Job Creation, Obama Style
To give Mr. Obama his due, that is one stubborn man. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks, it’s his way and the highways, the railways, and the runways. Pretend politics don’t matter (they do), and let’s examine his latest idea on “job creation,” which is to spend “over $50 Billion” (which will be pork-bellied up to at least $70 Bn by the time it gets through Congress, if it does) on “…rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads; building and maintaining 4,000 miles of rail lines and 150 miles of airport runways, and installing a new air navigation system to reduce travel times and delays.”
What kind of jobs might those projects create, who could benefit, are any of the ideas themselves laudable, and what effect will they have on the economy and stock market if implemented? Is there anything in there which suggests going long anything other than concrete, asphalt, and steel — if those? Let’s not be pessimistic and partisan, here, let’s at least look at the man’s ideas before we bury our faces in our hands and whimper for our mothers and Lee Iacocca.
Railways. What railways, where, serving what purpose? Another Amtrak, perchance? If there be a bigger waste of transportation dollars than passenger rail, I don’t know what it is, particularly what is known as “light passenger rail” which is detested by all except those who have no intention of using it and those who think there should be rail transportation from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
New commercial rail? From where to where to carry what cargo? It isn’t as though we are building a lot of new factories. 4000 miles of rail would cross the continent and go pretty much from New York to Florida as well. What do I know about trains? Quite a bit. I’m not 20 miles from Hearne, “the cross roads of Texas,” where all the moguls lived a hundred years ago because the rail lines East to West and North to South intersect there. We move lots of freight by train in Texas. Restoring American railroads for the transportation of freight would be a fine idea, since it is faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient. It saves wear and tear on the roads. I’ve ridden one from San Francisco to Texas (miserably uncomfortable) and from Rome to Frankfurt (ditto) but choo-choos haul cars, oil, and grain just fine. Besides, I’ve read Atlas Shrugged at least two dozen times.
Rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads? He’s joking, right? Again, from where to where, serving what purpose? As of 2002 there were 42,793 miles of Interstate in America. At the current price of building roads most of the entire sum would be required to replace just those and the project would snarl traffic beyond redemption for years, adding to transit time, gasoline consumption, and road rage. If we figure a million a mile (read the road signs, people; that’s conservative) we come up with $42,793,000,000. Borrowed dollars. Plus cost overruns, no doubt. Still, they could recycle the expensive signs bragging about current “stimulus” projects…
150 miles of runways is an interesting project for those who don’t know anything about where airports are situated, zoning laws, public outrage, noise abatement programs, changes which would be required to terminals, and the government’s own quaint interference in almost everything. The “environmental impact studies” alone would be quite time-consuming. I can believe that Washington, New York City, Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, D/FW, HOU, and LAX would appreciate some more runways of a mile to three miles each but it would surprise me very much if even one of those cities had any idea where to put them, including Henry Cisneros’ disaster 30 miles out from Denver. If we start constructing new airports we’re talking real money, waste, and inconvenience.
Well…what about investing in Mr. Mowan’s Amalgamated Switching? Look at the wording again: “installing a new air navigation system to reduce travel times and delays.” Uh…the problem isn’t that pilots don’t know how to get from LAX to Hobby by way of Albuquerque, non-stop from NYC to SF, or even Love to CLL in a puddle jumper. It isn’t that new machinery would draw straighter lines through the sky to arrive at shorter distances from point A to various points B, C, and/or D. The very thought of reconfiguring all of the flight paths to accomodate new electronic gadgets (which might or might not work) gives me an even stronger urge never to get on another airplane as long as I live, and up until this point I was exempting private ‘planes, which will let me smoke. Unless everyone is flying on autopilot all the way, sooner or later some experienced pilots would end up on their regular routes and drop metal and people all over the landscape.
