Ronald Wilson Reagan is generally credited with coming up with the phrase "Trickle Down Economics" but it was actually coined by humorist Will Rodgers decades before. The Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman is also well known for being a proponent of this style of economics, which is based in deregulation and advancing the interest of companies verses the people. The theory goes like this; If the richest among us do better, then some of that wealth will "trickle down" to all of us through job creation and advancement. In theory, I would agree with that. After all, jobs are not created by the poor, they are created by the entrepreneurs, the risk takers among us, who invest their fortunes and thereby create products and jobs for all of us. The problem is that I view CEO's much like Dictators. Without regulation, they will all gravitate toward whatever benefits themselves the most with little regard for the future, the environment, or anything else. Trickle Down theory has been put to the test lately as the American taxpayer has shelled out billions to companies, make that over a trillion, in bailouts, bridge loans, help, investment, whatever you want to call it. The problem is, these companies are not "trickling" the money down. What they are doing instead is using the money as an insulator against the tough times ahead rather than loaning the money out or investing in new ideas or products. You can hardly blame them. Loaning money out to people who, in great likelihood, will out of a job next year is a hard sell when you can sit on the money and weather the storm. But isn't that why we gave them the money in the first place?
Friday, December 26, 2008
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IS IT TIME FOR "TRICKLE-UP" ECONOMICS? |
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
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HIPPIE CLAUSE |
Ho, Ho, Ho. Hello everyone, it's me, Hippie Clause. The '60s version of the jolly old man from up north. I'm not quite as well known as the Kris Kringle version, mainly because I don't hang out in malls, don't have a league of elf helpers and don't have a great story wove through the ages. But I am working on it. I don't bring toys for all the kids, I bring advice to all our politicians and people. Not quite as glamerous to be sure, but someone has to do it. So, let me reach into my big tie-dyed bag and see what I've got for everyone this year.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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PAGE D-12 |
Here are some stories that I've unearthed that I feel deserve a lot more attention than they were given. Most were buried deep in the bowels of my many newspapers and are ignored by nearly everyone. Since I love when my friend Andre over at The Unmitigated Word does news snippets, I've decided to give it a short try myself with my own spin on it. I'm sure some of them will leave you wondering, as I was, how the mainstream media managed to bury them.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
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A LOOK AT ALTERNATIVE FUELS; IS NATURAL GAS THE ANSWER? |
Despite the fact that gas prices worldwide have plummeted, our situation here in the U.S. has not changed. We are still way too dependent on foreign oil, we still will be out of domestic oil in 10 to 12 years, and petroleum is still polluting our planet whether you believe the Global Warming alarmists or not. The majority of the dollars we are sending overseas are still going into the hands of governments that have our destruction as a goal and or trade deficit is still way too high. For all these reasons, I beg all of you not to fall back into complacency and assume the danger is past. It has simply retreated only to return later, far more dire. In this piece I will be looking at the viability of using Natural gas as an alternative. My hope is to go through all our alternatives and help you best decide which will be the most viable option, or if a variety of options used simultaneously is best.
Monday, December 1, 2008
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CHANGELINGS |
Change, change, change. That was the mantra of the Obama campaign. It also was the buzzword of the Obama-maniacs. That group of faithful followers who cried at all his speeches, took all his words to heart and looked at him as the Messiah who would lead this country to Utopia. Now, nearly a month after the historic elections, change has come to the Obama camp, but it's not the change they thought. That change was from flighty idealist to realist.
