...

Haven't posted in a while.

I've been thinking on something though. For those who hate capitalism, I can follow your thought process and possibly agree with you on a few points, but then I will eventually diverge and here is why. Consider some other methods of rule. You have monarchical, communism, pure socialism, dictatorial rule, and so on. All of these seem to point back to one flaw. You don't have a choice. A king, a committee, or a despot makes your decisions. Here in lies my argument for capitalistic society.

Do you hate Walmart? It's an evil corporation(also learn why you hate corporations, I know why you should, aand its not why most do), so as a being who hates capitalism, you probably do, and thats ok. Heres an idea, don't shop there! Don't go around complaining about how evil it is and then buy a sixer of the champagne of beers there. If you have any IQ at all I think you see where I am headed. The beauty of capitalism lies in your ability to negate anything. You can literally make your own way. It may not be as monetarily successful as Steve Jobs way or Terrell Owens way, but it is your own. Deal with it. A choice against participation is a wonderful thing. Consider any other form of societal governing. In each of the ones listed above you would have to employee a few thousand peasants with bolt action rifles to storm the Kremlin to change your way of life. In a capitalistic society, you just have to say "naw I think I'll do my own thing."

A conversation with music76 from myspace

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: MUSIC 76:Right Wing and Libertarian music!
Date: Nov 22, 2008 11:58 AM


So is politics talked about regularly in your music? Also where do you stand on the following issues?

National health care, abortion, gun ownership, the patriot act, immigration, and the Iraq War.

National Health care... government shouldn't spend a dime. Also the FDA should be cut down or abolished.

Abortion... There is nothing to support federal involvement in this issue. It should be a states issue. It is viewed as a moral issue, but on the federal level it isn't, it's a non-issue, it should have never been placed on the national stage. As for myself I am against abortion.

Response-------------------------------------------------

Immigration... I am against the proposed border wall. It makes no sense. The government and many citizens have failed to see that our border patrol could be completely proficient at securing our borders if they were allowed to do their job. A pack of Javelinas (wild pigs) can't make it across the border without sensors being tripped and someone knowing. The problem is what border patrol is allowed to do when they find illegals. Ever hear of thee Texas 3? This is my point in one, minute, case. You build some border wall its only going to trap in the existing illegal aliens. I have not yet made a decision on a particular view on anchor babies.

The Iraq War... Honestly I wasn't completely convinced it was the right idea to go in, but now that we are in we must be full bore till the finish. The idea of mixing political correctness with war is the greatest flaw of the American society. Rules of engagement should be left to mean "If you see the enemy dispose of him." The biggest drag on finishing the war cleanly is the left and the anti-war fanatics. Let's be real honest here, who isn't anti-war? Does anyone really wish to be engaged in the killing of another human being? No one does, at least if they are sane. So let's realize this anti-war stuff is all leftist propaganda set against the not the war itself, but against conservatives republicans and the right in general.

Politics in my music. As I already stated I talk about liberty, personal struggles, individuality, and pure unadulterated freedom. I may not mention proposition 8 in a song written two days before election, but the ends I pursue in analogy and allegory directly relate to the ends you appear to represent. These ends being....

-The constitution was written to protect us from the government, not the other way around.

-The more government does for you, the more you pay for it.

-the fatter government becomes, the more unhealthy it is.

Just watched Last of the Mohicans...

Great movie.

Here's a little aside, if you don't like what the government is doing, tell them. Ever hear the saying "write your congressman"??? Try it.

That is all for now.

so intersection camera's...

need to all be chopped down. A rash of tickets via these pieces of the big brother government have been handed out lately. This is 1984, this is Equilibrium, this is Fahrenheit 451.

Have you ever seen 2001 Space Odyssey? The man asking the computer to open the pod bay doors, that's how I feel every time I enter an intersection.

"Hal may I enter the intersection?"...I say as I approach to which I am answered in a calm robotic voice "I'm sorry, if you do that I will have to charge you a 75 dollar admittance fee."

Chop 'em down to an steel stump. Thats what i say.