It would really help if there were anyone in the Cabinet who had ever run a simple household on an average American income and had learned to assess needs, set priorities, and work within a budget. But do let’s see how Mr. O proposes to pay for this: “Obama said the proposal would be fully paid for. In an earlier briefing for reporters, administration officials said Obama would pay for the program by asking lawmakers to close tax breaks for oil and gas companies and multinational corporations.” Whee! There is a wingdinger of an idea. We’ll raise costs for oil and gas companies breaking an immutable law of economics: you cannot make manufacturers and businessmen pay taxes out of their profits. The increased costs are invariably passed on to consumers or compensated for by moving to countries with friendlier business environments. That’s why the 2008 $2.25 quart jar of Hellman’s Mayonnaise now costs $3.95 and contains 30 ounces. The Oil and Gas people have already had leases cancelled and new vast areas declared off-limits for drilling, and face the same tax increases the rest of us do 1/1/11.
“But the JOBS, Mrs. Traynham! Think of the jobs.” Okay. What jobs? Heavy equipment operators. Probably some extra shifts pouring the rail (have you noticed the price of steel lately?), more Union jobs. Undocumented workers holding STOP signs at $28/hour. A few draftsmen and engineers. A few more people mixing concrete and asphalt. All of those people we see lounging along the road while a few others work, apparently doing nothing other than wearing day-glo orange vests and hard hats. None of those jobs are permanent, and every last project is subject to corruption and bid manipulation. When the project is finished, the job is gone — and the unemployment compensation begins. The only jobs which will remain long afterwards are government administrative ones. Look at government agencies which persist decades after the original reason ceased to be.
In May we took the Interstate from central Texas to Charleston, South Carolina. Yes, some of it — notably in Louisiana which has probably had to skimp following Katrina — had stretches in pretty bumpity shape. What impressed me most, though, was that not a quarter of a mile the whole trip passed without seeing at least one hunk of rubber thrown off a retread tire. That told me two things: the states haven’t got crews to spare to clear road hazards, and Americans are hurting. There are already more than ample funds allocated for roads (such as the forty-two cents a gallon tax on gasoline), and I think we need a good definition of “rebuilding.”
Permanent jobs are not based upon repairs or increasing unnecessary bits of infrastructure for the sake of appearing to be doing something and rewarding voter blocks. Lest you think I am a die-hard Republican, dear readers, I would feel exactly the same way had such projects been promulgated by Dubya, Ronald Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt, or Donald Duck. Bad economics is bad economics, and such proposals lead to increased joblessness, squandering resources, and reduced tax collection.
Instead of increasing taxes on the O&G people and multinationals and subjecting those of us who do the consumer spending to bigger strains on our checkbooks, how much of a “tax holiday” could we have for sixty billion? That has been suggested, and we wouldn’t have to borrow it, pay interest on it, or try to extort it inefficiently from the citizenry. $60 Bn imaginary dollars spent on make-work projects, filtered inefficiently through bureaucracy, won’t begin to get the stalled economy rolling, but $60 Bn in the hands of employed consumers and employers would be spent, re-spent, and spent again many times, and taxed on most of the transactions.
Put a moratorium on withholding, extend the Bush tax cuts permanently, don’t bail out anyone else, get serious about cutting “social services” drastically, and promise the American people — meaning it — that no taxes will be raised for two years at any level, and let’s see if Reaganomics won’t work once again with even that much stability and access to captal. Only this time let’s don’t spend the gusher of revenue that comes in, stick the surplus in a real Social Security fund Congress can’t touch. We have plenty of taxes already to run more government than anyone needs and far more than we want.
If we really want to get serious before nothing will work, over the next two years reduce government jobs by a minimum of 25% and reduce the salaries of the rest of the 40% of those employed who work in government at some level (either as a sub-contractor or as an almost unfirable direct hire) to prevailing market wages in the private sector. Tell everyone under 45 the truth, that SS is just another tax and to make better provisions for their own futures. Raise eligibility age, end SS for any reason other than actual retirement after having qualified, and no more increases for anyone, anywhere, until the budget balances. Life is tough all over, people. Get used to it. Get rid of everything unreasonable and unnecessary from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Education, to Medicaid to wage and price controls…and stop foreign aid and close and defend the borders.
