Stop Using Band-Aids to Quell The Bleeding

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.

For more information on US Banks, please click here – United States Banks

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

2. Stop the flow of money to the oil companies. Use the money for the following;

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 8^th, 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

Liberty and Justice For All

I often wonder what became of the America I knew as a boy.  Growing up in small town America I was exposed to scenes of family, caring, community spirit and most of all a commitment to sharing in what it was that made American life the envy of the world.  What happened over the last 40 odd years?  Where is the sense that we can expect our children to grow up with the same opportunities that we were presented with during our childhood?

I remember my Grandfather piling all of us grandkids into the 1973 Grand Fury III and taking us to town for pizza.  I also remember sitting on my grandfather’s lap when Neil Armstrong made that historic first venture onto the surface of the moon.  Every Fourth of July my grandparents would host a huge celebration at their house, friends and family from as far as a hundred miles would show up.  There would be food, music and always the talk of politics as well as the latest trends.  We would go to Ridgewood and watch the parade.  In those days the parade consisted of tanks, jeeps, marching bands and all of the institutions were represented that America was proud of.

I reminisce about those days and long for them again.  When I think back it seems as though the pace of life was slower, more remote.  I think we had a sense of who we were as Americans and as individuals.  I believe we knew our place within the world stage and we led by instilling in others what made America great.  America had all of its morals basically in the right place and we as a people believed we had a purpose.  We had resilience within our core chemical makeup, we had flavor and we believed the dance would never end.

Wake up America before it’s too late to get our way of life back!  We have been stuck in a vortex of governmental spending, out of control spending that has hindered my way of life, your way of life and your children’s children’s way of life.  Do you remember Watergate?  That’s all I heard for months from almost all the adults around me.  This wasn’t a crisis of epic proportions like what we have going on right now, this was the president of the United States lying to the American public and then covering it up.  For those of you that are too young to remember or were not taught this in school, President Nixon was impeached for the cover up!  So now that we have a president that has a crisis of epidemic proportions and a debt crisis spiraling out of control why are so many Americans sleeping in a toxic recipe of apathy?  Why aren’t more Americans outwardly concerned and outspoken?  Why is it that on election night, most Americans will be at home instead of at the polls?  Why America?

Everything begins and ends in this country with people like you and me.  It was once said, “Any people anywhere being inclined and having the power have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right — a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world”.  That was Abraham Lincoln reminding us of our intrinsic rights as Americans and as human beings.

We have let this happen over the last thirty years or so, I am speaking about our complacency in believing that our government is doing what is best for us.  In most cases our government isn’t doing what is best for us, they are doing what are in their lobbyists best interests.  These are the same lobbyists who put up the money as campaign contributions to get our elected officials into higher office for their benefit, not ours.  Yes, we all vote with the confidence that things will change but reality sets in.  Therefore the next election cycle comes along and wham, less concerned Americans show up at the polls.  In essence we have been blinded with our eyes wide shut and we have allowed ourselves to go comatose on a national level!

Look around you at the state of our affairs as a nation.  9.2 % unemployment, the knowledge that we may be in for a double dip recession.  There is a priori of information that shows what has taken place.  Look at how the environmentalist groups have almost stopped research and development, hindered small business throughout America and even slowed our own oil exploration to a mere trickle.  Lobbyists come in many forms however the environmental lobbyists are the bane of American society.  I defy you to research on the internet what some of these groups have done in the United States and in South America.  You will be appalled at what you discover.

The stimulus package was a joke!  Billions of dollars flowed into the hands of the already wealthy while home owners, small business owners and middle class Americans bore the brunt of a scarce job market, higher prices and if that weren’t enough, they had to deal with banks that were not lending money.  If you wanted to start a small business, forget about it, getting capitol was and still is like pulling teeth from a rhinoceros.

Why do we as the American middle class voter, the people who carry this country, allow riders to be attached to important bills of legislation?  Riders are usually created as a tactic to pass a controversial provision that would not pass as its own bill.  Riders are most effective when attached to an important bill, such as an appropriation bill, because to veto or postpone such a bill could delay funding to governmental programs, causing serious problems.  Some of these riders have absolutely nothing to do with the legislation being passed, yet our politicians attach riders to get something for their constituents or lobbyists that may gain votes or future campaign funds for them.  The end result of this game is that a lot of your tax payer dollars go to fund rider programs that very few Americans gain from.   A bill should be passed or rejected on its own merits and if it doesn’t pass it should be amended to reflect its substance in the context of what is best for the American people.

To fix our country is going to require a lot of hard work, effort, stamina and bipartisan compromise.  This country cannot afford to be consumed by the petty differences of so few when the needs of the many seem insurmountable.  Our elected officials need to work together to fix what they and their predecessors got us into and yet I feel that we as Americans are culpable in this catastrophe as we have allowed this to happen over our lifetime.  The evidence is all around you.  Watch the video below from Joe Lieberman, he predicted in 1994 that we would be bankrupt NOW, in 2011!

I know plenty of business owners who over the last three years have postponed their vacations or planned family getaways to spend precious time at their businesses ensuring they didn’t falter.  Yet our elected officials have faltered on the business of government and they still took their summer recess.  Are you starting to see that big government is running like a business, its running amuck and your tax dollars are supporting their lavish lifestyles and their hoity-toity jet sets to their summer vacation homes?  They do this in the midst of a national crisis while the rest of toil away hoping and praying that things improve.  Your own President has had more vacation time in two years than most Americans have over a six year period and this is not even counting his days away playing golf!  You can watch that video below as well!

