There are a number of things the government can do right now to stop our economic bleeding. We are bleeding profusely from numerous perforations and our current strategy seems to be in utilizing band-aids to try and quell it when a tourniquet is needed. I don’t think either of the current political parties have the stomach or the will to enact what really needs to be done before it’s too late. Folks, we only really have about five years left until total economic failure and the collapse of our economy UNLESS we repair the damage immediately. This means to correct thirty or forty years of damage will require drastic measures or we are doomed economically, politically and militarily. Big government needs to stop courting Wall Street, the Banks and the lobbyists as well as all the special interest groups which include the environmentalists and big banks.
Some of my ideas on economic reform are as follows;
1. Regulate the United States Banking industry & Wall Street against insider trading
1a. all mortgages are met with the same FEDERALLY ENFORCED stringent guidelines. Banks will no longer be allowed to sell a mortgage on the open market once the mortgage is in force. The bank owns the mortgage for the life of the contract, ultimately all banks will weigh a person’s ability to pay and take a firmer stance on who is eligible for a mortgage, and this will lead to fewer defaults. Thus producing a positive step in rebuilding our housing markets.
1b. since the banks and the government were the driving force to the economic collapse which started in the housing markets, the banks should pay fifty cents on every dollar they collect in interest and fees from the consumer. This money alone will pay for our entitlement programs.
1c. Install FEDERAL CAPS on the maximums banks can charge for Fees credit card interest and automobile and finance loans.
For example the following banks posted incomes of in 2010;
JPMorgan - Revenue rose 6 percent to $26.7 billion on a managed basis, which adjusts for an accounting change for off-balance sheet entities. That was higher than the $24.37 billion expected by analysts. JPMorgan said on Friday it would issue new debt after reporting results.
Bank of America states in their 2010 financial revue posted on-line on page 5, Excluding two non-cash, non-tax deductible goodwill impairment charges, we earned 10.2 billion for the full year. Including these charges, we posted a net loss of 2.2 billion.
You will learn here that Canada’s banking institution is federally regulated and Canada did not have a stock market crash, housing market foreclosures or double digit unemployment. When the United States economy hit depression status in 2008 there was a short period ripple effect that took place in Canada and that was it. Since our economy took a major decline and continues on a rollercoaster ride, Canada has seen economic prosperity and gains in certain sectors.
Below is a list of the largest US banks and their assets;
Rank | Institution | Headquarters | Assets |
1. | Bank of America Corp. | Charlotte, N.C. | $2,340,667,014 |
2. | J. P. Morgan Chase & Company | New York, N.Y. | 2,135,796,000 |
3. | Citigroup | New York, N.Y | 2,002,213,000 |
4. | Wells Fargo & Company | San Francisco, C.A. | 1,223,630,000 |
5. | Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | New York, N.Y. | 880,677,000 |
6. | Morgan Stanley | New York, N.Y. | 819,719,000 |
7. | Metlife, Inc. | New York, N.Y. | 565,566,452 |
8. | Barclays Group US, Inc. | Wilmington, Del. | 427,837,000 |
9. | Taunus Corporation | New York, N.Y. | 364,079,000 |
10. | HSBC North America Inc. | New York, N.Y | 345,382,871 |
|
|
2a. Conduct research and development to find new alternative energy sources; such as increasing the fuel efficiency of the gasoline & diesel powered (four stroke reciprocating) engines.
2b. Build three new refineries in the United States. Build one on the west coast, one on the east coast and one down south. Build high efficiency refineries that are green house emission compliant.
2c. Provide money for private research and development to find new oil fields within the United States and its held territories and sell the rights back to United States owned oil companies for drilling.
2d. Open a Federally funded American company, (American Oil) yet let it be privately run within government parameters. This company will be responsible for all exploration, research, drilling and refinement. This will definitely provide lower prices at the pump and inject more into our failing economy. I am not talking about socialism, I am talking about regulation. There will be profits that can be used for entitlement programs that are not sustainable under our current tax and spend system.
Stop our dependence on foreign oil and keep the money in the United States. Allocating money into research and development for new energy alternatives coupled with finding new sustainable oil fields will drive the cost of gasoline, home heating oil and all products manufactured here in the United States containing petroleum distillates down.
Driving the cost of oil and gasoline products down will stimulate the economy due to the inherent factor that most people that may have extra money will spend it, this will help invigorate the economy plus this will give most Americans a new and renewed sense of National self preservation and pride in America.