Well, yeah, we’d have riots in the streets over welfare and other “entitlement” programs, but at the rate we’re slipping into third world status we’re going to have those anyway because they cannot be paid for much longer even with unlimited imaginary money.
Regards,
Linda Brady Traynham
Whiskey & Gunpowder
September 7, 2010
Linda Brady Traynham
Linda Brady Traynham is a former editor and analytical project report writer and is now a Whiskey & Gunpowder field correspondent on a ranch in the Republic of Texas. She studied Counseling at Boston University and got her Masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Hawaii.
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We’re watching them lay the new high speed rail between St.L and Chicago. Fascinating work! 1.1 billion dollars for the rail to be completed next year. Dad thinks they’re doing a mile a day. From what I’ve read, the goal is to raise the average speed from 55 miles/hour to 75 and Lower the time between cities from 5 hours to 4. (Note, if they hit a deer along the way the train stops so the FD can spray off the mess. Delays, delays.) But to get to those speeds they’ll have to raise additional funding for high-speed crossings, engines, cars, etc. Who is going to use this train? Cubs/Cards fans with time to kill? Granted, it’s currently $50 for a round trip train ticket (not counting tax funding) but I can get to Chicago in an hour on a plane. Business traffic won’t be on the train. This speed goal is scheduled for something like 2018. In the meantime, it’s really expensive rail capable of carrying high-speed traffic, carrying mostly coal cars between mines and power companies as well as trains of Schneider cargo. Yup.
I’m not going to read Atlas Shrugged 23 more times. The 80 page radio speech by John Galt was almost more than I could flip past. Don’t know why/how you did it. She needed an editor worse than Victor Hugo. That’s saying something.
I hated traveling to Denver airport. I keep a mental list of most hated airports. At least Dallas amused me with the Robocop voice on the tram “Step back! The doors are about to close.”
But the Jobs?!?! But the unseen cost! We aren’t accounting for what ambitious people are being prevented from producing, inventing or rebelling against! They could riot in the badly paved streets just as well as the new ones. Or they could create something impossible to stop or regulate that will push us from the information age to the energy age. Or the Heck-with-you-idiots-I’m-going-to-my-own-planet-to-do-this-my-way age.
Here’s the recovery plan according to me: Stop buying. Stop going. Stop borrowing. Turn off your TV, cancel your magazine subscriptions, buy, borrow and read books, BBQ with friends, grow a garden and start living. No more soccer practice, ballet lessons, boy scouts or karate. Don’t outsource the raising of your children…do it yourself! Figure out how to produce, trade with your neighbors and build a thriving community. Bankrupt government? Who cares. Default already! You have no choice anyway. Default and leave us alone. Go away. Shoo! Stop diverting my production to your commuter railroads, city bus lines, worthless bank inspections and equally worthless chicken salmonella inspections. If there’s a problem, let an entrepreneur, not a bureaucrat, figure it out. Make real, constitutional money legal again. Protect property rights. Feel free to fly over the midwest on your way to bother coastal people. We’re not here. We didn’t vote for you anyway. Stop trying to solve my problems.
As America goes the way of the Third World full speed ahead with a Fool behind the wheel, you can bank on more ” make work” projects. America will not recover with so many middle class jobs overseas. That is fact. So the goverment will fund stunts as you talked about above. It makes them look like they are doing something, and fools the dumbed down people that seem too make up the bulk of the US population. Sad but true.
I fear for my country as i see all the problems that face her. We need real AMERICAN leadership too get us through the storms ahead, and short of Ron Paul { he seems too have a clue} i dont see any as of yet.
Well Linda,I’ll get off the soapbox now. Take care and keep up the good work, maybe we will find that light at the end of the tunnel, and it will not be a fast moving train!
I just posted something, but it did not appear. If you find it, please put it up.
Atlas shrugged, I have 22 more to go,.
Denver Airport, they have excess capacity as far as runways are concerned, shouldn’t need more cash but they will grab all they can get. Hey It’s only 22 miles to downtown Denver, and maybe 30 plus all the way to the outlying areas. Actually the Airport located where it is was a good decision, didn’t seem like it at the time but 15 years or however long it has been has been a good decision, 1 million people moved to this state in the last decade, and a million more are expected in the next decade. That part I hate, we have no way to support more people. Water is a big issue.