I was going to say something about this but Romney already said it better

From his op ed in the New York Times:


IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

I love cars, American cars. I was born in Detroit, the son of an auto chief executive. In 1954, my dad, George Romney, was tapped to run American Motors when its president suddenly died. The company itself was on life support — banks were threatening to deal it a death blow. The stock collapsed. I watched Dad work to turn the company around — and years later at business school, they were still talking about it. From the lessons of that turnaround, and from my own experiences, I have several prescriptions for Detroit’s automakers.

First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.

That extra burden is estimated to be more than $2,000 per car. Think what that means: Ford, for example, needs to cut $2,000 worth of features and quality out of its Taurus to compete with Toyota’s Avalon. Of course the Avalon feels like a better product — it has $2,000 more put into it. Considering this disadvantage, Detroit has done a remarkable job of designing and engineering its cars. But if this cost penalty persists, any bailout will only delay the inevitable.

Second, management as is must go. New faces should be recruited from unrelated industries — from companies widely respected for excellence in marketing, innovation, creativity and labor relations.

The new management must work with labor leaders to see that the enmity between labor and management comes to an end. This division is a holdover from the early years of the last century, when unions brought workers job security and better wages and benefits. But as Walter Reuther, the former head of the United Automobile Workers, said to my father, “Getting more and more pay for less and less work is a dead-end street.”

You don’t have to look far for industries with unions that went down that road. Companies in the 21st century cannot perpetuate the destructive labor relations of the 20th. This will mean a new direction for the U.A.W., profit sharing or stock grants to all employees and a change in Big Three management culture.

The need for collaboration will mean accepting sanity in salaries and perks. At American Motors, my dad cut his pay and that of his executive team, he bought stock in the company, and he went out to factories to talk to workers directly. Get rid of the planes, the executive dining rooms — all the symbols that breed resentment among the hundreds of thousands who will also be sacrificing to keep the companies afloat.

Investments must be made for the future. No more focus on quarterly earnings or the kind of short-term stock appreciation that means quick riches for executives with options. Manage with an eye on cash flow, balance sheets and long-term appreciation. Invest in truly competitive products and innovative technologies — especially fuel-saving designs — that may not arrive for years. Starving research and development is like eating the seed corn.

Just as important to the future of American carmakers is the sales force. When sales are down, you don’t want to lose the only people who can get them to grow. So don’t fire the best dealers, and don’t crush them with new financial or performance demands they can’t meet.

It is not wrong to ask for government help, but the automakers should come up with a win-win proposition. I believe the federal government should invest substantially more in basic research — on new energy sources, fuel-economy technology, materials science and the like — that will ultimately benefit the automotive industry, along with many others. I believe Washington should raise energy research spending to $20 billion a year, from the $4 billion that is spent today. The research could be done at universities, at research labs and even through public-private collaboration. The federal government should also rectify the imbedded tax penalties that favor foreign carmakers.

But don’t ask Washington to give shareholders and bondholders a free pass — they bet on management and they lost.

The American auto industry is vital to our national interest as an employer and as a hub for manufacturing. A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.

In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, was a candidate for this year’s Republican presidential nomination.



So many brilliant things said here. No bailouts, no unions, no holding ourselves back from the competition because our workers feel they are entitled to more than they work for. Romney is right.
He should have won the GOP spot, Obama would have had alot harder campaign. But thats what you get for being Mormon I guess. I'm glad to see that hes still in the scene though. If he keeps making statments like this and people listen maybe he (and us) will have a future...

A Theory/ A Prediction

Theory: Obama, the egomaniac that he is will forgo his liberal stances for a bid of popularity. The people that will hate on him the most during his tenure will be the leftists. This is not me approving of him. It's the farthest thing from that. It is just a prediction. He will do some highly liberal things, but I believe his narcissism will override many of his decisions.

Prediction: Troop Withdrawals will not happen, at least as he said he would be in favor of. He is no idiot. An all out retreat would be a disaster, he knows that. So if you voted on this idea of troop withdrawal now and forever, sorry.