Believe it or not, China is quickly becoming the largest importer of oil. As China grows economically and militarily China will continue to grow more dependent on oil. This fact alone will continue to drive the price of foreign oil even higher over the coming decade. We cannot afford to sit by any longer and let our country become a second rate third world economy.
The National Resources Defense Council states: America spends more than $200,000 per minute on foreign oil -- $13 million per hour. More than $25 billion a year goes for Persian Gulf imports alone. This NRDC analysis considers oil demand and supply projections and how our current policy of oil dependence affects our economy and security. America's dependence on oil is a threat to our national security and our economy. Growing demand and shrinking domestic production means America is importing more and more oil each year - much of it from the world's most unfriendly or unstable regions. We spend more than $200,000 per minute -- $13 million per hour -- on foreign oil, and more than $25 billion a year on Persian Gulf imports alone.
3. Sell off UnitedStates Post to a company that will run it in terms of a national entity and run it within guidelines stipulated with the contractual governance to ensure the quality of service remains the same. I am sure some large business would like to buy US Post and they stand a better chance of making a profit then the government. There are too many layers of bureaucracy within US Post that is just more unjustified wasteful spending. I am quite certain that most Americans will entertain the thought and the reality of only receiving mail five days a week as a cost cutting measure. I am quite certain that cutting Saturday delivery will cut millions from an already overstretched budget.
4. Revamp the educational system. We have again too much bureaucracy within our educational system and the money doesn’t seem to flow into the classrooms. We need more teachers and smaller class sizes to effectively teach the leaders of tomorrow. We have the best colleges in the world yet look at the declining rates of Americans being accepted to certain schools. Folks, we need to get back onto the horse and take charge or we will be left behind over the next century with regard to research, development, space exploration, business opportunities and new ventures. Our children and their children are the key to American survival.
5. If the government really wants to fix health care regulate it. Not nationalize it, just regulate costs. For example you can go to the pharmacy and purchase latex gloves and you will pay about eighteen dollars for a box of one-hundred. Did you know that doctors will bill the insurance anywhere between three and five times what the actual cost per glove is? This is but one example of a corrupt system. And again, there are too many layers of bureaucracy within our national healthcare system, our hospitals and seniors homes. Smaller government provides more money to the people who need it. They are called patients. If healthcare was regulated, premiums would be smaller therefore more people would have more disposable income and spend some it, this in turn would also help to stimulate our economy.
6. Has our government been asleep for so long that they really haven’t caught on, “We are broke”? Why do we continue to send money overseas when we have starving homeless people right here? Forty-Five Million Americans rely on Government food stamps was a report that was released on Monday August 8th, 2011. Think about this fact for a moment. This is America! This is despicable.
The latest reports show 3.5 million Americans are homeless due this national tragedy!
Shame on all of for being so blind for so long and shame on those who through personal greed threw all of us under the bus and didn’t think twice about it, and yet these same people are still reaping billions on their financial statements. Stop sending money where its not appreciated, not deserved and never reciprocated. Charity starts at home! That’s right, CHARITY STARTS AT HOME!
I am a member of LinkedIn for professionals. Below are comments that I cut directly from a posting from various members. I think it’s safe to say that America has finally awaken and I believe in the tenacity and spirit of Americans to take the lead and show elected officials that we are not going to have the wool pulled over our eyes any longer.
- Yes, the Canadian banking system is more regulated but the combination of tougher mortgage requirements and taxes (no deduction of mortgage interest) plus a more conservative population are the keys. Earlier this year, the government saw that the housing market was overheating and was able to act to cool down via increased minimum down payment percentage and reduced maximum amortization term (30 years), all without endless debate, handwringing or vilification.
- A comment from down under. Like Canada, Australia also has a well regulated banking system and following the GFC, Australia has not had any banking failures. Currently we have low unemployment of around 4.90% with skills shortages particularly in engineering and the skilled trades. Australia's foreign debt as a percentage of GDP is currently running at about 6.00% and we expect that our economy will to return to surplus in 2012/13. Australia's current economic success is dependent on China because we are their quarry. In relation to the deregulation of the financial system in the US, it only proves the old saying that you can't hand over control of the asylum to the lunatics because it won't work.