Monday, November 24, 2008
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AND SO IT BEGINS |
Of all the problems that plague our government, none infuriates me more than the "Pardon Season". Although Presidents typically pardon people throughout their terms, controversial pardons are usually avoided until this time of year. This is the part of the election cycle that America suffers a "lame duck" President. That is, a President who is nearly powerless, but has nothing to fear from voters. He doesn't fear the voters because he's already been voted out or termed out and his Party has two years before another election. Let's face it, no one can ever remember who any President ever pardoned anyway, much less two years later. The Pardon Season starts sometime just after the Presidential election cycle and can last right up to the very last day of the departing President's reign. Each departing President tries his best to do this outrageous act in a way that draws as little attention as possible. Maybe during a hot news day, or after a major sporting event.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
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TWO DAVIDS VS. TWO GOLIATHS |
The banners have all come down, the streets are all swept free of the confetti, and the last party has been thrown. Now comes the time to analyze the election, the blame and the credit. To be sure, a lot of the credit for the big win on the Democrat side has to go to Barack Obama and a lot of the blame for the loss has to go to John McCain. That's just the way it is, the buck stops at the top. The McCain campaign leaders (not to be confused with the RNC) have thrown Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin to the wolves. This is to be expected, they certainly don't want to take the blame themselves, after all, they're all hoping to work on another campaign in the future and that's not likely to happen if they blame themselves. Governor Palin is doing the right thing. She's defending herself while pointing out that these attacks aren't coming from McCain or the RNC. Her future, from my point of view, has to be bright, I can't picture the RNC throwing away anyone with that much star power and name recognition. On the Democrat side, everyone wants in on the credit, as can be expected. But who was really the brains behind the impossible? From everything I've seen and read, it was two relatively unknowns that brought down the the twin Goliaths of McCain and Clinton; David Plouffe and David Axlerod.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES |
On September 11, 2001 all of our lives changed forever. On that fateful day, Americans were no longer black, brown or white, we were all Americans. The attacks on the World Trade Center unified us all in a way I have never seen. In the face of an enemy that didn't care if they killed who they killed or what color they were, we suddenly all became Americans, brothers and sisters. But time has a way of making us forget the significance of a single day, of a single moment in history. Whether it's April 4, December 7, or September 11, we slowly drift back into all the things that divide, not unify us all.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
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WHO AND WHAT I'LL BE VOTING FOR AND AGAINST NOVEMBER 4th |
In this historic election, I have tried to give you as fair an analysis of the issues and events that I possibly could. I believe I have treated each candidate with equal suspicion and equal respect. But at some point we have to make a final decision. I will say this one thing to help comfort you in case your candidate should lose, either Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama would make a good President. Neither of them will destroy our country or our economy. The rhetoric that you has been fed to you by the Mainstream Media and the campaigns has been carefully designed to make you fearful of the other. The differences between the two lies simply in their philosophy of what would be best for our country. Nothing more. Barack Obama is not a secret Muslim America hater and John McCain is not trying to destroy the Middle Class for fun and profit. So, with no further adu, here is how I will be voting, why I'm going that way and what I think the results will be.
Monday, October 20, 2008
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A WORLD IN CRISIS, A WORLD OF HOPE |
The housing crisis, falling stock markets, shrinking government revenues and rising unemployment all have us feeling more than a little anxious lately. On top of all that, we have a historic election for the President of the United States, the most powerful country on Earth and the country the rest of the world is both blaming for the crisis and hoping will lead us out of it. At the root of all our problems is the problem of debt. How much is too much and how do we go about shrinking it without sending the world's economy into a tailspin? I wish I had an answer.
As I've said here several times before, "You can't be better off tomorrow by spending tomorrow's money today." It's as simple as that. As long as we insist on living beyond our means by demanding loans we can't afford, houses we can't afford and luxuries we can't afford, our problem will continue and grow. It's total hypocrisy to point at the excesses of Wall Street, or the Government, as we live in excess ourselves.
For far too long the situation was twofold. The lenders were pressured by politicians to lend to people who couldn't afford it and in return the lenders got less regulation so they could offset their losses by engaging in shady market dealings that pushed the risk around to other countries and businesses. The return for this game of "hot potato debt" was a booming economy built on a shaky premise that couldn't possibly be sustained.
So what is the end result? Millions have now lost their homes to foreclosure, the housing market is flooded with too many houses that can not be sold, credit cards are being defaulted on because the equity the borrowers once used to refinance is gone (mark my words, this will be the next crisis.) Financial Rapture is upon us. Markets worldwide have seen their wealth disappear at 20, 30 even 60 percent. Countries like Iceland have gone completely bankrupt and Russia has frozen their stock trading. Buying is shrinking and the domino effect is reverberating throughout the Global Market.