The fed doesn’t have to spend a dime on Airports, the coporations, and airlines, an municipalities will determine if they need the money to expand, but know “big brother” thinks they need their hand in it.
The only issure I have with the airports is the security, period end of discussion.
Yes, lets creat short term jobs by spending more borrowed money, Pres. Obama’s own words, It will not add to the deficit. So who’s money is he going to use, and who is going to incure the deficit to pay for it. Money, even printed money does not come out of a vacume. Are the Oil companies just going to write a check for it. Is Bill Gates and Warren Buffet going to make it a part or their charitable contributions.
It is such a big Lie. The whole concept of this administration and congress is to spend on short term project in hope that the money will be spread around and the growth will resume and when growth resumes we will all be ok. I’d like to say that they don’t get it. But I think they do. These people are smart enough to understand what they are doing, what works and what doesn’t. Their is nothing going on here except politics as usual, corruption, and social engineering, and pandering to the public.
We, I am afraid, are ldoomed when everybody and I mean everybody turns to the government when there is a problem, the banks, the buisnesses, the people,all turn their eyes to Washington to fix these problems. And any one who has any sense at all know’s that it will not work.
The people just don’t seem to understand that for every benifit they think they get from the govenment, that it cost them double what they could do for themselves.
[...] * This article originally ran on Whiskey and Gunpowder [...]
thousands of miles of new and improved roads-just in time for peak oil. as that russian comedian whose name escapes me used to say: “whatta a country!”
Linda, your atrticles are so provoking, I cannot resist commenting. When the stimulous plan was proposed, I hoped something tangible would result. Infrastructure needs abound. I hoped that each state or district would apply for specific programs that they prioitized; bridges, deterioting water and sewer lines,etc. Locals know their needs. These applications would be examined and funded with an independant oversight panel of experts in the field of construction. I should have known better. Instead we have the usual pork, favoritsm,
political considerations and waste. Now, trying to buy votes with a hasty, poorly thought out plan, too little and too late smacks of desperation. Hopefully, we will not see too many profligate spending plans until Jan of next year. Keep the pot boiling.
Linda,
Another one of your thought provoking articles. I enjoy each and everyone of them. I really do not understand what our brain trust in Washington is trying to do. I read somewhere that it costs the government about $500,000 to create one full time job. Give me that much and I could create 15 or 20 full time jobs. As far as the stimulus package goes, I am not being stimulated at all. Matter of fact a nice government man just told me that was rain that is falling on my back. I hope the American voters wake up and fire all of these politicians . If I performed as poorly at my job as they have, I would have been joining the ranks of the unemployed. I guess that they are different in that they are to big to fail. Unfortunately for me I am not to big to fail and I have used up most of my savings and retirement account and what little I own of stocks are near worthless. Keep writing these great articles and God Bless
[...] Whiskey & Gunpowder – Job Creation, Obama Style [...]
@ jay moses:
> that russian comedian whose name escapes me
Yakov Smirnoff.
Bravo, Peter Pan’s Dad! (Should I call you “Father” or “Judge”?)
Your 5th para is a manifesto in the best Ghandian tradition. What needs to happen in this country is not going to happen because of government. It’s going to happen despite government’s best or worst efforts.
Like Leary said, Tune out. Forget the whole MSM and Fox thing. They’re both corporations, waving hands in your face to put you off your game.
Don’t get distracted. Keep your eye on the ball. You see it. We all do. It’s right in front of us. All we have to do is swing.
Learn hardcore gardening. Raise bees, chickens, rabbits and anything else that pays its own way.
As long as you can eat (and know the difference between what tastes good and what’s good to eat), everything else is secondary.
Vindication (not that I need it) is an article such as that written by Peter Pan’s Dad. With the very minor modification of making his piece a stand-alone by taking out references to what I wrote, that is a mature, interesting, well-documented, thought-provoking commentary I would have been pleased to publish. GOOD job, PPD. I knew you had it in you! Please rework it slightly and send it to Michael for The Texas Ring.