I believe we are far too politically correct.  Whatever happened to calling a spade a spade?  I believe that over the last thirty years we have been subverted from within. Subverted by the same people that point fingers in your direction if you reference any item that is truthful but makes reference to ones sexuality, transgender, gender, age, group, religion or any other item deemed inappropriate by the granola crunching tree huggers to speak about.  Hey, whatever happened to free speech in this country?  I think the activists from the extreme left, (I don't need to name the group) have slowly tried to chip away at this right as well.  If we continue down this path it will lead us into the opposite direction of salvation.  I believe it's called TYRANY! 

Our basic core values as Americans have slowly been eroded and they have been replaced with a belief that we will all be better off if we can have access to a quick divorce and cohabitation is now promoted as the alternative to marriage.  You cannot reference God in schools.  The pledge of allegiance has even undergone bastardization whereby our children are now fighting back against their own school boards to use the term God.  Please read the pledge allegiance below and see if this offends you!

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

When are we going to wake up and take back OUR country?  When is the revolution going to start?  It starts here, today, right this moment!  Don’t let another minute go by without really examining what is going on in our nation’s capitol and determine for you if this is really the direction we can afford to move.

Today more than ever we need a fiscal conservative in the White House and we need to have our Congressmen and Women along with the senate working to achieve what our founding fathers worked so stridently for.  Our founding fathers fought for this country for a purpose.  Today we need our future secured in the knowledge that our elected officials will fight for this country against the same old adversaries better known as TYRANNY AND OPPRESSION.   

David

Americans Awaken

Awaken Washington was a creation I have been thinking about for some time.  I have watched for the past few years as millions of middle class Americans lost their jobs, their life savings, their homes and their ability to believe that somehow we will all be ok.  As Americans we are proud, democratic and we are capitalists. We do not want help from our government in a personal sense but we want our elected officials to do the right thing by us as a nation. As Americans we are not going to go down without a fight, yet very few have understood the ramifications of our debt crisis until recently and unfortunately we are almost out of time to save our way of life for our children, and their children’s children.

Some of my ideas may seem radical, socialist or even anti-capitalist, yet once you read more you may actually start to see it as a plan.  Someone somewhere needs to start with a plan for our national recovery and so far all I’ve heard from Washington are the same old stories filled with innuendo and finger pointing.  The current plan is to cross your fingers and hope for a better day tomorrow, this is the way children deal with problems, not elected officials we call adults.

The debt ceiling crisis didn’t need to be an eleventh hour deal, in fact August second was a fictitious date with no bearing whatsoever on whether we could pay our bills and sustain our national programs.  The debt ceiling crisis was manufactured and manipulated by our elected officials to muster votes!  That’s right, VOTES!  Our government over the past three decades have spent us into the toilet and flushed us out to sea. Government needs to start treating itself as a business, “YOU CANNOT SPEND MORE THEN YOU MAKE”!  When in God’s name are they going to learn this? 

The sole purpose of this blog is to stimulate people into voicing their concerns and their ideas to remedy our weak albeit stagnant economy.  We need action now, because two more years of what we are currently experiencing is going to place us on the precipice of a national collapse. Our economic collapse will undoubtedly result in a world economic meltdown of unparalleled proportions.  This will surely displace hundreds of millions of people around the globe.  This would force millions into personal financial distress which will further exacerbate the problem.  We may not have anarchy in the streets but I can assure you it won’t be a pretty sight. 

We take for granted as Americans that we can drive to the bank, take out our money and go the grocery store to buy our food.  If we actually fall over the cliff financially there will be no money or it will be worthless, if you think that’s not bad enough there may be no food in the stores because the grocer may have gone bankrupt.  Or worse, the farmer was forced off his land by the bank.  Fuel prices over the last year have been the highest in US history, culminating to a climax in the second quarter of 2011, this effectively triggered higher food prices and the prices of a myriad of other commodities we use day-to-day.  Consumer spending has almost slowed to a trickle since the start of the second quarter and doesn’t look like it’s on the upswing anytime soon.

Our politicians have been ignorant of the American dream for a long time and they prove this by spending out of control.  The two political parties at this juncture jostle for control of the house and the senate with no regard for your well being or for your best interests.  They are only concerned with votes and how to make the other party look bad in the eyes of the American public.  In my humble opinion both parties look pretty bad right now and it will literally take someone with guts and stamina to get the job done in the white house.  We need a course correction fast or we will run aground. 

When your house is on fire you run outside, call the fire department and hose down the flames with water.  Governmentally speaking, our house is on fire and they just purchased another air conditioner to dissipate the heat and stay inside a little longer.  They couldn’t afford the air conditioner yet they bought it, I am speaking of course about the debt ceiling limit.  Our government just sanctioned us going further into debt without really cutting out the wasteful spending that got us here in the first place.  What a plan!  If more American households ran their budgets this way, we’d all be bankrupt!

I have always been a supporter and admirer of Ronald Reagan.  Ron, we need you or someone like you to lead us from the road of destruction.  Why is it that everyone is so hung up on whether or not a specific person looks presidential or has a sense of humor?  Quite frankly, I couldn’t give a damn if the person running for president was a dry as a mule bone in the middle of Texas, as long as he or she were qualified by track record alone on getting the job done.  You don’t need to be a stand-up comedian to President.  To be president you need: innovation, persuasion, class, self respect, firmness, thoughtfulness, self reliant, resilient, strong and willing to compromise yet unbending to those who still advocate wasteful spending in Washington.

As an American, awaken to what is going on around you.  Please send us your thoughts and ideas. We can only get through this together. My following post will list actions that can help put us on the road to national growth and prosperity.

David