- The comparison to personal finances is a way to simplify the situation for the average citizen, but it's not a simple situation so the analogy is fundamentally inaccurate. The debt ceiling is not (only) for future expenditures but past, approved expenditures now coming due. The debt ceiling is not about how much the US spends, that's a budgetary issue, rather if the US honors its commitments. No one in their right minds thinks the current deficits are good or sustainable but draconian austerity on the backs of the middle and lower classes will kill any hope of a recovery in the manufacturing, service and retail sectors. An economy the size of the US has major momentum and can't be yanked around. "Cut all spending!" is politically expedient when speaking to average citizens but is materially impossible and destructive. The US needs to increase revenues including net tax increases on the rich, a national gas tax AND responsibly trim entitlement programs over the next 10 years. In 8 years or so the sitting president will look like a hero but the heavy lifting will have begun now.
- You've missed the boat on the problems in the American economy. The private mortgage industry was FORCED by the left leaning arms of our government to make loans to those that they would otherwise not make loans. Congress' favorite community reinvestment act FORCED banks and savings and loans to have a larger percentage to help the disadvantaged. It's no surprise that the mortgage industries financial plight looks just like the US debt problem. Congress is the master at spending without a plan to repay. And increased taxes are sure not the solution. And you want us to look to the Barney Franks and Chris Dodd’s to solve our problems? That would be like asking us to talk to put Charles Manson in charge of our law enforcement. The small business corporate burden today is why there is so much unemployment. Where do people get the idea that when we take more revenue from those who employ that they will still want to employ? Socialist solutions do not bring about vibrant economies.
- Pres Bush was criticized, ostracized and took the blame for the initial collapse of the financial system, his outrageous spending under his administration, and getting the USA involved in 2 wars. Now, you say, President Obama is only one man and implies that he cannot be expected to take responsibility for his failed administration and financial stimulus plan? You also indirectly endorse this man for a second term that he needs another 4 years to see his "plan through"? You do have a right to your opinion, no matter how irrational and ridiculous it may be.... I believe most Americans will see through what I perceive as straight B.S. President Obama is a great speaker, a very charismatic and convincing politician with an extreme ideology and radical base of managers that have made nothing but poor decisions and blamed Bush and the Republicans and now the Tea Party, who I may add without their resistance to a "clean budget amendment" originally proposed by Pres Obama, our credit rating may have been downgraded lower than AA+.I do not believe any rational thinking person will let politics or ideology influence their judgment of this president, his leadership and decision making abilities under pressure are lacking, to be kind, and the only person left from his original "Economic Stimulus Committee" is Timothy Geithner...and I believe he has made numerous mistakes and miraculously holds on to his job as Secretary of the Treasury....in the "Private Sector" he would have been fired...imho.
- Well...............everyone talks and nobody listens.
Is there anyone out there that has some "good ideas"? Certainly not the politicians and as far as CEOs of the big and small corporations, well...that is another story. Would you like to be reminded of the GM, banks, savings and loans, Wall Street and so many other failures?
Sum it up: power and greed.
Are any of the people that have robbed millions of dollars in jail?
China is growing at an amazingly fast pace, producing goods and services that nobody else (even less the USA) can make at competitive prices, meanwhile other countries in the West are more interested in continuing making arms and wars.
Remember: power and greed. And finally, we pretend to address and solve the debt issue by raising the debt limit. How about this for comparison: a person out of a job, with no income (or just getting unemployment or welfare or SS) cannot pay its credit card debt (with a limit of let’s say $1000), within an interest rate pegged at 20% (and I thought loan sharks were outlawed), tells the bank he cannot and will not pay the money owed. The bank, in order not to lose a customer and trying to recover at least some of the money, decides to raise the credit card limit for this person from $1000 to $2000. Nothing else has changed and this guy will spend more and eventually he will default on his debt. Does this remind you of anything?
So, let's continue listening to the music. You know how the movie line goes.............
- There's enough blame to go around for all of us, every citizen that voted these lawmakers into office....the time has run out on the blame game, Mr. President Stop pointing fingers and take responsibility as CEO of this great nation. Mr. Reid, John Boehner, speaker of the House and every lawmaker, Republican, Democrat, Independent, Tea Party all of you must accept responsibility. The country is in need of leaders and good managers, not politicians with law degrees spinning words and making a complex and difficult situation worse. President Obama, take responsibility for a failed stimulus plan, and take charge as Commander in Chief. The country needs leaders who will put America and her citizens before political agendas and party pressure.
David