I chose every author on http://www.thetexasring.com other than Tex Norton personally from reader mail here on W&G! Each one either said something very perceptive or put a point so well that it was easy to see the sheer talent from even two or three sentences. I am intensely proud of all of them. My only contribution was corresponding and responding to their comments until they realized that they were “writers” others would want to read. I’ve been watching PPD put out buds, and that’s quite a flower that opened! Big hug, Linda
Dear PPD: Congratulations for knowing the essence of Atlas Shrugged is the 80-page philosophy contained in “This is John Galt Speaking…” The main reason we read the rest of it so frequently was to keep the sick, vicious mindset of the Statists in mind, such as the thoughts of those on the train right before the tunnel blew. Sure, Galt is one of the biggest bores in creation otherwise, but Rand did not understand love or personal relationships. In my youth Francisco was what I wanted (money optional), but it has been many years since I realized what a treasure Hank is. These days we don’t have to read anything other than news headlines to see what blind hatred and the mindless drive towards totalitarianism and death look like. Soft smile…some days I almost believe I earned the right to my dear Charles, who is a very good blend of Francisco and Hank.
Two beautiful responses from Steve–who writes on W&G, of course. Laughter…even the tax and waste crowd can do something right occasionally by accident, and I’ll take your word for it on the Denver airport. If you have to go to D/FW go into LOVE, a delightful little airport with far less “traffic” of all sorts.
Hi, Jay, good to have you back. I can’t remember his name, either, but maybe Billy Crystal will trigger your memory, because there is some sort of mental connection there for me. Charles suggested “Yakalov.” What a country, indeed. I have been toying lately with the idea that Nancy, Harry, and Barry DO know exactly what they are doing to achieve the results they get. There is a fine three-part article up on http://www.dumpdc.com about capital flight from the US, and I speculated below it on the possibility that by driving away the “rich” who are not of their progressive views, twin goals are achieved: worse economic times lead to more desperate people who will take handouts in preference to liberty, and a lot of potential trouble-makers are gotten out of the picture. It takes time, money, principles, and passion to protest against tyranny, so better to chase potential leaders away. I’m willing to do my part! If they’ll get out of my way and let me become rich enough to move to Argentina or Uruguay, I’ll go…
The SPAM filter refuses to let me comment further at present. Back later. Love my Dr. C. HI! Whoopdy-do
It relly is simple though hard don’t do anything and wait. Every 8-10 years we will have a bubble burst. no one can prevent it it is human nature. I’m not feelig that “to big to fail” thing. Let them fail, it will be ugly but short. Now all they are doing is kicking can down the road.
Every 10 years we will have a downturn in the economy that’s the fremarket. So get rid of the FED cause since 1923 they have stopped nothing. Get back to what works and prepare folks for it. Hell it’s easy if not simple.
Linda, if you want a change of pace in your reading, check out http://houseofschwartz.org/Consultant.aspx
I think you’d enjoy it – there’s some strong “Atlas Shrugged” influence to the story
Looks to me that the main infrastructure priorities which are needed are in the realm of public water supply, given how ancient many pipelines and treatment plants are. More highway maintenance is needed than new highways, though, IMO.
Long-term thinking, IMO, would be to forget the high-speed rail and re-open many of the older, abandoned lines. Given the problems in the world of liquid transportation fuel, we may well have to reconsider coal-powered locomotives instead of semis on highways. Hard to run semis when world consumption of oil exceeds world supply. Commuting from Conroe to Houston would be a bit of a problem, as well.
Much in today’s world reminds me of what I’ve read of Paris and Vienna during the 1930s. Everybody knew that Bad Things loomed on the horizon, but in the best Scarlett O’Hara tradition, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.” In the meantime, Party On!
Per the Keynesians, in a recession the government stimulates the economy. In a depression, the government supports the economy. And we are in which condition?
