A Letter to the President from a Listener!

The following was a very interesting analysis in the form of a letter sent by a local listener to President Obama:

Dear Mr. President:



1. Your role as President is to inspire us, and give us hope for the future. Lift us up, instead of scaring us to death. There is no need to remind us that things are bad and likely to get worse – we already know. Please refrain from using words like “crisis” and “catastrophe” and instead reassure us by emphasizing the coming economic and financial recovery and the future prosperity that awaits us. Like a weatherman who forecasts a blizzard, even if it never comes, we’ll inevitably adjust our behavior accordingly by stockpiling food and milk until the shelves are clean. Similarly, if you continually remind us of how bad things are and how bad things are going to get, we’ll respond in similar fashion. Businesses will prepare for the coming economic “blizzard” by cutting costs and laying off employees. Consumers, concerned about their jobs, will likely reduce their spending. These actions will ultimately cause the very collapse in the economy we are trying to prevent. It’s all about confidence. If we believe things will get worse, they will. Conversely, if we believe things will get better our behavior and spending patterns will adjust accordingly and the economic sun will shine again. Stop playing politics – we already know things were bad before you took the oath of office and don’t hold you responsible. Become the leader we thought you could be, not the politician we feared you were.



2. If you really want to stimulate the economy, why on earth would you raise taxes during these depressed economic times – particularly on capital gains? Although typically the financial markets adjust in response to economic conditions, I would argue that this time it will be the reverse opposite – future economic fundamentals will depend upon financial market performance. Consumers will not spend, and thus the economy will not improve, while their wealth and after-tax income is eroding. Improvement in the financial markets will restore much of the wealth that has been lost and inevitably the necessary spending to jumpstart the economy. Given the steep losses in the financial markets, no one has capital gains anyway. Reducing or eliminating capital gains taxes – even if only for a few years – would cost the government little while providing a psychological boost to encourage prudent risk taking and the capital formation we so desperately need to get our economy back on track. A temporary elimination of the capital gains tax would likely cause the stock market to appreciate a minimum of 10 – 20% in short order. I assure you that consumer confidence and spending would quickly follow. And do you actually think raising income taxes in the midst of the current economic calamity will help reduce the deficit? Here’s a clue – tax me more, I’ll spend less. The less I spend, the worse the economy. The worse the economy, the more jobs are lost. The more jobs are lost, the less income you have to tax. Instead, tax me less, I’ll spend more and everything is reversed. Get it?



3. Why punish the financially responsible and reward the financially irresponsible? Why reward those who used excessive debt to purchase homes or other luxury items they couldn’t afford at the expense of those who lived responsibly within their means? I recognize we have a housing crisis and that mortgage delinquencies are contributing to our current economic malaise, but instead of forgiving the outstanding principal of delinquent mortgages at taxpayer expense wouldn’t it at least be more equitable to have a lien against future appreciation – perhaps at time of sale or even against one’s estate upon death? Please explain to us how simply forgiving the outstanding principal, with no possibility of recapture of subsequent appreciation by the taxpayer, is fair? All you are doing is incentivizing others to stop making their mortgage payments so that they too can be rewarded for their bad behavior by receiving a government handout on my and other taxpayer’s hard earned dime. It would seem to me that your policies in this arena will merely make the problem worse, not better. Nothing complex Mr. President – just common sense.



4. Please explain how reducing the charitable income tax deduction on high income taxpayers will help non-profit organizations throughout this country and increase the tax revenue to the federal government. Do you realize that this would potentially eliminate the very lifeblood of these organizations and the essential services they provide? Without the source of private donations most non-profit organizations would cease to exist, creating a void that only the government (and thus the taxpayer) could fill. More government involvement would likely equate to even greater taxpayer expense than any resultant increase in tax revenue. It’s not rocket science.



5. If you actually think we can become energy independent solely through alternative energy sources and little reliance on oil you are sadly mistaken. Your budget proposal to eliminate tax incentives on oil exploration will merely reduce our domestic oil supply, increase our reliance on foreign oil, compromise our national security, and further jeopardize our economy through higher oil and energy prices. Further, your proposal to limit certain emissions from the very businesses and manufacturers we depend upon for employment and job creation will only increase their manufacturing costs, reduce their global competiveness, and cause the loss of even more jobs than those we’ve lost already. Although the ideal of having clean energy and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes is indeed admirable, I don’t think our idea of a cleaner environment consists of the absence of manufacturing altogether. Want to turn a deep recession into a depression? Just go ahead and add even more cost and inefficiency to an already beleaguered U.S. manufacturing industry during these severe economic times.