For those of you that enjoy seeing the rich suffer out of jealousy, I have a wake-up call for you. The rich throughout the world pay the majority of the taxes. This is even more true in the socialist countries. As their wealth has shrunk, so has their tax burden. This is much like the way we want people to stop smoking at the same time we use their "Sin Tax" to fund health and education. If we get our wish, we are the ones to suffer. Capital gains is a thing of the past. In fact, the richest amongst us will be claiming losses, not "gains". Retirement accounts based in the stock markets are seeing huge losses (although better lately) and that will lead to increased burdens on social programs aimed at the elderly. Automaker pension programs are in danger of not being able to meet their obligation. The government will be forced to take over more and more of the burden while receiving less and less revenue. You don't have to be an economist to see tough times are ahead.
The bright side of all this is that we have finally had our veil lifted. John McCain and his Band of Merry Deregulators are being seen for what they truly are. Robber Barons. The Democrats, for their part, are being seen for what they truly are; irresponsible and too focused on the now. We are seeing the "It's all good" generation realize that it's not all good. You can't just hand money to people who can't afford to pay it back. You can't just rely on the Rich to pay all of your bills, you can't just live for today with no foresight into tomorrow and you can't push your responsibly to yourself, your children and your future onto the Government. This is the ultimate lesson on personal responsibility. If your benefactor disappears, can you survive without him? The next President of the U.S., whoever it ends up being, will find himself, from day one, in the uncomfortable position of explaining to the American public that we simply don't have the money that we had just one year ago. We can't create more programs with less revenue. The Entitlement Generation is in for a shock.
The bad news is that hard times are ahead without a doubt. My suggestion to all of you is to save, cut down on the unnecessary, and prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. The good news is that we are finally, once again, going to understand what is really important in this world. Our families, our friends, and our inner strength.... not our possessions, our appearance and our Ipods. H.C.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
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A PERSONAL UPDATE |
With hunting season now upon us, I'm having a little trouble keeping up with all my chores. Such as posting on my blog. For those of you interested, I've already bagged a fat 6-pointer that I caught trespassing and the venison is already in my freezer. (I do all my own processing) Outside of that, here's a quick update.
Unfortunately, Flinttalkradio and me have parted ways. The removal of Steve Brewer, who I consider a good friend, from the show has caused me to re-evaluate my relationship with the owners/operators of Flinttalkradio and Studio 1714. While I hold no animosity towards either Steve Meyers or John Wilson (they did give me good exposure), their view of the world and our working relationship is considerably different than mine. This happens even among friends. I stand by my view that everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect those of both Steve and John even as I adamantly disagree with them. I would have hoped that I would get the same respect, but I unfortunately, did not.
I will however, be trying to keep our business relationship solid and would not discourage anyone from visiting their sites.
This leaves me with only my blog for venting and I've already decided that is not enough. So, in order to create a new venue for my music, opinions and commentary, I've started working on several new sites that I'm hoping to link all together with my blog. The main idea is for me and Steve Brewer to build our own studio where we will not be under the whims of other people's visions of our show. Steve is a gifted comedian/commentator and I can't wait to start producing what I'm sure is going to be the best product we've produced yet. Part of what we're looking to do is to help promote local bands and music by running their songs between our commentary.
I'm going to be posting our show on YouTube and any other venue that will have us. I'm looking forward to working with Steve and he is already full of ideas on how we can make our show even better. I'll keep all of you posted as to our progress and I'll let you know when and where you can catch us on the Internet. For now, here's a sample of the kind of stuff we'll be running. We had a misunderstanding with Eric and Carson from Banana 101. I apologize for the bad audio, it was out of my hands. H.C.