‘Rat
‘Rat,
Rubber on rock is pretty inefficient. I’m with you, privatize rail again, and allow them to rebuild the old lines, power the trains with whatever is most economical. I drive an hour to St. L every day. Either we’ll reach a point where that is no longer economical and I become a DBA for some farmer (right…) or we’ll reach a point where that is no longer economical and I take the train to the city, stay in an apartment all week then return home on weekends to resume my life. In my case there is the possibility of telecommuting full time but, generally speaking, the point stands.
Dad quotes Gone with the Wind too, “Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.” Hence the commute.
The worst part of it all is that the bigger block of American voters will swallow it, hook line and sinker. Most have gotten to a point where they do not, will not, think for themselves, but would rather have a herd mentality because of the wolves out in that scary world and besides all that it’s easier to make the rich start paying their fair share than to work for something. It’s become so ingrained into the public thought pattern that government is the solution that I get loads of SPAM advertising that “social workers are needed”.
I tend to piss people off when I say this, but it’s growing not correcting. 20 years ago I used to say that I believed that the average American IQ had slipped 10 points over the last 20 years. 10 years ago I was saying it had slipped 30 points. Now I’m up to at least 50 points slippage. Yea, there are exceptions. They only mean that the ones who have slipped most though, might now have the IQ of 20, on a good day. Think I’m off base? Ask a group of 1000 HS grads how to spell 10 moderately difficult like government or advertising, see how many can’t. Ask them to do simple math problems like add, subtract or divide, using only pencil and paper, and count how many can’t. Ask them where England is on a globe, and watch how many scratch their heads not knowing what a globe is. Ask them to explain the welfare system though, and every one of them will give a detailed answer.
And we know it is being done to the American public on purpose. The ones who are pushing for it made it a point to get their people into the schools to brain wash the kids, so that they would go out and work on the next generation. They want the US to be unable to resist their plans, which a strong American would most certainly do. When somebody in the office of the American President bows to a foreign king, and claims that there is nothing special about America, it is just one nation among many, you know that their plans are starting to come to fruition.
The ride only gets bumpier for Americans from here. Better hope we only sink down to “banana republic” level, and not worse. Haiti might start sending us help some day, especially after the Chinese get totally ticked off at us.
I have a bit of a problem with all this “deliberate” stuff. If you make a ton of money by selling into (what was) the world’s largest market, why would you want to cripple that market? Does not compute. If it’s all about power, why bother to have power over a population of dumbos? What’s the point? Where’s the accomplishment?
I dunno. I like healthy markets into which I could sell my “stuff”. Can’t do much business with poor folks. And I’d rather be Boss over folks who had a clue about what they were doing than over a bunch of welfare drones.
It’s never been about money, it’s always been about power. They want all the power. They consider you and I, even the big shots on Wall Street, to be nothing more than cattle. Some cattle is more prized than others, but still cattle. To them, Wall Street is nothing more than a ploy to hide behind. They want to take the Earth back to 500 million or less people, with them in charge. They don’t care whether the rest of us suffer or prosper, so long as they get what they want. Google the term “American Stonehenge” and do some research. They even carved that number into stone as a monument. Their mindset is not like ours. If they were to accomplish their goals, there would not be a population on welfare. By the time people stopped dieing of starvation that problem would be “solved”, a non problem in their eyes. Remember the thought pattern of days gone by where they taught that the king had divine right to rule, that he was special and could do what he wanted to do? They think similar to that. They consider themselves above us, and us being in need of their leadership. You and I care about economics and markets, they don’t. It’s always been about power.
Right now, a strong America is an obstacle to going forward with the next step of their plans. Al Gore is part of a group that wants to give huge chunks of American land back to nature, forcibly removing people from their home and land, including large swaths of farmland. They don’t care if half of the US starves to death because of it, the US has too many people in it anyways. What they want is a highway from Canada to Mexico running through the center of the US, and both coasts abandoned by humans, given back to migratory birds and other wild life. Google “North American super highway map” or “NAFTA super highway” and take a look at what they are working towards. Think they give a rats backside whether it will displace you from your home, or leave you destitute? This is only one part of their plans.