It’s only been a few weeks since your inauguration Mr. President. You obviously have a lot to learn. It’s no coincidence that our financial markets are plummeting and our very way of life threatened since that time. It is readily apparent that neither the markets nor we have any confidence in your words, decisions, and proposed policies since assuming the highest office in our sacred land. Nor do we believe your policies and proposals represent the “change” we thought we were getting when we elected you. It’s now on YOUR watch, and there is no longer time for on the job training or assigning blame to others. Although the American people are patient, our patience is wearing thin. Please wake up – and soon. Be the great President that many felt you could become. Our hopes, our future, and indeed our very faith in the American Dream are dependent upon it.



Sincerely,

Kevin

Policy or Politics? A Note to President Obama.

A Note to President Obama!

Why is this Economic Stimulus package THE biggest defining moment of Your Administration? I have some questions as a citizen who wants you to succeed.

Is your vision of wanting solutions for this country more important than politics? It doesn't seem to be represented well in this economic stimulus package that deals less withn stimulus, and more with future programs that could be better dealt with separately rather than at this desperate moment when an immediate infusion is needed.

Can you pull in the reins on the Pelosi-Reid Alliance? Do you realize that they want the president under their thumbs, and Congress to have the power? You are in a battle with them and if you lose, you become a lackey to them. You must define who is setting the agenda now!

You should not be interested in giving Republicans what they want, but rather the American people what is best. If that happens to include some Republican ideas, you ought not fear it. If you do otherwise in terms of paying back those who put you in power with earmarks and pork in this drastic moment for our country, then you have failed to recognize that what you are really doing is politics over good policy.

Many in America have thrown in their lot on a general vision of hope and change with you Mr. President. There is unprecedented hope in a time of unprecedented distrust and disgust with our government. Your words have carried you to this point with no actions to back them up. Your words can uplift, but they can't provide the programs Americans need in a very drastic moment. Your job is to consistently match your words with the actions you demand. Your expectations are higher than any recent president coming in, and if you prove to be just another golden-throated political hack, it could be the finishing off of any trust the American people have in their political institutions. On the other hand, you could start us in a new positive direction toward the kind of new policy you talk about compared to the same old politics we have come to detest.

Respectfully,
Gary Sutton--Just a Citizen.

The Wrong Coach Got Fired!

That's right! You heard me.

By now, I'm sure you've all heard of the great tragedy in Dallas, Texas where the coach was fired for allowing his team to win over another school 100-0. In addition to firing the coach, Micah Grimes, the administration of Covenant School , a private Christian school called the January 13th win over Dallas Academy, "shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition."

In response, the Coach, who was asked to apologize, posted a statement on the Covenant website that said that he did not agree with the school, nor did he feel embarrassed or ashamed. His quote of significance said, "my values and my beliefs would not allow me to apologize for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with integrity and honor."

What about Dallas Academy? they have 8 girls on their varsity team and 20 girls in their high school. It is winless over the past 4 years. The academy is known for its small class sizes, and specializes in teaching students who struggle with "learning problems."

So, now that we have as much of this story as we know or probably need to, let's make some observations.
1. This coach is probably a jerk for pressing and shooting three-pointers when his team already had lead at halftime 59-0. However, have we thought about the other girls who played for the winning team? Are they supposed to just come in and know not to use their skills they have apparently learned a heck of a lot better than the other team? My answer is, No!

2. What the Hell is Dallas Academy doing playing basketball if they can't even compete? That's unfair and uninteresting for teams that are trying to compete fairly. Their losing forces a team to quit playing the game honestly, and do other things that may hurt them when they have to play against a team that can compete.

3. The Coach is apparently teaching his kids to play basketball very well. He was hired, I assume to teach, and at least in this case, basketball. One could argue whether he has great compassion, or whether or not he's too aggressive in winning, but no one can argue the fact that he's either a great teacher, recruiter, or both. Yet, he gets fired for doing his job, as I'm sure he was not hired with the hope that he would beat Dallas' Academy's losing streak by losing as much as possible.