Monday, October 6, 2008
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ONLY THE LOSERS |
There were a few problems with the 2000 presidential election, as all of you probably already know. There were arguments over "Hanging Chads" and "Pregnant Chads" and over missing ballots, and disenfranchised voting groups. In 2004 we went through it all again with accusations against the companies that made the electronic voting machines. For the most part, I think we, the public, view voter fraud as something Republicans do to poor people and minorities to increase their chances at the ballot box. But certainly there's always two sides to the argument, so here's what we'll do. I'll simply list the examples of how both sides try to gain advantage and let you decide. At the end I'll give my thoughts on both sides.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
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SHADES OF '92 |
Back in the Presidential race of 1992, George H.W. Bush Sr. was running against a young upstart Governor from Arkansas named William Jefferson Clinton (as well as against Ross Perot). The race was not going the way of the challenger despite Bush Sr. having had a divisive Middle East War, a failing economy and a banking crisis called the S&L Scandal. One day a nearly unknown Clinton advisor named James Carville hung a sign on the door of Governor Clinton's "war room". The sign read simply, "It's the economy, Stupid." Clinton took the advise to heart and the rest is history.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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THE REGULATORS |
Let's do a little critical thinking. Reach into your wallet and pull out a one dollar bill. (Assuming you have any left after the financial chaos of the past week.) Hold it up and take a long look at it. Now ask yourself a few questions. Why is this piece of paper worth a dollar? Who decides how much it's worth? What keeps it from being damn-near worthless like so many other foreign currencies that have failed? Will it always be worth a dollar? What exactly is a "dollar"?
Saturday, September 13, 2008
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MCCAIN, REPUBLICANS IGNORE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE |
The young man stood up in the back of the crowd at one of Senator John McCain's many small town stops. "Senator McCain, what are you going to do about DHMO?" the young man questioned. Quickly McCain's security detail moved in, escorting the young man out of the venue. "It's killing our children!" the man shouted repeatedly as he was forced out the door. John McCain ignored the disruption just as he and the Republicans have ignored any environmental issues throughout the campaign. But what is DHMO and why do the Republicans try desperately to keep it off the list of campaign issues?
Sunday, September 7, 2008
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SARAH, SWEET AND SIMPLE |
With both the DNC and RNC conventions out of the way, our attention is now turned to the Vice Presidential picks. On the DNC side, Senator Barack Obama decided to go as white male as he could and picked fellow Senator Joe Biden from Delaware. Biden shares his anti-war stance even though he voted for the Iraq war, and adds some foreign policy chops to Obama's ticket. On the RNC side, McCain wisely picked a fresh face from the Governor's office in Alaska of all places. Sarah Palin has everything McCain was looking for. She can steal away women from the Democrats and possibly turn this race around for him. She has the conservative credentials to appeal to the right wing and is an engaging personally to say the least.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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2008 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION; CATHARSIS OR CHAOS? |
Hillary Clinton claims her supporters need a "catharsis", a healing, to get over their loss. To hear her tell it, it would seem that her supporters are the first in history to be disappointed and to have to deal with their candidate failing to meet their expectations. In an effort to placate her supporters, Barack Obama has agreed to allow Hillary's name to appear on the nomination at the convention and to be voted on. For Barack's people, or the DNC, to believe that Hillary's supporters will be pacified by losing yet again in a very public fashion seems insane to me.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
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EDDIE |
Sad is the story of a life gone past
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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BARACK'S BIGGEST PROBLEM? BLACK PEOPLE |
I know what your thinking. How could Senator Barack Obama have a problem with black people who are supporting him 90 to 95 %? Isn't that his strongest base? Absolutely. But Barack can not win this election with black people alone. He needs to have a decent chunk of the biggest group in the U.S., working class white people. And these are the people that are the most fickle constituents that Obama has in his stable. Ask your average white person if there is a disadvantage to being black and the majority of them will say "yes". Ask the same group what to do about it and they split into fractions. Race politics divides. Every since the Reverend Wright videos surfaced on youtube and all of our T.V.s and radios, Barack's support among white people, particularly white males, has fallen. I now believe that the biggest threat to Obama's campaign is the very people who have shown him the most steadfast support.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
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BREAKING THE GRIP |
It's an ugly truth most people just don't want to admit. We Americans are puppets on a string. We're forced to send our money, our influence and even our children's lives to nations that hate our guts and take turns pulling the strings. Nations like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Russia and many more. With one meeting between the OPEC nations our economy can go into a panic, with one war in a oil-rich nation our life style becomes precarious. And we do it to ourselves. Like an animal that will eat and eat until it kills itself, we don't seem to know when to stop. Like an addict, we run to the pump for our fix no matter the price and like an addict, it's our addiction that will kill us. This addiction to oil is ruining us, and my friends, it can not go on.