It takes wealth to fight, even a civil war: soldiers need to eat and bullets cost money. A strong America, Americans who work and think for themselves rather than being welfare dependent, are an obstacle to what they want. A “population of dumbos” as you put it has no chance. When looked at it from that perspective, a functioning American market is in itself an obstacle.
My original response was eaten by the internet.
I’m mostly with Brendgard on this one. It’s impossible to rule an educated and informed public. In the private sector, however, it’s much easier to manage employees who have a clue.
I sometimes wish I were forty years younger. There is so much easy profit out there, and if the Algores get folks moved out of New Wilderness, I’d have more room to hunt.
(Heck, even fifteen years ago, I was still doing twelve- and fifteen-mile walking hunts in some of America’s roughest desert mountains.)
Dear John: great post and welcome to the crew! Thanks for the very nice compliments…but it only seems to me that I have a reasonably firm grasp of the obvious. If y’all knew how much I love doing this…sorry about the slow response but the SPAM filter has gone on jihad since this article; it may eat this and DID eat my reply to darling Dr. C who is an enormous favorite and just inspired an article on how the bridge to nowhere has morphed into the Taj Mahal in Podunk. I don’t recognize your style and “John” isn’t much to go on, but just in case, visit us at http://www.thetexasring.com or my work on http://www.themeshreport.com. Linda
I love our Lynne, who combines knowledge, common sense, and brevity I can’t begin to match. It’s bad, it’s going to get worse, and the suggestion of the day (thanks to my brilliant son) is to move to the SE quarter of the US over to my area because of mild winters and sufficient rainfall! Have the bunnies bred yet, Lynne?
Thanks, Jeff, will do, and will report on same–unless you’d like to write us a summary first?
Rat…if anything happens to Mrs. Desert Rat and my dear Charles may I have first refusal on being a room mate?! PPD, you’re too young to get the same offer, or you would. Oh, yes, “The land, Katy Scarlett. The LAND!” Oh, my, I’m a mess, because darling Dr. C strikes me the same way, but can I help it if so many fascinating, superior men write me that it jes’ turns mah South’n Belle heart to mush? Lynne, if anyone ever legalizes group marriages, maybe we can corral a bunch of these critters. Imagine the dinner conversation! I’m joking, but I’m not. There are so few superior females–and Lynne is definately one–and so many fantastic men. Think of it as a colony or a social club if you wish, but wouldn’t it be great to live close? Where are Tennessee James, and the doll from the place that ends in ‘stan? And hey, if you didn’t get mentioned (Steve, Dave, Brendgard, etc.) that’s ’cause I’m fighting length so the SPAM filter won’t get me.
Preach on, Brendgard! Done ast yuh fur an article, yuh know. Haven’t had private correspondence recently, either. You okay?
Rat # 23. Dumb slaves don’t revolt. Y’all go over to http://www.dumpdc.com and read a three-parter by John Gaver (I think) on capital flight from America. That’s one way to get rid of potential trouble-makers. The urge to enslave, debase, and abuse never vanishes. Third world countries do it casually; first world countries try to pretty it up.
Actually Linda, I was thinking I’d be greedy and do it the other way around: I would corral you and Lynne. Something tells me though that somebody would not go for that as he thinks he claimed ya first lol.
Been chaos here, so I’ve read but not been able to comment much at times. The Lord seems to be blessing a new direction though. I was thinking of broaching the subject of trading an article for an article. I would write first though, to see if it were something you were interested in. I’ve been trying to get into writing mode and do a few posts on some of my sites, if the chaos breaks and affords me an opportunity. I’ll try and send along details of what I had in mind in the next day or so.
From this morning’s “Ed Steer’s Gold & Silver Daily”: “EXCLUSIVE: Outlook Gloomy at Secret Billionaire Meeting”. For 25 years, legendary Wall Street strategist Byron Wien, now with The Blackstone Group, has held summer meetings with high net worth individuals to get their outlook on the global economy and investing. This year’s group, totaling fifty individuals and including more than 10 billionaires, was decidedly pessimistic on the U.S. economy, investment opportunities and the Obama administration.”