4. What is the purpose of the game when you play it? You want to score and you want the other team not to score. Guess what, mission accomplished! The ultimate in this case is a shutout. So Covenant Academy is so ashamed, that they forfeit the game, which now becomes a 2-0 win for Dallas Academy. What? We give 2 more points credit to an unprepared team than they could score themselves, we bail out a coach who is doing a lousy job teaching, and we in a very politically correct manufacture a gray area that says that it's not about winning and losing, but strictly how you do it. Talk about sending a mixed bag of messages to kids, what are they learning here?

5. Our country thrives on competition, and yes, we want to win with class, but winning and losing in our society is part of who we are. For every winner, there is a loser. If you don't have a chance to compete, should you step into that situation until you have at least some of the fundamental tools. I won't be able to compete against a great golfer until I have practiced and honed the skills to step onto that stage. The coach is classless, but should never have been fired. Admonished, yes; not fired. The people that should be fired are the two administrations of these two schools who taught all the wrong lessons to the students involved.

One group learned that winning is wrong, and the other learned that someone will bail you out even if you lose. They were also taught that basketball in this case was made too important instead of worrying about more life and death issues that deserve far greater attention.

No, I say fire the two administrations, and depending on the situation, the OTHER COACH who has done a terrible job. If I walked into a classroom to teach students and consistently over 4 years had such bad lessons that it was the equivalent of a losing streak every day, I would expect to be fired, and any administrator worth his salt would do it. In this case, the only one with any salt were the kids that competed.

Taxation to Shape Behavior.

Two things have been swirling around in my head this week, and this morning the two of them connected.

First of all, was the idea of “Spread the wealth, “ you know that phrase that then Senator Obama uttered to “joe the Plumber” in Ohio. It was the idea that the wealthy need to be taxed to share with those who are poor or not as wealthy.

The second was the idea of sin taxes and government tax rebates. This is taxing or providing rebates for the purpose of shaping behavior. For example we tax cigarettes to make it more unattractive to smoke, or we offer a rebate to those who buy a greener car, while letting the SUV owner fend for himself.

So last night, I’m re-visiting a story about the state of New York getting ready to impose a new tax on every can of soda so that people will have to pay more to get fat on sugared drinks. Then it hit me! Bam! If the government is going to be in the business of shaping behavior with taxes and rebates, and spread the wealth since they obviously think that is the way to go, why not use the same concept , but in an additional way.

May I propose the “Spread the Responsibility” Concept. This is the idea that we really use taxing and rebates to spread the responsibility in this country. It could spur people to change their situations and behavior.

For example, we tax the poor more, because then they will want to change their situation and get a better job.

We tax the unemployed and homeless, so they will want to acquire a home and job.

We tax those with guns at an exhorbitant rate so they will put their guns away, and not buy them.

We tax rappers with swear words in songs so they will insert more responsible language.

We tax members of Congress when they don’t have budgets done on time.

We tax illegal immigrants more so they will leave or want to become legal.

We tax illegal employers who employ those illegal immigrants .

We tax those who don’t graduate at a higher rate.

We tax gangs.

We tax single family homes, so we’ll have two parents staying.

We tax those in jail, work release programs, and juvenile detention centers at a higher rate.

We tax parents higher who allow their kids on the street after 8:00 pm.

We tax drug dealers to make them stop dealing and selling drugs.

We tax people who have too many kids who can’t afford them.

We tax people who are on welfare too long.

We tax loiterers.

We tax porn at a higher rate so kids and adults won’t get addicted to it.

We tax members of Congress for staying longer than 2 terms.

Conversely, we’ll provide tax breaks for graduating, staying out of jail, getting a good job above $40,000, supporting their families, and a host of other things I haven’t thought about yet.

Since it looks like taxes and shaping behavior are the only two things most of our representatives want to do, let’s use the money to help all of us. Right now, the responsible reap nothing from the sin taxes and behavior-shaping, so let’s get something back for the money government wants to take from us and help people make the choices most of us have already made.

Hey, if you can beat, join and revise!

Boy George say "Yes we can!"

I was looking through websites, and came across this tribute to Barack Obama from Boy George (there's a name from the past) called Yes We Can.

So I'm getting ready to listen to this song and grab the wretch bucket. Instead, I found myself humming it after walking out of the room. Check it out:



Boy George would seem to be a strange vehicle for the song, but, hey, c'est la vie.

