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Business and Politics / People — No Comments
27
Oct 11

Herman Cain: “They came after me like I had talked about their momma!

Herman Cain: ‘I Gotta Fight Romneycare and Get the Nomination’

By Susan Archer
Herman Cain skipped a RNC gala in Washington D.C. tonight to speak at the sold out Nueces County Republican Women’s Dinner in Corpus Christi. Following a private fundraiser in his honor, Cain talked about his 9-9-9 plan and railed against the Obama administration and a healthcare plan he said the American people did not want.

“Back in early 1990s”, Cain said, “I had to fight Hillarycare and be an outspoken voice against Hillarycare. During the passage of Obamacare, I had to fight Obamacare and he passed it anyway against the will of the people. So it seems as if many of my years have been fighting some kind of care. Hillarycare, Obamacare, and now I gotta fight Romneycare and get the nomination.”

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Business and Politics / Humor / People — No Comments
27
Oct 11

Rick, Rick, Rick…

Thank you Nan!

Business and Politics / People — No Comments
26
Oct 11

Snake oil and Used Cars…

By James Milstid
Yesterday, presidential candidate Rick Perry (R-Texas) introduced his version of a flat-tax plan for America.

I don’t pretend to be an economics expert, so I won’t make any uneducated comments about the merits or disadvantages of his plan. Nor will I pass judgement on Herman Cain’s 999 tax plan. I’ll save that for the talking-heads in the media.

Such a deal I have for you…
What disturbed me about Rick Perry’s presentation was the slippery, slimy feeling I perceived. I’ve felt it before while shopping for a used car. Or walking through the warehouse-style furniture store. That “is-this-guy-being-straight-with-me” feeling.

When he held up his 5×7 index card, the words “snake-oil” flashed across my mind… in bright flashing neon letters. My internal warning flags were at full mast. But the premise did have a certain appeal on the surface.
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Business and Politics / Health / People — No Comments
25
Oct 11

Bachmann: Charities Can Take Care Of The Uninsured

Bachmann: Uninsured Americans Can Rely On ‘Charitable Organizations’ For Health Care
By Igor Volsky on Oct 24, 2011 at 9:00 am

Republicans have a hard time explaining how they would make up for the loss in coverage to 32 million Americans if they succeed in repealing the Affordable Care Act. Deregulating the health insurance market and instituting malpractice reform will only do so much — in fact, a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the GOP’s standard health care plan found that such an approach would only extend coverage to three million people and actually increase the overall uninsured rate — and so the party is often forced to look at other less dependable sources for health care: charity.

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Business and Politics / Humor — No Comments
24
Oct 11

Wine, Wine, Wine

Business and Politics — No Comments
20
Oct 11

Moonbase Shanghai: Could China Own The Moon?


By James Milstid

China holds 16% of America’s total national debt.

This excerpt from Wikipedia should concern us greatly:

As of May 2011 the largest single holder of U.S. government debt was China, with 36 percent of all foreign-held U.S. Treasury securities (16% of total US public debt). China’s holdings of government debt, as a percentage of all foreign-held government debt, have decreased a bit over the last year, but are up significantly since 2000 (when China held just 6 percent of all foreign-held U.S. Treasury securities).

That works out to a cool $6.25 trillion… not a paltry sum! China has loaned us, the USA, an obscene amount of money over the years. And we’ll most certainly go back for more.

In 1990’s there was a huge influx of wealthy Chinese immigrants to Vancouver, BC. So large was the influx, the city was tagged with the name “Hongcouver”. Since then, much of the city is under Chinese ownership. At first, the Vancouverites were thrilled with the boost in their economy. The housing market boomed and the suffering economy was greatly strengthened. But now that the Chinese essentially own Vancouver, there are second thoughts.

These facts and having recently read Albert Brook’s 2030: What Really Happens to America, is why this article caught my eye…

China could own the moon by 2026, U.S. space entrepreneur warns

by JohnThomas Didymus
A U.S. space entrepreneur, Robert Bigelow, has sounded alarm that China could own large portions of the moon by 2026, edging out the United States in the race for ownership of the moon.

Mr. Bigelow made this warning at the 2011 International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on Wednesday.

Robert Bigelow, according to Space.com, said China’s growing technological capability, economic buoyancy, motivation and will to win the space race to “own the moon” places it at advantage to the U.S. which he said is still “basking in the lunar glory from 40 years ago.”

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Books — Comments Off on 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America
20
Oct 11

2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America

Book Review by James Milstid

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

It was so real that I kept finding myself thinking, “This is happening right now!”.

Albert Brooks has crafted an excellent thought-provoking scenario that is very believable. It’s one of those books that is difficult to put down and at the end you want more.

Well written, humorous, and poignant, Mr. Brooks pleasantly surprised me with his knowledge, insight and wordsmithing mastery.

Very highly recommended! Just read it!

Warning: This story will haunt you; it stays with you long after you’ve finished reading it.