It’s bits and pieces of this sort, plus utterings from members of the Bilderberg group, etc. when they bemoan what’s going on which keeps me away from the “deliberate” thing. Question: Just who are the “bosses” above such as Soros, et al? Above Carlos Slim or Buffet and such?
From the looks of what’s going on in today’s world, it ain’t gonna be the Algores running any show. Odds are, whatever bosses show up will be speaking Mandarin…
“There are so few superior females”
For the record, I’m married to a superior female. I’m afraid she’ll find out. I married up.
“and so many fantastic men”
Yup. Terrified. She could replace me instantly.
I read a story years ago about a bank president talking with his wife. He said, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t marry your old boyfriend? He’s unemployed now.” She responded, “If I had married him he would be bank president now.” Yup.
Claiming to have “married up” should not reflect poorly on my parents. My mother is also a superior female. Instead, I mean to elevate my wife.
Rat,
When I read that article I came away thinking the producers are unhappy with political promises and aren’t sure what to do. Washington is running the show, I don’t think anybody is running Washington. Along the way, we’re going to save companies, build roads, kill foreigners, increase regulation and promise health care.
If Washington defaults on our debt (they almost have to), we won’t be speaking Mandarin.
Lynne,
I respectfully disagree with you about the ten year bubbles being the “normal” way of free enterprise. When free enterprise is not interfered with, it works fine, particularly when you have “real” money involved in it. However the true free enterprise requires “true production” for the economy to grow, therefore there are (typically, though through some real oddities that seldom occur in real life, there can be a bubble) never any bubbles to burst as all the increase in money supply is real, since you can’t “create” real money out of thin air, only produce it with legitimate labor, and therefore it has value. If you look back through our history most recessions occurred through the interference of the gov’t “trying to fix things”. If there had never been a world war II, we (in the 21st century) would still be in the “great” LOL(irony, wry humor)…..depression, having been so “well fixed” by the gov’t (well F’ed some sort of way….ahhrrgh). We would at best be caught in some hellish drawn out art-deco, mish-mash of 50s-60s Gilliamesque dystopia, of vacuum hoses and three wheeled cars, in a sterile society of dis-innovation, made all the better by TPB to “help” us do better. Hurray for WWII! It was not until the creation of the Fed by our beloved Teddy and yes I know that that limp Richard, Wilson, was in office at the time but it had been championed by Theodore himself. Sometimes great men have very obvious flaws. In any event I digress, the law of the wild is perfect and VERY brutal, but it works quite well; if left alone. PPD, yes paragraph 5, that’s what I did; poorest. broke and well fed homesteader around………and……wait for it, wait for it…….I’ll get earned income tax credits this year…yeaaahhh! Tune in, turn on and drop out…..of the sterile unthinking world and get back to the one you walk on every day.
Best Regards E
Dear Brendgard: Where do you write? We’d like to know! Sure, I can write an article on almost anything.
Anybody with any sense would be trying to catch Lynne’s eye, although I suspect Cheri’s husband might be a hard sell. Now, as to forming a Heinlein “Tertius 3″ colony…I’m a long-time sci fi buff and intellectually I think it sounds like enormous fun to put together a superannuated Beatnik Colony. (Well, golly, just when WILL we be old enough to, um, uh, make our own decisions?) POLITICALLY, though, I think too many of us “cling bitterly to our guns and our religion” and we’d probably get a visit from Janet Reno. Line marriages (as in Robert Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”) and group marriages make enormous sense in terms of emotional and financial stability. Chuckle…I don’t see any reason why Heather wouldn’t benefit from having two mommies so long as she had two daddies, too, and they all loved each other! Alas, this concept is against our mores and our laws and the hard part for most people would be putting together qualified personnel. I adore my darling Charles, but (at least intellectually) that doesn’t mean I can’t love Gary, you, the Rat, TN James, Dr. C., and several others, and regard Michael and PPD as beloved sons. to be continued