Shoprite: The store that does it all

In an effort to expand their product offerings to the public a New Jersey Shoprite added kiddie care police. Yep, beans on Aisle 2, rice in Aisle 5 and child welfare investigations in Aisle 10.

So when the parents of Adolf Hitler Campbell asked for a birthday cake from Shoprite they got a polite "You're tacky and we're calling the cops" (link to ABC News story).

As if Adolf Hitler issn't a strange enough name for a youngster, little Adolf's siblings are Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell and JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell. Clearly mommy and daddy have issues but here's the kicker -- the State of New Jersey took custody of these kids.

Now these little darlings are between 3 years old and 8 months. Presumably, their names are on the Certificates of Live and Supreme Birth. Also presumably, the family has filed their taxes in the last three years listing all the names of their little Aryan household.

All of the above is assumption, but what is not asusmption is that the crack team at Shoprite broke the case to Garden State Central which prompted the removal of these kids from their goosestepping home. Imagine, the crew at the bakery picked up the trouble on the Polish border (as it were) well ahead of the Child Welfare folks Garden State central command. If these guys had been in Miami perhaps Janet Reno could have scooped up Elian Gonzalez at the candy aisle instead of having to kick in the door.

Superficially this looks to be about the names. The news stories I have heard have reported it that way. Now before anyone gets bent out of shape, the exact reasons for removing the kids is as yet undisclosed but it seems as though the kids’ names had something to do with it perhaps as a symptom and not as a cause. But we don't know yet.

I understand that mommy and daddy are a bit whacked, but what is the threshold for taking kids away? Something here does not pass the smell test besides the eau d’landfill of the Jersey turnpike.

What I truly hope is that there is much more to this that we don’t know yet. The agency also states that they cannot disclose the reasons for the snatch and grab because it violates privacy laws. Apparently taking kids out of the house does not violate privacy laws.

From right off of the NJ Dept of Child Welfare site comes these two definitions:

Abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional harm or risk of harm to a child under the age of 18 caused by a parent or other person who acts a caregiver for the child. Neglect occurs when a parent or caregiver fails to provide proper supervision for a child or adequate food, clothing, shelter, education or medical care although financially able or assisted to do so.

It does not state on the site what degree of any of the above constitutes grounds for removal from a home, but further research on some family law sites shows that New Jersey has a mandatory "rat out your neighbors" law over kids’ safety.

But the Dept of Body Snatchers needs to say something. When kids get grabbed by order of the same folks who can’t balance a budget every parent gets geeked and rightfully so. It looks bad no matter what the reasons are for removing children. Not sure what necessary looks like but apparently Joisey has that answer.

Oh and if any of you think HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADOLF HITLER CAMPBELL is a bad idea for a birthday cake then check out the blog Cakewrecks where you'll see more horrible cakes.

Link to Cakewrecks.

Tech tip: Upgrade your memory

Wah, my computer is slow! This could be from a couple problems (in order of likelihood): 1) You've loaded up your computer with garbage and malware, 2) You don't have enough RAM, or 3) Your computer is an ancient piece of garbage.

If you've been keeping up with our tech tips and practicing safe computing, Number 1 shouldn't be a problem. That leaves skimpy RAM or an aged computer as your problem. We're going to deal with RAM today.

Step 1. Figure out how much RAM you have. I suggest 2 GB of RAM for a Windows machine. That's fine for everyday computing. You can get away with less, but RAM is pretty cheap these days. You can find out how much RAM you have by clicking on your Start menu and going to Programs --> Accessories --> System Tools and clicking on "System Information." Need some RAM? Go to the next step.

Step 2. Go to Crucial.com. See the Crucial Memory Advisor tool? Plug in your computer's manufacturer, product line and model number. When you click on the "FIND IT" button the tool will give you options. I've found it easiest to ignore what's in your computer and just buy a kit of 2 sticks of RAM. It shouldn't cost you more than about $20 to $50. A 2 GB kit for my Thinkpad costs a paltry $26.

Step 3. Get your computer's owner's manual. If you threw it out, go to your manufacturer's web site and download a copy. Somewhere in there will be instructions specific to your computer for upgrading its RAM.

Step 4. Upgrade your RAM per the instructions. Trust me, it's a relatively simple procedure.

Step 5. Throw your old RAM in your junk drawer and enjoy computing with fewer slow downs.

If you're afraid of your computer you can always pay someone to upgrade it for you, but keep in mind that you won't get away with a measly $25 expense.