From the Barnes and Noble website:

Is this what’s in store?

June 12, 2030 started out like any other day in memory—and by then, memories were long. Since cancer had been cured fifteen years before, America’s population was aging rapidly. That sounds like good news, but consider this: millions of baby boomers, with a big natural predator picked off, were sucking dry benefits and resources that were never meant to hold them into their eighties and beyond. Young people around the country simmered with resentment toward “the olds” and anger at the treadmill they could never get off of just to maintain their parents’ entitlement programs.

But on that June 12th, everything changed: a massive earthquake devastated Los Angeles, and the government, always teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, was unable to respond.

The fallout from the earthquake sets in motion a sweeping novel of ideas that pits national hope for the future against assurances from the past and is peopled by a memorable cast of refugees and billionaires, presidents and revolutionaries, all struggling to find their way. In 2030, the author’s all-too-believable imagining of where today’s challenges could lead us tomorrow makes gripping and thought-provoking reading.

Barnes and Noble

Business and Politics — No Comments
19
Oct 11

Top ten list: Tax evaders’ wall of shame

Sunday, April 10, 2011 – Ad Lib by Catherine Poe

When you read about GE paying no corporate federal taxes in 2010 while getting a $3.2 billion rebate, does your blood start to boil?

If you listened to the corporate whining, you probably thought companies like GE paid 35% in federal taxes. Not so. It’s a rare company that ponies up that amount.

For too long the American public has been hornswoggled by this century’s “robber barons.”

Remember, it was our tax dollars that saved the hides of many of these multinationals with colossal bailouts, and how do they say thanks?

By not paying their taxes. Nada, zero, zilch. And it’s legal, thanks to Congress.

However, I am betting you’ll pay your 2010 taxes on April 15th.

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Business and Politics — No Comments
16
Oct 11

What does the government do for me?

A Day In Your Life

Though we usually fail to notice it, government programs and policies improve our daily lives in innumerable ways.

Ask yourself this question: “What has government done for me lately?” If you are like most Americans, you will probably answer: “Not much.”

Many people feel like they pay a lot in taxes but don’t really get anything back from government. Surveys show that 52% of Americans believe that “government programs have not really helped me and my family.” But let’s see if that is really true. Let’s examine a typical day in the life of an average middle-class American and try to identify some of the ways that government improves that person’s life during that 24-hour period.

6:30 a.m. You are awakened by your clock radio. You know it is actually 6:30 because the National Institute of Standards and Technology keeps the official time. And you can listen to your favorite radio station only because the Federal Communications Commission brings organization and coherence to our vast telecommunications system. It ensures, for example, that radio stations do not overlap and that stations signals are not interfered with by the numerous other devices – cell phones, satellite television, wireless computers, etc. – whose signals crowd our nation’s airwaves.

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Business and Politics — No Comments
16
Oct 11

And it’s one two three…what are we protesting for?

By James Milstid

Where are we going?

If nothing else, the so-called “Occupy _______” (fill in the blank) protests have made some good grist for my thought process mill. While I understand the frustration of so many folks about their economic dire straits, I also understand that it’s a two-way street. The original two-way economy street was pretty orderly and equitable for all, but it’s been re-paved with greed over many years.

And why are we in this hand-basket?

In one direction, we Americans have determined that the road to the dream is paved with credit cards and loans. We’ve lived beyond our means for so long that it’s become the norm to be in debt up to our ears. Not that we shouldn’t strive to have a better life. It’s just that we are impatient. And we let the banks lull us into a false sense of security because of that impatience.

In another direction, the banks, being businesses, have taken advantage of our impatience. Credit card interest rates and penalties are obscene. The lending institutions have us over a barrel. And they keep offering us more credit. Low interest, sure… until one misses a payment. A few days late and that 9% interest suddenly turns into 26% interest. It’s in the small print, but who ever reads that? Now many banks are even starting to charge for debit card usage.

When the feds lowered the interest rates, it cut into the lending institutions’ profits. When that happened, the banks started offering loans to high-risk clients to make up for profit losses. We are seeing the results of that now with housing foreclosures, defaulted loans, and bankruptcy.

Some true direction please…

If someone were to offer some true direction and some real answers to our economic problems, I have a feeling that a grassroots movement like this could actually make some headway. As it is now, it’s not even a movement. It’s just a lot of unhappy folks venting… some justified, some not.

I haven’t answered the questions in my own mind yet. Sure, I’d love to be out of debt and live more comfortably. But I got myself there and I need to take responsibility to get myself out or be willing to suffer the consequences. I’m not looking for a big bailout. I made my bed and I’ll sleep in it. And I want banks and corporations to do the same.

Our economy is in dire straits for a number of pretty complex reasons. I applaud folks for becoming active and voicing their frustrations, but I’ve yet to see any clear cut opinions about equitable ways to fix it all.

~James Milstid~

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